AN: HELLO PEEPS! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and have a good Christmas or whichever holiday you celebrate. I wish you all good health this holiday seasons. Anyway, I am slowly getting my mojo back, between this and trying to find a job, it's been hectic. Thankfully, I have my fiancé to thank for being there for me. :)

Anywho, you guys know the typical disclaimer. And in this chapter and onwards, this is where things go into the fantasy/magical/supernatural side of things. Hope you guys still enjoy what's to come.

Hello there - Mind Link talk

As the gang stepped into what appeared to be the main hall, Jill and Joseph would be in awe at the sheer size of the area. It was easily the size of a small chapel with a huge winding staircase smack in the middle with what looked like a HUGE cylindrical tank. To their further surprise, there were fish of different colors and species swimming inside. No one's been here in years and yet, there was life inside the tank. "Hey, Chris, has someone been taking care of this place?" Joseph asked, raising an eyebrow and Jill nodded in agreement; he was not the only one who shared this thought.

"I don't know. I haven't been back here in God knows how long," Chris shrugged as Alana ran towards the tank, her eyes wide in amazement as she pressed her hands against the glass. "That's been there as long as I can remember. I think my grandfather had that put in."

"It's so big!" Alana exclaimed as Wesker joined her side. "This is so cool! I only see tanks like this in the local aquarium. I snuck into it one time and saw something like this. But it was like connected to the bigger tank, you know where they have like sharks and stuff like that in there." As the young psychic went on, Wesker seemed to tune them out as his eyes were fixed on the tank, specifically the fish.

It reminded of him that time.. the time he spent with his adoptive mother.. He remembered his time at the beach, going swimming with her. Blue eyes shined with happiness and motherly love, her delicate hand holding onto his smaller one. Golden hair shimmering in the reflected sunlight..

"Daddy?" Wesker snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to his daughter, who was looking up at him in confusion. "Are you okay? Your thoughts are a bit loud."

Wesker nodded after a moment, giving her a bit of a smirk and ruffled her hair. "No need to worry yourself, I'm fine. And what did I say about going into my mind?" he would softly scold.

"Not to do so unless I get permission," Alana replied, giving him a sheepish look before looking up along the tank. "I wonder how far this goes up?"

"I believe it stops at the third floor, from what I can recall from my last stay here. The tank's water comes from outside, where it's filtered into the tank. How that was done, I do not know. Again, this was built during my grandfather's time," Chris replied as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Daaaamn.. then this place has been around for a freakin' long time. But.. if that's the case, then come home it looks still so brand spankin' new? You think it would have some decay somewhere," Joseph says while crossing his arms, giving his comrade an eyebrow perk of confusion.

"Again, who knows? Maybe someone has," Chris shrugged again.

But something about his tone made Wesker believe he was lying. He knew something about this manor and he was hiding it well. As the group would head down the hall ahead of them, the Captain began to focus on Chris's mind. From the training he gave Alana to help control her powers, he had gained some knowledge in retain, enough to give him a slight ability they dubbed the Mind Link. He would feel his own mind shoot into the sharpshooter's and he smirked to himself. 'Alright, Chris. Let's see what you are hiding,' he thought as he began to probe around slightly.

Chris suddenly stopped, feeling a small pressure at the back of his head. He suddenly smirked and closing his eyes, imagine the Captain's hidden shock when he heard his voice reply back.

And you tell Alana not to go probing around in people's heads? Do I smell a bit of hypocrisy? Hehehe... How in the world did Chris know he was there?! Unless...! I kind of figured you knew something about this place from the moment we stepped foot in the door.. which leads to me.. you know magic.

Wesker, after composing himself, sent his reply. You are correct, Redfield. Which leads to the conclusion that this place has been built by magic, meaning your family has connections to the arts, your grandfather especially.

Hit the nail right on the head there, Wesker. And what about you? What's your connection?

That's for me to know, Redfield. I'm not telling you so easily.

Don't forget Captain, my mind and yours are now connected. Meaning just as easily as you can see my thoughts, I can read yours as well. So why not just tell me?

