DANGEROUS PLAY BY: Celphie Scott To: Desiree Based on the Game Resident Evil 2 by Capcom®

For everybody else in Celina's house, it was just an ordinary Saturday afternoon, like any other afternoon of their lives. But for Celina, it wasn't really ordinary for her. There were only five of them left in her house: 3 maids and her baby brother who did not come, too, with her parents, and herself. Her grandparents were on vacation, and her parents were with her other younger brother who went out to buy something she had no idea what. Anyway, like I said, it was no ordinary afternoon for Celina. She was playing the playstation in her grandparents' room. She was playing the game "Resident Evil 2", which was a horror game that she liked very much. It sounds normal to you, huh? Well, it isn't. That day, Celina was so engrossed playing the game that she was playing it the whole afternoon. She never stopped because no one is to stop her to eat lunch or to do chores. Good thing it was summer or else she'd have to do her homework. But, one thing is bad, too, you know. Being so engrossed with a game can affect your mind with violence or gore. For a while later, she hadn't realized that she has been playing the game for 5 hours already. Her eyes are sleepy now but she kept awake. She doesn't like to stop because she was far from the beginning now and she's trying to break the record for playing the game for only 6 hours. It was kind of an adventure game, that's why she didn't want to stop anymore. For 30 straight minutes, she was already getting sleepy.sleepy.sleepy, that she couldn't help it, then her eyes closed. The bad thing was, she left the playstation on for 5 straight hours, and she didn't turn it off! What could be her brother's reaction if ever he caught Celina sleeping with the playstation on? Probably her parents and grandparents would ground her.

CHAPTER ONE: WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!

I suddenly woke up with a strange feeling in my mind. Something's not right. Where am I? I was standing in front of a car and truck crash that's burning. What happened here? I have no idea. Suddenly, when I took a closer look at the car, someone rose up like a zombie. I heard moaning on my back, so I turned around to see who it was. When I turned, I saw people, not ordinary people--sick people. They were dragging their feet towards me. Who are they? And why are they sick? Suddenly, the man behind me took my left foot and tried to bite me! Good thing I was holding a gun-a machine gun! I shot the guy who was holding my foot, "What's the big idea?!" I said. When I turned around, more of them came dragging their feet. I didn't know what to do but to shoot until they were really dead. Where am I? Who are these people? What's happening to me? Why am I holding a gun? I stopped asking and ran to a corner which I found as a safe place to stop for a while. I stopped and tried to catch my breath. I asked the same questions again in my mind. Then I recognized the place little by little. "This is.this is in my game!" I said looking around and checking if I'm right, "This whole thing!". Then, I felt funny about myself. I was a bit taller for a twelve- year old. I looked at my outfit. I was wearing a denim jacket over a black tank top, a denim skirt, and black knee-high boots. Then, I saw the exact same SUV parked beside the exact same gun shop in my game. I touched it as I looked at my reflection from the car window. It was real.as far as I could feel, it was. As I stared at my reflection, I realized that I looked like a nineteen year-old with my long black hair and slight make-up. I smiled as I liked the way I look and my height, "Woohoo! Yeah, baby!" I told myself. I shrugged, realizing that this wasn't the best time to celebrate, 'cause there's no time to stop. Any of those creepy crawling zombies might come around any minute now. So, I entered the gun shop, opening the door as slow as possible. When I finally got in, a man with a magnum gun pointed at me, determined to shoot, asked me "Who are you? And what are you doing here?!". "Hold your fire! I'm human!" I said before he could shoot. He put down his gun and sighed, "Sorry 'bout that, babe," he said, "I thought you were one of them!" he walked towards me. I knew what was going on, and what was soon going to happen. I didn't say anything, but he still continued, just as the game would, "I ain't got no clue, darlin'! By the time I knew something was wrong, the entire city was infested with zombies!" he exclaimed. I ignored him, but he still continued, "But don't you worry, girly, you're safe in here. I'm keeping a close eye on things," he said. I went around the shop, getting every useful thing I could. Suddenly, something flashed through my head. It was a memory, moreover warning me that in a few moments, the glass window will crash and zombies would enter. So, I had to warn the guy, "Don't stay near that door!" "Hey, I told you this is a safe place, so don't worry!" he resisted, "I'm warning you! Don't stay near that door!" but still, he didn't move. Without warning, zombies crashed the glass window open and immediately tried to eat him! He tried to shoot, but it was too late. I had to act quickly if I wanted to live. So, I got a good aim and started to shoot the zombies. They were done eating part of him, but it seemed they're still hungry because now, they're looking at me! I shot them all dead before they could get even closer. I tried to avoid the dead bodies as I walked towards the man, "Don't tell me I didn't warn you!" I told the guy, even if I knew he was already dead. I got his gun and started to walk away. Unfortunately, one of the zombies is still conscious and grabbed my foot! I had to save bullets, so I just kicked his head and it went soaring around the shop, "Disgusting!" I exclaimed. That's the only time I realized that he has injured me in my right foot. It was really painful, but bearable. I decided to go to the police station, like what the other characters would, because there's no where else to go. And what do you know? I might find someone who is human enough to help me.

CHAPTER TWO: I MEET CLAIRE AND LEON

Yes, I did get to the police station in one piece and unbitten, but enough is enough. I couldn't take this anymore! I killed every zombie that got on my way, and made sure that they were really dead by waiting until there were bloodstains seen on the floor. I did try to act as if I was the bravest person in the universe, but I knew in my heart it was skin deep, because right now, I'm the world's greatest coward. I mean, who wouldn't be? What if you got eaten by those monsters? Just a little bite or scratch from them and you're infected with the t-virus (the virus that caused all this)! By the time I got in the station, I was almost ready to give-up, but there was still hope. "HELLO? HELLO! Is anybody in there? Hello!" I shouted and shouted again with high hopes that someone would be there to help me find a way out and not really caring if my shout would draw attention to the dead. "HELLO?! PLEASE ANSWER ME!" I shouted again, almost losing hope of finding someone. Suddenly, 2 doors from the main hall opened, and 1 person from each door walked out. "Claire!" the male one said, I recognized both of them at once as the characters from the game: the male one is Leon S. Kennedy, and the female one is Claire Redfield. "Leon!" Claire replied and ran to him. Leon hugged her and said, "It's good to see you're still among the living," "You, too. Thank God!" she exclaimed pathetically. Ugh! I was so insulted! Was I the one who called them out to meet each other and ignore me?! I tried to keep my temper down, because it was really rising. So, I shrugged to get their attention, "And thank God, I'm alive," I said plainly, they really didn't seem to have noticed me because they both looked at me like I was the most fearful zombie. "Who the hell are you?" Leon asked with a big frown painted on his face, "Great! I don't know why everyone asks me the same RUDE question, but maybe it's because either I look like a zombie, or all of the people who are still 'humans' in this place are just rude to everyone. What do you think?" I asked them sarcastically, putting my hands on my hips. I don't care if they think I'm pathetic, sarcastic, or anything else because of what I've just said, for I know I had the right to express myself that way. "Sorry," Claire apologized for Leon, though her tone was clearly not sincere, and Leon seemed to notice that, "Sorry," he apologized for himself. My temper went lower a bit, but it was still high because of Claire, "So, can you please identify yourself to us?" Leon asked politely, now that's better! "Okay. Name's Celina Archers-you wouldn't want to know the rest, and um, I know that I do look like a nineteen year old, but I'm really twelve, I don't know anything about that either, so don't ask me anything. Anyway, I don't know how I got in here, but now I'm stuck and I don't know how to get out," I explained in one breath. I looked at them and their faces seem to have a big question mark painted on it, "What do you mean?" Claire spat out, "You might not believe me, but this is just a game, a video game to be exact. Everything that has happened was just a part of that game, and you two are the characters of the game, and I was the one playing this game at my real world until I got sucked inside the TV set." I explained, not really believing what I just said, ".I think," I added. Leon stayed silent, wanting more explanation, Claire was pissed, but wants to stay with Leon, "Look, I know you're both very confused, so am I. But you see, this is just a game," I told them pausing after every word. I sighed as I saw their "more confused" faces, "ALRIGHT! I'll prove it to you!" I exclaimed, getting pissed because I don't know why they can't get what I'm trying to say! I thought quickly on how I could prove it to them, then I remembered the time I tried to shoot Claire with the bazooka, but the bazooka shell just went passing through her head. I smiled as the thought crossed my mind, 'If this doesn't turn out like in the game, then it would be better' I thought. "Watch," I ordered them, then I aimed at Claire, "Hey!" she said, but I started to shoot before she could complain, Leon just stayed put as he watched the bullets pass through Claire, "Darn it!" I whispered. I put my gun down, realizing that I was just wasting my bullets. Leon looked curiously at me with doubt and said, "How come the bullets just go pass through her?" "Remember I told you that this is just a game? Well, in this game, you couldn't kill anyone who is your ally, just those creepy crawlin' monsters," I told him. Claire crossed her arms and cocked her head, I tried to hide my smile. Suddenly, I felt great pain on my right foot, "Argh!" I exclaimed. I couldn't bear my body weight in it anymore! "Ohmigosh!" Claire exclaimed, clapping her hands in front of her, but I knew she's just being a great actress, "Hold on!" Leon said, and caught me before I fell on the floor, but I couldn't hold on. I closed my eyes and swallowed. I heard Leon say, "Go on, Claire. I'll take care of her. Look for more survivors!" "Okay," Claire said, then I passed out.

