Thank you for reading, and if you did, reviewing. This is either the second to last or third to last chapter. This story came out shorter then intended.

And I was thinking that after the last chapter I'd do what the games do and have multiple endings. As it stands I have at least two endings and I still can't decide how to wrap everything up. At least if I make it like the games with multiple endings you're pretty much guaranteed to have one that you like.

I don't know. I figure it all out by the time this thing needs to end. Alright, so enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill.

Chapter Six: In the Depths of a Reflection

Sunlight shone through Alice's hair as she walked towards Steve with a large grin. She looked normal. She looked like nothing had happened to her. But what happened at the pool…

"Hello!" Alice said again. She noticed Steve holding his forehead in his hands. "Is something wrong?"

"No," responded Steve after a short while. "But…" Steve chose his words carefully. "Did you happen to go near…a swimming pool?" Alice looked confused, but kept smiling.

"Now," she began. "That wouldn't make any sense, would it? I don't like water."

Steve stared at the girl. Something wasn't right. He knew that what had happened in the condos had been real. But it didn't explain where Alice went after the whole pool thing. Steve looked at the white t-shirt on the girl.

"Where's my sweater?" asked Steve in a gentle tone. "Did you take it off somewhere?"

"I have something that's bothering me too," Alice didn't answer his question, but moved closer to him. She was only about three feet away from him now. "Why…" She stood on her toes to be closer to his face. "Why don't you understand yet?"

Once Alice said this she ran back to the table with the book she had been reading. She looked at it for a little while before ripping something out of it and then turned to run down the staircase that led to the exit. She pushed the door open and let it slam behind her, cutting off the momentary breeze and the pale light that both came in from the outside.

Steve walked over to the open book on the table with a blank look on his face. The book was open to a two page map of the area he was in. Black marker circled a building. He glanced at what the map had labeled it.

Silent Hill Retirement Home

Could Alice be going there? Was that why it was circled? The home was just up the street and about three-quarters towards the top of the page. There was no way of telling what was behind the building. The rest of the page was ripped out. Maybe that torn out area was where Alice was going.

Steve turned towards the staircase and walked to the exit. Even Alice was starting to act weird. What was she talking about? What didn't Steve understand? He pushed the exit door open and stepped out to a back road. Only small houses were around here.

After about five minutes of walking, a wide two-story building came into view. A worn out sign placed on a lawn of dead grass informed Steve that this was the right place. Steve walked up the cracking rock path to reach the front door.

He pushed the door open and a poorly lit hall covered in dust and stained carpeting met his eyes. Directly in front of him was a receptionist desk. On that was a small display case that held several slips of paper.

Need help finding you're relative? Take a map of our layout!

Please inform receptionist before heading to a room.

Steve grabbed one of the maps and tried to make it out in the dim environment. Damn! This place was huge! The second floor was nothing but rooms, but the first had a swimming pool, a game room, a gift and flower shop, and a cafeteria.

Someone screamed. Steve pocketed the map and turned towards the source of it. He ran down the hallway for a while before stopping to wonder where it came from. The person screamed again, and Steve turned towards a door on his left. A picture of a stick figure man let him know that it was a bathroom.

Steve cautiously opened the door. Alec was kneeling in front of a square sink. His head was resting on his arm so he could stare at his other hand. The other hand was continuously dropping and picking up what looked like a razor blade.

"Why did you…" Alec didn't even look up.

"Why did I what?" asked Steve.

"With a…Here…" Alec continued to mutter. "There's blood on…" his eyes started to water. "Damn it, Jen! Why did you…" His eyes widened and his pupils shrank.

"Alec?" Steve grabbed his shoulder. As soon as he touched him, Alec threw himself up and stumbled backward a few steps. He was shaking his head and turned towards Steve.

"That's not why!" Alec yelled. "No! She didn't do this because of…That isn't why!" He pushed Steve out of the way and ran down the hallway. Steve just turned and stared as Alec disappeared from view.

Steve faced the bathroom again and saw something on the ground. He bent down to pick it up. It was a picture. In it, a beautiful girl with hair as dark as Alec's was smiling and holding him. Alec looked happy too. It was kind of weird to see that nutcase actually smiling. Maybe the girl next to him was Jennifer?

