"Man is not what he thinks he is; he is what he hides."

-Andre Malraux

Fifteen

Leaving the hospital was getting to be a little more difficult than Will thought. Shortly after the nurse came in with his clothes and his phone, Will fell back to sleep for about three hours. It was a dreamless slumber; the kind of sleep where it seems like you close your eyes for a few seconds and then open them back up, only to find out that hours have gone by. On the bright side, it recharged his batteries. There was no haziness like there was when he woke up from what they had labeled a coma. Of course, Will knew better than to call it that.

Will got dressed in his little bathroom and unlocked his phone. He had two missed calls, one from his roommate Curt and the other from an unknown number. No voice messages, and a couple of texts from Curt and one from Dawn, who must've sent it after she left earlier. "I can't say it was the best first date, but at least it was memorable, and at least you were a gentleman the whole time…that you were awake I hope you're feeling better. I'm not sure what's going on around town, but I also hope it comes to an end quickly, and maybe we can go out again. Rest up and call me when you can." At least she kept her sense of humor, Will thought to himself with a smile. She was definitely the most interesting girl that he met at Clearview. He wanted to get to know her more, but he needed to figure out what was going on.

It was one of the first things that he saw when he woke up. Staring at him from the end table next to his bed, like a relic from a past life that wasn't too long ago. Dawn didn't bring it by, nor did any of his roommates or anyone else that was from here. There he was though, dressed in his dark blue overalls and green bowtie; a pink Robbie the Rabbit from the derelict amusement park at the eastern end of Silent Hill. It could have only come from one source in the area, which meant that Horace was in his room at some point.

Will left the stuffed rabbit on the end table and exited his room. He felt fine other than a slight headache, and a very faint ringing in his left ear. He walked confidently past the nurse's station after taking a minute to hear two of them talking to each other. Just don't turn to acknowledge them, he said to himself, and they wouldn't pay any mind. They'd just think that he was a visitor. It seemed to work, because neither of them spoke up or tried to stop him as he headed towards the elevator bank around the corner.

No sooner than he turned the corner did he see one of the elevators open, and he caught a glimpse of Detective Rutledge stepping out. Will backed up around the corner and immediately started to head towards the opposite end of the hallway. No doubt the detective was here to question Will. There was no telling what the man or the rest of the police knew by now, and Will didn't want to stick around to find out. He quickened his pace towards the emergency staircase at the end of the hall, no longer caring if he was being inconspicuous at this point. He just needed to get out.

A security guard hustled by him as he got to the main floor. Will took a moment to wonder if that was for him before leaving the hospital. The fog still hadn't lifted from the last time he was outside. He could only see about ten feet all around, maybe less. It reminded him of a few days ago when he went to see Narciso and caught a glimpse of something flying through the fog. An image of that thing that attacked him and Teddy in the movie theater flashed through his mind. Could it be the same type of creature that he briefly saw? Somebody else would have seen it by now, he told himself. Demonic, winged creatures would have taken precedence in the media over a few unexpected comas.

It was a small miracle that he was able to make it back to Clearview considering the visibility. There were no cars on the roads at least. Strangely enough, Will didn't see that many cars on the side of the road or in driveways as he was cutting through the side streets of Willamette. Maybe people had skipped town, he wondered. That probably would have been the smartest move, all things considered. He knew that he wanted to collect his things and head out, after he talked to Horace. Every few minutes he checked his phone but hadn't been able to pick up any reception since he left the hospital.

The campus was just as empty as the town. Shrouded in fog, it reminded him of the dream he had with the boy. Was it a dream though, or some kind of gaze into a bleak future that arrived much too soon? He felt a little silly keeping his eyes peeled for a young boy playing baseball, but he'd witnessed stranger, more dangerous things lately than said child appeared to be.

A gust of wind swept in as Will's eyes were drawn to the theater building. It was in that dream or vision, whatever he had, that the exterior walls looked like that of the movie theater in town. Everything was as it should've been though. He hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary on his journey home, if he didn't count the desolation and the eerie fog that blanketed the area for days now. He thought about checking in with Dawn, but then realized that he had no idea where she lived.

"…hey…"

At first, it sounded like the wind was whispering at him. Weird under normal circumstances, but he had lived through anything but normal. Low, ethereal whispers seemed to be low on the imminent danger list. They were relatively incomprehensible until he understood a word and took a quick look around. He didn't see anything or anyone, so there's a possibility it was still his mind playing tricks on him.

