Jennifer's eyes fluttered open, and she saw an old garage door just beyond her windshield. "What the hell?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "Where's the Wish House? And Billy? Who was that crazy-ass cross-dresser? What's wrong with me? Why do I keep dreaming such weird dreams?" She looked around her car. Everything seemed to be in order. The tape recorder was on the seat next to her, her wallet was in her purse; there were no leaves on the floor mat so she hadn't been outside. But what was that glistening on the radio dial knob? Blood? Jennifer looked down at her hands. Between the first and second knuckle on her right hand was a tiny cut, still stinging. "Jesus!" Jennifer yelped, throwing her car door open wide and scrambling out as fast as she could. When her feet hit the concrete, the jolt was enough to make her slow down. 'This is silly' she told herself. 'Obviously I cut my hand while I was driving and I'm so tired my dreams are getting weird. That's it; everything can make sense now' Jennifer climbed the stairs to the front door, talking to herself along the way. She had been so deep in thought; she hadn't noticed that the front door was wide open, or that the keys were still in the lock.

She had one foot in the house before she realized what was wrong. Yanking her foot back as if from fire, Jennifer backed down the steps and turned and ran to her car. She opened the door and threw herself in headfirst, looking for her cell-phone so she could call 9-1-1. There was a squeak from somewhere near by, like a gate in need of oil. She ignored it as her fingers brushed the cell phone case. She sat back on her haunches, cell phone in hand. Surprisingly enough, even in this fog she had a service signal. She dialed 9-1-1 and waited. And waited. And waited. "What the hell? Jennifer pulled the ringing phone away from her ears and stared at it. "Don't these people know what emergency stands for?"

There was another squeak, louder this time. Jennifer looked up to see a strangely familiar little boy on a rusty red tricycle at the end of the driveway. She frowned. "Billy?"

The kid shook his head. "The phones don't work here Jennifer. Nothing works here except what you bring with you." He started to peddle away.

Frustrated, Jennifer shoved the cell phone into her back pocket, and got to her feet. "Hey; wait! What do you mean by that?"

Billy continued peddling away. "Look in the trunk of your car. That's all I can tell you!" he called back, stopping for a minute. Then he looked back at her. "I have to draw you on the walls when this is all over Jennifer; please live so I don't have to use the black crayon!" He said before peddling off slowly into the mist.

Jennifer ran after him. "Billy, wait! Billy, it's dangerous to run off in this…fog…" A strange sight greeted her at the end of the block. The street seemed to have broken apart from itself. Just before the point of absolutely no vision, she could see the rest of Deacon Street. Between her half and the other part of Deacon was a seemingly bottomless chasm. Jennifer wasn't eager to find out if that part (the bottomless part) was true; so she returned to her car, fretful and confused. "The trunk…" she mused, opening it though figure there would be nothing she didn't already know about in it.

The joke was on her. Instead of her suitcase and her emergency roadside kit, there was an ax and backpack. The backpack was old and dirty, but the cartoon characters were still legible. "What the…? My old backpack?" Jennifer opened it. Inside was a box of crayons and two letters. The first one was from her parents, and it was written to her…and dated the day before today!

Dear Jen;

Your father and I love you so much, and we're so sorry for the things we did wrong while you were growing up…like staying in Silent Hill for so long. I love you Jen, but I have something to tell you that will seem strange; but don't forget that I love you with all my heart.

You see Jen; you're not actually our daughter. I found you near the outskirts of town, along with a man named Harry. Harry had a baby too; her name was Cheryl…then the town got her and gave him a baby girl named Heather. Heather was in his arms after it was all over; I found you alone on a grave…you were crying and you were so tiny. I was afraid you were going to die on me. So I took you, and Harry and I went our separate ways. Then I met your father, and we got married not too long after that. But we were stupid and stayed in that dreadful town…your father was so loyal to it.

When Walter killed your friend Billy, I knew it was the only way to convince your father to leave Silent Hill. I thought we had gotten out in time, but if you're reading this letter, then you're in the Silent Hill that Harry and I were once in together. I'm so sorry Jennifer, I'm so very sorry. I told your father we shouldn't have kept the house, but he had hoped we would come back to Silent Hill…I wouldn't let that happen. But now I've sent you into Hell and I don't know how to get you back out. Please Jen, forgive me…

Love,

Mom

PS: I know this doesn't make sense baby-girl…but time in Silent Hill isn't normal. It's warped, like a record left out to bake in the sun. Remember this to be true…

Jennifer's hands shook. "Adopted? There is no way in hell that I'm adopted." She ran a hand through her long black hair, the same color hair her father had had. "I am not adopted. This is just my brain playing horrible tricks on me and when I wake up I'm going to stab it with a Q-tip." She wanted to throw the letter away; ball it up and heave it as far as she could. It couldn't be true! It couldn't! But there, in the lower right-hand corner; a daisy doodle, her mother's signature. Jennifer stared at the flower. It had been her mother's way of letting her know she had actually written the letter…when she'd done that in life, Jennifer had thought she was paranoid and maybe a little crazy…but now…in this horrible town…her mother's paranoia and fears made sense. This meant that Jennifer was losing her mind too. She shoved the letter back inside the backpack and took a look at the second one. It was done in crayon.

