PREVIOUSLY: Cheryl Mason has been recaptured by remnants of The Order, the monstrous cult responsible for the destruction of Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen...and Rebecca Chambers has found herself in a race against time to save her and Black Falls from their evil!

But is it already too late? In this chapter, you'll be formally introduced to Reeve. In appearance imagine Edward Cullen from TWILIGHT, but older and a lot nastier!

RESIDNENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY

written by Charles Spencer,
inspired by Ygure

Chapter 9:

"REEVE"

-1-

Black Falls, Vermont
4:52 P.M.

Being the first day of the County Fair, the physicians and nurses of Wyler Community Hospital had already anticipated a day in which anything could happen. But NO ONE could have expected to see a pixie-cute, heavily-armed young woman step out of an elevator on the third floor and make a beeline for the Nurse's Station. Gwen Park was there, and her mouth almost dropped open with surprise.

BSAA agent Rebecca Chambers was literally armed for bear. She held a deadly-looking MP5 submachine gun at the ready, and her eyes were bright with purpose. Some in the area screamed at the sight of her as they feared the worst, that this girl was about to go postal or something. But Rebecca shouted at everyone in the area, "Everyone please calm down! I'm a federal agent! I don't mean any of you any harm, I promise!"

After everything that she had seen that day so far...realizing her boss, Doctor Burton Young, might have involved with bringing the parasites to this town, and then just minutes ago had a unconscious blonde girl brought into the hospital in secret...Gwen Park was more than ready to take a leap of faith for Rebecca Chambers. The beautiful Head Nurse said loudly to everyone, "Everybody listen to her! Agent Chambers is part of an antiterrorist organization! Everybody calm down!" Gwen was a natural leader and it was due to her influence that most everyone relaxed, but some still gave the brunette agent curious if not apprehensive stares.

Rebecca reached the Nurse's Station and smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Gwen. I need to see Doctor Young immediately."

Gwen nodded, unsurprised. "Doctor Young just had a young blonde woman brought in about 20 minutes ago, and he didn't want me to know anything about it. Is she why you're here?"

The Head Nurse was surprised by the sudden, elemental need in Rebecca's wide eyes. "Yes. Do you know where she is?"

Gwen frowned. "No, but I can take you to Doctor Young, if you want. He should be in his office on the seventh floor."

"Thank you again, Gwen. Thank you."

"It's truly nothing, Rebecca." Suddenly, Gwen thought of something and said quickly, "J-just a moment!" The Head Nurse turned around and called out, "Bea!"

On the other side of the Nurse's Station, a candy striper turned and moved quickly to Gwen. The teenaged girl was a heartbreaker of a beauty with shoulder-length dark hair that complemented her skin's robust olive complexion. Another distinctive trait of the young candy striper was that she had a bright gold anklet on one of her slender ankles with a heart-shaped charm. The girl said crisply when she reached Gwen, "Yes, ma'am!"

Gwen turned to Rebecca as she lightly touched the candy striper's shoulder. "This is one of my volunteers, Bea Montoya. If you don't mind, we're coming with you."

Bea was surprised to know that. "W-we are?"

Gwen said to her softly, "Yes, honey, we are!"

Rebecca asked, "Uh, why?"

"Because you might need witnesses, you know? Just in case." Gwen Park's eyes pleaded to the agent as she said, "Please, we deserve to know what's been happening here."

Rebecca nodded, understanding. "Yes, you do. C'mon." The agent gestured to them to follow her as she turned back to the elevators.

As they left the Nurse's Station and followed Rebecca, Bea asked Gwen, "Is this about the parasites, ma'am?"

Gwen said, "Yes, honey. That and...other things."

They reached the elevators, and Rebecca punched the up button. One set of elevator doors opened, and they moved to the car. They got inside, and Rebecca hit the button with the number 7. The doors began to close, and Rebecca looked at Gwen thoughtfully. "You're really worried for everyone in town."

Gwen nodded. "Because of those parasites and only god knows what else is going on? Of course." The lady frowned a little. "But um, I've got to admit I'm a little selfish, too. I'm scared for my husband...and our unborn baby."

Rebecca looked at her, realizing. "You...?"

Gwen Park said softly, "I'm three months pregnant, Rebecca." This earned a surprised look from Bea, who didn't know.

Rebecca Chambers' eyes became solemn as she gazed into the Head Nurse's. "You're not being selfish at all, Gwen. One way or the other, whatever is happening, we will stop it. We have to." In her heart, Rebecca thought, We will stop it, Cheryl...for you.

-2-

Somewhere else in the hosptial: Cheryl Mason had known only warm, quiet darkness since she was forced into unconsciousness by an Order Soldier's tranquilizer dart. That was changing. As if from far away, she began to hear voices...

"Your grace, she's starting to wake up. The stimulant wasn't obstructed by the control agent, as we expected." A woman's voice.

"The control agent itself had better do its job, too." A man's voice...he sounded familiar...

"It's been over ten minutes since I adminstered it, she should be feeling it's full effect right now. As long as she's forced to focus fully on you - "

"Oh, she will. I will need the rest of you to stay quiet and not create any distractions." Then...the man's voice became louder...no, it seemed to be closer as he said, "Alessa?" She wanted to think that wasn't her name anymore, she was Cheryl...but...something was wrong. It was hard to focus, to even think, and not just because she was slowly returning to conscious awareness. The man said, urging, "Alessa? Alessa, you need to wake up...wake up..." She knew that voice, but because it was so hard to think, she didn't recognize it right away...yet there was such a chill in that voice, it made Cheryl instinctively fearful. She suddenly didn't want to wake up...

