Chapter 16: Believe

"It's funny. Funny how just one simple event can change your outlook on how life is handled. Before this day.. I didn't believe in any other supreme being other than myself. But now... I don't know."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I guess.. I guess I just don't want to believe that Maria and Cain are simply sleeping. Just to know that they're somewhere else and that they're okay.." Adrian trailed off. He started the conversation to an unaware Cybil once he reached the foot of the staircase leading down to the living room. Cybil had stood in the front doorway, waiting for Adrian to come down as she looked outside and tried to admire the fact that the sun was out. But after finding such a butchered dead body... the body of a human being who more than likely did not deserve the grisly fate they endured, it was hard to simply turn away from it.

Adrian's first few words made Cybil's stomach tighten into knots. 'It's funny'.

'What could possibly be funny about finding a loved one dead. Not even dead... tortured would be more accurate, and that couldn't begin to describe the suffering that poor woman must have had to go through.'

But then the topic was brought to religion, and Cybil sighed. Being reborn after her first venture into the foggy town, she was initially glad to hear someone find their faith in God. And on the flip side of things, she was sickened by it. This simply put, was not the time to be treading such ground. So many people die because of their religion every day. And she, of all people, seen more than enough there to know that the 'God' that the people in Silent Hill worshipped was... simply nothing more than inexplicably evil. Was it really so important to bring religion up then? Cybil definitely dared not to say right then and there- Adrian was hurt, and so was she. Movies normally showed main characters in indifference when a friend was killed. This was no movie. And if it was, it would have been humanly impossible to do nothing more than act saddened by the loss that was dealt to the two of them. And Cybil didn't even know the woman.

"I just refuse to believe that they're only sleeping and that they're all alone." He paused momentarily before he gulped out another sentence. "I don't want to die alone."

Cybil frowned at this and stepped forward, putting a hand on Adrian's shoulder. "You won't die alone."

Adrian groaned and managed to elicit a chuckle, much to Cybil's surprise. "Of course I will... I'm believing in something that isn't real." Cybil slowly withdrew her hand, letting it fall back to her side. "The only thing that's real about religion is the people who make things happen for themselves. They go out everyday and speak their beliefs, but they do it in the name of their god or gods. People don't do things for themselves anymore. Life is so short, and people waste their lives on things that, if they are indeed existent, think they are so important that they can't give signs of their presence. And that, is why this is all so funny."

"But you said you believe in God now," Cybil said unamused, "so why are you talking about it this way?"

"I already told you," Adrian replied plainly, "because there's no way someone is so cold to have someone's life end and have them without a place to live on. And if there is a God like that, then fuck him. But if so many people are convinced that they pray to saviors.. I guess I have no choice other than to believe in the fact that this God is a savior."

"I..." Cybil stammered, stunned. She was in disbelief that the two of them were actually getting into this conversation in the first place. Afterall, there was a dead body lying upstairs. "I don't think I can continue this conversation, Adrian."

Adrian scratched his head as a frown came across his face. "Why?" He protested. Cybil didn't answer right away. In fact, she didn't answer at all. Adrian shook his head and walked past her into the heart of the living room, plopping down into a pristine white couch, mumbling. "Bitch."

Cybil's head whirled in the direction that Adrian ambled to, and she disgustedly put her hands on her hips. "What? What did I do?"

"You wanna know what you did?" Adrian turned around to glare right back at Cybil. "Nothing. You did absolutely nothing. Wanna know how I know that?" Before Cybil could so much as mouth a reply, Adrian answered the question for her. "There's a dead body upstairs, Cybil. More than likely from a killer you could have caught months ago, if you weren't busy pointing the fucking finger in my direction! Am I right, Cybil? Tell me I'm right, because you have no authority and no reason to tell me otherwise."

Cybil reeled back as if she were slapped in the face. And in a way she was. But everything she was told was the truth, and she knew it. And it hurt that she wasn't exposed to that truth until right then and there, and not three months ago like it should have been. "You... you're right." Cybil nodded slowly, and in this she admitted her faults. "You're exactly right. But what can we do now?"

Adrian turned his head away from Cybil, almost as if he was annoyed that Cybil didn't know the answer to that question. "-I'm- going to Silent Hill. You just don't bother me. Better yet, don't come along at all, this isn't your problem. You've made that dreadfully clear enough all on your own."

Cybil sighed. "Well how are you gonna get back there then?"

Adrian laughed and retorted grimly. "That's not of your concern."

Cybil shook her head, growing frustrated. She knew she messed up, she didn't need it rubbed in. "I can give you a ride. And it'll be safer if we both go together."

"No shit," Adrian grumbled as he stood up, "but no thanks." He sneered and made his way past Cybil and to the front door, only for Cybil to grab him gently by the arm.

"You have no other way to get back there, Adrian.."

