By: Ayame

Silent Hill : A Novelization

~preparing for the trip~

~Overture

With a small groan, he reached out across the bed, his hand landing on the soft coverlet next to him. It was a habit that he would most likely never fall out of. Slowly opening his eyes, he gazed at the empty beside and gave a small sigh. He still missed her. Rolling onto his back, he rubbed his face, groaning before pushing himself up into a sitting position. Dim sunlight filtered through the vertical blinds that covered the sliding door leading to the balcony outside of his bedroom. It would be a nice day, which would be good for their trip.

"Papa!" Cheryl bounced into the room, still in her light green nightgown. The grin on her face and her glowing brown eyes clearly showed that she was ready for the outing that they'd had planned for a couple of months now. Bounding onto the bed, she crawled up to him and gave him a hug, still smiling. "We get to leave today, right?" Her voice was bright and cheerful. Harry glanced over at his bedside clock. The time read 7:18am in bright red numbers. With a nod, her patted her shoulder and moved to get up.

"Yup. But first, we've got to get some food in you." Cheryl smiled and nodded before bouncing off the bed and rushing out the door to her bedroom where she would make quick work of putting her clothes on, packing a few necessary items for the road trip, and getting her sketch book. With a small chuckle, he headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Harry watched with amusement as Cheryl ran back and forth across the lawn of their two story home, squealing in delight and doing cartwheels as he packed the last of their luggage into the back of his red Jeep Wrangler. It was a small vehicle and didn't have much room for luggage, but they didn't need much save clothing and a few extra commodities. Their trip wasn't going to be too long either, which lessened the amount the would have needed. Their breakfast had gone by in a breeze, with Cheryl practically eating the table through the excitement of going on their annual father-daughter trip. With a sigh, he closed the trunk of his Jeep and looked toward his little girl again. She was wearing the soft blue and green checkered sundress that he'd gotten for her last month for her seventh birthday. She ran over to him, carrying the sketchbook that had been sitting on the grass near where she'd been cart wheeling, and smiled up at him. The sketchbook, like the dress, had also been a birthday gift.

"Ready to go, kiddo?" he asked with a grin. She nodded and raced for the passenger side of the car, getting in quickly. Harry glanced up and down the neighborhood street before waving to a couple of the neighbors that had come out of their houses to either collect their newspapers or work on their yards. One of them made a comment on how he was spoiling his little daughter by taking her on vacations every summer. He only laughed before getting into the vehicle and starting the engine. It would be a long drive and they probably wouldn't arrive in Silent Hill until nightfall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The photo sat on a small dresser just in front of the rusted colored wall. The little girl in the photo didn't look directly at the camera. Her gaze was averted to the side. Her chin length hair fell neatly around her face and her expression could have been described as calm. It could have been if one did not know what troubles afflicted this young girl. With a sigh, the woman picked up the photo, gazing at it for some time. Turning, she let her eyes lazily drift around the room, the burnt, ruined room that had once belonged to the little girl. Rubbing her hands together, a twisted smile came to her lips. The time had come. Looking to the man who stood calmly in the doorway, she nodded. It was the only signal he needed. He had to be on his way to rid them of any particularly unneeded elements that they'd held onto for the time being. It was indeed time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She glanced through the window of the holding room and front office of the station. The rain was beginning to let up to a light mist. That was just as well, since she'd rather be working without such bad conditions. Especially on a night like this. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was about to happen. Perhaps it was her sixth sense as a cop… she didn't know. But whatever it was, she could feel it.

She'd been stationed at the small police station just outside of Brahms, rather than the main office this evening because of a shortage of officers there. It was busy in that area of town, and they needed reliable cops to be on the watch. But tonight, there wasn't much activity out on the streets. It wasn't so bad, she guessed. She'd rather have been at her desk at the main station set up in the center of the city, but… I guess being a good cop will land you the jobs where reliability is needed… even if it sucks. With a sigh, Cybil continued to watch the rain lighten up. One of the detectives passed by and offered her a cup of coffee, but she declined and gave a smile. They conversed for a moment about how she was going through her ranks at an incredible speed, much more quickly than most cops before her. With a grin, she figured that it was because she really loved her job. She usually jumped right into what was going on, and completed the tasks without much struggle. Thus was the results of going to training schools and taking them seriously. With a small sigh, she leaned back in her chair, smoothing out her light blonde hair and looked around the tiny back-alley station. The wooden walls and floors gave it the look of a country cabin, rather than a police base.

The place was a bit different from other sub-stations she'd been at. Most of those places were smaller, and only had one or two officers working there. But this place… it was like a miniature police head-quarters in itself. A wry grin crossed her lips. Brahms was definitely a change from the big city that she'd been used to working in. A definite change indeed.

