Code: Project AURORA 4: Sleeping Beauty
Title: Code: Project AURORA chapter 4
Author: Judyku A03, DeadlyFriend FFnet/Sunnyjude LJ
Summary: Smart viruses are a helluva thing.
Genre: Drama, horror, romance, smut, and humour.
Pairings: Claire/Leon, Chris/Jill, with implications of others.
Rating: NC21. Explicit sex in later chapters. Bad, bad language. Scenes of explicit violence and gore.
Warnings: Character death. Implied alcohol abuse. Implied child abuse. Cannibalism.
Original Characters: Lakshan Bhandari, a 33-year-old genius who works at Johns Hopkins, a biomedical engineer with a background in virology and Infectious Diseases. Creator of the C-Veronica Zero smart virus. Tyrannos, a T-103 Tyrant programmed to be Claire's bodyguard.
It was the noise that woke her up.
A loud, almost choking noise that ground and grated and turned every nerve into livewires that directly streamed heightened awareness straight to her brain.
Other noises could also be heard. One was the unmistakable sound of breathing laced with agitated anticipation. Hiding away under layers of intensity was a thumping percussion that rapidly increased in speed and volume until it sounded like thunder in her ears.
She opened her mouth wide as it could go and relished in the cool flow of oxygen that went straight to her lungs. She smacked her dried lips together and rubbed her tongue over her palette until moisture formed. Her parched mouth became an oasis full of stuff that was like nothing she’d ever had before.
Salt. She could taste salt in the air. Nervousness, too. Anxiety and desperation and exhilaration all mixed together into a molotov cocktail infused with adrenaline, and god, fucking god. It made her so fucking hungry.
She wanted to grab handfuls of it and cram every last bite into her mouth and swallow it whole. All the despair and heartbreak and shame and regret. She wanted to suck all of it up and savour it before she went back for seconds.
Claire let her eyes roll and pinpointed the sound of her ruffled hair as her head lolled first to one side, then to the other. Her neck and shoulders burned white hot with every motion she made. Every joint in her body felt stiff, unused, and her arms felt like they were full of helium, all floaty warm and lighter than air.
She struggled to get her arms under control, but her fingers wouldn’t grasp hold of anything. Tried to push herself up, only to have her elbows buckle completely under her own weight.
Then there was a man above her face.
Dark curly hair hung down around exhausted brown eyes and a defined jaw decorated with what the cool kids called designer stubble. His well-kept appearance whispered wealth and privilege while private anguish subtly chipped away at the surface.
“Please, Miss Redfield.” Came his cultured voice. Definitely one of the rich boys. “I need you to stay calm for me while I unhook you. Can you try to do that for me?”
Ohhhh. He's the source. He can feed me.
Her hands might not be able to push her up, but they sure as shit could take tight hold of his shirt and grinned. His heart rate jump started hard in the chest, sending a sudden spike of unease that went soul deep.
Claire pushed her face right against his jugular and flicked her tongue out to taste all of that flimsy human skin. The astringent from his cologne, how his pulse bounced fast off her lips, and all it would take is one bite.
One single bite and there would be nothing between her and that pretty red river in his veins. His skin was slick under her teeth, supple, and so very warm. She nipped and sucked and tasted and it still wasn't enough.
"Hun. Gry."
"Your name is Claire Agatha Redfield. You are 27 years old. You have been under my care for the last ten weeks."
The motion of talking made it awkward for her small human teeth to get a good enough grip.
Do be a dear and cease this ridiculous display of wanton savagery.
There was a short pause before her prey began to speak. Longer this time.
"Your name is Claire Agatha Redfield. You are 27 years old. The name of your elder brother is Chris. You have been under my care for the last ten weeks."
"Claire. Claire Redfield. I came to find my brother, Chris."
And again.
"Your name is Claire Agatha Redfield. You are 27 years old. The name of your elder brother is Chris. You right motorcycles and you have been under my care for the last ten weeks. Your name is Claire Redfield..."
Claire's head tilted back to look at the man, a frown wrinkled the skin between her eyebrows. "I'm Claire. Claire Redfield. I came to find my brother, Chris."
The familiarity hit her hard and she felt herself falling backwards through time until she landed in her own body.
Am I trying to eat a doctor?
Claire stared up at the strange man with the air of wealth about him and meekly let go of his shirt. "I- Who are you?"
Relief closed the man's eyes and made his shoulders sag, his exhaled breath came out slow and long, and packed full of double-strength espresso.
Again he spoke. "I need you to remain calm while I unhook you. Too much time has already been wasted. We'll have to hurry if we want to go."
Go?
"Go where? I don't understand. I don't even know who you are. I don't know where the hell I am."
It was a struggle for him to keep his impatience in check. "I know things must be very confusing for you right now and I'm sorry for that. If we go now? We can walk right out the front door with no fuss. So escape first, then I'll answer any question you have. I promise."
