Chapter One – The Summoning.


The two men walked along the road. One held his hand to his head, while his smaller friend limped slightly. The taller man had long brown hair and jade green eyes. His smaller friend had blue eyes, a thin build, and most notably…short white hair.
Turning to his friend, the smaller man said, "You know Zan, this just isn't possible. How do you loose a car?"
Zanatos Kell shrugged. "I don't know, Merc. One minute it was there, the next…poof! Gone without a trace. This place has got to have one hell of a car thief. They didn't even start the damned engine."
With a sigh, Mercurius looked at the town. Well, where the town was. The sign before had said, 'Silent Hill, 1 mile' but this damned fog was thicker than Zanatos when he'd first woken up in the morning, before the coffee. They couldn't see much more than twenty feet in any direction.
The pair, still wondering where there car had gone, walked towards the town.

Sara Jenkins was very upset. First her car had been sent off the road, and now she couldn't find anyone. The whole town was empty…none of the cars would start either. When no one had answered any of desperate pleas, and her cell phone hadn't worked, she'd panicked and tried to steal a car. She had all the needed skill from a misspent adolescence of drugs, booze, and stealing stuff. But when she broke into the car, the damned thing wouldn't start. Nor the next one, or the next one. It was spooky.
Walking past the silent houses and shops, Sara suddenly laughed. "Now I know why this place is called Silent Hill." She was still laughing when she saw someone in the fog. They we're walking away from her. "Hey, wait up!" She ran after the figure, thinking it was a little girl. Maybe she was lost, and maybe she knew what was going on here.
The shadow in the fog ignored her. Walking away. Down an ally. Into the fog. Sara, panicking, tried to run even faster. In her hurry, she fell and tripped.
When Sara looked up again it was night. Sara got up There was no way she'd been knocked out long enough for it to get dark, she'd been out for a few seconds at most, but the place was like midnight. She pulled a small torch out her handbag. Looking around, she couldn't tell which way she had come. She shone her light into equal blackness, then began to walk in one direction.
As she walked, she noticed something weird was happening. A noise was coming out of nowhere. It sounded like an old World War II air raid siren. Some old nut must be playing soldiers, she thought to herself.
But something else was happening. The walls had changed. Now they we're covered in rust. She prayed it was rust anyway, because the only other thing she could think of the being was long dry blood. A stretcher, covered in blood, it's restraints snapped lay on it's side next her. Sara gasped and leaped back. It hadn't been there a second ago.
Then Sara felt it. A splash of something on her face. Reaching up a hand, she touched it. Her fingers came back red. She leaped backwards again, jumping the fallen stretcher. Sara gulped down, looking for courage. She turned. And then she screamed.
A friend of hers had once told her about something called a blood eagle. The victims ribs were split apart, looking horribly like a birds wings under the out stretched arms. They're vital organs we're pinned in place with wood so they could remain alive for hours, if the person who did it was skilled enough.
And now Sara got to see it first hand. The man's blood, if it had been a man, was falling through the floor. Sara noticed it was grated, with weird symbols on it now. She bent over, retching. Not only had the man been put in the blood eagle, but he had been skinned. All apart from his face. That had been left in place. It showed the agony he had suffered before his death, probably from blood loss.
Something tiny waddled out of the nightmare darkness, a gleaming knife in hand. It was like a small, grey toddler. With dead black eyes. Sara backed away from the beasts, repeating over and over, "This is not happening to me." Something lashed out behind her. Then came sweet darkness.