Just because you know a bit of magic doesn't mean you can easily see through me. Do not forget, I have been training Alana to control her mental abilities. Meaning I know these things as well, so my mind will be harder to penetrate. Plus, if you want answers, you'll have to be prepared to give us some as well.

Chris debated with himself for a moment. He was planning on telling his comrades anyway about the world of magic. But the thing was; how were they going to take it? As far as they knew, magic is just nothing but folklore and fairy tales and cheap tricks you see at fairs and circuses. But he had proof, lying around the manor, so it would be easy to convince them. Finally, he answered with a nod.

Alright, that's fair, I guess.

Satisfied, Wesker pulled out, but it also left him with a slight headache. He still had not gotten used to the sensation of joining minds, although he had been helping the young girl. Speaking of which, she was quietly standing by, sensing what was going on. Using her own Mind Link, she heard the chatter and was surprised as well that Chris knew magic, real magic. None of that smoke and mirrors stuff. While the group headed down the hall towards the library, of which Jill and Joseph had already entered, Chris took a moment to think about Wesker. He seemed like a practical man at first. The idea of magic existing would seem a perfectly absurd notion to him, judging by the man's mannerisms. Boy, had he proven Chris wrong in that regard. Nonetheless, he smiled to himself again; it seemed that his family's journals were right all along. Coming into the library, Alana grinned at the many books lining the many shelves and hurried deeper inside. There was a roaring fire in the hearth, illuminating some of the room with some lamps dimly lighting the rest of it. There was a homely feel to this room, something that they took note of.

"This is very cozy looking, Chris," Jill says as she sat down in one of the few red leather sofas near the fireplace.

"Mom spent most of her time here, reading. Dad would sometimes tease her, calling her a bookworm," Chris says with a bit of a laugh. "When we came here, Claire and I would spend most of our time, outside. Sometimes we would go swimming out at the pond near the waterfall."

"And when we had friends over, we usually took it up to the third floor. Trust me, guys, you're going to LOVE the room!" Claire piped up, obvious eagerness shining in her eyes.

"Sounds like this place was pretty popular back in the day," Jill smiled as she looked at the different books.

Some of these texts.. they were kind of odd in her eyes. These sounded like fairy tales and what not. But there were some titles that she recognized, like some of Charles Dickson's books, Edgar Allen Poe's works, and C.S. Lewis's books. Yet something kept niggling at the back of her head that something was up. Considering what she saw in the lake with Wesker, she had to ask herself.. with the Captain being a merman, what else was hidden in this world? As she looked to Chris, who was talking with Alana about a book she found on one of the middle shelves, he seemed more.. animated with this. In fact, his whole demeanor had changed ever since coming into this manor. There was something he was not saying, that much she was sure of. For now, she would keep quiet and let Chris tell them when he was ready and willing.

"Man, I remember back when I was elementary and we had the book fairs and shit like that. I kind of miss it, ya know?" Joseph says as he took out a book from the top shelf, dusting off the front cover.

"Wait.. you can read, Frost?" Chris feigned a shocked look on his face, earning the bird flip from Joseph, but that got him a slap on the back of the head by Wesker.

"Watch it, Frost," came the Captain's warning tone before heading to the back shelves.

Earlier out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jill's thoughtful and gently probed her mind with the Mind Link. He would then notice what she was thinking and smirked; leave it to Valentine to be the smart one to start figuring things out. Saving her life in the lake opened the door to the mysterious world of the supernatural and she was taking that opportunity. He would start scanning the books until he came upon a black leather back tome on the second top shelf. Carefully, he brought it down and dusted it off. There was nothing on the front but as he gently opened it, knowing that this was old and looked like it could fall apart, the pages were filled with notes and diagrams of what seemed to be a book on unknown creatures, creatures that Wesker had never seen before. From what could assume, these were beasts that the family had faced before. Looking to the front again, his eyes widened a bit at what was signed there:

Property of Katherine Redfield

'Katherine... the Redfields' mother?' Wesker thought to himself as he carefully flipped through its slightly faded pages, his eyes scanning each of their contents and paragraphs. It seemed to him there was more to this family than meets the eye. And to top it off, Chris knew of this. Yet he could understand why he didn't say anything: one, no one asked (as the young sharpshooter would put it) and two, would they have believed him even if they did ask? Magic, to almost all people, was nothing but make believe to today's generation. And he was one of those people, once upon a time.. until he met... HER. He could still hear her voice the day they met...

