Drag Them Into Hell Chapter One - Silent Hill Fanfic
Title: Drag Them Into Hell
Author: housejackbuilt1 (story is also posted on FF.net and AFF.net)
Rating: NC-17 eventually
Warnings: Swearing, violence, gore, horror *SPOILERS FOR SH5 AND SH2!*
Chapter Warnings: Some swearing
Pairing: None as of yet
Disclaimer: I don’t own Silent Hill or any of its characters or creations. All credit goes to the makers. I am not making any money off this story.
Author's Note: My first SH fanfiction. I’ve just finished playing SH5 and loved it. I wanted to write something with my two favourite boys, Alex and James (and Pyramid Head of course) Here is the result. Comments and feedback are loved more than puppies.
Summary: It’s been five months since Alex Shepherd left Silent Hill and he is trying to rebuild his life. Things are going well until children start to go missing from his hometown and he hears voices calling him back to Silent Hill. James Sunderland is still in Silent Hill, continuously being tormented. His spirit is faltering and he is growing weaker by the day, considering suicide daily. Pyramid Head won’t allow James to leave and wants Alex to come home. You cannot escape who you are.
Where is Steven, mommy? He can't play and I'm sad.
You mustn't ask, my darling--Steven has been bad.
“I keep seeing his face. Keep hearing the crack of his skull as he went down, as he fell. He’s falling into the darkness and I can’t reach him or see him. I call out his name but I hear only silence and my own shallow breathing. I couldn’t save him... couldn’t save him from the darkness... I- I can’t-“
“Now Alex, just take a moment. Take a few deep breaths and calm yourself. Remember what we’ve said? It’s good to talk about this and get your feelings out but you can’t get yourself worked up, it won’t help anybody. Just relax and continue in your own time.”
Alex Shepherd closed his eyes and tried to listen to what Doctor Fox was telling him. Deep breaths, calm yourself. He didn’t know why he was getting so worked up. He’d been coming to Doctor Fox once a week every week for the last five months... since he left Silent Hill. Since he’d come to terms with his little brother’s death. For the first couple of months he’d blamed himself. He should have never taken him out on to Toluca Lake, shouldn’t have blamed Josh for all of the jealousy and resentment he felt. It was his father who was to blame, his damn father! Alex felt anger flare up inside of him and remembered what Doctor Fox had told him. He couldn’t let his anger get the better of him and took a few more deep breaths. He began to feel calm once more, the anger inside of him being extinguished slowly but surely.
He knew what happened to Josh was an accident. He wasn’t entirely free of blame though, he knew that. It never would have happened if he would have stayed away from the lake. He was partly responsible. Maybe he didn’t go out there with the intention to do Joshua harm, but he was still responsible and he knew he must live with that every day for the rest of his life. After Josh drowned, he blacked everything out, went into shock. Now Alex knew the truth and the last five months had been hell. He had time to think, too much time. He had mourned Josh. Mourned, blamed, cried, felt empty, felt angry, hated himself, hated his father, hated God if there was one and had felt so lost and confused.
The sessions with Doctor Fox were gradually helping him to heal however. He was slowly coming to terms with Josh’s death and was starting to believe that his death was an accident and not entirely Alex’s fault. He couldn’t spend the rest of his days blaming himself, he needed to move on and get over this... For himself, but also for Elle. Elle had been his rock ever since they left Silent Hill. He wouldn’t allow her to stay with him despite her protests, he needed to get through this alone and he knew she also had things that she needed to deal with; he didn’t want to be another burden to her. They spoke on the phone everyday though and he knew that in time, they would both get through the fog.
No matter how much the sessions with Doctor Fox were helping Alex; he knew that he would never be free of the nightmares. Oh God, the nightmares in which he was trapped in an endless hell. Creatures from Shepherd’s Glen and Silent Hill stalked his subconscious. He would hear the cries that no creature from this world could make, baying for his blood and wanting to taste his flesh. He would run and run, his footsteps heavy, his breathing shallow, but no matter how hard and fast he would run, they would always catch up to him and drag him down into the depths of that doomed town. Deeper and deeper into the fog, never to return.
He would never speak of these nightmares to Doctor Fox however which was probably the reason why he would be forever haunted. He vowed never to utter a word to anybody about Silent Hill and what he saw there. He didn’t want anybody attempting to go there for fear of getting trapped in that hell; he wouldn’t wish that on anybody. His biggest fear though was getting locked back up in a mental institution which would more than likely happen. Doctor Fox would sit there and nod along and pretend to be sympathetic to his tales of skinless feral dogs and the clink, clink, clink of the creatures with blades for arms and the nurses without faces, but in the back of his mind he would be thinking, “The poor boy has completely snapped. What happened to his brother must have taken its toll on him. What’s the phone number for the loony bin again?” No, all he would discuss with Doctor Fox would be Joshua’s death and that’s all.
“You seemed to have calmed down now Alex,” said Doctor Fox interrupting his thoughts. “A good way to finish seeing as it’s the end of our session. Same time next week?”
“Sure,” replied Alex as he watched Doctor Fox scribble out a prescription for his medication, his grey moustache twitching as he did so.
“If you need to talk about anything, just give me a call,” said Doctor Fox as he handed Alex the prescription. “You’ll get through this in time.”
“See you next week Doctor Fox,” said Alex as he walked out the door.
It was a lovely sunny day as Alex stepped outside into the town of Oakley, his new home. The greenness of the trees contrasted beautifully against the vibrant blue sky. He closed his eyes as the sun warmed his face, maybe he would get through this after all. He started to head home; Elle would be calling him soon. He crossed the road, heading in the direction of the pharmacy, avoiding the gutters as he did so.
Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307. Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307. Hurry!
James Sunderland repeated those seven words over and over like a mantra in his head as he flew up the stairs of Wood Side Apartments with a Feral close behind. He could feel the skinless canine’s hot breath on his legs as it snapped at his ankles. He could hear the scraping of its claws and its bloodthirsty grunts as it scrambled up the stairs after him.
Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307. Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307!
He was on the first floor landing now, sprinting towards the stairs that led up to the second floor and taking them two at a time. He had a gun but there was no point in stopping to shoot at the bastard. It would be on him and tearing chunks out of his neck before he could turn around. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breath was coming out in short bursts. The Feral was getting closer, almost on him now.
Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307. Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307!
His legs burned from all the running, they ached and felt heavy. He reached the top of the second floor stairs and made his way to the set that led up to the third floor. The Feral was getting desperate, its need making itself known in the violent and hungry growls it was producing. Its hunger was pushing it forward and James felt a brief tug on his trouser leg as the Feral grabbed hold. This was short lived however as James ran faster up the stairs freeing himself of its grasp.
Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307. Up the stairs. Right. Left. Room 307! Almost there, almost there!
James reached the top of the third floor stairs and burst through the door that lead to the hallways, the Feral following closely.
Right. Left. Room 307!
James bolted right down the corridor and made a sharp left turn down the next. The Feral didn’t anticipate this and ran straight on before skidding to a halt, turning and pursuing its prey, angry at being tricked. This bought James a small window of time, just enough time to burst through the door into apartment 307 and slam it behind him, locking out the baying Feral. He could hear it’s cries of frustration in losing its lunch as it scratched at the door.
“Scratch all you want you little fucker. You’re sleeping out there tonight,” James muttered as he sat on the floor with his back to the door, trying to catch his breath. He’d been returning from the streets of Silent Hill when a Feral almost tore his leg off in the lobby of the apartments. They were a rare sight in the building so he wasn’t expecting to see one and had bolted up the stairs when it gave chase. Everything happened so fast that he didn’t have an opportunity to shoot at it. He could hear it sniffing under the gap at the bottom of the door. It would get tired eventually James knew, so he got up and walked into the kitchen, tossing his jacket onto the arm chair as he did so. He took out a tin of canned food from the cupboard and sat down in front of the TV which was emitting nothing but a hissing static. He could just turn it off but he liked the static, it was soothing.
He scratched at the heavy stubble on his cheek as he ate. Would tonight be the night? Should he just do what he’d thought about so much? He had plenty of ammo, all it would take was one bullet and he would be free of this hell. James actually chuckled at the irony of such a thought. Hell... if he ended everything now he would simply be tossed from this hell straight into another. He sure as shit wasn’t going to heaven. His beautiful Mary would be in heaven and if she was waiting for him, she’d be waiting a long time. He was never going to meet her there, he put here there in the first place. He was a murderer in the simplest form. Sure she was sick but he didn’t kill her out of compassion. He killed her because he wanted to be free. She was a burden to him. Her mood swings, her constant need for care, the fact that he was feeling so much sexual frustration... he’d snapped and ended her life.
He’d blocked it all out. He’d imagined the note that she’d left him, telling him she was waiting for him in Silent Hill. It was a subconscious desire to be punished, but punished for what didn’t reveal itself until he’d watched the video at the Lakeview Hotel. Until he’d allowed himself to remember what he’d done to her. He’d been through so much in Silent Hill, had searched endlessly for his beloved wife who he’d believed to have died from her illness. Had come close to death so many times and had seen sights that nobody could imagine, not even in their worst nightmares. When he finally came to terms with what he’d done, he had to face his judgement. His executioner. Pyramid Head, two of them to be precise. Pyramid Head had tormented James ever since he arrived at Silent Hill, following him and yielding that deadly knife of his. In what he thought was his final confrontation with two of them, they impaled themselves on their own deadly weapons and James knew he was free. He’d faced up to what he’d done and could leave Silent Hill for good. But he made the mistake of leaving it too long. Made the mistake of staying in Silent Hill and letting the guilt and need for punishment manifest itself all over again. With those feelings manifested once more, so did Pyramid Head. Now once again he hears the sound of his heavy footsteps, hears the dreaded scrape of his great sword as he drags it behind him. And hears the whispers in his head at night... “You want to end it all so you can be free of me? You can’t. You need to embrace the darkness my Creator... embrace it and embrace me. You cannot escape who you are.”
James picked up the gun that was lying on the table beside him, stroking it gently with his fingers. It would be so easy, it would all be over in the blink of an eye. He wanted to do it so badly, he knew that if he killed himself, there would be no more guilt, and with no more guilt to feast off, Pyramid Head would be no more. He couldn’t be sure though. What if he killed himself and met Pyramid Head again in hell? What if Pyramid Head lived on even after he killed himself?
James slammed the gun down on the table in frustration. He should have just left Silent Hill when he had the chance instead of wallowing in self pity! At least then he could have punished himself in his own way in the real world. He leaned his head against the head rest of the chair and closed his eyes. The building had fallen silent and James realised that he couldn’t hear the Feral outside of his door anymore. He opened his eyes sharply when he heard static omitting from his radio. His hands began to shake when he heard that awful sound and a familiar feeling of dread formed in the pit of his stomach. He was coming.
*Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape*
James got up quietly and turned off the TV and his flashlight. He checked that his gun was loaded and cocked it with as little noise as possible. He then went to the kitchen and placed one of the chairs so it was facing the door to the apartment. He sat down and waited. It was going to be a long night.