Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or Silent Hill
A/N: Finally I got this finished! The reason it took so long was because I tried writing it in past tense on recommendation. And with comments from friends, the chapter written in past tense got voted down and I finished writing the chapter the way I prefer.
Hope you enjoy!
Reaching the next floor, Genesis twists the flashlight in his hand to cast light around the new room. It was the same size as the previous but had nothing to show which floor he was on. There were a large cracked mirror covering the long wall and a door at the end of the room. But he had no interest in exploring every floor; he need only ascend two more floors before searching for an exit and if there were no exit to be found he would just ascend five more floors and the exit would most likely be there, since the previous floor was either B3 or B8. Genesis hoped for the earlier possibility.
The siren had made him nervous, what happened to the surrounding wasn't something normal. The darkness seemed to have become alive now and moving towards the light source, almost like it was squishing the beam of light. Walking around the elevator shaft to the next set of stairs he swore at the sight that greeted him. It was layer upon layer of debris piling all the way to the roof, no way he could get pass this.
"Well, isn't this my lucky day?"
Genesis thought irritated while he turned around on the spot and froze when he passed the light over some dark shadow on the other side of the room. He carefully moved the light back to that spot to find nothing there. However, this only made him more worried. Had the darkness tricked him? Or was there someone with him in the room? He traced the light all the way around the room without seeing the dark shadow again and then made his way to the door. They could be looking for him and he had to move on before they found him to either try and kill him or bring him back to the surgery room he started in.
The next room looked just like the one on from the previous floor and he guessed that the layout would be the same. Two restrooms, a nurse office and two sets of double doors. But one of the double doors was covered with something rather odd. Upon closer inspection Genesis finds it to be red broad vines crawling all over the door… and they were moving? Touching one of the vines with the flashlight seemed to give no reaction whatsoever and he decided to try and pull them away. Grabbing a vine with his free left hand he started pulling with no result more than making his shoulder ache a bit, the vine felt like it was made of flesh and seemed like it had grown into the door. He put down the flashlight on the ground and took hold with both his hands to try a second time and pull it away. It still didn't even budge. "If I only had my sword…" Genesis mumbled as he picked up the flashlight again and went to the other set of double doors.
He expected to find a surgery room alike the one he had started in with hopefully some knife lying around so he could try and cut away the vines, what he found himself in instead was a platform above the surgery room he had started in. But below dim light something was lying on the stretcher he had been on when he arrived, a bloody body with a severed left arm. Searching along the platform hoping to find something of use he couldn't help but to keep glancing back at the body.
"That could have been me… But what is it doing here in the first place if I was the one to be in this room to start with?"
Halfway around the platform Genesis is met by a blockade of piled stretchers and he makes a disgusted face at what lies on one of them; a severed arm. It's a left arm, just like the body down below is missing and in the hand there is a key. Grabbing the key he sees that there's an imprint of a number on it "304? It could be helpful if I find the room." He mumbles to himself and pocketing the key. Next to the pile of stretchers there's an opening in the railing and more stretchers piling up like stairs. Looking at the knives lying on the tables around the body he decided to go down to see if anything wasn't chained to the table they were lying on.
"Hm, I don't remember there being a pile of these when I woke up… Something weird is going on in this place and I'm not going to stay and figure it out."
Reaching the first table with knives he starts to pull the chains keeping them stuck to the table to see if anything wasn't stuck.
*Thump*
Genesis looked up, that wasn't the chains. He turned towards the source of the noise. The sound had come from the body, or the direction of the body. Until now he had ignored the bloody body but now he looked it over more properly. Its left side was towards him and the hand of the right arm seemed to be clutching the gaping wound where the left arm should have been, it had blood everywhere and a small white sheet covering the head with no blood at all.
After staring at the sheet for a moment, curiosity got the better of him and he made his way next to the stretcher. Grabbing one end of the small sheet he glanced around the room nervously. It felt like he was being watched, hell, everywhere he went he felt like he was being watched! Lifting the sheet slightly he bend down to look at the face beneath. "Shit!" Genesis gasped and jumped away in horror straight into one of the tables behind him and fell to the floor with it. "What…? How is that possible?" He had seen himself under the sheet, which had fell back into its place, and sat now on the floor watching the body. Just as he thought about rising to go look again underneath the sheet to check if he saw wrong or not he saw a shadow move on the other side of the room towards him.
