Chapter Text
Chris didn’t know what to expect when he finally managed to build the courage to enter Albert Wesker’s home, after weeks of waiting for his chance he finally managed to muster up enough courage to cross the street and step onto the immaculate lawn. He knew something wasn’t right about Wesker, it was just a hunch but he was young, reckless, and had nothing to lose after being discharged from the Air Force— Chris’ curiosity drove him to get to the bottom of whatever that well dressed blond was up to, something that had gotten him into trouble many times before.
He had first noticed him on the train on his way home from work— He had been dishonorably discharged from the military for some time now, left to fend for himself without a family to fall back on aside from his younger sister, and the last thing he wanted was to be a burden to her. He managed to get a job as a bouncer at a bar downtown, it was easy enough money, but it meant he was often working late and sleeping his mornings away.
He had seen Wesker by chance, likely also on his way home from a long day, judging by the weary crease in his brow. Chris had been instantly infatuated and intrigued by him, despite it being quite late at night, he was still wearing sunglasses, leaving him to wonder if he was simply drunk and wanted to hide it. He didn’t think much of it, until the man rose to leave, and in the moment he passed Chris to get off, he caught the faintest glimpse of striking red irises and a slight upward tilt on the man’s lips. At first he had thought he had hallucinated it, but the more he thought about it, the more sure he became that there was something off about him.
Their next encounter wasn’t for another two weeks, and he was riding the train home late again— Chris paid a little more attention to his presence this time, watching him out of the corner of his eyes, waiting for any hint of red eyes like he had seen previously. He seemed preoccupied with sorting through papers, searching for something, and Chris finally caught his name on a few of them— Albert Wesker, he worked at some kind of pharmaceutical place, probably Umbrella, the main employer for most people in Racoon City. Curiosity satisfied for now, he turned his attention back to his phone so as to not draw his notice. He spent the rest of that night trying to find any information he could about Albert Wesker but came up with nothing, no social media, no relatives, no birth or marriage certificates, absolute jack shit.
He only grew more curious, trying to learn more about him from afar, but feeling no desire to actually approach him, Wesker would probably be freaked out if he found out Chris had been watching him for this long, besides he would never be interested in talking to him in the first place. Once upon a time, he would’ve had no issue approaching a stranger and starting up a conversation, but after returning from his brief tour overseas, something had changed in him. More suspicious, and much more reserved than he had been in his early twenties, Chris’ trust was not so easily earned, and anyone could be a potential threat.
Chris was twenty seven now, still holding onto his boyish features, but his dark eyes making his face look much older, alongside his permanent bed head, he didn’t think he was much to look at. Wesker looked a few years older than himself, without a wrinkle on his skin, sharp cheekbones that cast shadows on the paleness of his cheeks. He was gorgeous, and Chris was simultaneously jealous, and attracted to him-- He had never experienced this kind of attraction toward a man before, and he was simultaneously terrified and fascinated by it. He had broad shoulders that were accentuated by the sharp lines of his black suits, making his waist seem even slimmer by comparison. The first time he followed him home, he had been terrified that the man would turn around and curse at him for tailing him for so long and kick his ass, luckily, he never turned around, simply left the station and walked home, preoccupied with watching something on his phone without looking up.
He lived in a simple, two story house with a polished lawn, Wesker didn’t hesitate to step inside and relax after a long day of work; or to work more. Chris waited until the lights went down, lingering across the street, watching the lights flicker on and off as he moved about the house. When nothing suspicious happened, he decided to leave for the night to return another day. He had followed him home another handful of times, eventually leading up to crossing the street, when he finally felt brave enough to check out his house during the day when he wouldn’t be home. He had seen the blond hide a key near his mailbox, Chris found it easily when he passed by, hurrying to the front door to see if it really worked.
He held his breath as the door clicked to unlock, slowly swinging open to show him the spotless foyer. Chris’ jumped as he heard a police siren in the distance, quickly locking the door and putting the key back where he had found it and hurrying home before he was caught out.
This time however, he dared to check further inside, only managing to take a few steps before he heard something thump in the basement. At first he had assumed Wesker had some kind of pet running around, but he had heard it again, and something like chains moving, Chris shivered at the sound—Like something out of a horror movie. But like always, his curiosity won out, pulling him deeper inside the residence to find out more about the man.
