Still need a Beta Reader if anyone is interested! :D And if not, please enjoy this chapter! By the way, I posted this so early because I couldn't wait! I think it is a really great chapter and I also have a spicy lemon spin-off story (from this chapter only) called: Sins Atoned. Check it out!

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Inside it looked like a typical hospital, only aged and unkempt. It wasn't too different from the hospital she had left Douglas at. Douglas, aww geez! She hadn't even thought about the old detective…not once since she turned up here. I'm sure he will be ok. She shook herself out of these thoughts, and focused. Before them lie once white tile floors and grimy walls, dark uninviting hallways, and a rather stagnant antiseptic smell. Even though it looked empty, she knew better than to get distracted by thoughts now. Her monster friend Valtiel was on edge too. He swept his eyeless gaze over the vicinity, tensed. "They are here." She strained to hear or see anything that might be hiding in the dark shadows.

"How do you know that?" Without answering he cut in front of her protectively. That's when she heard a slight rustling sound from down the left dark hall.

Her guardian growled low and menacingly as a Nurse came shaking and panting from behind the receptionist's desk. The Nurse stopped, head bobbing and legs near buckling with tremors. Valtiel glared at the other monster, and loosed an animalistic snarl. The Nurse clutched a metal pipe in its hand. For a moment the two stood staring, daring each other to make a move. Cheryl realized she was holding her breath, and let it out in a whoosh. With the silence of the standoff broken, the Nurse lurched, stumbling its way towards them. Her monster friend growled louder, a clear warning that the Nurse paid no heed to.

It began to raise the pipe and earned a swift uppercut to its jaw, followed by a sweeping kick, felling the monster. It lay crumpled on the ground screaming in pain. "I'll do worse than that if you try that again." Valtiel hissed. The Nurse, fearing more injury, drug itself back to the safety of the darkness while wailing its torture.

After that little brawl, she took to tailing behind her guardian. She wasn't being a baby or anything, she forgot her bat at the apartment…and it was just nice not having to put herself in harm's way for once. I don't feel as scared now that I have someone with me…someone who can protect me… someone that- Cheryl yelled when she felt something grasp at the back of her vest. She whirled, her pocket flashlight revealing two more nurses reaching out for her. Just like that, her monster swooped in. His foot whipped up, smashing into the bobbing head of the nurse that had grabbed for her, making a sickening crunch and sent flying back into the shadows. Before she could blink, he lashed out at the next one, red-gloved fist smashing into its stomach. Blood sprayed from its mouth when it screamed in pain. Cheryl pressed up against the wall, afraid of getting caught in the middle of the deadly brawl.

A shrieking pant made her turn her head. Not five feet away stood a gun-wielding Nurse with the barrel pointed at her. The narrow hall suddenly flashed with a bright light, followed by a deafening bang.

Her heart stopped. And her eyes squeezed shut, awaiting the white light…or terrible pain.

There was nothing. Carefully she pried open her eyes to see a large figure shielding her. Valtiel? He fell forward onto his knees.

"Val!" She cried, rushing forward to help him. The gun-wielding Nurse shambled towards her guardian, barrel pointed at his head. "Stop, you bitch!" Feeling new courage, she crashed into the grotesque monster and sending the gun spinning away. The nurse screamed angrily, thrashing at her with gloved hands and gnashing its bloody teeth. Cheryl punched the monster in the face, over and over as it writhed. With a sharp smash the nurse's head whipped back, and it fell silent. She looked over to where Valtiel lay face down on the floor.

"Val? Are you ok?" After nudging his shoulder he made no response. She rolled him onto his back. The nurse had shot him in his right temple, the wound was still weeping crimson. Carefully she cupped his head in her left hand and with her right she lightly smacked his cheek to try and get him to wake up. "Valtiel…" He's a strong monster right? He will be ok, right? She whipped her head up at the sound of growling monsters that were drawn by the smell of blood. Instincts commanded her to run away, to leave the dead to die and save herself. He has helped me more than once... Screw instincts. I'm not going to leave him here.

She didn't want to risk hurting his head further so she grabbed his ankles and began to drag him down the hall. Geez he's heavy.

