Chapter 4
Past Realities
"Why didn't you give me up?" Adam whispered into the payphone. He stood in the booth nervously as the rain that evening started to hit the glass harder and harder.
"Because Mr. Skampa, you may be of more use just yet," said the high pitch voice of Alfred Ashford.
"What are you planning on doing with her?" Adam asked angrily.
"I believe that's none of your business."
"Come on you bastard, why the hell did you have to have Claire Redfield?!" Adam was losing his composure.
"Mr. Skampa, for now our business is done. Your payment has already been deposited in your account, so our dealings our done until I further contact you."
"Ashford!" Adam yelled, but it was useless he could already hear the dial tone.
"Dammit!" He shouted, shoving the phone back onto the receiver.
Hitting his fist against the glass of the phone booth, he watched as it vibrated. This was exactly the situation that he didn't want to get himself involved in. He should be on his way to some place warm like Mexico right now, instead he found himself trying to find the same person that he set up to capture.
"Dammit!" Adam yelled again before putting his hood over his head. With a deep breathe he opened the booth door and started to run out into the rain.
* * *
Leon was finding it hard to even breathe. As soon as Claire was taken away Alfred had released some more Assaults. They were forced, with no other choice, to leave the complex, and Claire.
The memory of one of the Assaults taking Claire away kept stabbing painfully into his heart.
When they returned to the hotel Leon found himself not able to do anything. Chris was rampaging through the room, he yelled, he threw things, he hit things, but at least he was doing something. Adam had gone out to make some phone calls to his inside sources in the F.B.I, both Rebecca and Carlos were taking care of Jill who was suffering from a gunshot wound in the arm. Barry was making a valiant effort in trying to calm Chris down, a task that no one else wanted. And still Leon did nothing. Finding a spot on the couch Leon collapsed there, and stared around the hotel room, and all the people who occupied it mindlessly.
Eventually Adam returned Leon watched as Chris approached his friend the moment he walked into the room.
"Did you find anything?"
Leon heard no response from Adam, but he could picture from in his head his friend shaking his head defeated.
Chris continued to thrash around the room. Leon had started to tune him out, but when Chris came up face to face with him ignoring became impossible.
Leon stared at Chris blankly, he didn't need this.
"Dammit Kennedy, she's out there! Don't you give"-
Before Chris could finish his sentence Leon suddenly stood up and grabbed him by the collar. Staring Chris in the eyes Leon could feel his body shake furiously.
"Of course I care. How could I not? But what the hell do you want me to do? Tell me Redfield, tell me anything and I'll do it?!"
Chris didn't say a word.
"I'm going for a walk," Leon said letting Chris go.
Walking past everyone's staring eyes Leon left the room, and made his way toward the hotel bar.
What could he possibly do? Knowing that Claire's life was in mortal danger was like an edge of a blade next to his heart.
When Leon got down to the bar and when the bar tender asked him what he wanted to drink, Leon told him anything hard.
He sat at the bar for awhile, slowly drinking one scotch after another. He was beginning to hit his break point when a woman, who judging from her clothing choices had to be some kind of Egyptian prostitute or something, approached him.
"Hello," the women said, she spoke in English, but still with the undertones of a strong Egyptian accent.
Not even looking at the women Leon took another sip from his beverage.
"So," the women said seductively "Are you here to take me to my next customer?" When Leon looked up and gave her a dubious look the women continued. "I was told someone from this bar would escort me."
"I'm not that guy," he told her curtly.
"Too bad," the women said taking a seat.
Leon had just finished the remains of his drink, and was ready to head back upstairs when a man in a sharp, grey suit approached the women of the night.
"Miss Bethal?" The man asked, women responded with a nod. "Mr. Ashford is waiting for you at his estate."
Ashford? Leon thought, that was defiantly a bit of a coincidence. In one smooth movement before anyone knew what was happening Leon grabbed the man in the suit, and threw his against the bar wall.
"Where the fuck is Ashford's estate?!" Leon yelled at the man, having him thoroughly pinned against the wall.
"Why...why do you want to kn...know?" The man said as he gasped for air.