Looking through a shop window, Zanatos grinned. "You know, since this place is deserted, we really should pick up some weapons. What ever got the town folks might still be around, you know?"
Mercurius dragged him away from the gun shop. The pair had walked into Silent Hill, only to find no one home. Now they we're checking out the town mini-mall. "The people are probably having some kind of party somewhere. If you walk in totting half the town Gun shop, we'll get arrested."
Zanatos shrugged. "Not while I'm carrying that kind of fire power we won't."
The pair we're still arguing when several minute later, they we're attacked. A loud flapping noise came out of nowhere. Looking around, Mercurius said, "What the hell is that? Sounds like the worlds biggest bat just took off."
Looking up, Zanatos' eyes widened. Something big and winged was coming out of the fog. "Right on both hell and big bat! Duck!"
Both men threw themselves to the ground as the huge winged demon tried to grab them in clawed feet. It soared back to the air. Zanatos got to his feet, and pulled a long, wicked, and almost useless knife against the thing. "Next time, we take the guns."
"Agreed." Mercurius was to his feet as well. He watched as the thing came round again. "Try slashing the things wing. On the ground, it'll be simpler to kill." Reaching down, his hand searched for something, anything he could use as a weapon. An iron pipe came to hand. Hefting it, Mercurius watched as the thing came round again.
It tried to come in lower this time, in case the victim intended ducked again. However, Zanatos saw that coming. He flung himself off to one side, the thing flying past at full speed. He flung the knife, 12 inches of gleaming steal gashing open the thin membrane that kept the winged creature in flight. It tumbled through the air, barely able to fly. Even so it tried to lash out at Mercurius. But the small, nimble man ducked and with all his strength sent the heavy pipe into the things skull. It collapsed, a sickening crack telling of the broken bones.
Picking up his knife, Zanatos turned. "What the hell is that thing? It looks like something those priest people say is lurking in hell to torment my soul."
Mercurius was kneeling by the dead thing, examining it. His pipe was close to hand. "Whatever it was, it's built like a bird. Very powerful muscles, but its bones are hollow to lighten it. The thing must be close to 6ft, but I bet it wouldn't weigh much more than a hundred pounds."
Zan looked at it with distaste. "This town is freaky, my friend. Let's see if we can pick up some guns and leave, or maybe call in the Marines. Marines would be good about right now. We haven't seen our old buddies since we left for the good life as civilian's."
Mercurius nodded. "We need to do something at least. Come on, let's head back to the mall. There has to be some kind of phone there. And the guns of course."
Unfortunately, something had other plans. Part way back, the road had gone missing. It simply broke off, like some kind of huge earth quake had reduced it to rubble. Only the huge gap where it had been was filled with that damned fog. There was no way to tell how deep the pit was. Mercurius looked at it. "That's the fourth non-possible thing today. Our car vanishes, the town is completely deserted, a winged demon attacks us and a piece of road we walked on minutes earlier is gone. There is some highly weird shit happening here, Zan."
Zanatos looked at the place where the mall would be. "Bugger that for a game of soldiers." Zanatos' father had been English, and he knew words that most of the Marines had never heard of. He walked over and looked through the window's of each house. After four tries, he said, "Bingo." And kicked the door down.
Mercurius winced. Zan's approach to thing's tended to be blunt and to the point. He followed his friend inside anyway. Zan normally knew what he was doing, too.
Following Zanatos, Mercurius quickly realised why Zan had broken in here. The front room was a nightmare for Greenpeace. There were more stuffed creatures than in the Natural History Museums. And that meant the man might be a hunter, and have guns. And guns were something the pair needed badly, if there were more of those winged things.
As Zanatos was looking for guns, Mercurius checked the phone. It was dead. Turning to the wall he checked the light switch. It worked. That meant the phone line was out. Maybe when the road had gone it took the line's with it.
In the bed room, Zanatos was looking round for guns. There weren't any up on the wall, and no animal heads. Looked like the wife had said no to that one. Opening the closet, he found the man's gun rack and it's his ammo box. But they we're all locked up with a chain. "Hey Merc, get up here. I need you to pick this lock for me."
Walking up the stairs, Mercurius pulled a small strip of metal out from his pocket and went to work on the lock. "You know, the phones dead."
"You think that the road took the phone line with it?"
"It's possible, but somehow I have the feeling that even if they were intact none of the phones would work."
"Somehow I feel the same way. Something about this town is truly fucked up. I mean, everyone here seems to be gone, and big ass things are flapping round."
There was a click. "Got it." Mercurius stood up with the chain and lock in one hand. Zanatos reached down, and pulled out an evil looking combat shotgun with a walnut stock and a light. Mercurius picked out a high powered rifle, with both a laser sight and a light. "These are not legal weapons. You can only get these babies on the black market."
Hefting his new toy, Zanatos grinned. "Yeah, these things would be accepted by old Master Apal. These are right up his street. But why is he locking them all up? It's not for the cops, that's for sure."
With a shrug, Mercurius pointed down the corridor. "Maybe he had kids. I really don't want to check myself. You know, I just had an idea." He reached up and checked the top of the closet, finding an old Colt SAA, but well maintained. "This guy didn't strike me as the sort to want to hang round unlocking chains if a burglar was in the house."
"Good point." Zanatos handed Mercurius all the rifle rounds, picking up the shotgun shells for himself. After a second, he also collected the rounds for the SAA and gave them to Mercurius as well. Overloaded, Mercurius got a small pack with a strap on it and loaded the ammo into it. Zanatos pulled the shells out and stored them in several pouches attached to his belt, under the long coat he wore. As he was loading the gun with the few remaining shells he looked out the window. "Uhhh, Merc, theirs a women lying on the street outside."
Mercurius looked outside. "We better go and get her, hadn't we? Wouldn't want her to get hit by a car, if any still work in this godforsaken place."

