Authors Note: hopefully you all love Elle's perspective... because that's this chapter lol.
Chapter 25: The Family Crest
Elle ran as fast and far as she could with Sammy on her shoulder; he hung on for dear life as she forced herself to keep running down the long hallway. Alex had been so cold, and it hurt a lot. Deep inside Elle knew Alex had her best interest in mind (he always had her best interest in mind) but something about being rejected while Kendra got to go with him hurt her a lot.
Elle hadn't a clue where to go down the long stretch of concrete; the hallway was long so she knew the further she ran the better the safety from the creature, but eventually she would have to stop running and head back to where she came from. Sammy was light but having him on her shoulders for too long wasn't a good idea. Elle had to find an open room.
After trying a few of the doors down the hallway she found one that was open, and it appeared to be fairly clear. Sammy allowed her to put him on the floor; he stood there silently. The tiny pull lamp in the middle of the room looked like it might turn on; Elle pulled the cord as it illuminated her surroundings.
It appeared to her the room they had entered was the infirmary for when the Lair had previously been intact. Perhaps they had left something in the room Elle and Sammy could bring back to Alex and Wheeler. It was strangely very lucky of her to stumble across it with its many useful items. This was a very good place to be with a strange werewolf running around.
Elle noticed a tiny child sized backpack on one of the chairs; it had a dinosaur pattern on the front of it. Elle picked it up and realized it was completely empty. Turning back to Sammy she handed him the backpack, "Could you wear this for me, Sammy?" She asked him.
Without needing too much time to think about the question at hand Sammy nodded, "What is it for?" He asked as she put the tiny dinosaur backpack on Sammy's back.
"It's to keep us safe. It'll help Alex if we can get it to him too." Elle said as she walked towards the cupboard and slipped a first aid kit inside the backpack along with some ointment and bandages.
Elle made sure the backpack was light enough for Sammy to carry. Opening up the fridge, Elle decided to place a health drink inside his bag; she wasn't sure if he could carry it so she only placed inside one. "There. Is that light enough?" She asked after zipping it up.
Sammy nodded as he looked up at her with his big blue eyes; his innocence was likely dwindling with each moment they spent in Silent Hill. Sammy jumped and looking around as he heard a loud noise. They could hear faint gun shots off in the distance. Elle knelt down beside him and hugged him. "It's going to be fine, Sammy. Don't be scared." Elle told him as she heard howling and more gunshots.
Looking around Sammy was alarmed, but not frightened. "Elle, I want to go back home to see mommy and daddy. I miss them and this place is really scary." He said to her sadly.
Elle felt her heart sink at those words. "I know Sammy. We're going to get you home. I promise." Elle said to him.
"But I thought South Ashfield was full of the monsters?" Sammy asked Elle fearfully.
Elle thought for a moment, "You were at the daycare when everything got scary, right?" Elle asked.
Sammy nodded slowly before Elle continued, "Then, your parents have a job in South Ashfield they had to be at?" Elle began to wonder if he had a place to go to once they left.
To her great relief he shook his head, "Daddy had an office meeting in Brahms. Mommy went with him and visited grandma before she worked. Mommy couldn't come back and get me in time so she told Kendra to watch me." Sammy explained as best as he could.
"So both your parents are in Brahms?" Elle asked feeling better about the situation.
Sammy nodded before Elle could continue, "Good, then we'll be sure to take your to your grandmothers as soon as we find Alex and get out of this place." Elle said to Sammy reassuringly.
Sammy looked down slowly as he appeared to be thinking back to earlier in the day, "Why didn't Alex save us when those bad people came after us?" His pout was apparent.
"Alex didn't hear you both. He would have saved you but he didn't know you were in trouble." Elle lied not sure what else to say.
Sammy looked up at Elle again, "Alex was chosen to save us."
Elle stared at Sammy rather alarmed, "What makes you say that?" Her paranoia rising.
"This guy who wore a mask and a cross that took me and Kendra told me so." Sammy eased her worry.
Elle nodded realizing Richard would likely know about that regardless, "That's right. Alex is going to save us."
Sammy looked rather concerned for a moment, "But Alex doesn't have superpowers does he?"
Elle shook her head, "No, he doesn't."