"Damn he's crazy,"

Steve recognized the voice and turned around to stare at Mark. He pulled the gun out of his belt and flicked the safety off. He aimed it at Mark. "Tell me what you did to Alice,"

"Wow. Never considered you to be the homicidal type," Mark smiled.

"I'm not screwing around," Steve glared. Whatever this sick bastard did to Alice was the key to everything. "Tell me what you did. Now,"

"Come one now," Mark rolled his eyes. "You know you're not gonna shoot me. Even if you did, it wouldn't be anywhere where I might die," Steve flinched. He was right. Steve couldn't bring himself to kill someone. Still he kept the gun aimed at Mark in hopes that he would think Steve would shoot him.

Marks eyes narrowed. "Besides that, did you forget already?" Mark brought his right hand forward and raised the shotgun he had the last time they met. He pumped it. "Last time I checked, that means it can fire. So what's it gonna be Steve? If you're gonna shoot me, then be sure to aim somewhere where I won't be able to shoot back,"

"Fine," Steve growled. He slowly lowered the weapon and was relieved to see Mark do the same. "But…"

"What is it?" Mark was back in a happy mood. Steve swore he was bipolar. "What's wrong, Steve old buddy?"

"That," Steve said calmly.

"What?" Mark questioned.

"In all the times we met," started Steve. "Even when we first met, I never told you my name,"

"You should understand that, and know what I-," Mark was cut off.

"No I shouldn't!" exclaimed Steve. "Alice and you! Both of you say that I should understand, but there isn't anything to understand! None of this makes any sense and no one will give me an answer!" Mark just smiled.

"You'll get it eventually," Mark said, turning to face the hallway. "We're the same, you and I," He walked out of the room. Steve was hesitant, but then walked out into the hallway. He watched Mark walk away. When Mark reached the end of the hallway, he waved before opening a door.

"Alice is on the second floor here. I'd suggest getting there before I do," Mark walked through the door and let it slam behind him. Steve stared ahead. Alice was on the second floor?

Steve pulled out the map he'd gotten earlier. He located his position and then traced the hallway with his finger until he reached the door that Mark had gone through. That square was labeled STAIRS. "Alice!" Steve said more in surprise then anything else. If she was her and Mark was right, then she was in danger.

Steve ran towards the door. The hallway was excruciatingly long. He finally reached the door and pulled it open. A clean staircase that was blindingly white led Steve up to the second floor. He threw the second door open and looked to his left where the hall continued. He ran down it for a while before coming to a door with three large rips in the carpet in front of it.

Steve opened the door to see a small bedroom. A queen-size bed that looked recently made was in the middle of the room. White curtains hung in front of a dusty window, and a vanity was placed right in front of him. Alice was using the mirror to brush her hair. She was sitting in a small round chair and looked fine.

Steve took a few steps forward. "Alice,"

"Mommy used to say that the mirror didn't lie," Alice whispered.

"Alice what are you…" Steve looked into the mirror in front of Alice. The room in the mirror wasn't the same as the one Steve was standing in. The carpet was dull and stained with what was obviously blood. The curtains were ripped and torn and hung over a window covered in some type of vine. The vines had large thorns covered in a dark red substance. They wrapped around several of the objects in the room and covered part of the carpet. The same rust and blood mix from the other environments covered the walls.

None of that made Steve look twice once he saw the reflection of Alice. Her eyes were glazed and her hair was thrown carelessly over her head. The brush seemed to be doing nothing to the tangled and water damaged strands. Her skin was pale and chapped. It was pealing at places and looked as wet as the hair.

Steve could do nothing but stare in horror. Alice continued to brush her hair and her reflection continued to stick a brush hopelessly in a mess of tangles. Alice slowly turned towards Steve. The reflection's cracked lips moved in sync with Alice's.

"Why don't you understand?"

