Chapter 7

Now that there is some truth revealed to Steven, he must now find his brother and escape.It was only a matter of time before nightmares would occur again.

Steven followed Carroll Street, eventually arriving at Heaven's Night.After going up the steps and coming to the locked door, Steven found the switchblade stabbed into it.He ripped it out of the door and held onto it for safekeeping, especially if the Hell Hound were to confront him again.

"The door is still locked.Maybe if I use the switchblade, I might be able to break the lock."

Quickly yet carefully, Steven inserted the switchblade into the keyhole, jiggled it a bit, then rammed the rest of it in.A loud click came from the keyhole, indicating that it was now unlocked.

"Awesome."Smirked Steven."Now I can get out of this place."

Steven entered the building and was quite surprised by what he saw.He hadn't expected it to be a bar and entertainment area, completely taken back by the stage and pole.A small part of the stage was closed off with a big curtain, blocking anyone from seeing behind it.However, this didn't detour Steven.He climbed up on stage and approached the curtain without thinking.As he got closer, the Hell Hound emerged.It tore down the curtain and growled at Steven.

"Nice doggy...good doggy...you wouldn't want to eat little ole me?"

Something clicked in Steven's head.He remembered his nightmare where he had actually killed the beast, using nothing more than the switchblade.The blade was pure silver.The most powerful metal against demons, unholy beasts, and even the Hell Hound.So, as it lunged at Steven, he took the switchblade out and slashed at it.When the blade connected with the Hell Hound's flesh, it caused it to let out a yelp.The Hell Hound began gnawing at the wound before jumping off stage and running out the back entrance.

Steven had grown more courage which allowed him to face things head on, but there was still much to go.Chris had vanished, stranding Steven in the southern end of Silent Hill.Still, Steven knew that he had to continue his journey.He left Heaven's Night, choosing to leave the same way as the hound had.Although dangerous, the back entrance was the only way to progress. Steven followed the back alley and found himself at, Pete's Bowl-O Rama.

"Pete's Bowl-O Rama?Must be some kind of bowling alley."

While there wasn't much point in entering, Steven still did.Upon entering the building, Steven saw that he had to go through the kitchen to get to the bowling alley.He made his way through and finally arrived in the front area, finding the room to be completely silent.It was quiet.Too quiet. Steven thought this was suspicious since he had been attacked constantly throughout his journey.

"This doesn't bode well for me."

Suddenly, all of the lights exploded in a violent act.Once again, Steven was shrouded in darkness.He switched on his flashlight and saw something frightening.Sitting at one of the tables was a fat man, who of all things to do, was eating a pizza.

"Hey!Buddy!"

Unfortunately, as Steven approached, the person faded away.He had no idea what it was all about, but Steven shrugged it off, dismissing the event altogether.He tried to leave the building,but found that the kitchen was sealed off with rusty chains.The only other way out was through the main entrance, so, Steven went to the doors and soon saw that it was out of order.It appeared that they were missing something.

Steven pulled out the metal rod that he had picked up earlier in his journey, and placed it into the hinges of the doors, allowing for them to swing open.

"What is going on?"

Steven got a fright when a loud noise rung out.It was the same noise from his nightmare.A fire alarm, metal grinding together, and a woman screaming.It was followed by a very sudden yet violent earthquake, shaking everything to the point of collapse. Steven managed to stay balanced by holding onto the door handles.Then, it stopped.Not everything was the same, however.Every surface of Pete's Bowl-O Rama, was now coated in the dust.

Not wanting to wait and see if there was going to be another earthquake, Steven left the building and came across a disturbing sight.All of Silent Hill was gone.Nothing but darkness remained.The only ground that was visible was a concrete path, it leading off into the darkness.Even though he was very hesitant to do so, Steven followed the path, finding that it went up Nathan Avenue.Not only that but the path led straight to the entrance of the Silent Hill Historical Society.Why it went there was unknown, but it was the only option.

Steven walked up to the front door and tried to open it.Sadly, the front door was locked.That was when Steven remembered the key he had found at the clinic.He took out the key, slid it into the key hole, then unlocked the door. Steven entered the building and saw that it too was covered in dust.No matter, Steven ventured through every room until coming to the back exit.This was a dead end, though. Steven turned back to return to the previous room, instead finding that the door was now a solid wall.

Out of panic, Steven turned to the back exit in hopes of escaping.Unfortunately, this door had also become a solid wall.Steven was now trapped inside of a small room.He searched every wall in order to find a secret way out, but was disappointed each time.After several minutes passed, Steven was surprised to see that a door shape had appeared on one of the walls.It was made out of bricks and extremely flimsy.Why, with the swing of a simple object, that wall might fall.

The pipe was weapon of choice for this job. Steven used the pipe to smash down the brick wall.What was waiting for him was unexpected.Unexpected, but also welcomed.There he was, now standing in a supply closet, completely unaware of how he got there.Steven saw a door on the opposite side of the closet and immediately opened it, stumbling out onto W.Sandford Street.Apparently,  small building was along that street for specific reasons, but none quite sure why.

