Chapter 5
Semita Plures

Find me...

Find me...

Won't somebody help me?

Find me...

-Windwalker

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The snow fell smaller and less frequently then before, granting Sirius an easier time of traversing it. As he made his way towards the church where the bells had resonated from, Sirius kept an aerial vigil for Harry, leaving no space unchecked as he covered all corners. The church bell's hollow insistent bellows had ceased quickly but Sirius had a good idea of their locale. Finding Harry again was of utmost importance now, the events that had transpired in Silent Hill were ultimately connected to him Sirius concluded. Incidents had either been directly or indirectly connected to him from his first appearance.

Harry made his appearance through the front door of a house, spying from left to right before setting an even pace down the road. If Sirius had not looked down at that particular moment he would have missed him altogether. Harry was clearly heading in the direction Sirius concluded was the church bell's locale, so hoping not to maker the biggest mistake of his life Sirius decided to go on ahead. Whoever had been ringing the bells must still be there, he thought, but he could not trust that to be certain. Sirius needed to know who had struck the chiming and it wouldn't hurt for him to do a little recon before Harry arrived.

Moments later he landed on a lamppost directly in front of the building and could not help but shiver under the church's shadow. A church in the fog -filled world of Silent Hill should have been a haven, a place where you would feel safe, a beacon of light, where its holy veneer should have given peace to the soul but looking into its brick walls and coloured glass windows Sirius felt none of this, just a black hole where his heart was and an unremembered history churning in his mind like an angry whirlpool.

Churches were never his favourite places, they just reminded him of what he was not. An omnipotent creature such as he, for he could conclude no other explanation for his nature, was left to question his purpose. A sore point for Sirius was his inability to remember his origins. He could recall scores of men on horses charging against one another, ancient armies who fought by the sword and horse drawn transport instead of motorised cars in days of old but could not remember where he was born, who gave birth to him or what he truly was. His memory was mostly clear of other things but this. The church only gave rise to this frustration, it was place where sin was cleared, debts paid and a long history scribed. He had the sin of others on him and no matter how much he wanted to, he could not be cleansed in the sanctity of the church. He could enter it of course, but what priest would hear him? Most of all though, the church reminded him of what he did not know about himself and it galled and depressed him. His origins were shrouded in a mystery so deep even he did not know and on this one thing his deeper self had no answer to give either.

Harry arrived at the church, a blessing that relieved Sirius of his miserable thoughts, but he cursed himself too for not taking the opportunity to find out about the mysterious person, instead of thinking thoughts he tried so often not to. Intending to rectify the situation he followed Harry as he entered the church.

The fog permeated the air to a lesser degree within the church then out but it still clung on mercilessly. The church itself was quite small and only a few pews dominated the floor. Sirius only gave them a cursory glance however as something of greater importance at the altar caught his full attention. Turning casually at the sound of the double doors closing behind Harry was a woman. Certainly no fresh maiden as Sirius could see but he guessed the woman looked prematurely older then her actual age. Behind her a cross depicting the crucifying and martyrdom of Christ, cast a shadow over her, herself with bare feet, a tie and a mesh shawl over her head giving Sirius a curious picture. She gave him the creeps. Her looks seemed to disguise her true nature for Sirius felt waves of something darker spewing forth. Of course her very presence in the throws of this nefarious plot, the only person besides Harry, Cheryl and the peculiar girl-woman Sirius had seen walking this ghost town, only confirmed his suspicions that not all was at it seemed with woman before him, for none of the others were ordinary in their own right.

Harry approached the woman.

" Were you ringing that bell?"

"I've been expecting you. It was foretold by Gyromancy"

Sirius could not help but cringe at the woman's voice, it was as though the bad vibe Sirius got from her came forth in her speech, hitching a ride on breath like death. The imaging was not welcome but he could not withhold it as she first spoke, and Gyromancy that word more then any other brought the vaguest recognition.

" What are you talking about? "

Something, Sirius thought, something important but no light was forthcoming. A chill then ran up his spine but not from what the woman said, something else, beyond his current ken.

" I'd knew you'd come. You want the girl right?"

"The girl? You're talking about Cheryl?"

