Silent Hill: Rebirth

by Plumpromises

A brother and sister find themselves inexplicably drawn into the hellish realms of Silent Hill. Will the past be the death of them, or will they find a light at the end of this dark tunnel? Rated for violence and language. - To be continued one day; heavy edits also required. ((OH HOLD))

4. Midnight in Hell

Silent Hill - Rebirth

Chapter Four

I

Monday, November 9th

The halls were vacant as Bridgette scoured the rest of the floor with surgical precision. It felt odd that there was nothing terrifying to block her way but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and she was thankful for the small favor. She kept her pace swift and tried every door she came across only to find they all refused admittance. Undeterred by her failures though, she decided to search the second floor next. The stairs were easy enough to find and as she shined her flashlight up into the darkness the beam looked feeble against the hungry unknown; she hesitated.

Bridgette took a deep breath. What would she find up there, more monsters? The mere thought of having to face another horrible creature sent shivers of trepidation down her spine. What if her luck ran out? What would she do if they cornered her and… Bridgette shook her head and forced the images from her mind. Standing here wouldn't find Nathan and if anything else, staying in one place left her vulnerable to anybody wandering the halls. No, she had to keep moving. Hanging onto her depleting reserves of courage, Bridgette started up.

Just as she was reaching the middle of the stairwell the phone in her pocket began to scream and crackle, alerting the world that something bad was on the way. Her heart skipped a beat. She began to hurry, eyes wide as she jerked her head back and forth to watch the top and bottom of the stairs, unsure of where the monster would come from. As she turned to look up for the third time, her path was cut off as an arm exploded out from a fungal black growth on the wall. The appendage was gray, mottled and covered in oily muck as it lunged at her. With a gasp, Bridgette managed to duck just in time and it swiped over her head but while her attention focused on it, she failed to see the arms sprouting on her other side. Ready to sprint up the steps, her teeth were knocked painfully together as fingers entangled into her hair and wrenched her head backwards. Bridgette cried out in alarm as it yanked her towards the wall and another hand grabbed onto her shoulder, holding her securely in place. She began hyperventilating and slashed wildly at the arms as panic fogged her thoughts.

She screamed again as another hand grabbed onto her ankle, the bony fingers firm and unforgiving as they dug into her skin. The flashlight fell from her hand and clattered to the floor before rolling towards the side and illuminating the floor she'd just come from. Concerned with more important things, Bridgette began to stab ruthlessly at the hand tangled into her hair and after a few lucky blows she was rewarded to feel hot liquid slide down the back of her neck and her head free. Without thinking she slashed at the hand on her shoulder next, her revulsion at the deep gashes leaking inky blood forgotten as she fought for survival. The knife cut into muscle and flesh, tore through tendons and nerves but still the hand refused to let go. The wall was getting closer and Bridgette was sure that they meant to pull her into it. Using the blade as a saw now, she started removing the fingers with fear fed strength, the thick winter coat the only thing stopping her from cutting into her own shoulder. Two of the fingers fell to the floor, each one twitching spastically, no doubt furious at their failure. Bridgette managed to dislodge the grip on the shoulder with a few more desperate struggles but with nothing holding onto her upper body anymore she fell forward.

The jarring fall knocked the wind out of her lungs and loosed her grip on the knife. It slid across the grating then bounced just out of reach three stairs below; it might as well have been a mile away for all the good it did her. Letting out a wail of desperation and fear and pain and horror, Bridgette jerked her body to the side and started kicking at the hand around her ankle, her face scrunched into a silent, animalistic snarl. She felt bones crack beneath the heel of her boot and blood oozed from several gashes but her primal need for escape fueled her to further destruction. Other arms grabbed at the air above and behind her, each one blind yet confident that something would get caught eventually. A few more kicks won her freedom and Bridgette stretched to grab her lost weapon and flashlight. Somehow she managed to retrieve them and from there she scampered up the stairs on all fours, her body bouncing back and forth as she dodged the frenzied arms. By the time she threw herself onto the second floor, Bridgette could do nothing but lay there shuddering and wheezing, her mind blank from trauma as she tried to catch her breath. She watched with surreal detachment as the arms in the stairwell continued their search for a victim but she couldn't bring herself to do more than that. The world around her had gone silent from shock.

