Silent Hill - Rebirth

Chapter Two

The road to Silent Hill was long, lonely and winding. Tall trees loomed on both sides of the narrow street, and it was difficult for Bridgette to not let her imagination run wild given the current circumstances. She could imagine being trapped on this road forever, lost in the fog and the snow with nothing but the trees to see for the rest of her life. This was the only exit they could find, but what if the town never came? What if they were lost forever? Bridgette's heart was pounding to a forlorn beat inside her ribcage, expressing all of her unspoken fears. With the car silent, she could hear her brother's rabid breathing, and for some reason it gave her a small amount of much needed comfort. She wondered what she would be doing if she had been alone on this trip. Would she have continued forward for hours on end, on and on until her gas ran out? What would have happened then? Or would she simply have driven on forever with a never-ending tank of gas? An icy hand slid down her spine as she thought about it a bit longer…

With her thoughts already on the dark side Bridgette watched, mesmerized, as a dark shape began to rise in front of her old Volvo through the fog. It looked like a gaping maw ready to devour them in one bite, and it took little imagination to give the open mouth an equally terrifying body; one with large claws and scales and blood red eyes. But as the towering shape turned into a tunnel, the breath that Bridgette had been holding expelled itself with a relieved sigh and she felt abashed for imaging some fire breathing dragon eating them alive. As soon as the tunnel swallowed the car and they were doused in total darkness, Bridgette turned on her headlights and slowed the car. The simple fact that they had found something other than an empty road eased a lot of fears that she hadn't even known existed in her and the drive through the tunnel was a pleasant one. They broke out of the darkness a few minutes later and it wasn't long before a weathered old sign came into sight through the fog, welcoming them to the town of Silent Hill. Bridgette could hear her brother relax, and that in turn made her feel less tense as well. Maybe they really had just been too stressed and missed the exit; maybe the car's gas meter was broken; maybe this really was just weird weather…

With those thoughts in mind she felt a smile hiding behind her lips, and when a couple of small buildings appeared to her right, the hidden smile leaped out and beamed with reassurance at Nathan. He grinned in return as they pulled into the parking lot of a small rest area. Eager to find another person, Nathan began pulling on his jacket and hat before the car even came to a stop, "I'm gonna have a quick look around and see if there's anyone here, just wait in the car."

Bridgette nodded and watched as her brother slipped out of the car and into the cold, his jacket only buttoned up halfway and his hat lopsided. She felt positive that he would find somebody and that they would be back on their way in no time with a good map and plenty of jokes about how easily they were freaked out. As he disappeared in the stagnant fog she rubbed her stomach for a few moments then put her own jacket on, deciding to get some fresh air while she waited for him. After zipping up she stepped outside and shivered as the cold air kissed along the back of her neck sending dozens of little chills down her skin. Pulling her coat tight around her body, Bridgette walked towards the wooden railing that blocked off the area in front of her. As she gazed out at the fog, she caught the faint sound of water lapping against a shore. With the fog as thick as it was though, she couldn't tell if there was a lake beyond here or not; still she felt it safe to assume that there was one, not only because of the sound, but also because of the nearby sign that read 'Toluca Lake'.

"Bet it's nicer in the summer…"

She stood there for a while just enjoying the cold air and the distant sounds of water, but as the minutes began to pass and her nose began to turn red, she started to feel the fingers of worry and panic creeping into her mind. She couldn't hear any cars, people, birds or other animals, and for a moment she felt afraid that Nathan wouldn't come back at all. Stepping away from the railing she looked off in the direction her brother had gone and wondered if she should chase after him or not. A quick visual image of him laughing at her though slowed her worry and Bridgette decided to wait a few more minutes before starting a search party.

With her mind working feverishly to dispel any unnecessary paranoia, she climbed back into the car, this time in the passenger seat, and crossed her arms as she stared out the window, her eyes searching the murk for her brother. It wasn't long before Bridgette was quite relieved to see his shadowy form emerge from the fog. As he got back into the car she leaned forward in anticipation, but the look on his face promised anything but happy news.

"Well?" she demanded, unable to wait any longer.

"Nothing. There's nobody here at all."

"You checked in all the buildings?"

Nathan shot an indignant look, "No, I just stood there with my thumb up my ass- yes I checked all the buildings; they'll all either empty or fuckin' locked."

A bit frustrated, but not entirely without hope, Bridgette sat back and sighed, "Well, let's just keep going up the road then; maybe they just closed the rest stop cause of the weather or something. I've gotta pee first though, did you see a bathroom anywhere?"