Claire licked her drying lips. It was the best she could get in the circumstances.
"Alright." She gave a nod that took her gaze back to the soft, lean skin that covered his jugular. Stared at the faint outline just long enough to make him wary. "Water. I need some water."
"I'll get you some water after we're on our way."
Did he dare to tell her no?
She inhaled a good, long breath and held it as she clenched a handful into a solid fist. She would be calm and still. Peaceful for now. "Alright. Water after."
Sincerity oozed out of his every pore as he spoke to her. "I won't let you down, Miss Redfield. I swear."
She would go along with him, play it out, and the moment he turned on her?
Well.
I’ll simply punch a hole through his heart.
xxxx
Claire let her body sag against the closed door of the tiny supply closet. Her legs still shook and an odd sort of numbness could be felt in her knees ankles, while her arms were more or less good to go.
She could hear him talk outside. To who, she didn’t know, but there was death out there. She could smell the decomposition and rot slowly consume what had been brought into her room and took her place in that bed.
Her ribcage became a vice around her heart and lungs, with a balloon of pain increasing inside. It grew and inflated until it was hard to breathe. Rage and agony built and crawled up her sternum to tickle the back of her throat, her mouth opened in a silent scream.
Claire slammed her fist down hard onto her thigh, teeth sank deep into her lower lip as the back of her head thumped the door.
How did I get here? I was at home. In my garage. I just want to go home and see my brother. Oh god. Chris. He’ll be so worried.
She knew something was wrong. Something had been done to her in here, but she didn’t know what. Something that wasn’t a hundred percent true.
I’m not stupid. I’ve had experience enough with the monsters. I’ve seen what they can do. How X found me in that station. How he knew where to look. How Wesker seems to predict every single step.
Claire took a deep breath, held for five, and exhaled and scrubbed her face. Get out of here first, and then she would deal with the rest.
She untied the hospital gown and bent to put on the simple black pants. They were a little big around the waist but slightly too short at the ankle. The long-sleeve blouse came next and she offhandedly admired the little embroidered flowers that lined the cuffs. Black ballet shoes and white lab coat came last and all in all, it was the perfect outfit for a Nine To Five intern.
Jill calls them sexretaries. I think she’s watched too many bad pornos.
The thought of Jill stopped her in her tracks and she wanted to be back there, on the night when she first got fibre broadband installed. She felt like she’d conquered the world and Jill was there and they’d streamed the worst kind of movies for hours. Bad seventies porn with plumbers and moustaches, B-rated monster movies, and 80’s kids’ TV.
Three days. That’s how long we were holed up at my place. Three entire days until Chris came. Practically broke down the door. His face when he saw the porn. ‘The fuckin’ hell is this?’ Please let me wake up on my couch covered in Taco Bell. Pricey shit, but worth it just to see Christopher Redfield burn.
If she was anybody else, she would stop thinking about her brother and her family, her friends. She would push them to one side and focus solely on herself and survival. People would tell her to do that. To not think about anybody else. To only see what was right in front of her, but she knew different. She knew better.
To forget about those who loved you was to forget the reasons why you want to live. Not just survive, but live. Truly live. Once those people and those connections were cut off, then isolation turned from foe to friend and that’s where things would start to go bad.
Her friends, her family? All those she fought to defend and get back home to see? They were what made her strong. They were what kept her knees from buckling. And despite the gut instinct that told her death would be merciful, they were what kept her from turning that damned hospital gown into one long noose. She would keep going until she couldn’t.
When you can’t run, you crawl. When you can’t crawl, you find someone to carry you.
With those fighting words, Claire balled up that would-be noose and walked out of the supply closet. The strong odour of decaying flesh went straight to the back of her throat, but she held her head high and gratefully took the doctor’s offer.
“Your water, Miss Redfield. As promised.” He swapped the bottle for the gown and dropped it into the wastepaper basket, then slid a box of matches out of his pocket. “Once the fire alarms go off? We’ll have exactly eleven minutes and thirty-two seconds to reach the upper level. Then precisely four minutes to get out of this hell hole. The health and safety features I put into place will see us long gone by the time the contamination alerts go site-wide. Tyrannos is waiting for us in the car. Don’t forget your wig.”
Claire nodded. Didn’t bother to ask who this Tyrannos was. Instead, she opened the bottle of Evian and downed as much of the icy cold liquid as it took to get rid of the biting aftertaste of sedative. Then set about fixing the platinum blonde wig firmly into place.
“Don’t throw the bottle away.” The doctor said, his tone sharp and expression grim. “It needs to be burned into uselessness.”
A tight, knowing smirk tugged at her lips. “So somebody was done to me. Now I know. Which one is it this time, doctor? Or maybe you cooked one up in your downtime. You know, make it special just for me.”
One night only. Just for you.
His flinch was so damned satisfying to see, yet she caught a micro-smile that flicked the corners of his mouth up.
