Momma
Chapter 1: Walking Death

A/N: Just a slight curiosity throughout the entirety of Silent Hill: Origins. I wonder if Helen is alive. The game doesn't come out and say whether she Is or not. What if Travis was so inclined to check for himself. Enjoy!

A wave of cold swept over him as Travis Grady headed back through Cedar Grove Sanitarium. The lobby was still dark, but light was coming from the crack under the door to Dr. Harris' office. He had been here once before, seizing the artifact and the full report, detailing that it was in fact his mother, Helen Grady who had been brought here. Now, there was one object he needed.

"I want the key to female seclusion… I've got to know for sure…" The lock was jammed, so Travis shoved his shoulder into the door The resounding crack let him know that whatever was jammed into the lock was broken. The office was dead quiet, like the rest of the town, but that didn't matter. Travis rummaged through the drawers in the old oak desk, finding a wooden box full of keys. Each had their own label, showing which door it went to.

At the bottom of the pile of keys, he found one with a faded "female seclusion" label. Quickly pocketing it, he closed the box, and placed it back into the drawer, which he closed. Leaving the office, he pulled out the map again, seeing exactly how to go to get to where he needed. The tricky thing was to watch the stairs. They were rotting from years of maltreatment. His foot slipped, and it sank into the rotten wood on the stair behind him, but he yanked it out, cursing under his breath. "Damned trick stair." His eyes narrowed, nearing the second floor landing.

Heading to the north east staircase, he saw something. Flattening himself against the wall, he finally saw that it was simply the corpse of one of the demon nurses he had killed earlier. Travis paused when he got to the doorway of the staircase.

How is this goin' to go down? If she really is still here, what will I say to her? "Hey mom, by the way, thanks for trying to kill me when I was a kid."? This is definitely something I need to really think about… I can't just get mad… Apparently she was right about the mirrors… Was she right about me being some kind of bad seed?

Travis put this thought aside for the moment. It would be brought up later. Entering into the stairwell, he descended the stairs, reaching the first floor. Right outside the stairwell was Female Seclusion. He looked at the white writing.

Dr. Harris Has The Key

"Yeah… and now I do." Slowly, Travis placed the rusted key into the lock, turning it until it clicked. He then tried the knob, which opened the door without hesitation. Inside, the drawings weren't on the walls. There was only barren white. It reminded him of coming before. Standing before the room with a brass 5 on the outside, he looked at the door, like it was the only thing holding him back. Lisa had been sitting here, looking at the same door. She had said there was nothing anyone could do for her.

"Your boy's here, Momma…"

He reached ut, trying the knob to the door, and surprisingly it worked. The door swung open, to reveal a woman sittin on a shabby bed. Her dark hair was put up, and Travis easily recognized the face of his mother. However, she didn't even notice he was there. All she did was stare out the window, which was covered in what looked like dust and ash. Travis pulled off his cap, so that it would be easier for her to see his face, but she still didn't look away. He was about to take a few steps closer, when her voice nearly made him jump back.

"What is it this time, Doctor? Come to take me away again?" Why won't you let me out?"

Mixed emotions were boiling inside him, as Travis moved toward her, finally stopping and kneeling before her. "It's not the doctor, Momma. It's me…" Her eyes slowly moved from the foggy light to his face. There was an odd look that she gave him.

"Richard?" Her voice held something akin to disappointment. Travis shook his head. He gently reached out, placing his hand atop her thin cold one. "No. It's Travis, your boy… They told me you wanted to see me…" Her eyes widened, but it didn't really last. The moment of realization passed quickly. Her eyes went back to an almost glazed look.

"You're lying…"

"Why would I lie to you?" He was genuinely hurt by this. He hadn't seen her in years, and now she accused him of lying, but then again…. It didn't surprise him. All that she had been through. "I'm not lying to you. I'm here, right in front of you… Open your eyes…"

Helen had turned her head, closing her eyes in disbelief. Her hand was shaking in his. Travis slowly shifted himself, so that he was a little taller than her, sitting on the bed. Helen didn't even notice. "Momma, please look at me…"

It took a few minutes, but her eyes opened again, this time, there was something stirring in them, but he wasn't sure what. "Thank you…"

"Don't thank me yet." Her voice was crisp, and it was thought that she was angry. "If you are indeed who you say you are, then why take so long?"

"I-I waasn't anywhere near here. I thought you were dead… That's what Daddy always told me… I had no idea you were still here… If I had-"

"If you had what, only known?" Her voice held definite anger now. The onlhy strange thing was that she hadn't moved her hand away from him. "I've heard that before…"

"I'm sorry, Momma…" Frustration had built during this argument, making him almost angry, but it wasn't her fault. Richard had told him his mother was dead, not locked away in a sanitarium, pleading to see him. "What do you need me to do?"

"I don't need you to do anything…" Her tone had something of a defeated tone to it now. MeTravis gently raised his left hand to her face, turning it so that she would be looking directly at him. She tried to turn away. "What can I do to make you believe me? I hate seeing you like this…"

"Really, even after I tried to kill you!" Her voice was unbelieving. He put a hand up to stop her from talking.

"You tried to kill yourself too. I read that in a police report. You didn't want to keep living… Why?"

"I was tired…"

"Tired of what?" This was surprising. Here he had been struggling to find a way to bring up what she had done, and then she just came out and sad it.

"Tired of the voives, tired of the people in the mirrors telling me what to do. They told me that after it was done, I would be free from all this…"

"Well, they lied."

"You act like there is another world on the other side of these mirrors. Are you crazy now, or am I?"

"You're not. I've seen it. I've gone there… I've seen hellish creatures on the other side." He looked up into her faded blue-gray eyes. "Momma, I understand you wanting it to end…" He stood, gently sitting on the edge of the bed, placing an arm around her slim shoulders. "All that has to happen is to ignore them. This place has its own twisted way of makin' anyone crazy. Trust me, I've seen my share already…"

Her head found its way to his lower shoulder, and it was almost comforting in the rathole of a sanitarium. The only thing to it was that he felt like he was holding a skeleton. Her frame was so thin, and she was cold. Helen Grady was almost the picture of living death.