Chapter 12 – Dr. Fitch and Mayor Bartlett
The hospital that Elle Holloway and Alex Shepherd stepped into was eerily quiet. It was the kind of silence that put Alex, a soldier used to the most brutal of environments, on edge. The smell of antiseptics mixed with rot and decay like the hospital was slowly dying. He and Elle moved through the hall cautiously, weary of any other creatures that may be waiting for them.
They knew this was where they could find Dr. Martin Fitch, one of the heads of the town's founding families. His office was once one of medical help for the citizens of Shepherd's Glen. But in the state of things, it had become a tomb.
"Are you sure this is where he is?" Elle asked. She glanced around nervously as if expecting one of the creatures they'd encountered earlier to attack at any moment.
"Yeah," Alex said, his grip tightening on the knife. "This is the last place anyone saw Fitch. If he's still alive, he's probably in here."
Elle didn't respond, but the look on her face said enough. She didn't want to be here, and neither did Alex, but they didn't have a choice. If Dr. Fitch had answers, they desperately needed them.
They reached Dr. Fitch's office door, a nameplate barely visible under a layer of dust. Alex hesitated for a moment, then they pushed the door open.
The sight inside was worse than either of them had expected.
Dr. Fitch was kneeling in the center of the room, surrounded by bloodstained medical tools and old dolls. All were scattered across the floor. His hands, covered in fresh cuts, trembled as he clutched a surgical scalpel. The man was a mere shadow of his former self, his once clean white coat was now stained with the color of blood, his own. His eyes, bloodshot, stared down at the dismembered doll in front of him as if it were his daughter.
"Scarlett…" he whispered, shaking with sorrow. "Daddy's sorry. So… so sorry…"
"Dr. Fitch!" Alex called out desperately to him. "Stop! You don't have to do this."
But Fitch didn't seem to hear Alex. He was too far gone, consumed by guilt that had been eating away at him. His hands trembled as he drew the blade closer to his chest, and then he carved another deep cut into his skin. It was a self-inflicted punishment, a desperate attempt to atone for the sins he had made, the sacrifice of his daughter.
Elle's voice shook. "You… you sacrificed her, Fitch, didn't you? To the cult."
Dr. Fitch snapped up, terrified, as if he had only just realized the two of them were standing there. He looked up at Alex and Elle, trembling as he spoke.
"I… I had to," Fitch stammered, his voice breaking. "She was… she was innocent, but it had to be done. The… the pact. The gods of Silent Hill demanded it. But I tried to make it quick and painless. I tried to make it quick, for her. I swear, I didn't want to hurt my baby!"
Alex stepped forward, angrily. "You didn't have to do it! You could've stopped them, Fitch! You could've fought back."
Fitch shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "I'm a coward! I couldn't stop Holloway. She controls everything and everyone in Shepherd's Glen. I couldn't… I couldn't save her. My poor little Scarlett…"
Elle stepped forward utterly disgusted by Fitch. "Your daughter didn't deserve this."
At that moment, a loud crash echoed from the hallway behind them. Alex and Elle spun around, raising their weapons, Alex his knife, and Elle her metal pipe. The air grew colder, and the dim hospital lights flickered.
Alex looked back to Fitch just as the ground beneath them began to shake. He grabbed Elle by the arm, pulling her back as a gaping hole tore open in the center of the room, the floor collapsing.
Dr. Fitch remained on his knees, unmoved by the destruction moving all around him. He was too far gone as a man. His own eyes remained fixed on the doll in front of him, oblivious to the dark figure that was now emerging from the gaping hole in the ground.
The creature was a nightmarish reflection of Scarlett Fitch, a twisted, monstrous version of the daughter Fitch had sacrificed and loved. Its body was unnaturally elongated, and its face, though porcelain-like, was cracked and broken, eyes void of any humanity. The creature loomed over Fitch, its jagged, bloodstained fingers reaching towards him.
"Scarlett…" Fitch whispered. "I'm sorry… Daddy's so sorry…"
The creature lashed out, and in a swift, brutal motion, broke Dr. Fitch's neck and callously tossed him to the side.
