Chapter Two

Tender Sugar

…...

And all these nightmares I once had as a child
The morning always came, it came too late
What did my mind forget, forget to hide
Could the nightmare be awake?

…...

None of them went back to sleep that night. It wasn't just a dream this time. Molly stayed up comforting Rebecca, who was shaking with fear, while Seth turned the house upside down and inside out in a desperate search for the missing doorknobs. It was not just the ones upstairs that had disappeared, but upon a full search of the house Seth discovered that all the doorknobs in the entire house were gone, even on the doors to the outside.

"He took them!" Rebecca cried repeatedly. "The man with the triangle for a head took them all!"

"Sweetheart," Molly tried to assure her daughter, "That monster isn't real."

"Yes he is!" she protested. "If he isn't real, who took the doorknobs?"

Molly and Seth looked at each other with expressions that crossed surprised, confused, and a bit of "she's got a point."

"He took them!" she cried out again. "He wants to make sure we can't lock him out so he can come and get us!"

Seth made a frustrated sigh. "Well then why didn't your damn monster just go ahead and 'get us' while he was collecting doorknobs?"

"Seth!" Molly exclaimed, "Don't talk to her like that. She's terrified, and frankly so am I."

Seth let out a frustrated breath. "How can doorknobs just up and vanish, Molly?"

"I don't know, but they did."

No one said anything else for a while. Rebecca kept crying in Molly's arms while Seth continued a fruitless hunt for doorknobs.

"Can we call Uncle James?" Rebecca asked when she calmed down.

"Not yet," Seth said, "It's still not even seven in the morning in Washington state." James had moved to Washington several years ago, ambiguously saying that he wanted to be as far away as possible from his "special place with Marry".

Molly interjected, "You know your brother, Seth. James has always been an early riser. If he's not up yet he soon will be."

Seth gave in. "Alright, you can call Uncle James now."

Rebecca sprung up from the couch, ran to the phone and quickly dialed the number. Molly and Seth went in to the kitchen so she could be alone.

"Hello?" came a groggy voice on the other end of the line.

"Did I wake you up, Uncle James?"

"Hi, Rebecca. No I just woke up a few minutes ago. What are you doing up? It must be almost three in the morning in Maryland right now."

"I had that dream again."

There was silence on the line for almost a full minute. James broke the silence when he said, "Rebecca, I know you have told me about it before, but I want you to describe it all again. Tell me about the room first, then the monster."

"The room looks like rusted metal," she began. "And everything looks like it's painted in blood. And the whole floor is like on big floor vent with fire under it. And then the monster comes in. It's always the same. It's the man with a triangle for a head. And he has a huge sword that he drags and it makes a really bad sound like when my teacher writes on the chalkboard. And then he tries to get me but I always wake up first."

Once again silence filled the phone line.

"Let me talk to your dad, okay baby?"

"Okay," Rebecca put the phone on the coffee table. "Dad," she said while running to the kitchen, "Uncle James wants to talk to you."

"Hey, bro," Seth said when he picked up the phone.

"Seth, I think it's time I told you something. Remember how I said I was moving because I wanted to get away from Virginia?"

"Uh, your special place with your wife or whatever, yeah."

"Well, you need to know at least part of the story. I went back to this town called Silent Hill a few years after Marry died. In that town I..." James hesitated. "I saw the monster that Rebecca has been dreaming about."

Seth almost dropped the phone. "WHAT!"

"He lives to torment and torture. He-"

Seth interrupted, "Wait, you mean this...this thing actually exists?"

"Look, I don't know exactly who or what it he is. He may not exist but I swear to you this creature is very real."

"You're not making any fucking sense, James, but I don't really give a shit. All I need to know is what does it want with my daughter!"

"I told you, he lives to torment. He doesn't need a reason."

Seth sighed. "You've been nothing but riddles sense I got on the phone. Hell, you've been talking in riddles sense Mary died, so for once you had better give me a straight answer to one question. Is my daughter safe?"

"As long as he stays in her dreams, then she's probably fine."

Seth muttered "probably" under his breath and shook his head. But then he stopped for a moment and wondered out loud. "What if it's not just dreams anymore. What if this...this thing becomes real?"

"What are you talking about?" James asked desperately.

"In the room Rebecca dreams about the doorknob is missing from the door. Well, she got up this morning to get a drink and..." Seth hesitated, "...every doorknob in the house was gone without a trace."

"You guys need to get out of that house. Now!"