HAUNTING EVIL
Chapter Two
"Sweetheart? Can you hear us?"
A young woman's eyes fluttered open. There were two people smiling down at her. She almost felt like she couldn't breathe when she saw their faces. She stared at them in shock and bewilderment.
"...Mummy? Daddy?"
"How are you feeling, dear?" asked her mother.
The woman looked back and forth between her parents. She then noticed that she was in a hospital room, tucked in a soft bed with them standing at each side.
"H-How...?"
"There was an accident. You've been asleep this whole time. We were so worried about you," her father explained.
"I was?"
"Yes. And now that you're awake, everything is going to be alright."
"B-but... You both were—" the woman stuttered, becoming restless. "I was trapped and couldn't get away... They kept on chasing me and—and—"
The mother hushed her daughter, stroking the light blonde hair on top of her head.
"It's okay... You just had a bad dream," she assured.
"...Dream?"
"That's right. I'm going to do everything in my power to bring you home."
The woman began to settle. Was everything... really just a dream? None of it happened at all? That meant her parents were... Relief swamped through her. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink into the mattress, soothed by the comfort from her mother and father. This was what she wanted. Exactly this for so long...
As soon as she was eased with content, the unforgettable sound of a certain gun reloading snapped her eyes back open. The room was darker than it was seconds ago. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw at that moment...
She could only gape in horror when her father aimed a flintlock pistol at her mother and pulled the trigger.
The woman's scream was almost mute under the gunshot's deafening blast. Her mother's blood splattered on the wall before she fell back against it and slumped to the floor. The woman whimpered helplessly. The insides of her mother's head could easily be seen through the hole the bullet had made as more blood leaked from it.
"Daddy!?" the woman cried, turning to her father for what he had done.
He peered down at her, sneering sadistically. Cracks started to appear on his face. Pieces of skin fell off like egg shells. He appeared to be the same man yet a different person all at once. She tried to lift herself off the bed but felt restraint. When she looked to see what was pinning her down, she found herself no longer in a bed. She was strapped to an examination table.
The room had transformed into an infirmary. She had been in this room before. Her father's outfit had changed into that of a monk's. The terror in her rose and he laughed as she panicked and struggled against the straps. He then reached down to claim her as his...
"NOOO!"
The young woman's eyes shot open again. She took a sharp intake of breath and realised that she was alone. Panting as she looked around, she saw a blazing fireplace, a painting of a noble middle-aged man and a ticking grandfather clock. There was a door between the fireplace and a queen-sized bed that she was lying in. She was in a guest suite.
Reality came back to her and she sobbed, throwing her hands onto her face, willing herself to calm down after another cruel, traumatising nightmare. Not even her own dreams could provide sanctuary.
When her heart rate returned to normal, she pulled the thick quilt off and stood up, her light yellow nightdress spilling down her legs. Her bare feet jumped as it touched the freezing surface. Near the bed were windows from the ceiling to floor. One had a jagged hole, covered with an old sheet, like someone had smashed it. An incident she remembered well. No one had done anything to mend it. A breeze drifted in against it. Next to the windows was another painting of a younger nobleman. She walked down a small set of steps close to the grandfather clock and a third painting and towards undamaged windows. Beside them was an empty birdcage and a second door.
The view of freedom tempted her as it always did. Outside, past a wide courtyard was the castle front entrance. Two large gate doors impossible to climb with no handles. All it had was a single keyhole that was locked at all times. Behind that was a vast forest. Ahead of that were tall mountains. It was all she saw whenever she would get a glimpse of what was beyond this place. She doubted she would ever get to see what was behind those high hills. The woman sighed to herself, looking down at her hands.
Out of the blue, images of them stained with blood and a corpse lying on her lap flashed in her mind.
They made her shudder, her hands tightening into fists. She pressed them to her head, shaking it hard to try and make the memory go away. Her thoughts came to a halt when someone began to bash the door near the bed. Startled, she spun around with a light gasp.
"Open up!" a deep voice demanded through it.
