70. Claire

How had she not noticed? The mistake had been grave, and now she was putting them at mortal risk.

The Atë were monsters without a defined sector. As they were not very aggressive BOWs, they did not have a fixed domain and instead prowled the tunnels indifferently. Claire had already had her encounters with them. She had learned the hard way what they were capable of doing. Atë were relatively passive monsters. They didn't actively attack, but this atë seemed upset, so something must have provoked it.

The creature's primary fighting mechanism consisted of releasing toxins into its surroundings. Toxins weren't deathly, but they could knock anyone into an induced delusional coma, and that was just what had happened.

Leon and Helena staggered, fighting to stay conscious. She couldn't tell if Chris and the others were alright, since the wall had closed on them, leaving the other group on the other side. Claire would have to trust Liam and Julie to handle it for her. She had to focus on her group.

"Rebecca, stay there," Claire said, pulling Leon away from the howling Atë.

"Oh my god, what's wrong with them?"

Claire didn't answer. She looked around, trying to stay calm.

If it keeps howling like that, more will come. Should we silence it?

Claire ignored the voice in her head and looked around them. There was a small hole in the wall behind Rebecca. It was a safe room, then all they needed was a key. Too bad they didn't have one or, did they?

Bingo.

Claire saw a small glint on Atë's body. The locket hung around the creature's neck.

There's no choice. Put an end to its suffering.

Kill it.

Kill it.

Claire shook her head. From all the times for her to show up, did it have to be now?

They will die if you don't do something.

Kill it. Go ahead, kill it.

"Shut up!" Claire groaned, grabbing her head.

She didn't have that much power over Claire's actions before, but now that Claire had returned to the place where everything had started, it was as if it had triggered something. The doppelgänger's voice was louder, and Claire had trouble trying to focus on the fight while trying to ignore the little voice in her mind.

The Atë was out of control. Claire noticed that the creature had a significant wound on its back. It was a clean burn that she had not healed even though the Atë had regenerative abilities. That only happened when the tissue got exposed to ultraviolet light like the UV- ammo they used. However, Claire was sure that, neither Chris nor any of his companions had had time to shoot at the monster.

There was no time to think about that. Claire dodged Atë's furious claws. The creature was acting erratically, possibly from damage to its back. It threw its claw all over the place, roaring and crying out.

It's so much in pain. Why don't you put an end to it already?

Claire ignored the voice, and using the wall as a pivot, managed to jump on top of the Atë. The monster jerked, trying to get rid of her. The woman took the blade from her and made a clean cut in her hand. Her blood would serve to stop the Atë, and like a cockroach poison, when the scavengers came through the body, the virus would pass to them as well.

Two birds with one stone.

The blade sank into the back of Atë's neck. The BOW squealed, and Claire slid aside, grabbing the pendant chain. The woman didn't stop to wait if her trick had been enough to kill him. The battle had already caused enough noise, and it was only a matter of time for other monsters to respond.

Claire took the earring and used it to open the door to the safe room, dragging the unconscious Leon and Helena with Rebecca's help. The door closed behind them as terrible roars filled the corridor they had just left.

Ooh, close call.

"What in heaven was that?" Rebecca said, resting her hand on her chest.

"That, " Claire sighed, "was an Atë, and the ones having a fest out there now, probably some alpha's betas. "

Claire got up off the ground and approached Leon and Helena to check their condition. Vital signs were normal, and judging by eye movement, the two officers had already entered the REM phase. The toxin was working, and the two of them were in a very vivid dream state.

"Oh my god," Rebecca said with horror. "What's wrong with them?"

"Atë releases a psychoactive pheromone that works as a toxin. It puts the victims into a deep delusional dream, usually pleasant."

"What? So it doesn't kill them?" Rebecca asked.

"No, Atë consumes their prey alive," Claire replied. "Little by little. Have you ever heard that the best meat is the one that comes from a happy animal? That's just how it works. Keep them drugged and happy, and you quality food."

"Can we do something for them?"

"The toxin is more or less harmless," Claire said. "Their bodies should handle it, but we don't have time to wait for it to happen naturally, so we'll have to give them a hand."

"Of course," Rebecca nodded. "Tell me what I should do."