Bam! Sirius knew the woman would know something but this? He tried to listen more intently but a strange feeling kept him from his full attention. The feeling of being watched distracted him, yet a not entirely bad one, more like being observed rather then preyed upon. He eyed the church's limited room but nothing came to his notice at least not in his direct line of sight, but on the periphery shadows seemed off to him, out of sorts.

" I see everything "

"You know something? Tell me!"

Harry attempted to walk forward and in spite of his wariness of the rest of the surroundings Sirius noticed the tension building up in Harry's shoulders.

" Stay back. Nothing is to be gained by floundering about at random. You must follow the path. The path of the hermit concealed by flauros."

The deeper the conversation got the more Sirius got edgy. It was heading into deeper waters and the woman was most certainly in knowing about at least some matters, significant ones. Hermit seemed an accurate description of Harry to Sirius, a traveller in search of truth. Yet Sirius knew its reverse meaning too, of going astray, in the wrong direction, also a trait he could apply to Harry. So many interpretations but that came to a crashing halt as the old woman mentioned flauros. The word spiked more recognition in Sirius's brain, so much so that even his secretive side tingled in remote understanding. It was a word that inspired a powerful force of its own, Sirius had heard of it before, a vague recollection of symbols and foreboding.

Sirius could not claim to know the entirety of knowledge in the world but he had seen and heard enough that he felt troubled by the Flauros mentioned. His thoughts were all for naught though as a shadow cast on the seating, he had ignored as nothing more then just a shadow solidified into a cohesive shape. The next he knew the pews were filled with people. Ethereal, impassive, ghosts. Sitting and watching the interaction between Harry and the woman, sitting quietly, watching. Their appearance coming upon him suddenly. A brief glance at the conversing pair told him that only he could see the silent audience.

Out of his shocked revere Sirius caught the mentioning of a hospital but most of his eye was concentrated on the spirits below him. The children from the library! Sirius clearly recognized them from their blood splattered, and now badly burned clothes, no longer obvious as the Midwich school uniform, adorning their pitiable skeletal bodies. Only children, dead and pathetic looking, but only children. Even from the back without having to look upon their sightless eyes he knew them. These were not the only people he remembered for sitting away in one corner at the front was the first ghost Sirius had seen in town, the one hiding away in the shop, the one who faded right before him as the sirens broke their first tune to Sirius's ears. This one he knew for he looked right at Sirius, with no fear or hesitation in his face as was in their first ever meeting but with that enigmatic smile he departed Sirius with. His eye, for his other was well hid by bushy hair, was no longer the icy blue Sirius remembered them by, but a sickly green, as though the ghost suffered from an afterlife illness that ripped the one lively part the ghost had.

Harry was on his own, not counting Sirius or the thirty odd ghosts, for the old woman had departed elsewhere. He picked up the items the woman had left for him, tried the door she had left by, examined the church then left the way he came, all the while the ghosts following him with their heads. Sirius had no choice to follow Harry or he would be trapped with the curious but strangely neutral ghosts, but as he glanced back something else caught his eye. Apart from the smiling ghost, not one ghost had eyes to see. All were as blind as the two boys. Pools of blood in their sockets where their eyes were supposed to be.

Sirius kept a close eye on Harry as he crossed over the bridge, thoughts of ghosts and other things were on his mind, until the sharp sound of the radio leaping to life caught his attention instead. Its rattling call made Harry jerk to a halt and remove the gun shoved in his belt. Only fog loomed ahead, neither Sirius nor Harry that far on the bridge to even make the slightest distinguished shape of a building. The radio's signal became more insistent as a lumbering dog came into view, its hide pock marked with maggot infested flesh. Harry, knowing better then to pause, took aim and fired.

Blood splattered the pavement as the dog's back leg was severed, no cry of pain came from it's lips but a angry snarl uncaring of the pain. Harry took a second shot and the dogs muzzle blew apart yet it still approached. The tinny rattle of the radio took new life as Harry vaporized the demon mutt. A voice called under it's cry.

Fin... ...e

...ear... ...hi...

Find ...se...

...re ...t.. ..o.. ...at...

Harry heard nothing as he was currently occupied with the beast, but Sirius did.

The only word he gathered was find, the rest obscured by radio interference.

Find what?

The girl, Cheryl?

The other girl?

Answers?

The old woman?

