Chapter Five: Lonely Ghosts
She tore the desk apart, finding the spare clips hidden underneath some folders. It paid to be thorough, she sat on the desk and right then and there loaded the two spares. There was no telling how soon she would be using these, she wanted to be ready. Stuffing the clips into her pockets and loading the cartons into her pack, she stepped quickly out the door. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was, only that it was still light out. She had the distinct suspicion things didn't work like they normally did here as far as days and times went, but it made no difference. Walking briskly, she made sure she wasn't going fast enough for a jog but close.
She was almost halfway past the bridge when she heard the siren. A tremor of panic ran through her body with each wail of that haunting blare, the glow from above fading and the Darkness closing in around her. Under her feet the bridge shook and swayed, any second Julia expected it to give way and send her plunging into the waters of the other Silent Hill. She was a decent swimmer, but her pack would weigh her down and she didn't want to think about what might be in the depths of the lake now. She waited a little longer for whatever it was that has happening to pass before turning her light back on. The bridge had been replaced by a thinner, rusted version of itself, the solid concrete she was standing on morphing into a latticework of metal, showing the churning waters of the lake below her. She kept walking, after minute or two she realized there was light coming from somewhere other then the end of her gun. Scanning around, she looked down underneath her feet to see something coming up from the deep. It was a glowing ball, getting steadily larger by the second, an eerie greenish white aura illuminating the metal around her. The ball moved out from under her and out to the right, very close to the surface now. It came streaming back to the bridge at a frightening speed, something bursting out of the lake in the air.
The glowing ball was in fact a bioluminescent bulb on the end a long stalk, hanging in front of the mouth of the ugliest thing Julia had ever seen. It jumped over the bridge completely, something fit for the ocean's deepest trenches. Its face was much like an anglerfish, oversized bottom jaw gaping open, a row of long sword-like teeth jutting out, more coming out of top of the mouth. Its eye was the size of a hubcap, a glossy fish eye staring blankly at the world. The body was scaly and thin like a snake, spined fins glinting in its own light. As quick as it came it was gone, splashing across to the other side.
The light bobbed in the water, going out a ways and turning around. What was it going to do, try to knock her off into the water? She dropped her pack and waited until it was coming at full speed before running out of its path. It didn't try to move towards her last second like she thought it would, but it jumped out of the water again. This time some kind of slimy blob fell off from its underbelly, hitting the bridge with a disgusting squelch. She was turning back to watch the creature when the blob made a noise. She spun back to the ooze, which had spread out from the original point of impact, at the center a cluster of rock-looking was still standing. One of them was rocking back and forth, then it split in half, about a foot and a half of slimy something crawling out onto the bridge. It was lizard like, stubby legs and a long torpedo body, but its head was like the thing that had spawned it, large and toothy. It began making crying sounds and started dragging itself towards her.
She popped off four rounds into it, probably too many, but it stopped moving. The other eggs were starting to hatch, she starting shooting until the gun clicked empty. One of them was still moving, she quickly freed the tire iron from the loop on her pants and jumped on the last one, bludgeoning whatever was trying to get out back into the ooze that it came from. She heard the splash behind her and two more accompanying whumps! on the steel. More of the little bastards, her anger was rising and she didn't want to calm down. Swapping out the empty clip for a full one, she pounded up the bridge to the fresh clusters of eggs. It was simple, she had to kill every single of them before they could get out get in sufficient number to harm her and then do something about the big one dropping them off. She waded through the clusters, raining down blows on anything that moved, giving it a bullet when the first hit didn't make it stop. Her ankle suddenly exploded in pain as one of them snuck a tearing bite in, passing unnoticed from the small beam that her gun exposed. She lifted up her foot and savagely crunched down on its neck, shooting it directly through the skull.
There were two left when the gun clicked empty this time but she was the full swing of things and they died as harshly as the rest of their brethren. She popped out the last clip and slid in the last fresh one, the bobbing light of the main creature coming back at her. Standing directly in its path, she waited until it was twenty feet away to start shooting, aiming directly for the bulb. When it leapt out of the water she put one right down its cavernous throat. It rumbled its disagreement midair, nothing falling from its undercarriage this time. It kept going out for another run, seemingly unfazed by the bullets. She acted hastily, getting out the one of the spare flashlights from her pack and clicking it on. It took her a second to find the nerve but she turned off the light on her gun and tossed the spare over the side of the bridge.
Standing in complete darkness, she watched the little light fade out into the depths of the water. The bobbing light went down after it, the soft glow getting dimmer and dimmer until it left completely. She put on her pack and moved forward in complete darkness a few minutes, the crashing waves and the throbbing pain in her foot the only signs that anything existed. It was eerie, there were no stars in the sky or lights on the shore in either direction, like a void of nothingness. After she had been sufficiently creeped out, she clicked her gun light back on. From here she could see the drawbridge house, she was almost across.