"Ok," Claire said. She opened on her hip pouches and pulled out a small fabric bag.

Claire was glad that she'd remembered to look at her journal before they ventured into the maze. Otherwise, she would have forgotten to take the herbs from the greenhouse, and then, things would have been difficult.

"This herb works as an antitoxin against most poisonous BOWs, so it's quite useful," Claire said, giving Rebecca a branch of the silver-colored plant. "Take some leaves and throw them in water. Let Helena drink it. The stick, burn it. The smell will help them, too."

"Ok, I understand."

It was lucky that Rebecca was a doctor. The woman followed the instructions perfectly, and both women dedicated themselves to caring for their respective patients. Leon's breathing was steady and stable, which is a good sign.

"I hope you enjoy your dream, Leon," Claire sighed.

There wasn't much to do while Leon and Helena slept. The adrenaline from the fight was beginning to wane, and Claire felt the headache of fatigue begin to build.

Her thoughts flew to her brother and her friends. She had to contact them to tell them they were safe and make sure they were safe too. Claire reached for the phone in her pocket. However, she realized that during the fight, the device had been rendered useless.

"Oh, great," Claire sighed. "I guess I have to borrow yours, Leon. I hope you don't mind..."

Leon had more pockets than Claire expected. It was probably a secret agent thing. He probably needed those pockets to store his superagent things. After going through several front pouches, Claire found the phone right in Leon's back pocket.

"Of course you would put it there," Claire sighed, rolling her eyes.

Leon's had a restricted line during missions. It was a safety thing. The phone couldn't make regular calls, so all communications had to be mediated through the operator.

"Leon?" Hunnigan answered.

"No, this is Claire. Leon is out of commission for a while," Claire said, looking at the unconscious man.

"Oh my god, what happened? Is he ok?"

"Yeah, he's not hurt or anything. He should be fine. He got intoxicated by a BOW toxin. I already gave him the antitoxin, so he should be fine soon."

"Antitoxin? Where did you get that?"

"I brought it in. The plant grows in the Asylum's Greenhouse. I stocked up before we came into the maze."

"That is a smart move."

Claire snorted.

"All these years have taught me to be cautious," Claire sighed. "We got separated from Chris and the others. Do you think you could connect me to him?"

"Of course," Hunnigan said. "Give me a minute."

Claire sighed. She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to ease the sore she was starting to feel.

You can't deny me forever.

Claire looked up. Her doppelgänger was sitting next to Leon, and her demeanor seemed more hostile than usual.

This place is hell, and you can't survive hell if you don't become a demon yourself. You know that.

"Stay quiet..."Claire mumbled.

You'll need me eventually. You can't run away from it.

"Claire?" Hunnigan's voice called her.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You look a little pale," Hunnigan said,

"Yeah, I'm fine. I only need a break."

"Right. I'm going to connect you with Chris now."

"Yeah, thank you."

It took a couple of minutes for the call to go through. Chris answered in a fit of panic, but he calmed down as soon as he saw his sister safe.

Chris's group had ended in a safe room, too. There were no casualties, and all of them were well. They would rest until the next shift, and then the path would open up to their rendezvous point at the intersection between 9 and 10.

"Your friends are good guides," Chris said. "How are things on your side?"

"It's alright," Claire replied. "Leon and Helena should be up soon."

"Well, that's good. How are you? You don't look too peachy."

"Ah, I'm ok. I am reliving my personal hell. How do you expect me to look?"

"Right," Chris sighed. "Be careful, Claire. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Uh, come on, Chris. You know I can take care of myself," Claire said, "And Leon is on my tail all the time."

"Yeah, let's not talk about Leon. I don't trust him when Ada Wong is in the equation," Chris sighed. "He might be the best agent in the USA, but he certainly loses it when it comes to that woman..."

Auch. That hurts.

"Yeah, yeah. I know..." Claire sighed. "I know..."

Claire wasn't stupid. Years had taught her not to be naive, and Claire was not a stranger to Leon's history with Ada, but what could she do?

Can you trust him?

"I know Leon cares about you," Chris said. "But I worry, ok?"

"I know," Chris," Claire smiled weakly. "The only man who loves to death is you."

