AN: These author notes get long when I write them. I'll try to keep them shorter from now on.
Yes, it's been a while since I last posted something for this story. I blame lack of inspiration. Hopefully, it should get more exciting soon.
If I mess up regarding subject matter at the end, feel free to tell me how it really works so I can fix it later.
Yes, one of my newer stories got taken down. No, I am not putting it back up. I knew I was violating the guidelines on this site with that story. I'm not going to re-upload it and risk getting banned.
As of this post, I have ten full days before I leave for college. And it pains me to tell my readers this, but I won't be able to work on my stories as often as I would like when I start college. My updates might slip to once per month. I'm sorry to have to make you wait, but there isn't much I'm going to be able to do about it. But I promise to see this story through to the bitter end. I won't leave my readers hanging.
So much for making this AN short.
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters own themselves, except for Delfredi. HE belongs to my co-writer, JediSpartan217.
Conditions became worse as Stevie and Kate progressed though the darkened hallway. The originally cool temperature of the corridor had abruptly warmed, wrapping the agents with stifling heat, as if the sun itself was beating down on them. Despite their discomfort, the cadets pressed onward, searching for the source of the Hunters that nearly brought about their deaths. As the duo walked the sole path provided to them, they were certain that answers would eventually be found. But instead, another wall of crates rose to block their route. Like the last one, the barrier was impossible to cross.
"Looks like another dead end," Kate commented under her breath, "Can't get over this one." She glanced over at either side of the hall. The only door they had seen for several minutes was directly to their right, plainly marked 'Employee Washroom'. There was no way the pair could retrace their steps, thanks to a stupid bulkhead closing on them. The thought of their current situation made the fair-haired brunette clench her teeth and knit her brows in frustration. Nothing added up. The Hunters had to have gone somewhere, but the building hadn't offered any twists, turns or other Hunter-sized escape routes. "Might as well admit it: We're stuck," she relinquished, albeit uneasily.
Stevie nodded and hummed in agreement, then dove into her back pocket. Her partner looked at her expectantly, only to blink in confusion as she pulled out a familiar red beret. Kate raised an eyebrow. "You brought that old thing with you?" the glasses-wearing agent asked.
The dark-haired cadet shrugged as she positioned the beret on her head, not caring that the color clashed with the blue-gray-black of the BSAA uniform. "Of course I did! It's my lucky charm now," Stevie explained. The look on her partner's face didn't change. "What? I practically snagged this from under Krauser's boots mid-battle! If you had done it, you'd be proud of it too."
Kate sighed and shook her head, allowing her ponytail to swing side-to-side. Training together made the duo thicker than thieves, but sometimes it still was better NOT to question each other's behavior. This was one of those times. "Anyway," the older cadet started, "How do we figure out where to go next? There's only one route open to us." She gestured to the restroom door. "And it's probably a dead end."
Stevie gazed up at the stack of crates, searching for a weak spot. There was no chance both of them could clear a path through the crates, but a little morale boost would be welcome at this point. The younger cadet's eyes stopped at a gap between the crates. It wasn't big enough the climb through, but large enough to grant them a view. "I wonder . . ." she muttered to herself before smirking at her partner.
Kate blinked in shock, realizing her partner had a plan. "Stevie, what are you thinking?" she asked nervously. The next thing she knew, a pair of arms grabbed her by the legs and lifted her into the air. "Mother-!" the older agent yelped as she tried to steady herself, "What are you-?"
"There's a gap between two of the crates! Can you see through it?" Stevie hollered as she held her partner in the air by the legs, "I have a hunch this door might lead us somewhere!"
Kate ignored her prior irritation and peered into the hole, past the crates. "I think I see a door just beyond. Looks like another bathroom."
Stevie's face lit up. "Then this is our detour!" she chirped before releasing Kate from her grasp. The older cadet fell to the ground and landed on her feet, taking a few seconds to absorb the recoil that wormed its way up her bones.
"You could have warned me, ya know," Kate told her partner, shooting an annoyed look her way as she brushed 'dust' off her uniform.
The younger cadet shrugged. "Eh, Coulda, woulda, shoulda," Stevie replied, "C'mon. I think I found our way around."
