SILENT HILL
SHATTERED DREAMS

Slowly, he opened his eyes. His head was banging and a searing sting above a liquid told him he had broken the skin. He raised a shaky hand to his head and put it on the sting, pulling it away as it only got worse. He looked down at his hand and noticed that it was red with blood. He leaned his head back, grateful that he was able to move. He took in a deep breath, glad that he felt no sharp pains. He looked around his car and noticed that it was completely smashed up. He tried to remember what had happened, the last thing he remembered was skidding on the wet road.

He reached over for the glove box and opened it up. He didn't know why he was, but something was telling him to grab his knife. He pulled it out and put it into the thigh pocket of his jeans. He knew he would have to secure it on his belt as soon as he got out of the car. He reached down and hit the seat belt release, only to find it jammed. He muttered a few curses under his breath as he pulled his knife out of the sheath. He quickly cut through the seat belt and felt it give. He pulled himself free from it and forced open his car door.

A thick fog rolled into the car, causing him to pull back slightly. He sighed before pulling himself out of the wrecked car, falling to the road in a heap. He took a few deep breaths and let out a sigh before turning around. He leaned against his car and reached up, gripping the chicken-handle. He took another deep breath and pulled himself up, glad that he wasn't feeling any shooting pain.

"What the hell...?" he muttered, looking around. The evidence of the rain was still around. The roads were extremely slick with leftover water, and the fog was probably a byproduct of the rain. The area around him was completely dark, and he couldn't see much more than a few feet in front of him. He reached back into his car and hit the brights, only to find them not working. With a disgusted sigh, he turned on his hazards, pleased to see at least those were working. He jumped out of the car and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out his phone and flashlight.

He turned the light on, glad to see it worked. It didn't add much to his field of vision, maybe another ten feet in the fog, but it was better than nothing. He opened up his phone and dialed 911 before walking toward the side of the road. He put it up to his ear, paying attention to the ground below him.

"Nine one one, do you have an emergency?" a voice asked after a moment.

"Yeah, I was in a car accident." Jason said quickly. "I seem to be fine, but my car is totaled on Jefferson Street between Miles Avenue and-"

"Yes, we know about your accident, Mr. Anderson." the person said, cutting him off. "Your help should be there any moment now."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, coming to a stop. "I never told you my name. How the hell do you know me?"

"We know everything, Mr. Anderson." the person said, the voice slurring as it slowed down. "We know that you ki-" they said before fading off.

"Hello? Hello!" he yelled into the phone a moment before static shot out of it. He pulled it away from his ear quickly, looking at it before he heard a groan. He slowly turned, moving the flashlight toward the sound. He saw a shape moving around just past the beam of his flashlight. He put phone back in his jacket pocket and walked forward a bit, moving his now empty hand toward his back. He fingered for his knife, only to realize had forgotten to secure it.

"Hello?" he said, still walking forward. He could tell it was a person, probably a crippled. He could only hope that they were not crippled because of him. He switched the light to his other hand and grabbed a hold of his knife. He didn't pull it out, but he wanted to be able to have it out on a moment's notice. "Are you alright?" he asked, finally getting the person into the camera's light. What he saw caused him to recoil in shock.

The person, if one could call the creature a person, was fused together. Looking to be half male and half female, the creature was a truly grotesque sight. It was completely nude, its dead and gray skin pulled taught over the areas it was fused together. His moved his flashlight down its body, feeling his breathing quicken in fright. He noticed that the fusing of the pubic area was falling apart, with a penis and testicles spilling out of a mutilated vagina. He continued his shine the flashlight down, seeing that the creature had a man's work-boot on one foot and a woman's high heel on the other. He quickly brought it back up to where the head was, only to find a smashed mess of a face. He noticed what seemed to be a mouth open up, showing rows of sharp teeth. The creature let out a sick sounding scream before stumbling forward.

"Get back!" he yelled, taking a few steps backward. He pulled out his knife and held it up, wishing he had his S&W boot-knife instead. He got into a fighting position and watched as the creature continued to move toward him. When it was a few feet away, it stumbled forward and tried to grab him. He noticed the male side had bloody stumps for fingers while the female side had claws. He pulled back before, getting out of its reach for a moment before lunging forward himself, plunging the knife into it.

