Shizuo's body was rattled. It was only slight, but it was enough to jostle him out of his sleep. He groaned, his head throbbing with a profound headache. His head lolled to the side. He tried to raise his hand up to rub his eyes, only to realize he couldn't. Instantly, warning bells started going off in his head. Something wasn't right. Something wasn't right at all. He needed to be more aware. Now!
The blond forced his eyes open, blinking rapidly to make the haze of sleep go away. His vision was spinning. He couldn't see very much of anything. There was so much haze in his mind. His head lolled back once again, He closed his eyes once again, scrunching them tight shut. He forced his eyes opened again. He could see better now.
As his vision cleared, he slowly started to realize he was very high off the ground. His immediately thought was he was falling so he jolted upright.
However, he couldn't actually move his body. A quick glanced down showed he was on a wooden ladder, his back to the rungs, and bound to it. There were ropes around his wrists, knees, ankles, waist, and chest. The ladder was propped up against the choir balcony of the church.
'What...?'
Shizuo looked around himself. It took so much effort to do so. His head felt so heavy. Regardless, he forced himself to move his head.
Down below him, in the dip in the floor that Christabella had prayed in earlier, was a pile of wood. The people in their black and gray clothes were putting wood on it to make it bigger, making an obvious pyre. Everyone was working together to gather the wood. The only one not lending a hand was Christabella, who stood watching over everyone without a word.
Shizuo's eyes widened.
"Wh-what..." Shizuo couldn't find his voice. He was dreadfully parched, so his words only came out to just above a whisper. "Are you doing...?"
No one looked at him.
Shizuo gathered saliva in his mouth and swallowed. It did little to help, but it was better than nothing.
"What are you doing?!" Shizuo managed to raise his voice, calling out to the people.
Everyone looked up at him. Then, almost in unison, everyone smiled cheekily. Slowly, people started saying something. Shizuo didn't know what it was but it was the same thing over and over again. Others began to join in until the crowd erupted in a deafening mantra.
"Burn the witch! Burn the witch!"
Shizuo's blood turned to ice. Again, he had no idea what they were saying, but their sadistic glee as they piled wood onto a pyre with the obvious aim to suspend him over it made cold fear fill Shizuo's entire body.
"Wh-what is this?! What's going on?! Why are you doing this?!"
Shizuo tried to struggle but he just couldn't move. It had nothing to do with the ropes either.
'What was that drug they gave me earlier?! I still can't move!'
Shizuo could feel it was still in his system. He could feel the grogginess passing slowly. Very, very slowly. He couldn't move his arms or his legs at all. If it wasn't for the ropes, he would surely had fallen down this ladder already. However, he could finally move his head without effort.
He looked around himself wildly. There had to be someway out of this. There had to be any way out of this! But all Shizuo saw was a few people behind him. He noticed a chain that was latched to the rung his feet stood on and the rung behind his head. Said rope led to a pully system. Shizuo didn't need an explanation to know that it was designed to hold this ladder down over the pyre.
"You-you're crazy!" Shizuo called. "You guys can't seriously want to kill me! Aren't you a church?!"
"Burn the witch! Burn the witch!"
"Aren't you all Catholic or Christian?! You can't do this!"
"Burn the witch! Burn the witch!"
"I'm not a monster! I swear, I'm human like you! I come from Japan!"
"Burn the witch! Burn the witch!"
Christabella raised her hand. Slowly, the crowd started to quiet. Hope flared in Shizuo's chest for a moment. Maybe she understood him? Maybe she realized he was terrified and knew that a monster wouldn't be scared of death?
Once the crowd was silent, a man walked over to Christabella, holding a light purple satin robe. He put it on her. She then raised both hands to gather everyone's attention.
"Those who aid the demon," Christabella said, her voice booming around the echoing nave. "They must be cleansed by the fire from once they came!"
The crowd began to cheer again, all smiles as they looked at each other. A man walked over to Christabella with a gothic metal torch, the top lit. Shizuo's eyes widened as newfound fear filled his core.
"N-no, no, wait!" Shizuo yelled. "What are you doing?! Why are you doing this?!"
Christabella waved for the people to disperse, which they did. They all moved away to sit in the pews, vacating the alter with the pyre.
"You're crazy! You're all crazy! What the fuck is wrong with you people?!"
