Standard Disclaimer
(A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys. Please keep them going! Every writer needs motivation!)
Chapter 2: First Connections
Knees tucked up to her chin, Jill found herself anticipating the contents of the next chamber. She was seated just before the yawning doorway, which was bathed in darkness as she had expected. At that point, Jill was not sure of what the killer was capable of. For all she knew, stepping into the next room would mean falling into a pit with spikes at the bottom. Why was it he seemed to want them alive, though? What was the purpose of navigating through these challenges? As Jill released her knees and allowed her boot-covered feet to stretch out, she looked up at Aaron and Anna who looked equally puzzled.
"What now?" Aaron questioned, his hands casually placed on his hips as he attempted to peer into the next room. It was clear that the three of them were all fatigued and rapidly losing hope, but there was no other way out.
"I wish it was so simple I could just answer you. All I can say, though, is that we keep going," Jill stated, pulling herself to her feet and smoothing her light blue halter-top. Aaron looked particularly disappointed, yet he nodded. Anna could only fight back tears and attempt to smile. With this, Jill led them through the doorway and half-expected herself to die right there. What she mistook for a blow was actually the explosion of lights, which efficiently revealed the room. The hissing noise Jill earlier considered being some faltering in the plumbing came back and slapped her in the face with reality. There, not ten feet away, lay what appeared to be a pool, yet instead of being filled to the brim with water… there were snakes.
Jill could only gape at the pit with eyes reflecting horror, as she had a loathing of the slithering creatures ever since she nearly died by one's bite in her youth. She felt her heart sink and begin beating at a tremendous pace. Anna looked extremely terrified as well, but not to the degree that Jill had. Aaron could only watch and try to arouse some determination. The feedback ripped through the radiance, alerting the trio and nearly causing Jill to fall with surprise.
"It appears you have survived for another moment, yet if you want to survive you must press on. Kind of familiar, no? You see before you a pool filled with venomous snakes, and they have not eaten for quite some time. I took the liberty of selecting the top-ten most poisonous for the pit, as I'm sure you can appreciate. As you can see, there are three jungle-gym ladders stretched horizontally over the snakes at approximately two feet. You will find they are coated with a little something to make it more… amusing. Your objective: get across the pit. Happy hunting, oh-venomous ones…"
Jill could feel herself ready to lose consciousness, until Anna placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She smiled Jill in reassurance, and Jill could only thank her with a nod. In a beat, Aaron had approached the edge of one pool and the starting rungs of the ladder. It seemed this alone was enough to agitate the famished snakes, as quite a few of them perked up to stare down their "prey." "Be careful!" Anna called out.
Aaron nodded back at Anna, giving Jill a warm grin before lacing his fingers around the highest of bars and starting up the ladder. "Okay, Jill, are you ready?" Anna then questioned. Once more Jill's nod made up for her absence of speech, and she followed Anna to one of the ladders. Anna slightly whimpered as the snakes near her ladder hissed loudly. She grabbed onto the rungs, noticing a thick layer of wax around the bars. She cried out, yet silenced in order to reassure Jill. Slowly, yet surely, she started across the pool. Jill grasped onto her own ladder, tuning out the hissing of the snakes as she lifted herself up onto the ladder and began crossing. Her hands would continually slip, and she had to fight to grasp onto the ladder. She noticed Anna and Aaron experiencing similar difficulties.
"I don't know if I can do this!" Anna suddenly cried out, tears streaming down her face.
"Don't let go! This is all a mental challenge! Keep your head straight and concentrate!" Aaron called back, motivating Jill as well. Jill's eyes narrowed with hatred. There was only one way to point the finger at. Who else would go so far as to try and kill her? It had to be Umbrella…
- The Previous Night
"Ms. Valentine… we have some… bad news… about Chris…"
"What! What happened to Chris? Is he all right?"
"We're afraid not. Here at the Bard River bank, we found Chris' car upside down in the river. It appears he was rammed off the bridge into the water. His body was trapped inside, and we believe he drowned…"
"No…"
"We're sorry, ma'am. We contacted his younger sister, a Mrs. Claire Kennedy. She said she wanted to see you, and that she's coming to town tomorrow." After this, Jill promptly hung up the phone, turning on her office chair for a moment before throwing herself onto the ground in hysterics. She was there for a good four hours, bathed solely in the light of her monitor before she clambered into bed and was attacked…
- On the ladder
Jill found a few tears now welling in her eyes, and she allowed them to fall before pressing onward. The pool was massive in width, an obvious purpose. Jill's hand caught the next rung incorrectly, because with one ching she slipped and swung around the ladder.
