Drag Them Into Hell - Chapter Two
Title: Drag Them Into Hell
Author: HouseJackBuilt1
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.
Billy too, and Sally? Did they do something wrong?
I'm afraid it's true, child-all your friends are gone.
*Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape*
James had been sitting in the darkness of his apartment for the past half hour now listening to those sounds... those awful sounds that would make any mans soul break. He could hear nothing but thump, thump of the creature's footsteps and the scrape, scrape of his great knife. Sometimes the oncoming noises sounded close, mere metres away from the door but sometimes they faded, growing quieter until there was only silence and a tense atmosphere hanging in the air. He knew what Pyramid Head was doing. He was playing with him... tormenting him. Trying to push James and test his limits until he either screamed out and cried for him to stop or flung open the door to confront him because he could take no more.
James didn't know what to do. His nerves were frayed and he was indeed on a knife's edge, uncertain of when he was going to topple off. Whenever he would hear the footsteps getting closer he would tense up and sit erect with the gun pointed in front of him, directly at the door. Sweat would crawl down his brow and into his eyes, stinging them. He would flick his blonde hair out of his eyes as he couldn't have anything impairing his vision should Pyramid Head burst through the door, which James knew he could do with ease. He didn't know why he even bothered to lock it. When the footsteps faded and Woodside Apartments would fall as silent as a mortuary, James would feel tension different to the kind when the footsteps were close. The tension wasn't sharp and stabbing like before, it was more of a dull throb. He was no longer on the knifes edge but more on pins and needles just waiting for the moment when he would hear his tormentor returning for him. He would lower the gun but would still clutch it tightly, the weapon shaking in his hands and damp with his sweat.
Now, as the apartment complex fell silent once more, James wished that the bastard would just show himself and do what he had to do. He hated waiting, hated not knowing when the thing was going to knock the door down and drag him deep into the darkness. Pyramid Head would often toy with James like this, always at night time when Silent Hill became even more dangerous than the fog filled days. James stopped moving around the town and hiding in different places because he ceased to see the point when Pyramid Head would always find him. He would always find him no matter where he went.
Before all of this happened, before he came to this doomed town, in the days of sunshine and of Mary, James was a night time person. He would often sit in the back yard of the house that he shared with his wife and look up at the stars for hours on end, wondering what else was out there in the universe and take comfort in the brightness they created. He liked the way everything looked at night. Everything in shades of dark purple and blue, the streetlamps casting their amber glow, making everything they touched appear to be softly burning. But now, in this town, he dreaded the darkness of twilight. He could never take comfort from the stars as he once did as the fog was so thick, even at night time, that he could never see a single one. The creatures that stalked the streets were more dangerous that those that he encountered of a day time and James avoided going out at all when night time fell as much as he could. He would lie in bed listening to the howls and cries of beasts that cannot be of this earth, cries of hunger and of pain. He was no longer a night time person anymore and when darkness fell he would revert back to the child he once was, only now the monsters that he believed to be hiding in his closet and under his bed as a child were real and simply closing his eyes and wishing them away would not make them disappear.
*Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape*
James heard it, very faintly but he knew he heard it. There it was again! Louder this time... Pyramid Head was coming back. James tightened his grip on his gun and raised it toward the door, his finger on the trigger.
*Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape. Thud, thud, scrape*
It was getting nearer now, perhaps as close as just down the hall. James's muscles tightened and he tried to get a reign on his fear. He could hear Pyramid Head approaching now, down the hall in his direction. His steps were painfully slow, dragging out the torment as much as he could. Louder... louder... surely outside the door now... and then silence. James could hear nothing but the sound of his own heartbeat and his pulse thumping in his temples. The silence was agonising. What the hell is he doing? James thought. He held the gun steady, never once taking his eyes off the door. James almost squeezed the trigger in shock when a crack appeared at the base of the door and began working its way upward, splintering the wood as it went. A red glow appeared under the door and James knew that Pyramid Head was on the other side, slowly pushing his way in. The crack continued to travel upward, slowly, slowly, the noise deafening in the silent apartment and causing James's head to hurt. James couldn't take it anymore. He stood up sharply, took a few steps toward the door and squeezed off four shots from his pistol. The crack stopped abruptly just above the centre of the door but the red glow continued to bleed underneath so James knew that his tormentor was still there.
