I.

The pain had forced Claudia to lie down. It—no, not an it, but her god—was growing, but her god was growing faster than Claudia realized. Claudia's stomach protruded out grotesquely and whatever was inside of her moved around much more frantically than it should have been able to. Valtiel stayed silent in the corner, simply watching and waiting.

The bed was harder, the room darker, the walls closer. Claudia was remotely aware of the room seeming to close in around her, attempting to suffocate her. The air was thick...almost too thick to breathe. Claudia found herself desperately sucking in air, feeling as if she would never get enough.

"I will endure this pain for my god," Claudia moaned. Her eyes were clenched tight and she pulled at the sheets, tossing her head back and forth. Her usually pale face was white as freshly fallen snow, broken up by the dark circles under her eyes, and her pulsating dark blue blood vessels snaking across her face and down her body.

Claudia suddenly thought for a moment, wondering if she was indeed the mother of her god or if she was birthing something totally different. Her god would not put her through this pain, right? Surely, the resurrection was to be painless and comforting with everyone rejoicing and celebrating. But she was alone, alone in the church and in her room, struggling to maintain consciousness as her god grew within her.

For a moment, she caught a vision, a vision of a corroded, evil version of her room, decorated with rust and degradation, sprinkled with blood and hate. It was only for a moment...when her vision cleared, she was back in her room, with Valtiel standing in the light, appearing to be an angel.

She cursed herself through her pain for having a weak spirit and stopped fighting against the pain. It was what she deserved...she was weak and needed to be stronger than ever before.

II.

The hole was dark, but Douglas knew what was hiding within the darkness: a bullet. He peered around the barrel of the gun to the hands that were holding them, to the black leather jacket pulled over a purple blouse, to the resolved expression staring at him.

"You have three seconds to tell me who you are," Cybil stated.

Douglas leaned back against the popcorn stand, both for balance and to relax.

Cybil cocked the gun. "I'm not playing with you. I won't hesitate to shoot."

"Look lady, just calm down. I'm not the enemy here," Douglas rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm Douglas, Douglas Cartland. And you?"

"And why are you here?" Cybil responded.

He sighed. "You must be a cop."

"And you obviously aren't. What are you doing here?" she tried to maintain her steely calm, but she could feel her heart begin to race. What if he was really some kind of agent for Silent Hill? Or maybe some demented creep that would move too fast and snatch the gun out of her hand then have his way with her? Or maybe some monster in disguise that would sprout tentacles and lash out at her before she could shoot? In this place, there was no telling. Cybil pushed the horrible thoughts aside as she took a steady step away from him.

He sighed again, noticing her emerging trepidation. "I'm just a private investigator. I was sent to search for a girl named Heather Mason."

Mason? Cybil immediately thought of Harry, then thought of Cheryl, then the whole incident flooded back to her. Then the baby Harry had as they ran from Silent Hill. Could the evil have found Harry and his daughter again?

"Heather Mason?" she repeated more to herself than anything. She noticed that she had relaxed a little, but corrected her mistake. She kept the gun pointed right at Douglas's head.

"Yeah, you know her?"

"No," Cybil said with uncertainty. She studied Douglas more closely. He looked about ten, maybe fifteen years her senior, his face worn and troubled. His nose had been broken once, maybe twice, judging from the slightly pronounced shape. His green eyes were faded and his grey hair was limp. He seemed harmless enough, but then again, nothing was as it seemed in Silent Hill.

Cybil decided to keep the gun on him, despite coming to the conclusion that Douglas was harmless. "Why were you looking for her?"

He shook his head, as if he didn't want to retell the story. Yet he began, "It was this woman, Claudia Wolf...she wanted me to find this girl. And I found her...which is where all this started."

"What happened?"

"I'm sure you've seen for yourself. These monsters and all this...weirdness."

Cybil gasped. If that girl really was the baby Harry took from Silent Hill and Silent Hill had found her, they were in serious trouble.

"Where is she now?"

Douglas shook his head. "I don't know. She went after Claudia, and I haven't seen her since. I was hoping I would find her somewhere in this park." Douglas paused for a moment. "Look, I'm not going to do anything...you don't have to keep your gun in my face."

"How can I be sure that you're not in league with everything that's going on?"

