William still wasn't quite used to it; willing his hand through the steel bars of the dog kennel pen and back through again. Sometimes as he did it, he'd mess it up and find his had stuck through the bars, a moment of nervous tugging before he got his composure back again and he was able to slide his wrist back through the bars. Practice makes perfect, and he seemed to posses an unusually large amount of curious power for a mere mortal spirit… but then again, he wasn't technically dead yet… the power of his physical body had seemed to have an arcane effect on his soul… but when he DID finally die, would he retain the power? He hadn't yet tried applying his mysterious powers to a physical object such as people, yet hadn't really found anyone to practice on, so here he was, phasing his pale cream coloured hand in and out of the bars. He was so bored! The Doberman police dog, now zombiefied, rested unmoving in the cell. He was profoundly irritated by its completely oblivious nature towards him; if it had been a living dog, it would have been howling and starling, hairs on end and terrified beyond sane belief, but zombification seemed to dull a creatures sensitivity to even basic ethereal sensations, relying purely on its scientific-based senses like smell, sight and sound to track its prey.

William released a deeply bored sigh in an angry overly-heavily huff and moved to punch at the steel doors, but his fist sifted through the object and he ended up losing all balance, falling to the floor with a painful thump.

"Oh God damn it!" He yelled on the floor in angry pain. The instinctive shock of falling and the momentary fear of hitting solid ground was what had resulted in him unintentionally willing himself to feel the impact. It was bullshit, that he could pass through steel bars but hit the floor afterwards. It was as if someone was mocking him.

William, still on the floor lying next to the zombie dog, folded his arms in brooding annoyance. Oh, Kain would have loved to see him struggle to use his powers like this: A remarkable, intelligent HUMAN mad genius wound up by his own inexperience with forces Kain, a VAMPIRE, had been living with for quiet easily hundreds and hundreds of years. God damn it all – he may have physically been perfect in every way but Kain was about the most sanctimonious, self-righteous, egotistical, arrogant, prejudice-

- William's eyes almost popped out of his head. Kain was prejudice! William ran down the mental list of Kain's flaws and found only that one that was the root of all his evil nature and MOST IRONICALLY, it was the principal passion of what tied down human nature to the cavemen they evolved from. William chuckled; it was the last remaining thread that kept Kain really human and it was something that Kain no doubt believed didn't fall into the category of 'humanity'. When one is presented with the word 'humanity', images of sugar and spice and all things soppy enter ones mind, but humanity does have its negative aspects, just like everything else. Prejudice was the one emotion all humans possessed, a truly human aspect, and Kain was capable of it. He had a lot of evolving to go until he realised that, William sensed.

Sitting up, William willed himself through the bars of the dog pen without accidentally head butting them right at the last moment like he had expected: A nice, clean phase-through with no hitches whatsoever. He was getting better at it! Smiling happily, William dusted non-existent grime from his lab coat with a playful smile on his dark yet fair features-

- And he noticed he was not alone anymore. Five men and one woman stood before him at the opposite end of the kennel room and William's blood ran cold when he instantly recognised the lab coats they were clothed in. All watching him with sombre expressions of their faces, William began to feel his through tighten with anxiety when he sensed they were… not of flesh, was the only what he could describe it. They were spirits, fully dead beings, unlike him, who was simply a soul wondering free from its flesh while the G-virus took absolute control.

"William Birkin." Said one, and William instantly cringed when he recognised the voice, then the appearance of the man.

It was John Howe, his favourite researcher at the Arklay facility. A pretty blonde man with blue eyes, John reminded William of the kind of good men that still existed out there in the world, even in places as unusual as a bioweapons facility. Looking at the others, he could see they were all the researchers that had died at the Spencer Estate:

On to John's left was quiet possibly the only true friend he had; Bill Rabbitson, with his large fuzzy hair tired back with a polka dot bandanna, his face that was always bathed in a kind of youthful glee now unnaturally sorrowful and laced with despicable rage bubbling below the surface. If William remembered correctly, Rabbitson had not died of the T-virus, and instead had been shot dead by a member of security while trying to escape the Mansion to report the incident to a friend he knew working for the S.T.A.R.S alpha team.

Behind and to the right of Rabbitson where the two pricks Henry Sarton and Steve Keller. They thought of themselves as 'players', when really they were just going through an eternal mid-life crisis. Apart from each other, they were great scientists, but having them together was like putting two notorious misbehaving children next to each other in a seating plan at school. They obviously still believed they were in the schoolyard.