The agents entered the door to their right. True to the sign, the room was originally a bathroom for employees, complete with stalls containing toilets and urinals on one side, with a row of sinks and a large mirror lining the other wall. The place was wide, as if somebody had stretched the room to fit both halves. A wall of black tiles obscured half of the area on the side with the sinks. The rest was cloaked in darkness. Apparently the power was out here too.
"Yikes, it's pitch black in here," Stevie commented as she and Kate turned on their flashlights, "Let's see if we can't light this place up a little. Start looking for a power box."
"Agreed. I'll take this side."
The two agents split up, each taking half of the bathroom. Stevie took the half with the toilet stalls, whereas Kate decided to begin searching among the sinks. The sinks didn't take long to explore. Eventually, the older cadet came upon the door that would lead them out of the room. But that wasn't important now, searching for a fuse box was. Coming up with nothing else, the older cadet turned toward the wall of black tile. Following the wall to the edge, she peered around to examine the inside.
The shine of stainless steel shower heads blinked down at the cadet as her flashlight shone over the appliances. Apparently the hidden area was purposed as a chemical shower designed to hold several people at a time. Fitting for an Umbrella facility. Kate swept her flashlight through the area, stopping when the beam fell on a potted plant. "What the . . . what is this doing here?" the older cadet thought as she entered the showers to take a closer look. The plant is question sat in a cracked terracotta pot, and upon closer inspection, it was identified as one of the Green Herbs native to the area around Raccoon City. What was it doing here in Europe of all places? Kate picked up the plant carefully, finding that there was a single sheet of paper under the pot. The paper proved to be a written note, presumably left by the same person that had placed the Herb.
While her partner had been conducting her search, Stevie moved quickly in checking the toilet stalls, finding nothing important. The younger cadet stood near the end of the row, preparing to check another stall. The light of her torch bounced against the wall, and she squinted for a few seconds at what appeared to be a misplaced cabinet before registering what she had found. "Bingo!" she thought as she walked up to the red-painted fuse box. The dark-haired agent pulled a smaller flashlight from her pocket and turned it on, holding it with her teeth as she pried the rusty fuse box open. After a few hearty tugs, the door swung open, scattering tiny flakes of rust on the tiled floor. Stevie grinned at the array of wires and switches in front of her. "Found it!" the excitable cadet alerted her teammate as her eyes scanned the switches. There were no labels to distinguish which switch powered what, so the agent would have to make do with activating all of them. Stevie counted down inside her head, then in one decisive movement, brought her hand down on the switches.
Kate had started to read the note, then forced to squint as the lights came on and brightened the entire room. But the bigger surprise was a moist tickle on her exposed skin. "What the-" she said, voice echoing off the tile despite its soft volume. The older cadet blinked upwards to find the showers had been left on, and had begun gently raining mist as the power was activated. "Huh, that's odd," she thought as she held a gloved hand in front of her, taking notice of the mist's tinted gold color, "It's not acidic. But why is this mist yellow?"
"Hey Kate!" Stevie shouted, bringing the older cadet's eyes upward. "What's going on in there? Are you spacing out again?"
It took a few seconds for the fair-haired agent to focus and loosen her tongue; judging from the buzzing sensation in her mouth, it had gone numb. "I'm totally fine! Some idiot must have—!" The muscles in Kate's throat constricted, cutting off her sentence as she gasped for air. With each sharp breath, her lungs heaved and burned as if her chest was on fire. Kate's gasps for air transformed into a violent coughing fit, rendering it impossible for her to breathe.
"Kate!" Stevie shouted, alarmed as she started to run towards the showers, only to turn around and reverse the switches. The room was plunged into darkness again as the showers shut off. Nevertheless, the dark-haired agent navigated the room, guided by the sound of her friend's wheezes, and pulled her partner out of the showers. "Are you all right?" the younger agent asked, her voice full of anxiety as she guided both of them to kneel on the floor.
The older cadet took some time to take in air before her breathing patterns returned to normal. "I don't know, but it's not as bad now," she said, speaking softly as not to aggravate her throat even more. "I found this," she added, holding up the potted herb and paper for her friend to see.
Stevie blinked in surprise. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the note in her partner's hand.
Kate shrugged. "Don't know. I only started reading it before the showers came on," she said, "Somebody must have left it here."
