project: eden | leon kennedy

▪︎ Chapter 14 ▪︎

Getting back their weapons was a harder task than the pair originally thought.

It took skill and stealth, both things Thea didn't excel that much. But thanks to Leon's quick reflexes and alarmingly good skills, they managed to retrieve the weapons the villagers took from them.

Thea was busy checking if there were any new scratches on her shotgun, not really noticing the cold glare the blond man shot her way. He kept her at arms-length, clearly not trusting her with anything. And now that she had her weapons back, it looked like he was ready to put a bullet in her at any second.

The second they were outside and weren't in immediate danger, Leon turned to face her with his gun pointed straight at her. The young woman stopped in her tracks and looked into the barrel of the gun, a sigh rolling off her lips.

"Are you done?" Thea quirked an eyebrow as she placed a hand on her hip, not really having the energy to deal with his theatrics.

They were supposed to be on the same side. She helped him escape, she created multiple distractions so he could get to the weapons, and she even killed a man who tried to jump him. Yet, he still treated her like a traitor, like someone who crossed him in the past.

"You promised answers," Leon tipped his head slightly to the right, his arm steady as he kept the gun trained on her. The girl gave the weapon a pointed look.

"And can't we talk like normal people? You know, without a gun pointed at my face?"

"I'll think about it."

The brunette rolled her eyes. She had no patience for this. She had no patience for anything these days, to be frank. That's how she lived nowadays: having no patience to deal with things people threw her way and people in general. Maybe it was thanks to the horrid things she had to go through for years, but she generally despised most people.

Here was the one she cared about out of all of them, and he was adamant about killing her. It was the joke of the century.

"Get that thing out of my face, Leon," her voice rang out solid and clear, emerald green eyes flashing with an edge of warning. His hand tightened on the gun. He wasn't budging.

"What are you?" he demanded, eyes narrowed as he glared at her. The urge to rip her hair out was growing with every second as her left eye began to twitch.

"It's fucking me!" Thea threw her hands in the air in despair. "What the fuck you mean 'what am I'?"

Leon's eyes were cold, a chill running through her body as she stared him in the eyes. It felt like staring into the deepest part of the ocean; cold, deep, and dark. The fear of the unknown made her throat close up. She had no idea who this man was anymore.

But his next words caused her heart to stop for a second.

"Dorothea Keller died in Raccoon City."

She was Dorothea Keller, but she sure as hell didn't remember dying. At the name of the city, flashes flew through her mind. Pieces of that night appeared and vanished with a blink, leaving a feeling of dread in their wake. She only got a few things from that night, but even those memories were horrible.

Maybe it wasn't that bad if she didn't remember everything.

But she remembered the pain. The white-hot agony that tore through her body and tore her soul apart. Her face fell and her left hand came to touch her abdomen subconsciously, the motion not slipping by Leon. His eyes softened as his gaze followed her hand, his gun eventually lowering to hang by his side.

With a blink, Thea wiped her face blank and raised her eyes to meet his.

"As you can see, I'm fine," Thea forced a small smile on her lips, trying to keep her emotions at bay. It was a harder task than she originally thought.