Claire awoke to the grinding sound of machinery. Some of her strength had returned and she could breathe easier now but that was her least concern. The hospital as it had been, was no more. In its stead was a rusty, smokey atmosphere. The floor was once again the metal grate and Claire thought she could see a fire deep down below. She slid off the dirty bed and inched her way to Elric who was still asleep. Claire took hold of his shoulder and shook him awake. He opened his eyes groggily and took in the sight. He sighed. "Not again. Go back to sleep, maybe it'll go away.", he said wearily and closed his eyes again.
Claire punched his arm. "Elric!"
"Alright, ok, I'm awake. Let's get going."
Elric got to his feet and stretched. He and Claire took a minute to breathe and then peeked out into the hallway. Empty though it was the same scenary as the room. Quietly they slid down the hallway and peered around the corner into the next. All clear. They broke into a jog down this hall. Elric burst into a sprint and grabbed at the door that would lead them out. It was locked. "FUCK!"
Claire wanted to get out of the horrid hospital as soon as possible. She began beating on the doors in hopes that they would open. They didn't even budge. She slammed on them harder and started to cry once more. Elric placed his hand on her uninjured shoulder. "Claire, calm down. Things will only get worse if you panic."
Claire wiped away her tears and nodded. He was right after all. Elric helped her to her feet. "We just have to find another way out, that's all.", he said reassuringly with a big smile.
"Why aren't you scared?", she asked.
"Oh I'm very scared."
"You don't show it."
"That's because I want to keep a clear head so I can find my love and get you both out of here."
Before Claire could ask whatever she was going to next, a shrill scream pierced the air. She broke down and started sobbing again. "We are never going to get out of here! I can't take much more of this! This stuff shouldn't even be possible. Ghost towns that kill people, pyramid head monsters with giant swords!", she screamed.
Elric sighed and walked farther down the hall. "Where are you going?", Claire cried after him.
"To find a suitable weapon, I lost my katana somewhere along the way."
Claire, not wanting to be left alone in the dark, hurried after him. The darkness grew as they went deeper into the hospital and Elric had to pull out the flashlight again. There were doors on both sides of the hallway and all were locked except the last one. It led to a stairwell that led both up and down from their position.
"So, which way do you wanna go first?", Elric asked, examining the stairs. Claire only shrugged, not caring at this point. "Alright, up it is.", he said. They started up the stairs but stopped when an odd sound echoed the stairwell. "Shh, listen.", Elric ordered.
The sound got louder and louder, as if it were coming down the stairs. It sounded liked a metal basket being dropped slinky style down the stairs. The source of the sound came into view seconds later: a wheelchair. It bounced down each step and crashed to a stop on the landing. Elric turned and smiled to Claire. "Alright, down it is."
An empty wheelchair falling down the stairs in an empty hospital was never a good sign. Claire and Elric went down to what they thought was the basement. The sound of machinary came to their ears again and the fire beneath the grate was brighter. The hallway at the bottom turned abrubtly and led into another hallway. Elric and Claire rounded the corner and then wished they hadn't. The scream sounded again, this time coming from its source in front of them. Another monster, humanoid like the others, had claws the length of pencils and a wide gaping maw lined with razor blades for teeth. Elric turned and shoved Claire in the direction of the stairs. "GO!", he shouted. The monster ran at them.
Elric could only move as fast as Claire since she was in front of him and she wasn't fast enough. A sharp pain spread through his back. The monster had dragged its bloody claws through the Robbie the Rabbit shirt, leaving four trails of blood. Elric gasped aloud but kept running, almost on top of Claire. Claire ran up and around the spiraling stairs, past the wheelchair and all the way to the top. The top platform was cloaked in blackness. She ran blindly into the dark and slammed into a solid object. Elric slammed into her, jamming her further into the object. The monster was right behind them, he could hear it. Claire pushed on the solid object and it shot open, a door. Outside the darkness wasn't present, only the fog. They had made it to the roof.
Claire and Elric both pushed the door shut and held it, hoping the monster would be stopped. It pounded on the door several times before its claws made it through, slicing Claire's wrist. She leapt back in pain. Elric let go of the door and moved back to join her. The roof was wide in berth and was probably at one time fenced in but the fence had apparently disintigrated with time. The monster came through and rushed at Elric, screeching its foul scream. On instinct and that alone, Elric kicked out. His foot caught the monsters torso and he fell back, using his momentum to launch the ugly thing over his head. The monster soared over the edge of the roof and plummeted to the ground more than five floors below.
