The elevator descent's downward to the lowest level started up with a jolt, causing Leon to nearly lose balance. He grabbed a hold of the rusty handle rail, cursing quietly under his breath. The closed elevator doors were cracked open slightly, he wondered vaguely if this thing had enough power to lug him far.
I'm starting to think fate doesn't like me very much.
The elevator gave off a strong smell of decay, not just a wisp in the air, it was strong. Like someone had died in here. Leon wrinkled his nose.
What's with this place?
Even the elevator was odd, the walls, instead of being whole, were bars. The floor beneath him was grating. Leon looked at the oncoming beneath him, his stomach twisting with the many ideas of what could be laying beneath him, what was waiting…
Through the slightly cracked doors, he caught a sight of another floor as he past it.
What the—
A sudden jolt tore him from his thoughts as the elevator stopped suddenly. Below him, darkness continued to be seen through the rusty grating like a big black hole ready to gobble him up. Leon had once again grasped the handlebars, definite sweat now pouring down his head. Was it just him, or was it getting hotter? All of a sudden, the cold air had changed, it had gone up about ten degrees. Leon wiped the sweat from his forehead, his tee-shirt now soaked. The dream flashed back into his mind of the poor, burning girl, her grinning skeleton that still had bits of flesh flecked onto the burned bone. The smell of burning flesh made him gag once more, he didn't know if he was remembering his dream or if it was in real life.
He covered his mouth his forearm, going forward and repeatedly pressing the morgue button. He grew more agitated by the moment, the heat was growing intense.
Gotta get out-can't breathe!
He slapped all the buttons at once angrily with a grunt. He regretted it as soon as he did it; the elevator buckled once, stopped, and then plunged downward into unseeing darkness. The heat momentarily forgotten, Leon grabbed the bars and struggled with his own weight, grinding his teeth together. The darkness soon gave way to light, swarming, and bright colors of red and orange and rust red.
The air stung his eyes and his stomach lurched repeatedly, he tried readying himself for the impact. Slowly, the elevator began to slow, and Leon straightened himself out, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. His was slowly passing floors now, the doors completely gone. The doorframe leading out to a floor revealed bloodied, black flecked walls and rusty doors. The hospital he had just left seemed to have vanished, leading him to this-this otherworld!
A twinge of fear made him watch the horrible scene, it was too horrible. A window against the wall only revealed complete darkness. The floor vanished suddenly, it ha grown very cold again. Leon shook his head, willing himself to wake up, but knowing he wouldn't. He couldn't think of a virus that did this, it seemed more supernatural.
Maybe I am still asleep in a hospital in Silent Hill, given crazy dreams from whatever drug they gave me.
He watched the tip of the second floor come up, revealing the same horrible hallway. He bars wouldn't let him get off this hell journey, it was like jail. His stomach lurched, he looked down the hallway in disbelief, his stomach dropping at the very sight. A figure stood in the very back of the hallway, he could make out a orange sweater and blonde hair from where he stood.
Ashley!
Ashley didn't scream his name, he watched in horror as he head twitch to her side, she was halfway down the hall in a second. "Ashley!" He called out, trying to catch her attention. She kept on twitching like one of the monsters, blood stained arms extending out in front of her. He heard her laugh, insane and violent; she was right up against the outer bars a second later at the gap, her face inches from his behind the bar. He screamed and lunged back. Her were rolled back entirely, crying red tears, her mouth was abnormally wide as thought her jar had been removed, blood trickled down the side of her mouth. She laughed again in a high, girly voice, twitching, and the elevator left the nightmarish face behind as it continued its slow descent.
Leon was still backed against the bars, trying to catch his breath. In his mind, he could only see the wide, bloodied jar and twitching head. Her laugh became fainter and fainter and Leon never wanted to see that-that thing again!
Please let this only be a nightmare.
Only blank wall again, a second later, he had landed.
The barred doors opened for him, leading into a dark room. Leon got off, flexed and ready for a fight. The doors shut noisily behind him. Leon whirled around and watched the elevator disappear back up.
The big, dark room was silent, different after being on the noisy elevator. Leon clicked on his light, aiming it over the rows of drawers. He walked more into the room, aiming his flashlight in every corner of the room first as though he were a priest, blessing a possessed house before ridding it of the poltergeists.
He walked past gurney's holding sheets with the large objects beneath them; the room gave off a very sterile feeling. He checked the walls for a light switch, not finding any. Dust settled on top of the sheets, some supporting blood as well.
How many of these deaths were from old age?
"Hello?" Leon called out. "You wanted to see me?"
There was no answer.
