before
The sounds of the monster faded away as suddenly as Ethan's ears picked up on them. Relief swept over him at first. Perhaps he even imagined it? Which wouldn't be surprising. Everyone else was probably feeling the same way - all seated together on one big traumatic roller coaster.
Genessee, Ryan, and Matthew continued to make their way through the red pool of (animal?) remains, when a deep thunk from the depths startled them.
After witnessing Capri's sudden demise with the acid shower, Ethan knew in his gut something bad was about to occur. Even so, he could hardly speak - or rather, couldn't form words.
"G-get.... out," Ethan's voice was barely a whisper.
The goo started to churn, making it harder for Genessee, Ryan, and Matthew to maneuver. Genessee started to sink when Ryan lifted her up by the arm. "Something tripped me," she said.
"Probably shouldn't think about it," Ryan suggested.
"It was moving," she insisted.
Ryan pulled her along even quicker, "Definitely don't think about it."
"Ah!" Matthew doubled over in pain. He was closest to the center of the pool where the source of the churning seemed to be located. A gut-filled whirlpool was forming more apparent ripples as the churning picked up speed.
"I'm... I'm..." Matthew's face went pale.
"GET OUT!" Ethan shouted.
Matthew staggered, the current pulling him into the dead center. Something tripped both Ryan and Genessee this time, both of them falling face first into the blood. Ryan spat and vigorously wiped his face as best he could, while Genessee surrendered to dry vomiting.
There was no questioning it now. From the outside looking in, Ethan could see this was yet another death trap. The loud grinding sounds confirmed it. The center started to clunk and spray bits of guts as it pulverized pieces of bone and other unmentionables.
Ryan yanked on Genessee, practically hurling her towards the edge to climb to safety. She was blind still, gunk covering her face, but she clung desperately to the concrete until Ethan helped her up. The pool almost pulled her back in, making Ethan lose his footing. His knees came down hard, but he swallowed the pain.
"Come on!" Ethan said.
Once Genessee was at least beached, Ethan reached for Ryan's hand, only to let it slip. Ryan roared as he stomped his way back towards the wall. The current was only getting stronger by each passing second.
They heard it before they saw Matthew get sucked in.
A nasty crunching sound accompanied by wailing and the grinding of gears. They hadn't been paying attention to how close Matthew was to the whirling center. Now that he was right before it, whatever garbage-disposal type machinery had dug it's teeth into Matthew's lower body.
It was quick after that.
His screams were literally drowned out as his body was torn below the liquids. The gears were hungry as they tried to finish him off, but it still groaned whenever stuck. One shoe and a few fingers still reached passed the surface when the blender finally gave up.
Ryan almost forgot to save himself, but the churning slowed and he was able to climb out, the only struggle being his paralysis from shock.
It was impossible to see through the red liquids, but after the churning stopped completely, everything was still.
Everything.
*****
After a while, Gerald lost sight of the monsters. He wasn't at all relieved, knowing they were driving to their death's anyway. And if his hunch was correct, the beasts were going to be lurking around every wrong turn to make sure they were headed to their destination.
It couldn't be the work of one man. Not even one man and one demon.
There were too many coincidences, Gerald thought, the murderer always knew where they were. He went to the antique shop, he found them in Seattle, he knew the house Dylan was holding Alaire in, he knew they went to Gerald's own house... That can't all be witchcraft.
It was irritating feeling so powerless. He should've gotten more cops involved earlier. Or would that have made a difference? Would it have made it worse? It was too late to question that now.Here he was, a "great" detective, letting the victims literally drive them to their nightmare. Everyone was armed, barely, but how much experience did any of them have? Gerald tried distracting himself from his own fear by puzzling out every possible scenario. The outlooks weren't optimistic.
As they got closer to where they needed to be, Aaron got more and more tense. Gerald could hear his breathing from the driver seat. At one point, Gerald thought Aaron was going to pull over and stop, but Aaron whispered a pep-talk to himself and kept going. Gerald felt guilt and pity with each desperate glance Alaire and Aaron gave each other.
I was supposed to solve this.
It was obvious Dylan was holding back - the way his shoulders kept moving as he constantly readjusted in his seat and his head turned to every window of the car like a paranoid cat. Gerald didn't know what to make of this kid yet. From the surface he looked like a normal high schooler with no real signs of psychotic behavior, other than he totally kidnapped someone.
Still. It was creepy looking at his innocent face and comparing it to the blonde girl Gerald saw in the photos. The girl who allegedly killed all those students. She didn't look like a psycho either, so he wasn't about to let his guard down around some punk kid.
"I think we're close..." Aaron hissed.
"Do you remember this place?" Gerald asked Alaire. She shook her head, "My group was at the theme park. I'd rather die in a car wreck then see that place again..."
Don't give him any ideas, Gerald thought, his eyes darting to Aaron at the wheel. Gerald had a plan in mind, and that was to kill the bastard. No questioning or arrest or detainment. Even if Gerald got in trouble for it later, he didn't care. The sooner the deed was done the better.
Aaron parked in the dirt off the road. A thick and white forest filled with tall trees topped with snow were on each side of them.
"It's up that way," Aaron pointed. Gerald nodded, "I'm going first. He didn't specify, so stay in here until I get to talk to him."
"But..." Alaire shifted her focus to the trees, "What if those things see you? Or us?"
"Safer to be in the car," he said, "Keep an eye on this one," he added, giving Dylan a hard glare before exiting the vehicle.
He trudged through the mountains of snow, making his way up the hill and deeper into the forest. The rising sun was barely peering over the mountain tops, giving him some light. He still used the flashlight on his smartphone to avoid tripping on the protruding roots. A ways off he could see the outline of a house, but no sign of anyone. If they'd gotten the clue wrong, Ryan and Maren were toast. Gerald gulped.
His gun was at the ready, the butt-end resting in his palm. The tops of his fingers were freezing and turning blue, but his palms were still sweaty. Just have to keep an eye out for Silent Hill creatures and a murderer, no big deal.
It was silent and almost soothing outside in this winter morning, but Gerald could feel someone's eyes on him - some sixth-sense human's had when danger was nearby. His breath came out in small clouds and his eyes watered both from the cold and refusing to blink.
The sound of a footstep delicately stepping just behind him filled the detective with panic and dread.
"Detective."
Gerald felt pressure and a pinch on the back of his neck. NO! He was able to throw his elbow back and hit whoever was behind him, but the damage was done. Instantly, Gerald felt woozy. The spot on his neck was tender to the touch, and he spotted a needle laying in the snow.
The assailant staggered away from the blow. A gleeful chuckle escaped the dark mask, "Nighty-night, Detective."
R.I.P Matthew!
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