A Night Out

Leon looked up at the stars, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He was sitting at the wheel of his convertible, finding it impossible to keep his attention on the sky. He tried mentally linking the stars together to form shapes, but his thoughts drifted to the song on the radio, then the noises in the woods where he was parked, and finally to Claire in the passenger seat. He turned his head and looked at her, grinning. She was sitting upright, her head leaned against the seat, and she was sound asleep. He'd never met anyone who could sleep like that, and not look the least bothered.

"Stop staring at me," Claire said suddenly.

Leon blinked and looked up at the stars again, clearing his throat. "I wasn't," he lied.

Claire opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. "Yes you were, I could tell," she said, smiling.

Leon finally sighed, turned off the radio, and looked at her with guilt. "How long have you been awake?" he asked.

Claire shrugged and looked up at the sky. "I didn't really sleep, I've been trying to ignore the situation," she said, sighing.

"Yeah..." said Leon, looking at the sky as well.

The truth was he'd ran out of gas about two hours ago, and neither of them had any reception on their cell phones. He didn't know where they were, and could see nothing but stars and trees. When he'd turned off the road to pull over, the car had rolled down a hill and finally stopped in the middle of nowhere, literally.

"I can hike back up and find the road, you know," said Leon.

Claire shook her head. "I'm not staying out here alone," she said, "never know what kind of crazy shit lives in woods like these."

Leon grinned and looked at her. "I never thought I'd see the day..." he said.

"What?" asked Claire suspiciously, glaring at him.

He laughed. "You, Claire Redfield, are scared," he said.

Claire leaned forward in the seat and smacked him on the arm. "No, I am NOT. I just don't like the idea of staying here while you get lost in the woods, and have to go find you," she said defensively.

"Then, why don't you go find the road?" asked Leon, still smirking.

"...I'd get lost too, dumbass, it's a bunch of trees hiding a bunch of other trees," she said.

"You always brag that your sense of direction is better than a GPS, which is why I never bought one, so how would you get lost? Unless, of course, you end up running off in blind fear," said Leon.

Claire stared at him, turned and hopped over the door. "Fine, I'll find your stupid road. And if I find any bad wolves or man-eating bears, I'll let them know where to find you," she said.

Leon nodded and leaned back in the seat. "Nah, bears don't live around here. I actually heard these parts were filled with the crawly types. Oh, a hunter back at that town said there were these bugs that grew to be over five feet long, and they planted egg-sacks all around the woods. The babies don't stay in the eggs long, only a day or so before about a thousand of them hatch from one egg only and crawl their way through the trees to find food, namely anything with blood, and-"
"Shut up, Leon."

He grinned. "They can smell fear, and feel the vibration of a human's pulse when it accelerates from that fear, which is how they hunt."

"Seriously, stop it."

"Oh don't worry, you're not scared so it would take them at least twice as long to find you," he said.

Claire hopped back into the car and curled up in the seat, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Okay, you win, just stop already," she said.

Leon frowned. "I was kidding, there probably aren't even mosquitoes in these damn woods," he said.

Claire shook her head, looking over the side of the car. "Does the roof go up on this thing?" she asked.

"I tried, but it's stuck," said Leon.

"Nice. Well, I hope you're happy, Kennedy. I'm cold, freaked out, and your stupid car doesn't have a way of producing heat," she said.

"Yeah, I planned it all," replied Leon, smiling. He looked over to her, but she wasn't in a joking mood. "Okay fine, I'm sorry I got us stuck here, I'm sorry this car is a piece of shit, and I'm sorry I scared you with the bug story. Tell you what, if a bear attacks us, I'll jump into its mouth first so you get a laugh before you die," he said, smiling again.

Claire glared at him, but he saw a hint of a smile. "Deal," she said.

"Are you seriously that cold though?" asked Leon. Claire nodded, and he sighed. He climbed over the handbrake and slipped onto the passenger seat next to her.

"What are you doing?" asked Claire, trying to move away but stopped by the door.

Leon threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her back. "Calm down, I'm just keeping you warm, that's all. Just try to sleep and once it's bright out we can find the road," he said.

