I.
Henry scanned the hallway as the beam of the flashlight disintegrated the thick darkness. As his eyes adjusted, Henry blinked a few times to ensure he wasn't hallucinating. After another scan of the room, Henry realized that he wasn't imagining things—everything had suddenly undergone a severe metamorphosis.
The slightly musty library was now a sparsely furnished boiler room-type of place. The grated floor, metal walls and ceiling, and metal furniture reminded Henry of some underground plant or maybe someplace less friendly.
He took Tina's hand and led her into the hallway, which wasn't the hallway they had come from earlier. Metal doors lined the right side and as Henry and Tina moved cautiously down the hallway, in some of them Henry and Tina both swore they heard something massive stomping around and panting, but when they would glance into the barred window, the room was empty. Definitely unnerving.
"This doesn't make any sense—I don't think we're even in the house any more," Henry whispered as they passed one of the empty rooms where something unseen lurked.
Tina replied, her voice a whisper as well, "I actually think we're in Brookhaven Hospital. This looks exactly like the third floor. But that's impossible, isn't it?"
Henry didn't want to think about the impossible and possible now. The definite lines between the two had been blurred and then totally erased. Nothing was as it seemed and anything could be possible.
Henry met Tina's eyes. "Isn't that were they kept the insane patients?"
Tina reluctantly nodded. She knew Henry realized the same thing she had—if the insane patients were kept here, there was a possibility that they were still here—only more insane. And dangerous. Tina didn't want to take any chances running into any of those patients, especially that horribly creepy patient, Stanley Coleman. The thought of him touching her again sent a shudder down Tina's spine.
"If we are in the hospital, we need to find a way out of here. The door we came in from doesn't exist anymore," Henry said.
Tina turned to find a blank wall where the door had been before. "Yeah, let's just get out of here," she said, glancing around nervously. "There should be a door at the end of the hallway then stairs down to the first floor." She began to walk in that direction, but noticed Henry wasn't walking with her. "Henry? What is it?"
She watched him stare intently at one of the doors—no, he peered into one of the windows that the nurses monitored the patients without having to actually go into the room.
"This girl," Henry motioned to the nametag to the left of the door. In white letters against the black plastic was the name Christine Mitchell. "Christine Mitchell—isn't that their friend, the one they're looking for?"
Tina nodded. "I think so. They said she was taken—maybe this is where she ended up."
Henry squinted and drew his face closer to the window. After surveying the room, he turned back to Tina. "I don't see anyone in there. But it looks like there may have been someone in there. The bookcase is moved."
Henry pulled on the door, hoping it would be open. It wasn't.
Tina snapped her fingers. "In Dr. Killian's office—he has a set of keys to all the doors in the hospital. We can just go down there and grab them. Maybe Christine left something behind that might let us know where she is now."
Henry agreed and began to head in the direction Tina had indicated earlier, but then abruptly stopped. A figure—a nurse, it looked like—shambled toward them. She faded in and out of the darkness as she walked underneath the lights.
Tina recognized the old nurse uniform—the blocky shoes, the tightly-fit dress, and the odd hat. But they had given those up for a much more practical and comfortable lend of pants and a blouse—and no hat.
The next thing that Tina noticed was the long, rusty pipe the nurse practically dragged along. She seemed not to have the strength or coordination to carry it properly. And as she got closer, her purposefulness appeared to escalate—now she headed straight for them.
Henry saw all the same things that Tina had observed, but he also recognized the nurse as the one that whisked Harry Mason away. If Harry Mason was indeed alive and well, she would have to know what miracle the doctor performed. And maybe she would be able to tell him more about Pyramid Head. Still, the unnatural clumsy gait and metal pipe told Henry that there could be something horribly wrong with the nurse's physical and mental state.
"Excuse me, nurse?" Henry uncertainly called out. "I think we met earlier—I brought in a patient. You know, the one that you," Henry searched for a word that wasn't accusatory, "carted to the doctor's office." He wanted to say kidnapped instead.
No response.
The nurse continued straight toward them, but she seemed to have picked up her pace.
"Henry, there's something not quite right about her—and why does she have that rusty pipe?" Tina whispered. "I don't think she plans on answering any questions." She pulled closer to Henry, more in subconscious support than a pining for protection.
Henry didn't reply, but he totally agreed with Tina. Besides the fact that there was something abnormal about the nurse, an uneasy feeling still lingered from their abrupt transition from the house to the hospital.
He had other questions, but something told him that this nurse wouldn't be the one to answer them. Instead of asking more questions, Henry and Tina took a cautious step in retreat—right into another hissing nurse.