…

The scrabbling sound of monsters on the hunt made her heart flutter in her chest. With a quiet grunt she yanked on her possibly dead friend's ankles. Come on! Just up here. Off to the left there was a door. She didn't know where it went or if it was even unlocked, but right now she had no other option. The door creaked agonizingly loud when she opened it but at least it opened. She drug Val inside and locked the door behind them.

Chairs of varying sizes and styles littered the room, a few vending machines off in the corner, and a rather large sofa were sprawled about the small room. Quickly she grabbed hold of the nearest vending machine and shoved it in front of the door…she added a chair or two for good measure. There, that should do it. She turned her attention back to the limp monster on the floor.

She sat down beside him, and pulled his head to rest in her lap. "Val. Valtiel…wake up." The faceless creature made no move, no sound. With the danger gone, her emotions began to creep up on her. Unwanted thoughts and feelings wormed their way into her mind. I'm alone again. First Dad and now… He was her friend, he had cared about her. Her vision blurred as her eyes stung from new tears. They pattered and ran down his face, to which he made no response. "Val you stupid…stupid idiot! Don't you leave me!"

Suddenly the tears and blood that were now smeared on her dead friends face made her angry. Still sniffling, she tore off her jacket and used the clean inside to gently clean him up. When the grime was scrubbed away, she noticed that his wound was not bleeding anymore…in fact, hadn't it been deeper than that? A small spark of hope ignited in her heart. Fingers fumbling, she managed to bring out her pocket light and inspect the wound. Right before her eyes, she could see the wound mending…though it was slow going.

He's alive! Relief and happiness washed over her, drowning out all the fear and stress of the nightmare world. Leaning down she kissed his brow. He was going to be ok.

She grabbed a nearby couch pillow and put it under his head, then laid her jacket over his chest. If he didn't have that bullet wound in his head it might have been a slightly-morbid-kind-of-cute scene. "I'll be back Val."She figured while she was waiting for Valtiel to wake up she would go and grab that gun the Nurse had dropped. After all, now that Val was out for the count she had to step up her game.

She drug the couch over and then brought the other vending machine over beside it, forming a makeshift ladder that would let her reach the vent overhead with ease.

…

Cheryl trudged down the dark, nightmarish hallway of the hospital. She had thought she'd be able to re-find the place where her and Val had fought off those Nurses…but apparently she had been wrong. All the hallways looked the same: grimy and dark.

Ugh, I should have waited for Valtiel to get better- Her thought was cut short by a horrible metal on metal scraping sound. It was something she had never heard before and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Instinctively, she dodged into the nearest unlocked room and shut the door quietly. Great, the one room I pick to hide in has nothing to hide behind! The room was vacant of any furniture, aside from a metal pipe lying off to the side. Not the best weapon around… There was no time to begrudge that though as the scraping got louder and louder.

She grabbed the mediocre weapon and backed into a corner of the small room, cringing. Clutching her metal pipe, she tried to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. It's worse than nails on a chalkboard. Just when she thought she couldn't stand to hear it another moment, it stopped. She held her breath, hoping the monster had decided to leave her alone. Go away, go away, go away- Suddenly a huge knife slashed through the heavy metal door, making such a horrendous metallic screech Cheryl had to cover her ears.

Her eyes widened at the monster ripping through the doorway. It was nothing she had ever seen before: huge in stature, it wore a bloodied leather apron, inhumanely muscular, and the weirdest thing of all was its red, pyramid shaped helmet. Now, I've seen everything. She wasn't about to see what else it could do though.

Cheryl looked all around the room, cursing her unluckiness; no other doors or windows, and the room seemed too small to possibly try and run around the beast. She had to try something though, her options were limited. Carefully, she inched from her corner, keeping close to the shadows.

The…red-pyramid-head-thing had seen her though, he came towards her, dragging the knife along behind effortlessly. How the heck can he move so fast with that thing? She dodged as it charged, impaling the knife where her head had once been. Taking the chance she dashed around it and out the door.

Haha! Outsmarted you pointyhead! She raced as fast as she could down the hallway, but to her dismay there was a thunderous pounding sound coming from behind her, followed by the screech of a knife on metal. Oh shit! How can he freaking run with that? She jumped headlong down the stairs towards the basement, hearing a satisfying *c-c-crash* from the monster slamming into the tiled wall behind her. She dared not look back. A loud, horrible, angry moan rumbled from not very far behind and Cheryl blindly bounded down the basement hall, willing her legs to go faster. She screamed in pain as the monster roughly shoved her forward, making her tumble down the hall to land in a heap next to an old gurney.