Adrian yanked his arm away and stepped outside. "I'll walk it then." And when he turned and walked down the front stairs, Cybil could tell Adrian wasn't joking, either. With no other choice, she chased after him. "Adrian!"

Sighing, he eventually stopped. She wasn't going to let him go it alone and he knew it. He refused to turn around, however, even as Cybil continued to speak to him. "I know you're upset. But you're talking suicide if you go there by yourself, walking no less.

Adrian quickly defended himself, but he still did not turn around. "What does it matter? I got out of that town, now look at me. Do I look like I haven't fallen into that six foot deep hole already?" He then turned slightly, although he refused to look Cybil in the eye. His reply to her was more than enough to express his emotions anyway. Cybil sighed.

"Okay." She didn't give any further requests. It would all be a waste either way, considering Adrian was still set on his decision. Adrian turned around completely at this, just in time to watch Cybil make her way back into the house. She closed the front door behind her and immediately sank down to the floor, leaning back on the door. Everything was now out of her hands, at least it felt that way. What more could she do to help someone who didn't want to be helped? Nothing. And for those next few minutes, she did just that.

She didn't seem to be close to crying, although she wouldn't have hated herself if she did. It had been awhile since someone had stepped into Silent Hill on her watch, and this one person alone had given her enough problems to make up for the last fifteen years. And even though it hadn't brought her to tears, it gave her the hint that she was going to fail again, just like she did when she was unable to rescue Harry's daughter. And with that thought, there was no more reason to stay in Maria Constantine's house.

Standing up, she slowly turned and pulled the door open. But upon looking down, she was surprised to see Adrian sitting on the stoop, head in his hands as if he were ashamed he didn't get to walking like he claimed he would. But if that wasn't it, it was probably the two words he mumbled after Cybil softly closed the door behind her. "Help me."

He looked back up at Cybil, and frowned. "I want to kill Sam. I want to kill that pyramid headed fuck. I need this. I need this so I don't feel like I did nothing after this is all over. Help me... please, help me."

---

An unnerving silence developed in the police car as Cybil concentrated on the road ahead of her. She sighed slightly and flared her nostrils, before pointing a finger in the direction of the glove compartment. Without her saying a word, Adrian opened it up for her, and there he revealed a Walther P38. Adrian recognized it immediately- it was one of the more advanced guns in the German army when it was introduced back in 1940. He knew all of it's specs off the top of his head, like he did for several other handguns. Cybil spoke as Adrian picked up the weapon to check its weight. "It was my father's."

Adrian held the gun in the palms of his hands as he shyly looked over at Cybil. The gun looked pretty old. And although it was made obvious by the weapon's numerous scratches on the barrel and the stock, the look on Cybil's face said it all. Still, Adrian said nothing, waiting for Cybil to continue. And eventually, she did. "He collected a lot of those things. Almost embarassed to say it..."

Now, Adrian thought, it was fair ground for him to reply. Although not exact the brightest of answers, he never had talked about a subject like this so seriously. "Your father.. he was a Nazi follower or something?" He asked the question honestly, but it still made Cybil look a bit put off by the question. But she had brought it up...

"Not proud of it in the least, either.."

Adrian looked down at the weapon in his hands, and then back up at Cybil. "What are you doing with this then?"

Cybil replied quickly- the faster she said it, the faster the subject would be done with. "Taking it from him was the only way to get him to stop threatening me and my mother with it." Adrian looked down at his feet almost as speedy as Cybil's reply. A wave of idiocy hit him for asking the question. Another wave hit him shortly after that for not getting to walking.

Cybil could sense Adrian's tension, and continued to speak to try and calm him down. "I just hope you know how to use that. And not to use it unless you have to..." Cybil was content with trailing off there, but added one last remark, "..and don't go blasting me by mistake."

Adrian nodded, as he took out the clip loaded in the weapon to find it full at eight rounds. He pushed the clip back in and jammed the weapon into one of his pants pockets. He looked up at Cybil apologetically, but this expression would be brief as Cybil spoke for him in reassurance.

"Don't worry about it. At least there was some good in it. He rekindled my faith in God. Something I had lost awhile ago.."

Adrian knew when 'awhile ago' was. "After you left Silent Hill the first time. Right?" Cybil nodded her head, but she seemed to be busy looking worriedly at something else. Adrian turned away from Cybil, and gulped when he saw fog beginning to grow, until it momentarily cleared up to reveal the 'Welcome to Silent Hill' sign. And right after the sign became recognizable, the fog surrounded the car once more. Adrian sighed at the brevity of the clear skies, and looked back at Cybil for some relief from the visions to come in the haunted town. However, this didn't last any longer when he suddenly keeled over in pain. His stomach was bothering him. And the second the cramped sensation hit him, he knew something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" Cybil questioned as she glanced at Adrian amidst concentrating on not veering off the road.

