๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐- ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ท ๐ฏ๐ฏ
๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐: ๐ป๐๐๐- ๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข
๐ต๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข: ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ข. ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?
๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐; ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: 2.5๐
๐พ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ! ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
I stare blankly at my hands as they grip the sink, praying that she canโt hear over the water running to cover my labored breathing. The veins on my forearm have only gotten darker, and the color, all black and grey and unnatural, has crept down my skin to lace around my fingers in a sickening display of what I can only imagine to be a death sentence. I take a short swig from an open silver flask tucked behind a bottle of pain killers in the medicine cabinet, and grit my teeth against the burn.ย
โWell,โ I scoff, flexing my hand open and closed in the mirror. โThatโs attractive.โย
I tilt my jaw up and to the side, examining the blackened web peaking out just above my collarbone. It didnโt look like anything other than a bruise a few days before, but now itโs crawled up my chest in a dark, spiraling mess of God knows what.ย
I push myself from the sink, closing the cabinet and blinking my full reflection shift into focus. The mirror always startles me a bit, and it takes a second for my vision to focus in on the streaks of grey at my temples, the hollow pits I play off as eyes. Looks like I escaped the smile lines, though.ย
A buzz pulls me out of my trance, phone rattling on the vanity counter so violently it moves itself off the surface. My hand shoots out and catches it before it touches the ground. I flip it over to see Sherryโs contact photo come up. A picture of her from when she was sixteen. Claire and I had pieced together some money to buy her a brand new car. Purple. Well, she always insisted it was lavender.
โHey, Sherry berry,โ I say, and a warmth floods over my whole being, making me forget about my hand, about it all.ย
โYou know I hate that,โ She sing-songs on the other end, and I smile, slipping on a black t-shirt and opening up the bathroom door, crossing over to the other side of the bedroom.
โMust have forgot,โ I say. โProbably all the brain damage.โ
โYou? Brain damage? Never.โย
โYeah, yeah. What do you have for me?โย ย
I switch to holding the phone up to my ear with my shoulder as I open up the door to the walk in closet, dressers, mirrors, and hanging racks lining the walls.
โSherry?โ I say after she goes silent for a few seconds save for the rattling of pills on the other end. โYou there?โ
โWhat? Yeah,โ she stutters, and I quirk my head to the side. โWhat are you up to? Sounds like youโre busy.โ
โOh, nothing,โ I strain, accidentally knocking over a coat rack with a very expensive mink fur Ada was given from a prince of a small country a few years back. Though she never wears it, Iโm sure Iโd be handcuffed and tortured if I let anything happen to it. I consider for a moment, and then come back to my senses and move on. โJust looking around the walk-in closet. Place is like a maze.โ
โYou mean Adaโs walk-in closet that she graciously allows you to use,โ Sherry says, and I can hear the laughter in her voice.
โFunny,โ I mumble. โIf I were Ada, where would I put glovesโฆโ
The line goes cold on Sherryโs end, and I donโt even hear her breathing.
โYou there?โ I ask, checking to see if sheโs still on. I turn up the volume.ย
โWhy do you need gloves?โ She asks, and itโs barely above a whisper.
I stop, my hand, blackened and weak, hovers above a drawer. Thereโs no way sheโฆ no. Not possible.ย
โItโs October, Sher.โ I try to keep my voice light as I continue rummaging around, but she knows my tension better than most.ย
โItโs also 74 degrees out,โ she almost snaps.ย
โAnd that was the weather with Sherry Birkin. More at 11.โย
โLeon,โ she says, and itโs rare that I ever hear that tone. I stop and rest my forehead against a dresser.ย
โWhyโd you call, Sher?โย
โSomeone needs to check up on you,โ She says. โMake sure youโre not in a coma somewhere.โ
โDonโt you worry about that,โ I say. โIf by some chance fate allows me to rest, you know who did it.โ I steal a glance through the doorway at Adaโs sleeping form, and keep a smile thatโs just for myself. โBut, come on. Cough it up.โ
Sherry lets out a heavy sigh on the other end of the line and I can hear her fingernails drumming on her desk. She must be at work.ย
โYou need to come in,โ she says. โYour presence has been formally requested at your earliest inconvenience.โย
โHow lovely,โ I roll my eyes and open up the last drawer I can think of, and end up finding rows of perfectly laid out gloves. Hers and mine. โJackpot. By who?
