Resident Evil Series Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Under a Dark Umbrella ❯ prologue ( Prologue )

 

 

 

 

 

“Tony?” Her own voice was so tight with fear, that she didn't recognize it at first. “Tony! This isn't funny!” The forest's fresh pine scent and the warm breeze quickly disappeared in the cool, damp chill of the caves. She waited a moment, but the only sound in the cave was the rushing of the waterfall that marked its entrance behind her.

 

Shadows seemed to reach out for her from every corner, but she took another step.

 

Don't let the monsters get you. Rick's words echoes in her mind; he had been a bully to her brother all weekend- but she hadn't guessed he was a chicken. He had flatly refused to come with her. Some wilderness hiker he was; the weekend camping trip with his family was a total waste of her time.

 

I'll show you monsters when I get out of this, you jerk, she thought angrily. That thought didn't bring her any closer to finding her seven year old brother though. The slant of this cave's floor was steeper than the others, and a slick sheen of water was following her down the slope of smooth rock. If she fell there was no telling how far she would slide and she didn't even have her flashlight…

 

Caves are dangerous even to seasoned explorers. Both of her parents had been reluctant to let them join the Stevens' on their vacation when they heard that they were going deep into the cave riddled Arklay Mountains. She could just imagine what her parents would say if she gave up looking before she had really tried…

 

“Tony? Where are you?”

 

She moved into the deepening silence, hoping that there weren't any animals like snakes or bats down here, but she couldn't turn back. She called again, “Tony?”

 

With every step the darkness closed in, deeper and more ominous. She put her hands on the right hand wall and stumbled forward gingerly. It had been over five minutes since the shriek that she'd heard from her brother. There had been no other sounds, but she had to find him- he probably couldn't answer because he'd fallen and was lying unconscious somewhere…

 

She'd never felt so afraid; her heart's heavy beating echoed in her ears, drowning out all other sounds. Tears stung her eyes and she wished she hadn't let Rick said those awful things…

 

A whisper of sound above her head made her cringe and she jumped left instinctively. Her feet struggled for balance on the lip of a ledge she couldn't see, and a second later she was falling; her momentum carried her backwards over it.

 

She scrambled frantically for something to hold onto but her head struck the smooth rocks, and it hurt so much that she was dimly aware that she was still moving. She was sliding backwards, down the wet slope of the cave floor. The shadows all around her made it impossible to guess where she was going or when she might stop. Her head hurt and she wondered if she had a concussion, but when she finally stopped she was so relieved that she just laid there for a while...

 

The cold stone was smooth and cool against her bruised back and head…

 

“Stacy?”

 

“Stacy? Are you ok?” A small hand shook her shoulder. “Stacy?”

 

The call was more frantic this time and Tony's voice was strained. Her eyes fluttered open, she was dimly aware that she could see shadows, and an eerie blue light, behind him, but her brother was more important. He looked small and fragile in the dark, his skin was pale and his eyes were full of tears that threatened to fall. “Stacy!”

 

“Tony, I'm fine.” She sat up and squeezed him in a bear hug. She kissed his forehead and smiled when he hugged her just as tightly. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah. It's pretty here. I'm hungry though. I want to go home.” He whimpered against her shoulder.

 

“Me too,” she said.

 

“You mean it? No more hangin' out with Rick?”

 

“He and his parents can stay here in their fancy camper, I'll hike to the gas station down the mountain and call mom as soon as we get out of here.”

 

“You promise?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I was scared but I got turned around and I fell down here.”

 

“Me too,” Stacy smiled and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “It'll be okay. We're together now, right?”

 

“I guess.” He looked down at his hands and smiled suddenly. He placed something cool and smooth in her hand. “Look at this. Pretty huh? I'll be right back! I just want to get one for mom too.”

 

He scampered away into the darkness before she could grab him. Stacy sighed and was about to get up when she looked at the small object.

 

It was beautiful; light and color bounced through its depths. Pale blue light shone on her hand, reflected on the wall beside her, and onto the floor. She held it in her hand, unable to speak. She had taken earth science but had never heard of a crystal that glowed before; natural crystals reflected light but they didn't create it.