CHAPTER THREE: LIKING LEON

I woke up with a sudden "Ow!" "Sorry, I had to spray this aid spray on your right foot," he said with a smile. So, he was really taking care of me.how.nice, but still, the pain in my right foot hurts, "We'll just have to wait until you can bear the pain," he continued. I never thought he would be this caring and patient, now I understand why he cared for Claire.but what if there was another reason? What if he liked her? "You like her, don't you?" I asked him with the slyest smile I could ever give, "Wha-what are you talking about?" he asked me back, and paused from putting bandages on my leg, "Maybe what you mean is 'who are you talking about'?" I replied, "Fine, who?" "Duh! Who else? Claire!" I asked rolling my eyes, it was quite obvious then, because he started to blush a little, "Don't be ridiculous!" he exclaimed angrily, "I'm not being ridiculous! You're blushing!" I laughed, then he stopped blushing, "I have never liked or loved anyone special in my life before," he said softly, looking down and continued with the bandaging, "Not even your parents?" I asked him sarcastically, but he seemed to take it seriously for he only shook his head in reply, then I got the message, "Oh.sorry," "It's alright. It's not your fault," he replied. Then there weren't any conversation now, until I thought I was set. "Alright, I think I can handle it now," I said, trying to stand, "Are you sure?" he said looking at me to make sure I was, then again, I felt the pain on my right foot. Still, I can't handle my weight in it, "See?" he said rushing up to help me, "Don't worry. I can wait," he said in a very caring voice, and helped me up the bench again. I stayed silent for a while, just looking at his deep, caring, blue eyes. I couldn't believe there was such a patient person like him. As I looked deeper, I felt his hand on mine some more; it felt very warm. I was still looking at him that I didn't realize I was looking at him the whole time already. When he looked at me, there was a frown in his face, "Hey, is there something wrong? You're turning really red," he said, that's the only time I realized that I was blushing, "Oh, no! Nothing's wrong with me!" I said quickly because he might know something I didn't really want him to know, even if I also don't know what it is.weird. "Are you sure?" he asked reassuringly, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure! I'm okay, alright?" I said, but he still seemed to doubt it, so he checked my forehead. "Am I still blushing?!" I screamed in my mind, "God, you're hot!" he exclaimed taking his hand off my forehead like it was stung. I sat still, thinking quick on how I could convince him that I'm alright, "Look, I'm okay, alright? I'm feeling fine, nothing's wrong with me," I said firmly, sure enough that I wasn't blushing anymore. "Alright, but we still have to wait for your leg," he said walking back to the bulletin board against the wall. Then, I found something sitting also right beside me, it was a police memorandum. I took it, read it out loud, and gave it to Leon to be filed. Then I started to look around again, and I saw a trunk at the right end of the bench. "Hey, Leon! Can you please check out that trunk for me, please? I think there are a lot more fire arms and aid sprays in it," I told him, he immediately followed without question and found out that I was right, "Told ya!" I told him proudly, "how did you know?" he asked me with a confused look. I just looked at him and sighed, "Oh, yeah, this is just a game," he replied emphasizing on the word 'just', but I never dared doubt that he still didn't believe me, well, now that I've proven it to him, "Go get every weapon there is in there except for that," I said pointing at the hand gun he was holding up, "How about the aid sprays? There are about 3 of them here," he said, getting them, "Oops, I almost forgot about those. Anyway, just give 'em to me. I've got enough pockets anyway," I told him and he gave them to me. A few more minutes later, I knew I was set. I could hardly feel the pain in my leg now, "I'm sure I can do it now. It's been so long already. After all, there is really no time to stop," I said, "I told you I can wait forever! No one is rushing you, okay? I know a lot of people, like Claire for instance, would want to move faster than they could. They just couldn't seem to understand that there is a time for everything, well, maybe they could, but they misunderstood it because they just couldn't have the time to wait," he replied in a very caring and concerned voice, "Now, are you really sure that you could handle it now?" "Yes, I'm sure. And don't even think about me, it's my fault that I'm scared to be alone, and besides, I'm not an important person that you have to look after," I replied with an "obvious" voice, but still, he persisted, "I may not know you that well yet, but still, you're someone, and that means I have to protect you. And I promise I'll be the only one who'd protect you," he continued. He was really caring for.for my sake. So, I didn't even bother to ask why, maybe some other time. "Alright, thanks for taking care of me and being patient with me. Let's go," I said and started to the door.

CHAPTER FOUR: LEON'S THOUGHTS PART 1 We heard a strange sound upon entering the next corridor. It sounded like someone typing with the type writer. We hurried quickly to see if it was a survivor, but instead, we saw that it was blood dripping from the ceiling and a dead body without a head, "That's disgusting.definitely." Celina exclaimed, I just shook my head not believing what I'm seeing. I noticed Celina's eyes suddenly widening, "What is it?" I asked her, "Quick! Equip your rocket launcher! Now!" she demanded, and without question, I followed her. Then, without warning, a large pink creature dropped from the ceiling and quickly tried to grab us! I immediately shot it before it could, and luckily, it took only one shot for it to lie dead on the floor. "Good job! I told Celina, "You too," she replied, sighing. I saw that there was a metal door to our right and quickly tried to open it, but unfortunately it was locked, "It's locked. You need a spade to open that door," Celina said without even looking at me. She was examining the body of the creature. When I looked at the doorknob again, I saw that there was a spade etched in the keyhole, "What the.? How'd you know?" I asked her, really surprised at this, Celina just laughed and said, "I told you this is a game. How many times do I have to say that to prove it to you?". Then I knew I had to believe her, because if it wasn't for her, we would have been eaten by now, "It's still quite different here, though. There's no background music to scare you more," she said, "Right.there's a background music?" I asked curiously, "Yeah, there is. It's actually one of the factors of the game that adds up to the horror of your face!" she replied laughing. I just raised my brow at her, "Never expected you to be so serious," she added, and stopped laughing, "Rrriiigghttt," I replied, "Anyway, this pink thing is called a 'licker'. There's more of these things around," she said, picking up the green herbs on the floor, "And these are really helpful herbs. They work the same way with the aid sprays,". I was really surprised at how much she knew about these things. I never expected that there would be a woman who's that intelligent and brave, not to mention good-looking. "What?" she asked me, I snapped, immediately realizing that I was staring at her, "Something wrong?" she asked, "N-no, nothing. Come on, let's get moving," I said quickly, trying to avoid her eyes as much as possible, and headed towards the other door that was at the other end of this corridor, "O.kay," was the only thing she was able to say, then followed me. The next room was another hallway, only that the walls on the left side were entirely barricaded with planks of wood. We were just staring straight ahead, not really wanting to go on. "Come on," she said comfortably. That could only mean one thing-nothing bad is supposed to happen here. In the middle of the hallway, there was a room with 2 large doors. We stopped by it, and looked at it for a while, "Well?" I asked her, "Well, as far as I can remember, I didn't get anything useful there," she replied, "As far as I can remember," she repeated. So, we continued on to the end of the hall, but when we were a few steps away from the end, hands shot out from the barricaded wall and grabbed us by our arms, neck, and waist, "What the.?!" I shouted. Both of us couldn't move! The grip of the hands were too tight that some of the nails were digging on my arms already. I couldn't aim my rocket launcher because both of us could get hurt as well. Celina, on the other hand, armed her machine gun and started shooting at her back with her free hand and forearm, "Let go of us!" she shouted. The hands that were holding her loosened as if the owners died already. She broke free and started shooting behind me as well. I dropped free, unable to breathe normally because of the hands that were holding my chest. I breathed hard, holding my left arm that was bleeding badly. Celina stopped shooting and dropped to her knees as well, my sigh was getting really blurry now "Leon? Leon are you ok?" she asked me in a worried tone, "Oh, what am I saying? Of course you're not ok!" she said. When I saw that she was fine, I smiled at her and everything turned black. After a few minutes, well I'm not entirely sure if it was only a few minutes, but when I felt conscious again, I slightly opened my eyes and saw that I was in some sort of operation room and felt like I was sitting down, not straightly though. I fidgeted and tried to look around. There was a whiteboard, a lot of yellow armchairs, corkboards, and 2 vendo machines. Celina had her back turned to me and seemed like she was reading something from the bulletin board. I tried to sit up, but doing so made me feel like my left arm was pinned or electrified, "Ack!" I exclaimed. Celina quickly turned to me, " Oh, so you're awake now," she said smiling, I tried to sit up again, but my arm felt worse, "N-n-n-no, don't move that much yet!" she said, rushing towards me, "Your arm's injured. It was bleeding badly, so I tried to do what I can with it," she added as she helped me place my arm on the arm of the chair carefully. I saw that she had wrapped a bandage around it already. "Thanks!" I said, trying to smile, she smiled back with a caring look on her eyes, she said, "You're welcome,". Celina then turned around and fidgeted with the pendant of her necklace, "I feel kinda guilty, though, because it was my job to tell you if there was something that's going to happen, but I guess I forgot." she said, looking down on the floor and bit her lip. I grabbed her hand and said quickly "No! You shouldn't feel guilty at all! I mean, it wasn't entirely your fault. I was supposed to be protecting you, but instead, you were the one who saved me,". She looked at me with a surprised face, even I was surprised with what I said. How come I said something like that? But the real question was, how come I didn't want to see Celina sad? And another question: am I holding her hand right now? Because I was.and I'm not supposed to be. I let go of her hand and looked away and gulped. This was officially getting weird. She looked away as well, and held her hand, "You're absolutely right," she said. What's going on? What's exactly happening to me right now? I was feeling warm, and the pain in my left arm suddenly went numb. I felt a rush of blood to my cheeks and I definitely didn't have the guts to look at her now. She shrugged and said, "Well, uh, I'll go check if there's anything useful enough here," then she walked away. I sighed heavily and looked straight ahead again. But she standing there, and I could see the right half of her body. I didn't look away this time. I took my time in looking at her. She was a really caring person, especially.especially to me. Then without warning, she looked at me and caught me looking at her. We immediately looked away at the same time. I reminded myself not to look straight anymore. So, I looked up at the ceiling, and before I knew it, I was having a nap. "Leon! Hey, Leon!" I heard Celina shouting, "Wh-Wha?" I asked and sat up straight in a bolt, causing my arm really great pain, "OooowWW!" I screamed, "Ooh! Ooh! I am so sorry!" I heard her say and her footsteps coming closer. My eyes were shut close and I was basically crunching in my seat. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Leon!" she said in a small voice. She cupped her hands on my face and steadied me. I was breathing heavily. The way that her warm hands touched my face seemed to magically wash away the pain. "I'm ok.it's alright," I said, opening my eyes and calming down a bit. "Are you sure? I'm really sorry!" she said again and again. Finally, I was really okay and was able to look at her straight in the eye again, "I am really, really sorry, Leon. I didn't mean to--" she said, and I cut in, "No, it's ok. It wasn't your fault," I said calmly, holding her hand again. I blushed immediately and looked away, "Uh.it's just that I think I found something," she said, "Oh.okay," I replied, slowly looking back at her, "What is it?" I asked, "You have to see this," she said, "Sorry, I can't," I said in an "obvious" voice, "You really have to see this," she persisted, "Come on, I'll help you get up,". She then started to lift me from my arm pits and I helped myself stand up. When I successfully stood up straight already, our faces were so close to each other that our position seemed like we were about to kiss, "Uh.uhm." I said, "So.let's get to it," she said, and held my right hand. She wrapped herself around my right arm, holding my right hand to support me, "You can walk right?" she asked, "Yeah, I can," I replied, and we started walking to one corner of the room. I then saw that this room had another room inside it, well not entirely a room, but a narrow space at the back, which was simply filled with broken things that can't be used anymore. "Over there," she said, tossing her head forward to point at a fireplace with a painting above it since both her hands were busy supporting me. We walked to it, and I saw the painting clearly. It was a lame and boring painting with a blurred person with his hands up high as if he was hanging. It had an inscription below, saying: A sacrifice to the hell fire. "It's a stupid painting. Who would even want to buy that for a bargain? And what's so special about it?" I asked her, she sighed and said, "You don't get it, do you?" "Get what?" "Why would it be a painting about hell fire, placed right above a fireplace?" "Er.because that's where the owner wants to place it?" I replied, she sighed heavily and asked again, "Then why would it be a hidden fireplace?". I didn't reply anymore, not knowing what to answer, she rolled her eyes and grunted, "You got a light?" she asked, "Yeah, but I don't smoke," I replied, "Ok, so where is it?" she asked, obviously pissed, "It's in the lower pocket of my right leg,". She didn't reply anymore and started to get it. She lit a fire in the fireplace and the painting started to burn. The fire didn't last for long, and the painting stopped burning as well. And from the painting, a red jewel about the size of the first dropped from the part of the painting that burned. Celina took it and put it in her pocket, "Nice work!" I said, "No problem," she replied, giving me back the lighter, "You can keep it," I told her, not entirely knowing why I wanted to give it to her, "Thanks!" she said and smiled at me, "But are you sure? I mean, it's a nice, gold lighter with a lion etched in it," she asked reassuringly, "Yeah, I'm sure." I said and smiled back.