There were hardly any personal artifacts in his home, save for a few pictures of his own time in the military, much to his surprise. Chris lingered over the photos of a younger man, still wearing the godforsaken sunglasses, so there was still no way to tell if what he saw was just his imagination. One photo looked eerily familiar, and a quick glance at the date in the corner confirmed it, Wesker had been in the Air Force the same time as him, in fact the same unit as Chris, there was no way something like that was a coincidence.
He found his way to a clean kitchen, it hardly looked used at all, but it was well stocked with fancy ingredients he didn't recognize. He didn’t stick around for too long, he wouldn’t find out much about him from the kind of food he ate, unless he was gluten intolerant.
Instead, Chris checked the bathroom, finding nothing but a contact container, perhaps the appearance of red eyes was nothing more than a strange fashion statement. What was more disturbing was the array of skincare products lined up inside the cabinet, no wonder he didn’t have any wrinkles, but nothing useful.
He came across a locked door in the hallway, which only made Chris more desperate to open it, there had to be a key hidden somewhere else in the house, or he even kept the key with him— But strange to lock a door in his own house, did he think someone might break in? Though perhaps he was right to be paranoid…
He was forced to abandon the door, the hallway leading up to a single staircase, there was no light coming up upstairs, making the mundane sight of a set of stairs appear nerve wrecking. Wesker must have some kind of black out curtains to keep it that dark during the day, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he decided against ascending them to instead backtrack to another door he had seen near the entrance. The last thing he wanted was to get cornered on the second floor of the building if the man came back.
Chris poked his head into another doorway, noticing book shelves and a desk he figured was his office. After some searching through his documents, they weren’t anything special, just bland financial reports for Umbrella that he didn’t care to read. He sighed and sat down in the sleek office chair, he could still feel his heart pounding at the fact he was in someone else’s home without permission, it was only becoming more clear to him that Wesker was just the regular white collar worker he appeared to be. Just as he was about to give up, he heard the thump again, albeit louder and closer than before. He looked around, pulling random books from shelves like it might open a trick door, before his attention fell to the overstuffed loveseat near the far corner of the room.
Behind it, Chris found the little hatch for the basement, flipping up the latch and opening it, the darkness yawning in front of him, swallowing up the rays of light easily, Chris heard the noise again, swallowing thickly and switching on the flashlight on his phone. There was a short ladder, and he could see a light switch near the end of it, he let out a breath and began to descend, unable to ignore how loud his footsteps were in the dead silence.
He flipped the light on as soon as he had gotten a chance, freezing the instant his eyes locked on the form of a naked woman tied up on the floor, chains keeping her bound to a support beam, and tape around her mouth to keep her from screaming. Chris felt instantly sick at the sight, knowing she had been down here longer than just a night by her appearance, she was down here alone in the dark for hours on end, naked and cold on the floor like a prisoner, and the smell of the room was impossible to forget, like dried blood and panic sweat— Her terror and despair clung to the room like cob webs, phantoms of past torture that were obvious on her skin and by the old stains on the grey concrete.
After everything else he had seen, the last thing he expected was for Wesker to have someone held captive.
“H-Hang on! I can help you!” Chris blurted, looking around for something sharp to cut her ties. He found a scalpel lying on a medical gurney near the far side of the room, he grabbed it and fell to his knees at her side, already trying to work off the tape on her mouth. After a few tries he managed to get it off, the instant it was off her, she screamed and pushed herself back, Chris almost snapped at her for screaming when they had no idea when the owner of the home would be coming back, but she cried out again before he could scold her.
“B-Behind you!” She wailed, and before he could turn around, metal collided with the side of his head.
The strike had scrambled his thoughts into the wind, all he could manage to do was blink and breathe, his face coming in contact with the cold cement but thankfully he had managed to avoid breaking his nose. Chris groaned and tried to push himself back to his feet only to tilt to the side and collapse as the room distorted around him, before he fully lost consciousness he heard laughter behind him, it felt like something wet was dripping down his face but he desperately rubbed it out of his eyes to at least see who had struck him.