โYours truly. But, Iโฆ donโt think Iโm at liberty to discuss it over the phone,โ She drifts off. โJust get here as soon as you can.โย
I stop myself and look back at Adaโs sleeping form. If I have to leave herโฆ I donโt know if she would forgive me, leaving her here all by herself. The Organization hasnโt exactly been fond of Ada in the last few years, not after catching wind that sheโs married to the enemy.ย
โOh, and have Ada make me one of her fancy lattes,โ Sherry says, and I can hear her chair spinning, her heels clicking the ground as she pushes it. She only does that when sheโs bored. Or worse: anxious. โWith the espresso she got from Indonesia."ย
โYeahโฆโ I say, but my voice isnโt in it. โBe right there.โย
I click off the call and shove my phone in my black jeans, striding over to the sliding closet doors on the side of the room and pulling them open. Right on the side, still in its protective plastic, is Adaโs anniversary present from last month. A black leather jacket, fur lined hood, eight thousand dollars. I put the gloves in one of the pockets and slide it off the hanger, tucking it underneath my arm and slipping into the kitchen.ย
After I watch a video on how to make an oat milk latte and manage to not entirely ruin the finished product, I hide the remnants of my usage of Adaโs coffee, set the alarm system, and watch as the elevator doors close on my apartment number, on my carefully constructed reality. On everything weโve built.ย
The DSOโs offices are located in a fancy little number in the city, fronting as an insurance company. After another, more dread-inducing elevator ride down about fifteen stories, I reach communications and see Sherryโs desk down a short flight of glass stairs.ย
โYour LeonDash order has arrived,โ I say as I head down to the computer room. Sherryโs the only one in, which sets my nerves on edge just a bit.ย
โLeonDash?โ Sherry swivels around and gives me a grin. โI hope I didnโt have to pay a delivery fee.โย
I shrug. โAny fees can be made out to โtelling me what the fuck Iโm doing here.โโย
โClassy,โ Sherry deadpans, taking the latte from my hands and setting it on a โcome visit Raccoon City!โ coaster. Ironic. She doesnโt miss the gloves covering my skin.
I swallow and look at the floor.ย
โLooks like you might need this more than me,โ she says.
No. I need something stronger, and I need it to taste like shit, but I canโt tell her that. Sheโs one of the only few people who sees me the way I want them to.ย
Sherry takes a long sip, her head falling into one palm as her arm rests on her desk. One arm still rests on her lap, completely underneath her desk, and I give it a pointed, confused look. After a deep sigh, she relents.ย
โTheyโre sending you somewhere,โ She says, and the floor almost falls out from under me. Dizzy, I take a seat on one of the desks behind me. โTo a place called Wrenwood, and, more specifically, a hotel there.โ She turns back to her monitors and pulls up a screen flooded with pictures, maps, and diagrams of the place.ย
โLooks abandoned,โ I say.ย
โYeah, but bodies keep popping up for some reason. Obviously. As of yesterday, itโs six.โ She clicks on a few more tabs and a security camera picture of a manโs face fills the screen. Heโs older, grey skinned, and absolutely ginormous in comparison to the nurse heโs standing next to. But, as I push myself off the desk and lean closer into the monitor, I see a hood covering half of his head, and a tiny red and white pin on his lapel.ย
โFuck,โ I breathe, and Sherry nods beside me.ย
โMy thoughts exactly. The manโs name is suspected to be Victor Gideon.โ Up comes a wide range of photos of a normal looking man, a man in a lab coat with shoulder length hair. The Umbrella logo is scattered everywhere and Iโm starting to piece together what this is. โHe used to be an Umbrella scientist before they went bankrupt. Afterwards, he moved onto other moreโฆ how do I put thisโฆ off the record forms of experimentation.โย
โSo heโs the one behind the bodies?โย
โWord on the street, at least.โย
I swear under my breath and wipe the hair out of my eyes. A disgraced Umbrella scientist murdering people for his inhumane experiments? Yeah, I've heard that one before.ย
โSo, what?โ I say. โThey want me to take him out, is that it?โ
โEssentially,โ Sherry says, but she cuts herself off, and thereโs a tension in her shoulders that doesnโt quite make sense. Not for her.ย
โWhat?โ I ask, tilting my head.ย
She shakes her head, but thereโs tears forming in her eyes all of a sudden, and now Iโm panicking, and the room is going to start closing in before I can even think to breathe.
