HAUNTING EVIL
Chapter Six
It was clear to Leon and Fiona that their location was given away because the noise made by the mechanism. The estate was so quiet. It would have been impossible not to hear it. The two along with Hewie hurried back up the stairs and around the next corner. She hoped that activating it again and unlocking the other sectors would be enough to mislead and throw Riccardo and Krauser off their trail.
Her fast, advancing steps brought Leon to ignore a display of dolls half their size, which Hewie did not like the look of. They went through a door, across a bridge over a pool water and out to a graveyard. He realised it was the other half of the graveyard he was in earlier. There were more gravestones that had the name 'Aureolus Belli'.
"Belli... The same last name as Fiona's."
It was no way it could be a coincidence. This castle somehow had a connection to her. He was willing to bet his money on that. Every glance he took her way, he could see trouble in her eyes that would not leave her be. Her behaviour since they met was far too serious yet he couldn't help but think there was more to it than what he gathered so far. He tried to remember the photo of her and her parents from the news.
She was smiling so happily between them, like there wasn't a care in the world. There was a light in her that he couldn't see now. God only knows what she had been through. Why hadn't she mentioned anything about the car crash? Was she even aware that she was reported as missing? What happened to lead to this? He hated having all these questions piling up in his head when someone beside him had all the answers. However, he knew it wouldn't be a good idea to throw them at her at once. She would likely cower from him. He hoped he could find a way to help her warm up to him.
At the back of the graveyard was a mausoleum with an entrance leading underground. There was a marble offering with a text engraved into it and Leon read it out loud...
'Dead spirit craving for life,
crawling back from the underworld...
Sip of the fresh-flowing life-blood.
When your thirst is quenched, return
to the darkness from whence you came.'
"That doesn't sound good," he remarked.
"It will be alright," Fiona assured. "Hardly anyone comes down here for some reason."
It was like there was something taboo about the depths beneath the ground that she couldn't explain to him, even if she tried. She used to take advantage of it and hide there. No one ever pursued her whenever she fled there, although she didn't know why even to this day.
Inside at the bottom of the mausoleum's entrance was a catacomb. Its walls, ceiling and floor were made by carving the earth around them. Fire torches clinging to the walls were burning strongly. Amounts of the soil were moulded into shapes that resembled human body parts of large heads, arms, legs and torsos. A whole humanoid being also made of it stood tall close to bars blocking access to a passageway to its side and faced an open one a few metres in front of it. Their faces didn't appear to be normal. They had hollow eyes and a golden slot for a mouth. On a stand was a typewriter much like the one seen in the bathroom. In the centre was a candle on top of an altar. A skeleton was lying on it, clutching a stone tablet.
They passed it into the open tunnel. More fire torches revealed bones and skulls all over the place. Both Leon and Fiona noticed the other was not unnerved by the sight of death. On the ground, he saw a red glyph of a triangle within a circle and the word 'METH' engraved onto the dirt. The tunnel divided into different paths yet she led the others through to the exit with ease and he could hear dangling chains. He marvelled at how she knew her way around so well, never stopping to look around once. He wondered how long she had been here for. They left the maze and entered what looked like a labyrinth which surprised him.
"I wonder who came up with this design," he thought.
Layers of staircases crossed over one another. Chains extended from multiple angles, holding a chandelier, cages and armour suits in mid-air. A creaking noise broke the silence. He gazed down the side as they strolled up the steps they were on. It was completely dark below them. Nothing could be seen, as though they would be falling forever if they were to slip over the edge. Hewie trotted faster and waited for them by a door. It did not continue the crossed stairs. Instead was a long hallway with two paths to the left and right.
They turned right and around another corner down some more stairs, going through a collection of unusual antiques in a corridor. One in the middle was covered by a sheet. Further on, the area that arched was difficult to see in with no lights. The windows were thick in a deep blood-red colour. At the end was a table with small flames flickering on a two-arm candelabra by a door. There were rusty bars with a chain-link fence across from it, a prison with a broken bed inside. Fiona reached out to open the door but when she twisted the handle...
"...?"
She tried turning it again but the door would not open.
"This door is normally open. Somebody must have locked it."
Leon shrugged. "Maybe there's another way around? Like through the left side where we just came from?"
"Yes, but it might take a little longer that way."
"Better that than be stuck here."
As soon as they turned to go back, they saw Hewie standing in an uneasy posture. He moved slowly as his back hunched lower, staring straight ahead with his paws patting on the ground.
"What is it, buddy?" Leon asked him.
Fiona began to fret. "Oh, no...!"
"What?"
Hewie's fur bristled. His tail stretched out and he started to growl.