"I deserve that." The doctor agreed. "You can give me your best when we're safe in the car with Tyrannos. Now let me just set this to burn and we’ll be on our way.”
Claire stood back as he sparked up two matches and dropped them onto the hospital gown, then three a wad of rolled up papers into the fire.
“Bloody burn.” He hissed as he snatched up a duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Fire alarm in three, two, one…”
The instant the smoke touched the detector was the instant the whole place went wild with an ear-splitting noise that blitzed her eardrums straight into hell.
“Remember what we talked about.”
Claire heard every word crystal clear and followed him out into her own personal nightmare.
xxxx
“It’ll be alright, Miss Hadley.”
“Ahh, yes. I’m rather fond of chicken wings myself, Miss Hadley.”
“Have you by any chance read any works by Dean R. Koontz? I stopped being a lover of James Patterson over his exploitation of ghostwriters who earn a pittance in comparison.”
On and on went his ability to make small talk about anything and everything. He kept it up, using a voice full of charm and old world chivalry that came complete with a guiding hand on the base of her spine as he lead her into the stairwell.
“Just you hold onto my hand, Miss Hadley.” The doctor encouraged. “We can’t afford to lose such a lovely young lady to smoke.”
Claire was about to break his fucking arm when a door clicked open and a handful of people began to ascend with them. “Thank you, doctor. I’m so lucky to have met you when I did. I don’t know what I would have done with you.”
His hand was warm against hers. “It’s my honour, Miss Hadley. And please, call me Lakshan.”
She gave her best giggle. “Then you must call me Saffron.”
Brown eyes filled with mirth that momentarily chased the exhaustion from his face. “I had the pleasure of knowing only one other Saffron. Though she was not so pretty as yourself, of course.”
She summoned the will to blush as much as she could. “Oh! Don’t be saying such things, doctor. I mean Lakshan.”
“Doctor?”
Claire felt Lakshan freeze behind her on the stairwell, his hand tightened around her side, and she swallowed, instantly ready to dole out some damage to anyone who got in her way. And she was highly capable of reigning damage down and maybe, just maybe, she was more capable than ever if her hunch was correct.
“Fred.” The doctor greeted in a way that was both respectful and wary. “I’m sincerely sorry for the loss of your daughter. She was a wonderful young woman.”
Curiosity got the better of her and she glanced sideways to see this Fred. See if he posed any sort of danger to them, but all she found was a portly man with eyes that were haunted and dead.
A living zombie, she thought with no small amount of feeling and the empathy came second nature to breathing.
She tried not to read him like she had with everything else, tried not to stuff the poor man with labels and descriptions that belonged on infomercials. Yet it was all right there in front of her face, filling up and overwhelming her senses with heartbreaking energy that she couldn’t turn her back on.
She couldn’t stop it so she didn’t even try.
“You lost your daughter, sir?” She placed a hand on the man’s arm. “I am so sorry. It’s not something any parent should have to face.”
Fred didn’t so much as blink when he looked at her. “Thank you, young miss. And you are?”
Claire ducked her head in timid meekness. “Saffron Hadley, sir. I hope you’ll forgive my premature presumption in offering my condolences.”
“No, no. Not at all. It brings me comfort to know so many people thought highly of my little Janet. I just- I just wish…” Fred’s voice cut into a soft wail that only matched the distress in his gaze that focused yet again on her face.
“Fred?” Lakshan asked gently. “We have to exit the building now, mate. The fire alarms…”
“You have Janet about you, young miss.” Fred didn’t hear the doctor. “I should… No, I don’t think I will. I can spare thirty minutes, doctor Bhandari. When I return to my post. I will give you thirty minutes before I activate the contamination procedures. Just… Get the young miss out of here and away from that-that thing .”
“You know.” Lakshan surmised, but Fred was already gone. Driven completely inside of himself and that haunted expression returned to turn his face blank.
Claire watched him go with her heart on her sleeve and hatred in her chest. Once she was on her feet. Once she had her brother and Jill by her side. Once she had those she loved standing with her?
I’m coming back here and I’m going to blow this place to nothing.
“Come along, Miss Redfield. We’re almost there.”
He hurried her the rest of the way up the stairwell and out through a door, with all the others simultaneously trying to see if they could find and escape the fire.
“Matiass?” Claire kept her head down as Lakshan directed her down the hall to where a T junction appeared and oh. Oh, sweet nothings, but she could see it and smell it and tasted.
Daylight.
Actual and whole broad daylight spilt down from just around that corner. There was a lot of grass outside, but no saltwater, so they were nowhere near the ocean. Birds could be heard and she wanted to forget the plan and shrug him off and run for her fucking life.
“Yes, Matiass.” Lakshan gave her the side-eye. “Almost home free. Just a few more steps. That’s all.”
Claire wondered if he was speaking more to himself than he was to her.
Her feet rounded the corner and the pull of freedom tugged hard, made their feet move faster and faster until the wind hit her face.
Lakshan’s plan worked.
They were out.