Chapter 16: The Decent
By X-treme X-taggano (backfire@subdimension.com)

I looked around. The hospital . . . I was taken back here.

I blinked a few times and my vision returned to normal. As I shook my head, I used my hands to sit myself up. Lisa sat in front of me on a chair. Her skin was far more pale then I had remembered. She looked . . . ill, almost.

"Lisa?" I asked.

"Harry . . . I'm glad you're awake," she sighed. "Listen, I needed to tell you something."

I nodded. "What's that?" I asked.

She cleared her throat, still staring down at the ground. "I couldn't just sit around and let what you said go . . . so I went down to the basement," she explained. "There were all these weird room . . . but nothing truly unusual. Then I entered this one room . . . but . . ." She paused, crossing her arms. "I felt like I had been there before."

I tilted my head. "Lisa . . . I'm sure there's an explanation," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "It's just a temporary thing. You're probably just feeling a little different because of . . ."

"Shut up!" she yelled. She then stood up. "There's something wrong here and all you have to say is that I'm crazy?" She then stormed off.

"Wait!" I yelled standing up. "Where are you going?!"

"Fuck you, Harry!" she yelled as she ran for the door. I sighed. What had gotten into her? She didn't act like she had very much control over herself. But then again, one was bound to go crazy in a time like this. I hadn't lost it yet . . . but maybe because I was finally beginning to realize what was happening. This world was all part of Alessa's head . . . and now that Alessa was captured, it was starting to fall apart. For all I knew, I could be unconscious somewhere and my soul was dragged into this hell. But I realized now that Dahlia had to be stopped.

I leapt as I heard a loud roaring noise emit from the floor. It was coming from the basement. I sighed, hoping Lisa hadn't gone and done something stupid. But whatever the noise was, it was loud. My curiosity started to get the best of me and I walked towards the door where Lisa had exited. I then opened the door stepped into the next room.

A long, narrow chain link floor was built before me. Surrounding it was a void of darkness that I didn't care to know what it lead it. I started to walk forwards, trying to keep my balance. This platform didn't seem to lead to anything that I could see. But then again, my flashlight had no more than a 5 foot radius of light.

I then noticed an end. It was an elevator door built into the wall. I stared at it as it started to open up in front of me . . . as if calling my name. I knew I was being summoned. I didn't know who was calling me, but it didn't matter. I stepped into the elevator, not knowing where it would take me. But I did know one thing . . .

Once I go down, I'll find my answers. I know it.

The elevator doors closed behind me and it started to move downward. This was it . . . the decent into the deepest pits of hell that this world had to offer. But all that mattered was that I find my daughter.

Cheryl . . .

The elevator soon reached the bottom and the doors opened up. I stepped outside into the hallway. It was another part of the hospital. The world was all a blur . . . letting me know that the hell I was in was definitely not real. I started to walk down the hallway, trying to open several of the doors. All the ones I tried where locked. But as I walked around the corner, I realized the hallway was full of doors with names on them. The door to my right had a golden crest on it.

Phaleg.

That name probably had some sort of religious aspect to it. I wasn't too familiar with the Hebrew religions, but I guessed sense this whole cult was dedicated to bring Samael into human form, the name was of that religion's importance. I tried to open it, but it was locked.

I leapt as I heard a child's laughter from behind me.

I turned around quickly and saw a transparent figure skipping towards the door. I gasped, realizing it was Alessa! She continue to giggle as she walked right through the door. I wasn't sure, but I guessed that this meant something. Dahlia was hiding in the hall of Phaleg.

I turned away from the door and looked at the other ones in the room. I figured the ones that I was meant to go through had more religious names. Alessa, though captured, was obviously trying to help me find her. Perhaps she realized I was the only one who could help her now.

And even though Cheryl was my main concern, I knew I had to help Alessa.

