A/N: EDIT: I got some feed-back, and so I've changed the chapter a bit, taken some out and tried to space Heather's big bit out and such. Hopefully this helps this chapter instead of hurting it! ; ) Still, if you see something that needs changing, just let me know! : )


Once Cybil had spoken, everyone jumped into action. Rebecca, Claire, and Cybil moved behind the others, Cybil taking shots at the monstrosity as Rebecca and Claire tried to make their exit more assessable.

"Shit shit shit shit!" Chris and Jill were shooting into the triangular helmet, while Berry and Douglas took aim at its legs. Cybil aimed for its arms, trying to make it drop its weapon, but it just seemed to be soaking up the bullets.

"We need to get out of here now before this thing takes us out too!" Jill shouted as they backed away from it.

"We can't get the door opened!" Screamed Claire, as she wrenched at the door, which was covered in what looked like rust. But rust wasn't that shiny, or sticky, and the two, Claire and Rebecca, resorted to trying to scrape it off.

"Wait. We should try and get Hea-Cheryl! We should try and get Cheryl! What if she's still alive?" Douglas moved a step forward, trying to calculate a safe way to get to Heather.

"We can't though! We need to leave her and move!" Someone grasped at Douglas's arm, but he shook them off. There was no way he was going to just leave Heather here, not when there was still a chance.

He took several steps forward, almost as if he was challenging the monstrosity, and moved for the rifle. A long-ranged weapon was not the wisest choice, but it was powerful and that was all that mattered to Douglas. He raised the weapon and was about to shoot, when something dropped down from the ceiling on to the triangular thing.

It looked similar to the helmeted thing, but its head was uncovered, it's face blurred and almost non-existent. The group didn't know what it was, but it began to wrench at the helmet, driving the one monster backwards, away from Heather.

Douglas barely waited any time before he shot forward and gathered Heather in his arms. Huge, meaty flecks fell to the ground as Barry helped Claire and Rebecca wrench the door open. As the things backed into Archive 4, Chris darted forward and slammed the door shut as the rest began to hurry out of the hallway.

"Oh shit oh shit what the hell was that?" Claire began to panic as her and Jill began to move filing cabinets in front of the archive hallway door. "And how the hell did Cheryl know what it was?"

Douglas didn't answer, as he and Rebecca began to tend to Heather. He was too worried about Heather to wonder much about anything.

"She's still breathing, but there is no way that I'll be able to help her here. She's losing too much blood and if she goes into shock…."

"There's that hospital near here, right?" Chris turned to Cybil, who pulled out the maps. "We can go there. Even if there isn't anyone around, we should be able to help Cheryl there."

Rebecca had just finished tying a quick bandage; something she hoped would stem the bleeding, when a woman rushed into the room.

Everyone turned, guns in hand, but the woman ignored all that and motioned to them, pale and shaking as she looked at Heather.

"Oh god he got to her! Quick, you need to follow me, Valtiel can only hold off the Executioner for so long, and she needs a hospital." The woman looked worried, and motioned for them to follow her out of the building. "Hurry! We can only keep the way opened for so long."

Douglas looked at Chris, who nodded and stood. "Lead the way. But don't even think of trying anything funny. The situation is bad enough as it is."

The woman nodded and motioned for them to come. "Follow me, and hurry. It's dangerous here and we need to go before he finds you again."

Douglas gathered Heather up in his arms, and they all hurried outside, into an impossibly dark street. It was pitch black, and Heather's radio was still screeching, the static blending into the background noises. They jogged down the street after the woman, no one even noticing that the layout of the streets had changed, the hole they'd encountered gone and replaced with another.

They dodged through a store, and finally slipped through the back gates of the hospital. The woman led them inside, and right into an operating room.

"Set her down here! Doctor Kauffman! I know you are lurking around so GET OUT HERE NOW" The woman was quiet and polite while directing Douglas, but the minute she called for the doctor her entire demeanor changed.

A thin, scowling man stepped into the room, took one look at Heather, and immediately began to bark orders at the woman.

"Lisa! Get her out of her outfit and get her stable! We need to move fast!"

The woman, Lisa, scowled at the doctor. "I know how to do my job, Doctor, unlike you. But we can argue about your failings AFTER we save this girl."

