Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 15:49:53 -0800 (PST) From: bob bob Subject: Resident Evil: Crimson part 10 ******************************************************************************** Disclaimer/Warning: This story is completely fictional. If you are under the age of 18, or if it is illegal to read such materials in your country, state, province or county, then please leave. If you are willing to take responsibility for your actions, then be my guest. This story contains descriptions of sexual activity between males, swearing, and graphic violence. The author retains all rights to this story. Please do not publish without authorization. Note: The following story is set in the Resident Evil universe, created by Capcom (http://www.capcom.com) (http://www.residentevil.com). Therefore, all the characters and related titles in this story are property of Capcom. The author is only borrowing characters and elements (including world), and is not making any money in doing so. No Copyright infringement is intended. Conversations in the [ ] boxes are communicated through the headsets. ******************************************************************************** Ten. Mark stood on the sidewalk next to the club as the Velvet Fox motioned her finger to an approaching black car. Mark recognized it, as it was the same car and driver that he had used earlier. Without a word, they both got in the back seats and shut the door; the cool L.A night air disappearing as a warm and welcoming atmosphere took over. "Kurt, head over to EverWood." Her voice was simple and consistent. Mark began to speak to her. "Where are my pape-" But his question was interrupted as the front passenger seat opened and a female figure stepped in. She shut the door and Kurt began driving, as if he didn't even know about their little visitor. The girl looked back at the two and received a nod from Selene. "Just in time Heather." Mark instantly recognized her as the girl he had rescued from the Umbrella Clinic downtown. She adjusted her golden curly hair and returned her gaze to the front window, putting her seatbelt on. Mark blinked a couple of times and then looked back at his host. "She'll be joining you in your mission, my dear." Mark slowly nodded as the car took a left and went down Lirgiston Avenue. "What am I doing?" "You'll be heading to the EverWood hotel within the Hollywood hills." "Go on" "It is an abandoned hotel, and has been abandoned for about 20-30 years. Back then, Mr. Spencer, the founder of Umbrella, had the first form of the T-Virus completed. He was one of the residents in the hotel for a little while. He planned on testing the virus on a patient that was staying at the hotel. But before he could do so, strange and unexpected murders stalked the hotel." Mark's gazed at her for a moment, still not getting what he was meant to do. "One of the diaries found within the hotel said that a few of the residents became 'possessed' by evil forces, and thus, began a killing spree within the hotel grounds." Not feeling completely happy with her comment, Mark dropped his gaze. Evil forces. Possession. Mark didn't want any of that, especially when he had experienced the chilling happenings back in the Sky Peak Tower flat. "Mr. Spencer fled the hotel with the virus and a couple of other survivors as the murders increased. Ever since then, the hotel was never touched, except for criminal investigations. But a few months ago, Umbrella had established a small store depot in the hotel because of its reclusive ness. But then again, before they finished sealing the store, high levels of paranormal activity began to go through the hotel grounds. And in result, the Umbrella workers fled in terror." Mark definitely didn't like this mission. He swallowed his piece of gum and began to talk. "What were they storing?" "Of that we are unsure, but we suppose that they were storing samples of the T-Virus, and possibly, the G-Virus as well" "... And what about the new virus?" "We don't think that they would leave it there just like that, if they've made it already that is, if not, look for work papers on the virus." Mark replayed the sentence in his head again. "Who is 'we'?" He asked. The lady in lingerie gave him a sly smile and ignored the question with ease. Mark waited for a moment and realized that she was not going to answer him, so he changed the subject. "Why is Heather coming? She's a stripper... right??" Before she could answer, she adjusted her bra. "Yes, but also one of my bodyguards. Kurt is a bodyguard as well. They have other jobs to keep them busy when I'm in safe grounds you see." Mark nodded his head. The Velvet Fox leaned forwards towards the two passengers in the front and spoke. "Hmmmm... Kurt my darling, change of plans, take us to Rodriguez please... Heather, you loaded?" "Yeah, I'm good" Selene nodded her head and then returned her full attention to Mark. "Grab a piece of paper and copy this down" Mark took a moment as he was distracted by her comment, and then grabbed a crumpled piece of paper out of his bag and a red Catherine pen. Trying to flatten the paper on his knee, Mark copied down the address of the hotel. And after that, he wrote down the floor levels of the hotel, and what each level contained. 