Author's Notes; trying to get this thing moving swiftly along so I can got to the later chapters when the better stuff happens…there's also a good reason that I don't mention her name but you'll find that out later…
The day of hell…
Well, actually, I think I'd have preferred hell. At least if I was in hell I would've known that I couldn't sink any further that things couldn't get any worse. But then, in the place that I was, the only way was down.
…But I'm skipping ahead, I haven't set the scene yet. All good stories need a scene, and I can remember mine clearly…
It was warm and dry outside, my shirt sticking to my back as I walked through the doors of the R.P.D, taking in the details of a room that I'd seen everyday. It sounds stupid, but even then I got this feeling that something was wrong, a sharpness to the air, something that just felt slightly out of place. But then, I didn't know what was coming, so I just ignored it. Like I always did. I ignored everything, even the things that mattered…
It was no different when I got to the S.T.A.R.S office. Something was wrong. But still, seeing so many familiar faces doing such familiar things chased away any fear that I had. Knowing that Joseph was still there, cracking blonde jokes by the water cooler, or that Barry was assembling some new gun from the Kendo gun shop made the fear go away.
Mistake number one Redfield… always trust your instincts. Instincts are always right… But by then, any notion of instinct I had left in me was buried deep down, forgotten under months of routine and comfort and security. Another things she's to blame for, making me forget my instincts, although I could never blame her for anything. She was there, another reason for my fears to be chased away, right? My very heart and soul bared to the world for all to see. And while my heart was ruling my head my couldn't see. But I guess love does that to you, in one way or another. Blinds you.
Now look. I've gone completely off topic. I'm meant to be painting a picture, the scene, not blabbering on about things that you don't want to hear.
S.T.A.R.S office. Early. Joseph was hanging over the water cooler, bragging to Chickenheart about his latest conquest, some ditzy blonde named Kaci who worked as a part-time waitress at the restaurant downtown. Brad didn't seem the slightest bit interested, just sat there half picking his nose while staring at a coffee stain on the wall. God knows how it got on the wall, I think the place was designed with it in the blueprints.
I miss them too. Not as much as I miss her, but they represented everyday life to me, they were my friends, my closest friends, and life isn't the same without them now. In an entirely macho way you understand…
I remember just sitting at my desk, thumbing through the stack of reports, and inwardly cursing the repairman for not fixing the fan. The S.T.A.R.S office could get hot, sticky, unbearable even in the summer, and the repair-guy hadn't the decency to put us long suffering S.T.A.R.S members out of our misery. The inhumanity of it all! How would I survive a day without air-conditioning? In summer?
Come on. If that doesn't warrant a large audience gasp of terror then I don't what will. It certainly made me shudder when I faced the prospect a year ago. Little things…
Bet the repairman's dead now. Most people are dead who were in the office that day. Joseph, Brad, Ken, Richard… God, even Wesker snuffed it, but that's another story. Even… I forget, she wasn't in the office then, but it didn't mean that she couldn't die.
She was on the shooting range, always was in the morning. Said that as soon as you wake up, your mind is more awake than at any other point in the day. Perfect time to shoot she said, when your aim was best. The fact that she always did it made me feel better. Helped me to get rid of those suspicious feelings I had earlier on. Helped me to persuade myself that my instinct was wrong. If people around you are acting as normal, then life must be normal, and something must be wrong with you, not the world.
I think I even started to believe it. Convinced myself that my instinct was wrong. I was falling for it. Then call came through…
Author's notes; promise it'll get more exciting soon, causein the next chapter they go to the mansion...