"What's it say?"
Kate adjusted her glasses and began to read, "'I've set up road blocks in specific areas as Delfredi requested. These roadblocks will lead those pesky BSAA agents into traps that I have prepared for them. They will not realize they have fallen for them until it is too late!'" She set the note on the floor next to the green herb. "That's it. There's no signature."
"That's nice. They certainly got the 'too late' part right. It must have been his assistant," Stevie commented, her tone not lacking in sarcasm. "Now how about we use this herb to get whatever shit you inhaled out of you?" the younger cadet suggested with a serious look in her eye as she grabbed a hold of the plant.
Kate shook her head at her partner. "Herbs don't work that way, remember?" the fair-haired agent reminded her.
"Ah, right. Only works on external injuries and stuff," Stevie recalled with a great amount of sarcasm, silently cursing the rules of the universe that were associated with Resident Evil. "Nevertheless, we better take it with us."
"Agreed," Kate said as she quickly plucked the leaves off the green herb and stood to her feet, "We have to keep going."
"Whoa, whoa. Hold up, buddy!" Stevie tried to object as she jumped up and maneuvered into her friend's path, "You just inhaled bad stuff! Don't you want to wait and get it out first?!"
Kate stopped and looked her partner dead in the eye. "Chris, Jill, and Mattie are waiting for us," the older cadet reasoned, "and these mysteries aren't going to solve themselves." She began walking again, this time towards the door that would lead them out. "We can monitor my status while we're walking. If it gets bad, then we can panic."
Stevie sighed. Kate could be stubborn at times, but she knew how to compromise. "Fair enough. Let's get moving."
Jill's flashlight swept the room, searching for BOWs as she peered into one of the facility's many laboratories. After her struggle with the zombie version of her old STARS comrade, Forrest, Delfredi had allowed her to continue through the building, no doubt leading her to another challenge. There had been no sign of Stevie and Kate being here, so the older agent took it to mean that she and the cadets were still a ways apart. Apparently Delfredi wanted them to take different routes through the facility so the other group couldn't interrupt his little 'Playtimes'. He may have been a complete madman from Jill's perspective, but he was clever nonetheless.
She stepped into the room. A sharp rustle under her feet drew her attention to the floor, finding several aged, crumpled papers, presumably the notes that the Umbrella scientists left behind. Jill raised her flashlight. The documents had been scattered about the room like autumn leaves. The agent picked one up. Whatever had been on it was unreadable; the ink had faded away and formed illegible words. Useless.
Jill let the paper fall. She continued to sweep the room as she walked forward, listening closely as sheets of research crunched under her boots. The flashlight fell on another stray piece of paper, sitting on one of the tables that lined the room. This one was not crumpled up like the others. This document was clean, legible, and recently written from the looks of it.
Jill walked over to the table, set her flashlight down, picked up the paper, and began to read:
"The genetically modified Hunters are a success! All specimens are responsive to sound frequencies, thus making them easy to control. The perfect guard animals!
However, Licker behavior is much more unpredictable. Certain patterns of noise (i.e., Music) will cause them to fall asleep. Noises made by humans will cause them to attack as usual. Delfredi and I are holding them in an antechamber for now until we figure out what to do with them."
"This explains the strange behavior of the Hunters that must have gotten outside," Jill thought as she set the paper down, "They've found a way to control them. And Delfredi is no longer the only enemy I have to worry about. Lucky me. But why do they have Lickers here? Still, nice to know that music soothes those savage beasts. I'd better watch out." Jill memorized the details of the note before picking up her flashlight and moving onward. She found the exit to the lab quickly, shoving the door open as she exited the room, only to be greeted by another glaring white hallway. The BSAA agent braced her eyes as they adjusted to the brightness. "I'd better not go blind because of this," she thought, scowling at the fluorescent lights above her head, "I'll still need my eyes when I write a report about this entire incident."
Jill glanced up both sides of the hallway. A wall of crates blocked the hall to the left; the only way she could go was to the right, undoubtedly the route Delfredi wanted her to take. The agent wasn't in much of a position to disobey, so she began the trek down the corridor to the right. She could see two doors at the end of the hall, dark against the sterile walls of the facility: one at the very end, with the other to its left. Jill tried the leftmost door first, only to feel resistance from the other side. "Blocked," Jill thought as she turned to her only other option. The second door gave easily. Moving quickly, the female agent cracked the door ajar and slipped through the opening, anticipating whatever Delfredi intended to throw at her next.
