Epilogue - A Long Dream

Epilogue - A Long Dream

"Honey! I'm home!" Leon checked the mailbox and found an envelope inside before he came into the house.

He walked slowly through the entrance and took off his shoes. He had a sore back after 28 years of police work, and he gasped in pain when he bent down to straighten the shoes. But he got quite used to it, and that didn't bother him at all. And it was Friday; he could take a really good rest.

In the living room, Ada was sitting on the sofa, making herself a beauty mask. She looked all green and ridiculous, and Leon couldn't help but laugh aloud. Ada stared at him with a slightly displeased expression.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just..." Leon looked at her face, and he could barely hold himself together, "You look... beautiful." She always is, he thought.

"Hmm, is that supposed to be a compliment?" Ada really wanted to smile, but that would just ruin her beauty mask. "Anyway, is that a letter?" She looked at the envelope in his hand.

"Yeah..."

"That's not from the new girl at your station, right?" Ada came closer to him and asked in a jealous tone.

"What? No! Of course not. It's..." Leon looked carefully at the envelope as he opened it, "It's from Marvin. And there are four airline tickets to L.A.. Let's see... It says these are a prize he won last week, but he already had plans with his wife and daughter. So he decided to give them to me." He read the letter inside.

"Marvin is really enjoying a wonderful retirement, huh." Ada took one of the tickets and checked the date before she asked, "It's tomorrow. Well, do you have some ideas?"

"Actually, I do." Leon smirked.

The next morning, Leon and Ada were each dragging a suitcase behind them when they arrived at the Raccoon City Airport. Claire and Sherry were already there, playing portable games in the departure lounge.

"Leon! Ada! You're almost late!" Sherry paused the game right before Claire was about to beat her, as she got up and welcomed the couple.

"Hey, Sherry, Claire, long time no see." Leon shook hands with them, "Your parents aren't coming?"

"I'm 40 this year, Leon, not 12. Besides, they're very busy working on a new medicine lately. I don't think they can spare any time for a long trip." Sherry pouted.

"Right. I keep forgetting about that." Leon patted his own head awkwardly.

"Claire, how's your work?" Ada looked at the other lady and smiled.

"Well, you know, my racer club just won the Grand National Championship this year. It was difficult keeping all those boys together, but I managed." Claire replied confidently, "Chris always said he wants to join my club when he's not that busy. But that sounds like a long shot, right, Leon?" She turned to the man.

"Everybody knows the R.P.D. couldn't live a day without Chief Redfield. And he couldn't live without his work." Leon returned a wicked smile, "Well, I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing his beloved sister for a trip. Ouch! Ada, I'm just joking!" He held his shoulder where Ada had just pinched hard.

"Yep. Same old Leon S. Kennedy." Claire laughed before she shook her head.

Several minutes later, they both got on the plane. Leon and Ada were sitting next to each other on one side, reading books together, while Claire and Sherry were on the other, continuing their match from before. They were really looking forward to this trip.

Leon looked out the window when the plane was flying above the clouds. The scene was so beautiful, and he felt warm when the sun shone on him. He then turned to the lady sitting next to him. This Asian beauty looked as beautiful as the night he met her 28 years ago, like she hadn't aged a day.

"Is there something on my face?" Ada blushed as she asked.

"No. It's just... I'm lucky to have you." Leon smiled. He could still remember the night he met her. It was his first day at work, and he was in the parking garage, attacked by a bloodthirsty vampire dog... Wait, what? He looked all confused and terrified.

"What's wrong?" Ada saw the strange expression on his face and asked carefully.

"I don't know. Something is... not right." Leon looked around. There were only four of them on this plane. Everything seemed not real.

"Hey... It's okay. I'm here." Ada just hugged him.

Leon felt comfortable in her arms. He smiled and just hugged her back. It didn't matter to him if this was real or not. He couldn't remember what had happened in the last 28 years. But one thing was sure. He has been living in a world without some crazy pharmaceutical company, without some lethal viruses, and most importantly, without vampires.

And this moment, together with Ada, was worth everything to him.

Leon woke up in an interrogation room inside a secret facility. A few days ago, Sherry and he were rescued by the U.S. government agent, and they have been kept here since then.

The scenes from his dream were still lingering in his mind. Leon smiled helplessly. He really wished that they were real, that the world without monsters were real, that what he had just been through in Raccoon City was a nightmare. But eventually, he had to live with this.

"We have the authority to do as we please with you, Mr. Kennedy. You and that girl." The U.S. government agent, Adam Benford, spoke over the radio.

"Just leave her out of this. She's just an innocent." Leon replied. He had to protect Sherry. That was what he had promised Claire.

"An innocent who carries the G-Antibody and vampire blood. Don't worry. We're taking very good care of her." Adam said, "Bottom line is, you have the experience we're looking for. So if you want this to end peacefully, you really only have one choice."