10 minutes had passed since he was writing. At the moment, Selene was talking on the phone to one of her customers. In the front, Heather was packing her gun and other equipment, while Kurt drove on to Rodriguez... whoever he was. The teen sighed and looked down at his crumpled up piece of paper. He had been doodling for a little while; drawing a title of the EverWood hotel and adding in blood flowing down from some of the letters. He looked at his silly drawing and smiled to himself, signing the top right corner with his name and a smiley face. The car's engine came silent as they stopped in front of the red traffic light. Selene was still talking on her mobile phone. Mark looked over at her and saw her press her window button. With a faint buzz, the black window went down and a red Ferrari next to the car they were in could be seen. And in its drivers seat, sat a middle-aged man with black shades. Mark watched with silence. The Velvet Fox had asked the person on the other side of the phone to hold for a second. She then turned her face to the driver in the Ferrari and blew him a kiss as the car resumed its journey when the green lights went on. Mark smiled to himself. ******************************************************************************** 20 minutes later. The car pulled into a dark alley from one of the main streets; skyscrapers now less in numbers. Mark sat there for a moment and waited for whatever was going to happen. "Mark my love, if you go down that alley, you will find a caravan with Rodriguez in it. If he asks, say it's me that sent you." "But, w-what am I doing??" "Buying yourself some ammo or weapons my dear" Mark slowly nodded his head. He had his gun, and it was fine and loaded. But another weapon couldn't hurt, could it? He nodded again and stepped out of the car; the chilly winter air covering his shivering skin. Mark adjusted his bag pack and then began walking down the alley. There was nothing much except for the usual things; sewer grates with steam coming out, garbage dumps, and ladders to apartments. He hugged himself and wished that he had brought a jacket as he could see his breath as he breathed out. His eyes and attention fell upon a white caravan 15 meters ahead of him; right at the very back of the urban alley. Walking in silent footsteps, Mark reached the plain white door and knocked. Silence. "Come in" Mark had nearly missed the comment as he was too excited to think. Taking in a deep breath, he grabbed the cool metal handle and opened the door. Stepping into a warm environment, Mark found Rodriguez at the other end of the caravan, leaning against a wall, arms folded. The guy looked at him up and down with a blank expression as Mark looked at him as well. He was a built guy. Short black hair, goatee and beard. He wore a blue shirt that was definitely too small for him as it clearly showed every muscle and abs that he possessed. And he definitely had the Adonis looks that would want to make Mark run to him, bow down, and lick his shoes. But Mark held his stand and waited whatever was coming next. But nothing happened and Mark didn't know what to do, so he closed the door behind him. Still, nothing came from the man. So Mark decided to play mean. "Well? Am I going to get a welcome or what? Someone has to roll the red carpet down for me, you know." Mark folded his arms and leaned on his right leg, eyebrows raised. But the man who seemed to be Rodriguez just smiled a bit and in a blink of an eye, he winked at Mark, easily amused. Mark stood there dumbfounded, wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean. Getting a little embarrassed, yet irritated, Mark spoke again. "You're really irking me, you know that." He spoke in a simple tone that didn't suggest hostility, but showed his irritation. "Just the way I like it." Said the man in a soft, yet strong voice; and then again, he smiled. Mark pretended to look at him up and down with disgust and then turned around to open the door; clearly realizing that the guy was having too much fun. "Hold on." Mark turned back to face Rodriguez. "Sorry about that, I was... mesmerized" Mark blinked a couple of times and wasn't sure If it was a compliment or insult. "Stop wasting my time and sell me your goods Rodriguez" Rodriguez raised his eyebrows and lifted both his hands, signaling that he meant nothing wrong. "Yes sir. Come here, and I'll give you all that I got" Mark looked at him for a moment, unsure if he was joking or what. He gave up and walked towards him, never taking his eyes off of