SAVEGUARD ⟼ leon s. kennedy

xliii. broken memories

ｃｌｅｍｅｎｔｉｎｅ 

I'm in Leon's penthouse, but it's dark.

Eerily quiet.

It's the middle of the night, but there are shadows; unnatural shadows, too long and too angular.

Something's not right.

"Leon?" I call out.

I get no reply.

When I turn the corner from his kitchen into his open-space living room, I see the back of someone's head, on the couch. Short cropped brown hair, too dark to be Leon's.

"Who's that?" I ask.

I don't get a reply, so I slowly walk up to the stranger. I reach for my gun just in case, but then I realise there is no gun. My holster is empty.

My stomach is in knots as I close in on the stranger. "Hello?"

As I approach him, I realise I recognise him. A face I once thought I loved. 

It's Arthur.

 He's just sitting there, staring into space. I jolt and freeze on the spot, my heart pounding so intensely I feel it in the bones of my skull.

"What the—"

As soon as I speak, his neck snaps at a disjointed horrible angle, a teeth-grinding snapping sound echoes across the entire penthouse, louder than it should be.

I scream because I'm terrified, and as I do, the lights go out, casting me and this nightmare in front of me into total darkness.

After a while, two red eyes look at me, again bent at an angle.

"You really had to let him kill me," the voice says, and it sounds just like Arthur, except it isn't.

I open my mouth but my tongue is held in place by whatever it is that's playing with my sanity like this.

The voice sounds closer, like he's right behind me, but the piercing red eyes are stuck in place, in front of me. "Aren't you supposed to be a cop, Clementine? Aren't you supposed to prevent deaths? Surely you're not meant to cause them?"

The eyes blink, and then the voice continues. "Is this who you've fallen for? A mass murderer who disguises his actions under the guise of being one of the good guys?"

I try to step back, but as soon as I do, the lights come back on. Arthur's body has vanished. I fall to my knees and start hyperventilating, my eyes pressed tight, refusing to look, to see.

What the actual hell is happening?

When I open my eyes again, I see Parker. His body is covered in burns, his knee twisted at an unnatural angle. He smiles that little lopsided smile of his.

"Clementina," he smiles sadly. "Maybe if you hadn't been such a distraction to Leon, maybe, just maybe, we could have figured out Jessica's actions. Maybe he would not have had to leave a partner behind, just so he can save you."

I can't speak or walk or move. All I can do is stare in horror as his words settle into each corridor of my brain, making more sense the longer I stare at his burnt face. Bucketloads of tears stream down my face, but I'm not moving.

I'm just disintegrating, one tear drop at a time.

"Clementine?"

The entire penthouse shakes and tumbles. I stay glued to the spot, like I've grown roots.