"W-what the hell is that?"
It was crawling along the floor rather slowly into the light and Genesis sat there just staring at the faceless thing. It was holding a scalpel in one of its hands and wore a nurse's hat. When it stood up facing in his direction he could see the dirty and bloody nurse outfit it was wearing and then it… did nothing. Genesis become confused, it maybe didn't see him, the stretcher could be in the way of its sight, if it had any. Slowly he climbed to his feet and watched the thing on the other side of the stretcher that still was motionless. His flashlight was on the floor facing away from the creature and he slowly made to pick it up while watching the thing cautiously. The same moment the beam of light faced the direction of the creature it started moving his direction again. Startled, Genesis almost tripped over the table again. Fast reaching for the closest chain and pulling it until he got the knife at the other end, he prepared for attack against the thing walking around the stretcher. It raised the scalpel and Genesis struck without a second thought.
"That was easy." He mumbled to himself a bit surprised. The monster had been stabbed only a few times before it fell to the floor. It never even got the chance to try and strike him. He dropped the knife to the floor and looked towards the body on the stretcher again, the monster had fallen backwards and hit it taking the sheet over the face of the body with it. Now the face looked the same as the monster he just killed.
"Was it just my imagination?"
He placed a hand in front of his face and sat down on the floor again sighing heavily. His mind had started to play tricks on him and that wasn't a good sign. "I need to find a way out of here." he told himself but didn't make any move to stand up. After a few seconds he rose and started to walk back to the pile of stretchers to go back.
The vines over the double doors were still there when he came back and he went to check the other doors in the room. The door to the nurse office was locked and both restrooms looked disgusting with nothing of interest in them. "Great! I'm fucking stuck here!" he almost roared to the empty room. But he knew he couldn't stay here and hope for a miracle if he wanted to get out. His only option was to backtrack.
Back at the stairs Genesis found that the pile of debris had not magically disappeared which disappointed him greatly. Letting out a frustrated sigh he headed towards the stairs when he noticed something at the corner of his eye. Turning only his head towards the mirror with the flashlight pointing in another direction, he could see the reflection of his flashlight and another weak light which he could not find the source of. Walking up to the mirror the mystery light stayed in place and made Genesis start to wonder "Could this be..., a window?" Bringing the flashlight to the glass he tapped it lightly with it before deciding his next action, which possibly could ruin his only light source. "Well, here it goes…" he muttered before tightening his grip on the flashlight and prepared to swing it into the glass, hopefully with enough force to shatter it and not break his only light source.
Swinging his arm he heard the sound of breaking glass as he hit the window. To his luck he found himself looking into a new room with his flashlight still providing him a beam of light. He would smile, but an unsettling feeling suddenly fell upon him, like something had been disturbed by his action. He picked away some of the sharp glass pieces before climbing over the edge into the new room. In the far left corner stood a TV with a white screen, probably had that been what he saw earlier through the window, and the bright light shone towards a couch in the middle of the room. The room was different from the others he had been in; it had wooden floorboards instead of concrete, peeled of wallpaper and was furnished. But the furniture was destroyed or knocked over, except for the TV and couch.
"Have people lived in this screwed up place?"
He cautiously walked towards a door on the right side of the room and tried to open it; locked. Genesis would have growled in frustration but he was too nervous at the moment. Turning on the spot soundlessly he almost screamed at the person staring blindly at him from the couch. When noticing that the person on the couch was dead he regained his breath that had stuck in his throat and walked towards it slowly. He really didn't want to have more close ups on dead bodies anymore but the chances of finding a key out of the room was possible. He stopped in his tracks, he already got a key! Turning back to the door he picked up the key he'd found earlier and tried it in the door.