"Run!" Alex yelled, grabbing Elle's hand and bolting for the door.
The two of them barely made it out of the office before the creature's jagged limbs smashed through the door. Alex pulled Elle down the hallway, weaving through the halls of the hospital as the monster followed close behind. Its screeches echoed off the walls, and every step it took shook the building.
Alex and Elle burst into a large room, the hospital's old theater, desperate for a safe place to hide. But there was no escape for the two of them. The doors slammed shut behind them, trapping them inside with the creature.
Alex spun around, raising his knife. "We're going to have to fight it." He said to Elle.
Elle nodded. "Whatever this thing is… it's not Scarlett anymore."
The creature screeched again and lunged forward. Alex dodged the first strike, slashing at the creature's arm with his knife. The blade connected, cracking its porcelain skin, but the creature barely reacted. It swung again, forcing Alex to roll out of the way.
"Elle, get back!" he shouted.
Elle scrambled behind a set of overturned medical carts, but she wasn't going to stay hidden. She grabbed a broken pipe from the floor, determined to help Alex fight the creature, no matter the cost.
The fight between the three of them was brutal. Alex and Elle struck hard at the creature, but its porcelain body seemed almost indestructible. Every blow only caused minor fractures at best, and the creature's relentless attacks forced them to stay on the move. It screeched with every hit, its jagged limbs thrashing violently.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Alex saw an opening, a crack in its porcelain armor. As the creature lunged at Elle, he jumped onto its back, driving his combat knife deep into the crack that had formed in its chest. The creature let out a final, ear-piercing shriek as its body began to shatter from the inside out.
Alex pulled the knife free and stabbed again before jumping back as the creature collapsed to the ground. Its porcelain form began breaking into hundreds of pieces.
Both Alex and Elle stood there, panting, covered in dust and blood. Elle dropped the pipe, her hands trembling after the battle.
"We… we did it," she breathed shakily as if she couldn't quite believe it was over.
Alex nodded, though he couldn't shake a feeling of guilt that was creeping back into him. This wasn't a victory, this was just another tragedy in town.
Elle stepped closer, placing a hand into his. "Are you okay?"
He looked down at her, seeing worry creep into her eyes. He wanted so desperately to tell her that he was fine. That they would figure everything out together. But all he could think about was Joshua. And now, seeing Elle so close to danger that guilt only deepened for him.
"I don't know," Alex said quietly. "But we have to keep moving. Fitch didn't have the answers we were looking for."
Elle nodded, the unspoken bond between them was like a growing tension that neither of them had quite put into words.
The cemetery was quiet, the fog curled around the old tombstones which cast long shadows in the dim moonlight. Alex and Elle made their way through the maze of gravestones, each saying nothing, burdened by their recent encounter with Dr. Fitch.
"This place is… suffocating," Elle whispered. "What could Bartlett still be doing out here?"
Alex didn't answer her immediately. He had been trying to piece things together ever since their last encounter with the mayor. Bartlett had been digging frantically in the graveyard. It was as if he was a man possessed, consumed by something dark. It wasn't just guilt. It was deeper than that. Twisted, just like the entire town.
"He's digging for Joey," Alex finally said. "He's looking for his son."
Elle nodded. "It's about the ritual… about the sacrifices. He sacrificed Joey, didn't he?"
"Yeah," Alex muttered. "They all did."
They approached the center of the graveyard, where the earth had been freshly dug into. Deep holes were scattered amongst the tombstones, each one deeper than the last. And there, they found Mayor Bartlett.
He was on his knees, his hands bloodied from digging, his clothes torn and filthy. He was muttering to himself, his eyes wide, staring into the hole he had been furiously working on.
"Joey… Joey, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… I had to do it… for the gods… for the town…" Bartlett's voice cracked as he clawed at the dirt, his fingernails worn down and caked with mud and blood.
Alex and Elle exchanged a glance with one another before approaching him. The mayor didn't seem to notice them, his mind lost in the pits of his despair.