Her exposed teeth, gums, and muscle clenched hard as she lifted the pipe and swung downward toward Henry's head. He reacted quickly, blocking the blow with his arm. At the same time, Henry pushed Tina to the side.
Tina hit the wall but used her momentum to propel herself back toward the nurse and successfully pushed her down. The nurse only grunted in reply and clumsily picked herself up as Henry and Tina took off.
"The double doors at the end of the hallway!" Tina shouted.
Henry stayed a few steps ahead, charging the other nurse. She reacted just as Henry thought she would—she wildly swung her weapon towards Henry's midsection. Instead of completely stopping, Henry slid underneath the attack and popped up behind the nurse. He booted the nurse in her lower back, sending the nurse flying into the hard wall.
Tina hopped over the fallen nurse, never breaking stride, and joined Henry as they dashed down the hall. She followed as they burst through the doors and directed Henry to the stairs. They proved to be too quick for another nurse that started toward them—she didn't even get close before they disappeared into the stairwell door.
When they descended and arrived at the first floor from the third, Henry burst out of the stairwell door and stopped. Tina breathed hard as she rested on Henry's shoulder.
"I think we're safe," Tina whispered. She expected Henry to say something, but when she looked at him, his gaze was fixed down the hallway. When Tina finally noticed what Henry already saw, she choked back a scream.
A stumbling figure emerged from the darkness. He looked like a doctor just out of surgery, judging from the amount of blood on him. But that was the thing that was so wrong—no doctor should have that much blood on them from any surgery. The blood dripped onto the floor with loud splats and it seeped through his clothes.
Tina immediately recognized the figure before them, despite the blood-soaked scrubs. Though half-closed, Tina could clearly make out those eerie eyes. She drew closer to Henry, which told him something was definitely amiss.
"Dr. Killian," Tina clarified.
The throbbing in Henry's arm seemed distant as this new possible threat approached them. "The one who attacked you?" he inquired.
She nodded. Tina only glanced over the mysterious chest Killian desperately clung to as he staggered almost drunkenly toward them.
"Move from my path, infidels. I—I must—ugh!" Killian doubled over in pain and almost lost his footing. But he stayed on his feet, though shakily, and continued toward them.
Henry and Tina looked at each other with sincere bewilderment. What had happened to the doctor? Why was he talking so strangely? What was with the chest he had?
Henry thought about asking all those questions. Yet, despite the doctor attacking Tina earlier, he felt compelled to try to help the doctor—it was simply the right thing to do. "Hey, are you okay?" Henry approached Killian.
Great question, ass. Of course he's not okay—there's blood all over the place and he looks like death, Henry mentally chastised himself.
As Henry neared Killian, the injured doctor suddenly spurred to life, waving something shiny that he surreptitiously pulled from a pocket. Killian's already strange eyes flickered with madness.
"I'll kill you."
It wasn't what Killian had said, but how he said it that sent a chill up Henry's spine. He was crazed, and now he had a scalpel—quite a large one—and advanced on Henry much faster than Henry could have anticipated.
Despite Killian's quick advance, Henry reacted faster—he ducked low and tackled the doctor. He thought he heard Tina scream, but the doctor's grunts, slippery blood, and waving scalpel had all of Henry's attention.
Killian was strong—he threw Henry off without much effort, but he lost the chest in the process. It slid across the floor and came to rest by the wall. Now, Tina stood in between Killian and the sacred chest. He had no problem killing her to get to the chest. In fact, he looked forward to it.
Killian deftly rose, grabbed Tina, and backhanded her. She didn't fall to the ground as Killian expected, but swung back around with a punch. It landed on his jaw, stunning him long enough for Tina to knee him on the most vulnerable spot on any man. She stepped back, hoping to see the results of her work—Killian coughing, grabbing himself, collapsing to the floor, possibly vomiting—but none of that happened. He simply glared at her and she could swear he grinned underneath his face mask.
He grabbed her wrist, snatched her toward him, and rose the scalpel high. Tina watched in horror, imagining the scalpel sinking into her eye. She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, but then heard Henry charging from across the room. She opened her eyes and grabbed Killian's wrist and before Killian could jerk away, Henry bowled into them.
The three of them hit the floor, but Tina was already back on her feet. "Henry, come on!"
Henry crawled atop the doctor and punched him in the face. He rose and began to head in Tina's direction, but Killian grabbed his ankle, and Henry fell.
Tina screamed, but before she could help, a cold hand gripped her arm. Turning on her attacker, she screamed, "Let me go!"
It was another nurse.