Shizuo could hear his own heartbeat as it thundered against his chest. He looked down at the ropes, willing his arms and legs to move. To do something! Shizuo clenched his teeth hard and tried to pull on his restraints again. His limbs remained still.
'Why can't I move?!'
His body broke out in a cold sweat. His breathing was coming out in harsh puffs.
'I'm going to die like this!'
Shizuo stared down at the pyre with eyes of pure fear.
'I'm going to get killed by a bunch of crazy people!'
Once everyone was settled in the pews, Christabella began to talk again.
"Silent Hill is where the apocalypse began." She said, "This is where we stopped the annihilation of the world. We drew a line in the sand and said 'DEMON'!"
Christabella pointed at Shizuo. The blond flinched as he looked at her with despair. Whatever word she said, the crowd repeated it in agreement.
"'You will not cross!' But the demon is wicked!" She looked back at the crowd. "Full of treachery. Yet again, he comes to tempt us, in the guise of a lost soul. To rid the world of this demon..."
She turned back around and looked at Shizuo with hatred.
"WE MUST BURN THIS MONSTER!" She yelled, her voice shrill with the weight of her words.
The crowd began to call out again, cheering and yelling in agreement. The man held the torch out to Christabella. The woman made eye contact with Shizuo as she grabbed it.
"N-No! NO!" Shizuo yelled. "DON'T DO THIS!"
"Burn him!"
"Burn the monster!"
"Kill him!"
"Burn the witch!"
"Purge the demon!"
"Burn him!"
"Burn the monster!"
"THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!"
Shizuo's eyes stretched wide to the voice he recognized. The crowd fell quiet as they all quickly turned around. There was a man standing in the open doors of the church entrance, the cool gray of the outside filtering in behind him to cast a shadow over his anterior. Shizuo couldn't see him very well because of that, but he knew who it was without question.
"I-Izaya!"
Shizuo was stunned to see him. Happiness pooled in his chest. If Izaya was here then maybe he could get Shizuo out of there! But that hope quickly died when he realized Izaya was just a man and terribly outnumbered. Shizuo couldn't do anything to help him when he can't feel his body.
"I-Izaya, run!" Shizuo yelled. "These people are crazy! They'll kill you!"
"That's not going to happen either, Shizu-chan." He said in a voice filled with determination.
Shizuo's eyes widened. 'What the hell does he plan to do?'
"The witch has returned!" Christabella called.
The crowd began to yell in anger and rage, gathering in the center isle between the pews to yell at Izaya.
"Do not believe her lies!" Izaya yelled above the crowd, which happened to silence them. They seemed shock that the stranger would yell.
The raven walked down the steps, eyes trained on Christabella. The crowd immediately reached out to grab him, two of which grabbed his arms to try and restrain him. But Izaya didn't even look at them as he gave them both a hard shove. Some of the women gasped to the act and stepped back away from the foreigner. Izaya continued walking unabated.
"Shizuo and I come from a world out of this hell! We comes from a world full of life!"
"Witch!" A man yelled and threw a punch.
His fist connected with Izaya's cheek. The crowd gasped, many looking satisfied with that attack as Izaya turned his head with the impact, stumbling back and nearly falling over. Shizuo tried to tug on his restraints again.
"Izaya!" He yelled. "Get out of here!"
Izaya turned back to look at the man who hit him. He then put his hands on the man's chest and gave him a hard shove, hard enough to send him falling back on his rump. His brown eyes fell back on Christabella.
"Why don't you tell them the truth?" Izaya yelled, shoving another man out of his way. "Tell them the truth that you deny even to yourselves?!"
Izaya shoved a woman out of the way, who whimpered to the harsh treatment. The crowd gave away to give him space, the women now at on the front line and not wanting to get hit by this stranger. Izaya turned to look at them all.
"There was no apocalypse!" Izaya called, his voice filled with rage. "You burned in the fire that you started and nothing can save you! Because you're already damned!"
The crowd looked at him with obvious anger. One women even decided to grab his shoulder and turned him around to look at her. Her hand came out in a mighty slap that resounded around the church like a thunderclap. Izaya called out in what sounded like shock as he held his cheek.
"Take him!" Christabella yelled. "Burn him! Burn him as a witch!"
