Silent Hill: Shattered Past

by CyberCore1984

Damien finds himself trapped in the world of silent hill, but its not silent hill thats in limbo, its his hometown and others like it. He enters the depths of the fog to find his missing parents and discover a truth about himself....

Silent Hill

Shattered Past

You never really know you've lost something until its gone. I use to think I understood this, but now….now I know you can even lose things you never knew you had in the first place. I wish I had learned this lesson before, because none of this would have to have happened. If I only knew…..

* * *

I always knew that my town was a bit out of place. The people who resided here were at least to say, a bit off. The way things were run were sluggish to say the least and the on going drug and gang problem was something that should have been dealt properly. Not only that, but the way law seemed to be run around here was nothing short of pathetic. It use to be a quite town, a peaceful town. Up until the summer of 2007 when Massachusetts was flooded by immigration due to the fact new laws were passed that no other state had passed before, and the simple fact at the time, health care and jobs were plentiful. Getting around was easy for both commuter and driver, as well as any pedestrian walking the streets. It was a simple place with simple people. Or so I thought.

I had lived in this town for about a decade now, and I had seen a lot come and go, people, businesses, even old architecture. I had a lot of good friends too, some moved away, some died, and some just drifted off the radar. It was the time of my life were I began and were I experienced the things I never had before any were else. In short, it was the place I found out who I really was. I lived with my father the entire time I resided here, and life was pretty good. It had its ups and downs but for the most part everything evened itself out in the end. We weren't rich, but we made ends meet. I worked at the local dinner for about 6 years now, and I was pretty happy for the most part. Although I did wish to attend collage at some pint and get my masters in Computer programming.

Of course before all this I had moved too many times to count. Before I came to live with my father I had shuffled between him and my mother. Back and fourth about 8 times in my life before this place. And finally when I had had enough I decided to stay with my father. You see, my mother wasn't all there anymore. Too much drinking and too much whatever else pretty much made her into somebody I no longer recognized. It was sad, because before all that she was a pretty sharp, loving, and caring person. Until she met him. Then…..she slowly began to deteriorate. Of course as I watch it happen my heart broke a thousand times but there was nothing I could do. So, I moved in with my father and this is were I ended up at the age of 15. I'm now 25. And I've learned so much sense then, and been through a lot more, so much more.

You never really understand how strong you are until your metal is put to the test, over and over again. And even when you lose yourself, if your meant to get through it, any of it, you find your way back home and endure. I know this all too well for my father also endured many things in his lifetime. It's funny. You never really know how much one can endure until you see it in somebody else. And when you think you have had it, they show you no matter what you go through there is always a way through.

I never forgot what my father had gone through and the stories he shared with me. They in a way, were my own personal guide to getting through the hell's I trialed through. If it wasn't for them, I may not be here today. You see, I was way different then most people my age, then and now. I didn't believe in the same things most others did either. My parents taught me things they were taught, but stressed how important your word was, or your honor, morality and manners. How you present yourself and how your trust in yourself and others was the very fabric that connected you to the ones you cared about most. I was lucky because most peoples parents never took the time or bothered to teach them these values.

I guess you can say I'm old school. It's something I took pride in and never let anyone try to stray me away from. And that alone is how I kept my job for so long and made my way up through the ladder in such a quick time. Life was good. Until she came around. She hadn't been around for over 10 years and now suddenly she returned home. I wish I could say I welcomed it, but I did not. In fact, I hated it. But there was nothing I could do my father made his own decision and for the first time sense I've been with him, he did not ask for my permission or opinion. That sort of bothered me. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt and also welcomed her. Of course it wasn't long before it began and the hell that followed showed its ugly face one more time.

It was a Saturday night and I had come home a bit late. The patrons that had left last made a pretty big mess and somebody had to clean it. It took a bit longer then expected but I finally finished up and locked up the place for the night. I got in my car and headed back home. The drive was about 10 mins but for some reason it felt longer. As I entered the city limit's the weather itself seemed to change to my arrival. A light but thick fog had settled slowly as I drove deeper into town. As I come onto main street I could see the lights in my house were still on. I parked my car adjacent to the thrift store across from me and shut the engine off. For a moment I just sat there in my car, looking into the windows. I lit my last cigarette and put my hands back on the steering wheel. I shook my head as I exhaled and stepped out of the car.

I knew tonight was going to be a bad one because I could already hear the noise coming from the living room. They were fighting again. Probably over something beyond stupid, but of course every fight with her was stupid. It didn't even have to make any sense. She just had to let her wrath out on anyone who was in her vicinity. I hated when the did this, waited till the last minute to argue knowing I'd be home soon just to walk in on it. But I don't think they cared. As I entered the house I could here her yelling at my father about something to do with the dishwasher being broken. It made no sense because it had been broken for 2 years now and she acted like it had just happened.

I hung up my leather jacket and walked into the living room hoping to be able to just avoid the argument all together, but of course it was not going to be that easy. I got maybe 5 feet into the room before she turned her attention on me.

"Well well, look who finally decided to show up. Mr. working man, so hard on the job making so little for his efforts. When will you strive for something a bit above your skill level huh?" She hissed as my gaze met hers. "When will you ever be like your brother and make something of yourself? You make me sick! Why don't you make yourself useful and fix this dishwasher? Sense that's all you'll ever be!"

Her words pierced like the sharpest knives yet at the same time made me chuckle. It's so funny when you try to speak to a drunk. You know no matter what you say nothing will be heard and only hostile responses would be the answers. I shook my head and looked at my father who continued to ignore her and watch the football game. I began to walk out of the room when she grabbed me by the arm.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you dammnit!" I pulled my arm away quickly and gave her a look I'm sure she wouldn't soon forget.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!?" I said in a snappy voice in return. "Don't grab my fucking arm, I'm 25 years old were the hell do you get off thinking you have a right to even touch me?"

I knew I should have just pulled away and continued to walk into my room but for some reason she really urked me when she did that. I gave her a stern look and made sure she understood me.

