Chapter 25

XXV. Rewind

I'D NEVER FORGET how it all started.

Cheryl Hansen was a big joke to me. With her dark, wavy hair that cascaded on her shoulders, brown eyes which were the iciest that held the millions of mysteries yet innocent at the same time, pointed nose, pale-fair skin, chapped red lips and a face which looked like it was carefully carved by the angels. It was an unpopular opinion but she is damn good-looking.

As I thought about it now and gone back to the first time I've seen her, I realized that I haven't paid much attention to her before. If only I'd known how much she'll mean to me in the future, I could have treated her better. Then maybe, she wouldn't have to slip away for a very long time.

"Piers, this is Camilla's daughter, Cheryl." Mom introduced a frail looking girl to me. I took a great look at her dull brown eyes that didn't have any sparkle to it, which stared straight at me back in the eyes.

"Hello." She said with a straight face, lifting her hand to offer a handshake.

At the action, the sleeve of her sweater hitched up, displaying a purple bruise on her wrist. My eyes glued to it, not understanding at the time where she could have possibly got that big bruise before.

Camilla must have noticed where I've kept my sight so she knelt down and put her daughter's hand down, smiling at me in the process.

"Cheryl doesn't have a lot of friends in her school so I hope you two will get along." Camilla uttered with a smile.

I nodded my head. "Of course, Mrs. Hansen."

Their eyes are the same... not literally but they possess the same dull eyes that held so much secrets and mysteries.

Mom and Camilla decided to let us be so that we could get to know each other. Cheryl just stood there unmoving, looking at anywhere else but me. In the end, I asked her if she wanted to see my room to which she only nodded without saying anything. Maybe she got used to people telling her what to do without questioning it. We didn't actually do anything in my room, aside from her just sitting on the floor, reading my textbook from school.

"That's my homework due on Monday." I said, trying to strike a conversation with her. She only nodded her head then closed the textbook. She really isn't talkative. "How old are you?"

"Seven." Her accent was obvious because she just moved here from Germany. It was a good thing that she knows how to speak English so that I wouldn't have a hard time interacting with her.

"What was that purple mark on your wrist?"

She looked at me as if I had finally grasped her attention for the first time. Her eyes shifted from impassive to fear as she was reminded of someone horrible.

"It's a secret..."

"I'm good at keeping secrets." I scooted closer to her, taking a seat on the floor in front of her.

"Really? Promise you wouldn't tell?" She whispered as if she was afraid that someone might hear her.

"Yeah." I nodded, flashing her a reassuring smile.

It took her moment before she could tell me. She swallowed as her lips quivered from fear. "My Daddy... he hits me and Mommy whenever he's angry." She said in a small voice.

My forehead creased in confusion. Aren't parents supposed to take care and love their children?

"Mommy told me that I shouldn't tell this to anyone but we're friends, right? Friends tell each other everything, right?" She's asking me as if she's trying to reassure herself.

"Of cour-"

"Cheryl." A firm voice spoke from behind us, cutting me off. Our attention snapped at the intruder and it was Camilla standing by the door frame of my bedroom. She was smiling but her eyes were sharp as she looked down upon her daughter. "There you are. I was looking all over for you. Come on now, let's go home."

She beckoned her daughter to come to her using her hand, to which Cheryl obliged without question. She knelt down and caressed her daughter's small face, smiling ever so gently as she glanced at me.

"Did you have fun playing with Piers?"

"Yes, Mommy..."

"That's good." Camilla kissed her cheek, then her brown eyes shifted to me. Her expression was piercing and creepy, like she was trying to see through my soul. "I hope she didn't cause you any trouble, Piers."

I shook my head, forcing a smile her way. "Not at all, Mrs. Hansen."

"Goodbye, Piers." Cheryl waved her little hand at me. I did the same.

Cheryl and her mom would come to our house every Thursdays, because that's when her husband wouldn't be coming home to them. Then the times lengthened because her husband was hardly home anymore.

"Piers, who's that girl?" Rosie asked me once when we were doing some homework.

