A Sickly Sweet Reverie (Leon Kennedy X OC) [BOOK 3]

Chapter 13: Lost and found

My knees hit the ground first, and I flung my palms out to stop from slamming face first into the pile of bones at the bottom of the shoot. For a second I was nose to nose with an aged skull, cracks and brown staining devouring the creme grooves. Dust, mildew, and rot all greeted me as I lifted my face away from the skull's hollow sockets.

The metal shoot over my shoulder rumbled as another body raced down, and I rolled aside just in time for Helena to drop into the bundle of bones and dirt.

Helena gagged, pulling back from the pile as fast as she could and scrambling toward the closest dirt wall. Another second passed before Leon dropped into the room, landing in his usual graceful fashion.

Show off.

I slowly rose to my feet, wiping the mud and dust from my palms on my already filthy skirt as I took in the room. We looked to be in some kind of cave or mine shaft. The walls were all compact dirt, with thick wooden support beams pressed in to create the single path that curved out of sight.

"You two see shit like that everyday?" Helena asked, gesturing to the shoot and the unseen creature we left above.

"More or less," I answered, frowning as I tried to wrap my brain around what we had just seen. That creature was still feminine, same as all the other creatures in those pits. With what we saw and the few logs I found, It can't be a coincidence.

"Let's get out of here before it figures out how to get down the shoot," Leon said, striding down the tunnel. The pink flush drained from Helena's face as she glanced back at the shoot before chasing after Leon.

Dirt crunched beneath my feet as we rounded the corner where the path dipped into a small pool of water. The water revealed small bits of algae and plant life just beneath the surface, the shallow depths honest about its contents. Leon took the first step into the water, his boot sending a small ripple spreading deeper into the path.

"Did you find anything below?" I asked, getting even with him as the cold water swallowed my sneakers.

"Just more of the same. Tons of those tanks spread out in a few directions. The majority of them were full," Leon said, his eyes scanning the tunnel ahead.

"Shit."

"What'd you find?" Leon asked, glancing toward me.

"Looked like whoever was there was leaving in a hurry. Place was doused and set to burn," I reached into my pocket, pulling out my phone and flipping to the photo of the log books. "I did find this. Some kind of log books for their experiments."

Leon steadied the phone, reading the blurry text before I swiped to the next photo. He read through them, silent until he got to the last blurb. His brows lowered when he read about the 13 year old girl.

"Found that symbols stamped into the back of the book too," I said, flipping to that photo as we continued on, "Maybe some kind of organization's logo."

"Well, we know someone didn't take too kindly to our snooping ," Leon said, looking forward again.

Yeah, probably fucking Ada.

I bit my tongue, holding back the accusation as my venomous words from earlier rang in my ears. It was childish to accuse Leon of colluding with Ada because he might be in...interested in her. I have zero proof he's ever seen her outside of those few meetings on missions. And regardless of their involvement, he's a grown man who is free to see whoever he wishes. I have no claim.

No claim. A bolt of lightning struck my heart as the words echoed in my mind, and I tossed out the depressing thought before it did real damage.

"And did you notice all the infected were women? Even that...thing," I said as Leon halted. A half wall obstructed our path, leaving only a few feet at the bottom to crawl through. Leon caught my gaze, his head flicking to the small gap below with a playful smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes, shoving my phone back into my pocket.