project: eden | leon kennedy

▪︎ Chapter 16 ▪︎

Going off by Leon's gear, she needed to find a good knife first. She noticed how he used his combat knife during close combats the most, even turning for its grace when he ran out of bullets. A good, trusty knife managed to save his life multiple times now, so maybe she should have one, too. It couldn't hurt.

Rummaging through the drawers, she only found some cutlery that was nowhere near usable as possible weapons. With the dull knives, she doubted she could even cut a piece of bread, let alone someone's throat.

Through one of the windows, Thea spotted a small wooden shed outside. Maybe there could be something she could use as a weapon.

Going outside felt wrong, though. She didn't like the distance she just made bigger between her and Leon. Call it a gut feeling, but she just sort of knew something was off, she just couldn't pinpoint what. Since she didn't know what it was, Thea pushed the feeling down and ignored it. Everything's fine.

Luckily, someone didn't bother to lock the shed and she could easily swing open the wooden doors. The shy amount of sunlight filtering through the thick grey clouds shone inside the shed, presenting her... nothing.

There was absolutely nothing inside. The whole shed was empty beside a broken broom.

Thea wanted to scream in frustration and pull apart the whole place. How can a shed be so useless? Especially one that belongs to such a nice house, considering the other homes here. It blew her mind. Everything about this fucking place was wrong.

Just as she was ready to lash out at the closest thing in her reach when she heard it.

Gunshots. Coming from inside.

Her heart dropped to her stomach as her head whipped around, eyes scanning the house.

"Leon?" Thea called out, and before she could even think she was already darting towards the back door, running back inside the house.

The first thing she noticed was the main double doors, swung open and moving gently with the current flowing through the house. One of the handles got torn and thrown on the carpet, the metal bent oddly. Thea's pulse quickened and without a question, she darted up the stairs.

Adrenaline and power buzzed through her veins, the familiar warmth spreading through her body as she felt herself get stronger, faster, deadlier. Her legs pushed her faster than normal through the narrow hallway, coming to a halt at the only door opened.

Her long, dark hair flew in her face by the abrupt stop, her hand coming to flick it away in a swift motion. Her emerald green eyes practically glowed as her gaze jumped all over the room, searching for any threat. But she only found the person her heart started beating stronger.

Inside the bedroom, there was Leon, leaning against the bedpost for support. Her eyes found his gun lying on the ground and noted the off-balance painting and broken vase behind him. Judging by the pained grimace on his face, she concluded he got thrown into the wall.

Not to even mention the bullet shells littered on the hard floor and the broken window on the side.

"What the fuck happened?" Thea asked, the usual edge missing from her voice.

"I, uh-" Leon's voice was slightly hoarse, a hand reaching to rub against his neck. The girl pressed her lips together tightly, waiting for his answer. "I don't know. It's hard to explain."

Thea just blinked at him, at a loss for words. She opened her mouth to spit the million questions she had, but eventually closed it without any of it leaving her lips. It became clear that they were not safe anywhere anymore, and she blamed herself partly for it.

Only if she would've stayed inside, maybe she could've helped. She could've killed the bastard that had the balls to come after them and try to kill one of them. But at least maybe she was able to scare them off before harming him further.

"Are you okay?" Thea's voice was softer than ever, the buzz in her veins subduing when their eyes connected.

It was probably the first time Leon had looked at her like was more than a weird stranger to him. It made her some type of way, a way that was unfamiliar territory to her. And Thea despised the unknown, the deepest lying fear of it making her insides churn.

"Yeah," Leon nodded, stumbling towards his gun. With a low grunt, he leaned down to pick it up, a hand pressed against his abdomen. Fury blossomed in her chest at the sight, hating every bit of it. Then, she hated herself even more.

Why did she even care that much?

"You?"

Not trusting her tongue to speak the right things, Thea only nodded as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Sometimes, when she felt sparks of feelings she couldn't explain or pinpoint, it made her head swim. She was so confused by so many things, it caused her a headache most of the time; she didn't need unwanted, weird little feelings on top of it all. Her life was chaotic and weird enough as it was, she didn't want to deal with thoughts and feelings she didn't understand.

"Let's go," Thea nodded towards the stairs, taking the lead this time.

And for the first time, Leon let her have this one.