"This room could be 304! I at least hope so…"
The sound of the door unlocking was music to him and he opened it. Outside of the room there was a corridor much like the one on the first floor with the nurse's office there too. Guessing that the office would be locked from here too he decided to check the three remaining rooms in the corridor. After only a few steps something large scrambles and falls from the roof right in front of him and Genesis jumps back horrified by the sudden event. A cloud of dust was in his way of sight but was put to rest rather fast, leaving the sight of a blood dripping body hanging from the roof and debris on the floor. The body was rotting and in a state of molting in some places. The sight together with the disgusting stench made Genesis want to throw up, doubling over clutching his stomach he prepared for the worst, but to his luck the feeling subsided. He really wished this smell wouldn't cling to his clothing or hair.
Hurrying past the body, he went to the last door to get away from the smell. When he found the door locked he just continued to the next, but when that one was shown to be locked too he almost whimpered as he could start smell the horrible stench again. To his luck however, the next door opened. This room seemed to be a storage of sort with many different things from cleaning utensils to medical devices. Walking along the left wall, scanning the shelves and desks for anything useful, he suddenly feels something breathe on the back of his head. As he realizes he's not alone in the room, his eyes widen in terror. Twisting around he's ready to dash for the door if necessary but decides against it when the beam of light reveals what's on the other side of the room. It looked like part of the wall was made of flesh, like the vines he had found earlier, and then there were a hole in the middle of it that had blood flowing out of it and where the breath was coming from. But what made him not run out of the room was the sight of his sword. It was placed blade first into the dark hole with only the handle outside and… it was moving further into the wall! "Oh no! You don't swallow my sword!" Dashing across the room, he reaches the wall just as the last of his sword disappears.
"Come on! How much more bad luck can I get?"
Growling angrily at the breathing wall Genesis holds up his flashlight to shine light into the dark hole, only to find it barely helped at all. It was time to think; with his sword he could possibly get pass the vines, but if he reached into this hole that could possibly be the mouth of a living creature, who knows what would happen. But if he doesn't do it, he would have to go down to the first floor he was on. Suddenly very nervous, Genesis slowly reaches into the hole, searching deeper and deeper after his sword. With his whole fore arm in he starts to doubt his decision being the best option.
"What if it's too far in? Maybe I shouldn't…"
Shaking his head he reaches further in, determined to get his sword so he can continue forward. Not knowing where the thoughts of hopelessness had come from he knew now that he cannot give up whatever happens.
"If I die down here I will at least die trying!"
To his triumph he finds the sword handle and grabs it with a firm grip. Just when he starts pulling, something starts pulling his arm as well. Not prepared for the force wanting him to stay, Genesis gets slammed into the wall so that he drops the flashlight and the bravery he had a few seconds ago turns into fear. Feeling sharp edges claw at his arm, he gets even more worried. Adrenaline rushes through him as he pulls forcefully a few times and suddenly fell backwards onto the hard concrete floor. Sitting up he panted heavily, trying to catch his breath, and hold up his right hand. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it and that there was something familiar in his clenched fist. Reaching for the flashlight with a shaky left hand he brought it close. His leather coat had some small ripped holes and both his arm and sword was covered with blood, but he had an undamaged arm and his sword. Genesis shook his head and sat on the floor recovering from his adrenaline rush and chock.
"So much for retrieving my sword…"
After a moments recovering he rose from the floor and headed for the door without checking the rest of the room.
The stench from the body outside in the hall had spread and Genesis felt very sick again as he hurried past it. He would check the nurse's office before heading back to the vines. Expecting the door to the office to be locked, he was a bit surprised when the door opened and he hurried inside.
Compared to the first office he was in before, this one was a mess. Papers and journals covered with grime and blood where laying everywhere. You couldn't take a step without making some kind of noise. He took a few steps into the room when he heard the rustling of papers behind him and spun around with sword ready only to come face to faceless with another nurse clad monster. This one had an iron pipe instead of a scalpel and swung it towards Genesis who just ducked and then kicked it to the ground. Severing both of the monsters arms he went on to cutting and stabbing it, even when its pained gurgling sound ceased to continue Genesis kept on. He knew it was dead, it just felt good to continue.
