A/N: There's some pretty bad language hurr. Not entirely sure if I should change the fic's rating for that or not. -.-; Either way; enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nothing from the Harry Potter series belongs to me; it all belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling. Isaviel Fortesque, Theoli Runkle, Sethoz Anatolia and Deazy Allcock are all self-insert original characters who belong to their respective real life counterparts. The various movies referenced in the following chapters do not belong to me either (see a pattern here?).

So Sue Me: A Tale of Two Self-Inserts
Chapter Twenty: Silent Denial (part II)

I.

"Dammit, there's a store in America that doesn't have guns in them?!"

"Now really isn't the time to be relying on stereotypes, Theo," Isaviel said, jumping slightly as the creature threw itself at the window for the third time. When the three had managed to squeeze into the shop again they had pulled the door to, in case the creature that was after them somehow managed to do the same. Upon closer inspection of the map they had realised with slight confusion that it was an American town they were in; Silent Hill, NE. They probably would have tried to work out how on earth they had managed to cross an entire ocean by stepping through some portal but were interrupted by the sound of the creature's scream.

"I don't see you trying to help us find a solution, though," she replied in a sing-song manner, continuing to look through all of the shelves in the store to find something that might be of some use to them. So far they'd only managed to find some cans of food, a plastic bow and arrow set and some packets of toothpicks. Not exactly ready to equip an army. "Oh God, we're going to die, aren't we?"

"Let's try to be positive, even if it's all a lie," Remus muttered, looking underneath the shelves for anything that may have fallen at some time. Theoli snorted at his words, but said nothing.

Isaviel looked around the small store to see if there was any place they hadn't yet looked. There was a back room to the store, she was sure of it, but there was no way to get to it because of the rubble from the fallen walls. She could only imagine how bad the back of the place looked, but she had to look. There had to be something useful in there.

She grabbed one of the shelves, rattling it about to make sure it was stable, then climbed on top of them. Once on the top, she reached for the grill that was covering the vent and stood on her tip-toes, looking around inside the roof-space; it was very small and very dusty but she suppose could make it if... she didn't really need to breathe anyway. As she reached upwards to grab something that she could use to lever herself up there she heard Theoli's panicked voice.

"What are you doing? What if there's something up there?!"

"Then I probably die. Either way it's a-" she grunted as she lifted herself into the small space, "it's a no-win situation. Trust me though, I'll be fine." She stuck her head out of the roof. "Stay there, the windows are barred so they shouldn't give."

Without waiting for a reply she crawled through the muck and dust, grimacing as she came across the occasional dead critter whilst she headed for the general area of the back of the shop. Once she reached another grate, she pushed it off and dropped it, noting that there wasn't really anything for her to stand on to get back up there; it would kind of suck if she was stuck there forever, but never mind, she had to get out. With great difficulty she turned herself around so that she could get out of the hole feet first, and landed on the ground with surprising ease.

Slowly, she continued down the hallway, keeping low and staying vigilant in case some horrible creature was lurking somewhere, waiting to gnaw on her neck like it was a chew-toy. Luckily, the back rooms were empty of anything unpleasant. Eventually she reached what looked like the staff room, where she found a few suitably weapon-y items that she could take with her including a knife, a crow-bar, and a handgun with some extra ammunition. She was about to leave with her finds when something red caught her eye; a fire axe.

She looked from the knife to the axe, then back again. Shrugging, she tossed the knife over her shoulder and took the axe, then headed back to the vent and put her spoils on the floor as she returned to the staffroom to see if there was anything she could use to get back up there. Unfortunately, there wasn't; her luck was shit when she really needed it to be awesome.

There was only one option, go out the back door and around to the front and hope there was still only one of those ugly things around the place. She snatched a tool-belt from the staff-room (as well as some other little bits and pieces that she thought could be useful) and hooked the crowbar and axe onto it so that she could hold the handgun with both hands for when she needed to use it. Hey, she'd seen it on TV; it can't be that hard to fire a gun, right? In true espionage movie style (albeit a slightly twisted espionage movie) she slipped out of the doorway and crept towards the storefront, back flat against the wall.

This seems vaguely familiar, she mused, taking a sneaky peak around the corner. The creature had apparently given up trying to break the door down and was perched on top of the bin that was by the door, ready to take the head off anything that dared to take a look.