...but then, because of the disorientation of the moment as she woke combined with being heavily drugged, hearing that voice made Cheryl Mason recall something. She meant it when she told Rebecca that there was so much about her previous lives she didn't want to remember, so much she dearly wished she could forget. But there were a few memories so painful and terrible she unconsciously, defensively repressed them to the darker corners of her subconscious. This was one of those memories, something terrible from a time when her name was indeed Alessa Gillespie, and it came back to her even though she didn't want to remember it -

-3-

"Alessa?" The man's voice was replaced by a woman's as there was only darkness, and she felt such horrible dread when she recognized the voice. "Alessa. Time to wake up, child." Suddenly, she felt a harsh slap across her cheek as the woman's voice commanded, "Wake up!" She opened her eyes as she knew sudden pain, and her mother was there: Dahlia Gillespie, High Priestess of The Order. Dahlia looked down upon her and nodded. "Good. I want you awake for this." Cheryl realized when this memory came from as the woman in black looked down upon her with urgent, baleful eyes. She felt the primal need to escape, to get away...but she couldn't even move, no matter how hard she tried. "I'm terribly sorry, child, but those restraints are for your own good. You could be damaged during the ritual if you were allowed any freedom of movement. I'm afraid you will still be damaged regardless...but that is part of the sacrifice you must make this night. If you are to be the Mother of God, you must know pain. In order to begin to pave the way to Paradise in this world, you must know torment. Such is the price of bringing order to this sad, pathetic world once and for all. And this is a price I will gladly pay to ensure my own power and glory under our God!" She realized she had been tied down to her own bed, which had been made into an altar this dark and terrible night in Silent Hill when...she wanted to shut off the memory, turn away from it, do something, anything, but she could only remember these darksome moments again.

Dahlia Gillespie seemed twice as old as she truly was...she was already looking like a harsh old crone: it was as if her relentless, obsessive dedication to her faith drained her very life from her, and perhaps there was a justice in that. But if Dahlia knew or understood what was happening to her, she gave no indication. Dahlia frowned as she looked down upon her daughter and she said sadly, "Oh, Alessa...you must think this so unfair and cruel, what I am doing to you...and what I am about to do will be even worse. But you must understand that I have waited too long for this opportunity." The sadness in her voice shifted to something needful, self-righteous and cold. "I cannot tell you how many years I've worked and prayed for our God's blessings, to know power, true power. Power enough to make this world...make sense. But instead, in spite of all my sacrifices, my mystical powers remain meager. I am forced along with my bretheren to hide my true self in the shadows like a common, petty thief. All of us who are part of The Order must keep ourselves and our faith secret so that those who do not follow the righteous path we've taken remain ignorant! The last thing we need is to be persecuted by those fools who cannot believe and would never understand!"

Dahlia drew even closer to loom terribly over Alessa in her memory then and her voice became something worse than cold. She said perhaps the worst things a child could ever hear from a mother. Alessa had always simply wanted Dahlia's love, but she never received it for a moment. In this repressed memory, she discovered once and for all that love was something her mother was incapable of giving. Dahlia said, "Let me tell you something I never needed or wanted, dear Alessa...and that is you. You were an accident because of a single night I was careless with a man who...well, he is no longer with us. He was another of the many sacrifices I made to earn God's grace. The one thing that gave me some comfort was that one day, you might serve to be a sacrifice, as well." The woman's wrinkled, taut face slowly became alive with anger: "But then imagine my shock to discover that after all of my sacrifices, after all of the blood I gave in the name of God, you were given the power I always wished to be blessed with. That was unfair and cruel to me! I am God's most faithful servant, I made many, many sacrifices for the sake of the Lord of Serpents and Reeds! To know a child I never planned for, never even wanted, was given the power I always deserved...!"

The woman in black had to take a moment to calm herself...it took some effort. Finally, a cruel smile formed on Dahlia Gillespie's face as she looked down upon her only child. "Thankfully, I understood that you had a destiny, one that would guarantee my glory and the rule of our God over this Earth once and for all. So don't cry, dear Alessa...don't fight your destiny. If it wasn't for this singular night and your sacrifice, you would be nothing. You would remain an accident with no purpose or point in this world. But now, finally...you shall be good for something!" Finally, thankfully, the memory began to fade, because Cheryl Mason knew instinctively that shortly after that, the ritual Dahlia performed on Alessa in her bedroom was executed...a ritual she had buried in her own subconscious except for the burning, unthinkable pain...

...but that pain was nothing compared to what she felt knowing her mother never, ever loved her...to have been called an unwanted mistake. Cheryl Mason continued to rise slowly from the darkness, and she couldn't help but moan softly, "M-mommy...mommy..."

