The elevator finally stopped at the ground floor of the hospital. Even though it had ceased moving, neither one of its occupants wanted to move just yet. Julia clung to Ryan, afraid that if she let go he'd disappear. She was both terrified and relieved that he was back, safe, and holding her in his arms. The warmth from his body was a constant reminder that no harm would ever come to her. He made no effort to let go; somehow knowing that she needed the support and care that he gave her. They sat against the wall of the elevator with Julia resting in Ryan's lap, her head against his chest. He had his arms wrapped around her shoulders and was slowly rocking her back and forth. The motion served to sooth her as well as himself for he too was just as terrified as she was.
"I'm not going anywhere" he said "I'm staying right here okay?"
There was no answer from Julia.
"Julia?" he said as he nudged her a bit. "Julia" he said again as he nudged her harder.
Looking down at her, Ryan saw that she was breathing softly. Her eyes were closed and when he picked her head up with his elbow, it flopped back. Julia was unconscious. He looked down and saw the gash in her leg as well as the amount of blood that had pooled onto the floor. They had been so caught up in the moment that he hadn't even noticed that she was injured.
"Damn it" he said as he lifted her up.
Getting off the floor of the elevator, Ryan took Julia in his arms. He was amazed at how little she weighed. Ryan went over to the buttons near the door and got the elevator to open. Soon he was moving as fast as he could down the hallway of the 1st floor towards the medicine room. Julia remained silent in his arms.
"Come on. I'm not going to leave you again" he said.
III
It was dark and cold. Julia had no idea where she was or how long she had been there. The last thing she remembered was Ryan coming to her rescue. How long ago had that been? Days? Weeks? A year? She didn't know. All that she knew now was that she was dreaming. It was funny. Normally she didn't realize that she was dreaming. Normally it felt like she was living in some fantasy world or reliving some past experience. But this time she knew that she was dreaming. It was almost unclear, but in the dream she could see herself running towards a woman. The mystery woman's back was to her but Julia knew in her heart that it was her Aunt Lisa. She just knew it. In the dream, no matter how much she ran, her aunt remained out of reach as if her running was a futile effort and she would be destined to forever chase after the loved one that she sought so much. The thought pained her greatly.
But the dream was fading as she was starting to stir. It fizzled and faltered as her consciousness came back to her. When she woke up, she found herself lying down on an old examination table. She looked to her right and saw Ryan sitting in a chair while examining the wound on her leg. He noticed that she was awake and moved up her body.
"Hey sunshine." He said as he reached for something. "Try not to move too much alright. I'm going to give you something. It's just water, but help me out here okay?"
As tired as she was, Julia nodded and sat up a little bit as Ryan eased the water bottle to her mouth. She took a few sips of it and laid back down.
"Man, are you a sight for sore eyes. What happened?" she asked in a fatigued tone. "Last thing I remembered was falling asleep while you held me"
Ryan took some water and poured it into a cloth. He then gently pattered her head with it to cool her down.
"You blacked out. Lost some blood from when those little bastards hit you. Plus you were exhausted"
"Where are we now?" she said as she brought a hand to her head.
"Back in the medicine room on the first floor" he replied.
"How long was I out?"
"Not long. Ten minutes at the most. Gave me enough time to sterilize, stitch and dress your wound. You should be able to walk. It'll hurt like a bitch but I'll give you some pain killers. I wouldn't recommend running though. Not unless you want to pop those stitches"
"Right, right" Julia said as she tried to sit up. "That's twice you've saved me. I owe you big time"
"No. You don't" he said in a serious voice. "You don't owe me a thing. When I entered the medical field I took an oath. It's my job to help people"
Julia smiled at him.
"Well, at least let me buy you dinner when we get out of here"
Ryan gave her a small smirk as he helped her so she wouldn't have to exert herself. She looked down and saw that her leg was bandaged just like he said. The white cloth was wrapped firmly with medical tape to keep it in place. Looking at him she saw that he looked a little different. Then she realized that he was missing some stuff. Not only that but he had a large gauze bandage wrapped around his arm.
