It felt good to be back home. The police were all too quickly satisfied
about her innocence. A situation she found both amusing and strangely
frightening. How could something as odd as what had happened to her have
been so casually dismissed? Of course, it was good that her name had been
cleared but someone had tried to kill her and the police didn't care.
That Cybil had been sympathetic to her but there hadn't been any results. Where was that freakish monster of a bride and why wasn't she in jail or in a grave?
When things like this could happen to decent, upstanding members of society like Sadie Collins something had to be wrong with society? So she had killed, murdered in cold blood, so what? No one she'd killed had been important. Very few would miss them.
She knew their kind. Dull people who couldn't think beyond their small existence so she was really doing them a great service. She was above them and shouldn't have to fight for her life. It was unseemly.
"Are you doing okay, dear?" Mommy asked her, pressing a damp hand to her forehead.
Sadie admired her mother's large diamond engagement ring. "Mommy, I've been wondering why not many eyebrows were raised over my strange accident. Does that sort of thing happen often?"
"You never lived here long. We moved here, what was it, a year before you left for college? But surely that was long enough to hear some rumours?"
"I never paid much attention to them."
"Oh well, there have been many strange things happening here. It all came to a head about a year ago when this man Harry Mason appeared in a previously empty cellar with a police woman from Brahm."
"Sounds naughty," Sadie arched an eyebrow. "So what happened next?"
"Well, Mr. Mason was holding this very small baby and he was babbling about some kind of spiral that keeps dragging him back but I'm not too sure what he meant. Something about Cybil, the policewoman's, prescence having drawn him out. Quite a lunatic. Do you remember a woman called Dahlia Gillespie?"
"Yeah."
"A DNA test revealed the baby he held matched both his, Cybil's and Dahlia's genetics. Maybe Cybil and Dahlia were related in the first place but one of them must've been the poor child's mother."
"That's not very interesting."
"I'm sorry, dear. Most of things are rumours. Hallucinations, getting symptoms of Ebola and the Bubonic Plague which vanish a few days later, murders, vanishings, sightings. Rather a lot of stories but the Harry Mason one is the only one I'd believe. I've set up your easel and everything all ready for you to begin painting."
"I think I'll go for a walk to the Burger Queen or whatever it's called, see you later," she flashed her mother a brief smile before heading out the door. She stood on the verandah, breathing in the fresh mountain air and looking around.
Two birds settled on the grass, dancing around eachother in a mating ritual. She watched them, then noticed a large rock on the grass. Her shoulders slumped as she realized it wouldn't be good to let other people see her kill the birds so she let them dance. One of them took off flying around the corner of the building.
The shriek of rending steel assaulted her ears. She shook, remembering the crash, how close her life had come to being ruined.
Blood spurted from where the bird had gone, followed by several bloodied feathers.
She took a few steps towards the corner of the building. Stopped only by another metallic shriek. Metal clanged against concrete as something started coming around the path at the side of the house. Steel tensed and broke with strange pinging sounds as the chain link side-gate was torn apart.
"Hi there."
Sadie jumped.
"You okay?" a woman asked, watering her lawn.
"Yeah, I guess. Just had a flashback to my bus accident. The shock to my system's been so awful." Sadie pressed a hand to her forehead, waiting for the flow of sympathy which was bound to come.
"Guess it would be."
Sadie struggled to keep a glare from her eyes as she looked over at the woman, her lips twitching into a smile. "You're my parent's neighbour?"
"I am."
"You married?" she pointed at the woman's wedding ring.
"That ain't so surprising, is it?"
Sadie ignored the comment. The last few murders, especially the two she killed in self-defence, made her glow inside. The stupid woman was being unkind to her and she could ruin her life. "Heard some pretty strange things have happened here?"
"Yeah, they tend to follow some people around," the woman gave her a strange look.
"You're implying it might happen to me again? That people might start dying around me? Has that happened before?"
"Don't want to scare you but yes, it has."
Maybe I will ruin your life, Sadie thought. After what I've been through you couldn't even give me a little support. "It must be nice living up here with your children although your husband's low income must make it a struggle."
The woman stiffened. "We have no children, if you must know, and my husband is a lawyer."
"Oh, really," Sadie frowned. "My bad. But if you really don't want people making those mistakes you should really look at the way you dress and have you tried a moisturizer? I'll lend you some if you don't have any. No? Okay. Um, and I'd advise you get your husband out of Legal Aid."
"My husband works in Haesse and McDougal Legal Office, they're very influential in these parts."
"I'm sure it is," Sadie walked toward the side-gate which was hanging on a nearby tree. No sign of the dead bird, though. "Did you see what did that?"