"Someone's coming!" she panicked.
That was when they heard heavy footsteps from afar heading towards them.
"Shit..." cursed Leon. "Here!"
He rushed Fiona to hide at a corner by the prison and steered Hewie to hide under the table.
"Sh-sh-sh-shh!" she hushed to cease his growling.
Leon stood in front of her, shielding her with his body and raised a protective arm whilst unsheathing his knife. The short space had her pressed up to the cage's bars and chain-link wire. She could feel how cold the metal was against her bare skin. The steps were becoming louder. He gently pushed her back a bit more as he braced himself for combat. Fiona's pulse rose for what was about to come. Her body tightened to how close he was to her and she tried to suppress her anxiety. She covered her mouth to control her breathing. The sense of dread and helplessness kept growing as every step was getting closer and closer... And just then, a chime rang in the air.
The shock flashed in her eyes recognising it.
"A Luminessant!? No—not now!"
Her heart began to beat faster and she knew it would only make things worse. She squeezed her eyelids shut and urged herself to inhale through her nose to slow it down. Luminessant were tiny creatures, nothing but a nuisance, always stalking her whenever they were nearby, somehow drawn to her. If it was able to track her, they were going to be found.
Krauser was certain he heard something. He was on his way to the 'Room of Truth' as Riccardo ordered but thought it was best to check if Leon, Fiona and that dog were sneaking around there. The chime caught his ear and he glanced behind himself, seeing a hovering blue ball of light. Luminessants did not commonly interfere with his business so he usually paid no attention to them. Yet because this one was floating in his direction, it could mean Fiona was close by. He took out his dagger and crept forward...
...until the Luminessant came into contact with his back and shattered, sending a powerful shock through his entire being. A sound was released like breaking glass.
He let out a howl of pain and Fiona's eyes widened. Leon knitted his brows in confusion but kept his holding weapon up high. In frustration, Krauser slashed the air where the Luminessant was, oblivious to something falling out of his back pocket which Hewie spotted when it landed.
"—damn bug!"
When he calmed himself, he looked back at the narrow, empty corridor. If the Luminessant shattered upon touching him...
"She's probably not here," he concluded as he rubbed his shoulder and walked away.
Leon and Fiona remained still until his footsteps could no longer be heard. The agent released the breath that he too was holding in.
"...phew! I don't know what that was, but we got lucky," he said with a grin and slid the knife back into the sheath.
She was baffled that the Luminessant was attracted to Krauser instead than her. She had never seen them go after anyone else other than her until now. Perhaps it was because he was in between. But wouldn't that mean...?
Hewie barked after emerging out from the table, his snout pointing to a key on the floor. It wasn't there before. Krauser must have dropped it. She bent down to pick it up and petted his head. There was a symbol on it making her gape upon examining it, triggering something from her memory...
'...Inside you will find the Mercury Ruins, a place of the utmost secrets...'
Leon saw the reaction on her face. "Do you know where it leads to?"
Fiona turned and stared up at him. "A way out... This is going to sound bizarre... but we have to go underneath the castle."
The creature writhed violently inside the tank. The metal, glass and red water muffled its screaming anguish. Bubbles rose as it swung its limbs, resisting an internal attack within its body.
Riccardo showed no emotion as he surveyed it without a shred of pity for its suffering. This had been done before. Old records lay on the desk, all of them stained yellow, delicate to the touch from age. The earliest dates on them were signed centuries ago, during the early years of the alliance between the Bellis and the Salazars after they joined forces when a great catastrophe threatened their lands. The experiment he was conducting followed up to the research from those days.
He witnessed the last of it himself when the seventh castellan of Salazar Castle came here twenty five years ago. Followers of both clans crowded this very room, waiting anxiously as they watched their masters come to their conclusions with the studies conducted. Among the masters was one of the most respected members of the Bellis, Ugo Belli. Before the castellan's stay had come to an end, it was he who received the glory from the Lords of each clan, despite all the efforts Riccardo invested just as much at that time. Everyone was eager to listen to Ugo's suggestions instead of his when they debated on how to prevent a second catastrophe. The castellan acclaimed Ugo personally for wanting to honour the wishes of his ancestors.
Riccardo felt his temper rise at the thought of his rival. He had always loathed Ugo with a passion. Ugo was the one who was always praised, the one who was more gifted. The one who was blessed with what he should have been. He almost lost his focus and had to remind himself, once again, that the past was the past. It should not beleaguer him. The odds had been evened. He did not have to live under that foolish man's shadow anymore. Especially when he had Ugo's most beloved treasure in his possession.