Albert Wesker.
—
As he came to, his head throbbed like one giant bruise, and he was sure he had a concussion after being hit in the head with a baseball bat, lucky for him he had always had a thick skull. He groaned and tried to move his arms, only to find they were secured behind his back, keeping him strapped to the wooden support the woman had been tied to earlier with each leg stretched out in front of him so he wouldn’t be able to get his feet under himself enough to be able to kick. His head rolled to one side, noticing the small puddle of blood next to him, likely from his head injury bleeding openly onto the cement, it was brighter than the old stains of that girl’s blood, his entire body filled with dread.
“Come on, wake up now.” He heard that voice again, a gloved hand striking his cheek hard enough to shock him awake, looking around the cellar in a panic. Chris had to blink blood out of his eyes to be able to see him properly, his mouth went dry at the sight of Albert Wesker looming over him like this, looking down on him like he was merely an insect that had gotten into his home.
“There we are.” That hand cupped his jaw, directing his face upwards to meet the cold eyes of the man he had been following for weeks— They were blue . “It really is a pleasure to meet the man that’s been following me like a lost puppy. I never thought you would work up the nerve to start sticking your nose in my private business, but here we are.” Wesker wiped blood from his brow, only to bring it to his lips, his wet tongue flicking out to taste his essence, smirking when he decided he liked what he found. Chris could only gape at him, still shocked at the situation he found himself in, he needed a way to get himself untied or he would never have a chance of calling for help. The revelation that the blond had known of his presence the entire time was sobering, though he refused to look away or back down from someone as evil as this. His fear gave way to anger, baring his teeth at Wesker like he might snap at him the next time his fingers came close to his face.
“You sick bastard, where’s that girl? What did you do to her?” He demanded, though he was in no position to be giving orders, Chris had always been rather short sighted in that sense, he would speak his mind even if it would come back to bite him in the ass. “I knew you were up to something and I was right! What is this place? Some kind of fucked up labratory? How long have you been keeping her here?”
He jolted at the sound of that cold laughter again, and the hand on his jaw squeezed until he was forced to open his mouth or risk letting him break it— The amount of strength he was hiding was staggering, Chris was a big guy, tall and well muscled, but it felt like Wesker had the strength of a monster under his blue dress shirt.
“You’ll get your answers, Christopher. But my, aren’t you curious about her? Well, I have her right here,” Wesker let go of his face, and stepped out of the way to reveal the woman now tied to a wooden chair, she was trembling and hyperventilating— Unable to see the man lurking around her like a shark due to a blind fold around her eyes. His heart dropped, seeing Wesker had picked up the blade he had found to free her, taking long even strides to her side, running the tip of the blade along her collar home to produce a thin cut, but it quickly resealed and the blood melted away, Chris almost believed he had dreamed it.
“She is one of my test subjects, I forgot what her name was before bringing her here, it’s not really important. I’ve been working with her since March, so about three months I’d say, the police stopped looking for her a long time ago,” Chris felt like he was going to be sick again, three months?! He had kept her down here for three months, and didn’t think a thing of it, all he cared about was himself. “She’s been invaluable in my research,”
“I injected her with one of my viruses you see, she heals at an accelerated rate, so it makes it rather difficult to dispose of her.” Wesker shrugged, “But why keep her around when I have a clean slate with you?” He dangled the knife by its handle as if trying to decide who he would allow to live, walking around the back of her chair to wrap his arms around her still shaking shoulders.
“P-Please! Don’t let him kill me, I’m so scared of the pain— Sir, please help me! ” She begged, knowing her fate depended on the two people she couldn’t see. Her desperate cries shook Chris to his core, he had never heard such raw anguish in a person’s voice before, her terror was contagious until he shook himself out of his fear induced stupor.
“Let her go!— I’ll do whatever you want!” He didn’t know what possessed him to say that, but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he allowed an innocent woman to be slaughtered in front of him while he could still do something to stop it, she had already suffered enough. Chris hated the way his voice shook, knowing he had no control in the situation, his choices didn’t matter here, he was no longer a part of the normal world, this was Wesker’s personal fucked up hell. “Kill me , don’t hurt her anymore, please Wesker.” He whispered, unable to look up and see what expression he had made at words, his head hung low like he was waiting for the guillotine to drop on his neck that same instant.
