Hah! I'm finally updating! Sorry it took so long, what with work and a family reunion I've been a bit busy….and once again this is another chapter I struggled with…mainly because as I write, I'm still tweaking and changing things about the plot and the whole story behind this story…if that makes any sense x_x I'm hoping this will all flow smoothly into the ending I have planned, but we'll see…anyway, here ya go…Chapter 11!…^_^ Review if you will and I'm gladly accepting any constructive criticism! ^.~
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Rebecca stood staring at the piles of still smoking ash of what had once been a hoard of zombies. Turning to Miki, she restrained the urge to scream at her. "What did you do to me?" she said, an edge of fear in her voice. "And what-no-HOW did I do what I just did!? What's happened to me?"
The little girl didn't reply, she only looked up at Rebecca with a sad, distant look. "I always wanted to be a singer like you, Rebecca," she said, her eyes misted over with apparent tears. Rebecca quickly forgot her anger and confusion as she watched the child. The vulnerability and innocence she portrayed was heart breaking. She had almost forgotten that this child was that-a child-and nothing more. One trapped in the same terrifying situation as her. Despite the fact that she obviously knew more than she was letting on, Rebecca reminded herself that she was the only human contact she had in the whole manor...and her only companion for the time being, and vice versa. Reaching down and putting a hand on the child's head, Rebecca smiled a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to snap the way I did. Why don't we try to figure a way out of this mess?" Miki nodded and the two turned and headed down the hall, the little girl still clutching her stuffed animal tightly.
*****
Claire sorted through the pile of papers on the desk in the living quarters she and Leon had wandered into. Leon searched the top of one of the bunk beds not too far away from her. Finding nothing of importance, he turned back to his partner. "Find anything?" he asked. Shaking her head, Claire turned from the desk, a perplexed look on her face. "Well, what about that?" said Leon pointing to a leather bound book, the initials "TJ" printed in gold cursive on the cover. "It's empty...a diary with blank pages..." said Clare in a somewhat baffled tone. "Hold on a second..." said Leon reaching past her and picking up the book. "That seems kind of suspicious...an empty journal? It looks somewhat worn to me...Plus it's kind of heavy," he said as he took note of the creases and signs of weathering on the book. "You think maybe it's invisible ink or something?" suggested Claire. "No...look at how the cover and the inside cover are...if what I'm thinking is right, then..." Leon trailed off as he ran his finger down the inside of the book, then, carefully, he pressed, then pulled as the book made a sickening cracking noise as the inner layer of the book gave way to reveal several folded up sheets of paper. "Eureka." Said Leon grinning triumphantly.
*****
Jill stood leaning against the elevator wall while Carlos fiddled with his gun...
*****
Wesker looked on at the unsuspecting couple. So they wanted to search the manor. Then he would just have to give them a special tour. Cackling to himself he reached over to the emergency elevator control program.
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"Jill...Doesn't this all seem strange to you? That girl, Rose, something about her wasn't right...she just seemed so...I dunno...it was almost as if she was..." before he could finish his sentence, the elevator jolted and came to a halt. Surprised, Jill and Carlos looked over to the control panel only to see the elevator switch directions as it plunged downward.
"What's going on? The controls aren't working!" exclaimed Carlos pressing buttons rapidly. Jill clenched her fists angrily. "It's Wesker...I KNOW it is!" she said angrily...
*****
Chris watched in relief as the two hunters finally fell after a long, tiring battle. The little bastards had gotten him good. Right as Rose had run off, another one had jumped from the shadows and had slashed Chris straight across the back in a wound that still burned like the Dickens. Discarding the searing pain in his back, he turned and headed in the direction Rose had run to. Not sure whether to worry for her well being or to be suspicious of her whereabouts, Chris reloaded his shotgun and prayed there was a first aid spray or an herb somewhere nearby...
*****
Billy regarded the 'Rose' girl with a blank stare. "Sorry about the gun. Can't be too careful..." he said before turning to head down the hall. He needed to find Rebecca, and fast.
"Hey! Don't you ever warn someone before you decide to just up and leave them?" demanded David hurrying to follow Billy, Rose close behind. Billy didn't reply, instead, he spoke to Rose. "So...how long have you been trapped here?" said Billy. "I don't know...I just know I woke up here...and that I've been running from the monsters here...it's been so scary..." said Rose trailing off. "Oh really? And isn't it just amazing that you're still alive through all this? And unarmed at that! Oh wait...my mistake...you can heal yourself...wonder how that's possible? I guess you're just so lucky that you just *happen* to have that *amazing* power." Said Billy never skipping a beat as he headed down the hall. Rose's eyes narrowed into hateful slits. "Are you trying to say that I..." before she could finish her sentence Billy held up a hand to silence her, then stood completely still, gun raised slightly. "Stay here." He snapped, and with those words, disappeared through a nearby door, leaving a fuming Rose and a somewhat confused David behind.
