Chapter 10
I ducked as the crows swooped in on me. I crawled under the table to hide, but the crows fled in through the chairs and the monster had stood up and was pursuing me, reaching under the table with his boney fingers. I curled up into a ball in terror. As I froze up in fear, so did the birds. They perched themselves on top of the table, waiting for me. The monster even stopped, standing up and wandering aimlessly around the room. Then I realized, these monsters react to movement. But if I moved, the monsters would find me again, and I had no means as to fighting them off. My gun was useless now, but if I were to find some ammo…
"Barry, look out, it's a monster!" a woman bursting through the side door said.
Another monster followed the woman into the dining room. Barry, who I had no idea was there, shot down the monster.
"What the hell is this thing?" Barry asked the woman.
"I found Kenneth, killed by this thing. Let's report this to Wesker." the woman replied.
Just then, the monster and the crows came towards them. Barry used his gun to shoot down the crows while Jill took care of the monster. She skillfully shot down the monster with only three shots, efficient even for Matt. The monster slumped onto the floor, right next to me. I cupped my hand over my mouth to avoid gasping as the monster fell down right next to me, spilling blood over the tile floor. Jill and Barry continued through the dining room door to the main hallway. As soon as they closed the door, I let out a sigh of relief. But I knew that my problems were far from over. I climbed out from under the table. The grandfather clock ticked away as I crossed the hallway and peeked through the dining room door. Barry and Jill were in the main hall.
"Wesker?" Barry called, looking around the hall.
"Jill, help me look for him, but let's not leave this hall." Barry told Jill.
"Good idea." Jill replied.
Jill and Barry searched the hallway for Wesker. I recognized Jill and Barry, they were two of the people who came from the helicopter earlier. So the person I couldn't see was Wesker, and while I was outside Wesker was in the main hall. He must have been the one who locked the main door. But if he was last seen in the main hall, well he could be anywhere now.
"Barry…" Jill said as she and Barry regrouped.
"Find anything?" Barry asked.
"No, nothing. What's going on here? I can't figure it out." Jill reported as she paced the hallway.
"Same here." Barry replied, looking to the floor.
"Chris and now Wesker!" Jill cried, looking to Barry.
"There's not much we can do. We can search for them separately. I'll investigate the dining room again." Barry told Jill.
"Alright then. I'll try the door on the other side." Jill replied.
Barry sighed.
"This mansion is gigantic. We could easily get lost. Let's start from the first floor." Barry suggested.
"Ok." Jill replied.
These people were obviously working with Wesker, so I knew it would be best to avoid them at all costs. But what were they here for? Were they looking for Matt and I? As I peeked through the dining room door, I then realized that Barry was heading towards the dining hall, in my direction. I rushed back to the dining room table, and dove under the table just as the door creaked open.
"Hmm, I wonder where the kitchen is." Barry thought aloud.
So he wasn't looking for me at all, he was just hungry. But why were the here in the mansion with Wesker? Barry continued to wander around the dining hall, when I knew that the kitchen was being renovated and was currently sealed off.
"I could definitely go for a sandwich right now." Barry commented, rubbing his belly.
This was insane, I bet that man would spend an hour looking for the kitchen, never finding it! I needed a quick getaway, the gardener was waiting for me. I hope I'm not too late…
"Barry, what the hell are you doing?" It was Wesker's voice, and I heard his footsteps echo around the hallway.
Oh no, I scooted myself to the corner of the table opposite of them. I curled up tighter into a ball, praying that nobody would notice me.
"Oh, Captain Wesker, I didn't see you come in. Where have you been?" Barry asked, seeming surprised.
"Barry, I want to make a deal with you. I want to have the other team members…eliminated. I need your help though." Wesker said calmly.
This was just like Wesker, making other people do his dirty work. Just like Matt, he wants Barry to get rid of someone because he won't do it himself.
"What, Wesker you can't be serious." Barry cried in shock.
"Yes I can. You see, there are some secrets in this mansion that I'd like to keep, hidden. So, to insure that nobody finds out about them, I need the S.T.A.R.S. to be eliminated." Wesker explained.
