Chapter 12

The monstrosities popped out of their incubators at the worst possible time. Their reptilian, scaled bodies gleamed wetly even in the dimmed laboratory, bringing chills up Sam's spine. Just one would be enough to give her a heart-attack, but three?

"Oh, God . . ." Sam squealed as the hunched-over creatures lurched forward slowly, as if reveling in the moment of their great fear. When the nearest one came an inch forward, Cliff opened fire, the first shot punching a large hole into the nearest creature's thick neck. It shrieked horribly, then began to advance faster.

The other two lizard creatures split up, running in a way that seemed almost like a gorilla, only stealthier. They easily dodged broken tubes, even jumped over smaller obstacles, leaping well over five feet into the air. Drake had been firing as well, Sam noticed, but nonetheless, she found herself bolting for the door out, hardly taking in that she'd be alone. But she knew she couldn't defend herself, to the point she thought she was in their way. With that final rationalization, she was in a hallway that smelled like singed chemicals. A cackling fire could be heard from somewhere around the corner of the hall, drowning out the gunfire just a room away. She began to weep, out of shock, fear, or maybe even guilt.

God damn it! Why? Why do I have to be here? They're gonna die against those things!

All kinds of sordid thoughts flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds, making her hands tremble. The door opened, yet she could hear shrieks still filling the air. Cliff emerged, slamming the door shut.

"C-Cliff . . . ? Drake, where's Drake!" she asked him with a voice quivering in utter distress.

"He . . . he got attacked, I couldn't . . . I couldn't do anything!"

"No . . . Drake . . . this can't be happening!"

Cliff sank to the floor, lost in the scene that occurred just five seconds before. In the moment that it took for Sam to say another word, a horrible shrill came from the incubator room. It was one of those monsters, only it sounded like it was in great pain. Both Sam and Cliff got up to their feet, wondering exactly what had happened. There was a distinct silence, followed by the sound of something crunching glass.

It was Cliff who easily put his hand on the handle and pulled. The room was silent. To Sam's astonishment, there were two corpses of those lizard creatures, one riddled with bullets, and the other-

"Oh . . . shit . . ."

The other's arms were gone. Ripped from its very sockets! And a few feet away stood Drake, pointing his gun down toward something they couldn't see. As Sam neared closer to his blood-drenched body, she could see that he was smiling. Below the barrel of his nine-millimeter, there was the last monster, still half alive, writhing in a pool of blood. Seemingly lost in some strange delirium, Drake fired once, twice, then one final time before the creature stopped moving.

"D-Drake?" she managed to say meekly.

He turned around, his expression appearing somewhat odd. However, he wore a saddened face, marked all over with blood. She carefully came closer, Cliff not far behind.

"How did you do it?" Cliff blurted out of nowhere. "How did you live through that?"

Sam couldn't even tell if he was bleeding or if all the blood came directly from those things. After all, it had to be him; he must've somehow ripped those muscular reptilian arms off. But without even a scratch?

Drake put his gun away and wiped the bit of blood on his face, looking kind of shaken.

"I . . . I don't know. I don't know what happened . . ."

Sam turned around, not knowing what the hell to think or say. She thought hard for the next couple of seconds, but she couldn't go out and say it.

"Let's go, we don't have much time to waste."

S H A W N

They were jogging through some wooded pathway, not saying a word to each. Shawn could tell that regardless of what Eva was hiding, she did feel a kind of remorse for the death of Jim. It was the greatest injustice, after all. Like he said, the assholes who did all of this were going to pay dearly. At that very moment, he didn't know how he could avenge all of the victims, but it was most definitely a priority, even if it meant risking his very life.

"Shawn," Eva called out, stopping in her tracks. She unstrapped her rifle and aimed a tree several feet away. The shot hit the spot, and blood spurted all around. The creature came easily into view, the mannequin. Pieces of its pain-stricken face lay near the twitching body.

"We need to be more careful," she added.

"Wait, what's that?" Shawn said, looking at a distance.

A huge castle stood ominously, grayish clouds hovering near the very top. Without further answering him, Eva kept going, slowing to a fast-paced walk. He continued along with her, noticing a patch of fog thickening, reminding him of the horrible cave he ventured through. Eventually, they reached the back-side of the enormous castle, silence except for the whistling wind creating a most unsettling environment.

"The others are here?" he asked. "I hope they can last long enough for us to catch up."

There was a small bridge connecting a primitive, half-dried moat. It was so dark, only the occasional glimmer of water could be seen below. When they advanced to back entrance, Shawn could not help but marvel at the looming structure.

"This is an ancient castle protected by the people here, or at least it was," Eva pointed out. "Don't mistaken this for that tourist site, Bran Castle. This has been unrefined for ages, and hasn't been touched much. Actually, I believe it several looters tried to find anything of value around here, but were never seen again. They supposedly became the first 'victims'."

"Well, wasn't your clan originally from around this place?" Shawn asked while taking in the area.

"All of us came from different backgrounds. We kind of became wayfarers, wandering the world as hired hands and assassins. When a certain man was still our leader, we were known as the famous 'Nether Gate' by the commoners and nobles around here. But when he . . . died, we turned to Hisaru to lead, forming the Zalamel Clan. If you ask me, the life of an assassin isn't much interesting anyway."

