"Mold people? Why not..."

Jake Muller's whisper broke up the stillness in the air, interrupting the silence of the morning as the sun broke over the snow-covered horizon. The valley below him slowly came to life. His focus was on the estate in front of him, a castle belonging to the Dimitrescu estate on the outer edge of the village.

He stared down at the village feeling the chill in the air. He'd been called here on assignment with Leon Kennedy, both agents of the US government. Both working to stop Umbrella Corp and its various incarnations. But this was something else.

"Shhh." Leon stood next to him, binoculars over his eyes as he studied the lay of the land.

Man blood.

Jake wasn't sure he'd heard anything or if he'd imagined it. It was faint, a whisper on the wind almost.

His hand was on his pistol again, this time drawing it just in time to meet the woman who appeared out of nowhere in front of him. He towered over her at 6'3" but she still unnerved him. The way her brown eyes slithered up his frame and the way she licked her lips. Her brown cloak rippled around her. Her mouth moving, grinding over her browned teeth, showing off bloodied gums. Her clothes covered most of her but she stood in the snow in bare feet, uncaring or unfeeling.

His skin crawled. His past self would have shot her immediately. The mercenary in him, that he'd been since he was 14, demanded that he pull, draw, and fire right now. Life experiences told him sometimes people were innocent. Sherry had made him believe sometimes they could be saved.

Or not.

Without warning the strange woman lashed out raking her fingernails across the hand that he raised to block her strike. A shot rang out. The woman fell backward, a shriek escaping her lips as she fell, echoing across the landscape.

Leon stepped into his line of sight, eyes on Jakes's wound, binoculars in one hand, pistol in the other.

"So much for observing," he said.

Both Jake and Leon stood in silence as the wounds immediately closed on Jake's hand. A nice parting gift he'd received from his father, Alber Wesker, after being repeatedly experimented on. He knelt down and wiped the blood off onto a stick catching Leon's gaze.

"Damn, never going to get used to that," Leon said, as he stuffed the binoculars away.

"Let's just put it to good use." Jake stood up and moved forward ignoring Leon's gaze. He wasn't worried about the older guy, he knew Leon wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in him if he suddenly mutated into one of the variants he'd encountered back in Edonia. In fact he hoped he would, the idea of him running around as that kind of monster was more than he could handle. In theory, he was immune to the C-Virus he was infected with. But that didn't stop him from having nightmares about sprouting an extra limb or two and turning into mindless J'avo like the rest of his former unit. 

He cursed his father in his native Edonian under his breath as he stood, shaking snowflakes off his coat as he did so.

"We need to move," Leon said, turning his gaze to their surroundings. "Let's head for the big house."

Surprisingly there were no other monster people nearby. Jake couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that they were being watched. In his experience dealing with monsters that usually showed up out of Umbrella Corp, these things traveled in packs. He took one last glance at the body and turned away noting how it was starting to harden. It didn't cave in on itself like others he'd fought before. This was definitely different.

A stick cracked behind him and Jake didn't need any more invitation to move than that. He ran toward a motorcycle he'd left lying in the snow next, raising it up in a single fluid motion, and swinging a leg over as Leon did the same with his own. He gunned the bike full throttle listening to the shrieks behind him over the engine.

The castle loomed up the closer they got. It sat just to the east of the village, surprisingly few barriers around it. A low eight-foot gate that Jake did not consider much of an issue. He pulled up next to it to stare up at the castle, cutting the throttle of his bike and listening to Leon's shut off a split second later.

It was quiet, not even a bird chirped in this place.

He surveyed what could be described as a brick garden wall.

"Gates open," Leon responded. Jake turned to look at what Leon was indicating. There indeed was a small gate hanging open on loose hinges.

"Guess we'll see if they're in." Jake laid the bike down quietly, mentally assessing the arsenal he had strapped to his body. Both he and Leon were armed to the teeth with explosives, bullets, pistols, rifles, pretty much anything they could strap to their bodies.

He settled for the Glock again as they moved toward the gate. There was surprisingly little activity in the village behind them.

The courtyard was empty, there were no footprints in the fallen snow other than their own.

A yowl erupted outside the gate and both men froze. It was joined by a second and Jake moved towards the doors spurned by Leon shoving him forward. As he glanced behind him a figure leaped on top of the yard in a single bound, the creature looked like it used to be human but was grotesquely exaggerated. It crouched on all fours, licking its lips as it caught sight of them. It was joined by a second and a third.

 Both men ran through the doors slamming them shut behind them. There was a large beam next to the wall and without even thinking about why it was there, Jake snatched it up and pushed Leon aside, placing the beam firmly in place to keep the doors from being opened. Seconds later the doors shook as multiple bodies slammed into it.

