"You know, I found a diary while I was separated from you, some guy named George Trevor wrote in it and it talked about how he was sorry he dragged his family here and got them into some sort of mess. He died down there where I found the diary."
It it wasn't the best conversation starter while you were standing next to Chris in the elevator you were both currently in, but you felt like he had a right to know what you learned. After he finished up with your final wound on your arm and you were done with your heartfelt chatter he gave you any extra ammunition he had then proceeded to lead you towards the elevator. Chris said it wasn't working before when he found it, but now it was for some unknown reason. Maybe it was because of the fuse box you messed around with while you were under ground but you didn't bring that up with him.
"Whoever that man was must've felt really guilty," Chris commented as he watched the floors pass as you continued to travel down with the elevator.
"I was reading the diary I saw a name pop up that I saw before on this family photo when we were at the cabin. The man had a daughter named Lisa and his wife's name must've been Jessica."
Chris immediately raised his hand and snapped his fingers before shoving the same hand into his pocket. He pulled out a hastily folded up paper which look to be some sort of document. "I found this when I was searching around, I think it's best to read it right now while it's safe in here."
You took the document and unfolded it, squinting a little in the minimum light that flickered through the elevator, providing little help to help you read the words:
Attn: Chief of Security
Date: July 22, 1998 2:13
X day is drawing up on us. Execute the following procedures within one week. Prompt actions are demanded.
1. Lure S.T.A.R.S to the estate, And obtain B.O.W's raw combat data against S.T.A.R.S.
2. Collect two embryos of each mutated specimens as samples, excluding the Tyrant. Dispose of the Tyrant.
3. Ensure complete disposal of the Arklay laboratory, Including all personnel and test animals. Disguise their deaths as an accident. When the above procedures are executed. Report to headquarters for further instructions.
If for some reason, You are unable to execute the procedures by the deadline, Report immediately. In case of emergency emergency situations, Report directly to the extension number 5691.
Good luck.
Umbrella Headquarters.
Umbrella Inc.
"This was all a setup?" You looked up at Chris in shock after reading the last words on the paper. " The mission? Coming out here to the mansion? It was all planned ahead?"
Of course, you were just as shocked as Chris expected you to be when he first read the document. He himself was completely at a loss, unsure what to think. To come out here to this mansion in the mountains, all the deaths from the innocent civilians to the innocent children, to his teammates even dying here, all for it to be all planned?
"It makes no sense, I know. But that's what happened, and it was all Umbrella's doing. They called us out here, someone or all of them, they've been turning this place into some sort of testing facility."
"But why??" You couldn't help but asking, but you knew Chris didn't exactly have an answer for it. You crumpled up the document and tossed it to the ground, feeling the elevator finally lower to a stop.
"When we run into Wesker again, we have to tell him." You followed Chris out of the elevator, seeing the man nod in agreement as he continued to lead the way. Umbrella, a simple pharmaceutical company had brought them out to this mansion where many horrid things have been done, like experiments with the undead and strange mutated animals. With the deaths of his teammates and other innocents, what they're slowly uncovering was bigger than he ever believed.
The two of you found yourselves in a small dark hallway leading up towards a well lit library. Chris stopped at the edge of the top balcony, expecting to find stairs to lead to the first floor, but was a little surprised to find a simple metal ladder instead.
"For a mansion, I expected the selection of books to be bigger." You commented as you stared up at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The walls were covered in shelves upon shelves of variously sized books, their etched spines sticking out with many different titles.
"I don't think anyone bothered to use this library," Chris responded as he looked down below, "I can taste the dust in the air. Really unpleasant."
A sudden loud clash of glass interrupted the both of you, sounding like something had broken one of the large paneled windows from the hallway you were just in. Turning the corner was the ever so familiar massive sized Diamond head of the snake, slithering towards the two of you with its tongue flicking rapidly.
"Get down, go!" Chris ushered you fast, but instead of using the ladder to get down, you immediately chose to jump and take the drop down below.
Chris chose the same method, the sounds of his boots loudly clamping down on the black and white checkered floor.
The snake slid down along the side, completely avoiding the ladder to join the both of you on the ground. As soon as the end of its long body touched the ground, the snake opened its mouth wide enough to expose its massive fangs, dripping rivers of bright yellow venom.
