Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill or any of its characters. I only own my OC's and this plot.
A/N: This is a strange chapter, but it's meant to be. The source of Henrietta's unusual personality will eventually be revealed, but not for a while.
As always, beware of the SH1-SH4 spoilers throughout this story. Also, there is one curse word in this chapter.
Please enjoy :)
Chapter 3: Strange Encounters
The snow was still falling softly, and the fog still hung heavily in the air on Neely St. The silence was astounding, the silence was…suddenly broken.
Stopping abruptly, Henri looked around her, nerves on edge. She could have sworn that she had just heard footsteps that did not belong to her. As she stood, she did indeed hear footsteps.
There was something wrong with the steps. They did not sound human; she could hear what sounded like nails scrapping against the pavement. Henri thought, perhaps, that a dog was coming towards her. As the sounds came closer, she could see a figure coming towards her in the fog. Her breathing abruptly halted.
It might have been a dog…at one time. It certainly was not anymore.
It had no fur. Rather, it had dark, sickly, pink hued skin. It had neither visible ears, nor eyes, nor a tail. The skin covering it was patchy; she could see stitches and had the horrible impression that the creature had been sewn together from the skin of other animals. It walked slowly towards her, two tongues lolling out of a mouth that appeared to have at least two rows of razor-sharp teeth. Intently staring at the animal, Henri began to back up slowly…and bumped into something.
She heard a sudden growl. Jerking her head around, Henri saw another one of these dog-like creatures had run into her.
After hearing the growl of its brother, the first dog she had seen came trotting over. The dogs began sniffing her intently, taking short licks of her arms. Henri was certain she was going to die; there was no way she could even hit one of the two dogs with the pipe without being wide open for attack by the other. Closing her eyes, Henri waited for the end to come, but…nothing happened.
Brows furrowed in confusion, Henri looked down. The dogs were making no move to strike, merely sniffing in curiosity. One dog let out a small 'woof' and turned and walked away. The other dog followed shortly thereafter.
Floored with shock, Henri watched the two dogs wander off, wondering what had just happened. She was sure she was doggy food, perhaps like that poor man at the south end of Lindsey. They had known she was there, had smelled and tasted her skin. So, why was she alive, completely unharmed? It didn't make sense, but she wasn't about to complain. More on the alert, Henri continued up Neely.
Five minutes later, as she reached the intersection of Neely and Katz, Henri was still very confused. She had encountered no less than four other Gruesome Mosaics, and had received the same reaction from them as she had from the first two; they approached her, sniffed her, licked her, and walked away. Taking a left onto Katz, Henri walked towards Monson, unbothered by the three Gruesome Mosaics wandering the street. Taking a right onto Monson, Henri found the entrance of the Blue Creek Apartments.
Taking out the key chain, Henri used the key she found in the deep fryer to unlock the front doors. The inside of the building was dank and dark. There was little light in the lobby, but, just to the right, Henri was a post board on the wall. On the board was a map of the apartments. Taking the map down, Henri took a look at it. Just like on the Silent Hill map, there was one circle marking the Blue Creek. In was in room 105. She walked to the door leading out of the stairwell, but found it locked; the key would not unlock it. Sighing in exasperation, Henri walked up the stairs in search of a solution.
The second floor was completely dark. Muttering darkly herself, Henri found a lit laundry room to the left. Looking around, Henri searched for anything useful.
She saw something strange; in the lit room, there seemed to be an area lit between the washer and dryer that should not have been lit. Moving the washer aside slightly, Henri found that a small pocket flashlight shone between the appliances. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, she picked it up and turned to explore the rest of the floor.
To the right of the stairwell, Henri began to explore. Rooms 201, 202, 205, and 204 where all locked. 203, however, was not. Cautiously, she turned the knob and entered. The apartment's living room was in shambles; there did not appear to be any furniture save a few chairs in the room. There was a kitchenette across from the entrance way, and the few other doors off the living room were all locked.
Henrietta was about to leave the room, but stopped abruptly when her flashlight reflected off of something metallic in the kitchenette. Inside the kitchenette, Henri saw a key hanging on the refrigerator door. Taking it down, Henri read "Apt. 302" on the head. Not even bothering to wonder why the key to apartment 302 would be in 203, Henri returned to the hallway.
