Silence of the Mind

Chapter 3: Missing and Lost

After their rather traumatic experience at the front gate, Dean and Sam were more than a little worried about going deeper into the town. But, seeing as there was a very solid-and possibly possessed-gate behind them, they headed down the street. As they walked, the unending silence began to unnerve them.

"Uh, Dean, where the hell is everyone? There's no one out on the streets, the cars are abandoned and I doubt they'd even run, and I don't see lights in any windows."

Dean shrugged as he answered, "How should I know? Maybe there's some really good porn on."

Sam sighed as he facepalmed himself, "Dude, really? How does your screwed up brain end up on PORN in a weird-ass situation like this?"

"What can I say, Sammy? It's a gift. And you might benefit from….it….what the hell?" Dean yelped, "Did you see that?"

Sam glanced around, "See….what?"

"That shadow. Looked like it mighta been a kid. It just ran into that building-come on!" Dean took off, heading into a building marked "Toluca View Hotel." Sam chased after him, hollering "Dean, wait up!"

"Dude, did you not hear me?" Sam griped as he caught up to Dean in the lobby of the hotel.

Dean was looking around, with a very confused expression. "I coulda sworn that I saw….I mean, I know there was someone here. Where the hell did they run off to?"

"Dean, you probably just imagined it. Seriously, I don't think there's anyone here. Except, you know, for us."

Glaring, Dean turned to his brother and snapped, "I know what I saw, Sam. A kid ran in here, I know it!"

Sam blinked, then stepped backwards slightly, raising his hands in surrender, "If you say so, Dean. Either way, we should look around the hotel, dontcha think? I mean, a hotel should have some people in it. If not the guests, then there should at least be some staff wandering around. Maybe they can tell us what's going on."

"Heh, not a bad idea. I guess you're good for something after all, Sasquatch."

Sam just reached over and smacked Dean in the back of the head as they continued to the far side of the lobby. Everywhere the brothers looked, the room seemed old and decrepit, as though it had been abandoned for decades. The floral wallpaper was peeling off the walls in large, yellowing patches. The modest chandelier in the center of the ceiling was inoperable, and several bulbs were shattered or missing. The main desk and the various pieces of furniture were covered by thick blankets of gray dust. Strangest of all, the entire room seemed colorless, as though the fog outside had crept indoors and leeched the life out of the building itself. Sam shivered slightly at the odd nature of the room, then almost jumped out of his skin when Dean shouted from the hallway, "Dude, Sammy! Check this out!"

Jogging over, Sam joined his brother. "What's up Dean?" he asked. He saw that Dean had moved behind the main desk, and was looking at a large piece of paper hanging from the wall.

"Looks like a full map of the hotel. We could probably use it."

"You're right," Sam said as he pulled the map from the wall, "Anything else back here that we can use, Dean?"

They searched around for a minute or two, but the only items they found were an old emergency kit, and a key with the number "324" engraved in it. Glancing at each other, the brothers decided to find room 324.

"Looks like that was everything we could use from back here. I found 324 on the map, let's go check it out."

Dean smirked, "Well, let's mosey."

The brothers ambled down the hallway next to the desk. On the wall next to the hall was a faded, dust-covered sign that read Rooms 101-125. Following the hall, the brothers tried various doors on the way. They all refused to open. Well, all except for room 104, which opened with a click and long, low creak at Dean's touch. He pushed the door open slowly, unsure about entering a possibly inhabited room. But neither brother could have predicted what they would find.

"Dean, is that-it can't be, can it?"

"It sure likes like it, Sam."

Room 104 appeared exactly like the room their father had rented in the city of Jericho, where Dean and Sam had commenced with their first hunt since Sam's stint in college. There were papers and clippings all along one wall, and various clothes scattered around the room. As they began to examine the room, however, they realized there were some major differences between this room and the one in Jericho.

For one thing, the clothes on the floor were most definitely NOT their dad's. In fact, the room seemed to be filled with clothes belonging to a young woman, and a child. Toys were sitting haphazardly on the bed, as though thrown down in haste. A paperback novel sat open and upside down on the nightstand, and a tube of crimson lipstick sat in the bathroom sink.