 

This small shard was about an inch and a half long, but it was clearly valuable. It was luminous, even though the cave was deep underground and completely dark. The light it gave off was a soft blue but the crystal itself held flashes of pink, gold, violet and green as well as blue. It just depended on how she tilted it to look through it.

 

Tony dropped another handful of other small crystals in her lap and she stared at them. They were the same. Each one was a vaguely rectangular obelisk, with a point like an old fashioned pencil on one end, and they were all glowing too. “W-Where did you get these?”

 

“I'll show you, the princess has lots of them- she's right around the corner.”

 

Stacy smiled and rolled her eyes. “I see, so there's a princess down here with us, huh? Do you think your princess will want you playing with her treasure?”

 

“She's sad, cuz she's lonely, but I told her she's real pretty.”

 

Tony lead her around a small bend in the tunnel, but she wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited her.

 

Anything she would have said got stuck in her throat when she saw the thousands of crystals imbedded into the stone walls, and growing straight out of the floor. The room they were in was easily as big as the cafeteria at Raccoon High School. They were everywhere- like an incredible diamond mine, no one would ever believe it could exist so close to Raccoon City without being found but they were everywhere.

 

Stacy was so startled that it took her a while to notice the massive chunk of crystal in the center of a small spring. She tripped as she numbly followed her brother toward it, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the glowing mass of crystal- not even to watch where she was going.

 

Tony tugged on her hand. “Come on, the princess is over there.”

 

Stacy frowned and looked around. The room was partially illuminated by the glowing crystals despite its great size, and there were no other exits that she could see. There was no one else here.

 

“No, not over there, she's in there- just like Snow White. I think she's waiting for Prince Charming to come and save her.”

 

Stacy looked down at her brother. He moved through the room like he thought they owned it. He didn't know that they were in an undiscovered diamond mine or something. Stacy looked at the crystals in her hand and instinctively wanted to leave. The air was heavy in spite of the cave's incredible beauty, and she didn't feel safe here. Tony didn't share her misgivings; he was watching the massive crystal as he lead her to the room's center too, but he was smiling. He was still smiling when he stopped and pointed at the huge crystal. “See? She's got to be a princess, right, Stacy?”

 

Now that they were standing at the waters edge, the crystal's great size was clear- and so was the shape inside of it.

 

Tony called the woman a princess and Stacy could easily understand why. The figure standing within the crystal wore a flowing white silk gown that wrapped around her body with casual elegance. A long strand of large pearls adorned her neck. She looked so peaceful that she seemed to be asleep, but the sadness written on her exquisite face was unmistakable. Her eyes were closed and her hands rested against her chest. She was beautiful and yet so unnatural and unexpected in the small cave that Stacy couldn't form words to describe her shock.

 

There was something about the ethereal figure that scared her. The woman's long brown hair was as still as the ruffles of her gown, but Stacy held her breath, waiting to see her to open her eyes and look at them at any second. She looked like a movie star, a princess, an angel and a magical genie all at once… The more she looked, the more she expected to see the woman breathing and yet people couldn't live in crystal.

 

Stacy walked around the spring surrounding the crystal unable to decide if the place itself was real much less the entombed woman. Was she still lying on the floor of the cave dreaming? Her palms were sweating and she suddenly wanted out- immediately.

 

“C-Come on,” Stacy whispered suddenly, she tugged at his hand.

 

“Don't you want to see if she'll talk to you too?”

 

Stacy knew her little brother was imaginative, but the strange question annoyed her. “Come on, this cave isn't safe.”

 

“Sure it is,” Tony insisted. Luckily he smiled up at her. “I'm hungry though, we can bring mom here later!”

 

Stacy cast a look back over her shoulder and shivered instinctively; there was no way she would ever want to come back here. She smiled for his sake though and nodded. “Yeah, mom would definitely like to see this…”

 

She took his hand and led him carefully up the slope. The way back up was easier than she thought it would be, and the glowing crystals in her hands helped to illuminate the darkness until they got to where the sunlight was visible up ahead. She quickly stuffed the crystals into the pockets of her shorts and moved carefully. The waterfall that hid the way out also made the smooth rock floor slippery. She held Tony's hand and the helped him out into the waning sunlight. There was no path, here either. She kept holding his hand. It was harder climbing up over the rocks and scraggly weeds than it had been going down after him, but she was determined to get away from that cave. The grass and the trees of the Arklay Mountains had never smelled so sweet or looked so green to her before.