The rest of the doors on the second floor were also locked. She then walked up to the third floor using the northern stairwell. Exiting across from room 308, Henri turned left. The doors on this floor were strange. Although some where just locked, 306 and 309 were actually…plastered over. It was a very unnerving sight in this pitch-black hallway. She found all doors on this floor locked.
Reaching apartment 302, Henri unlocked the door and entered. It was in as good a shape as 203 had been, but there was some furniture in the living room. On a table next to the entrance, Henri found a newspaper. She was about to read it when she heard something coming from an open doorway to the left.
Something staggered out of the doorway. Jerking back, Henri gaped at the monster before her.
It walked upright on two legs. But that was where the human similarities ended. It was about seven feet tall, and had four arms. The top pair looked like they had regular human hands, but the bottom pair were almost like spear heads, narrow and sharply pointed. Its flesh was an unpleasant brown, and looked very slick. It had a narrow, humanoid chest. It had a face, more or less. There were definitely eyes, totally black, and slits in place of a nose. It didn't appear at first to have a mouth, but Henri wouldn't bet on it. From the back of its head, hundreds of thick strands of flesh cascaded down its back, making it look like the creature had dreadlocks.
The beast walked with an awkward gate, slightly hunched over. Its eyes were downcast, its manor quiet. That changed very quickly when it looked up and saw Henri. Its eyes widened unbelievably, and a small chasm suddenly opened up in its face to reveal a toothy mouth that emitted an earth-shaking roar. As it charged towards Henri, she raised her pipe in an effort of self-defense.
Not at all intimidated, the Dread continued its charge. Scared out of her mind now, unsure she could defeat a monster nearly twice her size, Henri felt a haze settle over her mind. Inexplicably, she felt a sudden fury wash over her and an angry roar fill her head.
"ENOUGH!" she yelled, absolutely incensed.
The feeling of the room suddenly darkened, like a chilling shadow had passed over the apartment. The Dread stopped suddenly, falling to its knees. The creature clutched its head, moaning in pain, shaking. It dejectedly crawled into the corner of the room, staring at her sadly. Like a kicked puppy. She almost felt sorry for it, though, as her mind began to clear, she had no idea what happened to it.
It was remarkable how much the creature looked like a scolded child, curled up in the corner as it was. Henri felt somewhat guilty, although she wasn't sure why.
Hesitating, wondering at what point it was that she had gone insane, Henri began to approach the Dread. It looked more scared as she got closer, and she couldn't help but wonder if this creature was in fact not yet an adult. She kneeled down a few feet away from it…him, she thought, and began talking softy.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you." The creature looked hesitant, but uncurled itself slightly.
Against every instinct she had, she reached out slowly and began to stroke one of its humanoid hands. It made a soft, curious sound, sitting up fully. It slowly loosened up, and gave a strange little snort as Henri stroked the side of its face. She was relieved to find that the skin did not receive its shine from sliminess; in fact, it felt rather human-like. She patted the top of his head, smiled hesitantly at him, and then began to back away slowly.
While he watched her curiously, Henri went back to the table by the door, careful to keep one eye on the creature as he sat in the corner of the room. The newspaper she had first seen looked slightly yellow. Looking at the date, she could understand why. This newspaper was dated nearly twenty three years ago. 'What is a 23-year-old newspaper doing in someone's living room?' Henri wondered.
The paper, The Silent Hill Gazette, had a rather bold headline: "Teenage Girl Raped in What Is Believed to be a Satanic Ritual". Furrowing her brows slightly, Henrietta read the brief article:
On January 20th, a female, eighteen-year-old high school student was found brutally raped in an abandoned church just north of Lakeside Amusement Park. She was found unconscious from a combination of shock and blood loss. It has been reported that she was lying on an altar, her body covered in bizarre patterns, believed to be drawn in blood. A mutilated pig was found in the outside perimeters of the church, and the police have reason to believe that the animal was the source of the blood used to draw on the girl. For these reasons, it is strongly believed by some residents that this rape was committed by the underground cult which has long been rumored to exist in Silent Hill. The police strongly dispute this claim, denying the existence of any such cult. They claim that the rape was most likely perpetrated by a group of teenagers who probably took a prank too far. The girl in stable condition, and is expected to make a full recovery.