Leon lifted his head, stared at the mirror in front of him in despair.

"Work for us."

The sensation of weightlessness overwhelmed her, and suddenly she opened her eyes, waking up in her bed. Her heart didn't beat anymore, but she still felt the strange warmth coming from her chest, like the man's heart was beating in her place when she hugged him.

She could never imagine a world like that, where she was just a normal human and living a peaceful life with the man she loved. It was only in dreams that she could feel the warmth of the sun again. She almost forgot what it was like, after all these years lurking in the darkness.

But that dream belonged to Ada, not to her. She gave a bitter smile and got up.

Red was her favourite color, but she decided to wear her dark green shirt tonight as she walked toward the window. She looked down and enjoyed the fresh air soothing her cold face. She felt parched as she touched her dry lips with her slender fingers. I need something to drink, she smiled and jumped down.

As a vampire, she wouldn't die from the fall. However, it reminded her of that time when she fell from the bridge in the NEST, when she felt overwhelmed by sadness as the young and cute police officer failed to pull her up. She thought that she would never have that kind of human emotion anymore, that she had to make all those up in front of other people, and she was wrong.

"Hey, beauty! Want to have some fun tonight?" A young street gangster came up to her with a bottle of wine in his hand.

"Sure. Why not?" She smiled.

When the boy's neck was pierced by her fangs and his blood flowed through her throat, she felt alive again. He tasted disgusting, but she couldn't be picky nowadays. Although, she couldn't help but wish she could taste the young cop's blood again. That was really exquisite.

She licked the boy's neck clean and let him sleep in the dark alley. As long as she didn't drain her victims, they wouldn't come back to haunt her, and the local police force wouldn't know what was going on. She smiled and left for the downtown district.

The night was still young, and maybe she would like to have some real fun.

"Oh, come on! I lost again!" Sherry put down the game console and almost cried.

"Looks like I'm still very good at this shooting game." Claire curled the corner of her mouth.

"That's not fair. You've been playing with guns for more than 30 years!"

"It's not just that. When I have the chance, I just fire. Remember that time when we were surrounded by dozens of vampires? I... Huh?" Claire suddenly realized that something was wrong. There was another young girl named Sam, and a mercenary, Dustin, dying in front of her. Who were they? And where did those vampires come from?

"Claire? Are you alright?" Sherry noticed that Claire's face was unusually pale, and she asked with concern.

"Sherry... How did we meet?" Claire frowned with confusion.

"Why do you ask? It was when I was 12. I went to the police station to find my mommy, and... daddy..." Sherry looked terrified as she remembered her father transforming into a big monster. "Claire... What's going on? I'm scared." She hugged the lady, burying her head in her chest like she was just a little girl all over again.

"Hey, don't worry, Sherry. As long as we're together, we'll be fine." Claire smiled.

Sherry woke up in bed, and Claire wasn't there with her.

She has been held in this room since she was taken by the U.S. agents. She didn't know where this place was, didn't know where Leon and Claire were, and didn't know if they were okay.

She looked into the mirror in the bathroom. Her reflection was weird, sometimes shaking, and sometimes semi-transparent. Her eyes had a strange orange light around the pupils when the room was dark. She opened her mouth and checked her canines. She touched one of them with her index finger, and it immediately got cut open. However, blood didn't even drip down as the wound almost healed instantly.

Sherry looked at her finger with a sad expression. She knew that whatever she got in her body that night never left her. And she had to live with that for the rest of her life.

I hope you're okay, Claire... Sherry got back in bed and closed her eyes again.

Claire woke up and she quickly looked around to see if she was safe.

She was still on the plane to France. It looked like she had just taken a nap. It was such a wonderful dream that she almost didn't want to wake up. In that dream, she was the manager of a motorcycle racer club, and Sherry grew up with her parents happily. Umbrella, T-Virus, vampires... None of those existed. She really wished that world were real.

But a dream always came to an end. She took a deep breath and went to the lavatory.

Claire washed her face and looked at herself in the mirror. Whatever happened in Raccoon City three months ago had changed her so much that she almost couldn't recognize herself. But this wasn't over yet.

She got a note in one of Chris's safe houses, stating that he was investigating something in Paris. She didn't think twice before she booked a ticket. She had to find her brother.

Claire returned to her seat and looked out the window.

The sun was rising, a new day had come, and her journey would continue.

The END

It's the 2nd anniversary of this story.

In the past year, we meet the newest game of this franchise Requiem featuring Leon, and we know Capcom is remaking Veronica next year featuring Claire. So I think, it's a good time to finally write this epilogue and conclude this fanfic.

I wish we could have more Resident Evil games in the future, and see our beloved character happy.

Thanks for your reading. It’s been a good ride.