7. Traitor
"Traitor!"
Eyes taking a dangerous second to look away from the monster coming for her, Sheva saw yet another figure standing off in the distance. Though not much could be seen, this person held a calm stature, but their voice screeched with anger that cut to the bone.
"It's your fault! I wish you were never born! You're a traitor! He loved me more than he could ever love you!" the voice yelled with a loud growl. "Traitor!"
Sheva's heart ached at the words that she knew were directed towards her, but the aching didn't last long until Sheva's attention was once again brought back to the monster running towards her. The mutation spoke, his voice booming against her ears.
"You should have listened," the monster roared. "Now I can't stop it."
Someone called for her to run, but that option was deserted when the monster stood before her, punching at the wall beside her head. After a short moment when the creature didn't make any move to hit her, she looked at his face and stood straight to come even closer. As his eyes opened, blue penetrated hazel for a small but seemingly long second while they gazed at one another, monster to woman.
"Can't…s-stop it," he wheezed.
"You can," Sheva managed to utter from the coldness of her lunges and the courage hiding away in her mind. "You don't need anyone to control it. You can do it. Just think about her and nothing else. Hold onto that image of her. You can control it. You'll walk out of here and go home to her. Just breathe and think of her."
All was silent in the cold place she and the monster occupied. Sheva could still see in the distance that same figure calling her a traitor seeming to grab something from their pocket, pulling out some type of device and finally pushing a button on this little mechanism. Her body jumped when the creature before her screamed in pain, falling to its scaly knees. Sheva would have tried to comfort the monster if it weren't breathing heavily and its fists curling into tight clutches of strength. She held her breath when the monster stood with its eyes turning to a shade of glowing red.
"She's a traitor," the figure in the distance spoke aloud with a stern but not shouting voice. "Traitors don't get second chances in my book. Kill her!" the person bellowed, encouraging the monster to finish Sheva's life.
What felt like hiding within her fear, Sheva's arms began to encircle her body as she closed her eyes, knowing what was to come. Before the whoosh of air came down on her as did the fists of the monster, she heard him whisper to her, making her resist the urge to sob.
"Forgive me," the mutation murmured for only Sheva to hear and the woman subconsciously waiting for him in another country. The woman he'd never get to see again but protect until his last breath.
In a jolt and sudden alertness, Sheva sat straight up with a stiff back and fast breathes escaping her. Her hair swept the tops of her shoulders as she glanced around the room with disbelief running through her veins. Sun rays were forbidden to shine into the room by the clouds hanging low in the sky above, sending a grey luminance into the room made up of stone and wood. Every corner was silent, save for the loud wheezes Sheva produced as she told herself repeatedly, it was just a dream.
Her heart slowed in beats and her breath steadied as she realized she was safe from a monster close to crushing her or some person calling her a traitor. Sheva questioned what she was saying to the monster as she ran her hands through her hair, tugging at the roots till she could feel a trace of pain run along her scalp. As she tugged at her dark brown locks, she played in her mind what she said to the monster.
"'Go home to her'? Who is she?" Sheva asked herself, falling back onto the bed with a loud sigh.
Not being able to help it, Sheva let out a terrified yelp when something large and warm pounced on top of her. Her arms flailed about, her mind thinking this was the monster coming from her dreams and attacking her in the life of the awake. When something that felt like a tongue licked her cheek, Sheva's yelps turned into gags. As she opened her eyes, she was met with the smiling face of a large dog, its tail hitting her shins excitedly.
After a moment of staring at one another, the St. Bernard licked her face again, and then turned its head towards the voice calling its name. It pushed off Sheva, causing her to huff and settled at the foot of her bed with its chin resting on her feet.
"Uh, sorry about that," Isaac apologized as he shut her bedroom door with his foot, a familiar silver tray in his hands. He walked towards her and set the tray on her lap, lifting the platter to reveal a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon. Sheva thanked him and he told her it was nothing as he sat on the bed next to her. "Oh, this is Pinto," he announced with a wave to the dog. "Pinto, this is Sheva."
"Pinto?" Sheva inquired. "You named a huge dog Pinto?"
"Wasn't my idea," Isaac shrugged. "One of the kids had to leave him here before he left for summer break. The student's parents didn't want to take care of Pinto and they would have euthanized him if no one took him. So I adopted him for the time being until his owner comes back to school. Pinto's good company, he just likes to lick people."
"Better keep him from Wesker," Sheva mumbled and Isaac nodded in agreement with a heavy breath. "You really like running a boarding school, don't you?"
A smile blossomed on Isaac's face that was borderline uncomfortable. "I do," he confessed, "I feel like I've found my niche. I know what it feels like to be unwanted by your parents, so I get to help the kids that come here that get the same treatment from their family."
