Chapter 46: Room 302 of the Past

My friends and I eventually made it to the bottom of the spiral staircase, taking in our surroundings as we did so. Remembering what I said to Elise earlier, I didn't hesitate in contacting Megan, Crash, Eddie and the others. Unfortunately, no reply came. But, we weren't going to let that stop us from saving them! The only thing that caught our attentions in the area was this large grey wall with a simple white door that could be opened. But, what really had us looking in its' direction was the number - Room 302.

This could be Megan's apartment, but we had a feeling that someone else was in there.

"Hey," Knuckles decided to address Manny with slight concern. "You alright over there?"

"No, I'm not! We're completely lost, my wife and daughter are missing and chances are, the man's going to kill our family by the time we find out where they're being held!" Our mammoth friend replied in an aggressive manner, pacing to and fro with intense worry surging through him. "Aaargh! They could be dead already! And I don't know what I'd do if that happens!""

Look buddy, we're worried about our loved ones too...

"Manny, listen!" Diego butted in, with concern lacing his tone. "We're going to get everyone back in one piece, we just need to figure out where they are first."

"How are you so calm about this, Diego?!" The large mammoth demanded fiercely. "Your wife, Shira, is with those who are missing and possibly getting tortured! Aren't you worried about her?!"

"Yes, I am!" The smilodon replied, trying to remain strong. "But, you're not the only one who's worried about losing their families to this mess the man got us in."

"No," Manny whispered angrily. "It's not the man who got us in this mess ... It's Megan."

WHAT?! NO!

Looking over at Elise, I noticed that she was having the same thoughts I was due to the thunderous look of rage she gave Manny. Sid, Diego, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Shadow were just as shocked and furious as we were. I didn't understand what was going on! Manny was really nice and caring towards Megan during our travels, he helped the young girl when she ended up in danger and she assisted him in return. If our friends and myself ever found ourselves cornered by one of the monsters or the man in the coat, the kid was always there to jump in and save our lives ... Why was Manny acting like this and blaming her for something she didn't do?!

Megan did nothing wrong at all. It wasn't her fault that we ended up here!

"Guys, listen to me. None of this ever would have happened if she didn't arrive at Switchback Cove in the first place! Our family wouldn't have been captured if we left that stupid kid behind in that town!"

"How dare you!" Elise screamed angrily, strolling up to the mammoth. "It's not Megan's fault that we're all stuck in the otherworlds!"

"You have no idea what she put me and my family through," Manny snarled, sending a hateful glare in my older human friend's direction. "When this whole thing first started, I wanted this to be a dream and I still do. That kid is the reason why my family's in danger, so it is her fault!"

"NO, IT'S NOT!" The rest of us (minus Elise) shouted, sticking with our deceased friend. Even though we felt bad for him about Ellie, Peaches and the others being missing, my friends and I couldn't believe it. By the sounds of things, Manny probably forgot about the bonding moment we shared just before Knuckles and Amy joined us! Also, he most likely didn't know that if Megan was actually left behind in Silent Hill, I wouldn't be here right now.

Secondly, if the brunette teen found out that one of her idols blamed her for everything that happened, she would be deeply hurt. I knew that I would be too, if someone I idolised my entire life believed that I was to blame for this ordeal. We were all here because a young kid needed our help to save her family from danger!

Like I said before, I haven't forgotten the promise I made ... and I wasn't going to break it.

S-E

I could not believe what I was hearing.

Before the man found our friends, Manny was slowly breaking down his walls and opening up to us. He started treating Megan kindly and was appericative of her saving our lives whenever we ended up getting outnumbered by either the man in the coat or one of the monsters we encountered before. We ... We didn't know why he was acting like this...! Blaming a young girl who was severly injured for getting his family captured! It wasn't her fault. Ellie, Shira, Peaches and everyone else were defending Megan due to the latter suffering from her wounds, so the man decided to take them too. Our young friend wouldn't have wanted this to happen. They did everything they could to hold their own against our opponent.

But ... things didn't end well, and we were going to save our loved ones before anything worse occured.

"Haven't you forgotten?" I continued, letting my voice crack with emotion as tears began to form in my eyes. "Megan's worried sick about losing her parents. If she does, then she's going to become an orphan. Just like I did when I was only seven years old!"

Even though I didn't have any siblings of my own, I saw Megan as a little sister! I remembered when we first met back in Soleanna, she was really shy and once I noticed it, I decided to do what I could to get her to gradually open up. I was deeply sympathetic when the young girl told me about her life; born premature at 25 weeks, her condition, going through sixteen years of isolation from her peers and getting horrifically bullied by them. The only good things about her life were getting to know Eileen in the time she did, her family and ourselves.

