A Sickly Sweet Reverie (Leon Kennedy X OC) [BOOK 3]

Chapter 15: Crazy for you

"Jesus Christ," I huffed out, watching as freckles of dust and stone weaved their way to the ground. I blinked against the burn attacking my eyes, turning to see that I still held onto Helena. I relinquished my grip around her waist, wrestling an arm out from under her muscled back and facing the ceiling once more. The latticework of wood and stone pathways above me swayed from the destruction.

The platform we faced Deborah on crumbled, giving way due to the massive blow dealt by her appendage. I sat up, hissing as I fought through the reignited pain in my ribs. Luckily it was only a ten foot drop from the platform to the wooden walkway we landed on.

"Leon," I grunted out, blinking past the silver lining my vision.

"Here," He called, his voice rough and distant. I wiped my eyes and followed the sound of his voice. He was on the opposite side of the room, separated by a twenty foot gap. A bridge once hung over the cavernous gap between our platforms, but all the central planks were snapped and splintered.

"How are we getting across?" I asked,my voice hoarse as I kept the pressure on my ribs and stood up. He climbed to his feet, inspecting the space between us as another figure rose up behind him. Ada stretched an arm over her head as she scanned the space, her eyes settling on me as Leon spoke again.

"Just head to the bottom, we'll meet you down there."

We. Bleh.

I turned away, tearing my gaze away from Ada to take in the wooden walkways behind me. The ramp wrapped around the edge of the tunnel, running in opposition to the one Leon and Ada were now jogging down. Helena rose to her feet, her eyes scanned the tunnel and paths around us with worry stamped on her face. Deborah was nowhere to be seen, meaning she's either hiding or was crushed beneath the rocks somewhere below. I hope for our sake it's the latter.

"Thank you...," Helena choked out, looking at me as we began walkin the wooden paths.

"No problem." There were a few beats of silence between us before she spoke again.

"Maybe you shouldn't have bothered...I caused all this. I'm to blame." Tears lined the edges of her gaze and I could hear the self hate lacing every word.

"Evil people will do evil shit no matter what. You didn't make this virus, right?" I asked, my question making her blink.

"No, I didn't. I swear I just...," She trailed off, not finishing whatever she was about to reveal.

"I can't help you unless I know what's happening."

She hesitated, searching the ground in front of her before taking a deep breath, "They took her, said if I didn't cooperate and aid in their plans they'd make sure she met a painful death. I didn't know what to do, so I panicked and agreed."

"Who's they?" I pressed.

"I can't tell you. If I talk, you or Leon will be next on his list. With my record of misconduct, it will be easy for anyone to accept that I did this," She said, shaking her head.

"You didn't do this Helena, and you shouldn't take the fall for the people that did."

"It doesn't matter. I was the one who made the hole in the president's security...all that just for them to kill her anyway...," There was silence for a few long minutes as we walked.

"I can't say I would have done any different," I said. Helena's gaze shot to mine, confusion painted on her face before I went on. "You were protecting someone you love. If I was in that situation, I don't think I could have just let them die while I sat back and did nothing."

"But...I...," She stumbled over her words.

"You aren't to blame. The people that killed your sister are responsible for this." She flinched at my words, like admitting her sister's death was a mountain she was not yet ready to conquer. Silence fell between us as I chewed on my bottom lip and looked out toward the other side of the tunnel.