him. And when he was right in front of him, Mark decided to talk back. "Want me closer, it's gonna cost you something" He gave him a sly grin, and then Mark dropped his bag on the floor. "Show me the guns" Rodriguez smiled. "Mine? Or the metallic ones" Mark blinked in surprise. He wouldn't think he would play along. But if he was playing, Mark was unsure, as he seemed so damn serious. "The metallic ones, perv" "You sure? I'm pretty positive that the other one can be of use to you. And it's pretty big as well." Mark's mouth hung open. "Cut the crap out or I'm gonna call the cops and tell them that your harassing me" "Fine." Rodriguez turned around and opened a cupboard, grabbing a big black bag. He dropped the heavy bag and it fell to the floor with a big thump, nearly hitting Mark's left foot. "Take it" "Take what??" "The bag" "... What is it??" "It's got what you want inside" "... how much?" "Free" Mark arched an eyebrow and gazed at Rodriguez, and then at the black bag. "How is that?" "Well, the Velvet Fox has already paid for it" Rodriguez folded his arms after he adjusted the golden cross pendant that he wore around his neck. "The bag may be a little unclean as I got it straight from the store" Mark smiled as he grabbed his, and the other bag. "Don't worry, I like it dirty." Rodriguez bit his lower lip and tried to conceal his smile. "Goodbye" Came Mark. It was simple. He fixed the bags in his hands and made his way to the white door at the other end of the caravan. ******************************************************************************** Brrr. Brrr. Brrr. Mark's phone vibrated in his pocket as he stepped out of the caravan and into the night air. Sighing, Mark dropped both bags and tried getting the phone out of his jeans. It nearly fell on the floor but Mark was quick enough to catch it. When he brought the screen to read the caller Mark's expression fell. "Umm. Hi Carlos" Mark tried to sound pleasant. "Hey kiddo, we just got back to the flat, but your not there" Mark bit his lower lip and thought for a split second. "Oh, I went to go see a movie" "Really? Which one?" Carlos' voice was calm and Mark thanked god for just a casual conversation. "Oh, I saw.. what was it... Ultraviolet" "Hmm, I thought that comes out next week" Mark's eyes grew wide as he realized that it was true. "It was a screening for critics you know... I managed to sneak in. I was desperate to see the movie..." Mark faked a small laugh and was rewarded with Carlos laughing as well. "Look Mark, I know what you are doing" Mark stopped his laughing. "Pardon?" "Please Mark, don't do this to me" "D-do what??" "You going on these killing sprees for someone" "I don't know what you're talking about..." Mark's voice was now desperate as Carlos kept his concerned tone. "Look, I don't know what saying about me Carlos, but I am definitely no assassin or whatever, I assure you, I'm at the cinema." Silence. "What's your next mission" Mark gazed at the floor for a moment and then dropped his forehead in his left hand; rubbing his temples. "(Sigh) Carlos, please stay out of this, I'll be back by tonight, I swear" "Mark, please answer the question." ******************************************************************************** The door opened and the Velvet Fox looked at Mark entering the vehicle, and then back to the front. "Resume the ride, Kurt. You have it?" Mark placed the bags in front of him and then nodded at her. ******************************************************************************** 20 minutes passed in the car and they had already reached the Hollywood hills. At this time of night, all the pretty mansions and their giant lawns glittered with pretty lights. And from Mark's window, he could see all of L.A and the gothic skyscrapers. But his view was somewhat obscured as trees now covered each side of the quiet road. The atmosphere dramatically changed as it went really dark; shadows and strange blackness everywhere. The car stopped and Heather got out. Mark looked out the front window and found that they were by the gate to the abandoned Everwood Hotel. Selene told him that he would receive $1000 if he carries out this mission, and $2000 if he gets anything interesting. Mark nodded and grabbed both bags as he stepped out of the black vehicle and joined Heather by the gate, watching the car disappear into the darkness of the eerie hills. Sighing Mark turned to face the hotel. Beyond the metal gates was a long driveway leading to the hotel. The hotel itself wasn't an apartment building or anything like that. Instead, it was like a giant mansion; with gothic arches, pillars, windows and sculptures. By the gate they were standing by, a stone gargoyle stood on the pillars on either side of the gate. Surrounding the hotel, was a huge lawn. And beyond these lawns were the woods. Mark shivered and walked with Heather through the creaky gates and onto the driveway. As