Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill (place, events, characters, etc.) at all. I only own my OC, Katy.
A/N: Guess what? There's actually character interaction in this chapter. Yep, Vincent shows up in this one! (= This should be interesting…so I hope everyone enjoys it and tells me what they think of it afterwards.
Chapter 12: Vincent
The pain inside my skull slowly evaporated, leaving my ears ringing. My legs were sticky with the overflowing blood from the bathtub and I could swear that it was crawling around me. The tendrils of blood curled around my legs, slicing cleanly into them like sharp knives. Gasping, I stood and wiped frantically at my legs. One of my hands slid over my wound and I hissed as pain spiked through it.
The layout of the room had shifted along with the nightmare world. A long walkway led to the only accessible door; the rest of the room was sectioned off by barbed wire and chain-link fences. Behind those fences, I saw bodies twisted in impossible directions and hollow eyes staring at me. On the ground near one of the fences was a long, sharp sword; I recognized it as a katana. It was light and easy to swing, proving to be a good weapon. I guess this will have to do for now, I thought as I crossed over the walkway to the door, carrying the katana in my hands.
The minute I stepped outside, an inhuman cry pierced the silence followed by the sound of something scrabbling along the floor. Around the corner came a small, anteater-like monster. It was a Slurper and it rushed towards me with blinding speed, knocking me over before I even got a chance to react. As soon as I was on the ground, the thing crawled over my legs and tried pushing underneath my skirt. Its body felt dry like sandpaper and it scratched my skin as it went.
"Get the hell off me," I screamed as I plunged the katana into its back. The Slurper retreated and its body started convulsing like it was having a seizure. Taking the katana out, I landed a few blows to its head until it became still on the ground. I waited for a few seconds until I was sure that it wasn't getting up. Those things are so nasty; they practically raped me, I thought with disgust.
The room that I was standing in was creepier than the last one. Cages were lined up along one side, reaching from floor to ceiling. One of them was open, revealing a gray body clutching a doll. Perhaps it was me, but the body looked similar to Pyramid Head, except without its helmet. A wheelchair was sitting next to the cages, a voodoo doll placed in the seat. I wasn't sure, but it seemed like the doll's eyes followed me through the room. Goosebumps covered my skin as I turned my head away. What kind of child could think of this kind of nightmare?
Stepping over the supposedly dead body of the Slurper, I found the doorway that led to the hallway. It didn't even look the same anymore; the doors were now orange and the tiles were hidden underneath grime. The lights were blown and darkness was all I could see up ahead. Gripping the katana, I moved towards the two doors to my left. A torn newspaper was on the floor, bearing today's date. The words were obscured by blood and unreadable.
One particular door—this one splattered with a streak of blood—featured the mental health department, of all things. Its handle was rusted and it took me a minute to break the door open. Inside was a receptionist's area, a curtain separating the office from view. To the side was a bench and some potted flowers that were severely wilting. On the bench was an envelope with a picture inside—my picture. It must have been taken inside the burger shop at the mall; the shop's logo was displayed directly behind me. On the back of the photo were a couple of words in scrawled handwriting: the Holy One….kill her?
Dropping the photo on the bench, I focused on the door straight ahead. I already knew what was coming; I just wanted to get it over with. Remember Katy….no slip-ups. Douglas might not have the right mind to be bothered by it, but Vincent definitely won't let it go, I told myself. Sighing, I grasped the knob and opened the door.
...
The room was incredibly dim with only one light offering any solace. It was some kind of office; shelves of books lined the walls and a desk was positioned in the back. Vincent was sitting at the desk and studying a book, dressed in his librarian-style attire, his brown hair falling into his eyes and his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He must have heard me enter, but he didn't look up.
"Ah, Katherine," he said, a cunning smile forming on his lips. As he glanced up, I noticed that he wasn't directly looking at me, at least not one hundred percent. One eye was gazing at me while the other was staring slightly past me. He leaned back in his chair as he observed me. "Is that what you're going by these days?"
"First of all, it's Katy. Second, who are you?" I forced myself to ask the question. If I didn't, it would only give him a reason to be suspicious. Something in his eyes changed; it was as though he knew I was lying to him then.