The crowd called out in agreement, calling the same words they had been saying for a while. The words that Shizuo didn't know. But Shizuo could only assume it was nothing good for Izaya.
"IZAYA!" Shizuo called. "You need to get out of here now!"
The crowd moved in and grabbed at Izaya's arms, restraining him once again. However, Izaya didn't even look at them. He looked at Christabella with a look of judgmental animosity. A cold stare of contempt.
"Burn me?" Izaya questioned, his voice laced with hatred. "That's your answer. Burn anything that you're afraid of. Burn anything you can't control."
Izaya swung his arms back, hitting the two people who were trying to restrain him. The women in the crowd gasped again, taking a step back. The two let Izaya go and the raven took a step forward. Shizuo had never seen Izaya so angry before, not even when looking at him. His eyes were lit with the fires of hatred and he was even panting hard with his rage.
The informant turned around to look at the crowd again.
"This woman uses your fears to control you." Izaya said, pointing at the ground repeatedly to emphasize his words. "She led you to burn Alessa Gillespie. She led you to burn an innocent child. Not to cast out sin, not to purify the innocent, but to try and bring a God to Earth!"
The crowds eyes widened, words of shock beginning to spread around.
"But you will not deny your guilt! And you cannot deny her pain!"
"That child was sin incarnate!" Christabella said confidently.
Her voice drew Izaya's attention. The raven turned to look at her with a surprisingly calm gaze before he shook his head.
"No. It is you who has sinned." Izaya went up the steps until he was standing level with Christabella on the alter in front of the pyre. "You darkened the heart of an innocent. And now you coward in the face of Alessa's revenge."
Shizuo didn't know what was being said but he could heard the tones of the words in the crowd switch from anger to questioning. He could see it in their eyes, see the flicker of hesitation cross their face.
"Heresy." Christabella growled, her face contorting with anger as she looked at the crowd rather than Izaya. "Burn him!"
The crowd shared hushed whispered.
"BURN HIM!"
Such a command seemed to convince the crowd once again. They began yelling again, seemingly in agreement with Christabella as a few people went up the steps to grab Izaya again.
"Izaya..." Shizuo couldn't help but worry.
"YOUR FAITH!" Izaya screamed, his voice echoing around the place in an octave Shizuo had never heard the man make before. The raven shook his arms, making the people grabbing him release. "BRINGS! DEATH!"
His call silenced the crowd once again.
Izaya stepped up to Christabella, who took a step back out of seemingly fear.
"You are alone in this limbo." Izaya said in a low voice. "And God...God is not here."
Christabella's face lit red with rage as she clenched her teeth.
"Not even your god can save you now." Izaya shook his head. "Your god who you wish to bring down to Earth. You call me a heretic, but it is you who spreads heresy. You should know as well as I do..."
Izaya looked at her with a smile. An expression that Shizuo finally recognized. He smiled at her with a cynical pleasure as he knew his next words would tear in deep.
"That when a god comes to Earth, they are no longer a god. But a revolting monster to be hunted."
Christabella took exception to whatever Izaya said. In the next moment, Shizuo heard a knife unsheathe as the Caucasian woman pulled her arm back. Shizuo's eyes widened to see a blade in her hand, glittering off the sunlight. Just as soon as she pulled the knife out, she plunged the knife forward. Izaya didn't move as the dagger went straight through his heart, the tip poking out his back.
The crowd gasped in shock. Shizuo jolted as his eyes stretched wide with horror.
"IZAYA!" Shizuo yelled.
Izaya's eyes widened to the strike. Pain enveloped the raven's chest instantly. His pierced heart clenched within his body, pumping more blood now that it was damaged. He couldn't register the pain, however. He couldn't feel anything as he looked at the woman with shock.
Now more than ever, Shizuo had to move! He had to get down there! He had to protect Izaya before he bled out on the floor! He tried to move once again, willing himself to just break the ropes! But he couldn't. Whatever drug he had been fed, it still held him fast. Shizuo looked around himself again, horrified to see the people who were holding his ladder in place were smiling at the scene. Helplessness quickly began to consume him.
"Izaya, no! No!"