"You have no right even being here let alone pushing your drunken rants and opinions on me! Why don't you put down that damn bottle for more then 5 seconds and take a look at yourself before you go pointing fingers. Dad may not care enough to tell you off, but I as sure as hell will. And while I'm at it, when will YOU make something of yourself? I work 6 days a week, 10 hours a day to bring home the rent what the fuck do you do? Oh yeah, that's right, you sit back and leech of my father while you drink your life away. What would you know of hard work? Or for that matter fixing things?

My rage began to show and I couldn't contain myself. I wanted to say this for so long and Even though I knew she would take it out on my father at this point I didn't care. If he couldn't stop himself from buying her the booze out of fear of her dropping dead from stopping cold fish, they why should I sit back and take the abuse after coming home from a hard days work?

"You know, your only alive now because he gave you a place to go when you had no place else to go! He is the reason your still alive breathing enough to be able to even pound that pint in your hand your so damn close to! Hell, you treat that bottle with more love then you EVER treated me or my brothers, or HIM! So why don't you just drop off the face of the earth and do us all a favor!"

I looked at my father to see a look of disbelief of the words I had used. HE then got enough balls to stand up to say something, but not to her. This time he said it to me. I'm not exactly sure what was said at this point as he just layed into me as he should of to her. As if all the frustrations he felt towards her he took out on me. I didn't care at this point, I had had enough. This entire situation was beyond fucked and all I could do was shut the door, put on my head phones and blast the music. I must have been drowning them out for hours when I finally dozed off. If I only knew that would be the last time I saw my life the way it was, fucked up or not. My life after this night would NEVER be the same again.

I'm not sure how long I was out for or how I even fell asleep with the music blasting in my ears as it was, but I only awoke because the music was no longer music, but complete and utter static and white noise. I almost hit my head off my night stand because it was so loud. I threw the headphones to the floor and immediately grabbed my head. My god did it hurt. I felt like I had been French kissed by a fright train. I looked to my stereo and turned off the power. It was strange. I awoke to static yet I was listening to a CD. Maybe it had just bitten the dust, it was an old CD and sometimes after listening to the same one over and over the sound quality seems to bite the dust, literally.

I shook my head and put my face into my hands. I ached beyond belief and I hadn't even had any drinks the night before, yet I felt like a collage kid who had just woke up from a new years party. I got up and put on my boots. I had fallen asleep in my clothes the night before and still hadn't done laundry yet. I opened up my bedroom door expecting to see my father sprawled out on the couch as always, and my mother in the chair next to him. To my shock they were not there. I looked around the house to see if maybe they were at the kitchen table talking things over about the night before. They sometimes use to do that even though, they knew, and I knew it did no good in the end.

But they were not there either. Thy were no were to be found. This was highly unusual as my father barely ever left the house anymore and my mother had a serious case of agoraphobia. Meaning she was too scared to even leave the house let alone go out for a walk. I also noticed the TV was still on but there was nothing but static on every channel. Maybe the cable was out and they had left to go see if they could get it turned back on. I didn't think too much of it and continued to the fridge to grab something to eat. As I opened it a horrid smell engulfed my nostrils and a flash of imagery hit me, of what looked like the inside of the fridge soaked in blood. I almost freaked but as soon as it had flashed it was gone again. I rubbed my eyes thinking maybe it was just me.

I had a serious case of nightmares that would occur almost every single night or every other night. And sometimes I'd see things I had seen in them, briefly while I was awake. The Dr. had said I had a serious case of night terrors. He also thought they may have been caused from serious traumatic experiences I may have had repressed when I was younger. Something I didn't want to hear. I wasn't crazy, I had just been through some fucked up shit in my life before now.

I shook my head for a second and continued to rummage through the food left in the fridge. Usually my mother would pig out when she had gotten smashed, and I'd be lucky if I found something to cook up or prepare. I grabbed for the milk and decided to pour a simple bowl of cereal. I took the box out of the cupboard and just as I was going to pour it in the bowl, I saw them. I almost shit myself and dropped the box. There were spiders crawling out of the box, small ones resembling those of a wolf spider. Must have been hundreds of them. I hated spiders! I quickly grabbed a news paper and began to whack away.

"What the hell?!?" I said to myself in disbelief.

I continued to smash them a few at a time until there was only a few left scurrying into the cracks of the wooden floor beneath me. It was unreal, were did they come from? I swore I had bought that box of cereal 2 days prior and there was no way I bought it with spiders inside it. I took a step back and put my hands on my head and just starred at the mess.

"Why do I feel as if this will not be the only thing that will strike me as odd today?" I threw the box away and put the milk back into the fridge. I then continued to enter the bathroom hoping to wash up when I found the first signs that something was terribly wrong. As I turned on the light I could see blood splashed all over the place. Like something had died fighting in there. I had to take a step back because I had no idea how to register what I was witnessing. Were did this blood come from? Are my parents ok? What happened? So much entered my head but I knew I had to breath. Maybe something had happened and they had to get tot eh hospital fast. But then why didn't anybody call or leave a message? Or even wake me up for that matter?

"What the fuck man! What the FUCK!"

I almost began to lost it. I began to panic and quickly ran to the phone to see if any messages were left. There was one. I quickly played it back in hopes of hearing a Dr or a paramedic, or even a cop telling me my parents were ok, or were they were, anything. But what I heard was far from what I wanted to hear. AS I played the message first there was immense static. Then, after about 4 seconds I heard a blood curdling scream of a woman. It was so loud I had to cover my ears. As it was playing I could hear what sounded like a deep parched voice saying:

"Your…..hell…….has only……..begun…..".

I almost shit bricks and quickly rewound the tape. It was as it was, and what I heard was not only a woman's voice….but it sounded a lot like my mothers. I immediately picked up the phone only to get dead silence. No dial tone, nothing. I then began to really panic.

"What the hell is going on here? MOM! DAD!!! Anybody!"

I began to yell for them throughout the house but no answer. I ran throughout the house calling their names when I noticed the outside. I stopped in my tracks to notice that the fog that had settled the night before never left. In fact, it had gotten so thick I could barely see past my own front yard to the street. It was a bit strange sense we hadn't had fog settle sense last winter when we were hit with a century record breaking storm. And even then it wasn't this thick. Something was wrong and suddenly I felt a dead sinking in my chest. Something was really freaky about all this. None of this made any sense and on top of that contact to the outside world seemed to be cut off from my house. The phone was dead, static on the TV, and my stereo. And spiders popping out of the cereal boxes along with that freaky vision of the refrigerator filled and stained with blood.

