Resident Evil 9: Return
Chapter Five: The Chosen Ones
The lycans were quick, and the boys knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up. Kai stopped running and took a moment to catch his breath, surprised that Carson was able to keep up with him.
Turning around, Kai was also surprised to have found that one of the villagers had followed him and Carson, though at the slower pace. The young man stooped over to catch his breath.
"You…you're going…the wrong way." He wheezed. Kai shook his head.
"We saw those creatures run down this way."
The man nodded. "Yes, to take the back entrance into the Lord's sanctuary. If you go in that way, you will not survive."
"Neither will our friends if we don't do something." Kai argued, but the man shook his head.
"You have it all wrong. The lycans are merely taking the new villagers to meet the Four Lords."
"You mean the fish guy and his friends? The ones who work for the lady with the beak?" Carson asked. The man looked fearful as the boy spoke so bluntly about how odd the Four Lords looked, and Kai could hear him gulp.
"Lord Moreau is not a man to be trifled with. And I would watch how you speak about Mother Miranda." The man warned.
Carson hesitated for a moment.
"Will I look like the fish guy if I don't speak nicely about her beak?"
Kai couldn't help but laugh, being so scared and amused at the same time.
"Very well good sir, if we cannot go this way, then which way is it to the Lord's sanctuary?" Kai asked.
"The men will be returned soon, I wouldn't bother going after them."
"Well if they're coming back in a bit…wait did you just say only the men will be coming back? What about the women? What about Averie?"
The young man stood up, and shook his head.
"All maidens are sent up to the castle to work for Lady Dimitrescu, it is customary." The man explained. Kai shook his head.
"We can't let that happen. Please, tell me of another entrance into the sanctuary."
The young man had finally agreed to help Kai out, but Kai was nervous to bring Carson along. What if they found Taylor there among the other travelers, and she wasn't…well, Kai didn't want Carson to see anything. But the boy refused to go back to the village and wait with the villagers.
"I stomped on Oliver's foot, I don't think he's really happy with me right now." Carson explained.
As the three young men travelled, Carson asked Kai what the deal was with Lady Dimitrescu.
"Do you remember that photo that Oliver pointed out, of the lady with the really big hat?" Kai asked. Carson nodded.
"Well, she isn't like any woman that you'd meet on the street. She's…well…how would you describe her?" Kai asked the young man, who's name was Christopher.
"Lady Dimitrescu? The fairest of all the women in this village and beyond." He explained.
"Taller than anyone else, Lady Dimitrescu resides in the Castle Dimitrescu, where she makes her famous wine, Sanguis Virginis."
"What does that mean?"
"It means 'maiden's blood'. But don't worry, its just a fancy name for some wine, helps it to sell."
Kai and Carson both pondered this, but Carson drew his own conclusion very quickly.
"If maidens are the only ones allowed in her castle, and she makes a wine called maiden's blood, you think she uses girls to make it?"
Christopher hesitated. "I'm sure that the maidens help her make her wine. Many hands make light work."
"Don' think that's what he meant." Kai said, stopping as he and the others approached a bridge.
"Alright, through that main wooden door and to the left is the main entrance into the sanctuary. But I remember that parts of the sanctuary walls are broken, with new channels and walkways being created from the crumbling walls. If you're careful, you may be able to find a passage that will take you into the sanctuary without being noticed."
Kai could tell that he wouldn't be able to convince Christopher to come with them, and grabbed the young man's shoulder.
"When you get back to the village, find Kaya's house and check in on Taylor. Then, see if Oliver is wrong about the rest of our bus crew. Maybe they made it out of the forest."
Christopher nodded, and headed away from the bridge.
Carson was a lot bolder than Kai had anticipated, and watched the boy run across the bridge. He almost threw open the door before Kai caught up to him and held the boy back.
"Hang on Car, hold up. We can't just run in there, lycans could be everywhere and who knows what those Four Lords are like." Instead, Kai took the lead, but not before he handed Carson a small knife.
"I'm not giving you our only gun." He explained when Carson argued. Taking a deep breath, Kai opened the door as quietly as he could, smelling the rotten wood and wondering how it remained on its hinges. He could hear loud footsteps from behind the door on his left, and could smell cigar smoke. And blood.
Pulling out a small flashlight from his backpack, Kai took a few cautious steps forward, dragging Carson behind him. Piles of rocks and crumbled pieces of the walls around the two boys were scattered across the floor, exposing dark stone on either side of them. After a few minutes, Kai was able to make out a small passage in the wall that ran parallel to the one they were walking in, taking a slight turn to the left. Stepping over broken stones and wall, Kai hoisted Carson over the sharp rocks and stood the boy upright behind himself.