"Believe what you want. I'm going to find Heather whether you trust me or not, lady." He paused then looked at her suspiciously. "So exactly why are you here? Judging from the lack of people in this town, not just anybody is free to wander around this place."

Cybil paused for a moment, realizing how it must look from his end. She changed her stance and put the gun away. "Better?"

"Yeah," he said. "So what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for someone. My son and his girlfriend. They were coming to this town for a weekend getaway. I tried to stop them, but—"

"Stop them...? Why?"

"I don't have time to explain right now," Cybil quickly stated. "I hope you find Heather," she turned and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait a minute. You're not going to go off by yourself."

"You think I can't handle myself? I'm a cop, remember?"

"Look, lady, there are some strange things out there."

"I know."

"You're the only other person I've run into since this whole craziness started, and you seem sane, maybe we should stick together, at least for a while."

Cybil thought for a moment. He seemed genuine enough and being with him couldn't hurt. It may make battling any other monsters easier. Besides, he seemed like he needed someone to be with at this point. There was no telling what he had seen, but it wouldn't have been good.

"Look, I still don't trust you...and if you pull anything that I even think is suspicious, I won't hesitate to...defend myself."

"No need for threats. I'm in this just like you are," Douglas calmly said. He walked past her, limping slightly. "Are you coming?"

Cybil nodded as she readied her gun again.

III.

The transition happened in a flash of light as they passed through the door. Only moments before, strange creatures writhed from the walls, grabbing any unsuspecting passerby as assistance to whatever unholy power presided over this town. Yet still, Christine found herself face-to-face with her boyfriend, who she had to kill. After that situation subsided, they found strange journals, which had somehow made their way from someone's desk drawer, under their bed, behind the boxes on a high shelf in the closet to the floor of the decrepit church. It was more than mere coincidence...the journals gave insight and information that they didn't have before, which meant that someone or something was leading them along. When they passed through the door that opened after Christine finished her "duty", a blinding white light pulsed once, then vanished. It eradicated the corrosion, decay, rust, blood, and metal floors, changing them back to their original state: slightly off white walls, dark wood floors, and dimly lit hallways.

"Everything's back to normal," Christine said.

Heather glanced around cautiously. "Not entirely. We're still in Silent Hill. Nothing's ever normal."

The comment gave Christine an uneasy feeling. Michael and Trey led the way, as Heather and Christine trailed behind.

The church was silent, yet they could feel the silence being nothing more than a prelude to something terrible. They all had the unspoken feeling that they were being watched, evaluated. And it was only a matter of time before that presence made itself known.

Without further incident, they made their way though the hallways, into the main area of the church where they had initially met Father Tom, then out of the large, heavy doors into the foggy twilight.

"It's quiet out here," Trey noticed. It was only a while ago that the city was hosting its annual event, the streets overrun with tourists and sightseers. It was then that Trey witnessed the transformation of some of the townspeople into terrible monstrosities. No they weren't transformed by some magic spell or some evil wizard. It was as if they did so willingly.

Michael briskly crossed the street to the car he used to get here. He stuck the key in the ignition and tried to start the car, but nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Christine asked.

Michael popped the hood and got back out of the car. "Something's wrong," he stated. He moved purposefully around the car, fumbled for the release latch then lifted the hood. The others surrounded him as he stared disbelievingly into the open space.

"The engine's been ripped out," Michael quietly said. The only thing left were dangling wires scratches and dents where something had forcefully sabotaged their only means of escape.

"We'll walk from here," Heather said, already adapting to the situation.

"What is this?" Michael's voice escalated surprisingly and was directed toward Heather. She turned a bit surprised by the accusatory tone in his voice. "Why are we here? What is keeping us trapped in this place? It's playing games with us...leading us on some wild goose chase just to hunt us down one by one?"

Heather smiled cynically. "You're asking the same questions I stopped asking some time ago. There're still some things I don't understand myself. All I know is that I can't just give up. That's what Claudia wanted. That's what this place wants. Despair, anguish, suffering, anger, fear. This god they want to bring back feeds off of all those things. I won't let it win. I won't."

Heather turned and began to walk down Nathan Avenue. Michael realized that he was yelling at the wrong person, taking out his frustration and fear on Heather. It wasn't her fault, despite the connection that she had with the town. She was just as much a victim of this place as they were.