William remembered that his associate Albert Wesker (who became S.T.A.R.S Alpha team leader before the mansion incident) hadn't gotten on very well with the man, for reasons he never seriously fleshed out other than with occasional sarcastic remarks behind his back involving the size of his ego compared to the size of his manhood. He never understood why he hated him so much…

On John's right were two of the Arklay employees he didn't know as well as he really should have; Ellen Smith and Michael Dees. Ellen Smith was a long legged platinum blonde with a reputation of being a high riding bitch who didn't associated with those lower than her on the ladder. Again, Wesker detested this woman, and William had observed why on several occasions. He had asked her out once or twice and she had turned him down but hadn't even attempted to be nice about it. When Wesker called her Ellen, she would respond with a cold line like 'I am your superior and a doctor and so I should be addressed as such.' She was an icy bitch but she and William never really clashed. They both handled themselves pretty professionally when addressing each other so there was never any reason for upset.

Standing next to (but also hiding behind) Ellen was Michael Dees, the man William recalled was responsible for hiding all the puzzle locks in the mansion in places he said 'only Spencer could find them'. He had lasted longer than most against the infection but Umbrella, once he had served his purpose, let him die with the others. They didn't want to risk a further outbreak.

William recalled many interactions with him yet received no real insight into his personality. It was no secret that he was a shy and quirky man. He took care of the specimens (including maintenance on Kain and his tank when he arrived at Arklay a year or two back) and so William ended up having all kinds of convocations with him on specimen nutrition and keeping them interested through their feeding. (Like the strange ball toys filled with food an owner would give to their pet dog to keep it entertained) Yet… he didn't know him at all well…

But William supposed it didn't really matter now. They didn't look very pleased with him. Any past friendships meant nothing now.

"John Howe." Responded William, his face sinking back into his ever unreadable emotionless, despite feeling rattled inside. "Kain told me he had seen you. I must admit I am impressed that even in the afterlife you do not relent in your ambition for answers."

-"This isn't about answers, Doctor Birkin." Interrupted Ellen before John could get a word in. Judging by the tangled mess of emotions rushing across his face, he wasn't expecting her to say that. "This is about vengeance."

"You still think I'm behind the infection of the Arklay facility?" Scoffed William. "I think that you all would have discovered by now that it was James Marcus and not I that infected you all."

-"And whose fault is that, asshole?" Answered Henry, pointing an accusing finger at him. Again, John seemed confused by their actions but didn't say anything, not until their intentions were clear at least, if William knew the man. "You and Wesker killed him and made sure that you guys were the last damn thing he saw, so he KNEW it was you! Ten fucking years later on and he comes back from the dead, probably not in the best of moods, and we fucking pay for it!"

-"It's bullshit, that's what it is." Steve said, backing up his partner in crime.

"You may not have directly done it, but we all still died because of you!" Said Rabbitson, taking on a defiant tone of voice that was alien to William: In life he had been very shy to those he didn't know and people in power with an air of confidence. William's impressive atmosphere seemed to have lost its effect in death. "And now, the whole city has just gone down the crapper just because you wouldn't give up your damn G-virus!"

"He didn't do that on purpose though, Bunny." Cut in John, surprisingly jumping to William's defence now that he had a feel of where this conversation was going, but it seemed more likely that John spoke up because he was far more interested in speaking the truth than looking for excuses to lynch Birkin.

"Dude, what's gotten into you, Johnny-boy?" Piped up Henry from the back. "Kicking his ass was your idea!"

"So that's it, is it?" William said, trying to regain his powerful presence he used to control them in life. "Now that you no longer have to worry about losing your job, you decide to go on a little lynching party? You disgust me."

"You're the fucking disgusting one!" Hollered Henry who was then joined by Steve;

"You've screwed over so many people with your selfishness and your little G-virus and everything!"

"I did it in the quest for answers," William said in his defence. "A quest your friend Doctor Howe partakes in even now."

"He didn't murder an entire city to do it." Said Ellen.

"Did you not hear me, woman?" William protested, grimacing threateningly. " I said I didn't know!"-

-"I went with you to Nosgoth, remember?" Cut in John, avoiding his stare and the tone in his voice almost mournful. It made William realise that maybe he didn't want to say what he was about to, but was doing it because it was the truth – an answer – something he could never resist, morally or otherwise. "Back there, Moebius played a nasty trick on you, remember? Some messed up kind of spell that accelerated your body through time and made you change into the G-mutation that's running loose now. He didn't expect it to happen. He just wanted to make you die of old age before our very eyes. He had no idea that in your future you would change into that. You can't tell us you didn't know that for the time accelerating spell to show you reached a level of G-mutation that couldn't exist without detection in civilised society, the civilisation would have to be wiped out to allow that level of undisturbed growth." John raised his fair head to meat William's eyes evenly. "If even I saw it, then you definitely would have, William… Didn't you?"

Rabbitson, who was the only other Arklay researcher that accompanied them on their mission, gazed thoughtfully off as even he began to realise that a man like William would have seen what John had said to be so. He wondered why he didn't see it, but figured there were some things that only a certain kind of man could notice straight away like that.