The two glared at each other momentarily, before turning away. The doctor began to scrub his hands, and Lisa pulled out the tools.

"What is going on?" Chris whispered to Douglas, who shrugged.

"I have no clue. I have no idea who these people are, or what that thing was. But if they help her, then I have no objections."

The group stood over to the side as the pair began to help Heather, talking quietly amongst themselves. Heathers backpack was discarded to the side, alongside her damaged clothing and vest, and Claire grabbed the pack up before it was soaked in blood.

As she passed it to Douglas, Cybil spoke up, confused and weary.

"I…think I've seen these two before. I think I have, anyway…That time I was here, I saw them…." Cybil stared at them as they began to close the wound on Heather's front. "But I just can't remember where…All my memories of this place have grown fuzzy since I was here."

Douglas turned to Rebecca, and asked, "What were their names again?"

"Uhm…Lisa and Kauffman I believe? Why?" Rebecca took Heathers backpack from Douglas as he began to dig through his.

"When we were back at the Records Office, Cheryl and I were looking into the cult members, and we grabbed some files. Kauffman sounds familiar…I think there was a file on him there." Douglas pulled out the think bunch of files, and spread them out on the floor.

"Uhm…you do know that that's technically theft, right?" Rebecca said, picking up the file labeled "Wolf, Leonard" and flipping through it.

"Yes, but considering Cheryl was just stabbed by a monster with a triangle for a head I don't really think that maters all that much. And seeing as it looks like we're the only people still in town, other than those two, who is going to arrest me?" Douglas picked up Kauffman's file. "Ah! Found it! Let's see what this says…."

As Douglas and Rebecca started reading the pilfered files, Cybil and Claire sat on the floor, silent and trying to ignore everything, and Chris, Barry, and Jill, who were also trying to not watch what Heather was going through, tried to focus on a strategy in case they happened to encounter the strange monster again.

"…well it seemed to just soak up our shots, so handguns are out, maybe something more powerful, like a shotgun?"

"If we can find a good one I suppose. I mean, we were ready for Umbrella, but we were not really ready for their BOW's roaming the streets. This was supposed to be a small facility, one that abruptly cut off all communications and was only involved in paper and pen research. The worst we were prepared for was zombies, if there were any in the first place..."

"Yeah. Not to mention that thing that swam under the bridge. If we run into that we're going to need all of us working with what we have. I guess this'll teach us to be underprepared. Next time, no matter how small the job, I'm bringing my magnum and a shotgun."

It was hard for the group to ignore what was happening in the background, and anytime a word was uttered by Lisa and the doctor, their heads shot up, worried that something had happened to Heather. Finally, after Douglas had read Kauffman's entire file, Rebecca had finished her file, and Barry, Chris, and Jill had concocted several emergency plans, poorly constructed plans for Silent Hill, but plans none the less, Lisa walked towards them, and the doctor walked over to the various monitors next the bed, double checking the readings.

"Uhm….We're done. Dr. Kauffman thinks she'll be ok, but she needs to stay asleep and rest for a bit. Nothing really vital was hit, but she has lost quite a lot of blood." Lisa fidgeted a bit, looking down and frowning, before asking, "Do you…. Do you know if Harry is here too? I met him here last time and I just wanted to thank him. Thank him and tell him that it's not his fault and I'm ok…."

Jill and Chris looked at each other before answering, "No…. there isn't a Harry traveling with us. Sorry?"

Cybil looked up though, and replied. "You're…Lisa, that nurse Harry talked about, right? I think I saw you before we left town….I think. My memories of this place have been going a little downhill. I hate to tell you this, but Harry's dead. He was killed in a home invasion 5 years ago."

Lisa looked devastated, but nodded sadly. "I see…. Well I suppose its best we care for Cheryl instead. Why are you in town again?"

The doctor turned from Heathers body and stripped the bloody gloves off of his hands. "I'm leaving now. I have better things to do with my time than chit-chat with these people."

"Wait." Douglas stood and walked over to him, still holding the file folder. "Are you Michael Kauffman?"

"Yes, that is me. Why?" Kauffman sneered at Douglas.