Rosie was also my neighbor, classmate and friend so she would squeeze herself in and ask me to teach her and do homework with her. She was pointing at the girl sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"That's Cheryl... my mother's best friend's daughter." I said nonchalantly.

"She's always at your house... why?" I sensed the pout in her voice.

"She comes here with her mom."

"Are you two close?"

"Not really." I admitted, then shot a glance at her. She's not aloof... she just preferred to be alone most of the time.

"That's good."

I flickered a confused gaze back at Rosie, who was now grinning. "That's... good?"

"Yeah. Because when you two get too close, you might fall in love with her."

I huffed, then flicked Rosie's forehead, earning me a whine from her. What's in it for her? Fall in love with Cheryl? That's not a bad thing, isn't it? I don't mind falling in love with her, but back then I just didn't have a reason to.

Whenever she comes to the house, I always check to see if there were new gashes and bruises on her fragile figure, and I don't fail every time. For a child as young as her, a seven-year-old, she held the darkest of expressions a person could possibly have.

I didn't know what to call our relationship. We claim to be friends but treat each other as strangers and talk like acquiantances. I thought that was one of the most weird yet constant thing that we could have.

"Cheryl?" I called out as she was yet reading another book.

"Hmm?"

"We've been friends for a year now..."

"Yes."

"And I still don't know much about you."

Cheryl closed her book, then turned her full attention at me. "Why do you want to know me?"

"You said that we're friends, right?"

"Yes."

"You also said that friends tell everything to each other."

"Yes."

"So tell me something about you."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"What do you want to know about me?"

"Uh..." I thought for a moment, then sat upright. "When's your birthday?"

"I just turned eight last week."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

I frowned at her. She's so confusing... and for some reason it made me all the more curious about her. She always keeps to herself, and it was hard to keep a conversation with her. Most kids my age would either just straight up bully her or just give up being her friend because she's complicated to deal with. But I knew that there's more to her behavior.

The only thing that made me feel closer to her was the domestic abuse she told me about over a year ago. She never talked about her personal issues since then. Maybe her mother told her something? I didn't bother to find out because it's their personal problems. What could an eleven-year-old do about it? And besides, I couldn't force her to open up to me. Then that wouldn't be called opening up at all.

"Found you." I said with a smile. She flinched in surprise then looked up at me with a curious gaze.

"Piers? What are you doing in here?" Cheryl asked me, eyebrows knitted together. "You should go there and enjoy the party."

"I got bored so I decided to find you." I plopped down on the floor beside her. "By the way, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be celebrating?"

"What's there to celebrate? This new hotel isn't even different from the others." She drawled.

I stared at the wide pool in front of us, and the quiet was just as calming as the sea. I think this was the third or fourth opening of their hotel branch in North and South America. This area is off-limits to the guests as of the moment, so we could enjoy this peace and quiet.

"Why do you always look for me?" She suddenly asked in a small voice, which made me snap my attention back at her. "Don't I ever bother you, too?" She was looking gloomy as usual as she stared at the water.

"Because you're always hiding." I said simply, shrugging. "And yes, you do bother me." She looked at me. "But not in the way that you're thinking." I scratched my head, searching for the right words to say. "I have a feeling that you're going somewhere very far away so I'd have no choice but to always find you. And I want to see everything about you, you know? Your happiness, your sadness... your everything."

"Why?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" I frowned at her.

She tilted her head to the side, curious eyes gazing at me. "Does it bother you?"

I gawked at her. Her lips slowly curled up into a smile in amusement, and I did, too. We talked all night, got to know her a bit better, played some games with her, made memories until our parents found us. That's when my little curiosity about her turned into a crush.

I thought that was a step closer to our friendship, and that had go on until I reached high school. She always brought different kinds of desserts then. And even if I wasn't fond of sweets, I still found myself appreciating it.

And that's also when she suddenly disappeared without a word.

Why didn't she tell me about leaving? Didn't I matter to her?

I was upset with her for a moment until I realized that maybe that's just what she needed for herself, and clearly I wasn't a part of it. But as long as she was fine, then who was I to question it?