-4-

Then that man's cold, cold voice spoke again, reaching her through the darkness, and she knew it held as much threat to her as Dahlia Gillespie did. "Wake up, Alessa. Wake up, you're having a dream. Wake up now!" Cheryl didn't want to wake up as she tried to focus, as she tried to think of Rebecca...but almost against her will, she reached awareness and opened her eyes to a harsh light. She barely had the focus to realize she wasn't quite lying down and she couldn't move. She was sitting in a specialized chair, and her wrists were strapped to its armrests. The chair was set to recline to such a degree she might as well have been lying down, and she was forced to look up into the bright lights of the room she was in. If Cheryl Mason had looked upon herself, she would have seen how vulnerable she was: she wore only her flannel shirt, the black tee underneath, and her panties; the rest of her clothing had been removed and left to lie on the floor not far away. Even awake, because she had been drugged, she looked like she was experiencing a dream. If only she had been.

And the man was there, looming over Cheryl in the same way her mother had all of those years ago in Silent Hill. The man was close to fifty years old, dressed in black robes that would have reminded Cheryl of Claudia Wolf if she had been able to focus enough, but his features appeared youthful. The shock of hair on his head was black as midnight...his face, pale as a porcelain doll's, was handsome enough...but it was looking into his eyes, eyes so brown they were virtually black, a person would have both seen and felt something colder than ice, something that had never known and could never know warmth. It's been said that the eyes are the windows to one's soul - if so, then one would have had to question if this man even had a soul. There was no warmth in the man's full lips as he smiled and mused, "Good...very good. I've waited a long time to meet you, Alessa Gillespie. I am Reeve Meyers, High Priest of The Order...well, what is left of it. You and others tried to destroy us, to deny us...but now, finally, our time has come. Before we proceed, I thought I would take a few moments to tell you more about me...so you may understand me.

"Like you, I was born in Silent Hill, but in the year 1964. I was raised by my parents, faithful followers of The Order and its Sect of Valtiel. Yes, Valtiel, the First Servant of our God. Early in my childhood, I discovered I had powers, thanks no doubt to the sacrifices my parents made. Unfortunately, it turned out my parents' faith had...limitations. They left Silent Hill and took me with them in 1976; I only fully understood later that mother and father were afraid of what the town had become after you were sacrificed by your mother, the High Priestess Dahlia Gillespie. I was taken to another state, to another town, to live among the heretics and unbelievers." Reeve's voice dripped with contempt mentioning those who couldn't believe in his misbegotten faith, but even as a child entering his teenaged years, he was already becoming something the rest of Humanity could have done without. He'd developed into a heartless sociopath well before he committed his first murder: when he was thirteen years old, he followed a girl who was walking home from school, and with the pre-planning and caution of any deadly predator, he waited for the right moment when she was isolated and alone on a park path...and he bashed her head in with a rock. Why? Simply because Reeve was curious to see what her honey-blonde hair would look like soaked in blood. He was never caught. "My parents kept teaching me all they knew, all they said they still believed in yet betrayed by abandoning their holy covenant. As a true believer, I saw how unworthy my parents were, and how truly sinful...and I killed them both in their sleep when I was 21 years old." Reeve said it so casually, as if the idea of family never meant anything to him. But that wasn't as chilling to Cheryl Mason as something else Reeve had said...something she never even had a reason to give thought to before.

Didn't Dahlia say something similar...? About sacrifices...about...again, it was so hard to focus her thoughts...

...but more and more, it felt like Reeve Meyers' voice was all she could focus on as he continued: "For years I moved from one city to another, quietly and carefully, to avoid the so-called law and justice of the unbelievers...I wanted no part of this chaotic 'Land of the Free' and 'Home of the Brave'. My mystical abilites had slowly grown with me, especially my power to know another's thoughts...using those powers, I slowly found and recruited those who were prepared to receive my holy message." Somehow, some way, lunatics have always known how to find each other at the fringes of society...Reeve just had an added advantage. "I did not need too many to follow me at first...I simply wanted a group of faithful to bring back with me to Silent Hill, to show The Order my parents left behind that I was worthy of being one of their leaders!" Take a sociopath with a hyper-inflated sense of ego and raise him to believe in a 'faith' that not only preached that humans came before their God, believers can earn power and influence with enough sacrifices...it was as toxic a combination as could ever be imagined. "I returned to Silent Hill in 2008...and like it's neighbor on the other side of Toluca Lake, Shepherd's Glen, it was all but dead. And so was The Order, destroyed by its enemies.

"But as long as there is one true believer, a faith will never die.

"I saw in the ashes of The Order's fall the opportunity for me to resurrect it. I stayed in Silent Hill in spite of its fog, in spite of its dangers, and I learned all I could...I learned everything my blasphemous parents never taught me, all of their most ancient and powerful spells and secrets. I also began to gather more followers through the Internet. I took my time to learn The Order's history...I wanted to know how it could have fallen so completely so that I could avoid repeating their mistakes. I found our faith's secret church, and I began to gather all the information I needed. I learned how its end came because of the foolishness of your mother and her successor, Claudia Wolf. Margaret Holloway took control of what remained of The Order, but they were all destroyed by those meant to be sacrifices in Shepherd's Glen."

Reeve Meyers, High Priest of his misbegotten cult, leaned forward and his face drew to within a foot of Cheryl Mason's. She wanted to fight him, to shut his damned mouth, and with the simple pure power of her will she should have been able to...but...she couldn't. Cheryl couldn't even move, her limbs felt like lead...worse, something in his voice...overwhelmed her. Something kept her from doing anything but listening. Reeve said, looming over her, "And most importantly, through the journals of your mother and Claudia, I learned about you...Alessa Gillespie, the one meant to be our Mother of God. You were to be the salvation of this chaotic quagmire of a world. But instead, you became our greatest enemy, just like your damned heretic father, Harry Mason."