"Well I just wanted to know because this file here is on Michael Kauffman, and, if you are one in the same, then you are the director of this hospital, as well as one of the most influential members of "The Order". And, you see, last time me and Cheryl were here we had some…..unpleasant encounters with other members of "The Order". "Douglas crossed his arms and glared at Kauffman, whose face grew even sourer.

"Feh. The Order doesn't exist anymore. Look at this town! Do you really think she-" He gestured towards Heather,"-would really let exist anymore? They all died, or left, or just disappeared. This town won't accept them anymore, not after what they did. Now if you'd excuse me, I'll be in my office."

Kauffman stormed out of the operating room, slamming the door behind him.

"…Wow you sure work with a charmer there, Lisa." Claire said, looking up from the floor. "But, what did he mean? I mean, it's not like Cheryl is going around killing people in this cult, right?"

Lisa sighed, opened her mouth, then blinked twice. "Wait, you mean….Oh, Cybil, and uhm…" She pointed at Douglas. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Douglas handed Rebecca the file and him and Cybil followed her out of the room, the others sending confused looks towards the door.

After they'd walked around the corner, to where the pay phones were located, Lisa turned to them. "What do they know? About Cheryl, about this town, about Alessa?"

Douglas sighed. "We didn't say anything about Cheryl. To them, she's a young lady who's traveled here several times and was brave enough to return. About the town, they know the basics."

"The basics?" Lisa asked, arms crossed and tense.

"Oh, you know, the fact that there is a cult, people tend to disappear or die in strange ways, and no one seems to want to come here. Just the basics." Cybil shrugged.

"Hmmm…. Well, you may need to tell them more. The truth, I mean." Lisa ran her fingers through her hair, worried.

"Why? I think we will do fine the way we are, personally. Even with that…thing attacking, we should be able to make our way to our destination and leave. It can't be that hard." Cybil said, looking around. "Hey…why aren't there any people here? Even if Brookhaven's become more popular there should at least be more people around. At least someone to ask us questions about what happened to Cheryl, someone to check her in and such."

"But that's one of the reasons why you need to tell them the truth! We aren't even in the 'real world' right now, we're in the Otherworld! Not to mention what they'll think of you when they find out the real past of this town! They need to be told everything before something really bad happens, something even worse than this…..Who are they, even?" Lisa finally asked. Douglas was a little surprised that she held out this long before asking.

"They're government agents. They are looking into the Umbrella facility in the town, and so far think everything is a bi-product of that…Personally, I think Heather needs to be awake if we decide to talk about all of this." Douglas shuffled his feet.

"Heather? Who's Heather?" Cybil and Lisa looked at him in confusion, and Douglas mentally swore.

"Heather is Cheryl, and Cheryl is Heather. As far as I know, a girl named Alessa split into Cheryl, who was adopted by the Mason's. Then, Cheryl and Mr. Mason returned to Silent Hill, and Cheryl became Alessa again. Then after what happened, Alessa/Cheryl was reincarnated into Heather. So Heather is Cheryl, she just uses that name because it's the one you're familiar with….and because she wants to keep hidden, in case anymore of the Order's members show up. But she's still Heather, completely different from Cheryl, but still the same…. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Yeah…" Lisa said, "That would explain what Kauffman said too. Since Cheryl, I mean, Heather is the reincarnation of her other selves, then she still contains all the powers Alessa had forced on her."

"What does that mean, then?" Cybil asked.

"Well, it means that most of the nightmares here will avoid you. She technically created them, so they won't hurt her. She is the mother, she controls this nightmare."

"But then why did that thing attack her?" Douglas asked. "And why did they all attack when we were here last time?"

Lisa took a moment to think before answering, "Well…the Executioner isn't one of her monsters, per say. Another person, a man, came into town years ago and created his own nightmare, wracked with guilt and fear. The Executioner is left over from that time. Maybe the man hasn't been able to leave the town, or maybe the guilt and fear was so strong that the Executioner has been imprinted on the town. And I can't really say why they attacked you last time. But, maybe she didn't have a grip or understanding of her past and couldn't take control… Why were you here then? That might have something to do with it as well."

Douglas was quick to answer. "One of the Order, Claudia something or other, killed Harry and told Heather to come to Silent Hill and remember her true self. Also something about birthing a god, whatever that meant….I assume that nut job was talking about Alessa, but anyways, we came and Heather got her revenge on Claudia."

