Redemption Chapter 3

Alessa ran her hand over the familiar scar tissue before her. She traced the cross, line by line, carefully. Alex stirred under her touch but didn't wake. She moved to lie on his back, resting her cheek between his shoulders. Her mind was still racing from what had happened the night before, not to mention the dream she had had that night. She struggled to remember all of it. She could recall sitting in a large chair across from a woman. She remembered red hair, and a red dress, but she found it impossible to remember the woman's face. She remembered they talked about her family, but she couldn't recall what about her family they had talked about.

Alex finally shifted under her and she lifted her head, kissing the skin where her cheek had rested. Alex's eyes eased open and he looked over his shoulder. "A bit amorous this morning. Is it because we were interrupted last night?" He grinned at her and she moved so that he could turn over. Once he had, she took her place lying on his chest.

Alessa's hand moved over his side. "I had a dream, and for some reason…I'm just glad I've got you." She paused for a moment before she spoke again. "I'm worried about Alana. I mean, think of what happened the last time I had nightmares. I'm afraid that something like that will happen again."

"Alessa, her dreams aren't exactly the same. Though what happened last night unsettled me." Alex held her against him as he sat up. "I mean, it's sort of like that time, back before when he was on the couch, and then he wasn't."

Alessa sat up and away from Alex. "That's it. I'm going to go check on her." She got up and moved over to her closet where she started to pick out some clothing.

Alex watched her for a few seconds before he reluctantly got up. "Fine, I suppose we should start the day. If you want, I'll go downstairs, get some coffee and pancakes started."

"Chocolate chips, that should soothe over last night." Alessa slipped on her shirt and moved over to her husband, quickly giving him a peck on the cheek. "Don't forget to use the newer whipped cream, the other stuff expired three months ago and you left it out of the fridge for two days, so it's no good."

"I'll remember." Alex moved to his closet and grabbed some clothing. "You know, this might all just be in our heads. I mean, we've been fearing this since she was born, so maybe we are just overreacting."

"I hope that you're right." Alessa moved out of the room and headed down the hallway toward her daughter's room. She frowned as she realized that the door was cracked open. Maybe Alana had just felt uncomfortable closed up in her room. She moved forward and eased the door open.

Alessa stared into the room, eyes wide. She took in the details—sheets laying on the ground, blood painted on the walls, and Alana missing. "Alex!" There was a bang and a moment later Alex placed his hand on her shoulder. He stared into the room, speechless at the sight.

Alex moved into the room. He moved over to the bed, staring at the blood on the walls. It wasn't just splattered, it was arranged in a series of symbols. Alex looked them over. "What the hell do they mean?" He frowned as he looked over the six symbols.

"What do they mean? Don't you mean where is our daughter?" Alessa took a step back from the room. "She can't have gone far. We need to look for her."

Alex shook his head. "Look around here, Alessa. She's gone, and you know where she's gone. Time is no matter to that place." Alex moved over to one of the symbols and reached up, almost touching it, but stopped. He took several steps back as a look of fear crossed his face.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Alessa moved forward and grabbed Alex's arm, pulling his attention to her. He looked at her, the lingering fear still in his eyes, but most of it had vanished. Alessa glanced over at the symbol and then at Alex. "Come on, we have to do something. I'm not letting it take her without a fight."

Alex smiled at her. "Well, then we'll need a plan of attack. Last time I looked, there wasn't any fog outside, just rain." Alex moved out of the room, glancing back at the room but quickly looking forward again. They moved down the hallway, and down the stairs. "Call your mother. She'll know what to do, I hope." Alex moved through the kitchen, pacing a bit over the tile as he waited.

Alessa let him be. The nervous action wasn't really harming anything and hopefully he would calm down a bit. She grabbed their phone and quickly dialed. It rang several times before she got an answer. "Mom, Alana's gone."

"I know." Tex's voice was oddly calm on the other side of the phone. "Your father told me. I'll be over shortly. There's no fog outside so we'll need a way to get there. I need you to get on the net and see if you can find any place called Silent Hill, at all. Now give the phone to Alex."

Alessa frowned at the last request but forced the phone into her husband's hand before she moved over to her computer and turned it on. She listened vaguely to Alex's side of the conversation. "Yeah, yeah…are you sure…well that doesn't sound like—…no I understand…all right, I'll do it. I'll see you when you get here." The phone clicked off and Alex moved through the house. Alessa watched him go, confused as to what he was doing.

Alessa did a quick search, waiting for what would be found and watching the stairs, which Alex had disappeared up. Sure that he was gone, Alessa opened a second window and pulled up a file of websites. She had been looking for information about Silent Hill for years, despite the fact that Alex and Tex had both told her to leave it alone. She brought up some of the sites that she felt were most useful. As far as she could tell the town must have been somewhere in the United States, though she couldn't exactly tell which state. She'd at least cut it down to a general area.

Alessa was checking over the sites again to narrow it down when Alex returned. She stared at him as he moved down the stairs and toward the kitchen. "Where did you get those?" She stood up and moved toward him.

Alex placed the shotgun on the kitchen table and then put down an axe and machete. "I've been collecting them." He checked over a few boxes of ammunition.

"What I meant to ask was, why do you have all of this? How did I not know about this stuff?" Alessa moved forward, but she stayed a safe distance away from the weapons. "What do you know that I don't?"

"I didn't know anything." Alex didn't look up, completely absorbed in checking over his gun. "I just got a bad feeling when she was growing up. I got more worried as she came to the age that Leonard found you." Alex stopped in his actions, just staring at the table. "Thought that if something came, I should be ready. Guess it didn't do us much good." Alex sat down in one of the seats, slumping a bit.

Alessa moved to his side, looking down at her crestfallen husband. "There was nothing that you could do. How are you supposed to stop something that made no noise, and we didn't know was coming?" Alessa frowned. "Wait, why did you go and get this stuff?"

Alex finally looked up at her, but he refused to meet her eyes. "Your mother told me to get it. Said she knew that I had a stash of weapons."

Alessa sat down beside him, leaning in a bit closer. Her voice was dead serious as she spoke. "Why does mom want you to get weapons?"

Alex finally met her eyes. They were cold and she saw something in them that she hadn't seen since they were teenagers. She saw the same man who had stood before Church and almost let her father kill him. "You know why."

They fell into silence. Alessa stared at Alex and he checked over the shotgun, making sure it was cleaned and in working order. Alessa felt real fear seeping in. Not only was her daughter gone, but Alex wasn't exactly himself. She felt like something was going on, and she was the only person who didn't understand what it was.