“Interesting. You are a strange one indeed, Chris. Most people would pick to save themselves, you know.” Wesker adjusted his hold on the scalpel to hold it like a steak knife, but still had his arms loosely around her like they were lovers. Something about the pose made his blood boil, pulling at the rope around his wrists and growling when they didn’t budge.
“I suppose it’s the thought that counts.” Wesker finally decided, shooting him that wicked smile again, his hand plunging the knife into the woman’s chest before either of them had a chance to react. She screeched at the pain, weakly trying to struggle away from her attacker, but it was no use. Her blood spattered against the floor in front of Chris’ feet and he shouted in horror, unable to look away from the wound struggling to heal itself from the immense damage. He faintly recognized that he was screaming too, cursing and pulling blindly at his binds until his wrists were rubbed raw as he tried to escape to either help or run away.
He dragged the knife down her torso, making the gaping wound wider and exposing bone and meat to open air, Chris couldn’t help but gag, his stomach turning as hot blood managed to spray onto his face, his hair, his mouth . The stench of blood filled his nose, and he would never be able to escape it as long as he was to live, seeing such cruelty he could only hope that Wesker might put him out of his misery too.
Tears came to his eyes in despair, watching her eyes slowly lose focus on the world around her, he cried out for the man to stop but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Her body finally fell still, and Chris swore he could see her heart stop beating in her open chest cavity. Bile bubbled up from his stomach and he vomited on the front of himself, he wouldn’t look up to see the gruesome scene again, he wished Wesker had just killed him instead, he was never getting out of this alive. He didn’t want to go on after failing to protect her in her final moments, all she had known as she left this world was fear at the endless pain overtook her, there hadn’t been a damn thing Chris could do.
“Don’t ever tell me what to do,” Wesker wiped blood off the knife, speaking to him almost conversationally, like he hadn’t just taken someone’s life. The fear that had plagued him melted into blazing hot rage, indignant at the disregard for human life, for playing with them like pawns, this man had to pay for what he had done, and he would make sure of that.
“You fucking crazy bastard! I’ll kill you! Why? Why did you do that? You didn’t have to kill her— You motherfucker, untie me right now!” Chris snarled at him, straining against the tight ropes that held him in place like a wild animal. Tears still stung his eyes, terrified and saddened by witnessing such a horrible act, as furious as he was he couldn’t stop shaking, what was stopping him from meeting the same fate? He was defenseless and there would be no one looking for him, he would have never told anywhere where he was going.
“You really are fascinating, Christopher. Fortunately you’re a perfect specimen as well, I’ll try to keep you in one piece.” He talked about him like he was only taking care of a pet, and it made him bristle again, baring his teeth to try and ward him off. Wesker approached regardless, his gloves still wet with that woman’s blood, Chris jerked away to avoid his hands but it wasn’t very effective with how tightly bound he was. He could feel his handprint burning into his cheek as blood smudged onto his skin, still sickeningly warm. Another wave of nausea washed over him as Wesker picked up his bat from before, he hated using blunt weapons truly, but this time he would make an exception.
“You understand why I can’t let you leave. Don’t take this too personally.” Albert was at his side, appearing next to him like a phantom, it was so quick he almost thought he had blacked out from fear for a second. That bloody hand was on his face again, instead of crushing his jaw again, he guided his face toward Wesker’s noticeable smirk. Chris could hardly speak a word, his pupils dilated into pin pricks as he faced the man that he had thought would just bludgeon him to death, his focus was entirely fixed on the woman’s body behind the man which only seemed to irritate him more than anything else.
“I look forward to making you cry, dearheart” He purred stroking his cheek once last time, pulling away to raise his bat, as he rose Chris caught a glimpse of red behind his glasses, combined with his overwhelming strength and cruelty, he was absolutely sure that he was inhuman. He placed a boot on Chris’ ankle to hold it in place, and he realized what was about to take place, the dread he had been feeling before welling up from deep in his guts as he instinctively kicked to try and free his leg but it made Wesker crush his ankle harder.
