At the end of the long passage were yet more stairs. They stretched down into the darkness...
Five minutes later, they were still trudging along.
"We must be miles underneath by now," Eileen said.
"Under what?" John asked.
"We've been going north all this time," Henry said. "Somewhere under the lake, maybe."
Finally, the stairs ended at a pair of doors. The doors were marked with the same strange symbol they'd seen at the chapel. They opened easily.
The room they entered was of moderate size. Its walls were lined with books. Large bookshelves divided the room in two. A small table sat in a back corner, and a lamp provided the only illumination in the room.
"A library," John said.
Eileen approached one of the shelves. "These are some strange books," she said. "The titles...'Purification', 'Return of Lost Souls'..."
She removed a book, and blew the dust off of it. It fell open at a well-thumbed page.
The Purification is a terrible ritual, only to be undertaken when necessitated by the emergence of a great evil. This evil can take many forms, and its recognition may be the most difficult part of the process.
The creation of circumstances conducive to the birth of great evil is much simpler than the removal of that evil. The world in which it lives must be closed off, sealed against all future entry. This is not to be undertaken lightly, but is among the most arduous magics known to man.
An unknown time ago, a world was created which was too powerful to be sealed off in this fashion. The creator's name could not be spoken or written, and is now lost to the mists of time. Through the Ritual of the Holy Assumption, he built a world. It exists in a space separate from the world of our Lord. More accurately, it is within, yet without the Lord's world. Unlike the world of our Lord, it is a world in extreme flux. Unexpected doors or walls, moving floors, odd creatures, a world only he can control. He who can perform the Holy Assumption can enter this world, but it will never bow completely to his will. He must walk there with caution, and beware that which he cannot control.
"I've read that before," Henry said. "It appeared in my room when everything started happening. That's Walter's world."
John stood motionless, a small red book in his hand. "Look at this," he said softly. "I dare not read it out loud."
Speak.
I am the Crimson One.
The lies and the mist are not they but I.
You all know that I am One.
Yes, and the One is I.
Believers hearken to me!
Twenty score men and seven thousand beasts.
Heed my words and speaketh them to all, that they shall ever be obeyed even under the light of the proud and merciless sun.
I shall bring down bitter vengeance upon thee and thou shalt suffer my eternal wrath.
The beauty of the withering flower and the last struggles of the dying man, they are my blessings.
Thou shalt ever call upon me and all that is me in the place that is silent.
Oh, proud fragrance of life which flies towards the heart. Oh Cup which brims with the whitest of wine, it is in thee that all begins.
"The end of the world," Henry said.
An aged piece of paper slipped from the back of the book and fell to the floor. He picked it up and unfolded it.
"It's a map. A map of Silent Hill," he said. In the middle of the lake on the map, the strange symbol was drawn. Written below the map was:
In the middle of the universe, where earth and water and heaven meet, lies the Womb of God. From this doth all derive, and to this shall all return. The taker must give, and the Giver doth take. Thus is the balance kept true.
"A secret place for the cult, maybe?" Eileen said.
"Possibly," said John.
He put the book back on the shelf, which shifted slightly. He pulled it out from the wall, and they peered behind.
Henry breathed a sigh of relief.
"If there's one thing I know how to do, it's crawl through holes," he said.
A minute's crawling deposited them in a small anteroom. Two enormous doors took up one end of the room.
"What is this place?" Eileen asked as they walked through the heavy wooden doors.
"It looks like a church or something," John said. They walked forward past the wooden pews, toward the altar. Light shining through the stained glass filled the room with color.
"Some church," Henry said. "Look at this."
The tome on the altar was aged, and seemed as though it would crumble at any moment. They gathered around it, and read the following.
The First Sign
And God said,
At the time of fullness, cleanse the world with my rage.
Gather forth the White Oil, the Black Cup and the Blood of the Ten Sinners.
Prepare for the Ritual of the Holy Assumption.
The Second Sign
And God said,
Offer the Blood of the Ten Sinners and the White Oil.
Be then released from the bonds of the flesh, and gain the Power of Heaven.