"…hey! Over here, man…"

"Who's there?" Will said with an unusual amount of bass in his voice. He was still a little jumpy and didn't wanted to show it.

"Woah man, take it easy," Jeff stepped out from behind the administration building, his hands up and palms forward as if he were surrendering. Will noticed how different he looked from the last time he saw him. His brown hair was disheveled, and his complexion was pale, with dark circles around his eyes like he hadn't slept for days. His mouth twitched into a smirk, which dropped and came back with every step forward, "I come in peace, dude. Everything good?"

Will took a slight step back in caution. It looked like Jeff was tweaking on something other than Pure. As Jeff lowered his hands, he started scratching at his left forearm, which was visible through a rip in his hooded sweatshirt. It looked like there was dried blood on his arm.

"Everything's fine," Will responded, "what's going on Jeff? What're you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Jeff asked, his eyes darting back and forth as he rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "Oh, just…enjoying the scenery. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Jeff spread his arms wide and looked around, Will's gaze following him. He wondered if the kid saw something other than suffocating fog.

"Are you okay?!" Jeff asked suddenly, startling Will. Jeff smirked again at Will's

reaction and quickly closed the distance between them. "I mean, I heard you were in the hospital with all of those people who died. You almost died too…but you didn't. You're here, and it's great to see you man." Jeff stopped scratching for a second to pat at Will's arm and torso, as if to check that he was here and not just some hallucination.

Will retracted his arm and angled his body away, pulling his arm to the side so it was out of Jeff's line of sight when he balled up his fist. "No, I guess I was the lucky one. Were you waiting for me here? And if you don't mind me asking, how did you know I woke up?"

"Everybody knows." Jeff responded with a light shrug. "You're like a local celebrity. So, being that you are kinda famous now, I was wonderin' if I could have your autograph?"

Jeff laughed and clasped his hand on Will's shoulder, who violently shrugged it off. The momentum forward combined with Will shucking his hand caused Jeff to fall forward, letting out a surprised howl as he hit the ground face first. Despite his new situation, the kid was still laughing as he turned over onto his back.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Will asked threateningly as he brought his foot up and pressed it down hard against the kid's chest. All traces of giddiness left Jeff's face, and was slowly replaced by fear. He grabbed at Will's foot with both hands and frantically tried to lift it off him, but Will was too forceful and in too good of a position to be budged. "When I first came to you, I told you just to deal. You're using my product, aren't you? That's the quickest path to getting sloppy and getting busted."

"C'mon, bro," Jeff began, still trying to get out from under his foot, "it's me, man. You know that if I got caught, I'd never give you up. You're like a big brother to me."

Will took a moment to look around. He was satisfied that they were still alone, and he could do anything he wanted to this little junkie. Deciding to show mercy, he took his foot off and held out his hand to help the kid up.

"Big brother, what a load of crap that is. I'll give you some points for saying some wild shit to save your ass though. This is against my better judgment, but what did you want?"

"Thanks, bro." Jeff said after a sigh of relief.

"I'm not your bro," Will remarked, "now what do you want?"

"Right." Jeff nodded with a gulp, starting to scratch at his arm through the hole in his sweatshirt. "You're right, man, about everything okay? I know you told me not to use Pure, but there was this chick who's like half-Italian and half-Filipino and she wanted to party. I mean, she was down, you know what I'm sayin'?"

Will didn't know what kind of response Jeff wanted to draw from him, but he just stared at the dealer without saying a word.

"Anyway," Jeff continued, "I started usin' it and ever since, I've been seein' these strange things man." Jeff's eyes darted around the area and skyward. "Like these gigantic flying things, like those flying dinosaurs from Jurassic Park or somethin'.

"You're seeing flying dinosaurs?" Will questioned, knowing full well what Jeff was describing, but trying to remain as skeptical as possible. "Pure can make you hallucinate sometimes, Jeff. Just cut yourself off and you'll be fine."

"Nah, man, you don't get it." Jeff vehemently shook his head from side to side, started to pace back and forth. "I'm seeing those things when I'm off it. That kid that went to Clearview that died after that Baldwin chick…I heard he was torn to shit, man. I take Pure though, and they all go away. I need more Will. I need it for myself and to sell it, sell it to everyone! Those things will go away if we're all flyin' bro."