If things ended positively here, we were going to make Megan smile again.

"We're worried about losing our loved ones too, you know. And we are going to get Ellie, Peaches and the others back, believe me we will. But, if you truly believe that a young girl who idolised you her entire life is to blame for this whole ordeal, then we're going to have a serious problem!"

The tears finally fell as my words came floating out of my mouth, leading me to furiously wipe them away. I could see that Manny was beginning to feel guilty for his outburst and we never seen him that angry before. But, that didn't stop him from saying one last thing that sent our spirits tumbling down.

"When this is over ... we're going our separate ways."

"Wow," Amy scoffed after a moment of silence, walking over to Room 302's door and opening it. One by one, we followed her and found ourselves in a blank grey room with furniture and a large number of red papers scattered across the apartment. Truth be told, I was expecting our mammoth companion to follow us but ... he decided to remain outside for reasons unknown, which was rather strange.

"Hey," Sonic adressed me, sympathetically placing a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just ... can't believe that he blamed Megan for everything we've been through, up to this point." I responded sadly.

"That makes two of us," My blue friend repiled. "Elise, you're not the only one who sees that little girl as a sister."

"Wait, how did you?" I attempted to ask, with suprise lacing my tone. "How did you pick that up?!"

"I could tell by the way you spoke earlier." Sonic answered, smiling gently. "But like I said, you're not the only one who sees Megan as a little sister. Tails and I do too."

That's nice to hear...

I smiled as I looked down at my revolver for a brief moment. I didn't know what was going to happen afterwards, but ... if we managed to save everyone, we'd probably stick together as a group. Sonic and I didn't mind having Sid, Diego, Ellie and the others around as they were all really kind and caring. To tell the truth, it would be quite disappointing if we had to part ways after escaping the otherworlds.

But if Manfred really wants to do it, then that's fine.

"You two alright here?" Diego asked as he came over to join us, snapping me back to reality as Sonic answered his question with a cheerful "Yep!".

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier." The smilodon began, with concern lacing his tone. "He's just worried about losing Ellie and Peaches because ... he lost his first wife and child to hunters before he met us."

Hearing this, I gasped whilst Sonic looked at Diego in shock. "Yeesh, that's got to be intense."

"Yes, I agree," Our pre-historic friend continued. "The reason why Manny acts defensive towards the humans is the loss of his first family. We both thought Megan was a hunter when we crossed paths with her at home. But, after I helped her defend everyone from the creatures, I knew that she was a good kid, and so did Shira."

"We're going to get her back, don't worry." Sonic reassured him. "We're gonna get everyone back safely."

I agree. There's no way we're leaving them behind...

"Thanks," The smilodon repiled with apperication lacing his tone. "Sid and I believe that Megan isn't responsible for getting everyone captured. We don't think it's her fault, either. And about Manny, we figured you should know."

My blue friend and I smiled, grateful that we weren't alone in standing up for the brunette teen. We all continued to search the apartment, reading the red papers and discovering a lot of information about our assilant. I didn't know it at first, but the man in the coat was Walter Sullivan. His parents left him as a baby in Room 302 of the South Ashfield Heights Apartments and he grew up with a cult known as the Order. They ... They most likely brainwashed him into thinking that his mother was still in the room, and the only way to get in was to murder 21 innocent individuals. Eileen, Megan's friend was the 20th...

I also came across this new piece of information, explaining why Walter was continuing the process of killing people, me being one of them. He ... He managed to get into Room 302, but his mother was not responding whenever he tried to wake her up. At this point, we all didn't know what to say as it was incredibly shocking.

On one hand, we felt sympathy due to his past. But on the other, we felt anger due to his recent murders...

"You've all done well to make it this far."

Startled by the gentle, yet booming voice, my friends and I found ourselves face to face with a middle-aged man wearing a black and grey suit. A young short-haired brunette woman in her early 20s stood beside him, dressed in a purple party dress and matching high heels. With her was a brown haired man who looked like he was in his late 20s, draped in a light blue collared jacket, white t-shirt, jeans and black boots. He looked rather handsome, I'll admit...

Wait, that's the man in the vision I had back in the subway station!

"And, who are you three?" Shadow asked, glancing at us in a protective manner.

"My name is Joseph Schreiber," The middle-aged man answered. "These two individuals here are Henry Townshend and Eileen Galvin. We're glad that you all survived up to this point."

Sonic and I couldn't help but stare at the latter, recgonising her instantly. Megan had told us an awful lot about her, before she went missing with Ellie, Shira and the others. Eileen sounded like a very kind young woman and now, we got the chance to talk to her. "Hey," I began, carefully choosing my words. "I don't mean to pry or anything, but ... do you know a girl named Megan?"