"Claudia…..I think I remember her…..she was around Alessa's age when I was….. Anyways, well, the traumatic experience probably negated the nightmares loyalty, and the fact that Heather probably didn't know much of her past certainly wouldn't have helped. So, are we waiting for Heather to wake up before we do or say anything?"

"Yes. It would probably be for the best. Then she can explain exactly what is happening. Even I don't know everything about this hell-hole and I've lived with her for five years." Douglas turned, and they all walked back into the operating room.

"What's going on?" Claire asked as soon as they returned. "Is something wrong with Cheryl?"

"Yes, well, no, not really…. We figured we'd wait until she woke up to talk. There's something she needs to know, something that could be an issue, but it can wait until she is awake." Lisa shook her head, and moved to clean up the room, collecting the bloody interments and clothing from around Heather. "Typical Kauffman….never cleaning up his messes…"

Chris waved Douglas and Cybil over, and they sat down. Rebecca had gathered the files and, while the three were outside talking, the Raccoon group had started reading them.

"Were these people for real? I mean, this White Claudia drug sounds nasty, not to mention how far entrenched in this town this Order was. It looks like they had an iron in every fire around here." Jill picked up a file. "Not to mention this lady. It says here that her house burnt down due to a fault in the boiler, but someone's added a note that says they think she set the fire on purpose to kill her daughter. What sort of lunatic does that?"

Douglas stayed quiet as Cybil and the others discussed the files, worrying for Heather and how the others would react to her tale. The Raccoon group would probably be shocked and angry, and probably wouldn't even believe them. They might even decide that there was something wrong with Heather, and vote to leave, to leave the moderate safety of the hospital without her.

"Douglas?" He looked up, to see everyone looking at him.

"Y…es?"

"Are you ok?" Lisa had come and sat with the group, bringing a gift of folding chairs so the group wouldn't have to sit on the floor, and stating that she was assigned to Heather and wasn't needed anywhere else, and was now staring at him. "How are you feeling?"

Douglas smiled, "I'm ok. Just tired and worried about Cheryl. What was the question again?"

"Well," Claire stated, "We decided we didn't really know that much about you and Cybil, so we were just wondering if you could tell us a bit about yourself?"

"Oh! Well, My name is Douglas Cartland. I live in Brahms with Cheryl, my roommate, and I have no children. I was a detective, then a privet detective and then a detective again. Uhm… I like Chinese food and Cheryl says I'm bad at remembering to do things like taking out the garbage. Honestly there isn't much else for me to say. My favourite colour if dark green and I'm allergic to shellfish?"

"Well, what about that other time you were here? Could you tell us about that?" Jill asked, curious.

"When I was here with Cheryl? I don't really think I should be the one talking about that time…" Douglas tried to evade the question. Talking about that….adventure would not be fun.

"Oh, no! I meant the time you came here for the missing persons case. Can you tell us about that?"

"I can tell you about. That trip here wasn't as…exciting as the one I took with Cheryl though."

"But I'm sure it is still interesting." Rebecca said.

Douglas smiled a bit. "To tell the truth, that case still nags at me. I was hired by Frank Sutherland to find his son, James. His daughter-in-law, Mary, was sick, and then one day both James and Mary seemed to drop off the edge of the earth. The law enforcement had given up, believing that James, who had been displaying erratic behaviour, had done something to his wife and possibly killed himself, judging from the notes and scraps of paper found in the couple's house. Frank, however, didn't believe that though, and hired me to look for his boy. I eventually tracked him to Silent Hill, a place the couple had visited several times, and found nothing. The hotel they stayed at every time they came into the town had burnt to the ground, the public park was closed off, and no one was able to give me a straight answer about the two. I was forced to give up the case for another, but Frank and I do still keep in touch."

"So you really couldn't find anything about him? That must have been disappointing."

"Hmm. Yeah. It would be nice to see if I could find anything this time, but Heather's wellbeing and your investigation comes first, but if I was able to find anything that would be nice."

The group sat there, chatting and worrying for some time, with Lisa moving between the group and Heather, when Lisa called to Douglas.

"Douglas, she's waking up. Can you come over here?"

Douglas stood, and walked over to Heather. She wasn't as pale anymore, and as she opened her eyes, Douglas knew she would be alright.

