Together: A Dark Romance Duet || Leon Kennedy x Female Reader

Chapter 27: FMC

Leon's voice stays in my mind well after we've left the chantry.

My name, ripped from his throat like a cry of pain. Don't do this. Those words haunt me as Krauser leads me down stone steps slick with sea spray, worn and battered by the manic weather. The torches lighting our path do little against the dark.

"Don't look so gray, princess. You did what you could to save him." Krauser's hand tightens on my arm. He walks uncomfortably close, but his voice sounds miles away as I gaze at the choppy waves. "Too bad it will never be enough."

His words pierce through my bubble of disassociation, and reality nearly drowns me. It's not true. Leon's alive—I know he is, though I wish I could've stayed to ensure we both made it out. I have no doubt he fought ruthlessly to the end of Ramón's life, easily slaying him with the advantage of my bizarre abilities. But that small sliver of fear distrusts my confidence in his victory. Ramón turned into something I never thought possible, a horror I hope never to witness again—though I know it is likely just the beginning of what's to come.

You're not gone, Leon.

But panic weighs down on my chest, a veil of melancholy shrouding me in darkness once again. I thought my hope was restored, thought everything would get better once I learned to trust Leon, once he showed me he could be trusted. He's my safety net in all of this, and I'd begun to be the same for him. Now, I'm convinced he's sick of watching me walk away from him, tired of a worthless fight.

Please don't be gone.

Where the hell do I go from here? All of this, everything—it's all my fault. I want to disappear and give myself up to this evil to make things easier—if only it didn't mean Leon would fail his mission. He's truly the only thing keeping me fighting. After all, what do I have to return home to? A father that's too busy for me in the States? Strangers I call my friends in a glamorously lonely city I try to call home? A life I've built up on the grave of my past? Once, I thought it was a dream to be young and independent, going to an expensive school in a beautiful city, living off my father's dime, far away from a terrible memory I pretend can no longer hurt me, overindulging on the weekends, losing myself in the drinks and the strangers, leaving pieces of my past self behind in each of their bodies.

Pathetic. Because now that it's all stripped away, I realize none of it worked—none of it made me forget. I still remember every last detail of Raccoon City like it's burned onto my skin. It's happening again in a sick, full-circle moment, one that might kill me this time. The realization knots at the back of my throat, and I fail to repress the hot tears blurring my vision.

All I can do now is try, but even that seems like too much.

Krauser keeps silent, though his grip on my arm never weakens. I barely feel the force of his fingers. My body moves, but I don't know how—I'm not in control, not really. Because if I were, my legs would be running, carrying me back to Leon in an attempt for us both to escape.

Krauser and I reach a boathouse, and soon, I'm thrown into the passenger seat of a boat while Krauser takes the wheel. We're flying through the waves of a dark, bottomless ocean in the dead of night. Frigid ocean water kisses my face, and I close my eyes at the feeling before I go numb. The darkness behind my eyelids reminds me how lonely life can be when you're hanging on by a thread, and no one's around to catch you.

But I have a choice. I always do in any situation. And out of nowhere, the decision recklessly pops into my mind: wherever Krauser's taking me, I'm not going. I won't allow myself to be chained up and pushed around any longer.

I can stop this—I can go back. I'll leave—I'll—I'll jump. I'll swim. Anything. Anything to go back. I'm not the best swimmer, but we're not far from land; I can swim back to shore and to Leon. There's nothing else I can do but go back. I know he'll never give up on me if he's alive. He'll be on our path already, and I can meet him halfway.