โNothing, Iโโ
โTell me. Now,โ I say, and Iโm not kind about it.ย
Sherry freezes and stares at me for a moment. I donโt think Iโve ever taken that tone with her. I cock an eyebrow, and Iโm almost ready to leave entirely when out of nowhere, she stands up, the force of it stumbling me backward, and she rips off the one glove covering the hand that was hiding under her desk. My eyes flick down to the arm she now holds out, and the floor nearly falls from beneath me.ย
โIs this what you wanted?โ she says. In her voice is that scared, shaking little girl from Raccoon City, alone and full of questions.ย
Iโm stuttering and trying to come up with an answer, a solution, but part of me is worried that one isnโt possible. But, before I can come up with something, her gaze lands on my own gloved hands, and I snap my gaze up to meet hers. I peel the glove off, revealing a matching black virus, spreading through both of our veins.ย
Sherryโs chest falls, and she stumbles back into her chair, her knees giving out and forcing her to collapse into it. She lets out a shaking breath, covering her mouth.ย
โJust what I was afraid of,โ Sherry whispers, and I swallow thickly, too much emotion building there.ย
โWhat?โ I say, breaking myself out of my stupor. โYou know what this is?โย
โIโฆโ She struggles for words as she stares up at the low fluorescent lights above us. โI might have an idea. I justโฆ I donโt want to be right about it.โ
โTell me,โ I say, and I pull up a chair next to her desk.ย
Sherry and I pour over her computer for the next few hours, stopping only so I can run to my car and down four shots of cheap vodka, telling her I was getting a call from Ada. I donโt think about the fact that I canโt remember the last time she called to check up on me while I was at work, and down another shot. I carefully walk back into the computer room and swivel back to her desk.ย
I flip through the folder she compiled for me while I was gone, and glance over the autopsy photos of the six victims so far. All Raccoon City survivors, all with a darkness on their hand that looks a bit too familiar. I slam the folder closed.
โAnd we think Gideon has something to do with this?โ I say, standing up. I almost fall right back down, and Sherry leaps to help me.ย
โIโm fine, Iโm fine,โ I force out a strangled laugh as she grips my arm, tighter than I think anyone has before. โSeriously.โ
โNo, no, itโs already progressing too fast,โ she says, ripping herself away and going right back to her keyboard.ย
I open my mouth to tell her itโs not what she thinks, but no. I canโt do that.ย
โSherry, I-โ
โWe need to move fast,โ she says, pulling up a file on her desktop of experiments Victor worked on while he was employed by Umbrella. The Tyrant Project. T-Virus experiments. Any words I have die on my tongue.ย
โIf this is what we think it isโฆโ she shudders. โIf weโre infected with the T-Virus, if all of the bodies wereโฆ you need to get out there now.โย
I nod, not exactly in my body, but instead watching from the corner.ย
โRight, okay. Iโll leave in the morning.โ
โIt takes eight hours to drive to Wrenwood from here, so leave as early as you can.โ
โRight,โ I suck in a breath. โI just need toโฆโ I trail off, not quite knowing how to put it.ย
โI know. Do what you need to do and then get out of here. I trust you.โ
I wish she didnโt say that. Nothing good ever comes from those words. Not where Iโm involved. I think of Luis. I think of Adaโs scars. I clench my fists and shove them back into my gloves.ย
โIโll call when Iโm on the road. Send me the coords, okay?โ
โAlready on it,โ she says. โAnd, Leon?โ
I turn back around, stopping in my tracks as Iโm already heading up the stairs to the elevator.ย
โWe can stop this, right?โ she gazes up at me with those big eyes, and itโs just like sheโs twelve again. Those eyes havenโt aged a day.ย
I donโt know, Sherry. Thatโs what I wish I could say. I wish I could let someone else do this, let someone else make all the decisions and execute all the pain for once. I hope not, Sherry. Thatโs what almost comes off my tongue. Maybe a painful death would suit me better than pretending like Iโm a savior. But, if thereโs one thing Sherry Birkin deserves, itโs at least a chance at another fifty years.ย
โHave you ever known me to give up?โ I say, and throw a wink her way, turning my back before I can see her expression, and before she can see mine.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐! ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ธ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข ๐ฐ๐พ3! ๐ธ'๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ 3 ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โโงยฐ๐ฒึผ๐ข
๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข ๐ ๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!! ๐ท๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ <3
