Disclaimer: Silent Hill (tm) and its characters are owned by the geniuses at Konami. I take no credit for any recognizable characters, locations, themes, and so forth. I am not making any money whatsoever from this work of writing. It's Konami's twisted little universe; I'm just having some fun with it. Any recognizable store names or brands belong to the individuals or corporations who own them. I have absolutely nothing of value except for my video game collection and my computer, so please don't sue.

This story takes place in an alternate universe. It's also rather lighthearted in nature for the first few chapters. When I first started the story, the focus was solely on Alessa and Heather. However, it has grown since then and I guarantee The Order will be involved at one point later on.

I should warn you there will be some f/f situations much later in the story. It'll be mild for the version of the story on this site, but it will be there. If you're offended by that type of relationship, then don't say later on I didn't warn you. Of course, if you are that squeamish, I have to wonder what you're doing in the Silent Hill category in the first place. ;)

Chapter 1 – Chance Encounter

The day started out like any other for Heather Morris. She woke up at ten in the morning, went through her usual routine, and then ate a great breakfast prepared by her dad. Afterwards, she decided to head to the nearby mall for a bit of shopping.

Heather had graduated from high school the previous year, but she didn't feel ready to pursue any higher education yet. It wasn't that college didn't appeal to her. She just wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life yet. Plus, she figured she deserved a break after so many years of school. She didn't have a full time job either; she did well enough taking part time ones for a while whenever she needed more money than her weekly allowance. The result was that she had a great deal of free time on her hands. Today she was going to spend it at the mall.

Like many girls her age, Heather loved the mall. The people, the sounds, all the great stores, the carefree atmosphere; it was one of her favorite places. Even though she didn't have any close friends to hang out with, she still liked to spend a lot of time there shopping and browsing. The Ashfield Hills Galleria wasn't as big as the malls in nearby Central City, but it wasn't bad for a small town shopping center either.

She was in a clothing store checking out some t-shirts, when she noticed a girl with long black hair nearby. Heather didn't pay her any mind at first. The girl was facing away from her, but she didn't think it was anyone she recognized. Not at first. But then she got a weird feeling. There was something about this girl…something Heather couldn't quite put her finger on. She seemed familiar somehow. Maybe it was someone from school, but somehow, she didn't think so.

Heather was definitely intrigued. When the girl left the store a few moments later, Heather decided to follow her, albeit discreetly – she had no desire to get arrested for stalking. The chase led her into an EB Games shop, then GameStop. Heather wasn't much for video games, but she pretended to browse while keeping an eye on the subject of her piqued curiosity. She managed to sneak a few glances at the girl's face, and what she saw left her very surprised: this chick looked a heck of a lot like her. Oh, they weren't exactly the same; she lacked the freckles that still adorned Heather's cheeks. But other than that, they could have been sisters.

Freaky, Heather thought.

The Happy Burger inside the mall was the next stop on the girl's, and Heather's, little adventure. As usual, the place was fairly packed with people who enjoyed the greasy but tasty fast food. No surprise there. The joint ruled in Heather's opinion. She watched the object of her pursuit purchase her food, and then sit down at the farthest table in the back. When she was sure it was safe, Heather went up to the register and ordered the same things. It was her favorite meal, and she wondered if the same went for whoever this girl was.

She took a table some distance away from the brunette. They ate at about the same speed, though Heather continued to steal looks at the fascinating girl. She was certain she had never once seen this chick in school. And the way she looked so much like Heather was unsettling. Even her hair looked like Heather's before she had gotten it trimmed.

Maybe it was just a coincidence. The feeling in Heather's gut told her otherwise. Something funny was going on here.

Alrighty then, Heather decided. She'd done enough observing. If she wanted an answer to this mystery, she would just have to suck up her courage and ask the girl who she was. She wasn't worried. What was the worst that could happen? The girl would get annoyed, Heather would apologize, and that would be that. And if not, perhaps the brunette would turn out to be equally interested in their shared resemblance, even if there wasn't some perplexing reason behind it.

Heather smiled. If nothing else, maybe she would make a new friend today.

Unfortunately, just as she was about to approach her, the girl got up from her seat and headed for the exit. Heather bit back a curse. Oh no, she wasn't getting away that easily!

Alessa had the palpable sensation of being watched. It was not an unusual thing to experience in a mall, with all the people walking about. Her being a teenage girl contributed to that. She was aware some people might consider her attractive, teenage boys in particular, and she was wont to being stared at public, especially in places like this.

However, this was something different from the usual gawking she received hormone-driven boys. There was some intangible gut feeling that hinted to her this person was not only staring at her, they were actually following her through the mall. She had felt it ever since she left a clothing store a while back, and the feeling only increased as she walked into the Happy Burger fast food spot.

Reflexively, she felt for the can of pepper spray she kept in her pocket as she reached for her wallet. She had learned to trust her instincts when they spoke to her. Years of dealing with threats to her life most human beings never faced had proven them accurate. If those instincts told her she was being followed, then there was no question about it: she was being followed.