"Douglas….? What happened…?" She tried to sit up, but Lisa gently pushed her back on to the bed. "Lisa…?"

"Something attacked you, back in the archives. We got you away, and then Lisa showed us the way to the hospital." Douglas smiled down at Heather, finally able to relax now that she was awake.

"Cheryl, you've lost quite a bit of blood, and are defiantly going to have a scar, but you should be able to be up and moving soon. But for now you just need to sleep." Lisa patted Heathers arm, and moved to the machinery, double checking the numbers and writing them on a chart.

"Is she ok then? Chris asked. "I know how bad she's been injured, but she seems to know this town best, and we really should continue soon. Will she be ready to move soon?"

Lisa scowled, and turned to Chris. "She will be ready to continue when I say she's ready to continue! Let her sleep, and maybe when she wakes again we'll see."

The two glared at each other, and only when Douglas and Jill distracted the two, did they relax. Claire started to tell them about Rockford Island, and her encounters with the Ashford family (check), Chris intersecting when he felt she'd missed something important, when Heather woke up again.

Lisa moved to her, asking her how she felt, and whether or not she would be able to sit up.

"I should be able to…. I can barely even feel my wound anymore." Heather sat up, and Lisa checked her bandages.

"Hmm… Well you don't seem to be bleeding much anymore, but be careful. I want you to stay on the bed for now."

Heather smiled. "Ok, Lisa. I think I can do that."

Douglas was the first to come to her side, and he leant down and began to whisper. "We need to explain everything to them. Lisa says we are still stuck in the Otherworld, and we can't continue lying. Not if we want them to trust us later."

Heather went a little pale, and waved for Lisa.

"Yes? What is it? Is it bothering you?" Lisa began to fuss over Heather, and peeked at the wound. "Oh! Well, I can see why you aren't sore anymore…"

Heather made a noise, as Lisa began to prod at her. "What do you mean? And do I really need to explain everything? Wouldn't it be better to just keep quiet?"

Lisa shook her head. "No, you need to tell them everything, even more so now. Your wound…it's completely healed. Not a tear in the skin or even a scar. How would we explain that without scaring them? Or provoking them?"

Heather contemplated it for a moment. On one hand, telling them would help them to understand what was happening, but on the other, they may reject her story, and leave. She wouldn't want their deaths on her conscious.

"What's up? You guys have been whispering to each other for a while now. I feel kinda left out!" Jill walked over to Heather. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I did before, but still kinda woozy." Heather inhaled deeply, and sighed. "I have something to tell you guys. You have to promise to listen to the entire thing before you make any decisions, and you need to keep any questions until I'm finished."

Rebecca looked at Barry, and Chris frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We… haven't exactly been all that truthful, about Silent Hill. Yes, me, Douglas, and Cybil have been to Silent Hill before, at least once, and yes, I do know this town better than most people. But we haven't exactly been truthful about the nature of Silent Hill."

"What do you mean?" Everyone had moved closer to Heather's bed, moving the chairs so they could hear her better, as her voice was still a little bit raspy.

"Silent Hill….Well, I would start from the beginning, but I don't think there is a single person who knows what created this town. Some rumours state that this town used to be considered sacred to the tribes nearby, but others claim the tribes considered it cursed. Early in the town's history numerous disasters shook the town, and a steadily growing number of murders and suicides increased so much a sanitarium was built, as well as a hospital with a mental health wing. The Order, a cult whose success started with the discovery and exploitation on a plant and the drug created from its leaves. Using the flower, the Order cemented its hold on the town, killing and entrancing influential townsfolk.

The Raccoon group looked at each other, confused and worried as to why Heather was telling them this. Claire moved to ask Heather something, but Lisa shushed her.

"Let her finish."

"Now, the beliefs of the Order stemmed from a devotion to their 'God'. If you went into any of their secret churches, or even into the main church here, you can see artwork depicting their god, her birth, her life, her death. The order believed that their 'God' would be resurrected, born again, and would lead the believers to a "Paradise". The Order continued for several years, growing power and influence, until Dahlia Gillespie became the leader. She said she knew the way to summon back their god, and unfortunately, she was right."

Heather took a deep breath. It was hard talking about this, about her past and the town. She almost felt as if it didn't want her to reveal its secrets, but she knew she had to continue.