Reeve's expression had turned harsh...but then he smiled as his voice lightened, as he said, "Tell me something. Did you simply think it was a fortunate turn of events that you found out about Doctor Burton Young, a former associate of Michael Kaufmann, who also performed services for The Order? Did you think you could then hunt for us here in Black Falls, bring an end to us once and for all?" He shook his head slowly. "I knew nothing would have made you want to go back to Silent Hill, so it was useless to set a trap for you there. But I learned of the connection between Kaufmann and Young myself during my research of The Order's history, and I decided make use of it. After our covenant took some time to establish ourselves here, one of my followers passed on the information to one of Douglas Cartland's informants, and that knowledge moved to Cartland...and finally to you. And so the Mother of God walked willfully and ignorantly into the trap we created." Reeve's smile opened and he flashed bright predatory teeth. Did he expect a response? Would it even have mattered if she did respond, or even could? No...

...because in the next moment, Reeve Meyers stopped smiling, hauled off and slapped Cheryl Mason brutally across her face. With the same hand he grabbed hold of her jaw, brought his face so close his almost touched hers, and he growled like an angry lion too long denied its meat. Again, in spite of the pain, in spite of her own anger, Cheryl couldn't say or do anything. She could only listen... "Mark my words, bitch...the time of reckoning is finally at hand. The enemies of The Order shall pay for their crimes. The day of this world's judgment has come. And so. Has. Yours."

-5-

The top floor of Wyler Community Hospital, which contained its administrative offices.

The largest office on the floor was for the Administrator himself, Doctor Burton Young...it took up almost a fifth of the area of the floor, and held surprisingly luxurious trappings. The office's sole occupant sat in his silver suit behind his huge desk, the big office windows behind it overlooking central Black Falls to the north. In spite of the place's obvious comforts, Doctor Young sat there with an expression of intense, quiet worry. His elbows were on his desk as the fingers of his hands laced together into fists before his mouth. The man an entire community came to trust and believe in could only wonder for the thousandth time how things could have gone so terribly wrong and so horribly far.

A harsh, heavy sound of someone kicking in the double-doors of his office signaled that he wasn't the only one who had questions.

Young recognized the beautiful, short-haired brunette, of course...he couldn't help but note how angry and deadly the bioterrorist agent was. She had an SMG slung behind her back and her Beretta 9mm handgun in her slender, gloved hands. Young wasn't surprised to see her, and he nodded as he said cordially, "Agent Chambers."

Rebecca Chambers stopped a few feet in front of his desk, and she contined to point her handgun at him. She nodded in return and said with anxious, barely-contained need, "Doctor. I'm only going to ask this once. Where is Cheryl Mason?"

Young smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'll take you to her." The old man stood slowly from behind his desk, his eyes deeply tired in their gaze. "I can only imagine what you must think of me - "

In a clipped tone, Rebecca cut him short: "No, you can't. You really, really can't."

The old man nodded again. "I see." It was then he finally noticed Rebecca hadn't come here alone. Two women had entered behind Rebecca, and he recognized them both. He offered a small smile and bowed deeply to them. "Ah, Gwen. Bea. I...I wish I knew what to say with you both present."

Bea Montoya looked at Doctor Young with the wide eyes of someone who needed to understand, but wasn't fully sure she wanted to. She said carefully, "Doctor...I don't want to believe it, but...Agent Chambers said on the elevator that you helped bring those parasites into our town? I-I mean, seriously?"

Young felt so tired as he nodded slowly. "Yes, young lady. I...I-I did."

His Head Nurse, Gwen Park, stared at him with quietly building anger and fear. "And now you've taken part in a kidnapping." It wasn't a question. Young nodded, anyway. Gwen shook her head and snarled, "For godsake, Doctor, why?"

Doctor Burton Young looked at the top of his desk in saddened acceptance of being caught, it seemed. He said, "Does it really serve a purpose to explain why? Contrary to all you must think of me, Agent Chambers, I am not an evil man. And I am not insane. Evil and insane, though, could properly describe Reeve and his misbegotten cult." He frowned thoughtfully. "To ask why I would help them does serve a purpose, then. I suppose I can only say that in all of the truly important decisions I ever made in my life, I was motivated by fear. Fear made me leave Silent Hill, because I was so afraid of The Order. For decades, I thought I'd escaped them like I escaped Silent Hill...I had created a new life for myself as I worked to help and heal my neighbors in Black Falls. My one secret fear was that my past in Silent Hill would come back to haunt me. Imagine my horror, then, when Reeve came to me months ago..."

Rebecca Chambers said as she looked at Young above her gunsights, "I don't give a damn about any of that, Doctor. I just want you to take me to Cheryl - !"

The old man in the silver suit shakily held up a hand in a stopping gesture, his eyes entreating. "P-please...I don't intend to delay you in finding her, Agent Chambers, but there are things you need to know and understand. Reeve came to me months ago, and he asked that I perform...services for his cult. I didn't want to at first. I-I wanted to defy him, but he threatened to make public evidence that I once helped an old friend, Michael Kaufmann, manufacture and sell illegal drugs. Y-you must understand I couldn't allow that. I had done so many good works for Black Falls, I had become such a necessary part of this community - !"

