Drag Them Into Hell

Title: Drag Them Into Hell
Author: DiamondInTheRough
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Swearing, violence, gore, horror, slight slash *SPOILERS FOR SH5 AND SH2!*
Chapter Warnings: Strong language, strong violence
Pairing: None
Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill or any of its characters or creations. All credit goes to the makers. I am not making any money off this story.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry I've taken so long to update this! I've been really busy with Uni and such. Thanks so much to everyone who has continued to read and review. I hope this chapter was worth the wait and I'll try not to take so long next time.

Summary: It's been five months since Alex Shepherd left Silent Hill and he is trying to rebuild his life. Things are going well until children start to go missing from his hometown and he hears voices calling him back to Silent Hill. James Sunderland is still in Silent Hill, continuously being tormented. His spirit is faltering and he is growing weaker by the day, considering suicide daily. Pyramid Head won't allow James to leave and wants Alex to come home. You cannot escape who you are.

The lying little children, with souls selfish and small.
Will find their wriggling tongues cut out, and nailed to his wall.

Alex let out an agonised scream of pain as the hot metal rod burned his flesh just above the hip bone. He screamed around the piece of wood that had been placed and secured in his mouth to prevent him biting his own tongue. He thought he was going to pass out for the third time since they'd brought him here but he managed to remain conscious, his vision swimming before him.

He was suspended upright, his arms bound above his head with metal chains that were attached to the ceiling. He was naked except for his boxer shorts and was beginning to wonder how much more of this he could take. After what felt like a day long trip in the back of the vehicle that was used to bring him here, he was dragged into the daylight once more and taken into an abandoned asylum. As soon as he set foot in the place, Alex felt an overwhelming fear of dread and claustrophobia grip him. The smell of death hung heavy in the air but it wasn't natural death that Alex could smell, it was the death of the insane. He could smell suicide. He could smell people who had died by bashing their heads against their cell walls repeatedly. People who had bit out their own tongues and choked to death on their blood. He could smell the death of those who laughed manically as they slit their own wrists, laughter that would surely float down the abandoned hallways in the dead of night.

The two men who had manhandled him in Dr Fox's office had dragged him down a maze of twisting and turning hallways, with said Doctor following closely behind. The building was decaying. Rubble lay in piles along the corridor floors, brickwork was coming away from the walls and the sickly green paint was peeling in numerous places. This must be their base of operations, Alex thought as he was being dragged towards his doom. He thought he heard faint screams, as if he wasn't the only victim in this building. Were other people being tortured here? Surely they wouldn't have a huge building like this for the purpose of torturing just him alone. Before he could even think about it any further he was shoved into a small, windowless room and stripped and bound. The gag was removed from his mouth and in its place, a small piece of wood for him to bite down on, fastened by a length of string around the back of his head.

Fox stood in the doorway looking at Alex with an inane sense of glee shimmering in his eyes. "If you tell us everything you know now Alex, we'll let you go. There will be no need for these chains or instruments." He stepped closer. "Why is Silent Hill calling you?"

Alex only stared at Fox with barely contained fury. If he didn't have the piece of wood in his mouth he would have told him to go fuck himself.

The Doctor shook his head with mock disappointment and looked at the two men in white coats. "Do whatever you have to do to make him talk. When he's ready to open up, come and get me." Still speaking to his men but looking at Alex he said, "If he loses consciousness, wake him up. I don't want him to have a moments respite from the pain."

He then turned on his heel and closed the door behind him, leaving the men to go to work. Alex watched Doc #1 wheel a metal tray over to where he was tied, running his eyes over the instruments of torture that lay on top of it. Alex told himself that he would just block it all out, go to a place in his mind where the pain couldn't touch him, hold out until someone, sooner or later, would come and rescue him. But as he watched Doc #2 plug in a set of metal tongs to a socket on a nearby wall, as he watched those tongs heat up, getting hotter and hotter, as he watched Doc #2 put those tongs on the arm of a nearby leather chair and the steam rise as the arm of the chair was burned with ease, he became less and less convinced that he was simply going to be able to block out the pain. The first burn on his skin was the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life, but it wasn't the first time he'd passed out.