"A cult in Silent Hill?" Henri stared at the article, aghast. She had never heard such a thing. And what would a cult gain from raping a teenaged girl? "What is this, some horrific rendition of 'Rosemary's Baby'?"
Perhaps the question she should be asking herself was what the significance of this decades old article in this nightmare apartment was. She had yet to see anything in this version of Silent Hill that did not have some deeper meaning. Was this supposed to be some clue as to why she was here?
She tucked the newspaper inside her pocket, deciding it might be important. Henri then looked over towards the room from which the Dread had come. Entering the room, she was happy to see that he was the only one in there. This room appeared to be a bedroom. Overall, the décor was tasteful, but she couldn't help but think that the blood covering the walls was an unnecessary addition. Otherwise, there appeared to be nothing of any real interest in the bedroom. There was another room leading from the bedroom, which Henri assumed to be the bathroom.
It was the bathroom, but Henri was shocked into stillness to find that it was occupied…sort of. A dead woman lay in the bathtub. It looked like her face had been ripped off. Henri wondered if the Dread had done this. Looking closer at the body, Henri noticed that, like the first body she had found, there was a key clutched in its hand. Removing the key, Henri found the words, 'Stairway Door' on the head.
Exiting the bathroom, Henri walked back into the living room. The Dread was still sitting on the floor, apparently waiting for her to come back, as it stood upon her reentrance.
Not sure what to think of this, Henri cautiously walked towards the front door. She had the door open and was just about to leave when the monster gave a low whine and rushed towards her. Startled and devoid of the strange courage that had overtaken her previously, Henri was frozen in her tracks at the sudden movement.
However, the Dread did not tear her head off as she was afraid. Instead, the monster stopped directly in front of her, looking down at her expectantly. Did it want something from her? She slowly exited the room, and the Dread followed after her. To her nervous surprise, the creature followed her all the way down to the first floor, where she used the key from 302 to unlock the first floor entry.
Room 105 was almost directly across from the stairwell, and Henri was happy to find it unlocked. She entered the room, followed closely by the Dread, who, despite his great size, made very little noise as he moved about. There was very little in this living room, save for an open roller-top desk.
However, there was something very interesting in the desk: a handgun.
Though she had never had a gun herself, Henri's grandfather had taught her how to use one. This was a very simplistic pistol that loaded via a slide-in handle clip. She was surprised to see that the magazine was full, a total of ten bullets in the clip. There was also a full box of ten bullets next to the pistol. She felt uneasy about taking the weapon, but…looking briefly at the gigantic beast standing next to her, Henri could not help but feel that she might need it.
Putting the bullets in a pocket and placing the safety on the gun, Henri looked around the room. Every other room was locked, and only the kitchenette was open. There was something very strange in the kitchenette. On the counter, there was an unmarked bottle filled with a white liquid. Was it milk? She highly doubted it.
Was this, perhaps, why apartment 105 had been circled? She decided to take the bottle with her, just in case. However, how was she to carry it? She was running out of pockets, and she needed a bag. She walked around the living room, hoping to find something she could carry the bottle in, but was unsuccessful.
Walking to what was probably the bedroom door, Henri tried to force the door open, and then tried to use a thin piece of floor debris to jimmy the door open. Both failed. Sighing in exasperation, Henri kicked the door.
She was lost in thought, trying to figure out how to open the door, and didn't see the Dread approach. When she finally did, she saw him use his bottom set of arms to slice the lock off of the door. She watched the door swing open, incredulous. She looked up at the monster.
He somehow managed to look pretty proud of himself.
"…Thank you," she said, and the creature gave a strangely human-like grunt.
The bedroom was mercifully free of bodies. Casing the room, she eventually found a back pack in the closet, put the bottle and newspaper in it, and slung the long straps over her shoulders. She found nothing else of interest in the room and left the apartment, the Dread right behind her. There were no other unlocked doors on the first floor, so she exited the Blue Creek and walked back onto Monson. As she had expected, the Dread followed her out.
Looking at the monster, Henri was still at a loss as to why he was following her.
"Are you planning to follow me everywhere?" she asked.
The Dread cocked his head curiously, and let out an inquisitive whine. Henri sighed, guessing that that was as good an answer as she was going to get.