"Yo, Bennett! You've got a call on the mobile!" Another officer poked his head out of a small office and motioned to her. Davis… she thought his name was. She couldn't quite remember. She'd only been recruited to Brahms a while back and was still rusty on the names. Getting to her feet, she hooked her thumbs in the belt of her pants and made her way toward him. A small crease came to her brow as she wondered just why the uniforms for the women had such skintight pants… but she guessed it couldn't be helped. Maybe it was to distract the criminals from running away…

"Thanks," she nodded as she stepped into the office and took the receiver from the other officer. Moving past him, she sat at the desk there holding the piece between her jaw and her shoulder before turning a bit and glancing up, noting that Davis had left.

"Glad they could find you over there, Bennett." It was the voice of her superior that came through the receiver. Cybil gave a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, well… there aren't too many places to hide around here. What's up?" There was a small pause on the other end accompanied by the shuffle of paperwork and some muttering, probably to another officer at the main office. Cybil waited patiently, seeing as she had no place to go or be at the moment. After a second or two, he spoke again. "Yeah… You've been dealing with the Pushing case: 02- 60504, in Silent Hill, right?" Cybil wrinkled her brow, wondering just why he was asking her that when he was the one that assigned her to it.

"Uh… yeah. Something wrong? You taking me off of it, or something?" she leaned back in the cushioned chair, idly fiddling with her badge.

"No, no. I'm not. Actually, we seem to have lost communication with Silent Hill. Started about a week ago. I want you to head over to their PD and check it out. Make sure everything's going smoothly. And see if they've come up with anything on the Drug case. Got it?" Cybil grinned. Yeah. She figured it'd be something like that. Taking out her notebook, she jotted down a few annotations, while listening to the other tidbits of information that he gave her. She raised her eyebrow a bit at one of his comments and questioned it, but he had no explanation for it. With a shrug, she made sure she'd crossed all her T's and dotted all her I's.

"Got it. A drug bust, and lack of communication. Cake walk."

"Go straight to their PD. I've dispatched some officers already, but you're closer, so I want you there and in the know by the time they arrive. They know about Case No. 02- 60504, so go ahead and give 'em the reports. Make sure that this lack of communication is or is not related to the case we're investigating with their PD." Cybil nodded and said her good-byes before hanging up the phone and heading through the door. She walked to the desk she'd been stationed at and grabbed her sunglasses and her gloves before proceeding out the door into the warm night, despite the light mist that the rain had turned into, got on her motorcycle, and started off toward the quiet and peaceful town of Silent Hill.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harry yawned a bit, fiddling with the stations of the jeep's radio system, as he drove down the deserted highway toward the relaxing resort town of Silent Hill. Only two colors painted the mountains during that hour of twilight: green and blue. The trees- spruce, pine, and fir- looked as though they were fashioned from the same glowing shades as dark emerald and jade gemstones. Cool, blue shadows lie along the roadside and within the depths of the trees, growing larger and deeper and darker by the minute. Harry Mason turned his Jeep Wrangler off the three-lane state road, onto a county maintained, two-lane that twisted and climbed through the pass to Silent Hill. The road was undisturbed by any other passers as he sped along the highway. On his left, where oncoming traffic would take their route, was the wall of a cliff. To his right, he had to stay mindful of the guard rail that would keep drivers from tumbling into the roads below. Glancing over to the seat beside him, Cheryl slept peacefully, holding onto the sketchpad that she favored so. A small smile crept across his lips as he returned his eyes to the road. It was quite late, and he'd be extremely glad once they arrived in the resort area of town and at the hotel that they'd made reservations at.

Silent Hill… The name of the town rolled through his mind over and over, almost as though plaguing him. It had been years since he'd last been to that place. Years. His eyes went to Cheryl again before setting on the road. She'd picked out the vacation spot this summer, and he'd thought it was odd how she'd insisted on going to Silent Hill, of all places. Of course, it was a nice enough town; a community divided into three districts on a lake with its own carnival… a resort town that some liked well… but it wasn't well know. And he thought it was odd that a seven year old would ask to go there by name. He wasn't quite sure where she'd heard of the town from, but wherever it was, she'd insisted that their vacation be spent there this summer. He glanced toward the sketch book that she held in her small arms. It read, "Coogwigger Diner," across the front. That was most likely a diner that they'd visit once they reached their destination, since it was located in Silent Hill. But despite that, there was no other indication on the book, or anywhere else that could have made Cheryl ask for that particular city as their vacation spot. He hadn't been there in years, but Cheryl had made her choice clear. And Harry had said alright, since he saw no harm in it. Switching off the radio, which had been rattling off AM, the only stations that seemed to be getting through around these parts, he rolled down the window and propped his elbow over the door, tapping the roof of the jeep with his fingertips. Through the passenger window, he could see that the ground grew level and trees seemed to shoot up from the ground like jets of water from a geyser, but was still adorned by that guard rail. Glancing in the rear view mirror, he took note of a single headlight coming up behind him faster than the speed limit. Pulling to the side, only a bit, he made room for the vehicle to pass, if they chose to. They did.