I noticed another crest on the door to the far end of the room. I ran through the darkness, listening to the dust skitter under my feet. I soon reached the door. The word "Haggith" was written in golden letters across the top. This must be one of the rooms. I opened the door and stepped into the next room.

I gasped, realizing I was in the school. I wasn't in the alternate version . . . just the regular one. But there was only one desk inside of the classroom. One in the center. I slowly approached it, still cautious that there might be something lurking around. As I stepped up to the desk, I realized there was something carved in it.

Go home. Thief. Drop dead.

Perhaps this was a warning . . . but not one from Alessa. Dahlia no doubt. Well, she could threaten me all she wanted, but I wasn't about to quit. I hadn't searched through hell after hell just to give up in the end.

I then noticed something shining in the seat. It wasn't reflecting the beam from my flashlight, however. It was . . . glowing! I leaned towards it and soon realized it was a key. I picked it up quickly, examining the glowing letters.

Ophiel.

A key to another hallway, no doubt. There was nothing left here. I had to find this hall of Ophiel now. I turned around and headed back to the door that I had come from. The world continued to swirl around me . . . as if I were overdosing on a drug of some type.

I opened the door and stepped into the room. But to my surprise, I wasn't in the hospital. I had ended up in the church that was hidden in the antique shop. How I got here was beyond me. But then again, Alessa was no longer in control of the world.

The door to my right had nothing on it, but the one to my left said "Ophiel". I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the key. This was the room. I put the key into the hole and turned it. I heard the lock come undone. I was startled as I realized that the key dissolved in my hand. Nothing left of it . . .

I shrugged it off and opened the door. I stepped into it. This was apparently another part of the hospital. The storage room . . . that was it. At the other end was a double door. I started to walk towards it slowly.

"Harry?"

I leapt back as I heard the voice come of the corner of the room. I turned around quickly, raising my hand. I instantly calmed down as I realized who it was.

"Lisa?" I asked.

Lisa sheepishly came out of the corner. Her skin was particularly pale now. She looked as close to death as ever now. I was starting to worry if she was going to go into shock. If fear could effect her health this much, then I had no idea how she had survived this long.

"Lisa, what' gotten into you?!" I asked.

"Harry . . . I understand now," she explained.

I tilted my head. "Understand what?" I asked.

"Why I'm alive while everyone else is dead . . ." she explained. "I'm not the only one walking around, you know." She started to shiver. She was trying to say something, but couldn't get it out . . . I could tell that much.

Finally, she said it. "I'm the same as all of them."

"What?!" I asked, startled.

"I'm the same! Alessa had created me to slow you down so you wouldn't find her!" she explained. "I'm just another monster . . ."

And my heart dropped down into my stomach. Lisa was just a creation. She was another one of the creatures Alessa created . . . but she created Lisa to try and stop me from searching for her. Hell, she had almost succeeded a few times. But this felt too unreal. Lisa couldn't be a monster . . . she couldn't!

"Harry, stay by me!" she pleaded. "I can't control myself anymore!"

She started to walk towards me, her arms wide open. I panicked and shoved her back. I was afraid she might attack me . . . even though she had never done anything to me. I could hear her weeping as she fell back against the wall.

She looked straight at me, her eyes slit. I could sense her feeling of betrayal, and it made me feel terrible. She slowly stood up and started to walk towards me again, only much slower this time. She stumbled in my direction as I continued to walk backwards towards the door.

I gasped as I saw a stream of blood flow down her face.

In a matter of seconds, she was bleeding profusely. Her dress was covered in her own blood, as was her face and hair. She had returned to the monster she was. I screamed as I turned around and headed for the door. I heard her call my name, but it didn't matter. I opened the door quickly and slammed it behind me. I then braced it shut with my own body.

I heard Lisa pound on the door as she continued to weep. I felt terrible for what I was doing. Lisa wasn't just another monster . . . she was a person I had gotten to care deeply about. And here I was, betraying her when it really counted.