Sheva nodded lazily, tossing a piece of bacon to Pinto and he caught the meat in his mouth, chewing with loud chomps of his jaw. "Speaking of family, do you believe everything Piper said? I know I kind of asked already, but I'm just a little…unsure of everything right now."
Isaac frowned as he thought, deciding to be completely honest. "I believe that she is our sister and that she really did want to find us. It's just that her file of all the Spencer children is the most unfinished. But I don't know why that'd be. The only people to write the files about us were Oswell, Elliot, or Wesker. She couldn't have touched them and I don't think she did. But why was hers so incomplete?"
"You could probably ask her that and she'd give you an answer," Sheva replied, tossing torn pieces of toast to Pinto, amused that he caught them in his mouth successfully every time.
"That's another thing," Isaac held his forefinger high in the air as if a light bulb had just gone off in his head. "She's so open about everything and tells us her whole life's story. She's not private about anything. I don't like that. She should know better."
"Huh? Why shouldn't she tell us her life's story?" Sheva glanced at him, arching a brow with curiosity.
"You should know as well as I do that secrets are the most valuable things to have in this world, Sheva. Even more valuable than money or family."
"Family? I value you more than secrets, Isaac," Sheva crossed her arms over her chest, her bottom lip curling in a pout. "Are secrets more important to you than me, Isaac? Your own sister?"
With a roll of his eyes, he nudged Sheva's shoulder and held back a laugh. "Alright. You're more important to me than secrets. But still. Piper just told us everything. But everyone has secrets, Shev. What is she hiding if we already know her life's story?"
"Well, Sherlock, I'll be on the lookout for anything fishy," Sheva gave a firm nod.
"Very well, Watson," Isaac nodded back at her. "Now finish your meal because I have a favor to ask of you."
Sheva eyed him, pushing her tray away until Pinto began to pant with the food so close to him. Isaac quickly took the tray before the dog could feast and make a mess, evoking Pinto to whimper as he watched the food retreat. Swinging her feet off the bed, Sheva stood and slipped on the robe that was left for her the night before.
"What is the favor?" she probed, looking him up and down as he strode away towards the bookshelf by the door. He grabbed a wicker basket with a red and white gingham patterned cloth covering the top and walked back to her. She guessed he must have placed it there when she was being squashed by the beast named Pinto.
"Well, you see, Wesker hasn't come up from the lab all night so that leads me to believe he hasn't eaten yet and if I add correctly, it's been quite a long time since he's had a proper meal. So, I would very much appreciate it if you took him his breakfast. I have a lot of work and other guests to bring breakfast to that it would really help if you just took Wesker his meal, yes?"
"Oh, my goodness, Isaac. You're sending me because you're scared to talk to him," Sheva accused him, shaking her head and grabbing the basket from him. She looked inside to feel the wave of warmth hit her face as she counted three freshly baked biscuits and some banana bread. Her mouth salivated just at the scent of the baked goods. A black chrome thermos undoubtedly filled of coffee rested at the end of the small basket.
"That, too. The way he seemed so…not himself kind of makes me sleep with an eye open, you know. And that says a lot with how scary he can be," his eyes went wide for a moment and then he recovered, a fake smile forming on his lips. "So please, dear sister, do me this small favor and give him his breakfast, please."
Tightening the straps of her robe around her tighter, she gave a tired nod and began stepping towards the doors when Isaac gave a content snicker and snort. Sheva looked back at him with knitted brows and a frown, tilting her head to the side and asking him what was so funny.
"You look like red riding hood," he stated as he gestured towards the wicker basket she held and the red robe she wore. "And Wesker is the big bad wolf."
"Thanks for the encouragement," she muttered as she left, her bare feet making the tiniest tap sound on the stone. The chill that went up the pads of her feet from the coldness of the stone made her smile with its familiarity. She took a deep breath and held back a gulp as she turned towards the hallway that led to the lab below and ultimately, led to Wesker.
"Not everything is about you, Chris!" Alyssa nearly shouted, hitting her fist on the table she and Chris sat at. She rolled her eyes when he slammed his hand harder on the table.
"I'm not saying it is, Alyssa! But Wesker wouldn't have taken Sheva if it weren't for me," he scoffed at the blonde. He stood with an angered sigh, clinching his hands into tight fists as he crossed his arms over his chest and stepped to look out the window and below to the busy streets of New York City. He looked over his shoulder when the door to the room he and Alyssa occupied opened quickly.
"Will you two be quiet?" Old Barry Burton snarled at them. "There's people in this office actually trying to get stuff done unlike you two just shouting at one another. For Christ's sake, just shut up."
"Screw you, Barry. I am getting stuff done. I'm trying to find Wesker while all you guys are doing is typing away on your little computers," Chris complained, the large vein in his neck protruding slightly.
"Oh god, that temper of yours reminds me of when my girls were crying babies and pissed themselves," Barry muttered loud enough for him to hear. "Don't talk to me that way, Chris. I've been on your side for a long time."