Inside, the drawbridge was a smashed version of itself, but it would do. Sitting down on the dingy floor, she unhurriedly reloaded all the of clips, going through almost half of her rounds to get them full again. Her ankle still burned, she clicked the .45's safety on and took off the light, examining the wound. It wasn't as bad as the thought it was, her thick boots had protected her from the worst of the bite. She pulled off the boots painfully, looking at the damage. Not bad, but it still hurt like hell. Thankfully the guy at the camping store recommended it that she pick up a tiny first aid kit. It wouldn't last many encounters like this, but it would do for now. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she rubbed an alcohol wipe across the bites, the burning excruciating. She did it twice, no matter how it hurt, she wanted none of whatever what in that thing's mouth in her skin. The small band of gauze barely wrapping around her ankle three times but it already felt better.
She packed the first aid up and put it back. It wasn't much, but the drawbridge house made a somewhat safer place to wait for the Darkness to pass. It frightened her, but she shut off her light, not wanting to attract anything. The water could still be heard from where she was but it wasn't loud enough to mask the sound of something approaching. Gradually the adrenaline in her system slowed and she wasn't concerned about killing something but remaining undetected. In a way it was relaxing, the first such time since she had gotten here. There were no choices to make, no problems to solve, all she had to do was exist from one moment to the next. If she ever got out of here, things would be different. She'd quit that stupid job that did nothing but make her miserable. The measures of her life's work, how much money she had, the things she owned, none of that mattered in the grand scheme of things. Not anymore. Something that would make her feel alive again, breaking the monotony that she had settled into. Rock climbing instructor. Journalist. She used to dream of being a reporter in middle school, not the kind that told you about how a cat was stuck in a ventilation shaft for four hours, the kind that evil companies and government conspirators feared.
Time passed and suddenly it wasn't so dark anymore. There was something different in the air, something she couldn't quite identify but knew had changed. Clicking on her flashlight showed her that the Darkness had left, the normal Silent Hill had returned. If it could be called normal, but at least there were some lights on across the lake. The streets were back to the way they were, the inside of the hut still messy but acceptably messy. She was getting drowsy and this was no place to sleep. There were rows and rows of houses nearby, at least one of them would have what she was looking for.
Once a boon, she saw the light now as the double edged sword it was. There was no way to see without it, but they could see her with it. It just had to be dealt with like the pain in her foot. Julia moved carefully and quietly, stalking the first house she came with a calm but alert stance. If there was anything inside the house, she would find it. The front door was unlocked, she let it slide open all the way so she could see inside. It went right into the dining room, six chairs gathered around a dusty table. There was another opening to her left, she slung off her pack and shut the door behind her, locking it. Julia swept into the next room, the living room, a large couch and entertainment center filling most of the space with glass doors on the left. There was a hallway against that side of the house as well, a bathroom at the end. She could see herself in the mirror, she looked nothing like what she imagined herself to be. Haggard, hair unkempt and wild, face dirty. She was suddenly self-conscious of people seeing her like that, but only for a little. She finished inspecting the bedrooms, even checking the closets and under the beds. The master bedroom was what she was looking for, no windows, large dresser to push against the door. She went into the bathroom and cleaned herself up a bit, washing her face and smoothing out the tangles in her head. A little bit of the Julia she knew was restored in short time. Somewhat pleased, she got her pack and set up camp in the bedroom, leaving flashlights set around so she could see. She pulled the clothes out of the closet just because she wanted it to be empty, without anywhere for something to hide. Eating a little, she took off her boots and clothes, throwing off the comforter on the bed. She might be dirty already, but there was no need to make it worse. She shut off the lights and climbed into the bed eagerly. A shower actually would be nice, but there was no way she was going to get under the showerhead in Silent Hill. Images of something nasty crawling out of the drain or something other then water coming out prevented that. The little piece of paper Nobody put on the apartment door would be nice to have right now, if only because it made her feel better for whatever reason. Soon she was comfortable, warm, she fell asleep after only a few moments.
In the morning she gradually came out of sleep, unwillingly. It was pleasant to be resting, she let herself stay in that semi conscious state until her body woke up own it own accord. Stretching lazily, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, finally getting up. There was light coming in from the edges of the door, she turned the safety off on the .45 off and left the flashlight the same way. It wasn't too hard to see even with the meager light, her eyes had become quite well adjusted to it. Pushing the dresser out of the way, she quietly opened the door and checked the hallway. Everything seemed to be normal, Julia went back into the room and got a large breakfast going. There was still at least two weeks worth of rations left, she was glad she had gone overboard on a variety of the ready-to-eat meals. There were so many items in retrospect that she would be glad to have picked up while the moment was there, but how could one prepare for something like Silent Hill without going there first?