I will be waiting for you in drawer number seven…
Leon pointed his light at one side of the metal drawers on the wall, reading the black words carved neatly above the handle of each drawer. 26…25…24…
He walked more slowly to his right, silently mouthing the words to himself. Although he could not see a living soul, the feeling that dozens of eyes were turned on him make his neck prickle. Out of paranoia, he turned again, finding the room perfectly empty except for himself and the figures beneath the sheets…
The agent continued along again, the stainless steel glinted back his light blindingly. 10…9…8…Leon stopped, staring hard at drawer 7 with suspicion. A single red blot of blood obscured the upper right hand corner, but other than that, it seemed perfectly fine. Coarse hands grabbed the cold handle, agent Kennedy stood sideways of I, prepared fo anything to jump out at him. The drawer opened with a squeal, bits of dust flew up into the air. Leon held his breath…
…empty…
Not entirely, but nothing that was going to attack him. Leon let his breath out slowly, examining the drawer's content with interest. A 9mm handgun lay on the metal bottom of the drawer with a box of ammo lying at its side. Also, a light, much stronger than his own, and a old radio. Leon picked up the gun gratefully, he knew how to work this one the best, although he knew how to use many of guns. The flashlight worked very well, the powerful beam sliced through the darkness like a knife. He clipped it onto his shirt onto the pocket where it clung tightly; assuring him it wouldn't fall off. Leon found the gun already loaded, the extra box of ammo was good to have just in case. Then there was the radio.
A radio?
Leon picked it up, examining it. It was your average portable radio, probably received about four stations; the batteries ran out in about five minutes, worthless crap. He turned it on out of curiosity. At first, there was just noisy static. Turning the dial didn't help, every channel was just static; there probably was no signal under there anyways.
It would just weigh me down.
He was just about to toss it-when…
"…please…no…"
Leon fiddled with the switches instantly, trying to receive a better signal.
"Hello?" He asked, putting his moth up to it.
"…School…hurry…her...danger…"
Leon tried to put the message together, but the voice was constantly interrupted with static. "Ashley, is this Ashley?"
"School…darkness…soon…burn…BURNING…"
The voice died down and the static stopped.
Leon tried to bring them back, but it was no use, they were gone. He pocketed the radio, just I case and left it on.
Who was that?
They had said something about a school, was there danger there? Maybe there was an emergency in a school nearby and this radio had intervened with the stress call. Or maybe…
Is there a viral outbreak here too?
He thought back briefly to the creature he had killed before, the one in the nurses outfit, then the one dressed up like Ashley. They didn't look exactly like zombies, but then again, Raccoon City had had creatures other than zombies, there had been awfully deformed ones.
He thought back to the radio call. BURNING. It made him think of his dream and the burning girl. The poor girl. Leon wondered who had left this stuff here for him, what was he meant to do with it?
Need to find out where I am first.
He knew it was some sort of hospital, but where exactly? Silent Hill? He wasn't sure. Leon raised his gun and walked back over to the elevator, pressing the button and waiting for it to come. The morgue was really starting to creep him out, he didn't like the way the bodies were so still, he was just waiting for them to jump up and—
Ping.
The elevator has arrived. Leon stepped inside quickly, not eager for another confrontation with freaky mouth creature, but without another choice. The elevator slowly started to rise, creaking and groaning. Leon stood perfectly still, gun ready, waiting for the intense heat. A frown had formed on his face; he suddenly realized how scared he really was.
Ping. Within moments, the elevator discarded him off at the first floor, nothing else. Leon stepped off, his gaze widening at the fact that everything looked back to normal again. The walls, peeled and gray, were no longer blood caked, all the rust and decay had become…more ordinary.
Leon walked down the hall; his gun was raised next to him as though he were on a mission. He passed a window; the outside was nothing but a thick layer of fog. The still air seemed to catch his every echo, walls seemed to watch his every move, and the monsters, he thought to himself, seemed to wait to sense his very presence.
That nurse demon creature, her head was down, he didn't seem to have eyes, yet she saw you…
Suddenly, the radio crackled to life.
His light fell at the end of the hall where another demon was advancing toward him. Her head was bent down, she was scrambling toward him. Leon was a good aim, and the gun included a laser point. He aimed for the head and shot. The demon stopped, bending back but not falling. Red blood spattered from her grey skin but no wounds appeared. Within moments, she was hurrying toward him again. Leon shot again, backing away slowly so she wouldn't get too close. Bang. Bang.
The demon screamed again and again in a girl voice, recovering each time. Finally, she fell dead to the floor, dark blood gathering around her body. The static that Leon had been ignoring finally faded as soon as had been laying there for a few seconds dying. Leon examined that radio, wondering what had made it do it before placing it back in his pocket.
He continued down the long hallway. He didn't like the silence still, it seemed nearly unnatural. In his mind, he imagined what it was like outside, the horrible coursing noise. Was it like this everywhere here? So silent, so dark? Did the monsters lurk out in the open together in packs, or did they prefer the darkness, prefer surprise.
Do they eat you once you're dead?
How long has this place been like this?
A shiver ran up his spine as he tested a doorknob, finding a second later that it opened into an office. A quick look around told him there was not a soul in there. He closed the door behind him and stepped inside. There didn't appear to be anything of particular interest, just a stack of papers neatly on the desk, a wooden chair, some filing cabinets…
Out of pure curiosity, the agent went over to the stack of papers, hoping that he'd at least learn the building name. The paper was white, clean. Not yellowed or off white, as if the paper was brand new.