But the intruder with Fiona... he could cause more problems than predicted. Krauser warned him about Leon Kennedy. Told him about the government agent's history, his survival of the viral outbreaks in North and South America that reanimated the dead into mindless, flesh-eating monstrosities. He then told of how Leon single-handedly defeated the eighth and final Salazar castellan and the entire Los Illuminados cult, foiling their plans to control the world. That meant he would not be so easy to deal with compared to the previous intruders. He would have to consider his next course of action wisely.
Riccardo returned his gaze to the creature that continued to squirm. This would be the perfect opportunity to put his experiments to the test.
It gradually stopped moving, merely floating in the water. He glanced briefly at a clock and documented the time length's results on a fresh sheet of paper. The top of it was titled, 'Plaga Implantation, Infant Homunculus B IV'. He then got up from his seat, walking towards a whole row of tanks. Each one had a slumbering, twitching Homunculus inside of them.
After a stroke of fortune, Leon and Fiona found a key to an exit. All they had to do was find the door that it was made for. He did not forget that he had orders to terminate Krauser and find the Spec Ops unit, but now he had Fiona and Hewie to consider. He decided it would be better to get them out first. A trip under the castle wasn't what he had in mind yet how they got out wouldn't matter as long as they did. He could take them to the base where Hunnigan and the others were. They would be safe there. He could also make a report, restock on his supplies and then return to finish the job.
They went back to the catacombs, taking a different route near the 'METH' glyph towards a door. There was a second glyph close to it. He thought it would be another passageway behind it. What he got was a glass tube surrounded by water. A light was seen shining over them somewhere above. He saw a strange school of fish swimming around, recognising some of them from a nature documentary he saw on television once. He was positive he identified a red angler fish amongst them. On the opposite side of the tube was a long flight of stairs. Much longer than the previous ones from before. Pipes circulated the walls here and there. The three climbed all the way up to a single door.
The room behind it was a lot brighter than he imagined it would be. It was a library. It had two floors but no access to reach the top one. A grandfather clock was near the door and all of the walls were implanted with bookshelves. He had a feeling these books had far more information than any public library could provide. In the middle were more bookshelves with tracks on the floor, indicating they were moveable. One had a ladder and they were all lined together to reach a second door high on the wall below the balcony of the upper floor.
Fiona approached the bookshelves to the left and lifted her finger, skimming it along the neatly stacked books to find a specific one. Leon smiled as Hewie followed her like a little lamb. He could tell the white canine was truly fond of her. She stopped at a bookshelf at the centre. On one of its shelves were two blue books at either end. She raised her leg and took out the key that she tucked into her boot like before. The spine of the books had a symbol that was the same as the key's. Under the symbol of one book had the letter 'X' and the other 'I', the Roman numerals for ten and one. Adjusting the key in her hand, she switched the books to the proper order. A rumbling sound emitted and dust from each shelf drifted to the floor when she was done and moved back. The bookshelf lowered into the ground and behind it was a secret door with a matching mark to the key and books.
"The astrological sign of Mercury," thought Fiona. "Exactly like he said in that note..."
"Have you ever been down there before?" Leon asked as she unlocked it.
"No, I didn't know about it until a short while ago. I read about it in m—... a certain...book."
He picked up on her faltering voice but didn't say anything and opened the door for them. It was pitch-black inside yet Hewie was not on edge as she started into the unknown. They stepped in cautiously onto wide stairs. The door closed on its own, enveloping them in darkness and they could hear the bookshelf rise again outside of it. Fiona's heart almost jumped into her throat when she felt Leon gently grasp her hand.
"Stay close to me," he advised. "If only those guys didn't take my flash light..."
With a soft tug, Leon walked slowly and guided her through the dark with his free hand brushing against the wall. Not a thing was heard besides Hewie's paws, his faint panting and the tapping of their footwear tapping over stone. Neither knew for sure how much deeper underground they were going. It was already beginning to feel endless with their inability to see.
Fiona was uncomfortable with him holding her hand. She still couldn't bring herself to be at ease with him. Her breath was shaky and he could probably tell how hesitant she was by the way her fingers were tingling in his grip. She could picture Riccardo's looming glare of disapproval over her head, ready to appear out of nowhere and tear Leon's arm off for merely holding her hand alone. She wanted him to let go of her but at the same time, she did not want to be standing by herself and get lost in the abyss.
After the passing minutes that dragged, Leon halted.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"You hear that?" he whispered.
Fiona stilled herself to listen. "...Running water?"
He took her further down until they eventually saw a blue light coming from an opening ahead of them. It reflected off Hewie's eyes, making them shine. The sound of water was getting louder as they went through the opening to an edge. He finally let go of her hand once they could see again and their eyes lifted in awe by the scenery before them.
