Once they finally make it to the shore, the sun is beginning to rise in full. It makes it easier to see what they're doing but it also gives them less cover as they pass through a thick patch of bushes to re-enter the abandoned village.
Claire is in point this time as they search for potential threats. They haven't heard so much as a footstep since they docked, but Claire knows they'll find something. That many Ganado don't just disappear overnight. But the further they go through the back of the village, the fewer signs of life they see. Things are worse here than they were in the town square. The buildings are completely reduced to rubble and whatever is leftover has either been looted or ground into shards. Claire notes a pile of broken pottery, the pieces embedded into the plants and dirt below it. This area was destroyed a long time ago. Possibly before even Leon came here.
"What now?" Ashley asks in a sharp whisper. Claire's been trying to avoid that question, just because she knows not to plan too far ahead, but right now, there's no avoiding it. It's easy to say that they'll just find Luis and get him to safety, but they have no way of even knowing where he is now. Leon shipped them off to an entirely different island. Who's to say he kept Luis close as well? The Spaniard could be miles away.
Ashley's assumption from before returns. Luis could be dead and Claire isn't naïve enough to say it's impossible. The man's skilled but not nearly as skilled as Leon. Hell, even Chris would probably have to really try to take the man down. His years as a government operative have only made him more and more dangerous. Not for the first time, Claire wishes she had brought both him and Sherry with her to Europe, even though she knows it would've been worse for them all. Just getting her and Steve out of Umbrella's prisons was hard enough. She can't imagine trying to save Leon and Sherry on top of that.
"Hey!" Ashley calls again and Claire finally looks back at her. They pause in their walking, though, they keep their eyes searching for movements. Who knows when something could attack. "You're really spacing out. Are you okay?"
It takes a moment for Claire to find a good answer. "I guess...I just don't really know what steps to take next. If we want to find Luis, we'll have to search not only this village and the mansion, but even further out. He could really be anywhere at this point." She notices how Ashley deflates a little, her hope beginning to sink. "And if we want to find Leon, then we have to trust Luis will be fine on his own. That he'll find a way back to us and have some kind of solution to this whole mess." Which, Claire doubts he will. How can Luis escape whatever place he was trapped in while also finding the way to get rid of Leon's Plaga? It's impossible. Or, maybe just very difficult. She's learning that anything is possible.
"Maybe..." Ashley starts, her eyes looking down now, but her hesitation turns into confidence as she speaks again. "What if we're looking for the wrong things? Like you said, it might be out of our abilities to just go looking for Luis, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything. Besides, I've learned that you usually find what you're looking for if you follow danger."
Honestly, Claire can't say that she's wrong, as much as she'd like to. In Raccoon, the only way she found her way out of the city was by following the next lead. If she had known there was a trail leading out from the very beginning, she wouldn't have even gone to the station. They have to solve this step by step and maybe trying to keep a line of goals will only get them distracted.
Claire lets out a tired sigh but nods in agreement. "You have a point." She relents. "So, what should we do, then? It's obvious something happened here since last night, but I can't exactly tell what." It's ironic in a way. Before, when they were sorely unprepared, it felt like the Ganados just wouldn't stop appearing; but now that she and Ashley have really nice guns on them, they couldn't find a single one.
"Then let's find out where they went. If Leon killed the rest of them, then he must've left a trail to where he is now. And if they've gathered somewhere, then there's likely a reason. Either way, we end up progressing."
"Alright, Miss Graham. Let's head out to town square then." Ashley gives an eye roll at the little honorific but begins marching on anyway. Claire follows after, her gun held high as they go. She has no idea what kind of technology Leon may be using on that island, but it can't be long until he notices that they've escaped. Someone's bound to come after them, whether it's the giant man or someone else, she isn't sure. Part of her hopes it's someone else, but the other half knows that anyone else Leon sends will be equally horrifying. He isn't the only one in that mansion by any means and he could've harvested a whole army at this point. A whole year to build up is a long time, even with limited resources.