Isaviel slipped the belt off and tried to gently put it and the tools on the ground around the corner. She failed, and the axe made a hard sound as it hit the floor, attracting the attention of the bin-sitter when she least wanted it.

It's now or never.

She turned the corner, gun hand raised with her other supporting it, took aim, and pulled the trigger. Three loud shots later and the creature was dead, twitching with leftover brain activity but very much deceased. She took a deep breath and knocked on the window before picking the belt and tools up and squeezing back in through the door.

"Dude," Theoli said, eyes wide. "That was AWESOME." Remus was just staring at her, awestruck.

"I know," Isaviel said with pretend smugness, trying to hide the fact that her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Not because of fear, mind you, but because of adrenaline; using a gun, it brought her an inexplicable thrill that she adored. She placed the crowbar and axe onto the nearby counter. "I found us some weapons. Naturally, I got first dibs on the gun-"

Before she had even finished Theoli grabbed the fire axe, looking at the smooth, sharp edge of the blade with a worrying level of awe and wonder. Remus glanced at Isaviel. "I guess I'll take the crowbar?"

"Good choice."

"Sorry, Remmie. You snooze you lose."

Remus rolled his eyes, though his smile let Theoli know he didn't mind really.

Once the three were geared up, they slipped out of the store once more and set about working out what they should do. They weren't outside more than five minutes before they heard a screaming not too far away. They jogged in the general direction the sound was coming from and literally collided with the rest of their troupe, who were running frantically in the other direction.

"Oh, hey guys!" Deazy grinned broadly. "Fancy seeing you here!"

Theoli blinked. "Wha- nevermind, God, are we glad to see you guys."

"That's all well and good but we need to leave, this place is seriously fucked up to the hundredth degree." James looked behind himself, trying to see past the fog.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Isaviel said.

Sirius looked at the object in Theoli's hand. "...are you holding anaxe?"

"Yes. Yes I am. He's called Fred, by the way."

Isaviel rolled her eyes. "We-" The radio on her belt started to give a shrill ring. Almost instinctively, she took the gun from her belt and held it beside herself to the gasps of surprise from the members they had just met up with. "We need to get inside somewhere," she said, looking around for any signs of movement.

"I'm on it," Theoli said, rushing eagerly to the nearest shop to use her axe on the door.

"Theoli, don't destroy the door please, we need to be able to close it."

Her shoulders slumped as she used the axe to ram the door in instead of obliterate it with the sharp, shiny edge. She took a quick look around the shop before ushering everyone inside. Isaviel wasn't long behind, and once she was inside, they closed the door and retreated further into the shop, which turned out to be a gun shop.

As Isaviel hunted around for some spare ammunition, the two groups shared their stories.

II.

Theoli stared at Sirius. "Wait... So that was you screaming?"

"What about it?" His glare got fiercer the redder his face got.

"You scream like a girl."

"What-"

Isaviel covered his mouth with her hand to stop him from going off on another rant; he's already ranted about how they were lost, didn't know how to get home, all for nothing since Remmie was okay, 'Isaviel has agun', how are they going to get out of this mess, where did those freakish things come from, why are they after us... and so on.

"Listen, we need to find another portal out of here, and we won't do that with you bitching and whining," Isaviel said, thwapping Sirius round the back of the head. "Now hush."

Sethoz giggled at Sirius' pouty sulk. "How are we going to find another portal? Its not like they're readily available."

"Well, there has to be a way out if there's a way in. It's like, some law of... of lawness. Or something."

"...thankyou, Deazy. Anyways, all we can do is look. I'd say we start with the biggest places; the hospital, the school-"

"Oh hell no," Sirius said, waving his arms around. "I am not going to go back to that school."

"Well fine, stay here by yourself," Theoli said, shrugging. "Cause we're going."

After a bit more sulking, Sirius finally agreed that it was best that they check the places out since he and Deazy didn't really have a chance to really look into many of the rooms at the school. That, and he wasn't particularly fond of the idea of being stuck anywhere on his own.

With most of the group now armed (Isaviel got herself a proper gun-belt and Theoli was happy just lovingly stroking Fred the fire axe) they made a plan that would enable them to get to the school by the most direct route. They managed to avoid encountering any more monsters, much to everyone's relief, but they hurried inside the school building anyway, just in case.