Christabella pulled the knife out. Izaya gasped, panting heavily as he stood their looking stunned. The gravity of his wounds finally seemed to hit him as he tilted his head back, mouth agape, and collapsed to the floor. The Caucasian woman's hands were shaking as she dropped the knife. She raised her hands, almost in surrender as she looked at the crowd. There was an expression on her face that Shizuo didn't fully understand. It almost looked like fear, but not fear that she just killed someone. As she looked at all of her stunned followers, Shizuo knew it was fear that she may have lost face in their eyes.
"He..." Her voice was small, but she seemed to find it as it raised in octave. "Was a blasphemer."
Izaya groaned as he crawled to the alter, holding the hole in his chest. Behind him, the crowd hesitated. But one person repeated the word that Christabella had said.
"Blasphemer."
The crowd began calling in agreement, yelling, "Blasphemer, blasphemer!" Over and over again. Shizuo's eyes widened to see the crowd agreeing with the woman who just committed murder in front of their very eyes.
"No, no!" Shizuo yelled. "Izaya! Iza..."
Shizuo felt like he was going to cry. Izaya was his long hated enemy, sure, but after all this time in this hellhole, just trying to find this man, just wanting to protect this man, he failed the one thing he came to Silent Hill to do. Izaya was going to die right before his eyes and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Izaya looked over at the blade. His blood was pooled around it. He could see a single drop threatening to drip off it. With a smile on his face, he reached out and tapped the hilt which shook the blade. The drop of blood fell to the floor.
As soon as the crimson hit the wood, it began to spread. It turned the wood into a burned black that spread and spread and spread.
The calls of the crowd fell silent as the room began to darken. They all looked up, Shizuo included, to see the ceiling start to turn black. The crowd went from an angry mob to terrified as they huddled together. The floorboards began to groan—hell, the whole room began to groan. It was so loud that Shizuo couldn't hear anything else. His eyes stretched wide with horror.
'The darkness is coming...'
Then the whole room went black. Everything went eerily quiet.
Not even a second later, lights began to flash around the room. Some of the people in the crowd grabbed flashlights and began shining them around. Lanterns in the pews were turned on and soon the whole nave was illuminated once again. Calls of terror began to spread through the crowd as they looked around themselves.
Christabella, however, had her eyes trained on Izaya. The raven was on his knees now, leaning over the dip in the floor with a hand over his chest. Shizuo looked at him too. Izaya began to tremble, his whole body jolting as he panted and groaned loudly. Blood was seeping from his hand over the wound in spurts. But it wasn't blood. No, it took Shizuo a moment to realize that the liquid was black, not red.
"...I...Izaya...?" Shizuo voiced, staring at him in horror.
The black continued to pour forth, dripping onto the stone floor of the sunken in alter. Then it began to rise up. The stone was stripped away in chunks of paint that curled in like burnt paper. The flooring underneath gave away to metal grates, which then fell down into a burning mine shaft. The darkness spread, tearing up the entire pyre. The wood fell into the mine shaft bit by bit until the alter was nothing but a giant hole in the church.
"What have you done?" Christabella said, backing away with a look of despair on her face. "You've brought the darkness in with you. Do you know what you've done?"
Izaya looked down the mine shaft. He could see something rising. A rectangular shape followed by tendrils of metal. He knew what it was. He knew who it was. He knew it was a hospital bed being lifted up by barbed wire. He knew...
And he didn't care.
"For Alessa." He whispered only to himself.
The pain in Izaya's chest was starting to fade away. He lifted his hand to see the black on it was disappearing, seeping into his very skin. He looked down and sure enough, the black was closing up the wound as well. Soon enough, there was only a thin scar on his pale chest under the hole in his shirt.
Izaya grabbed the knife that had just stabbed him. Then he stood. He turned around and looked at the crowd with a glare of hatred. To look at Christabella with a glare of hatred.
Not even a second later, Izaya heard the undeniable sound of barbed wire scraping against metal. He heard the groaning of the metal hospital bed. He heard Alessa's breathing. The raven didn't look behind him. He didn't have to look behind him. He knew Alessa had arrived in the church without looking. Alessa's form wasn't for him to see. It was for them to see, for them to know what they turned Alessa into. They would be punished for their gazes soon enough.