Throwing him to the ground Leon pulled out his 9mm and placed it right between the man's eyes.
"Because I need to know," Leon said coldly.
By now the whole bar was watching. Leon held a gun to the man on the floor. The women who the man had come after in the first place wasted no time in leaving the scene. Other customers had moved to the opposite wall, getting as far away from Leon as they possible could.
With his gun still on the man on the floor Leon said to the bar tender. "Sorry for the disturbance," he then took the man in the suit by the collar, and dragged him out of the bar and up the stairs to the rest of the group.
"Where the hell is Alfred Ashford's estate?!" Chris yelled his face looked like that of a mad man.
Where the man in suit had enough balls to stand against Leon, the man was not stupid enough to go against Chris. Within five minutes they had the location.
The next problem was who was going to go rescue Claire. Of course everyone wanted to go, even Jill and her wounded arm wanted to go, but Chris didn't think to have everyone come was a good idea. He demanded that the group be small for infiltration purposes. Which was all fine and good, but Leon had a demand of his own.
"Chris, I'm coming with," he told the older man firmly. Chris stared at him for a moment, before nodding with approval.
"Alright, we should have one more person." Chris points over to Barry "Barry, your coming too."
Before Barry could tell them yes, Adam stepped in from behind the big man.
"I'm coming with you guys too," Adam told him, his voice just as firm and demanding as his own. "I'm responsible for this, if not directly I was the one who led you to the facility in the first place. I want to do whatever I can do to make immense."
Chris looked over at Leon, who was staring proudly at his friend. He knew Adam wanted to make up for his mistakes, and Leon didn't want to deny him that, but this was Claire they were talking about.
In the end Leon decided to trust his friend, and he gave Chris the go ahead nod.
Wasting no time Chris told them. "Alright boys, we leave now."
Chris turned to Carlos and Barry. "I want you two to take care of this bastard," Chris said giving the man in the suit a kick in the chest. "Then I want you to get a new hotel, it's not going to be safe here anymore. E- mail Leon with the new place, we'll check his e-mail as soon as we have Claire."
Clapping his hands together Chris asked everybody. "Is there any questions?" When nobody replied Chris didn't waste a moment. He started to get himself prepared to leave. Leon and Adam both followed suit.
As he was getting ready Leon could only think about one thing. He hoped to god that Claire was alright.
* * *
Things were hazy; it was hard to focus on anything. Claire had smoked her fair share of pot in college, what she was going through at the moment reminded her a lot of back then. Only now she was scared out of her mind.
When Claire was finally able to put things into focus, the sight only scared her more.
She was strapped to a table. Her ankles, legs, wrists, arms and neck were all pinned. Still able to move her eyes Claire hesitantly looked around the room.
It was like some freakish science lab. Utensils with blood covered all over them rested on a tray next to her head. Cupboards were open, and Claire could see tiny creatures in yellow glass jars. The counters had vials of all sorts of colors scattered all around.
When Claire had convinced herself that matters couldn't possibly get any worse, a meticulous laugh, that could only belong to one person echoed throughout the room.
Standing over her pinned body stood Alfred. A horrid smile spread across his pointed face.
"Do you have any idea how much I've dreamed of this moment Claire Redfield?"
"You're sick," Claire snarled at him.
"Maybe, or maybe I'm just have that kind of mad brilliance."
Claire didn't say anything, she thought he was both.
"You know Claire; you're going to make my prayers come true. In time, all will be right again."
A yearning look glazed over his eyes, and without another word Alfred left the room.
Claire absolutely hated being in that room. At least when Alfred was there she had something to direct her fears and hate at. When she was alone...she was alone.
Time passed ever so slowly with her body strapped to the stiff board. It was beyond horrible, and as time crawled on Claire had to wonder how close this must be to hell. Then again, if anything was to come close to hell it would be dealing with anything that was Umbrella.
When her mind was on the verge of crossing that very thin line of sanity, a miracle happened. She had been able to grab one of the tools on the tray, it wasn't very sharp, and it had blood all over it, but it would work.
Grateful for anything that would keep her mind focused on anything but current situation, Claire rubbed the tool relentlessly against the strap that held one of her wrist. And eventually she cut through.
