"Hello? Is anyone here!?"
Leon made a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn, hoping that he wasn't alone here. He had thought the monsters were bad, the sound of the radio's static made his heart pump fast, but the silence was claustrophobic, unsettling beyond belief. He just needed to get out. To find someone…
The school?
School…darkness…soon…burn…BURNING…
He had left the hospital and now stood in front of the large building. Stairs led down the short pathway toward the street. Leon looked around him, trying to find any form of life. His words seemed to have traveled just a few feet before getting smothered by the eerie thick fog. Not a human sound reached his keen ears, but there were occasional sounds, like pipes clanking noisily. No life forms inhabited the sidewalks, not a single car passed by on the barely visible road. And the fog, it rested everywhere, thick, smothering the town, he thought.
Leon had learned to think logically at first. If he didn't, his imagination could soar, heightened by his experiences back in Raccoon City and the village in Spain. This was Portland, wasn't Portland known for its thick fogs. Of course no one was out; it was dangerous to drive into this weather.
But those monsters…
He couldn't stop thinking of that nurse demon creature, of the Ashley look-a-like with the unhinged jaw; they certainly weren't some kind of patient there! They were real, he had watched them bleed, and their blood was the exact same as…
Who am I shitting? This place is screwed up…and someone's in trouble.
He slowly mounted down the stairs, cool fog brushing his face. He pushed a strand of blonde away from his narrowed blue eyes, though it wouldn't have mattered anyway. The fog seemed to block everything from view. The sidewalk ran both to his left and his right, he didn't have a map; he wasn't sure where the school was. He went right randomly. As soon as he stepped off into the street, the radio in his pocket erupted in static, steadily growing louder. Leon gripped his new gun a bit tighter, looking around.
It slowly took form in the fog, more of a shadow than a silhouette. It didn't look like the others in the hospitals. Leon slowly stepped backwards, his eyes had widened. A hand of fear gripped his abdomen, slowly turning into pain, scorching hot. White lights swam for a second in front of him, and he tried to convince himself it was from the car accident.
"Halt!" He commanded, though he didn't think it would do much.
The creature staggered out from the fog. Leon grimaced as the smell of cooking meat and hair reached his nostrils, he pushed his nose against his t-shirt to inhale his sweat instead. Trembling, he brought up his gun and open fired. The creature resembled a woman singed beyond recognition. If it hadn't been for her breasts, he wouldn't have known it was woman. Singed brown hair flapped around her blistered cheeks like Medusa's hair. Each shot wrought up blood from her chest splattering to the ground. She gave a shrill gasp each time, though it sounded more like she was gasping for air than from the ammo pounding her.
She still staggered stiff legged toward him. As soon as Leon had reached his last shot, she crumpled to the ground in defeat, writhing in pain before settling. Leon wiped the sweat on his forehead with his arm and stepped closer for inspection.
BURNING.
The horrid stench still lingered in his nostrils though the actual smell had faded as she died. He hated that smell, it reminded him of Spain.
"What is going on?" He muttered to himself. He looked down at his hands and clenched them tightly, he honestly felt like he was going insane.
Spsh, Spsh.
He whirled around, looking around for the source of noise. His hands immediately reached for the extra pack of ammo. A new kind of fear grasped his chest; he hated this physiological business, the damn fog made it impossible to see. Spsh, Spsh. It sounded like something scraping gently against the ground. Expecting some king of monster, he raised the gun as he had been instructed to do in training.
Like he had second eyes, he sensed someone-or something-behind him. He turned stiffly, backing away and almost pulled the trigger when—
The little girl stared up at the bigger man with a startled expression. Leon stumbled backwards in surprise, seeing what he had expected most not to see. Even in the fog, the little girl's dark eyes were as visible as day, staring at him so solemnly. Her round serious face framed with curly blonde hair bobbed in a slight nod as though she had mentally made a agreement with him, then turned and ran away.
At first, Leon thought he was seeing things, but the sound of the young girl's black buckle shoes scraping against the street was very real. "Hey-wait!" He called, running to catch up with her. Leon chased her down the street; he couldn't catch up because he kept on losing her small form in the fog. He chased her straight until he came to the intersection, and thought he had lost her for good.
"Damn."
Something moved to his left, the little girl was further up the street. She turned and caught his eye, then ran ahead.
Does she want me to follow or is she just playing a game?
