Chapter 2: Welcome to the Nightmare
Harry slowly woke, but before he could see he could feel that the temperature had sharply dropped, he began to shiver. He rubbed his eyes to see the front windscreen partly smashed in, there was some blood on it. This caused him to look to his side for Cheryl, nothing…just an empty passenger seat. Harry stumbled out of his wrecked jeep, Ron and Kim began to wake in the back seat.
Kim looked over at Ron who was bleeding from a cut on his cheek
"Ron, you're bleeding!" she gasped as Ron got out of the car, followed by Kim. Ron felt his cheek and pulled his finger back to reveal that he really was bleeding.
Harry approached them "Are you two going to be okay?" he asked
"We'll be fine" said Ron, Harry now knew that if the blood on his car wasn't Ron's or Kim's or his own then it might be Cheryl's.
Harry began to panic when it struck him that his injured daughter could be anywhere, but calmed himself down, he couldn't let Kim and Ron see him shaken, they needed Harry to be strong now.
"Okay we'd better start looking for Cheryl. She can't be far" he said in a calm tone.
Kim stepped in "Doesn't the fact that it's snowing in August bother you?".
Harry looked at Kim dead in the eye "Until I find Cheryl, I couldn't care less".
Ron looked around, the snow was falling without a breath of wind and it was starting to get foggy. That wasn't the only odd thing, there wasn't a single noise…not one person, not one car, not even one animal or bird. It was quiet, too quiet.
The three just stood taking in their environment for a moment, the fog came in quickly and seemed to be tinted on odd colour. Only the outlines of the nearby buildings could be seen, the town seemed almost as if it was trying to hide something.
"Come on, we have to find Cheryl" Harry said, leading them away from the wreck through the uneasy thick fog.
Kim wasn't usually the first to freak but her usual confident composure was melting quickly in this decidedly menacing place. She looked over to Ron, who looked just as nervous as she must have. Something wasn't right about this place, Kim felt it, Ron felt it and Harry felt it, every bone in their body was telling them to turn around and get the hell out of town.
Suddenly a figure appeared and as they closed in they found it was Cheryl, a smile spread over Harry's face. Harry called to his daughter
"CHERYL!". But Cheryl didn't react, instead she turned and started to run away. "Cheryl, wait!" Harry shouted before taking off to catch her, Kim and Ron followed.
Cheryl turned down a back alley and disappeared into the fog and snow with abnormal speed, Harry stopped dead. He didn't like this, he had a bad feeling in his stomach like he knew something but he didn't quite know what. Kim and Ron stopped and looked at Harry, noticing his reluctance to follow his daughter
"Are you okay?" asked Kim in a concerned tone.
Harry shrugged her off "I'm fine, come on." he said before cautiously walking down the alley.
As they continued everything around them started to became more menacing, even the buildings had some sort of evil feel to them. They all felt it and the closer they got to the end of the alley, the stronger this feeling of evil and being watched was. Kim turned to Ron and spoke quietly "Ron, I don't like this. I want to go back.", Ron looked to see unbridled fear in Kim's emerald eyes
"Don't worry, Kim. I'm here for you". But all Kim saw was the same fear in Ron's eyes that were in hers.
They heard the footsteps stop and the eerie creak of a rusted gate. Harry stopped at the gate, a sign read 'BEWARE OF DOG', he opened the gate and signalled for the two teens to stay back. Harry looked back with some concern "You may not want to see this" he said.
Kim and Ron slowly edged around the corner until they saw what he meant, the dog or what used to be the dog had been totally mutilated. It's insides were smeared all over the wall and floor, it's bones visible through all of the blood and gore.
Kim covered her mouth in an attempt to keep her lunch down, Ron turned and threw up. Harry was desperately fighting his urge to throw up too and took a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose from the smell. "Listen, you two can stay here if you want. But I need to get my daughter.". Kim was really not looking forward to going any further, but Ron stepped forward
"No. I'm coming with you" he said with a determined and grim tone in his voice.
Kim was pretty shocked, since when did Ron have such guts? This put Kim in an awkward position, stay and sit alone in a place which didn't really radiate safety or go along with them and go through who knows what. There was only one real choice.
"Me too" Kim said.
The three shuffled along the far wall away from the gore and came to a gate in the narrow alleyway. Harry opened it with another unsettling creak as Kim and Ron followed behind him. Harry walked at a slow pace but suddenly the dim light escaping the fog and snow began to rapidly disappear.
The feeling of unease and impending danger was now reaching panic levels, the light went and the three were left in total darkness. Harry pulled out a lighter and covered it from the elements as the snow turned to rain, even more reducing the already small amount of light they had from the lighter. Ron and Kim may battle super villains but this was starting to really affect them, Kim noticed Ron was shaking and took his hand in hers. Only for Kim to notice she herself was shaking like a leaf.
Harry took Ron's arm "Stay close" he said simply as they continued. Kim could hear a squeaking, it got louder as they approached something. It was a wheelchair, tipped onto it's side in an unnatural position with a rusted wheel squeaking as it turned. Blood was all over it and it was still wet as it dripped from the metal. "Hello" Harry said, his voice almost cracking from the intense fear flowing through him.
Harry stopped at a hospital bed with a small bloody body under the blood soaked sheets, Harry didn't dare pull them back so he continued. They came to a bloodied metal fence and followed it along until they came to a small opening, they all stopped, staring.
Besides themselves in fear, they all wanted to scream but they couldn't. They wanted to run but their bodies were no longer functioning. In front of them was a mutilated human corpse hanging from the fence, the blood was all over. "My god, who would do something like this?" Harry asked himself out loud.
Suddenly and violently Kim was struck from behind in the back of her leg, she fell to the floor in pain. Ron and Harry looked to see a child-like creature with razor sharp claws, it swung at Ron but he jumped back. It was joined by three of it's friends "Harry?" Ron said preying Harry had a way to get them out, two of them closed in on Kim who was struggling to move her leg.
She looked up with teary eyes as the creature raised it's hand to deliver a final blow, but Ron came in with a flying kick. Two of the others took down Harry, he fell to his knees when they swiped his legs and then one slashed at his neck. Harry was dead.
Kim struggled back to her feet with the help of Ron, standing on her one good leg. Kim and Ron fought off the four who soon became eight, but they wouldn't die and a claw went ripping right through Kim's left leg. She collapsed in pain and let out a cry. Ron fought his very best to keep the assailants off Kim but he soon tired and was taken down when he fell over from a blow to his calf. Three surrounded Ron and clawed him apart, blood went everywhere. Kim watched Ron die before they closed in on her…