"This is wrong Wesker, but why tell me? I thought you'd confide in…" Barry began.
"Never mind what you thought. Now, you're first assignment is to locate Enrico, the leader of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team. He's a top priority, as I suspect that he already knows something." Wesker explained.
"You can't make me do anything!" Barry bravely stated.
"Oh really, you never were the sharpest tool in the shed. Well, maybe your family can pay for your actions." Wesker threatened.
"My family? What do they have to do with any of this?" Barry asked.
Wesker took out a photo from his vest pocket.
"Well, you have a wife and two daughters am I right?" Wesker cruelly asked.
"What do they have to do with this?" Barry asked, shivering.
"Well, it would be terrible if something were to happen to them…" Wesker began, looking at the picture.
"Alright then, what do you want me to do?" Barry sighed, giving in.
"First I want you to take care of Jill Valentine. Lure her into areas containing monsters or B.O.W.s. Send her on fool's errands. Have her find a sandwich for you, I don't know. Just get rid of her." Wesker instructed.
So the monsters in the mansion were also B.O.W.s like the leeches and Dr. Marcus at the facility. But the virus was in humans, not in leeches. How did the virus get into humans?
"Alright then Captain. Just, just don't hurt my family ok?" Barry pleaded.
"If you do what I ask, I'll assure you that you and your family will be fine." Wesker mumbled.
Barry and Wesker left the room. I got up from under the table. I peeked into the main hallway. When I discovered that it was empty, I ran through it as fast as I could. I dashed up the stairs and through the upstairs hallway until I reached my room. The gardener was still lying down on the bed. His condition had obviously worsened, as he was occasionally hurling up strange liquid and his skin was abnormally pale.
"You…came…with…herb." The gardener has able to puff out.
"Don't try to speak now. I have the herb, just hold still." I told him.
"Book…read." The gardener dragged his finger to point at a green book on the desk.
I didn't remember the book being there when I had left. Maybe the gardener had put it down there before lying down. The cover read: "Herbs and Plants: A Guide to Natural Healing". I picked up the book and noticed that someone, possibly the gardener had bookmarked a passage. It was on a special herb that grew natively in the Arklay Mountains . It was the herb that the gardener had me get! The book also explained how to apply it to wounds. That's why the gardener told me to read the book. I walked over to the gardener, and carefully following the instructions, applied the herb to the gardener's wound.
"You're going to be fine now." I reassured him.
The gardener looked at me, a sad expression on his face. With weak hands, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of handgun ammo.
"Take…it." The gardener said, as he placed the ammo into my hand.
I inserted the ammo into my gun, and thanked the gardener. We sat there for what seemed like awhile, in silence, at one point the gardener fell asleep, and so did I.
I was rudely awoken by a pounding on the door.
"Open up! I know you're in there!" It was Wesker's voice.
I panicked. What was he going to do with us? Was he planning on killing us, or taking us to Umbrella for more experimentation? Wesker, not being a patient man, kicked open the door, armed with his handgun. He calmly strolled into the room, with his hands behind his back.
"I suspected you'd be in this room." He said, observing the room.
Wesker looked down and noticed the gardener on my bed, who somehow was still sleeping. He took his handgun out and shot the gardener clean in the head.
"What did you do that for?" I screamed, seeing the gardener's blood had splattered all over the bedroom wall.
"He was a civilian, Umbrella wouldn't be interested in saving him." Wesker calmly explained, looking out the window.
I stared at the gardener, who was now lying dead on the ground, blood pouring out from the bullet in between his eyes. I saw the sight of the gardener, his limp, lifeless body. I looked at Wesker, his cold, blank, unaltered stare. And I knew that I never wanted to join this man. I grabbed the remainder of the herb and dashed to the door. Wesker quickly followed, drawing out his gun. I ran through the hallways, heading to the staircase. I jogged down the stairs to the main hallway, uncertain of where my chase would lead me. Wesker slid down the stairs with precision. I ran towards the art gallery, slamming the door behind me. I knew there wasn't much time, so I took the chair in the art gallery's sitting room and jammed it against the door. I heard Wesker banging against the door, trying to enter. I backed away slowly, in fear.