As Gwen flanked her on one side and Bea on the other, Rebecca relaxed her aim slightly. She said in a cool tone, "But you let your fear get the best of you again. Is that right?"

Eagerly, Young quickly answered, "Y-yes! B-but more importantly, I...I couldn't let my past crimes undo everything I had accomplished here! Must a man pay for past sins when he has only sought to do good for his fellow man ever since?" He didn't pause for an answer... "W-with my help, Reeve f-found others in our town's government and certain local business owners he could...ah, employ for his purposes. It was not hard to see what The Order wanted: t-to take control of Black Falls in the same way they did Silent Hill. To be the unofficial power that ran things here. But...b-but it goes so much deeper, is so much more frightening than that. Reeve is a true believer in his faith, you see, and he told me in casual moments the purpose that Black Falls shall serve very soon."

Rebecca's blue eyes were locked on Young as she asked, "And what would that be?"

Doctor Young answered fearfully, "He described Black Falls as...as holy ground. That this is the place God will be reborn...i-it'll be from here God will extend her power to bring Paradise to Earth."

-6-

Somewhere else in the hospital. As Cheryl Mason laid half-naked and strapped down in a reclining chair, forced to look up at bright lights, Reeve Meyers looked down upon her as his voice rose in volume. He virtually announced, "You shall pay for your defiance by finally fulfilling your destiny as the Mother of God, Alessa! But you are not the only one who will suffer our covenant's justice. I meant it when I said the enemies of The Order shall pay." Cheryl finally noticed a blonde woman in white standing at her left...Nurse Brenda Cunningham's expression was dispassionate as she stared down at the girl. Cheryl also saw that around all three of them a sterile green curtain had been set up on a rod that circled the immediate area, giving them a degree of solitude. That was about to change. But all of that time, there was something Cheryl didn't see, what Reeve referred to as a 'decoration' his people created in this room of the hospital. It was a circular design seven yards wide on the floor under her chair, painted red. It was the Halo of the Sun, the arcane symbol and totem of power of The Order. Reeve Meyers took a step back, and then another, and his eyes never left Cheryl's as he began to carry on like a bizarre showman...one of his hands took hold of part of the curtain as he said, "You are not the only one who must face justice for your crimes, so do not feel alone at the moment, Alessa...as you're about to see you have, shall we say, a captive audience!"

With a surreal, dramatic flair, Reeve Meyers quickly moved to the left and pulled the curtain with him, opening the three of them to the rest of the large room. Several more members of The Order were there watching...they were dressed like Reeve in black cloaks, except Cheryl couldn't see their faces because their hoods were up and shrouded their heads. There was one unique exception among them, however, but he appeared strangely as anonymous. He was a man of unknowable age in a black suit and tie, his head cleanly bald and almost shining under the room's light, his eyes shrouded by obsidian sunglasses...it was impossible to read the rest of his face; his features seemed impassive and devoid of emotion. Cheryl Mason had never seen this man before in any of her lifetimes, and yet...was there something strange about him...an aura she instintively knew somehow, but she wasn't able to focus enough to really think about it.

But then Cheryl saw there were two more people there...a man and woman she recognized instantly, and she understood the terribly ironic meaning behind what Reeve said about 'a captive audience' because they were both bound in ropes and their mouths were gagged as they sat in chairs not far away. The brunette man was thin yet well-built, in only a shirt and blue jeans. The attractive blonde woman next to him was dressed only in a tank top and panties. The man and woman saw Cheryl, and their frightened eyes widened with surprise as they recognized her, too...but the one time they met not so long ago, they only knew Cheryl as Heather.

Reeve nodded with approval as he grinned at Cheryl and announced, "Good...you recognize the blasphemers Alex and Elle Shepherd! They were collected by some of my followers a few days ago and brought into Black Falls just last night." At the time they were 'collected' in Brahms, Maine, it was the end of a long day for both Alex and Elle and they were preparing for bed...but they wouldn't have gone to sleep right away because they both wanted each other so much, like they did most nights, and they knew how to make their most private moments exciting. But then their home was invaded by masked Soldiers who shot them both with tranquilizer darts before they had the chance to defend themselves or call for help. Reeve added, "They haven't been hurt yet...that will come later, after they bear witness to you becoming our Mother of God!" The leader of The Order turned to the captive couple then, moved to them, and stared at them with loathing...the feeling was mutual as both Alex and Elle stared at him hatefully. Reeve said coolly, "You thought you could destroy us and get away with it. You thought you could defy your own destinies as sacrifices to God. And all because you had to be so selfish...you both could only care for your own happiness together, and no one else's!" He opened his hands and shook his head. "And now, here you are...all of that defiance for nothing...just like Alessa."

Then...Reeve Meyers drew close and knelt next to the bound Elle Shepherd as her husband Alex stared at the cult leader angrily. He frowned with mock-sadness, reached out, and gently placed a hand over her slender belly...his oil-slick voice said, "Oh, and I know you're pregnant, Elle...and I don't care. In the name of justice for The Order, your yet-to-be-born child must be sacrificed with you." Elle's face became a maelstrom of primal emotions - anger, hate, fear, and more washed across her face in reaction as she glared at Reeve, as her pulse skyrocketed and she breathed frantically through her nose in response to his horrifying threat to her unborn child. Alex Shepherd responded with as much pure fury...he struggled violently to get out of his bounds as his face and his eyes turned red with hate, as he tried to scream through his gag. Reeve regarded Alex and grinned. "Save your strength, Alex! You'll need it if you're going to watch your wife and the baby you could have had die before you do!"