Trey saw the look of anger fall from Michael's face, replaced with a look of fatigue.

"Hey," Trey put his hand on Michael's shoulder, "we're going to get through this."

"Yeah..." Michael distantly replied.

Christine gave a wan smile, and Michael couldn't help to think that maybe, just maybe, they would all survive this nightmare. But the reality of the situation kept settling in and Michel somehow knew that the horrors they had already encountered were just a prelude to the real evil of Silent Hill.

IV.

Claudia could feel her life slipping away as each moment passed. Her mind had stopped registering pain after the god she was nursing in her womb exploded out of her. She couldn't move, could barely breathe, and was slowly losing her sight, darkness creeping in from every direction.

Reluctantly, she glanced down o her midsection. Her dress was torn and her body was nothing more than a bloody mess. A quick glance around the room showed her the force that her god had used to be born. Blood and other bodily fluids stained the walls and floor, even the ceiling. The once crisp white sheets were crimson red. The dark comforter was even darker with stains of blood.

She closed her eyes, no longer having the strength to keep them open. Everything had happened so fast, she wasn't able to even see her god, but that didn't matter. She knew what her god looked like in her heart. Claudia had done her part. She sacrificed herself for the greater good. Heaven would open its doors and invite her in without hesitation, into a peaceful, eternal existence.

However, even with her shallow breaths, she could smell smoke. Forcing her eyes open, she saw that somehow, fire was quickly enveloping the room. She wasn't able to cry out, nor could she even see where it had come from. It was as if the fire was alive, ready to claim Claudia as its victim.

But, that wasn't how it was supposed to be. She had given birth to a god...surely this was not her fate. She doubted herself again, her mission, her purpose, and why she had sought out Heather. Nothing seemed right...it was so confusing. The hate, the fear, the anger, the pain...these things weren't what her god was supposed to bring. Yet, that was all she felt.

No, it wasn't a god. She had been fooled, tricked. All of her life she had been lead to believe that Alessa would birth a god, but there was something wrong with the story...there was something underhanded that happened. Alessa became a pawn for The Order, and now Claudia realized she was a pawn too. A dead pawn.

She closed her eyes and shed a tear, as the flames flickered over her already damaged body. Someone else was behind all this. There was someone else that was pulling the strings. She wasn't as righteous or holy as she thought. She knew that she was no better than the hapless souls that wandered this town. Nothing but a means to an end...and now, her god had found a way to be born. But what was it? What would happen now? And where was Heather?

Claudia knew that she would die. She had known that since she first began on her crusade, but she always imaged herself to die an honorable death. Something heroic or gallant, yet here she was, pieces of her splattered throughout her room and about to be consumed by the fires of hell. Maybe it was what she deserved. She didn't know.

Her eyes closed one last time as the smell of burning flesh filled her last few breaths.

Notes:

Wrath: Thanks for the awesome review. As you can see from the latest chapters, Cybil and Christine are indeed intertwined.

Richard B. Sampson: I'm glad you're reading and liking the story. Hope you like the new chapter.

Kaworu85: Glad you like how the events turned out for Christine and Cybil. Christine did have a rough spot in the story, but hopefully, things will pick up for her. Cybil, like Harry and Heather, really didn't go that far away to live. They were all under the impression that everything was fine (even though it really never is). You'll have to wait and see on Cybil's sanity. As you can see from this chapter, she is quite capable...like the old Cybil we know and love.

Crimson Alessa: First of all, I'm glad to see you out of trouble. Glad that you enjoyed the chapters, and now you have a new one to enjoy.

Shortey: Yes, I finally updated again. College finals have been keeping me busy, but I should have lots of free time now, so I can keep the story rolling.

Rodarian: Okay, I like the Heather Locklear or Farah Fawcett comparison to Cybil. Glad you like Cybil's reintroduction into the story.

Cat: Yeah, I thought that Cybil was an interesting character and she just totally disappeared from the series. I like using underused characters and stuff, so I'm really enjoying writing her. As for the Amusement Park, I don't know if they will even get there evil grin .

Skittlefratz: Thanks for the encouragement. I hope this chapter keeps up with the others in terms of description and suspense. Let me know what you think.