Chapter 5
I'm on a roof… Why am I on a roof??
I checked the place out. It was small, and rather bland. Fencing around the edges, a small room off to the side that said, "Elevator Control Room", and a stairwell.
I tried to see beyond the roof, but I was irritated to discover that I couldn't. It was absolutely pitch black out. It made it appear as though there was nothing beyond the roof but an endless black abyss… which was accentuated by the worst pea-soup fog to ever exist.
Behind me, a door opened. Being the courageous soul that I am, I… yelped.
I turned around- and was overcome with a sudden case of rage.
It was him- again!!
Mother-fucking-son-of-a-bitch.
Mr. James "I-take-the-phrase-'Dumb-Blonde'-to-a-new-level" Sunderland. Walking onto this very roof, looking shabbier than ever. I snickered.
"Dude, here's a thought: if you're gonna play hero, why not take a pit stop somewhere and get yourself some new clothes?" I mocked.
As usual, he didn't hear me. I was quickly learning that it was my job to "Ghost of Christmas Present" him. Though, it was really fun to harass him.
He walked around, examining his surroundings. He seemed uneasy. I took note of the fact that he was riddled with blood spatters, but he didn't seem to be wounded.
He seemed to notice something on the ground, because he bent down and picked whatever-it-was up.
I looked too. It was a notebook of some sort…
He started to read it; his back to me. I could hear him flipping the pages.
"Well, fuck. If you're gonna ignore me, the least I can do is make it count." I then proceeded to call him a "complete and total fuckwad" who deserved to be eaten 'cuz he's such a fucking moron.
This went on for about five minutes. I continued to use words that I'm sure my mother would've kicked the shit out of me for using- had she been able to hear me.
I heard him close the notebook.
He turned around, and sighed. Whatever he had just read seemed to have had quite an impact on him. I heard him mutter under his breath, "That poor bastard."
For no apparent reason, I found myself hating him more. Wasn't sure why, though.
He walked to the door, and I strolled right up beside him.
He pulled on the handle, but the door wouldn't open.
I chuckled this time. "Ha! I knew you were a pussy- but come on! You can't even open a door?"
He jerked on the handle this time- and pretty violently too. This time, the door opened a little…and I saw…
I jerked away from the opening, and I felt myself start to shake. No, this is just a hallucination.
It said something to me…
This time, the door seemed to slam shut of it's own volition.
James had been gripping the door so hard; he stumbled backward when it closed on him.
He stared at it for a moment in what was obvious fear.
For once, I wasn't irritated, or amused, by his plight. I sympathized.
The air behind me suddenly seemed thicker. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Strangely, I could swear that there was static coming from somewhere on James' body.
He suddenly looked terrified, and he spun around; gun in hand. I caught part of what looked like a small radio sticking out of one of his pockets. I guess I hadn't been imagining the static.
"C'mon James, calm down…" Right Garrett- like he hears you!
He walked around the roof, eyes wide. He was absolutely rigid with tension.
He touched the fence that was in between the stairwell and the Elevator Control.
Trembling, he started to walk back.
And then it stepped out from the shadows. The Pyramid Head Thing.
I jerked backward, screaming. What the hell could I do?? I was in a hospital gown and robe, for fuck's sake- what could I do??
James started to pull his shotgun from his back- but it was too little, too late.
The Pyramid Head surged forward in a display of amazing speed. It slammed into James, sending him flying through the air.
He hit the fence between the two buildings. He had just enough time to take a deep breath when I heard a groaning, cracking noise.
The fence was snapping away from the walls.
"JESUS!! NO!!!" I screamed. "GET UP!!"
But he was too stunned to move. I watched in horror as the fence slid away from the building, and sent a silent James Sunderland into that very abyss.
The Pyramid Head was still standing there, and it turned…
…And looked at me.
I was suddenly dizzy, (Likely from terror.) and I stumbled backwards.
As I started to pass out, I thought I heard the sounds of air-raid sirens…
I woke up shaking, and in a cold sweat. For once, I took solace in the sterile walls of Brookhaven Hospital.
