Mechanical Animals: Resident Evil 4

12

Beep beep beep beep.

"Luis, where are you?" Leon had asked gruffly into the communicator, his tone a mix of urgency and concern. Rose had leaned in closer, stretching to see over his shoulder as Luis's image flickered on the screen. He had looked disheveled, breathing heavily, and flinching as if he were in pain.

"Sorry, I uh—I screwed up. Come to my rescue, Prince Charming," Luis had said, a teasing lilt in his voice despite the situation.

"I'll show you charming, pal," Leon had shot back, his annoyance evident.

"Don't mind Leon; he's being a sour patch kid," Rose had quipped, sending Leon a mock dirty look.

Luis had smirked, his eyes sparkling even through the static. "Well, if it isn't my favorite warrior princess. Are you ready to come save me?"

Rose couldn't help but smile, a rush of warmth flooding her at his words. "Only if you promise not to get into any more trouble."

"Trouble? Me? Never," Luis had replied with a dramatic flair, pretending to be wounded. "I'm just a misunderstood hero waiting for my damsel in distress."

"And yet, we are the ones doing the saving," Leon had cut off their conversation, glaring down at the screen as if he were personally offended.

Luis sighed, a pained breath leaving his lips. "Oh come on, have a little fun," he paused to chuckle and shake his head. "I'm in the ballroom closest to the courtyard. Don't be late for the dance!"

With that, Luis hung up, leaving Rose staring at the screen for a moment. She bit her bottom lip and felt a knot form in her stomach. It had been unsettling to hear Luis using the same figures of speech that Salazar had used. Until then, she hadn't thought much about what was being planned for her. She had assumed she was another casualty in this twisted story, a pawn in their game.

But the way she kept being singled out was starting to make her nervous. "What did he mean by 'dance'?" Rose had muttered, glancing at Leon, who looked equally concerned.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Leon had said, his tone serious. "I can't believe that guy."

"Well, he's in trouble," Ashley said after she found strength in her voice again. "We can't just leave him, right?"

"Right," Rose agreed and shook off her unease. "We're going after him." She double-checked to make sure Ashley was paying attention before they crossed the room to leave. "Stay close, Ashley. We aren't going to be the only things walking around this hedge maze."

Outside the sky was dark. The maze was comprised of tall walls of branches and leaves, and it was only lit by randomly placed lights. The wind rustled the leaves, creating an unsettling harmony against the otherwise quiet. From their vantage point over the railing, they couldn't see anything amiss. There were a couple of towers, and a large gate with rolled-up flags set over top it. Rose's eyes scanned the maze, trying to sus out anything that might be lurking there. There was a cage nestled in between two hedge walls with something low to the ground, pacing, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. Still, she readied her shotgun and kept to the castle wall as they descended the stone stairs.

The lights didn't seem to be able to do much to penetrate the darkness on the ground floor of the maze. It made it a lot cooler, too, and Rose shivered, subconsciously taking a step closer to Leon. Some people were just human furnaces, and though she could see goosebumps on his arms, he still felt like the warmest out of the three of them. She hoped it wasn't a fever.

Finding the exit wasn't actually hard. They'd only needed to make one turn to find it at the top of another steep set of stairs. It had the three drawn up flags over it and a rot iron gate protecting it. They'd need to walk through the hedges, and run their chances with the monsters within, to escape. Sounded glorious.