There was a difficult pause as William raced to find a response.

-"Answer him, murdering fuck!" Yelled Henry, not letting up on the mindless anger even slightly.

"I…" William couldn't think of a logical answer… He had to tell them honestly. The angry rabble of scientists had something untoward planned and showing them all the cards may have been his only hope. "I refused to believe it… convincing myself that I was paranoid…" William shook his head, pallid blue eyes squeezed closed and his face wrinkled in emotional distress. Recalling it all made him realise that all along he had feared this night, all along a dark part of him was screaming that when he became infected with the virus, Raccoon would fall but he ignored it believing his ignorance would protect him but when Marcus came back from the dead and Wesker died, he began to lose control of that worrying, nagging self. He had seen it coming. He had a chance to stop it and he chose to pretend he didn't know.

His heart shrivelled up and his eyes burn with the liquid of tears to think that his wife and daughter were suffering at the hands of the rotting, beastly undead at this very moment because of his unwillingness to accept the truth Moebius had accidentally (as if 'accidental' was in Moebius's vocabulary; he was even more scheming and manipulative than Wesker) shown him.

"So what - you go making like you're gonna squirt some and we're supposed to all forgive you?" Growled an angry Henry Sarton, walking threateningly towards the traumatized William Birkin making his threat seem a little more physical with the other researchers, except John, following him.

"What are you doing?" William asked, become very nervous now.

"Yeah, what the hell are you doing?" Asked John, becoming crossly concerned.

"John told us some of the stuff he researched in Nosgoth." Explained Steve Keller. As Rabbitson and Dees passed him, John shot a pleading look into the eyes of his friends, asking them what was happening, what they planned to do with him but Rabbitson frowned, shaking is head and Dees pretended he hadn't seen him.

The aggressing researchers fanned out around Birkin, cornering him again the far wall of the kennels.

"Do you want to know what he told us, Doctor Birkin?" Asked Ellen, staring at him ominously. She didn't give him time to answer. "How an ethereal based creature like a vampire or a SPIRIT can absorb the souls of other life forms to fill them with their power."

"You mean you're going to absorb his soul?" Yelled John, now in real distress. Clearly he had been invited to the angry mob under false pretences.

"Not quite." Admitted Ellen, cold eyes still fixed on William. "You see, he knows he is more powerful than any one of us, not being technically dead yet and if a single one of us tried to absorb him then we would most certainly fail, but our combined power is power enough to subdue him. We're ALL going to try and absorb his soul, tearing his very essence apart!"

-Suddenly, William tried to dash past them, but was caught by both arms and thrown violently to the cold stone floor. William cried out, his voice echoing incredibly in the dark, depressing dungeon as the rabble of vengeful scientists held his struggling soul to the floor, proceeding to tear it apart between them.

John ran his fingers anxiously through his blonde hair, feeling his heart race with fear and hatred for his friends using him for information in such a despicable way. He'd died at William's hands, more so than any of the scientists that held his screaming form to the ground but he didn't hate him. He didn't disserve this. -

- The door to the kennels exploded open and John, still standing at where the room kinked in an 'L' shape so he could view both the intruder and William's desperately flailing form dog piled by brutal researchers beating him down, felt a flash of hope when he saw the equally distraught expression on the intruder staring panicked back at him.

"KAIN!" John gasped, instantly recognising the unmistakable white hair and piercing yellow eyes of the specimen he, William and a selection of other choice Umbrella scientists abducted all those years ago. He pointed desperately at the traumatizing scene beyond his vision. "It's William! They're fucking tearing him apart!"

Kain did not hesitated even more a second, and in a selection of monstrously fast, powerful strides, he was on top of the scene and the screams of William were replaced by the screams of his attackers. His jet-black claws tore through the insubstantial forms of the scientists like a knife slicing through coloured mist. Though Kain did not feel the blows he was delivering like he would have done if he stuck a man of flesh, the blows registered on his victims faces, twisted and gnarled in agony as he cut through them.

Though John knew that defeating their material forms would just render their spirits into the spectral realm until they could recharge, he couldn't help but turn away with more than a flash of guilt as he saw Kain decimate the spirit of Bill Rabbitson, his youthful boyish face splashed with knifing pain and misery, before fading from this world altogether.

The room was now quiet save for the hungry barks of the zombie Doberman still locked inside the cages, Kain standing formidably in front of the soul he had saved from oblivion. John signed in an incredible burst of relief. They hadn't torn him and absorbed him; he was going to be okay.

"What in the world happened?" Kain asked both John and William, who was still crumpled on the floor in shock and disgust.

"Old friends…" William answered, his deep voice shaky and breaking. "Old friends with a score to settle."