He took off jogging again. As soon as he reached the end, he found the girl further up the street to his left, waiting for him. Her grave face told him this was no game, she saw him and ran. Leon ran after her, feeling more confident that he wouldn't lose her; she kept on pausing to make she he was still behind him. When her form didn't come back out of the fog, Leon waited for her to appear. He strained his ears for her footsteps, but got nothing. There was a clank, like a door shutting, to his right. Leon hurried onto the blood stained sidewalk in time to see a gate door swinging shut. The little girl had gone in there. He hurried over.
"Hello?" He tried, not getting any results. Feeling a little bit bad for trespassing, Leon opened the gate and stepped inside the small courtyard, his radio immediately acting up wildly.
"…He…and…she will know…that someday, all things will end…misty night…dismal moon...dead…seek…her kin. While Angels sing…dark…dead seek out sin…"
Music crackled, unnerving and badly received by the satellite. Leon took out the radio and gave it a smart rap on his thigh, doing nothing.
It's that song again!
"…Burning…please!..."
"Wha…" He brought the radio to his mouth. The music had completely disappeared, the sound of a girl's static voice coming over, shrill and screaming. "Hello? Who's there? Where do you need me to go?"
"…She's burning…paradise…she's killing paradise!"
"Is this Ashley?" Leon commanded. "Speak to me!"
"No…can't…flames rising…head...pain. She's burning us! HELP! SHE'S BURNING US!!!"
"Stay with me!" Leon shouted. "Please try to stay with me!" But the voice never came back, there was only silence. "Shit." Leon angrily banged his fist against the fence and pocketed the radio. He needed to get to the school. The voice rang in his head, pleading, crying in pain. What was going on!
A slight noise made him look up, startled for a moment. The little girl watched him quietly as he slowly retained his composure before running through the door. Leon was too wary to even try to stop her. He walked up the wooden porch and straight to the door. The mail slot blazed the name Baldwin.
Ada crept quietly down the long corridor, inwardly shaken from her encounter with her boss. She nearly shuddered at the thought of his gaze, slow, deliberate…burning. He had carefully removed his glasses and casually wiped them on his black shirt, all the while his orange red cat eyes sweeping over her hunching form, much shorter and frailer compared to his tall, muscular one. Before she could blink, the manila folder was out of her hands, grasped tightly in Wesker's. He had given her one last glare before re-placing his glasses and stepping back into his office. He hadn't said a word.
And that scared her.
Automatic doors gave way for her, leading into a large, white room with long counters, body sized tubes, and many Umbrella scientists busily working away on grotesque experiments and projects. The room was sterile; it smelled most of the time of a hospital, alcohol, sickness, and sweat, or at least to Ada. A scientists walked by carrying a small jar containing a parasite specimen no large than a fist that was a cross resemblance between a shrimp like creature and a bug with short, stubby tentacles that were quite deadly.
What do you get when you come across a crustacean and a Los Plaga's parsite…? Ada thought lazily to herself, making her smile a little.
She was a speck of violet red in the large room, not one head turned to greet her. Everyone was too busy, or else didn't care. The temperature was colder than the rest of the building, most experiments required that.
Her gray eyes scanned the room, looking for them carefully. Two many people dressed in white, wearing the same goggles and gloves. She slowly weaved her way through the Umbrella scientist, muttering things such as 'excuse me' and 'sorry'. A few eyes turned on her curiously. Ada was not a scientist. Whatever knowledge she knew on the subject was no match for this group. Highly trained, extremely hard working, and probably paid comfortably, Umbrella had the best, Wesker made sure of it.
She finally found the person she was looking for, leaning over the white counter; silently examining something through the ocular lens of the compound light microscope and methodically turning the focus knob. He must have seen Ada coming through the corner of his eye because he turned toward her and straightened up, offering her a charming smile. "Hola, senoritta." He greeted. "Coma estas?"
Ada, knowing some Spanish, replied: "Muy bien, y tu?"
The young man chuckle, leaning back down for a second glimpse in the ocular lens. "Good."
Seeing she was not just passing him, he straightened back slowly, his hand inadvertently flying to his chest. His white lab coat with the Umbrella insignia covered what Ada knew to be a large, nasty scar that covered most of his chest. "Are you here to see me?" Luis Sera asked her, his smile becoming wider and slyer. Ada returned it, knowing he was only kidding with her, like friends did. Ada leaned her lean arms on the counter, meeting Luis's blue gaze. "I am." She said simply.
Luis smirked.