Across the road was the Lake View Hotel.It was confusing.How he had gotten there was a mystery, but to Steven, it was also a sign.Some kind of force had brought him there.Did it mean any harm?Steven didn't know. There was still a task at hand. Steven had to find Chris, find a way out of town, the return to Brahams.All of this so he could finally free himself from his past.

Steven followed the street until coming across the Lake Side Amusement Park.In years that passed since Alessa/Cheryl's visit, the park had changed significantly.Unfortunately for Steven, there would be no games or rides that day.The amusement park was temporarily closed for renovations, suffering from years of neglect.The sign said that the park was closed until further notice, being too dangerous for the public to use.

With all of that information out of the way, Steven carried on up W.Sandford Street.He eventually came to the West and East Garages, which were open by the way.Steven ventured inside to see if there was anything of interest, quite taken back when he found that there was.A car with its back doors opens, had a new weapon in the back seat.It was an Uzi with four clips of ammo.Steven graciously took them, then continued on his way.However, when he checked the East Garage,Steven found nothing but supplies.Shotgun shells,pistol ammo, Uzi clips, and a Health Drink.

There was nothing left to do afterwards. Steven exited the garage and carried on his way through.As he crossed the bridge headed towards the, Resort Area, it gave out and fell into the river below.Steven now had no way to return to Southvale.And as he looked back, he could clearly see that everything had reappeared.It was now daylight again.This made it easier to navigate,too.When he came across the Resort Area, Steven expected it to be run down and dilapidated, but this was not the case. He found the entire area had been redone and given new life.

"Odd.They appear to have redone this part of Silent  Hill, but not Southvale."

All of the small restaurants from back in the day, were now gone.What was now in their places were hotels, small tourist shops, and main stream eateries.One in Particular  was quite intriguing.It was a tourist store, claiming to be the best in business. Steven peeked in through the front windows and saw a person barricading the back door.What ever it was that they were trying to keep out, must have been pretty scary.

Steven tapped on the window to get their attention.The person spun around out of horror, scared to death by the sudden knocking.They ran to the front door and hastily pulled him inside.Once inside, Steven tried his best to calm them down, but no matter how hard he did try, they kept muttering utter nonsense.

"Calm down!"Yelled Steven.

"It's here!"Mumbled the person.

"What is?"

"The beast.It's come for us all!"

Frustrated that he couldn't get anything rational out them, Steven slapped the man across the face.It appeared to work.They immediately broke out of their trance, shaking their head.

"What?What was I doing?"

Steven shook his head."Hey!

"Can I help you?"

"Why were you stressing out for?"

"My name's Greggory.Greg for short."

"Nice to meet you Greg.I'm Steven."

"I turned up to work for a busy day but strange things started to happen."

"Like?"

"Firstly, there was an earthquake, followed by darkness, then becoming light again.Once all of that took place, I heard something rummaging through the storage area out the back."

"And?What did you find?"

"I had a look and saw that it was some kind of dog trashing the place.I did the only thing I could think of, barricading the door."

"Do you want me to have a look?It sounds pretty quiet."

"Go ahead."

Steven removed the barricade then cautiously entered the storage area.It indeed had been trashed by something, but what?

"Hey Greg!"Called Steven."Whatever it was, is now..."

The sound of breaking glass cut him off.It was followed by the screams of Greggory. Just like that, Steven ran to the front of the store to see what was going on.He was horrified to see, the Hell Hound, was now three times the size of what it had originally been.Clearly it had grown throughout Steven's journey, he just never noticed.Poor Greggory was hanging in the mouth of the hound.

"Greggory!"

"Oh god!Help me!"

"Hold on!"

The Hell Hound bit down with such force that it nearly split him in two.There was nothing Steven could do, he just watched as it leaped out of the store and ran off.For the first time, Steven felt a sense of loss.He had been given hope by finding Greggory, now dashed away.

"Hold on Greg!I'm going to get you away from that thing if it's the last thing I do!"

Steven ran out of the store and gave chase to the hound, not wanting to let it escape him again.He followed the trail of blood all the way from, Craig Street, to Riverside Drive.Sadly, the blood ended at the Blue Catfish Diner.From the outside of the building it looked like an ordinary diner, but the inside was different.Inside was old and decrepit, falling apart in every corner. Steven entered the diner and was confront by a gruesome sight.

Blood was all over the place. Greggory's body was laying on the counter top.Well, what remained of it.As for the Hell Hound, it was nowhere to be seen.So, Steven left the diner and made his way towards Allen Storage.He encountered a few Bound Children and False Dentists, but that wasn't enough to stop him.Besides, the roads leading to the town hall were gone.They had all collapsed into seemingly bottomless pits, putting a stop to direct access.

The gate to Allen Storage, was massive and rusty. Steven lifted the big latch on the gate then tried to push it open, but the hinges were so rusty that it made it hard to do so.While using all of his body to push, Steven was surprised when the gate swung open, sending him stumbling forward and falling over.The gate instantly shut itself behind him and locked.