"And what of him?" Kain asked, pointing towards John. It seemed the opportunistic vampire could not understand why John had not joined in on the attack: He would have satisfied his vengeance and acquired whatever power from William he managed to strip from him. "Were you not responsible for his death?"

"Are you kidding?" Said John, shaking his head with his eyes sombrely closed. "He made sure I followed him, but at a distance, when he escaped the infected Arklay Mansion, only to deny me escape at the heliport, watching me die right there in front of him."

"Then the answer is a pretty big yes, Kain." William said, picking himself up but still unnerved at how close he had come to oblivion.

"But… if that was indeed the case then why did you not join in?" Kain asked, his whole face creased in wonder and puzzlement. William smiled; Kain's world may have been very technologically advanced with the forces of magic but his world seemed behind theirs in social attitudes, culture and domestic technology by 200 or 300 years at the very least. Every child who watched children's T.V in this world had been educated in the answer.

"It just didn't feel right…" Confessed John, shrugging his shoulders. "He didn't do Arklay OR Raccoon on purpose… Talking to him, I always got the feeling all he cared for was the truth behind the viruses, not the money, not the power, unlike some of his associates."

William gently walked toward John Howe grinning and trying to make appreciative eye contact with the still very guilty man, who turned away almost shyly-

-Then the door to the kennels opened, and John and William dashed over to see who it was, both their faces, especially John's, lighting up in cheerful recognition.

"Ada!" Beamed John, clenching his fists and resisting the urge to dash up and hug the pale, beautiful Asian woman clothed in black leggings and a red dress. Handgun held in both hands with a level of experience and cold calculation about it that made William shiver yet John apparently couldn't see how unnaturally in control she appeared for a civilian woman.

Kain did not round the corner just yet to see who had entered, and allowed John to tell him, who was obviously invisible to the woman, as was William.

"It's Ada Wong, my girlfriend! Oh man, she must have come to Raccoon city to see what had happened to me when I didn't call her!"

William frowned.

"She looks… awfully unemotional…"

"Oh, Ada's always been a bit bad at expressing her emotions."

"Well zombies and monsters usually have the opposite effect…"

The woman rounded the corner, walking calmly through William, totally oblivious to the prescience of him and the soul of her boyfriend and stopped dead when she saw Kain. Her eyes did not widen in shock at his appearance, did not even show a glimmer of surprise or doubt flutter across her porcelain features, she just coolly raise her weapon, a pistol, but lowered it again when she saw Kain did not attack.

"Sorry…" She said in a dark voice, like melting chocolate. "For a second there, I though you may have been a zombie."

Kain was very suspicious of the unnatural composure in the woman. He couldn't understand how John couldn't see that she blatantly wasn't a civilian woman.

"Yet you dealt with the situation completely bare of the fear and repulsion that has gripped all humans in this nightmare.

She didn't react, not a single emotion on her almost predatory face and it made it nearly impossible for Kain to guess at what was going through her mind –

- The door clacked open again and I rushed a young man in R.P.D uniform, similar to the heavily armed police officers Kain had see die at the barricade. The white letters R.P.D across the chest making it unmistakeable as to who he belonged to.

"Ada, I heard a voice, what"-

- He caught sighed to Kain.

-"What the…"- He suddenly realised he was human, or at least as far as he knew. "A survivor!"

"Oh my." Said William, blankly. "He's a cute one, isn't he?"

Unfortunately, Kain couldn't argue with William's strange comment. Fair, youthful, young, the boy was quite an eye opener, his beautiful blue eyes complementing the blue of his uniform, yet despite his youthful good looks, he had a strange kind of authority about him, though if one was face with a choice between obeying him and going their own way, though one would feel guilty about it, they'd go their own way.

Kain frowned. He couldn't have been much older than the young rookie cop he met at the barricade… -

-And recalling the rookie cop, he remembered the golden pendant still hanging around his neck that he had given him as his dieing wish. He made a mental note of it; it could be important.

"Cute?" Said John, as freaked out by his comments as Kain was. "You don't batter an eyelid to the chick and you say the guy is cute?"

- The young officer frowned and turned, looking behind him, looking directly at William and John, who both froze and stared nervously back. The young officer then turned back, his face now creased I bewilderment.

"What's wrong, Leon?" Asked the woman, stating his name that Kain took into account.

"I…" He then shrugged it off. "I thought I heard voices. Damn, I must be shit-tired to start hearing things."

Kain felt himself smirk. At last, a human being that could sense the prescience of the spirits. He must have had a very emotional person to detect such a thing.

Ada turned her attention to him.

"Who are you?" She asked, now somewhat wary, though if an inexperience man gazed upon her face as she said this, they would not have been able to detect the slight undertone.

