Chapter 13 Flames of Sacrifice

It took the trio a good hour to get to the resort area of Silent Hill. They had followed the river all the way to the lake. Clark and Lex had to dispatch of a monster dog along the way but for the most part the way had been clear. The fog ahead of them began to clear as a small strip mall and shopping center came into view. Chloe wasn't certain where the Green Lion was among the stores, but if they had to look one by one she intended to find it.

She scanned the store front's one by one trying to spot the sign she was looking for. A few moments of scanning finally yielded the result she was looking for. A large sign above a darkened doorway read Green Lion Antiques.

"There it is." Chloe stated as she took off toward it.

Clark and Lex followed suit and the trio stepped across the curb and onto the sidewalk in front of it. Lex approached the door and pulled the antique key from his pocket. He slipped it into the lock and turned it. Then reaching for the knob he opened the door to the small store. The trio walked in and had to turn their flashlights back on as the windows had been bored up and no light was aloud in. Before them lay a small room crowed with an assortment of furniture, nick-nacks, and other miscellaneous items. To the right was a glass display case with a counter top. Chloe made her way to stand behind the counter while Clark and Lex began rummaging through the items in the store.

The only items on the surface of the counter was an ancient cash register, and a shipment envelope. Chloe picked up the envelope and shined the beam of her flashlight onto it. There was only one address listed in it's center. It read Dahlia Gillespie, Proprietor Green Lion Antiques, Silent Hill, West Virginia. Chloe couldn't help but shake her head.

"Figures." She said aloud.

"What?" Clark asked looking up from his search to glance at her.

Chloe held up the envelope for Clark to see. "This is Dahlia's store." She answered.

That caught Lex's attention. So Dahlia had sent them to her own store. But, why? "So what did she want us to find here?" He asked.

Chloe shrugged. "No idea. But, keep looking." She replied.

Clark and Lex turned back to sorting through the items before them. But a few more moments of searching was yielding no results. There was only an assortment of junk, nothing worth examining. Lex moved over to a different corner of the room hoping to find something. As he walked over to a large wardrobe his beam swept across the floor beside it. His brow furrowed as he noticed that there were large scratches in the wooden floor. He stopped down to look more closely and his gaze shifted from the deep grooves to the wardrobe and back to the grooves again. Then he looked over to Clark.

"Clark, come over here." He said.

Clark left the pile of objects he was looking for and moved over to where Lex was standing. "What is it?" He asked.

Lex pointed to the groves on the floor. "I think this wardrobe has been moved."

Clark looked confused. "You mean like there might be something behind it?" He inquired.

Lex nodded. "Here get the on the other side of it." He directed.

Clark moved to the opposite side of the wardrobe and readied himself to push. Chloe had taken notice of what the boys were doing and walked over to stand in front of the wardrobe. Lex grabbed a hold of one side and then looked over to Clark.

"Ready? One, two, three." He said and then began pulling against it. Clark pushed on the other side and the wardrobe slid across the floor making a scraping sound as it moved. It revealed a hole in the brick wall behind it. It appeared that someone had tried to brick up a door but had not had the chance to finish in time. There was a hole about two feet high and two feet wide and beyond it another room. Chloe shined her flashlight into the hole to see that there was some kind of table with numerous items on it in the room beyond.

"Looks like Dahlia was trying to hide something." Lex said as he stooped down to Chloe's level. He noticed how small the hole was, far too small for someone like himself or Clark to squeeze through. But there was still light in the town outside, which mean Clark still had his powers. Lex looked up at him. "Clark can you break through this so we can get to the other side?"

Chloe held up a hand to stop Clark before he complied with Lex's request. "No wait, I'm small enough to squeeze through. Just let me go." She said.

"Why?" Lex retorted. "Clark can just smash his fist through and..."

Chloe cut Lex off. "It's just easier for me to go." She answered. "I'll just slip in, see what's in there and slip out."

Lex looked back to Clark. Clark shrugged as if to say let her have her way. Lex straightened up and then held his hand out toward the hole. "Feel free."

Chloe shrugged off her jacket and dropped her bag on the floor to make it easier for her to fit through. Then while still in a crouch she shimmied her way through the hole in the wall. She got a few scratches as her skin scrapped against the brick and mortar but she made it through. She turned to look back at the boys.

"Hand me my flashlight." She said holding out her hand.