"Well, glad that you know that. Alright," Chris sighed. "Rest, we'll see you soon."

Talking to Chris had set a part of Claire at peace, but the mention of Ada had hit her harder than she had expected. It was stupid, she was acting like a high school girl, and that wasn't like her.

That's right. You can't patronize him. He's a free soul, and this is just a play to him.

Claire rubbed her head, trying to push away the voice. It was the maze. Being put in again was causing her to fall into old habits. Her body (and mind) were having issues understanding that she was here under other circumstances.

"Hey," Rebecca said, placing a hand on Claire's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Claire looked at the medic and nodded.

"I guess the struggle drained me a little."

"Not only that," Rebecca said. "I just noticed. You're bleeding."

Claire looked at herself. Yes, her arm was bleeding, but she'd not noticed. Perhaps the adrenaline and the stress had blocked her from feeling pain, or maybe it was just a survivor's mechanic.

"I don't seem to be serious, but you probably lost a bit of blood already," Rebecca said. "I'll patch you up, and I'll give you one of the shots. That should make you better."

"Yeah, let's do that."

The dose of viral DNA helped her, that was not a lie, but it wasn't enough to shut the annoying voice in her head.

Helena woke up confused, and Leon woke up soon after. Both of them were well, considering they had been exposed to a heavy amount of toxin, both of them were doing just fine. Leon, even, was in condition to make jokes.

"Sorry, you had to deal with that alone."

Claire sighed.

"Don't. Atë aren't usually aggressive. They only attack under provocation, and I saw it was already hurt when it showed up. I didn't have time to look at it carefully, but it looked like gunshots."

"Ada?"

"Possibly."

Of course, he would think of Ada.

Her doppelgänger tilted her head slightly, and Claire ignored her.

"I don't know how she's moving around," Claire said softly. "but I guess she's surviving."

"Ada knows her deal. If she had not been a spy, she would have been a valuable ally."

"Yeah, probably," Claire sighed. An ally, yes, probably she would, and a lot of things would be different. "I'm gonna check on Helena, stay still..."

Claire moved to get up, but Leon stopped her, taking her by the arm and pulling her back. The gesture caught Claire by surprise. She didn't expect him to have his reflexes back just yet.

"It won't change things. You know that, right?"

"What?"

"Ada..."

And there it was again. It seemed that the name would haunt her for the rest of the time she spent in the maze. It was another thorn that would weigh on her sanity, and the smirk on her doppelgänger's face was proof enough of it.

"I know. You two have your thing, and I'm ok. Don't worry about it," Claire said, trying to run away from the subject.

She didn't want to hear it. She didn't need to hear it. Leon had a thing for Ada, true, but that didn't mean their affection wasn't authentic, too.

The question at hand is: Can you trust him?

Her head was hurting, and that wasn't a good sign, but before Claire could come up with some excuse to run away, Leon pulled her closer and kissed her. It was a modest kiss, but it was enough for Claire to make it back to her senses. Suddenly, she felt some of the clouds in her mind dissipate.

The maze was hell in more ways than one. Their walls not only contained monsters; they contained emotions, too. The darkness and the solitude drew anyone in it mad, and Claire was no exception.

"Don't worry about Ada," he whispered in her ear. "You're my priority now..."

An anchor. It was something that served to hold an object firmly, reliable or principal support, something to stop her from drifting away into madness. She'd forgotten it, but at least now, she had something.

Claire left Leon to talk to Hunnigan and approached Helena and Rebecca. Helena had a smirk on her face, and Rebecca was ecstatic.

"I knew it!" the doctor cried. "Oh god, I knew it."

"Congratulations," Helena said. "Thanks to Leon's lack of control, Chambers found out your secret."

"Oh, dear. I forgot," Claire said, covering her face. "Don't tell, Chris."

"Why not? It is great news. I know Barry and Jill would throw a party. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a betting pool on you two."

"Wait, they what?" Claire said.

"One would need to be blind not to see it," Helena snorted.

"God, we don't have time for this," Claire sighed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I have the worst hangover of my life, but good overall."

"Well, see it as a hangover and drink more water."