CHAPTER FIVE: LEON'S BIG MISTAKE (AUTHOR)

After a few more minutes, Leon was ready. He didn't feel the pain that much anymore. So, they moved on, avoiding getting too close at the barricaded walls. Before they entered the next room, Celina warned Leon, "Aim your rocket launcher to the left, since there are 3 zombies there, and I'll take care of the one in the right. Ready?" she said and Leon nodded. The plan worked. Not one zombie lived. But Celina suddenly felt sleepy. She didn't know why, but she did. "I'm.sleepy, Leon," she said, her head falling on Leon's shoulder with her eyes drooping. "Ok, come on, I'll find somewhere you can lie down," Leon said and carried her on his shoulder. He found a room with a dark room in the farther side, where you can develop film, it was a safe room. Inside, there was another trunk, similar to the one they found earlier, a typewriter, some filing cabinets and 2 lockers. He lay Celina down on the trunk carefully, "There," he said, but Celina was already sleeping, "I'll come back for you," he continued, then left. She was all alone now, but she had no idea she was. Meanwhile, Claire sneaked out of her hiding place, where she hid and saw everything. She was beginning to get jealous of Celina, since she liked Leon as much as Celina did. She then put an unconscious zombie into the room where Celina was sleeping. She knew Leon left Celina in that room, and that this was her chance to get Celina out of her way. After putting at least 3 unconscious zombies, she immediately traced Leon's footsteps to the second floor. She saw 3 statues: one was holding a red jewel similar to the one Celina and Leon had found earlier. It seems to be another puzzle on how to get the jewel, but she didn't bother. All she cared for now was to have Leon all to herself. She passed through a door and found another hallway inside it. She entered the first door in the hallway which was labeled "S.T.A.R.S. office". There were a lot of gadgets inside, but still, she didn't bother to take anything. So, she immediately went out and entered the door in the end of the hallway. It was locked, and like the other door, it had a spade etched on the keyhole, "Damn!" she exclaimed, but nothing could get in her way to get Leon, not even a locked door. So, she deliberately shot the door knob open, and busted in. Inside, she finally saw Leon. It had two corridors and seemed like a waiting room because it had another vendo machine and 2 magazine stands, yet again, she didn't mind. She now has what she wanted, "Claire? What are you doing here? I thought you went the other way!" Leon exclaimed with a very surprised tone as he caught sight of Claire. "I know, but I can't stand being without you," Claire replied in a different tone of voice. Leon knew Claire was trying to seduce him, but he held back. Meanwhile, back at the dark room, Celina woke-up because of the strange moaning she heard. The zombies were back to consciousness! They were dragging their feet towards her, ready to take a good clean chunk from her. She gave out a loud scream and jumped from the trunk. She tried to find her machine gun, but Claire already took it. She opened the trunk to look for other weapons, but only the hand gun was left and it wasn't enough. She had to shoot 5 times before one of them dies. "LEON!!!" she screamed again while shooting 2 zombies at the same time, since she couldn't dodge them because they were already too close and the room was too small. Leon heard her scream as he avoided Claire's kiss, "Celina!" he exclaimed and started off back to Celina. By the time Leon got there, Celina was already done shooting the last zombie. Her gun was still pointing down at the zombie, her head low and her hair covering her face. And yet, Leon saw the tears trickling down her face and dropped on the dead zombie, "Celina.are you alright?" he asked calmly, Celina noticed that his hair became grubby looking and part his uniform was already unbuttoned, "You could have told me that you wanted to leave me alone and do it with Claire," she told him as she caught sight of Claire who also has her hair down and almost undressed. "No, you don't understand, Celina, we were not doing it! I met her on the second floor, then-" "It was all part of your plan to get rid of me!" Celina interrupted, "I never wanted to get rid of you" Leon tried to explain, but Celina wouldn't let him finish, "Then, why leave me here with these zombies? Huh?" Celina was getting angrier at the moment, "those things weren't there when I left you!" Leon answered boldly, "Yeah, a likely story. You could have rather told me that you didn't want my presence right from the start! I could have rather tried to escape alone!" "You don't under-" "No, Leon, of course I understand. I know everything about this game! From you to those creatures out there and to the puzzles that has to be solved! I know all about it!" Celina said in a very different tone of her voice that didn't seem like her at all. Leon knew he shouldn't interrupt, "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to get MY gun from your girlfriend here," she said and snatched her machine gun from Claire, "since I was the one who told you about the item box. And now, I will leave you two alone so as you may be able to continue your business. Thank you," she continued and gave a last look at both of them, then left. This made Claire smile a bit, but she didn't want Leon to notice.

CHAPTER SIX: LEON'S THOUGHT PART 2

I was so disappointed. How I could I fall for that? When I promised Celina that I'd take care of her! Now what am I going to do? Claire straightened up her clothes and tied her hair up again. "So, what's your next plan?" I asked her angrily, "What plan?" she asked innocently, "Your plan to get Celina killed, what else?" I was so mad I couldn't control myself anymore. She didn't reply anymore because she knew she was guilty. I had no other choice but to try and follow Celina and apologize to her or be stuck with this slut! So, I left Claire and went straight to the second floor, thinking that this is where Celina would go. I hurried so that I would be able to do something if ever anything happens to her.or maybe too late. As I entered the first corridor, I saw 2 dead zombies lying on the floor. There couldn't be anyone else who could have done that besides Celina, "tough lady," I thought. Then again, I just remembered that some of those "licker" things might still be lurking around the station, and Celina doesn't have my rocket launcher.only that machine gun. Oh no! What if she encounters one? I've never been so worried in my enter life other than the job interview. I rushed past the zombies and went inside a big room (the one that Claire entered earlier). She wasn't there.where could she be? I entered the room again where I met Claire earlier. There, I saw Celina shooting a zombie in front of her, but there was another one at her back! "Celina!" I shouted "Get down!" then shot the zombie at her back, but was also able to kill the one in front. I guess she had no other choice but to follow me if she wanted to survive. She stood back up without a word, and started off again, but before she could, I pulled her jacket like I was a lost child. "Wait!" I said, then she stopped without looking at me, keeping her head low, "Can you please listen to me even for just a minute?" I pleaded. She didn't reply for a long time, still with her head low and turned away from me, "what?" she whispered, "I-I'm sorry for what I did. I never wanted to do it, especially with Claire, ok? I don't like her! I never did! And .a promise is a promise.and I broke it. So, I'm sorry," I apologized. I knew she would think of me pathetic, but I didn't care, "If I do it one more time, you can leave me and never listen to me.ever," I continued, "I swear I will never live another second in my life without you by my side,". I couldn't believe I just said those words. I never thought I could before. But it did work, I mean, I was telling the truth and having her back at the same time. She turned to me, and I was glad she did, yet there were tears trickling down her face. "Do-do you know how scared I was? I've never been so scared in my entire life." she said shaking, without anymore second to think, I hugged her tightly, ".I just want to go home," she whispered softly. But I didn't want her to. I want her to stay with me. I don't know why I was acting like this ever since my arm got hurt. Then I felt more tears on my shoulder. How come I'm feeling different again? Am I turning into a zombie? But my reflexes reacted as to hug her tighter, pressing her head on my shoulder and caressing her hair.