With one hand free the rest was easy, and it wasn't long before Claire escaped the straps and was standing independently from the board.
Wasting no time in rejoicing over her sudden freedom Claire left the hellish room.
She was in a house, or rather a large mansion from the looks of things, which she presumed belonged to Alfred. She figured it shouldn't be that difficult to get out of there, but that was assuming that no one, or thing, found her first.
Claire walked through the mansion carefully, she traveled at a snails pace and kept her eyes as sharp as an owls. She considered animal instincts essential when surviving Umbrella's horrors.
Eventually she ran out of the hallway, and had come to a choice. There was a door to her left, and a door to her right. For whatever reason Claire went left.
She found herself in some kind of office. The walls were covered with shelves that contained folders. Every square inch was filled with a manila folder.
Curiosity got the better of her. Claire walked over to the shelves to investigate. The folders were all labeled with a person's name, and they all seemed to be in alphabetical order. She continued to scan the name's until she came across one that sounded familiar.
'Billy Coen.' Claire whispered to herself. She remembered Rebecca talking about him. It was Coen who helped her first escape from the train and facility, before she arrived at the mansion that Chris and the others were trapped in.
Taking out the folder from the shelf Claire flipped it open. The first page was a piece of paper that read...
William Coen
Captured on the outskirts of Raccoon City.
Subjected to Veronica and G-virus.
The paper then listed a bunch of medical and chemical terms that she didn't understand. Unfortunately, the next papers in the folder Claire did understand.
First there was a regular picture of Billy Coen. He was a handsome man, with dark, shaggy, brown hair. His eyes were like targets that drew your attention like a moth to a flame. They were buried on sorrow, emptiness, and burden. They were defiantly the eyes of a man that had seen Umbrella's horrors.
It was the next picture in the folder that made Claire's whole body go faint.
The next picture was of Billy Coen again; only in this one he had the appearance of one of Umbrella's hideous creatures. The truly unsettling part was, despite how drastically the pictures were...both had the same eyes.
Claire quickly shut the folder and put it back where she had found it. The thought of Chris going through the same thing suddenly haunted her thoughts. He had become the same monster that Billy Coen was. Only she never really got a good look at Chris in his monster form. Being able to compare the two pictures of Billy Coen made it all so much more real to her.
Now she knew she should leave the room right then, but something was nagging inside of her. She knew exactly what it was; it was as if the folders were teasing her.
Claire continued to search through the folders. There was name that she had to find, but prayed that she didn't.
'Steve Burnside.' Seeing the name chilled every bone in her body. With great hesitation Claire grabbed the folder from the shelf and opened it.
Steven Burnside
Found wounded at the Antarctic base.
Infected with Veronica Virus, later G-virus.
The bottom had the same medical and chemical terms that Billy's had. Keeping just to the first page for awhile Claire took a deep breath before turning it.
There staring her right in the face was Steve. His image had haunted so many of her dreams, and nightmares. To see him again, even if just in a picture, was more then Claire could take. She threw the file to the floor in scared panic. She didn't need to see his monster form; she saw it every time she closed her eyes.
She was about to leave the room when from no where gun shots came from outside the room. Claire stood there frozen, why the hell were there gun shots? Still standing there another round of shots were fired. They were awfully close.
With another deep breathe Claire opened the door. Immediately her body collided with something. Instinctively she jumped back about ten feet before she realized who she had run into.
"Leon!" She cried, running up to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him as tightly as she could.
Leon held onto her, his grip was tight and comforting. When he spoke his voice was shaking with relief.
"My god Claire, I thought...Jesus I don't ever want to think about it again. Are you alright?"
Burying her face in his shoulder she whispered to him. "Can we just get the hell out of here?"
She could feel him nod his head. Taking another moment just to hold her Leon pulled away, but still held on to one of her hands.
"Let's go," he whispered back, a faint smile was spread across his lips.
With a weak nod the two of them went through the right door.
AUTHORS NOTE:
Claire's found, but I promise her problems aren't even half over. Thank you for reading. Hope the suns shining bright on everyone.