Shizuo, however, couldn't take his eyes away from the person he saw. A hospital bed, the mattress stained in blood and being lifted by barbed wire, came out of the burning mine shaft. There was a person strapped to that hospital bed. It tilted upright to look over the crowd. Shizuo couldn't tell the gender of the person, but he could see, whoever this person was, they were covered in bloodied and torn bandages. Patches of flesh could be seen and showed terrible burns. And her face. Oh, god, her face. She was bald, her scalp covered in torn flesh that had obviously healed that way. Her eyes were sunken in, the skin bright pink as if sunburned and sensitive. It was obvious to all who saw—this person was terribly burned.
The barbed wire coiled around her like snakes. The group of people screamed in terror and all ran to the door—all except Christabella, who stared in horror at the person in the bed. The few who were at the door began banging on it, trying to force it open. However, it seemed like the doors were held shut by an unspeakable force. They wouldn't be able to open them. Shizuo didn't even know when they closed, but they were closed now, never to be open while this monster of barbed wire was there.
Izaya looked at Shizuo. The blond was staring in obvious horror and fear at Alessa.
'He really doesn't remember anything.' Izaya acknowledged.
He decided that was something to think about later. Instead, he looked under Shizuo and immediately spotted a staircase. It obviously led to the choir balcony that his ladder was leaning against.
Izaya turned, knife in hand, and ran to the stairs.
The barbed wire began to move out, stretching much farther than typical barbed wire should reach. It crawled across the floor, covering the wood in a layer of pointy metal coils. They reached out to the ceiling and to the sides as well. Their aim was obviously the crowd.
Christabella stood before Alessa, cowering in fear and covering her face protectively with her hand. However, she still had her eyes on Alessa. She made sure not to hide her eyes as if she couldn't look away from her sin in physical form.
Six separate coils of barbed wire came for her. They grabbed her arms and forced them outwards, coiling all the way up her biceps and fastening tight. It looked like she was crucified as she gasped in pain. The barbed wire then lifted her off the ground. She screamed in terror. She screamed in pain. She screamed as loud as her lungs could allow her to scream. The crowd also screamed for her, with her, because of her. Up, up, up, Christabella went until she was held before Alessa.
Other barbed wires went to the crowd. They wrapped around the men and the women, digging into the skin and lifting them into the air. One wrapped around a man's neck. Another, a woman's torso. One even wrapped around a woman's neck and mouth, to gag her screams. All of which were lifted into the air. One was even bashed against a wall, blood splattering across it from the impact before being lifted up.
Shizuo screamed in terror. He tried to pull at his restraints again. He wasn't able to break them, but it seemed as if whatever drug he took was finally starting to wear off. He realized he was actually able to move his arms and legs. Not very well, though. He still couldn't stand on his legs or grab the rung under his hands. But at least he could move again. He had to try to keep moving. He had to try to get free of these ropes before this monster came for him too.
Six more strands of barbed wire wrapped around Christabella's ankles, three for each leg. They held the woman completely suspended and unable to struggle in the air. She tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling.
"Oh, God! Give me the strength to stay pure! ARGH!"
The barbed wire pulled on her legs to separate them. Then, another slew of those devilish coils of metal charged towards Christabella. More so, they charged upwards. Shizuo stared in horror as those barbed wires disappeared up her skirt. She called out in pain and puddles of blood began to drip to the floor.
Shizuo screamed in fear again. He didn't want to watch this! He didn't want to bare witness to this! He quickly cast his gaze elsewhere, anywhere, and saw something else. He saw the demon girl that led them there. Her black, raggedy hair and blood stained blue uniform. She climbed a latter out of the mine shaft, looking up at Christabella with a cold gaze. She stood within the midst of the barbed wire without a care.
Christabella's scream began to change into gurgles and gags. Despite his better judgment, Shizuo looked up to see barbed wires coming out of her mouth, out of her back, out of her stomach. The terrible coils of sharp metal forced their way out of her body in a straight line, down the very center of her body.
Then, in the next moment, all of the barbed wires pulled, the ones on the left to the left, the ones on the right to the right. And Christabella was split in two, right down the center. Blood splattered forth, falling down on the little demon girl who Shizuo saw was dancing in the crimson rain.
Shizuo screamed in terror. The men behind him screamed in terror as they backed away from the blond.