Reeve Meyers coldly rose again and looked at Cheryl Mason. He said, "You know, I almost had Cybil Bennett fetched here, too? She did try to help your father, but she never directly brought harm to our covenant...still, her time will come regardless, along with Douglas Cartland's!" He then spread his hands and smiled triumphantly. "The time is nearly here for all heretics and non-believers to be damned when our God is finally resurrected, and the faithful will know everlasting grace in the rapture of Paradise!"

-7-

Doctor Young's office, in those moments. Rebecca Chambers said, "The only way The Order can see their God reborn is if they have Cheryl, so they can make her their God's mother."

Young said quietly, "Yes...yes, Reeve did mention that more than once."

"W-wait, a mother?" Gwen Park looked confused, and understandably so. "But there was nothing wrong with that girl when they brought her in. She sure didn't look pregnant!"

Rebecca frowned...she was so afraid for Cheryl. "That'll change, Gwen. The Order has to perform this ritual to make Cheryl pregnant."

Gwen looked at her. Bea Montoya blinked and said, "Uh, a-a ritual?" The girl's first thought was that if a woman had to be made pregnant, she'd need a guy...!

Rebecca kept her focus on Young as she said to Bea, "All you need to know is Reeve wants to do something terrible to Cheryl! There's only one thing that doesn't make sense to me, so you answer as fast as you can, Doctor! Why did those people in the ICU have to become victims of those parasites?! I know Reeve wants to use those things to control people, but those patients aren't in a position to be useful to him at all! What was the point of their being hosts?!"

Doctor Young sighed heavily as he began to step from behind his desk, which automatically made Rebecca's two-handed grip on her Beretta tighten. But the nervous old man didn't present an overt threat as he began to explain quietly, "Reeve told me he got those terrible creatures from Silent Hill. He said that Dahlia and her followers began using them after I left that damn town, after he said things...changed there, and I'm not sure what he meant by that. I never wanted to know anything about what happened to Silent Hill after I escaped it. Reeve said he needed, ah, puppets...people he could easily control in the same way Dahlia did." The old man was in front of his desk by that time, only a few feet away from Rebecca as she kept her aim on him. "But Reeve said he'd never used the creatures before he came to Black Falls, and he wasn't completely sure that the parasites would do what he wanted. H-he said summoning them was one thing, but he wanted to be sure he'd control them."

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "He wanted to be sure...?"

"Y-yes. That was why Reeve chose those poor people at random since May. Even if it risked exposing The Order, he...he needed test subjects."

Gwen Park gasped, horrified. "Dear god...! That's what those people in the ICU are? This lunatic's test subjects?!" Bea Montoya's eyes became as wide as saucers as the pretty candy striper could only shake her head quietly.

Young looked down at his expensive carpet and sighed, "Yes. You saw how those patients are a virtual cross-section of our community, Agent Chambers. Young and old. Male and female. Those athletic and those out of shape. Each of the hosts followed his commands perfectly after the parasites took control. It has been my responsibility to monitor them ever since they were exposed to the public and brought to my hospital. Reeve wanted me to monitor the health of the hosts, ensure the symbiosis stayed stable over time...things like that."

-8-

Somewhere else. Reeve Meyers fixed on Cheryl Mason and clapped his hands together loudly. "Now! Before we begin the ritual to make you our most holy Mother, an important piece of business. I meant it when I said I wasn't as powerful as you are, Alessa. I am not even as strong as my predecessors, the High Priestesses Gillespie, Wolf and Holloway. As things stand at the moment, I don't even have enough power to perform the ritual to make you our Mother of God." Reeve smiled darkly then. "However. I discovered when I was in Silent Hill, in its fog, my powers increased. At first, I didn't understand why...but then I was enlightened. With the help of my patron, Valtiel, I understood what happened to that town when it was claimed by the never-ending fog, and then shifted back and forth ever since between that and darkness!" He slowly began to walk back to Cheryl, his dark eyes looking into hers. "If I need to gain even more power, power enough to make you fulfill your destiny...if I am to earn even more blessings from our patron Valtiel and our God...then I must be closer to them. I must step into places beyond this earth...places far beyond. Or perhaps it's better to say I must bring those places to me, just like those places were brought to Silent Hill." Cheryl's hazel eyes stared at him, transfixed, but inside she felt a jolting, nightmarish fear. Reeve nodded. "Yes, Alessa...you know what I mean, and so you must know what I now want." Behind him, the bald man in the black suit silently moved from his position and quietly left the room, his purpose unknown. Alex and Elle Shepard ignored the unknown man's departure as they fixed on Cheryl fearfully, unsure of what was about to happen.

Reeve continued as he closed in on Cheryl: "But I know you'd never give me what I want willingly, and so I took a necessary step to remedy that." He gestured to Nurse Cunningham on her left. "Your nurse here gave you a stimulant to help you wake up for me...just before she then administered to you a dosage of a very powerful psychoactive serum. It will only last for a handful of hours, but I will only need a fraction of that time. The serum is a black market variant of a mind control drug created by Albert Wesker, who I understand was one of the most wanted terrorists on the planet before he died. Well, that isn't important, of course." Rebecca Chambers would have felt differently...she would have loathed the fact the ghost of that madman continued to haunt the world in some way, especially in this circumstance. "Anyway, this is a different version of what he created."