After a while, her pounding stopped. Had she gone away? I was nervous about checking the room out, but knew it was what had to be done. I turned around and opened the door slowly. I peered inside for a moment, and realized she was gone.

But where could she have gone? There was nowhere for her to go in this hell. Maybe she faded away with the other parts of this conjured world. I looked into the dark corners of the room, making sure she wasn't in here.

However, there was a book lying on the floor. I approached it slowly, wondering what it was. The cover was blue and it was already attracting the dust the defiled the floor. I knelt down next to it and picked up the book. As I opened it, I realized it was some sort of journal. I started read it and quickly identified it as Lisa's.

May 15th: The patient hasn't been getting any better. I hate working down here. No matter how often I change the bandages, the blood continues to flow. I don't know what's keeping this child alive, but whatever it is . . .

A child she was taking care of? I turned the page, curious as to what this patient was.

May 16th: Still no sign of improvement. I can't take watching this child suffer any more. I want to leave, but Doctor Kaufmann isn't letting me. He says that he needs this patient taken care of. And if I tried to escape, I'd just come back where I started again.

Kaufmann? I started to wonder why he was a concern to Lisa. That rat bastard couldn't keep her anywhere . . .

May 17th: I kept on feeling like I was going to throw up today, but I ended up only vomiting up bile. Nothing comes out . . . and I was determined to leave more than ever. I plan on escaping tomorrow. However, I might fall victim to my addiction.

I raised an eyebrow to the addiction part. What could she possibly be addicted to? And how could some addiction be of any concern towards her escape. I turned to the next page in the journal, anxious to read more.

May 18th: Just when things couldn't get any worse, I have another child to take care of. Kaufmann gave me another child . . . only this one is much younger. Probably only two months old. I heard she was related to the patient I was already taking care of, but I couldn't stand it any more. This child won't suffer the same hell her sister is through. I am escaping tonight and I'm bringing this child with me.

I just hope that my White Claudia addiction doesn't slow me down.

That was the last of the entries. I stood there breathless. The patient she was taking care of . . . was no doubt Alessa. So Lisa was the one who was taking care of Alessa in the hospital basement . . . and under the supervision of Kaufmann. And Lisa escaped with a child that was said to be Alessa sister.

Cheryl.

It was Cheryl. It had to be. We found Cheryl on the road near this town. We never knew why someone would leave a baby here . . . but it was starting to make sense. Lisa probably fell victim to her addictions and only made it to the highway with that baby. Perhaps she left it there, hoping someone would find it.

Maybe it was just fate that I was the one to find her.

I then noticed something else in the room. A TV and a VCR next to it. I walked up to it, almost in a trance. I had found a video in the hospital that was scrambled. I had to see what was on it. So I reached into my pocket and took hold of the cassette. I then pushed the video into the VCR. Moments later, the TV flickered to life and the video started playing.

I saw Lisa on the screen. She was in the room that Alessa was being taken care in. The camera was apparent set at the edge of the table and she was taping a confession.

"Kaufmann, I'm sorry . . . but I can't take this anymore. I love this child, but I can't handle watching her suffer any more. I'm leaving. I don't need your damn drugs or anything. If you want to continue doing all your dealings with that Galespie lady, I don't care. I know you sell with her. I'm also taking the child with me. I'm sorry to do this, but you've given me no choice. Goodbye."

Dahlia . . . I knew she had something to do with the drug dealing. I would have been surprised if she hadn't. So Cheryl was Dahlia's daughter. That's why Alessa and Cheryl looked so much alike. But it still didn't explain one thing. Why was Alessa so intent on keeping her?

I stood up and turned my back to the VCR. I had to find out where Dahlia was hiding. She was going to pay for all this. Lisa had no doubt died because of her goddamned cult . . . she had told me about how many people in the town had died mysterious deaths. Maybe she was one of them. It was obvious, though, that when Alessa created one of her monsters to look like Lisa, she had a fond memory of her. Perhaps she felt sorry for her . . .

