A Beautiful Nightmare (Leon Kennedy x OC) [BOOK 1]

Chapter 7: Two freaks too many

My eyes were immediately on Marvin as we rounded the staircase, taking each step two at a time. He was laying across the cot in front of the computer, unmoving.

"Marvin?" I slowed as I exited the stairs, and my fingers began trembling as no response came.

I inched forward, stranding my shaking hand as I stopped next to the cot and pressed a hand to his thigh, "Marvin."

"Go," he rasped, his response clipped, "Leave."

I bit my lip, resisting the urge to snap at him as he finally threw a glance over his shoulder. Dark smudges were ringing his eyes, and the sallow look to his skin had breath catching in my throat. He didn't have much longer, we needed to get him medical attention like now.

I pulled my hand away and reached for the medallion in my pocket before turning and moving toward the statue. I deposited the small bits of metal into the small indentation in the stage, and the stone rattled to life in response.

We all watched as the statue opened up to reveal more of the hallway and office beyond it. I stared into the opening, at the dimly lit office at the back. Why was there an office hidden behind a statue, and what was within that was worth hiding? Someone has to have known about this.

"Let's go check Elliot-" Leon said, turning toward the East side again. I caught the stagger in his step from my peripheral vision as he turned but quickly drew his weapon. I whirled around and did the same, expecting to find some grotesque corpse lurching toward us.

A young woman stared back at me, her skin very much flushed and her wide eyes a deep shade of blue as she threw her hands in the air.

"Don't shoot," she called out, her brown ponytail spilling down her shoulder as she stiffened and took in the weapons trained on her.

I lowered my pistol, lightning skittering through my heart. "Claire?"

Her expression morphed from fear and worry to confusion as her eyes darted to me.

"Claire Redfield," I said as Leon lowered his weapon, "You're Chris' sister." I said, like it may have been some kind of explanation. When her face stayed frozen, I went on "I'm Mykie."

Her brows shot up, and something like recognition flashed across her eyes as she slowly lowered her hands. "Do you know where he is? I came here looking for him." Her voice was rushed, and dripping in worry.

"He's not here, he left for Europe a couple weeks ago. He said he had something important to take care of." I watched her face drop into something like disappointment or relief, gauging whether she could see through the lie he'd told.

Claire's shoulders dropped, her hand scrubbing along her face and rubbing away a stripe of dirt across her nose. Based on the tear in her vest and the scrapes covering her knees, she'd been through hell this evening and certainly hadn't been extended any type of warm welcome. At least now she'll be offered a quick exit.

"Do you want to come with us? We're getting the hell out of here. There's supposed to be some kind of escape route under the station?" I said, throwing a hand back toward the statue looming behind us, "We just need to find a final medallion to make it all work."

Her brows shot up as her hand curled around to her back pocket. Leon stiffened at my side, but quickly loosed a sigh of relief as she presented the metallic medallion we'd been searching for.

"You mean this?"

I took in the molded unicorn adorning the metal like it was a winning lottery ticket, noting the splatters of blood settled into the deeper grooves. "Yes, exactly that," I answered.