"Well, I guess I ought to call you something, then. How about…Michael? Mundane, I know, but I could use 'mundane' right about now. So, is Michael okay for you?" The monster made another gruff sound, though who knew if he really understood.
The snow outside continued to fall, lightly. A pair of Gruesome Mosaics walked by, unconcerned by either Henri or Michael. Henri set out north, only briefly wondering why she did not feel more nervous about her new travel companion.
She then took a right onto Nathan Ave. She decided to go to the fire station first, and walked past St. Stella's to the entrance of the station. However, she was very hesitant to enter when she noticed what was right in front of the entrance.
The bodies of two Gruesome Mosaics lay scrawled, both appearing to have been shot several times with a large caliber gun.
While this should have made her feel relieved, owing to fact that there might be living humans around, it did not. For some reason, the sight made her very nervous—even more so than when she had met the first pair of Gruesome Mosaics.
Apparently, Michael did not like it either, if the low growls he was making where any indicator. While Henri entered the firehouse, Michael remained outside, seemingly not trusting something inside. He made a nervous sort of sound as she went in, but Henri reassured him she would be careful, and moved on.
The inside of the bottom floor was lit only by the light streaming in from outside. Naturally, the place was in shambles, and Henri could see the corpses of bizarre, mannequin-like creatures lying on the floor. As she walked up the stairs to the second floor, the windows were covered by boards, and Henri had to rely on the flashlight to see. The top landing led off into three different rooms: the Director's Office, the Fireman's Lounge, and the Records Room.
The Firemen's Lounge was basically a recreational facility for the firemen, as well as living quarters for the professionals. The only thing of real interest was the ax Henri found on one of the beds. She tucked it into the loop of her pants and left the room. The Director's Office was locked, so she walked into the Records Room.
She was stopped short when she suddenly found the barrel of a gun in her face.
Raising her hands quickly, Henri stared stunned at the man before her. The flashlight showed a man in his early forties, with short, light brown hair and a slightly wild look in his eyes. More disturbing however was the fact that he appeared to be wearing a scarlet robe—reminiscent of how she had always pictured Druids.
"Sorry for intruding," Henri said, trying to convince the man that there was no reason to shoot her. Upon hearing her voice, the man lowered the gun slowly.
"Sorry about that, young lady," the man said, his voice carrying a slightly Southern tinge. "I thought you were one of the monsters." Not sure that her desired response of "Likewise" would go over too well with a man in a red robe holding a revolver, Henri just shook her head slowly.
"No, it's OK. My name is Henrietta Sunderland. May I ask who you are? You're the first human I've seen all day."
"I'm not surprised," the man said, giving a sigh and replacing the revolver into the holster on his belt. "My name is Shelton Palmer. I came to this town a couple of days ago on a job. When I got here, everything was normal. The townspeople were all here, and there where tourists everywhere. Yesterday, everything changed. Now this place is freezing cold, deserted, and full of monsters."
Shelton grimaced here. "Everywhere I turn, there are goddamn freakish dogs and living mannequins. Fuckin' dogs keep trying to tear my throat out. Been killin' them right and left, but they just keep coming."
Somehow both surprised and not surprised by this confirmation that it was likely the Gruesome Mosaics killing the few survivors on the streets of Silent Hill, Henri remained quiet on the subject. Some instinct inside of her warned her not to explain to this strange man that the monsters left her alone.
"Anyway," Shelton continued, "Are you a resident of Silent Hill?" This he asked with a rather suspicious look in his eyes.
Henri shook her head. "I live in Pleasant River, currently. I came here just yesterday looking for my grandfather. He disappeared in this town a few weeks ago."
A part of Henrietta was surprised at how easily the altered truth came from her mouth, for she had not actually thought of telling a lie to this man. However, that same instinct that warned her not to speak of Michael also told her not to trust Palmer.
"What are you doing here in the Firehouse Records Room?" Henri then asked, eager to get off of the subject of her own situation.
Shelton did not seem to notice the abruptness of the question and answered, "I am looking for records of a massive fire that occurred here a couple of decades ago. Destroyed part of the town. It is said to have started in some home in the northern part of the town, across Lake Toluca." He appeared to be thinking of something and hastily added, "I am a private investigator, and I was hired to find a missing girl that is believed to have survived that fire."