From the Darkness and Void, bring forth Gloom, and gird thyself with Despair for the Giver of Wisdom.
The Third Sign
And God said,
Return to the Source through sin's Temptation.
Under the Watchful eye of the demon, wander alone in the formless Chaos.
Only then will the Four Atonements be in alignment.
The Last Sign
And God said, separate from the flesh too, she who is the Mother Reborn and he who is the Receiver of Wisdom.
If this be done, by the Mystery of the 21 Sacraments, the Mother shall be reborn and the Nation of Sin shall be redeemed.
"Remind you of anything?" Henry asked John.
"Walter's victims," John said. "Just like you told me."
"This must be the stuff that they filled his head with when he was little," Eileen said. "Remember all the reading he did?"
"No wonder all of this strange stuff has been happening," John said, turning the pages of the book. The old parchment crackled. "Look at this. They're creating parallel universes...messing with gods and angels...this is dangerous stuff, even by occult standards." Suddenly, his mouth dropped open, and he stared off into space.
"What? What is it?" Eileen asked.
John closed his mouth, and composed himself. "I get it now," he said. "Silent Hill wasn't always like this, you know."
He sat down on the cold floor. Henry and Eileen did the same.
"Remember the man I told you about? The one who lost his daughter, and came here looking for her?" Henry nodded.
"There have always been strange things happening in Silent Hill, but the fog didn't roll in like it does now until that time. It came in for the first time when the little girl -- Cheryl was her name, I think -- left Harry Mason's car and ran off into Silent Hill.
"A couple of years ago, I ran into an old woman here. She told me something that I didn't really know whether to believe until now. She told me that the girl's return to Silent Hill allowed the cult to complete a ritual to give birth to their great God. The ritual failed, but it allowed that evil power out into the world, and that was what started the strange happenings in the town. The fog rolled in for the first time that day, and it's been here, on and off, ever since. It actually snowed that day, too, out of season.
"They made all of this happen," he said, jabbing his finger up at the book on the altar. "This is all their fault. They took the power in this town and twisted it around so badly that nothing can ever fix it. That's what warped Walter Sullivan. That's what ate James and Mary Sunderland alive. That's what kept Harry Mason and his daughter on the run for all those years, and what finally killed him. That's what we're up against."
They sat for a few moments in silence. Then Eileen stood up and brushed herself off.
"Well, we're here, regardless. Let's get going."
Henry and John stood up, and the three exited the chapel through its side door.
The hallways of the church were strangely empty. It felt to Eileen as if they should have been full of crawling, biting, slurping whatever, just like the rest of the town, but the emptiness was somehow more ominous than the beasts had been.
The hallways were lined with rusty gratings, and the floors were stained tile. Pockets of heat lurked in corners, yet the wooden doors opened easily in their frames. The edges of the rooms were thickly black, as if the muck of ages had burned and charred the walls.
They came across a bedroom. The narrow bed was rumpled, as if its occupant had just left the room, and the desk held a single note.
The end is near. I can feel it. I know now what I must do...
As that queen of old might have said...in his end is my beginning.
And my end?
Yours, perhaps. If you're not careful.
In one of the rooms at the end of a hallway, they found a pile of bodies, some in holes in the wall and some on gurneys. Not too fresh, but recent. None of them were identifiable. Henry bent down to look under the gurneys.
"Look at this."
In the wall behind the gurneys, there was a hole about three feet wide, barely visible just above the floor.
"If there's one thing I know how to do..."
"It's crawl through holes. We know," said Eileen and John.
Henry grimaced, and they pulled the gurneys away from the hole.
Eileen bent to look in. There was a light in the distance.
"It smells like...like water. Like the lake. Well, here goes."
After about five minutes of crawling, they came out of a wall into an enclosed garden. There was a large set of double doors next to the hole.
They passed through the double doors, into a large two-story room. A staircase ran up from one floor to the next in the middle of the room, and doors flanked the bottom of the staircase in the opposite wall. A small counter took up part of a side wall. In the middle stood a music box, playing a delicate tune. The room was decorated in shades of deep red.