Always,
Leah
Past Realities
"Why didn't you give me up?" Adam whispered into the payphone. He stood in the booth nervously as the rain that evening started to hit the glass harder and harder.
"Because Mr. Skampa, you may be of more use just yet," said the high pitch voice of Alfred Ashford.
"What are you planning on doing with her?" Adam asked angrily.
"I believe that's none of your business."
"Come on you bastard, why the hell did you have to have Claire Redfield?!" Adam was losing his composure.
"Mr. Skampa, for now our business is done. Your payment has already been deposited in your account, so our dealings our done until I further contact you."
"Ashford!" Adam yelled, but it was useless he could already hear the dial tone.
"Dammit!" He shouted, shoving the phone back onto the receiver.
Hitting his fist against the glass of the phone booth, he watched as it vibrated. This was exactly the situation that he didn't want to get himself involved in. He should be on his way to some place warm like Mexico right now, instead he found himself trying to find the same person that he set up to capture.
"Dammit!" Adam yelled again before putting his hood over his head. With a deep breathe he opened the booth door and started to run out into the rain.
* * *
Leon was finding it hard to even breathe. As soon as Claire was taken away Alfred had released some more Assaults. They were forced, with no other choice, to leave the complex, and Claire.
The memory of one of the Assaults taking Claire away kept stabbing painfully into his heart.
When they returned to the hotel Leon found himself not able to do anything. Chris was rampaging through the room, he yelled, he threw things, he hit things, but at least he was doing something. Adam had gone out to make some phone calls to his inside sources in the F.B.I, both Rebecca and Carlos were taking care of Jill who was suffering from a gunshot wound in the arm. Barry was making a valiant effort in trying to calm Chris down, a task that no one else wanted. And still Leon did nothing. Finding a spot on the couch Leon collapsed there, and stared around the hotel room, and all the people who occupied it mindlessly.
Eventually Adam returned Leon watched as Chris approached his friend the moment he walked into the room.
"Did you find anything?"
Leon heard no response from Adam, but he could picture from in his head his friend shaking his head defeated.
Chris continued to thrash around the room. Leon had started to tune him out, but when Chris came up face to face with him ignoring became impossible.
Leon stared at Chris blankly, he didn't need this.
"Dammit Kennedy, she's out there! Don't you give"-
Before Chris could finish his sentence Leon suddenly stood up and grabbed him by the collar. Staring Chris in the eyes Leon could feel his body shake furiously.
"Of course I care. How could I not? But what the hell do you want me to do? Tell me Redfield, tell me anything and I'll do it?!"
Chris didn't say a word.
"I'm going for a walk," Leon said letting Chris go.
Walking past everyone's staring eyes Leon left the room, and made his way toward the hotel bar.
What could he possibly do? Knowing that Claire's life was in mortal danger was like an edge of a blade next to his heart.
When Leon got down to the bar and when the bar tender asked him what he wanted to drink, Leon told him anything hard.
He sat at the bar for awhile, slowly drinking one scotch after another. He was beginning to hit his break point when a woman, who judging from her clothing choices had to be some kind of Egyptian prostitute or something, approached him.
"Hello," the women said, she spoke in English, but still with the undertones of a strong Egyptian accent.
Not even looking at the women Leon took another sip from his beverage.
"So," the women said seductively "Are you here to take me to my next customer?" When Leon looked up and gave her a dubious look the women continued. "I was told someone from this bar would escort me."
"I'm not that guy," he told her curtly.
"Too bad," the women said taking a seat.
Leon had just finished the remains of his drink, and was ready to head back upstairs when a man in a sharp, grey suit approached the women of the night.
"Miss Bethal?" The man asked, women responded with a nod. "Mr. Ashford is waiting for you at his estate."
Ashford? Leon thought, that was defiantly a bit of a coincidence. In one smooth movement before anyone knew what was happening Leon grabbed the man in the suit, and threw his against the bar wall.
"Where the fuck is Ashford's estate?!" Leon yelled at the man, having him thoroughly pinned against the wall.
"Why...why do you want to kn...know?" The man said as he gasped for air.