The room in front of her was dark, and a wide window revealed another stark white room, but a swarm of pink, muscle-bound Lickers rested inside. Jill remained still as the monsters hissed and snapped at each other, taking no notice of the visitor at all. The "window" was mostly likely a two-way mirror, Jill deduced as she watched the Lickers. A single desk rested at the edge of the window, and on top of it rested a voice recorder, a book of sheet music, and a piano keyboard. Jill moved closer to the window and picked up the voice recorder. Seeing as there was a tape already inside, the female agent pressed 'Play' and listened.
"If you are listening to this, then I congratulate you for making it to the second round of 'Playtime' Agent Valentine," Delfredi's warped voice spoke, "The door in front of you will lead you closer to the truth. The key you need is in the jar before you, but you must be brave enough to get it and get out before my pets rip you to shreds. They're quite hungry and I believe I've run out of their favorite food: human flesh. No cheating."
Jill cursed at Delfredi's sadistic warning and gazed into the white room. Aside from a security camera positioned on the far wall, a table sat in the center of the space, and true to Delfredi's words, a key sat on the table, covered by a clear bell jar. Apparently she'd have to go into the room with the Lickers in order to escape. But how could she do it without being torn into pieces?
Her memory went back to the note she had picked up. The Lickers reacted to music by falling asleep, she remembered as her eyes fell to the keyboard. If she played the piano, then she would have a chance to get out safely.
Jill turned on the keyboard and opened the song booklet, taking notice of the first song she turned to. Moonlight Sonata, Jill remembered, having played it in the Arklay Mansion and the Spencer Estate. "Must be a favorite among Umbrella workers," she thought as she positioned her fingers on the keyboard.
Jill began playing the song she knew so well. She had had no opinion of it when she learned it as a little girl, but the Mansion incident had changed it for her forever. Her memories of the mansion were ingrained in every note, coming back to haunt her as her fingers danced across the keys. The long, winding hallways, the garden shed where she encountered the mutated Lisa Trevor, and the labs below where Wesker showed his true colors. Many of Jill's comrades had died that night, and she still believed it was a wonder that she and the others survived. Most importantly, the events of the mansion broke her faith in humanity. She mistrusted anyone who worked with Umbrella, and no one believed her when she tried to warn them about the T-virus. And look at what happened after that. Raccoon City was overrun and the government managed to cover up everything. Hopeless. The people just didn't want to believe.
Jill looked up from the keyboard, playing the rest by memory as she watched the Lickers settle down into a state resembling sleep. Their breathing patterns had slowed down, and aside from a few small muscle twitches, they were completely still. A small smile crossed the BSAA agent's face; the observations on the note had been true.
She leaned up from the keyboard. Now she had to get across the room with waking the Lickers. Jill found the door leading into the room and picked the lock with ease. She opened the door slowly, lest a stray noise awaken the Lickers.
Tiptoeing around the fleshy bodies at her feet, Jill found herself at the table. She lifted the bell jar off the table with one hand, quickly snatching the key before setting the glass covering down again.
As she looked toward her next target, thoughts of Raccoon city began to arise. The buildings had been fully infested with Lickers, and the streets weren't safe either. No matter where she ran, the BOW Nemesis pursued her. Even when she thought she was safe, the monster would appear out of nowhere, ready to murder her. It had been the one of the longest nights of her life, not counting the days she spent unconscious and defenseless in a chapel, waiting for Carlos to return with the T-virus antidote. Even now it was difficult for Jill to completely relax whenever she visited a major city; the zombies that filled the streets of Raccoon still haunted her nightmares.
A soft tap of claws against the floor returned Jill to reality. The Lickers still surrounded her, albeit asleep. The agent dashed her thoughts aside, focusing on the door in front of her. With her determination intact, Jill stepped around the remaining Lickers as quickly as possible, reaching the door in less than a minute. She tried the key and unlocked the door, passing through the portal as quickly as possible and shutting it behind her to secure the Lickers inside.