"I am Kain." He replied boldly. Unlike her he did not hide his sentiments for the humans. "And you are Ada Wong? Girlfriend to John Howe?"

"Yes," She said, either intrigued by his knowledge of her or pretending to be. "How do you know that?"

Kain looked over both their shoulders to John and William, his yellow gaze piercing into John for something to say to her.

"Tell her I love her." He said, and then William nudged him hard.

"Something that only you and her would know, Doctor Howe."

John tried again. "Ask her why she's not wearing the necklace I bought her on our date last month."

"John wants to know why you are not wearing the necklace he purchased for you on your little outing last month."

"John's here after all?" Asked Leon. Ada's eyes lit up, but not with relief, with surprise, like she was not expecting him to be here.

"'After all?'" Enquired Kain, finding Leon's choice of words unusual.

"Yeah, there's this guy we just had a chat to in the cells called Ben Bertolucci, but he's not coming out, I'm afraid."

"In the cells?"

"Yeah. He locked himself in there to stop himself from getting eaten by those monsters. We weren't making any progress until one of those monsters roared."

Kain eyes widened. "Roared you say?" Zombies didn't roar, and those inside out tongue creature with an exposed brain weren't loud enough to be heard from several different rooms away. It could have only been one man. "Then you all are in great danger. That monster that called is not any ordinary monster."

"What's ordinary about this entire situation?" Leon asked sarcastically.

"Do not try my patience, boy." Kain snarled. Leon was startled, but realised he probably shouldn't have tried to backchat if they really were in trouble. "The creature that screamed… You would not stand a chance against it. I suggest you leave this area immediately."

"That's why we're here." Ada said in her ever cool, unreadable voice. "Ben told us about a manhole in this kennel that leads out of the city." Kain noticed Leon was holding a crowbar but felt a flash of doubt enter him.

"The creature clearly is not here in this basement, but what if it is in the area beyond the manhole? It would be the safest choice to return to the precinct briefly."

Leon shook his head, going over to the manhole and prying its lid open.

"There's no reason for us to stay here any longer than necessary."

"For you maybe." Argued Kain. "But I have spent my entire time in this building, it seems, collecting these strange stones and I intend to uncover the mystery before I leave." –

-"NO!"-

-The terrified scream of a male human rang through the corridors mixed in with the familiar terrible cry of the William Birkin monster,

"Ben!" Called Leon, and instinctively rushed off to save the no doubt doomed man.

"No, Leon!" They all cried, even John and William, in unison. So he rushed off to save the day, but when he got there, who would save HIM?

"Uh oh…" Said William, looking down at his body. At the sound of uncertainty in his voice, John and Kain watched in awe as William slowly dissolved into nothingness. "It's calling me back!" He said, seconds before his disappearance was complete. "Stop!" He called out, his eyes whirling around as if he could see something they could not. "I don't want to kill any more people! I'm sick of it!" Almost totally faded now, Ada rushed off to help Leon, and Kain and John persisted to exchange worried glances as William tried his hardest to fight the G-viruses thirst for carnage. His appearance flickered into sight at random times, struggling to maintain control, but William cried out, and at the exact same moment, the roar of the monster sounded again.

"Screw him!" John suddenly said. "You should be with that cop and my girlfriend! You're the only man that could even stand a chance again the monster!"

John was right. He was wasting his time acting as moral support for the drifting scientist and John could provide that.

Hurrying from the room, Kain could see at the end of the corridor, wire mesh gates had been slid aside and the muddle of concerned voices came from them. He jogged to the opening –

- And saw three humans crouched on the floor next to an open cell. No Birkin monster could bee seen, or any trace of forced entry into the cell. There was NO WAY the monster could have come past them; the path from the kennel to the cell was a directly straight line, a dead end. It couldn't have slipped past. There was not a chance in hell of it possibly happening.

Leon, Ada and a man on the floor in a tatty attempt at a shirt and tie with lank brownish hair in a ponytail were the only things out of place in the room, shaded hues of depressing industrial blue.

"Damn…" Ben forced through whatever pain it was he was feeling. "I almost got the story…. " He handed some papers to Leon, before turning to Kain-

- "Where'd you get that locket?" He asked, his voice turning panicked, trying to weakly get up but failing

"Calm down Ben," Leon said, trying to still his struggles.

"I was given it by a young police officer, shortly before his demise."

Ben's eyes swelled at the word demise, then sunk back into a pain filled sorrow.

"God damn it all! I gave it to my pal D.J… He was the only one who'd believe what I'd uncovered about Umbrella and the G-virus… and William Birkin…I gave him the locket so he could get it the hell out of town…" He then motion with his hand as though he wanted Kain to come closer. Intrigued, he abided the light insult he took from it and crouched next to the dieing man. Ada and Leon leaned instinctively forward to listen in.-

-"Back off!" Ben said suddenly. Looking at each other reluctantly, they did so.