CHAPTER SEVEN: ADA WONG

We continued on our journey through the second floor and it was easy enough to get through the monsters. There weren't much to see there, especially in the attic. We reached the stairway to the basement soon enough, but I have always feared going down there because there were zombie dogs down there. So, at first I refused, but I knew I had to, and just put in mind that Leon has always been there to help me. We wiped out the 3 first dogs that we encountered easy enough, and as far as I can remember, those were the only harmful monster down there besides zombies. So, anyway, we reached the parking lot. I felt a little safer there, but I could no longer remember what would happen there. We walked slowly and carefully, expecting to meet something worse than a zombie because of the unusual silence. Suddenly, a gunshot was heard and I jumped a bit, "What did you do that for?" I asked Leon, "I didn't do that! I thought it was you!" he answered back angrily. I thought that he could also have been startled because he was unusually angry at me. Then we realized that if none of us did, who could have? "Show yourself!" Leon shouted out, then a woman in a tight pink dress stepped out of the shadow and had a gun pointed at us. She lowered it upon seeing that we're still humans, "Sorry about that. I thought you were one of them," she said, "I'm Ada, Ada Wong. And you are?" she asked pathetically, I wanted to reply, "Were we asking?!" but Leon might get mad at me, so I didn't. "The name's Leon Kennedy, and this is-" "Celina Archers," I interrupted. I don't know why, but I've got this feeling I ain't gonna like this woman. "I am looking for a guy named Ben, he's the reporter type who always wants to get some scoop. Anyway, I know that there's a door behind this truck. The lever is lose, but I couldn't push it alone. Will you help me?" she said walking towards a truck, Leon ran after her and waited for me to follow and help them as well. I just shook my head and followed. I had no other choice but to help this 'female dog' because if I didn't, Leon might think of me as a poor and helpless girl.of which I don't think I am. We pushed the back part of the truck, revealing a door behind it. Leon became a gentleman and opened it for us, and Ada walked straight in and must have forgotten about her gratitude. I shook my head in annoyance before entering, as I was doing so, I noticed something on the floor to the right. I walked to it, "What are you doing?" Leon asked impatiently, "Wait.I think I see something," I replied as I continued to walk towards it. As I got nearer, I realized that they were green herbs, so I rushed to pick them up and back to the door. "What was that all about?" Leon asked angrily, "Nothing.I just picked up some green herbs, that's all if you don't mind," I said irritably. I was getting annoyed at how Leon was suddenly treating me, ever since that Ada arrived. He used to respect me, and talked to me softly, but now he isn't. "What happened to him?" I kept asking myself. Has Leon run out of it when Claire seduced him? Or when we met this female dog? Whatever it was, it was pissing me off.badly. I entered the corridor without hesitation. Leon followed, only to find out that Ada has already vanished without a trace. How pathetic! She didn't even wait for us! And the hell she said that she was going to thank us?! Argh! My blood was rising fast to my head. Then, I took notice to what was around me: to the left was a hall of cells, and to the right was another door. We decided to get inside the cells first. We got a key to open the gate to the hallway, and discarded it after use. There were only 3 cells inside, actually. The first one was open, so I entered and found blue herbs under the bench. I picked them immediately and looked for a pocket with enough space in it. "Looks like I'm running out of pockets," I sighed, "Oh, well," Leon replied. That's it? "Oh well"??? He didn't even offer to take some of them since he still has a free pocket?! How rude!!! I was really losing my temper, but I tried not to, and just let it all out in one big sigh. I knew I had to bear with it if I had to bear with him. Anyway, we went to the second cell, but it was locked and no one's inside. We went to the final cell, and to our surprise, someone was locked in it. The person seemed to have noticed us, for he stood up and frowned, "What do you want?" he asked, instead of asking who we are. I recognized him at once because of his accent, he was Ben Betolucci, the reporter Ada was looking for earlier. "Don't worry, we'll look for the key to get you out of there," Leon replied, he just smiled and took-out from his pocket the key to the cell, "So, you have the key.why are you still there?" I asked curiously, he looked at me with an astonished look, "Hey, I'd rather be stuck here than get eaten by those zombies!" he replied, "But I could open it up for you. There's room for the both of us," he continued looking at me with a sly smile. I cocked my head and frowned, really disgusted at how he was acting. I'm really started to get pissed at everything-especially Leon! Suddenly, the gates to the cells opened, and entered a female dog named Ada. "Is this the guy?" Leon asked as if he didn't want to know, because he seemed a bit.jealous. He might have thought that this is her boyfriend, I know he's not, but I don't want to tell him. Ada ignored Leon, "Ben!" she exclaimed holding to the bars of the cell, as if she wants to bend them open, "Who the hell are you?" Ben exclaimed, and this seemed to be an appeal to Leon that Ben is definitely not Ada's boyfriend. "I'm Ada Wong, do you know where John is? He is my boyfriend," she replied, I looked at Leon and saw the 'look' in his face again. "Wait a minute! I know you! Oh, sorry, I don't know who and where John is," he replied. Ada looked down, I don't know if she was just pretending to be sad or what, because it was clear enough to see that she wasn't. "But if you don't have anything else to do, you're always welcome to step in here and we could spend some time together," he continued. Ada had no use of Ben anymore, so she bolted away again, "Ada, wait!" Leon shouted, but she was gone already. I have a very strong feeling that Leon has special feelings for her, but Ada isn't, now that he's no use to her anymore. "By the way, if you want to escape here, there's a manhole in the kennel where you can go through to get to the sewers. But I'm warning you, it won't be easy at all," he warned us, "thanks," I replied, well at least he helped us a bit.

CHAPTER EIGHT: GETTING IRRITATED

We had nothing left to do but to go to the room, which actually was a kennel. Good thing the dogs were locked up and were easy to kill. We found the manhole he told us about, but we needed a tool to open it. I strained my memory to remember where the tool was.it was in the other cells room. Without a word, I stood up and rushed back to get the tool. It surprised me at how he didn't even try to top me, but always wanted to stop Ada from moving away from him. If I really couldn't take this anymore, I'm going to runaway from all of them! I took the rusty crowbar and went back to the manhole, finding Leon just sitting on the floor, "What were you doing?" I asked curiously, "Nothing at all, just waiting for you to come back," he replied. I felt my blood rush to my head and my body became warmer, I knew that at some point soon, I'm going to explode like a volcano. "Where did you go anyway?" he asked, "It's none of your business, now step aside!" I commanded and shooed him away from the manhole. Deliberately, I opened the manhole myself, without Leon even offering to help me. "Why didn't you run after me anyway?" I asked, "Because I know you'd come back. You wouldn't run around without me and I know that," he coaxed. I took in a large, deep breath as I looked for the hidden patience left in me. "Can I borrow your rocket launcher?" I asked him, and he gave it to me without question, "And could you hold this for me, please?" I continued and gave him my machine gun. I guess he hasn't realized that I already have the most powerful weapon there is, and with it, I can do anything by myself now. Without even using the ladder provided, I jumped in the manhole, and into the sewers area. I quickly took aim and killed the two gigantic spiders with only one shot for each. After a few seconds, I heard Leon climbing down the ladder and walk towards me, "what was the all about?" he asked me with a frown, "Oh, nothing! I was just planning to kill the 2 spiders that could've poisoned us to death if I wasn't the one who did it. And I was also thinking of not sharing my knowledge to people who doesn't even want to listen, like you." I said in a tone as if nothing happened. Well, he didn't seem to care anyway. But he also forgot that he still has my little ol' machine gun and I have this bazooka. So, I left him and ran to the stairs in the other end. He followed me very confidently, as if I'm going to kill every zombie that gets in our way. Hah! That's what he thinks! When I finally reached the top, I saw 3 zombies coming my way, but instead of killing them, I just dodged them and went straight in the door to my left, and there I would stop and rest for a while.

CHAPTER NINE: LEON'S THOUGHTS PART 3

When I reached the top of the ladder, I didn't' see Celina anymore, instead I saw 3 zombies towards me. When I took aim, that was the only time I noticed that I still had Celina's machine gun! Darn! How could I forget? Maybe I was thinking too much about Ada's safety that I hadn't noticed. So, I had no other choice but to kill them, since they were getting closer and closer, but it wasn't as easy as it could have been if I had my bazooka. When I was finally done, I saw a door to my left and entered, wishing that Celina would be there with my weapon. Gladly, there she was, sitting on a desk with a typewriter and my rocket launcher beside her. "What in the world were you thinking?!" I asked her angrily, "I don't know, probably trying to survive without your help?" she said in a sarcastic voice. I took the rocket launcher and replaced her machine gun. There was complete silence inside the room. She was just looking down on the floor while I stared at the wall, our backs turned to each other. I could see her confused face even if she's not facing me. I stared at her, thinking of what she could be thinking at this very moment. She stood up and opened the trunk near the door, put in some things I never noticed she got, then she shook her head with a frown as she closed the trunk tight. "What?" I asked, "What do you mean 'what'?" she asked back, "It looks like you've got a problem over there," I said trying to sound as caring as possible, "Yes, I do have a problem, and it's none of your business to know, alright?" she replied nastily. What got into her? "Come on, tell me, maybe I could help," I offered, "Help? Help! Leon, since when did you start helping? Tell me! Ever since that Ada arrived you've done nothing but think of her and ignore me! But if you still want to know what my problem, sure! I'll tell you!" she said in a very angry voice, "So, what is it then?" I asked, "It's you, Leon! My problem is you, and if I should still continue to finish this game with or without you. Get it? Got it? Good!" she said. I kept silent for a moment. She was angry.angry at me. "Why are you jealous anyway?" I asked, she seemed to be surprised to hear this, but she didn't reply. She gave a last angry look and turned to the door, "Well?" she said opening the door and turned to me, "You coming or what?" I quickly followed and went out with her silently.