The only one who didn't scream was Izaya, who finally came to the top of the stairs. He stepped onto the balcony, earning the attention of one of the holy men. The man in gray turned on him with a look of rage and charged. Izaya didn't fully know what he was doing. He just allowed his body to move on instinct. Holding the knife with body hands, he raised it up once the man was within striking distance. The man pierced himself on the blade, the silver metal disappearing into his throat. Izaya's eyes widened in horror and shock at what he had just done. This was the first human he's killed, after all.
The man fell to the floor with a thunk, catching both Shizuo's and the other man's attention. The tall man with black hair glared at Izaya, then knelt down and grabbed a cylindrical piece of wood from the floor—one of the pieces that had been meant for the pyre. Izaya put the blade in one hand and raised it defensively as the man raised the piece of wood like a club.
However, neither met each other in combat as barbed wire pierced through the very floor the man stood on. Pieces of wood went flying and Shizuo looked away. Izaya was the only one to witness this man get entangled in barbed wire. The metal wrapped around him until he was completely hidden from Izaya's sight. The man screamed in fear before the metal tightened and bent his body in a way it wasn't supposed to bend. The man was bend sideways so that the side of his knee pressed against his head. Such a grotesque motion made his spine snap in a loud, harrowing sound as blood strayed everywhere. Izaya gasped in shock as he was splattered in the crimson liquid. He closed his eyes so blood wouldn't get in them, but quickly opened them so he could see again. Now wasn't the time to be looking away.
Izaya didn't mean to, but he looked over at Alessa. He didn't want to look at her, to offend her, but that didn't seem to matter as she was looking at him. Izaya made eye contact with the woman in the bed. Alessa nodded to him. Izaya knew that would be the only form of thanks he would ever get for his terrible deed. But it made Izaya smile and he nodded back as well, mouthing the words "thank you" to her.
Alessa faced front to look at the carnage once again.
"I-Izaya!" Shizuo called, finally looking back at him. "Izaya!"
"Shizuo, I'm here!"
Izaya ran forward, and curled himself around the blond.
"I can't move!" Shizuo said. "I can't feel my body! They drugged me! They—"
"It's alright!" Izaya grabbed the ropes around his wrist and began slicing at them. "Look at me! It'll be okay!"
Shizuo's eyes were filled with terror and fear. But he did as Izaya said and looked only at him.
"Izaya, what did you do?" Shizuo's voice was laced with horror. "Did you...did you let that thing in here?"
"Yes, I did."
Izaya got both of Shizuo's wrists free. However, he wasn't long enough to reach over the balcony and cut Shizuo's legs free so the raven had no choice but to step onto the ladder as well. He went down a few rungs and crouched on the one right below Shizuo's feet. Face level with the ropes, he sliced at them.
"What have you done?" Shizuo said. "They—It's killing everyone! It's—"
"She, Shizu-chan. That's a she. It's who I've been looking for."
Shizuo's eyes widened. "Al-Alessa?"
"That's right. That's her."
Shizuo looked at the woman on the bed. The woman controlling the barbed wires that was killing people down below. That was making a morbid mobile of their bodies.
"These people burned her." Izaya said.
He cut Shizuo's legs free, grabbing his ankles and hooking the gap between the soles and the heels on the rung. Shizuo may not be able to move, but at least he could keep himself standing like this. Izaya then stood up, grabbing the rung under Shizuo's head to keep himself up while the other hand held the knife to cut away at the ropes on his stomach.
"They burned her alive." Izaya continued. "They needed a strong vessel that could hold their God when they summoned him down to Earth. So, they had to see if she was strong enough, so they burned her to see if she would survive. She was only eight-years-old. That's what they were going to do to you. They were going to burn you and make you the vessel."
Shizuo's eyes widened. "M-me?"
"Yes, you. You, who can fight one on one with any monster in Silent Hill. You were a perfect fit. They couldn't get to Alessa anymore. She tore them away from the real world and placed them in this place. This pocket dimension. This personal hell. They couldn't use her as the vessel anymore because she became their torturer instead. This is their punishment, Shizuo."
Izaya looked out over the crowd. He looked down at all the terrified people. Strangely enough, he didn't feel an ounce of guilt for causing this massacre.
"It's forty years overdue."
Shizuo looked at Izaya in growing horror. 'He doesn't care. He doesn't care that they're dying.'
For the first time in Shizuo's life, the blond wasn't sure who he was looking at anymore. For the first time in his life, he looked at Izaya and saw a monster.