Ben leant forward right up to Kain until his struggling lips almost touched his pointed ear, so close Ben's disgusting old sweaty smell was all over Kain, and whispering as quietly as he could, as if he knew that only Kain could pick up such a hushed noise, he said;

"Watch Ada and watch her well." Kain frowned at the remark, but Ben continued. "When no one's around, open the locket and push the secret button on the back." Kain had the locket around his neck, but didn't touch it because of Ben's first remark.

"What will I find?" Kain asked softly.

"When you see it, you'll know what you're looking at… Kain."

Kain jumped back, glaring at the tiredly smiling stranger sat before him. The reporter knew whom he was, meaning he probably knew what he was too and all about William and his events. It was a shame he wasn't in much of a condition to talk. Just telling him those two little things seemed to have taken all his energy. He could have given Kain the answers he sought.

Suddenly, Ben's smile disappeared and was replaced by an intense creasing frown of pain.

"Aaugh…" He gargled, clutching the shirt over his chest, his hazel eyes darting about, searching as if for an answer as to what was happening to him.

"Ben, what's going on?" Asked Leon, rising to his feel, pushing Kain out of his way in a touchingly innocent panic and concern at what was happening to the reporter.

"My chest…" He forced out through the thick cloche of pain that had ensnared him. "It… It BURNS!"

"Get back!" Warned Kain, his threatening yellow stare trained on the chest of the man. He could hear something going on in there that humans could not, something that Ben could feel so intently that it must have been absolutely unbearable, the pain driving him into madness. Kain could hear something thrashing violently around inside him, tearing indiscriminately through flesh and banging against bone to find escape.

Leon turned to Kain, about to protest-

-When the thing inside Ben burst free, the orgy of blood and horror accompanied by the disgusting sound of tearing flesh, like peeling label, and mangled, terrible screams, the eruption of blood and viscera sending blood and flesh spraying all over the room. Leon was the closest to Ben so was drenched in thick globules of tattered bloody flesh and indiscernible gore, some splattering on his face and in his eyes, causing him to jump back from his crouch and sprawl onto the floor. Bits of blood and flesh splattered on the bottom of Ada's dress as the something that was embedded deep inside Ben struggled free. –

-And a squealing high-pitched howl rang out from its bloodied gaping hole of a mouth rimmed with countless tiny needle like teeth stained in Ben's blood and drenched in a thick, viscous saliva-like liquid.

There were no words between the humans, only shocked silence as the thing that was protruding from Ben's tattered corpse seemingly surveyed its surroundings, then raced past them all, past the shocked humans, past Kain and out of the open prison door into the basement corridor.

"Get it!" Yelled Kain almost immediately, but saw that the humans hadn't followed his example. Still shocked and stunned into unmoving silence, they stared dumbstruck at the mess that had been a living person barely seconds ago, now nothing more than a dead piece of meat. That transformation had rendered them temporarily mindless. Kain was used to the change however, he found himself in a dilemma; leave the mortals and pursue the creature and risk Birkin's monster returning and finishing them, or stay here with them while that strange creature disappeared to god knows where and no doubt jumped out on him later when he least expected it. –

- But despite his daze, Leon had somehow managed to find a small stack of papers besides Bens boys, almost completely cloche by thin layers of red slime. Kain had a feeling what they were even before Leon began to read them aloud, his voice still shaky and disturbed after having witnessed the horror of Bens dead.

"To: Mr Brian Irons, Chief of the Raccoon City Police Dept
We have lost the mansion lab facility due to the renegade operative, Albert Wesker. Fortunately, his interference will no lasting effect upon our continued virus research. Our only present concern is the presence of the remaining S.T.A.R.S members: Redfield, Valentine, Burton, Chambers and Vickers. If it comes to light that S.T.A.R.S have any evidence as to the activities of our research, dispose of them in a way that would like purely accidental. Continue to monitor their progress and make certain their knowledge does not go public. Annette will continue to be your contact throughout this affair.

William Birkin"

Kain shook his head. It would have helped his situation if Birkin had told him Bertolucci had these documents on him. Now that the officer and the woman knew this, it would make it all the more difficult to explain away an innocent connection with Birkin.

"To: Mr Brian Irons, Chief of the Raccoon City Police Dept
I have deposited the amount of $10,000 to the account for your services this term as per agreement. The development of the G-Virus scheduled to replace the T-Virus, is near completion. Once completed, I am certain that I will be appointed to be a member of the Executive board for Umbrella Inc. It is imperative that we proceed with caution. Redfield and the remaining S.T.A.R.S members are still attempting to uncover information on the project. Continue to monitor their activities and block all attempts to investigate the underground research facilities.