they walked to the hotel, Mark noticed something. "Heather, why are the lights on outside?" "Its always like that you know, a few tourists every now and then come here to take pictures of the pretty place at night." "Aah" Mark nodded his head and continued walking. The hotel, or mansion, had three floors, and a small tower on the third floor. And when both of them were 100 meters or so up the driveway, Heather stopped. "Mark, there's someone standing by the hotel doors" Mark sighed and turned to Heather. "Yeah, he's with me..." "What do you mean?? Mark, this was supposed to be something secret" She didn't explode, but kept on talking in a sweet tone. "Yeah, but he knew everything about me doing these 'missions' and he forced me to tell him where the next one was..." Heather looked at Mark, and then back at the hotel. "He used to be a U.B.C.S member, and he left Raccoon with Jill" "... The S.T.A.R.S member?" "Uh yeah, Valentine. He's good" Heather nodded. "This better be good Mark. If he is nothing but a drag, we're gonna have to ditch him" "Understood" Heather bit her lower lip and then continued walking with Mark. But when they got closer to the huge oak doors of the mansion, Mark noticed three other people. "Oh my god Mark, who are they?" She pointed. Mark gazed and then figured out whom the three other figures standing in the shadows were. Mark sighed. "They are also with me..." "??" "Yeah yeah, I didn't know they were coming..." Heather sighed. ******************************************************************************** "Carlos what are they doing here???" Mark whispered desperately into Carlos' face. "They overheard the convo on the phone." Mark silently growled in frustration and then turned to Heather. "Heather, this is Carlos, Carlos this is Heather, my partner" The two of them exchanged nods. "And they are... Giovanni, Russel, and C.Jay..." Mark pointed at the boys leaning on the wooden door of the hotel. They all waved back. ******************************************************************************** "Ok... Me and Mark know what's on each floor of this structure so, Carlos your with me, Mark your with the other boys." Mark looked away from Heather and at the boys next to him. He rolled his eyes. "You have your stuff?" Mark nodded. Then Carlos spoke. "Remember, you have your headset" Mark pointed at his backpack on his back. "Yup" "Kay, split up" Heather walked towards the wooden doors and opened it. She had lock picked it before they were talking. Mark followed her and entered the hotel, soon the rest followed. Pulling out his Beretta, Mark found a small switch on the side of the gun, enabling the laser. Mark chuckled to himself; he definitely needed the laser for aiming as he sucked with guns. But then again, would they need to use their guns? Mark ignored the thought and looked around. They were in the lobby. The place had a strange smell; a mix of rotten wood, decay, and roses. The place itself was colder than outside and Mark had to keep on refusing the jacket Carlos was offering him. The lobby was dark, but a few lights were on. The place consisted of a fancy reception, seating area with its expensive chairs, decorations such as a grandfather clock, chandelier and such. On either side of the lobby were stairs that lead up to the second floor. Mark was told to go to the basement and second floor as Heather took the first and third. He didn't like the place at all as his mind replayed things that Selene had said. Possession. Demonic Forces. Grisly Murders. Paranormal Activity. Hauntings. The place itself was pretty dark and eerie. The windows that littered the floor looked out at the dark woods that lingered just outside the hotel grounds. And the same haunting ambience that Mark had experienced in the flat also hung in the air here. The same feeling of the foreboding, and chilling atmosphere. It was like they had entered a haunted house in an amusement park. But the thing that disturbed Mark the most was the dry, crimson, bloodstains that covered the walls and furniture. "Whatever went on down here, god help me" Whispered Heather. Even the boys had shut their mouths when they entered the creepy domain of the abandoned hotel. It was like as if you spoke one word, something horrible would pop out of nowhere and go "BOO" Mark jumped in horror and turned around, mouth hanging open at the apparition that had scared the shit out of him. But found C.Jay rolling on the floor, laughing his head out. Mark cursed at him in disgust. "You fucking asshole! That was so not funny C.Jay" C.Jay continued laughing, and Mark could also see Carlos nearly cracking up, but Mark sent him a death glare and he stopped. Heather broke up the small scene. "Cut it out please, lets go, we'll see you here in an hour" And with that, Carlos & Heather left to explore the first floor of the EverWood Hotel. ******************************************************************************** Mark