Isaviel looked around at the old, dilapidated school. The floor was covered in dirt and grime and there was the odd smeared patch of what looked like thick black oil. The paint on the walls flaked off into her hand when she tried touching them, revealing a damp-infested wall behind it. She was surprised the place was still standing, the state it was in.

Theoli had hurried ahead and was rummaging around the main office with Deazy and Sirius, trying to find some sort of clue or object of some use. No clues, but they found a set of keys as well as a couple of torches. Theoli hooked one of the torches onto her tool belt, which she yoinked from Isaviel, and gave the other to Remus, who was busy inspecting the paintings on the walls of various prophets and angels. "Wow... Must have been a pretty religious school."

"Look where their religion got them," Isaviel muttered, making her way down the hallway, closely followed by Theoli and the rest of the group. Something about the school made her incredibly uneasy and on edge but she wasn't entirely sure what.

Trying to push the feelings to the back of her mind they went on, checking each classroom as they went, finding each in as much disarray as the next, but also as empty.

James frowned. "What the hell happened to this town?"

Remus shuddered slightly. "All I know is, I want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible."

They reached the end of the corridor where there was now only one door left to open; the girl's toilet. The boys hung back, feeling a tad uncomfortable about going in. Sethoz and Deazy volunteered to go in and take a look around.

"Be careful," Theoli said to them as they went in.

For a moment Isaviel was sure she heard a soft crying, but since nobody else commented on it she assumed it was just the wind. She leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest, suddenly very aware of the possibility that they may never get home. They'd entered a bloody portal, for goodness' sake, doesn't exactly scream out 'reliable mode of transport'. She suddenly missed Severus a great deal; he'd have a sarcastic word or two to say about the situation, and would probably be smart enough to be able to work out some sort of way out. Isaviel made a mental note to talk to him the moment they got back... if indeed, they ever did.

The sound of Sethoz's scream wrenched her from her thoughts and the group burst through the door. "What? What happened?"

Sethoz and Deazy were crowded around the last cubicle, looking horrified but unable to look away. Everyone approached, quite sure that whatever caused such a reaction wasn't going to kill or maim them in any way... or so they hoped.

Inside the cubicle there was a man strung up with barbed wire, which was crisscrossed the entire stall, wrapping itself around the figure in the middle and in some cases going through his flesh. He had been tied up, his legs yanked up behind him in a spine-crushing posture; it was almost like some sadistic torture had gone on. He was wearing the tattered uniform with the nametag - reading 'Colin' - barely visible after goodness knows how many years of wear.

Everyone stepped backwards until they got to the door.

Theoli stared. "Oh. Oh wow. That was some twisted shit right there."

Isaviel wasn't entirely sure what to say. After all, it wasn't everyday one came across the carcass of a man tortured to death in the girl's bathroom with barbed wire. "I... guess he's just hangin' around?"

There was an awkward silence.

Theoli burst out laughing and was soon joined by Isaviel. Everyone else just stared at them, perplexed at their bizarre behaviour at such a discovery. Remus scratched his head. "...err, guys? Are you... are you alright?"

"Yeah," Theoli heaved, still laughing. "Yeah, we're just hangin' with Colin." That set them both off again.

A siren began to echo through the room, sounding almost haunting as it bounced off the cracked tiled walls and floor. The laughter stopped immediately, as if the siren was some sort of metaphorical cold tap that had just drenched the whole group.

Theoli gulped. "Is it just me, or does this siren sound like it's saying; 'DOOOOOEEEEOOOOOOEEEEOOOOOOOOOOM!!!'? Like some crazy ass omen."

Just as the word 'omen' left her mouth, the room started to grow dark, far quicker than any natural occurrence could make it do so. Theoli and Remus turned on the torches and surveyed the room which was now changing in front of their very eyes; the very walls themselves seemed to be melting away to reveal a dark red underneath from which the same sticky substance from the hall earlier was running, pooling across the floor, which had suddenly gone from just being dusty to being covered in drying, coagulating blood. The tiles fell off the walls, smashing on the floor only to melt into them as if they never even existed.

The group were suitably freaked out.

"What the shit is this?!" Theoli wafted the torch around.

Isaviel grabbed Theoli's arm. "Shh."

As they listened, there was a loud 'twang' from the far cubicle, followed by a guttural moan. Then another 'twang'. And another. And another... Then, a slapping thud as something landed onto the grimy tiled floor.