Chris rubbed his forehead roughly and turned back to look at the busy streets as Alyssa stood to straighten out her red blazer. She tucked blonde hair behind her ear and looked at Barry apologetically.
"I apologize, Director Burton," she sighed.
"Just call me Barry, Alyssa. How many goddamn times do I have to tell you that?"
Alyssa sighed again as her eyes lowered to the carpeted floor they all stood on. No matter what she did, how much respect she tried to show, she never seemed to get on these people's good sides. It all seemed like unworthy attempts at this point in her mind. Everyone looked at her as the stuck up journalist she used to be and not the strong and honest representative she had grown to be. Everyone just assumed they knew her, but no one did because they never took the time to look past her many layers and let her show her true colors.
"Look, while you two were throwing tantrums, these reports came in and I think it best you both look at them," Barry handed a manila folder to Alyssa. "Oh, and HQ called for you, Alyssa."
"Of course they did," she mumbled as she looked over the files. "Thank you, Barry."
Nodding, Barry turned to leave and waved at Chris when the younger man apologized for his behavior. Chris watched as Alyssa's blue eyes scanned the files in hers hands, her feet leading her to her chair and she took a seat. She began to nibble on her bottom lip when Chris sat in the seat next to her.
"Why is HQ trying to get ahold of you?" he asked, actually more curious about the papers she looked at. But he decided to show some sort of interest to make this time a little less awkward after their shouting match just moments before.
"They want to know what's going on with the Wesker case and Alomar's as well," Alyssa glanced up from the papers to look at him quickly and then back to the files in her hands. "They've been hounding me for information ever since Wesker and Sheva disappeared."
He nodded, tangling his fingers together on the table as he looked around. "How often do they call you?"
Tapping her chin, Alyssa gazed at a potted fern on the shelf by the far wall in thought. "At least three times a day. But I don't really want to think about HQ right now. These files are showing that the kidnapper headed south of the country and possibly to Florida. There was a burnt car at the coastline with destroyed fingerprints. But evidence seems to show that some type of aircraft had departed on the coast, heading southeast."
Chris asked to look at the files and she handed them over. He only had to glance at the picture of the tire marks on the gravel to know what type of aircraft had taken off. "It was a Hawker 800XP aircraft that left those marks."
With a look of disbelief, Alyssa stared at him with her lips in a tight line. He sighed and pointed out to her what kind of tires would make that mark and the speed of the jet by the evidence shown. She obviously didn't believe him, but she kept her mouth shut. He spoke anyway.
"I'm certain, Alyssa. Yeah, maybe it's a bit of a hunch, but my gut tells me it's a Hawker 800XP. I know my aircrafts," he told her confidently.
She shrugged. "Fine. It's a Hawker blah blah. Apart from the aircraft, I think our pilot was too smart. I think he began flying southeast to probably throw us off. Besides Africa, the past few occurrences we've ran into Wesker was in Europe. Germany and England. So I believe the pilot began flying southeast but changed his path to go northeast to Europe."
It was Chris's turn to look at her with weary eyes. "Why wouldn't Wesker go to Africa again? He had pretty good luck there until Sheva and I invaded his party."
"To be fair, Wesker had pretty good luck in a few places if we're talking about outbreaks. But something is telling me that he went to Europe this time. Look, you have your hunch about the aircraft; I have my hunch about the locations. My gut is telling me he went to Europe. Which still isn't much because there are a lot of countries and possible hideouts in Europe," Alyssa claimed with an exhale.
"Alright, so unofficially, Jake took Wesker and Sheva to Europe on a Hawker 800XP," Chris leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "It's something, I guess."
The room fell silent after Chris's assumption. Alyssa looked over the file one more time before closing the folder and sliding it away, lost in her thoughts when she looked to the man who seemed to be distracted by the panels making up the ceiling above them. She shifted in her seat, feeling the silence to be distressing and stifling. Closing her eyes for a quick second, Alyssa swallowed and bit her pride for a small moment.
"I'm sorry for starting the shouting this time," she half whispered, almost hoping he wouldn't hear her.
Chris sat straight in his seat, eyeing her to see if she had actually apologized. And she had. The snooty Alyssa Ashcroft had uttered an apology that no one had ever had the honor of hearing. It was a moment that deserved celebration of champagne and crab balls. Chris contained his glory though.
"It's all right. We're just two proud people that butt heads that's all. It's gonna happen, I guess. And I'm sorry for you calling you a tight ass," he mumbled the last part quickly.
