The characters from the game belong to Capcom. The OC's and story background belong to me.
A/N: I'm not english native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.
21st Century
The year…2011. A cold bright morning of Winter. The old man sat at in his bed with a contemplative expression. So many years had passed was bound to end very soon. A saddened sigh escaped his mouth. A mission that would end incomplete.
In his old hand, a small black bottle glass containing a single pill. The last one.
He kept it in hope to carry on his life in the expectation to conclude his mission and finally meet the eternal rest, but his old body seemed to succumb quickly to the side effects of his old age without the use of the pill. His body was giving up the struggle, to sustain the remaining little life spam he had.
Probably he had prolonged his life too much.
He had failed before…
Apparently, he was bound to fail again.
Or maybe this time that wouldn't be that much of a failure as he had managed to find the three main ones…
With difficulties, he stood up. Slowly. Using whatever he could to support himself, he walked outside the room and faced the living room. His desk and the portraits hang on the walls. His treasure.
He opened the drawer of the desk and took an old fancy necklace with a green stone in shape of heart.
Walking outside the house, he looked at the lake.
This time he looked at it with a different look.
Not contemplating its beauty. He knew it still was beautiful as before. He enjoyed it. He enjoyed the privilege to be its guardian.
The guardian of the lake. The guardian of the lake land. The lake house. The guardian of Bohma and its treasures. Its memories.
He knew the time to let go of that history was near.
He needed to pass on his message. Even if incomplete…
He walked over the barn. It still remained intact since the last time he entered there so long ago…
Standing before the doors. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. His hands touching the wood.
His conscience reaching a distant memory, reconnecting with the past.
He could feel the old energies still surrounding the area.
He opened the doors.
Broke its seal.
The smell of abandon, the dust and the nearly darkness of inside passed through him.
There used to have more life there…
Now it had become a tomb. A wooden tomb.
However, there was still Life in there.
Her energy was still stock in there.
He walked slowly inside, not so fast, as he did the last he went there. When the rustic lights still worked. The open doors illuminated his way to its bottom where there was a dusty bed.
Holding tight the necklace, his conscience reached the spot of the memory of his younger self and the only connection still mending them. He and that location. He and its energies. He and her…
He couldn't pretend the placed looked like before, but he recalled so well that fatidic day.
The cold morning in Winter.
Kneeling before the bed, he placed the necklace on it and covered it with his hands as he rested them on the dusty and old mattress.
His cold hands connecting with the hidden energies of the past.
Navigating through it, his heart raced in his chest. The warmth of his chest contrasted with his freezing hands as he made his final attempt to connect with the Last One.
"Where are you?" he asked in between chokes
His body trembled as his energies were drained.
He knew that was his last resource if he ever broke the barn seal, reason why he didn't do it before.
His old body succumbing to its weakness, he fought it.
He needed to find the last one even if that took his life away.
Trembling he took the last pill from his pocket and swallowed it.
Soon after, he could feel his energies being restored and his spam a bit more prolonged.
Back to the ritual, he closed his eyes and focused again.
The cold breeze of the morning Winter closed the barn doors, keeping him in the complete darkness.
He didn't mind.
It was just him, the sounds of the wind through the cracks in wood and the lost energies of the lost memories of the Last One.
18th Century
"Katarina, we have to talk" Christopher Reed spoke as he followed hurriedly his wife to their chambers after Cathlyn's incident, "I didn't scold you there but you need to listen to me"
"Yes, we do have to talk!" she yelled keeping her back to him as they entered the chambers
"What the hell was that scene about? Attacking Cathlyn like that?"
"Who the fuck do you think I am?" she shouted angrily turning to him, "Now I know why you never returned home!"
"I told you in the letter why I had to stay longer"
"Stupid letter! Bad motherfucker!"
"You're losing your mind!"
"Losing my mind? You son of a bitch! You left me alone while you were here fucking that whore again!"
"What? I didn't do that!"
"Won't you ever change?!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I heard her saying you went after her again for a reconciliation… You chose your whore over your wife!"
"I didn't chose her over you! That's a lie!"
"A lie? Was it my imagination you taking forever to get back? Is it my imagination you have spoken with her while you have been here? None of that happened?"
"It's a lie. How could I reconcile with someone I never had anything?"
"Liar! I know you have met in the bedchambers!"
"Ah, a spy around me… I shouldn't be surprised. Ask your spy to tell you the whole thing before you judge me wrongly!"
"I do not judge you wrongly. You have cheated on me! I can still remember the whores' scent all over you!"
He gasped, "You're definitely losing your mind!"
