The sun was almost complete set now. The fine tinge of orange and yellows had paled down into a soft lemon with the darkness of the blue night sky. The dark pine trees and the bright garden trees wove into each other, painted a mixture of light and dark greens against both the sky and the slick back pavement.

The roads were empty. Not a single car in almost fifty miles, it really did remind Rose of a ghost town, or in this case a ghost road. The streets were slippery, and gleamed a wet reflection of the sky, showing off it's wetness. The road, itself, was very small; hardly enough room for two cars, and with this wetness it was prone to cause an accident. Rose was glad that the road was all to herself, especially with the current circular bend the road was taking her through; no car would be able to see the other in time.

She sighed, humming, inwardly, a familiar tune that softly emitted from the set radio station. It was a popular pop rock band, Sharon had instantly loved their music. Sharon, on the other hand, was singing along in a hushed whisper, drawing in her Art pad with her colored pencils; Rose was glad, it had been complete silence since they left that area on the hill. Shortly after putting on her seatbelt on, it seemed she had started drawing again. That must have been at least an hour ago, Rose wondered what new worlds she was inventing as the song changed to a slower one. She hadn't heard it before.

Rose was suddenly reminded of where she was going, thinking of Sharon. Her face darkened. This was nothing to have fun about, Rose needed, absolutely needed, to help her little Sharon. It killed her on the inside that she was sick like this, and came close to dying several times already. She just wanted to rest her head on the steering wheel, knowing nothing would happen. The sick thought of Rose doing this for only herself scampered into her mind, and only to be quickly dismissed. That was complete rubbish; this was for Sharon, and not herself. Although, she could not deny that maybe some part played in on her feeling for relief.

Hearing Sharon yawn pulled Rose out of her thoughts. She looked into the upper rear view mirror, and watched as Sharon place those hard working hands into her exhausted eyes. Rose wasn't surprised, she was trying to keep Sharon up as much as possible, to try and prevent a reoccurring of events. Again that twain of discovered, possible, selfishness peeked into her mind.

She squeezed the wheel hard, thinking of what to do. Her face voiced the silent grimness of the situation, but she decided.

"Sharon, sweetie, why don't you lay down and rest? It's getting late." Rose said putting the front seat windows down some, airing out the car. The inside was suddenly cooled off, the heat dissipating, the cold growing. It was something nice, Rose thought as she appreciated the cool air on her sweaty forehead.

A bright red light flickered on and off on the dashboard. Rose looked down, as it caught her attention. The gas tank was almost empty. She bit her lip, looking up and at her surroundings. The dark blue had finally taken over the yellow in the sky. Purple puffy clouds spread over the stars and sky, as if they represented the chain holding back the morning colors. The moon was the only thing free, it shining a path for Rose on the drying road. The trees had become hard to make out, now they appeared as giant dark figures mashed into each other, forming some kind of blob.

She saw it then, as her headlights shone over the bright green sign. White lettering telling her a gas station was only a few more miles a head. She breathed out the gulp of air she had become reluctant to, in a sort of sigh. Her eyes closed and her overall muscles relaxed. Everything was fine. She would make it to the station, Sharon would be fine until they reached Silent Hill, and they would find the town which inside they would find the help they needed.

Rose pulled her silver Jeep Liberty into the gas station, a brightly lit up sign indicating the name 'Brahams Gas Station' (it wasn't too original), pulling up to the empty pumps. As the car rolled to a stop, she unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled out the key; causing the car to shut down. Grabbing her light brown trench coat, she popped open her door, closing it behind her, and walked over to the pump side, all while pulling that light cloth over her shoulders. Unscrewing the hubcap, she placed the pump into the car, punching in a few buttons, and stood as the gas poured out into her car and the price rose.

She could see Sharon sprawled out on both backseats, sleepy soundly. Her arms making the pillow, still holding her pencil case, her legs curling up to the front of her abdomen. Rose could see her face, as her head was pointing towards herself, she seemed so peaceful, so happy, almost. Something caught her eye, below Sharon on the floor.

As she pressed the trigger on the pump the numbers stopped rolling up. She removed it, and screwed back on the hub cap, taking notice at the price as she returned what had given her car back its life.

Rose slowly, and quietly, pulled open Sharon's door and pulled out her drawing pad. Her mouth hung open slightly, as she flipped threw the pages, looking for the peaceful lion picture. It wasn't there. Every sweet and innocent picture she had drawn had now been replaced with something horrible and cruel. Those light yellows and cheery greens had been replaced with dark reds, blacks, and a dull navy blue. The picture were no longer happy but now evil and depressing. The one picture showed a little girl in a green dress being pulled, what seemed like apart, on each arm by two large dark figures. The figures seemed evil, and their pointed red eyes seemed too real, too alive. She flipped the page, horrified by the images her child had drawn; and even more that they were drawn over her old ones. Another picture showed a large gray building, a strange symbol atop of it. Black things swarmed around that symbol, and darker things crawled around the entrance of the building. It seemed so odd.