I had to find out what was happening. I took my cell phone out of my pocket and saw that there was absolutely no signal. The time and date was garbled and the only thing on it that seemed to work was the screen itself. I didn't know why but I took it with me anyways as I threw on my leather jacket and headed out. I only got as far as my front steps when I saw a blood trail leading into the street to what looked like my car. But the trail ended right at the drivers side door and my car……my car looked like it had been sitting there for years! There was rust forming on the metal, the windshield was smashed, tires popped and the paint job was peeling…….fucking peeling!

"What the fuck is going on??? Is this some sort of nightmare come to life? I must be dreaming! I have to be! None of this is making any sense!!" I was suddenly stopped in my own tracks when my cell phone began to freak out. I had thought I had no signal, but I was receiving static as if it was a old portable radio. I looked at it as the screen began to shake and waver, and the noise of the static got louder. I then heard what sounded like foot steps in the distance, about 15 yards from were I was. I tried to see what it was as it didn't sound like a person walking, but more like an animal.

I began to walk in the direction when I saw a silhouette of what looked like a dog wandering in circles. I slowly began to walk closer when I stopped. Something was wrong with it. It had no fur, and it seemed like the skin on its face was peeled back exposing its raw maw. And its eyes……its eyes were oil black!

"What in the world?…"

Just as I finished saying that to myself its head shook wildly and locked right onto me. It began to growl something I've never heard, a deep demonic like sound. It then began to shake as it walked towards me. I quickly began to walk backwards, not sure if I should run or wait to see what happened next. I almost tripped as I stumbled over a brick in my path. I looked at it and quickly picked it up ready to defend myself. My cell phone was now going nuts and as I took my gaze back to the dog like creature, it began to charge. In seconds it had jumped into the air and out of pure instinctive action I hit the son of a bitch with the brick right across its head. I stumbled back and fell to the ground as the creature fell 6 feet from me and dropped like a sack of rocks. It then shook wicked fast as it got back up.

"Oh fuck no you don't!"

I said ready for another round. I quickly looked around for something a bit more useful and found a crow bar on the side of my car. I grabbed it just in time as the beast lunged one more time, and again, I met its temple with my weapon. This time, I hit it so hard blood sprayed across my face as it hit the door of my car. It began to twitch and make a high pitched howl noise. I quickly began to smash its head in with the crow bar out of pure rage. I am not sure how long I was there swinging over and over, hitting it again and again, screaming as I did, as if my inner animal was let loose. I finally got too tired to swing anymore and realized I pretty much over killed the damn thing. I fell back on the door of my car and sank back on the ground. I couldn't believe what just happened. What the hell was that thing? What the hell was going on here? Were were my parents and why can't I contact anybody in the outside world? I then began to cry.

I couldn't take all this. This was too much to take in at once. My parents could be dead, and if anything like that beast was wondering in the depths of the fog, what were their chances? I just broke down and lost it. I may have been angry with them the night before, but I never wanted to lose them like this. I somehow knew the worst was yet to come. I gathered myself and got back on my feet. I looked down at the creature as it laid dead in a pool of its own blackish blood. I then looked at my heads and wiped the blood of my face best I could. I took a deep breath and began to enter the depths of the fog. Wondering if I'd ever find them, my friends, my girlfriend, anyone alive. I felt like they may already be gone and that I may be the only one left alive. But I had to keep hope. Whatever happened over night here, whatever caused all this, there must be an explanation some were. And I had to find it.

* * *

I must have been walking for hours by the time I reached the outskirts of town. I had to find out if this was all over, or just here in my town. But before I had a chance to even get close to the boarder of town I realized the street I was on just suddenly dropped off completely. Not only that, but even the land on either side of the road also seemed to drop off into nothing, as if the entire town had been cut off.

"You got to be kidding me…."

I looked around to see if there was anyway I could get across, but it was no use. It was like somebody just uprooted the entire town and moved it some were else. I then began to turn around and before I could even blink the entire road behind me seemed to have morphed into another road all together. I know I wasn't going crazy, but whatever this place had become it seemed to be able to change at will and without a sound. I began to walk back in the direction I came and in a few minutes I was back in the center of town. Only this time certain streets were blocked off as well and the only path seemed to be the old road to the local cemetery. This was wicked eerie as I know there was nobody else around as far as I knew, and who the hell could change an entire landscape in minutes without making any noise?

"Man, I got to lay of the weed." as I said shaking my head.

I began to walk down the old road into the first opening field of the cemetery. The fence had been locked down due to the recent vandalisms cause by local teenagers. Maybe they thought it was funny, or maybe it was a initiation into something. Either way, I'm sure the dead did not find it funny one bit. As I got closer I could see the gate entrance was wide open, and what looked like a piece of tattered cloth was blowing in the wind hanging from one of the metal posts on the gate. I grabbed it as I entered and could see blood was stained on it. As I was about to chuck it aside I could see there was faded writing on it. I looked closer and could see the writing said:

"To stop the madness of the mind, one must seek asylum"

I had to read it again as it sort of made no sense. I pocketed the cloth thinking maybe later I could figure out what it meant. After all, it seemed whatever I might find in this place may be a clue to a way out of it. I continued into the cemetery and came across a large gravestone which I was pretty sure was never there before. As I walked closer I could see that it seemed new. I walked around the other side of it and to my shock, my own name was engraved into the tombstone. I wiped my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and sure enough it was still there.

"Here lies a man who died trying to find his own fate, may the lord guide this lost soul to salvation" it read. I had to step back as it gave me a wicked awful feeling. As I looked up at the top of the gravestone, just as the streets had done, it had changed before me without notice. The top of the grave stone depicted a male holding his own face into the palms of his hands as if he was weeping. That's when I jumped back. The statue…..it was me.

"Ok, this shit isn't funny anymore. What the fuck! I'm far from dead and if I can help it I am not going to die anytime soon.!"