Glancing in their direction, he realized it was one of those motorcycle cops. A woman to be exact. He couldn't see her features clearly, since she wore the required helmet and sunglasses. He wrinkled his brow a little, thinking it was quite odd for her to wear sunglasses this late in the evening. Despite the high-beam that her motorcycle let loose, her surrounding must have seemed equally dark with those shades on. She looked over at him as she moved into the next lane and gave what appeared to be a smile. Tilting his head to one side, Harry gave her a curious look as she speed on in front of him and out of view. A flirtatious smile, perhaps? Shaking his head, he gave one of his own. That was his imagination acting up now. It was more like a smile saying, "Hey, buddy. Thanks for letting me move on. Official police business. And wash your jeep." He watched the silhouette of the motorcyclist disappear from the illumination of his headlights, and into the shadows of the mountain path and trees. Silence overtook the roads once more.

Harry picked up his speed, idly wondering just what the officer's hurry had been. He'd only been half listening to the radio when it had been on, but he hadn't heard of any accident of any sort. With a sigh, he leaned back in his seat, tugging a little at the seatbelt across his shoulder and pushed that to the back of his mind. It really wasn't that important. All he had to do was concentrate on his drive to their vacation spot. A tiny yawn, which resembled the squeaking of a mouse more than anything else, sounded in the seat next to his. Glancing over in Cheryl's direction, he smiled. The little girl smoothed back her chin-length dark hair after rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Looking toward her father, she gave a small grin.

"Are we almost there?" The excitement in her voice was evident. Harry chuckled a bit and nodded.

"Yup. Just a little while longer." The child smiled and hugged her sketchpad, looking through the glass that served to block any oncoming elements from outside of the vehicle. With a sigh, Harry shifted gears as he watched the sky in the horizon grow even darker. Slowing just a little, he came around a bend when he noticed something out of the ordinary sitting off to the side of the highway, slightly skewed against the cliffside. Wrinkling his brow, he looked out his window to get a better view. It was a motorcycle. It looked very similar to the one that the female police officer had been driving. Eyes narrowing, he noted that the headlight to the vehicle was still shining brightly against the wall that it had come up against. But… the owner was no where to be seen. Odd…

Cheryl glanced up at her father and leaned forward a little, curious as to what had caught his attention so avidly. He didn't really seem to be paying attention to much else, so she looked back toward the road along her side of the vehicle, watching the shadows grow around the surrounding trees. Leaning closer, she thought she'd seen something in the brush… a movement… A young girl stepped over the rail skirting the trees. Her dress seemed to be an eerie shade of blue against the beams of the headlights. Looking up, half-spinning toward the oncoming jeep, she threw her hands up to shield her face, as though that would stop the procession of the car. A scream tore from Cheryl's lips as she clutched her sketchbook to her chest. Harry's attention was immediately brought back to the front of the road. A look of horror passed over his features as his eyes met with those of the girl who had stumbled onto the highway. Her dark eyes were tinged with fear… the look of wild abandon of that of a stray animal… and perhaps something else. Slamming his foot onto the break petal, he yanked on the steering wheel, careening the jeep to one side, trying as best he could to avoid a collision with the girl on the road.

He could hear the startled shriek of the girl, and the horrified cry of his daughter as he tried, unsuccessfully, to regain control of the vehicle. He'd been studying the motorcycle for too long, wondering where it's operator had vanished to. He'd taken his eyes off the road for too long, resulting in this accident that could have been avoided. With a shout of his own, he spun the wheel in every direction he could, trying to recover his bearings… to make the world calm down long enough for him to actually be able to see the road, the trees, and the wall along the opposite side of the trees. He pumped the break, trying to slow the pace that the vehicle had spun out of control with… but he couldn't focus on one thing for too long before the next came into sight. With a violent jar, he felt, more that heard, the jeep slam into the rail. His vision clouded over in a white mist that rapidly consumed his senses. He felt as though he'd been taken from one world, and thrown wildly into another, where, when he awoke… if he awoke… he'd be tested by unseen forces.