Chapter Text
<p>Monday to Friday mornings, I'm home alone from 7.30am to around 3pm. My father is the first one home from work, and as he starts very early in the morning, he also finishes quite early in the afternoon.
So, to make the most of my days while I'm alone, I get up at 7.40 in the morning!
So when the police showed up at my house this morning, I can assure you they arrived at 8:30! They were surprised to see me awake, which made me laugh.
"I thought I'd made it clear that you were to live as if we weren't there.
- I get up every morning except weekends at 7:40. Don't worry, I won't lose any hours of sleep. Good morning otherwise, how are you?
Mr. Redfield smiles at me.
- Fine, and you?"
I nod distractedly, wandering around my house looking for a specific key I forgot to put away last Thursday....
" Ah! Finally found it!
- What does this key open?
I turn my head towards Chris before continuing to gather the items I'm going to need.
- It lets me turn the ignition on a motorcycle. It's a spare.
- You've got a motorcycle? I didn't see a motorcycle... It's not specified in the vehicles you own.
I laugh heartily.
- It's a friend's, I'm fixing it up for him.
I go off to my room to grab the sweater I'm working with.
- Do you know anything about mechanics?
- You seem surprised.
I put on the sweater, losing sight of the two men for a few moments.
- Your family doesn't seem to be the mechanical type.
- Perfectly true, and they don't know it either, so please keep it a secret."
I smile at them and glance at the time on the microwave. It's 8:37, my buddy arrives at 40. I grab the keys lying on the table to unlock the door and head outside, the two policemen hot on my heels.
No sooner do I unlock and open the gate than my friend shows up with his car and motorcycle loaded on a trailer.
"Come back at 11.30 if you can, it'll be too hot for me to go on afterwards".
I close the gate once he's gone, unlock the garage to retrieve a toolbox and set about repairing the bike under the watchful eyes of the two men.
"You've mastered mechanics and you know how to cook. What else do you do?
I turn my head towards Chris with an amused smile.
- Curious? (he nods) I can sew too.
- Who taught you?
- Nobody taught me. Well, I taught myself, a little talent and a lot of instinct don't make a bad co*cktail at home."
____________
(ellipsis)
I've been on the bike for 2 hours and I'm dying of heat and thirst! The two men are leaning against the wall and have been talking to each other for over an hour.
"Aren't you thirsty?
I stretch, cracking my back and knees.
- Aren't you hot in your sweater?
- Don't answer a question with a question, Mr. Redfield. It's rude, they say.
- Mister... Mr. Redfield?
The man in question bursts out laughing, while the second man pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head from side to side. I look at them curiously and fetch 3 glasses and some water.
Monsieur Redfield accepts but the captain refuses.
"Call me Chris, please, no need for a gentleman.
He smiles warmly at me, a gleam of laughter dancing in the back of his eyes. I turn my head to Captain Wesker and look at him curiously.
- Wesker will suffice, neither sir nor captain."
I nod, processing the information.
"I'm going to tidy up my mess, so you can go straight inside where it'll be much cooler! (neither of us moves) Or you can stay outside and keep staring at me too, after all it's just 28°C and I'm sure it's a good activity to stare at people even though I confess I've never tested it!"
I monologue alone as I put my things away before heading back inside.
"I'm going to take a shower.
- Your friend's supposed to arrive in less than 10 minutes.
- Oh, he'll be late as usual. Besides, I'm quick at showering! I take 17minutes precisely!"
____________
(ellipsis)
12h56. I've just finished washing the dishes and I'm sitting on the sofa, a man on either side of me. Chris is looking through the Netflix catalog before starting a series about gangs.
"With your jovial air and your smile of a kid opening his presents on Christmas Day I expected you to put the Care Bears on us.
Glances converge on me, but I keep my head turned towards the screen.
"You're so mean to me!
Chris pretends to whine and Wesker looks at me with a smirk. Does it please him that I clash with his man? What a creep.
"Capitaaaaine!
- You're doing great, Chris.
- Buuut.
- Do you want a tissue?"
I expected him to pretend to cry but not to try and strangle me! So okay the air's still getting into my lungs but I'm way too close to him right now!
"Let go of me! You'll make me hot afterwards! Stoooop!"
The fight lost in advance, I stop moving and wait for him to loosen his grip so I can settle back down. Except I wait a long time and he still holds me against him.
"My neck hurts... ?
Their heads turn towards me and if Chris explodes with laughter, I see Wesker smiling in amusem*nt.
- Sorry, I forgot about you.
I straighten up.
- What do you mean you'd forgotten about me? I was lying on top of you at an awkward angle!
- But you're so light! Then you didn't move an inch. Was I comfortable?
- Not for my neck!"
I massage my neck, hoping in vain to ease the pain, while he continues to laugh.
A few hours later, after two episodes of the new series whose name I don't know, I hear the gate open.
I suddenly stand up, taking the two adults sitting next to me by surprise.