When the last word was finished, the vines from the reflection shifted and started moving towards the mirror. They started flowing out of the glass and covering the room Steve was in. Alice just continued to stare at Steve at they came out of the area in front of her. The light from outside started to disappear as vines wrapped in front of it. Vines burst out of the center of the bed with a shower of blood.

They started racing towards Steve. The vines raced by him just managing to graze him in several areas. Three of them zoomed forward and wrapped around Steve's throat. He managed to choke out a cry of pain before he was thrown into the wall behind him. His head struck it, and he passed out.

Steve groaned and slowly picked himself up from the floor. His hand instinctively went to his throat as he recalled what he thought had just happened. There were several scratch marks there. Dried blood flaked off as he rubbed them. Steve got to looking at his surroundings.

The room was normal. It looked like it did when Steve first walked into it. Steve pushed himself into a standing position and walked over to the mirror. The reflection was the same as his surroundings. "What the hell…?" Steve muttered. The marks on his neck proved that the whole thing had happened, and yet nothing looked abnormal.

Steve turned towards the door. He looked down on the carpet before walking out. The three rips in the carpet were on this side of the door now. Steve was sure that they'd been on the other side only when he came in. Steve opened the door to the hallway.

The hallway was covered with the same things that the room was before Steve passed out. Vines, blood and rust covered the walls, floor, and ceiling. The path that led back to the stairway was blocked off by a wall of the thorns. Steve needed to find another way out. To his relief, the map he got was still in his pocket. He pulled it out and studied it for a while. It looked like this hallway continued to his right for a while before another staircase was available. That stairwell had another door connecting to the other side that led to more rooms and a fire escape next to the third stairwell.

Steve walked down the hall. He hadn't been going for long when he saw that the vines cut off access to the rest of the hallway. Steve looked around for a little trying to find something to get through the vines. A pole wouldn't accomplish much and neither would a handgun. He didn't look long before he noticed a large 'X' painted onto one of the doors.

Steve stared at the door for a few seconds. It wasn't exactly among his high list to go into another room in this place, but at the time he didn't have much choice. He reluctantly pushed open the door.

A one-arm immediately lunged at him. Steve jumped back before repositioning himself with the pole. He swung the pole horizontally and was pleased with a satisfying crack when he hit the monsters side. The thing fell onto the ground from the attack. Steve jumped over it and closed the door of the room behind him.

A small dark room with no bed met his eyes. A grand-father clock ticked softly to his left and a door was on his right. A broken armoire gathered dust in a corner. Maybe that door connected to the other room. He walked over to it and shook the handle.

Great. Why wouldn't it be locked? Steve looked down at the handle. Something was etched right above it.

5,6,7, and 8

Now I'm at twenty

Here's a clue to the key

Clicking softly, gently

Steve stared. Would it be so difficult just for them to say 'the key is here'? Steve looked around. The clue should be something in the room. At least he hoped. He thought for a while. How did those numbers equal twenty?

Then he heard the ticking.

Steve smiled. That was it. Four numbers on a clock, if you went by the minute hand, would add up to twenty minutes. Clicking almost sounded like ticking, so why wouldn't that be it? He walked over to the clock. Steve opened the front panel and was depressed to find only another inscription.

3,5,8, and 10

And now I'm at 18

When the hands point to the mistakes,

The key will be yours to take.

Steve was quiet for a while and watched the clock. The second hand moved, but the other two didn't. He didn't exactly stay long enough to tell if the hour hand worked, but after three times of the second hand circling around, he got the idea that the minute hand didn't move. That could be the two hands he had to move.

Now for the mistake part. Once again, four numbers equaled one somehow. Or was one extra because it said mistake? Actually, it said mistakes, which meant that two were extras. If two had to be extra, then only two numbers added up to 18, so…

Steve moved the minute hand to '5' and the hour hand to '3'. Nothing happened. He stared at the clock for a second and then switched the positions of the hands. A click sounded in the room before the face of the clock turned around to reveal a small key on a platform.

Steve took the key. As if waiting for the signal, the one-arm he locked out in the hallway broke into the room. This time it had backup. Two more one-arms and a chain-woman accompanied it. Steve acted almost on instinct. He ran towards the door and jammed the key in it. He felt the door unlock, and he threw it open. He slammed the door behind him. If those things tried, he didn't doubt that they could break through that door too.