Rebecca followed the little girl down the hall. They were on what seemed to be an abandoned corridor of the manor, for there were no lights and Rebecca could barely see through the ghastly light of the flashlight she held. Her hands shook slightly as she walked. Thankful there seemed to be no monsters present on this hall, she tried to calm herself...until she heard them. They echoed nosily in her mind like loud music blasting from a stereo system directly into her ears. Silent sobs that echoed throughout the corridor and rang in Rebecca's mind like nails to a chalkboard. Covering her ears, she resisted the urge to turn tail and run. Instead she looked down at Miki questionably. "What is that sound?" she said. "It's Sissy Rowena...she's just a little lonely...come on...she's always wanted to meet you..." with those words, Miki stopped at a door and gestured for Rebecca to open it. All her senses awry, Rebecca, open the door slowly, and peered in, sweeping the flashlight into the pitch-blackness of the room.
The room was practically in ruins. There were claw marks all over the wall. Some of them were crusted over with dried, caked blood from where someone apparently clawed till they bled. Rotten food littered the floor and stuff was strewn everywhere. Ignoring the horrible stench, Rebecca took a step forward into the room, and quickly flashed her light something moving out of the corner of her eye. There on the floor was a mass of trembling something. And then, it turned its head to Rebecca and froze in the intensity of the light from the flashlight. Suddenly the thing let out a shrill scream...
*****
Billy scanned the room, then carefully made his way into the room. It was some kind of laboratory. The walls were covered with monitor screens and there were many computers lined all over the room. There, in a separate room conjoined to this one surrounded with a thick glass barrier was a small compartment. Upon further investigation, Billy spotted what appeared to be an operating table of some sort. Drawing closer to the thick protective glass window, Billy spotted a pair of mangled, but still intact straps. There were signs of a recent struggle as operating knives and such lay scattered all over the floor. What was this room? Some kind of torture chamber? Billy eyed the sharp operating tools nearby warily. He despised doctors and hospitals and the sort. Looking around the rest of the room, he spotted a small object on the floor. Bending over, he picked it up and examined it. A small plastic wristband...like the kind given to a patient by a doctor. This one read: :PB-001 Rowena. Pocketing the item, Billy spotted a first aid spray in the corner of the room and grabbed it. Just then, a bloodcurdling scream filled the air. Surprised, Billy turned and hurried out of the room. He had forgotten he had left David and Rose out in the hall unattended.
Stepping out in the hall, he turned to see both David and Rose waiting patiently for him, equal looks of terror on their faces. "Can we leave now? Who knows what that scream means!" exclaimed David. Billy ignored the comment and looked around. "That sounded like Rebecca..." said Billy, and with that, he headed toward the direction of the scream, the others following close behind.
*****
Chris had been following Billy and the others since he had spotted Rose and David talking in low voices in the hall outside the room Billy had been in. From the way they carried on, it seemed as if they were familiar with each other. Carefully tending to his wound with a green and red herb mixture, Chris was determined to find out what was going on, if it was the last thing he'd do...
*****
Jill dashed for her life as what looked like a cross breed between a horse and a wolf followed in close pursuit of her and Carlos...it had he strong legs and hooves of a horse, but oddly was hairy and had large fangs and wolfish facial features. Carlos, who wasn't too far behind, attempted to fire a few shots to slow the thing down, but it was all in vain. Spotting a large metal door as it was lowering from the ceiling, Jill sped up a little more. "Come on Carlos, we can beat this!" she exclaimed as she and Carlos ran, now neck and neck, at the door with all their might...
*****
It took Rebecca a few minutes to realize that the scream was coming from her. Covering her mouth, she backed away in sickened horror from the thing that sat staring at her. It was another one of her...but not. 'She' had straggly red hair as coarse as straw with sunken cheekbones and pale blue lips. Her body was deathly thin, her frame resembling that of a sickly anorexic. But that wasn't what had caused Rebecca to scream. No...it was those eyes...the same ice blue eyes that she saw everyday in the mirror...the same that Miki had. Come to think of it...Miki also looked a lot like Rebecca as well. Not just the eyes, but her facial features and body structure were the exact same way Rebecca had looked when she was that age. The girl on the floor rasped and held out a bony hand. "Mother..." she said through dry, cracked lips. Rebecca drew back in horror. Mother? What was going on here? Before she could think any further, Miki let out a gasp and quickly seized Rebecca's wrist, tugging her to a dark corner of the room. "Quick! Hide! She's here! She'll kill us if she finds us here!" declared the girl in a hushed whisper. Rebecca, too overwhelmed by the current situation said nothing.