CHAPTER TEN: RUNNING AWAY

There wasn't any conversation throughout the journey in the sewers. I was hoping that we wouldn't meet up with Ada again on the way, but unfortunately, we did. And ever since we did, Leon doesn't want to take his eyes off Ada, because according to him, he wanted to make sure that she wouldn't bolt away again. as we were walking down one of the corridors in the sewers, we encountered another woman, though she didn't stay as soon as she saw us. We followed her quickly and realized that she had a gun. Ada was leading us, but she didn't notice that the woman has gone to the corridor to the right, "Heads up!" Leon said and jumped on Ada to protect her from the gunshot. She didn't get a scratch, but Leon took the 2 shots. Leon fainted as Ada tried to get up, "What are you waiting for? Shoot!" she commanded me, "No one tells me what to do, pink princess! And now, because of you, he's shot!" I told her and didn't follow. "It isn't my fault that he wanted to save my life! That woman-I have to talk to her," she said and got up and ran after the woman who has already gotten away, "Hey! Where are you going?" I shouted at her, but she didn't listen, "Bitch!" I said, and felt actually good, finally being able to express myself. I knelt down to help Leon, he was unconscious and bleeding. I ripped a part of my jacket because my bandages are not enough to cover him. Then I placed his head on my lap to serve as his pillow. I looked at him and smiled.he's actually cute when he's sleeping. "I guess I'm the one who has to take care of you now," I told him, though I knew he was fast asleep. I stroked his brown hair, then placed my hands on his chest to check if his heart is still beating. Gladly, it is, but I still left my hands there, just in case, and hummed a song to keep myself awake. After a few more minutes, I felt him shake a little. He opened his eyes and I looked down at them, "Welcome back," I said, he tried to sit up, but he fell back because of his arm, "Ack!" he exclaimed and held his arm, "I did what I can to stop it from bleeding," I told him, "Thanks," he replied with a slight grin. Finally I get some gratitude from him, "Wh-where's Ada?" he asked, "She went to follow the woman who tried to kill her, and left you here after you've saved her life," I said, trying to destroy his perspective of Ada. I helped him stand up, "Are you sure you can handle it?" I asked, "Yeah, I'm sure. Come on, we have to find-" he started to say, I looked away knowing that he was going to say 'Ada', "We have to find a way out of here," he continued. He must have seen the disappointment in my face, but I knew that he really wanted to find Ada. We continued on through the sewers. There aren't much conversations, but at least there are some. There are also not much of zombies here, mostly gigantic spiders and a really enormous alligator. I remembered how we could easily kill the alligator with the gas tank that will fall from the ceiling. Leon never mentioned anything about Ada at all, that made me a happy a little. But unfortunately, after we finished the alligator, we saw her on the other side of the room. So, we crossed the dirty garbage water to meet up with her again. Upon arriving, Leon grunted and fell to his knees, "I think this shot is getting worse, Ada," he said. I cocked my head in astonishment, "haven't I fixed that up yet?" I asked myself, "Here, let me take care of it for you," she said and put on bandages around the shot the wrong way. I rolled my eyes in disgust. I knew he was just acting to get Ada's sympathy, or he just lied to me earlier because he already told me that he was fine. I didn't dare interrupt their "sweet moment" as they were gazing at each other's faces. Though, I was sure that Ada was just using Leon to get out of here with something, and after that, she'll ditch him. Now that we're reunited with Ada again, there really wasn't any conversation among the three of us. I just picked up everything I knew I had to. I did my best to ignore them whenever they were almost holding their hands. I noticed that I was the only one working to get out of here, because I have been solving every problem that got in our way, doing all the killings and everything. So, when we got to the tram, the power wasn't on, so I order Leon to turn it on. He didn't hesitate, he shouldn't. When we finally got in, there was a loud bang coming from the roof. Large footsteps took shape, "What the hell is up there?" I asked. Suddenly, a large claw slashed the roof and tried to grab me! I immediately ducked and gave a short scream. "Get down!" Leon shouted and started shooting the part where the footsteps were appearing. Ada started to shoot too, but I wonder why was she shooting if she wants me dead, anyway? Maybe she just wants to show Leon that she's better than I am, or she's also scared that it might be her who the claw would try to grab next. Now, it was Leon whom it was trying to get hold of, "Leon, move around the tram and try not to get hit," I told him. I tried to shoot the roof with my machine gun while kneeling down. The tram stopped with a sudden jolt. We waited for a few seconds before we got down, because the claw might be waiting for us outside. There was complete silence. Leon got out first and gave a sign not to follow him yet. He looked up at the roof and around him. Then he gave us a signal that it was okay already to step out. I saw a big flare gun outside, so I took out the lighter than Leon gave me earlier and lit it up. It revealed a key to the dark corner beside it. I took it, and still, no one seemed to notice. I recognized the place little by little.we were at the factory. We headed for the only door and entered. There were lots of zombies inside, so I helped Leon shoot. I noticed that Ada wasn't doing anything at all and it made my blood boil again. the second room we entered was a corridor similar to the one we just passed, the only difference was, there were more zombies. I noticed Ada not shooting again and made my nerves want to kill her, so I had to take action, "Hey princess! What are you standing there for? Aren't you going to help us shoot?" I asked her, she just gave me a 'what-is-your-problem' look and started to shoot zombies. She had to be accurate, or else she'd just be wasting her bullets. finally, we reached the end of the factory. There was a train track, and at the end of it, was a weird yellow transportation thingamajig. I really don't know what it was, so I called it that way. There was a control panel beside it, indicating that it needs a key to be turned on. Again, I'm the one who's going to make this work. I entered the thingamajig and went to the front to find the key to switch it on. When I stepped out, I found Leon and the princess sitting on the floor. So, they really expect me to do everything, huh? Fury began within me again, "God, help me," I prayed. I started the thing on with the control panel and pressed the big green button, assuming that it's the go button. I went inside, wishing that I could lock them out together, but the lock is only for emergency use and it will be used later on. They followed me inside without a word. I went straight to the front and Leon followed, Ada just stayed in the back. I held onto the handle bar, Leon did too, expecting that we would be going forward, but instead, we were going downward. "What's going on?" Ada asked nervously, "We're going down," Leon replied calmly, I wanted to add "Duh!" but I might start up a fight which I don't need right now. Now I remember, we're going to Umbrella's Secret Underground Laboratory, where the g-virus was created. Without warning, the claw appeared again and got Ada by the arm. It didn't grab her, though, seems like it wants to kill us. 3 scratches bled on Ada's entire back, then she fainted. "Ada!" Leon shouted, and rushed towards her to prevent her from falling. He placed her down gently on the floor and went straight to the door, "Where are you going?" I asked him, though I knew he was going out to get revenge for Ada, "I'm going to take that thing down once and for all," he replied, "Why?" I asked, "If we just stay here inside, all of us could get killed. It already got Ada. I can't let any of us get injured by it again," he replied and went out with his rocket launcher equipped. I didn't know if he was telling the truth, or if he's making another reason so that I wouldn't get mad at him for getting too concentrated on Ada. I heard roaring and bazooka shoots outside, though I couldn't see since there are no windows at all. I sat on the bench, looking at Ada, craving to kick her, but I can't because Leon might think of me as a traitor. A few minutes later, I couldn't here any shooting nor roaring anymore. Leon stepped inside sweating and panting, "What happened?" I asked calmly, "You can look outside if you want to know," he replied. Inhaled deeply and let it out aggressively. He knelt, looking at Ada, then shook his head as if saying, "Don't leave me, Ada," I don't think I'll be able to handle this pathetic love story anymore. I walked out to look at what was out there that successfully got Ada. I saw him there lying, it was William Birkin, the creator of the g-virus. He became like this because he directly injected the g-virus into his body because the corporation was trying to steal it from him. I don't know if I was going to feel happy that he died or not, because he has greatly injured Ada, which is major happiness for me.I never thought I was this evil. I looked at the blood that spread out from his body, and thought.if someone tried to take something important from me, I would do the same as you did, vengeance. I walked back to the door, Leon came stepped out with Ada in his arms. I watched him carry her to a small room. I followed quickly, letting Leon go first. The room seemed to be a guardhouse, with the typewriter and the item box we found earlier. Leon carefully laid Ada on the bench and held her hand. Really disgusted, I stepped out and waited for Leon to come out and finish his agony, I wished that Ada would go away, and now she's almost gone, but what happens? I bring them closer! Sometimes, evil doesn't really prevail.but it shall. I stood outside, leaned on the wall next to the door, and closed my eyes. I heard voices inside, which means, Ada is still alive. Darn it! I can picture them together inside, remembering this scene from the game, I have watched this a lot of times already, and just thought of it as a waste of time for the game, but now, I'm feeling different. How come I'm jealous, angry, and screaming inside me? I have always disliked Ada, but not this way. I have never been jealous of her before. Even if I can't see them, I can still picture them.Leon holding Ada's hand, telling her that they'd be leaving this place together, to hang- on, and not to die on him. It was too much.I know what I had to do.and with that, I ran away.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: LEON'S THOUGHTS PART FOUR