"Bartlett," Alex called out. "You need to stop this. Joey's gone. There's nothing you can do."
The mayor looked up, expression wild and desperate. "He's here… He's here, Alex! My boy, he's here! I just need to dig a little deeper. I'll bring him back. I can fix this… I can make it right!"
Elle stepped closer to Bartlett. "This won't fix anything. You sacrificed Joey. You're the reason he's gone."
While Bartlett contorted his face in pain, he didn't stop digging. "No… no… You don't understand. I didn't want to. I didn't mean to. Holloway… she made us. She made all of us. I didn't have a choice. But Joey… he understands. He knows why I did it. I know he'll forgive me."
Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled. The earth around the graves shifted, and a low growl came from the hole Bartlett had been digging. Alex tensed, gripping his knife tightly as he felt something stirring below.
"Bartlett, get the hell away from there!" Alex shouted.
But it was too late.
A monstrous hand shot up from the earth, its skin pale, the fingers elongated and twisted. It grabbed Bartlett by the arm, yanking him down into the pit. The mayor screamed in terror as his cries echoed through the graveyard as he was dragged into the hole by the nightmarish creature that had once been his son.
Alex and Elle could only watch in horror as Bartlett's body disappeared beneath the ground, his screams suddenly cut short by a sickening crunch.
Then, from the darkness of the pit, the creature emerged.
The creature that had once been Joey Bartlett, now stood before them, an abomination, a nightmarish parody of what was once a human child. Its skin was stretched taut over its skeletal frame, its limbs unnaturally long and twisted, just like Scarlett. Its face was a horrifying mix of childlike features and monstrous deformities, with empty eyes that glowed faintly in the fog.
The creature let out a moan as it crawled out of the grave, its twisted form moving with jerky, unnatural motions. It stared at Alex and Elle for a moment, tilting its head as if it recognized them.
"Alex…" Elle whispered. "That thing… is Joey."
Alex clenched his jaw. "It's not Joey anymore. It's just… whatever's left of him."
The creature let out another loud moan, before charging at them with terrifying speed.
"Move!" Alex yelled, grabbing Elle's arm and pulling her back just in time to dodge the creature's lunge. Its arms swiped at the air where they had just been standing, missing them by mere inches.
They scrambled behind a tombstone, catching their breath as the creature circled them.
"We have to stop it!" Elle shouted. "But how? It's not human anymore!"
Alex glanced around. They needed to fight back somehow. The creature was faster and stronger than anything they had faced so far. But it was also erratic, unsteady. Maybe they could use that against it.
"Stay low," Alex ordered. "It's quick, but if we can tire it out… maybe we can find an opening."
Elle nodded, readying herself as the creature circled again, its twisted limbs twitching with every movement.
Joey Bartlett, no, the thing that had once been Joey, charged at them again, its arms flailing wildly. Alex ducked and rolled to the side, slashing at its leg as it passed. His blade connected, slicing through its pale skin, but the creature didn't seem to notice. It screeched, turning its attention to Alex with a roar.
Alex dodged another swipe, narrowly avoiding its claws as it tried to grab him. He stumbled, falling back against a headstone as the monster loomed over him.
"Alex!" Elle shouted, filled with panic.
The creature lunged again, but this time Alex was ready for him. He rolled to the side, bringing his knife up with all his strength. The blade plunged into the creature's side, and it let out a blood-curdling scream as it recoiled.
Elle rushed forward, throwing a piece of broken gravestone at the creature's head. The chunk of granite connected, and the creature staggered, its grotesque form wavering.
Now was their chance.
Alex pulled his knife free and drove it deep into the creature's chest. It screeched one final time, its body convulsing as it collapsed to the ground, twitching violently before finally going still.
Alex and Elle stood there, breathing heavily, staring down at the twisted, broken body of what had once been Joey Bartlett.
Elle was the first to speak. "We did it…"
Alex didn't respond immediately to Elle. His mind was still racing, as what they had just done settling in. Bartlett was gone, consumed by his madness. And Joey… whatever that creature had been, it wasn't the boy he once knew.