"What happened to your arm?"
Ryan looked down at the gauze he had wrapped around his arm.
"Oh that" he said as he rotated his arm. "The shotgun jammed and I caught the blow-back when I tried to fire it." he said. "It's not bad, really. Second degree at most"
"Where's the shotgun now?"
"I left it in the basement. It was fried, so I had to get rid of it."
Julia looked at him, stunned, for a few moments.
"You went into the basement?" she asked, astounded.
"More like I fell into the basement"
"But…that was from the second floor stairwell. That had to have been at least a hundred feet strait down. How are you still alive?"
Ryan shrugged his shoulders.
"Guess I was born lucky" he said as he reached for the bottle of pain medication as well as another smaller bottle next to him.
"But…but…a hundred feet" Julia stammered.
"Look, try not to think about it" he said as he handed her two pills. "This place is so messed up that I'm gonna forget about questioning everything my brain doesn't agree with. Here, drink this" he said as he handed her the small bottle.
"What is it?" she asked as she looked at the bottle suspiciously.
"Just a health drink. It has ginseng and guarana in it. Should perk you right up. Date's good, so it isn't spoiled"
Julia took the pills and chased them with the health drink. Ryan sat next to her on the table. She noticed the two items that Ryan had with him.
"Where did the sword and tape come from?" she asked.
"Basement storeroom…and the morgue. I swear, people leave the weirdest stuff in the strangest places" he said as he ran his hand through his hair.
Julia noticed that he was turning away from her, like he was avoiding the subject. It was odd. Something must have been bothering him. He seemed uncomfortable whenever she mentioned the basement.
"Ryan, what happened to you down there?"
"I…I…don't want to talk…about it"
Julia sat up, scooted closer to him and got his attention.
"Ryan, whatever happened down there, you have to tell me. Keeping secrets from me, especially in this place, can get me killed. So, what happened to you in the basement?"
He took a deep breath then nodded several times.
"Okay. It's…like this. The basement was pretty much what I'd imagine…hell to be like. It was…just…man you really don't want to know. I don't even want to think about it. After checking all the doors that would open, I took a look in the morgue" he said as.
She watched him and noticed that what he was thinking about was causing him a great deal of stress. The memory was most likely tormenting him in someway. The signs of distress were evident on him. His hands had started shaking.
"It was a bad place. Really bad. I don't want to go into detail here. Lets just say I won't be sleeping for the next several months. Can I just leave it at that? Please?"
"Yeah. Fine"
Julia looked at the video tape, noticing the writing on it.
"Why does that tape have my Aunt's name on it?" she said, pointing to it.
Ryan rubbed the back of his neck then looked at her.
"I don't know" he said as he reached for the video tape. "But I think it was meant for you"
He handed it to her and she slowly took it.
"Try not to think of where it came from" he said as he got off the table.
Julia looked at him perplexed. Had the basement really been that bad? That's when Julia remembered what Ryan had looked like when she had seen him in the elevator. He had been distraught and had a large red stain on his face. The stain had since been removed, obviously washed off. Julia knew he wouldn't want to talk about it, but she had to get the question off her chest.
"When I saw you in the elevator, you had a bloody stain on your face. Ryan, what happened down there?"
He was visibly shaken. At first he just remained silent. Then he turned to her, took a deep breath and let it out.
"I ran into our nurse friends in the basement. If my gun hadn't jammed, I could have taken them all out. Not only that, but the elevator wouldn't come when I called it" he said as he tried to go on. The memories were painful to bring up. "They were…closing in around me. They…grabbed me, surrounded me. I thought…I thought I was going to die. I some how was able to break free of them and made it into the elevator. Then, just as I was safe, just as I thought that I had made it, the blood thing…punched through the door and grabbed me by the face"
He looked at her and then down at the floor. She almost thought that he was having a mental breakdown.