So, I left Ada alone in that room, knowing that she had to rest because of her wounds, and that she wouldn't be able to run away with those wounds. When I went out, I was expecting to see Celina, but she was nowhere to be found. "Celina? Celina! Where are you?" I shouted, hoping that she would reply and come out somewhere, telling me that she just went to check out something, but no, there was no one else around but me. I started to worry again, where could she be? We both don't know if anything else is out there besides zombies. Could she have gotten tired of waiting for me? Why? For the second time in my life, I was so worried about someone, and to think that the first one was also Celina. I don't know why I'm feeling this way again. Why am I so scared of losing Celina? I asked myself a lot of questions about why Celina had left and why did I ever let her alone again. I hoped to find Celina soon, but still, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, the thought came to me "Could she be.dead?" I asked myself. Just by the very thought of it made a shiver run down my spine, and suddenly, something fell from my eye.it was.a tear. Why did she ever have to leave? Why couldn't she just wait for me? Whatever have I done to her? I asked myself as more tears fell down slowly. I never thought I could cry before. I stopped walking around, trying to find someone who could be dead by now. I sat down on the floor with my hand on my forehead. I pictured Celina in my mind, remembering the things she told me back in the sewers, when we were alone in the small room. I remembered that scene very well, remembered that she was made at me, and I found out that she was jealous of something.or someone. Ada. She was jealous of Ada.but why? I guess I was giving too much attention to Ada that she has noticed it. Then I remembered how she took care of me, when she told me that she's protect me too. Thoughts of her made me smile. I also remembered how tough and independent she was when she first ran away from me.because I left her. I remembered how she has killed a lot of zombies, even without my help. It made me realize that there was no way she could be dead by now. She was too brave and strong to be dead at this very moment. I got-up , feeling stupid for how I wasted my time thinking that she's dead already, but at the same time, with high hopes that I would find her still in one piece sooner or later. I ran as fast as I could, checking every door there is, and leaving it alone if she's not there. But there was one room I can't ignore. When I entered, there aren't any zombies at all, only something more gross. There was plant-like creature with large tentacles moving around, and was sticking out from the vent. I tried to shoot it with every weapon that I have, but still, it won't die. I ignored it for a while, since it can't reach me anyway. I checked the lockers found next to the door, and found a flamethrower which I used to kill the tentacles. I also found a note and some blue herbs. I suddenly heard a voice coming out from the vent, "Die, you monsters!" I recognize the voice immediately as Celina's. Without anymore second to think, I climbed in the vent, ignoring the disgusting feeling of the plants all over my body. I reached the end and jumped out of it. I found Celina shooting 2 green lickers with larger and sharper claws than the ones we encountered back in the station. Her machine gun wasn't enough to kill both of them, so I helped her by shooting them with my rocket launcher. There was silence for a moment, and took the opportunity to look at Celina again. Her clothes were somehow torn and was covered with blood, she has 3 wounds which she didn't even take care of. Without looking at me, or even saying 'thank you' she tried to run again, but before she could, I held her hand to stop her, "Aren't you going to take care of those wounds?" I asked her, she didn't reply, her head down with her hair covering her face, "I'd rather be a zombie than-" she started to say but didn't finish, "Than?" I asked curiously, "It's none of your business to know," she answered nastily and took her hand away from mine. It really hurt me when she did that, not physically, but something struck in me when she did that. "Are you going to run around by yourself again?" I asked, trying to keep her as long as possible, "What do you think?" she asked, "I don't know, but if you're not going to take care of those wounds, then I will," I said trying to convince her to, "You don't have to. Nobody has to. I will die anyway, and become one of those things walking around without a soul. I'm just lasting as much as I could," she replied slowly and reached for the doorknob, but before she could, I pulled her back and forced her to sit on the chair so that I will be able to aid her. "Alright, I'll do it myself!" she exclaimed angrily. She signaled me to turn around, so I did, trusting her that she wouldn't run away behind my back. I knew I could trust her. Because if there's anyone I would trust my life to, it would be Celina. I could hear her spraying herself with the aid spray and pulling in some bandages. After a few more seconds, she said "I'm done. Now, may I go?" I turned to her and saw that she had to take off her jacket and wrap it around her stomach because the bandages weren't enough to cover her torso, but I still couldn't see her face because she was already facing the door. But I couldn't.I just couldn't let her go. "Why do you have to go, anyway?" I asked her curiously, "So that I would be able to finish this game as soon as possible even without your help. If I can't, then at least I wouldn't be able to see anything more horrible than those creatures out there," she answered with one breath, "Which is?" I asked her softly, she didn't reply and started to hold the doorknob, but before she could turn it, I grabbed her again.and hugged her tightly. I felt her gasp a little, "Why.why are you doing this to me?" she asked quivering. I whispered to her ear, "Because I can't stop worrying about you. Because I can't bear to think that I'm alone-" but then she didn't let me finish, "You have Ada," she said. So she really was jealous of Ada. I didn't know what to say next. She moved forward so I'll let go of her, but she didn't run away, instead she sat down, but still, I couldn't see her face. There was a long moment of silence, when suddenly, she spoke, "Can Ada treat your wounds? Can she solve the puzzles that has to be done to get out of here?" she asked me, her voice shaking. I didn't reply, but I knew the answer was no, "And could she.could she protect you the way you protect her?" now her voice was really shaking, I could actually feel it in the stillness of the wind. "ANSWER ME!" she shouted, looking hard at me. I finally saw her face, but it was different.her face wasn't the usual joyous and pretty face. It was now filled with tears and was dirtied by her hands that kept wiping her tears. My heart sank as I stared back at her, "No," I whispered. Her sobs echoed around the room, and she did not wipe the tears that kept falling from her eyes. "THEN WHY ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH HER?!" she screamed to me. Her scream once again, could have awoken the dead. She was grasping her gun tightly on her right hand, and the other was clenched hard. I didn't know what to say. Was I really in love with Ada? Is that what you call being in love already? I didn't know what to do. She was waiting for my answer desperately. Her breaths were heard around the silent air inside the room. She waited, but I really didn't know what to say. She stared back at me as I sat down beside her. She was crying because she was jealous, she was mad, I realized those things as I watched her tears fall. Then I felt the sudden move to shed her tears. I reached out both my arms and touched her face with my hands. I caught a tear with my hand, and wiped it out. Soon, I was wiping all of them out, "There," I said, "you look much prettier now,". She stopped crying, then hugged me tightly, "I'm sorry," I whispered to her ear, "I know I shouldn't have left you outside alone again. I broke another promise," I told her. I laughed a little and continued, "I never thought I could break so many promises," she did not say anything for a while, she was just hugging me tightly, with her head on my shoulder. For a moment, I felt.loved. I knew I had to tell her that, but I just couldn't. Perhaps this isn't the best time to tell her yet. "I'm sorry I left," she said softly, her voice so soft it seemed like an angel's. "Look, there's something I really have to tell you. But I don't think this is best time to do so. But will you promise me that you'll never leave me again?" I said, pulling back slowly, she nodded her head like an innocent child. I looked at her deeply, and felt her arms around me. Her stare brought back the feeling I first had when we were back at the station. Now I knew what it meant, I was in love with Celina. I stood up slowly, and she followed. I turned my back on her, I just couldn't let her see the guilt that I'm feeling right now. It's because after all I've done to her, I never thought she would accept me again. I heard her gun fall on the floor, and she suddenly hugged me again, her face caressing my back like I was a pillow. I turned to her so that I would be able to look at her in the eye, and her eyes started to fill with tears again. I placed her head on my shoulder, and felt her tears fall on it, "I just want to go back," she whispered, hugging me tighter. I wanted to tell her I didn't want her to. But I realized that if I did, it might just make things more complicated. I just let the moment last forever, wishing that it would. We could stay here, just being together. But I didn't want to just hug her. I felt her arms move around my neck, and I moved my own around her waist in turn. I wanted to kiss her.I wanted to kiss her so much that I decided to, whether she likes it or not, I just want to feel those cherry-colored lips of hers. I pulled back and told her, "Promise me you'll never run from me again," she nodded guiltily. Then, I leaned forward to kiss her, she leaned as well, and at the same time, we both closed our eyes. The moment was perfect, when suddenly, one of the licker's claw moved. Celina's reflexes reacted quickly and grabbed my shotgun and shot it perfectly without aiming. The thought of kissing each other was wiped out of our heads, and we thought of it as nothing happened. Darn it. She picked up her gun then went-out of the room. I followed quickly.

CHAPTER TWELVE: NEVER SAY GOODBYE

I just can't believe what Leon told me a few minutes ago. I also can't believe how I reacted.I was foolish and pathetic. I knew I have been in love with Leon ever since he first took care of me, and because I was jealous of Ada. I also can't believe that we actually thought of kissing each other.it was weird, but I liked it. Leon acted better now, a lot better. I don't know what happened to him inside the room with Ada, maybe it was something that Ada said, but he has completely changed. I tried to forget all these things as we continued on. Now this place, I knew quite well. This is already near to the ending part. A sudden thought came up to me.if this is the end, then I won't be able to be with Leon anymore. I felt like not wanting to go back anymore, I just felt like staying here even for the rest of my life.just as long as I'm with Leon, but that can't be possible. I just wish that I have a time machine so that I can play back the time I first met him and let this game last longer than it should be. But still, not possible. But I really want Leon to be able to come with me back home.but still, no. all that's possible right now is to enjoy my time with Leon right now before I leave, and that's by holding his hand as we walked on. This part of the game is also the icky part because this is where the g-virus monsters live, so we had to take extra caution. I knew this part of the game very well. It was as if I used to live here, but honestly, I wouldn't wan to. We went back to check on Ada, which I didn't complain to anymore. We were expecting that we would see Ada still on the bench, for me, in agony, dead, or even a zombie. But when we entered, no one was there, "Damn! Where could she have gone? And how was she able to run away with those wounds?" Leon exclaimed. I checked the item box, which seemed to have been recently opened. Some of the herbs I took were gone, "She used the herbs I took earlier," I explained, and with this, I knew I could never forgive her, "Listen, Leon. I don't think it's just the way out of here is what she wants. She's probably sent on some mission to find something, so she needed you to help her on the way. But as soon as she gets what she wants, she'll just ditch and forget you," I said honestly, knowing that it's the truth, "I've played this game several times already and I know that she's up to something, only I can't remember what it is," "That's impossible. What could she be looking for in a place like this besides escape?" Leon protested, "I told you I can't remember. But please, trust me on this one. She wouldn't just run around without you if she only wants to escape, because that's what you're aiming for, right?" I replied, "I have trusted you up to this point, Celina. It's not that I like her or anything, but it's my job as a police officer to protect innocent people," Leon explained, I wanted to add 'is she innocent?' but I might start up a fight, and besides, I knew he was telling the truth because his eyes weren't wandering off as he used to. He sighed and caught my hand, and then we started off again. We reached a large metal door that needed an M.O. disk, "this is the door that will lead us to the emergency train," I said, remembering that we're so near to the end already, "come on, I know where the disk is," I continued and pulled him away. We found it in a room filled with zombie scientists. Upon getting out of the room, Annette Birkin, the wife of William and the one who had tried to kill Ada earlier, had a gun a pointed at us. On the other hand, she had the g-virus, "Wait a minute.I know you. You're the cop that's working with that secret agent, Ada Wong," she said, "What are you talking about?" Leon asked, she laughed a little and said, "You don't know her very well, don't you? Ada isn't like what you think she is. She's a secret agent sent by the agency to get the g-virus from my husband. She met John on the way, and became her boyfriend. She used him to get it, but unfortunately, he became one of those zombies. That's why she's now using you," Annette explained, "No!" Leon replied. I stayed silent, knowing what's happening and what's going to happen, "Fine, don't believe me. I'm going to kill you anyway," she said and aimed the gun at us, but before she could shoot, the ground shook. An alarm sounded and a programmed voice from the p.a. system said, "The self-destruct system has been activated. All employees are requested to proceed to the bottom platform," then a pipe fell on Annette, leaving her unconscious on the floor. Leon grabbed the g-virus and we started back to the metal door. I told Leon that the timer isn't going to start until we reach the platform, so there's no need to hurry. When we reached the bridge leading to the west side of the lab, someone from our rear shot a gun to get our attention. Surprisingly, it was Ada with a gun pointed hard at us, "Hand over the g- virus!" she said. I was right; she did want something before getting out of here. But Leon still wouldn't believe it, "What?" he asked, "I wouldn't want to shoot you, Leon, but if I have to, I will!" she said, "You too, b*tch!" she pointed at me, I cocked my head in disbelief, "I bet you couldn't have survived without my herbs," I emphasized, finally letting out what I want to say, "Hmph!" she exclaimed. "I told you to leave me, but you wouldn't listen!" she said, "I don't believe this," Leon said shaking his head, I wanted to add more, but I wouldn't want to spoil the drama that's going to happen. Without warning, someone shot Ada in the arm, which caused her to topple over the bridge. Unfortunately, Leon caught her. Then I saw Annette, who gave her last strength for vengeance of his husband. I took focus on Leon holding Ada, who was clinging to Leon's hand for life, "Please, Ada! Hold on! We can make it out of here together!" Leon told her, Ada shook her head, so did I, "No, Leon, this is the end for me. Goodbye," she said and let go of Leon's hand, "ADA!" Leon shouted trying to reach for her again, but she was falling down fast. I looked down and examined my boots, wishing I could keep them, really happy that Ada is finally gone. Leon knelt down and punched the floor twice, I wondered why he is. He then stood up and got the g-virus from his pocket and said, "So, this is the cause of all this," and he threw it to the pit as well, doesn't he realize that it's worth billions? I sighed and patted Leon, because even if I despised Ada, I knew Leon like her a lot, and that it was a big disappointment for him. We continued on downstairs slowly, but we had to act quickly because we met a lot of butt-naked zombies on the way. Finally, we reached the platform in one piece. The doors immediately shut closed behind us and the countdown started as soon as we entered. We both went to the elevator up front so that it can take us to the train. Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the roof again. But now, it didn't stop until the roof was open, so we had to back off. It was William Birkin again, but now, in a more monstrous form. He roared, and without even thinking, Leon and I split up in both sides of the room, so that he wouldn't be able to follow us at the same time. Unfortunately, it followed me first. It was the first time I ran that fast, breathing hard as I did. Leon came to my direction and tried to make William follow him, and it did. It followed Leon only for a few seconds, then I hear Leon shout, "Try to distract him again and I'll shoot it. Then, I'll let it follow me then you shoot it. Let's take turns in distracting him, ok?" "Ok!" I shouted back and ran to the monster. I distracted it and Leon was able to shoot it twice perfectly. But instead of dying, it mutated into a bigger monster. It was still following me, but I can't find where Leon was. I noticed that it wasn't following me anymore, so I stopped to look behind me. It wasn't there anymore. Where could it be? I heard growling above me, so I looked up, and wished I hadn't. It pounced on me, slicing my stomach deeper than it had been. I had no time to scream, for it was too painful and I couldn't stand up anymore. That was the only time Leon came on sight, "CELINA!" he shouted and shot the monster when it bolted towards him. It reacted for a few moments because of the shot, then lay flat dead on the floor. Leon dropped his rocket launcher and rushed to me. I was holding the slice with my arm, and when I looked at it, it was bleeding badly. Leon looked at me, as if not believing what he is seeing at the moment. He shook his head and said, "I am not going to lose you!" then I lost consciousness because of the pain. When I came back to consciousness, I opened my eyes slowly, feeling a pinch of pain. I saw Leon looking down at me, with tears in his eyes, "Where are we? What happened?" I asked him, moving my head around to see what was around me. Then I realized that I was lying on the floor, but not the same floor I was lying on earlier, "We're getting out of here. We're on the emergency train already," he replied, he held my hand, but I could hardly feel it, "We made it, Celina. We finally made it through," he said. I looked up and saw Claire with a little girl, whom I recognized as Sherry Birkin, the daughter of William and Annette. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. I realized that, if this was the end, this really was the end of everything. I'll be going back now, as I have always wanted.but not with Leon. I squeezed Leon's hand tighter, but I couldn't feel it anymore, "How's my wound?" I asked, Leon looked down and did not reply. I knew I was supposed to die, and that I am dying. So I really will be going back. Claire and Sherry left us alone now, I stared at Leon, and he stared back, "Look, I'm sorry for everything that I've done to you. I'm also grateful that I had someone like you. I probably didn't survive without your help," he said, I nodded and replied, "It's ok," and swallowed again, hardly breathing. "I know you want to go, you have to go.but I can't. I can't come with you," he said softly, "I know. You don't know how much I am regretting that I have always wanted to go back. Because now, all I want is to be with you," I replied honestly. I could hardly see clearly now, everything is becoming blurry and blurry at the moment. "I promise you, Celina, I'll come for you. I will go to your world and look for you, even if it's the last thing I'll do," he said his voice shaking, I smiled and replied, "I swear Leon, that I will wait for you.till my last breath comes,". Then, my body felt warm, Leon's touch was gone and everything around me turned black. Is this.dying? I took my time before I opened my eyes again. When I opened them, I recognized where I was.I was back. The television was turned on and was displaying a paused part of the game where Leon was walking down the corridors of the basement. The electric fan's sound was loudly heard as it oscillated. The sunshine shone through the window and lighted the play station, which was also turned on. I looked at the clock, it was 5:00 p.m. my parents would be back anytime soon. Now I started asking, was it just a dream? I was too confused for it felt so real. I wished it was not. I rubbed my eyes, then stood up straight. In doing so, something fell from the pocket of my shorts-a gold lighter with a lion's face etched onto it. I recognized it at once, it was the lighter that Leon has given me. A smile crept on my face.so it was real. I turned off everything and went outside into the open sunlight. I looked up at the sky and said in my thoughts: I promise I would never love anyone else but you, Leon. So, I will wait for you, whenever you may come, wherever you may arrive.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: UNLIKELY DREAM (author)