By the time they make it to the town square, Claire's completely convinced that someone's going to come rushing around a corner and kill them in seconds. Her mind replays the information Luis gave them before they departed. The three types of Plaga and how each of them can easily kill her and Ashley without much effort at all. Especially the last type, that can bite off their heads in one, clean chomp. Or was that the second type? She can't even remember.
The bonfire is completely out by this point and all that remains of it is a large pile of burnt logs and sticks. Claire looks it over for a moment, her foot nudging some of the white and black logs aside. She's just about to move on when she sees a familiar-looking stick and cold realization washing through her. Those aren't sticks at all. Those are bones.
"Holy fuck..." She hisses to herself, her eyes staying on the bone. She can't say she's too surprised, just more shocked that she hadn't realized it before now. They were burning bodies. Of course they were. Why would the Ganados just start a fire for the hell of it? Just gather a bunch of logs and build a huge bonfire to enjoy and sing around? No, there was an obvious reason for it. A sinister one.
"What is it?" Ashley asks as she takes a few steps back toward Claire, obviously curious but hesitant. Claire doesn't even look up at her. She just moves the log completely off of the bone and lets Ashley draw the same conclusions. "Oh, Shit!"
"I guess that explains the smell." And now that she's thinking about this, Claire really wants to get her mind working on something else. Something that isn't infected lunatics burning bodies. Please and thank you. "We have to keep moving, though. No one's been here for a while and if your suspicions are right, then those Ganados must be gathered somewhere."
It takes much longer than Claire would've liked for them to search the rest of the village. There isn't much in ways of supplies and what little they could find is barely enough to consider bringing with them anyway.
They don't run into a single Ganado, even as they search the entire area and a little ways into the woods. The only things left to show they were ever here at all are the burned-out bonfire and a few bloodied bodies, but those are only around from last night, she's sure.
She's never experienced something like this before. Many bad things have happened to Claire, all strange and crazy, but disappearing infected? It's not something she thought would be possible. She's heard of invisible monsters, yes, but the Ganado didn't just turn invisible. They are outright missing. A part of her honestly feels frustrated that this couldn't have happened during Raccoon City or any other time. Why did she have to suffer through shooting so many zombies before when the only time she's trying to actively find BOWs, they're running away from her.
They circle back to the town square and pause for a moment. Ashley looks doubtful of her own plan now, but Claire shakes her head before the girl can say anything. "We'll find them. Whether they're dead or not doesn't matter. We'll find their bodies or something. Anything to show that they went somewhere else, probably in a hurry." Claire looks around the landscape but her eyes linger on the mansion on top of the hill. "We...we could try going up further."
Going closer to where Leon is staying was a bad idea at the moment but they don't have much of a choice. They've searched just about everywhere else and besides, they can't avoid it forever. They'll have to return there soon anyway, so they might as well start now, right?
But when Claire looks at Ashley, she sees how nervous the girl is. She's got her gun held tight, raised in the air in case she has to shoot it at any moment. Her posture is a whole lot straighter than Claire's but that's mostly because she's confident they aren't going to get attacked at the moment. Not only are they in an open area, but if someone were looking to jump out at them, they would've done it already.
"Do you have any ideas?" Claire opens the floor to Ashley, curious to get her input. Her ideas have been pretty good so far and they could use a little insight on this.
Ashley looks at her quickly but her nerves don't ease as she looks anywhere but the mansion. "What if...what if we went around it?"
"Around it? How?"
"Well, going right up to the mansion is just going to get us attacked, but if we found a way to circle around it, we could cover even more ground." Ashley looks at her a little desperately. Claire wants to address the unspoked questions, to ask what's really bothering her about that mansion, but she thinks she already has a pretty good idea of what it is. She'll leave it for now, but they'll have to face it eventually.
Instead, Claire thinks about what Ashley suggested. "Maybe you're right. There could be a secret entrance into the mansion or at least just another portion of the village." And now that she's seeing it like that, Claire finally nods in agreement. "Yeah, I like that plan. Let's circle the underside of the hill and if we find nothing, then we'll work our way up." They'll cover as much land as possible without leaving the area.