The two men exchanged a look. This was what they'd come for, evidence of BOW activity and they'd found it. Now they just had to escape with the information and not die trying.

Jake swatted a fly away from his face as he stared at the shaking doors. Did these creatures never get tired?

"I hope this isn't another Raccoon City," Leon muttered behind him. He pulled out a walkie-talkie and listened to it for a moment as he switched between channels.

Jake surveyed the room they were in. It appeared to be an old servant's entryway, the hall was grand, shelves lined the walkway on the left side. What appeared to be a kitchen was at the far end. There was a smell he couldn't quite place.

"Man blood."

He froze, finger on the trigger of his Glock. This time it was audible and he could tell by the way that Leon shoved the walkie-talkie back into his pocket that he'd heard it too. Both men had their guns drawn

The voice was feminine, ethereal, and at the same disturbing. He swatted more flies out of the way and turned to say something to Leon when he realized Leon too was swatting flies, in fact, there were hundreds of flies flying around the room.

Movement caught his attention and he noticed a woman at the end of the hall. "Leon," he said, pointing his gun at her. Leon had already drawn. The flies seemed to be originating from the woman herself. He couldn't make out her features as she stood silhouetted against the light from inside outside of the fact that she was wearing a long dress with a hood.

"Hello," Leon said but didn't lower his weapon.

Jake said nothing just watching the flies pull back towards the woman, who watched them, hands hanging at her sides.

"You're not from the village," she said, her voice high pitched. She moved forward, Jake could have sworn she almost hovered as she moved, her hands swayed around like a little girl playing hopscotch and as she drew closer. Her eyes were yellow and gleamed in the light, her blonde hair hung loosely from under the hood she wore and the smile she wore was predatory. Jake had once thought the human zombies he'd encountered before were the worst things he'd seen, humans stuck between life and death, but seeing this woman before him, he was no longer sure. She was death incarnate.

She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. "Oh you are divine, I bet you taste delicious."

Both of them fired.

She rose up in the air faster than anyone would have thought possible, even with Jake's faster reflexes he was shoved against the wall as she came between them, the buzzing of thousands of flies in his ears drowning out everything but her shrieking laughter.

"We'll take the bigger one first..."

Pain laced through his leg as he felt himself being stabbed and snatched off of his feet. She was far stronger than he would have believed possible.

"Shit," he yelled, years of fighting monsters snapping him back to reality. He found himself in an open room and to his relief, Leon ran in behind him, gun drawn firing at the woman who laughed as she evaporated into a swarm of flies. Blood ran down his leg and he put a hand over the wound by instinct. It was already closing. Shit, it hurt to heal.

He was on his feet quickly, the pain already ebbing from his leg. Leon was turning circles next to him in what was an elegant room.

He stopped. There was a single chair in the room in front of a burning fireplace. The chair was large, too big even for a man his size.

He put a hand on Leon's arm, as Leon was still circling looking up for their buggy friend.

"I think we got bigger problems," he said.

Leon stopped and turned to stare at what Jake was looking at.

And then she stood.

All elegance wrapped in the garb of 1950s nobility, she looked down at them from a height of at least ten feet.

Jake couldn't help it as his jaw dropped.

"I'd say you did," she spoke. Like the woman who'd drug him here she sniffed the air, before either of them could move she was in front of them with Jake's hand in hers. Leon's gun was trained on her already. "Not so fast," she purred. "I could drop his entrails to the floor before you could pull the trigger, besides..."

She pulled his hand to her face and dragging her tongue slowly across it. "I only want a taste."

She dropped the hand and stepped back, rising to her full height. Giggling came from several corners of the room, flies buzzed all around them.

The tall woman turned her back on them. Leon fired first, and with Jake not far behind. Other than pushing her forward, she was not hurt.

"How dare you?" She said turning around. "Another gown ruined! You come into my house to destroy my things."

Her hands extended into claws and she rapidly closed the distance between herself and Leon, one arm extended to strike. Jake jumped between them shoving Leon aside. The claws came down slicing across his body in deep grooves, some of his arsenal dropped to the floor as he sank to his knees, his blood soaking his clothes and the rug.

"Shit, fuck," he gasped, the pain was excruciating.

Leon was at his side, and Jake shoved one of his loosened grenades into Leon's hand.

HIs jacket was completely shredded in the front, but amazingly he still maintained a grip on his Glock. His other arm felt useless.

"What's this?" The tall lady bent over him again, Leon was dragged away and Jake could feel her hot breath against his cheek. "Are you one of Mother Miranda's new pets? A Lord?"