However, we later we found out that Camilla has passed away. But Cheryl was still missing. I started to suspect her father because his business was still up and thriving with his new wife. How can he sit idle about the news of his dead wife and missing daughter?

So even if I was a mere high school student, I used my father's connections in the Special Forces to conduct secret investigations toward Henry Hansen and his chain of businesses. And what do you know? They're clean. Or they try to be.

Rosie confessed her feelings for me upon our high school graduation. And as lame as my excuse can be, I only started dating her in order to ease my mind of the thoughts of Cheryl for a little while. And it still proved fruitless because Rosie and I were hardly even together because I was training hard in the military. Then after a few months of being together, I just heard that she started seeing someone else. She didn't even bother to break up with me.

I later joined the BSAA when the legendary Chris Redfield invited me. I felt like it was an honor to serve under his command. He treated his subordinates like family unlike the Special Forces where we're treated as expendable pawns.

So after I joined the BSAA, I also obtained access to the database there. I have read a report about a test subject that Chris rescued about a year prior whose existence was highly confidential because her blood contained antibodies for the Uroboros virus, a strain that Albert Wesker had engineered to use to destroy the world. And the identity of the test subject happened to be a huge coincidence because it was none other than Cheryl Hansen.

There I pieced all of the events together. That's why she has been missing for so long! I thought that she had gone somewhere very far away to start a new life, and partly it's true... but I didn't expect for it to lead to this. If only I'd known sooner!

I went with Chris to visit her in the rehab center. But her bastard of a father beat me to it. Her father's business has been at the verge of bankruptcy for years now, hanging by a thread. And he started to care about her daughter now? No... he didn't. He was planning something... I knew that he wanted to sell her to the black market in order to save his business. He wasn't even deserving to call her his daughter... yet alone a human being.

I took her in upon my mother's request. She did everything in her power to gain custody over her best friend's daughter. She was devastated when she lost her best friend and felt guilty that she couldn't do anything about it. So she will do everything to help her daughter instead.

"Cheryl?" I asked, stopping my task because I heard her groaning in the bathroom. "You okay?" I knocked on the bathroom door, worried.

"I'm alright!" She grunted. "It's just my contact lenses... I can't find it."

"Do you need help?"

"Yes, please," Then she opened the door and out came Cheryl all wet with nothing but a towel on. Jesus Christ! Is she still really that dense and innocent?

"At least get decent when you present yourself." I reprimanded her.

"Sorry, I forgot to bring clothes with me."

Shit! What a lame excuse! She was so chill about it while I'm trying so hard not to make the mistake of looking at her body because it was inappropriate. It left me with the thought of how many people had seen her naked.

"You're pretty careless, aren't you? Do you always forget to bring clothes with you when you take a shower?"

"No, just today. There's always clothes in the locker rooms at the rehab, so..."

It made me snap my eyes at her face, eyebrows furrowing at her. Her hair was sticking to her face in different directions, making her all the more innocent yet seductive. But the worst part was, she was unaware of any of it. I can't fucking take her seriously when she's all wet, ignorant and only a small cloth from being naked. Before I could think of any more inappropriate things, I focused on finding the goddamn contact lenses. When I found it, I just gave it to her without sparing her a glance.

I was always away and leaving her alone. I knew that she was dependent on me given the fact that she always asks for my opinion on things. She doesn't have a decision of her own, and it was a good thing that my family is there to guide her while I'm away in tours of duty.

We weren't particularly close but the distance made us even closer because we would always talk about anything under the sun just to say that we have talked to each other. I liked the way she described the falling snow. She told me that it was also snowing outside her window and there at that moment, it felt as if we were together again. I had missed the sound of her voice, how her voice would get childish whenever I tease her. It was just one of those little things.

"Rosie?" I asked with a frown, "what are you doing here?"

Rosie, Cheryl and some random guy snapped their heads at my intrusion. Cheryl looked hurt and troubled at the same time. I didn't expect for her to go through such great lengths to find me. I thought that she already cut ties with me?

