Julianna took a deep breath of the outdoor air as she sat on the gray stone bench in the garden, taking in the sights all around her. After Jenna left her to her own devices, Julianna had navigated her way through the massive hedge maze that encompassed the entire garden within it. It had taken some trial and error to find her way to the place where she now sat, but when she'd found it, her breath had been taken away: the particular spot she'd chosen was in the most secluded part and surrounding by massive bushes and trees that effectively hid her from view. The delicate smell of lupines, marigolds, and roses blended together to create a lovely scent that was very pleasant to Julianna.

If I'd been here on different terms, I'd actually say that this is my favorite place, Julianna thought. She sat there for a few minutes more, resolved to just enjoy the calmness around her. It was very hard for her not to feel so peaceful. In fact, she wasn't sure anyone could resist the allure of such a beautiful garden, regardless if they were a prisoner or not. Her moment of tranquility came to an abrupt stop by that thought. It reminded her of the reason she had come out here in the first place. Right, time to look for a way out of here. Sighing, she heeded the call of the little voice which had recommended this and reluctantly rose off the bench to follow the small path which led to the right.

Remembering that the only thing to the right was the mansion, Julianna's carmine eyes scanned the left side for signs of the fence that Oswell had alluded to last night. She snorted at the word mansion. This was more of a prison than a mansion though it was a rather pretty prison at that but still peculiar. She didn't think that any place that happened to have a hidden lab underneath could be described as anything other than peculiar. Taking every path that went left, Julianna ventured further and further into the garden, subsequently going farther away from the mansion.

Sometime during her walking, Julianna's acute ears made out the sounds of something following her, coupled with the sensation of being watched. Stopping, Julianna slowly turned around, scanning the area behind her carefully. Just as she suspected, there was nothing there but yet her senses remained on edge. Something wasn't right; not only was she getting the feeling of being stalked, but everything around her was too still and quiet. I don't like this, Julianna thought. I don't like this in the slightest. She stood stock still for several more minutes, still hearing something approaching her until all at once the sounds stopped and all was still once again.

When she heard nothing more, Julianna turned back around and proceeded along her way, resuming her watch for a way out. The paths she'd been taking had at last led her to a tall stone wall with no visible foot holes or even so much as scratches to indicate that something had tried to get out before her. Not to be deterred, her eyes wandered upwards, assessing the wall carefully. Judging from her current position, she estimated the height of the wall to be a good ten feet, possible twelve. I can make that jump no problem. Julianna looked around her once again, just to make sure that there wasn't anyone around. When she saw nothing, Julianna took a few steps back and focused all her attention on the top of the wall.

Before she could even attempt it, however, Julianna was cut off by the low sounds of something growling. Every muscle in her body simultaneously tensed up and the fine hairs on the back of her neck rose. Those growls sounded eerily familiar to the ones that she'd heard last night from what Oswell had called the Hunter… her mind suddenly went back to what Jenna had told her before coming out here.

A subject of ours decided that it didn't like its accommodations, so it wanted to get out for some exercise, the raven-haired woman's echoed in her mind. Jenna never said that they caught it…

Oh. Shit.

Realizing the position she was in, Julianna instinctively reached for her guns, but at the feeling of nothing being at her hip, a chill went down her spine. The memory of Wesker taking her weapons from her flashed before her eyes. Well isn't this just fan-fucking-tastic. Not only was she being stalked by a rogue test subject, but she was also unarmed. Thank you very much, Wesker, she thought wryly. You son of a- Her thought was cut short by the sounds of something coming straight through the hedge in front of her. Julianna barely had time to leap and roll to the side to avoid the sharp claws of the Hunter that had thrown itself at her. Julianna quickly stood up and backed off from it. The Hunter got to its legs as well, shrieking at the hybrid before it. Probably pissed that it missed me. The creature raised one of its hands and slowly approached her, clearly ready to take her down with one swipe. Not today, you're not.

The Hunter quickened its pace, lunging at the red-head and swiping down its hand. Julianna jumped out of the way quickly. With no other option, she turned and ran as fast as her hybrid speed would take her, running in different directions to try and lose the creature. But to her shock, the Hunter was able to keep up with her with relative ease.