Hearing this, Eileen's emerald green eyes lit up as she nodded frantically with a huge grin. "Yes, I do!" But then, her smile faded as concern began to surge through her. "I'm sorry about what happened to Megan and your friends. Henry and Joseph are, too."

"Wait, how did you guys find out?" Knuckles butted in, with confusion crossing his features. "You didn't hear us outside, did you?"

"Yes, we did." Joseph answered honestly, giving us a brief apologetic glance before returning to his serious look. "I was here when Henry and Eileen were in your positions, three weeks ago. Since I'm the 15th sacrament, I am able to sense negative events such as your friends' disappearances. That's how we found out."

Hearing his words, my confused glance shifted into an understanding one. "I see,"

"We've also been trying to figure out your friends' whereabouts," Henry added, shyly. I could tell that he was just as shy as Megan was when we first crossed paths back in Soleanna. I wonder what would happen if those two met? "And before you all arrived here, we've found a couple of answers,"

"Yeah, we'll come show you," Eileen said, beckoning us to follow her into the living room. There was a small table sitting in the centre and upon it, were several pieces of crimson paper with black writting and a map of South Ashfield Heights. Maybe, Walter was holding Megan and the others hostage there?

The sooner we find out, the better.

"Let me guess," Sonic muttered, taking his foot with impatience. I didn't blame him as I could tell that he wanted to save everyone as much as I did. "Our friends are trapped somewhere in the apartment complex."

"Actually, there's a large area underneath South Ashfield Heights and Walter's keeping your friends there." Eileen repiled, trying to remain strong as she too was worried about Megan, Ellie and the others. "The main way in is Henry's apartment but it's been blocked off, since the 21 Sacraments have been completed. It is possible that there's another route to take, but I'm afraid we don't know where it is in the building."

"So, how do we unblock the main route down?" Tails wanted to know.

"Our superintendent, Frank Sunderland used to keep a box in his room. And, even though you're not going to like what's inside, you'll need it in order to defeat Walter. If you don't have it ... wherever you run, he will follow you." Joseph answered in a haunting tone, sending chills running down my spine.

"Gee, thanks for scaring us," Sonic said with sarcasm lacing his tone, attempting to lighten up the mood even though he was focused on saving everyone. "Hey," I muttered quietly. "Be serious, Sonic."

"Okay, okay," Our blue friend repiled, holding his hands up in defense. "So, do you guys know if Megan and the others made it out?"

"We have some good news. Ellie, Peaches, Shira and the Herd escaped." Eileen revealed, smiling when Sid and Diego breathed sighs of relief. Manny was probably going to be pleased too. "But whilst they did try to find Megan, her location is well hidden. But once you all find the box and get down to the prison, either Henry or myself will meet you and we'll put the box in a place where Megan will find it. We don't know where her location is, but we'll also leave a couple of things to help her escape."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sid butted in. "Why don't you just help Megan get out yourselves, instead of leaving items for her to use?"

Hearing this, Eileen's smile faded with a small sigh escaping her mouth. "Believe me, I wish I could. But ... judging by what's going on down in the prison at the moment, it appears that Megan's the only one who has to kill him."

Oh no..! That's ... I don't know if that will end well, considering Sullivan's methods of attacking but I hope that our younger friend will survive the encounter and kill him. Well ... at least, Ellie and the rest of the Herd managed to escape. I should imagine that Megan's going to do that too, when she awakens.

"Okay," I said, feeling relieved for Sid and Diego and focusing on our mission. "Is there anything else we need to do?"

"Yes," Joseph answered in a serious tone. "If you all want to survive, you'll have to follow the Crimson Tome. You must stop Walter. You must help the girl kill him. It's the only way for you to escape..."

As the middle-aged man continued, Henry and Eileen decided to exit the main room into another area of the apartment, presumably to prepare the items they were going to take down to the prison. They wished us good luck and hoped that we would be careful, leading the latter to ask Sonic to take care of Megan if she lost her parents. I had a small feeling that I wouldn't be able to join them if we escaped, so ... I was very glad that our young human friend would have Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Shadow to spend time with. Then Joseph disappeared after a while, his voice echoing as he faded away. As we listened, my friends and I were suddenly joined by Manny who apologised for his outburst. We forgave him and one by one, we exited Room 302 via a hole, not knowing where we ended up next.

"You must help the girl kill him. You must kill him. Kill ... Kill ... Kill ... Kill ... You must kill him. Kill ... Kill ... Kill ... Kill..."

Looking back on this, that will haunt me for a long time. But I'll have to put it to one side for now, Megan and her parents are still in danger.

Don't worry, Megs... We'll be with you soon...