When he decided it was enough he was panting lightly, watching his work, you couldn't tell how the thing once looked anymore. He went to lean against the closest wall next to the door. He knew he shouldn't waste energy, but he couldn't stop himself from cutting the monster into thousands of pieces. He also knew he cannot lose control like that again if he wants to get out anytime soon. Straightening up he went to look for a key out of the office, to spare him the walk around everything. He found that the wall opposite to the unlocked door was also made of flesh. But this time there was clearly a mouth, bigger than him too, with giant teeth in the wall. On some places around the mouth he found holes that gave him a hint of another room past this monster.
"Hm, I could probably cut this thing off the wall and get through."
Smirking with the thought that his sword would be useful, he prepared to slice the mouth from the wall. However, he never got so far before a loud crash was heard outside the office, like someone or something broke down a wall. Still frozen in chock of what the hell it could be he heard the sound of metal scraping against the concrete floor. "This can't be good…" Genesis whispers to himself and starts cutting furiously at the flesh wall suddenly in a great hurry. It could be them that were searching through this floor after him.
The mouth seemed to be gasping when half of it lost its grip on the wall and Genesis decided he could squish himself through and did that while listening to the screeching sound of metal being dragged slowly over the floor. In the next room he ran across the floor to the door praying it was unlocked. His heart was racing as he slammed open the door and dashed out into the hall. Another loud crash echoed from behind him and around a corner as the double doors that blocked his path before probably was broken down. Genesis ran the opposite direction hoping to find some kind of emergency stairs that he could use to escape this hell.
"Oh please goddess let it not be a dead end!"
The echo of metal seemed to come closer, but he wasn't sure. Turning a corner at the end of the hall he almost run straight into the metallic doors of an elevator, which is not really what he hoped for, who knew where the elevator was at the moment! Fumbling around after the button to the elevator he finds and presses it furiously as he glances over his shoulder. The echo got louder and the doors opened. The elevator was bright and Genesis pressed the buttons like a mad man to get it to close and move on. The doors closed to his relief and he leaned against the wall. Just as the elevator started to move Genesis screamed in surprise and fear as a giant sword was thrust in between the elevator doors and slowly moving to the floor until it slipped out again. "That was close." Genesis sighs and slides down to sit on the floor. The relief however, didn't last long as an alarming sound started to echo outside the elevator. Looking around confused he suddenly flew to his feet as he realized what that sound was; the wires carrying the elevator! Once again pressing buttons trying to get the elevator to stop so he could get out, his heart was racing again. The elevator stopped abruptly with a worrying shake and the sound of something big snapping was the last thing Genesis heard before the elevator went rushing down towards the ground, and he could only think of one thing as he fell to his certain death:
"Why? After all the things I did to get this far, this is how it ends? Why?"
The light goes out as the collusion to the floor comes and the roof falls down over him. He whimper in pain as he opens his eyes to find himself in darkness, sweating and lying on something hard and with something warm wrapped around his lower body and legs. Genesis sat up whimpering slightly at the aching pain in his left shoulder and looked around the dark that no longer seemed to be alive. He was back home, sitting on the floor in his apartment in the ShinRa building.
"It all… was just a dream?"
He had just fallen out of bed during a horrible nightmare. Genesis placed his right hand in front of his face, laughing lightly. "I just had a nightmare. Thank goddess. Nothing of that ever happened." He was more than happy to realize it all was a dream. Reaching for the lamp on his bedside table behind him, he switched it on and checked the time; 3 a.m. Lucky him, he don't have much work this morning. Turning back around he gets surprised when he looks at his right hand, there was blood in his palm, and when it comes to mind, he had a faint taste of blood in his mouth. Reaching up to his nose he realized he had nose bleed. He frowned, it was the first time he got it in ShinRa without hurting his nose, and rose to his feet to take care of it. He hoped this dream was something he would never experience again, whether in dreams or real life.
After taking care of his bleeding in the bathroom and washing the sweat from his face he went to the kitchen for a glass of water before he went back to bed, placing the glass on the bedside table and lying back down in his bed.
Even if he knew he was safe in his room and that all the weird things that happened were just a dream, Genesis couldn't deny the uncomfortable familiar feeling from his nightmare…
He was being watched…