The second time he'd passed out, Doc #1 woke him by pouring an ice cold bottle of water over his head. Then, when there was no indication that Alex was ready to talk, he began again with the tongs. From what he could remember, he'd been burned five times now. All on different places on his torso, the latest addition as he let out an agonising scream, was just above his hip bone. He bit down hard on the wood that was in his mouth as the searing pain ripped through him at an agonising level. Steam rose from his skin as it was burned and his other wounds throbbed relentlessly. He squeezed his eyes shut forcing back tears and trying to remain conscious. He needed to get out of here! He had no information to give them but they didn't believe him so they were going to continue to torture him until they realised he was no use and killed him or he died of shock.

He was busy frantically trying to think through the haze of pain when Doc #2 spoke. "Take him down and get him in the chair. It's time to try a new method."

Doc #1 reached above Alex's head and his arms were released from the chains but his hands were still shackled together. Alex's legs felt numb and they gave way beneath him, he collapsed in a heap on the floor. Both men dragged him to his feet and pushed him into a chair that resembled the kind you see at the dentists, only this one had leather straps hanging from it. Alex's head was swimming as the leather straps were fastened across his torso. This elicited a fresh cry of pain from him as they tightened over his sensitive wounds. His hands were still bound in front of him but his feet were free. He began to nod his head violently, the signal for when he was ready to talk. Doc #1 took the piece of wood out of Alex's mouth.

"I'm ready to talk," said Alex hoarsely. His throat hurt from screaming so much.

"Go and get Fox," said Doc#2 to Doc#1. Doc#1 hurried out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"You're a tough son of a bitch, you know that? Six burns and not a single word. Why don't we have some fun while we're waiting hmm? See how tough you really are." Doc#2 picked up a scalpel from the tray, his eyes gleaming almost as brightly as the metal instrument. He ran his eyes all over Alex, like an artist studying a blank canvas.

Alex tried to stay calm and in control. This was his small window of chance, he couldn't mess it up. He was running out of time.

"Where shall we start?" inquired Doc#2, completely enraptured with the task at hand. "Shall we give your torso another round?" He bought the scalpel close to Alex's cheek. "Or shall we start on that pretty face of yours?"

Alex began to whisper something that was barely audible to the sadistic Doctor. Doc#1 bought his ear close to Alex's mouth to try to hear what he was saying and that's when Alex took his chance. He went for the neck and bit down. Hard. Doc#1 let out a scream of pain but it was short lived as Alex held on with all of his might and ripped out a chunk of the Doc's neck. A fountain of blood erupted from the ruptured arteries and sprayed Alex in the face. Doc#1 fell to the floor twitching and writhing in agony, the blood flowing freely from his neck. It took him just over a minute to die, and then he lay still in a pool of crimson.

Alex moved as fast as he could, undoing the straps that held him and pulling on his trousers as best he could with his hands shackled. He located his boots and threw them on; his t-shirt would have to get left behind. He heard footsteps coming down the hall, no doubt Dr Fox and Doc#1. Alex scanned the room frantically and his eyes came to rest on a crowbar propped up in the corner of the room. He dreaded to think what they would have used that for had he not escaped. He picked up the crowbar and stood with his back to the wall behind the door breathing heavily. His mouth was smeared with blood and his face was painted with it. The wounds on his torso looked raw and painful and some of the blood from this mouth had dripped down onto his chest. He looked like a warrior from hell.

The footsteps were getting closer, almost at the door now. Alex steadied his hands and tried to slow his breathing as best he could. The door swung inward, hiding Alex from view. He heard Fox's surprised gasp as he discovered the lifeless corpse of Doc#2. This was it; he had to do it now. Running mainly on adrenaline and trying to hold on to the last remaining threads of strength he had left he kicked the door, sending it slamming shut with a loud bang. Both of his tormentors turned around startled and Alex took aim. With one almighty swing of the crowbar he hit Doc#1's head at full force, the weapon making a sickening THUD as it connected with his skull. Dr Fox let out an anguished cry as he was sprayed with a shower of blood and Doc#1 hit the floor an instant later. He was dead.

Dr Fox looked at Alex in disbelief, unable to believe that he had gotten the better of him. There was also fear in those cold grey eyes. Shepherd had a weapon, Fox didn't. There was only one thing he could do, he bolted for the door. Alex anticipated this and swung with the crowbar, catching Fox on the arm and opening a rather deep wound. Dr Fox let out a cry of pain but this didn't deter him. He flung the door open with such force that it rebounded off the wall and almost closed again. Alex cried out in frustration and set after the Doctor, skidding on Doc#1's blood as he did so. He almost lost his balance but managed to stay on his feet and threw open the door, just about managing with his bound hands. Fox had ran to the left and was almost at the other end of the corridor, getting ready to make a left turn.