"Dahlia began her plan, which required a young girl to be sacrificed, to become the mother of the god through pain, suffering, and by being held at deaths door, unable to pass through. Dahlia took it upon herself to provide the sacrifice, and birthed a daughter for that purpose alone. When the girl reached the age of 'prophesy', 14, Dahlia and the other Order members began the ritual. The girl was drained, emotionally and physically, and left as a 'boiler malfunction' set the house ablaze. The girl, somehow still alive, was stolen away, half dead, and placed in a secret room, hidden in the basement of Alchemilla Hospital. Dahlia cried success, content knowing that with only a drug-dependant nurse in red, and a cruel Doctor, that the daughter would be left in constant pain and distress, and would birth their god. The Daughter had other ideas, and used the power that was growing within her to split her soul. She sends half her soul, the innocent half, outside her mother's sphere of influence. Taking the form of a baby, it was adopted and was able to spend 7 years away from the horrors of Silent Hill. The other half stayed in the hospital, asleep, creating a world of dreams, of nightmares. The Order, Dahlia, was outraged by Alessa's rebellion, and vowed to cause more pain and suffering in order to draw the innocent part back to Silent Hill."

Lisa drew her legs up, looking pale and sick. Heather knew Lisa was feeling guilt, even though she'd only known her as Alessa.

"Now, the baby, the innocent part of the daughter, lived several years of relative bliss. But then, 4 years after the death of the adoptive mother, she begs her father to take her to Silent Hill. Her father agrees, and they leave on vacation. As they drive into Silent Hill, they encounter an officer, who then disappears, leaving her bike behind. The father, distracted by the apparent crash, turns his eyes away from the road, and it is only the daughter's yell that alerts him to the girl in the road. The father swerves, and crashes through a barrier, and is knocked out. When the father comes to, the daughter is gone and he is alone, on the outskirts of a seemingly empty, foggy town. The father begins his hunt for the daughter, and meets the officer, the nurse in red, the cruel doctor Dahlia, and the tortured girl. He hunts through the town, following clues left by the daughter and defying the horrors created by the tortured girl. He soon reached the end of his search, only to be played by Dahlia, and reaches a new level of hell. But, with the help of the nurse in red and the officer, and the help of the cruel doctor, the father stops the birth of the god. He stops the birth, but the daughters, the tortured girl and the innocent girl, had merged back into one, and are beyond saving. As the cruel doctor is dragged away by the nurse in red, the officer and father stand together as the nightmare world crumbles around them. The daughter, whole again, ghostly, hands the father a baby, the reincarnation of the two combined. He takes the little girl, and leaves with the officer, running from the town, and after several days, go their separate ways.

Heather looked at the group, who was staring at her, unsure of what the story meant. "Don't worry, I'm almost done with this story, then you can decide."

"…decide what?" Barry whispered to Jill who shrugged, intrigued by the story.

Heather took a couple sips of water before continuing. "For 16 years, the father and child live in hiding, a false last name, changing towns and lives whenever a stray Order member appeared in their lives. However, those days were soon to end. A detective, blind to his employers intentions, found the girl, and the father was killed. Upon this revelation, the detective resolved to help the daughter, and left with her to Silent Hill, to help her get her revenge. The daughter and the detective go their separate ways, each hunting through different, hellish areas for the truth. The detective is waylaid by the Order member, and the daughter confronted by town occupants, and her past self. Overcoming the past, the daughter confronts the woman, the Order member, and rejects all she says. The daughter refuses her 'destiny' and rejects what is growing within her, destroying the 'God' of Silent Hill, now dead and gone a second time. Safe and her revenge got, the daughter and the detective leave the town, vowing to never return, but also to monitor the town, to keep the hell they experienced from happening to another."

Heather took another deep breath, and accepted some more water from Douglas, who then spoke up.

"Can I finish this story?" he asked, and after Heather's nod, continued. "The detective and the daughter return to the daughter's home, and deal with everything caused by the death of the father. The daughter, done with her old life, changes her name. She moves to Brahms with the detective, in order to monitor the road to Silent Hill. The officer her father met had become a chief, and accepted the daughter and detective into her district, giving them jobs they needed. Then some government agents enter Brahms, and decide they needed to visit Silent Hill. As much as they dread it, the daughter and the detective know that they must be the ones to lead the agents into Silent Hill, because no one else will, and they don't want any more deaths on their conscience."