"I forgive you," she answered, making Chris narrow his brown eyes momentarily. "But I really think Wesker took Miss Alomar in 2009 because of something more than just to get back at you." Chris gave a gravelly groan and leaned back to his previous position in his chair. "Seriously, Chris. Wesker took Jill six years ago because he knew he could do something with her. And because he's sick… But he must have taken Sheva for something much more than just revenge. When you found her four years ago after Wesker had kidnapped her, she was completely fine. Sure, maybe a little unstable mentally, but physically she was as healthy as a horse save for the small wound on her arm caused by a grazed bullet fired by Elliot Spencer. We found nothing in her system that Wesker might have done or something he could have done to hurt her. Why did he take her? And to ask something even more confusing, why did he let her go? And at the Spencer estate and unharmed no less? These are questions that have never been answered, not even by Sheva."
"What are you trying to say, Alyssa?" Chris probed with a warning in his voice as he burned holes into her skull with his gaze.
"Before you assume, no, I don't think Sheva held stuff back. I think maybe after all the trauma to her mind she forgot why Wesker took her and why he let her go. What I'm saying is that there are gaps in her story and in the motive in Wesker's actions. I need these answers, Chris. Aren't you curious about it all?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "I don't know what there is to learn."
"Are you scared of what we might find?" she inquired with a sudden soft voice.
He shrugged again. "I don't know what there is to learn," he repeated. "It could be anything and I don't know what to think of it yet."
Alyssa nodded and looked away. She tapped her foot in a nervous habit, but quickly lad a hand on her knee to stop the noise. She bit the inside of her cheek as she leaned forward and offered a small, kind smile. "If it's all right with you and I'll only go through with it if I get your approval, I'd like to look into Miss Alomar's files and try to find what it was that attracted Wesker to kidnap her in the first place."
Chris visibly stiffened, his brows furrowing in uncertainty. He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No… No, I can't do that. It makes it seem like I don't trust Sheva. That's her privacy and I trust that she's not hiding anything from me."
"I'm not saying she's hiding something from you, Chris," Alyssa replied softly, her eyes trying to stay as kind as possible. Really, she wasn't sure if Alomar was hiding something or not, but she needed to find out. "I'm trying to go about this at the point of view of Wesker, not Sheva. Please. We could find Sheva sooner this way."
Hesitation was most evident on Chris's features as he gaped at his hands on the table. He frowned as he moved his eyes to study Alyssa's face, her cheeks heating up under his scrutiny. She fought her modesty to look away but held his gaze, starting to feel her entire body heat up. She mentally cursed herself for being so weak to temptations when Chris finally sighed and looked away. Keep it together, Alyssa. You're helping him find his missing fiancée. Just keep it together. He ran a hand through his hair and nodded.
"Fine. You can look at her files, but only because we want to find her sooner. I trust Sheva and I know she would never lie to me. Never. We look into her files trying to find her and catch Wesker, not because you think she's hiding something," he stabbed his forefinger into the wooden table with sternness in his voice.
"It's set then. We'll start a new lead and keep our fingers crossed that we find her and Wesker," Alyssa nodded in agreement. They both called it a day and parted ways as Chris left the BSAA building to go do whatever it was that Chris Redfield did. Probably going to go lift weights or something, Alyssa thought, biting her bottom lip anxiously. She shook her head and strode towards her office to deal with HQ. Get over yourself, Alyssa.
Author's note: Alyssa is not only having the hots for Chris, but she might be onto something about Sheva and Wesker! Interesting… You guys have no idea how much I just want to spill all the details to you about everything in this story. I want to tell you what the dreams mean, what's going to happen with Wesker and Sheva, with Chris and Alyssa… Oh, I must contain myself.
Auktober: *Nods head in agreement* Sheva is unique. Haha, yes, Wesker is just a scary guy when he has plans conjuring up in his noggin. I like Wesker human. He, however, does not. But him being human means he'll have less control over his…temptations, if you catch my drift. *cough* Sheva *cough*. Thank you! :)
agnesreed: Piper and Flynn are suspicious of you, too. No, I'm kidding. I know, one too many mansions if you ask me, haha.
Sheva Redfield: I'm glad you like Piper. Some are being suspicious about her… I feel bad for Wesker too, but you know in time we'll both take that back and then we'll feel bad for him once again. It's a cycle, I'm tellin' you. Thank you. :)
Comix777: I laughed out loud at your "I hate Piper" statement. What don't you like about her? Just curious.
Sasusakui: Haha, Wesker is going to bark and beat everyone up into submission. It's what he does. Maybe he will experiment on Sheva, maybe he won't… I'm trying to be cryptic. Anyways, thanks. :)
I was bad and updated when I haven't written anything since the last update. Meaning I'm catching up with my "back up chapters" and very soon I'll be all out… I need someone to bark at me when I'm lazy doing nothing to write and get stuff done. I love when I go on break at work and I get to read the reviews the newest chapter has gotten. I'm rambling. However, really quickly, though I don't really state what's coming in the next chapter, I just want to say there is a Shesker moment in the next update. I need to get some writing done so I can update and you can read it!
-Sarai