Tina pulled away, but the nurse held her tightly. Tina's hand shot out to a table in the hallway—one of the familiar metal clipboards they always complained about found its way into her hand. Heavy and hard, the clipboard served as a suitable weapon as Tina came across the nurse's face. Without hesitating, she came back across, across, and back across the nurse's face. Her grip finally loosened. Tina grasped the clipboard with both hands and bashed the nurse over the head. With a moan of defeat, the nurse tumbled into the wall and slid to the floor.
Tina turned to help Henry, but Henry managed to give the doctor a swift kick to the face and slip from Killian's grasp before Tina could respond. Henry scrambled to his feet, grabbed Tina's hand, and bolted down the hallway past the now rising Killian.
"The office—on the right!" she breathily exclaimed.
Henry and Tina ducked into the office and slammed the door behind them. They grabbed a cabinet and pushed it in front of the door then backed up, waiting.
The door shook for a few moments later and Killian shouted muffled threats at them—but as quickly as it started, it ended. They heard a painful wail from the other side then shuffling footsteps, much more urgent than before. Then there was silence.
Tina realized she had been holding her breath—she let it out with a heavy sigh. "Do you think he's gone?" Tina whispered.
Henry shook his head. "I don't know. He could be hiding on the other side, waiting for us to come out. But he seemed like he was pretty hurt. Plus, there was that strange chest—I think he's up to something else—we were just a distraction."
Tina folded her arms and slumped against the wall, feeling a little more comfortable. "That doesn't make me feel any better. Somehow, I think that it was more than coincidence that we ran into Killian."
"You're probably right, but we don't have any way of stopping him right now. Since we know that Christine is somewhere in this place, we should find her and just hope we don't run into him again."
"Oh, the keys," Tina remembered. She went to the metal desk, rifled through the drawers for the keys, and rejoiced when they were in her hand. "Here, I found them!" Tina jingled the keys at Henry.
Henry shook his head. "What we have to go through for a stupid set of keys these days. And I thought it was difficult getting a replacement key for my apartment."
In spite of the horror surrounding them, Tina smiled. It was awkward, but she needed the levity right now—she was thankful that Henry could give her what she needed, when she needed it most.
"We should probably wait for a few more minutes, so we can be sure he's gone," Henry suggested. Tina agreed.
It only took a few seconds of uncomfortable silence for them to look at each other and laugh.
"A little too quiet, huh?" Henry asked.
Tina smiled. "I don't mind since you're here," she paused, then realizing how flirtatious it sounded, she quickly changed the topic. "So what do you do? I mean, like your work?"
Henry replied, "I'm a free-lance photographer. It pays pretty well, actually, and I'm not bound to a crappy work schedule. Days, nights—whenever I notice a photo op, that's when I work. Nice travel too—I've been to some cool places. It's funny, I've even been to Silent Hill before, but it wasn't like this."
"Yeah, the nice little resort town—I always meant to go when I got around to getting a boyfriend. Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No—my last breakup was two years ago—that's part of the reason I moved to South Ashfield. I needed the change. It—it was a difficult time."
Tina nodded in understanding. "I had a boyfriend up until a few months ago—he cheated on me—with another nurse!" Tina laughed cynically, "So, I've written off guys, I've got my work and my friends—that all I need."
"At least you have that—I barely have any friends. I'm in and out so much, I really haven't had the time to find friends."
"Well, I know this is an awkward situation, but consider me your first friend." She jutted her hand out toward Henry.
He couldn't help but to smile, "Sure." They shook but instead of drawing back their hands, they lingered.
Her hand was so soft and petite in his—he had forgotten this feeling. When he felt the blood rush to his face, he pulled his hand away and looked down shyly. "Sorry about that," he quietly said. When he glanced up at her, she looked away shyly as well.
Tina couldn't believe how hot her face felt. Here she was, in the middle of the strangest, most dangerous situation in her life and at a moment's rest, she found herself with a crush on the second man to save her life.
What was she thinking? Why is it that she fell so easily? Surely he didn't feel the same way. No, she was simply misinterpreting the situation—forming feelings when there was no reason to. Tina figured she would apologize for creating such an awkward situation, then it would be all good. But she wasn't sure that the flutter in her heart would calm so easily.
"Henry, I—"
Henry shushed her as he moved closer. Then they kissed.
When they pulled back, neither one of them were sure how they had gotten to that point. Their eyes locked.
"I—" Henry stammered. He was surprised at his own boldness given they were in the middle of a place probably a sliver less scary than hell itself. Yet, he felt something with Tina—maybe it was the natural bonding of people when faced with extreme adversity. He wasn't sure.
"Don't apologize." Tina knew he was just as confused as she was. "I don't want you to be sorry."