Alex set after him and heard Fox shout frantically at the top of his voice, "WE HAVE AN ESCAPEE IN THE BUILDING. ALL MEN AFTER HIM! KILL HIM ON SIGHT, HE CANNOT LEAVE THE BUILDING!"

He kept repeating this order over and over again as he went until his cries became more distant the further away he ran. It would only be a matter of time before he got hold of a radio and had every man in the building looking for Alex in seconds. Alex decided to cut his losses while he had the chance, he had to get out and fast.

"I'll get even with you eventually you son of a bitch," Alex muttered and took a right down the corridor. He tried to remember which way he was taken when he was brought here but the place was like a maze, he had no idea where he was going. He just hoped to God he would find an exit eventually. He bolted down another long corridor, rooms of the tormented and the crazed passed by him in a blur. His footsteps echoed off the crumbling walls as if a ghostly spectator was following close behind him. He came to an intersection and slowed down, steadily making his way down the corridor,clutching the crowbar to his chest like a talisman. He cautiously poked his head around the corner, first to the left, and then to the right. And standing in the corridor to the right was a man in a white coat, another doctor. He hadn't seen Alex yet however, he was facing the other direction. Alex didn't want to kill another man unless he had to so as quietly but as quickly as he could he made his way down the corridor to the left, constantly looking back over his shoulder. He was almost around the corner, out of sight when the man turned his head and spotted him. Alex didn't wait for his reaction; he sprinted right around the corner and along the next corridor.

He heard the man shouting, alerting whoever else may be in the vicinity and then started running after him. Alex flew blindly down the corridors, turning this way and that, praying for an exit. Please give me a break, please. His wounds were throbbing intensely causing him great pain and his legs burned. Sweat ran down his face and body and his breath was catching in his throat. He heard the man behind him, his footsteps getting closer. He was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his balance with his hands shackled in front of him. Alex took another right and almost cried with relief as he saw a door with a sign marked 'EXIT' above it. Don't be locked; please don't let it be locked! He shoulder slammed the door at full force and it burst open letting in bright sunlight. The relief he felt was immense but he couldn't stop running, he was still being hunted. If he could have seen his reflection in a mirror, he would have thought he looked like he'd just escaped from the pits of hell itself.

___________________________________________________________________________________

James approached the building at a speed that was almost reckless. He'd decided to not risk attracting any extra attention by driving too fast but the longer the journey progressed, the more desperate he became. The police weren't going to give a shit about speed limits; they'd be at the building before James was even half way there. He also didn't know how long Shepherd had left or if he was even still alive. The thought of Pyramid Head discovering that the man he was looking for had been killed before James even found him almost drove him into a frenzied panic. If Shepherd was dead, the whole thing would be over. Pyramid Head would kill the Toby and William, if they weren't dead already, and then he would drag James back to Silent Hill, deep down into his Lair. He had to find Shepherd before the police arrested him or his kidnappers killed him.

The building loomed on the horizon, becoming clearer the closer James got. It was an uninviting building and just the sight of it alone unsettled him. He heard the officer telling Stanton that it was an old abandoned asylum and it certainly looked abandoned. An image of a choking, unconscious Stanton flashed through James's mind and he forced the image away, trying to focus on the problem at hand. The asylum was surrounded by woodland as far as the eye could see. How many escaped mental patients had ran through those woods in the dead of night, either being dragged back kicking and screaming or dying alone, left for the rats? James thought morbidly.

He pulled up to the side of the building on a dirt lane that ended a few metres ahead. How was he even going to get in there? They could have the place alarmed and who knew how many men with guns were crawling around in there. The place was huge too; it would take him forever to find Shepherd. The police would be here within the next ten minutes and he would still be searching the ground floor. Sure, he had Stanton's gun but the clip only held eight bullets and he didn't have any extra ammo.