A thousand heartbeats later, Bridgette forced herself to sit up and scoot away from the stairs. Her chest and throat ached from the strain of her screams and her skin was tender from where the hands had held onto her. She held the knife close as she shined the flashlight down both ends of the hall and keeping a watch in all directions she managed to stand with some effort. Her legs quivered and protested, her stomach was twisted into painful knots and try as she might her breathing refused to return to normal. The cell phone in her pocket wouldn't shut up and though it frayed the remainder of her nerves, Bridgette didn't dare turn it off.

'I can't…I can't…Oh god, oh god please, I can't…' At that moment she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a dark corner and wait for rescue. The situation was impossible; it couldn't be real. Her eyes told a different story when she looked towards the stairwell though; she looked away again. 'This isn't…oh god, oh my god, please help me, please, please…oh Nathan where are, god help me please I've gotta find him' Imaging her brother's face as he confronted monsters equal or worse than the ones she'd already seen stabbed a needle of courage into her heart. Nathan was still out there. He had to be found. If she gave up now, she realized they may never see each other again and she would never forgive herself if anything happened to him. Only a few feet away to the right was another door so with her heart pounding and her body quaking with terror she started for it. The knob was warm beneath her fingers as she turned it and it opened without complaint. 'Please Nathan; please be here I need you…'

Inside the room the aphotic interior devoured the beam of light Bridgette tried to search it with. She shined a path along the floor but once she got more than three or four feet ahead the beam lost strength and gave into the dark consumption. Not eager to investigate the unknown, Bridgette licked her chapped lips and leaned her head in.

"Nathan?"

Her voice carried through the chamber but there was no response to her tentative call. The room was stagnant, filled with the pungent odor of decay. Everything inside of Bridgette urged her to turn back and close the door and she would have had something in the room not called her name at that moment. It was such a delicate whisper that at first she wasn't even sure it had been real; then it called her again. Her first instinct was to ignore the voice and leave. The urge was powerful yet her brain chimed in against it. 'What if it's Nathan? What if he's hurt, hiding in here? God you just can't just leave him!'

Bridgette stepped inside and the unisex voice called again, this time with delicate urgency. It came out as a breathy hiss that hung in the air before dropping off into silence. Unable to find her own voice, Bridgette didn't answer as she crept further into the room. The door clamored shut behind her and as it did the static coming from her cell phone fizzled away. Bridgette jumped in surprised and choked on a gasp. Glancing back at where the entrance had been her heart yearned for a quick escape that took all her willpower to resist. She felt alone, lost and terrified but managed to remain steadfast to her cause.

'Jesus, how big is this room?' She continued forward at a crawl, her flashlight revealing only the slightest of grim details until a few more footsteps brought Bridgette to something she hadn't been expecting. The room had a giant hole in the middle. Grating that covered the floor stopped dropped off and gave way to a large round opening and while that was fascinating in itself, Bridgette stood at the edge, eyes locked onto what was suspended over the dark gap. Hanging by a thick rusted chain and swaying back and forth was a tall, narrow cage just large enough for an adult to stand inside of. Pallid fingers curled around the bars however it was hard to tell if the person standing inside was a male or female. Steaming entrails hung from an open wound, snaking down around the feet. Ribs jutted out of the chest and an arm dangled from the shoulder by a single cord of muscle. Dead eyes stared an accusation while the dislocated jaw sagged, held in place now only by flaps of pale, bruised skin. Strips of flesh were missing from the cheeks and forehead and blood pooled onto the bottom of the cage then dripped down into the bottomless pit. The murder looked fresh.

Bridgette suppressed a gag, trying to keep from vomiting and shook her head; this was all wrong! Up until now she had been able to push the horror of her situation to the back of her mind but seeing another human dead and mutilated brought the weight of reality crashing down upon her. This wasn't just her nightmare; other people were dying while she ran and searched for Nathan. How many others? How many other people were trapped in here, how many of the inaccessible rooms had other men and women in them? She kept shaking her head in denial. This whole place was evil and wrong and shouldn't have existed! Bridgette ran past the hole.