"That was the last thing I remembered before the elevator started moving and I blacked out. I keep going over the same events in my mind. Over and over again. I can't stop thinking about it"
Julia looked at him and realized that he was trembling. He didn't even need to speak for her to know that he was scared, maybe even traumatized. She put a hand on his arm to calm him.
"It's alright. It's over now, I think" she said.
Ryan looked at her and took her hand in his. They stared into each others eyes for a few moments, glad to be in each other's company. She was fixed on his dark brown eyes and he on her pale blue. It was so strange that a situation like this could bring two people together. As much as they wouldn't admit it to each other, in the short time that they had spent walking around Silent Hill, a bond had been growing between them. It could only be assumed that people who experienced a great tragedy together would have such a connection. They needed each other more than they were willing to say. She was so fixated on how handsome he was. And Ryan had to admit that she was a very pretty girl. He had never cared so much for anyone until right this moment. Even if she was practically a stranger to him. Julia reached up and stroked Ryan's face. He looked at her and she had a small look of fear in her features.
"There's nothing to be scared of" he said.
"That's not it" she replied. "When I saw you fall. I thought I'd…lost you"
Ryan reached up and took her hand gently in his.
"I know. I'm…sorry. I only wanted to protect you"
"You can protect me by staying with me" she said, giving his hand a squeeze.
"Got ya" he said
Julia realized what she was doing and collected herself. She started to blush as she moved away from him a bit.
"God. I feel so stupid"
"For what?" he asked.
"For coming here and putting myself in danger. For being weak. And for dragging you along for the ride…"
Ryan put a firm arm around her shoulder.
"You're not weak. I don't know many women who would be able to put up with all of this. You have more courage than you realize. So don't think for a second that you're weak. And don't be sorry for pulling me into all this. If there's one thing that you should know about me it's that I don't mind fighting for an impossible cause"
"Aw, you're sweet you know that?" she smiled
"Yeah" he chuckled. "You're not going to kiss me now are you?" Ryan joked.
Julia remained silent for a few moments as her heart fluttered in her chest. Some of her hair had come loose from her scrunchy and she reached up to let her hair down for a change. The locks of her dirty blonde hair fell down to her shoulders, some of it obscuring her right eye and face. When she opened her mouth again, she caught Ryan off guard.
"No. But I've been thinking about it"
Time slowed down for the two of them as they sat in the quite medicine room. The only sound came from their slow breathing. Julia turned to Ryan and inched closer and closer to him, till they were almost nose to nose. Then she tilted her head to the side and moved her lips closer to his mouth, closing her eyes. In a few short moments, she had made contact and was kissing him. She was surprised at how soft his lips were and was even more astounded at how he followed her lead. The warmth of his mouth mixed with hers and she wrapped her arms around him. He put his hands through her hair and stroked it gently and lovingly. They had become one. Two people had been brought together in the most unlikely place in the world and found solace in each other's arms. It had been so long since either of them had been with a member of the opposite sex. Their breaths escaped from their mouths and the warmth encircled their hair and faces. This was what they needed. To let love replace the fear and worry that had surrounded them for the past several hours. Even though they had only known each other for a short while, in their hearts, they knew what they were doing was right.
Soon they broke it off and Ryan got off the bed.
"Thank you" Julia said.
"Thank you" he replied. "So, you ready to get the hell out of here?" he asked as he looked at his watch. "Sunrise should be in another two hours or so"
"What's on the tape?" she asked.
"I don't know. I didn't watch it"
"I know where we can" Julia replied as she started to get up.
"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy." He said as he helped her up. "You're not ready to start walking just yet. It's best if you just take it easy for a few minutes"
"But I feel fine" she protested. "I know where their's a VCR and a TV. We have to watch this now!" she said.