"There's one to the right."

Bridgette nodded and slid back out the car while her brother started the engine with a solemn look on his face, obviously not as optimistic as she was about the situation. She walked with quick steps and a small yellow building soon came into sight with two signs discerned the male entrance from the female. Stepping inside, Bridgette moaned in disgust as the smell of old urine and grime greeted her nose. Trying to breathe only through her mouth now, she found the first two stalls were unusable, in the complete sense of the word, not to mention the source of the stench. Continuing her search she found to her relief that the third one wasn't caked with unspeakable atrocities and soon her business was complete, and her bladder no longer felt ready to burst.

As she stepped out of the stall with the intention of washing her hands, Bridgette stopped when a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea struck her without warning. She clutched onto the stall door as the room began tilting beneath her feet, threatening to bring up her breakfast and probably a good amount of stomach acid as well. At the same time, her unborn child began to writhe inside of her, its tiny convulsions sending small pains down her stomach, through her pelvis and into her legs. Standing unsteadily as she held onto the door and trying all the while to keep herself from throwing up, Bridgette lifted her eyes to the mirror, catching sight of her pale complexion and something else…

Horror found its way onto her face as she watched a river of dark blood snake out from under the stall to her left. It washed over the gray floor leaving red death behind that began to spread like an infection across the bathroom. Creeping up the walls with crimson veins that corroded all it touched, the blood began pealing away the tiles and paint alike as if they were nothing more than flesh to be flayed and discarded. It was at that moment, just before her brain started to tell her body to flee, that the nausea and dizziness disappeared, and in its place sharp pain bloomed inside of her belly. The pain swept away any thoughts of inexplicable blood and Bridgette's eyes squeezed shut as she fell to her knees, her hands clutching at her pregnant stomach in a futile attempt to banish the mysterious cramp. She kneeled there for only a few seconds until the pain disappeared just as quickly as it had come, but she didn't dare move again in fear that it would come again, so instead she remained on the floor with her eyes now glued to the dirty tiles and her breath coming out in ragged gasps. A few minutes passed and the pain didn't come again.

Confused and shaken, Bridgette climbed to her feet, using the stall door for support as she glanced down to the left, wary of what she might find. There was no blood, no veins, no corrosion…and no sign that there ever was. Looking to the mirror, the reflection too was free of the bizarre gore. Had she just imagined it all? Was it a hallucination from the pain? Remembering the recent ache, Bridgette protectively rubbed her stomach. It wasn't the first time during her pregnancy that something like this had happened, at least the pain part anyway, and her doctors had told her that should it happen again she should head to the nearest hospital. That of course was all well and good for expecting mother's who had insurance or loving husbands to support them, but unlike those women, she was already up to her eyeballs in hospital dept.

Carefully, she checked to see if she was bleeding anywhere, then went and washed her hands when she found nothing out of place. Deep lines of worry were etched across her forehead as she stared at her pallid reflection; she felt wretched. It was bad enough that she was having problems with her pregnancy, but now she was having bizarre hallucinations on top of that! She feared to think of what would come next in her long list of ailments and lifetime failures. 'Great', she thought as she dried her hands off on her jeans, 'now I'm depressed again; way to go Bridge: number one on the pep squad!'

The walk back was brisk and when she sat back down in the car she couldn't bare to look at her brother. He would know that something was wrong, she just knew it, and then she would have no choice but to tell him about the episode in the bathroom; then he would demand to know why she hadn't told him about it sooner and then he would have their parents help her out with the doctor's bills. No, she refused to be that sort of burden on her family, especially when her parents were having financial problems of their own. So as Nathan pulled out of the parking lot, and back onto the road, Bridgette kept her eyes focused to the right, and kept her thoughts to herself.

After passing a few turns that were nothing more than beaten paths cutting through the woods, the siblings found a real road that promised hope. Lindsey Street was lined with businesses on both sides, and there were even several cars parked along the curbs.

"Finally!" breathed Bridgette as her eyes passed over the Ridgeview Medical Clinic sign.

Her brother made no response as they turned onto the road, and she was ready to ask him what the problem was until she realized what it was herself. While they were on what should seem a semi-busy street, there was no activity what so ever. The fog was only slightly thinner here, but still the area was just as dead as the rest stop had been. Nobody walked down the streets, the windows of every business were dark and shadowed; nothing seemed alive. Nathan coasted down the deserted street then made a right onto Sanders, then another right onto Neely, and everywhere they turned was the exact same story. Neely took them back onto the main road they had detoured from initially, but before taking the turn Nathan stopped in the middle of the road, his hands maintaining a death grip around the wheel.

