Chapter 9: A Key and Reunion
The fog twisted and twirled around Matt as he walked west on Nathan Ave. and down Neely St.
His footsteps were the only sound his ears could intercept, except for the occasional crackling noise of the radio tucked into his pocket next to the flashlight and map. This noise was usually accompanied by the sobbing of a few Weepers, the yowling of a Cerberus or the groaning of a couple of Stewardesses. When Matt heard these sounds, he just ran until he could once more only hear his own footsteps.
It took a few minutes to get from St. Stella's to the store where the key to Brookhaven was probably hidden. It was a building about half as large as the church. "BABY & KIDS SUPER STORE" was written on a sign above the entrance. Another sign said that the store had "baby goods", "discount prices" and "baby gift registry".
Matt opened the door and stepped into a big room with a somewhat striking ceiling height. Just as he had expected, there weren't any customers or clerks in the building. Lots of diapers and clothes for kids could be found here on the first floor and a staircase led to the second floor where there were handbooks for the parents and playthings.
As Matt wandered further into the store, he discovered two Weepers lumbering around in the department with diapers. He managed to slip past them and up the stairs to the second floor where the radio became silent as death.
The shelves were filled with rattles and pacifiers. "Where could that stupid key be?" he muttered as he walked around and ran his eyes over his toy-filled surroundings. When he muttered this question, he thought he heard someone gasp with surprise. "Was that just my imagination?" he mused, not aware of the presence of someone else in the store, someone who was now thinking the exact same thing.
He could hear the annoying, continuous noise of a ventilation fan. It only took him half a minute to find the source: an old-looking fan spinning in a filthy compartment inside the ceiling. The wind ventured down from the compartment through a rusty iron grating replacing the ceiling just below the 4 feet-diameter fan, which was spinning at a ludicrously high speed.
Daryl was standing beneath the fan, staring up at it. When Matt showed up, her attention immediately left the ceiling and she pulled a small handgun out of her pocket. "See this? I swear, if you …"
"Calm down, I'm not going to …"
"Just stay where you are, and drop the shotgun, and no one's gonna get hurt," Daryl said, her voice trembling.
"Look, I'll put the shotgun away, then you can put away your gun and we'll talk about all this," Matt said, feeling muzzy and angry at the same time, and slowly placed the shotgun on the floor. Daryl merely stood there, intent on not letting go of her weapon. "Did you follow me here or something?" she asked.
"No, I …"
"Then why are you here?"
"I, uh … I think there's a key around here that I need. Somewhere in this store."
"A key? To what?"
"The hospital … Brookhaven. Brookhaven Hospital."
Daryl sighed. "But why ... This just … all this doesn't make sense."
"I'm not insane, you know."
"No, I don't know, Matt. I mean, what happened back in the cafeteria? We were having a totally ordinary conversation, and then suddenly you're chopping up a table because you think it's a monster or something. How can you expect me to feel safe when you're … I mean …"
Awkward silence. Daryl couldn't finish her sentence and Matt just didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell the truth, but he also wanted to calm down Daryl … "I was on drugs," he lied.
"What?"
"Err … PTV," Matt elaborated, "I was on PTV." He had read about this in a newspaper some years ago. A drug known as PTV or White Claudia had been circulated among tourists in the town. "That's why I was seeing things, but I'm okay now. It's worn off."
"Well, I still don't know if I can trust you. What if … oh, never mind. You seem sane enough," Daryl said. "I tried LSD once, it was awful … But the shotgun stays on the floor for the time being. You said you were looking for a key?"
"Yeah."
"Well, there's one up there behind the fan. It's got a tag and it says something like "Ookhave"."
"Brookhaven?" Matt said and looked up. There was indeed a small key in the compartment, attached to the ceiling with tape.
"I guess. But you can't get it when that thing's spinning up there."
"Maybe there's a switch somewhere? In that office," Matt suggested, pointing to a half-open door behind the counter.