I grabbed my crow bar as if ready to strike the statue in disgust, but as I looked down to grab my weapon, I looked back and again things changed. The gravestone was now gone and all that remained was a clean patch of grass. I did not want to wait around any longer to find out why I was lead here, but before I had a chance to walk out my cell phone began to make that same noise it made before. Something was close. I got my crowbar ready and waited for signs of movement. It wasn't long before I could see a humanoid figure moving within the fog just a few yards ahead of me. I squinted my eyes and as they adjusted, I could see a horrid figure dragging a body to what looked like a open grave.

The figure looked like it had butchers garments on, which seemed to have melded to its skin. The skin was leathery and a dark tannish color. It's hands seemed to be webbed gloves and its feet were wearing what looked to be boots. The face was covered with a leather mask with many stitches in it. All over it seemed to be dried blood and whatever else I dared not think about. As it dragged its victim its head shook wildly bag and fourth. I wasn't sure If I could take this thing on equipped the way I was so I slowly began to walk backwards out of view. As I was about to turn around, that damn thing seemed to have either jumped behind me, or I was looking at another one. This one had its gaze trained right on me. If you would call it that, as the face seemed not to have any eyes on it at all. I stood ready for an attack, but as looked at this thing I noticed what looked like a hand gun placed on top of a gravestone behind it. Unbelievable. Maybe I had a chance after all.

"Lets hope that thing is loaded"

Just as the creature began to walk towards me I darted back and fourth like a football player, spinning around it and grabbed the pistol. The creature quickly turned and tried to grab me by my face and before it could try it again I unloaded 5 shots into its head. The creature dropped and began to twitch much like the other thing I killed in the streets. I quickly stomped the it out and began to run. Just as I hit the cemetery entrance I could hear a loud ungodly yell, by something deep within the graveyard, as if it was alerting the rest of whatever else was in there. I took of running back down the old road and as I did I could hear faint sirens begin to sound off in the distance.

I wasn't sure what was happening but the sirens got louder and louder, and strangely enough it seemed to begin to darken all around me. I found a small shelter and ran inside. I looked around for something to bar the door as I felt something bad was about to happen. I put my crowbar into the latches of the door handles to make sure nothing could get in. As I continued to watch the outside world begin to darken, I could see the buildings all around me begin to decay and peel. The paint launching skyward and the roads turn to metal grating. It was unreal, like a horrible nightmare of somebody's sick twisted mind. I then heard a low dragging sound. Like metal being dragged on metal.

I could hear the sound getting closer and closer, and just as it seemed to suddenly stop. I saw the most horrible thing yet. Something out of a John carpenter movie. Out of the darkness I saw a creature more horrible then anything I could Imagine. It measured 9 feet tall, its head, wasn't even a head but a triangular metal helmet. It's upper chest was exposed and seemed to be that of a human male. It's legs were covered by a kilt or dress which resembled that of human skin. It was covered with blood from head to toe and it was dragging a way oversized butcher knife. I began to shake, utter fear coursed through my veins and I thought for sure I was dead. If this thing found me, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to stop it from getting in here. I watched it as it walked down what use to be the middle of main street. It stopped suddenly, as if it heard something. It tilted its head toward my position. I froze.

"Fuck! It heard me!" I though to myself.

But as soon as it turned to my direction, it turned back and continued on its way down the street. And just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone again, turning down an alleyway out of sight. I began to catch my breath in relief. I looked back out of the cracks in the door and as soon as the world changed, it began to change back. Just as if it never occurred. I'm not sure what cause it but whatever it was it brought that "Thing" with it. I now realized I didn't have much time, and death awaited me at every corner. Just as I was about to leave my head began to hurt. A loud piercing noise like that of a high pitched hum echoed through my ears, or maybe it was directly into my mind. I couldn't stand it anymore and as I began to sway I blacked out and hit the ground.

I awoke later in what seemed to be a school, maybe a elementary school of some sort. I grabbed my head as it hurt just like it did when I first awoke this morning before all of this. I looked around and could see it was still foggy out. The halls in which the bench I awoke on was located, seemed to have not been used in a long time. The pictures hanging on the cork billboards were tattered and torn, and some were scattered on the ground along the hallway. The windows along the way were somewhat fogged and dirty from what seemed to be years of neglect. The smell of abandonment reeked throughout the halls.

"Now were am I?" I said to myself.

I looked to see if I was still armed, and I was. The gun tucked in my belt, but the crow bar must have still been were I last used it. No matter. I got to my feet and checked my pockets. Yes! I had a few cigarettes left and delightfully lit one. Oh the taste of nicotine. Seemed to be the only thing keeping me sane at the moment. I proceeded down the hall and to the nearest exit. The door was unlocked and I stepped out into the open. I looked around and surprisingly could see that the fog wasn't as thick as it was before. I could see I was no longer in my home town. This time I was some place new, unfamiliar. Or so I thought. I began to walk down the steps ahead of me and continued on my way. It was the same here, some roads were blocked off as others were free to roam as if leading me some were.

That's when I realized, I wasn't in some strange place. I was in my old hometown, the place were I was born. Centralia. I didn't however recognize the school. That must have been new, but it seemed as if it had been there for ages. I made my way down central street into the center of town. I could see the old church I use to attend when I was 5. I use to come here with my family when my family still WAS a family. As I walked closer I could see the steps were covered in blood. The doors were wide open and a dog like creature much like the one I had killed before was lying motionless on the steps. Somebody took care of this poor bastard before I got here. But who? Maybe somebody else was here! Some one else who was going through the same thing I was. I had to find out. I un holstered my pistol and made my way up the steps.

I leaned against one side of the door readying my weapon, and took a deep breath. I then kicked the door wide open and pointed it ahead of me ready to fire at anything that may have moved and did not seem human. I was shocked to see a young woman praying at the alter. She couldn't have been older then 23 and seemed to be crying ash she prayed. I was stunned she didn't even respond to the noise I made making my way in. Next to her was a colt revolver and on the other side a torn and tattered bible. Just as I began to walk towards her she grabbed her gun and pointed it right at my head.