Claire wanted to protest, but she really was freezing, and now terrified thanks to his insect story. "I don't think I can sleep, though," she said.

"So then look at the stars, it'll pass time I guess," said Leon. He looked up, and Claire could see in his eyes that he really meant nothing by it. He was keeping her warm, and seemed so cool about it considering how close they were. If she could get her heart to stop pounding, she might be able to relax.

Then, there was a noise.

"What the hell was that?" asked Claire, looking around.

"Sounded like a crash or something," said Leon. He was looking at the trees ahead, which were lit-up by the headlights. "It came from over there," he added.

"A bear?" asked Claire.

Leon shook his head, reaching into the glove compartment. He pulled out a flashlight and kept his attention to the trees. "Okay, I'll go check it out, you stay here and-"
"No."

Leon sighed and looked at her. "There might be a road ahead, and someone could've crashed their car and need serious help," he said.

"No way."

"Claire, if you'd been driving around and crashed in the middle of nowhere, and say broke your leg, would you want someone to come help or would you rather they stay in their car and ignored you?" he asked.

"It could be something dangerous!" said Claire.

Leon sighed and pulled out a hunting knife from his glove compartment. He climbed back into his own seat then started over the door before Claire grabbed his arm. He looked back and gave her a smile. "I'll be back in no time," he said, but his smile faded when he noticed she wasn't even looking at him. "What is it?" he asked.

Claire was staring ahead at the trees, her face nearly grey in terror. "What...is that?" she asked.

Leon sank back into his seat and looked ahead. Between the trees, lit up by the headlights, was a face. It was a white face and looked like a person, only the blank expression reminded Leon of a sci-fi movie. Only the face was sticking out of the woods, and the light made the green eyes shiny brightly.

The face stared at them for nearly a minute before Leon realized something cold and shaky was squeezing his hand. He looked down and saw Claire's hand, and from the corner of her eye he could see her terrified face staring back at the stranger's. He took in a deep breath, and looked ahead again.

"Are you alright?" he called out.

The eyes blinked, and Leon felt Claire's grip tighten.

"We, uh, heard a weird noise. Are you hurt?" asked Leon.

The face tilted sideways, reminding Leon of that thing dogs do with their heads when they're confused, only the movement was nearly instant, like a robot.

"Are...you...hurt?" repeated Leon, carefully articulating each word. Claire's hand let go of his, and he looked over to her, puzzled.

She'd backed up against her door, and was now looking behind him, and when he looked he saw another face sticking out from between the trees. This one wasn't lit up, but it looked just like the other. "Leon," whispered Claire, barely able to get the name out.

Leon gulped, nodding. "It's okay," he said. He looked at the face, not ready to admit he was a little scared. "Maybe they crashed, and they're in shock," he said.

He looked back to Claire, and felt his heart skip a beat. There were two other faces only these were much closer, floating on either side of Claire's head. They were almost right next to her, but far back enough to not be seen in her peripherals. She saw the terror in his face, and he saw her lips tremble. "Don't...move..." he whispered to her.

She froze in place, staring right at Leon. She could tell something was behind her by the look of panic on his face, but she couldn't find herself to turn and look. Suddenly, from both sides, white faces started appearing in her vision, staring right at her. They moved so slowly, almost like she was the one falling backwards.

From the corner of his eye, Leon saw he'd set the hunting knife on the dashboard. Without breaking eye contact with Claire, he reached over slowly to get it. His hand accidentally hit the horn, which made him jump. He saw the two faces by Claire stare at the horn, then the sky, and then they pulled back into the trees. Leon turned and saw that the other two faces had gone as well. It seemed like the sound had scared them off, and he mentally slapped himself for not thinking about it before.

"Claire," he said, turning back quickly. She was gone. Leon was up on his knees on the seat, looking around. "Claire!" he yelled. He grabbed the knife and the flashlight, and hopped out of the car. "CLAIRE!" he yelled again, this time in panic. At this point even a scream would reassure him, but there was nothing.

He then heard another crash, sounding like it came from the same direction as the first. Leon stared into the trees, his heartbeat racing. He took slow, uncertain steps towards the front of the car. "Claire?" he called out, flashlight pointed ahead.