'Son of a bitch!" Julianna hissed as she kept moving, making sure to dodge any attacks from the Hunter. If it wasn't for the blonde haired drama queen, I wouldn't be in this fucking position right now! This was just the icing on the cupcake. How could things get any worse?

Coming to the conclusion that her only option was to make a break for the mansion, Julianna switched paths, narrowly missing a deadly swing from the Hunter's claws. Opting for a better way to get farther ahead, Julianna jumped and easily cleared the top of the hedge, landing nimbly on her feet and resuming her pace. Just as she thought, the Hunter was taken off guard giving Julianna a lead.

After running for what felt like forever, Julianna finally caught sight of the mansion just ahead. A smile came to her face when she saw it. I'm going to make it! I'm going to make it, she kept telling herself in her head. So focused on reassuring herself, Julianna never saw the tackle coming from behind her until it was too late. With a cry of surprise, Julianna and the Hunter both rolled until Julianna landed on her back with the Hunter right above her. Taking advantage of the situation, the Hunter set to work trying to rip her apart. Julianna got an arm up to keep its teeth at bay…

A sharp pain shot up from her arm as the razor sharp fangs ripped through it as though it were nothing. Julianna screamed in pain, using her other fist to strike at the creature's head to get it off her. Jabbing it as hard as she could in its eye, the Hunter released her arm with a pained shriek. Blood poured from her open wound as Julianna struggled to get the Hunter off of her, squirming frantically under its heavy weight. At the feel of its prey trying to escape, one of the Hunter's pointed claws stabbed her right in the thigh to stop her attempts.

'Fuck!" She screamed, agonizing pain only adding to her desperation to get away. While her arm was knitting itself back together, the Hunter, this time, bit her right in the neck, indeed in the same spot as the scars were. Her eyes opened wide, all sounds stopping abruptly. Her entire body went rigid as the Hunter continued to rip her apart, the pain worse than anything she could imagine.

This is it, she thought, her vision starting to swim from the blood loss, despite her body's best efforts to close the wounds that were being inflicted on her. This is how I die. There's no coming back from this. Every sound began to fade away, darkness taking her sight and dragging her into oblivion. I don't want to die, was her final conscious thought before everything faded away…

'The sample of Eclipse was a fake," Oswell repeated, seated behind his desk as Wesker relayed everything he'd been told by Jenna. There were no windows inside, only a desk lamp which cast shadows over both Oswell and Wesker's faces, sharpening the red-eyed man's facial features more so than they already were. 'I see… it appears that the Advents were prepared for something like this. They surely must be laughing at what they perceive to be gullibility."

'And now we must obtain the virus by different means," Wesker continued, crossing his arms over his broad chest. 'The most that Miss Kelly was able to extract from her blood was slight traces of the virus."

'I see," Oswell muttered, bringing his hands up to rest under his chin. A thoughtful moment of silence befell both men. 'I must admit, I had hoped that this would be much simpler, but alas, nothing is ever that easy."

'Indeed," Wesker agreed. Another quiet spell passed.

'It appears then that we must come up with a solution to our problem then."

'I have one in mind," Wesker said before Oswell could say anything further. 'But it would require a sample of a different sort- her DNA."

'You intend to clone her," Oswell recognized right away.

'Precisely," Wesker concurred. The older of the two men mulled this over in his mind for a time.

'And how do you propose to clone her, apart from her DNA? It's my understanding that there is only one manner of cloning a being." Oswell pointed out. 'Efforts to clone a new life is no easy feat as well. The only successful attempt to implant genetic material was with Alexia and Alfred Ashford. You yourself saw this to be true." He paused for a moment. 'Don't get me wrong; I see the potential for this plan of yours, nor do I condemn it. But the risk of failure is much too high." Seeing the displeasure in Wesker's body language, Oswell quickly continued. 'I also have a solution to this dilemma of ours."

'I'm listening," Wesker said.

'To clone a new being could take months, even years. By the time the said being developed anything remotely close to a human form, we could have already had made one in a more conventional way." Oswell leaned back in his chair. 'If memory serves, Alexander implanted the DNA of Veronica Ashford into an embryo and implanted it into a surrogate mother. In our case, we would not need to do any of this." When Wesker said nothing, he proceeded on. 'Julianna is more than capable of producing children of her own. With her already enhanced DNA and abilities, through her, we could create a new species altogether. We'd need only to find a suitable… donor for her. It's only fitting seeing as the word "advent" means "the arrival of a notable event", in this case, the arrival of a new world." Oswell didn't have to go into any more detail for Wesker to understand just what it was he was implying.

