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

Chapter 25: What a surprise

I finished writing the last chapter! I've just got to get these last few edited and we'll be all done :)
I'm currently revamping the first few chapters so they match the quality of the later half.
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Is he truly dead? Fully and wholeheartedly dead?

My eyes stayed pinned on Birkin's unmoving body, my mind just waiting for him to twitch, for his limbs to tense before his head picked back up, but he didn't. He stayed frozen, the blood and pus beginning to slowly leach away from his body to form an ocean of fluid around him,

"I think I got him," Leon said, the corner of his mouth pulling up in a crooked smile.

I couldn't hold back the bubble of laughter that slipped past my lips, and Leon's own huff of laughter joined mine a second later. I devoured the sound of his laugh, the look of his smile, as adrenaline drained from my body, leaving me practically gasping for breath.

'Ending quarantine' The female voice sang, the last syllable echoing as the red flashing lights finally cut out, returning  the room to it's natural dim state. It suddenly felt so quiet, so joyously quiet...

"The self-destruct sequence," Leon said, my gaze pulling back to his, "we better make our exit." Leon pointed past me, and when I followed his gaze I spotted the small service lift nestled into the far corner.

"We certainly didn't come this far to be blown up," I nodded, moving to the lift.

Our footsteps seemed to echo in the space, the machines not nearly as loud now as they had been under the quarantine. We piled onto the small metal plate, our bodies only a handful of inches apart due to the obvious single rider limit. Leon reached around me and pressed a button on the control panel, prompting the lift into action and beginning our slow ascent to the platform. I let out a deep breath, closing my eyes for a single second, reveling in the sudden lack of alarm bells and monstrous howls.

"Nice shooting," Leon said, causing my eyes to blink open to meet his icy gaze.

"All in the wrists," I joked, stealing a glance to Birkin's still unmoving form before I looked back at him, suddenly aware of just how close we truly were, "And you weren't so bad yourself."

Leon's mouth pulled up at the corner, "Means a lot coming from my superior."

I laughed again, "I'm sure this wasn't how you pictured your first night," I said, voice wavering on the last few words. Yes, because tonight wasn't supposed to go like this. I was supposed to train him, show him the ropes before bowing out to S.T.A.R.S. and now here we are, bruised, battered, and scarred.

"No," Leon admitted, mouth pulling into a frown for just a second as he considered the night, "But I'm happy we found each other regardless."

Yes, because If we hadn't we'd likely both be dead, or mindlessly walking the station as rotting ghouls. I let the thought drop as I drifted dangerously close to thinking of my coworkers, many of them still trapped within the monsters upstairs.

"Hell of a night," I said, picking my gaze up to meet his again. He was so close I could smell the whole night on him as well as the piney smell of his skin. 

He nodded, hand resting on the railing directly next to mine, "Hell of a night," He repeated.

I could feel myself being drawn forward, something in my head slowly pushing me forward. Did he want to kiss me? I sure as hell wanted to kiss him. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks, something he's surely be able to pick up on from this distance. 

The elevator jolted to a stop, snapping me out of whatever desperate trance I'd fallen into and making me look toward the platform. My gaze immediately when to Annette, who was now slouched against the wall, a growing pool of blood surrounding her.