William Birkin"

Kain resisted the urge to snarl, but failed to hold back a slight snort. In their laps had fallen a piece of information that basically revealed all they would need to know about matters that it would be best they didn't. And to think Ben Bertolucci, a reporter of all men, had got hold of it! Had he published it Umbrella would have fallen, had it not suffered the loss of Raccoon and all because they arrogantly overlooked one small-time reporter on a mission. He knew that young officer who had come across that locket somehow, and so had someone on the inside to help him out… but remembering the locket, Kain also remembered that Ben had told him to press a secret button on it's back. He looked at Ada briefly, but saw her engrossed in Leon's reading, so Kain dared to take a peak.

He didn't open the locket all the way, only a fraction open so that enough light got in for him to see a picture. Opening it wide now, checking Ada again to see if she had noticed, Kain paused briefly at what he was seeing.

It was a family photograph, and in the centre was Sherry Birkin smiling happily and either side of her was her mother and father. Kain bowed his head at their expressions of joy and slipping the photo out, he read a date scrawled on the back in neat blue ink handwriting: 'October 98'. Last month….

Kain frowned when he saw that there was nothing behind the picture, and yet the locket was much more thicker than the back that was revealed to him now. it felt hallow and Kain had a clue as to what the secret button would reveal. Pressing at a slightly indented button on the back, slowly the locket winded open revleaing a secret compartment in the back-

-And a sample of G-virus. Kain raised his eyebrows; Sherry Birkin worse the exact same locket around her neck, too. Kain has simply just assumed it was the same make, but something far more sinister was going on now. William's monster had taken back all the samples of G-virus that were stolen and injected them into himself, making this one of the last samples in existence. Sherry had one, and that neurotic bitch that was William's wife had one around her neck too, that was if he was remembering correctly, meaning that this sample must have once been worn around the neck of William himself. But why had he not mentioned it when William clearly must have recognised it while it hung around Kain's neck? He didn't even look at it briefly in acknowledgement…-

- Kain snapped the locket shut at the sudden movement of Ada, who loocked back at him once again in an unreadable blankness of expression. Leon briefly paused his reading, watching them.

"What's inside?" Ada asked.

"A family photograph; nothing important." He left out the part about the virus sample. After Ben's comment, he had grown suspicious of this unusually professional woman, considering the circumstances.

Leon raised an eyebrow, but continued.

"To: Mr Brian Irons, Chief of the Raccoon City Police Dept
We have a problem. I have received information informing me that Umbrella HQ has sent spies to recover my research on the G-Virus. There are a number of unknown agents involved. They must not be allowed to take this project away from me as it represents my entire lifes work. Search the city thoroughly for any suspicious persons. Detain any such individuals by whatever means possible and contact me immediately through Annette. With these precautions, any possible threat should be eliminated. I will not allow anyone to steal my work on the G-Virus. Not even Umbrella...

William Birkin"

In the last two mails, Kain found himself puzzled. The second from last didn't sound much like the Birkin he had met at all, more concerned about promotions and money than about his work, but the last mail was directly on target with William's current sentiments… Why had he changed from caring only about the promotional aspects of his work to a man honouring his lifes work with almost religious zeal? Kain dared to think that it might even be because of him…

"Alright." Said Ada, the first to get up and break out of her ponderings. "I'm going into the sewers just like Ben recommended." She turned to Leon, meeting his frightened blue gaze squarely. "I'll go on ahead and clear the sewer passages of hostiles. You and Kain can sweep this area for whatever it was that came out of Ben."

"No," Said Leon, getting up onto his feet. "I'll go check it out, you wait here."

Ada smiled warmly and gratefully but Kain felt himself twist in sick annoyance. She was faking it: he could sense it and Leon going on ahead and leaving them two alone was exactly what she wanted. The trusting young police officer disappeared down the corridor and Ada didn't wait to turn to him until she heard the grey steel door of the kennel slam closed.

Her eyes, dark and cool, almost reminding him of William's unreadable stare, pierced into but in a way that didn't threaten you directly but made you feel as though she could see into your very soul and nothing you tried to hide would get past her.

"How do you know John?" She asked calmly.

"Does it matter now?" Kain replied defiantly. She may not have been demonstrating any emotion but she was still a whole head shorter than him and her used his position to grimace down at her threateningly, telling her that she'd get no important information out of him.

"He seemed to have told you about the necklace…" She said, strangely transforming into the concerned girlfriend she should have been. Her acting was good, but the artificial way she changed was what gave her concern away as fake. "I lost it, you see… I hope he isn't too offended."