Elric laughed. "I was almost sliced and diced!".
Claire gave him a concerned look. "So cynical."
Elric got to his feet, still laughing. "She always thought so, too."
"Who did?", Claire asked.
"My bride-to-be."
"She's a brave one to marry you.", Claire teased.
"I thought you were her when I saved you back in town.", he admitted.
"At least I'm not the only one hallucinating in this joint."
"You look alot like her. You two could be sisters if I had to go on looks."
Claire sat down on the dirty rooftop and Elric did the same. Their wounds were starting to throb. Claire found her mind on Elric's lover. Something dawned on her.
"Do you have a picture of her?", she asked.
"Yeah, hold on.", he said, fishing in his pocket. He produced a brown leather wallet and tossed it to Claire. She opened it up and two pictures fell out. One was of Elric and his lover together and the other was the girl alone. Her light strawberry hair, short and pixie-like. The girl looked almost every bit like Claire besides the difference in hair length.
"Cassie.", Claire muttered.
"Yeah, you know her?", Elric asked
"She's my sister."
It was Elrics turn to go into shock. His jaw dropped to the ground. "So we are here for the same person. That makes working together alot easier."
Elric stood again and walked to a fenced in area of the roof. "Come on, let's get going."
Claire was awed at the sudden change of subject but followed anyway. Elric had found an elevator. He pressed the call button. Surprisingly, the doors slid open revealing a well lit elevator car. "Sweet! Come here Claire!"
Claire jogged to his side and peered into the blood-free elevator. "Going down?", she asked. "Yep.", was his answer.
The two stepped into the clean elevator and Elric hit the switch for the first floor. The ride down was smooth and soothing. All of that ended when the doors opened on the first floor. The hospital had returned to normal. Mostly. Claire almost cried out but Elric's strong hand came over her mouth and held. "Shh.", he whispered.
There were dozens of what were once nurses, now shambling monsters. They lined the hall and each held an awkward pose like a schizophrenic. They were unmoving, Elric wanted to keep it that way. He slowly inched out of the elevator, motioning for Claire to follow quietly. They ducked and weaved their way through the nurses to get to the doors on the other side. They were at the door when Elric's little finger brushed against one of the nurses. The nurse swung around with great speed swinging a scalpel. Elric narrowly dodged it and hurled himself and Claire through the door, slamming it shut once on the other side.
Elric let out a cynical giggle and turned around. Claire let out a scream. Elric follwed her horrified gaze to his abdomen. The tip of a very familiar rusty blade protruded from him. A spot of blood spread over his shirt. "W-Wha-", was all he could get out before a wet cough sent blood flying from his lips. The blade retracted and Elric fell to his knees, staring at the pool of his blood. The door splintered behind him as the pyramid head monster stomped in, dragging its long blade behind.
"Elric!", Claire screamed. He didn't seem to hear her over the thunderous steps of the monster. It grabbed him with its free hand and lifted him off the floor. Its pyramid tilted to the side as if it were examining him. Elric's weakening eyes stared right back. He smiled. The nurses behind the pyramid head stood and watched the spectacle as if it were a movie. Elric coughed more blood and gave his final words. "F-Fuck...You.", and then he bled out with a smile on his face. His body went limp and the pyramid cast him aside like a ragdoll before turning its attention to Claire.
Claire was in shock more than pain. She couldn't move as the pyramid head approached her, each footstep echoing.
"Stop!", a professional sounding female voice called.
The pyramid head stopped its march immedietly. From behind the monster came a young woman clothed in scrubs. Her brown hair pulled up into a bun.
"Wake up.", she said sternly. Claire didn't know what to make of it. She just stood there helpless, looking at the doctor. The young woman motioned to Claire and the pyramid head continued its advance. Claire backed away until she hit a wall in the wide empty room. She looked over to Elric's unmoving form and then back to the monster.
"No! No no no! Stop! Leave me alone!", she screamed, tears streaming heavily from her eyes.
"Wake up.", the doctor said again.
Claire continued to scream and the pyramid head closed the distance. It reached out with its scarred hand and grabbed Claire's injured shoulder. Intense pain flooded her body. She screamed louder and cried, unable to do anything against the hulking creature. It raised its rusted blade and stabbed Claire through the chest.