Clark slipped it into her open hand. Then she turned and stood to her full height and inspected the room . It was a narrow room with at least fifteen paces between where she was standing and the table against the opposite wall. She walked up to it and gazed at its contents. There was a large gilded goblet at the center of the alter with the same strange symbol Chloe had seen in the school courtyard and in the Crimson Tome. Dahlia had identified it as the mark of Samael, but Chloe didn't know exactly what that meant. There were two idols on opposing sides of the goblet both carved from some kind of black stone. They were carved into some kind of creature with a vague human shape. But as Chloe peered more closely at them she could see that they had grotesque faces with large horns protruding from their heads and great bat like wings sprang from their backs. It made Chloe shiver slightly to look at them.

There were other items on the alter, but they seemed to be mundane random objects. Chloe wondered if they were some kind of offerings to whatever god this alter was erected to. However, she didn't feel that there was anything on the alter worth taking with her. And there was no clue that was jumping out at her. She sighed and shook her head. It would be much easier if she knew what to look for. She heard Clark calling for her back in the main store room.

"Did you find anything?" He said.

Chloe looked over her shoulder back at the hole in the wall but she didn't turn away from the alter. "Not really." She answered back. "I'll be out in a minute."

Then a sudden flash of light made her turn her attention back to the alter. A flame had erupted from the goblet and was burning brighter with every passing second. Chloe backed a few paces away from the alter as the light from the flame intensified. The shadows around her were dispelled but she felt a sense of dread as the light began to envelop her. She turned on her heal and tried to sprint back toward the hole in the wall and slip back into the main room. However it seemed to her that everything was moving in slow motion. She was willing her body to move faster but it refused to comply. She wanted to call out to Clark and Lex in the room beyond but her voice died in her throat. She turned to look over her shoulder at the light that had now become blinding. It stung her eyes and she shut them tight trying to escape what was happening to her. The momentary distraction caused her to trip and as she hit the floor she found herself washed in the red and yellow light of the fire.

Chloe's eyes fluttered open and her vision cleared. She realized she was lying on the floor of the Main Office of the hospital. It was dark again, though the dim lamp at the center of the room was still illuminated. She looked up to see Lisa leaning over her with a look of deep concern on her face. Chloe stared in disbelief at the woman above her. "Lisa?" She said puzzled.

Lisa sighed in relief and smiled weakly. "Chloe. Good, I thought you would never wake up." She replied.

Chloe sat up and glanced around the room. "How did I get here?" She asked.

Lisa gave Chloe a confused look. "What are you talking about? Don't you remember?" She answered.

Chloe shook her head trying to make sense of what had happened. Lisa's expression changed to a more sympathetic look. "You came in here and I tackled you remember? I thought you were one of those creatures."

Chloe's confusion deepened. "But...I was in the Green Lion a minute ago. I woke up and you were gone. Clark, Lex and I went to the resort area and..." She trailed off as she began to doubt what was real.

Now it was Lisa's turn to shake her head. "Chloe you've been here the whole time." She clarified. "You just passed out, you've been out for a few minutes."

Chloe picked herself up off the floor and Lisa stood up with her. Chloe put her hands to her head and racked her brain to figure out what was going on. The room and Lisa was exactly the way they had been before, but how could she have been here the whole time? Had she dreamed meeting Dahlia again, or finding the Green Lion? In the few moments of intervening silence Chloe became aware of a sound in the distance. Her blood curdled as she realized the sound was the wailing of the siren. But it was softer this time. Instead of invading the room and assaulting her eardrums it droned as if it were at some great distance. Lisa noticed the look on Chloe's face.

"Chloe? What is it?" She inquired.

Chloe turned to look Lisa in the face. "Do you here that?" She asked pointing out one of the windows.

Lisa's expression became worried once more. "I don't hear anything." She answered.

Chloe sighed heavily and started rubbing her temples. "What the fuck is going on?" She whispered to herself.

Lisa put a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked softly.

Chloe huffed and shook her head trying to dispel her mental fog. "I'm fine don't worry about me." She said curtly. There was obviously no way to explain how she had been in the Green Lion one minute and in the hospital the next. But, since she was with Lisa again she decided to make the most of the opportunity. She looked Lisa dead in the face again.

"Lisa can I ask you something?" She started.

Lisa shrugged. "Of course, what is it?" She asked.

"Do you know a woman named Dahlia Gillespie?" Chloe continued.

Lisa thought for a moment and then recognition dawned in her eyes. "Oh yeah that crazy Gillespie lady." She answered. "She's kind famous around here. She doesn't see anybody so I don't know that much about her. There's been a lot of rumors around town that she abuses her daughter so most people try and avoid her."