Reeve Meyers stood over Cheryl then as he spoke... "The serum makes the subject completely submissive and susceptible to control, Alessa. By now, it must have taken full effect, and I can feel you're completely focused on my voice by now." Unfortunately, terribly, he was right. "The serum, combined with my admittedly limited power, will be more than enough to coax you into doing what I want."

Reeve spared a quick glance at Nurse Cunningham, who took a cell phone from her dress pocket and she speed-dialed a number as she turned away from Cheryl. She didn't wait long for an answer, and she said very quietly, "It's about to happen. Make sure your fellow lieutenants are ready."

Reeve leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of Cheryl's head, resting them on the top cushion of her chair. His eyes looked deeply into hers. "I know you have only done this unconsciously before, Alessa, when your mother Dahlia tried to make you the Mother of God. What you did still lingers over Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen to this day. Now, it's time for me to reach into you...and make you reach out."

Reeve Meyers then laid his hands on both sides of Cheryl Mason's head as he stared into her eyes...and he reached into her as his thoughts commanded:

"Reach out, Alessa...reach out beyond this pathetic world...reach out to the eternal..."

Cheryl did her level best to struggle, to deny this cold, sadistic leader of The Order, but her defenses had already been compromised because of the incredibly powerful hypnotic that ran through her system, that overrruled her free will and her ability to fight. In a few moments as she reclined under him, in spite of herself, she felt pure horror as she did what she wanted, something she had never, ever wanted to do willingly since that black night in Silent Hill. Her power reached out into the mysterious, eternal ether beyond living sight...and like before, she found something, but this time it wasn't an accident, it was because of the terrible desires of another.

"...reach out and find that place of never-ending fog, and connect it to Black Falls..."

Cheryl found the strength to scream in her mind, No-no-no-no-NO, I can't do this, this bastard knows as well as I do what will happen and he doesn't care, but I care, I mustn't let myself...! But it was no use. She touched that other place, and she began to build a bridge to connect that world to this one, to the town of Black Falls. No...no, it wasn't so much building a bridge as...creating an opening, a gateway between those worlds, and her power made it so easy, so terribly easy.

And Reeve Meyers finally roared into her mind, "...make this town inherit the legacy of Silent Hill...AND ENSURE MY EVERLASTING GLORY!"

Cheryl Mason tried again to resist, but she knew a building pain in her mind and her nose began to bleed copiously as the leader of The Order clutched her head in his hands, as her eyes glowed with an incandescent blue light. Alex and Elle Shepherd could only stare with wide, stunned eyes at the beautiful blonde girl as they feared for her. Under the chair she was secured in, the red Halo of the Sun on the floor pulsed and glowed with crimson light as her power was used to serve its faithful. She felt the fog coming through the gateway she built, and in one last act of defiance her soul reached out needfully to touch the soul of another, the one she knew and adored above all others...and from within, Cheryl Mason screamed:

BECCA!


-9-

Gwen Park had more than enough...completely outraged, the Head Nurse began to stalk toward Young from behind Rebecca Chambers as she said in escalating volume, "You monster...you heartless MONSTER!" Rebecca shifted her focus and lifted her Beretta to point at the ceiling as she gently yet firmly restrained Gwen with one arm. The lady in white screamed, "HOW COULD YOU?!" Bea Montoya's entire being seemed to cringe...the candy striper could only watch as she lifted her fists to her mouth defensively.

Rebecca had to shift her focus to the Head Nurse, but a part of her wanted to just let the lady have this 'pillar of the community'. She said, "Gwen - !"

Doctor Burton Young, meanwhile, was about to panic. He'd edged slowly toward the double-doors to his office as he held his hands in front of his body and stammered, "G-Gwen, please! I-I told you I'm not an evil man, I swear I'm not!"

But Rebecca Chambers realized what he was trying to do and she briskly pointed her Beretta at him again...he stopped cold and lifted his hands. Rebecca snarled, "No, but you're just as bad! You're a coward and you're weak! You cared too much for yourself, and you were too afraid to defy The Order!" Rebecca moved from Gwen - who managed to calm herself only a little as her eyes burned into the old man - toward Young as she said harshly, "You're still a conspirator, Doctor! It's the likes of you who help evil people get what they want in this world!" Rebecca Chambers reached Young and grabbed the old man's tie as she put the muzzle of her handgun under his bearded chin...her own building fury and overwhelming need to save Cheryl made her shout, "And I'm officially out of patience! I want to know where Cheryl Mason is! TALK!"

Helplessly, sadly, Doctor Burton Young finally said in a quiet tone, "Reeve...Reeve has the Mason girl in the Delivery Room on the second floor."

Rebecca stared at him. Knowing what The Order wanted, there was a perverse, terrible meaning to her being taken to such a room. She wanted to kill Young then. "You...you son of a - !"

But Young was pathetic as he desperately pleaded, "I-I-I had to do everything The Order wanted, don't you see? I honestly didn't care what kind of rewards Reeve said I'd be blessed with for my help! You have no idea how crazy they are!"