Sadie could hear the screech of metal being torn apart as she trailed after her neighbour's husband, following the black suit, the knife in her hand. She hadn't even seen his face yet but she predicted he'd be ugly. There would be little arousal in this. Then again, murder never ceased to get her hot. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, wishing the screeching would stop.
It was getting louder.
She increased her step, deciding to kill him another day. Hoping to get away from the area before the noise tore her head open. The people in the street looked vaguely transparent.
Kill him. Go on, do it now. You won't get another chance.
The voice in her head made her shake. Her knees nearly collapsed as she drew level so she threw out a hand, gripping his shoulder.
The man spun around, hissing between steel-plated jaws, his teeth glass jewels sharpened into points. There were no eyes in his skull, a raw excuse for a tongue flopped over the glass, reaching for her as his hands came up to hold her shoulders. It was getting dark. Everything was going out of focus.
Voices shouting.
Gunshots.
The man lunged for her throat.
She fell into the warmth of sleep.
Sadie Collins woke up in an alley between a Bakery and a Jeweller's Shop. The place stank. She was lying slumped on a few bags of trash. Groaning, she sat up. "What hap."
A masculine hand clamped against her mouth. "I'm not going to hurt you so don't scream. You understand?"
She nodded and when he moved his hand away, she frowned at him, feeling her own throat. A handsome brunette man in his mid to late thirties was sitting beside her, a shotgun slung over his thigh. "I'm going to go straight to the police. Whoever you are and whatever's going on now is going to stop. I don't like being toyed with."
"Neither do I but it's not like we can change anything."
"We might not but I will. Who are you anyway and what's this all about?"
"How long have you been in Silent Hill?"
"I asked you a question."
"Harry Mason."
"I'm Sadie Collins. I haven't been here long. Just a few weeks. Mason? Hey, you know Cybil, right? You had a child to her."
"That's not quite what happened."
"Why're you here?"
"I'm looking for my daughter, my real daughter, Cheryl. I came back for her."
"Cybil know about this?"
"Why would I tell her? She wouldn't have let me come back here. Wouldn't even let me come near the place but I have to get my daughter. I just . I just have to try. The baby I was given can't be Cheryl. , I don't know who it is but she's not mine. I came back and I was brought back into Hell. Looks like you're here to join me."
"What happened to the man who attacked me?"
"I don't know. There were these dog things and I killed them and when I saw you there was no one around. Just this blood trail but that could mean nothing."
"I want to see the trail."
That Cybil had been sympathetic to her but there hadn't been any results. Where was that freakish monster of a bride and why wasn't she in jail or in a grave?
When things like this could happen to decent, upstanding members of society like Sadie Collins something had to be wrong with society? So she had killed, murdered in cold blood, so what? No one she'd killed had been important. Very few would miss them.
She knew their kind. Dull people who couldn't think beyond their small existence so she was really doing them a great service. She was above them and shouldn't have to fight for her life. It was unseemly.
"Are you doing okay, dear?" Mommy asked her, pressing a damp hand to her forehead.
Sadie admired her mother's large diamond engagement ring. "Mommy, I've been wondering why not many eyebrows were raised over my strange accident. Does that sort of thing happen often?"
"You never lived here long. We moved here, what was it, a year before you left for college? But surely that was long enough to hear some rumours?"
"I never paid much attention to them."
"Oh well, there have been many strange things happening here. It all came to a head about a year ago when this man Harry Mason appeared in a previously empty cellar with a police woman from Brahm."
"Sounds naughty," Sadie arched an eyebrow. "So what happened next?"
"Well, Mr. Mason was holding this very small baby and he was babbling about some kind of spiral that keeps dragging him back but I'm not too sure what he meant. Something about Cybil, the policewoman's, prescence having drawn him out. Quite a lunatic. Do you remember a woman called Dahlia Gillespie?"
"Yeah."
"A DNA test revealed the baby he held matched both his, Cybil's and Dahlia's genetics. Maybe Cybil and Dahlia were related in the first place but one of them must've been the poor child's mother."
"That's not very interesting."
"I'm sorry, dear. Most of things are rumours. Hallucinations, getting symptoms of Ebola and the Bubonic Plague which vanish a few days later, murders, vanishings, sightings. Rather a lot of stories but the Harry Mason one is the only one I'd believe. I've set up your easel and everything all ready for you to begin painting."
"I think I'll go for a walk to the Burger Queen or whatever it's called, see you later," she flashed her mother a brief smile before heading out the door. She stood on the verandah, breathing in the fresh mountain air and looking around.