 

Across the clearing, she could see Rick's parents, and they didn't look too happy. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were smiling though, when they came over to greet them, but Stacy wondered where Rick was at, she couldn't see him at all.

 

“Are you kids alright,” Mr. Stevens asked. Stacy noticed he was looking where the cave was at rather than at her though, and he sounded impatient.

 

“Look!” Tony was smiling when he proudly held out a bright crystal for Rick's parents to see.

 

Stacy pretended to straighten her hair, but she could almost feel Rick's mom's curiosity, her voice was sickeningly sweet when she smiled at him. “May I see that, Tony?”

 

“Sure!”

 

“Is it one of them?” Rick's father asked.

 

Stacy frowned. They've see these before?

 

The dark haired woman nodded eagerly, she took Tony's hand and smiled at him. “How about we all go make some smores to celebrate, sweetie? When Stacy and Tom get back to camp they'll want some too, don't you think? Let's go get everything ready, ok?”

 

Tony nodded and took off running, dragging her by the hand. Stacy watched the two wondering why she couldn't make her voice work to call out to him to wait for her, but she doubted that he was in danger. She just felt a heavy certainty in the pit of her stomach that she should have gone with them…

 

Mr. Stevens was one of Umbrella's research scientists and a respected man within the community of Raccoon City; she doubted that he would hurt her. Unfortunately, she was still afraid standing so close to the cave that she was going to be asked to show it to him.

 

She tried to move around him, but he grinned menacingly, and shook his head. She had never noticed it before, but Rick's father was no pencil necked science geek. He was tall, tan and fit. He and his wife and Rick spent every weekend hiking and exploring in the mountains around Raccoon City. “Take me to where your brother found that crystal, Stacy.”

 

His voice was not the pleasant, patient tone she had always heard from him before. There was a warning in it that clearly said he wasn't going to accept maybe later as an answer.

 

She hesitated and he sighed, he reached into his belt pack and pulled out a satellite phone, and pressed a few buttons. “This is Tom Stevens, reporting to the White office that we have found another crystal deposit. Unfortunately I'm having a little trouble negotiating the finder's fee. My son's 17 year old girlfriend is a stubborn little thing, always has been. Luckily, my wife is holding onto her little brother so I know she'll be a good girl and show me where they found the crystals…”

 

Stacy's mouth dropped open but she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

 

Was he bluffing? Would they really hurt Tony if she didn't? She wondered frantically.

 

A voice on the other end of the connection crackled through the static. “Good, keep us informed.”

 

“Those rocks- what are they?” She asked, trying to pretend that she hadn't understood the implied threat. She took a step toward the mouth of the cave.

 

He nodded, and followed her. “That's a good girl, Stacy. We'll be back at camp having smores with everyone else before you know it.”

 

“Yeah,” she smiled hesitantly, but felt her anxiety return as she ducked into the cave. It was a tight fit for him, especially ducking behind the waterfall but he seemed to be managing ok, and he was wearing his lighted climbing gear, which he switched on. Unfortunately she was in the lead and she didn't want to fall over that ledge again. Reluctantly, she pulled a crystal from her pocket and he laughed, seeing the electric blue sheen that it gave off even though he couldn't see the crystal.

 

“You weren't going to tell us you found anything here at all, were you?”

 

“I-I hadn't thought about it.”

 

“Hmm. Too bad I don't believe you, Stacy.”

 

She crept down the step that had caused her to fall the first time, and walked slowly down the slope. It wasn't much farther, and she was really getting scared. Very soon he wouldn't need her help to find the crystals- they were everywhere and the glow they gave off was unmistakable…

 

“Well, we're here,” she said. She nodded to the bend that lead to the crystal chamber. He took a step in front of her and she turned, ready to run past him up the tunnel again, but he had obviously been waiting for that. He stopped her by grabbing a handful of her ponytail and yanked her backward.

 

He had a terribly strong grip, and she tripped, tearing out some of her blonde hair before he let go. Her eyes watered and she felt dazed but she was still determined to run. She was afraid of staying with him any longer so she screamed when he pulled her in front of him and wrapped one arm around her throat.

