((I Forgot to mention this in chapter one but: Doctor Who is BBC's and Silent Hill belongs to Konami. -Ringo))
Chapter 2: Heather
"I'll ask again. Who. The. Hell. Are. You?" The girl asked again. She did not look more than twenty in age.
Rose gaped and looked to the Doctor and Jack. She was not sure what to do since this unknown girl was holding a shotgun. Jack backed up a bit closer to the Doctor. The Doctor was smiling widely as if he was enjoying the turn of events. He definitely was not taking the situation seriously.
"We…uh…" Started Rose, being unsure of what to even say.
"We uh?" The girl copied with anger in her voice.
Rose began again. "We-"
"We come in peace." Interrupted the Doctor.
Jack raised an eyebrow at the Doctor's statement and Rose's mouth nearly fell to the ground. The Doctor shifted in place and waited for the young girl's response.
"Uh…what?" She mumbled slightly. The statement seemed to have caught her off guard.
"We mean you no harm." Restated the Doctor.
"I get that." She replies. Her tone is softer now. The girl eyed the three before her cautiously before lowering her gun. "Let me guess, you see them too."
"You mean those odd creatures with no arms? Yes, we have." Answered the Doctor.
"Those aren't the only ones…" The girl looked down for a moment.
Rose walked closer to the young girl. "What's your name? I'm Rose, by the way." She held out at hand to shake.
The girl took the hand. "Heather," she plainly stated.
"Good to meet you, Heather. I'm the Doctor." He reached out and shook Heather's extended hand. "And this strapping young gentleman behind me is Jack Harkness."
Heather looked over to Jack who walks up behind Rose and the Doctor. He waved and Heather gave a small wave back.
"Are you guys British?" Heather asked. She tapped her shotgun against her heel.
"Yeah, are you?" Asked Rose, concern growing in her voice.
"No, I'm American. This place is located in America. Didn't you know that when you stumbled upon this place?" Questioned Heather. She gave them a confused look.
Rose and Jack turned their heads to look at the Doctor. He looked at the both of them.
"What're you guys looking at me for? Usually the TARDIS sends us through time and back in Britain only. This is the first it has really travelled elsewhere." Shrugged the Doctor. "Where are we exactly?" He faced Heather.
"You don't know?" She looked very surprised. "You're in Silent Hill."
"Silent Hill? I've never heard of it." Chimed the Doctor.
The Doctor looked just as astonished as Rose and Jack did. The Doctor shifted in place and Jack moved around the Doctor. Heather kept a wary eye on Jack. She seemed confused as to why the three had no idea where they were. Surely they had to know where they were.
"How did you guys get here?" She asked as she tucked strands of her hair behind an ear.
The Doctor was about to answer with "TARDIS" when Jack interrupted him.
"A car." Jack answered quickly. "We were taking a nice travelling trip for a vacation from crazy times and I guess we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up here."
Rose threw her hands in the air and gave Jack a look that practically said, 'what the hell are you doing?' Jack tapped his lips. After all, it was not a complete lie. Most of it was true but Jack felt the need to hide the truth from the one with a shotgun. The last thing they needed was to get shot.
"Oh." Came the young girl's response. "But didn't you notice anything strange with the fog and the ashes?"
"We…we were too busy arguing about stuff." The Doctor attempted to follow along with the cover story. He seemed to have great difficulty.
"Then you must have had an accident." Heather chimed.
"I guess…" Shrugged the Doctor.
Jack gave Rose two thumbs up but she only responded with a disappointed shake of her head. Silence filled the mall once again. Everything around them was still and decaying. The only thing that could really be heard with the lack of sound was the dripping of rain water from Jack's long coat. Rose shivered, even though there was no breeze. She had forgotten that they were still wearing their soaking clothing. Rose shifted, though, trying to not give away the fact that she was cold. However, Heather noticed Rose shiver. Heather looked at Rose, then to the Doctor and then at Jack.
"Are you guy's cold? You look cold." She began to motion all around them. "This is an abandoned mall. No one will care if you replace your wet clothes with dry ones."
"Excellent idea!" Exclaimed the Doctor. He turned to Rose. "I just need to dry off but you and Jack should find a clothing store and change. We'll meet back here when we're done."
With that, the Doctor walked off to find a store that sold towels. Rose watched as the Doctor entered a store labeled: Mattress, Shower and More. Jack shrugged and walked off past the water fountain towards a store labeled: Greek Gods and Goddesses. Rose tsked before walking past Heather and towards a store called: Trendy Styles!
Rose reached the archway into the store before she looked back at Heather. The girl seemed to be checking if her shotgun was alright or still working. Rose shrugged, she didn't necessarily get a bad feeling about the girl but it was more of an unexplained feeling. Rose just could not make any sense of what she was feeling. While these thoughts were clouding her mind, they soon disappeared as she shifted through the dusty clothing looking for something decent to wear.
Even though the two men of her group were away in different stores, Rose still felt the need to change in the dressing room. However, only two light bulbs seemed to be working but flickered in an uneven rapid pattern. The doors and floor were caked in dust and dirt. This made Rose change quickly and leave as soon as she was finished. She didn't even notice that her reflection did not move with her.