The question was, by whom?

She took a glance around her at the crowd. Nobody really stood out, although that meant nothing. The best criminals, and the most dangerous, were often ones that blended into the crowd. To draw too much attention to yourself was to make people wary of you, and that was something psychopaths like rapists, murderers and cultists couldn't afford to do. If they wanted to succeed with whatever sick act they had planned, they had to keep an air of inconspicuousness about them.

Which meant Alessa had to be extra careful. Whoever it was would not reveal themselves in public. They would wait until she was away from the masses, in the parking lot perhaps, where she was vulnerable…unless Alessa identified them first and singled them out to someone who would help her. Mall security was nearby, and her father would be there in a heartbeat if she called.

She sat down at one of the tables. She took some tentative bites of her food, though she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her every move. If only she had some inkling of whom it was.

Still, she was hungry, and she wasn't going to let some freak detract from satisfying her appetite. She finished her meal in calculated bites, taking much longer than she normally would have. However, the feeling of being observed would not leave her awareness. After finishing her lunch, she decided it was best to get moving. She threw away her trash and placed the tray in its appropriate spot, then quickly left the restaurant.

As she strolled towards the central exit, the feeling of being followed intensified. Whoever was trailing her was not getting less persistent. Finally, Alessa decided she'd had enough. She stopped dead still and swept around, intent on giving this person a piece of her mind and a blast of pepper spray if necessary.

"Okay, why are you following me?" she started to say, only to be cut off as she realized who, or rather what, she was looking at.

Heather's father had once remarked than when she had a certain goal in mind, she went at it like a woman possessed. She was a bit of a slacker sometimes, but when motivated by a sufficient cause or purpose, she displayed a resolve and dedication few others could match. Nothing got in her way, not even her own doubts.

She followed the other outside the door, careful to keep a certain distance between them. She didn't want to make it obvious she was following, after all. They moved across the mall in tandem, one apparently unaware of the other.

Or so Heather thought at first. She quickly became aware that perhaps this was not the case. Heather noticed that the other girl's steps had increased in speed. Was she aware of the stranger trailing right behind her?

Heather's own steps weren't exactly subtle. She was walking like a madwoman, until she realized she would probably bump into the girl unless she slowed down. Then she would really give away her presence.

Suddenly the girl stopped in her tracks, and before Heather could so much as blink, turned around to find herself with a shocked expression on her face. Heather knew the feeling. Two sets of eyes locked onto each other, as the minds behind them came to a standstill.

Alessa Summers, known once upon a time as Alessa Gillespie, was frozen in her steps. Standing five feet away from her was a girl of her height and weight, with short black hair and a red halter top that accentuated her thin, yet subtly fit frame. She was mildly attractive, but that wasn't what caught Alessa's attention so raptly.

It was her face. It was the same face as Alessa's.

Alessa stared in soundless shock. The scolding she'd reserved for the stranger died on her lips as she realized this was no ordinary person that was following her. Alessa almost pinched herself just in case this was a dream, though she knew that was impossible. This…this couldn't be, could it?

She blinked her eyes hard, hoping in vain the image would disappear and she would just be left with a regular girl in its place. Of course her double stayed the same. And as the reality of the situation sunk in, Alessa realized the plain and simple truth.

This was her twin.

It didn't matter that she had shorter hair. It didn't matter that she had lighter colored eyes instead of hazel, which Alessa already knew somehow were contacts. This was her duplicate, she was sure of it. Against all the astronomical odds in the universe, she had somehow met up with the one person in existence who could claim to be her in every way that mattered.

She couldn't deal with this. And before either of them knew what happened she was running, desperate to get away from this…this thing that had somehow found her in the mall.

"Wait!" her duplicate yelled after her, in a voice that was exactly like Alessa's. She seemed intent on catching up to Alessa. For what reason, Alessa didn't know. Nor did she care. She just wanted to get away from here as soon as possible. Before the other girl could get close to her, she bolted out the door. She thought she heard something drop on the ground, but paid it no mind. Now wasn't a time to hesitate – no way was she going back there.

"Shit!" Heather swore, watching the mystery girl rush out the exit. She wasn't going to sprint after her in the parking lot like a maniac. That was a surefire way of getting arrested if she'd ever heard one. Whatever this bizarre encounter was, it looked like she had lost the opportunity to investigate it. She sighed, feeling both chagrined and irritated at herself.

"Well, that went well."

It was then she noticed that the other girl had dropped something. Kneeling to pick it up, she discovered it was a cell phone about the same size as one that Heather carried herself. The small device was broken from the fall, with its back cover and battery pack laying on the floor. She carefully pieced the phone back together, finding as she did that there was a name written in glittering marker on the back. Heather looked curiously over the name, reading it aloud to herself.

"Alessa."

Alessa…

Why did that name sound so familiar?