 

“This would be easier for both of us if you would just cooperate.”

 

“I-I just want to go home,” she said. He didn't reply; he kept an iron grip on her and this time she walked quietly.

 

The moment he stepped around the bend and saw the crystals, Stacy felt his grip loosen.

 

Stacy's father was a cop with the RPD and he had taught her a lot about self defense; his distraction was her chance to escape. Before she could think about what she was doing, she stomped on her captor's foot. He growled angrily and as she turned, she thrust the palm of her hand up under his chin. The blow snapped his head back and made him stumble.

 

She dashed for the cave opening that would take her outside, but she could already hear him behind her and he managed to grab her ankle. She tripped and winced when he yanked her back down the slope. He kicked her in the stomach; she crumpled to the cold stone floor and moaned. She was too dazed to try again, but he didn't give her a chance to speak; he dragged her toward the center of the room, by her shirt collar ignoring her struggle to keep up.

 

He began to laugh as he looked around the room. He dropped her next to a large crystal about twelve feet from the magnificent tower of crystal and promptly tied her hands behind her back. He also tied her ankles together and smiled coldly at her.

 

He turned away though and looked around the room triumphantly. “Five years of searching the upper caves and it was in here the whole-”

 

For a moment, Stacy didn't even dare to breathe. Rick's father walked over to the edge of the spring and stared at the tower of glowing crystal. He was looking at her… the woman in the crystal.

 

“W-What the…” He jumped toward the entombed figure- his boots splashed through the small spring and placed his hands on the massive chunk of crystal. He stared at it for a good ten minute before he took the sat phone out of his pack and dialed another number.

 

“Call Sidney, Jackson, Spencer and get an investigation and an evac team to these coordinates on the double. No publicity, got that?” He growled at the phone when he realized it wasn't going to work inside the deeply buried cavern. “I would tell you not to go anywhere for a minute, but I already know I can't trust you to hold still…”

 

“You-you can't do this to me; please, I won't tell anybody about the stupid rocks! Just let me go, I just want to go home!”

 

“Stupid rocks?” He snarled; his normally friendly blue eyes were livid when he turned to stare at her. “Stupid rocks? Do you have any idea what these crystals are?”

 

“Diamonds?” she asked.

 

He laughed, but it was a cold sound, hollow and full of contempt, rather than humor it frightened her. He sounded crazy and she was still trapped here with him.

 

“These crystals are glowing because they are made of crystallized energy, but until now there were not enough samples of them to study. She's beautiful, but by studying her, I can figure out how the crystal forms and use the energy. We could completely revolutionize energy production and distribution if Umbrella finally gives me the space I need to work on this. Now that I've found the crystals I need, Umbrella will have to give me more lab space!”

 

Stacy stayed quiet, and hoped that he would forget about her. She leaned against one of the stone base of one of the crystal growths and stared at the floor. The scientist laughed and went back to looking around the room. He took a small chisel out of his pack and tapped a large crystal obelisk off of the woman's crystal tomb near the base.

 

Ripples stirred the water surrounding the crystal tower and Stacy shivered, for she thought she heard a woman's voice echo softly through the chamber.

 

No… please, don't wake her…

 

Rick's father didn't appear to notice, but Stacy's eyes were drawn to the woman's face. She expected to see her awake, angry with glowing red eyes and long clawed fingernails… but she still seemed asleep. Her eyes were closed and her pose was as sad but relaxed as ever.

 

“This is better than I had hoped for! The energy readings of this crystal are greater than the concentration within any other sample we've ever found!”

 

“Congratulations, on your discovery, Dr. Stevens,” the voice that spoke was masculine and it sounded as cold as Rick's dad had been impassioned. Stacy looked around wildly, but she didn't believe for a minute that the new arrival was here to rescue her. “Umbrella appreciates your many years of dedication, but from what I can see, the lovely lady in the crystal is of greater interest to the White office than your energy theories.”

 

“W-What? W-Wesker, you can't be serious! Y-You can't do this to me! T-This is- it's my life's work and I discovered it.” Rick's father was looking around for the other man, but like Stacy, the scientist couldn't seem to find him.