The group jumped back as an arm came out from the cubicle, smacking down onto the floor and then pulling along the ground. Gradually, they saw 'Colin' pulling himself out from the stall, his legs still bent back over his head, hooked on the rings of barbed wire still coiled around his head and face. His tongue flickered in and out of his mouth obscenely, like he was tasting the air around himself to find them. He stopped advancing and grabbed the wall, instantly sending out what could only be described as long strings of red, pulsating veins that moving so quickly across the wall and floor that in less than a minute they would have reached Theoli's foot.

"Well shit."

The group all but clambered over each other to get the hell out of there and as they made for the exit they could hear the cries of anguish from the strange creature they left behind.

Sorry Colin, can't hang around, Theoli thought with woe.

The turned corner after corner, passing any number of creatures which they refused to even try and see; seeing meant that it was real and at the moment, they didn't need any more strange occurrences happening. Unfortunately, there was one waiting for them at the exit of the school, blocking their way out of that crazy joint.

The group came to a grinding halt. Isaviel, who had run into the back of James, looked over his shoulder, holding her nose. "What's the hold-"

In front of them was a 10ft monstrosity of a man, or at least a very, very scaled up version of a man who was stood directly facing them. He had a metal cage encasing his head in the shape of a pyramid, which was deep red and matted looking. In his hand he held a huge knife which was almost as large as he was, the blade of which was chipped and rusted but still looked incredibly sharp.

"Oh dear."

Theoli gave a nervous laugh. "You don't suppose he'd be willing to help us out of here?"

The Pyramid-headed man lifted his knife and in two steps had come to just within a few feet of the group. He swung the weapon, just missing his targets who were forced to scatter to avoid being sliced in two.

Theoli gaped. "I guess not!"

"How can he even see with that thing on his head?!"

They dodged another attack and ran through the nearest door, which led into the courtyard. The sky was pitch black and if it weren't for the reddish-brown clouds that hung low in the sky Isaviel could have believed it was just night time, it was just too bad she knew better. They all burst through the doors at the other side of the courtyard and waited with bated breath to see if the Pyramid-head was following them. After a minute passed, Isaviel allowed herself a small sigh of relief.

"We really need to get out of this place," Sethoz said, voice wavering with fear. "This? This is not normal!"

James snorted. "Oh, here's me wondering why this didn't happen that often."

Theoli glared. "Dude, really not the time- Deazy! Get away from that door!" She dragged a disappointed looking Deazy away from the door where she was peering out into the courtyard.

"I was just seeing if he was coming too."

"We don't want him to be coming."

"But you'd want to know he was coming."

"...good point. Keep watch."

Deazy grinned and skipped back to the door, joined by Isaviel, as Sirius flapped his arms around. "THIS is why I didn't want to come back to the school!"

"The school was like this when you were here?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no, but it was still creepy."

"This?" Theoli looked around. "This is beyond creepy."

Sethoz made a shushing noise. "Do... do you guys hear something?"

Isaviel glanced up, looking at nothing in particular as she tried to focus on her hearing. There was a small patter, like someone was walking along the hall with bare feet... soon there were more of them coming closer and closer. In the distance at the far end of the corridor something was glowing a dark orange colour shining from a series of dark figures.

To her horror Isaviel realised the figures were warped, deformed creatures no bigger than small children; their faces had been contorted and stretched so that they twisted around, their feet turned inwards to an unnatural degree. Their short arms reached for them the closer they got, and they let out the most hideous high-pitched scream.

Once again, the group turned and ran into one another before scrambling to find the nearest empty room to lock themselves in. Eventually they found a small classroom and piled in. Theoli slammed the door shut behind her, her face ashen. "What the hell were THEY? Those... those 'WRYYYYYYYYYY!!!!' things?!"

"And why didn't you SHOOT them!?" Sirius pointed an accusing finger at Isaviel.

"Shut up! Did you see how many there- Wait..."

There was a familiar low ring that vibrated around the room. Then, after that died down, a loud pop. They all turned towards the far wall and, sure enough, there was a portal that stretched across the wall, though this time it was yellow. Theoli tilted her head. "Huh. Fancy that."

From the other side of the door there was a harsh scraping noise. Then without warning a huge blade came crashing through the door, obliterating it and sending splinters in every direction.

Sethoz stared with wide eyes. "Time to go."

They vaulted desks and chairs in order to get to the portal, not even hesitating before they plummeted into the golden doorway to what they hoped would be Hogwarts.