Roseanne immediately stood up and went over to me, her eyes were laced with desperation and tears. "Piers, you wouldn't answer my calls, texts and e-mails. I... I got your address from your mother. Please, I just wanted to talk..."

I clenched my jaw in annoyance. Yes, I didn't answer your e-mails, texts and calls, Rosie. I didn't answer it for a reason.

Without a word, I passed by her and went over to Cheryl, giving her a paper bag of chocolate cupcakes.

"What's this?" She asked.

"You've been acting down lately, I'd figured that these might cheer you up..."

"Thank you..." Then she glanced through me, might be at Rosie, then back at me with a sigh. "You should go talk to her. I need to go out and buy dog food for Piper as well. Let's eat these cupcakes later." She smiled.

"Fuck this," The guy cussed under his breath then stood up, glaring at Rosie. "I'll just wait for you in the car, Roseanne."

Cheryl followed him out not long after. I swallowed then gestured for her to take a seat on the couch.

"How are you, Piers?" Rosie started.

"I'm okay. When did you arrive?"

"Uh, just last week."

I was annoyed because she's still going with the small talk. I just wanted her to go straight to the point so that we can go on with our life as it is. I know that she said something to Cheryl. That's just Rosie's nature. I knew Cheryl did her best to hide the hurt in her eyes because she couldn't even look at me.

"I came to say that I'm sorry... I'm sorry for leaving you, Piers." She said slowly.

"It's alright. It was a long time ago." I offered her a small smile. "I know what you did, Rosie. You started seeing someone else while I was in the academy. But why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to see if you were going to do something about it once you found out. But you never did... so I pushed through with it. I tried to fall in love with someone who will always be there for me, but I just couldn't... I still love you all these years, Piers. I never stopped."

My eyes softened not because of her proclamation of love but because of the reason she decided to cheat. She couldn't bear the distance and time we were apart... she was lonely and confused. It doesn't excuse her for cheating but I was partly at fault as well.

"I forgive you, Rosie. I've forgiven you a long time ago. We were young and were both at fault. But I'm sorry, I wouldn't be able to reciprocate your feelings."

"I know..." She croaked, wiping her tears with her handkerchief. "I know that too well. It was Cheryl, right? It has always been her."

"Yes."

Rosie nodded, then without a word she stood up and marched out of the apartment. I leaned on my seat with a sigh, thinking of the girl I love once again.

"Piers! There you are." A male voice interrupted our eye contact with each other. I turned my head to the side to see Andy with a smile plastered on his face.

"Andy," I said, "What's up?"

"I need your help, man," Andy said then tugged my arm to which I swatted it a little. With a huff, I stood up and faced him.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, glancing at an attentive Cheryl. Shit, she looks so beautiful in that dress.

"Uh, can I borrow Piers for a sec, Ms. Hansen?"

"Um... sure, take your time."

"Cheryl, wait-"

"Danke!" Andy beamed.

Then the jerk dragged me somewhere, I was getting pissed with him because he interrupted us. This better be fucking urgent, Walker!

"See, I know that you're popular among the ladies, Nivans. So I know that you can help me with this one."

"What is it?" I asked with a hint of impatience.

"Can you help me get the number of that girl over there?" He pointed at a girl by the distance talking to her friends.

I narrowed my eyes at Andy, I was only seconds away from lashing out at him. "Are you serious right now?"

I flitted a gaze back at Cheryl. And from this distance, I could see her drinking the wine straight from my wineglass, erupting a wince from her rosy lips. She closed her eyes firmly.

Why drink it if you don't like it, Cheryl? If you'd ask me what I'd do with those lips, I would have pulled you into the washroom and kiss you until both of our lips are sore.

But it's okay if you wanted to be just friends with me. I don't think I'd ever be there for you every time you need me.

"I love you, Piers. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

After she said those words after dancing in the middle of the beach, she collapsed into my arms. I still couldn't recover from what she told me and I doubt that she'll remember it the next day.

But don't worry, Cheryl, I'll remember it for the both of us.

