Chapter 6: Bon Appetit

With all the wacky shit that had been going on lately, the last thing that I expected to see was a shopping mall.

The place was mightily fucked up, though.

I stared at the scenery. The lighting appeared to be out, but somehow a muted glow flooded the area; making everything more creepy.

A noise that sounded like whirring sprang to life behind me. I turned to discover that a pair of previously silent escalators had started up once again.

And that was it. Literally.

I peered over the edge, and looked into the empty abyss beyond.

"Damn." I gaped at the hole in the middle of the ground.

That's when I noticed something bounding up the escalator steps. I watched a shape bounce almost merrily up the stairs like it didn't have a care in the world.

It was a Doberman.

I smiled. I like Dobermans. I always thought that they were sweeter than a lot of people gave them credit for. I reached towards it. "Hey gorgeous-" I began.

A hand snatched back my wrist. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Warned a male voice.

I met Garrett's dark eyes. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Leave it be." Garrett said quietly. He glanced at the dog, and I caught some unreadable emotion in his eyes. Pity?

I eyed him warily. "What the hell's going on?" I repeated.

The dog sniffed the ground, shook itself, and trotted to the second set of escalators. This set led upstairs.

The dog sniffed the ground again. At the base of the escalator, the dog grinned a doggy grin, and happily walked up the unmoving steps.

Garrett clasped my hands. "I always hate these things. They never get easier, even when it's just a dog." He said sadly.

"What?" I asked. I was getting nervous. "What never gets easier?"

"We'll never be able to talk until this gets done. Trust me. Thank God it's usually quick."

"What's usually quick?"

He led me up the escalator steps; not saying a word.

This floor was as creepy as the one before. Except that there was a restaurant to one side that was well lit.

Still not speaking, he started to lead me through the door.

I froze to my spot. "Hey, wait a second-"

He smiled, but not like he was happy. "It's okay. You get used to it." With that rather ominous forecast, he pulled me through the door.

The inside of the restaurant was nice- in a hollowed-out-shell kinda way. Again, the lighting was good; as though Garrett and I were being led in this direction.

And I was beginning to think that I didn't want to know why.

I took a few steps forward, and then flinched when a bit of light hit me right in the eyes.

I looked for the source- and gaped when I found it.

It was coming from a pile of diced steak sitting on the table. Why the hell would cooked meat sparkle? I stared at it.

Slowly, but surely, I figured out the problem. There was a key sitting on top of the steaming mound. I examined it further.

Someone had written on it.

'Café Turn Mill' it said.

I looked at Garrett. "Why would a key be nestled in a pile of meat?"

He just looked at me.

"C'mon! Say something!"

"That's for the dog." He said solemnly. "It's a sacrifice."

I gaped at him. "What?"

"You heard me."

Being a dog-person at heart, I didn't really get what was going on. "What?" I repeated. I blinked. "What purpose would killing a dog serve?" I whispered. I was mortified.

"Remember when I told you about that cult, 'The Order'?"

I nodded, but I was confused.

"Remember how I told you about the girl they sacrificed? How she renounced their ways? How her father escaped with a baby?

"What the fuck does that have to do with-"

"Do you?" he asked. Garrett sounded almost urgent. He tightly gripped my shoulders.

Behind me, the door edged open. In trotted the dog.

I ran to it. "No! No! Get out!" I screamed.

The dog trotted forward, passing right through me.

I felt almost ill.

Behind me: "Did I mention that we have no effect on the Other World?"

He changed topics again, clearly baiting me. I wasn't in the mood, but I started to rise to the occasion anyway. "What 'Other World'?"

The dog sniffed the area around the base of the table. I tried very hard not to notice.

"The ambience in this place-" he waved his hands around the room, and motioned to the creepiness outside. "Is here because this isn't what you'd call the 'real' world."

"Then what the hell would you call it?"

"The…I guess you'd call… fabric of reality… can be bent. In fact, this is the…" he paused. A thoughtful look was in his eyes. "Well, I think it's the third time that this has happened on this grand a scale. At least, for only one person."

The dog raised up on it's hind legs; spotting it's quarry. I winced.

"Keep talking." I said. I was pretty sure that it sounded almost like a plea.

"Anyways, it's always centered around two possible factors. One; the Order. Or two, Silent Hill. This time, however, it's about both."

"What's going on?" I glanced at the dog, who was trying to find a way onto the table now. "Why this?"

"The reason this is happening is because they're after the girl again. All those years ago, when the man escaped with the baby, he escaped with the girl- and the complete beast nestled inside of her."

"No fucking way."

"Yes fucking way. And since the creature is whole once more, it can help them. It's creating a new version of the 'Other World'. It, and the cult members, hope to fill the girl with horror, revulsion, and hatred. That thing in her womb feeds off of those things." A bitter look filled his face. "And you know how these things work, whatever the mother eats goes straight into the baby."

I shuddered. As a girl, I had an instinctive repulsion at the idea of having some monster growing inside my belly.

The dog finally found it's way onto the table. It sniffed the meat for a few seconds, and then it grinned it's doggy grin again. It inhaled the meat- key included- in less than a minute.

I looked at it. "Well, that didn't seem so horrible to me."

Garrett didn't look at the dog. "Give it a minute."

The dog started to get off the table… and it froze.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I crooned.

It started to whimper loudly.

Garrett jerked me away from it. He held me to him, and turned me so my back was to the dog. "Don't look!" He cried.

I started to smell something. It was like a combination of sulfur, charcoal, and meat. "What the fuck are you doing? Lemme go!" I protested.

Behind me, the dog's whimpers became howls of agony. I was suddenly grateful to be holding onto Garrett. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, and I couldn't bear to watch something like this happen.

The stench grew stronger, and I learned in that moment that dogs can scream.

I buried my face in his shoulder, and began to cry.

Smoke started to creep around us, and still I wept. It was horrible. God, please, let that poor creature die.

As though someone had been listening, the screams stopped.

I looked up at Garrett. His eyes were squeezed shut, and there were tear stains on his cheeks.

He opened his eyes, and looked in the direction of the dog. He flinched, but said. "It's over. You might not want to look though."

But, I did. The acrid stench wafting around me, I turned.

At first, all I could see was the dog- or rather, what was left of the dog.

It was a charred corpse. I stared; transfixed. Most of it's body had been reduced to a smoking, black and red mass. Apparently, someone had a sick sense of humor, because the poor thing had died on top of a large, dinner plate- as though it was now on display.

That's when I noticed that it's torso had burst open, and it's internal organs had spilled out; completely liquefied.

Something sparkled in that gore-soaked mess.

'Café Turn Mill'.

I'm not gonna puke. I'm not gonna puke. I'm gonna puke.

I leaned over to one side, and threw up until my head began to throb.

Garrett put a hand on back, but not for comfort.

"Uhh, Luce." He squeaked.

"What?" I groaned.

"Is she with you?"

"Is who with me?"

Standing up, I looked to the table.

There, standing over it, was a woman who was very much dead.

There were countless slashes over her face, and her eyes had been reduced to nothing but fluid that ran down her face. Her lips had been sliced off on her left side, exposing only a few remaining molars and a tongue that lolled out-

-like a dog's-

Like a demon's. I tried to look lower, but I couldn't… I just couldn't.

The dead woman held up a large fork, and a carving knife.

"Bon appetite!" she cried.

:AUTHOR'S NOTES: Was that to everyone's liking? R&R kids- I need it.

:SPECIAL THANKS: To Literary Alchemist. He pretty much co-authored this chapter. I had such a hard time with it! Plus, it was his idea as to how poor Crispy the Wonder-dog died.