 

The other man laughed coldly. “On the phone an hour ago you told us you were negotiating a finder's fee, Doctor. I was sent immediately to follow you and make sure that you were telling the truth about a discovery being made. The White office likes progress Tom; and you haven't been making much in the last five years. I will happily tell them about this place on your behalf, but your associates will be continuing your work on the project. As you know, with the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Darius, the viral weapons projects have all hit a bit of a snag, so Sidney and Jackson are looking for a new pet project to occupy their time and curiosity with…”

 

The scientist nodded nervously. “I have to find out what has preserved the body to be able to use the energy, Wesker, so I will be devoting myself to-”

 

The other man laughed again and Stacy heard a metallic click, she shivered and tried not to think about what would happen next. “That's the trouble with you, Tom; you're missing the bigger picture. The woman in the crystal- I don't think she's dead.”

 

Stacy's heart skipped a beat, so she wasn't the only one who sensed it. It was eerie and frightening to think about, but she didn't believe the woman was dead either.

 

Please…

 

Stacy heard the same female voice as before, and again she stared at the face of the woman in the crystal. The whisper was still soft and indistinct, but she believed she had heard it. The woman had to be dead- and yet Stacy sensed that she knew they were there.

 

Rick's father scoffed at the idea so loudly that Stacy doubted either of the men had heard the soft spoken plea, and she shivered.

 

You must leave this place, now…

 

The advice was good and Stacy shivered, she could almost feel the sadness of the woman deepening, like the heavy cloud of gloom hanging over the whole chamber. She tried to wriggle her hands out of the knots he had tied in the climbing ropes that bound her…

 

“You are right about one thing, Tom; we do need to move these specimens immediately. The media will have to be kept out of this, so I'm sure Jackson and the others will assign the project to be moved to the Mansion facility immediately for peace and quiet. Goodbye, Dr. Stevens.” The man in the shadows had a smooth, cold voice that gave Stacy the chills once again.

 

“No!” The scientist howled. She sensed both anger and fear in his voice. She tried to imagine what the man threatening him looked like, but she couldn't see anything. It would probably be best to just try and hide. “You can't do this to me! I started this project- I've…”

 

“You've been replaced, Dr.” A gunshot echoed through the chamber- impossibly loud, it echoed off the walls and the crystals, and Stacy screamed, for in that instant something wet and sticky splashed across her face…

 

She looked up in time to see the scientist stagger, and fall at her feet. She scrambled to get her legs away from him. He was already dead; he wasn't breathing and there was a small dark hole in his forehead but his sightless eyes stared at her accusingly. Stacy looked away, choking back a sob. Never in her worst nightmares would she have imagined she might ever see someone shot to death in front of her eyes…

 

So much for hiding, she tried to regain her composure, but it was already too late, footsteps were coming toward her. An instant later, a man looked down at her without any expression at all, and he wore mirrored sunglasses- strange, she thought, because it was so dark in the cave. He pointed the gun at her casually. He smiled a little as he crouched down in front of her. “So, what's your name?”

 

Stacy bit her lip; somehow, this man was the most frightening person she'd ever seen. He was a killer- there was no doubt in her mind that he was probably going to kill her too, but she looked at him anyway, determined to be brave. He was handsome; his neatly spiked blonde hair was immaculately well groomed and his sculpted face was clean shaven. He was so close to her that she could smell his strawberry scented bubble gum. He was in good shape, tall, muscular and broad shouldered; his outfit reminded her of the generic evil assassin from any action movie she'd ever seen. He wore black fatigues and unmarked boots and several guns, but she memorized his features anyway, hoping that somehow her last memories could tell her father who to look for when he found out that she was dead…

 

“Stacy,” she murmured.

 

Wesker smoothed a wisp of her blonde hair out of her face. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him stubbornly as the gun went off. Pain exploded through her chest, and her head hit the rocks and crystals in back of her from the impact of the bullet. Warm, sticky blood already darkened the front of her shirt.

 

“Goodbye, Stacy,” he said casually.

 

She coughed, choking on a plea for help. Everything hurt and she couldn't breathe. She could hear the smile in his voice through the sound of the blood pounding through her veins. She looked up at the beautiful woman in the crystal and wondered if she thought it was getting colder in here too...

 

The man with the gun had moved away from her, he was already interested in other things but before everything went dark she heard a soft female voice whispering again.

 

I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…