THE CRIMSON STONE
CHAPTER 10
As they went inside the elevator, it started to go down. Charlie's heart beat irregularly. She had a bad feeling about it. She glanced up to see Jeff's face, only to find him smiling apologetically back at her. Her stomached felt heavy, like the feeling you have when riding a roller coaster just as it drops from the peak. And as for Leon, he knew this wasn't going to end well but he was ready for it and he just hopes that this risky choice he took would be right one.
The elevator stopped as they reached the bottom. The door opened and they found themselves in a laboratory. It was white just as the room before, but much bigger. The place was filled with everything that you can find in a normal laboratory, but much more high-tech. There were several metal gates lined up at one side of the lab. There were also turrets hung above them like a chandelier. The lab had only one exit door, which was opposite from the metal cages.
"Well, here we are," Steax said as he got off the elevator. "Your exit in that door on the right there," he said as went behind one of the tables and looked at them gravely.
"But you're not going to let us through aren't you?" Leon responded simply.
"Exactly," Steax replied and the room fell into a deadly silence, awkward and calculated.
"What?!" Charlie said breaking the silence. How could Leon let them enter a trap so easily.
"You're the one who's behind all this tedious disasters, weren't you? And not Steax,"
"Bravo, bravo! Mr. Kennedy," Jeff said as he clapped his hands together. "I'm impressed. You figured it out before I could tell you myself. No wonder they called you as one of the best agent BSAA has ever had,"
"However, you're slightly wrong there Kennedy. Because not only is Benjamin Steax my subordinate, but he is also my younger brother. Yes, I'm the older sibling and my name is actually Chester Steax,"
"You mean to tell us that Jeff Acker doesn't even exist and it was all nothing but a lie?" Charlie suddenly asked, outraged by the traitorous act before her eyes.
"No, no. Jeff Acker existed alright. But he is long dead, along with his family. I had the gratitude of reuniting them, you know." Chester said as he paced around the room gradually.
"You're nothing but a sick maniac!" Leon shouted.
"I'll take that as a compliment. You see, my brother and I were assigned by Umbrella Corporation to discover a new enhancement to upgrade the T-virus eight years ago. And after our hard work investigating, we found out about the Lightwood family, and the special power they had in their blood; the crimson power. It was said that to every descendent, only one child for each generation will obtain the power. We tracked it down until we discovered the present generation who carried the blood; your mother, Luculia Evans. We caught her, but out of our expectations, she so smartly transferred her power into this stone you see," Chester paused momentarily to indicate to the gem hanging around his neck as a necklace. "That is, before she drew out her final breath. And in order to unleash it, only the next descendent who has reached the optimum age can do it."
"And that's me?" Charlie asked wearily.
"Of course it's you Miss Evans, since you're the only child of Lucylia and Joshua Evans," Chester replied and gave her a sinister smile. "And now finally, after waiting for eight years for you to grow up, I can finally obtain the power within you weak and useless body!" he exclaimed and gave her a sinister smile that showed his immaculate rows of perfect teeth.
Leon and Charlie looked at each other as if trying to reassure one another about what was to come.
"Now, enough chit chat. I have things to do," Chester said and he pulled down one of the levers on the table.
One of the metal gates was raised, and a snarling sound was heard.
"Hey Charlie, remember my brother?" Chester said as the Benjamin Steax came out of the metal gate. "And I didn't even have to do much, thanks to you."
He was completely deformed. Instead of walking on two legs, like a normal human, he was walking on four. His body grew to five times bigger than the original size and he had a canine out look to his image. And Charlie what happened to him back in his lab, where Charlie threw him off over his chemical table.
"Ah!" Charlie screamed as Steax charged at her at a hell of a speed and managed to take a bite of her jacket. Charlie quickly unzipped her jacket and took it off as she ran to the other side of the lab.
Leon started shooting at him with his newly obtained machine gun. But there was not much effect since the beast only shrugged off the bullets that penetrated into him as if it were just mosquito bites.
"Do you think I would make my brother that fragile, Kennedy?" Chester called out from where he was; a safe distance away from the fight. "Guns won't help you that much!" he finished and started laughing.
Leon's brain started to operate. He needed something big and heavy to crush the beast. He scanned the laboratory and saw the turrets that hung above them. He had an idea. Leon went to the beast, and shot it in the eyes to distract it. Fortunately it worked. The beast averted his attention towards Leon instead. It chased after him. Leon ran past underneath the turrets, and quickly turned around to shoot the metal chains holding the turrets up just in time as when the beast was under it. The chain broke and the turret fell directly on Steax. The impact caused the turret to explode and the place was filled with smoke.
"How dare you!" Chester's angry voice was heard as he appeared on top of the rubble that dropped down from the ceiling.
Leon searched for Charlie as the smoke cleared away, only to find her at laying at one end of the lab, unconscious due to the explosion.
"Charlie!" Leon called out to her.
"Quiet, Kennedy!" Chester shouted at him. "This is getting personal. Nobody kills a Steax. Nobody kills my brother!" he shouted with anger.
Chester than took off his lab coat and his shirt, revealing something moving up and down in his body. He shouted in pain as tentacles suddenly burst out of both his arms, as he too transformed into a monster. His mouth was stretched open as a yellow eye ball came out through his esophagus. His body was turned inside out, and his flesh was seen clearly, with blood dripping from every part of his body.
"No more mercy!" the monster shouted with a mutated voice. And then it roared loud enough, to drive somebody insane.