Stalemate | LEON S. KENNEDY

4 - The Lake

Leon pushed open the door in the far wall of the boathouse, and the sight you were met with was rather gruesome. A table, covered in red blood. At the head was a police officer's cap.

You sighed, giving a quick salute to your deceased brother in arms. Leon stared at you, before doing the same, and letting the hat drop back onto the table.

He scanned over the room, turning to a shrine of sorts as you once again reached for the cigarettes in your pocket. He tried his best to not groan at the sound of your lighter, your words echoing in his mind.

This was your last mission together. Ever.

He called for you, whistling as he made his way to the door to exit the room. You followed, cigarette pressed between your lips. It was dark outside, the sun moving to set rather quickly. Leon pulled his flashlight from his belt, and you did the same.

He could hear a man's whispers among the sound of the crickets, and chose to ignore it for the time being. He followed a small trail that led to a sort of cave. The whispering became stronger, and Leon turned as you slapped the side of your head.

"Fuckin' blood suckers..." you let out a puff of smoke, and Leon bent down to enter the cave.

Perfect view.

He crouched through the cave, lit by melting candles, and came upon an exit, which was also illuminated by the flicker of candles. The whispering grew clearer as he walked down the path.

Along the rock, you could make out a shadow of a man, just out of your view. The man's shadow suddenly exploded, followed by grunts of pain.

"What the!?..." Leon stepped back as the man — no, the creature turned around the corner of the rock and approached you.

He yanked a grenade from his belt, throwing it at the distorted person. Tentacles spewed from what was once its head, flesh on display as the grenade exploded. It hardly fazed it, as it continued to crawl forward. You pulled your gun from its holster, shooting it a few times, and then its meat head exploded.

It's corpse dropped to the ground, followed by another angry villager. A few pops from Leon's shotgun caused this guy's head to explode into another tentacle fit. A few grenades and he was down.

Leon turned to you, cigarette still held between your lips. He grimaced as you wiped a bit of blood from your cheek, before jogging forward. He came up on a bloody shrine.

"What the fuck?" He uttered.

"Shit's really hitting the fan, huh?" You asked from behind him.

You both ran up the wooden stairs next to the shrine, and came upon a big wooden platform. You spotted a huge ass bonfire from afar, and wondered if it was another sacrifice.

You shook your head of the thought, taking a drag of smoke. The platform led to a cave, darkness encircling you once you entered it. Leon clicked on his flashlight again.

"What is this place?" He questioned.

"I would guess a cave."

He scoffed as the passageway grew more narrow.

"You're mean when you smoke."

He came up upon an opening, which led to another shrine. Painted on the cave wall above the shrine was a symbol. Leon stared at it.

"Same mark from the church," he nodded to the symbol.

Two sets of arms intertwining within a circle, beams of light emitting from it.

Around the church were two, large stone hands. Their palms had holes. You figured they needed keys. As you walked deeper into the cave, you found more paintings. One was a blue splotch, with a sort of beast inside. On the outskirts, there were two red marks. You nodded to it, pulling the cig from your mouth.