"Aaagh," he gasped as his skin knit back together. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners?" She stood and backed up. "Girls please stop playing with the other man thing. I am Lady Alcina Dimitrescu, Lord of this Castle under the rule of Mother Miranda, the prophet of the Black God. And you are?"

Jake found it easier to breathe again, the stinging was starting to fade, he stood up and moved towards Leon, making sure to keep whatever remained of his jacket on his body.

"Jake Muller," he said. "And Lady, I have no idea who the fuck Mother Miranda is..."

"So you are not one of hers," Lady Dimitrescu's smile turned predatory. "You must be a gift from the Black God. A man who heals, an endless supply of blood."

She turned towards Leon, "And your partner? Is he the same?"

Jake put himself between Lady Dimitrescu and Leon. "Nah, Captain America here passes for whatever normal is these days."

"I see. a mere snack."

"Should we inform, Mother Miranda?" The girl who'd dragged Jake into the room materialized in a shower of buzzing flies next to Lady Dimitrescu.

"No, I daresay we shouldn't..." The tall woman smiled, her claws sliding out of her fingers. "Daughters, I think I am going to have fun with this one, it's not often I meet someone who can't be doesn't die. What if I tested, just how much flesh can we cut from you, Mr. Muller?"

"No thanks, been there done that." The claws flashed out in front of him and he managed to push back just in time but collided with Leon. He shoved Leon behind him down the hallway, Leon was still holding the grenade pulled the pen and tossed it into the room, before grabbing Jake and pulling him back.

The explosion knocked both of them back, this time Jake landed on top of Leon knocking the wind out of him.

"My drawing room!" He heard as the flames erupted behind them.

The laughter of the daughters had turned to shrieks. He rolled to the side, dragging himself to his feet, Leon was doing the same.

"How is she still moving," Leon asked

"Just run!" Jake said. They were outmatched here. They needed backup. 

Leon pulled another grenade out of his chest pack and pulling the pen as the four daughters of Alcina Dimitrescu came barreling out of the room.

"I'm going to so enjoy eating your man-flesh again and again," the one who'd dragged Jake down the hallway hissed, a small scythe appearing in her hand. She took the lead and swung it at him, Jake hesitated. He could take the hits, but Leon couldn't.

He turned and caught the woman by the arm, throwing her into the wall, her scream catching the attention of the other three as they flew towards him, shrieking like banshees. He found himself surrounded on all sides, blocking their blows as best as he could. They were fast, agile, and attacking from all angles. He managed to block a blow only to feel a scythe take a cut on his side. The pain from the fast healing was almost as bad as the cuts themselves.

In the end, it was Dimistrescu herself who saved his life. Pushing her daughters aside she skewered him but by this time they were close to the door and Leon had pulled the beam off. They probably had a better shot at dealing with the creatures outside than this ten-foot monster vampire lady in here.

The pain of her claws through her middle was just one of several injuries he was already bearing and he felt himself growing weaker as the blood loss started to take its toll. His body could replenish itself but not as fast as they wanted to take it.

She smiled down at him as she left her fingers in, the other hand pulling at the blood as she brought it to her mouth and licked her own fingers. "I think we'll keep you to ourselves man thing. Whatever you are... You are not one of Mother Miranda's. You are mine, a gift to me from the black God. He's finally seen my true worth."

Jake smiled back. She was close enough for him to grab and so he did, pulling himself towards her using her own hard, in a split second he was close enough to swing a fist at her with his free hand. The hit knocked off a pearl necklace from around her neck, scattering pearls across the room. The blow itself seemed to surprise her more than hurt her. She tossed him back and he landed with a sickening squelch next to Leon. Coughing up blood he sat up.

"Leon, throw it!"

He heard the pin drop and barely registered the grenade sailing over him. Leon pushed the doors open as the daughters and Lady Dimitrescu turned to watch the grenade roll towards them, smoke was already billowing out of the room they'd hit the first time. Castle Dimitrescu was on fire.

He felt Leon's hands under his armpits yanking him to his feet. Everything sounded far away, the second explosion hurled them both outside face-first into the snow.

"No, I will killllllllll youuuu...argh..." They both turned in time to see their first captor freeze in the snow, her body hardening with each step she took forward. The others clambered in the doorway but did not come outside. Screams came from inside the castle.

They ran for their motorcycles. Jake's jacket was completely shredded, his body numbing in the cold, even as he healed. 

Leon laughed suddenly as he revved the engine.

"What?" Jake said.

"You said, 'we got big problems,' " Leon said nodding towards the castle.

"Fuck you," Jake responded as his motorcycle roared to life and they both fled.