September 21, 1971 (4:00 PM).

It has been several years, two and a half to be exact, since I left. I know I had promised to visit my two friends in Raccoon, but a week after my departure apparently dad went looking for me. I couldn't return for fear of being found. I would keep my promise though. I'd visit soon.

I found a home in Kentucky and a new family to support me. Through them I finished my education and graduated with my diploma, which I stored in my bag. I got my permit at 17 and now held my license at 19. I also took to using my middle name, Alexandria. To all around I was Alexandria Miller, cousin of Joshua. I celebrated my 19th birthday with the Miller family.

They were a family of three. There was Wilma the mother and Joshua the father. Timothy was their only child and son.

They were so warm and welcoming and sheltered me throughout my ordeal. I had spent too much time with them and I feared they would expect me to stay with or close to them.

I just couldn't.

I had to return to Raccoon City and keep my promise- and to stop Umbrella. They understood and bid me to visit whenever I could, telling me I'd always be welcome at their home.

Timothy was upset that I was leaving. He was six years old and a very hyperactive boy for his age. He begged me to stay and I promised him I'd come back and visit.

I left them a bit saddened but hopeful of my return and thus made my way back to Raccoon with the money I had saved from the part time job at the grocery store I'd worked at.

It took me several hours but I arrived in Raccoon City later that day.

I have grown a lot since I had left the first time. My tan/light brown hair was much longer, farther past me shoulders to a bit above the middle of my back and was now completely white. My skin, a once clear pale pink tone, was now tan from days spent out in the sun with Timothy.

My eyes remained a light sapphire shade. I was also taller. I once stood at five foot four, but now I reached up to five foot eight. I also gained a bit of weight to accommodate my height; one hundred and thirty pounds where I used to weigh one hundred and ten.

Raccoon City looked and felt like much the same to me. Cold from the fall weather, clouds high in the sky, sun covered, rain on the horizon. I smiled as I stepped out of the taxi and took a deep breath. Yep, the air smelled crisp like the last fall I had seen here.

I was greeted to the fray of nearby people talking and laughing. I paid them little mind as I thanked and paid the taxi driver, retrieving my bag from the car.

From there I made my way to the Winters' house.

I knocked on the wooden door and waited patiently. Soon I saw a bubbly face blink down at me. "Saria dear?" It was Kevin.

I almost didn't recognize my first name after 2 years of going by Alexandria. I had not lied to the Miller's. I had just told them that I preferred Alexandria over Saria. They didn't seem to mind.

"Hi Kevin. Where are the siblings?" I peered past him but I heard nothing, only our echoed words.

He frowned and sighed, scratching his neck. "Off and about."

"Off and about?" I repeated in confusion. Skyler was about 18 and Shiloh would be 20.

"Skyler left for college and Shiloh.. I'm not sure about him.." He whispered. "He vanished half a year after you left that day."

I blinked. "Left?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure why, but he was gone one night when we woke up. I think that's why Skyler went on to college. She didn't want to be alone."

"I see.. Well, do you think you could take me in for a little while? I'll search for Shiloh, see what I can find."

"Sure, I'd be happy to." He said with a small smile.

This is how I found myself living with Kevin Winters for a good span of time, waiting for Skyler to come home and trying my best to locate the missing Shiloh.

It took months before I even found the first clue about him.

It was in late January 1972 and I had been waiting at the park, swinging by myself. It was cold, winds pushing down from the north. Dark clouds lingered in the sky and the sun peeked out through them every now and then. I had been staring at my feet while I swung and so I hadn't seen who was walking toward me.

I glanced up as a cough filled the air and I slowed my swing to a stop as a form stood a few feet from me.

"You're here?" I heard that sharp British accent and I knew instantly who it was.

"Selby."

She smiled. She looked different from years before when I had last seen her. Where once her hair was long and straight the black strands was now cut short to a bit above her shoulders in a slant down in the front where the back was a bit shorter and cut up. The bangs framed her gray eyes and the hair on her head was spiked. Her scar had faded a bit but it was still heavily present. So were her freckles.

She had on such nice clothes. Instead of last time when she had on a tank top and sweatpants this time she had on a fur jacket over a designer t-shirt with jeans tucked into black boots. She looked prepared for the cold winds around us.

I, on the other hand, had only a simple thin jacket, black jeans and a pretty shirt with the ruffles on the sleeves, though they were hidden by my jacket. Haha.

"Where have you been? We were so worried." She said softly and moved to sit in the swing next to me.

How could I explain myself to her. Oh, Selby, I left because I don't like your living experiments or the way you inject things into people. No, I couldn't.

I felt like my world was upside down. At first I had been excited to be at the mansion, to be there to stop Umbrella, but once I saw the rooms containing people and animals I had lost it. All I felt then was the need to get away. So much for destroying them before they started. All I had done was run away from it. I was a coward.

"Here and there." I replied.

"What do you mean? Skyler told us you'd been kidnapped. We searched everywhere for you! Your dad was so broken. I swear he never smiled after that. He just.. shut down." She went into detail about how dad had felt so helpless and hadn't slept a wink in the first week of my vanishing.

He had contacted the cops but they gave up after three month of no success.

"Selby, I can't explain why I left. I had things I was dealing with and the only way to cope with it was to leave."

She was suddenly holding a ghastly expression. She jabbed a finger in my direction. "You're the one who took his card. Who broke into the labs. What did you see?" Her voice was low, a whisper of her shadowed emotions.

"Nothing." I lied.

"You can't fool me. You saw them, didn't you?" At my silence she stood from her swing and ran her fingers through her hair. "We had to leave the mansion not long after you left. Everyone scattered or went to another facility. Probably Arklay for all I know. I left entirely."

I frowned. Selby was a scientist, why would she leave? "You left?" I questioned in disbelief.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm heading to Antarctica here soon to help out Alexander." She paused, studying me carefully.

"What?" I asked her scrutinizing gaze.

"You look as young as you did when we first met in 1967." She smiled.

I blinked. I tended to blink a lot. "So?"

She shrugged. "Just commenting on it. I need to head back. Got a plane to catch." She turned to leave.

"Wait!" I called out as she began to walk away. She stopped and turned back to me, hands tucked into her pockets.

"Mm?"

"Have you seen Shiloh? Kevin, his father, says he vanished a few months after I left." I stood from my swing.

She brushed her nose with her thumb, thinking. She nodded slowly. "Last I saw him he was heading off with Spencer."

I bristled. "With Spencer? Why would he be with Spencer?"

"That kid is smart. I mean really smart. Spencer recruited him. He'll be a great scientist, the kid has that much potential. Made him his assistant or something along that line." She shrugged again. "Kid has no educational degree. Spencer's putting him through college to further his knowledge."

"Thanks Selby. Good luck at the facility in Antarctica." You're going to need that luck in a few years when Chris goes there to save Claire.

"Mhm." She dipped her head before departing, her boots echoing even long after she had vanished from sight.

I gathered myself and went home (as I called the Winters' house a home since I lived there currently).

Sad to say I had to play the waiting game now.