Henrietta nodded in understanding, all the while not believing this hastily made cover story. Last Henri had known, one of the primary goals of a PI was to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Walking around in a flamboyant scarlet robe didn't seem to fit the bill.
However, there could be some truth to the fire. Henri vaguely remembered hearing of a devastating fire having taken place in Silent Hill shortly before her birth. If she remembered correctly, she had learned about it in elementary school back in South Ashfield. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Henri.
"You say you've been here a couple of days, right? Have you by any chance seen my grandfather?" Henri pulled her wallet out of one of her pockets, and showed the man Frank Sunderland's photo. Looking briefly at picture, Shelton shook his head.
"Sorry, can't say I have. Do you have any clue where he might have gone?"
Biting her lip thoughtfully, Henrietta considered. "Maybe." She pulled keychain out and showed the man the so-called "Key of Rebirth". "Do you know what the letters 'WP' might mean?"
Shelton shook his head again. "No, can't say I do. I don't really know that much about Silent Hill. However…you might find something at the Silent Hill Historical Society. From what I understand, they have info on just about every building that stands in this town. There should be something about "WP" there."
Despite that inexplicable dislike she felt for this man, Henri had to admit that this was sound advice.
"Thank you very much. I shall go to the Historical Society then. I think I should be going now. Good luck on your own search."
Shelton nodded his goodbye and turned back to the open file cabinet at his back.
Henri backed out of the room quietly, keeping an eye on the strange man before closing the door behind her. Glad to be away from the reach of Shelton's revolver, Henri was about to return downstairs. She stopped abruptly at the top of the stairwell, however, when she noticed that something had changed.
The door to the Director's Office, previously locked, now stood slightly ajar. Cautiously, Henri opened the door all the way.
This room had a large window behind a desk which was taking up a large portion of the space, and the fog-dampened light from the outside was enough to reveal the entire room without the assistance of the flashlight. This room was strangely clean and very much unoccupied.
Whoever or whatever had unlocked the door was no longer here. Unlike any other rooms she had seen in this world, it looked safe and comfortingly normal; there was no blood on the walls, no furniture in shambles, and this room lacked the ominous chill of the rest of the town. Wondering why, Henri approached the desk.
On the desk was a beautifully crafted crystal vile. It was about five inches high and had a flat bottom, allowing it to stand on its own. Inside of the vile was a clear liquid that sparkled even in the dull sunlight.
Cautiously, Henri removed the snug-fitting frosted-glass cap and took a brief whiff of the liquid. There was no smell as far as she could tell. Looking at the stopper, she noticed that there was a very small drop of the liquid beading off of it. Holding the cap in one hand, she touched her finger to the droplet.
She abruptly pulled her finder to her chest after a short yelp of pain. That had burned! Looking at her abused finger, she saw that there was a very small scorch mark where the seemingly innocuous liquid had touched her. Was it some sort of weak acid then?
Recapping the vile, Henrietta looked again at the desk, noticing that there was a piece of paper under the vile. According to the date, the paper had been written only the day before…supposedly when the world had gone to hell. It looked to be a diary entry of some sort:
I brought this back from Italy, originally just because I thought it would be a conversational piece. Now, though, I am very glad I did for an entirely different reason. Just a little of the fluid seems to drive the monsters crazy with pain. However, it seems most effective on the creatures that bear the blue pentagrams. While it is true that they hate the sunlight, that alone is not enough to kill them, whatever legend might say. They are almost invulnerable at night. This liquid is the only thing I have found that has any power over them, but I have to use it sparingly. This is the only vile I have, and I fear what will happen when I run out. Those bastards are always thirsty, and they…
Here the letter ended with a sudden glaring smudge of ink, as though its writer had been suddenly disturbed from his task. She felt a sudden sense of unease. She had yet to see these creatures with the "blue pentagrams", and had a desire never to see them at all. Particularly if this small vile was the only defense she had against them. Pocketing the note and the vile, Henri left the office, suddenly wishing to be out of the building and away from Shelton.
She was strangely eager to see Michael, and move him away from the building before Palmer found him and shot him full of holes…and eager to move to a safer place before night fell.