Henry simply nodded, unsure of what to say. But then he realized that no words needed to be said. The feelings between them were understood—and at this point, that was all they needed.
"I think that doctor's gone—we should check that room," Henry offered.
Tina nodded in agreement, the air between them still fresh with feelings that neither one of them were expecting but fully ready for.
Henry and Tina moved the bookcase and opened the door.
Spots of blood led off down the hallway and around the corner. The doctor was gone. There were no other nurses lurking around either.
Henry and Tina took a chance and dashed up the stairs, returning to the door with Christine's name, without further incident.
The first key they tried opened the door. Henry walked in first and immediately noticed the moved cabinet and large hole in the wall.
"Wait, Henry," Tina urgently whispered. She stopped abruptly and grabbed Henry's arm, forcing him to stop as well. "Do you hear that?" she asked after a few moments of complete silence.
Henry shook his head.
"I heard voices—I think they're coming from in there," Tina motioned to the third door on the right. After Tina mentioned it, he did hear two voices—both of them female.
"It may be Christine, but we should be careful."
Henry noticed a wooden plank leaned up against the corner of the bed. "Maybe this will be useful," he picked it up and swung it a few times. It was easy to use and heavy enough that it would serve as a suitable weapon. Henry took it in one hand then took Tina's in the other.
He looked at her and smiled, realizing holding her hand suddenly felt different—it meant something different. He had to protect her. And their touch was a pact to trust each other, with their lives if necessary.
Henry turned and walked through the hole with Tina close behind.
II.
Christine froze at the girl's words: I knew that you would come back. Now, you can stay with me and you don't ever have to leave again.
There was something sinister in her tone, which immediately set off an alarm in Christine's mind. No, this wasn't her sister—of course it wasn't. Her sister should be eighteen years old and she shouldn't be here in Silent Hill. And her sister would never sound so—evil.
"You—you're not my sister," Christine shot.
"Make no mistake, I am your sister. And you—you left me to die in that orphanage—alone. If I hadn't been adopted, I would have rotted there."
Christine shook her head. "No, that's not true." The memories came back to Christine as if they had not ever left. "I overheard the sisters talking. You had been adopted and we were going to be separated. They were planning on keeping me there until some day they kept talking about. I couldn't bear to stay there by myself, so I ran away. I figured that I could meet up with you—that your new parents would take me in and love me the same way they would love you. Then we would be together again."
"Liar!"
Christine continued, "As I ran, tried to cross the bridge but an oncoming car almost hit me. I fell into the river. The man in the car leaped into the water and saved me. They took me to the hospital, but there were no records on me. I couldn't remember anything but my name. The hospital allowed the couple to adopt me—it was real informal, probably illegal, but they did it anyways. And they loved me as if I was their own child. Not like our parents."
"I hate you!"
"But I don't hate you. I don't hate our parents either. After going through all this, I realize that just like the people of this town, they were misguided and lost. Because of that, they only saw us as a means to get closer to their god, not as their own children. It's sad but the truth."
Christine continued, "You're nothing but a ghost of my past. I wish I could change it—I wish you were alive again, but it can't happen. The only thing I can do now is stop all this, so your soul can rest."
"A ghost?" Sara laughed. "I'm not a ghost, dear sister. I'm much more than that," she said as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
Then there was movement from the right side of the room, where the hole was. Two people emerged—a man and woman. The man seemed prepared for trouble—in his hands was a sturdy looking wooden plank. The woman lingered behind, but gasped when she caught sight of Sara.
"Henry, it's Sara!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed Christine between the bunk beds. "Are you Christine?"
Christine nodded. Henry kept Tina behind him and the plank in front of him then inched around to join Christine.
"Are you okay?" Henry asked, never taking his eyes off Sara.
"I'm okay," Christine replied.
"We met your friends—they set out looking for you, but after we found out about Sara, we knew we had to find you too. They don't know your connection to all of this."
"That I'm meant to be the new vessel of Samael," Christine realized.
Sara let out a cackle. "So you think you've figured everything out? You know nothing."
"We know that you and her foster father were killed by The Order—the cult group responsible for controlling the town," Henry said.
"I told you before—I'm not a ghost. Let me enlighten you to what The Order did. They did kill my foster father right in front of me. They tore him open—they butchered him—and made me watch until the hellhounds had their fill of his insides. Then they took me—Dr. Killian operated on me—he did something to me. They wanted me to be your replacement, but I wasn't the same as you. There was something special about you. But their plans went awry—I didn't respond to their witchery and operations. My growth was stopped and my body is nothing more than a vessel for revenge against anyone that crosses my path and you, Christine."
