Chapter Four

The store was empty. The racks and shelves were devoid of any food, and the freezer at the back where the drinks were supposed to be was covered with rust, one of its doors hanging open to reveal that it was empty. The floor and walls were covered with dirtied, old newspapers, like for a renovation. Grumbling with disappointment, Keith sighed deeply before turning around and leaving. He walked back onto the road and continued following the blood trail, fighting back at his hunger.

With every step he took, the more and more he was convinced that all this was a dream. The town was too dark to be real. Kyle couldn't possibly be here. And this trail of blood, the emptiness of the whole place, it was just…

A nightmare.

"So how do I wake up, then?" he wondered. Why did everything he touch feel real? He wondered if Claire, Sean and Leo were seeing the same town as he was. He wondered if they were even here.

"Maybe I'm dead," he mused to himself. "Maybe this is hell."

That was when he heard the sound of laughter at the back of his head. 'It's not exactly hell, Keith. But it's not any closer to heaven either. You're not dead yet, which gives me time to play around with you and your friends a bit before we're all done and can call it a day.'

The blood trail led him towards the other edge of town, furthest from the graveyard route he had taken to get in. It was equally as silent and dark as the rest of the town- in that sense nothing had changed. If anything though, the buildings looked a lot older, with paint that had begun to crack and peel, walls smeared with blood and the dead cars parked at the sidewalks all looked older. In every sense, it felt as though he had traveled back in time.

The trail ended at a dingy looking motel, its signboard rusted and almost falling off its post. Whatever its name had probably been, it was now impossible to read, as it had been covered with a streak of blood. Underneath the original name that motel's new name: Dead End.

Keith looked around cautiously, fearing its return. As he approached the door, he noticed that there was an old, rusted metal pipe stuck into the wood as though it had been lodged there by some powerful force. Unsurprisingly, it was also smeared in blood at one end, suggesting that it had been used as a weapon before. Grasping the pipe and yanking it loose, Keith decided that it would have to do. Whatever was waiting for him inside, he would rather face it with a weapon in hand, even if it wasn't a gun or a knife.

Taking a deep breath, Keith opened the door cautiously, pointing the flashlight into the pitch blackness that was the motel's front lobby. The floor was wet, with water dripping from the cracked ceiling above. Shattered glass also littered the floor, as Keith discovered when he took his first step in, greeted by a crunching sound beneath his boots. The wooden counter was empty save for a small bell and a denim jacket, neatly wrapped lying there, as though waiting for him.

'Wait a minute…'

As Keith shone the flashlight towards the jacket, he realized with horror, that it belonged to Claire. The light also revealed patches of blood staining the jacket.

And Keith found the strength he had been forcing onto himself ever since this nightmare had begun starting to waver. His eyes widened with panic, and his left hand on his cheek, he approached the counter, tightening his grip on the pipe.

'Goddamnitnonono…!'

And the only thing that prevented him from screaming, was a note written in blood on the counter, saying:

'She left it in the car. You can return it to her if you win the game of hide and seek. Don't forget to close your eyes and count to a twenty!'

"Kyle, I know you're here somewhere," Keith breathed, seething with anger. "I

know you can hear me. I don't know what the fuck you're trying to pull or what's happening to me, but for god's sakes leave my friends alone!" he shouted.

His voice echoed up the empty stairwell.

And as the echo died, Keith heard another sound-

Footsteps, coming from the upper floor.

Too overwhelmed by anger to even worry about his own safety, or whatever could be waiting for him upstairs (If it were Kyle, he already knew what he was going to do. The way his grip on the pipe shuddered told everything), Keith ran up the stairs, which was also littered with broken glass. Just as he was about to reach the top of the stairs, he saw the one open door in the hallway waiting for him to enter, with an arrow drawn in blood pointing towards it on the wall with the words: Road Home written clearly.

In the darkness, as he shone his flashlight into the room, the first thing he saw was a pair of eyes.

-

The fountain outside school was where they usually waited for each other before walking home together. Keith remembered the first time he had been taken there- it was right after English class on his first day at school and Leo, the boy he sat right next to was now leading him on with a friendly smile on his face.

A pretty girl with long black hair tied into a ponytail behind her head was chewing gum, lying on her back beside the fountain while another student, a boy with long, curly dark brown hair munched on a doughnut- holding it in one hand while holding a book in the other.

"Guys, this is Keith. He just moved in here. He's the guy who moved in with Mr. Anderson across the street," Leo said, introducing Keith to them.

The two looked at Keith for a while, studying him for what felt like forever until the girl's lips curled into a warm smile as she said, "Hi, I'm Claire."

The boy looked a little less friendly, but he introduced himself anyway, "Sean," he said simply, and before Keith could say anything, Sean prodded with his first question. "So you Mr. Anderson's long lost stepson or something?"

Keith shook his head. It was a joke, of course, but he wasn't in the mood to laugh, or to show any signs of amusement. With Mother's death still fresh in his mind, the numbness still needed time to wear off.

But he didn't want to be alone.

"I'm his nephew," Keith replied simply.

"Where're you from?" Claire asked. "I mean, apart from across the street. I mean where were you before you came here?"

Keith shrugged. "Silent Hill, if you've heard of the place."