pulled out his torch in his left hand, holding it up, while his gun was in his right hand. The other three boys pulled out their torches and guns as well. Mark looked at them to receive nods signaling that they were ready to move. "Over there" Came Giovanni. He pointed his light at a sign across the room that read 'Basement: Employees Only'. Mark nodded and made his way across the huge room; the floorboards creaking beneath his black boots. The basement stairs were right behind the stairs leading to the second floor. As they descended the stairs, it got darker and darker. There were no lights by the stairs. Mark shivered as the temperature dropped by a couple of degrees as they kept on walking down the stone steps; ignoring the long dried blood on the white walls. When they got to the bottom, they found a metal door waiting for them. They boys looked at it, perplexed. It had no handles or whatsoever. Russel stepped forward to take a closer look at the door but then stopped dead in his tracks. Mark's eyes stared at the door as it slowly opened by itself. C.Jay looked at it with a screwed up face, and Giovanni raised his gun at the dark space beyond the door. Mark stood behind Russel and peaked over his shoulder as the door fully opened and came to a halt. The gang stood there in silence. "That was cree-" But C.Jay's comment was interrupted as a howling noise shook their ears as a gust of ice cold air knocked them in their faces. Mark had to turn around to avoid the ice air from hitting his already fragile and dead pale face. He felt Russel do the same and saw him stand next to him. When the terrible wind stopped, the gang looked at each other. "(Weak laughter) I'm not going in first" said Giovanni. "I'll do it" Mark raised his gun and looked at the boys, who carried surprised faces. Mark turned around to face the door and let out a deep breath. He took a step into the dark basement, and then another. With his torch, he found a switch on the left wall. Flipping it, with his gun, lights sprung into life, but a few kept on flickering. Ahead of Mark, was nothing but a long hallway, with a red door at the other end. Thanking god, Mark moved down the hallway and the others followed. When he reached the red door, Mark grabbed the door handle but found that it wouldn't budge. Biting his lower lip, Mark spoke. "Stand back" The guys stepped back a bit and Mark served the door with a round house kick, slamming the door open. Immediately after the kick, Mark drops to one knee and aims his gun into the darkness in front of him, listening for any movement. None. Slowly standing up, Mark looked back at the boys and saw that they were find whatsoever; So he slowly entered the chilly room and found another switch for the lights. What Mark saw sent shivers down his spine. ******************************************************************************** "Holy shit" whispered Russel. "it's a fucking freezer" Mark slowly nodded and looked at the hanging bags, filled with slabs of meat the size of humans in front of him. He gazed through the maze of hanging bags as the light flickered above. "You okay?" Russel placed a hand on Mark's shoulder and gave him a concerned face. "Yeah... I'm... chilling" Russel chuckled and Mark smiled. Giovanni spoke. "Lets split up" Mark looked at him with a horrified face. In most horror movies, people found their deaths whenever they entered freezers filled with slabs of meat. And usually, the meat were human bodies. "Alright" said Russel. "How do we wanna do this?" "well... we each take an aisle" Everyone nodded. Giovanni moved to the left to find an aisle while the other two went to the other right. And when they disappeared into the maze of dead meat, Mark turned towards the aisle by the front door. Sighing, he moved down the aisle with his gun and torched raised. He cursed in disgust as he had to push the bags aside as he walked down the dark aisle. After a minute or so, Mark looked back and saw that he couldn't see the door. He sighed again and moved back into the direction he was originally moving towards. But froze as a bag, not far away, moved. He pointed his laser at the bag and waited; his heart pounding in his head. But he was distracted as a cry came from somewhere within the giant freezer. "Holy shit!!! Oh My god!" Mark recognized the voice as Giovanni's. He stood there and expected nothing. But then came something Mark knew wasn't a good sign. A gunshot. ******************************************************************************** Mark was about to call out when the bag that was moving before, moved again and something pushed it aside. A figure stepped into the aisle Mark was in and saw Mark. Mark shone his torch at it and dropped it in horror. The disfigured zombie slowly limped its way towards Mark, who stared in shock at its frozen and rotten skin and white eyes that