Like I had felt.

I walked up to the door on the other end of them room and opened it. I was now in the antique shop, but I wasn't surprised. I didn't know how I remained calm in a moment like that, but I did. Maybe the fact that none of this was real was starting to sink in. I walked through the antique shop, looking around. I felt like I was in some sort of science fiction movie as I examined the store around me. Details didn't matter any more. I didn't care if the room wasn't exactly the same. The only thing on my mind was my goal . . . find my daughter. Fuck this conjured world . . . it didn't matter.

I noticed that the grandfather clock was gone. Instead, there was a door. I looked at it closely, realizing there was something carved in gold.

Bethor.

Another hall. I turned the knob and entered the room. Inside was a room full of graffiti. I read the words on the wall.

Help me. Murder. Die. Can't take any more. Fire. Burning.

Simple words of sorrow and hate. That seemed to sum up the words that surrounded me. Words from a tortured soul, no doubt. Alessa seemed to be crying out to me. I could even hear her weeping.

I gasped as I realized I saw Alessa crying in the corner of the room.

"Alessa!" I yelled.

But it was too late. She had disappeared. I didn't know what she was doing in this room right here, but she was obviously trapped. Maybe this was the room she was locked in when the house was burned down. Some of her memories were being shown to me here.

I then noticed a small key on the ground. I hurried over to it and picked it up. Written in golden letters at the handle was something written.

Phaleg.

The key to the hallway! This was no doubt where Dahlia was hiding from me. Hopefully, I'd find my way through this world that was steadily falling apart. I walked up to the door, realizing I didn't know where I'd end up when I walked through it. I crossed my fingers as I pulled the handle and walked into the next room.

I was in the main hallway! I did it! This world had brought me back. Alessa was no doubt fighting to get me to her. I didn't know how controlling a world happened or how one kept control of it, but it would be a safe guess to assume that there was some sort of conflict happening right now.

I ran down the hallway towards the hall of Phaleg. As soon as I reached the door, the key was already in my hand. I put it in the keyhole and turned it. The key then faded away into dust. I smiled, realizing Dahlia wasn't working fast enough to stop me. She was trying as hard as she could, but Alessa was taking up too much of her time.

Well keep working, bitch, because you're not stopping me yet.

I opened the door labeled "Phaleg" and stepped into the room. I had just entered a part of the hospital basement. The hallway that lead to where Alessa was being hidden. It looked exactly the same, except there were two labeled in gold letters. I couldn't read either of them for some reason, however. My vision seemed to blur when I stared at the markings. I decided these doors where probably the ones I was meant to go through, so I walked over to the one closest to me on my left. I turned the handle, but it wouldn't open. I growled and stumbled over to the other door. This world was starting to feel like a hallucination again. It was as if I were extremely intoxicated. I started to make my way to the other door, feeling like I was flying through some sort of void as I made my way there. Finally I reached the door and tried to open it. The door opened up and I made my way into the room.

I suddenly collapsed in the room, not sure where I was. It might have been minutes or hours that I laid there in the middle of the floor helplessly. It honestly didn't matter to me. All time seemed to mix together as one. I wanted to make sure I was okay before I continued on. I knew my journey was almost over and I had to push on, but I couldn't do anything at the present. Just lie there in the heap of memories Alessa had.

"Is she going to be okay?"

I suddenly looked up. In front of me was an bed . . . and I soon realized this was the same room that the hospital had hid Alessa in. Surrounding the bed were four figures. Two of them I recognized . . . Dahlia and Kaufmann. The other two I had never seen before. There was a body on the bed that was covered by a blanket, and I thought it was a safe guess to assume it was Alessa. I would have been alarmed, but all the figures were transparent. This was obviously another fragment of Alessa's memory she was sharing with me. This wasn't really happening. It had already happened.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"Did we get the soul?" I heard Dahlia's voice ask.