"Jeff," Will started, clasping his hand on the kid's shoulder to try and get him to calm down, "maybe you should get away for a bit, huh? Go back home to your parents' house and chill."

Jeff wiggled out of his grip and backed away, shaking his head again, scratching at his arm to the point where his fingernails were bloody. Will watched him and wondered if maybe giving him more wouldn't hurt him. He might have been more trouble if he didn't acquiesce. Maybe he could unload the whole batch on him and sever any connection to the drug, but he knew that if someone investigated it, breadcrumbs would lead to his hometown.

"Fine." Will blurted out after a few moments. It probably wasn't a good idea, but there was too much going on for him to weigh options. A few more pills would make the kid go away for the time being. "Just wait here, okay? I'll be back in five."

He started towards the house while Jeff shouted his thanks and praises. Will sped up his stride just a bit to get as far away from him as quickly as possible. A few more pills to get rid of a problem, Will repeated to himself like it was some kind of strange mantra that an addict would tell themselves before they got clean. Jeff seeing those things when he was off the pills…Will thought he spied something at Narciso's the other night. Something big flying through the fog; it could have been one of those things that he dealt with in the movie theater. That wasn't this reality though, Will told himself. If those things were loose, he'd have heard about it. There would certainly be a lot more people dead, more panic in the streets, news outlets from all over to cover the emergence of flying dinosaurs in the small college town. The army would probably be called in too.

The fog seemed to get a little thinner as he got closer to the edge of campus and his street. Since he had left Jeff behind, the area grew eerily silent. His sneakers beating against the pavement was the only sound that accompanied him for a good minute, which is why all it took was a ringtone to stop him in his tracks and put him on guard. Will held his breath as his head swiveled around, attempting to figure out the source of the noise and the party whose phone it was. He didn't have to look very far though, only down at his right pants' pocket.

Cursing himself silently, he pulled it out to see Curt's name on the screen. There were also full reception bars, which made him wonder when that happened. "Hey Curt."

"Dude!" Will pulled away from his phone in response to the shout that Curt gave on the other end. "You're okay! Where are you man? The cops are here…"

The last sentence was spoken no louder than a whisper, taking Will a few seconds to process what his roommate said. It was meant to be a warning.

"I'm a few blocks away," Will responded, starting his walk again but angling down the sidewalk to try and get a clear view of his house without getting too close. Even though the fog was thinner here, it was still impossible to see more than half a block. "Do me a favor? Go upstairs and unlock the window facing the backyard."

"What?" Curt asked incredulously. "I don't know if you should be coming here right now, man. This detective's got a serious hard-on for you. He said that you have something to do with all of this. He said you got Teddy killed."

Will groaned. Knowing that Rutledge was there just added to the headache. Still, he needed to get home and into his room without being seen.

"They don't know what they're talking about." Will stated firmly. "They're grasping at straws to try and close a case. You know me, and you know that I would never hurt anyone, especially you guys. I didn't even know about Teddy until I woke up. It sucks."

"I don't know…" Curt said, his words trailing off at the end. "…I mean, I believe that you wouldn't hurt anyone, but about going upstairs…"

"It'll be fine." Will said reassuringly, even if he wasn't completely certain of himself. "Just say you have to use the bathroom, head upstairs and unlock the window. Then go back downstairs and keep them there. If they ask to search my bedroom, just remind them that they need a warrant."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for about ten seconds or so. Will looked at his phone, seeing that he still had the connection.

"Curt, are you nodding on the phone again?" Will asked.

"…yeah…" Curt responded with uncertainty.

"You're not doing anything illegal," Will continued in an attempt to ease his roommate's conscience, "just going upstairs and unlocking a window. People open windows all the time. I just need to get something from my room to prove that I'm innocent, and I'll go to the police station myself."

More silence for what seemed like a few minutes. Will kept moving closer to the house and was now on the same block while he waited for what he hoped was a positive response.

"Alright, I got your back." Curt said after a very audible sigh. "Just…ca…"

"What'd you say? Curt?" Will looked at the phone to see that the call dropped. Once again, he had no reception, so he put the phone away. From where he was on the block, he was able to see a few cars through the haze, in front of where he estimated the house to be. They were probably the police cars, he thought to himself, as he started to formulate his route to the backyard and eventually into his room. It was no small task getting up there and getting out with any trace that connected him to Pure. The second floor creaked with every step. He'd have to be one of those stealthy Asian people who dressed in black to pull this off, he thought to himself.