Ashley brightens but it's only slightly. She just nods and starts heading out, leading their party of two up the trail a little further until they can go off of it and loop around. It's rougher terrain than in the main village area, but that's mostly just because of how overgrown everything is. And they're dressed well for walking in tall grass, so Claire isn't so concerned. They might have to check for bugs on their legs later, but that's really the least of Claire's worries at the moment.
About halfway around the hill, they hear a shout of orders and the two of them stop dead. Claire pulls them to the side, hiding behind a large log, and she peeks out toward the direction of the shouts.
She can't get a good view, but she does see someone moving. Silently, Claire starts to crawl to the side, only stopping once she can hide behind a full tree. She peeks out again and gasps at the sight. She doesn't even think to look for Ashley as she soaks in the scene.
In front of them, just twenty or so yards away, is a large pile of bodies. They're all bloody and none of them move, making Claire guess that they're dead. Stacking the bodies are several people who look like normal humans besides the eerily still expressions they wear. They pick up bodies from where they're scattered across the floor and just continue to pile them higher and higher. One person is standing ahead of everyone, likely the leader of them, but all air leaves her lungs when she sees who it is.
Diego! He's alive! But that doesn't make any sense. She saw him lying on the ground, his blood pooling below him. She saw the bullet wound and although she didn't check his pulse, there was no need. He was completely dead.
"Claire!" Ashley hisses in a whispered shout. Claire whips her head around to face her. "They brought him back! Just like Krauser!"
She looks back to Diego and now, she can see the signs of infection clearly. His face is covered in little stitches, likely acting as the only thing keeping him together. He doesn't even look scared as he stands above them, his arms folded. Slowly, Claire shakes her head in disbelief but holds back the urge to shout in anger and frustration. Diego doesn't deserve this! His family doesn't deserve this! He was just supposed to guide them into the village and then return home!
Claire feels the guilt start to rise, but she pushes it away. No, this isn't her fault. Yes, she could've insisted he stay behind at the gate or they could've protected him better, but they were ambushed. If it wasn't him, it would've been someone else. And the fact that he can't rest peacefully is Leon's fault.
Both girls flinch when they see a new figure come into view and Claire immediately recognizes him as Krauser. He's just as big as when she last saw him. He stalks toward the pile, none of the other Ganado even paying attention to him as he grabs five or so bodies and just drags them away. They slip out of the pile and other bodies fall off as well but the Ganado pick them up quickly.
"Let's follow him!" Claire whispers back to Ashley and they share a quick look -she sees the fear in Ashley's eyes but the girl still nods to her- before they're crawling as fast as they can while staying quiet. Krauser rounds the hill further and they follow as closely as they can, but he's moving faster and Claire's getting desperate to keep him in her line of vision. Her heart picks up speed when he turns into a dip in the hill and completely disappears from her line of sight.
She stands up fully now and jogs a few steps before freezing again. Ashley bumps into her back and the two nearly fall into the brush, but they just manage to keep their collective balance by holding a nearby tree. Claire steadies herself but looks back to Krauser as soon as she can. Relief fills her when she notices that he's stopped moving too, but it's quickly replaced with confusion. He's standing in front of a metal door that's attached to the rocky surface of this side of the hill. After a moment's pause, the door opens by lifting from the top and he steps through, carrying the five bodies with him.
Claire takes her chance and runs forward, her feet only slightly cushioned by the grass. She can hear Ashley following and thanks her luck that they can trust each other so easily.
They both stop just in front of the open frame and watch as Krauser turns a corner, leaving them again. This time, she doesn't rush after him and instead looks up at the door that's now starting to lower again. She sucks in a quick breath and ducks under it, easily sliding out on the other side. Ashley doesn't have as much space, however, and she has to fully roll under it. Claire moves out of the way to give her space, but that also means that she can't get close enough to also pull her out from under the door and she watches as Ashley just barely gets her head through when it closes.