It let out a screech, like nails on chalkboard. Jason flinched for the briefest of moments before pulling the knife out. He slashed at its throat, cutting it somewhat deep. He watched as a torrent of blood shot out of its throat, causing it to gurgle for a moment before dropping to the ground. It continued to move around, as if it were struggling to get up. Jason let out a small roar as he swung his foot, smashing what was left of the creature's skull with his steel-toe boot. As soon as it stopped moving, his phone feel silent.

"What the hell...?" he muttered, looking down at the dead creature. "Don't think it's human. At least, I don't think it is." he continued, giving it a small kick. "What the hell is going on?" he finished, looking away from it. He started to walk from it, knowing that he needed to get moving. He was afraid that there would be more of them coming.

He made his way down the sidewalk, knowing that the entrance to homes were only a quarter mile down the road. He hoped that someone would be there who could tell him what was going on. As he walked, he pulled his phone back out again and hit the speed dial for his house. He knew that someone should be there. A busy signal came through, giving him hope. He wasn't the only normal person in this mess.

After a few minutes, he reached the entrance, only to find a fence in the way. He looked up at, stretching his arm out as high as he could with his light on. He was unable to see the top of it. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He let out a small sigh and ran across the street, ignoring the lights and the crosswalk. He had seen nor heard any cars since waking up. He reached the other side and realized that it was exactly the same, a gate that seemed to have no end.

"If I got to say 'what the hell' one more time..." he muttered, looking at it. He stood there a moment, trying to find a way through it when his phone once again went off. He spun around, trying to find where the creature was. He started to make his way south down Jefferson and found the noise fade away for a moment. When it started to get louder again, he turned and sprinted down the street.

He knew that he would tire out and collapse if he kept it up. He heard the phone fall silent again after a moment, but knew that would not stop him from running. He could already feel the burning in his legs, and he hadn't even gone half a block. He cursed himself for being so out of shape. He knew that he would never reach his place if he had to keep this up. His phone started to act up again, and he only ran faster. He came to the next intersection, finding the other side-streets blocked off as well with never ending fences. He heard the static from his phone die down and he dropped to the ground, panting. He had never been in good shape on his best days, but this was something else.

His mind kept flashing back to the creature he had killed. He had seen some truly weird things in his life, things that nothing seemed to be able to explain. What was happening right now, though, trumped everything he'd even seen in movies. The Matrix made more sense than what was happening. None of this made any sense at all to him. He knew that people couldn't possibly be fused together like that and still be able to walk around attacking people. He remembered reading about the NAZI human experiments they would do with people, wanting to make Siamese twins and how they ended in failure. He had still yet to see anyone else walking or driving around. He knew that storms were rare in the desert, but it wasn't enough to keep people off the roads. If anything, it only cause more people to come out.

His phone started to emit static again and he struggled to his feet, cursing. He starting running again, watching as the walls to the nice homes came to and end and the same endless fence appeared in its place. His phone died down again, but he kept running. He told himself that he would continue running until he reached his home. That would make perfect sense.

His phone ringing a moment later caused him to stop. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked down at it, seeing that it said it was home. He answered it quickly, putting it to his ear.

"Hello? Who is it?" he asked quickly.

"Good evening, Jason." a voice said. It sounded like a woman's, but for some reason he couldn't say for sure. All he did know, however, was that the voice did not belong in his home.

"Who is this?" he asked sharply. "What the hell are you doing in my house?"

"Killing a person isn't that big a deal, is it Jason?"

"What?" he asked, confused. "What...what are you talking about?"

"It's simple. Just put the gun to their head, pow!" the person yelled. A gunshot rang through the phone before it went dead.

"Who the hell...?" he muttered, looking at it. He hit the redial button, only to see his service bars go from full to zero. He shook it, trying to get service back. "Piece of shit." he muttered. "Never seems to work when you..." he started, trailing off as an air raid siren started blaring in the distance. He looked off into the distance where he thought he heard them coming from, only to watch as the fog started to roll away and rain start to pour down. He watched as walls started forming around him, causing the water from the pouring rain to start rising. He quickly moved to a door that suddenly appeared in the wall and paused when he saw the words written in what he knew deep down to be blood.

TO HELL

With a last look at the rapidly shrinking space he was in, he threw open the door and stepped through.