"Get behind me." A soft, ghostly voice called from a distance.
I turned around to see a hunched, hideous creature inching toward me. Its face was completely covered with what looked like human skin, and it's thin, boney arms were chained together with a wooden block. I had trouble believing that this was the thing that had spoken to me, but there was no other being in the room. I swallowed hard, smelling rotten flesh on the creature as it swayed back and forth. I tentatively crouched behind the creature as it inched towards the door. Wesker had all but broken the door, and the chair was giving way. The creature smashed the chair out of the way and Wesker flung open the doors.
"You, you're Lisa Trevor." Wesker spoke, harshly.
Lisa let out a growl and attacked Wesker with her bound arms, hitting him with the wooden block. Wesker fell to the ground but only for a moment, and was already beginning to get up.
"Run." Lisa called, turning to me for a mere second.
"Wait." Wesker groaned as he tried to stand up.
I bolted through the right doorway, running as fast as I could. I was halfway through the hallway when I heard the crashing of glass. Two mutated dogs leaped into the hallway, landing perfectly on their feet. They growled at the sight of me, and started running in my direction. I ran faster, seeing a door up ahead. I flung the door open and closed it on one of the dog's muzzles. I rested myself against the door with a sigh. I could hear the dogs pounding against the door, and I knew that they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. I looked around. I had wound up in a small, dirty bathroom. The tub was full of blood which gave the room a foul odor. The sink mirror was cracked and some of the tiles were misplaced or missing all together. I tried turning on the sink, but no water ran from it. I then turned my attention to the cracked mirror. The gardener was dead, Wesker wasn't far behind on my trail, and I was stuck in a disgusting bathroom with two dogs breathing at the door. In anger, I punched the bathroom mirror. The mirror completely shattered, revealing a small, hidden cupboard. In the cupboard was a potted herb, and a small bottle of, something. I then felt a sharp jolt of pain, and noticed that a piece of glass was stuck in my hand. I painfully yanked out the piece of glass and used some of the herb on the wound. After applying the leaves to the wound, the leaves turned brown, and turned to dust. I pocketed the rest of the herb and took a look at the bottle. Its label was scratched off, but I could make out the Red Cross symbol on the side of the bottle. I tried using it and it sprayed out some green spray. I figured it was medicine and put it with the herb. There wasn't anything else in the cupboard so I also started looking for something else. I looked to the tub of blood in disgust and saw that there was something at the bottom of the tub. I carefully reached into the tub and felt around for the drain. I winced when I felt something at the bottom of the tub. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized it was the drain. I pulled the drain and the tub emptied. At the very bottom lay a dead body, and some ammo. I picked it up and saw that the bullets were intact, but they weren't handgun bullets. There weren't as many, and they were larger. Then I saw the gun lying at the edge of the tub. It was a small revolver. I picked it up, but I saw that a string was attached to it. The string snapped as soon as I picked it up. Then, I heard a reeling sound coming from above me and the sound of a large object, moving. I looked around, but nothing had changed. Then, a piece of rock fell next to me. I looked up and saw that the ceiling was slowly lowering itself. I ran towards the door but I heard the dogs barking furiously, pounding their paws against the door. I loaded the revolver with bullets and kicked the door open. The two dogs ran in towards me. I narrowly jumped over the dogs and used me foot to slam the door behind them. I gagged as I heard the crunching sounds as the dogs whined.
"Very sloppy." Wesker commented, standing above me.
I snarled at him as I stood up. He pointed his handgun at me before I could completely stand.
"You've been very unruly. It's too bad the virus I injected you with has probably worn off. William had such high hopes for you. Oh well, try, try again." Wesker gave a crooked smile before he pulled the trigger.
The last thing I heard before I completely blacked out, was the angry cry of a woman, and it definitely didn't come from me.