"I don't care." Kain replied frankly. "But what I wish to know is why you have only just begun searching for him now when he had been dead for a number of months." It was true: The Mansion incident had happened two months ago and even long before then the cannibal murders had begun. John had been missing for ages and his alleged girlfriend didn't bother searching until conveniently the time Birkin had completed the G-virus synthesis. He was beginning to see some sense in Ben's suspicion. He must have know about all of this and found it very odd too that she'd only start search 'round about the time spies were due to steal Birkin's work. The woman was clearly not your ordinary female, either. Claire had arrived in Raccoon allegedly after the invasion of zombie, judging by what she had told him, and Leon must have arrived late considering he hadn't died at the barricade along with 95 of all the other Raccoon officers. (And his uniform was the likes of a specific armed unit in the R.P.D, all of which had apparently been sent out to deal with the zombies.) And here in front of him stood some female in a red dress armed with only a handgun, claiming to be searching for her boyfriend. She mustn't have come in with the others if her boyfriend lived in Raccoon… So that must have meant that with her little handgun she had survived where almost the entire trained R.P.D police force had failed. Add that to the unusually controlled and calm manner she was holding herself in this hopeless situation and was now certain someone powerful had sent her. She knew what she was up against; THAT was what her unreadable gaze was telling him. The very fact that there was no trace of any emotion on her face told him that she had no fear and no doubt about that would happen next like she was planning to strike now…

Kain felt his heart skip a beat when he realised how similar this whole event was to the Spencer estate disaster. Ada's role was the one traitor sent to recover scientific data in the midst of a T-virus leak, just like Albert Wesker…

You see, he had got a lot of information for rumours and the Internet (the sites and forum posts would be closed down almost as soon as they were put up so he had to work quickly) but all the concrete info he had received from a chance meeting with Chris Redfield, a S.T.A.R.S member and one of the major survivors of the Spencer estate incident. He had caught sight of him in a bar and instantly recognised him form the papers. Kain couldn't believe his luck at first, but as he began questioning Redfield, the man insisted that he wouldn't give up a drop of info to a suspicious stranger like him but after Kain informed Redfield on the development of the G-virus and what was happening to the town, he decided he would share what he knew in return. This lucky strike had been early on in his investigation so much of the information he had given him didn't make any sense at the time… He had told him about Albert Wesker, though; The S.T.A.R.S traitor who was sent to recover embryos of the specimens as well as collect battle data… Ada seemed to have a similar role.

Kain chuckled. As he quickly thought over what Chris had told him again, he realised that nearly everyone he had met had a role paralleling the Mansion incident. Strangely enough, Claire was playing Crises role; encountering a young girl who she desired to protect where Chris had found Rebecca Chambers, a young 18-year-old Bravo team member with a degree in some medical crap he couldn't remember right now, and Leon was playing the role of Jill Valentine who was being manipulated by Wesker through Barry Burton; an unwilling pawn. The question this brought to mind was 'is Ada a pawn of someone in this building Kain had yet to encounter?' This seemed unlikely. Wesker was in that mansion because he had to be. He didn't see any reason for anyone to want to stay here…

-Kain noticed Ada was inspecting his thoughtful trance and broke out of it in case he gave away any secrets.

"Can I help you?" He growled, finding the interruption rather rude.

"I don't know how you survived so long without a weapon." She said calmly, but almost with a sarcastic undertone in her voice.

"My claws are my weapons." He replied, and by tensing his hand, the black claws at the tips of each of his fingers extended out to full length. He may have had claws, but like most claw bearing animals, they were retractable. Vampires often trained on each other with retracted claws, seeing as bare fist blows did barely anything to the vampire body.

Ada jumped back in mild shock and glared angrily as Kain chuckled darkly; the frigid bitch wasn't expecting THAT.

"We should go and find Leon." She said, slightly angry and smoothing back her hair yet strangely trying to pretend what had just happened didn't happen… Some of the humans of this world couldn't handle the existence of supernatural forces, being so logical a creature. In contrary to Leon she must have been as empathic to otherworldly forces as a brick, the kind of woman who believes only what she sees and doesn't delve any deeper into the meaning. This was indeed handy for Kain's situation. It meant he would not have to explain away his abilities because she would simply not believe she was seeing something inhuman, probably something super-human.

"Perhaps we should." Replied Kain, moving to the door, the both of them ignoring the mutilated body of Ben as though it was a piece of meat and never once a human being. "Unless of course, he has already suffered the same fate as Ben."

And then, something Kain hadn't expected happened. He didn't need to see her face to feel the strong and powerful burst of concern and worry that tore through her only for a second before I died down again. Highly odd for someone so heartless to care so much for a civilian…

"Leon not some gung-ho macho-bund moron with a gun like some cops. He has the sense to run from danger."

"But what if he can't run?" Kain suggested, and Ada fell quiet, her pace behind him quickening. Kain smiled. It seemed that this mentally powerful and emotionless woman had a weakness after all…