Two birds settled on the grass, dancing around eachother in a mating ritual. She watched them, then noticed a large rock on the grass. Her shoulders slumped as she realized it wouldn't be good to let other people see her kill the birds so she let them dance. One of them took off flying around the corner of the building.
The shriek of rending steel assaulted her ears. She shook, remembering the crash, how close her life had come to being ruined.
Blood spurted from where the bird had gone, followed by several bloodied feathers.
She took a few steps towards the corner of the building. Stopped only by another metallic shriek. Metal clanged against concrete as something started coming around the path at the side of the house. Steel tensed and broke with strange pinging sounds as the chain link side-gate was torn apart.
"Hi there."
Sadie jumped.
"You okay?" a woman asked, watering her lawn.
"Yeah, I guess. Just had a flashback to my bus accident. The shock to my system's been so awful." Sadie pressed a hand to her forehead, waiting for the flow of sympathy which was bound to come.
"Guess it would be."
Sadie struggled to keep a glare from her eyes as she looked over at the woman, her lips twitching into a smile. "You're my parent's neighbour?"
"I am."
"You married?" she pointed at the woman's wedding ring.
"That ain't so surprising, is it?"
Sadie ignored the comment. The last few murders, especially the two she killed in self-defence, made her glow inside. The stupid woman was being unkind to her and she could ruin her life. "Heard some pretty strange things have happened here?"
"Yeah, they tend to follow some people around," the woman gave her a strange look.
"You're implying it might happen to me again? That people might start dying around me? Has that happened before?"
"Don't want to scare you but yes, it has."
Maybe I will ruin your life, Sadie thought. After what I've been through you couldn't even give me a little support. "It must be nice living up here with your children although your husband's low income must make it a struggle."
The woman stiffened. "We have no children, if you must know, and my husband is a lawyer."
"Oh, really," Sadie frowned. "My bad. But if you really don't want people making those mistakes you should really look at the way you dress and have you tried a moisturizer? I'll lend you some if you don't have any. No? Okay. Um, and I'd advise you get your husband out of Legal Aid."
"My husband works in Haesse and McDougal Legal Office, they're very influential in these parts."
"I'm sure it is," Sadie walked toward the side-gate which was hanging on a nearby tree. No sign of the dead bird, though. "Did you see what did that?"
Sadie could hear the screech of metal being torn apart as she trailed after her neighbour's husband, following the black suit, the knife in her hand. She hadn't even seen his face yet but she predicted he'd be ugly. There would be little arousal in this. Then again, murder never ceased to get her hot. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, wishing the screeching would stop.
It was getting louder.
She increased her step, deciding to kill him another day. Hoping to get away from the area before the noise tore her head open. The people in the street looked vaguely transparent.
Kill him. Go on, do it now. You won't get another chance.
The voice in her head made her shake. Her knees nearly collapsed as she drew level so she threw out a hand, gripping his shoulder.
The man spun around, hissing between steel-plated jaws, his teeth glass jewels sharpened into points. There were no eyes in his skull, a raw excuse for a tongue flopped over the glass, reaching for her as his hands came up to hold her shoulders. It was getting dark. Everything was going out of focus.
Voices shouting.
Gunshots.
The man lunged for her throat.
She fell into the warmth of sleep.
Sadie Collins woke up in an alley between a Bakery and a Jeweller's Shop. The place stank. She was lying slumped on a few bags of trash. Groaning, she sat up. "What hap."
A masculine hand clamped against her mouth. "I'm not going to hurt you so don't scream. You understand?"
She nodded and when he moved his hand away, she frowned at him, feeling her own throat. A handsome brunette man in his mid to late thirties was sitting beside her, a shotgun slung over his thigh. "I'm going to go straight to the police. Whoever you are and whatever's going on now is going to stop. I don't like being toyed with."
"Neither do I but it's not like we can change anything."
"We might not but I will. Who are you anyway and what's this all about?"
"How long have you been in Silent Hill?"
"I asked you a question."
"Harry Mason."
"I'm Sadie Collins. I haven't been here long. Just a few weeks. Mason? Hey, you know Cybil, right? You had a child to her."
"That's not quite what happened."
"Why're you here?"
"I'm looking for my daughter, my real daughter, Cheryl. I came back for her."
"Cybil know about this?"
"Why would I tell her? She wouldn't have let me come back here. Wouldn't even let me come near the place but I have to get my daughter. I just . I just have to try. The baby I was given can't be Cheryl. , I don't know who it is but she's not mine. I came back and I was brought back into Hell. Looks like you're here to join me."
"What happened to the man who attacked me?"
"I don't know. There were these dog things and I killed them and when I saw you there was no one around. Just this blood trail but that could mean nothing."
"I want to see the trail."