Albert... don't be afraid... I am here...

You are not alone...

Come, my darling...

That soft voice.. like a mother, calling her wayward child. Closing the book, he slid it carefully back on the shelf and quietly exited the library, his slipping out going unnoticed by his team. He went down the hall that led to a small garden, covered in beautiful flowers of all kinds. But his eyes were trained upon the lake down below as he removed his sunglasses and tucked them into the shirt pocket. He leaned on the railing with his hands, letting out a slow sigh before taking a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the mountain air around him. As much as he loved it here, he'd rather be... home. Or at least, what he called home.

"Daddy?" Once more broken from his thoughts, he turned slightly to see his young adopted daughter coming over, a curious look in her eyes. "You okay? You seemed rather.. distracted by something," she would ask, earning a small amused smile from the blond Captain.

"Just.. got a lot on my mind, little one," he would say after a moment of silence as he looked back to the mountainous forest before him. There was so much he could say right now, but he would have to wait until the right time. But he also knew Alana was not really naïve; although he had told her not to go peeking into people's mind, it doesn't take a psychic to figure out what he was bothering him.

"You're worried about Irons, aren't you? And what's going to happen once Umbrella finds out I'm with you, right?" Alana asked, coming to stand next to him and placing a small hand on top of his gloved left one.

"... And other things as well." Well, at least Alana got one on the head. But he was not going to let anything to happen to her. Not while he breathed. If Irons ever thought about touching her... it'll be his last mistake. But something deep in his gut told him that karma would be coming his way sooner or later.. and it was going to be dealt in spades. "But let's not worry of such things right now. We're supposed to be relaxing. Come now, let's go back inside."

Now back inside, the Redfield siblings would trek up the stairs with the Alpha Team coming up behind them until they would come to a large room the size of a small chapel. To their amazement, there was, what looked like, a dance floor with a stage at the front along with what seemed to be a music station. To their right was a large bar area with bottles of alcohol, wines and other hard liquors on three shelves. Along the ceiling were black LED lights that shined down on the walls and floor, brightly lighting up the room.

"WHOA! This is awesome!" Brad exclaimed with both him and Joseph looking around, bug eyed in awe at where they stood now.

"I know, right? Whenever we came here for the summer, we sometimes had our friends come here and we would throw some great parties," Claire grinned as she went to sit down on one of the rotating stools, taking off her jacket and placing it on the back. "Hey Chris, get some music going in here, but not too loud, okay?"

Nodding, Chris would jog up to the small stage and after fiddling with the controls for a moment, he would put one of the rock CDs into the player and hit PLAY. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody would begin playing out on the large speakers but the volume was set soft enough for the gang to still hear one another yet loud enough for them to hear the song. "Good choice, my man," Joseph grinned, giving a high five to Chris as the sharpshooter went behind the bar.

"What can I get y'all?" asked Chris as he began dusting off the rack with a dry rag, beating off the thin layer of dust.

"You sure those drinks are still good?" Jill asked him in curiosity as a bottle of red wine was brought out and more dust went flying off away from the team.

"Wines and stuff can last for a good ten plus years on the shelf if left unopened. And a lot of these have not been opened yet from the times we've bought them before we came here for summers," Chris explained as he placed the wine bottle down on the counter and brought out some whiskeys, which caught Wesker's attention as he eyed one of the bottles, which he recognized as an Irish whiskey.

"Haven't you heard what they say about fine wines? They only get better with age," Barry piped up as he came to sit between Jill and Joseph, earning a nod of approval from the male behind the bar.

"Your father drank whiskey?" Joseph would ask as Chris gave him a bottle of Bud Lite from the small fridge beneath the counter, knowing what the omni-man liked.

"Of course, my father liked to pretend that he was a refined gentleman and whiskey was usually the choice. Though not a rich man, he took great pleasure in pretending he was so," Chris would say with a slight chuckle as he poured a small glass of Bailey's Irish Cream before sliding it down to Wesker, who took it with a nod of thanks.

