A loud confrontation and a silent confession (S2)

Leon was holding his pistol tightly, but rather than getting it prepared for firing, he was just pointing it at the ground.

Ada has already sat up, staring at him with her bright red eyes. Seeing Leon fine did comfort her a bit, however, where this confrontation would go was still a puzzle to her and it worried her.

Her thigh wasn’t even bleeding from the stab wound. Instead, the tissues around it and the stockings got burnt. If Leon had to guess, the debris must’ve contained some of kind silver compound, so that Ada couldn’t remove it by herself.

“Are you going to use that on me?” Ada glanced at the Matilda in his hand and smiled with her faint voice. The debris stabbing in her thigh was making her painful all the time.

“I don’t know...” Leon replied with doubts, and the hand holding the gun was slightly shaking. When Ada was speaking, he could see the tiny little fangs in her mouth, which actually made her more sexy. He looked at her with mixed feelings and said, “I ran into Annette. She claims you’re not FBI.”

“What do you think?” Ada kept her calmness.

“I don’t think there would be some kind of vampire division in the bureau. Who are you? Who do you work for?” Leon asked harshly. But even in this situation he couldn’t bring himself to point his gun at Ada, who has saved him more than once.

“I can’t tell you. But what I said about taking down Umbrella is true.” Ada looked in his eyes and said, “All the evidence are in the NEST, Umbrella’s lab right beneath us. If they were left buried in it, Umbrella will get away from this and continue their operation. But with your help, I might be able to stop them.”

“What are you going to do with the G-Virus?” Leon kept asking, “I’ll have to take you in if-”

“I’m not sure if you can ‘take in’ a vampire.” Ada smiled, “But I can tell you this: G-Virus has been leaked at the begining of this incident. Raccoon City is lost no matter what. You can’t change that.”

“Then why do you want it?" Leon held his fist more tightly.

“If we had a sample of the virus, we might be able to create an antiviral agent and stand a chance of stopping things like these from happening again. ” Ada didn’t avoid that question at all, “That’s what you want, too, isn’t it?”

Leon stared at the ground and remained silent. He didn’t know what or who to believe anymore. Ada’s intention was still a mystery. As far as he knew, she could be using him as a pawn. Once she acquired the G-Virus, there was no guarantee that what she would do with it.

But the situation was no doubt as imminent as she said. Umbrella was the greater evil here, and it must be burnt to ashes, so that Marvin and everyone else wouldn’t die in vain. He had **** but to work with her, otherwise none of them could make it out alive.

Leon took a deep breath before he continued. His final decision would depend on the answer Ada gave him for the coming question.

“Why did you save me?” Leon looked at her confusedly. The question was haunting him all this time, and he didn’t know what answer to expect.

“I don’t know...” Ada hasn’t really thought of this and it confused her, too. She looked up at the police officer in front of her with a smile of relief and said, “I think I would be sad if I just watch you die.”

Leon felt his heart pounding heavily for a second when he heard the answer - and the sincerity behind it - from Ada. He couldn’t identify what this feeling was but it led to him sheathing the Matilda back into the holster.

Calmly he walked towards her and knelt down.

“I might...hurt you...” Ada backed up a little. She didn’t even dare to look at him. The sweet smell of his blood from the shoulder wound was still tempting, if not overwhelmed by the fresh wound on his face. She fought hard to stop herself from licking him.

“You didn’t when I passed out.” Leon put his hands around the debris, “You won’t bleed to ****, will you?”

“That remains to be seen.” Ada gave him a naughty smile.

“OK. It’s gonna hurt.”

Leon swiftly pulled the debris out. Ada groaned with her eyes closed. She tried to gasp for air to ease her pain, but that just made her inhale more of the aroma of his blood. She was quivering as she feared the thirst might take over. The wound showed no sign of regenerating, even after the debris being removed.

“Hold on.” Leon tried to grab the bandages and rubbing **** from his pockets.

“It’s no use.” Ada shook her head, “You know what I need to heal.”

“At least worth a try.” He poured the **** on the bandages and began to dress her wound.

The **** getting in her system was intensifying every sensation of hers, including the thirst. When he was lowering his head to treat her wound, she could see and hear the blood pumping in his veins on his neck. She was licking her fangs as she slowly parted her lips and shivered. She fantasized about pinning him down on the floor and ravaging him, but she managed to restrain herself.

“Why didn’t you attack me all this time? You know, for blood.” Leon casually asked when he finished treating her wound.

“I’m not like those things. I’m a true vampire.” Ada sighed with a helpless smile, “A bite from me won’t infect and turn you. Those you killed are Umbrella created hybrids, infected and turned by the ν strain, an engineered mixture of vampire blood and a cannibal virus they were working on, the T-Virus.”

“You’re implying that vampires are real all the time and Umbrella used them to make a bioweapon?” Leon followed up and nodded at the ridiculous conclusion, “So, what do we do now?”

“As I said, we need to get to the NEST to acquire the G-Virus and the evidence of Umbrella’s connection to this outbreak.” Ada said softly, “It would be better if we find out how they got their hands on vampire blood. Who is working with them, I wonder.”