glared at Mark. As Mark kept on staring, mouth open, more gunshots could be heard. But this time, it wasn't from Giovanni's direction. It was from one of the other boys. And then more gunshots came and Mark realized that they were trapped in a deadly space filled with the undead. Shaking, Mark raises his beretta and aimed for the head of the zombie, which kept on moving towards him with a chilling moan. Mark shot and the head exploded, but no goo or slimy brains came, instead, frozen brains and flesh hit the surrounding bags. And the zombie fell to the floor. Mark shot it again and stared down at it in horror. But he was snapped out of his thoughts as more and more gunshots and cries came from everywhere. He turned around and saw several bags move and zombies step out from behind them. Not wanting to fight, Mark ignored them and quickly resumed his journey down the aisle; pushing the bags aside and dodging zombies on the way. When he got further, Mark had to rely on his torch as the flickering lights now were dead. "Shit, I don't like this at all" He kept on walking in a moderate pace and shone the light in front of him, wondering when the aisle would end. "For god's sa-" Mark jumped in surprise and fell to the ground as something burst out from behind a bag and knocked him over. "Oh my god Mark!" Mark looked up at Russel. "I've been running in circles ever since the attacks." He helped Mark up. "Well, I'm still in my aisle, so theres got to be something down there" Mark pointed into the darkness. Russel hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "K, you shine the light for me while I position my gun" Mark nodded and let Russel walk in front of him as he shone the path for him. They silently moved through the chilling freezer and a zombie with a missing arm popped out in front of Russel. He returned the favor and shot it in the head with his magnum. But Mark had the shit scared out of him as one came up behind him and moaned with sheer delight. "Duck!" Mark saw the gun raised at his head and dropped to the floor and heard Russel shoot the deceased. He stood back up, looked at the dead thing (Well, it was already dead) behind him and back at Russel. "Thanks" Russel winked at him and then turned back to face the darkness. Mark used his torch and they continued their journey down the aisle. ******************************************************************************** It had been 5 minutes since there had been any gunshots other then from Russel and Mark; and the aisle they were in would just not end. Mark prayed to god that there was no dead end. But his hopes were raised as the aisle and a blue door was found. "Should we go in or wait?" Mark didn't know which was better. "Lets go" Russel nodded and slowly opened the door while Mark raised his gun. There, standing was Giovanni and C.Jay raising their guns at him with horrified faces. But when they saw the two boys, they lowered them and pulled them in, shutting the door. "Thank god! We thought you were dead!?!" Neither Mark or Russel spoke but rather they looked at the room they were in. Iy appeared to be the Hotel's kitchen. There were like 12 metal stoves and counters, fridges, and tons and tons of pans and pots hanging from the cupboards. And luckily, the lights worked here and there were no enemies in sight. Mark spoke. "Found anything?" "Theres a door over there" Giovanni pointed to a white door on the right side of the big kitchen. "Where does it go to?" Came Russel as he walked towards it. C.Jay joined him and spoke to the group, signaling the rest over. "It's a lift, I think it only goes to the second floor" "Perfect, that's our last floor" said Giovanni in an enthusiastic tone. He turned towards Mark. "Whats on that floor?" Mark thought for a moment and mentally looked through his memories for his memorized list of things. "Umm. The indoor pool... and the... restaurant... yeah, that's it" Russel looked around and then spoke. "Sounds easy. How much time do we have?" C.Jay looked at his watch. "Enough, half an hour" "K, lets go" ******************************************************************************** When they stepped out of the beautifully decorated lift and onto the second floor, they were welcomed by the same eerie, yet sweet smell of the hotel. In front of the lift, there was nothing except two plain wooden doors, one of them kind of decayed, with name plates on them. Pool and Restaurant. "Which one first? And no, we are not splitting up" Mark said with a final tone. "Lets take the pool" The gang moved to the door labeled 'Swimming pool' and entered the floor. It seemed that the floor only had two large rooms, the pool and restaurant of course. As they stepped in, the door behind them shut on its own and the boys looked at each other with mixed expressions. In the center of the huge room, was the empty pool, surrounded by marble pillars and roman statues. Again, there