Claire took more of the remedial herb and burned. That would help clean the rest of the toxin, and both agents would be back on their feet in a blink.

"How's Leon?" Rebecca asked.

"If he's in the mood for kissing, he can't be bad," Helena snorted.

"He's doing fine. His willpower is strong, so I didn't expect the delusion to catch him for too long."

"How does that work?" Rebecca asked. "I thought the delusions were random."

"Well, if they're random, they're really well chosen," Helena sighed. "I almost believed it."

"I don't know how someone turns into an Atë. The only one I ever saw turning was a girl who suffered from delusional disorder. She believed her baby was alive."

"What happened to her?" Rebecca asked.

We had to give her peace, didn't we?

"I had to make a hard decision," Claire sighed. "and I am not proud of it."

"If she was turning to a monster, that was the right thing to do," Helena said.

"Maybe."

"So, a person suffering from delusional disorder turned to a BOW that creates delusions. That can't be a coincidence," Rebecca said. "their mental state defines what they become?"

"That was my hypothesis, yes. That would explain why some BOWs are aggressive while others are just sad."

"Well, I know some people theorize that behavioral traits are genetically coded, so maybe the L-virus and M-virus use that as a guide when they infect hence determining how traits develop."

"Saya and I discussed that, too. With Jane Doe and Jacob, we did find some mutations in certain neurotransmitters' genetic code. However, all of our speculations were theoretical, and unfortunately, I am a bad model since I have pre-altered genes."

"Uh, true, but that won't explain why some mutate and others don't," Rebecca said. "I mean, you have been with us for long enough, and there are no signs of mutation, and then the survivors, too. However, Jacob McMillan mutated. There are so many questions."

Claire smiled at the young medic's excitement.

"There's probably a trigger for mutation," Claire said, putting the herbs back into her pouch. "It is like the T-Phobos. Without the trigger, the virus remains latent. I probably haven't found what triggers me or something."

"And with some luck, we won't need to find it," Leon said. The man sat by Claire's side and rested his hand on the arc of her back.

Helena shook her head, amused, and Rebecca made an excited screech that made Leon look at her, confused.

"Did I miss something?" Leon asked, looking at Claire.

"Well, for starters. It is good to see that you can move around," Claire replied, "and second, you forgot to be discreet, so now Rebecca knows we are together."

"Congratulations," Rebecca said excitedly. "Just I was so...so...in favor of this relationship."

"What?" Leon said.

"Apparently, there's a betting pool on whether you two were going to hook up and when."

"Oh, there is?" Leon snorted. "Who's in that?"

"Barry and Jill. Though, I guess Chris is in it, too. Involuntarily, though. Someone has to bet against, right?"

"Chris is betting against it?" Leon asked.

"Well, not exactly. Chris just denies the possibility," Rebecca shrugged. "Barry and Jill, however, that's another story."

"So who won?" Helena asked.

"Frankly, Barry," Rebecca laughed. "He said you already were together but hadn't said a word."

Good old Barry. Well, years gave away experience. Among all of them, Barry was the most knowledgeable about relationships and family.

"Smart man," Helena nodded.

"Yes! Wait when he finds out."

"We need to make it out alive first," Claire said, shaking her head. "We can worry about it then."

Claire slapped Leon's arm, who was chuckling, amused.

"I guess you're all well now. We should..."

A sharp pain penetrated Claire's skull as if someone had driven nails into her brain. A buzzing rumbled in her ears, causing the woman to arch with a groan.

The maze is switching, and they are stirring. Do you hear the cries? Do you feel their call?

"Claire, what's wrong?"

Nothing was wrong, only that her head hurt, and her doppelgänger was becoming a cryptic poet.

"Nothing," Claire mumbled. "The maze is switching. We should go now.

"Break is over. Back into hell, it is," Helena said. "I'm asking for vacations after this."

Claire chuckled weakly. Leon helped her up and looked at her with worry.

"Are you sure you are ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," Claire nodded. "Don't worry."

A roar rang out from their surroundings as the surrounding walls began to move. What had been their safe rooms minutes ago was now just another dark stone tunnel. The walls were rough and sharp as needles. A thick layer of a substance that Claire preferred not to find out was falling on its surface.