Throwing him to the ground Leon pulled out his 9mm and placed it right between the man's eyes.
"Because I need to know," Leon said coldly.
By now the whole bar was watching. Leon held a gun to the man on the floor. The women who the man had come after in the first place wasted no time in leaving the scene. Other customers had moved to the opposite wall, getting as far away from Leon as they possible could.
With his gun still on the man on the floor Leon said to the bar tender. "Sorry for the disturbance," he then took the man in the suit by the collar, and dragged him out of the bar and up the stairs to the rest of the group.
"Where the hell is Alfred Ashford's estate?!" Chris yelled his face looked like that of a mad man.
Where the man in suit had enough balls to stand against Leon, the man was not stupid enough to go against Chris. Within five minutes they had the location.
The next problem was who was going to go rescue Claire. Of course everyone wanted to go, even Jill and her wounded arm wanted to go, but Chris didn't think to have everyone come was a good idea. He demanded that the group be small for infiltration purposes. Which was all fine and good, but Leon had a demand of his own.
"Chris, I'm coming with," he told the older man firmly. Chris stared at him for a moment, before nodding with approval.
"Alright, we should have one more person." Chris points over to Barry "Barry, your coming too."
Before Barry could tell them yes, Adam stepped in from behind the big man.
"I'm coming with you guys too," Adam told him, his voice just as firm and demanding as his own. "I'm responsible for this, if not directly I was the one who led you to the facility in the first place. I want to do whatever I can do to make immense."
Chris looked over at Leon, who was staring proudly at his friend. He knew Adam wanted to make up for his mistakes, and Leon didn't want to deny him that, but this was Claire they were talking about.
In the end Leon decided to trust his friend, and he gave Chris the go ahead nod.
Wasting no time Chris told them. "Alright boys, we leave now."
Chris turned to Carlos and Barry. "I want you two to take care of this bastard," Chris said giving the man in the suit a kick in the chest. "Then I want you to get a new hotel, it's not going to be safe here anymore. E- mail Leon with the new place, we'll check his e-mail as soon as we have Claire."
Clapping his hands together Chris asked everybody. "Is there any questions?" When nobody replied Chris didn't waste a moment. He started to get himself prepared to leave. Leon and Adam both followed suit.
As he was getting ready Leon could only think about one thing. He hoped to god that Claire was alright.
* * *
Things were hazy; it was hard to focus on anything. Claire had smoked her fair share of pot in college, what she was going through at the moment reminded her a lot of back then. Only now she was scared out of her mind.
When Claire was finally able to put things into focus, the sight only scared her more.
She was strapped to a table. Her ankles, legs, wrists, arms and neck were all pinned. Still able to move her eyes Claire hesitantly looked around the room.
It was like some freakish science lab. Utensils with blood covered all over them rested on a tray next to her head. Cupboards were open, and Claire could see tiny creatures in yellow glass jars. The counters had vials of all sorts of colors scattered all around.
When Claire had convinced herself that matters couldn't possibly get any worse, a meticulous laugh, that could only belong to one person echoed throughout the room.
Standing over her pinned body stood Alfred. A horrid smile spread across his pointed face.
"Do you have any idea how much I've dreamed of this moment Claire Redfield?"
"You're sick," Claire snarled at him.
"Maybe, or maybe I'm just have that kind of mad brilliance."
Claire didn't say anything, she thought he was both.
"You know Claire; you're going to make my prayers come true. In time, all will be right again."
A yearning look glazed over his eyes, and without another word Alfred left the room.
Claire absolutely hated being in that room. At least when Alfred was there she had something to direct her fears and hate at. When she was alone...she was alone.
Time passed ever so slowly with her body strapped to the stiff board. It was beyond horrible, and as time crawled on Claire had to wonder how close this must be to hell. Then again, if anything was to come close to hell it would be dealing with anything that was Umbrella.
When her mind was on the verge of crossing that very thin line of sanity, a miracle happened. She had been able to grab one of the tools on the tray, it wasn't very sharp, and it had blood all over it, but it would work.
Grateful for anything that would keep her mind focused on anything but current situation, Claire rubbed the tool relentlessly against the strap that held one of her wrist. And eventually she cut through.