"That would be a ninja."

Will whipped his head around to look behind him, and took a step back, stifling a gasp. He knew immediately what he was seeing was impossible; that his roommate who stood before him with hair askew and tattered clothes, his body covered with slashes, scratches and bite marks, wasn't really there. Teddy was dead. He saw him get dragged down into that pit by those things, and his death was confirmed when he woke up. Will closed his eyes and bit down on his bottom lip, shaking his head slowly.

"You really are clueless when it comes to pop culture." Teddy laughed, unmoving from where he stood on the sidewalk just fifteen feet away. A trickle of blood slowly seeped out of his mouth as he stopped laughing, and his expression darkened. "What's up, man? Not in the mood to have a laugh with your old friend?"

"Quit fucking with me," Will stared back up at Teddy, "you're dead. I'm sorry it happened, but it is what it is. I'll atone for it later."

Before Teddy could respond, Will turned back and continued towards his house. He's not really there, don't give him the satisfaction of turning around, Will told himself as he veered of the sidewalk and cut across a neighbor's lawn three houses away. Against his better judgement, he glanced back to see nobody there.

"Just a ghost, Will. Don't beat yourself up, not now."

After the quick dialogue to himself, Will moved down the driveway along a wooden fence that separated houses. He didn't have to go very far to see a hose storage box, so he hopped on that and vaulted over the fence, barely avoiding an empty kiddie pool as he landed in the next yard. Spotting a doghouse, he froze for a moment not knowing if he would be charged by a hungry beast. There was no dog in sight, so he continued moving across the yard, which had a wire fence just about four feet high leading to the next. Will easily climbed that and was now one house away.

This was the yard that Narciso came from whenever he met with Will, its easy access due to a dilapidated fence that was concealed by a row of cypress trees. You could get into this yard from the house behind it, then into Will's via squeezing through a separation. After carefully moving some branches out of his face, Will found himself in his backyard. The easy part was over.

The backyard was deserted, but Will didn't want to hang out there any longer than he had to. He entered the garage through the side door and turned the corner where the ladder lay against the wall. Carefully, he pulled the metal ladder out, standing it up and angling it towards him to get it out through the door. He turned towards the house but stopped after his first step. In his way was the member of the household that he least wanted to see, and the only one that he wouldn't call a friend. Rory stood there in a pair of jeans and black tank top which showed off the muscles he'd developed being a college athlete. His fists were balled and hung by his sides, a scowl on his face as he stared daggers as Will.

"You've got some balls to come here." Rory said, keeping his eyes locked on his older roommate.

"Look," Will began after a sigh, taking a few steps forward but stopping when he noticed that Rory mimicked his actions and closed the distance between them, "those cops in there, are full of shit. We've known each other for two years now, right? I know you don't like me, but you should also know that I'm not some drug dealer. And you know that I would never hurt my friends."

"DON'T CALL HIM YOUR FRIEND!" Rory shouted as loud as he could, which caused Will to flinch; not because he was afraid of the guy, but because he knew that the police weren't too far away inside. "He was my friend, and now he's dead! And here you stand. Why aren't you dead like the others? Because you're behind it all, aren't you? I bet you thought you could get into your room and get your stash, or your record book or whatever the hell you keep locked up there."

"If I really kept something like that in this house all along, shouldn't you have known about it?" Will questioned with a smirk, unable to help himself. Nothing he said was going to turn Rory to his side or make him step aside while he got what he came for. His best option, he decided, was to engage Rory head on, and make him mad enough that he would make a stupid mistake that would allow Will to capitalize and temporarily disable him. Will didn't want to seriously hurt Rory and there were probably more diplomatic ways to handle this. But his back was against the wall and punching this kid in his face seemed to have more positive points than negative. "That means that you're either an accomplice, or just really fucking stupid to have not noticed."

Will barely finished his sentence before Rory charged at him, as anticipated. In response, Will slid the ladder out towards his ankles. Soon Rory would be on the ground and Will would follow it up with a well-placed punch to the jaw that would render him unconscious. Then Will would use the ladder to get upstairs, grab his things, head out of town and the cops would be none the wiser. That was the plan in his head, but all of that went awry as Rory sidestepped the ladder and quickly closed the distance between them.