Sammy's face grew worrisome as he began gripping Elle's leg in panic, "Then how can he protect us from the monsters?" Sammy asked her on the verge of tears.
Elle breathed in wondering what on Earth she could tell the child to keep him from getting scared, "Alex knows how to fight. He's fought the monsters before. He can do it again." She assured Sammy as she ran her hand through his light brown hair soothingly.
Sammy played with his bottom lip as he considered this, "Like Batman?" He asked eagerly.
Elle smiled and laughed softly, "Yes, just like Batman."
Elle noticed something familiar about the walls. They were growing bloody; she looked at Sammy's face and ran her hand lightly over his eyes, "Close your eyes. Don't look." She told him as she carried on hugging him.
The sound of the siren came to her ears. Closing her eyes she slowly got onto her side, not letting go of Sammy. Once the sound of the siren subsided, Elle opened her eyes. The sight of the room wasn't pleasant, but Sammy would likely be fine if she just talked to him. "Sammy, I think we're alright." She said watching as he slowly opened his eyes to look up at her.
"I think maybe we should get moving again." Elle suggested as she held her arms out to the small boy.
Sammy wrapped his arms around her neck and let her lift him up. The hallways seemed fairly clear, As Elle headed back down the hallway she walked slowly; if anything was coming she wasn't going to bring its attention to her.
As she made it to the intersection she noticed the silver bullet shells scattered across the floor. There were no dead bodies of the monster or her friends. It had let them go clearly, but where was it now?
"Sammy, did you see that book Kendra was talking about anywhere?" Elle asked Sammy.
"Yeah, I think it's this way." Sammy pointed down the hallway.
Elle looked him in the eye, "Are you positive?"
Sammy bobbed his head quickly, "Yep."
Elle looked down the hallway and began walking down it slowly. Somehow she knew Sammy was telling the truth; Elle could just feel Alex somehow. Sammy noticed something run past them down the hallway; he gripped her shoulders alarmed, "What is it?" Elle asked him.
"Elle," His soft voice was fearful, "I saw something. Please hurry!" He told her alarmed.
"Alright, Sammy." Elle nodded as she began trying a few of the doors.
None of the doors seemed to open; she began moving faster down the hall, and it was anything but silent. Elle looked down the hallway realizing a dark shadow was appearing in the flickering light. Elle held her breath as she tried one more door; it opened!
Strange growling emitted from around the corner as she saw the bright eyes of the werewolf appear to her. Elle ran inside the room and shut the door behind her. Putting Sammy down she let him run into the corner. Elle looked around for something to block the door. A large metal bookshelf stood beside the door. Elle got on the other side of the shelf and began to push. It hardly budged at first but she managed to lean it against the door as soon as growling and clawing came from the other side.
Elle began looking around the room. She was in what appeared to be a transformed lounge with many bloodstained sofa frames that were missing the cushions needed to be comfortable. Using as much strength as she could, Elle pressed a large metal couch against the bookshelf so it didn't break through as it began hurling its body against the wooden door.
Sammy held his hands over his tiny ears as he clenched his light blue eyes closed tightly. Elle scooped Sammy up in her arms and ran to the small closet in the corner of the room. Inside was a hanging lamp and brown carpet. Elle shut the door and held Sammy as he leaned against her shoulder. Looking up at the wall Elle noticed another message written in Latin:
The confession of the sin will cleanse the air.
Elle looked away and decided now wasn't the time to write it down. "It'll be alright, it can't get in here." Elle hoped what she was saying was the truth.
The pounding seemed to continue. The beast managed to break a hole in the wooden door with its massive claws. Elle covered Sammy's ears as she listened fearfully to the snarling.
After a sudden silence Elle realized the beast must have discovered he couldn't see them anymore. A loud and deafening howl emitted from the hallway, indicating the beast's frustration. Loud clumsy thudding indicating it was running away likely back where it came from. "I think its gone away now. We're safe just like I said before." Elle took her hands off Sammy's ears.
Elle didn't want to leave the closet just yet, she needed time to calm down; not to mention she needed to be sure the beast was gone for good. Pulling the purple crayon out of her pocket along with some paper Elle decided to write down the message. Elle finished decoding it within a couple of seconds.
