Jody Gillespie stepped outside the doors of her school, and the blistering cold wind hit her in the face, freezing the tears that had been running down her cheeks for the last fifteen minuets. Her father had forgotten to pick her up, again. She had waited by the front doors of the school for a good hour, and he never showed. It wasn't like it had surprised her much, her parents forgot about her quite frequently. They were always too busy with their own affairs. She knew she'd have to walk home. Home was a long way, since Jody lived out in the country and her high school was right in the heart of the suburban area of Silent Hill. She had walked it once before, it had taken her an hour and half, and that was last spring, when there wasn't a foot of snow on the ground. As she made her way across the parking lot, she spotted a boy getting into his blue jeep. It was Andy Majors! He was the last person leaving the school. Impulse took over, and Jody ran up to the lone vehicle, trying to catch Andy's attention.

"Excuse me!" Jody called, just as Andy was about to slam the driver's door shut. He looked up. "Would you by any chance be able to give me a drive? My parents forgot about me, and I live out in the boonies." A little surprised, buy sympathetic, Andy agreed.

"Umm… sure, I can see why you wouldn't want to walk on a day like today. Hop in."

Jody's heart pounded. She couldn't believe she had worked up the nerve to ask Andy Majors for a drive! She had always had a thing for him, ever since he was in her grade nine band class, helping the guys on the drums. Right away she had been drawn to his bizarre sense of humor, and amazing smile. By innocent stalking, she had found out that he was the drummer in a punk band, he liked to get drunk, and that the small blue four-by-four was his jeep.

"So, where abouts' do you live exactly?"

"The outskirts of the town, near the old prison camp."

"Awesome. That old place is so creepy."

He pulled out of the school's parking lot, and started driving down the narrow road that lead to the outskirts of the town.

"So, what are your plans for the Christmas break?" Jody asked, almost at a whisper. She could be painfully shy sometimes.

"I'm spending it all with my parents. They're probably going to make a big deal out of it since it's my last Christmas before college. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same. This is the only time of year I get to see my little cousin Alessa…" Jody cut herself off before she could continue.

"Does she live out of town?"

"Yeah." Jody lied through her teeth. There was no way she could tell Andy she was related to Dahlia Gillespie, her only aunt, and Alessa's mother. Everyone in Silent Hill was afraid of her, and if Andy found out they were related, he would probably never speak to her again.

"That sucks. My best friend Johnny moved up to Canada last year. I only see him during summer vacation."

The two talked the whole way to Jody's house, about this, that and everything. Their conversations were very fluent and lively, considering they barely knew each other. In any other situation, Jody would have been more worried about the driving weather, but she was too distracted by how gorgeous Andy was. They almost hit a truck head on while going through a slippery intersection, but Andy managed to miss it by a hair. When they finally reached Jody's large farmhouse, they said their goodbyes', and just as Jody was about to slam the passenger door shut, Andy spoke up.

"Hey, could I ask you your name?"

"Jody Gillespie."

"Jody Gillespie, huh? I'll remember that for sure."

Jody blushed. "Have a Merry Christmas!"

"You too, cutie"

She waved as she closed the jeep's door. As she watched Andy pull away and disappear into the distance, she leaped into the air and yelled "Merry Christmas world!"

Her shrill voice echoed through the farm yard, and she pranced up the snow-covered laneway. When she stepped inside her house, she could smell something good cooking in the oven. It smelt too good. Her mother never cooked, unless they were having company. It was then Jody noticed Alessa's face peeking around the corner of the hallway.

"Hey Alessa!" Jody beamed. Her little cousin was so cute.

"Come give me a hug."

Alessa hesitated, the slowly made her way down the hall, hands behind her back. Just as Alessa reached Jody, she noticed something that made her heart skip two beats: Alessa's pupils were red: a disturbing shade of blood red, to be exact. When Alessa held her hands out, Jody backed up. They were cut up, really badly, all the way down to the bone. Little bits of dead, purple veins hung out of the wounds and she was missing two fingers off her left hand.

"Save me," The small, black haired seven year old whispered.

Just as she was about to scream, Jody's head started to pound. It felt like she had been hit over the head with a sledge hammer, and very she suddenly became so dizzy she couldn't support herself anymore. She collapsed on the floor and slipped into unconsciousness.