Silence once more and James didn't move. He could see nothing but darkness beyond the bullet holes that he'd created. James looked at the gap beneath the door and the colour drained from his face as he saw a long, black tongue snake its way into the apartment and wrap itself tightly around his leg. He cried out in surprise and tried to pull himself free but the tongue held fast and began pulling him slowly towards the door. James began to panic and fired twice at the tongue, missing both times and once at the door.
He had one bullet left.
Use it! Blow your brains out before it's too late! He thought. He couldn't let this thing take him to his lair, he just couldn't! He knew what Pyramid Head did to people down there. He didn't merely take people to his chamber and kill them with one great thrust of his knife. If James knew that it was that quick and easy, he would have let himself be taken long ago. But this creature wasn't that merciful. He would take James to his lair and draw out his death, long and painful. He would torture him for days on end, making him scream and beg for death. He would take pleasure in his tears and his pleas. James cast his mind back to one of his first days in Silent Hill. Back to when he was hiding in the closet of this very apartment and saw Pyramid Head with the Mannequin creature. Saw what he was doing to it, what he'd saw many times since then. James started to shake violently. I can't let that happen to me! If I'm going to die I want it to be on my terms!
As if sensing his thoughts on what James was planning, Pyramid Head punched a hole through the door, the flimsy wood shattering with ease. A shiver ran up James spine and he broke out in a cold sweat when a gloved hand attached to an arm that strained with muscle reached inside and very slowly, with one finger, beckoned him forward. Fear shot through James like a bolt of lightning and he raised the gun to his temple, his finger on the trigger. He was about to pull it when the tongue that was wrapped around his leg pulled violently and he was lifted off his feet causing him to lose his grasp on the gun and it flew through the air. James and the gun both landed on the floor at the same time, the gun bouncing a few times and hitting the wall and James just hitting his head. He felt himself being pulled towards the door and the whispers in his head began once more.
"Don't fight me my Creator. Embrace me. Come with me, follow me into the darkness. Stay with me in the darkness."
James let out a strangled cry of fear as he watched the gloved hand slowly reach down towards the door knob. It stopped abruptly however and withdrew as the ear-splitting siren began to sound. The darkness was coming. James never thought in a million years he'd be happy to hear that sound but now he welcomed it. The tongue unwrapped itself from his leg and disappeared back underneath the door. He heard Pyramid Head's howl of frustration and watched as the red glow began to fade, as did the creatures footsteps. James let out a huge sigh of relief and remained on the floor, panting loudly, trying to get his breath back.
When his heartbeat had slowed down and his breathing had returned to normal James got to his feet shakily. He inspected his damaged door. The hole that Pyramid Head had made was about the size of a football and the rest of the door was splintered and littered with bullet holes. He would have to go out tomorrow and find wood to fix it. Maybe even try to find something stronger to keep the weaker monsters at bay. For tonight he would just have to sleep in the bedroom and lock the door, barricade it for extra security. The darkness was even more dangerous than the night time and he couldn't risk venturing out to find a safer place to sleep now. James reloaded his gun and took everything he would need until morning into the bedroom. He locked the door and propped a heavy chest of drawers in front of it.
He walked over to the window that looked out on to the streets of Silent Hill. Through the darkness he saw two people in mining suits, both wearing gas masks hurrying down Katz Street. Order members. James had often seen them around the town but he'd always stayed clear, hidden at the first sign of them. He knew they were dangerous, knew what they did to people. They were almost as bad as Pyramid Head... almost. James lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, the men's footsteps outside echoing off the pavement creating a sombre and melancholic sound.