But Shepherd's Glen wasn't finished with them yet.
"We need to keep moving," Alex finally said. "This isn't over."
Elle nodded, though the look of fear in her eyes told him she knew that too. They walked away from the graveyard, leaving the horrors behind for good.
Alex and Elle walked in silence, every step felt like it dragged them deeper into the town's fate, and every minute they spent fighting for survival only seemed to pull them further from hope.
The fog swirled around them, thick and oppressive, and in the distance, the echoes of monsters shifted within the mist, stalking them.
Alex found his thoughts wandering back to Joshua. His little brother's face flashed in his mind, the wide, innocent eyes, his smile, the look of fear Alex had seen the last time he'd held him. Joshua had always been a mystery to him, even before everything went wrong. There had always been something about his brother that he couldn't quite grasp. And now, with everything that was happening in Shepherd's Glen, Alex couldn't shake the feeling that Joshua had been more than just a victim of the town's curse.
The pieces were beginning to fall into place. Bartlett had sacrificed his son Joey. Fitch had offered his daughter, Scarlett. Was Joshua meant to be a part of that same horrific ritual? Had his own family, his father, the one man he'd trusted, allowed it to happen? Did that mean, Nora, Elle's sister, was chosen too?
Alex clenched his fist as he walked. The anger boiled inside him. If Joshua was meant to be sacrificed, what did that mean for his father? Had Adam Shepherd, the man who had raised him to be strong, to fight for his family, really been a part of this nightmare? Or was he fighting to break free from it?
"Alex?" Elle looked at him with concern. "You've been quiet. What's going on?"
Alex was unsure if he wanted to voice the thoughts that had been gnawing at him. But there was no escaping it now. He had to confront it, even if it shattered everything he thought he knew about his family.
"I think…" Alex started. "I think Joshua was meant to be the sacrifice. For the Order. For whatever sick pact my father made with the town."
Elle stopped walking, turning to face him. Her eyes widened with shock, but she didn't look surprised. It was as if a part of her had suspected it all along.
"Alex, you don't know that for sure," she said softly, though doubt was finding its way into her voice.
"Don't I?" Alex shot back, frustration bubbling to the surface. "Look at what happened to Bartlett. Fitch. They sacrificed their children to the Order, to the god of Silent Hill, just like… just like my father might have done with Joshua. Just like your mother might have done with Nora."
Elle shook her head, her voice barely a whisper. "But your dad's fighting back now, isn't he? He's trying to stop Mom and the rest of them. He wouldn't-"
"He might not have had a choice!" Alex snapped back, cutting her off. "Maybe that's why he's fighting now, because he knows what he did, and he's trying to make up for it like Fitch and Bartlett were. Or maybe he's just trying to survive, to save himself."
Alex ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth. He didn't know what to believe anymore. His father was waging a war against Holloway, trying to fight the Order, but for what? To right his wrongs, or simply to save his skin?
Elle stepped closer to him, embracing him in her arms. "You don't have to do this alone, Alex. We'll figure this out together. Whatever happened to Joshua and Nora… we'll find out the truth."
Alex's eyes softened as he looked at Elle. She had been with him through everything so far, facing horrors that no one should ever have to face. She showed him loyalty and strength, they were the only things keeping him grounded. But at the same time, she reminded him of everything he had failed to do. He had failed to protect his brother. Was he about to fail her too?
"Elle…" Alex began, unsure how to share what he was feeling. "I don't know what to do anymore. Part of me just wants to get out of here with you, to escape all of this. The other part wants to stay, find Dad, and help him fight all this."
Elle looked up at him. Then she spoke. "You're not the only one struggling, Alex. This town… it's taken everything from us. And my mom… I don't know what she's planning, but I know it's not good. If we run, we might be able to get away. But if we stay and fight, we could stop this. End it for good."
