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

Chapter 10: Maiden of death

"Assholes," I hissed, turning to face the two men behind me as Leon latched the main door. The blonde man on my left twisted his features into a scowl as the man on the right began to speak. His dark skin was dotted with sweat, his face taut with stress.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I wanted to let you in, it's just...," The way the other man was staring him down told me it likely hadn't been his choice to not open these doors.

The bubble of anger beneath my skin went cold as I heard sniffling from beyond the front entryway. The man was still trying to come up with the words to explain when Leon walked up beside me.

"It's...just forget about it." I said, raising a limp hand toward him. These were civilians, and they're scared. I can't really blame them for not walking the heroic path, especially if there were others hiding out in this church.

The man's shoulders dropped with a hint of relief. He lingered a moment longer before turning and walking into the church proper. The scowling blonde man held my gaze for another second before turning to inspect the new hole in the window.

"Come on," Helena said, moving to follow the man into the church with urgency in her step.

The interior doors opened, and we stepped into the main chamber of the cathedral. The ceiling stretched high, lined with more windows that were much dimmer from the inside. The pews were dotted with survivors, some hunched over sobbing while others stared off into space. A few turned to look at us as we walked along the main aisle, eyeing us with a twinkle of hope that we may be here to rescue them.

"But it, it was–" Helena raked her fingers through her hair as she stared at the front altar. A large carved rock altar was behind the front podium, with what might be some matron saint on top, her arms outstretched and her palms facing the ceiling before her as she looked over the pews. Two small sconces were on either side of the intricate carvings that scaled up the wall to form arches and small designs behind the altar.

"What's wrong?" I asked, eyeing the altar as she began to pace, leaving hints of footsteps on the dark red rug.

"It wasn't like this before, it was...open. There was a door."

"A door?" Leon asked, skepticism leaking into his words.

"I swear it was open. There's a door here," She said, turning to us, her gaze flicking from him to me. Something in her gaze was desperate, like she'd do anything to prove she was telling the truth. Her gaze lingered on me for a few short heartbeats.

"Well, let's look around. There has to be some way to open it," Leon's eyes whipped back at me, his brows raised like he wasn't even going to entertain the idea.

"Okay, I'll start over here," Helena said, not wasting any time as she began her search on the other side of the room.

"You're buying this?" Leon asked, disbelieved as he stepped closer.

"How many times have we seen some convoluted puzzle or trick to open a hidden door? It's not that far-fetched."

"We have no proof she's telling the truth, or not leading us straight into a trap of her own making."

"And if she does, we'll handle it. Trust me." His brows dropped, telling me I'd won the argument. He blew out a long breath before answering.

"Fine, but you sit here while we look. Stretch your arm out and rest."

I opened my mouth to argue but he shot me a look that screamed 'don't push your luck'. I rolled my eyes and moved toward the front pew. He watched me plop down into the seat, where I flared out my hands to gesture to the fact I was sitting before he turned to start his search. I watched him disappear through one of the stone archways before I leaned back against the wood and tipped my head back, blowing out a breath as I closed my eyes.