Chapter 20 – A Mixed Reality
Darkness fled from his sight as intense white took over. He blinked a couple of times as his vision cleared.
"Where am I?"
He tried to sit up, but found he couldn't. Leather bound him to the bed he was laying on. He struggled and then paused when something caressed his cheek. He flinched away from the contact and glared up at the appearing silhouette partially covering the light.
"Shh… It's alright. There's no need to get so worked up." The male figure dressed in doctor garb and surgical mask was indistinct in the shadow even when he squint his eyes. "This is a safe place. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you need your treatment." The man grasped the bed out of his sight.
"Treatment?"
The light started to move away and another took its place and another took that one's place. He didn't know where this person was taking him and he knew nothing was wrong with him.
"I don't need any treatment."
He fought with the restraints.
"Calm down." The man said coolly. "This is for your own good."
He paused again, looking up at the man. "For my own good?"
"Yes. You'll understand soon. Hopefully then you will stop running and finally take command."
"Running? Take command?"
"Now," the man continued, "just enjoy the ride. We're almost there."
The man pushed him past a set of double doors and into a dimly lit room.
"Wait here. Treatment will begin shortly."
The man left him underneath another light and walked away. He heard the double door close and he laid there in silence listening as the footsteps faded away. Once he knew no one was coming, he started his struggle again. Minutes later the latch popped off and the straps fell away.
He sat up and looked back at the double doors, checking for that strange man. He could see nothing through the frosted windows.
"I have to get out of here."
He took note of his white, short-sleeved scrubs and lack of socks before looking around the room.
The walls were darkened, but he could see the crisp and clean white color. Different metal and plastic equipment littered the room around the edge of the light.
There was only one exit and that way was the same one he had just came from.
He would have to risk it.
So, he threw his legs over the edge of the bed and his feet didn't even touch the floor.
He was shocked.
"The floor shouldn't be that far down."
He stared downward. His reflection stared back from the glossy, red floor.
A reflection that felt wrong.
He didn't know why.
Something dripped beyond the light and he looked up. He could see the floor ripple slightly like water before becoming still. That confused the heck out of him. Floors don't ripple.
Suddenly, he was being dragged downward by his right leg. He grabbed the bed and glanced back to see a bloody hand pulling him from the floor. His muddled reflection seemed to be smirking.
Long nails dug into his leg and he screamed kicking at the hand.
Liquid flew everywhere.
It felt like hours before the hand finally let go and sunk back into the floor.
Red stained his pants as he jumped back on the bed looking down and around the floor, frantically.
His reflection was gone.
Then he realized why the reflection felt wrong. Everything on the other side was deteriorated and in varied states of disrepair.
The floor now looked a lot like a barrier between two worlds.
A world he wouldn't want to visit anytime soon.
He glanced at the exit. It stood a few feet away, teasing him.
"Maybe I can jump over to it and quickly swim the rest."
Standing up, he prepared himself to make the jump.
The bed tipped over just as he sprung from it, throwing his momentum off. He ended up sinking in the thick liquid farther away from the door than he expected.
Chucks of red liquid flew in the air as he struggled to swim toward the exit. He stopped to catch his breath. The exit appeared to not have gotten any closer.
Suddenly something grabbed his shoulders from the back. He fought to stay up. But their strength was more and he was pulled down into the red abyss.
He felt the hands leave and he gradually opened his eyes.
His reflection stood in front, looking at him with head slightly cocked to the side. Warily, he looked back. There were shadows moving behind the doppelganger in a gentle wave and he could see something black wrapped around its neck.
He quickly glanced around.
Everything was covered in splashes of red. But the floor was pristine white and solid.
He was stuck.
His twin seemed to smirk at his predicament before straightening its head and letting its expression fall blank. It then stretched out its right hand as if to offer a truce or something. It was covered in red and still dripping.
Shaking his head, he stepped back.
Everything felt wrong.
It took a step forward to match his retreat, which was soon stopped by something pushing him forward. He glanced back to see a shadowed girl. Her pale appearance distinct from her hair and clothes intermixed in the dark vapors now surrounding the room. She was motioning forward. He shook his head frantically and looked back at his double.
He didn't want to touch it, but he soon found his arm moving on its own to meet the hand of his mirror image. The shadows moved wildly behind the clone as he fought the invisible strings. His arm continued, extending ever so slowly.
He watched in horror as their hands were inches, then centimeters apart…
And then bright light encased everything in a blinding wave.
AN: This is what happens when two different projects seep into each other.
I was working on a Silent Hill fanfic before the idea for Berserker popped into my head and took over. So this chapter, which was written in the early stages of Berserker, was spurred by that. The whole apartment scene was initially created for this chapter. I just couldn't let it die. It's too special to die. Don't you think?
So thank this chapter for getting Shawn kidnapped.