Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill 3. I only own the character of Katy.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, guys! Only a few more chapters to go now. So, enjoy this one! (=
Chapter 28: Stepping Into Hell
I only stayed in the library until I was sure Vincent was gone. Stuffing the tarot card in with the other one, I slipped through the library door, the other kerosene lamp swinging in my hand. Would it have killed them to have electricity in this Church?
The Missionary was waiting for me on that narrow ledge of a corridor, a complication that I had briefly forgotten. Was it true that Vincent looked at these monsters and saw the Order instead? If I started seeing them as people, would I be able to strike them down at all?
Nearly teetering on the edge, I tried to move past the Missionary. It was not an easy feat; the thing kept trying to slice me up with its long blades. It was a twisted dance between us-the Missionary would strike and I would slowly inch towards the other side of the hall. As soon as I was clear, I dashed for the elevator. The Missionary screeched and raced after me.
The elevator was old and barely opened. I attempted to pull the gate open, but it refused to budge. Come on, open! Switching the lamp to my other hand, I gripped the gate and pulled as hard as I could. The Missionary appeared from around the corner, its blades poised in front of it.
The gates slid open and I jumped inside, making sure to close the metal gate. The Missionary crashed into it and stuck its blades in between the slits in the gate. I pressed my body against the other end of the elevator and pulled a lever beside me. The elevator groaned and began to descend slowly.
The Missionary's blades must have been stuck there in the gate, for it struggled to get loose. As the elevator lowered, the Missionary wobbled on the edge of the platform. With a sound like gunfire, the blades became free, but it was too late for the Missionary. It was like slow motion; the monster lingered for a second over the edge, lost his balance, and finally plunged into the dark pit below.
The elevator halted on the second floor and I forced the gates open. There was a door straight in front of me, so I decided to choose that one.
It was like I had just stepped into the lowest level of hell itself. The walls were blood red and there were slabs of metal grating covering the floor. Beneath those grates were heat and what looked like fire. One wall was bare and beyond it was an infinite firey wall.
Valtiel was there, holding onto the firey wall with his claws. In his hand was a Nurse, its black head rolling and its white uniform burning as Valtiel shook it violently. As if he sensed my presence, Valtiel raised his head and met my eyes for a long moment.
Before I really saw what he did to that nurse, I rushed down the red hallway and burst into a room at the far end. It was some type of morgue, with gurneys and white sheets everywhere. Small openings in the walls held dead bodies. It was gruesome and I almost expected a dead body to grab my ankle or something.
A tarot card was placed on one of the gurneys, right above the chest of a dead body underneath. Cautiously, I reached for it and did not take my eyes off the lumpy figure lying there. What if the body wasn't dead?
My fingers came close to the tarot card and I snatched it up before something happened. Quickly I turned to face the door when a loud crash came. Spinning around, I saw the gurney that held the tarot card was now on its side. The dead body had rolled away from the sheet; it was a woman and the empty eye sockets were staring at me.
Hastily, I exited the room, my heart jumping in my chest as I imagined that body lunging for me. It's a dead body, that's all it is...just a dead body.
Valtiel was no longer there when I passed through the red hall. There was no sign of the nurse he'd been tormenting and I wondered if he had dropped her into the pit below. Where was Valtiel now?
Back on the narrow corridor, I noticed that most of the doors on the second level had broken locks or did not budge when I pushed on them. The second to last door was the one to open easily and the the contents of the room squeezed my heart painfully.
It was a replica of Harry Mason's bedroom. It looked exactly the same as when Douglas and I had laid Harry on his bed, the life gone from his body. Warm, golden light streamed in through the blinds on the window, engulfing the room in an orange hue. The bed was stained with blood, but it was absent of a body. Instead, there was a journal there, the pages old and dated seventeen years before. I skipped to the last entry and spotted Alessa's name, penned in scrawling script.
I sometimes have the sense even now that...that girl is a reincarnation of Alessa. I don't worry about it much now that's all forgiven. You were unloved, Cheryl...or was it Alessa? Now Cheryl is Alessa again.
I closed the book instead of reading on. It almost felt like Harry was there in that room. I am not Alessa...I am not Cheryl, I reminded myself. Where did that leave the real Alessa?
Beneath the journal was another tarot card-that was four now. Enough to unlock the door in Alessa's room. Enough to prepare me for the showdown that was waiting ahead.
The room struck me as lonesome and abandoned, despite the sunlight. Part of me didn't want to leave and face whatever horrors were waiting out there in the Church. If I simply lay out on this bed, would Claudia ever find me? Would the God ever be born if I do nothing? I have to face her. I have to end this, I realized. With that fact in mind, I gave the bright room one last long look and then left, closing the door forever behind me.
...
Time for the showdown...but what will happen? You'll have to wait and see! Until next time, readers!