The woman took a step back. She knew that voice yet it still surprised her. It was the mercenary that came to the castle a few months ago. A man that was not from the castle. She figured this by his choice of combat gear and military clothing. She never spoke to him directly before but his brute personality intimidated her.
Fearfully, she called out, "W-What do you want?"
Leon could see how hectic things were by the time he finally turned up at the office. People were rushing around in haste and he did not have the time to talk to any of them. It was the same with his last mission a year ago when he had to rescue the President's daughter, Ashley Graham, who was abducted and brought to Spain to a secret organisation called the Los Illuminados: an occult that used hive mind parasites known as Las Plagas to infect and enslave people for their cause. Victims became the 'Ganados'. They would lose all consciousness of themselves and be under the occult's absolute control. They would slaughter anyone mercilessly without awareness of their actions.
A simple job that was supposed to be a search and rescue lead to a full-scale mission that could have determined the fate of mankind. They infected Ashley and planned to send her back to America so that the parasites would spread to the most powerful departments within the government and then to the rest of the whole world. They had also infected him.
If not for Luis Sera, a researcher who lost his life helping them find a cure, a device that had them be exposed to special radiation, they would not be here to this day. When he and Ashley were extracted after the occult's demise, they both had to undergo a number of tests to determine that the parasites were eradicated from their bodies before they could return home. They were fortunate to learn that they appeared to be in the clear with no lasting effects. Leon just wished Luis didn't have to pay the price for their victory.
When he signed into the office, he was ordered to go straight to where the chief in command was waiting.
"Leon, thank you for coming in on such short notice," he greeted, gesturing the government agent to sit on the chair in front of his desk.
"It's no problem, sir," Leon replied as he sat down. "So, what's up?"
The chief rubbed his forehead. He seemed to be stressed.
"...Three months ago, we received an anonymous e-mail of concern. We're still trying to identify who sent it to us as we speak."
He took out a file from one of the drawers of his desk and handed it to Leon.
"Even though you confirmed that you killed one of our former agents, Jack Krauser, during the Los Illuminados event, the sender believes he may still be alive."
Leon looked up at the chief, wondering if he heard correctly. "Krauser's... alive? But how is that possible?"
"What?" he questioned.
"These photos came with the e-mail. As you can see, they are all of a male individual that match Krauser's description."
Leon flicked through each one. True to word, they were of a man with features similar to Krauser's, although he couldn't tell for sure if it truly was him. They were all in a grey scaled quality, taken somewhere from outside a building, pointing downward at various angles to a window where the man could be seen inside.
"They were taken at an isolated estate in Piedmont, Italy," the chief continued. "Its location wasn't known so we had to follow satellite co-ordinations provided by the e-mail. Whoever this anonymous person is must have connections, money... perhaps both. Shortly after, we dispatched a unit of five from our Spec Ops Field Unit to investigate this matter."
The chief then passed six more files to Leon.
"One of our own agents actually volunteered to participate in the mission when he learned of it."
"Volunteered?"
"Charles Dawson," said the chief, pointing to the top file in Leon's hand. "He stated that he once knew someone who had connections to the place years ago and also knew how to get there."
Leon opened the file and picked up a photo of a man in his early forties with blonde, ageing hair. The name rang a bell. He did not know Charles personally but was told good things. He was originally one of the soldiers of the US army that aided the response to the Raccoon City Outbreak back in 1998 and that, along with his other deeds to the country, was how he earned the opportunity to become an agent.
"We were receiving regular reports over the period from the Spec Ops soldier Ben Tyler but lost contact for a while until this morning. Unfortunately, the signal was too weak to determine his or any of their status."
"Forgive me for asking, sir," interrupted Leon. "But... why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"
"Because we don't have enough to prove that it really is Krauser or not. And considering your history with him, we didn't want to risk anything... Now, it seems we may have no choice. I want you to find our men and track this man down. If it is Krauser, it can pose a great threat. You of all people know that."
The government agent stared back at the chief in command, not feeling comfortable about it.
"If you make a positive ID... neutralise him."