"My apologies, Katy," he replied. I didn't like the way he said my name; it made me regret correcting him in the first place. "The name's Vincent. Don't forget it, okay?" He sounded so serious that I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at him. Yeah, right. I don't think I'm going to forget it anytime soon. Vincent leaned across the desk and gazed pointedly at my leg wound. "That's a nasty wound you've got there. Careful; you might lose it," he told me in that mocking voice of his.
"Right. Do you actually think I'd let a doctor amputate my leg?" Staring down at my wound, I realized it did look pretty bad, but I meant what I said. Vincent's smile grew wider and it felt that he knew something I didn't or that he had made a joke that I didn't understand.
"That's not what I meant," he said, waving the subject off with his hand. It occurred to me that he was referring to the Double-Heads, possibly chewing off the rest of my leg. It was then that I imagined how I must look to him; I had blood staining my hair, my clothes were so torn and messy that it looked like I murdered someone, my palm was cut from the glass, and I had a major leg wound that needed new bandaging soon. Compared to me, he appeared clean and precise. But then again, Vincent did say he hated getting "hot and sweaty."
"So tell me…can I trust you? Or are you really working with Claudia?" Vincent's face went from serene to sudden irritation at the mention of Claudia. Still, I wasn't sure whether he was trustworthy—even if she did manage to kill him at the end of the game.
"Claudia? Please don't lump me together with her! She was completely brain-washed by that crazy old hag," he exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and rushing towards me. The sudden movement caused me to move backwards and I held up the katana, warning him away. Vincent calmed down, holding out his hands in surrender. "I guess 'crazy old hag' is a bit harsh. She was your mother, after all," he explained, expecting me to react in shock.
"You're talking about Dahlia, right? Let's get this straight: I'm not Alessa," I snapped. Vincent didn't so much as flinch at the harshness of my words. As if nothing had happened, that smile of his returned. I felt like a tiny mouse being watched by a snake.
"So you say," he replied, gesturing to me. "How much did Harry tell you? He's one sneaky guy," Vincent said, speaking Harry's name with a snide voice. Anger filled me, but at least I wasn't going to lash out at him like Heather. After all, he wasn't even my father.
"You're one to talk. You're not exactly trustworthy, either. Why don't you talk to me like a normal person? Why not give me answers instead of more questions?" Vincent didn't let me finish before he was already shaking his head. His eyes burned into mine and his gaze made me feel small. It seemed as though he hadn't even heard my rude statement towards him.
"No, not yet. Why not enjoy yourself a bit longer?" Vincent put the most emphasis on the word 'enjoy' while I cringed with confusion. He may not have been more insane than Claudia, but he was pretty close.
"Enjoy? I feel like I'm going crazy! Doesn't this place get to you?" It was only after I had said it that I realized I was quoting Heather now. Great, one more step to losing my identity.
"Oh, it gets to me alright," Vincent was saying, glee spreading across his face. A crazy gleam remained in his eyes and, for a second, I could see him as being insane, like every other person in Silent Hill. No wonder he was staying in the mental health department. "I find this place most fascinating!"
"Of course you do," I retorted, walking straight past him to the door in the back of the room. Now I understood why Heather was so anxious to leave. I couldn't take one more minute in the room, even if Vincent did qualify as another human being in this hellhole. Vincent spun as I passed, a frustrated look clear on his face.
"Wait a minute! I'm not finished talking," he protested, pointing at me. With one hand on the doorknob, I glanced back at him.
"Well I am. By the way, you may not be working with Claudia, but you're just like her," I told him bitterly. Vincent's eyes narrowed dangerously and I wondered just what he was capable of if I made him mad.
"How do you figure?" Apparently, this was the insult that most bothered him; being compared to someone like Claudia. Figuring I'd let him dangle for a moment, I gave him the terrible once-over.
"There's something wrong with you, too," I replied before pulling open the door. I expected him to leave it at that, just as he had in the cutscene in the game. Unfortunately, he had to have the last word.
"Be careful," he warned me with false concern. "Despite what others might tell you, curiosity is a sin." Those words haunted me for a while after I stormed out of that office, even if I wasn't keen to letting Vincent know just how much he had gotten to me.
….
Well, that's it for this chapter. How was it? Vincent really is a strange character isn't he? As always, reviews are the key to my motivation and help to keep this story alive!