Billy looked around the corridor. It was dark, the darkest hall yet in the manor. Using the light of the candle he had picked up earlier, he made his way down the hall to the room Rose had said the scream had come from. Looking over at Rose, he noticed she looked a bit uncomfortable...she seemed to be having what looked like intense pain to the head. David was watching her silently. Deciding not to mention it, Billy turned back to the door and opened it.
Pushing the door open all the way, Billy strained his eyes by the dim light of the candle as he took in the shabbiness of the room...who lived in this thing...or rather, what sort of creature dwelled in this hellhole? Keeping his shotgun ready for any attack, he let his eyes sweep the room. And then, something in the corner moved. Billy almost had a heart attack as the phantom like Rebecca look-a-like materialized before him in the flickering candlelight. Too shocked to shoot, he dropped the candle and it went out, dousing the room in darkness. Suddenly the girl began to glow a faint, weak yellow and the light illuminated slightly in the dark room. Looking past Billy, the thing spoke in a raspy, dark voice. "Get away from me...GET AWAY!!" she screamed as a blast of yellow fire emerged from her sickly frame, blasting the group off their feet. Stunned Billy sat up and stared at the thing in terror. "What in the...?" "Billy!!" Billy looked over just in time to be blinded by the intensity of a flashlight.
Rebecca quickly rushed from her hiding place when she discovered it was Billy who had entered the room. Rushing to his side, she helped him up. "Are you ok?" she said. Billy quickly pushed her off and stared at her. "Are you really Rebecca?" he said watching her closely. Rebecca froze. He didn't believe she was her...heck, she was starting to doubt she was herself nowadays too...that was when she froze. There, in the doorway of the room stood a girl who could pass as her clone glaring fiercely at her...only...her eyes were...yellow. Suddenly Rebecca felt cold all over. Something about that girl wasn't right.
*****
Through all the commotion that was going on in that room Billy and the others had disappeared into, Chris had been waiting to make his move. They had located what looked like the real Rebecca...but now there was another Rebecca look alike... confused, he was about to make his move when a hand touched his shoulder. He spun around to come face to face with a relieved Claire and a grim faced Leon. "Chris, we've got something to tell you about that Rose girl that you should know..." said Leon.
Careful not to make any sudden moves, Rebecca tried to think of a way to convince Billy she was who she said she was. That was when she remembered the dog tags. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled them out and reluctantly held them out to Billy, not really willing to give them up just yet. Surprised, Billy took them from her and stared at them, then smiled a lopsided smile. So she still had those things? Yea...this was the real Rebecca...
Before the two could exchange anymore words, Rose spoke up from the doorway. "Now that I've found my target, the real fun can start." Rebecca's mouth formed a terrified 'o' of horror as Rose pulled out the handgun Billy had had earlier and fired a shot into an unsuspecting David. Startled, the man fell to his knees and finally to the ground having been caught off-guard. Shooting a glance at the others, Rose smiled wickedly.
Jill banged on the strong metal door fiercely, but there was no response. Peering out through the thick glass window, she saw nothing. "Dammit!" she exclaimed angrily. Carlos stood behind her, but didn't dare say a word to his already overly agitated partner. Giving the door one last bang in frustration, Jill sighed and turned to Carlos. "Now what do we do? The door's sealed shut and I can't break the glass on that window...I think its bullet-proof..." Jill trailed off as she looked around the place they were trapped in. Oddly enough, it was bright, almost as if they were outside in the bright sunshine on a summer day. Looking around, Jill took in the lush surroundings...grassy grounds, trees everywhere, and what appeared to be a lake. "Where the hell are we? Aren't we inside the mansion?! Where did all this come from?" Carlos just shook his head. "Well, wherever we are, it's right where Wesker wants us…we fell right into his little trap…" scowled Jill angrily. Finally speaking up, Carlos took a step forward. "Then we might as well start moving…if my guess is right, we're in even more danger just staying still in this one spot." He said as his eyes carefully scanned their surroundings. "You're right…let's go." Said Jill as she reloaded her gun and the two of them headed off into an uncertain predicament.
Yeeep….there ya go. The next chapter is pretty much already written, I'm just doing some major editing…but I promise it'll be up real soon! ^_^ Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter…it was another rough one to write and it still didn't come out perfect but, oh well…