For 8 whole years, Celina lived a life without Leon by her side to protect her. She wasn't giving up hope yet, for she had a proof that she was really there, inside the game, with him. She still has his lighter, and wherever she would go, it was sure that she had it in her pocket. For the first 3 years, she was very full of hope that she even offered to be the one to answer their door, for she has always been dreaming that Leon would be standing on their doorstep, looking for her. But for the forth and fifth year, she was running out of spirit, but the hope never died down. On the sixth year onwards, she didn't care about the door anymore, but her faith and love for Leon was still within her. Then on the eight year, there happened to be another extraordinary Saturday summer afternoon, for that day, Celina was once again left alone in their house, but now, with her parents, because her grandparents went on vacation again, her younger brother has a family of his own already, her youngest brother was out on a date, and all of their maids went on a day-off. So, she was assigned to answer the door and the telephone. There was completely nothing to do. She had to stay wide awake because her parents were taking a nap. She plopped on their sofa and stared at her reflection on their projector-television. She then noticed something lying on the far corner of their living room. It was their old play station. For around 2 minutes, she was just staring at it, until she finally said, "I guess it's ok to play again," then stood up and set it up. When she was choosing a game from their old cd case, she came across the cd of a game she would forever remember, the game she knew by heart, Resident Evil 2. Just by staring at the cd, she remembered everything that happened to her while inside it. She missed Leon more. Then, she knew what she had to do, she put the disc A in the p.s., closed it, and pressed the power button. This disc is the disc where Leon is the character whom you will play. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Celina kept on trying and trying, but it just kept on hanging and hanging. So, she had no other choice but to play Claire's disc, which is disc B. Unremarkably, it worked quite well. Even though it wasn't Leon whom she was playing, she could remember every scene that she had been with him, since there are only a bit of differences if you play Claire in the first scenario of the game. She wasn't scared anymore of the scenes where she used to be so scared of. She doesn't why, but she can still feel Leon's presence with her. For only 45 minutes, she was already almost done with the game. When she was about to finish it, she just had to be disturbed. Someone rang the doorbell while she was busy shooting a licker that suddenly dropped from the ceiling. She paused the game with a long groan. The doorbell rang again, "'Coming!" she shouted angrily. She rushed downstairs, her feet pounding hard on the wooden staircase. She unlocked the door with her eyes closed, as if she didn't want to see who it was, "What do you want?" she asked, still not opening her eyes, "Maybe what you mean is, 'who do you want?'" the person replied. She opened her eyes wide, for the voice was too familiar to ignore, as well as the punch line. There, she saw standing before their gate, someone whom she never she'd ever see again. She just stood there, looking hard at him, as if she never wanted to lose him in sight, not really trusting her eyes. "I'm looking for a person named Celina, does she live here?" the man said. She still stood there, looking harder than ever. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. She wasn't moving, and the man just smiled, for he knew who she was, and was just the person who he was looking for. "Le-Leon? Leon!" she sobbed, he opened the gate and gave-out the caring look he always has whenever he'd look at Celina, "Celina," he said softly as if it was a name of a goddess. Celina ran towards him with tears falling down from her eyes. Leon opened his arms and caught her with a hug. "Leon, it's so good to see you here! I mean, I missed you so much, and I-I haven't seen for you a long time, and, and-" Celina said without stopping, but Leon knew she was going to tell more, "I know, I have as well," he said, placing Celina's head on his shoulder as he always did. "I have been looking all over for you," he whispered, "I know, and I was so worried that you might not come anymore. I mean, I waited 8 long years, and now, you're finally here!" she replied. She was so happy to have Leon with her again, in her arms. She felt safer and more secured than ever, and most importantly, she felt loved. She knew this wasn't another illusion, for she was having the same feeling she always had whenever she's with him. And that it also explained why disc A won't work earlier. "So, um, let's go inside, and talk," she said, sniffing, "Please don't cry, I'm here now. Your worries are supposed to be over already, right?" he said, wiping her tears with his hands. Celina just smiled at him. She knew she was acting pathetic, but she didn't blame herself, because she had a good reason to act that way. Leon stared at her in a different way, and started to lean to kiss her. Unfortunately, she woke-up. It was only a dream. The sky was still dark outside. Everyone was still asleep. She tried to go back to sleep again to continue her dream, but she couldn't. She wondered why she had that dream. It made her more hopeful to see him again.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A MISTOOK DREAM, A FEELING UNREAL (author)