"He didn't die, did he?" Shawn added, half expecting an answer and half waiting for her facial expression. She turned and began walking again, but Shawn grabbed her arm lightly.

"How do you expect me to fully trust you when you're always so mysterious about life? What is it with you, are you plotting something . . . with Wesker?"

"Is that what you're thinking?" she questioned back.

"Look, all I'm saying is when we get inside, don't leave my side, understood? At some point, I want to hear what whole story is about."

She gave him sort of a nod, just looking down. They continued toward a giant wooden door. The castle itself was like straight from a fairy tale, easily hundreds of feet up high. When he pushed open the door, he took notice of the torches still lit inside. Had his team actually lit up the halls? It almost seemed as if there were others dwelling within.

"Follow me," Eva commanded, going into a sprint.

"Hey, hold on," he said in response. He caught up to her, but nearly tripped as saw as much as heard the gunfire. Moments later, as Shawn and Eva looked around in shock, the castle began to tremble, dust and small debris crumbling down to their feet.

"What the hell is . . . wait, what Hisaru said!" Shawn couldn't believe it. As he neared the front, he climbed up a huge flight of stone stairs, Eva gaining behind him. When he reached the main hall, he saw them, his comrades, fighting legions of vampire monsters, all holding shields and bow guns and clubs, slaughtering and fighting like a true war right out of a morbid action movie. Eva broke him out of his instant of shock, and he was entering the fray, firing with his shotgun as quickly as he could.

"Shawn! You're alive!" shouted a fellow comrade.

"Dwayne," Shawn said, recognizing his dark skin and huge build right away, "lets send them to hell!"

"Right on!"

The battle ensued for a good twenty minutes, the horde of monsters falling quickly with the fire power they held. They used up most of their grenades, but the main hall was clear. The team regrouped, nearly all wiped out.

"Shawn," began one of the surviving squad leaders, "it's great to know that you're all in one piece. But, I'm sure either Eva . . . or Jim, has told you of our predicaments with the escape plan."

"Hey, Mueller, there's no way I'm gonna quit now! So even if they aren't coming, I'm prepared to fight to the end."

"But Shawn . . ." Mueller paused briefly. "The government, they're all against us coming out of this alive. You see, we were merely sacrificial lambs in all of this. They're literally preventing any means for our escape. Still wanna fight to the end?"

Shawn felt surges of many different feelings course through him, not allowing him to say even a word. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Everyone just stood there, looking grim. He didn't even know what to think.

"I know, we felt the same, Shawn. But, we have to way to get out. For whatever the big reason is, the U.S. Congress AND the President himself are on us, making sure everything remains as . . . planned. And that Wesker deal? I wouldn't be surprised if he made the whole thing up!" Shawn's eyes widened, that name tying so many knots in his gut.

". . . w-wait! But he is involved . . . ! He has a part, a major part in all of this! That must mean . . ."

"Just what are you getting at?" Mueller asked.

Just after, the large double-doors in the front of the main hall burst into pieces, a single man entering with a bazooka.

"Hisaru!" Eva said nearly under her breathe.

"So, have you told them yet, Eva?" were his first words. The others held their guns at him, watching his movements and listening to his babbling. "Guess not, so I'll tell them the good news! In a matter of time, all of you shall give birth to wonderful children! My children! Didn't know that? Aw, Eva! Keeping our guests in the dark this long is very rude! Alucard will be most displeased with you."

Every agent began to look around worriedly, suddenly feeling true fear enter through their limbs and veins and theirs hearts.

"Ha! Our little pet on the highest floor of this castle sprays our microscopic brethren to every corner of this very foundation. Even though it dissipates, our friend sprays once every hour or so. Regardless, you'll all die great and honorable deaths."

His gaze fell on Shawn, and even as he did, he knew why. Shawn was now the only one who possibly wasn't infected.

A L U C A R D

The time was upon them. Everything went smoothly, oh so smoothly. Wesker was busy with his own problems, and the wretched American agents were all going to contribute to his cause by spawning more loyal subjects. Alucard was more than thrilled. All those years of planning, of carefully trying not to rule out other outside possibilities, it was a dream come true! He could rest easily if he could revive his master the way he had planned it.

"Yes, now you shall rise!"

The city setting wasn't at all what he expected, but it was currently the closest safe spot for him to perform the ritual. The majority of his cohorts were all preparing the path, just in case anybody unwanted happened to wander too close; he couldn't have anybody defile his sacred ceremony.

In the center of the street, dozens of sacrificial bodies complete with their blood lay sprawled in a single pile. Right in front was the elegant, beautiful coffin of his long-asleep ancestor, his master, Him . . .

"Only legend? Pathetic humans . . . how we can fool you so! We shall show you how a mere 'legend' shall rule all lands! And our hidden group shall come forth from the shadows from wence they hid. We shall restrain all!"

The coffin lid was removed by several of his clan members, the body within bringing shivers up and down his unnatural spine. With his rite knife, which contained pure strains of the living parasite, he slit his left wrist, relishing every second of the moment. His blood dripped thickly onto the body.

The body began to almost instantaneously moisten, the outer crust skin peeling off in chunks. One devilish wing lifted from the coffin, the shrill of a demon born again echoing miles away.