Brad was given a Bud Lite as well, not really one for fancy liquor like Barry was, who opted for a pint of Guinness. Jill was poured a glass of red wine and added a small ice cube or two to chill it. As for Claire, she also took a bottle of Bud Lite. Once everyone had been served, Chris also took a seat with his sister, getting a pint of Guinness like Barry.

"So Chris, how much of this place do you know?" Joseph would ask after taking another sip of his beer.

"In what way?" Chris replied as he perked up an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Like do you know this place like the back of your hand? Or are there places you know of and haven't gotten into yet?" Joseph added in.

Chris would shoot him a look that said 'Are you that dumb?' "Haven't you been listening to what I've been saying for the last hour? Of course there are places that I haven't found yet! Honestly, Frost... you thick dipshit," he says with an exasperated tone while shaking his head while Barry and Brad sniggered from their side of the bar.

"Perhaps your head was cracked harder than we thought," Wesker muttered, earning a snort from Chris and Jill, the latter trying not to choke on the swallow of wine she had just seconds before the Captain quipped his comment.

"Hey, I was just asking! Sheesh, don't bite my head off! So.. what's one of the main places you haven't found yet?" Joseph would say, holding up his hands in a placating manner.

"My grandfather's secret vault." That got everyone's attention with Joseph and Brad sitting up a bit in their seats while Wesker's eyebrows shot up a bit in surprise. The Redfields had a VAULT? Chris would then continue. "According to my father's journal, my grandfather had a vault where he stored all his secrets, including the Redfield fortune. Five years I've been looking for it and yet still hadn't gotten any further than I was on day one. All I know for certain is that it exists and it takes a woman's touch to open the door." Then he turned to his sister with a small smile. "That's why I brought you along, Claire. Even if I did find the vault, without you I can't open it. Only the touch of a Redfield female can open the door. Or.. so my father's journal said. Again, without having found the thing, I can't test that theory."

"Do we have any clues as to where the vault is? Did Grandpa or dad leave anything?" Claire asked, placing down her beer.

"Well, dad's journal did reveal one promising clue: the vault is buried deep beneath the manor. And the entrance is hidden; where, I have not been able to determine. I do, however, have an idea as to where to look. I'm fairly certain another clue, if not the entrance, can be found back in the library," Chris would reply after a moment of thought, rubbing his chin.

"Then let's go look for it! If we work together, maybe we can find it," Brad piped up.

"I doubt it would be as easy as that. If it did take a large amount of people to find it, I would've done so in the first place. It's going to take more than just us to find it," Chris would disagree, causing the pilot to deflate a little. "It would take a steady mind and an eye for detail. Not only that, but I'm also the only one who can read my grandpa's runes. Though.. one place we can look is in the abandoned mine across the lake. According to what I remember, the mine used to a gold shaft until all of it was mined out and after that, it was abandoned. But, all the mining equipment is still there and still in running condition, from what I heard. And I found a note some time ago by a miner that indicated that there are some secret passages inside that have yet to be opened. But the mine was closed before they were able to open them. If we are able to locate the passages, who knows what might be inside?"

"Then we should head there and get looking!" Alana eagerly spoke up but again Chris shook his head before nodding his head towards outside, in which the sun had begun to set and the stars had started to come out.

"Out of the question. It's getting dark out and the mineshaft is pitch black in there. We need lanterns to see down there. Without them, there would be no point in going. So we wait until dawn and then we'll go check it out," he replied, earning a nod of understanding from the others.

"True. Alright, team. Let's find the guest rooms and let's get some shut-eye. In the morning, we follow Redfield to the mineshaft. Once inside, we stick together. Mineshafts are known to have a plethora of tunnels going to who knows where.. and it's easy to get lost in them," Wesker spoke up after finishing his shot of Irish whiskey.

Come tomorrow, the team would begin what would be the journey of the revelation that would soon change their lives forever...

FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER OUT! So sorry for the delay! Been having a serious case of writer's block and it was hard to come up with what to do with this portion. Next chapter is when the supernatural really comes to life!