"Nathan! Nathan! Answer me goddamnit!"

The flashlight wagged back and forth across the floor in search of any sign that Nathan had been here as Bridgette jogged through the dark, her boots pounding loud against the grating with frustrated abandon. She was desperate to find her brother, to find a way out of this hell.

II

Sunday, November 8th

Nathan lounged in the driver's seat of his sister's battered old car and tried to contemplate their current situation. Everything had still been normal when they turned into Brahms for a pit stop; it was after they left, after they passed Silent Hill that everything had turned into a fucking freak fest. First the fog, then their inability to find any exits other than the one for Silent Hill…it was like they were being forced to come here, but why, and by what? Then there was the lack of people. Where had everyone gone and why would they leave their stuff behind? None of it made an ounce of sense! It was worse than being stuck in a B-rated horror movie.

Casting a quick glance at the back seat to make sure his sister was still sound asleep, Nathan let out a snort and scratched at his chin. It was beginning to annoy the hell out of him and he was regretting his decision to try and grow a beard. The things he did for women… Still, Sam and Becky would like it; especially Sam, the little minx. He grinned appreciatively as thoughts of what Samantha, back at college, would do for his libido once she saw the new look. Hanging onto those x-rated fantasies, Nathan opened the door and stepped out into the frigid winter air. The chill bit at his ears and nose but he was unconcerned with the cold as he freed a pack of cigarettes from his pants pocket. Stealing one more glance at Bridgette to assure she wasn't just pretending to sleep, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The first puff filled his lungs with cancerous bliss and after exhaling slowly he whispered to the fog,

"Sorry sis…"

He had told her a year ago that he'd stopped smoking. She constantly gave him grief about the dangers of cancer no matter how many times he told her that it was his body, not hers, yet though he knew that her intentions were well and that she was only concerned because she loved him, it was a nuisance nonetheless. After coming to stay with her after the asshole left, Nathan had been hard pressed to keep his little habit a secret; he wondered if she knew and just didn't say anything anymore. For some reason, the thought of her keeping quiet bothered him more than if she had harassed him. Feeling guilty, however not willing to do anything about it, Nathan walked away from it instead.

Once he disappeared in the fog the radio in the car switched on. Nothing other than dead air came through at first, then the knob began to move on its own accord. Its spin was deliberate, scanning through the empty airwaves until it reached a desired station. When it did a jumbled mass of voices began to fill the car. The dialer continued its slow journey and the voices shifted to become a unified chant sung in an unknown tongue. They chanted louder and louder until one by one the individual voices rose into shrieks of ascending pain as well as horror. The car was filled with screams and the slowly rising, underlying sound of a siren. The siren's call rose in strength until it drowned out every other sound, its wail filling the car with a clarity not of this earth; Bridgette continued to sleep, undisturbed by the noise; her brother continued to walk away, unaware of its passing.

Nathan walked with both hands buried in his pockets, one slipping out now and then to brave the cold and maneuver the cigarette. The ruins of a once large building came into view, piquing Nathan's interest, so the remainder of his cigarette, plus half of another one, was spent shuffling through the charred rubble in search of a cursed locket or a map to hidden treasure. Neither one could be found, nor anything else of particular interesting so the disappointed adventurer strolled back to the Volvo empty handed.

Trying to decide how much longer he should let Bridgette nap, Nathan didn't notice anything was amiss until he opened the door then sat down. His legs were still hanging out of the car when a leftward glance exposed his sister missing from where he'd left her. An alarm went off in the back of his head.

"What the…" Logic muffled the noise to offer an explanation. 'Probably lookin' for me…' Standing between the door and the body of the car, Nathan surveyed the area; the fog revealed nothing. "Hey Bridge, where are you?" His shout resounded through the haze, unanswered.