Sirius had no clue but someone or something wanted him or Harry to look, to discover, what, he did not know. It could even be someone evil speaking but the radio had only been a positive force warning of oncoming danger, it was the only thing Sirius trusted in all the chaos so he doubted an evil presence was behind the voice. It mattered little, Sirius did not know what to find anyway.

Harry headed off once more, gun at the ready. A howl not that far ahead.

To Sirius the mist seemed to spring to life, its ethereal beauty, with its darker undercurrents, thickened. A tightening rope around Sirius neck that suffocated him to darkening sight. Below, where Harry had been a recognisable shape was now cloyed into the vaguest of shadows, objects and human harder to distinguish between each other. A grave howl arose in the air followed by a deeper chattering rumble, distracting Sirius. When he looked back down again from his aerial vantage the fog's partial consumption was complete. Harry had vanished into the sea of mist.

Not A problem, Sirius thought.

Harry was heading to the hospital, all Sirius had to do was find it himself. As he circled trying to define at least one thing below him, the continued cries of the dog and the other thing kept him alert, both had since been joined by more, in a chorus of blood lust.

It had seemed like hours since someone with the fog machine had gone overboard. Sirius felt like he had been going in circles. Fatigue, a rare thing for him to suffer from had settled into his bones. Time had not stopped but appeared to have gone altogether, leaving Sirius in a void, and looking around it appeared just that. Even the creatures had now ceased their cry. He was all alone and that more then anything sapped his strength.

Sirius had flown close to the ground and even the buildings were hiding from him. Just as he was about to give up his search the fog cleared and there right before him was a woman. Sirius skidded to a halt mid air and rose slightly to hover above her. Luckily she was turned away from Sirius, otherwise she would have got an eye full of a raven with glowing yellow eyes flying straight at her.

She stood in indecision, twiddling the handle of a gun. One hand went to brush through her short hair pulling loose blonde strands, then wiped it absently on her shirt, a blue police issued one. A cop in this town? A bit late wasn't she?

Whatever turmoil was in her mind had gone, she strode down the street with a purpose. Sirius glanced about, the fog had miraculously cleared to it's usual self. He could now go find the hospital with relative ease. Instead he followed the woman cop.

He was soon lead to the local police station but before he could follow the woman she vanished into the building. Dismayed, Sirius landed on one of the cars parked outside. He could wait here for her to return or he could go find Harry. Time back now, was very short, Sirius could no longer dally. He cocked his head in contemplation, then chose to do a quick scan of the station before making his way to the hospital.

Sirius was in luck, he caught the barest sighting of blue in a ceiling window so flew to land on the window's glass. He peered into the glass and standing there was indeed the cop. Scanning the small room she was in, with a cops eye. A small crack at a corner of the window pane allowed him to hear the woman as she explored the room. She peered anxiously at a blackboard and read the words that were written.

" Product only available in selected areas of Silent Hill. Raw material is White Claudia, a plant peculiar to the region. Manufactured here? Dealer equals manufacturer? "

" Same old. So what the hell was that new evidence Captain Baxter was on about? Sure as hell doesn't mention it here. Could be in this junk."

The cop turned to the desk next to her and began rummaging through the papers on its surface. Only pausing when she found something of interest.

" Coroner seals called. Officer Gucci is unlikely to be murdered. He apparently died naturally. But, medical records show Officer Gucci had no symptoms of heart disease."

She frowned.

" Weirder and weirder. As soon as I find him, or anyone else for that matter, Baxter better have some news. What has been going on in this town? Cybil, what have you got yourself into?"

Cybil? That was the name Sirius had heard a while before, when Harry's name had come up too. Sirius mentally patted his mysterious self. Good boy, he thought. He saw Cybil leave the room, having exhausted it of information. Sirius had no clue what that White Claudia was about but it was police business and nothing to do with him and as for the death of that Officer, that was even less important.

Cybil was after clues against the criminal element. Sirius decided he had little purpose in following that lead so instead of waiting for the cop, to leave, he went in search of the hospital.

The fog was no longer hampering his vision so the hospital was easy to spot, not being very far from the police station, and lo and behold Sirius's luck continued to role for there was Harry circling the building for a way to get in. Sirius darted there in seconds. Harry had found a way in, for a high gate stood ajar by the side of the building. Muffled shots filled the air and Sirius saw what lay beyond, within the courtyard of the hospital. Harry on the ground had no clue of what he was about to be involved in.