Something snapped in Chloe's mind. "She has a daughter? Do you know her daughters name?" She asked. Could Alessa be Dahlia's daughter?

Lisa shook her head. "No I can't remember, sorry." She replied. "I remember hearing that she pulled her daughter out of school after because the other kids didn't like her too much. That's about all I know."

Chloe nodded trying to sort out the information. "Well I've seen her, and she said the town is being devoured by darkness. Does that mean anything to you?" She began again.

Lisa leaned back against the desk behind her and looked down at the floor. "Darkness?" She responded. "Yes I think I do."

Chloe gave her a look urging her to continue. Lisa sighed before continuing. "Okay so before they built the resort and the town population started growing, the towns folk here were a little on the quiet side. It seemed that everybody around here followed some kind of weird religion; occult stuff, black magic, things like that."

Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. Black magic? This town was getting stranger by the second.

Lisa continued telling the story. "As new people moved in, the original residents started to withdraw. They became reclusive, and some of the younger members started to move away. After the resort was up and running people started to forget about them. Except for that Gillespie lady. Sometime she would run around town talking all this strange nonsense."

"Like what?" Chloe asked.

Lisa shrugged again. "I'm not really sure." She answered. "I've never seen her, but some of the other nurses I work with told me it was stuff like, their paradise had been spoiled, and the day of judgment was coming. The last time I heard anything about it was a couple of years ago when several people that had been instrumental in the town's development died in mysterious accidents. People started saying there was some kind of curse."

"It was a cult?" Chloe mused.

Lisa nodded her head from side to side. "I guess you could say that." She replied.

Chloe turned away from Lisa for a moment and stared out the window in the black void outside. She couldn't make sense of anything anymore. She was afraid that she was loosing her grip on reality. She wanted to ask Lisa a few more questions, but the sound of the siren was growing louder. Her heart skipped a beat as she started to feel faint again. There was orange and red light crowding the edges of her vision, and her stomach felt sick. She turned around to look at Lisa again as the siren continued to grow louder. Her eye's grew wide in horror at the site of Lisa engulfed in flames. She screamed out Lisa's name but the volume of the siren downed out the sound of her voice. Then the light of the fire overtook her and she blacked out.

Second Interlude...

Chloe found herself floating in a great black void. She was suspended by means she couldn't explain. The void seemed to stretch out all around her seemingly forever. She looked in all directions but she could only see endless blackness around her. Then there was a swirl of images playing in front of her. It was a jumble of images she couldn't make sense of but slowly the images cleared and reformed. She saw Lisa and Dr. Kaufman in the lobby of the hospital. She couldn't hear what they were saying but they seemed to be in the middle of heated argument. She watched as Lisa tried to walk away but Dr. Kaufman grabbed her by the arm tying to pull her back to him. Lisa turned and fiercely shook him off. Even if Chloe couldn't hear what they were saying she clearly saw Lisa's mouth form the words. "Don't touch me!" Lisa got into Dr. Kaufman's face and continued to scream at him but the image dissolved and changed again.

This time she saw Dahlia standing outside a house on what appeared to be the edge of town. The house was a blazing inferno. The fire raged, blowing out the windows of the small house and quickly turning the wood to ashes. Chloe could see strange expression on Dahlia's face that was a mix between delight and fear. Chloe wondered why Dahlia would just stand there and watch the house burn but the image shifted again. Now she watched as Lana, and this time she was sure it was Lana stood on a huge carousel. It turned around and around, as the assortment of wooden painted animals bobbed up and down on their poles. Lana seemed to be enjoying herself as she twirled and danced around the bobbing animals. She had a childlike gleeful look on her face, as if she was a little girl in play. In another instant the carousel changed from innocent and serene into something dark and twisted.

The painted animals that had looked so normal before were now perverse and grotesque versions of their former selves. It became a nighmarish merry-go-round of horror. Lana noticed the sudden change and ceased dancing around. She looked in shock and dismay at the transformation. She hugged herself tightly and began to back off of the carousel. When she turned to step off of it she seemed to notice that Chloe was watching her. Recognition flashed in her eyes and she cast a pleading and sorrowful look at Chloe. She tried to call out to Lana but her mouth refused to form the words. However as Lana stood there cowering she seemed to call out to. Again Chloe couldn't hear what she was trying to say but the word she was forming became clear. Lana screamed out to Chloe over and over again with one single word. "RUN!" Then the image faded back into inky blackness and Chloe's vision went dark.