The sound of shuffling and groaning startled Rose, making her turn around to come face to face with a, now, wide awake Sharon. She stretched and yawned, sitting on the edge of the seat, looking out of the open door.

"You're awake?" Rose spoke, trying to mask her concern. Sharon nodded, hoping out of the car, looking up at her mother, standing by her side.

"Can I ask you something," Rose asked, kneeling down to Sharon's level. She flipped the drawing book and showed it to her, adding, "Why did you change your pictures?"

When those blue eyes grew wide, Rose understood something was wrong. Sharon reached out, and with her tiny fingers, touched the picture. The building with the symbol looked so sinister. It was even more terrifying that she couldn't remember doing it, it was so sad that her lovely lion was gone; it was now just a memory, destined to fade away.

"I… I didn't," Sharon told her mother, near the point of crying. "Mommy, who did this?" Her voice was shaking. Was it fear she was feeling, was it confusion? Rose couldn't tell.

"You don't remember?" Rose asked, trying not to show her own confusion and fear. Her voice was monotone, normal. It never changed once. She was answered with a quick shake of the head, meaning 'no'.

"I don't like it. Mommy," She was beginning to scream, "Who did that?"

"Shh, it's okay. Mommy's here, don't worry." Rose stood, taking Sharon into an embrace, rubbing her back. Sharon had started to sob, crying into her mother's lap. Rose caught the gaze from, what appeared to be, an off duty cop near the Gas Station's small shopping building. It had looked like the cop had been returning to their motorcycle, but in the commotion, turned to hear a distraught child. The look she was receiving seemed full of distrust and stubborn concern. Rose ignored it, turning to her child.

Sharon hiccupped, looking at her mother, who had pulled her from her body and looked down at her.

"Can you wait in the car for me? I have to go inside over there and pay." Rose pushed the hair out of Sharon's eyes, smiling at her answer.

"Can I sit in the front?" She asked. It was answered with a kiss and quick ushering of moves.

As soon as Rose heard the door shut, she traveled across the hardened black tar to the place where she would pay for the gas she had just taken. Her eyes locked on the door, as if a personal homing device, ignoring the footsteps that walked beside her, heading the opposite way. She pulled open the door, and walked inside. The inside was shaped, rather to what she had first believed, into a mini restaurant. She thought about maybe getting Sharon something to eat, but dismissed the thought. They were almost there, they couldn't stop now.

Rose stepped up to the counter, fiddling to find her credit card in one of her many coat pockets. Pulling it out, she handed it to the lady. The lady had a tired look on her face, and it's to be expected, especially so late at night, Her bleached blonde hair pulled out of her face by a blue and white designed bandana. Her skin seemed very oily and even red in some areas. Her makeup, blue eye shadow and black eyeliner, was smeared over her eyes, the sweat caused by the inside heat, caught some of it, pulling it down her face. Her clothes seemed hand-me-down like; a blue, red, and yellow cross pattern on top of white, like a hunter's red and black shirt. The flaps around her neck were folded down, showing off her neck and collar bone. The shirt was revealing buttoned up, leaving at least four or five buttons undone to catch the eyes of all men who came to the counter. Underneath though, as if teasing those who wanted a look, was a skin colored, low neck, shirt, which covered up everything shown by the top shirt.

"I just want to pay for some gas," she told the lady, as she began to ring up the price of the gas Rose had taken, "And, can you tell me the best way, to get to… Silent Hill? I can't seem to find it on the map."

The room had almost gotten complete quiet, as if everyone had been listening to her conversation and had stopped whatever they where doing when the heard that name. The cashier lady gave her a sharp look through those tired eyes, halting herself in ringing up the gas.

"Why do you wanna go there?" Her voice wasn't pleasant. She sounded unhappy, and not-too-thrilled of the bringing up of that town. Her voice was laced with a venom, a miserable tone. Rose was surprised by the hatred, wasn't expecting something like that.

"I, uh, read about it." Rose answered her, smiling, trying to change the mood.

She only got another look, as if she were some monster. Or maybe if she were a native speaking an entirely different language then the rest of them. It was so odd.

"The road don't go through no more." The lady told Rose, raising an eyebrow as the sound of beeping filled the room. The woman pulled out Rose's card, looking at the register.

"Your card was declined."

Rose grabbed the card, staring at it. She shook her head, suddenly realizing what happened, and who had done it. She mouthed out a name, before her phone began to chirp with a catchy, low, tune.

"Christopher."