were the flickering lights; which only intensified the atmosphere in the floor level. As the gang moved around the pool Mark noticed the holes in the side of the pool walls. "They look like..." "Bullet holes" Mark finished C.Jay's sentence with a soft voice. C.Jay nodded his head and shook his head in disgust. Russel and Giovanni were at the other end of the pool and were looking through wooden cabinets; while C.Jay moved to look at the other side of the huge, huge room. Mark stood still and looked around him and sighed. He was tired. But as he was about to join C.Jay, he heard a small trickling noise and his attention fell to the pool and saw "What in the name of god" He whispered. Mark stared in complete horror at the bullet holes in the pool as they were bleeding red liquid that trickled down the tile walls. After a moment or so, it the blood started pouring out of the holes and the pool was filling uber quickly. Mark wanted to tell the others, but he was transfixed by the show he was getting. The pool was now full. "You guys theres-" But Mark lost his breath as he felt something shove him into the blood pool. He landed with a splash and the taste of blood entered his mouth as he desperately tried to swim to the surface. His head was spinning and he could not see a thing. He struggled for a moment but finally broke the surface of the pool and gasped for air; his blood covered face trying to make things out. Mark saw the boys run over to the pool. Russel leaned over the edge and stuck his hand out to Mark. "Come on Mark!" Mark swam towards Russel and stuck his hand out. But Mark felt something grab onto his ankle and pull him down into the dark pool. He lost his breath as he screamed underwater at whatever horror was dragging him down to hell. He struggled and felt the thing let go, but then felt other hands all over his body, ripping his clothes to shreds. Blinded by the dark red matter, he felt nails dig into his skin and fingers pulling his hair. Mark heard a splash and thought that he was about to faint from shock and lack of air when he felt a hand grab his left hand and pull him up to the surface. ******************************************************************************** The moment air hit Mark's face, he took a breath so deep that it actually hurt his chest. He stared around in horror and screamed as the hands kept trying to drag him down; but Russel was swimming with Mark to the edge of the pool, where Giovanni and C.Jay stood ready to haul them in. Giovanni grabbed Russel's hands and C.Jay took the dazed Mark out of the pool and saw the terrifying pale, rotten hands let go, tearing his shirt off of him. "Mark! MARK!" Giovanni shoved C.Jay aside and reached down for Mark. "MARK" "I-I'm here..." Mark vomited out the blood that he had consumed when he was in the pool and stood up on his feet. "Let's get the hell out of here. Whatever happened down here, its happening again" The other three boys nodded their heads like little school boys. Just then, a terrifying whistle came as a wind swept through the room like a hurricane, knocking pots over and statues into the blood pool. The pool itself began to bubble and dead bodies began floating to the surface. The gang stared in pure horror at the events that were taking place. And as the experience continued, a haunting demonic voice spoke through the shilling winds. "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT" It repeated itself over and over and over and over so much that Mark became paranoid of the voice as it was uber scary. He felt one of the boys grab his hand and pull him as they ran to the door. C.Jay slammed into the door and it broke open. They all stared in shock at the stairs that had magically appeared out of nowhere that was now next to the lift they had used from the kitchen. Without hesitation, they ran down the stairs and Giovanni trips over, now tumbling down the wooden and blood stained steps. At the bottom, Mark helped him up and the find Heather and Carlos standing by the hotel door, signaling towards them. ******************************************************************************** Mark and the rest of the team ran out of the building and down the driveway in sheer terror and found a van waiting at the gates down below with its door open. When they got in, Mark shouted at the driver to drive at full speed as one of the guys shut the door. It was then when Mark looked at the EverWood Hotel for the very last time. ******************************************************************************** Sorry for the huge delay @.@ I had my laptop in service for longer then I had expected. So what ya think? Drop me any comments at re_crimson@yahoo.com or visit/join my group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Umbrella_Co/ or http://geocities.com/re_crimson ********************************************************************************