"…." The Raccoon group stared, mouths ranging from the tight lipped, Chris and Jill, to the "jaw-on-the-floor", Claire.

"Oh!" Cybil spoke up, "And, let me guess, the story stops around the time the daughter is stabbed by some big thing with a knife? Because if so, that sounds awfully familiar."

"What….are you trying to say, Cheryl? That you are actually the girl in that story? That your mother tried to kill you, that you split in half, that you died and were reincarnated? Because that is ludicrous." Jill scowled at them. "Do you really think we would believe something like that?"

"Yes, I do. And you know why? Because you believed when zombies attacked, in Raccoon City. You believed when a corporation created something previously only found in comic books and cheesy television. Once you've faced that, how hard can it be to believe that this town is a blight, a cursed location that was monopolized by a cult for the sake of religion. I didn't ask to create this world, I didn't even mean to. I may be the reincarnation of Alessa, of seven-year-old Cheryl, but I didn't create this world. I do, however, understand it. And I can suppress most of it. Some may say that-"

Heather had to stop for a moment. Even with her wound closed up, she was still sore and weak, and she'd been talking for a long period of time.

"-that the town was like this before the Order did the ritual, to summon the god, but even if it is true, the nightmare Alessa created is still here, now a part of this town."

Rebecca looked closely at Heather, who was beginning to fidget under the accusing looks from the others. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier? It would have helped, so we could have been more prepared."

"I…. Didn't want you to think I was crazy, that I was just telling you a lie so you wouldn't enter the town. Besides, would you have believed me, before coming here, if I told you my story?" Heather rubbed at the IV Lisa had put in her arm, only to have her hand slapped away by Lisa.

"No, I suppose we wouldn't have believed you. Actually, I think we would have recommended that you were move to the nearest psychiatric facility. Where would that be, anyways?" Barry said, looking less accusing and more contemplative.

"Silent Hill, actually. Which is why most people keep their major mental health issues to themselves." Cybil said, in a deadpan voice.

"Oh…."

Chris stood. "Lisa, is there a place outside we can go talk? We need to think and talk about what you just told us, Cheryl, before we continue, if we continue."

"Yes. There's a small sitting area just by the front desk. Don't worry, no one will bother you, or overhear your conversation, if you're worried about that." Lisa opened the door, and pointed, showing Chris where the seats were, as the rest of the Raccoon survivors walked out of the room.

"I guess now we just wait until they decide? I mean, it's not like we can do much right now, with me like this….." Heather flopped back down onto the bed and sighed.

"Well, no matter what they decide, I won't let you leave until you are ready….Cheryl, you need to know something. The god you rejected, last time you were here…"

"Yeas, what about it? …Oh god has it come back?" Heather looked sick, and turned onto her side.

"Yes…..It's returned, but it isn't as large as I'd thought it would be. I'm not sure, I need to collaborate with Dr. Kauffman to be sure, but I think living outside of Silent Hill, and not having to face the pressures, is hampering its growth." Lisa took a look at the machinery monitoring Heather, as Heather groaned in displeasure.

"What did you do to get rid of it in the first place, Heather?" Douglas asked.

"…My father had something hidden in my pendant, and I swallowed it. I don't know what it was, but it was red and it worked. Do you have an idea of what it was?" Heather asked, fiddling with her necklace.

"I don't….I never knew all that much while I was alive, before and after the drugs, and even though I learnt so much after my death, I still don't know a fraction of what is going on in this town." Lisa shook her head, and was about to say more, when the Raccoon group opened the door.

Everyone was silent as they filed into the room, and, for a moment, all stood there awkwardly. Finally, Chris spoke up.

"Can you elaborate? We need to know more about this town, and the truth, if we are going to be working together."

Heather, Lisa, and Douglas all smiled, glad to be believed, and glad to still be considered part of the mission.

"Where do you want me to start?"


A/N: So this is the updated version. I'm sure there's still tons wrong with it, and I haven't had it looked over (again) but I think it flows a bit better than my previous vers. Any crit is still wanted and appreciated!