I found myself quietly cursing that bitch Mary Sunderland. Damn her, why in the hell would James have married that succu-bitch, anyway?
I looked at the clock, 11:30. I looked out the window, and the sky was the same as it was yesterday; bright and blue. But again, there was an edge of gray to it. Just as I did yesterday, I wondered if it might rain soon.
My door opened, and in strolled Candy-Striper Claudia.
She gave me a serene smile, as though she was certain everything would be alright. Her motto, Good things come to those who wait.
She frequently used that expression, and smiled like that. I wondered what the big secret was. Inwardly, I also hoped she might share some of that serenity with me.
God knows how much I could use it right now.
The smile became a full-on grin. "I have a surprise for you today, Mr. Daniels."
I was intrigued. "Oh yeah, what?"
She disappeared from the room for a moment, and when she returned, she had a wheelchair. "Voila! You get to go outside today!" she said, smiling happily down at me.
I felt oddly self-conscious; like at some point I may have turned into a big, gray lump.
I sucked it up. Wuss. I chided myself. "Okay, but you're gonna have to help me get into the damned thing."
"Well, good thing I enjoy a challenge." She replied. I caught something under that… excitement perhaps?
It took about ten minutes of pushing, pulling, and cursing (On my part. For some reason, Claudia wasn't too keen on the use of "unseemly" language.), but between the two of us, I managed to get my weakened behind into the chair.
I felt relieved to be out of that fucking bed too. It was starting to smell.
She handed me my notebook, and a pen. "You should write down the experience." She urged me.
She started to push me out the door. "You know, I've noticed that you're awful keen on me writing everything into my journal." I observed.
"Well, Mother Dahlia used to always say that we are Messengers for future generations. When she passed away, she left many journals for us to learn from." She said. She had an air of pure devotion to her voice.
I was nervous now. She sounded like a zealot, and zealots were never completely sane. I quickly changed the subject as we got to the elevator.
"So, where are we going?" I prodded. I so hoped she would take my bait.
Luckily, she did. "The roof. The air is quite nice up there."
We got into the elevator, and she hit the button. As it slid it's way upwards, I started to write.
May 6th: Okay, so Claudia's a religious nut. I can live with that, I just won't talk about that subject. Though, it's kind of odd. She's a little on the young side for that stuff- at least, I think so. She's what- twenty? Anyway, now we're up to the roof. For the first time in six days, I'm seeing actual sky!
I was interrupted by a ding! We were there.
She pushed me out there, and I gasped.
This was the roof. The one that James had fallen from.
I looked towards the part of the fence that had broken away, but it was still there.
"Claudia?" I asked. My voice was breathy. I knew I sounded scared.
She leaned forward, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Yes, Garrett?" She seemed to sense my fear.
"I'd like to go over there and look outward, please?" I pointed towards the spot.
"Okay, but I can't get too close, there's a notice downstairs that says that that spot is rather precarious at the moment. The fencing is supposedly loose." She replied. She pushed me forward.
I looked at the ground near it first. There were some pretty good cracks in it. It did look loose. I started to lean forward, but she stopped me.
"Mustn't hurt yourself." She reminded me.
"If someone were to fall from here, where might they end up?" I had to know. I had to.
She stepped around me, and looked downward. "Oh, well, two floors down is the Special Treatment Complex." A thoughtful look crossed her face. "You know, I bet that even though it's still quite a fall- someone could survive it."
I felt both ill, and relieved. The evidence was mounting up.
James might have survived! But if the "visions" I've been having were true… then…
"No…" I moaned.
Claudia leaned over me. I think she asked me, "What's wrong?" But I couldn't hear anything. I could only think of the entity that was holding the door shut in my dream.
I remembered it's little face, the way it beamed up at me- though it had no eyes, those had been clearly ripped from it's face. There had been blood and clear fluid running from the shriveling sockets… and it said…it said…
"Hi daddy!"
Read and Review.