Deer Jen.

I yam sore u have 2 b her. I hop u will bee o k. Donut die be claws I wood b sad.

Billy

On the bottom of Billy's note was a map labeled '87'. After reading it out loud a couple of times, Jennifer finally got the message. "I am sorry you have to be here, I hope you will be okay; don't die because I would be sad." At this she raised an eyebrow. "Well Billy, I yam NOT going to die." She said. "Because 1) this is a dream and 2) I am NOT getting my ass kicked by a dream." The note and map she tucked into her pocket without thinking. Then she picked up the backpack, pulled the straps out as far as they would go, and slung it on her back. She picked up the ax too; if what Billy had said was true, the backpack was her only means to carry more than three things all at once, and the ax…well…who in their right mind would mess with a girl wearing a Pokémon backpack and carrying an ax? Seriously now.

Carrying the ax in both hands, Jennifer once again went up the porch steps and stepped into the house cautiously. She looked left and right, even knocking over the coat rack next to the door to see if she could scare anyone out.

The only thing she scared was a cloud of dust and herself. It looked like the house was empty. She tried to search methodically, but after breaking down the pantry door, the closet door, and the laundry room door and finding them all bare, she was bored. "Hell, I'll just stick to rooms that have potential." She declared as she stood in the living room, taking a break. Then it struck her; it was night outside, pitch black…but all the lights were on in her house. Looking out the living room window, she could see all the lights in the other houses were on as well, as were the street lamps. "Weird…" she shook her head and went into the kitchen.

Unlike the rest of the house, it was dust-free and gleaming like new. "Equally weird." Jennifer said as she opened the fridge door. There was a can of soda and a stick of butter inside. She took the soda and felt better after drinking it. She left the stick of butter where it was. "I'm not that hungry yet."

Jennifer decided it was time to go upstairs, though she was frightened to do so. With each step up she took, her heart beat faster until she felt like she was going to stroke out. The first door she opened was to the bathroom; the only reason she opened the bathroom door was because she hadn't remembered it was the bathroom—the layout of her old house was pretty much gone from her memory after eleven years of not living there.

The air was rank with the scent of rotting meat and copper; unable to control herself, Jennifer found herself over the bowl, trying not to splash her shoes with half-digested Skittles™ or the black sludge that was in the bowl. Once she got control of her stomach and her senses, and popped half the pack of Dentyne™ in her mouth after nearly ripping her pocket off to get it, Jennifer managed to calm down enough to take stock of the room.

The mirror was still on the wall, though how was beyond her. A huge hole took up most of the wall; it was surrounded by the same strange runes that she had seen on the signs outside Wish House. The shower was rusty, though the head was still dripping blood. Blood was pooled in the bathtub itself and sprayed all on the walls. "Jesus…what died in here?" Jennifer asked, staring at the bloody scene of the shower.

(Looking back, she realized that saying that was the equivalent of running through the woods in high heels while Michael Myers came after her with track shoes on.)

Jennifer hadn't paid any attention to her reflection in the mirror; nothing wrong had registered. She had her back to it when it started to change. The mirror-Jen turned around to glare hatefully at the back of real Jen's head. Then its skin rotted away, coming off in layers until the muscle and bone underneath showed. One eye rolled out of its socket and lay on the cheek, swinging by one greasy black threat. The other rolled back until all that could be seen was white. One putrefied slimy arm came through the mirror and tried to yank the backpack off Jennifer's back. That got her attention; Jennifer screamed and snatched herself away from the mirror, nearly falling into the bloody bathtub. She bounded off the wall and fell out the door, landing on her stomach. She scooted away from the bathroom and to a sitting position on the opposite wall.

Mirror Jen seemed to be stuck in the mirror from the waist down. From the waist out she was all claws and fangs. Then her arms grew longer and her rotting fingers were headed straight for Jennifer's throat! Jennifer kicked at them, skirting around until she could just get her hands on the handle of the ax (she had propped it by the bathroom door before having her little episode). With the ax in hand, she began attacking the mirror monster, beating its arms back and finally laying the ax right in the middle of the thing's forehead. It slide back into the mirror with a roar of protest; not willing to take any chances, Jennifer smashed the mirror with the butt of the ax; then stomped on the pieces as they lay on the ground.