Her hopes were getting lower once more by the time next year's summer came. It was another hot Saturday summer afternoon. She has forgotten all about the dream she had the past year, and she didn't notice that what was happening to her that day, also happened in her dream. The exact same things that happened to her dream were happening now, but still, she took no notice. Until she came to the point when the doorbell rang and she answered the door. Yes, it was Leon, but something else happened, which is the most unexpected of all. Celina's eyes were wide open, as she finally remembered her dream. She thought that what happened to her dream, was happening now.but she was wrong. She's wrong because instead of Leon saying "I'm looking for a person named Celina," he said, "I'm looking for a person named Lorraine, does she live her?". Lorraine is Celina's cousin. She can't understand why he was looking for her cousin, when she was the one with him in the game. "E-excuse me? Did I hear you right? Did you just say that you were looking for a Lorraine here?" she asked him taking two steps forward, and giving out a confused look, "Yes, you heard me right, miss. Do you know her?" he asked. Celina still couldn't believe her ears, she feared that for once she couldn't trust them. But first, she wanted to make sure that it was really Leon, "Why? Who are you anyway?" she asked, "Someone told me that she lived here, and I've been looking for her ever since I arrived. My name's Leon, Leon Kennedy. If she lives here, can you please tell her that her Leon is here?" he answered politely. Celina's heart sank, as well as her brain cells. She felt like she was falling into a deep pit, or getting drowned underwater. Still, she didn't hesitate to answer the question, "She used to, but not anymore. She's far from here. She lives in Australia now. Are you anything related to her?" she asked, Leon, or somebody else for her, was getting pissed off because of her questioning, "Yes, I am her boyfriend. Listen, lady, I don't have time for twenty questions. Thanks for the information anyway," he said and stepped away. Celina suddenly burst into tears before the man could reach back to his car and shouted something she didn't think she should, "YOU.YOU'RE NOT LEON!" she shouted. Leon stopped with a jolt and turned to her, "YOU'RE JUST SOMEBODY ELSE!" she continued, "LEON IS NOT LIKE YOU! HE'S NOT ANYTHING LIKE YOU AT ALL!" "What the hell are you talking about?" Leon replied with a big frown on his face, "Who are you anyway? What do you know about me, or anything else that's going on with my life? What do you care anyway?" he said looking down at her. More tears fell from Celina's face as she heard these words come out from the only man whom she vowed to love. "My name is Celina, Celina Archers.don't you remember me? Huh, Leon? I am the reason why you're here! And you're the reason why I'm still alive!" she said to him in a whispering sad and at the same time, angry voice. Leon just stared at her in disgust and stepped away from her, "I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you are. And to hell with what you're saying! Lorraine is the reason why I'm here! Not you! I don't even know you! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go," he said, and right before him, Celina fell to her knees, with her face down and her hands supporting her as her tears fell to the ground. Leon couldn't resist this anymore. He felt the sudden move to take his hanky out of his picket and gave it to her, "Here, keep it. I really have to go," he said and went back straight to his car, "Who.who are you?" Celina asked sobbing. Leon heard it, but didn't reply anymore. Celina knew she was acting more pathetic than she has imagined, but she didn't care. She had the best reason to, and that's because 8 whole years have been wasted, waiting for him to come to her arms. For nearly a month and a half, Celina had been trying to accept the truth: that Leon doesn't care for her anymore, that Leon doesn't think that she ever existed. I guess dreams don't come true to the end. Finally, time has come when Celina has fully accepted it, and forced herself to finally have a boyfriend who would care for her more than anything else. Leon reached Australia, and got who he wanted, Lorraine. After 2 more months, Celina's family decided to have a vacation in Australia. Celina wasn't quite sure if she wanted to or not, since the probability of seeing Leon there again is high. It's because they'll be staying at their uncle's apartment, who is Lorraine's dad. So, she made a decision that she'd rather stay in their country for a vacation, because if she's just going to go there and see Leon with Lorraine, then it wouldn't be a vacation at all. Her parents were already forcing her to go, and so were her classmates and friends. They say that it was a great opportunity, but they wouldn't say that at all if they were in Celina's place. Finally, she agreed to go because her parents allowed her to bring along her boyfriend, John Miguel, provided his parents pay his ticket roundtrip. When they got there, the first person that Celina wanted to talk to was her cousin, of course. She asked her how she had met Leon, and how come he knows her. Lorraine's reply didn't make her feel better at all, thought she did her best not to care.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: REUNITED (author)

For the next 3 days, she was now enjoying her stay. Even if she would see Leon hugging or kissing Lorraine, she wouldn't care, for she has her own "Leon" now. Sometimes, they would see each other at the same place, like the park, the coffee shop, in the mall, at the ice skating rink, and a lot more places. But even though they did see each other, they wouldn't bother to stop and say "hi" or "hello" to each other. After a week of seeing Celina with another guy, Leon had a strange feeling in the back of his mind. When he saw her in the park with J.M. eating ice cream, he couldn't help but follow them with his eyes, until Lorraine would catch him or when they're out of sight. There was also this one time, when they were all in the ice skating rink, Leon saw that J.M. was supporting Celina with both hands and couldn't help but glare at him, J.M. didn't mind though. Finally, the day has come when Leon couldn't resist to ask Celina something, and to end his jealousy of J.M. So, before Celina could even touch the doorbell, Leon started to say, "Celina, can I talk to you for a second?" Celina stopped with a jolt and turned to him with a big frown of curiosity, "And what would it be that you want to talk about?" she asked. Leon really didn't know how to answer this, "It's something that they wouldn't care about," he said. Celina took quite some time into thinking about it. A few more seconds later, she finally said, "Alright," and moved towards Leon who was the last person in line. Lorraine and J.M. had no other choice but to get inside without a word, but J.M. immediately stood next to the peeping hole on the door and looked at what was happening outside, "What's happening?" Lorraine whispered, "They're not yet talking," J.M. replied, whispering as well. Meanwhile, back outside, Leon crossed his arms and looked at Celina hard, "Have we met before?" he asked, that was the wrong thing to ask, for made Celina's blood boil to the hottest point and it rushed quickly to her head, "Jeez, Leon! Can't you remember anything?!" she asked angrily in a high pitched voice. Her eyebrows were almost crossed, and her arms and hands were flying around as if trying to hit something. But Leon just looked at her quietly. "I was the one who told you this address! I was the one who told you about Lorraine and how to find her! I was the one whom you left in front of our gate crying! And that was just two months ago!" Celina didn't know if she was going mad, or if she was about to cry again. "And if you can remember farther than that, even though I know you can't, I was the one who was with you throughout the game. I was the one who took care of you when you got injured. I was the one whom you gave your lighter to. I was the one who kept running away from you. I was the one whom you had your promises broken all the time. I was the one who envied Ada so much because you were starting to like her. I was the one whom you took care of from the start. And lastly, I was the one whom you promised to come after to when you reached this world, and I promised that I would wait for you no matter what." Celina was done with her fury, now was the time for her to cry. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go for a walk." she said, ".alone, please." She continued and started towards the elevator. J.M. saw this and quickly opened the door and ran after Celina. But when he caught her by the arm, she turned to him and said, "For once, J.M., can you please leave me alone? Please, I want to be alone right now." "We are not in our country, Celina. There are a lot of bad guys out there, and what do you think will they do to you?" he replied aggressively and started to pull her back into the apartment, "I am not going back, J.M.! I said I want to be alone!" Celina shouted pulling her arm back, "If this will have to break our relationship, fine! All I'm asking for is a little solitude!" she said nastily, "Fine! From now on, I don't want to have anything that's got to do with you anymore!" J.M. replied pointing his finger at her and walked back to the apartment. Celina headed for the park, and found herself a bench that's separated and hidden from the rest of the park. It was perfect for the solitude she has been wanting, for it was facing a lake and there was a tree beside it. She has already stopped crying, but was still thinking of everything that's got to do with Leon. It's been 30 full minutes of stillness and just looking at the lake in front of her, with the sun about to set. Leon suddenly appeared to her right, "I-I'm sorry for what I told you 2 months ago. It's just that I really can't remember anything about you, and being in the game and--" he started to say, but Celina interrupted, "Don't start, Leon, please," she said, her eyes starting to fill with tears again, but she didn't want Leon to see this, so she turned her head to the tree. "It's just that-" he started again, "I said don't start. People say actions speak louder than words, but I don't believe that. Because words can also bring great pain to the heart once you hear them," she replied, more tears trickling down her face, but she didn't wipe them. "Can you just do me a favor then?" Leon asked, "What is it?" she asked, "Can you please turn your head to me and if it would help me remember, and if you don't mind." he paused, "Can you tell me our story?" he asked. Celina couldn't believe her ears again, but she did not hesitate any longer. She slowly turned her head towards him for a moment, then turned back to the lake. She took a deep breath and started, but doing so, made her remember everything again. Leon stared at her from his position. He took notice of the tears in her eyes as he listened. After about a minute of staring, he felt the sudden move from his heart to shed Celina's tears. It felt like he has done this before. He slowly stretched out his arm, but Celina was too busy talking to notice, then he touched her soft face. Celina stopped to look at him in confusion and surprise. He moved forward a bit, and with both hands, wiped all her tears out. Celina just looked at him hard, not believing the moment was real. For a second, Leon noticed that Celina has stopped and was already looking at him, "Please don't cry. You won't be able to tell the story properly if you're crying," he spoke, but he wasn't sure if that was what he really wanted to say. Celina nodded in reply, faced the lake once more and continued. She felt the sudden care of Leon back again, and this made her smile as she continued. When she was at the part when Leon was saying sorry to her for leaving her alone, Leon was having a strange feeling in his mind that he could remember this scene very well already. "So you told me: I-I'm sorry for what I did. I never wanted to do it, especially with Claire, ok? I don't like her! I never did! And .a promise is a promise.and I broke it. So, I'm sorry. If I do it one more time, you can leave me and never listen to me. I promise-" Celina said, when suddenly, Leon interrupted, "I will never live another second of my life without you by my side," he continued. Celina was so surprised at this, because he has just said that exact same words that he did at that particular moment, "Leon, you remembered! You said the exact same words that you did at that time!" Celina said in a very surprised voice, "I guess I did, and it's because of your storytelling," he said with a smile, "But wait. I need more proof that you really have recalled everything," Celina said firmly, "What do you want me to do then?" Leon asked. Celina paused for a moment, thinking of the best question to ask him. "Ok, I've got it. What was the last thing you told me before I went back to my world?" she asked, but Leon just gave out a confused look, "Let's say that we're in the emergency train at this very moment. I'm lying down on the floor, and you were kneeling down beside me, holding my hand. What was the last thing that you told me?" she explained, and Leon understood well, "I promise you, Celina, I'll come for you. I will go to your world and look for you, even if it's the last thing I'll do," he replied, Celina gave out a satisfied smile and asked again, "And what did I reply to you?" "I swear Leon, that I will wait for you till my last breath comes," he replied proudly. Celina just smiled and hugged him tight, "I finally have my Leon back," she said, smelling the scent on his neck, "I guess you do. And I also have my Celina as well," he replied caressing her hair. They were just hugging each other for around 5 minutes, but Leon had to pull back, still with their faces close to each other. "Look, remember there was something I needed to tell you, but I wasn't able to? I also had something that I wanted to do, but wasn't able to. But I haven't done it to anyone else, so I don't really know if I'm doing the right thing or not," he spoke, but Celina didn't seem to understand, "What do you mean?" she asked curiously, "I mean.this." Leon replied and leaned forward to kiss Celina's lips. He let go slowly. Celina was stunned and speechless, but she liked it, "Yeah, you were doing the right thing. Only that it was too short," she replied and kissed Leon again in front of the setting sun. The kiss was long and passionate, with all their love for each other finally being freed from within them. While walking back to the apartment, they were continuously talking about a lot of things, like what happened to Claire, what Leon did after escaping, and more. When they reached the apartment, it was dark and the lights were turned off, so Celina had to turn on the light switch. In doing so, they caught Lorraine and J.M. making out on the couch, "J.M.! Lorraine!" Leon and Celina said in unison. The two heard them and sat straight in a jolt, "We're hooked up," Lorraine said plainly, Celina raised her eyebrows and replied, "Oh, ok," and shrugged her shoulders, "Aren't you going to say anything about this, Celina?" J.M. asked, "Hmm.is there anything that I should say?" Celina asked back, "How about you, Leon?" Lorraine asked him, "I don't know. I guess not," he replied, heading for the door, "Well, I'm going to sleep now. Good night!" she said and turned the lights back off again.

FIN