It's Always You

Chapter 25: Aftermath

Alexis awoke on a rough surface, tree roots and rock jabbing into her back as she slowly sat up. She held her head in her hands, trying to sooth the dull throb inside her skull before looking around. A thick fog obscured most of her vision but she could faintly see the outline of trees and a path in front of her. She looked down at her torso, there were no bullet wounds. She rotated her right wrist, no pain. Carefully, she pushed herself unto her feet and scanned her body from any injuries. She pressed her fingers to her neck, trying to feel for any bruises but there were none. 

It was strange. The last few things she remembered was her wrist being broken by Karl before being strangled by him. She remembered her knife tearing through muscle, skin and his jugular. Then, there was the viciousness of her attack on Ethan Winters. She could still feel the knife tearing through his chest and chipping his ribs before he used a green bottle with a first aid symbol on it before his wounds mended. Then, there was Chris Redfield. She didn't remember much of him except seeing him crawling away to escape.

Pushing herself onto her feet, she looked around a bit more, seeing a few small structures in the distance. Without much else to do, she wandered into the fog. As she shuffled along the barely visible path, she couldn't help but wonder if this was a dream or reality.

Did I... die? She thought suddenly, coming to a stop just before one of the house. Her racing heart started to become steady and her anxiety dwindled away. She felt strangely at peace with the thought. 

Is this what Lex felt before she- her next thought was cut short when she slowly began to recognized one of the rundown homes on the side of the road. It was the one nearly Donna's estate!

Without much thought, she took-off down the pathway. She passed by another small structure near a garden that was well managed, which was odd since Donna garden this far out wasn't usually taken care of. But that didn't matter at the moment. If Donna was here, maybe she could explain what was going on. 

The closer she got to the estate, the more the fog seemed to thin out until she reached the grave of Claudia Beneviento. The fog was gone and she could finally see her surroundings. The leave on the trees were yellow, orange and red before falling to the ground in piles. It was fall but it shouldn't have been. It was still winter that time she checked. There was something about this place that was just... wrong.

She continued to follow the path, ignoring the feeling and pushing it down until it was a simple afterthought. Her mind began to drift back to Miranda. If Alexis was truly dead, would she mourn her despite her harsh words? What about Cassandra, Daniela, Rue, hell; even Alcina? Would they also mourn her death?

Little by little, Donna's estate came more and more into view. She even saw someone working in the front garden but she wasn't able to get a good look. Carefully, she passed by the gate, trying not to get grabbed by any rusted bits of metal that seemed to reach out and try to grab her.

Seemingly sense that they were alone anymore, the figure stood up and turned to face her, stopping Alexis dead in her tracks. Her eyes went wide with disbelief as the familiar face scrunched with confusion.

Her messy white hair was tied in a low ponytail. Her left eye was covered by an eyepatch with the design of a black rose with the Beneviento crest decorating the centre. She looked much healthier, with her skin looking a lot less pale that when she use to.

''Um, hello. Are you lost?'' Lex asked, sounding concerned.

''Lex... I-It's me, Alexis!'' she shouted happily, tears threatening to roll down her cheeks.

However, Lex just looked at her, her nose scrunched up in confusion. It was almost like she had never heard that name before. ''I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone named Alexis. I think you have the wrong per-'' she stopped, looking at the blue flannel Alexis was wearing. Suddenly, a look of suspicion and worry clouded her face. ''Where did you get that shirt?''