If I Lose Myself (Resident Evil 4)

Free Again

I paced around the room, occasionally pulling on the iron door. It did not move at all. Ashley had not moved from her spot on the floor. In one way, she was lucky. She still had shoes.

"We need to get out of here Ashley. I do not think Leon is coming anytime soon," I said to her.

"Yes he will," the blonde stubbornly persisted.

"Then until he does arrive, we must attempt to get ourselves out of this room. We cannot be damsels. Not anymore. Now get up and help me!" I demanded. Although reluctant, she got to her feet.

"So what do we do?" she asked.

"Try to find a weak point, I suppose. Something in the walls or..." I paused as I looked up. "Or the ceiling." A vent was above our heads.

"How do we get up there?" Ashley asked.

"I-um-that," I pointed to a small table sitting in the corner of the room. It looked like it would only hold one of us. Together, we moved the table so it sat directly beneath the vent.

"I guess I will go first," I said while getting on top of the table. It was more difficult removing screws from the grate then I realized. One of my nails tore off completely.  Eventually, though, it came off.

I pulled myself up into the vent, coughing as dust flew into my face.

"Do you want me to pull you up?" I asked Ashley, who was yet on the ground.

"You go ahead! I'll stay here in case Leon comes. You see if you can find a way to unlock this door," Ashley insisted.

"Alright. See you on the other side," I muttered the last part.

I crawled through the ventilation system slowly. Every time I moved, it was obnoxiously loud. I moved even slower over the grates to make sure I would not fall through. Once, I paused over a grate, after feeling incredibly cold. Almost on instinct, my head turned downward to look into the room I was above. Ice covered the walls. Grey creatures stood motionless inside glass tanks. My nose wrinkled at the smell coming from the room.

"Repugnante," I mumbled before continuing on. Minutes later I came upon a grate that appeared to drop down into a hallway.

"Now how...?" I trailed off before finishing my spoken thought.  It seemed loose. After putting enough pressure on one side, it swung open and I lowered myself out of the vents before dropping to the ground.

"Now where am I?" I asked myself, looking down corridors going in opposite directions. I followed the left side.

I wandered aimlessly down the hall, nothing seeming familiar. Until I came across a large set of double doors. Glancing inside, I saw the same strange, ice filled room that had felt cold as I sat above it.

"Damn my curiosity," I whispered as I pushed the doors open.

Cold instantly flooded my body. But I ignored it as I stared up in disgust at the grey creature. Its skin appeared rough. Had this monster been a person at one time too? Looking at how inhuman it seemed, it was hard to believe. For a small moment, I felt pity toward the monster. Most likely, it did not even have a choice in its fate. And then the moment ended. Now, it was a mindless, senseless monster with no morals or rationality.

I shook my head, taking myself out of the trance I had been in. My usually tanned skin looked lighter. My fingers hurt to move and my feet were numb, and probably burned from the cold.

I backed out of the room, my eyes on the monster. I was reluctant to turn my back to it, in fear it would break free and have a higher chance of catching me off guard. I only blinked when I was out of the room. 

As I thought, my bare feet burned. It was difficult to actually see them as feet, with all the dirt and cuts and dried blood. When I moved to walk down the next hallway, my feet burned and ached.

I had no idea how long I had been walking. I was, without a doubt, lost. Nothing at all struck me as familiar.

I quickly turned a corner and immediately hit something solid. I raised my hands, ready to fight or to block.

"Woah there Princess!" 

I glanced up.

"Leon! Gracias a Dios!" I exclaimed. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around Leon's midsection.

"I am so glad you are alright!" I said to him. "I was worried..." I pulled away from him.

"You don't gotta worry bout me. Come on, we have to get Ashley," Leon said. He started off in a brisk walking pace.

"Do you know where we are going?" I asked, jogging to keep up with his long strides. He nodded, and I noticed his veins were darker than when we had first met. This was a sign the Plagas was growing stronger, that soon it would overtake his senses. 

I did not tell him this.

Soon after I had noticed Leon's veins, we returned to my former cell. Leon opened the door and motioned for me to go in first. Ashley was crouched up against a wall again. When she saw me she got to her feet.

"Amor! You made it!" she said, sounding more than relieved. Then she saw Leon behind me and became even more elated.

"Leon!" she cried before rushing to him and embracing him as I had done. Something stirred in the pit of my stomach. I did not know what it was.

*Leon POV*

Ashley hugged me. For some reason, I didn't like it, but I couldn't push her away. But when Amor held me I...enjoyed it?

When Ashley saw me, she all but pushed Amor out of the way. Amor's risked everything to help her, maybe even more than I'd risked. Not only had Amor risked her life, but her home and love as well. And Ashley didn't seem to realize it.

"We should keep going," I said, gently pushing Ashley away. I nodded to Amor who looked, sad.

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A/N: And I'm back! Hopefully this chapter was up to par. This story is coming close to its end. I'm not sure how many more chapters, but we're getting to the end. Thanks to anyone who's stuck around this long.

Repugnante-Disgusting

Gracias a Dios-Thank God