Ears and eyes searching for Bridgette only found her absence amidst the swirling mists. He was ready to get back into the car, out of the ass-biting cold and just call her when footsteps echoed to his left. Nathan squinted, picking up the shadowy figure of a person standing in the distance. The figure's arm lifted into the air then began a languid wave in his direction.

"Very funny Bridgette, get back here so we can go already, I'm fucking freezing!"

The figure waved a few more times then started to retreat further into the fog, "Wait; wait! Where are you going? Shit!"

Whoever had been standing there a moment ago was out of sight now, the footsteps getting softer by the second. Nathan snatched the keys from the ignition and hurried away from the car, his hand missing the door as he swung it backwards in an attempt to shut it. He ran hard and fast to catch up with the figure although his efforts seemed futile. Whoever was ahead of him remained just so. He could hear the person's shoes slap against the pavement as they ran yet for all the stamina that Nathan possessed from hours of baseball practice he couldn't seem to get closer. The footsteps faded away bringing the chase to an abrupt stop. Lost in the murk, angry now at his inability to run faster, Nathan bent over and tried to catch his breath, a curse escaping between each one.

"Shit, fuck, dammit, goddammit, shit!"

The icy air stabbed at the inside of Nathan's lungs as he panted. There was no way that Bridgette could out run him so if that wasn't her, than who was it? The question chewed at the back of his brain until dozens of unlikely answers bled from the wounds. Maybe the stranger was responsible for whatever was going on here; maybe he (Nathan figured it had to be a male to outrun him) kidnapped Bridgette; maybe he just spooked Bridgette and she ran to search for him. The maybes continued on until Nathan was able to stand and breathe normally again. Worried about his sister, he decided that calling her would be the best option at that juncture. If she was still near the car she could wait for him there while he made his way back.

Number dialed, Nathan started walking back while he waited for an answer. After three rings it picked up, the hello that should have been forthcoming never happening. Dead air filled the line.

"Hello?" nothing. Hanging up, Nathan tried again, still once more the phone picked up, silence the only reply.

"Hello? Bridgette, you there?" Another minute of nothing passed then the phone hung up on him, "Fuck."

After one last attempt that ended in failure, Nathan stopped trying to dial her and instead typed in a text message. 'Where the hell did you go?' seemed subtle enough; it went through after a few seconds of searching for the smallest signal. The rest of the walk back to the car was uneventful. Just as he was about to start brushing the collected snow off of his seat before climbing back inside his cell phone sang out to him cheerfully, "Ohhhhh, Kyle's mom is a big fat bitch, she's the biggest bitch in the whole wide world…" He'd gotten a reply. Nathan pulled out the phone and opened the message, his frown immediate.

'i'm in the hotel, watch out for the monsters! we have to meet somewhere safe, where are you?'

Nathan smirked after reading the message, shaking his head, far from amused at his sister's attempted humor. It was bad enough that she had to go and scare him by running off, but then to send something like this? Not funny…sassy of her, still, not funny. Hopefully closer to Bridgette now, Nathan tried to dial her number again. Three rings, then the line picked up. Right away he heard his sister's giggle on the other end.

"This so isn't funny you know. Where the hell are you anyway huh? I saw some dude wandering around out here. Hello?"

The giggles had stopped as soon as he spoke and now nothing responded to his question. It wasn't dead air like before though. Nathan got the distinct feeling that somebody on the other end was listening to him just as closely as he was trying to hear him or her. Nobody on either end said a word so when after a minute of the emptiness passed he grew tired of the little game.

"Listen, if this isn't Bridge then who the fuck are you? Where's my sister asshole?"

A scream erupted from the phone. It was an inhuman octave that conveyed more pain that the human soul could ever withstand forcing every hair on Nathan's body to rise as he jumped with surprise. The tormented cry stirred up gruesome images of mutilation, suffering, blood and death then stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. Overbearing silence took over the waves once more leaving Nathan shaken as well as disturbed.

"Bridgette…?"

The phone clicked then hung up and every fiber of Nathan's being insisted that this was no joke; something was very wrong. Not sparing any time for idle thoughts he rushed to the trunk of the car. There had to be something in there that could be used for a weapon. The tire iron caught Nathan's immediate attention so he plucked the instrument out of the trunk, relieved to have some sort of protection. He was disheartened by his inability to find a flashlight. He would just have to do without.

