Mechanical Animals: Resident Evil 4

8

Leon walked over to the crumbled wall where they could see a splash of red against the dullness of the landscape. It stood out like a sore thumb and was moving, but they couldn't make out what it was with their naked eyes. Leon pulled out his binoculars, humming to himself when he peered through the lenses to see what it was. "Courtyards gotta be through that gate." The figure turned around again and headed back inside the big heavy doors behind it. "Don't think our hosts are going to roll out the red carpet." He sighs as he puts away his seeing device and turns back to the stairs. "Things just keep getting better."

They go up and around, following the curve of the castle wall and avoiding the tree branches that reach for them as they walk into the interior where a fire's lit and under a pointed archway, Rose grabs Ashley and thrusts her against the wall behind them when they hear voices. A small group of darkly robed people pass by on the other side of a grated wall, not paying them any attention. Ashley lets out a terrified sound that Leon hushes her for. "Keep your voice down," he warns her, voice hard and commanding. Rose laid a comforting hand on her arm, offering what silent support she could. It wasn't that much of a surprise to her that this castle would be just as dangerous for them as the village had been. She wouldn't be surprised at all if the entire region was under the influence of this plaga.

They crept by the grate, stealthily making their way around the half wall and avoided fallen wood beams and loose stone. The entire castle seemed to be in disrepair from what they had thus far seen of it, and Rose wondered how magnificent it had been in it's prime. Her dream house used to be a castle with ten bedrooms, bathrooms you could play baseball in, a living room and a drawing room, sun room, and a kitchen with two ovens. She'd wanted that all the way up until she'd joined the DSA and had to lower her expectations. She was lucky if maintenance came when she called and forget about having a back yard. Her bathroom at home was more of a closet. Sitting on the toilet, you were crammed into the side of the shower/bathtub and the sink was practically in your lap. Rose really wanted to move.

They went through a wood door that didn't even meet the top of the frame. It was a room that seemed to have no purpose except for maybe storage. There were barrels bigger than her entire body stacked in here, huge windows all along the right wall, and old decorations like coats of arms hanging on the left wall. Their steps were silent, but even if they had made any noise, it would have been drowned out by the struggling of a ganado somewhere in the next room. There was clanging, and someone crying out and breathing heavily as if they were being tortured. "Spread out," Leon said and Rose nodded while tugging Ashley back. She was still in between them, but less in the way if something were to happen.

"Oh my god," Rose groaned when she and Leon peaked around the corner together. There was a robed figure slamming some kind of tool into the surface of an alter, blood splattering the walls. The robed figure stood up and turned towards them so suddenly they'd barely had time to prepare. His head twitched and then exploded on his shoulders, sending gore flying across the room and causing Ashley to scream. "Oh my god!" Rose repeated, eyes wide as she looked at the grotesque, surfeited worm like thing that had sprouted from the cultists neck. It was as long as his body, and flailed around, the head spreading out like four petals of an emaciated flower with rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

"Look out!" Ashley cried needlessly as the thing threw itself at the agents. Rose and Leon both fired at the parasite, wincing at the squelch and splash the bullets made as it came in contact with the slimy flesh. It exploded with a shrill cry, loud enough to hurt all three of their ears. Its juices painted the room and the pews on either side of the room and the smell was something akin to what she knew H2S smelled like- rotten eggs and blood.

The insect symbol they'd been seeing all over the village was dangling from chains, coming down level with their faces. It was almost like they were being mocked. When they finally exited the room, they were behind the grate they'd snuck past before, and it was another long hallway bathed in the flickering light of the sconces.