Down below was an ancient ruin within an enormous cavern. A courtyard was in the middle with destroyed buildings covered with overgrown moss due to years of neglect. Close to the courtyard was what they guessed were entrances to some passages. The wreckage had them presuming these were built centuries ago. Thin streams of waterfalls fell from many points. The most astonishing part was that the cavern had glowing blue and green crystals everywhere, lighting up the whole environment. They released tiny, sparkling segments that drifted across the air.
Leon whistled which echoed, the tone starting from high to low showing how impressed he was. "Would you look at that..."
"I was aware that there was something beneath the castle," Fiona spoke breathlessly. "But I didn't expect this."
The edge they stood at was the top of a stairway that was destroyed supposedly by a large pillar and rubble they could see lying at the bottom. What happened here? The place looked as though it had been abandoned for some time. The castle was likely constructed after this place reached its end.
Fiona leaned her head over. "How are we going to get down?"
Leon peered down as well. He estimated the height to be around ten feet. It could be complicated without his equipment but with his training and experiences, he knew he would be able to withstand the drop. However, it didn't seem like it was something she could manage. There were small platforms Hewie could use, which he pointed out for him.
"I'll go first," he offered. "Once I'm down there, you jump and I'll catch you. How about that?"
She did not look so keen about it yet couldn't think of any other way glancing around. Looking at the first platform, she swung her arms out and pointed to it. "Go, Hewie."
Barking in response to her command, Hewie leapt over to the platform, working his way to the ground across each one and sat to wait for them. On his cue, Leon crouched and used his hand to hop over the edge, skidding his feet against the loose rubble after he landed and jumped over the pillar. When he joined Hewie, he ruffled the dog's head and then turned to assist Fiona. He stood back on the pillar was about to ask if she was ready, only to see that she was already trying to make her own way down, clinging to the rough surface.
Taking her time, she was doing quite well, careful with the weight she pressed her hands and feet onto the rocks she held and stepped on. He put a hand on his hip and admired her effort. Although she could barely look over her shoulder, she could tell she was near the bottom. She was just feeling self-conscious and paranoid with him watching her. When she lowered her foot to the next rock, she didn't realise it was weak until it was too late. It started to crumble and gave away, causing her to fall.
"Ohh!"
"Fiona!" Leon shouted in alarm.
Tumbling helplessly, she shut her eyelids tightly and waited for the pain and embarrassment that was to come, expecting to land flat on her face right in front of his toes until something broke her fall. She wrapped her arms tightly around it to regain her balance.
Everything then became quiet and she found herself leaning against something hard yet warm... with something beating inside of it. A heartbeat. There was also another pair of arms wrapped around her. She had fallen straight into Leon's chest... Or did he rush to catch her? Instantly flushing as a jolt of fear hit her, she hastily pushed herself out of his hold and away from him, trying not to trip over the rubble.
"S-sorry about that," she stuttered, tilting her head to hide her blush, hoping her fringe would help.
He lightly laughed it off as he stepped down. "Don't worry about it. Couldn't let you get hurt now, could I?"
"So he did—"... Fiona felt her cheeks become hotter, turning from pink to red. "...Thanks," she mumbled awkwardly.
She jogged to catch up to him and Hewie who started to go on ahead. The three took in their surroundings and began to explore the ruins together.
One of the Homunculi among the row of tanks, springing to life, rammed itself repeatedly against the tank.
Riccardo raised his head upon hearing the thumps and went up to it. He could feel a sensation reacting inside of him and the black substance reappeared on his hand once again, spreading to his fingertips. The Homunculus smashed through the glass, tearing itself from its cord and fell out as the red liquid poured out all over the floor. It heaved and stumbled onto its feet. It had no eyes but could sense him there.
The hooded man lifted his hand and the Homunculus froze in place, like it was obeying. A sly smirk came to his face with this new obtained power. He swayed his hand side to side and the creature followed the movement. He then directed his arm towards the door that was open. When the connection was made, an image flashed in his mind after it waddled off. He hissed and clutched his forehead, a vision of another Homunculus from somewhere else. Not within the castle walls but below them. Its form transmitted waves, projecting the presence of others... One in particular filled with divine energy.
His eyes flared as the vision faded. The substance vanished from his skin.
"It can't be..." he uttered.
She was there... in the Mercury Ruins. How could she have known about it? Scowling angrily, he snatched the flintlock pistol from his the desk and stormed out of the room.
Hope you enjoyed that! The Mercury Ruins is a place of my own creation. It was originally inspired by a cave seen in the game Devil May Cry 3 in Chapter 9 when I first wrote this story.