They stepped through the doorway into a brightly lit, narrow office. The two desks and chairs were cluttered up with documents. Daryl soon found a strange control panel on the wall. One of the switches was labelled "VENT FAN ON/OFF". "Okay, I think I've found it," Daryl said and flipped the switch to OFF.
"Great, I'll get the key," Matt said and moved one of the chairs out below the now stationary fan. Although his height was normal, the floor-to-ceiling height of the shop's second floor was rather majestic. Then, standing on the chair, he reached up and stretched his right hand through a gap in the grating and past the fan.
While he groped for the key, paranoia slowly seeped into his mind. What if the fan suddenly began spinning again while his arm was in the compartment? What if Daryl turned it back on right now? Of course, there was no reason for her to do that, but around here, you never knew who you could trust …
After eight seconds of fumbling, he finally got the key and ripped it off the ceiling.
"You've turned pale," Daryl pointed out as Matt stepped down from the chair and slipped the key into his pocket. "Were you afraid I was going to turn the fan on and break your arm?" she asked and gave a wry smile.
"Yeah, something like that," Matt said, a faint smile quickly appearing on and disappearing from his tired face.
"So you got your key – what next?"
"I'll go to the hospital."
"Why? You're hoping they can do something about that cut on your arm?" Daryl said. She had just noticed the small gash caused by the attack of the Weeper back at the library. "You seem to have patched it up pretty well yourself."
"Oh, that. I found a first-aid kit, luckily."
"How did you get that cut?"
"It's a long story. Anyway, let's just go check out that hospital."
"Okay," Daryl said and shrugged. Then she picked up the shotgun and handed it over to Matt. "Here, I think I can trust you."
"Thanks," Matt said and crammed the weapon into his backpack.
They swiftly walked down the stairs to the first floor. The Weepers were still there, but they were now dead and lying on the floor, decapitated. Amamet stood still behind them, holding his fiery sword out to his right, the two heads of the Weepers skewered on it. "Ehs liw egnahc," his voices chanted.
"What's wrong, Matt? What are you staring at?"
"Oh, err … nothing. I just … let's go," he said and walked out of the store as if he hadn't seen anything unusual. Daryl, who obviously couldn't see or hear the creatures, tagged along with him.
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"So why are you here? I mean, in this town. Do you live here?" Matt asked as they footed it west on Rendell St., passing fences and brick walls. The relentless white fog constantly surrounded them. So far, they hadn't encountered any more monsters since leaving the Baby & Kids Super Store.
"No, I just came here today," Daryl said.
"But why?"
"I'm looking for … someone."
"Who, who is it?"
"Someone very important to me," she replied, clearly intent on not telling her companion more about her reason for going to Silent Hill. "What about you?"
"Well, my plane crashed down nearby and I was the only survivor, so I followed a track through the forest, thinking I could get some help in this town. But then I found out there's no one here and all the phones are broken …"
"I'll bet the hospital's like that, too," Daryl said and sighed. They turned right and wandered north on Caroll St. "What could have happened here? This used to be a resort town, if my memory serves me."
"Yeah, I think I was here once, on holiday with someone," Matt said. "I can't really remember it, though. It was so peaceful back then …"
"And now it's a creepy ghost town," Daryl said. "It's funny how things change like that, isn't it?"
"Sometimes it's more sad than funny."
"Yeah, I guess. Life's weird … Hey look, that's the hospital, right?" Daryl pointed to a large three-storey building to their left. "Brookhaven Hospital" was written on the sign above the double doors. Matt produced the key from his pocket as they walked up to the entrance. He unlocked the door and they stepped inside.
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A/N: He he, no SH-game or SH-game-ish fanfic without a hospital. This story takes place between SH2 and 3, so certain mentally ill patients might make cameos … "cameos". I love that word. Aaanyway, don't forget to tune in next week. –E.P.O.