I carried her to my car then went back to the venue to grab our belongings and at the same time bid farewell to my associates because Cheryl already had enough for the night. She was sleeping so peacefully in the passenger's seat, her rosy lips parted which made me wonder how it'll taste.

But maybe I really shouldn't wonder about that. I almost crashed my car when she suddenly pulled me in to her then crashed her lips on mine. I barely managed to step on the brakes as she kissed me very passionately. I kissed her back without reservations and inhibitions, my hand going over to her nape to deepen the kiss. I moaned against her mouth, her tongue forcing my lips open. She was so aggressive as we explored and dominated each other. I was on fire... I wanted to do things with her but she's not in her right mind... So I had to be the rational one for the both of us.

"Cheryl..." I whispered, gently pushing her away. "Let's go home first, okay?"

"I... want you..." She mumbled before leaning in and pecking my lips repeatedly. I was only a few seconds away from losing my composure.

"Shit..." I whispered to myself, chuckling lowly and puffing out a breath. "You're not helping, baby." Thank God I have so much self-control... "Not so fast..." I stopped her from popping the buttons of my shirt open. She looked at me with those hooded eyes, her mouth forming a pout. "We have to go home first."

She let out a soft mewl before her head fell on my shoulder. She was sleeping again while I was left there with tight pants. Damn, she turned me on so good I had to take deep breaths.

I struggled to take her up to our designated floor and inside the apartment. I was about to put her inside her room but she suddenly slid her hands on the doorframe, preventing me from going inside.

"Nein, Das ist nicht mein Zimmer!" She whined in her native tongue, and I didn't understand a word she's saying. She sighed heavily. "Bitte... lass mich neben dir schlafen..." I sighed. "Ich liebe dich so sehr." She grinned at me before she wriggled out of my hold. I put her down but still had my hands supporting her. She marched into my room and she stripped off her gown, making me immediately turn around and get flustered.

"Cheryl, what the hell are you doing?" I demanded.

Without a word, she opened my closet and pulled out one of my shirt and slipped it on. She went over to my bed and collapsed on it with a soft thud. She fell asleep almost instantly.

I exhaled a breath before going over to her to adjust her body in the bed. I saw her red feet, and it was due to wearing heels and standing up for too long. I went out for a moment to get some bandaids for her ankles. I removed her makeup using her makeup wipes. After that, I took a cold shower to ease the gnawing heat in my body.

I promised to love her with everything I've got; with every bits and pieces of me because that's what she deserves the most. But at the same time, I felt like I wasn't worthy of her love because all I've ever done is leave her when duty calls for it. I knew that she understood that, she even assured me about it. But I have never thought that there will come a time where she will make me choose between her and the BSAA.

I took the locket out of my pocket and opened it, revealing two photographs inside... of me and Cheryl. I smiled at the sight of her, then winced at the fire rapidly spreading through my whole body... taking over my humanity.

I decided to take her picture out then my BSAA patch. I wrapped the chains of the locket on it. With the last of my strength, I shoved Chris to safety along with it.

After saving him for the last time, I leaned against the wall and collapsed as I watched the facility fall apart around me.

"Captain..." I called over to the radio.

"Piers?!"

"Please... do me a favor..." I groaned and panted. "Please go and see Cheryl. Make her... understand... that I didn't do this just... for the world... but for her as well... so that... she wouldn't have... to... live in fear..." Tears formed in my eyes as I clench my teeth. "That this is much... bigger and greater than me... Please be there for her... tell her... that... I love her very much and thank you for everything..."

There was a pause, before Chris replied in a hard voice. "I got it. I promise."

I smiled in relief. "Thank you, Chris..."

It was a firm and conscious decision. I was not only doing it for global security but also for her. Because that's where she got out of-terrorism. Her whole life was terrorized and scarred and I wanted nothing more than to give her a life without fear, even if I had to trade my life for it. I hope you understand why I did this.

But as I've thought about it now, Cheryl... now that I'm left here in this crumbling facility with nothing but only your photograph and our memories... I can say that there's no greater sacrifice.