Sean was the only one who showed any sign of recognition. "Of course," he said. "Edward Gein and Scott Fairbanks, two of the most notorious active serial killers over the past decade were from Silent Hill."

Keith raised an eyebrow, not sure if he should be offended or just surprised at how much Sean knew about Silent Hill.

"Ignore him," Leo laughed. "He's a know-it-all. Claire and I know nothing about no serial killers, and you're normal enough, right?"

Keith smiled. "I guess," he answered simply.

"So," Claire said, sitting up. "Since you're new here, we'd better show you the joints where we hang out. This is a city, and I'll bet it's a helluva lot bigger than your Silent Hill. Stay close, wouldn't want to get lost now, would you?"

-

"You know what's worse than being in the dark?" Claire mused as Leo closed the iron gate behind him.

"Being in a graveyard in the dark."

Leo smiled, sighing as he gave Claire an exasperated look. "Oh come on, it's not like the dead are gonna jump out of their graves to eat our brains or anything. That's just the kind of stuff you get in horror movies." She grasped her hand, squeezing it as though to give her confidence. "We're real. This whole thing is real."

Claire smiled back. She opened her mouth, then let it hang before closing it again, changing her mind about telling Leo of what had happened in the bathroom. He wouldn't believe her if she told him anyway. Neither would Sean for that matter. But Keith…Keith would, if only because something told her now that what happened in the bathroom, it involved him somehow.

Then they heard the sound of laughter.

It sounded like Keith, and yet it wasn't. There was something cold about it. Inhuman.

"Keith?" Leo called out, flashing his torchlight towards the sound of the laughter, only for the light to fall on a single, faded tombstone which read 'Angela Orosco.' There were red handprints on the gray stone, which looked eerily like blood.

'Or maybe it is blood,' Claire whispered darkly to herself.

"Claire?"

It was his voice, calling out to her from the darkness.

"Keith, is that you?" Claire shouted out. "Where the hell are you? Are you lost? We're here to take you back to the motel!"

"No. Claire, I found something. I found something. Come here."

That was when Leo's cellphone rang.

"Sean?" Leo murmured, looking at the caller ID.

When he pressed the receive button, the voice that greeted him was indeed Sean's.

The only problem was that he was screaming.

"Oh God, I think Sean's in trouble," Leo said, looking at Claire. "We've got to get back to the car now."

And still Keith's voice kept calling Claire's name.

"Keith, we don't have fucking time for this right now!" Leo shouted angrily. "You can show us what you want later. Sean's in trouble!"

If Keith had heard Leo's outburst, he didn't show any sign of it. He kept on calling Claire's name, his voice now sounding sad. Lost. Afraid.

There had been a number of incidents throughout high school when Leo and Claire had heard Keith's voice the way it was now- and all those incidents had involved knives. Some had involved blood.

Leo handed the flashlight over to Claire.

"Find Keith," he said firmly. "I'm going to check on Sean."

"But won't you need it?" Claire protested.

Leo was already doubling back towards the iron gate. "I'm not afraid of the dark," Claire. "You're going to need it more than I will. Find Keith, and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

And at that he ran off, disappearing into the darkness.

-

"Keith, Daddy needs the knife. Hand it over now."

"Hello, Keith."

It was the same deep voice that had only returned to him in his dreams. A lot of time had passed since then. Five years ago. Keith hadn't been able to tell whether he was the one avoiding him, or whether it was the other way round. Either way, here he was now, sitting on a chair comfortable in the motel room, his gaze meeting his in the firm, commanding look that he used to receive as a child. Apart from the fact that his hair was now flecked with gray, he didn't look much different. Wearing a dirtied black cloak made it seem like his body was shrouded in shadows, like his head was the only thing there was in the room.

"Hello, Father."

Keith relaxed his grip on the pipe. His father, Alec Rainell wasn't Kyle. His father wasn't the monster. If anything, he was probably trapped in this nightmare like he was.

"So you've finally come," Alec said simply. "I was beginning to think that you've forgotten me."

"No, I haven't forgotten," Keith sighed. "I probably wanted to, but I haven't."

"It doesn't matter anyhow," Alec replied, his eyes staring deep into Keith's. A warm smile crept upon the old man's face as he said, "The town would have brought you back sooner or later. Your fate has been sealed since the moment you were born."

"I don't follow," Keith said. "What's fate got to do with anything? Father, Kyle brought us here, and we've got to find a way to beat him!"

Silence.

"It's too late for me, son," Alec sighed finally. "I'm only here to make sure you follow the right path. Like I said, your fate is sealed. The town wants you. The town needs you. And your friends-

-What about them?"

"You just might be able to save them and yourself," Alec said. "They were here not too long ago. They left looking for you. One of them hasn't gone far. Why, he's just across the street at the diner."

Keith found himself smiling.Diner? It had to be Sean. Sean was alive.

But if he was there, here, the town in general, it meant that Kyle had drawn him in too as he had promised. Keith's friends were going to play Kyle's game.

When Kyle had made that promise, Keith had made his own- that history would not repeat itself. Kyle was not going to claim any one of his friends, nor his father for that matter.

"Wait here," Keith said to his father. "I'll go get him. We'll figure a way out of this together."