"Yes, but it's very weak. Almost nothing. We've only successfully conjured half the soul."

"So my daughter only has half of it? This is unexpected," Dahlia said thoughtfully.

"Does this mean it's not going to work?" Kaufmann yelled in his gruff tone of voice. "This isn't what we bargained for!"

Dahlia raised a hand. "No, these are just stalling tactics," she explained. "We have half the soul contained within her. Now all we half to do is create the other half."

"The same way?"

"Yes," Dahlia said, nodding. "The same way."

"But that will take time."

And suddenly all the figures in the room disappeared. All that was left was a small key in the room. I got to my feet and approached it. It sat their on top of the blood soaked sheets. It seemed to be the only thing in my vision that wasn't blurred. As I picked it up, however, everything started to become clear again. And as I placed it in my pocket, colors started to emerge from the black world.

This key would take me to where I was to find my answers.

I turned around, leaving the room. I ended up back in the basement hallway . . . only, now it was clear. Now longer was it a blur of a world. I could see the door across the hallway that I had to open. I started walking towards it, removing the key from my pocket. This was it . . . through here, I would hopefully find my daughter and Alessa. Dahlia couldn't keep them from me now. I sighed as I put the key in the keyhole and turned it. The door unlocked and I turned the handle, letting myself into the room.

I was inside a little girl's room. I saw various papers scattered across the wooden floor that seemed to have come from the bed. They clashed with the green sheets on the bed , but none of the mattered. Beyond the art desk that was parallel to the bed was a door. And engraved into it was . . .

Religious objects.

A star . . . which was the star of David, a dagger, a disc . . . what were all these doing here? Trying to break some sort of spell? Getting through the final barrier of evil by using objects of holy value. Alessa did this for me. I was sure of it. She needed my help now and destroyed one of the spells Dahlia had no doubt used. I walked up to the door, carefully avoiding any of the drawings on the floor, and opened the door.

I gasped, realizing in the other room, there were two transparent figures.

I closed the door behind me and stared at both of them. It was Dahlia and Alessa. Another one of Alessa's memories, no doubt. Dahlia was apparently trying to force her daughter to go somewhere with her and Alessa was definitely against it.

"Come along!" Dahlia yelled, pulling on Alessa's arms.

"No! Please . . ." Alessa cried. "I don't want to do it!"

Dahlia continued to struggle with her. "Do what mommy tells you now!" she demanded. "I just need a teeny bit of your power. That's it!"

Alessa broke her mother's grip and fell back on the floor. "No. I'm not doing it!"

Dahlia sighed and kneeled down next to her. "It will make everyone happy . . ." she explained. "And it's for your own good too."

Alessa shook her head. "But mommy . . . I just want to be with you. No one else," she said. "Just two of us! Please understand."

Dahlia seemed to think about something for a moment. "Oh . . . yes. I see. Maybe mommy has been wrong."

Alessa gasped. "Mommy?!"

Dahlia started to smile. "Why didn't I see this before?" she said, astonished. "There's no need to wait! Heirin lies the mother's womb . . . giving power to create life! I could have done it all myself!"

And then they disappeared in front of me.

So Dahlia realized that only half of this dark soul was in Alessa. She was planning on burning down the house they were in, no doubt. And that house was where I was right then. The wooden floors, the doors that wouldn't open . . . the pictures of several ritualistic activities hanging on the walls . . . this was the house that was burned down. No doubt about it.

To my right was a flight of stairs. Even when I pointed my flashlight down them, I couldn't see the bottom. They went down a long ways. Where they would take me, I didn't know. But did know one thing.

Dahlia was down their.

I held my breath and clutched my pistol close to my side. This was it. I was about to confront Dahlia . . . all my memories, all my emotions, all my fear . . . they were coming along with me for the ride. This was it. Save Cheryl or die trying.

I started to walk down the stairs. This was it . . .