Resident Evil 9: Return

Chapter One: A Tragic Backstory

Her backpack was stuffed, to the point where she was having trouble closing it. The zipper wouldn't run along its track without pausing every five seconds, and Averie could feel her frustration rise. In a moment of anger she cussed as loudly as felt appropriate, given the situation. Thankfully, no one was around to hear her.

A few moments later, Averie had slung on a jacket over her dad's old college hoodie, and grabbed a vest on her way out the door. Her baseball cap hid most of her red hair, with a small amount popping out the back via a small ponytail.

Locking the door behind her, Averie headed down the road towards the bus stop, hoping she hadn't missed it already. This bus route was notorious for not sending a bus on a regular schedule, once causing Averie to wait over an hour for the next one to arrive.

Once on the bus miraculously only five minutes later, Averie settled herself down and gave her house one last look out the window.

Averie relaxed her head against the back of her seat, and thought about her plan, and how it was going so far. She had purchased the cheapest plane tickets she could afford, and had a bus ticket already paid for after she got off the plane. The plan from there was simple; get off the bus at the village stop, look around for her father, or anyone else who could give her information about where her father could be, and go from there. If she finds her dad, great! Demand an answer to where he had been for the last two months, and get him home.

If she didn't find her dad, get back home, leave him a letter in the house and head off for her first semester of college in the town over. Hope to hear from him before Christmas.

Averie sighed, and stroked the small friendship bracelet she had attached to her backpack. Her father had a matching one, which he kept on his backpack.

Isaac Delinor was a strange man, to say the least. Quieter than quiet, more introverted than anyone else Averie had ever met, and secretive. Extremely secretive. He had remnants of a European accent from his days growing up there, but he never spoke about his past. Averie didn't know anything about her father's side of the family, eventually presuming that they had died or were estranged from her father.

If Averie could use one word to describe her father, it would be determined. Determined to keep her safe, to keep a roof over their heads, and determined to keep a whole ton of secrets from his daughter. Even ones about her mother.

Averie didn't get choked up thinking about her mom, not like she used to. Isaac had met Tracy in the States when he had moved from Europe, and the two of them were married for two years before they had Averie. However, not long after she was born, Tracy died suddenly, leaving Isaac to raise Averie on his own.

Averie presumed her father felt guilty about Tracy's death, but unless he killed her, Averie didn't think he needed to hold onto that guilt. Especially since so much time had passed. But alas, the years went by, but the guilt didn't go away.

So yes, Isaac Delinor was a strange man in Averie's eyes, but she loved her father, nevertheless. He cared for her deeply, and always wanted his daughter to succeed. He tried to give her every opportunity he could, encouraging independence as much as he could afford. So Averie wasn't surprised when her father said he was going to leave her alone for a few weeks so he could go on a trip back to Europe. Averie had been taught how to take care of herself, and respected her father's wishes for her to stay in the States while he travelled.

Isaac left for his trip two months ago, longer than the few weeks that he had originally planned. He had left no phone number for Averie to use, no means of contact in case anything went wrong.

Averie wanted to tell the police, but she didn't know if that would help. Her father had travelled out of the country to the country of his birth, and Averie didn't even know where in Europe he had been born.

Until a couple of nights ago, when Averie came across a book her father had on the small bookshelf beside his bed. It was an old-fashioned scrapbook, filled with pictures and letters, some written in a language Averie didn't understand. But she recognized her father's handwriting, and knew the book belonged to him. For over an hour, Averie had sat on her father's bed and gazed at the pictures inside the book, recognizing her father as a child in several of the photographs. Even seeing one of herself and her mother when Averie was just a baby.

On the last page of the book, Averie came across a picture of a village, or at least most of a village. She wanted to search up the village online but didn't know how she could with nothing in the picture offering a good description or indicator. Until she noticed a tall castle in the background, looming over the village below.

It took a couple of hours, but Averie was able to find the village online, and found out where it was located in Eastern Europe. Apparently something bad had happened a decade before in the village, but it wasn't closed off to visitors.

That's when phase one of Averie's plan began, with her purchasing plane tickets and bus tickets to get to the village and find out what happened to her dad.

The bus ride to the airport was half an hour, and Averie spent the time texting her neighbour to ask if he could keep an eye on the house for her while she was away. She then emailed her boss and asked for a few weeks off. Thankfully she didn't have to explain why, as her boss was already aware of the disappearance of her dad. He would just assume Averie needed some time to herself, and he was generally very obliging.

The bus pulled up to the main entrance for the airport, and Averie was ready to go. As she thanked the bus driver and left the bus, she noticed a man in an armoured suit getting off the bus as well, and it looked as if he were keeping his eyes on Averie. Deciding she didn't need any more paranoia right now, Averie focused on getting through customs and getting to her plane.