There was something out there. She could feel it. It was something she had felt before. Someone was calling her. Someone wanted her to find them, to give them her undivided attention. She tried to resist but its pull was too strong, its siren's song was snaring her in its lulling power. Without knowing what she was doing, without caring, she had pressed the button on the key fob to unlock the car's doors. It was only a matter of time before she opened the door holding her within the car. It was only a matter of time before she was outside. When she had breached that barrier she would be helpless. There was no escape from that which was hypnotising her. It had become her mind's soul focus. Her body was under its command. As her slim fingers reached for the handle on the door a small corner of her mind told her not to, to stay in the car and fight to ignore whatever was drawing her to it but it wasn't enough. Her hand pulled the handle and the door was open.

All of the warmth in the car evaporated as the cold air outside rushed in but she didn't notice. She couldn't feel either warmth or cold now, she had no feelings. Reaching for her crutch she left the car. Standing now fully outside she turned to where the sensation was coming from, she didn't bother to close the door as started walking towards it. There was nothing to stop her now.

She was free.

Every step she took laid her feet amongst heavily dewed grass. Through the fabric of her shoes her feet were becoming wet but it didn't register in her mind. The only thing that she was aware of was that which was calling her, guiding her through the darkness. Any shred of resistance that might still have been trying to shake its influence on her had been overwhelmed and vanquished as she drew closer to its source. The closer she got the stronger it became. As if by instinct her senses spread themselves wide, they drifted over everything within their range.

In the distance they could feel a structure, a large building filled with people. So many people with so many different thoughts, different voices ringing in her ears. Many of them were jumbled. Their thoughts incoherent, strange, twisted, insane, trying to make sense of what was happening around them, content in a shadow of ignorance, pleading for sanity, screaming for help with mute mouths, throats that filled with laughter pushed out by the cries of others. All of them flooded to her, filled her, repulsed her.

There was a person within those walls, amongst the chaos, she had felt before, they were the source. They were waiting for her, watching out for her through a window streaked with dust from many years of neglect. Their face was emotionless. Only when the dark blue eyes had fallen on her would they show any emotion, any interest in what was around them. The full, tempting lips would curve into a slow, deadly smile while the tongue as sharp as a cut diamond prepared to spit its vile venom in cruel words that would lash their recipient like a stout whip. Right now the voice was occupied in singing a melody, a melody with haunting words that seemed to ripple into her consciousness.

There was a kind but naïve King
Who wed a very nasty Queen
The King was loved but
The Queen was feared

A small hill stood as a barrier to the place she was heading. It tried to block her passage but it was conquered as her feet carried her over its muddy, stone ridden surface. Standing at its peak her eyes wandered over the structure ahead of her, she had been here before. A black metal fence ran all the way around it, only two enormous black gates allowed any exit or entry into it. Even from this distance away she could hear the screams of the people inside, she could see hundreds of lights flickering on and off along its high impenetrable walls. Shadows zipped past bare windows and heavy footfalls echoed into the night.

Looking to another part of the building her eyes rested upon a window. Someone stood silhouetted behind it, framed by an ocean of dust that had been brushed aside by a careless hand. She kept her eyes locked on that window as she descended the other side of the hill, nothing could take her eyes away from that person. She knew that they were staring at her too. Only when the object of her vision disappeared from sight did her eyes return to the direction she was walking in. It wasn't long before she was standing in front of the gates, they stood taller than she could see in the inky darkness but they were unlocked. Lifting her hand to the latch she lifted it, with some force she pushed them open.

As if walking on winged feet she glided along the shale path towards the main entrance. Nothing obstructed her, nothing stopped her. Her passage was as impassive as a shadow passing across the sky. No eyes could see her or ears hear her, her footsteps were silent and she was concealed by shadows cast by the moon behind the lofty towers of her destination. When once she had stepped into a pool of silver light she had heard a whisper, a sharp whisper that drew her attention.

There, standing by the western wall was a silhouette. It was motioning to her, beckoning her on. It was the person she had been guided to, the source of that hypnotic tune that had rung in her ears, it was still beckoning her on still further. She moved towards the person, their eyes locked once more in a silent battle of unconscious dominance. Both sought for supremacy, both were tied, locked in deadlock which couldn't be broken.

"Follow me," The figure whispered turning back into the doorway.

Robyn followed, the siren's spell had worn off but she had come too far to turn back. She had to know why she had been brought here, what the person wanted of her. There were questions that needed to be asked, questions that needed to be answered. Whether or not she would get the answers she wanted she didn't know.

After climbing what seemed to be an endless flight of stairs Robyn found herself in a large room. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust, cobwebs hung like nets from the walls and ceilings. From what she could see of the room in the darkness it looked to have been some sort of medical room. Beds were lined up against one wall, sinks were fixed to both ends of the room and even after the total decay of everything within she could still detect a faint scent of disinfectant.

"Why have you brought me here, Lily?" Robyn asked forcing her mother to face her.

"You were born here," Lily replied and pointed towards the beds, "Over there in that bed. Even after all these years I still remember. Almost as soon as you were out of me they took you away. I'm not sure why I didn't strangle you there and then, perhaps that's why they were so fast to have you out of my way. Perhaps if they'd stalled for a few seconds longer…" Lily trailed off.

She didn't have to say any more for Robyn to get her meaning.

"You didn't answer my question." Robyn stated trying to draw her mother back to the present.

"They took you into that room over there. I watched where they put you, they didn't want me to but they were too busy trying to sedate me. You know that after you were born they shut this unit? That idiot Doctor Cranium wanted to keep it a secret, he never wanted to come in here again." Lily continued her story.

Robyn was becoming agitated, "Tell me why I'm here! What has this story got to do with anything?"

"You know, Robyn, sometimes I see a great deal of myself in you. We're not so different you and I, not really. You know, you really do like me, you just don't know that you do."

"How could anyone like a twisted bitch like you?"

Lily laughed out loud at this observation, "Very good, Robyn. There is a spark in you yet."

"I want you to tell me why you brought me here."

"One night, when Doctor Cranium was rather seducible, he forgot to give me my nightly sedative to keep me knocked out. I got out of bed when no one was in the room with me and went to the room they'd put you in. The door was unlocked and there was no one watching you. You were all alone in your little make shift crib, if I'd wanted to there would have been no one around to stop me killing you. Instead I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt, to see if you could become what I wanted you to become. I picked you up and spirited you away from here. It wasn't hard to find you a place to live. I was quite surprised to see that you hadn't stayed there long."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That it wasn't me that dumped you on Robbie's doorstep."

A cloying feeling of dread passed through Robyn, "Then who did?"

"Him. Your father."

There was no denying the truth in those words. It was there, it stabbed her like a thousand knives. She had to leave that place, she had to get as far away as possible as fast as her body would carry her. Without another word or look at her mother she fled.

Instead of smiling at hurting her daughter, Lily looked over at the very same bed that she had given birth to Robyn in. For many moments she stared at it. A single tear slid down her cheek, it was brushed away as quickly as her memories with a brisk shake of her head. As she made her own way down the steep steps her throat was once again filled with song.

There was a kind but naïve King
Who wed a very nasty Queen
The King was loved but
The Queen was feared

AN: Song is Alexia's song from Resident Evil: Code Veronica