Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill 3. I do not own any of the characters, only Katy.

A/N: I want to thank those that reviewed my story last time. As long as some are reading, I'll keep writing. I hope you didn't mind the whole "tell Douglas that the main character is experiencing a videogame" thing. I was kind of wondering how he would take it.

Well, tell me what you think of the next chapter!

Chapter 19: The Short Life of Thomas Sullivan

The remaining ten minutes of the ride to Lakeside Amusement Park was the longest period of time I had experienced yet. Douglas kept giving me sidelong glances like he thought I might transform into an alien sometime soon. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell him the truth after all, not if he was going to treat me like an unstable being.

"If your story is true—and I'm not saying I believe it one hundred percent—then Harry Mason isn't your father…is he?" The car bumped along Nathan Avenue, nearly reaching our destination. My fingers curled around the folded map that was trapped in my hands as I became unsettled.

"No, he's not," I answered. Douglas nodded slowly, as if he were digesting this fact. Did he even believe me at all? Or did he think I had lost my sanity in this god-forsaken town?

"If that's true, then why are you going after Claudia? What's in it for you?" His question floated around me mind for a minute. I had always known that I wasn't Heather; Harry wasn't my father and I hadn't technically lost anything during Claudia's brief act of violence. What was in it for me? There was only one definite answer.

"Freedom. I want nothing more than to end this nightmare. Besides, Claudia doesn't deserve to walk away, not after the lives she's taken. It might be just a videogame, but still." My voice was quiet but firm. Douglas stopped the car as we reached the entrance to the amusement park and he stared at me for a long time.

"I can't wrap my head around it, but I'll help you. Now, what's our plan?" Douglas looked to me for directions and—for the first time—I gave him a genuine smile.

"Let's stay together as much as we can. I don't want something to happen while we're separated," I told him, getting out of the car. Douglas followed and we paused by the large gates. Inside, the park was dim and foggy, much like my nightmare.

"Like me losing a leg?" Douglas half-smiled at me as he referred to my "prediction" that he'd break his leg.

"For a second, Detective, it sounded as though you believed my story," I teased him lightly. Douglas shrugged and combed a hand through his thinning hair.

"I'm just keeping an open mind, that's all." Yeah, right, I thought as I gave him a knowing look. Carefully, Douglas assisted me with pushing the gates open and—together—we stepped into the abandoned site of Lakeside Amusement Park.

…

It was foggy, maybe even foggier than outside the gates. Shadows obscured everything, as if midnight had suddenly descended on us. Dozens of Robbie the Rabbit costumes were scattered around, with blood pooling around them and staining the pink velvet. I wasn't even sure if there was anyone inside the costumes, but I didn't feel like sticking my head close to the opening, either. Douglas gazed down at one and shook his head with pity.

"What the hell happened here?" He tore his eyes away from the lifeless costume, its wide cheerful eyes looking a tad bit creepy in the beam of my flashlight. I had been creeped out by those things ever since I saw a miniature Robbie the Rabbit staring through a hole in the wall in Silent Hill 4. I half expected one of them to come alive at that moment.

"The Otherworld happened here. The monsters are in here, too. I wouldn't touch that if I were you," I hinted as Douglas bent down to examine one of the costumes. He straightened and glanced around, his eyes narrowing. It was much too quiet here, but I knew this area was the only secure one.

"Alright, you're the expert, I guess. Where do we go?" Douglas was giving me the benefit of the doubt and so I took control. The memory of the steps of this level entered my mind, though I wasn't sure how it would be with Douglas tagging along.

"Well, there's no map of the amusement park. We'll need to head towards—whoa!" A sweaty hand clamped around my ankle and I fell face first on the ground. Douglas immediately had his gun out, pointing at whatever had grabbed me. There's not supposed to be any monsters here! I should have heard my radio, I thought, hopelessly trying to piece the puzzle together.

Douglas reached a hand down and helped me up, his gun still trained on his target. One of the Rabbit costumes was shaking slightly and a man's face appeared from underneath the head. For a minute, I thought it was Vincent and I was about to launch into a fit. Then, the man lifted his head and turned his eyes to me. He was thin, with a head of brown hair and brown eyes. I realized he was only a few years older than me. So my fear of one of the rabbits coming alive actually came true…

"He-help me. The devil…she's here! Everyone…dead! S-so much b-b-blood," the man stuttered. His face was pale and ghostly white. Blood matted his hair on one side and I could just make out a cut on his forehead. Douglas leaned down and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy huddled into a small shape, his knees bent to his chest and his body convulsing.

"The devil? Did a woman pass by here? A woman with light blonde hair and a black dress?" I pictured Claudia in my mind, ordering her creatures to kill. Was she the one responsible for this chaos? How many lives had she taken? The man raised his head and his eyes grew wide until I could see the whites of his eyeballs. Poor guy, I thought, feeling sympathy for him.

"The devil! P-please! No more blood! Don't l-leave me h-here," the man cried out, his shrieks echoing in the darkness. Douglas offered words of comfort—the standard "everything will be fine" and "you're safe now"—but I wasn't listening. This man wasn't out yet. There was little chance that we'd be able to get him an ambulance here. I knew, though I refused to say it, that this man might die tonight. "Why did I d-deserve this? Those creatures and the d-darkness! W-we're in Hell," the man stated, a true fact in my mind.

"What's your name, son?" Douglas addressed him with concerned eyes, his voice calm and soothing. The man's body shook violently as though he were having a seizure and then he gazed at Douglas. My eyes strayed to the torn cloth of the costume; the Missionaries must have clawed at him and given him terrible lacerations. How deep were they and how much blood had he already lost?

"T-thomas Sullivan…Oh, God!" he replied. Something in my mind clicked and I eyed the stranger with wonder. Douglas didn't appear to notice anything out of the ordinary. As a Silent Hill gamer, I knew the name "Sullivan". But was it coincidence? I wanted to ask, but it was too late.

The man's face went slack and his eyes widened even further. His body convulsed for another minute and gargling sounds came from the man's throat. It sounded like the man was trying to speak, but there was too much blood. Douglas gripped the man's shoulders until the shudders stopped and the body went still. As silence filled the air, I lowered my eyes and Douglas hung his head. That was simply another person gone in Silent Hill, never to be remembered again.

…..

I just wanted to throw something like that in, mainly because I was wondering what would happen if one of those things came alive. Poor Thomas Sullivan…if you want, you can speculate about his name. To me, it's just another Easter Egg of sorts.

So, I hope the readers enjoyed it (even though it's kind of short). The next one will be longer as Katy and Douglas venture through the amusement park…but what will happen along the way? Until next time! (=