"Who the hell are you? And do you always sneak up on woman carrying guns?"

I was shocked. She was ready to fire and did not seem to care I was another human in this hellish reality. I quickly put my weapon away and put my hands out as to show I was not here to harm her.

"It's ok, I'm not here to hurt you. I had no idea anybody else was alive. I'm just glad to see another human being…." but before I could finish she interrupted me.

"Spare me your bullshit. Just because your human doesn't mean I won't blow your sorry ass into the other world. Now answer my question. Who the hell are you and what are you doing here? Answer me!"

I almost wished I hadn't put my weapon away at this point. As beautiful as she was she was just as deadly.

"Please, hear me out. My name is Damien. I don't know what is going on and I'm just trying to find my parents. One minute I'm in one town, the next I'm in here. I was born here and I'm not sure why I woke up here or how. I swear I'm not here to harm you, I'm not your enemy. But I'll gladly leave you alone if you wish"

She got up to her feet, her gazed still locked on me. She picked up her bible and put it in her pocket. She was wearing short torn blue jean shorts, with fishnets covering her legs. She wore latched up leather boots and her shirt was partially torn, also underneath were fishnets. Her hair was a dark brown with red streaks in it, long in the front, and short in the back. She had a lip piercing and wore dark makeup. She was pretty much as Goth as you could get, yet, amazingly beautiful. I didn't know wither to run or take her out on a date.

"Well, you don't look like your one of them, and if it wasn't for the fact that your pretty cute I may have blown your head off before you could speak. The names Alex. It's good to see a genuine soul still alive around here. So, you say you were born here? Well then maybe you can help me"

She holstered her firearm and began to walk down the walkway towards me. God could she walk. She stopped just a few feet from me and gave me a good gander.

"Hmmm. You sure your not trouble? Cause you look like a bad ass to me. I usually don't go for those types. I actually am a softy for geeks."

She ran her finger tips down my leather coat and smiled.

"So as I was saying, I need somebody who knows this place and sense you say you were born here maybe you can help me find my brother. He went missing late last night and when I woke up this morning I was here. All I know is that this was the last place he was seen and I can't figure out were the exact address he was staying at is located. I got this damn GPS but of course like everything else, its useless."

She pulled it out and just like my cell hone the screen was garbled and wavering. I pulled out my cell phone and showed it to her.

"Yea, I think all technology is pretty much useless, except for the fact that every time one of those creatures comes close, this thing makes a static like noise to warn me."

She looked at the cell and gave it back. She then put the GPS away. She then pulled out a box of cigarettes and put one in her mouth.

"Got a light?"

I pulled out my Zippo and lit it up for her. She smiled and shook her head as she inhaled then exhaled.

"I never thought I'd find anybody else alive around here. I'm glad you cam around. At last now I feel a bit more safe. Even if I don't know you that well. You seem harmless enough. So, were did you come from before here?"

I hesitated for a second as I starred off remembering my life before today.

"Sheldon Falls. I've lived there for the past 10 years and all was great until I got home last night after work. My parents…..they aren't all there you know? My mother was a serious alchaholic and my father was living in denial of the fact that she was destroying us. But, non the less she was family and we don't turn our back on family. It's not how I was raised. Well, one night after a routine argument with my mother I locked myself in my room and fell asleep listening to some pretty heavy music, to drown them out of course. Then when I woke up, everything was like this."

I turned my head away to keep from showing my dismay.

"I need to find them……something horrible might have happened to them. I found a message on my answering machine with a woman screaming who I think was my mother……."

She looked at me and turned my head her way by my chin. She looked me deep in the eyes.

"We will find them together. And we will find my brother too. We have to keep hope cause right now that's all we got left."

She pulled me close and gave me a hug.

"I may have just met you, but something deep inside me is telling me to trust you. And I don't trust ANYONE. There's something about you Damien. I can see it in your eyes. Come on, we got to move. If we stay in one spot to long that thing may find us."

She pulled me by my hand and lead me outside. She said that "Thing" Did she mean that creature with the metal helmet? That "Pyramid" monster?

"What do you mean that thing?" I said concerned. "Does it have a metal…."

She stopped and turned to me with a shocked look on her face.

"You have seen it too then. Yes, that thing. It's something you do NOT want to run into. I know trust me….."

She began to tear up a bit and turned away. She flicked her cigarette into the street.

"That thing Killed my boyfriend…..it just picked him up and tore him in half. He never saw it coming. It was like it just materialized behind him"

She stood up straight and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"We got to keep moving. Do you know were we could possibly find a map to this place?"

I stopped to think.

"Yeah, the town hall. It's right down the street. They have plenty there."

She smiled.

"See, I knew you would know were to go."

She began to walk down the steps and kicked the creature out of her way as she did so.

"I'm sorry about your boyfriend." I said.

She stopped in her tracks.

"It's ok. At least now he doesn't have to endure this hell any longer."

She turned around and un holstered her weapon.

"You might want to get yours out too. There's a lot of these things roaming about, and they aren't the only ones. If you can, aim for the head and between the eyes. It seems to bring them down a lot quicker and you want to conserve as much ammunition as possible."

This girl knew her stuff. And that was something that attracted me beyond anything else. Though I had to keep my head straight and focus on the task at hand, I couldn't help but notice she reminded me of my high school sweet heart, Andrea. Other then the gothic look, her face and the way she went about things was about the same.

"Got it." I said as I cocked my weapon.

We headed out and walked our way to the street the town hall was located on. We both stood side by side and looked down the long road.

"Here we go." She said giving me a glance and a smirk.

We began to walk slowly down the road as we both knew the farther along we seemed to get, the more often we would encounter something. Fortunately we made it down the road to the town hall without any problems. She stopped and looked around before she put her gun away and tried to open the front doors. Of course they were locked.

"Well I'm not surprised." She said with disappointment.

I also holstered my weapon and tried to get the door open. Still no luck.

"Maybe if we both try together we can break the lock. It seems like it has been aging like everything else in this place. We might have a chance."

She smiled and helped me grab the door handle.

"on three….one…..two….three!"