Adrian gritted his teeth as he replied. "Something... something's not right here. Something bad is gonna happen..." he trailed off as the pain soon became too much for him. He gripped Cybil's right arm and clutched it tight. At first Cybil slightly pulled away, but upon realizing Adrian was using it to brace himself from snapping because of the pain, she gave in.

"The car," Adrian groaned, "stop the car."

Upon reaching the residential area, Cybil parked and allowed Adrian to scamper out of the vehicle. He ran off onto the nearby sidewalk and doubled over. He began to cough, when a shadow caused him to stir and look upwards.

"Cybil?" He asked, as he reached out to the shadow, as if to rest his hand on Cybil's shoulder, when the figure recoiled its shoulder and grabbed Adrian's hand. Harshly.

At that very moment, a horrible epiphany hit him.

'Fuck... I don't think that's Cybil.'

And before he knew it, he felt himself yanked forward- yanked inches in front of an open-mouthed face. An open-mouthed face, to which the skin was melting.

Out of the mouth eminated a tremendous scream. Adrian was overwhelmed by this as he stumbled away a couple of baby steps before the hand still gripped on his kept him from continuing. All Adrian could do then, was scream back.

"SHIT! CYBIL!" He yelled and tugged hard on his arm relentlessly as the screaming face leaned closer. Near liquid skin dripped off the pink pallor of the bald monster's complexion, and from it came a rank stench. Adrian initially thought it was the thing's breath, but as plops of skin smacked against the pavement at his feet, it became dreadfully clear what the smell was really coming from. The stench of none other than burnt flesh. It was so surreal that Adrian's free hand was too frozen stiff to reach for his newly acquired weapon. Instead, the hand clutched his ribs which still felt like they were going to burst. "Cybil," he shouted again, "Cybil help! Damn.. my stomach, oh God my stomach!"

What made it so much more horrifying were what the monster's screams had slowly turned into afterwards. They were bloodcurdling cries of despair. Cries that made the adamant statement, "MY FACE! MY FACE!" They easily overpowered Adrian's screams of the pain in his stomach.

Cybil heard the screams not too far from her position. She had been checking how close she came to her tires touching the curb she had parked next to when she her ears had perked. "Adrian?" She drew her standard issue nine millimeter Beretta and pointed it into the fog. She hesitated in firing at first, long enough to get a good glimpse of the thing she was aiming at. And there, she was horrified to see the melting 'human' attacking the young adult. She breathed through her mouth as she, too, had begun to be repulsed by the aroma around her.

"Get this thing the fuck off of me!!" Adrian pleaded. Cybil lunged over to grab the figure's hand, and was further disgusted when the skin on the back of the thing's hand was slimy and watery, feeling just how the skin on its face looked. To Adrian's relief she persisted, however, and eventually was able to wrench the hand away.

Adrian nearly fell back on the seat of his pants, legs wobbly from being on the sidewalk to the grass without any notice. However he kept his balance, and had finally managed to reach for his gun. His cold, clammy hands pulled the weapon from his pocket to shakily point it at the monster. But before he could squeeze off a single bullet, Cybil started the gunfire. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Three shots to the melting figure's chest was all it took before it fell over in a bloody heap.

Adrian stared in shock at it. But what made it so scary was the fact that it seemingly came out of nowhere. Without warning, he could have been killed. But he wasn't. He was still living, breathing.. still scared. But he came close to losing that. Too close for comfort.

"Are you alright?" Cybil quickly went to Adrian to check on him, to which he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm cool.." his reply was soon revoked however as he leaned forward and squatted down, "oh man no I'm not.. my stomach.. I'm gonna puke.. shit I'm gonna puke." Cybil went to his side and knelt down next to him in the front yard they were standing in, gently rubbing his back to help put him at ease. Luckily enough for him, the violent coughing only remained coughing, and he was able to stand up with confidence, although his breathing was still pretty heavy.

"Are you going to be okay to keep going? You're not safe if you keep doing that."

"I know," Adrian replied hastily, "I know. Just... need a few minutes to adjust to this air." He walked around in a short circle, just to make sure he wasn't going to be in pain again. Once he was sure of himself, he nodded. "I'm alright."

"Okay." Cybil holstered her Beretta and reached into one of her pants pockets, pulling out a fresh clip of bullets and handing it to Adrian. "In case something like that happens more often." Adrian half smiled in gratitude and took it, putting it away in his pocket. "So," the officer continued, "where do we start looking?" Adrian felt his cheeks become heated at this comment. He was so mixed with emotions all this time, he didn't even think of where to look for the culprit to his brother, and quite possibly his ex girlfriend's murder. But the more he thought about it then, the more it dawned on him that there were a lot of places to look. A lot.

The look of bewilderment on Adrian's face was enough for Cybil, and she shrugged her shoulders. "Okay.. how about we find a designated safe haven first, and we'll get things sorted out from there."