Now armed and ready to bludgeon anyone who dared harm his sister, Nathan thought back to the only message she had sent. It said that she was in the hotel. Did she mean what was left of the building nearby? If that were the case, to be in it, she would have to be in the basement, right? Feeling oh so clever, Nathan jogged over to the rubble only to spend the next hour poking and prodding at the ground in search of way down, or a sign that Bridgette had fallen through. He could find no evidence of either. Every inch of the floor was solid and unbroken, so if she was in a hotel, it had to be somewhere else.

"But fuckin' where?" Nathan grumbled to himself as he stabbed the tire iron at another chunk of wood, "It isn't like she had a whole lot a time to get far and for fuck's sake she's pregnant, not like she could have run a long way anyway… And what the hell did she mean by monsters?"

He sighed, hoping she hadn't hit her head then as a consequence started hallucinating. If that weren't the case though, maybe she was referring to the stranger he had chased in the fog; maybe the guy had a mask on or something and he'd spooked Bridgette. She might have run after noticing she was alone and vulnerable then found a hiding place in a hotel somewhere nearby. Ready to give up to start looking elsewhere, Nathan started back to the car. Halfway there, mid-stride, his cell phone started crackling with static mixed with other indecipherable sounds, halting his steps. The phone had never done such a thing in the past, so he drew it out of his pocket and started pressing each button with a frown that stated, 'I have no idea what I'm doing but that's never stopped me before'. Nothing short of turning the thing off seemed to help though, so that's what he did with a disgruntled grunt.

"Stupid, cheap ass piece of shit… Probably picking up a radio from somewhere, or something…Eh well, only paid ten bucks for it anyway so what can I expect right?"

He continued heading towards the car, then stopped again after hearing something strange above his head. The sound was reminiscent of enormous wings beating together, though nothing large or small appeared through the snow filled fog. Nathan frowned, his handsome face shadowed with uncertainty as he tightened his grip on the tire iron. He inched closer to the car, his eyes cast skyward, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The flapping got increasingly louder until Nathan was sure that whatever was making the sound would be right on top of him any moment.

"What the hell is that…" his voice was low and curious.

Nathan stopped moving, shifted the tire iron so that it sat in his hands like a familiar baseball bat would then after that he braced his feet. He was ready now. While he watched the sky the flapping was joined by an otherworldly squawk as a dark shape started diving at him from straight ahead. Whatever was coming at him swooped lower to the pavement, no doubt salivating at the thought of mowing him down and it screamed again. The ghastly sounds were coming from an oversized beak set on a body crafted in Hell. As it rushed towards Nathan he never hesitated; he swung the tire iron forward with all his God given might.

The sound of metal splitting bone cracked through the air and the flying atrocity spread its wings in a feeble attempt to glide to safety. Off balanced, it managed to swoosh over Nathan's head only to crash onto the pavement behind him with a wet thud along with a pathetic, pained squeal. Turning his head, eyes wide with surprise, a victorious grin took its rightful place along his lips once he spotted the downed creature. Lowering his bat, Nathan took a few slow steps closer.

"That's right you crazy ass bird, that'll teach you to fuckin' try and dive bomb a baseball legend…"

His triumphant mumbles were cut short as he caught full sight of exactly what he had struck. If bats were the size of dogs, didn't have any skin, were related to snakes and took daily baths in vats of grease then Nathan would have said that he just had an encounter with a bat. Unfortunately, no bat that he had ever heard of did any of those things… Taking another step closer, his curiosity an insatiable disease, Nathan leaned down to whisper,

"Man you're an ugly little shit…What the fuck are you?"

Perhaps the monster understood him because just after the words left his mouth its long neck twisted around before it snapped at Nathan's foot with a large serrated beak, beady silver eyes intent on blood and vengeance. Nathan gave a surprised shout while jumping back just before his body part became a last meal to the beast.