"Looks like I won't be going out that way."

Allen Storage was a lot bigger than anticipated.Yes, there were lockers used for storage, but there were shipping containers all over the place.It was like a damn maze.The lockers were all lined up next to each other in a perfect row, however, not the shipping containers.They had no specific placements, instead they were scattered across the entire compound. Steven found it odd that someone would just place shipping containers everywhere, especially if this was a place of business.

After following never ending dead ends, Steven came across an open area.It was quite large, had shipping containers surrounding it, and a concrete surface. As Steven made his way inside of the area, a shipping container fell off another, permanently sealing him in.Next, Steven heard a loud thump from behind him. He turned around and saw what it was.The Hell Hound was standing on top of a container.

"Not you again."

The Hell Hound was growling at him.It jumped down onto the ground and started to circle Steven.Then, when the Hell Hound made a move, Steven was able to dodge out of the way.He counter attacked by striking it with the switchblade.This threw it off in a fit of rage, running about while bucking at the same time.

"How'd you like that you son of a b***h!?" Screamed Steven, deliberately trying to anger the beast.

The Hell Hound fell for it.There was no way for it to control itself anymore, choosing to thrash about. Steven pulled out the Uzi and opened fire on the beast, causing a bit of damage.In an effort to attack Steven, the Hell Hound whipped its tale and knocked the gun out his hands. Steven went in to a panic and scrambled to reclaim the Uzi.Suddenly, the Hell Hound jumped on top of him and tried to maul him.

"Get off!"

Those words meant nothing to the beast.It simply continued to try and maul Steven, even going so far as to lowering itself on top of him.Trying desperately to defend himself, Steven pulled out the switchblade and slashed at the beasts chest.The Hell Hound let out a yelp, hopping off .It went back to circling him instead. Steven picked up the Uzi, got a good grip on it, the proceeded to unleash a massive burst upon the Hell Hound.

Strangely, even though there was already a thick fog, it suddenly grew thicker. Steven couldn't see anything, not even the hound. This was problematic.If Steven couldn't see his surroundings, he would be easy pickings.But instead of the Hell Hound attacking, something stranger happened. Steven swore that he could hear someone talking to him in a soft voice, whispering to him.Stranger still, it was the voice of Martha Wilcox.

"Mum?Is that you?!"Called Steven.

"You used to be such a good boy until you met that w***e, Tina!"

"Mum?Where are you?!"

"You should never have left town!It's your fault that Chris vanished!"

"You know that's not true!"

"I should have gotten the damn abortion while I had the chance!"

"Do you really believe that?Oh my god, am I a mistake?"

"You always were the mistake that should never have been!"

Now feeling deflated, Steven didn't know what to do.He just stared down at the ground and wept tears of sadness.

"I wish..."

Out of nowhere, the Hell Hound came out from the fog and attacked.It jumped on top of Steven again, pinning him down.This was enough to bring him back to reality. Steven took the switchblade and slashed at the hounds chest, this time proving to be more fruitful than the last. Steven had managed to cut open the chest and revealed its heart, offering up a vulnerable spot.However, the Hell Hound climbed off him and disappeared into the fog.

"You always did so well in school,"Sighed Martha's voice." too bad it was only to impress a girl!"

"Shut up!"Cried Steven.

"Me and your father did everything possible to give you a good life, it's just too bad you squandered it away!"

Once again, Steven was broken down.But he did remember that the last time he heard his mothers voice, was when the hound attacked.With this in mind, Steven anticipated another attack.When the Hell Hound lunged forth from the fog, Steven was able to dodge the attack.As the hound passed him, Steven heard something strange. The tail was that of a snake but without teeth.When the Hell Hound passed, Martha's voice came from the snake tail.

Steven stood patiently and waited for the hound to attack again.When it did, he took the switchblade and sliced off its tail in one swift motion.The Hell hound let out a cry like never before, spinning around and jumping on top of Steven.This is what Steven wanted.He took the switchblade, then plunged it deep within the beasts heart.There wasn't any time to grab the knife back as the hound staggered backwards and whimpered.

"Eat that!"

It appeared that the Hell Hound was not finished.In the distraction of a false victory, the hound got the upper hand.It climbed up on the shipping container and let out a mighty roar, trying to put fear into Steven.He didn't let it, though.He instead pulled out the Uzi and unleashed a barrage of bullets at the hound. By stabbing its heart with the switchblade, the Hell Hound had been rendered vulnerable.So, by unleashing the massive amount of bullet upon the hound, Steven practically killed it.

The Hell Hound fell on the ground and stopped moving.Steven had taken out the beast, slayed it, and freed himself from the constant stalking.He made his way behind the shipping containers where the hound once stood, and found a hidden back exit.Steven removed the metal bar and proceeded to leave.He now found himself standing on Low Street, one step closer to getting to wherever it was that he was supposed to go.

Author's Note

This writing contains graphic content.I hold no responsibility for those who are offended