"You are not married to no average bitch! You are married to Me! Katarina O'Gregon!"
"So Katarina, you'd better take all your shit back. Your attitude was not worth of a queen!"
"A queen? A queen defends her territory and that is what I did!"
"So be a decent wife!"
"A decent wife needs a decent husband! Something you have not been!"
"Your jealousy is growing beyond limits!"
"Jealousy? You cheat on me and I am the jealousy?"
"I didn't cheat on you. If Cathlyn said that…she lied!"
She smirked, "Another reason why that bitch did not deserve to live!"
"Don't ever say that again!"
"Or what?" she spoke defiant
They stared each other. Furious gazes.
"Or I separate from you because I cannot stand that anymore…"
"I will never give you the divorce!"
He almost laughed when she said that, if she knew the truth… "Fine. Don't give me divorce but I can stop you from becoming a queen nor an empress!" he spoke firmly and turned his back
"Are you threatening me Christopher?"
He turned to her and gasped, "No threats Katarina… You'd better change and redeem from your mistakes. This is your last chance to be again the woman I once loved or you'll be nothing or no one besides the bitch I love to fuck and mother of my children!"
"Fuck you Christopher! Do you want the old Katarina back? You would better be the man you never were!"
"And what man was I supposed to be? The stupid clown? The submissive fool?"
"The faithful one! If I am this woman you cannot stand today, it is thanks to yourself! You got to break every innocent piece of me! You broke my bubble, you took my joviality away in all the times you smelt other bitches' fragrances! It is not me who have to recollect myself but you who have to conquer me back if you ever really loved me like you said!"
"You're not in position to demand that!"
"You cheated on me first…I just gave you payback after twelve years being completely loyal, faithful and dedicated to you!"
"So that makes the two of us even."
"We will never be even! It has never been just the two of us in this marriage! Am I lying?"
He gave a shrug, "So why force this broken marriage?"
"Because that is what couples do…they work things up! I made a vow to you and before God…a holy vow, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death…and no one can separate what God united!"
"God has nothing to do with that!"
"You seem to be so urging to get rid of me, huh!"
He swallowed, "It's not about getting rid of you, but the part you seem to be oblivious on me. You speak as if you never did anything wrong. As if you never hurt me. As if you have always being impeccable as a wife… and you're not all that…"
She made an insulted face
"I admit I've made many mistakes, but they're all justified in an only detail you tend to ignore… you think I'm a bad husband but want to stick to those vows? So deal with it then…because it's been a long time I haven't cheated on you, but you're too blind to see that. Your broken ego has keeping you from seeing the man who has really loved you…your loyal husband…the man who has always stood by your side in the good and worse of your actions! You ignore the decent side of me who raises someone else's child as my own without ever had questioned you who the other man was even though now I know who he is, Maddy's biological father…You lied to marry me! You broke your own bubble…I'm done with all the shit!" he spoke firm but with a calmer tone and walked away
"Agghh!" she yelled as she threw the mirror floor to the ground, breaking it, and then she pushed abruptly the contents from the dressing table to the ground without even mind about the loud noises of breaking glasses.
.
.
.
"Christopher Reed…
I motivated your ass
I am not broken and I am not crying
I am not crying!
You are not trying hard enough
You are not loving hard enough
You do not love me deep enough
We are not reaching peaks enough
Blindly in love, I fuck with you
Until I realize I am just too much for you!
Hey, baby, who the fuck do you think I am?
Let it be…
Tonight I am fucking up all your shit
My love…
Uh, this is your final warning
You know I give you life
If you try this shit again
You will lose your children!"
(Don't Hurt Yourself with alterations* – Beyoncé)
21st Century
United States, Night
Katerina arrived home after returning from work.
She wasn't in a good mood as a strong migraine hit her. She thought it was because of the lack of sleep as she used to get up very early to be at the BSAA HQ before Chris and arriving late at home.
She was still young but she could already feel damage of sleep deprivation. Damn! How could that man live that way? And now that he was single again, his old habit of being early at work had returned.
A week passed since she had asked for resignation after the incident in the bathroom with his ex-girlfriend. She thought he would give her a loud scold or even punish her harder for the indiscipline; however, they managed to work things politely.
She felt bad for seeing his sadness and he was too saddened to actually blame her for anything.
She got a day off and in that day, she made a lot of reflection on the matter. Especially about him.
He pretended well to not be deeply sad for the breakup, but she having a closer proximity with him had caught some moments of his sadness, yet he had a big pride and obviously, he wouldn't go after his ex when she was the one who made the mistakes to hurt him.