This room was practically empty. Steve didn't spend time looking around. He opened the other door and found himself back in the hallway on the other side of the vines. He walked down the hall and reached the other stairwell without incident.

Steve opened the door and walked into the blood-stained hallway. He almost laughed when he saw it. A large steel fence of sort covered the entire staircase; making any attempts at going down impossible. Feeling aggravated, he walked through the door on the other side. There was a third stairwell. Maybe he could get out there.

The other hallway looked identical to the last. The only difference here was that every door excluding two was covered in the vines. Steve had gotten about half-way down the hall before he saw a large hole. It stretched around the hallway, cutting him off from the other side.

Steve knelt down to investigate it. If it led to the first floor he might be able to jump down. Of course it didn't. Wouldn't that be considered lucky? Steve sighed. He had no idea how far down this hole went. It faded out into blackness. He heard floor boards creek behind him.

Steve got up to see Alec walking towards him holding his revolver out. Steve slowly got up and looked at Alec.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked calmly. If he was held at gunpoint one more time…

"You can't be the protagonist," Alec said. "If you're the protagonist, then you're not going to die. But if you're the protagonist, then that makes me the antagonist. That means I can die! So if I kill you, then that proves you're not the main character, and I get to live!" Steve stared. He'd lost it. Alec had finally gone completely insane.

"Alec," Steve started. "You don't have to kill me to get out of this town alive,"

"Shut up!" Alec shouted. "You'd like that, huh? Me keeping you alive, and then us working together to get out, huh? Well, I've played these games before! Only the main character gets out alive!"

"Alec. Stop," Steve said. "Why would you kill me? What would Jen say?" Alec's eyes widened.

"Jen?" Alec lowered the gun a little. "Where did you go?" His eyes narrowed and he dropped to his knees. "You're gone…aren't you?" Steve walked towards him. He crouched down in front of him. "It…was my fault, wasn't it?"

"Alec?" Steve started.

"I was responsible," Alec stood up. He took a few steps towards the hole. "Isn't that what you wanted me to come here for, Jennifer?"

"Alec? What're you doing?" Steve asked as Alec took a few more steps towards the hole. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know," he stated. He dropped the gun on the ground next to him as he turned around at the edge of the hole to face Steve. "But…Maybe I'll see you again," He was quiet for a few seconds. "In this forsaken town,"

He leaned backwards, and let himself drop down the hole. "Alec!" cried Steve. He ran towards the edge of the hole and looked down. There was nothing to be seen. Alec wasn't even screaming. He was gone.

Steve sat in a quiet crouch for a while before the sound of wood splintering somewhere reminded him of his surroundings. He grabbed the gun that Alec had dropped and inspected it.

Steve wasn't much of a gun fanatic and didn't know much, so he could only guess it was more powerful. After finding how to access the barrel, Steve noted it had three bullets left and held six at max capacity. He stood up, and winced a little at the pain in his leg. The wound from the street still hurt.

Grumbling, Steve slid the revolver next to the handgun and turned towards a door not blocked by vines. He pushed it open and walked through to the other side of the hole without incident. When he got back into the main hall, he found a black book on the ground that wasn't there before. Steve picked it up.

Gold letters spelt out the word 'journal'. The leather-bound book was old and ripped in a corner. The latch was ripped off. Steve opened to the first page.

Day…

They fired the old cook here. Something about a bad background resurfacing. But this is good! It means I could get a chance to work in the kitchen.

If I worked there, I wouldn't make that nasty slop they spoon-fed us before. I hear that Kelly is applying too. She'd better not get it. I need that job. It would give me something to do these lonely days, if only those ungrateful kids would visit once and a while…

Day…

That bitch got the job! What the hell is up with this place? Not only do I not get to get out of my room, but that old thing loves the old mush! She's going to make it every damn day!

I guess I could give her a chance though. I've never tried her food before.

Day…

What the hell was that? I'm still trying to pick the grains out of my teeth. That was the most disgusting slop I've ever had to force down my throat. The worse part was how it looked.