A few more minutes of walking through the dark passage, the boys could hear noise up ahead. A turn to the left led the pair to an exposed area of crumbled stone, where their passage was revealed to an adjacent room on the right. Peeking his head around the corner of part of the wall that was still standing, Kai saw the bus travelers lined up on the ground in sitting positions. He counted ten in total, remembering that there were around twenty people on the bus when it left the airport. The kidnapper was dead, five or so went into the forest to find the bus driver, and not including himself and the kids, it seemed like everyone was accounted for.
But Kai was soon proven wrong. Several of the travelers were whispering among themselves, some crying to one another.
"Where is my husband? He didn't join the others in the woods, I don't see him here among us…"
"My cousin isn't here either, and he said he didn't want to follow the others into the forest, with those creatures running around! Last I saw of him was at the church…"
As Kai was about the expose himself and try to get the others into the passageway in order to escape, he could hear footsteps nearby, and shuffled back into the passage. But not before Carson snuck past him and ran to the other end of the exposed hole, peeking around the adjacent remaining piece of wall on the other side.
"I see Averie!" He whispered in excitement, pointing down the row. Sure enough, not too far away from where Carson was hiding, Kai saw Averie lying on the ground. He immediately thought she was dead, but noticed her breathing and sighed in relief. He had already seen enough death and destruction in one day, he didn't want to lose one of his only allies. That made a total of eleven people trapped in the sanctuary.
The footsteps grew louder, and both boys hid behind the wall.
Averie slowly opened her eyes, and found herself lying down behind a gentlemen that was sitting in front of her. His hands were tied behind his back, and she could tell he was shaking. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but at that moment all she could think about was the throbbing pain in her left arm. She couldn't fully remember what had happened, but wanted to sit up herself and see where she was. However, a woman nearby noticed Averie moving, and motioned for her to stop.
Averie decided to listen, and was glad she did. A moment later, the ugliest looking man-creature hybrid walked into the room, staring at the people sitting on the floor before him while making grotesque noises that Averie assumed was him merely breathing. Averie was hidden from his view, and wished she was unable to see him. He was not pleasant looking at all. Walking into the room behind the fishlike creature was a woman dressed in black from her head to her toes. Her head piece looked like it once boasted a veil, but the fabric had been torn and her face was revealed. Everyone around Averie squirmed as they noticed the bulging, stretched skin across the woman's one eye, with one man swearing he saw something move underneath it. Both the fishman and the woman took a seat, quietly and merely staring at the people in front of them. However, the next person to enter the room was boisterous and loud, proud to have an audience.
"Look at all these fine new villagers, ready to join our big happy family!" The man exclaimed, swinging around a giant hammer made of metal. For a mere moment he looked in Averie's direction, noticing the man in front of her shaking.
"Ah, it's alright bud. You're in good company here!" The man laughed loudly as the man in front of Averie began to shake more violently, and Averie was scared he would fall backwards on top of her.
"Now how many of you do we have here? One, two, three…ten total, and not one of you under the age of twenty-five!" The man complained. He had skipped over Averie, not noticing her. People seated around her had noticed the man was unable to see Averie as well, and decided to keep the young woman hidden from this interesting group of individuals. They all ever so slightly shifted closer to Averie, hiding her from view. And though Averie was hidden, she could still see what happened next.
"Any women among them, Heisenberg? You know the rules." The loud footsteps of the person who came into the room could have been heard a mile away. The tallest woman Averie had ever laid eyes on came in through a doorway on the left, ducking below the post to fit through. Her hair was black, and her skin was pale and grey. She looked at the people sat in front of her, all of whom proceeded to join the man in front of Averie and shake. She smiled at all of them wickedly, especially any of the women. Averie wondered if the tall woman could see over the other men and women and notice her lying on the ground, but so far she seemed to still be hidden from view.
"Yeah, yeah, there are a couple of women here, though I think it's high time you started to share." Heisenberg complained. The woman said nothing as she sauntered over to the tallest chair in the room, and sat down. As Heisenberg began to speak, Averie could hear a familiar voice nearby, one of a child. She looked around her, and noticed Carson peeking out from behind a broken wall, looking at her.
"Now you are probably all wondering how you ended up here. Good news, you were chosen!" Heisenberg explained. "And now we have another choice to make, which of the Four Lords each of you are going to serve! Let's see…" Heisenberg started at the far end of the group, separating men and women to different Lords. Averie knew if she didn't do something soon, as in escape, she was going to be in more trouble than she could handle.
Kai watched in disgust as each Lord pointed at a certain person in the group, who was then dragged off into another room. At first Kai didn't think much of it, until he remembered what Oliver had shown him as he heard a man scream from outside the sanctuary.