Panting from exhaustion, she watched as the red pyramid headed monster towered over her prone form, raising its knife for the final blow. This is it. The knife came down in a swift thundering stab, taking her breath away.

But he must have missed her because the knife was embedded in the wall near her head. "Wha-" she yelped in pain as she was jerked roughly to her feet, then pinned with her back to the wall, her legs dangling. The monster growled hungrily, grabbing on to her skirt hem. With one swift yank, there was nothing but bits of torn fabric left between her and the monster's pressing form. A frighteningly large bulge under its smock jabbed into her hip.

Oh fuck no, it isn't really... As if that wasn't a clue to what was going on, the red pyramid head let loose a lusty moan, already anticipating what was to come. Cheryl screamed "Valtiel! Help!"

/\/\/V\/\/\

I have to go back. His thoughts echoed in the haze, crashing and bouncing against unseen objects. He was stuck here, in what humans called Limbo, awaiting return to his world.

When your vessel heals, you can. Replied a soft whisper from the grayness.

He lashed out. I must go back! He didn't want their input, Cheryl was there in Silent Hill facing god-knows-what while he was trapped here.

The haze shifted, ensnared him in an unseen grasp. It intruded his thoughts, sifting around like he was some amusing toy while he struggled. It tightened its grip on him, painfully squeezing. Of course you must go back. Go back to your pretty mortal play thing. Its laugh was an eerily light, cheery sound in the gloom.

That is not how I feel about Cheryl! Anger was seething from his soul.

The haze recoiled a bit, seemed a little hurt. Cheryl. It mulled over the name, while inspecting him. You may feel…something, for this mortal. But does she feel the same about you? He felt like his heart was plummeting, he didn't want to hear anymore. The haze held him firmly, forced him to listen to their words. She doesn't want you. You are a monster in her eyes. The words might as well have been a knife, cutting deep into his soul and leaving a blinding trail of fire.

Lobsel Vith…mortals have no place amongst us. The bonds about him was he kidding? He had always kind of knew, deep down. But you will always be ours. Our angel, stay with us. We have lost one of our own…we have lost influence in Silent Hill. Your Cheryl…she destroyed a piece of us. It may have been weak; an abomination from man…but it was still a part of us.

No. Please don't…

We can't do anything about it, Judgment will rain down on her.

Amidst his suffering, god held him, caressed him. Angel, you will help us rebuild. Their calmness pushed lightly against his upset soul. He let them wash over him, a cool wave of tranquil peace. He should just let go-

"Val you stupid…stupid idiot! Don't you leave me!" A female human voice echoed in the gloom.

Cheryl? She wanted him to come back? god had gone quiet, the calming haze retreated from him. He turned on them, letting his anger burn. She cares about me, you lied.

god watched him with veiled interest. After what seemed like forever, they spoke. We control you. He felt numbness come over him, suffocating and all powerful. Free will was a gift…but you forget. You are still ours. For the first time in eons, he felt fear. The wrath of god was upon him, going to take his conscious, his memories, his soul, his everything.

They sighed sadly. And he was set free. Go save your mortal… but know that we will not lift the penalty.

The haze lifted.

…

Valtiel awoke with a start. Gasping as his soul reentered the vessel. "Cheryl-" He croaked, only to find that she was nowhere near. He looked down to see her vest covering him, and he smiled. She cares. He was pulled from his thoughts by a strange, bad feeling at the back of his mind. Something is wrong. Quick as a flash, he pounced up to the vent overhead; the one Cheryl must have used to leave the room.

He crawled as fast as he possibly could towards the horrible feeling. His senses were reeling, trying to find any sign of Cheryl… "Valtiel! Help!" A shrieking scream echoed through the vent. The basement! He dropped down a shaft and peered down into the hallway below.

Cheryl! There she was, pinned against a wall by a huge, strong monster with a red pyramid shaped helmet. Pyramid Head. Valtiel wasted not a moment. He sprung from his vent. Landing on the creature's back, he wrapped his arms about its head and jerked back. Pyramid Head roared, releasing his to-be victim, and spun about, trying to get a handle on god's attendant. Valtiel pressed his boots into the other's back and kicked him away down the hall. Cheryl… Poor Cheryl was hugging the wall, scared to death. He had no time to comfort her though; Pyramid Head was getting back up.