As Alex checked his mail and walked up the path to his one bed roomed house on Autumn Street, he saw his neighbour, Bill Oldman mowing his lawn. When he saw Alex he turned off his lawn mower and approached the white picket fence that separated the two houses.
"Hey Alex, how's it going?" he said with a smile.
Bill was a nice man. He was thirty eight years old, older than Alex by sixteen years but they got on surprisingly well. Ever since Alex moved to Oakley, Bill made him feel welcome to the neighbourhood. He invited Alex to his barbeques and to his poker games and Alex got to know him and his family. He had a lovely wife named Iris and two great kids, Molly and William. William was around Josh's age and Alex often thought that he and Josh would have been friends had they ever met. Alex needed friends in this town and he was grateful for Bills friendship.
"Hey Bill. I'm good thanks, how's the family?"
"Oh you know, the kids are keeping me on my toes as usual. Quick tip for you Alex, if you ever decide to have kids, be sure to plant a money tree in your back yard. You'll need it once they hit the age of ten believe me."
Alex laughed, "I'm sure you've got it covered Bill. I hear baseball pays very well."
Bill was the coach of the local Oakley High School baseball team and every time he spoke about it, his love for the job made itself known.
"Not nearly enough. I've been meaning to ask you Alex, you think you could take a look at my car when you get a minute? It keeps making these funny noises every time I have it on the road for longer than ten minutes."
"Yeah no problem. I'll come over later and see what's up with it."
"Thanks Alex. I'll see you later, Iris says hi by the way."
"Take it easy Bill," replied Alex and walked up the steps of his front porch, fumbling in his pocket for his front door key.
Alex had made quite a reputation around town of the guy who knew how to fix things. Since Josh's death, all of the free time he had gave him too much time to think and it was driving him crazy. He needed to keep his mind occupied so he began to fix anything he could find that was broken. Everything from fridges to toasters to washing machines to cars. At first his behaviour was bordering on obsessive but as his sessions with Doctor Fox began to gradually ease his pain he stopped searching for things to fix and started to only fix the things that he came across. After reading manual upon manual on electrics, plumbing, mechanics and various other things, he could fix just about anything. When people in town heard of this, they started asking Alex if he could fix various things for them. He was their option when they couldn't afford a mechanic or an electrician. Alex still charged of course but because he charged a lower rate than the handymen that were listed in the phone book, more people were coming to him and he was making quite a bit of money.
Alex let himself in after retrieving his key and was greeted by the happy barks of his black Labrador, King. Alex had always wanted a dog ever since his father killed his old one when he was younger.
"You hungry boy?" Alex asked and the dog mewled in response.
He poured some food into King's bowl and left the back door open so he could go in the yard. As King ate nosily in the kitchen Alex logged on to the computer that stood in the corner of his living room. He went online and checked his email. He had a new one from Deputy Wheeler. He opened it and read.
From: wheeler74
To: alex_01
Hi Alex. I hope you're well, how's the treatment going? I know you keep saying that I should speak to someone but you know me, I'm stubborn by nature and I ain't ever going to change. I never once spoke to a shrink, even when they told us to sometimes on the force. I don't trust a guy I don't know to tell my deepest darkest secrets to. But on the upside, I've met someone. A beautiful lady called Gwen. She's one in a million Alex; she's making me feel like myself again. I've only known her a few weeks but I feel like I've known her a lot longer and she must be doing something right because guess what? For the past week I've been having full night's sleeps. No nightmares at all, not a single one! That has to be progress right? Let me know how you're doing and give Elle my love.
Take care buddy.
Wheeler.
Alex logged off and smiled. He would email him back later. He was happy that Wheeler was doing well. They had been emailing each other a lot since Alex found Wheeler in that torture room and saved his life. They still remained good friends. Alex was happy for him, he was but... why had Wheeler's nightmares stopped and Alex's hadn't? Alex's nightmares were getting more frequent if anything and more violent. Every night he would wake up soaked in sweat with a silent scream stuck in his throat. He put it down to the fact that he wasn't talking to anyone about his nightmares, he wouldn't tell Doctor Fox. He spoke about them briefly to Elle but he didn't want to worry her with his troubles, she was having nightmares too. But Wheeler wasn't even seeing a psychiatrist so he couldn't be talking to anyone about his nightmares either, yet his had stopped. Why? Maybe he had started talking to them about this new lady of his... maybe that was it.
