Silent Hill: Darkness Rising

Chapter 4: Split up

I'm in…a diner?

At the moment this was what Michael Abraham Gohlke pondered in his head. His last name, for those of you who don't know is actually pronounced GOHL-KEY, which infact seems to be German. Who knows? But at this moment Gohlke was not worrying about how his name was pronounced but why the hell he was in a diner.

"Better then Silent Hill…"He thought to himself. " Or am I still here?"

Michael blinked and rubbed his eyes momentarily. He was still in the damn diner. It was nice little lunch counter deal, booth and stool seats upholstered by sickly red vinyl, a wood topped counter running along the length of the diner. At the other end of the room across form Michael was an old pinball machine, the letters and colors looking faded on it. Plate glass covered the front wall of the diner, with a door in the middle and a door on the end, which opened out into;

Oh shit…

Fog and lightly falling snow. Michael looked out the windows in dismay. He was still in Silent Hill.

" Hello Michael."

Gohlke spun around in his booth and looked to where the voice came from. His eyes locked with a figured sitting up on the lunch counter. He wore a Black Trenchcoat, his hair was dyed black and had an uncombed messy look to it, as well with his unshaven face.

" Oh hell no." Michael said out loud. At that second he had realized that was himself sitting on the counter. The same long trench coat from K-mart, the same messy hair and brooding unshaven scraggily facial hair. It was an exact mirror image of himself sitting on the counter. The "Gohlke clone" hopped off the counter grinning wildly. The chains on his pants jangled as his boots hit the ground. The imitator casually strolled over to him, still grinning wildly as if he saw something funny. Meanwhile the real Gohlke (or atleast that's what he assumed was going on) started backing up into his seat holding his palms out trying to ward himself off.

" Stay the fuck away from me." The Michael in the booth said in extremely shaking voice.

" Oh what are you going to do Mikey?" The imitation asked mockingly. " Throw a salt shaker at me?"

With a whoosh the imitation appeared in the booth seat across the table form the real Michael. The real Michael jolted in his seat but didn't move. Infact he couldn't move, it was as if he was glued to the cheap red vinyl.

" You know what your problem is Mikey?" The imitation asked. " Your too jumpy. Cigarette?"

As is magically a pack of lucky strikes appeared in the clones outstretch hand. One filtered tip poking out of the opening. Michael took one from the pack and snapped open his zippo lighter. As he struggled to keep his hand from trembling enough to light the damned thing. The imitator reached back and sharply slapped the zippo and cigarette out of Gohlkes hands. The lighter clattered to the tile floor and extinguished out as the fag rolled away under a table.

" Those are bad for you Mikey." The imitation said, mockingly wagging his finger back and forth. Michael just looked on in shock.

" W-where haven't I heard that b-before?" He asked shakily.

" No really they are." The clone said. " See?"

Suddenly the imitation puled open the flaps of his trenchcoat. Under the imitations chest was cut away. Michael could see the heart beating, and the lungs wheezing. He looked on in horror at the wet sticky sinew of the inside of the imitations chest, and noticed the black sticky tar coated thickly on the lungs. Michael nearly puked his guts out.

Still grinning the clone pulled the trenchcoat shut and picked up the lighter off the floor, he handed it back to Michael. Michael finally got up the gull to ask the inevitable question.

" What the hell are you?" He asked.

" I'm you." The imitation Michael replied. " I'm everything bad about you, your inner demons, your bad habits, your sins. I am here to torment you, I am YOUR hell Michael Abraham Gohlke."

Michael ran both hands through his hair, taking it all in.

" You don't like it here, do you Michael?" The imitation asked.

Michael shook his head no.

" Oh really? Well I thought you would obviously love it." The clone replied. " It's hell, your own personal hell my friend; custom tailored for you."

" I fucking want out." Michael said. " And I want out now."

" Well sorry no can do." The imitation replied with. " The law in Silent Hill states no one is to leave until they are punished for their sins. Or in other cases are reprimanded."

" So your saying I can't leave until I'm punished or reprimanded?" Gohlke asked his imitation. " How do I get reprimanded?"

" If you do me a favor." The clone said. " I'll gladly reprimand you and let you out."

" Name it." Michael said.

" Your friends, Alex and Oz." The imitation began. " They've no more purpose in this town, and also they aren't schedule to be punished. So they are incognito and thus a jeopardy to the mission."

" What mission?" Gohlke asked wearily.

" That is of no importance to you!" The imitation spoke sharply. " but they are a danger to this town's mission and they must be eliminated."

" But they're just some blokes." Michael said. " They pose no danger to an entire town."

" Do not ask questions." The imitation commanded. " They are bound to wander the town for they have no use and pose a threat to the rebirth. Mikey you must kill them."

" What?!" Michael asked.

" You don't like it here do you? And got you here in the first place? That Oz." The mimic said. " Wouldn't you like revenge? I mean it was Alex's fault too."

" Well yeah I guess I could kill them." Michael said as if he was under a dreamy trance grip that would not let go. " But what about Couri?"

" Don't worry." The imitation replied winking. " She's in good hands. She's safe."

" But how will I kill them?" Gohlke asked. " They have guns."

" Take this then if you must." The clone said dropping a large object on the table. It was an IMI Uzi 9mm submachine gun, fully loaded. He also took out 3 more magazines for the gun.

" Where do I find them?" Michael asked cradling the gun in his arms and looking at it in awe.

" Follow the smoke."

Michael looked up, but found his imitation was gone, nowhere to be seen. He walked over to the plate glass windows, and despite the fog and tall buildings. He could see a thin column of smoke rising up into the sky. It looked like chimney smoke.

However a block over on Bloch street, Alex and Oz found a message.

They had both woken up sitting on a bus stop bench. It was still foggy and snowing. Their guns were clutched in their hands. Alex blinked and rubbed his eyes. What the hell had happened on the bridge? How did they end up here? He noticed Oz get up and stretch.

" You okay?" Alex asked him. Oz nodded yawning.

" Where's Gohlke and Couri?" He asked back.

" I don't know man." Alex said shaking his head. " I don't fucking know."

Oz shook his head and looked to his right, and that's when he saw it. The message that is. It was scrawled in blood on the pavement. Ominously it beckoned them. In the glistening crimson blood it read;

Follow the smoke

Oz's eyes shot up to the sky as if on cue automatically. It was as if a magnet had pulled him towards it. And through the fog and over the tops of buildings, Oz could see a thin column of smoke rising up into the sky towards the northwest.