Welcome to the unknown.

Her doppelgänger stood in front of them. Her figure shone supernaturally, highlighting the girls' sheepish smile. Sector 8. The last time Claire had been there, she had come across a creature so savage that she was unsure how she'd survived. She had not known what phase the monster had been in, but the beast was horrifying.

Claire could still picture the raw muscle-like tissue that was pale as chalk, the eyeless face with the protruding bones on its skull that looked like horns. The mouth filled with sharp fangs, and the limbs ending on razor claws. The BOW was like a demon taken from a horror film, and Claire could only hope that it had died the day she'd fallen to the sea.

Her tension had probably shown out since she felt Leon squeeze her hand reassuringly.

Before me, there were no created things, Only eternity, and I too, last eternal. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here! (1)

The journey through sector 8 was not easy at all. They had to evade a pack of hideous gorgons, like the ones they had seen in the mall, as stealthily as they could. Eventually, they had no choice but to throw a flash grenade and seize the opportunity to flee. The group met Chris and the others at the meeting point. The group looked shaken and tired, but at least there were no deaths. The group still had the same number of members that had started.

Liam and Julie were doing well, too. Sometimes Claire could see they were struggling with the influence of the maze, too. They could more or less feel the presence of the monsters on sectors 9 and 10, so she could not blame them if they were hesitant. If Claire had not been there before, she would have been the same.

The tension grew graver as they advanced through the tunnels. They could hear ruffling sounds all around them, and Claire tried not to think of the many monsters that surrounded them. She wasn't the only one struggling though, Chris was so tense that his body was stiff; Jill and Barry looked around with anxiety; the three BSAA soldiers were nervous; Rebecca was horrified, and Leon and Helena seemed like they could snap at any time.

Claire exchanged looks with Liam, who gave her a gesture: "Too empty."

When you had to move around a place trying to be quiet, talking was not an option, so Claire and the other patients had to come up with a sign system. It was simple, but it worked.

Liam was right. It was too empty, and even under this situation, emptiness seemed ominous. A sudden movement of one of Chris's men caught Claire's attention. As the light of their flashlights lit the dark corridor, Claire saw with wide eyes a scene she'd not expected. Several BOWs laid death on the ground. By their appearance, they were beta forms and one or two alpha forms. Some of them had visible bullet injuries: scorched tissue and causing it to degenerate. Someone had been there before them and had already cleaned up the path for them.

Jill examined one of the corpses with a frown and looked at Chris with a worried look. No words get exchanged between them. Even without them, Claire could tell what they were thinking.

Like with the Atë, the damage was like the one the specialized ammo did. Whoever had killed these monsters had done it using the ammo that Claire and Marie had designed, and considering their circumstances, there was only one person who could have done it.

Claire automatically looked at Leon. The agent was looking at one of the corpses with Rebecca, and his expression was somber as he watched the scorched tissue.

If Ada Wong was using the special ammunition, that had pretty serious implications. The UV bullets and those coated with the anti-vir serum were classified material. No one except Chris and his team, Helena, and Leon had access to those prototypes. So how could Ada be using them?

Chris motioned for the rest of the group to continue. The corpses were hard to move around, but at least they were dead. That was something they could thank Ada. After several turns, a couple of monsters they killed using stealth, and a long walk in the dark, the group reached what appeared to be sector 10.

Compared to the other sectors, Sector 10 was nothing more than a long corridor in a straight line. That didn't do much to give Claire peace. The area seemed like the perfect place for an ambush. Without the twists and turns found in other sectors, the group had few places to move beyond forward or backward. If they got attacked, they were practically trapped.

The situation did not go unnoticed by Chris, who, after giving a signal to his men and Leon, began to move through the tunnel. Tension could be felt in the air, and Claire's stomach churned.

Clank!

The metallic sound echoed sharply in tunnel silence. Claire looked around in horror as the metallic click evolved into a roar. It was a trap. Harris, Chris's soldier, had stepped on something on the ground, which had activated some internal mechanism.

"It's a trap!" Claire cried.

But it was too late, the walls shook with a thud, and a bestial howl chilled their blood.

(1) Dante Alighieri, Inferno