Resident Evil, White Claudia
Part 6/7
By Fenris Ulf
Disclaimer: I did not have anything to do with creating Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Which is a good thing considering how much therepy I'm going to need when this is over.
In theory, the plan was simple. She would go out to the edge of Lisa's "territory" and summon Lobsel Vith. She would then drag him into the hospital where his power would be lesser and then they, with Lisa's help, would destroy him.
In reality, the plan had a horrible number of things that could go wrong. In the hospital world, Lisa did not like the monsters, so they did not appear. Sometimes, they might wander in on thier own, but they could not spawn in the hospital. While venturing into Lobsel Vith's territory, this wouldn't hold true. While there, Sherry herself would probably conjure monsters. Nightmare versions of the Umbrella creatures she had seen, plus the new monsters she had experience were all possible.
"What else can go wrong?" she asked the sorcerer.
"Your power is great, but it does come with a price," Jim said to her seriously. "I'm sure you must have figured it out by now."
"It causes brain damage, doesn't it?" she asked him.
He shook his head. "Not exactly. This is a place where wishes and dreams come true. It is difficult for good wishes to manifest, it is easy for dark nightmares to show. Though they cannot take you over, the gods batter at your soul as you work your magic. The power of the gods will be nothing compared to trying to summon a god itself."
"What might happen?" she asked.
"I don't know," he told her. "You might simply perish. Your spirit could be destroyed. Lobsel Vith might be able to consume you at that point, allowing him to control you like a puppet."
She closed her eyes for a moment.
The idea of that awful slithering in her brain taking her over seemed a hundred times worse than being eaten alive.
"I have to get ready," she said to Jim. She turned and left the cell.
She sat up on the rooftop. "What brings you up here?" Melvin asked her.
"Just thinking." She looked at the weapon he was packing. It was an M-16. "What do you have there?"
"Oh, most of the people who know how to fight will be out there. Ben asked me to make sure the hospital was clear of monsters and to protect Lisa. He knew right away that I didn't have any real skills that way, but he figured that I might be able to hold down the fort."
"How good are you at that thing?"
"Ben showed me a few things these past few days. I do all right on the target range. Or so he says."
"'So he says?' Don't you think Ben knows what a good marksman should be?"
"I suppose. I think that he's just telling me I'm good so I don't worry when everything happens."
"What do you think will happen. Do you think that you'll be able to go home?"
"I don't know. This place is so crazy, that I'm not sure if I'm awake or dreaming. I don't know how I'll begin to explain this place if I ever do get back to the real world. I don't even know if I can use this weapon if I had to. You're a fighter, Sherry. What do you think will happen?"
"I don't know what will happen either." She fiddled with the knob on one of the instruments. "I do know that we can't stay here forever. I'll go crazy if I have to stay here."
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Sherry was loading up the rifle she had picked up, which she learned was the experimental M-8 rifle.
"Jim says that I'm the only one who can do this. I just wonder..."
She stopped for a moment and simply stared at the ground for a moment.
"What is it, Sherry?" Ben asked her. She looked at the man for a moment. By his own admission, he was a murderer, cannibal and worse, but she didn't question the concern in his eyes.
"I just wonder if my father did something to me."
"From what you told me about your father, I take it that you aren't talking about breaking your arm or molesting you. But how would a scientist know about any of this?"
"I don't know. Maybe he did research into psionics or maybe he fiddled with experimental brain virsus, or I don't know. Once the idea entered my head, it seemed a hundred times worse than the idea that I had been letting those gods into my head."
Ben rubbed his fist against his forehead. Before he could say anything, she sighed. "Its just that, I don't think that he wouldn't experiment on me. I wouldn't put it past him. Maybe my mom wouldn't."
"What do you want me to say, Sherry? That I'm not glad that you can do this? I am glad. I might be able to go back home. I might be able to go to my sister's house and make up for all the things I said to her when I was stoned and feeling sorry for myself."
Sherry looked at Ben for a moment and then smiled and began to load up some fragmetation grenades.
It was actually quite a group gathered at the gates of the hospital.
"So, how do I get to Lobsel Vith's territory?" she asked Jim.
"Distance doesn't mean anything. For Lisa, this hospital and the area directly around it is under her domain. If Lobsel Vith is the one that summoned you here, then that means that he's probably waiting outside for you. The trick is not in finding him."
"Let me guess," she said. "The trick will be in getting back out. You'd think that I'd be used to that by now."
Their job was to go with her part way into Lobsel Vith's territory. They would be holding the talismans and they would be holding a corridor open between Lobsel Vith's territory and Lisa's. They would also be responsible for killing any monsters that would be trying to get from one territory to the other.
"Now, how do I drag this Lobsel Vith from his territory into this one?"
"You have to use his symbol. He will assume a shape to confront you with. When the time is right, you have to draw him into you."
"He's a god. How am I supposed to draw him in?"
"You know better than me."
She looked at him for a moment. "One of these days, I'm going to get a straight answer on how to get this stuff done and the world will come to an end."
"Let's hope not."
In theory, all Sherry had to do was to go out and Lobsel Vith would come out to play all by himself. She shook hands with Ben and a few others, then stepped back out into the dark.
To be continued...
Next part: Initial Vector