When had her fill, it was time to get going. Rummaging through the dresser for a fresh pair of socks, she looked at her clothes. They were pretty nasty, covered with the stains of the creatures she had fought. Whoever the woman was that used to live her, she was slightly larger then Julia by both height and width but her clothes still fit well enough. She put on a pair of jeans that she would have never been satisfied with if she were trying them on at a store and a gray windbreaker that probably belonged to that man but fit quite well. Brushing her teeth with the travel kit in the bathroom, she ventured out of the house again, back to the fog.
Taking the exact opposite way she had come, she trod down the center of the road again. Passing by the large hotel again - what did Chuck call it? Lakeview? - she wondered if he was even still alive. Buildings would be a horrible place to be when the Darkness came, there would be nowhere to run if you were being chased. She genuinely hoped that he was okay, but going in looking for him in that place was a fool's errand. Besides, she didn't even know if he was really in there. And she definitely did not have enough bullets.
She passed the Historical Society again, it managed to look even more decrepit then when she last saw it. Coming to Carroll street, she made a right into its seemingly too narrow road. There was a large dark building coming up on her right, amusingly labeled "Heaven's Night". It was almost worth checking out, perhaps later. There was another building coming up that was far larger. It was painted white, peeling and cracking now. A large sign read "BROOKHAVEN HOSPITAL", it reminded her of the one she had seen at the entrance to the town. Although she couldn't get a fix on it, there was something off about the way the building looked. It was officially added to the list of creepy places she wasn't planning on going in unless she had to.
Very close to Saul now, Julia was trudging along Randell when she thought she saw the outline of a person coming towards her.
"Hello?" she called out, but the person didn't answer. Immediately she moved into action, dropping her pack and taking cover behind a pickup truck. Julia cursed softly, if it had been a person they would have responded by now and she just gave her position away to whatever it was that was coming through the mist.
It moved in jerking motions forward, something like the bodies she had seen in the first apartment building. Almost like a person, its upper body seemed to have been covered with a thick grayish skin that trapped its arms to the sides underneath, its face hidden by a fleshy mask. It seemed to be breathing out of a large, blackish hole in its chest, where gasses where churning. It seemed to be heading for the spot she was when she called out to it. Keeping her breathing as quiet as possible, she holstered the gun and slide the tire iron free, waiting for it to get closer. Passing right by her, it seemed to be oblivious to her presence. When it was fully turned in the opposite direction, she charged, jumping up from her crouch like a sumo attacking his opponent. The thing barely had time to register the new sound when she took out one of its knees with the force of a running blow. Even as it toppled to the side, it let out a burst of steaming tar from the hole in the front of it. She struck it once, twice in the head, a dull crack accompanying the second hit. It stopped moving, the grayish skin on the back of it skull split and leaking. She shook the blood and bits of matter off the end of the iron as best she could, she would have to hold it now that it was sticky again. Having a wet spot on her leg wasn't a very nice thought.
Looking at the tar while she got her pack on, it seemed to still be bubbling and steaming, whatever it was she was glad none of it got on her stuff. She left the body behind and pressed on. Walking down the road, she thought about what had just happened. As far as tactics went, she failed on calling out to something she hadn't confirmed was human. That would have to change. But deeper, her lack of feeling was disconcerting. Hell, she didn't even need to kill the thing, she wanted to. Was it so it couldn't find her some other time when the conditions weren't ideal to fight it or was it because she simply wanted to kill it? This town was rubbing off on her, she didn't like it one bit.
It wasn't long before Saul came into view, a simple green sign like thousands of others scattered around the country that denoted the place she might have spent the first few years of her life. No…it definitely was. The Stormson family was her family, this was her old home. If it wasn't, there'd be no reason for her to be here, there'd be no reason for Silent Hill to make her stay. Julia felt out of place, watching the numbers on the houses tick by until at last, the brass numbers 112 appeared on the side of a modest house. These were suburb style, a backyard with a tall wooden fence separating the plots from each other. Her house was a light blue with a white roof, a green welcome doormat in front of the innocent looking door. Julia opened the mailbox, pulling out some bills for one Arthur Stegman. There was a flyer from Midwich Elementary about an upcoming PTA meeting. Children were living- used to live - in the same house her parents were killed. She wondered idly how long it was before people had forgotten what had happened here and a new family rented it out, the ugly scars under the surface wiped away like they never existed.
Logic told her that any traces of her life or the lives of the people that used to live there over twenty years ago had been destroyed by either time, the police or a clean up crew that were working specifically for that purpose. But logic was such a liar in a place like this. Her heart was pounding when she turned the doorknob, it wasn't locked. Julia opened the door.