"Split up!" Chris demanded as he cocked his shotgun, "Shoot at it from different angles, it'll get it confused!"
"Right!" With your revolver in hand, you sprinted off to the far right while Chris chose the left side, both of you taking turns in distracting the beast for the first few moments. A shot from Chris's shotgun to the back of the snake's head caused a dangerous hiss, while the shots you gave along the jaw of the beast caused its body to thrash.
The snake chose a final direction to take, which was over towards you. Hissing with teeth extended, it thrusted itself towards you with a loud snap, causing you to jump back as quick as you could to avoid the blow.
You fell back with a loud yelp as you stepped back and accidentally stepped on a stray book on the floor, catching you off guard. With your revolver still in hand, you continued to aim and fire to the beast, watching as two bullet holes appeared on the snake's upper mouth as it bared its fangs again. A mixture of blood and venom began dripping down its fangs and staining the ground, but the snake still hissed dangerously, glaring down at you as you crawled back until your back hit a wall of bookshelves.
Chris was fast to come to your aid, the snake's head fattening up and rising in a way that only meant it was coming down to snap at you again.
He pulled his large combat knife out as he stopped in front of you, and with a quick flick of his wrist he flung the knife towards the snake's head. The snake's body shuddered almost violently as the blade buried itself deep into the snake's eye with a burst of blood, causing it to hiss out an agonizing screech. It thrashed its head back, colliding against a large shelf of books near you causing all of them to topple over and scatter. A couple of books fell and slid over to your arms, but that was the least of your worries.
Finally, the snake's head fell and its body ceased moving, causing a massive wave of relief to wash over the both of you.
You peered your head over from behind Chris to get a better look at the snake, staring straight at the handle of the blade currently embedded deeply into the snake's eye. You were amazed at the sight completely, not expecting Chris to pull off something like that effortlessly and so cleanly before.
When Chris turned around, he couldn't help but smirk a little at the full blown look of shock written all over your face, feeling it slowly fill his chest with a little pride. "You alright?" He held his hand out to you, which you were quick to take as he helped you off the ground.
"Yeah," You responded slowly while still looking at the snake, "I'm guessing all those times you played darts really paid off huh?"
He chuckled a little with a small shrug of his shoulders. "I guess. It's all in the technique, I could teach you-"
"-With darts?" You looked up at him with a small smile. "I'd like that. See how much of a show off you can be."
Chris chuckled some more, making your smile grow a bit. It then occurred to you that he was still holding onto your hand, and for a moment it felt... a little nice. You weren't sure who was the first to let go, but when you looked down to see, Chris looked down to see the same thing. Both of you let go, Chris immediately looking over to the book pile that gathered near you.
"Good thing you didn't get hit with those," He said in an attempt to brush off the lightly awkward situation. At least he didn't find it too awkward, but he didn't know what you thought of it.
"Right?" You immediately nodded and agreed, looking at the books. Among the seemingly bland and boring colors of the hard cover books, a bright blue one caught your eye from underneath a black hard cover the size of a dictionary.
You walked over and picked it up, noticing how familiar it was. In fact, it was the exact same book to the one you found before, in blue and silver writing instead of red and gold.
"Huh," You shook the book a little, hearing the familiar rattle of something inside. "Well what do you know."
"What is it?" Chris peeked over your shoulder to see you open the book, completely surprised to discover a similar looking medal in a bright silver hidden just inside, with a wolf instead of an eagle.
"It's just like the one I found in another book." You took the metal and tossed the book back into the pile, reaching into your pocket to pull out the gold medal, holding it next to its silver companion.
"Where on earth did you find this?" Chris asked as you handed him the medal after he offered his hand out. "In another book next to that diary I told you about. Took your advice and kept it with me, figured we need it for something."
"Damn, good girl." Chris handed you back the medal, "I swear, the puzzles are annoying but they sure as hell are paying off."
"Yeah," You slowly took the medal back, feeling your face flood with a strange amount of warmth. Damn this man. Is this how he talks to all the girls? I swear.
"I also got this back." Chris showed you the red and grey medallion from before.
"Why?"
"I figured we'd need it. You know that gate we found in the main hall? It looks like this is one of the keys we need. We just need to find the other one."
"Great. Let's get going."