Chapter 1

The air was humid and thick, sliding down Hailey's throat in smothering waves. She leaned back against a cracked tile wall and struggled to catch her breath. She placed a dirt-smudged hand over her pounding heart and willed it to calm down. With her free hand, she shoved a sweaty string of shoulder-length ebony hair behind her ear.

Barely nineteen and full of fire, Hailey had fled her hometown of South Ashfield in a feat of rebellion and run straight into the heart of hell. Silent Hill. She had heard the Indian folklore and the ghost stories of the quaint coal-mining town, but this... This didn't hold a candle to anything she could ever have imagined. That siren... The darkness... Those beasts...

A dull rumbling shook through the hospital that was now sheltering her. It was blindingly dark and Hailey's glacier blue eyes strained to make shapes out of the shadows surrounding her. Sweat dripped slowly from her hair and down her forehead, stinging her eyes and forcing her to squint.

"Hmmmph..."

Hailey's heart skipped a beat at the vaguely sexual moan. Those women... things... were honing in on her. Scrambling forward, Hailey shoved her hands in front of her, grasping for any blunt object or makeshift weapon she could find. Her fingers slid over warm rough metal and she wrapped them tightly around what felt like a bar. She glanced down, begging her eyes to function. She took a shaky breath and slid her hand down the metal bar. She felt rust flake away onto her skin as her fingers continued to follow the curve of the bar down. A small sigh of hope flittered from her lips as she realized she was gripping the foot of a bed frame. She dropped to her knees and continued to trail her hands down the leg of the bed. When she reached the hard gritty floor, she reached forward and smirked in triumph. There was a small space under the bed, barely big enough for Hailey to slide into. Out in the hall, the click-clack of sleek pumps echoed closer and closer. She rolled onto her back and shoved herself under the bed with her legs. Once she was sure she was fully hidden, she took a steadying breath and held it, listening intently to her surroundings.

In the distance, a large fan clanked as its deteriorating blades spun in lazy circles. An extremely human voice let out a gurgling screech of pain. The clacking heels stopped in the hall just outside the door. Hailey heard the she-beasts sighing and whispering at each other. The murmuring stopped and the heavy metal door of the room groaned as it slid slowly open. Hailey cringed and willed herself further under the bed, crushing herself into the floor.

The silhouette of two women fell upon the dirty tile floor. The taller one took a shaky step forward and paused. Hailey's eyes trailed along the backlit bodies of the nurses. They were slender and hippy with large breasts and long legs. Their bodies were barely concealed by dirty nurse smocks with plunging necklines and nearly obscene hemlines. They looked like some nurse fetish gone awry. Her eyes jumped to a glimmering object wrapped in the dirty, bloody hand of the lead nurse. A scalpel. A whimper of fear fled Hailey's lips before she could stop it. The nurse's head twitched forward and she stumbled closer to the bed. A tear oozed from the corner of Hailey's eye and slid achingly slow down her smudged cheek. The nurse bent forward at the foot of the bed and...

An ear-aching screech of metal on metal resounded in the hall. Both the nurses moaned and turned towards the door. A few painfully quiet moments lulled by with Hailey's heart thudding uncomfortably in her slender throat.

SCREEEEEEEE... thud.

Hailey winced as the noise drew louder and closer. The nurses quickly stumbled from the room and away from the noise.

Hailey dug her clammy palms into the splintering tiles and grout of the floor and shoved herself out from under the bed. She wiped her hands on her tattered jeans and shoved herself onto her feet. With a bit of dim golden light filtering in from the now open door, Hailey's eyes gazed around the shabby room. The bed was shoved up against the back wall, under a boarded window. To the left of the bed was a termite-infested end table with a yellowing rotary phone and a vase of decaying flowers. A small rusted medical tray and stand stood to the right of the bed. Next to the door there was a section of counters and cabinets, complete with a sink and mirror.

Hailey stepped up to the counters and began frantically tugging open drawers. Moth-bitten washrags. Not much use. Bible. Not much better. Stacks of sheets for the bed. Hailey grunted in frustration.

SCREEEEEEEE... thud.

Hailey's heart stopped for a split second. The metallic shriek was only a few yards outside of the door now, and getting closer by the minute. Hailey began tossing open the cabinet doors in search of protection.

SCREEEEEEEE... thud.

SCREEEEEEEE... thud.

SCREEEEEEEE... thud.

Only a few feet away now. Hailey heard a deep grumbling growl outside of the door. Whatever was making that noise was huge.

A thud echoed in the hallway and everything became deafeningly silent. Hailey paused to listen closely and turned to face the door. The light in the hall grew brighter. Rust flaked away from metal and evaporated before her very eyes. The cracked tiles mended themselves to reveal smooth but dingy walls and floors. Hailey edged close to the door and peered around the edge. The hall was empty, void of any life. She leaned back against the wall and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

A few moments ticked by before Hailey returned to the cabinets and continued her search for supplies. She wasn't going to let the darkness catch her unprepared again.