Ada had sent a team to retrieve Luis's body shortly her return to the States. Had he been sent to a main hospital, they would have taken one look at his deathly white, unmoving form and named him dead. Umbrella could amaze things; they were able to save him. Of course, there had been consequences. He had had to re-learn how to talk, walk, and even eat, like a child.
Luis, having had no where else to turn to, had been given a job as a scientist for Umbrella; Wesker knew of his brilliance. Luis, too happy to be alive and well, did not question Wesker and trusted Ada whole heartedly on this. Ada watched from the side lines, secretly sad to see another person sell their soul to the devil. Luis never got hired by the right people.
He was the only person Ada even liked at work.
Wesker liked Luis, and, even more importantly, trusted him. Luis worked for him, creating hellish things, but never voiced his opinions or questioned Wesker's motives. Luis was a good boy.
"Penny for your thoughts, Chiquita?" Luis inquired, bending back over his work.
"How about dinner?"
Luis arched an eyebrow, still not looking at her. "With you?"
"Yes. It isn't safe to talk about it here." Ada said, her tone got Luis's full attention again.
"What's wrong?" He asked shooting her a worried look. "Is Wekser…"
"It's about something else."
His face still didn't change. He removed his gloves and shimmied down, leaning his own arms across the counter until he was her height. Ada looked…pale. Frightened. When Ada Wong was frightened, there was something wrong. For a moment, Wesker only stared at Ada, realizing how grateful he truly was for her saving him. In the past few months, Ada had become more than the woman who saved him, she had become his friend. He was in debt to her, and he wanted to help. He straightened up once more, peering down at her. "Does the dinner date still stand?"
Ada smiled vaguely. "It's strictly for work," She said in a mock stern voice. "So behave yourself."
Luis rolled his eyes. "Of course." He went back to his work once more, becoming silent and engrossed once again. Ada watched him silently, waiting to see if he had anything to say about his work. Ada sighed and straightened up when she realized he had nothing, beginning to walk away. After she had gone away from the counter, she could hear Luis mutter into the scope: "Damn you little devil spawns."
Luis yawned with fatigue, his neck soar form bending over a microscope for so long. Most of the scientist had recovered; Luis was soon to be among them. Usually, he would have gone straight back ton his small apartment and collapsed, but he had other plans tonight.
Luis's apartment was small, but comfortable. Most of his belongings were from his previous place in his hometown. Colorful posters decorated the walls along with photographs of happy memories. There was one particular photograph and Luis and his grandfather standing in his grandfather's village before things got bad. Luis always stopped to stare at the picture before retiring, even when he felt like collapsing after a days of hard work. It was like a magnet, drawing his eyes toward it. Sometimes, he felt sad looking at it, wishing that what the place had come to hadn't had to have happened, other times, he felt mad and often fell into his bed cursing Saddler, but most of the time, he just stared, too exhausted by the horrendous memories to come up with any sense of previous happiness for the place.
Luis stood in his bathroom without his shirt, staring numbly in disgust at the deformed scar running across his chest. It still killed him at times; he kept a bottle of medicine wherever he went. Other than the scar, Luis supposed he looked alright for someone who had been dead at some point. He was tall, muscled well enough, not like Leon though. He kept his wavy brown hair long, finding he had liked that style since being a teenager. Luis missed Leon; he had seemed like an interesting person, it was too bad they hadn't really become friends. Unlike Leon, Luis was dark skinned, thinner, and slightly gangly compared to him.
Luis threw on a dark grey button up shirt over his khakis. He was just about to walk out the door when his phone rang. Luis grabbed the nearest phone which, at the time, was in the kitchen, a bit out of breath from running too quickly. Damn scar.
"Hello?" He greeted, trying to calm back down.
"…That town…There's something wrong with it…" The static voice of a young woman said.
Luis's eyes narrowed in suspicion and confusion. "S-sorry, who is this?"
"…This place…There's something wrong with it…" The woman repeated like a broken record player.
For reasons he couldn't explain, a small tinge of fear made his neck hairs raise. He turned around, feeling that paranoid, to make sure there was no one there. The woman's voice, continuously repeated by static, said this carefully, as though not quite believing it herself. "I think you have the wrong number." He said quietly.
"…This place…There's something wrong with it…"
"I'm hanging up now." Luis said sharply, not waiting for an answer. This was giving him the chills. There wasn't something right about the caller; he felt more like he wasn't really the one she was talking to.
"…This place…There's something…"
Luis had hung up.