"So is the whole fucking town shut cause of the weather then?"

She chose not to favor his sarcastic question with an answer, partly because of his attitude, but mostly because she just didn't have one. He was allowed to be frustrated; after all, she was, but was he right? Was the entire town shut down? Did that even happen; and if so, why would people have left their cars? None of it made sense. Without another word, Nathan turned back onto the highway, his knuckles white from the pressure he applied to the steering wheel. They kept going straight for some time, both lost in their own thoughts, and then, without conferring with Bridgette, Nathan took a right turn onto a road that looked no different from the one they were already on.

Silently they followed the contours of the road while Bridgette's mind explored all the plausible explanations for why a town would be abandoned. She could think of quite a few, but most of them left a town with devastation that she had not seen anywhere yet. Other possibilities stirred in the back of her mind and had she not felt the sudden urge to vomit she would have voiced them to her brother. Instead of talking though, she grabbed at his shoulder and gave a rough shake. Lucky for her, he understood the wide eyed, pale expression, or maybe it was just the fact that she had a hand clapped over her mouth that keyed him in; either way he pulled over to the side of the road without question or delay.

Bridgette threw open her door, unbuckled, and leaned out in less than five seconds, the remainder of this mornings meal meeting the ground with a very unpleasant squish. Nathan stared on with worry as she continued to throw up until she could do nothing more than dry heave. They sat there for some time, until Bridgette finally spoke, her voice hoarse and shaky.

"Can we just sit here for a few minutes?"

"Sure," Nathan answered as he shut off the car and leaned forward, "You wanna lay in the back for a few?"

Bridgette shook her head as she wiped her mouth across the arm of her coat, "No, I just wanna let my stomach settle for a bit."

"Ok."

Taking a deep breath, Bridgette sat up and took a look around. They had pulled over into the driveway of what must have been at one point an impressive building for this area, but now it was nothing more than charred rubble. The remains were blackened and rotting from years of weather abuse, and the entire area felt eerie and dead. She could see vague shadows hidden behind the deteriorating walls, shapes that must have been the furniture that met the same cruel fate as the building.

As Bridgette started to look away though she caught something move from the corner of her eye. Darting back to that direction, she squinted in an attempt to pierce through the fog. Nothing moved. Had it been her imagination again? A minute passed before she finally gave up and turned to sit in the car again, her temples pounding from her recent activities, and her mind working itself into a little frenzy over a shadow.

"I think…maybe I will lay down for a bit, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, not like there's anyone here to stop us from loitering. 'Sides, maybe the weather will be cleared up by then and we can get the hell outta here."

"I hope so…"

With her mind thinking about sleep now, Bridgette barely managed to hide a large yawn behind her hand as she climbed into the back seat. She cuddled her head against her arm and pulled her knees up as much as her stomach would allow. Eyes closed and a little less than comfortable, Bridge murmured to her brother,

"You just gonna sit here while I sleep?"

"Nah, I might take a look around, creepy shit like this is kinda cool."

"Well don't…go too far…" her voice began trailing off as the tendrils of sleep started to knead her brain.

"Don't worry so much, I'll be right around here and it's not like…"

Bridgette plummeted into darkness as the vestiges of consciousness finally hid themselves away. Then, as the weight of the waking world lifted off of her shoulders she floated down and came to a stop on molten clouds that burned both hot and cold in her soul; a piercing siren began to sing a shrill song in the distance. The song terrified her in a way she couldn't describe and it reminded her of blood and the stink of death. She could see the blood now, oozing towards her and reaching out to try and consume her whole. So she ran, she ran and ran but the siren followed. It echoed everywhere carrying with it a hidden message that felt familiar but remained undecipherable. Her skin burned and itched and for some reason it felt as if there was a fire inside of her stomach; a small inferno feeding off of her and eating its way through her flesh with slow precision. Bridgette screamed and woke up.

With a gasp she sat up, her skin still itching from the remnants of her dream and her heart pounding with fear induced adrenaline. Her mouth was dry, a headache lurked quietly behind her eyes and she was alone. It took her a few minutes to realize this fact, but after she noticed it other oddities began showing themselves in short concession. The first thing that she noticed was that it was pitch-black outside of the car. The only light she could find was coming from the ceiling of her car, which led to the second thing she noticed. The driver's side door was hanging wide open and a thin layer of snow had begun to collect on the seat. Daring to do the cliché, Bridgette leaned towards the front and called through the opening.

"Nathan? Nathan!"