“W-Wait stop! Don’t do this, I-I said I would do what you want— fucking stop!” His squirming was rendered useless by his hold, the silver of his weapon gleaming in the artificial light, he cried out the instant it moved, squeezing his eyes shut so he didn’t have to watch what was about to happen to him. Chris screamed when the metal came in contact with his shin even over his noise he could still hear a nauseating crunch as he felt the bone shatter and break under the impact, he couldn’t open his eyes and see what the damage was, if he opened his eyes he would pass out, he had he stay awake, he had to—
He hadn’t noticed Wesker move to the opposite side, placing his boot on his other ankle, and a choked sob worked its way out of his throat, he hated that he couldn’t stop himself from crying like Wesker wanted him to, still trying to struggle despite the motions only making his broken limp feel ten times worse. All he got was that haunting laughter again, and pain ripping through his nerves as he failed to brace himself for the second blow. Chris felt hot tears dripping down his cheeks just from the pain alone, clenching his jaw hard to keep himself from breaking down, he was done trying to talk to this psycho, all he could do now was try to hold it together and keep his mouth shut so he didn’t start screaming.
His body was going to slip into shock at this rate, and then he really would be screwed. Now there was no chance of him escaping on his own, any time soon, someone would come looking for him— But who would think to look here? No one knew where he had been going, and he had been the one to break into Wesker’s home in the first place, surely someone would notice that he had gone missing. He needed someone to notice.
“Look at me, Chris.”
Slowly, he followed the command, not wanting to further enrage his captor, his eyes were bleary with adrenaline exhaustion, all he could see was the face of the man that had done this to him. His glasses were off now, allowing him a full view of his scarlet eyes, sending a shiver down his spine as he realized how hopeless his position really was. Wesker leaned in close, passively looking over his splotchy face and wet cheeks. “If I ever find you outside of this basement without my permission, I will kill you. Do you understand?”
The brunet nodded after a moment of trying to breath through his teeth to stop from groaning in pain every time his body shifted and jostled his broken legs. As if he could even get up the ladder in this state. He doubted he would even survive the night with injuries like these.
“Good boy. We’ll discuss the other rules later, but for now, let’s get something for that pain, hm? I’m sure it’s unbearable,” His lips quirked upwards in a smirk, poking idly at the break point, making Chris hiss through his teeth so he didn’t outright sob. He gasped in abject horror, seeing the unnatural angle his shins had made, his nerves buzzed with painful heat as they were overloaded with too much information at once, and his vision started to get spotty, he was going to pass out and then who knew what would happen to him then? Wesker had stripped him down to his boxers whenever he had been knocked out the first time, which didn’t bode well for him— He was just another test subject for this freak.
“Now, now Chris, don’t be dramatic. You’re not going to die, just incapacited for a while.” The blond appeared from behind him, making him jolt into full consciousness again as adrenaline made its way into his bloodstream. He produced a thin syringe, flicking the needle to shake the air out before sinking it into the meaty flesh of his thigh. Chris cursed him and mumbled his protest, but considering the pain he was in, he would welcome anything that would help, as he didn’t think he would be getting proper medical attention anytime soon.
Whatever Wesker injected into him made his muscles relax instantly, slumping against the support like all his strings had been cut, and the blinding pain of having both his legs broken disappeared entirely. Chris could hardly keep his eyes open, everything below his hips felt completely numb, he could pretend for a second that it had just been a crazy dream that had happened at all.
“Goodnight, darling.” Those red eyes flickered in front of him, and he shuddered knowing he would only wake again to this monster. “Shh, don’t fight it. You’ll feel much better when you wake up.” He hated the way Wesker talked down to him, like he was a child or an animal, patronizing and feigning care while he gleefully killed and destroyed without flinching. Chris didn’t even register that he was drooling from whatever he had been injected with, he struggled to stay awake as long as he could, before finally letting his eyes slide close as he passed out from the chemicals floating around in his system. Fingers ran through his hair, gentle and demanding at the same time, it was the only thing grounding him from floating away completely, still faintly hearing the echoes of the woman begging for her life in the deep abyss of his empty mind.