"Shit, fuck! You ugly son of a bitch!"

Angry now, more at his own stupidity than at the monster's aggression, Nathan slammed the tire iron down onto the Sweeper's (as he had so elegantly decided to name it based on its downward sweep in his direction) head. It crunched and splattered beneath his blows, but he didn't quit until the creature stopped moving, even after the muscles in his arms protested. Out of breath, Nathan's eyes scanned over the bloody remains of his fallen foe; Bridgette was right, watch out for the monsters indeed…

He snapped back to reality then sprinted to the Volvo, running as if he had the hounds of Hell on his heels, which at this point he didn't doubt could happen. The car looked beautiful against the concealing fog and after jumping inside he locked the doors before leaning his forehead against the cold steering wheel, his thoughts a labyrinth of questions with impossible answers. Nathan's heart played a familiar drum solo against his ribcage; it was several minutes before he lifted his head again to dare a look out the window. Snow and pale fog still surrounded him on all sides, though there was no sign that the Sweeper had called for back up yet. No longer in sight of the corpse, Nathan wondered for a second if it had happened at all; one quick look at the tire iron erased his doubts though, curling his lip up in disgust. Blood along with chucks of flesh dripped down the sides and while Bridgette probably wouldn't be mad after his explanation, he moved it off of the passenger seat anyway then set it on the floor.

"Ok…" Nathan murmured as he scratched at his chin again, eyes still searching around the car for another attack, "Ok, I should call the cops, right? They can bring in the army or something; I mean, I bet that thing is just some failed science experiment; happens all the time, doesn't it? Bridge probably ran into it first, got the hell outta here and is hiding someplace now. I'll just call the cops and tell them that…that…fuck, that some creature belonging on the X-Files just fuckin' attacked me? Yeah right. Ok, scratch calling the cops; I'll just find Bridgette then I'm sure she can come up with something after that…"

Feeling a bit better now that a plan had formulated, Nathan pulled out his phone then turned it back on. "Ohhhhh, Kyle's mom is a big fat bitch, she's the biggest bitch in the whole wide world…" The song fragment put a weak smile on Nathan's face as he pushed the button to open his message.

'please tell me you're ok, there are monsters everywhere, where are you?'

Realizing he forgot to answer his sister the first time, Nathan cursed himself softly, rushing to reply.

'i'm ok, i'm in the car, can you get here?'

He hit send then leaned back in the seat and kept his eyes peeled for trouble. Nothing stirred outside of the car though giving Nathan the impression that he was only witnessing the calm before the storm. Something was wrong with this town; he could feel it in his bones. The fog, the emptiness…none it felt like an accident, making his earlier notion that the creature he fought was only a science experiment feel untrue. The Sweeper had been intent on inflicting harm inspiring only one word he could find to describe it: evil. This whole place felt evil. "Ohhhhh, Kyle's mom…" Nathan hit the accept button.

'oh thank god! no, i can't go back up, but there's a tunnel here. i'll follow it and let you know where i am then. stay there'

'ok, be careful'

Nathan threw the phone onto the passenger seat, rubbed his hands against his face then turned on the car. As the engine roared to life, the florescent green lights on the panel lit up, promising that midnight had come and gone even though the sun refused to admit such, either that or the earth seemed to feel above such petty laws as time. The atmosphere was still just as pale and gray as it had been earlier in the afternoon, though now the empty pit in Nathan's stomach assured him that dinnertime had passed without culinary satisfaction. Trying not to think about Mother Nature's revolt against logic, Nathan tried humming to keep himself distracted. The minor ploy to keep his mind untroubled worked wonderfully until the phone on the passenger seat began bubbling with static again.

Looking at the phone with a deep frown, Nathan was struck by déjà vu; this had happened before… He grabbed the phone, his distress growing as the static sputtered beneath his fingertips, ever increasing in volume. Knowing that if he turned the phone off he would miss Bridgette's messages, Nathan, simply muffled the sound with his coat sleeve before looking out the front windshield. The shadowy form hovering above the ground a few feet in front of the car got instant recognition.

"Aw fuck me…"