Nothing. A shiver of fear slid down her spine and Bridgette frowned, unsure of what to do next. The car keys were missing, which implied that Nathan had gone somewhere, but why wasn't he back yet if it was already night and why had he left the car door open? Timid, Bridgette got out of the car and walked around to the driver's side. She locked the doors as she got in and reached for her cell phone with the intention of calling her brother. When she flipped it open though and spotted her signal she sighed and wondered if all the cell phone companies lied about how great their coverage was. Honestly, what was the point in having a cell phone if you couldn't use it in dire situations? She flipped the phone shut again and slid it into her pocket. A good twenty minutes passed as she just sat there, anxious and waiting for the man who refused to reappear. When she had enough of waiting she let out an annoyed huff and decided to go look for him herself.

Bridgette popped open the trunk then got out of the car. She left it unlocked just in case she came back without or before him. As she looked in the trunk, she couldn't help but smile. The day she had left home her father had insisted that she keep several items in her trunk in case of a roadside emergency and now she was glad that she had listened to his advice. She pulled out the heavy-duty flashlight and tested it before rummaging through some of the other things. There were quite a few items packed, most of which would be useful for changing a flat tire or bandaging a minor wound but nothing that seemed useful at the moment. If she needed anything though, she could always come back to the car anyway, right? Happy with just the flashlight for now, Bridgette turned it on then slammed the trunk shut.

The sound didn't echo and even though Bridgette didn't notice this herself, subconsciously it hit home and sent a shuddering response through her body that increased her awareness to the dark world around her. She swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of her throat and shined the flashlight towards the burnt ruins. A frown found its way onto her face as the light tried to penetrate through the deep black, succeeding only just, and as she waved it gingerly back and forth she swore that it was revealing a complete building, one that wasn't decrepit and derelict but that was impossible…

Slow and cautious, Bridgette walked towards what should have been rubble but the closer she got the wider her eyes became. Looking up at the towering building, she stared at the sign that introduced her to the Lake View Hotel. Though she tried to rationalize the situation in her head by suggesting that perhaps she had gone in the wrong direction in her heart, she knew that this was the building that had burned down and now for some crazy reason, it was whole again. The threatening hotel rose above her as she tried to decide whether she should go in or not. She'd seen plenty of horror movies and going into a spooky house that appeared out of nowhere seemed high on the list of things not to do if you cherished your life.

What if Nathan had gone inside though? After all, he really was the sort of person who would want to investigate a magically restored hotel, ignoring any possible dangers in the process. She wondered if opening the door and just shouting for him would suffice. Her silent planning was interrupted then as the cell phone in her pocket began to let out an unnerving series of screeches and static, quiet at first but rising to a crescendo that caused her hair to stand on end. She snatched it out of her pocket and flipped it open but even when she hit different buttons the sound did not abate. After no success she finally held down the power button and as soon as the phone shut off the noise stopped leaving her in a deafening silence. With her nerves frayed now, but her ears salvaged, Bridgette sighed and gave a nervous laugh at her miniscule triumph.

Something behind her hissed then. It was the sort of hiss you'd expect to hear from an angry cat, only this cat sounded bigger and a whole lot angrier. The hiss was followed by the sound of something metallic dragging against pavement. She didn't want to, but Bridgette couldn't help it as her head began to turn and face whatever had made that sound and as she pointed the beam of light in the direction she gazed, she regretted it instantly. Only a yard or so away, walking towards her with a patient gait, was a creature right out of a nightmare.

It was tall, taller than her by a good foot and a half, and it was ugly as sin and twice as terrifying. The monster almost appeared humanoid, but its naked body was a sickly, glistening gray hue that had dark veins crisscrossing in every direction, some of which seemed to have burst through the skin and begun leaking. The head was replaced with just one large fleshy snout that could have belonged to a mutilated dog, and as it sniffed the air it quivered with excitement. The arms extended much too far away from the body, and while one ended in a perfect human hand the other ended in a mouth; a sharp toothed, drooling, open mouth complete with a lolling tongue. In its perfect hand, the creature pulled a long piece of metal that was fashioned into a rudimentary sword, but one without a hilt to hang on to. Blood ran down the blade from where the monster held onto it, and as the metal scraped against the pavement it left a thin bloody trail.

Bridgette was shocked into a stupor as the thing continued to walk closer to her. Her brain screamed at her to run, to go inside, to get back to the car, to do something other than stand there like an imbecile, and while she wanted to do any of those things her legs would just not cooperate. They were heavy as lead and glued to the ground… And the monster was getting closer.