To Sailor Gotland: No I didn't forget about Claudia. I plan on doing a story about her too. I'm currently working on the Maria and Angela story at the same time. Thanks for your review. I'm glad people are reading this. Anyway, the name I picked for Harry's wife seemed pretty suitable.

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At school, the day starts out surprisingly nice. None of the other children say a word or even look at her. In class, the desks are moved far away from hers. She does not mind. On the contrary, she feels a sense of triumph because of the fear she has caused in them. She finds a place to sit at lunch with no trouble from the others. But during recess the three girls approach her. They follow her down to the playground, mocking her the whole way. When they reach the rocks, she stops and turns around. She does not say anything; instead she simply stares at the leader of the group. Her eyes seem to burn into the girl's soul. The smile painted upon the girl's face disappears quickly. She falls to the ground, her knees hitting the concrete with a loud crunch. Her retching brings up blood and it spills onto the rocks. Alessa knows that it is her power that has made this occur. She knows that somehow she is able to channel her power and use it for whatever she wants to. Every day she practices controlling it until she has mastered it.

It all seems to be going Alessa's way until she sees her mommy in the school's office. They make eye contact with each other. She can sense her mommy's anger. It makes her heart skip a beat. She comes home that day to find mommy waiting for her in the kitchen. "Alessa," mommy calls, "come here please." Alessa obeys and stands in the doorway. "I had a talk with your teacher today. She said some girls at school were giving you trouble. Is this true?"

"Yes," Alessa says.

"Do they need to be punished?" Alessa is not sure what mommy has in mind but she gets a bad feeling from it. She knows if mommy does anything it will only make things worse. The others may begin to torment her again at school.

"But mommy, wont they get their punishment from God?" A smile spreads across mommy's face. She is pleased at this answer.

"You're finally beginning to understand. You're right, Alessa. They will receive their harshest judgment from God once she brings Paradise upon us." Alessa stays in her room the rest of they day until she hears a visitor come. It is another man but not the same one as before, he is not the one who usually comes. This man is different. He is taller, his hair is slicked down, his eyes are red, and he is dressed up in a suit. Alessa hides by the stairway to listen.

The man asks, "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Yes," Dahlia says. "I have everything planned out. If any problems should arise I can deal with it. Her power is growing though…"

"Is that a problem?"

"She could resist. She's starting to understand how to control her powers."

"So? What are you saying? You can't do it?"

"I don't know if I can get her to do it willingly," Dahlia says. "She has so much doubt I'm not sure if she will bring God and Paradise on her own. Her power is growing and she could easily refuse if she wanted." Alessa now realizes what is going on. Mommy wants to use her powers to bring about God. But Alessa will have no part in it. She has a feeling that 'paradise' is much different than it sounds.

"Well, you better have a back up plan then," the man says as he stands to go. "We can't let this fail." He leaves, letting the door slam shut behind him. Dahlia looks toward the stairs. Alessa hides before she is seen. Her heart begins to beat faster and faster in her chest when she hears the sound of footsteps approaching. There is a pause, leaving all silent in the house. After a moment the footsteps continue into the kitchen. Alessa quietly goes back to her room.

At night, mommy comes upstairs to Alessa's room. She takes Alessa out of bed and brings her to the hallway. Alessa wakes up. She knows this has something to do with what mommy and that man had been talking about. She drags her feet on the ground to slow mommy down. "Come along," Dahlia says.

"No," Alessa says. "No, I don't want to."

"Do what mommy tells you now. I just want you to lend me a teeny bit of your power, that's all."

"No! I don't want to do it."

"It would make everyone happy and it's for your own good too."

"But mommy, I just want to be with you. Just the two of us, please understand."

The look on Dahlia's face changes as she says, "I see. Maybe mommy has been wrong."

"Mommy?"

"Why didn't I see this before? There's no reason to wait. Herein lies the mother's womb, containing the power to create life. I could have done it all myself."

"Mommy?" She releases her grip on Alessa. She runs to her room and hides under the blankets. She holds her dear Scarlet close to her as she tries to sleep. Again bodies of the dead plague her dreams. Hideous monsters run free in the street. They lunge at anyone still living. The creatures look familiar to her. She panics when they begin to surround her. One by one they tear into her. Warm blood flies smoothly through the cold of the darkness. Above her she sees a familiar demon looking down. It screeches, sending a shiver down her spine and an unbearable pain in her body.

A sharp pain stings the inside of her stomach. Her eyes open to see the red glow of fire spreading throughout the room. Ropes bind her down to the bed, keeping her from escaping. Tears run from the corner of her eyes, down the sides of her face, and melts on her pillow. In her heart, she knows who caused the fire and why. Slowly the fire mercilessly consumes the objects in her room. As she lies there, waiting for the flames to burn her skin, she tries to channel her power. There is a way for her to keep the bad things from happening.