Sammy looked up at Elle as soon as she placed the paper and the crayon into her pocket; they stared at each other for a moment silently as if not sure what to do. It wasn't long before Sammy drew his attention back down to her neck.
Her family crest necklace her aunt left for her was hanging out of her shirt; likely it popped out while she was running away from the monster in the hallway. "You like that?" Elle asked Sammy.
Sammy nodded with a small inquisitive smile, "What is it?" He asked Elle inquisitively.
Elle held it up slightly so he could hold onto it for a better look. "That's my family crest. I come from Shepherds Glen; my family is on of the four founding families." Elle said to Sammy with a soft smile.
Sammy turned it over in his fingers to look at the other side of the ring, "What's this in here?" Sammy pointed at the cult symbol.
Elle shook her head, "I'm not sure." The truth wasn't something he needed to know at his age; then again, he was in a demented world with her right now.
Sammy examined it over for a few seconds. It appeared to be very interesting to him for some unknown reason. "Alex has one too, you should get him to show you his next time we find him." Elle tried to keep his young mind busy with more pleasant thoughts as they took some time to rest mentally and physically.
"So, are you and Alex brother and sister with Kendra?" Sammy asked looking up at Elle confused.
Elle furrowed her brows. "No, we aren't related at all." Something seemed strange about that question, "What makes you say that, Sammy?" Elle looked at the small child as he hooking his fingers around her necklace.
"Well, if you have one, doesn't it mean you come from the same family?" Sammy asked Elle as he stared at her with his big eyes looking over the necklace excitedly.
Elle squinted for a moment, "Alex comes from a different family, he's a Shepherd, and I'm a Holloway. Why do you think Kendra is related to us? Did she say anything about us?" Elle asked wondering what Sammy had meant before.
Sammy let go of her necklace carefully as if it were fragile, "Kendra has one too. She told me not to touch it though. Kendra didn't want it to get broken." Sammy looked apprehensive suddenly.
Elle's eyes widened, "Kendra has one too?" Elle blinked for a second, "What's Kendra's last name, Sammy? Do you know?" Elle asked trying to keep calm.
"In the daycare, we got to call her Kendra or Miss Fitch." Sammy rubbed his nose softly with the back of his hand. "I always called her Miss Kendra." He beamed up at Elle at the pleasant thoughts.
Kendra Fitch. Doctor Fitch's other daughter. Scarlet's older sister. Why hadn't Elle recognized her before? Kendra used to have braces, Her hair used to be short and no one had ever talked to her; not that it was hard to forget Kendra, but it wasn't easy to have her slip from memory completely.
Kendra was three years older than Alex and Elle, yet out of everyone in the founding families, Kendra endured some of the worst treatment at school. People would call her ugly and filthy, just because they enjoyed watching her cry; it was so simple to make Kendra cry back then.
Alex had stood up for Kendra once as she had been picked on by several members of the pep squad. It wasn't as if he had to, but he convinced them to leave Kendra alone anyway. Ever since that day Kendra had followed him around, and she even had the strange idea to ask him to prom despite how much younger than her he was. Alex had been polite when he rejected her invitation, but it wasn't clear if she had forgotten about that.
"Did Kendra say anything else to you, Sammy? Anything at all?" Elle asked him.
"She said something about Alex being special." Sammy furrowed his brows in thought.
"Anything else?" Elle asked him.
Sammy scratched his head for a moment as he thought hard, "Kendra said that Alex would be able to save us from the monsters because he's the chosen one." Sammy said to her before looking down. "She said his life would save us. I don't know what that means, though." Sammy played with his fingers nervously for a moment.
Her heart sank as it filled with dread; Kendra wasn't on their side at all. She wanted Alex dead. Part of her wondered if his death would bring her some sort of satisfaction for her previous rejection. Elle didn't know what her idea was, but Kendra had to be stopped.
"Oh my God… Alex…" Elle closed her eyes as she prayed for his safety in her absence.
"Is he in trouble?" Sammy seemed concerned.
Elle looked at him, "We'll have to wait and see; I have to find him." Elle said as they got out of the closet quickly.
Anyone interested in any Silent Hill Homecoming music videos? Oh, and REVIEW!