Back at the church, before Kai had run off to find Averie, Oliver had shown Kai a mark that had been burned into his forearm. It was in the shape of a diamond, with a chess piece in the middle and a horseshoe underneath.
"This is the symbol of Lord Heisenberg, one of the more powerful Lords." Oliver explained.
"I had been chosen to serve him and only him during my time in the village."
"What does it mean to be chosen?" Kai had asked. Kai could now hear the old man's explanation as he watched another traveler being dragged away into the other room.
"The Four Lords take their pick of us villagers, choosing which ones will ultimately serve them. Call it being a servant, a worker…I use the term slave. We are constantly watched, unable to make many decisions on our own, and are punished severely if we don't do as we are told."
"And no one is able to do anything?" Kai had asked. He heard a woman scream from the other room, and noticed the tall woman, Lady Dimitrescu, smiling wickedly from her chair.
"No one has ever succeeded. Anyone who tries to stop the Lords…fails."
As the travelers were still being chosen, Kai noticed Carson inch closer to Averie, even being able to grab onto her foot. Averie was startled for a moment, until she realized who was grabbing her and relaxed. She even tried to shimmy backwards on her stomach, slowly and cautiously. As Carson assisted Averie, Kai could hear Lord Heisenberg speak to Lady Dimitrescu.
"Do you think any of these individuals could help us?" He asked. The Lady rolled her eyes.
"How am I supposed to know? We haven't exactly been given much information." She argued.
"Well, why don't we call her in then, she could point out if any of these people are the ones we need!" Heisenberg spat, walking away from the woman. He walked over to the lycan standing guard by a nearby door, and whispered into his ear. Kai was very surprised that the lycan was actually listening to the man, given how savage the creatures seemed in the village. The lycan then ran out of the room, causing Kai to panic. What if he came into the passageway, and found the boys?
"You have to be fifteen years old for the Lords to even consider you." Oliver had explained in the church.
"The children are left alone, but if they fall out of line, the Lords show no mercy."
Risking it, Kai got on his hands and knees and crawled to where Carson was, thankful for the people sitting in front of the broken wall, therefore providing a shield from the Lords' eyes.
Once beside Carson, Kai grabbed Averie's other foot and dragged her backwards, pulling Averie beside himself. All three young people ducked to the ground behind the broken piece of wall once more and caught their breath.
"We have to get out of here." Kai explained.
"Oh wow, way to point out the obvious." Averie noted as she rubbed a sore spot on her stomach. She got a better look at the Four Lords, and shuddered. Especially as she looked at Lady Dimitrescu. Something about her, besides her height and wicked demeanor, made Averie extremely nervous.
The Lords continued to pick and choose travelers at random, some begging for mercy while others merely accepted their new fate.
Averie took a quick count of everyone in front of her, her face going pale.
"We're missing four people. There were fifteen of us taken in total."
As if to answer her question, Lord Heisenberg addressed the crowd, his loud, booming voice echoing off of the chamber walls. The trio didn't know if they would be able to hear anything else besides his voice for how loud it was.
"You are probably wondering what has happened to your dear friends who were taken alongside you. Suffice to say, they didn't, how would you say, cooperate with their captors, and took a little trip…into the cavern of mold."
A woman screamed in agony, realizing what had become of her husband, while Averie looked over at Kai.
"What's the cavern of mold?" She asked, but Kai couldn't hear her. He covered his ears and crouched down, taking a deep breath. His anxiety was through the roof at this point, and he didn't know how much more stress he could take before he threw up.
The lycan that Lord Heisenberg had sent out earlier returned, kneeling in front of the man. He growled at the man, who apparently knew exactly what the beast was saying. Lord Heisenberg turned back to Lady Dimitrescu.
"She's busy, wants us to call on her later for her decision." Lady Dimitrescu rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath.
"As bad as Mother Miranda." Another woman screamed from the room next door, perking up the Lady. Averie clenched her fists, and looked at Kai. He was in no shape to be carrying a weapon, so she gently pried it from his hands.
"Kai, we're not in a good position merely sitting here. We can't help ourselves or anyone else. Let's move."
Telling Carson to wait with Kai, but of course being disobeyed immediately because Carson was nine and could make his own decisions, Averie quickly crawled to the other end of the hole in the wall, and took off for the spare room where everyone was being sent after being chosen. Kai took the time to catch his breath, and contemplate his next move.
Two travelers were left to be sorted, when another lycan entered the room, dragging a man behind him. Kai immediately recognized him as the man who led the group into the woods to follow the bus driver, the one who accused Averie of having something to do with the crash. Kai turned around and peeked over the side of the broken wall.
The man was crying, begging the creature to let him live. The lycan placed the man at Lord Heisenberg's feet, turning away and retreating into the darkness of the sanctuary. No one else from the forest search were brought in, causing Kai to assume the worst.