We both pulled and the door seemed not to budge, and just as we were about to stop we heard a loud crack as if the doors lock gave way. I pulled the door open as hard as I could and sure enough the lock mechanism had broken. We were now free to roam the building.

"Well well, it seems I have a thinker on my hands." She said as she stepped inside.

The building inside was pretty much in the same condition as the school I had woken up in. I'm not sure why everything had aged or why there was nothing new in this place. Everything was either rusted, worn down, or just plain out of order.

"I hate the smell of abandonment" I said taking my gun out and cocking it. I looked to see how many rounds I had left. Seven. Not many at all so it was time I found something else to depend on if I was not able to find any ammunition for this thing. We wandered the halls looking for the clerks office in hopes that a map would be laying about. It wasn't long before we found just that.

"Here it is!" She said as she rummaged through the papers on the desk in the office. She looked at it and handed it over to me.

"Maybe you can make more sense of this…" She handed over the map tome. I kind of gave her a confused look. I'm sure she knew how to read them, but that's when I saw the writing on the other side:

"One often finds his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it…" Was written in dried blood. The map on the other side also had writing and etches on the map as to direct us were to go.

"That's a little weird. It's like this place is telling us were to go and changing things accordingly. How are we to know to trust it? I don't want to run into anything we can't handle…"

She started to shake a bit and lit up another cigarette. It was obvious whatever happened to her boyfriend right in front of her effected her greatly. Why wouldn't it? Seeing somebody you love dying right before your eyes by something that shouldn't even be possible in our reality, or any reality for that matter. And she didn't even do anything to deserve it. I walked over and put my hand on her shoulder.

"We will get out of here, I promise you that. I know I may not know what's going on for sure, but I know that we must have been brought here for a reason. And so far we have gotten through this alright. We will find a way out you have to keep positive best you can…."

I said with a sort of unsure voice I'm sure she knew. But still she smiled and nodded her head. Maybe she wasn't use to this, but I think she has been trying to find the more positives in her life rather then doubt. Maybe why she kept that bible close to her. It gave her hope even though I think she may have not believed in it completely. I glanced back at the map and could see our next destination. The writing had a arrow pointing to main street which then lead off to crow street. Then it split like a fork off into central street. At the end of central you could see a hospital that was circled.

"Maybe we should go there. Whatever may be leading us may try something, but I'm sure if we try to go of course we will find the streets just drop of into nothing. We have to try…."

I folded up the map and put it in my coat pocket and began to look around. I had a feeling nothing was as it seems, well its obvious it wasn't, but that alone just no wgave me some hope.

"Maybe…maybe there is something else here trying to help us……"

She looked at me with a look as if I had 10 heads.

"What? …what are you talking about were in the middle of hell what would want to help us?"

I pulled out my pistol and showed her.

"I found this in the cemetery right after I had seen another creature, a new one, and as it advanced it was like something put this on a gravestone for me to find it. I mean come on, what are the odds that it was just sitting there? I'm pretty sure it wasn't but at the time I didn't care, I just grabbed it and began to shoot."

she looked at it and pulled out her own firearm.

"You could be strangely right. I found this shortly after that thing took my boyfriend from me. I was crying on those church steps and almost gave up. I then looked over and behind one of the columns holding the front hang over up, there it was. As if something was trying to help me. I didn't want to believe it but I figured what else to I have to lose. Shortly after I encountered that dog thing you saw dead on the steps. And I made my way into that church. I began to pray, and I won't lie…….I lost my faith in any religion way before all of this, and after what I saw…..I said why not. Maybe that's all I got left to help me……"

She began to tear up a bit and smiled which was odd.

"And you know what I prayed for?…..I prayed that somebody would come and save me out of this hell before I let it consume me……and not even 10 minutes later here you come Damien…..like an angel …..that's why I pulled the gun on you I couldn't believe my prayer was answered."

I looked at her shocked, but I had a feeling there was a reason she was smiling so much.

"So that's why you kept that bible with you, and that's why you trusted me right off the bat."

She looked at me and and her face lit up.

"…yes……I knew something brought you here, even if in the midst of all this its about your parents. Nothing happens for no reason, there's a reason for everything I guess…."

I smiled. "True….maybe there is hope yet…" And before I could finish my sentenced she grabbed me by the face and planted a long deep passionate kiss on me. I was shocked at first, but I had a feeling I knew this was coming. She stopped and put her head on my chest and just held me close.

"In a way, you remind me of him. I hope that doesn't sound weird. I'm oddly attracted to you for yourself, but a lot of what you do and the things you say are so much like he was. He was a good man Damien. And I know a good man when I come across one…."

She looked deep in my eyes yet again.

"Your right, we will make it out of here alive. I can feel it….."

She stepped back and collected herself. She grabbed her gun and looked at me.

"You ready?"

I also took mine out and nodded. I wasn't sure how to feel about all this or if I should let my mind stray the way it had. I should have been thinking about my parents, but I wasn't so much now. I was now more worried on getting her out alive. She needed me for some reason. She could take care of herself fine, but something inside said she was screaming out and needed somebody to bring her back.

We walked back into the streets ready for anything, but oddly nothing attacked us…..for awhile. We made our way up main street and off to crow street. Crow street however was a surprise in itself. The road went off onto a bridge which was pretty high above an overpass. But the odd thing wasn't the street itself, it was what was hanging from the light posts above it. As we walked closer, we could see what looked like bodies hanging from the poles. The were both female and male, but all had a leather mask on them with no eye slits or anything. The bodies were bound by barbed wire and oddly enough, there was no blood. Any were. WE looked at each other with confusion. We slowly made our way across the bridge and as we pasted the first poles I swear the bodies turned to follow our direction. I stopped and looked back. Sure enough, they had turned to face us.

"What is it?" she said.

I grabbed her by the hand. "I think we need to get moving, those bodies… They turned to face us…"

She looked behind me and her eyes got wide.

"Oh my god…..how the hell?"

She looked at me and and continued to walk but on edge. Waiting for something. We made it through and as the bodies disappeared in the fog, we could see the next ones ahead of us, also watching. But before we got too far ahead, we head what sounded like big slams, as if a body dropped. I stopped in my tracks and pointed my gun in the direction behind us, then back to the ones ahead of us.