"Oh shit!" Will exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise and somewhat impressed at his roommate's agility.

Rory swung his right arm back and connected with a hard punch to the side of Will's jaw. The force caused him to stumble backwards a few steps and almost fall over, but he was able to put his hand on the ground to catch himself.

"I've been waiting a long time to do that asshole," Rory said with a victorious grin, "and I've been taking MMA classes for seven months now, so you better…ooof!"

The bragging was cut short by the soccer ball that Will hurled at his gut. Rory bent over holding his stomach, giving Will the opportunity to connect with a right hook of his own, which put his opponent on the ground. Will wasted no time in following him, trying to pin Rory down to get another clean shot at him, but finding it difficult to do so. He threw another right hand which hit Rory's shoulder, and wound up being bucked off, tumbling forward and rolling to his feet as Rory got up as well. Rory used the back of his hand to wipe away the small amount of blood from his now busted lip and fiercely scowled at Will, who initially matched his demeanor but then started to chuckle through some heavy breaths.

"You can have all the combat training the world, but you'll never be able to take me out, rich boy. You just don't have it in you, kid."

The words fired Rory up again, and he began to charge, Will waiting with eager anticipation for the chance to do more damage. Will cocked back his right hand, an action which from his point of view made Rory stop in his tracks.

"Hey, break it up!"

The words came from behind Will, but before he could turn around, he felt a hand grab him by the forearm and bring his arm behind his back. In a state of confusion, he let his left arm be brought behind him and felt metal clasp around his wrists. He turned his head and saw a mountain of a police officer had been the responsible party. Behind that officer, Detective Rutledge was fast approaching. Will had forgotten all about the cops at the house. Shit.

"William Carroll, we've been looking for you." The detective stated, giving a big grin and extending his arms out wide. "Thank you for making my job a little easier."

"You've got me all wrong," Will replied, "I didn't have anything to do with any of those deaths, or the drug problem in this town. You didn't find any Pure here, have you?"

"Nope, we haven't yet. But then again, we haven't had a chance to search your room."

"Then I probably shouldn't be handcuffed, should I?"

"You two were having quite the fight out here." The detective replied, looking back and forth between Will and Rory. "The way I figure it, you're disturbing the peace, and both of you are engaging in what we call disorderly conduct. Now, it's in my best interest to make sure that neither one of you are on anything, so that will give me all the cause I need to forcefully enter your room. Or maybe you'd just like to unlock it for us, and we can skip all that unnecessary brute force?"

Will couldn't believe that he let himself lose focus and get caught like this. One way or the other, they were going into his room. They would turn everything inside out and they would find his stash, and more than likely they would find the records that he kept hitting in the false floorboard next to the gigantic chest. There wasn't much time to decide, as the detective looked at him expectantly and behind him, Rory was still fuming as he was being restrained by another officer.

"Sorry boss." Will spun his gaze at Rory as he responded to the detective. He then fished his key out from his pants pocket and tossed it at Rutledge. "I can't take the fall for you this time."

Rutledge and the other officers shifted their attention to Rory, who was just beginning to fully understand what Will was alluding to. Rory shouted out a string of obscenities and tried to lunge at Will, but was now being restrained by two officers, including the one that had handcuffed Will. Rutledge moved over to keep his hand on Will's wrists to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.

"So, you work for your roommate Rory here, huh? For some reason, call it a hunch, but I don't believe that. I guess we'll find out though. Either way, William Carroll, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to…"

Rutledge continued giving Will his Miranda's while leading him to the waiting squad car in front of his house. Will spotted Curt out of the corner of his eye, catching a frown that seemed apologetic, even though Curt had nothing to be sorry for. He vaguely heard Rory continuing to shout at him as he was being led to another car, but his attention was fixed further down the block. Through the fog he saw the outline of someone watching them. He couldn't make out any distinguishable features, but it was close to where he had a vision of Teddy. It was a visage solely for Will, playing on any lingering feelings of guilt that he may have had. For somebody who valued control, things were spiraling out. Still, something was happening to the town; something that seemed all too familiar to the stories and legends he had heard growing up.

"Do you understand these rights as they've been presented to you?" Rutledge asked Will, grabbing his attention and guiding him into the backseat of his car.

"I understand completely." Will responded as the car door was closed.