Henry walked over to the counter, and looked at the piece of paper laying on it.
"He's been here," he said, holding up the note. "He left a videotape here, apparently, and the management left him this note to tell him they had it."
"Which room was he in?" Eileen asked.
"It doesn't say, but if we look in the guest book..." He went around to the back of the counter, and pulled out a thick book. He turned the heavy pages and scanned until he found the name.
"Here it is. James and Mary Sunderland. Room 312. Looks like the honeymoon suite was occupied, so they got that room instead."
They headed up the stairs to the second floor, then through the doors and up to the third floor. The stair gate was open, and the walls and ceilings there dripped water, as if the whole building was weeping.
Room 312 was unlocked. Inside, they found the room clean and tidy.
Henry opened a drawer in the bedside table. "Room service menu, Gideon bible, notepads," he said.
"Sounds pretty ordinary," John said.
Henry pulled a piece of heavy paper from the drawer. "Huh, this is unusual," he said.
On it was printed the following.
Welcome to the Lakeview Hotel. We hope that you enjoy your stay. Room service and laundry service are available for your convenience. Please see the details in the related brochure.
We encourage you to avail yourselves of the wonderful sightseeing and entertainment opportunities of this quiet little lakeside town. Please be advised, however, that should the lake fog become unusually heavy, it is recommended that you stay indoors until it lifts.
Below this was written, in a scrawling hand,
No kidding. They say that when the fog comes in, if you go outside, you'll die. All the bad things that happen here…they only happen when the fog is out. Something comes into town and slices up anyone it can find. Innocent bystanders, tourists, men, women, even kids and dogs…when the fog burns off, the streets are soaked in blood. Don't go out!
The three stood frozen. The piece of paper fell from Henry's hand and fluttered to the floor.
"No…it's not possible," Eileen said. She shook her head. "No..."
"They don't mean…" John was white as a sheet.
"They must," Henry said. "Those monsters…" He drew in his breath. "They're not monsters at all."
"Why do they look that way?" Eileen whispered. "And why do they attack us?"
"They may be defending themselves," Henry replied. "Maybe…maybe we look like monsters to them."
Eileen grasped Henry's arm. "Does that mean that, when we were wandering around that night, and today too, that we were…killing…people?"
Henry thought for a moment. "I don't know," he said. "I think the ghosts were really ghosts, and the double-headed babies might have been those two kids that he killed. But the dogs…and the apes…" He shuddered. "I don't know."
"That would explain a lot, though," said John. "The deaths, the sightings of demons…"
"What are we going to do?" Eileen said.
Henry's jaw was set firmly. "We avoid them if possible, stay nonaggressive."
"But if they attack us," said John, "then we defend ourselves."
The TV was showing static. Eileen went over to the VCR on the floor next to it.
"There's a tape," she said. She pushed the ejected tape back into the machine, rewound it, and pressed the Play button.
They crowded around the TV...and saw nothing on the tape.
"Damn," she said.
Suddenly, John stood up and rooted around in his pocket.
"It's buzzing," he said, pulling out the blue gem. Then, his head turned toward the window.
"What the...do you see that?"
A fleet of round white objects was flying toward them. They approached the building, but did not slow down. Instead, they flew over the roof and out of sight.
The three of them tore out of the room, ran down two flights of stairs, and came out on the main floor of the hotel. They pulled the front doors open and shot out toward the lake.
The objects were flying out over the water, toward a shadow on the horizon. The rest of the lake was covered with fog, but the area in front of the shadow was clear. The things hovered for several seconds, then disappeared.
"What is that?" Eileen asked, pointing at the shadow.
Henry got out his map. "There's an island over in that direction," he said. "It's a long way off."
"An island...didn't the writings say something about a secret place? In the water, where heaven and earth come together?" John asked. "Maybe that's where James went with Mary."
"How can we get there?" Henry said, as they walked further along the path outside the hotel. "We can't swim that far..."
He stopped as they spied a fishing boat with a cabin at the end of the pier.
"This smells bad," John said, "and it's not just the fish."
Nevertheless, they entered the boat, and soon were motoring across the smooth water.