Kind of like someone threw up and mixed chunks of meat and red-sauce in to make a brownish black mess. God help me if she makes it again tomorrow.

Day…

She did. She made that stuf agin! This is rally getting annoying. I hate it. 3 days. She make it for 3 days now.

Day…

Jill find finger in meal! Wat kind of fod is this? We report to staf, but they think we lye.

D…

She…bad no…fod…

The line from the pencil showed it seemed to be dragged off the page. The rest of the pages were blank. Steve pocketed the diary with a look of concern. What the hell was going on in this place?

Steve walked towards the end of the hallway. Coming up on his right was another door with the word 'stairwell' on it. Directly in front of him was a chipped brick wall with two curtains pulled over a small patch in the center. According to the map, that was the fire escape. Steve walked hopefully up to the curtains and whipped them apart.

It was a window alright. It didn't lead to the outside, but connected to a room with more then this environments share of grotesque imagery. In the far right corner of the room was the body of what had once appeared to be an old man. Needles held cut skin out tight so it looked like and animal skin. The insides of him were spilling out as another old man continually jabbed a rusted spoon inside it. The head of the body that was stretched out rolled on the shoulders as the mouth seemed to be laughing.

In another corner, a table was elevated so that it was in a vertical position. A female body dressed in the attire of one who might work in the building was chained to the table. The chains dug in around her throat, ankles, and wrists. A burlap sac covered her head which rested on one of the shoulders. A large knife protruded from her chest.

A sudden bang made Steve jump back as an elderly woman with long and dirty hair banged on the glass. The glass actually seemed like a really thick plastic. The woman couldn't break through no matter how hard she banged. Blood streamed down the window at any point where her fingertips had touched it. Her fingers looked like they had been scraped down to the bone. Steve saw some walls of the room had scratch marks on it. The woman had done it to herself.

As soon as Steve recovered from his shock, he turned and ran into the stairwell. He made it down to the last flight before he stumbled a little. Steve opened the door to the first floor, and collapsed on the ground once it was closed behind him. He took deep breathes for a short while before standing up again. As much as he wanted to take time to block those images out, he couldn't where he was.

Steve turned to face the hallway and noticed something that made no sense. There was no hole here. The hole in the second floor led down to an unknown basement, but there was nothing here. Steve walked forward a while and then jumped up and down in the center. The hole wasn't there, and there wasn't anything in the ceiling either.

Steve pulled out the map. This hallway should have another passage connecting to the main one, which had the front doors. It should be to his right. Steve turned and almost laughed when he saw the rust-covered bloodstained brick where the path should be. So much for the front door. Steve went back to the map. This hallway led to a cafeteria, which connected to a back room where the food was probably cooked. That room had a backdoor out of the building.

Steve put the map back in his pocket and walked towards the large set of double doors at the end of the hall. In a few minutes, he reached the doors and pushed them open. A large and deserted hall appeared before him. The emptiness was probably due to the lack of tables. A long isle made of steel was probably where the food was once served. Steve had only taken a few steps in the hall when he sensed movement behind him.

Two vines ran between each other and through the handles of the doors, locking them. Steve ran towards them for a little before he felt something behind him. Steve slowly turned around to witness a massive creature that put everything else he had battled in the town to shame.

A large mass a black, brown and red occupied the area in front of Steve. Several human limbs stuck out in random areas as did random bones. On the creature's left side was a large steel square that looked big enough for Steve to sit in. Two spiked gears occupied the space and made a grinding noise as they started to turn.

Atop the monster was what appeared to be a mask. The mask had the face of a young lady who was wearing too much blush. It was bleached-white. Long strands of veins posed as hair and protruded from above the mask. A portion of the mass started to become what looked like and arm with rather large talons.

The creature raised its arm high above Steve as the noise from the grinders grew deafening. It brought the arm down.

Alright! This is the longest chapter I've written so far! So the next chapter is definitely the last. Everything will be brought together in a completely confusing way.

Also, let me know what you think of the multiple ending thing, or if you think I should just decide on one. Please review, and thanks for reading!