Sara awoke with a start, waving her arms around her. After a second she realised she was in a house, lying on a bed. The things were gone…but how had she got here? She sat up, and looked round her. There was an open closet, with several guns in it. But Sara hadn't used a gun in years, and only smaller hand guns. With a sick feeling as she looked over one of the guns, Sara knew she wouldn't be able to even load one of those things. She reversed it, and held the thing by it's barrel. It might be loaded, but if it wasn't it would serve as a club.
Armed, Sara felt more confident. Walking outside and onto the upstairs landing, she could hear voices downstairs. Her makeshift club held firmly in both hands, Sara crept downstairs. The voices grew louder. A pair of men, or at least two who were talking. That made her relax a little, but not much. She didn't know if the demons could talk. And then a tall man walked out the door a few feet in front of her. She jumped into the air startled. The man, however span smoothly. The huge double barrelled gun he carried was too big to swing in the narrow corridor, but a knife appeared in his hand.
Zanatos let out his breath. "Jeeezzzz lady, next time say something before you scare me like that. I thought you were one of the beasts we've been having trouble with."
Holding her hand to her chest, Sara took another look at the shotgun wielding man. He had a long cut on his head, but otherwise looked unhurt. She looked down at her self with a start. There weren't any cuts on her.
Zanatos reached up and held the women up by the elbow. She looked like she was about to faint. "Come on and sit down, before you pass out again. I'm Zanatos Kell, by the way."
"Sara" murmured Sara, allowing herself to be led to a chair. Another man, this one short with white hair, handed her a drink. She gulped it down.
Zanatos and Mercurius looked at her, then each other in shock. That had been a double malt whisky. Mercurius shrugged. He leaned over her. "OK…Sara wasn't it? I'm Mercurius, but you can call me Merc. Do you have any idea what is going on here? Or where those demons came from?"
Sara looked at him. Yes, the things were demons. "I don't know…everything went black, and then the Siren started, then I saw that poor man and the things came out of the night and they, and they, they…" She couldn't finish.
Mercurius and Zanatos looked at each other before. Then Zanatos handed her another whisky. "Let it touch the sides this time, OK Sara?" When the woman nodded and only took a small sip, the ex-marine moved into the corridor with his friend. "Whatever happened to that lady messed her head up well and truly. I don't think were going to get a lot out of her."
Mercurius nodded. "She ran into those demons too. And from the sound of it something else. Either she was drugged…or we need to leave this pleasant little town very quickly."
"I think we should probably leave. If we meet any more of the locals we might of out stayed our welcome. They definitely haven't got tourism off yet."
There was a crash as glass splintered in the living room, followed by a smaller crash. Both men moved quickly. Zanatos crossed the room with three long legged strides, cleared the remnants of the glass and aimed his shotgun out the window. All he could see was swirling fog…if anything was moving he couldn't see it. Mercurius was standing over Sara, who was starring at something on the floor. The glass, still half full, was smashed on the floor.
Swearing, Zanatos moved over to the thing that had come through the window. It was a doll's head, filled with stones to make it punch through the glass. Attached to it was a map with writing on the back:

Go to the School

Zanatos showed it to the other two. Mercurius turned back to Sara. "Did you see who threw that through the window?"
The young women shook her head. "It just came out of the fog. I couldn't see anything. Are we going to follow it? Go where the note tells us?"
Zanatos looked on the map. It looked like a fairly complete map of the town. "I don't think we have much of a choice…Looking at this, at least one road out of town is gone. We can swing by the others on this side on the way to the school, but I think we know what we'll find. Shouldn't we give the lady here a gun if we're leaving?"
Sara stood up, and nodded. "Yes, I want a gun. I'm not going up against those things with out a gun, but I don't know how to use one of those big guns."
Mercurius shrugged. "Looks like the SAA." He pulled the Colt from his bag. "OK, this is an old gun. You have to pull the hammer back before you fire it. You understand?"
She nodded, then removing making sure it wasn't loaded, mock fired. The first few times were clumsy, but gradually she got the hang of it, until the action was smooth.
Mercurius nodded, then took the gun back and loaded it, careful to show Sara, then unloaded it. She handed it and several rounds to Sara. "Load it up." The young women did so, but it took her a while. Mercurius shook his head. "Too slow, again" he said in the crisp voice of a drill sergeant, a post Mercurius had once held. She unloaded it then did it again, then again, until the ex-marine was satisfied. Then with a tight grin Sara placed it in her belt. "We should stop of in a convenience store or something, and get some flash lights. When those…things came for me, it went dark and everything…changed. Lights would help."
Zanatos tapped the light on top of his shotgun, while Mercurius held up his rifle to show the light on top of it. Zanatos spoke first. "We both got lights, but we'll pick up a couple of spares and some batteries. Maybe we can find some other stuff of use."
Mercurius nodded, and held for the broken door. He looked at his partner, and Zanatos grinned and shrugged. Sara looked at the two men, and rolled her eyes. Truth was she felt safe with the pair, and they obviously knew how to handle the powerful weapons they carried. If there was a safe place in Silent Hill, it was between those two.
The three walked into the chilly air of Silent Hill, a town deserted of life except those born of evil. As far as they knew, they were the only human's still alive in the godforsaken town. They set off for there one clue: Midwich Elementary School…