"What the hell was that thing?" she half shrieked, wondering if breaking mirrors was going to have to become a survival policy. Unnerved, Jennifer ended her search of the upstairs and started down the stairs. Halfway down, she saw Billy at the door.

"Billy!" she shouted. "Are you okay!" she started skipping steps.

"Don't come down." Billy called.

Jennifer froze in mid-step. "Why?"

"Because you have to go upstairs and find the truth. Did you take the grease from the kitchen?" he asked.

"Grease? What grease? Billy, what are you talking about?" Jennifer took another step down; she was almost to the bottom.

"DON'T!" He bellowed, voice shrill with panic. "Sister knows where you are! If you come down stairs she'll find you! You'll be in trouble!'

"Okay Billy; okay." Jennifer said softly, trying to calm him down. "Now what grease are you talking about Billy?"

"Did you get my note?" he asked.

Jennifer nodded. "Yes Billy; it was a very nice note." She smiled. 'Especially with the part where you didn't want me to die' she added to herself. "Now the grease Billy; what are you talking about?"

"The butter in the fridge. The door to the truth is rusted shut. You have to open it though." His wide blue eyes were full of tears.

"Well Billy, I can't get the grease if you won't let me down the stairs sweetie." She said soothingly.

"But I can't come in your house." He said.

"Yes you can; I say you can come in my house." Jennifer replied, at once figuring out the trick.

Billy nodded; still on the rusty red tricycle, he peddled into the kitchen. Jennifer could hear the fridge door open and shut. Then Billy peddled back into sight. "Here Jennifer." He said, riding up to the stairs and holding out the butter.

Jennifer took it. "Thank you Billy. Do you want me to grease your wheels Billy? They're awfully loud."

Billy thought about it. "But if our feet touch the floor, Sister will find us. She can…she knows when we're walking where we're not supposed to if we're on the ground."

"How Billy? How does Sister know that?" Jennifer asked, putting the butter down on a step and hold her hands out to him. "Why don't you come on the steps with me and tell me about Sister?"

"I can't." Billy said.

"Why not?"

"Because she's coming." He whispered.

Outside there came a HUGE roar, followed by a cry of pain.

"She punished someone for being bad." Billy whispered, looking over his shoulder. "I know that sound because I get in trouble a lot." He added solemnly, looking back at her.

"Billy, I want you to come with me." Jennifer said firmly.

"I can't." he said, rolling away from her. He peddled towards the front door.

"Billy, wait!" Jennifer started to go after him, but found her foot wouldn't go past the last step. She couldn't get down! Something was holding her back!

"I can't let you get you trouble." Billy said. He smiled; a sad little smile too old for his face. "Now go upstairs and find the Truth. It's very important that you do."

Confused even more so than before, Jennifer tried in vain to chase after Billy. But no matter what she did, she could not get past the last step. As she tried, a thick red mist swept through the open door, blanketing the floor. It crept up the stairs slowly, cold as ice. Jennifer grabbed the butter and ran upstairs, well ahead of the fog.

She looked around, trying to see which door was rusted; that was the one Billy had said to open. The rest of the doors on the hall were locked, and Jennifer was tempted to knock them open with the ax…but after the bathroom incident, she was slightly more cautious. The only door she could see that might resemble what Billy was talking about was the door to the attic; its hinges were coated with thick dust and the door knob was gone. It gave a little when Jennifer pushed on it, but not enough for her to get more than a hand through. "I wonder what's so special in here that he doesn't want me to just knock it down…" Jennifer mused, looking at the stick of butter in her hand. It was starting to melt. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the red fog just coming over the top of the stairs. The sight of it sent Jennifer into action. She greased the hinges with almost the entire stick of butter, and jammed the rest of it in the hole where the door knob used to be. Leaning all her weight into it, she fell into the access stairway that led to the attic. She ran up, and upon finding the attic door wide open, threw herself inside. The door slammed shut behind her, hissing as it sealed itself. "At least the killer fog can't get me." Jennifer sighed, feeling like a dork for being afraid of red fog. However, she didn't feel too bad; if her reflection could decompose and come through the mirror to try and kill her, the red fog could probably kill her too if it wanted.

There was nothing in the attic. Absolutely nothing at all; not even a speck of dust in any of the corners. Jennifer was at a loss; what the hell had Billy sent her up here for? What was there to be had in this empty, empty room; poor lit by a single bulb in the middle. She went to the window and stared out at the street, at the night that stretched on forever. Deacon Street was quiet as a mortuary, and more frightening than a dark alley in the city. She wondered what would happen if she went to the other houses. Would there be nothing but a string of empty rooms, or rooms full of murderous reflections?

The light in the room began to swing around; Jennifer noticed as her shadow began to dance around her. She turned, curious as to what had sent it stirring.