"Get ready….I have a bad feeling….." I looked at my cell phone and nothing was happening. If it was working like before it would have sounded if those bodies were alive or dangerous to us in someway. But it did not. Just then I heard a dragging of what to seem to sound like feet. I looked up again and could see faint figures walking towards us …..it was the bodies that were hanging from the poles.

"Fuck! I hate when I'm right!"

She turned to my direction also aiming at the walking bodies that were obviously not fully dead. They were still bound, but as they got closer and we could see more, there were tentacle like appendages coming out from their backs. They walked all crooked like as if they had been hanging there for ages. Or, forgot how to talk upright. That's when my cell finally started to make noise again. But this time, it was a lot louder then before. I turned behind me as she aimed at the creatures ahead of us and I noticed the bodies ahead of us drop as well, and begin to stand up.

"You get my back, I'll get yours" she said as she began to fire.

She must have had some shooting experience because she nailed them right in the head, but oddly it seemed to do nothing. They kept advancing.

"What the hell?" She stopped firing and realized it was a waist of time.

"Maybe if we aim for their legs, hit their knees it will drop the weight on them."

I aimed at their knees and sure enough after 1 shot one of them dropped. I then soon after took the other one down next to it. They both began to twitch and move as if in pain. But the tentacles…they began to grow and slither towards us.

"Fuck! Run!" I grabbed her by the arm as she noticed what I did and figured the best course of action was to do just that.

I shot the other two body creatures the same way and dropped them. We then began to run like never before because as we did, the tentacles began to grow and soar towards us like weed vines in fast motion. We were almost trapped when I looked over the over pass and saw that a large Mac truck was parked underneath.

"That's our only chance!" I said looking at her, she nodded and we both took the lunge. It was a 14 foot drop but we would survive. As we hit the top of the truck we could tell we were a bit hurt. But we had no time to think of the pain, those things were coming after us now by dropping over the side as we did hanging from their tentacles.

"Let's go! we got to keep moving!"

I helped her off the top after I dropped down, and we began to run. This street was not the one we meant to take but we had no choice. We ran for what seemed like 5 minutes before we slowed down to catch our breath. We looked behind us and it looked as if we were ok.

"What the hell were those things? Never mind…I don't want to know…."

She said catching her breath. I put my hands on the top of my head with gun in hand, like I didn't know what to say or think. What the fuck WERE those things? They looked human not like the others. And my cell did not alert me right off, it did after we were already in the middle. I took it out and almost threw it, but I stopped myself before I did.

"It's not your fault Damien. It didn't alert us and there was no way to know what was coming. We may be getting help, but I think we have to rely on strict instinct, not just technology. Maybe as you said it tries to change things to stop us. But now….now we know it IS really trying hard….we have to find something more that will tell us what's going on here. …..and find your parents and my brother. They don't have much time…."

I looked down and turned to her.

"Let's go."

I began to walk past her and noticed the truck door was left open. And right on the seat was a shotgun. What are the odds? Something was helping us….or maybe toying with us. To see what we could do or how we would handle ourselves. I grabbed it and looked it over. It looked like it could fire fine, and there was a box of shells next to it as well as more ammo for the gun I carried.

"Good, this will help. Here Alex….."

I threw her the shotgun.

"You take that. I'm better with hand guns anyways."

She caught the gun and looked at it, then threw me her revolver.

"You may still want to carry that. I'll make good use of this one."

As she said smiling cocking the shotgun.

We hen continued to head off into the fog not sure of what we would find. But we had to find an answer, and fast…….

* * *

Hours had past before we reached the next exit off the highway. By now, I think we both realize that the nightmare we were both facing and apart of was not just consuming us and the towns we lived in, but it was spreading and consuming the reality they knew as a whole. At first it seemed as if it was cutting us off, but it wasn't cutting us off….it was cutting the rest of the world off from us. I hadn't had the heart to tell her I didn't think there was a chance to stop it because something deep inside me told me this was only the beginning. I could see Alex was getting tired and hungry, even though her ego and her clout showed otherwise.

"Are you ok Alex? We can stop if you…"

"NO!….I'm fine we have to keep moving." she said cutting me off.

I could tell she sensed that if we stopped, the more time we would waste and we would need all the time we could get. If this nightmare as I'd like to think of it was consuming the world outside of us at this rate, there was no telling how long before the world we knew was lost forever and a hell we could not even begin to imagine would be a reality on earth. I had to keep hope. I may have lost my parents, but Alex saw the love of her life ripped to pieces by that "thing". Her hope was already dwindling. And I couldn't let her down…not now.

"Ok we will keep moving. But tell me if you need to stop, don't be a hero. Were better off alive and healthy then pushing ourselves to the limit and letting those things catch up with us. Alex, I mean it. There's no need to prove yourself to me…."

She turned at me with anger in her face.

"Me prove anything to YOU? What the hell do I have to prove to you? I know I can make it! I can't let this nightmare stop me from finding my brother! He's all I have left!!!" She said as tears swelled in her eyes.

She stopped and cupped her face in her hands. She dropped to her knees and began to cry uncontrollably. I knew she was trying and her faith was beginning to fail her. I walked to her side and kneeled down in front of her.

"He's all I have Damien. If he dies, I have no reason to go on. And if that happens I'll only burden you from finding your parents. Understand…I am trying and I know I can't push too far. But part of me won't let me stop. I have this gut feeling something is happening to him. You see I never had a family. …….I was adopted….."

She looked into my eyes and grabbed me close, holding me tighter then even my own parents when I left for Iraq in 2004. You see, I served in the war for over 4 years before I returned home and began to live a normal life again. Nobody knew of this, not even my friends. They just figured I went off on a vacation to Ireland. Of course they also knew because of my mental conditions the army would not take me in…..unless I lied. I saw things, horrible things. And I had hopped when I returned I could leave it all behind, but the moment my mother came back into the picture it was like a mix of my past, mixing with my present. Exactly why I said what I did to her before all of this.