Most odd were the papers. Wall to wall, there were repeated clippings concerning the disappearance of a woman named Cheryl, and her child Maria. The two originally hailed from the town of Silent Hill, but after an undisclosed tragedy, the two vanished, never to be seen again. The papers chronicled the search for Cheryl and Maria, but other papers seemed to be a history of the town itself. They discussed the origins of the town-known to a local Native American tribe as "the place where the spirits are silent"-and the town's more modern problems with drug use and a cult known as the Order. As the brothers moved through the room, Sam stumbled on a journal that was stuffed behind the nightstand. Pulling it out, he flipped through the pages and began to read.

"It says here that this room was used by a Cheryl Mason, and her daughter, Maria. This 'Order' wanted one or both of them for use in a ritual to resurrect some old god. Seems it's been going on for a long time. The Order believes that by resurrecting this god, they can purge the earth of sin and rebuild it as a paradise."

Dean shook his head, "Great. Fundies."

"No kidding. They actually started with a girl named Alessa, awhile back. She was born with-get this-'unusual psychic abilities', and the cult thought she would make a perfect vessel. So, in order to prepare her, her own mother burned her by setting their house on fire."

"Awesome! Not just fundamentalist whackjobs, but pyromaniacs too! Poor kid. What happened?"

Sam shrugged, "It doesn't say here, but I'm still looking."

"I'm done looking around. No sign of dad or anyone here. Looks like it's been abandoned for awhile. Let's take the book and go," Dean stated.

They stepped back into the hallway, closing the door behind them. As they turned toward the entrance of the hotel, they heard a loud, metallic clanging coming from behind them. Whirling around, Sam was the first to spot a now-open door at the far end of the hall.

"Dean, someone's in that room, I think," Sam whispered. Dean nodded, pulling out his gun and moving forward. They moved quietly, and Dean peeked around the corner into the room. A single glance showed that the newly opened room was devoid of inhabitants...but certainly not empty.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Dean shouted, surging back against the wall across from the door. Sam jumped, and stared at his brother. The panic in Dean's eyes was terrifying. Sam was not used to seeing his usually tough-as-nails brother so distraught. Curiously he glanced into the room and his eyes widened.

"Is….is that….my nursery?"

Dean nodded slowly, "Yeah, Sammy. Just like it looked before...well, you know."

Sam and Dean tucked their weapons away and slowly entered the room. Around them was the nursery from their old house. Each piece of furniture was exactly like Dean remembered. Toys and baby clothes lay undisturbed on shelves and in closets. In the middle of the room rested a white crib, with a cute, but currently motionless mobile hanging above it. The brothers stood over the crib, looking down. Sam looked up, and opened his mouth to speak when they heard footsteps approaching the door behind them. The two whirled around, guns drawn, but they stopped dead when they saw who was approaching.

A woman, with silky blonde hair and dressed in a simple white nightgown was approaching the room from the hallway outside. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and murmured, "Shhh, shh. It's okay, Sammy. Don't cry, my love." As she drew closer to the crib, her eyes widened and she gasped, "No. It's you?" She ran, passing through Dean, until she was slammed back into the wall by an unseen force. She started gagging, and her body began to rise along the wall toward the ceiling. Dean and Sam looked on in horror, both screaming out in protest: "Mom! No!"

Dean ran toward Mary, attempting to grab her and keep her on the floor. Sam, meanwhile, drew his gun and began looking around the room for the demon that he felt sure must be there. However, the room was empty, save himself, Dean, and their mother.

Dean continued to jump up and down, but his hands passed straight through Mary. With a gasping sob, he backed up against Sam, as Mary was dragged across the ceiling and positioned above the crib. Tears fell from eyes as she pleaded, "Please, don't hurt him. Sammy, baby, please don't cry!"

A gash opened across her abdomen, blood dripping down into the crib. Heat began to build in the room, and a faint smell of smoke began to grow stronger. The brothers, both crying silently backed up until they hit the wall by the door.

Flames burst out from behind Mary, consuming her. At the same moment, blood began leaking out through the bars of the crib, spreading across the floor in tracks like snail's slime. As the fire burned brighter, the blood poured out faster, quickly covering the floor and beginning to climb the walls. Underneath the crackling of the fire, a loud sound-a siren? a crying baby? a scream?-began to pulse, and both Winchesters covered their ears in pain. They ran to the door, only to find it had vanished from the wall.

The smoke, and heat, and pain from the sound began to grow, and as they looked at each other, both brothers fell to their knees. The world began to spin, and then to grow dim. Soon, darkness engulfed both of the boys….

TBC…..