'You're suggesting that we breed a new race with her as the creator?"

'Not the creator. That right would belong to the father." Oswell clarified. 'I see her only as a contributor to said race."

'And who do you propose to be the creator of this race?" Oswell merely smiled at this question, and Wesker knew without asking just who he thought should have both the right and the bragging rights that came with such a thing. He thinks that he is the one, Wesker thought wryly. This arrogant old fool... The next words from Oswell, however, surprised him.

'Were it that I was still able to create a child, I would do so myself. After all, it's not every day one can say that they have a hybrid for a companion." Oswell grew solemn suddenly. 'As it is, the day that I will leave this world approaches quickly." His gaze turned back to Wesker, who'd walked closer to the old man's desk. 'However, I think I have the person in mind to do so in my stead." Their eyes locked, Oswell's blues and Wesker's reds concealed behind his sunglasses. 'You carry the Progenitor virus within you, and she the Eclipse virus. Imagine what could come from a being that has a combination of the two."

Wesker was not an easy person to take off guard, not by a long shot. He was cunning and intelligent in every sense of the words and had seen enough in his life that hardly anything surprised him. But when Oswell spoke these words, though he'd never say it out loud, Wesker was slightly taken aback. He'd have been perfectly fine if Oswell didn't mention it out loud, but to hear him be so open about it…

Wesker's phone suddenly began beeping, bringing him out of his thoughts.

'Just a moment," he told Oswell who nodded in understanding as Wesker answered the phone. 'Yes?"

'Wesker, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a serious problem," Jenna's voice frantically told him. Wesker inwardly groaned.

'What is it now?"

'We were able to locate the Hunter," Jenna began, 'But that's not the problem."

'Then what is-"

'It attacked Julianna," she finally said, her voice full of concern. 'It attacked Julianna and she's in critical condition right now." Wesker looked up to Oswell, who sensed that something was wrong. 'We have her in the lab right now, assessing her to make sure she wasn't infected with the T-Virus, but she's lost a lot of blood and it doesn't look good." Wesker sighed in exasperation; just how many more things were going to happen in one night? He couldn't remember a time that the mansion had so many things go wrong. No matter, this was one thing that he had to make sure was taken care of and not because he wanted to or felt any obligation to the hybrid. He just didn't want to deal with Oswell's hissy fit if she died.

'I'll be down shortly." Wesker said, disconnecting from the call and looking to Spencer. 'We'll have to reconvene at a later time, unfortunately." He explained. 'There's been another incident with the hybrid."

'Oh?"

'The BOW that escaped earlier seems to have taken a liking to Julianna, so much so that she's now in critical condition in the lab below." Wesker explained. Not one second after he'd said that, Oswell was steering his wheelchair out from around the desk towards the door, a concerned look on his face that Wesker hadn't expected.

'She cannot be lost," Oswell said in a worried voice. 'We cannot lose the last carrier of the Eclipse virus! Whatever needs to be done in order to save her life, I will personally see to it that it's taken care of. I will not lose her to the incompetence of a few scientists." He continued to prattle on as he practically broke down the door getting out of the office.

Wesker only stared after him for a moment before following him. This was most certainly a first; Oswell losing his head over a young girl? Perhaps his delusions that he was the only fit ruler of a new race ran much deeper than Wesker had thought. Despite his reservations about this new plan Oswell apparently had in mind for her, Wesker couldn't deny that the red-haired woman was indeed important. Just how important she was, however, was completely dependent on her behavior should she survive, if she survived. Hunters weren't known to let their prey go unscathed. In fact, in recent tests, they proved to favor decapitating or dismembering their victims in rather interesting ways. The way that Jenna described the woman still being alive was enough for him to conclude that the Hunter hadn't beheaded the hybrid, but he was beginning to wonder if she was missing a few limbs after this ordeal.

It appeared that he would just have to find out for himself.

A/N- A shorter chapter this time. Originally, it wasn't going to end like this, but I felt that it was better than what I had in mind before.