If he knew better… Maybe he would consider calling Cathy back and reconcile.
She couldn't let that happen. Katerina needed that job and she needed Cathy away in order to keep it.
It was obvious both women didn't stand each other without any particular reason.
Chris Redfield wasn't her type, but she didn't think Cathy was good enough for him.
Chris Redfield was a good boss, but worked too much.
Well, she couldn't complain that much as they did pay her correctly and the bigger deposit of her salary in her account had a bittersweet delight. She needed that money. She was happier for the numbers increase, but that also seemed to be taking her youth away.
She had no life anymore, or at least she felt that way.
She no longer went to parties at night that often. In a month working for Chris Redfield, she only managed to go to two parties on two Friday nights, and she didn't even manage to enjoy it that much as her drained body only asked for the comfort of her bed.
How could someone live like that?
Oh – the cave man could! Bear Redfield.
Now she wondered if Greta, the longtime secretary, would want her old post after the maternity leave.
She wondered if that sacrifice was really necessary for a higher compensation that was nearly killing her.
She missed her party life. Her weekends with friends. The dull holidays.
Well, in the other hand that much of work had been a perfect excuse to decline Douglas' dates invitations.
She wondered for how long she could keep living that way and being his mistress. The comfort he provided her had a high price. It costed her dignity.
She wasn't proud for being someone's mistress. No wonder why she accept such a low position as a receptionist in the BSAA in the first place. She wanted her freedom back.
Being Douglas' mistress was like living in open-sky jail.
She thought her fling with Piers would allow her to break her chains from Douglas, but the young soldier was more committed with work than with her.
For her misfortune…
She missed the good times Piers provided her. She liked his temperamental mood, especially when he wanted to discharge all his "stress" when they were in bed. She loved that!
They had that in common. Sex helped them to relax from storms of life.
She missed having sex too. That had been the longest period she had no sexual activity. She didn't even recognize herself for such – merit.
How could someone live normally without it? Celibate?
Chris Redfield was somehow an executioner of her fun. Draining her energies in a not so cool way and somewhat working in the punishment of her moral crime of being someone's lover.
He'd better compensate her for all that!
But for now, the only "compensation" she got was a fucking migraine on a winter night.
After taking two analgesics pills, she lied on the bed. In the dark. In the cold night.
With difficulties to relax, she turned to the sides on the bed searching for a comfortable position for her head that seemed to be torn apart without anesthetic.
After some time, when the meds took effect, she managed to sleep.
Bohma
"Mr. Lionel!" the assistant yelled as he opened the barn's doors and found the old man lying unconscious on the ground. A deep concern crossed him as he checked the old man's vital signs. He was still alive.
"Lionel! Please wake up!" he yelled again as he took the man in his arms and carried him to his bedroom
No response.
He opened to bedside table drawer only to find the glass bottle empty. Another concern hit him. Did the last pill made the opposite effect? Or had the last pill lost its effect?
Either ways, he decided to call the ambulance to take the old man to the hospital, despite knowing the man was completely opposite to the idea of hospitals. Especially at that age.
As soon he grabbed the phone, Mr. Lionel opened his eyes.
"Lionel!" he spoke in a sort of relief for seeing the man back
"Jerry…"
"You're finally awake. I was about to call the ambulance…"
"I'm glad I'm back on time then! You know you're forbidden to do that!"
The assistant looked down embarrassed, "I'm sorry…I only tried to help…"
"You know doctors cannot help me and I cannot take the risk of them finding out my secret…"
"I know…I'm sorry…"
The old man smiled faintly and took the man's grip, "I know you only had the best intentions…But you know it's just a matter of time until you have to let me go…I have lived long enough…Or more than enough!"
"I know that…But it's hard for me…I know you all my life and you're so important for me that…That it hurts me to watch you go this way…"
"The so called attachment… I know that so well! It never gets easier. Every person leaves a single mark in us, and it's hard to let the nature take its course…"
"I can order more meds…"
The old man shook his head in denial, "I don't want it anymore…"
"You still didn't find her!"
"Maybe I don't have to…"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe it's not my mission to find her…"
"That doesn't make sense… you lived for that!"
"And I'm dying for it… Accepting my fate…accepting destiny…"
"That's unfair…it seems you'll be leaving an incomplete story. An incomplete message… You even broke the seal of time!"
"I tried to reach her spirit through the energies of the barn…the vortex is still there…I could feel it!"
"Did you find her or any clue of her whereabouts? Anything I can do for you to find her?"
"All I'm sure is that she's in this century"
"You still had doubts?"