"Alright, alright" he said as he collected his things. "But you're not moving without my help.
III
Ryan's help was nothing more than carrying her piggy back style. She had her arms wrapped around his chest as they walked to the elevator. He didn't seem to have any difficulty carrying her weight. The sword was fastened around the front of him so that it wouldn't get in her way.
"I can walk you know" she said.
"Better to be safe than sorry" he said over his shoulder.
She had mentioned the location of the TV and VCR on the third floor. Against their better judgment they marched on, knowing that something could be waiting for them upstairs. They made their way to the elevator and Ryan set Julia down, opened the doors, and helped her get inside. She stood with one hand holding onto a railing for balance. Ryan hit the button for the third floor and the car revved to life. Soon they were traveling back up to the top of the hospital. Ryan had collected what they could. Julia's pistol was down to half a clip. About five or six bullets remained in the weapon. But he had reassured her that if anything stood in their way, he'd just hack them to pieces with the sword he carried. Julia was hanging onto the video tape that Ryan had found in the basement. It smelled funny, but Julia thought that it would be better not to question where it had come from. All that mattered was that she was going to follow her trail of bread crumbs. She looked up at Ryan who had his back to her. It was good to know that she had someone to protect her. Even though she was capable of taking care of herself.
"What will you do when you get out of here?"
"Me? I'm going to go back to my life and try to forget that this place even exists. That, or I'm going to get myself a lot of therapy."
"No argument there" she said.
Just then, something moved in Ryan's pocket, making him jump a little. Perplexed, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the broken halves of his cell phone. It didn't make any sense. It was broken. Why would it be working? He looked at it then looked at Julia. He half heartedly pointed at her with his index finger.
"You didn't happen to bring any demon spawn into the car with us did you?"
"Uh, no…"
Slowly, feeling a bit stupid, Ryan pressed the button to answer the call and raised the broken pieces to his mouth and ear. At first all he could hear was just white noise. Then something started coming through.
"……………………Yooooooou…………………should………………staaaaaaaayed…………………meeeee……………..accept………………..faaaaaaaaaatee…….."
It almost sounded like a woman on the other end. But that could have just been his mind playing tricks on him. Then the message got clear. It was so clear that Ryan was wishing that he had just tossed the phone.
"It's your fault. You. Must. Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee!"
Ryan had an expressionless face as he lowered the phone from his head. He felt the color drain from his face as he swallowed hard. A new form of fear overtook him.
"What? What was it?" Julia asked, concerned.
Ryan turned to Julia and held out his hand.
"May I see your cell phone please?" he said in an unusually calm and monotone voice.
Uncomfortably, Julia reached into her pocket and fished out her cell phone. The second she gave it to Ryan, he threw it and his own phone on the floor of the car, grabbed the katana from its scabbard and started to hack at the small pieces of plastic. Plastic, microchips and key pads flew into the air as he chopped and kicked at the small devices. Julia covered her face as plastic sprayed into the air. When he was done, he leaned against the wall of the elevator, breathing heavily. Julia just looked at him stunned.
"What. The hell. Was that?" she asked.
Ryan snapped out of his funk and looked at her, then at the broken phones on the ground, then back at Julia again.
"Wrong number" he said.
Author's note: Let me just say that I am not used to expressing the emotion of "love" in my writing. Hate and fear are emotions that I can easily put on paper. So I apologize if this chapter seems a little corny and out of place. Or if it just blows entirely. We'll get back to the gore and psycho drama in the next chapter. So don't feel turned off by this. This chapter is just kind of a learning experience for me. But at least I was able to sneak some spookiness into this chapter. That should hold you readers over till the next chapter.
Incase you guys haven't figured it out yet, I've been using the titles of various songs for the titles of my chapters (excluding chapters 2, 3). It was fun trying to find something that fit with tone of each chapter. In a sick and twisted way of sorts. Try to see what titles came from which bands for kicks and giggles.