"Fucking dammit!" cried James in frustration. How the hell did Pyramid Head even think James could pull this off alone? He was just one man. One sorry shell of a man who had murdered his wife, he wasn't cut out for this sort of stuff! James was busy trying to think of a way to even get into the building when, like a sign sent from Pyramid Head himself, a door which was on the side of the asylum he was adjacent to burst open frightening him half to death. James turned his head sharply and his eyes widened. He saw a man running through the door, but not just any man, a man who looked like he'd just been on a killing spree. He was clutching a crowbar that was dripping with blood in his shackled hands and his face and chest were stained with the substance. He wasn't wearing a shirt and James could see he had five or six nasty burns which looked recent all over his torso. Despite his hellish appearance, James knew at once that it was the man he was looking for. It was Alex Shepherd.

Shepherd began making his way toward the front of the building, staggering in a zigzag direction as he did so. James knew he had to act fast before whoever was chasing him made themselves known. He put the car in reverse and slammed his foot down on the pedal, coming to a halt at the asylums entrance. He got out of the car and shouted to Shepherd who was stumbling in his direction.

"Alex! Alex Shepherd, over here!" James waved his arms frantically, increasingly aware that he was rapidly running out of time.

Shepherd made his way cautiously towards James, the crowbar raised in his hands. He studied the car James had come in, realisation dawning in his eyes.

"This is my car! Who are you? What do you want?" he shrieked, raising the crowbar a little higher.

James held up his hands, his palms open. "Look, I'll explain everything later. Right now you need to get in the car before they come after you."

"Why should I trust you? I couldn't even trust my own fucking doctor for Christ sakes!"

Alex and James both turned their heads as four men in white coats came sprinting around the side of the building and began to head in their direction.

"Look, you can either take a chance with me or go back to the asylum and let them finish the job," James said. "Quickly now, they're almost here."

It didn't take him long to decide. Alex ran around to the passenger side of the car, flinging the crowbar away, and clambered inside. James slammed the door shut on his side and floored the accelerator just as the men were approaching. He took off down the dirt lane and made a hard right at the bottom of it leaving a cloud of dust and the asylum behind. He made sure to take a different route back to the one he came, the police would be looking for Alex's car and he couldn't risk running into them. He made mental note to ditch the vehicle as soon as possible. Alex was breathing heavily beside him, his chest rising and falling with each laboured intake of air.

"Are you okay?" James asked.

"Who are you?" replied Alex, fighting to stay awake. He was tired, he just wanted to sleep.

"My name is James. James Sunderland. I-I've been looking for you." James didn't know what else to say. Hell, what was he supposed to say? "Hi, my name is James and I've been sent from Silent Hill where you've already been to drag you back there. Pyramid Head really wants to see you, so shall we get going?" It was absurd, no matter what he said, he wasn't going to get Shepherd to come willingly. He turned to face his passenger, ready to say something else but stopped when he saw that the man had fallen asleep. His mouth was open slightly and his brow was furrowed into a troubled frown. James focussed on the road ahead and decided that sleep was the best thing for him. Sleep while you can Shepherd, James thought. It will be your last untroubled sleep in a while.

He drove on.

XXX

Alex had troubled dreams. They were dreams of men in white coats, burning his skin. Dreams of blood pouring from fractured skulls, blood stained crowbars, haunted asylums. He dreamed of a man with blonde hair, flecks of black amongst the golden locks. He dreamed of waking up in his car, the man beside him who he thought his name was James handing him a drink, and then after that... he couldn't remember anything.

Alex woke up with a start, his breath catching in his throat. He opened his eyes and saw curtains to his left fluttering in the morning breeze. As his vision began to clear he took in his surroundings. He was on a rather uncomfortable bed, and another bed, unoccupied, lay to his right. There were fresh clothes on the bed next to him and a glass of water on the nightstand. He was in a motel. He sat up and winced in pain as his wounds began to flare up. He looked down at his bare chest and stomach and saw that his burns had been cleaned and dressed. The shackles from his hands had also been removed and in their place were deep cut marks around his wrists. Somebody had also cleaned the blood off of him and that person, who Alex knew as James, came through the motel door with a bag full of fast food in his arms at that very moment. The smell made Alex's stomach rumble and he realised he was starving. James reached into the bag and threw a wrapped hamburger at him, which Alex just about managed to catch.

"Where are we?" he asked, still not fully trusting James. He could be anybody!

"Eat first, questions later," James stated simply. Alex looked at him for a few more seconds and then began eating his burger. James took another burger out of the bag and started on his. They ate in silence, a sense of anticipation hanging in the air.