I knew my reason for being in this nightmare was not only because of what I said, but because of what I did. On august 13th of 2004 me and my platoon were executing a routine raid on local areas in search of weapons of mass destruction as they put it. Of course we had a feeling this one was a bit different. The first ones in were my platoon leader and 2 of my close friends which I had made in my time in boot camp. Before we entered the building ahead of us, my sargent had told us to break off and go around the back while he and the other two took the front. Sources said there was nobody inside but we still had to make sure. God, if he only knew.

The first shots were fired as he entered the front door. John, the first guy I met and became very close to was shot first and died almost instantly. My sargent and Chris took cover in the living courters behind the wall as one of the insurgents came gunning through. Chris took him out first, then proceeded into the back hallway. That's when he was shot and killed. My sargent then called for us to enter the back, but we were already ahead of him. But by the time we got in, the shooter had killed him too. It was a massacre. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Before I could register what was happening the two behind me spread ahead of me and entered the room were the shots came from. They engaged two armed insurgents as they came around the corner of the room towards the door. Fortunately nobody else was killed. We cleared the building and then attended to the dead. It was unreal. I had only been in combat for 3 weeks and already I saw 2 of my good friends killed in action in a matter of moments as well as the one who taught us everything, kept our unit together like a family.

John was only 18, fucking 18! Only beginning his life. Chris was 27, with two kids and wife waiting for him at home. I wish I had the sense I had now, then. Maybe it could have been prevented. My sargent was 49 and really had nobody in his life to count on or go home too. But still, he was like a father to us. Not only did he train us, equip us with what we needed to know to survive, but he became our friend, close friend, a sort of father figure. All of them were gone in only a few moments. I sat down and tried to take it all in. My other two platoon buddies were still roaming the house and radioing in help. Little did I know that they had missed a hidden closet door in the room I had just sat down in. Tom, one of the two who had taken out the insurgents before clearing the building, walked in first. Then came Armando our tech officer.

Just as he walked past the hidden closet, and just as I noticed what seemed like the bare wall move away from the rest of the wall, a small boy jumped out with what looked like a ak-47. He aimed it right at Toms head and looked as if he was about to fire. As gut instinct shot up through my spine and through the rest of my body forcing me to aim and what I never wanted to be a target, Armando yelled out. But it was too late, I had fired and the boy went limp against the wall. I froze in disbelief. What Armando was trying to tell me was the child was not armed. That the gun he had was a toy. A fucking toy! The boy idolized his parents and made himself a oh so realistic replica of a weapon used to kill the rest of my team.

I couldn't believe it. I think he knew I did what I did because there was no way to know. He had aimed it at Tom's head and if it was real and I had not acted he would have been killed too. Armando only knew this because he had found a picture of the boy with his older brothers posing in a picture next to him in the living room. All holding guns, and the boy holding his toy, as if to say I'm one of you. Apart of my family ready to defend it at all costs. He only knew it was a toy because of the way the clip looked and the but of the gun was a fresh wood color. I couldn't tell in time and I had to make a decision. Sadly, it was the wrong one.

"Oh my Christ……" I fell to the ground over the boy and tried to resuscitate him. But I knew there was no use. He was gone. I fell apart just then and in a way I had died inside.

"Damien! DAMIEN! He's gone man…..he's gone. You didn't know, you couldn't have possibly of known. It's ok brother, it's ok…." he said with his hand on my shoulder.

I knew deep down he was right, but my guilty conscience didn't care. I shot and killed a young boy before he had a chance to live his life. His brothers may have killed my two close friends and my sargent, but he was innocent. Just trying to be a solider like his kin. He had no clue the woes of war, the terror and sorrow it brought to all apart of it. Soon after I was honorably discharged and the event that had occurred had stuck with me for years after I returned home. I had nightmares for months before I got the proper counseling and medication to make them stop, at least for awhile. I finally was able to stabilize myself enough to get a job and help support my father, and my mother even if she had a habit I hated.

Alex told me she was adopted when she was very young. And she never knew her parents. Her brother was her real brother and he too was adopted 2 years after she was by the same people. Sadly, her foster parents died in a car accident 6 years after they took her in. Her brother was all she had. I understood she had to find him. I held her close as she cried out loud, hard. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose her only brother, let alone her soon to have been fiancé. She had told me that too. Her and her boyfriend were to be married that year. He had come to surprise her with the ring at her place, when they began to fight. She felt guilty because she only reacted the way she did after she thought she had found evidence of him cheating on her.

She had found pictures in his room of a woman he seemed very close too. She had no idea it was his boss and she had helped her boyfriend buy the ring. Sense he worked at a bank and his credit was still in the ruts, his boss couldn't possibly legally loan him the money to do so on such short notice. So she helped him by raising the money at local events. The pictures were taken at those events and he was going to show her after he had the chance to explain to her how he had been able to muster the cash to buy her the ring. But she was so convinced he had done it she didn't care. They got in his car and continued to fight on the drive back to his place. At some point on the highway leading into this town, they had left the vehicle and the fight escalated. He tried to plead with her to listen but she said she was too foolish to even breath to calm herself down, let alone listen.

That's when they realized the fog around them began to engulf them rather quickly. He knew something was wrong, and before he had a chance to get back in the car, that thing materialized out of no were, stabbing him through the chest with its great knife, and ripping him in two with its other hand. She screamed out as she watched her love die in front of her, dropping the ring on the ground in front of her. She said soon after she collapsed in shock and passed out. When she awoke she was lying on a bench in the middle of town just a few block from the church were I found her. No wonder she was so edgy when I came along. It was still fresh in her mind.

She stopped crying best she could and looked me in the eyes again.

"Please, we have to find him. I can't go on if something happened to him…."

I picked her up to her feet and did my best to console her, and at the same time assure her we would get out alive. She had no idea of my past, and I dared not tell her now in her state. It might be better of anyways if she never found out, not until we got out of her alive. After a few minutes she had gotten control of herself enough to move on. We both continued down the highway and came to a exit that lead back into Centralia. I looked at the map and could see we were about 3 miles off course. But there was a way to reach were we were headed. It was just a bit risky as it lead through the local state forest trail. I didn't like this because every time we went through some were we were brought to, we encountered a new problem. One always worse then the one before.