"I did…it has happened before…Katarina didn't return in the 19th century. The other three did!"
"You didn't tell me that before…"
The old man looked away, "You tend to think I know it all, but I don't… I'm just an old man who has seen a lot. A Lot! But I don't know everything… but "They" showed me that…" he made a pause, "I just forgot to mention before…old brain!" he laughed
"And what happened to them in 19th?"
"The three were siblings."
"What? Siblings?"
"Yes."
"Christopher and Angelique…brother and sister? They loved each other as man and woman…"
"Love has several facets…Plus, they didn't know they had been husband and wife before…"
"And how did they live?"
"They succeeded…they didn't jump to incest if that's what you're asking me…"
"I can't believe it…Not that I doubt you…it's just…impressive…"
"Christopher and Angelique have lived a looong spiritual road together…reason why they have a more mature towards each other… What they lived in the 18th was a big test for their bond…and they succeeded."
"They were separated!"
"And never stopped loving each other…"
"They suffered!"
"Learning true love hurts! And takes time…lives…"
"What about Katarina? She got him! she made them suffer!"
"It was their destiny…those three had a situation to be "rescued"…a sort of "payback" for things from previous lives…and that information I obtained in the barn today…"
"Meaning?"
"The Law of Return, returned for them in the 18th, but they failed to rescue that. To understand that…"
"I'm not following you Lionel…" the man spoke confused
"What I can tell you is that in some previous life to the 18th, Angelique did contribute to Christopher and Katarina's separation…and that situation marked Katarina profoundly and she failed dealing with it… she let her anger speak higher and then she did the "same" mistake Angelique did in the previous life which culminated in Katarina's death…so the cycle of the Wheel of Life started. The Law of Return is in action and in this century they're back to stop that cycle…hopefully…It all depends in the moral evolution of each have acquired so far."
"And after all that…you tell me that maybe it's not your mission to tell all of them and guide them for better choices?"
"Jerry, how do you want me to tell the now skeptical Christopher and Pierce this multiple lives thing? They will just curse me and call me crazy! All I can do is to plant the seed in their minds about the history they had here…and that I've done already. The rest is up to their intuitions, dreams or whatever echoes in their souls to make them question their values or whatever… The brain memories might be blocked, but not the energies of their souls. This is never completely blocked! And Christopher already felt something about Angelique…his "soul" recognized "her". It's all about energies! Because in the end, what really matters is the present! They had the "destiny" to meet me here. They listened to me. And Angelique, ah, Angelina is really into it…I'm guiding in all I can, and I hope this will help her stop the cycle started many years ago… If Katarina can't stop it, maybe Angelina can."
"I understand Lionel…but honestly, in my opinion…it's not Angelina who needs to listen and be guided…but Katarina! She's the one who committed the most outrageous mistakes!"
Lionel smiled friendly. He understood his assistant's point of view. He didn't disagree.
However, he knew…
He just knew something else about Katarina.
He simply knew…
United States, Morning
"Kate, are you okay?" Lucy, spoke in concern as she noticed Katerina's so silent during breakfast
"Yes..." she replied moving the spoon nonstop in her coffee cup
"You are so distant... did something happen at work?"
Katerina shook her head in denial, "I had a strange dream... actually a nightmare!"
"About what?"
Katerina frowned distressed, "I dreamed about Chris...Actually two dreams…nightmares…"
"Oh really? What did you dream about him this time?"
Katerina was reluctant, "In one dream we were married and we had a lot of children... and the other one we…we were deeply in love…"
"And where is the fact of being a nightmare?"
"Hello! We being married and having children! Even more me and him in love! Nonsense!"
The friend laughed, "Yeah... someone is really in denial..."
"No denial! It's an absurd!"
"You have dreamt of him a lot lately…I'm just saying it…"
"Not a lot lately! I spent most of my time with him, obviously my brain is doing such associations in my dreams! It's scientifically proved!"
"Okay…so why are you always so affected by it if you don't give a shit to him?"
Katerina looked away and left the table without warning.
Those dreams always disturbed her. She couldn't explain the immense sadness and the hole inside her chest every time she woke up, and the pain that always hit her body as if she had been run over by a bus or fallen abruptly in the ground from a high place.
Thank you Pin and silver scropion for the reviews! :D
First of all, I know Beyonce's song didn't exist in the 18th xD but the lyrics describe perfectly Kat's thoughts at that moment. I only used for inspiration.
I'd like to thank everyone who reads my stories, and this story in particular :D It's been a long road, but I wouldn't be here without your support :D
More and more mysteries revealed, and more revelations to come!
Stay Tuned!