Alex searched her eyes, looking for any signs of doubt. But Elle remained solid and unwavering. She had her reasons for wanting to stop the cult, her mother's betrayal, and the sacrifice of her sister Nora. She had every right to leave like him, but here she was, standing beside him, willing to face the horrors ahead.
"You think we should fight, don't you?" Alex asked.
Elle sighed. "I don't know, Alex. I want to get out of here just as much as you do. But part of me knows that if we don't stop this now, it'll never end. Mom and the Order will keep taking from us, from everyone, until there's nothing left."
Alex's chest tightened. He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Running now might give them a chance to survive, but it wouldn't fix anything. And there was still the lingering question of what had happened to Joshua. Alex needed answers that he could only find if he stayed.
"I just…" Alex paused, voice cracking. "I don't want to lose you, Elle. I've already lost too much."
Elle's eyes softened, and she reached out, cupping his face in her hands. "You won't lose me, Alex. I'm not going anywhere."
For a moment, they stood there, their foreheads resting together, sharing the quiet space between them. But the moment didn't last.
A sudden growl echoed from the fog, pulling them back to the reality of the situation. The monsters were closing in again.
"We need to move," Elle said.
Alex nodded, his mind still swirling with doubts and questions, but he pushed them aside for now. They had a war to survive, and decisions to make.
As they set off again, Alex couldn't help but feel the growing weight of his choices. Family or survival? Duty or escape? Loyalty to his father or a life free away from the town's dark influences? And with every step he took, he knew the decision would only get harder.
Alex felt the need to find his father, Adam, and remnants of their previous encounter with Curtis still lingered, but the deeper thoughts about Joshua haunted him more. He needed to know what had happened to his brother, and he hoped Adam would give him some answers.
"Where do you think he could be?" Elle asked. The fog swirled around them, masking the road ahead.
"I don't know," Alex admitted. "He might be holding up in the police station or back at the house. We should check the station first. He's been working on gathering support against your mother and the Order."
They moved quickly through the streets, fog closing in all around them. Alex's heart raced with every shadow that shifted in his sight.
The police station came into view, a mass of brick and concrete, windows dark and hollow. The sight was oddly comforting amidst the chaos, this was a place of authority, a sanctuary away from the madness in Shepherd's Glen.
As they approached, Alex felt a mixture of hope and fear. What if his father was gone? What if Holloway had already struck? They pushed the doors open, the creaking echoing inside.
"Dad!" Alex called, stepping inside.
"Alex? Elle?" Adam's voice came from the back office, muffled but unmistakable.
They rushed toward the sound, pushing through the door to find Adam seated at a cluttered desk, maps and papers strewn about, a look of weariness stretched on his face.
"Thank God you're here!" Adam exclaimed, standing up abruptly. His eyes darted between them, searching for signs of injury. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"We fought off some monsters," Alex replied, trying to keep his voice steady. "But I need to know what you know about Joshua. Curtis said something… he might have been involved with the Order."
Adam's expression shifted, a flicker of pain crossing his features. "Joshua... I wish I had better news. I'm trying to piece together what's happening, but it's all connected to Holloway and her cult. I fear for him, Alex. The Order's reach is deeper than we thought."
Elle stepped forward, her voice steady. "We need to find out if he's alive, Adam. The town is losing its grip, and the monsters are getting worse."
Adam nodded, the weight of their shared burden pressing heavily on him. "We need to act quickly. If Holloway's plans are coming to fruition, we'll need everyone we can get."
Alex felt a spark of determination ignite within him. "Then let's gather what we can. We need to stop her before it's too late. We can't let her take anyone else."
Adam's gaze locked onto Alex's, a mixture of pride and concern reflected in his eyes. "We'll figure this out together, son. But be careful. Holloway will try to use everything against us, especially our connections."
As they gathered their supplies, Alex's mind raced with thoughts of loyalty and sacrifice. He knew he had to protect Elle, even as their relationship deepened with every shared moment. But with each passing day, the shadows of their families loomed larger, threatening to pull them apart.
"Are you ready for this?" Elle asked, catching his eye.
Alex took a deep breath. "Whatever happens, we face it together."