"Are you all right?
- Yes yes, but mo-
- When you say yes twice, you mean no.
I stare at Chris, mouth half-open, not knowing what to say. Emergency reaction: I laugh slightly.
- You're right, you're absolutely right. I heard the gate open to let my dad in.
- But it's only 3pm!
- Except that he starts at 3am in the mornings, so of course he finishes earlier in the afternoons. So if you don't mind, I'll just keep you company. Have a nice day!"
I hear footsteps on the terrace and his voice saying hello to the neighbor. I still have a little time before he actually enters the house.
"What's that mark on your back?
I turn to look at Captain Wesker, a curious look on my face.
- A mark? What mark?
- The blue one. Your shirt lifted as you stood up.
Dread flows through me. I didn't think to check if the closet I ate last night left a mark or not!
-So I've got a bruise after all! (I smile at her) I ate a cupboard last night, and the handle got stuck in me. I thought it would leave a mark but I'd totally forgotten!
- How did you get that cupboard?
- I backed up without looking where I was going. I'm a bit of a pushover you know, I'm used to getting into furniture and hurting myself.
- So nobody pushed you up against that cupboard?
I could see Chris's face alternating between our two faces at the rhythm of the conversation. He looks like he's watching a ping-pong or tennis match!
- Why not?
I think I've wasted enough time in this living room and start off in the direction of the corridor leading to my room.
- I know you're lying to me. Did your parents have a fight last night after we left?
- Not even! And it's no good accusing people of lying in the first place!
- It's not right to lie either!
Wesker and I simultaneously turn our heads towards Chris.
- Thank you Chris for that intervention (Wesker pinches the bridge of his nose). We're here to protect you first and foremost. We have no doubt that your parents will contain themselves and put on a brave face before exploding after we've gone. If you insist on protecting them, we won't be able to help you."
A silence hangs over his words. The two policemen keep their eyes on me, assessing my reaction, which I don't let on.
I turn and lower the handle to the corridor.
"When I heard that two policemen would be in my house, I was kind of scared. Afraid because it meant having to protect two more people. But when you came into the living room and told us that you were part of the elite S.T.A.R.S. team, and that one of you was the captain, I started breathing again, and for the first time in a very long time I felt relieved. Relief because I finally had help. Relieved because someone else would help me protect them and could intervene. You were no longer a burden, but a breath of fresh air and hope in the midst of the terror I've been living with for 15 years now."
I didn't look at them once during my monologue. I stubbornly kept my back to them. I didn't look at them once during my monologue. My back remained stubbornly to them. Unsure of what to do about the truth I'd just thrown in their faces, I remained static for a few seconds longer before heading for my room. I close the doors behind me, pick up Volume 2 of the book I was reading yesterday, lie across my bed and try to read.
Try, yes. My brain and thoughts are as much a blessing as a curse. They grant me deliverance and occupation, they allow me to escape but one of their functions remains to torture me
__________
Once again, I left my room when it was time to prepare dinner. In the living room, my parents swapped places. He at the computer and she in front of the TV. The two policemen were still sitting around the dining table in the same place as yesterday. Only my sister was missing, probably in her room.
Tonight it's steak, fries and zucchini!
I start to prepare the meal, but I hear footsteps behind me. Unable to identify the person behind the noise, I deduce that it's a policeman. I turn around to fetch a knife and Wesker is leaning against the cupboard I had eaten out of last night, staring at my back.
I turn around with my back to him and start peeling the zucchinis. I hear him coming towards me. What the f*ck does he want from me?
"I find this closet has a handle at the perfect height to make you the bruise that's on your back.
I freeze. I realize I've even stopped peeling zucchini. This man is the captain of the S.T.A.R.S., he can read body language (t/p)!
- Yes, it's him, isn't it? So what? (I smile) I told you it's not unusual for me to eat furniture. I've already hooked my thumbs together with a staple while trying to repair my stapler and I've already plunged my right hand into boiling water through carelessness.
He stares at me without answering.
- Your mother or father? (I sigh) Your sister maybe? but I'd be very surprised.
- Me with my body!
- You and your body are victims, nuance.
I gently push him aside to put the fries in the oven.
- I don't know what to tell you.
- The truth.
- I've already told you!
We must have looked absolutely ridiculous talking about it in a whisper.
- Yes, but you're leaving out the most important detail. You're a clever girl with a way with words, I'll give you that. But don't lie.
- What would it matter anyway?"
He doesn't answer me and glances at the clock. He pulls away from me and I let out a deep sigh. My God he was too close and he's too hot for the good of humanity!
The two policemen collect their things and leave the house.
I finished the meal in dead silence, and by the time the food had finished cooking quietly, I returned to my room and grabbed my phone.
What a surprise to see a message from-
"Albert Wesker?<em> It would change a lot (t/p), believe me.</em> Gnagnagna!"
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)</p>