"Jill!" Anna cried when she noticed their leader hanging on for dear life. Jill had managed to hug the ladder with both her arms and legs, now only a foot from death. Her senses went completely out of whack, and she found a nauseous feeling overtaking her body. Her arms were going limp, yet she somehow managed to cling on. By the moment, she was losing her grip. Looking horizontally, she saw a king cobra arching up to try and meet her level. Its body was not lengthy enough, yet it was enough to cause the sweat molecules on her person to over-act.
"Help!" She could only cry, struggling for support. Was she about to die by her worst nightmare? No! If she could just swing around once more…
Her hands found the bars, and she attempted to force herself around it, yet the wax was too thick! At that moment, everything seemed to slow down, and all she could hear was her thumping heart. Then… it happened. One hand lost its strength and dangled helplessly, finding its way into the biting range of the cobra as well as two other snakes, which jumped on the chance. She felt their fangs sinking into her skin, and the poison began to course into her veins. All strength was lost as she cried out in pain, releasing her grip and allowing herself to fall into the pit of snakes, which slowly and painfully began to devour her… one bite at a time. Her hand would be the last thing Anna and Aaron saw before sinking out of sight…
"I got you!" Aaron cried as he grabbed onto the still-hanging Jill. This extra support allowed her to snap back into reality, as she sobbed a few times before pulling herself up. That vision had seemed so terribly alive! "Come on, and be careful!" Aaron then proceeded to lead her down the remainder of her ladder, making for a moderately difficult trip before she gratefully reached the opposite side. With the appreciation of a homeless person winning billions, Jill wrapped her arms around Aaron and subconsciously kissed him on the cheek. Anna seemed to look quite surprised with this, yet she was able to forgive it considering Jill had just barely escape the clenches of death.
Jill's eyes then fell upon a bleeding wound on his arm, and she looked at him desperately. "You were bitten?"
"Its tooth grazed my arm, but I'm pretty sure I'm okay."
Anna then raced up to Jill, and the two embraced one another in a welcoming hug. It was as though the three had become family, something that could only happen so quickly when faced by death itself. Afterward, Jill could only reflect. "Snakes are my worst fear," Jill admitted, disregarding the years of police work that told her to rid herself of all fears, as that could be a weapon for her enemies.
"Getting electrocuted is mine…" Anna then confessed, her eyes wide as she seemed to make the connection. Aaron realized the coincidence as well, looking over at the next, dark doorway with fearful eyes.
"It seems like something this guy would do. Use fears against his enemies. God… what if Cynthia's fear was suffocation… or…" Jill could only begin, then looking absolutely sorrowed. The trio held the same expression, before starting toward the next door.
Meanwhile, an infinitesimal camera blinked its light as it broadcasted back to one particular source…
- Somewhere in the same building…
A pair of devious eyes glared upon the screen looking extremely vexed. The owner of these eyes slammed their hands upon the desk they stood before. These three just wouldn't give up! It had been moments since the biggest nuisance had nearly died at the hands of her worst fear, yet that idiotic scientist had had to intervene. If only the fools knew how much was behind this. A pair of doors within the room slammed open, and an angered woman stormed in.
"I told you once before: kill them! These ridiculous little games are no longer amusing. I want them dead! Or would you prefer they managed to stop us?" The feminine voice snarled, as a middle-aged woman appeared behind him.
"My apologies, mademoiselle Devon, but these three seem to work particularly well together."
"Brower city is three days from testing! You know they have the potential to stop us if they get out before then! If by tomorrow they are not dead, you have my word that your head will be put up on the wall of my office!"
"The deed will be done, mademoiselle." With this, Ms. Devon stormed out of the surveillance room, slamming the doors behind her and clicking away. The figure behind the console carried a new emotion, now, which would ultimately lead to an interesting day….
- Back in the chamber
Jill let out a yawn as she stepped into the next room, looking quite surprised when the only lighting that clicked on was that of a lamp. It was a bedroom. The room was filled with three, worn beds, an obvious sign that the trio was being monitored more closely than they presumed. "Don't get comfortable yet," Jill said, pulling off the sheets on the worn mattress and checking it bit by bit. It was completely normal…
Knowing that, Jill threw herself on one of the beds, exhaling a large sigh and staring up at the ceiling as her heart thumped loudly in an attempt to collect itself.
"Yes, this is a room. It is a little before midnight, and you have a busy day tomorrow. Sweet dreams…" A small speaker emitted, then clicking off. This would have been particularly strange, had not the sentence been said in the same, menacing voice the killer always carried. Anna seemed to buy into this, considering the exhaustion that was taking her over. Aaron, however, was particularly distressed… who knew what the next trial would face? As he settled himself on the stiff cot, he pondered over his fears…