"Hang on Cheryl!" He tried to soothe as he scooped her up too harshly, making her yelp, and leapt for the vent in the ceiling. His rescue attempt was cut short as something grabbed hold of his ankle, yanking him down. In desperation he threw Cheryl up to the vent, praying that she could catch on to the ledge.

Time seemed to slow as he saw her grab hold of the edge and begin struggling up to safety. He felt a wave of relief wash over him, knowing that she was safe…before he came crashing into the ground. His head spun and swam, he felt himself being lifted again. This time he was smashed into a nearby gurney, crushing it in with a metallic crunch. He was then thrown into the opposite wall, knocking the air out of his lungs. As he tried to crawl away, the towering monster's favorite great knife slammed down between his shoulder blades. Not enough to kill, but enough to hurt something awful.

Valtiel heard the monster above him give a menacing chuckle as the knife carved along his spine, leaving a blazing trail of pain. Even though he knew it would only encourage his tormentor, he couldn't help the cry that burst from his lips as he writhed in pain. The knife retracted, but his mind was so overcome with pain he could not move. Valtiel was called the closest to god, he felt anything but right about now. His body began to sag beneath him, beaten and bloody. Large gloved hands roughly grabbed hold of his shoulders and slammed him upright against the wall.

His vision came back into focus and revealed one pissed off Pyramid Head. Valtiel coughed a bit to get his lungs working again and rasped "Hello Xuchilbara…long time no-" His head was slammed back into the wall yet again, followed by a roar. The monster growled low and then gave a curt moan; he seemed to be struggling with something. Valtiel chuckled at the monster's attempts to speak. "What's the matter? Nurse got your tongue? Or, if you prefer, Mannequin?" Valtiel couldn't help the witty remark; he must have caught it from Cheryl. It earned him a strong backhanded smack.

"Lobsel Vith," The name came out more of a low, gravelly moan than actual speech "Finally caught you…" A chill ran down Valtiel's spine. He could have sworn that behind that helmet the creature was grinning ear to ear. The lustful cretin held him against the wall by his throat with one hand, and with the other he grabbed hold of Valtiel's ceremonial robe. "Wait, Xuchilbara! No!" The robe was ripped away, leaving him completely exposed. Oh god no. No, no, no, no.

He kicked and struggled against the monster, but to no avail.

Normally he would have been able to shove him off or at least wriggle free…they were opposites of each other after all, that meant they were fairly symmetrical. Why is he so strong? The two had fought before, and they had always been evenly matched, they were death and rebirth after all. It was how god had designed them.

Pyramid Head was enjoying his prey's struggling. He rumbled a mirthful purr "What's the matter Lobsel Vith? Can't get free? Seems I have grown stronger…and you are…very weak." He leaned in closer, grinding his excited bulge against his body, moaning in sheer delight at the revelation. "I'm going to enjoy this so very much…"

Valtiel gasped in horror, trying to press as far into the wall as he could. "Xuchilbara, you cannot do that…th-the law…"

Pyramid Head gave a hiccuppy growl, his version of a laugh, gone wrong "But, my dear yellow god, who is there to enforce it?" Valtiel felt all hope melt away as Pyramid Head used his powerful legs to spread his own apart. "god can't save you now, angel." As if to make his point he began pulling back his smock, exposing himself to god's attendant. Letting him get a good view of the torture he will endure. "Now that god is dead…I am…without bounds. Now the red god cannot be contained-"

A loud *clang* reverberated through Pyramid Head's helmet as something hit it, making him briefly lose his hold on Valtiel. "Contain that, you stupid pointyhead!" Cheryl taunted from the vent.

Not wasting a second, the yellow god raced up the wall and out of reach. He dared not look back as he slunk into the open vent above for the safety of the shadows.

Pyramid Head raged down below them, losing his ability to form coherent speech and instead groaned angrily at his lack of release. Valtiel panted in sheer exhaustion and pain. Wha-What is wrong with me? I shouldn't be so weak... Once he regained his breath he looked up to see Cheryl crouched in the air duct a little farther down.