"Shit! That was close!" Claire's not sure what it would've done, but she can't imagine it was going to be good. She does let out a sigh to calm her racing heart and kneels beside Ashley, who's still on the floor. The girl smiles at her, relief filling her entire expression until she tries to get up and her hair keeps her down.
"Fuck!" Ashley curses through gritted teeth as she grabs a handful of her blonde hair and tries to pull it out from under the door. It doesn't give at all and she has to stop tugging before she gives herself a headache. "What the now?" Her bright eyes turn to Claire for guidance.
Claire kneels there for a moment, not exactly sure. If it were a few strands, she'd suggest they just pull them out but it's easy to see that won't work without hurting the girl. She can't just leave Ashley here, though, and she doesn't have a knife on her-
An idea springs into Claire's mind.
"Sorry about this, but I couldn't think of anything better." She gives Ashley an apologetic smile as she swipes the knife off of the girl's belt -she's now very thankful that she lent Ashley her knife- and makes a quick swipe at her hair. It cuts away a few locks but it's not nearly as clean as she'd hoped. Ashley seems to catch on but looks away in sad acceptance as Claire tries again and again. It's really a shame. Ashley has such nice hair and to cut it away so harshly feels almost criminal. Not quite as criminal as doing the same with Leon's hair -she knows how he gets- but it's not too far off.
She comforts herself with the thought that Jill would find this badass. Maybe Chris too.
Once her hair is fully cut off, Ashley finally sits up again. Claire wipes the blade off on her pants and is about to hand it back when she sees Ashley's hair. It's not...bad. It's really not bad. Claire was expecting much worse from the impromptu haircut. It was cut at a slightly odd angle, so the right side of it is a little longer than the left, but it kind of looks like it was meant to be that way. It's also slightly layered with how poorly Claire lined up her strokes, but again, it really isn't bad.
The face she makes must not convey that well, because Ashley looks worried. "Is it really that bad?" Her hand runs through it a few times but she looks away self-consciously.
"No, No!" Claire is quick to correct her. "It's good! Just a little different." It actually frames her pretty well. It brings out her slender shoulders as well as framing her round cheeks. "I like it."
Ashley looks disbelieving, but she's starting to not hide it as much. "Really? Are you sure it's not bad?"
"I promise." And she means it. It's nice and it suits Ashley well. It makes the girl smile, a little thing, but she does hold out her hand anyway.
Claire thinks it's for the knife at first, which Ashley does take back, but then she looks at her sheepishly again. "Do you...have an extra hair tie? Just so I don't get it stuck again." Claire can see through it, knows that she still isn't confident in her new look, but if it's what she wants to do, then Claire will offer her a solution.
She fishes out an extra hair tie and offers it over, but she does give another reassuring comment with it. "You really do look fine."
Ashley doesn't respond as she ties her hair up quickly -they match with their ponytails now- and she stands. Claire does the same and finally, she can look around the hall they've come across. The entire area is made out of stone, moss and other plants growing between the cracks, but it looks like it'll hold just fine. It doesn't take much to guess this is a secret entrance into the mansion.
Claire starts them off down the hall, the same way Krauser went, as they begin to explore. The path is pretty linear and it's been long enough since Krauser marched away from them that she can feel slightly confident they won't run into him too soon. Of course, there's always a possibility he'll come back for more bodies, but she's trusting that they'll hear him before that happens. Hopefully.
They pass several doors but none of them have windows on them and after checking a few, she finds that they're all locked. It's no worry, because there's still more hall for them to go down, but she would've liked at least some kind of cover in case Krauser returns. They could've hidden in a side room, but they can't do much against locked doors. They find a few ladders as well, which lead onto smaller levels that contain little besides more rooms. One room in particular catches her interest, with the words "Research Lab" written on the door itself, but when she tries to turn the handle, she finds that it's also locked. She moves on but keeps a mental note of it. That's something they'll need to look at before they leave this place. It'll probably help them stop Leon too. Hopefully.