Rebecca's lips thinned into a line as she held the old man at gunpoint. "Tell me very quickly! How many of those lunatics are in this town? How many people have they taken control of with parasites?!"

Young said quietly at first, "I don't know." But Rebecca didn't like that answer and she glared at him as she jabbed the underside of his chin with her Beretta. Young fearfully said, "I-I swear I don't know! A-all I can tell you is what Reeve told me! He...h-he said by today, he'd have enough strength in numbers to take control of this town!"

Rebecca's eyes examined him desperately. "Wait a minute! Doesn't Reeve want to be in control of this town in secret, like Silent Hill was under Dahlia Gillespie and her followers?!"

Young shook his head as he moaned, "I keep telling you, the man's out of his mind! I-I wanted to know what he meant, too...a-and all he'd say was that this day would be special. He said he'd have the strength to isolate this town from the rest of the world and ensure God's rebirth after the fog came."

Rebecca Chambers' being froze then. She remembered everything Cheryl Mason went through in her previous lives. She remembered the fog Cheryl brought to Silent Hill, the fog she had seen and felt and knew was so damned wrong. And only bad, bad things could come with that fog, only decimation and death. Did Reeve want to make history repeat itself - ?! Rebecca realized horribly the answer to that question was yes, and she said softly, "Dear god." She took firm, angry hold of Young's tie then and snarled, "C'mon, damn you! You're coming with me - !"

That was when Cheryl Mason's mystical scream reached Rebecca Chambers, and the agent's body went rigid, like she was just struck by lightning. She screamed as she let go of Doctor Young's tie and her Beretta, and she brought her gloved hands up to clutch her head. Blood began to flow from Rebecca's nose and drip on the carpet as she stumbled back from Young and fell on her behind...she continued to hold her head as she thought fearfully, needfully of Cheryl.

Doctor Burton Young didn't understand what just happened...but then he looked down at his feet and realized the agent dropped her handgun. He knew this was his only chance. In spite of his age, he lowered to one knee quickly to pick up the Beretta...but he didn't reckon on Gwen Park. The Head Nurse wanted to help Rebecca, but something inside of her told her to focus on her boss, and she was glad she did. He saw him make a move for the gun, and she dashed forward, reached out with both hands and harshly shoved into the old man's shoulders. Doctor Young was sent sprawling on his back, and he knew only flaring pain...at his age, he was damned lucky nothing was broken. Bea Montoya, who could only stand there and watch with quiet horror, turned around reflexively to look out the big windows behind Young's desk. The whole situation was nearly too much for the young candy striper.

As Doctor Young struggled to sit up on the carpet, he heard Gwen say, "D-don't move, Doctor!" He looked up and was crestfallen to see his Head Nurse holding the Beretta he had wanted to gain in both of her slender hands. In spite of her firm grip on the weapon, Gwen wasn't experienced with guns...that combined with her own fear at the moment made the gun tremble dangerously as she pointed it at Young. She said again, "Don't you dare move!"

"Gwen..." The Head Nurse turned to see Rebecca, who was sitting on the carpet, too. The agent gave her a worried look and counseled, "You...y-you'd better be careful, the safety's off...!"

Gwen moved to the agent to help her. "Rebecca...what just happened to you!? You're bleeding - !"

Rebecca said loudly, "I'm all right!" Actually, she was far from all right as she wiped her bloody nose with the back of one gloved hand and sniffed heavily. But for Gwen and the people of Black Falls, for Cheryl Mason, she had to stay strong. Rebecca encouraged in a softer tone, "I'm all right, really." The Head Nurse offered a hand and Rebecca gratefully took it...the lady in white helped the agent stand. Rebecca then extended an open hand toward the gun Gwen held and said, "Here, I'll take that..."

Gratefully, Gwen Park gave the agent back her Beretta. "O-okay!"

Rebecca felt so much gratitude to Gwen in turn and nodded deeply. "Thank you again." Then her expression chilled as she turned to Doctor Young, who was finally sitting up on the carpet. He pointed the gun in her right fist at the old man and began to order, "Get up, Doctor - !"

That was when Rebecca Chambers finally noticed...and so did Gwen Park next to her. They had both been so focused on Doctor Young, they didn't realize. But now they and Young looked at his office with confusion and shock. Everything in the office had changed. Before Rebecca felt Cheryl's terrible cry, the luxurious surroundings of fine wood furnishings and old-fashioned New England style accoutrements had been well cared for by whoever Young hired as housekeepers for his office. Every color was bright and every surface gleamed. Not anymore...within a space of heartbeats, perhaps less, the office looked...older than it had before. It looked strangely like the office had aged an unknowable number of years in a moment, and there had never been anyone to care for it in that time...there was grime and dust everywhere, and even some of the furniture looked to be in a state of disrepair. The once-bright colors had muted. What once gleamed had become dull.

And then Bea Montoya called out, "Gwen? A-Agent Chambers?!" They both turned to the candy striper, who was still looking out the grimy windows of the office, but the glass wasn't so dirty it wasn't possible to look outside, which was what Bea was doing with horrified eyes. The candy striper asked anxiously, "What happened to the world?! It's like everything faded away!"

And through those windows, Rebecca and Gwen saw, the world might as well have.

They only saw a thick, bleakly gray fog that obscured everything.

Rebecca Chambers knew then: she was fast running out of time to save Cheryl Mason...if she wasn't too late already.

TO BE CONTINUED