“So many good people have died to this madness and I promised them I’d help. I’m not leaving until Umbrella answer to their crimes.” Leon stood up, replied with a firm expression and reached out his hand, “We’ll call it even after this.”

“Fair enough.” Ada took his hand and roughly stood up.

Her hand was cold. He thought less about the unnatural aspect, but more about the care she needed.

“Come on, grab my shoulder.” Leon invited her after helping her up.

“Don’t push it, rookie.” Ada playfully shook off his hand.

“OK...Just trying to help. Watch your step.” Leon watched carefully on the side when Ada was stumbling forward with her wounded leg.

The duo walked slowly towards the platform for the cable car, which would take them straight down to NEST. It required at least a visitor clearance to start the car. Fortunately the ID wristband that Ada “borrowed” from the dead inspector in the incinerator was the ticket they needed.

“Mm...” Ada almost fell down on the bridge due to the pain. She leaned on the rail to rest.

“Need me carry you?” Leon quietly approached her.

“No. That’d only make me feel worse.” Ada whispered with her faint voice and continued walking, “Besides, you’re so sweet. You don’t want me to eat you on the way, do you?”

“That sounds like a threat...” Leon shrugged his shoulder, although the pain from it made him grit his teeth.

“How’s the shoulder?” Ada asked with concern.

“Worse than it looks. Well...” Leon held his shoulder with his hand, when he suddenly remembered something.

“What a pair. Both got one foot in the grave.”

“Something like that...Speaking of...did you...lick my shoulder?” Leon was too embarrassed to ask but he managed to come through.

“It was...” Ada’s face flushed deeply and she stuttered a little, “Our saliva can...make your wound heal faster. That’s all. Wait...how do you know what I...”

“It’s a long story...”

They both were grateful that this embarrassing conversation did not have to continue as they’ve already arrived at the platform. Ada was surprised to see Annette’s corpse, but judging from the cold expression from Leon, she already figured out what happened and did not ask. Killing a living person would always be traumatized, especially for a first day police officer. She felt sad for him.

The door of the cable car reacted to the ID wristband and automatically opened. Ada made it inside and sat on the bench with her shaking legs. She was not going anywhere with the wound unhealed. Leon walked to the front and pulled the lever to start the cable car.

“This tram is bound for NEST. Do not exit until the final destination.” With the female synthetic voice on the broadcast and a low humming sound from the engine, the car shook slightly and slowly went deeper down.

Leon couldn’t believe that he had made this far. Yesterday he was just another rookie police officer, waiting for his call at home. Now he was diving into the heart of a vampire infested city, which officers like Marvin, Elliot, Neil and David died defending for, which civilians like Claire, Sherry and so many other victims whose names he didn’t even know desperately tried to escape.

“It’s not going to end here, right? Even if we destroy Umbrella, someone else will take up its mantle and continue its research. Everything will be changed after this.” Leon said in low voice and sighed while staring into the darkness ahead. He was overwhelmed by despair.

“Human’s greed will always exceed its grasp. It’s not like you can do anything about that.” Ada’s eyes flashed red in the dim light.

“You’re right.” Leon lowered his head, “I guess I’m a useless cop after all.”

Something began to stir in her mind when Ada saw Leon blaming himself. She felt her heart cracked by sadness, and a strange emotion was pumped from her still, broken heart to her whole body. She didn’t know what that was as she has never felt so overwhelmed since she turned. She was a bit afraid, but also stimulated by it.

By the time she realized, she was already standing behind Leon, and holding his body with her both arms.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, handsome.” She softly whispered in his ear. The sweet smell of his blood was so intoxicating that she couldn’t help herself parting her lips again and approaching his neck. She tipped his skin with her fangs and for several times she really wanted to just bite down. But she didn’t.

Leon could feel Ada’s cold breaths, and even her sharp fangs, caressing his neck as she was restraining herself from biting him, but oddly he wasn’t scared at all. In fact, he has never felt this peaceful tonight. He gently grabbed her hand and put it on his chest.

The wild beats of his heart through her hand along with the strong pumps of his blood in his neck just made Ada feel warm, if not hot, again. She inhaled the fragrance of him one last time, closed her mouth to cover her fangs, and just softly leaned on his shoulder.

What’s wrong with me, she thought. Normally such strong heartbeats were like invitation of a feast to her, but Leon’s heartbeats felt like a lullaby that could make her get away from everything, so that she could finally rest. No more thirst, no more lust, just peace.

He didn’t say anything to her, nor she to him, but they both wanted this wonderful moment in the cable car to last forever and put all the pain behind. In this moment, everything was real and joyful.

Yet everything had to come to an end.

“Now arriving at NEST.” The cable car was slowing down when the female synthetic voice sounded again.

Ada reluctantly released him and stepped a little backwards to give him some space, as Leon turned around and looked in her red eyes. They’re quite lovely, too, he couldn’t shake this terrible thought off his head. Vampires were scary creatures, yet he’s not sure of what he thought of her.

“Go.” Ada took off the ID wristband and placed it in his hand, “You’re gonna need this.”

“OK.” Leon held it tightly as it was not only useful, but also meaningful, before putting it on his wrist. He walked towards the door when the cable car was fully stopped.

“Leon...” Ada looked at him before he left, “I’m counting on you.”

“I know.”