Outside, Dahlia watches the burning commence from a safe distance. She waits until the flames go out before approaching the remains. Badly burned but still alive, Alessa weeps. Though she knows she cannot, Dahlia's first thought is to leave the charred child there. Instead, she decides to take her to Dr. Kaufman. It is still possible for God to be born and he is the one who can make it happen. The child moans the whole walk to Alchemilla hospital. Once there, she walks straight to Kaufman's office. "What happened?" he asks.

"Something went wrong," Dahlia says. "She's still alive. I don't know what happened."

"Okay." He pushes the intercom button on his phone and says, "Lisa Garland, come to my office." Dahlia holds the child in her lap as she impatiently waits. A young blonde woman enters the room. A shocked look comes over her face when she sees the child. "Don't just stand there, help me with this," Kaufman snaps. After she is on the stiff cot, an IV is hooked to Alessa's hand. Lisa tries to soothe the child with comforting words as she is rushed to the elevator. They begin to wrap the wounds once they find a vacant room in the basement. Lisa does not understand why the child is brought down here when there are nicer rooms on the second floor. "Lisa," Kaufman says. "I want you to take care of this girl."

Lisa says, "But I- I don't know if I can. I mean, how long can she last? Her burns are so bad. She has to be in so much pain."

"You can handle her. I could fire you in case you've forgotten. You could probably go to jail even."

"Okay, okay. I'll handle it. But I don't see how she can go on much longer. Her wounds are too severe."

"Just do your job. Oh, and one more thing: Do not discuss the condition of this patient with anyone else. I'll pay you if that's what you want but it's important that you do this." Lisa nods then goes back to caring for the severely burned child. "I'll be back to look her over," Kaufman says as he leaves. The child's sad eyes stare into Lisa's, 'causing sorrow to crawl into Lisa's heart. She looks away to prevent tears from flowing.

"You'll be okay," she whispers. "I'll take care of you, I promise." She stays by the child until Dr. Kaufman comes in. Three others follow him in, two doctors and the child's mother. They stand by the bed, examining the child. Lisa hides by the door but stays to watch what they are going to do. The helpless girl squeezes her eyes shut, as they look her over. She recognizes Dr. Kaufman as the man who was at their house, the man dressed up in a suit.

Mommy looks at the bandages covering Alessa's body. Without taking her eyes away she says, "Everything is going according to plan, sheltered in the womb."

"But it's not done yet," one of the other doctors says. "Half of the soul is lost. That is why the seed is dormant."

"And what soul remains captured in that husk is buried deep down in the subconscious," the second doctor says.

"No, no. These are just stalling tactics," mommy insists. "If we lend a hand we will be able to get power. Never fear, the promise shall not be broken."

"But the power we can draw now will be very weak," the first doctor says. "Almost nothing unless we get the other half of the soul."

"We'll use a magical spell. Feeling the child's pain, it is sure to come."

"But that will take time," the second doctor says.

Lisa looks at the people in the room. She is not sure what they are talking about but she knows she has a bad feeling about it. Dahlia notices the paleness in Lisa's face and says, "Dear girl, there is nothing to worry about. Maybe you need some rest, you look a little tired."

"No, no," Lisa says. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Dr. Kaufman walks over to Lisa and hands her a bottle. "Take this, it will make you feel better," he says. "Then you can take some time to relax if you wish." She takes the bottle with some hesitation but seems to trust what she has been told.

Once she has left with it, Dahlia asks, "What was that you gave her?"

"The 'White Claudia'. Don't worry, she wont be a problem. We need to figure out how to get the other half here."

"Leave that to me. I've got the perfect plan."

In the outskirts of a small town an hour away from Silent Hill, a car makes its way down the road. Harry Mason and his wife Emily are on their way back home. A comfortable silence hangs between them because they do not have to talk to understand one another. Emily stares out the window, taking in the surroundings. Her eyes narrow in confusion when she spots something that she cannot make out. "Harry, stop," she says. "Stop the car!" His foot hits the brake and they jerk forward. Emily frantically takes her seatbelt off so she can get out. They walk over to the ditch where the sound of crying reaches their ears. Harry scoops the baby into his arms. The crying slowly ceases as the couple looks down at the baby. "How can anyone just dump off a baby like that?" Emily asks, a rhetorical question. "Let's take her home with us."

"Shouldn't we check with the hospital at first?" Harry says.

"I suppose so… Can we bring her in tomorrow? I don't want her to go hungry or dirty. She doesn't even have any clothes under this old blanket. I don't want to give her up in the condition she's in."

"I know. We don't have to give her up. Maybe we can keep her. But she'll need to be checked for any sign of … anything." Emily takes the child in her arms and they get back into the car. By the time they reach their home, Emily has an idea. She tells Harry that she is going to call the abandoned baby Cheryl.