"Cheryl! Are you ok?" He stopped, noticing how she was fidgeting around her abdomen. "Did he hurt you?" Valtiel rushed over to her, extending a hand with lashing tendrils to heal any wounds.

Cheryl put a hand out and waved for him to come no further "No, no! I'm not hurt. It's just…umm…" That's when he saw why she was upset…her skirt and panties…were gone.

Quickly he turned his head away, his cold blood rushed to his face…and lower down.

He felt his head and hands give a spastic twitch from excitement. No! I'm not thinking that! His body clearly thought otherwise. Knowing that he was naked, he quickly made an excuse to leave "I-I will go get you some clothes!" He sprinted down a branching air duct, cursing the red god with all his being.

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Valtiel rushed off… Leaving her alone…

Cheryl hugged her knees to her chest, trying to shake off the pure terror that still coursed through her body. I wish he wouldn't have left me here alone. Valtiel was a monster like the rest of them but he made her feel…safe. As weird as that is, a monster makes her feel safe. He saved me…more than once that is for sure. But why? He kept risking his life for her. He almost got raped to save her!

She shivered at the thought of what that thing would have done to her. Valtiel could revive her; he could have just waited for her to die, and then resurrected her right? She didn't want to get raped, but the whole thing didn't make sense.

There was one thing she did know though: It felt really good throwing her pipe at that Xuchi…Xuk…that stupid pointyhead guy.

Cheryl sighed, trying to cover herself up as much as possible with her shirt. Damn, I really liked that skirt too.

Her guardian came crawling back, a pair of clothes clutched to his bare chest. He sported a new, bloodied bath towel but it left his chest exposed. She blushed, trying to not stare at him. Awkwardly, she stretched her shirt down to cover her lady-parts with one hand, and accepted the clothing from him with the other.

He turned around politely as she slipped on the pants he had found for her. They were a little tight on the ass, but other than that they were a nice pair of mildly blood-stained jeans. That was when she saw the huge, blood gushing, slash going down his spine. "Valtiel! You're bleeding…"

He turned his sightless gaze back to hers and replied nonchalantly "Don't worry about it Cheryl. I'll be fine." He certainly doesn't look fine.

She remembered what that Red Pyramid guy had said. "Are you really a god?" She hoped she didn't sound as suspicious as she felt. How can he be a god? Gods are supposed to be…well, godly right? She remembered how god had looked when she had faced her. Valtiel being a god didn't seem as impossible as she thought.

Her friend rubbed his arm absently from embarrassment "Well…yeah, I guess you could call me that. I have many different titles, yellow god, god's attendant, among others. My real name, however, is Lobsel Vith."

"Lobster Vith?" The name sounded funny, but it didn't take away from the fact that her monster friend, the one creature she had come to trust in this nightmare world was a god. It made her head spin.

"Lobsel Vith." He corrected "Now you see why I prefer Valtiel." He smiled in that weird way of his, and offered her his red-gloved hand. "Let's find this valve and head home."

…

After crawling around in the dark, grimy vents Valtiel brought them to what looked like a boiler room. He looked around at the ceiling a moment "Ah, there it is!" She watched as he began to crawl up to the ceiling where a red valve was barely visible next to some dusty piping. "Alright, here goes nothing." As he began turning the valve, it made a slight groaning squeak in protest.

Cheryl hugged herself, fearing the onslaught of a migraine that tended to appear along with the Otherworld. The red veins and blood, rusted metal and cold shadows, it was one hellish place and she admitted that she feared it. She closed her eyes tightly, wanting it to happen quickly, like pulling off a Band-Aid. Above her she heard an angry growl, followed by a curse. She opened her eyes to find that the walls were still only grimy, dark, and dusty. "Val…is something wrong?"

He dropped from the ceiling and straightened. "Something is very wrong. The valves aren't working."

She tried to look upset, she really did, but right now she was so tired. A huge yawn escaped her lips, exhaustion finally setting in from the long eventful day. Valtiel relaxed a bit, and chuckled "Yawning huh? I guess that means it's time for you to go to bed."

Whew, long chapter huh? Hope that will curve you guys over for a bit! If not, check out my other spin-off story called Sins Atoned! It's what I like to call a spicy lemon. ;)