Christine shook her head in regret. "You are so consumed with hate that you've given up your humanity—you're no better than our parents. You're nothing but another servant for Samael."
Sara let out an earth-splitting shriek. Christine swore she could see the sound waves tearing through the room, bombarding them with a deafening, high-pitched scream. Christine, Tina, and Henry clasped their hands over their ears, praying that it would stop before their eardrums ruptured.
When they had collapsed to their knees and writhed in pain, Sara stopped. She said, "Now, I'll finish what I started and I'll kill you, Christine."
Henry sprang up, despite the ringing in his ears and dizziness. He hauled back and hit Sara across the face with the plank. She flew to the right side of the room and hit the floor. She lay still.
Henry returned to the girls and helped them to their feet. "We've got to get out of here before—"
A gravelly, demonic voice finished his sentence, "Before I wake up? Too late."
Henry spun, expecting to be face-to-face with Sara, but instead he had to look up to find her. She clung to the ceiling, peering down at them
Sara's voice was warped and raspy, "Did you think it would be that easy?" Her appendages jerked roughly, bent at severely unnatural angles to keep her hands and feet in contact with the ceiling. Sara crept across the ceiling towards them, her pallid face contorted with hatred.
"Oh my god! Henry!" Tina screamed when she saw the horrifying scene.
"No, Sara," Christine gasped.
"Get back!" Henry screamed as he swung the wooden plank at her. His first swing missed horribly and Sara took advantage, moving in for the kill. But Henry whipped the plank back and caught her across the head. With a demonic groan, Sara fell to the right and to the floor.
Henry thought it was over, but Sara sprang off the floor and landed on all fours again. This time, her body was bent backwards like a bow, her head nearly touching her feet, and her arms and legs remained hyper-extended, somehow supporting her weight at such an odd angle. However, her head stayed unnaturally straight and her eyes remained locked on them.
Great, we're in the Michael Bay version of The Exorcist, Henry sourly thought.
He heard Tina and Christine behind him, and now Sara stood between them and the hole in the wall—their only way out. When Henry moved to the right, Sara would skitter to the right; when he moved to the left, she would move in the same direction.
"You won't escape," Sara said. "You'll die right here."
Henry backed up until he had closed the gap between him and the girls. "Take the right," Henry said to Tina.
"And you take the left and I'll take the center!" Christine said as she ran directly toward Sara.
Dammit, that's not what I meant!
Henry silently cursed, but there was no time to hesitate. Sara moved in quickly. He scrambled up the bunk and circumvented Sara as Tina did the same. In an amazing display of acrobatics, Christine leaped and tucked her knees, completely flipping over Sara.
As Henry predicted, Sara had targeted all three, but with them splitting up momentarily, she was confused on which one to go for first. Her elongated, swinging arms missed them by far and the space was too narrow for her to quickly turn around, which gave them enough time to duck back through the hole.
Once back in the hospital room, Henry shoved the cabinet to cover the hole. Christine and Tina both helped, but was only halfway covered before Sara's head popped out of the darkness.
"There's no escape," Sara growled. Her body forced its way through the hole, completely knocking over the cabinet. Tina stumbled, but Henry grabbed her hand and gave her stability. Christine bolted out of the room behind Henry and Tina
"Downstairs!" Henry yelled, as he threw open the double doors then the door to the stairwell. They dashed down the stairs, almost falling a few times, but never actually taking a tumble. Sara growled, panted, screamed, and yelled obscenities behind them, slowly closing the lead they had.
Henry burst out of the stairwell and paused for a moment frantically looking back and forth down the hallway. "Which way?" he asked through heavy breaths.
Christine quickly replied, "Killian's office—the one with a code. Where is it?"
"Down here!" Tina took off in that direction and Henry and Christine followed. They turned a corner—at the end of the long hallway was a single door with two figures lingering in front of it. No one had time to identify them—they could only hope that they were allies in the right place at the right time.
Notes:
Michael Bay is a director/producer known recently for producing the action-intense remakes of The Amityville Horror and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So if he did undertake a remake of The Exorcist, it could be a lot like Sara's depiction.
Shortey: Thank you for the kind words. I probably will go back and rewrite the end to that fight, but in light of everything else going on with the characters, I'm sure their future battles will make up for it. In the next chapter of Silent Hill: Lost Souls, you just may get to see a little romance between Trey and Christine. Let me know if the mushy stuff in this chapter made it spicy!
Rodarian: Glad you liked the Cybil scene so much. I think she was definitely an overlooked character throughout the first Silent Hill game, so I wanted to develop her more throughout this story. The reunion is a momentary happiness, but it is one that everyone will share momentarily. The end is near!