With one hand free the rest was easy, and it wasn't long before Claire escaped the straps and was standing independently from the board.
Wasting no time in rejoicing over her sudden freedom Claire left the hellish room.
She was in a house, or rather a large mansion from the looks of things, which she presumed belonged to Alfred. She figured it shouldn't be that difficult to get out of there, but that was assuming that no one, or thing, found her first.
Claire walked through the mansion carefully, she traveled at a snails pace and kept her eyes as sharp as an owls. She considered animal instincts essential when surviving Umbrella's horrors.
Eventually she ran out of the hallway, and had come to a choice. There was a door to her left, and a door to her right. For whatever reason Claire went left.
She found herself in some kind of office. The walls were covered with shelves that contained folders. Every square inch was filled with a manila folder.
Curiosity got the better of her. Claire walked over to the shelves to investigate. The folders were all labeled with a person's name, and they all seemed to be in alphabetical order. She continued to scan the name's until she came across one that sounded familiar.
'Billy Coen.' Claire whispered to herself. She remembered Rebecca talking about him. It was Coen who helped her first escape from the train and facility, before she arrived at the mansion that Chris and the others were trapped in.
Taking out the folder from the shelf Claire flipped it open. The first page was a piece of paper that read...
William Coen
Captured on the outskirts of Raccoon City.
Subjected to Veronica and G-virus.
The paper then listed a bunch of medical and chemical terms that she didn't understand. Unfortunately, the next papers in the folder Claire did understand.
First there was a regular picture of Billy Coen. He was a handsome man, with dark, shaggy, brown hair. His eyes were like targets that drew your attention like a moth to a flame. They were buried on sorrow, emptiness, and burden. They were defiantly the eyes of a man that had seen Umbrella's horrors.
It was the next picture in the folder that made Claire's whole body go faint.
The next picture was of Billy Coen again; only in this one he had the appearance of one of Umbrella's hideous creatures. The truly unsettling part was, despite how drastically the pictures were...both had the same eyes.
Claire quickly shut the folder and put it back where she had found it. The thought of Chris going through the same thing suddenly haunted her thoughts. He had become the same monster that Billy Coen was. Only she never really got a good look at Chris in his monster form. Being able to compare the two pictures of Billy Coen made it all so much more real to her.
Now she knew she should leave the room right then, but something was nagging inside of her. She knew exactly what it was; it was as if the folders were teasing her.
Claire continued to search through the folders. There was name that she had to find, but prayed that she didn't.
'Steve Burnside.' Seeing the name chilled every bone in her body. With great hesitation Claire grabbed the folder from the shelf and opened it.
Steven Burnside
Found wounded at the Antarctic base.
Infected with Veronica Virus, later G-virus.
The bottom had the same medical and chemical terms that Billy's had. Keeping just to the first page for awhile Claire took a deep breath before turning it.
There staring her right in the face was Steve. His image had haunted so many of her dreams, and nightmares. To see him again, even if just in a picture, was more then Claire could take. She threw the file to the floor in scared panic. She didn't need to see his monster form; she saw it every time she closed her eyes.
She was about to leave the room when from no where gun shots came from outside the room. Claire stood there frozen, why the hell were there gun shots? Still standing there another round of shots were fired. They were awfully close.
With another deep breathe Claire opened the door. Immediately her body collided with something. Instinctively she jumped back about ten feet before she realized who she had run into.
"Leon!" She cried, running up to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him as tightly as she could.
Leon held onto her, his grip was tight and comforting. When he spoke his voice was shaking with relief.
"My god Claire, I thought...Jesus I don't ever want to think about it again. Are you alright?"
Burying her face in his shoulder she whispered to him. "Can we just get the hell out of here?"
She could feel him nod his head. Taking another moment just to hold her Leon pulled away, but still held on to one of her hands.
"Let's go," he whispered back, a faint smile was spread across his lips.
With a weak nod the two of them went through the right door.
AUTHORS NOTE:
Claire's found, but I promise her problems aren't even half over. Thank you for reading. Hope the suns shining bright on everyone.
Always,
Leah