Alex was jolted out of his thoughts when the phone rang. He went to the hall to answer it. It was Elle. They made the usual small talk at first. Asked each other how they were doing, what they had been up to.
"How did your appointment go?" asked Elle.
"It was fine. They're really helping Elle; I think I may be starting to put this whole thing behind me. Coming to terms with-with... Josh."
"That's great Alex. You're still taking your medication?"
"Of course. I'm doing well. How about you? You still seeing your therapist, Doctor... Bimbo, was it?"
Elle laughed, "Kimbo Alex! They're going great and Alex... I didn't have any nightmares last night for the first time since what happened! I didn't even dream, just had a wonderful night's sleep!"
Despite the great news Alex couldn't help feeling a pang of disappointment. Elle had told him that she didn't talk about her nightmares in therapy either for the same reason he feared to talk about them, yet seemed like she was starting to be free of the nightmares too and he was still having them. He felt like a total shit for even thinking such a selfish thought. It was great that she was getting better.
"That's brilliant news Elle! I'm happy for you; I hope that you continue to go from strength to strength."
"Thanks Alex. Hey, you want to do something this weekend? Catch a movie or something? I can drive down."
"Sounds great. I'll give you a call tomorrow."
They both hung up. Alex knew that his and Elle's relationship was slowly developing into something more. They'd taken it slow at first; both had issues they needed to deal with before they could even think about starting a relationship. But now that they were both getting better and trying to move on from what had happened, they were seeing more and more of each other. He'd always liked her, more than liked but he was too afraid to make a move. They were both too fragile and had seen too much. But Alex was starting to think that he was ready to take a risk. Life's too short; he knew that more than anyone.
King came bounding in from the back yard and they both went into the living room and sat down on the sofa, King's head in Alex's lap. Alex turned on the TV and began flicking through the channels; they put some crap on TV these days, he thought. Station after station he couldn't find anything that took his interest.
"Want to find a way to beat baldness? Well with this miracle spray you can! For just seventy-"
"How could you do this to me? I saw you with her! You-"
"...year old child has gone missing from the Oakley area. Police-"
"And the score for today's football game is-"
Alex sat up with a start causing King to raise his head with interest as he flicked frantically back to the previous channel. It was the news station reporting a breaking story. Alex began to feel sick with dread as he listened.
"And continuing on with our latest breaking news story. A nine year old child has gone missing from the town of Oakley. Toby Griffiths was playing in the local park yesterday afternoon when he disappeared. His mother was watching him from a nearby bench. Talking to one of our reporters earlier today she said that she took her eyes off him for a second to retrieve something out of her purse and the next thing she knew, he was gone. She is said to be distraught over the disappearance of her son. Police are combing the area for evidence and are asking anyone who was in the park yesterday afternoon between 1:00-1:30pm to come forward immediately with any details they may have. More on this story as it develops."
Alex stood up from the sofa causing King to look at him curiously. His breathing began to come out in short gasps. I need air! Need to get outside! He began to make his way to the kitchen but his legs felt weak and he fell to his knees. Toby Griffiths... gone. Just like Joshua... dragged off into the dark! His head started to hurt and he thought he heard a voice in his head, the faintest of whispers.
"Alex..."
The throbbing in his head rose to a splitting pain. Alex cried out and put his hands to his head, the pain was excruciating! He fell to the floor and curled up willing the pain to go away. But it just climbed higher, split, split, split until his vision began to blur and darkness began to creep in the corner of his eyes. The blanket of unconsciousness descended upon him and the last thing that Alex heard was the faint barking of his dog. He wasn't sure whether it was King barking or his old dog, calling to him from the spirit world.
TBC...