After changing into comfortable, dry clothing the three regrouped with Heather. They were confused for a moment when they did not see Heather by the fountain. It was only when Rose turned back to the store she came from was when she noticed Heather sitting on a blue painted bench over by a dented trashcan and dead plants. Heather waved with a small smile as if she was amused by their lack of observation. Rose spun the Doctor around and Jack followed as they moved over to Heather.
Heather stood up from the bench and moved to the small concrete wall that lined a planted area. However, all the plants were dead and the tall palm tree was grey and dried. Ash-like leaves littered the surrounding area. The leaves rustled and crumbled as Rose moved to sit next to Heather. Heather rested her shotgun against the blue bench before shoving her pale hands into her cream colored vest.
The Doctor moved to stand near Rose and looked around before looking back to Heather. Heather waited patiently in silence. She seemed to be expecting them to ask her more questions. Jack began to look around but snapped back to attention when the Doctor spoke up; breaking the silence.
"So you said we're in Silent Hill, correct?" Asked the doctor as he shifted his black leather jacket. "What is 'Silent Hill' exactly?"
"A cursed city." Her reply was immediate.
"Well that explains a lot." Jack bluntly dropped into the conversation.
"Well, there's more to it. It's more of a figure it out for yourself sort of thing rather than me explaining it to you." Heather explained, shrugging a bit.
"So, we have to explore?" Asked Jack.
"Yeah, pretty much." Shrugged Heather.
"How do we leave?" Questioned Rose. Concern was written all over her face.
"You can't. Not until you've done what is needed to be done and seen." Answered Heather in a cryptic tone.
"That doesn't make any sense. What are you saying? There has to be roads—"
Heather interrupted Rose, cutting off the girl's building panic. "The roads are broken and gone."
Rose whipped her head towards the Doctor. "What about the TARDIS? Surely we could get out that way."
"What's a Tardis?" Heather confusedly asked.
"TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It allows us to time travel." Explained the Doctor. He grinned as if he never got tired of saying that.
"Time travelling? Seriously? You expect me to believe that?" Heather's tone seemed offended and strained.
"Oh…ah…Well, yeah…" Rose began to contemplate a different way to say it but could not come up with anything. She remembered how they were previously going to cover up the fact that they time travelled here. Guess the Doctor forgot about that. Rose hung her head in defeat.
"Sounds bonkers, right?" Laughed Jack. He didn't seem to mind that Heather now knew about the TARDIS. "But don't worry, we're perfectly sane. We just have to show you."
"Like, you'll use it to travel to like the 1800s and come back with 1800s clothing or items?" Suggested Heather.
"We can do you one better, that's for sure!" Smiled the Doctor.
Heather smiled uncomfortably. "Well, if you really want to test out your 'TARDIS,' then we should probably head over to where ever it is…Where'd you park it?" She slid off the wall and onto her feet.
"It's in a neighborhood. Crest Street, I believe." Remembered Rose.
"Let's get to it, guys!" Jack exclaimed as he backed off a bit to make room for Heather and Rose.
Rose jumped off from where she was sitting and stumbled a bit. The Doctor steadied her before she could fall. "Thanks." She mumbled with a smile.
"So, how do you suppose we get back? There might still be…" Rose trailed off as she turned to face Heather but noticed that she was not there anymore. "Heather?" She called.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch." Came Heather's voice. "I just wanted to collect a few things."
Heather walked back up to the group and laid a bunch of different objects on the bench. Rose, Jack and the Doctor leaned over to see what was placed there. On the bench laid a crowbar, a lead pipe, a wooden plank with a few nails sticking out of it and a brick. They looked over to Heather, confused.
"If you want to walk about this city you have to be prepared for anything." She read their faces and answered with a logical statement.
Heather lifted her shotgun and pointed to it.
"You mean that we have to be prepared to kill, right?" Rose voiced.
"Or defend, if killing isn't your thing." Shrugged Heather.
Rose was about to protest when Jack reached down and grabbed the lead pipe. "I'll be good with this. Knock a few heads around with this." He clenched the lead after he got a feel for the heavy weapon.
"Come on, Rose. This place isn't normal…or should I say, natural." The Doctor smiled at Rose before grabbing the crowbar.
"Oh, of course! Leave me with the sucky weapons." Grumbled Rose as she picked up the wooden plank with nails. At least it's better than the brick.
"Don't worry, we'll probably find better objects that'll be much sturdier than that one later on." Heather comforted with a reassuring voice.
Rose nodded in defeat. "Alright."
"Let's get moving then! We want to get there before—"
Heather was interrupted by a loud siren that seemed to fill the mall with eerie dread.
"That…" Heather quietly trailed off.
"What the hell is that?" Yelled Rose, covering her ears.
"The nightmare world is coming…We can't leave this place from the front anymore." Heather turned to the escalators. "This way!"
Heather ran opposite from the front entrance and towards the down escalator. Jack, Rose and the Doctor were reluctant and confused but followed after her. As they ran, they noticed how the wallpaper peeled away and fluttered in the air as the floor scorched away showing a grimy black concrete. Even the stores began to twist into gruesome places with pulsing veins growing along the walls. As everything burned and peeled away, a terrible dark world. Moans and slippery sounds were heard from everywhere until the group ran down the broken escalator and into a dark tunnel.