Behind her, her shadow stretched long across the floor. The floor it lay on became uneven, and buckled as the shadow pulled itself up, up, up to Jennifer's height. Being a shadow, it cast no shadow itself. It was silent, faceless and unyielding.

Having investigated the light bulb, Jennifer turned back towards the window. There was nothing behind her; the dancing hairs on the back of her neck had to be a delayed reaction to the thing in the mirror. Something struck the back of her legs and she shrieked. Brandishing the ax, she whirled around and nearly demolished a chair. "Stupid chair." She gave it a kick, but it didn't fall over. "Wait…this wasn't here before." Jennifer said slowly, feeling stupid as the realization dawned on her. She looked at the legs; they were bolted down. "Freaky." She declared as the light over head flickered and dimmed, like the lights in a movie theater. Then it went off completely, though the room was still lit dully. The wall across from the bolted down chair flickered, and the flap-flap-flap of a movie reel being inserted and started could be heard. Where the projector and the film were, Jennifer couldn't even begin to imagine. With no reason other than because she could, Jennifer sat down in the bolted chair and opted to watch the movie.

Jennifer, driving down the road, surrounded by fog and trees.

"What the hell? That's me!" Jennifer half-shouted in surprise.

A noise; little claws on the hood of the car. The car veers, and resumes a normal trek. Then a winged monster, nothing but teeth and claws and beady little eyes like a doll flies into the windshield.

"So that's what that was…what an ugly thing."

The car goes off the road, sliding and bouncing down the hill side, flipping twisting…at last to an end, where a dark-haired girl stumbles out of the car, hysterical and alive.

"Jeez, I didn't know I looked that bad after the wreck." Jennifer wrinkled her nose. Her hair had come undone from its ponytail and twisted around her shoulders like clawed hands. There was dirt all over her face and the lower half of her t-shirt was ripped where she had cut into it trying to cut off the lap belt. The white shirt glowed like phosphorous in the nighttime woods.

To the Wish House then, the dark-haired girl goes. Her green eyes wide with caution, growing wider as the camera zooms in to her face. All-American girl features taut with fear, the girl takes an ax from a stump and the stump bleeds. The blood forms a shape on the ground and disappears. The girl breaks into the Wish House and finds a boy…

"Billy…"

And the boy tells her stories, such terrible stories that the girl feels ill and suddenly the boy pushes her into a closet and shoves a chair under the door handle. Enter the burly man in the wig, face beet red though no sounds issue from his throat. Then the man strikes the boy and he disappears like a mirage in the desert, simply dissolving away into nothing. And then the man goes to the closet and all that can be seen past him is a pair of denim-clad legs flying away and down, down, down into darkness.

"How am I seeing this?" Jennifer frowned.

The girl goes into the first room she can, and the man in the wig comes barreling down the stairs, narrowly missing her entrance into the room and he continues past the door, bloodied hands leaving streaks along the wall beside him as he drags his hand along it, seemingly to search for the bad girl.

And the girl is in the cell, but it's not the girl of today, not the hero, but her mother; blonde and dressed to enforce in her uniform!

"Mom!" Jennifer shouted, coming out of the seat and reaching blindly for the movie. She sank to her knees, tears in her eyes.

The cop is angry, so very angry! There is no door to this cell in Hell and she can see no way to get out. Suddenly above her there is a light and she climbs the walls with a tenacity never shown at a younger age and suddenly she is in a giant room, black walls that stretch forever and bloody rusty chain link floors and she is hurt and limping towards a man holding a bottle of something red, something glowing red and she is begging him to hurry and the man throws the bottle at the beast and the beast is turned into a girl and the girl hands him another girl before she dies and the man and woman run from the black room of blood and rust and they are outside in the snow and fog, the man with a baby in his arms and the woman over his shoulder. Then she leaves him, seeming to hear something in the distance and there is a second baby, squalling and small and all alone and the woman feels such pity that tears fall from her face and she runs to the baby and takes it in her arms and that scene ends but the move is not over.

The red bottle the man held, its life-saving redness "Aglophotis" the screen reads before going black and the light comes back on.

"What the hell is aglophotis?" Jennifer demanded. There was a noise from behind her, and Jennifer realized she wasn't alone. She was surrounded by a sea of writhing black, shadows of all shapes and sizes, but they were very real and very dangerous. She beat back black liquid hands and stood on the chair, unable to go any further. The shadows were washing over her and pulling her down. She felt like she was drowning! Flailing her hands wildly over her head, she grabbed for the light bulb over head, the only thing she could try to hold onto as the shadows tried to drown her. Her hands came together around the bulb itself, bathing the room in complete darkness. It burned her hands, and she let go; the shadows pulled her down and smothered her and Jennifer couldn't see or think anymore…