'They...they were going to burn me alive.' Shizuo told himself, trying to reason with himself. 'If Izaya didn't do this, I would be dead right now, or worse.'
Izaya went back to cutting at the ropes. Shizuo's stomach came free and he started working on his chest.
"Why—But why did Alessa need you?" Shizuo asked. "Why did she want you to come here?"
"She couldn't get into the church. Their faith, or maybe their god, was keeping Alessa out. She needed a Trojan horse to get in."
The rope around his chest came undone. Finally, Shizuo was free of his bonds. Izaya grabbed Shizuo's limp arms and wrapped them around his neck.
"Hold onto me, Shizu-chan." Izaya instructed.
"I-I'm trying."
Shizuo's hands started to tremble as he grabbed the back of Izaya's shirt. Just that took so much effort. Izaya put his arm under Shizuo's to grab the ladder. His other arm grabbed Shizuo's leg. He lifted it up and tried to get Shizuo to wrap his leg around his waist. The blond did his best to do so, but it took so much effort to force the limb to move.
Holding Shizuo as best he could, the raven took a step up the ladder. Shizuo was much bigger than him and much heavier. But Izaya wasn't weak, despite his small frame. He managed to lift Shizuo up with him, keeping him pinned to the ladder so he didn't fall out of his grip by accident.
Two more rungs up and they were above the balcony. Now came the problem Izaya already knew would happen. There was no way he could lift Shizuo off the ladder and onto the balcony. With his limbs like jelly, it just wasn't possible that he would be able to leave Shizuo there, climb over the balcony, and pull him over. No, Izaya was going to have to get creative.
The raven put a foot on the balcony's edge while hugging Shizuo to his chest. He then pushed off the ladder as quick as he could and swung the blond around. At the same time, he let himself fall back into the choir box. It was just the momentum needed to get the blond off the ladder and with Izaya holding him tightly, Shizuo fell into the choir box on top of him. The blond banged his shins on the balcony's edge, and he put his hand underneath Izaya's head so that the raven didn't crack his skull on the wood—which was a good call on Shizuo since Izaya was more worried about pulling the blond off the ladder than he was worrying about himself—so his hand hit the ground hard as well. But he couldn't complain at all. It wasn't like it hurt anyway.
Izaya rolled the two over and got on his knees. His hands found purchase under Shizuo's arms again. He groaned with the efforts of lifting the limp Shizuo up to hug in his arms again.
"Here! Over here!" Izaya called, walking backwards while dragging Shizuo with. "Get down! We need to get down!"
The blond tried to move his legs. He managed to make one or two steps but ultimately, Izaya did all the work as he walked across the choir balcony to the wall. Once his back touched the wall, the raven sat down on the floor and hugged Shizuo's face to his chest.
"Shut your eyes." Izaya said, putting a hand over Shizuo's face. "Shut your eyes. When you open them again, it'll all be over. Just shut your eyes. Shut your eyes, Shizu-chan."
Shizuo could still see between Izaya's fingers. He looked up to see Izaya also had his eyes closed, his head tilted down to rest into Shizuo's blond-turned-red hair.
"Shut your eyes." Izaya repeated. "Just shut your eyes, Shizu-chan. It'll be okay. It'll be alright."
'How will any of this be alright?' Shizuo couldn't help thinking.
The blond couldn't ignore the screams that tore through the air. The thumps of people being slammed into the walls. The screeching of metal rubbing against metal. There was no way he could shut his eyes now. What if something came for them? What if something attacked them during this massacre? What if Alessa turned on Izaya?
Shizuo saw a hand reach up the ladder rung. His eyes stretched wide. The little demon girl lifted herself up the ladder, looking at them with her cold black eyes.
'Izaya...'
"Shut your eyes." Izaya said. "Shut your eyes. It'll all go away soon."
The little girl slowly walked over to them. Shizuo wanted to scream to Izaya. But he couldn't. His voice was stuck in his throat. He made eye contact with this demon girl and his voice was killed in that instance.
"Shut your eyes. Shut your eyes, Shizu-chan. Shut your eyes."
The demon girl reached out to him. His hand hovered over Shizuo's wide eye, mere centimeter's away.
"Shut your eyes." Shizuo heard the voice in his head. "It was just a bad dream."
Shizuo's whole world went black just like that.
