Silent City

Chapter 8

  Pain was once again the first thing Scarlett felt as she woke. She was still tied to the chair and her vision had black dots dancing before her eyes. Her head hurt and she could tell there was dried blood on her face and in her hair. She could also hear someone coming close but she didn't feel anything infected so it was either Annette or Leon.

  "Scarlett!" Her head snapped up and her darkened gaze caught sight of Leon coming through a door. Relief flooded her as she sagged against the chair and the binds. She also noticed his shoulder was bandaged and there was blood that had stained the white cloth. He must have gotten shot saving Ada when Annette took her.

  "Hey." She replied softly with a weak smile as he rushed to her and began untying her. When the ropes released she felt where she had struggled and they had cut into her skin begin to heal. He began checking her head where the blood was caked but she batted his bands away.

"I'm fine, healed already." She said as she motioned for him to step back so she could stand and he hesitated.

  "Seriously Leon I'm good, just have a headache." She said finally getting him to move but he had to grab her before she hit the ground and guided her back into the chair when she swayed.

  "You must have had more damage than you thought. Who did that?" Leon asked as he began checking the room, finding a locked metal door that he needed to find chess pieces in order to open which she found ridiculous.

  "Annette. She hit me when she left after we had a riveting conversation about me that gave me very little useful information but made me see several memories." She replied when she felt well enough to stand. Leon asked her what Annette had said and what she had remembered but she was hesitant to relay the information for fear of him fearing or hating her even if she didn't know what exactly was inside her or the side effects.

  "I'll tell you later, for now we have get to Ada." Scarlett said looking out of the thick glass window into the garbage disposal area making Leon finally see her, he'd been so focused on finding Scarlett that he hadn't thought about the other woman. When he had found Scarlett he'd only seen her and how she looked tied up and bloodied in that chair he hadn't really looked around.

  "Shit!" Scarlett hissed when she suddenly felt the frigidness of what that monster she and Leon had faced in the underground part to get to the parking garage. Only it was a bit stronger than that, they could hear its odd noises and the banging on the door to where Ada may a few feet in front of.

  "We need to find those pieces and get down there." Leon said gravely and she nodded, even if she didn't trust the woman she didn't want her to die. They paused for a moment to watch a tape he had found on a dead guy and saw that the monster they had faced was none other than William Birkin. The realization that he had turned himself into a monster made he go colder than even whatever was on the other side of that door did. If he was willing to turn himself into that then what the hell had he done to her, what sort of monster had he made her?

  "Come on Scar, let's get this over with." Leon said placing a hand on her shoulder trying to pull her from whatever thoughts had made her go so pale. She chocked down the panic that was rising and nodded before tilting her head slightly.

"Scar?" She asked as they went through the door across from the one he had come through.

  " Ah yeah I figured you could use a nickname since you don't know if you had one or not." He said a little sheepishly as his cheeks turned a slight pink.

  "Letta." She responded before really thinking about it. It was something that Chris had called her in her only memory of the S.T.A.R.S team she was supposed to have been a part of.