After a while of walking endlessly down the hall, checking locked doors and climbing up several different ladders, they finally make it to some kind of main hall. It's large and a lot more open than anything she's seen before, but she knows it's within the mansion. The main part of it, anyway. They've escaped the catacombs and she's ready to start looking for signs leading toward Luis, since they found out where those Ganados went. Once again, she hopes the Spaniard isn't worse off than them.
As they stand in the middle of the room, Claire notes the red carpet leading all the way up a row of stairs, which leads to a literal throne. There's a large tapestry hanging behind it with pictures she can't quite explain. Something about the sun and people praying. She checks the top rails and confirms her suspicions. Yep! This is a throne room! She looks along the walls for traps but doesn't find anything obvious as she makes her way to the throne itself. There are a few side doors, she notes, but she wants to completely check this place out before they start wandering again.
"Who do you think it belongs to?" Ashley calls behind her and Claire shrugs as she stands in front of it.
"Don't know." It's really nice, from what she can see. The cushions are soft and an expensive-looking fabric. The metal along the sides is still shiny and reflects her almost perfectly. She notes that there's the Los Illuminados symbol hanging behind it, but it's no real surprise. She circles the throne a few times, looking for anything hidden, but there's nothing.
Ashley joins her near the throne, her eyes tracing it for a moment before she looks at the tapestry instead. "I wonder who did this. It doesn't look too old but who would just make something this big for an abandoned mansion?"
Claire looks at it as well. She's right. It does look pretty new. "I'm not sure. Maybe someone lived here a little while before Leon got here and they were a part of Los Illuminados." It's really just a guess, but it's the best she's got. She wishes someone could've left journal entries or something, just to give her some kind of history for this place.
She walks up to the tapestry to look closer. It's definitely well made. The strings are tightly held together and she can only imagine how much it must weigh. Maybe a hundred pounds? Possibly more?
To her surprise, Ashley pulls it away from the wall and peeks behind it. Claire's not sure what she'll find there, but she doesn't interrupt. Claire goes back to trying to interpret the meaning behind it, her eyes studying the town's people and how they look like they're begging for something. Or maybe they're worshiping? But why the sun?
Claire is brought out of her thoughts when Ashley pulls away. "I found a door!" Her voice sounds just as surprised as Claire feels and she quickly joins the girl on the left side. Ashley pulls it away again and soon enough, Claire can see the door as well. Look at that. Who would've guessed there was a secret door behind it. She wouldn't have and that's probably the whole point.
"Nice find!" Claire gives her an encouraging smile before she scoots behind the tapestry toward the door. She doesn't look at Ashley's response to that. She's too worried that it'll be locked and she'll have to go searching for another key. Damn Umbrella and their stupid keys. The RPD was horrible in that regard!
Claire grabs the handle and twists it slowly. To her surprise, it continues moving and the door clicks open. She pauses to look at Ashley's response, which she can barely see from the darkness behind the large weaving, but she assumes it's encouraging. Ashley would speak out if she thought it was a really bad idea, right? Yeah.
She pushes the door open and holds her gun up high, just in case someone comes out to attack. She waits another moment before pushing it all the way open and she marches through, her shotgun aimed at the first thing she sees. Ashley follows in soon after, her gun also raised. The room is dark and it's difficult to see what's all in front of them, but the small rays of sunlight filtering in is enough to tell there's a person in front of her. She squints her eyes and catches that they're leaned against the back wall, their hands held up by...are those chains?
Lowering her gun slightly, Claire steps forward and kneels in the sunrays, her eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness quickly. But as soon as she can see properly, her eyes go wide and she backs away again, her mouth open in awe. Although her stomach fills with dread and her heart begins to hammer, she still can't take her eyes off of the familiar blonde head.
It's Leon.
This is another good break point! I know it's a cliff hanger, but the next parts will be a little harder to break up.
