2. Claire
"Bye, hon. See you at home tonight. I hope you have fun," Leon Kennedy said to his girlfriend of three years, Claire Redfield. Claire kissed Leon goodbye and stepped out of the Ferrari, smiling as Leon drove away. She had always loved Chicago, even if the Umbrella Corp. was based here. Umbrella used to own a building in Chicago, but since their termination, that building has been ironically turned into a hospital.
Walking down Main Street, Claire checked the time on her cell phone; 3:25 a.m. The reason that she was in Chicago so early? She was a morning person, of course, but other than that, she planned on having a long day with her friend, Stephanie, so she wanted to get here, grab a hotel room, and sleep until eight.
Chris shivered as the morning breeze blanketed him in a cool embrace. He knew it had to be at least three in the morning. His nose was still bleeding and he was freezing. Going back inside to the warmth of the bar would just cause him to be thrown out again to the cold. Then he saw her walk up to him. At first all that Chris could see was a blurry image of a girl in red boots, but then that image cleared into his younger sister, Claire. Her usually bright eyes looked at him with an icy blue glare; her crimson hair framed her face and flowed into a neat ponytail.
"C-Claire?" Chris asked in a slurred tone. Claire helped her older brother to his feet and tsked, shaking her head in pity. She stepped back away from him and looked at him, her hands on her hips. His clothes were a little bit dirty, he didn't smell bad, his face was sprinkled in 5-day-old stubble, his hair was messy, and… his nose was bleeding?!?
"Chris! What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Claire asked worriedly, trying to call a cab. Chris slurred a response that sounded something like "don't go making judgments, Claire…"
A white and green taxi pulled up to the curb and Claire loaded her brother into the back right seat and herself into the back seat behind the driver. She told the driver the address for the nearest hotel and tried to keep her brother quiet.
When they finally arrived at the Chicago Inn, - very creative name for a hotel in Chicago, don't you think? - Claire made Chris sit down on a lounge chair and walked up to the receptionist.
"Chicago Inn, how may I be of assistance this morning?" The blonde woman standing behind the counter was obviously bored and tired, noticable behind her smiling facade.
"I just need a room for one, please. I'll be staying for two nights," Claire told the woman, who eyed her suspiciously for a moment.
"Are you sure you need a room for one? I thought you were with that gentleman over there," the receptionist asked pointed out politely.
"He's in heaps of trouble. I haven't seen my brother for over a year, and I find him drunk, sitting alone outside a bar in the cold. He's sleeping on the couch," Claire laughed.
~*~
Chris looked up to the desk when he heard his name mentioned. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget about this whole mess. The receptionist looked over at him and smiled; he groaned and closed his eyes in response.
~*~
"Alright, there you go. Room 407, here's your key," the woman at the desk handed Claire a plastic card and smiled as she turned to her computer and started typing furiously. Claire went over to Chris and dragged him onto the elevator. When they got to a hallway on the 2nd floor, Claire elbowed Chris in the ribs to get him to wake up.
The siblings got to their room and got settled in. Chris really didn't want to have to stay with Claire, not because it was going to be embarrassing to live with his sister, but because he knew that she was going to ask him about everything...