Patient 416 died today, we did everything possible to help. Patient 416 was found in shower room hung from the neck with both eyes gouged out with a very sharp tool. The blood had clogged the drain making a horrible mess. The culprit still has not been found and I'm worried about having charges pressed against hospital. Patient 416 had no family, our own people found him on the street. No one will miss him, but I am still worried about the hospital reputation. If word gets out this has happened, it will ruin us.
The paper ended there. Leon didn't like the thought of patients murdering each other in here, it was too creepy. He tossed the paper back on the table and decided that there was nothing else in there.
He stole back into the hallway, giving the hallway a quick check to make sure no one was there. He tried the door next to the office, finding that the lock was broken. The door next to it was like that as well. Leon paused a moment and sighed, running a hand through his blonde bangs.
I'm getting absolutely no where. Where do I go from here? The school, I'd guess. That person on the radio…
He shrugged one stiff shoulder and decided that the school was the best way to go, if someone needed help, than on or off vacation it was his job to do what he could to keep them safe. He trudged down the dark hallway, gun readied at his side.
Umbrella, 5:33 p.m.
Ada sneaked a quick look at the closed door of Wesker's office before pulling the manila envelope out of the folds of her red dress. Acting casual, she hurriedly walked down the hallway, her high heeled shoes tapping noisily on the white tiles. Whenever Ada though of the Umbrella building, she always associated it with white, there was white everything. Walls, tiles, counters, lights, it almost hurt her eyes.
She rounded the corner and came up to the next door that she knew was just an empty office and walked inside quickly. She didn't turn on the light for fear that someone would spot her, she had a small flashlight ready. The agent sat in the large chair in front of the wooden desk and set the manila folder in front of her, freshly stolen from Wesker's office.
Not many people could steal a document from Wesker right under his nose-one of the advantages of him trusting her, or so she thought. Ada didn't trust Wesker, and still didn't have a clear idea of what he was planning exactly. For the past week, he had been acting…strange, spending more and more time locked up in his office. She knew better than to ask him about the project she knew he was planning without him letting in on it himself, and she needed all the trust form him she could get.
That nervous girl, Laura, he had called her, had walked in to talk to Wesker. Wesker had let her stay, something that he usually did before he sent her on a mission. From what Ada could tell, Laura was still in there. Ada had stayed as long as Wesker permitted, which was not long enough. Ada had learned nothing, and that made her suspicion grow. Ada, who was a master at reading body language, knew that Wesker had lied to her when he'd said this concerned her as well. It didn't, and he knew. He didn't want her to know, but knew she had been suspicious and was trying to set her suspicions aside.
Both were suspicious of each other.
If Ada needed to find more information on this new 'project', she would have to find out herself.
Ada turned on her light and opened the folder. The first page read that anyone not permitted to read this who was doing so would face 'serious' consequences. Ada knew this well, and began to leaf through more pages. The more Ada read, the more her heart began to pound.
A picture was clipped to the corner of a page holding the picture of a peculiar looking young woman with long greasy blonde hair and dressed entirely in black. Her face was completely devoid of all human emotions, her eyes as stolid as stone. Ada thought there was something odd looking about her…
Name: Claudia Wolf
Occupation: Priestess
Birth: March 21st 1987
Death:???
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Grey
Missing since:???
Last scene:???
Other notes: No body ever found, no evidence of struggle, clothes of hers found apparently in Church where she worked and heavily burned. Cause of death unknown still. Is she still dead???? If so, what became of body?
The next page featured a picture of another young woman with shoulder length dark hair and a pale face.
Name: Angela Orosco
Occupation: Student
Birth: August 14 1982
Death:???
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Missing since:???
Last scene: At own home
Other notes: The day that Angela went missing, Thomas Orosco (The father) was found dead in the kitchen with multiple stab wounds in the chest. Angela still missing, case closed, body never found. Why can't anyone find the body? Is she still alive? Witness claimed to have seen similar looking girl years afterwards in shopping mall.
These are missing person reports. Ada realized. In Wesker's handwriting.
That was all that was in them. What was this? Had Wesker suddenly grown a heart and decided to help find these girls? Ada doubted it. The young woman sighed and stood, stretching. This was more puzzling than ever, Silent Hill? What was with that place? It was mentioned in one of the missing person reports, did it have something to do with one of Wesker's new 'projects'.
The reports held nothing else of interest; Ada grabbed them and walked out of the office, feeling creeped out though she didn't know why. She walked down the hall faster than usual, the sound that she usually loved of her high hells sounded shrill and hollow in her ears. She couldn't get the photo of the two girls out of her head. Angela's sad, almost torn look and Claudia's unreadable eyes. Both cases were unsolved, neither girl was ever found, yet Wesker seemed to think they were dead.
Ada turned the corner back toward her bosses' office, just in time to see his tall, muscular form standing outside his own doorway with a scowl on his face and a cold glint of his glasses.
"Is there something you want, Ada?"
Sorry it ended kinda abruptly but I'm beat. I've just finished my first week of exams plus a research paper so I feel a bit brain dead. Please read and review.
