A Star's Descent

Chapter Two: The Encounter

A Star's Descent

By evolution-500

Disclaimer: House of the Dead and Resident Evil are properties belonging to SEGA and Capcom respectively. I do not own any of these characters.

Chapter Two: The Encounter

Rebecca's eyes widened as she gazed upon the man's, or rather boy's, face.

At first, she thought that the stark whiteness of the skin was the result of make-up, but further inspection revealed that train of thought to be false.

The face was strangely lupine, especially with its slightly long, sharp yet straight nose and chiseled features. It was strikingly handsome, if not strangely androgynous, but what made the face lose its attractive qualities, aside from the symmetrical and severe-looking facial scars that adorned it, was the total absence of expression and emotion. Taken together with the dim lighting of the compartment, his features appeared grotesquely reminiscent to waxen death masks that Rebecca had seen on display at Raccoon City's Museum of Natural History.

Tracing her gaze upward, her attention shifted from the flinch-inducing cross-like slit marks to the eyes, struck by their abnormalities. Unusual coloration aside, the irises were what stood out the most to her. Slitted like the facial scars that ran down both sides of his cheeks, Rebecca found herself recalling some of the cats that her mom had worked with at the veterinary clinic.

'Must be contact lenses,' she reasoned nervously to herself.

Bobby Darin's Splish Splash continued to play on a loop, although it was no longer fluid in its presentation. From the sounds made on the speaker, the recorder or CD player onboard sustained damage, though how was anyone's guess. Regardless of the cause, as a result the music ended up intensifying the room's nightmare quality. Parts of the lyrics would often be repeated. The tempo alternated from normal to low pitch. The playful nature of the song and the lyricism of the voice was distorted, transforming it into a sputtering mockery of its original self.

'SPPPPplishing and a SPPPPPplashi - SHIRKK - Splishing and a Spla - SHIRK..SHIING and A SPLA - SHIRK...Moving-SHIRK...moving...moving...' Bobby Darin repeated.

The repetition of the song and the incessant scratching accompanying it was starting to grate on Rebecca's already fragile nerves. Bile slowly started crawl up the back of her throat, though it took considerable effort to swallow and keep the salmon dinner down.

'MOOOVVIIIIING and a GROOOOOVIIIIINNNNGGGUH...'

Slowly, the song became nothing more than a series of grotesque groans, squeaks and cracklings, before finally dissipating into silence. Rebecca released a breath, her knees trembling, swallowing once again in nervousness.

During that extended period of silence, neither figure spoke.

Rebecca felt her heart beat heavily within her chest. He made no movement. He seemed to be studying her, his gaze never faltering from her face, from her eyes in particular. She could almost feel the intensity of his stare. His eyes had not seemed menacing, however. It was a little unsettling. Under normal circumstances, she would have called them kind, gentle even.

His eyes shifted downward.

She frowned. Great, just what she needed, a creepy occultist pervert checking her out.

The girl tried to toughen herself, though her forehead was covered in sweat.

"Eyes up here, creep!" she said in an authoritative voice.