Jill barely had time to collect herself before the voice of Delfredi intervened.
"Well done Agent Valentine," Delfredi's voice spoke from one of the intercoms, "It seems you were brave enough to walk among my pets after all. Has my 'Playtime' given you any insights so far?"
"Nothing I don't already know," she replied carefully. Humans were willing to blind themselves and others from the truth, she realized, but Jill didn't say it out loud. Telling Delfredi what he wanted to hear would only disadvantage her later.
Delfredi gave a small laugh. "A pity, but this is only the first step to realizing the truth."
Jill's patience reached its limit. "What If I don't want your truth?!" she spat angrily, "I've already faced enough of my memories. What more do you want?"
"You wish to defy me?" Delfredi questioned. "I know you won't give in easily. Finish my 'Playtime', and you shall see your comrades again."
"Good to know," Jill muttered under her breath. Judging from the security camera she had seen earlier, Delfredi was definitely watching her progress, possibly waiting for her to trip up. "So what now?"
Delfredi chuckled. "I have a few more surprises for you yet." A telltale 'click' informed Jill that the door had been unlocked. "I wish you the best of luck."
Jill passed through the door cautiously, considering what she had said to her enemy. Sure, she wished to blind herself from the truth voluntarily, but her past experience reminded her not to ignore Delfredi's words. Even with the advice, facing her own memories was more difficult than Jill ever anticipated. But nevertheless, she continued.
The two cadets continued through the corridors of the facility. They had left the bathroom with little trouble, pausing only to allow Stevie to reactivate everything sans mystery gas and provide them with a lit path further into the facility. Yet within thirty minutes of leaving the bathroom, the hall became darker as the two cadets moved into another part of the building; apparently the power lines connected to the fuse box didn't extend here. There were some lights activated, but were placed farther apart from each other, leaving shadows behind and in front of them.
Stevie took point, straining her ears for another possible attack as she stared ahead, handgun at the ready. Kate covered her friend's back, watching for anything that would try to sneak up on them, all while keeping a tab on her personal health. Nothing had physically changed since she was caught in the mystery gas, but she could swear something was watching them. It wasn't the shadowy person from earlier, the older cadet reckoned, because whatever it was made her spine run cold. Nevertheless, she told herself it was just nerves. Then the voices started talking.
At first they were soft whispers, easily mistaken for gusts of wind. Then they began growing louder, muttering nonsensical words. Kate swallowed her fear and checked behind her, searching the darkness with her flashlight; nobody was following them. "Stevie, do you hear what I'm hearing?" she asked her partner nervously.
The dark-haired cadet paused. "No," she said in a caution-laced voice, "Should I?"
Kate placed one hand over her handgun in an attempt to ease her nerves. "I think someone's close. I heard voices," she replied.
"Is it anyone we're looking for?" Stevie questioned. Kate shook her head. "…I don't hear anything. It's been utterly silent since we came down here."
"Are you certain?" The swift question caught Stevie off guard, as did the anxiety in the older cadet's voice. Something was wrong.
"Kate, are you okay?" Stevie asked, holding her gun ready in case of the worst, "You're kinda freaking me out here. What's going on?"
The older agent's eyes darted about fearfully, searching for the source of her terror. "I hear voices," she said, "Someone's here."
Stevie quickly checked the immediate area with her eyes. "I told you: I don't hear anyone. It's all you," she spoke, and then the dark-haired cadet hit realization. "Oh god, you're hallucinating." Stevie holstered her gun and grabbed her partner by the shoulders. "Look at me. I'm right here, buddy. Who is it? What do you hear?"
Kate strained her ears, focusing on the whispers. One by one, the voices disappeared, leaving one clearer than the rest. It was a voice the older cadet knew very well, even after many years. The memories rushed back to her, and she was once again the timid girl back in the hotel, hiding under a table to avoid being caught. But there was nowhere to hide now.
"Thought you were rid of me, were you?" the single voice spoke in a lazy French accent, as clearly as if its holder was right next to Kate's ear. "Too bad you cannot escape as easily this time."
The older cadet froze, wide-eyed in terror. "Oh god . . ." she whimpered before staring back at her partner's eyes. "It's her. It's Excella."