"Oh man, the others must be…."
"Dead, all of them dead, because of you!" The rude man stood up and glared at Lord Heisenberg, before realizing that the man wasn't alone. His eyes immediately fell onto Lady Dimitrescu, and Kai swore he could see the man blush.
"We didn't tell any of you to run into the forest after the bus, you should have figured it was a bad idea." Lord Heisenberg dismissed, putting some space between himself and the rude man by stepping back a few feet.
"None of us asked to be here! First the bus crash, then the crazy woman with a gun threatening to kill a kid, and that girl Delinor…"
Lady Dimitrescu rose from her seat immediately, making Kai's heart sink. First, he hadn't fully realized how tall the woman was, but what was worse was how Averie's last name caused the woman to react so…angrily. At least that is how Kai would describe it, considering that the Lady strode forward and hoisted the man up into the air, clenching the front of his jacket in her hand…which was so big. Averie looked at her own hand in comparison, and suddenly felt self-conscious.
"Where is she?" The Lady demanded. The rude man's skin went paper white, and he began to stutter and tried clawing at the Lady's gloved hand as he did his best to explain.
"S-she left w-with th-the oth-others….in-into the vil-vil-village!" He stammered. Lady Dimitrescu pondered what the man had said, and quickly glanced over at Lord Heisenberg, who pretended to not be interested in the new development.
Lady Dimitrescu clicked her tongue, and lowered the man, but not letting go of his shirt.
"Heisenberg, take your pick of the last two peasants, but leave this one with me." Lord Heisenberg mocked a bow, and waved his hand.
Kai recognized Arcane was sitting in front of him, but the man didn't look too good. Blood covered his clothes in large patches.
Lady Dimitrescu dragged the rude man from earlier out of the room through a door on the opposite side of the sanctuary, from where she had originally come in. Knowing he couldn't do anything for Arcane, Kai followed the tall woman through the other end of the passageway. Though separated by the wall, Kai could keep up with the woman and hear her speak to the rude man.
"She was in the village with the others, you're sure?"
"Ye-yes ma'am…sh-she didn't join us in the for-forest…"
Seeing a small hole in the passage on his right, Kai waited for the woman to pass before slipping through the hole, seeing her several feet ahead in the hallway. He could see light at the end of the hallway, which looked more like a tunnel with the dark stone surrounding him, and torches on the walls to guide his way.
"I need to find her before Heisenberg gets a hold of her." Lady Dimitrescu mused aloud.
Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel, and stepped outside. Kai almost whistled in amazement, but remembered he wasn't alone. He remained in the tunnel and watched the woman walk away, towards the large castle that loomed not too far away.
Averie found another entrance into the side room, hearing someone screaming from outside the door. Taking a deep breath, Averie slight opened the door, hitting it with her shoulder and pointing her gun. No one was inside. But she had just heard someone scream…
Walking into the room, Averie could see a trail of blood on the ground, leading to another exit in the darker corner of the room. A fireplace boasted a sizeable flame, and on a nearby table were branding irons. Averie could see the smoke coming off of them, meaning they were recently used.
"It's clear, Carson. You can come in." Averie said. Carson stepped into the room holding out his knife. He noticed the trail of blood on the ground.
"Do we follow the trail?" He asked. Averie shook her head.
"No, we don't know where it will lead."
"So, what do we do now?" Carson asked. Averie sighed, not out of annoyance at the boy, but annoyance over the fact that she had no idea what to do next.
"We could go and see if Kai is feeling better, then head back to the village?" Averie suggested.
"But what about the other people who were on the bus with us? The ones they took away?"
"I don't know how to help them, Carson. And to be honest, they would be better off with someone who could actually do something." Averie admitted.
On cue, the door leading to the sanctuary opened, and a lycan dragged in another victim of the branding iron. Arcane struggled in the lycan's grip, but was weak from his fight with one of the creatures on the way to the sanctuary. His armour was in pieces, and blood soaked most of his clothing.
The lycan saw Averie and growled, letting go of Arcane. Averie took the opportunity and shot at the creature, aiming for his head, and presuming she would need to take a couple of shots to kill him.
However, Averie forgot that she wasn't using the little handgun she had pillaged earlier and was using a rather large weapon with stronger firepower, and ended up blowing the lycan's head clean off.
"Oh that's so gross!" Carson yelled, and Averie tried to tell him to be quiet, but it was too late. Averie could hear voices from the sanctuary.
"Well then go in there and get them!" Lord Heisenberg yelled, and Averie could hear heavy footsteps coming closer.
Pulling Arcane to his feet, Averie and Carson dragged the man out of the room, locking the door behind them and hoping for a head start.