After they had both finished their food and Alex had changed into a fresh pair of clothes, they sat in further silence, studying each other warily. After five minutes of saying nothing, Alex could take it no longer and broke the stillness that hung between them.

"So we've eaten. What the hell is going on here?" he asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"If you don't remember, my name is James Sunderland."

"I remember. That's the only thing about you that I do know. You haven't told me anything else, start explaining."

"I've come from Silent Hill." At the mere mention of Silent Hill, the entire colour drained from Alex's face and a fine tremor passed through his frame. He immediately tensed up but continued to listen.

James felt sorry for the guy, he was obviously terrified but he had to carry on, he had to know the reality of the situation. "Kids have been going missing from your town as you are obviously aware and I think you're also aware of who's been taking them."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," replied Alex, averting his eyes and beginning to tremble.

"Come on Alex, cut the bullshit. You and I both know who it is... and what he wants. I've been sent by him to find you, and to bring you back. He's looking for you Alex."

Alex's head snapped up and there was anger blazing in his eyes. "And you just obey his orders do you? You're the guy who runs all of his errands? Well I'll tell you something, I'm not going back there do you hear me? He can go fuck himself because I'm not going back there for anything, ever!" Alex was fighting to get his rage and fear under control. He was just beginning to get his life back and now everything was crashing down around him.

"You would never go back there huh? Not even for two little kids?"

Alex's expression softened and his anger was ebbed for the moment. James continued, "Alex, please just listen to me. I understand your fear of that town. Believe me, I know how you feel. I was brought to Silent Hill some time ago... I forget how long, and I've been there ever since. I shouldn't have stayed, should have got out while I had the chance but I didn't. Now, the thing that wants you has been haunting me, stalking me ever since. You're not the only person he has unfinished business with. But Alex, there's two little kids who've been taken by him and who knows how many others in the future. You and I may not be innocent but those kids are... do you really want to leave them to the creatures of that town? Could you live with that on your conscience?"

Alex was quiet for a long time. James got up and sat next to him on the bed, letting out a weary sigh as he did so.

Alex finally spoke, his head down. "My brother... he was taken from me, and I- I saw him again in Silent Hill. I thought I'd laid everything to rest that day, in that town. I thought I was free of its hold on me. Why? What does he want with me?"

James studies Alex's profile. The picture he'd saw of him and his brother in his house resembled him but he had grown into a man, although he was still recognisable. He had a strong jaw line and dark brown eyes. His lips weren't too thin and weren't too full and his brown hair was messy yet looked presentable. Suddenly James had an urge to run his hand through that head of hair.

Must touch... must feel him.

James's hand began to slowly reach out, thoughts and whispers running through his head. No, no, no! I don't want you in my head, get out! I don't want these thoughts!

But James's hand continued to reach, his eyes slowly clouding over with darkness.

Let me feel him through you my Creator. I've waited so long, waited so long for the both of you to come home. That's it... reach out, reach out my Creator.

An image of Toby Griffiths being dragged off into the fog flashed through James's mind and with all of the strength he could muster he pulled his hand away, silencing the voice for now. Alex who was so lost in his thoughts had no idea of what just occurred.

"I-I don't know what he wants with you Alex, but we have to go back. Do you understand? We have to go back to Silent Hill. We're in a motel just outside of Maine, we need to head east on the highway on foot."

"And then what? We just walk into that god forsaken town? Even I know it's not that simple."

"I don't know. When he... he let me come back, I fell asleep and woke up on the highway. We'll just head to that same spot and see what happens. He'll probably open the doorway for us," James said miserably. The thought of going back to Silent Hill depressed him beyond belief.

Half an hour later they were out on the highway, heading east just like James had said. The road was deserted and crows cawed overhead. Alex felt like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He always said he'd never go back to Silent Hill for anything yet here he was on the road to nowhere. He knew why he was going, because he'd seen the agony on the faces of Bill and Iris. He knew how it felt to lose a loved one, if he could just send William back to them, and the other kid Toby back to his mother, maybe he would be able to escape that town too. But he knew that the chances of that were very slim and he finally asked the question he'd been dreading to ask since they set foot on the highway.

"... We're probably never going to make it back are we?"

"Probably not," James replied. "Silent Hill has a way of keeping hold of you, no matter how much you don't want it to."

Alex looked at the deserted stretch of highway before him and continued on. He felt as if he were marching towards his death.