Chapter 4

Her name cut into a corpse's wrist hanging off a table.

Not just any corpse. James's corpse.

In the freezing light of the morgue, all I saw was that name glistening on his dead skin.

"Hey, are you okay Laura? You didn't hit your head, did you?"

The frozen light faded away, the name blooming into a woman before me. She was younger than I'd thought she'd be, maybe still in her twenties. Long, luscious black hair matched large, luscious black eyes. Her pink and purple flannel shirt rolled up to her elbows was tight across her huge breasts, almost as tight as her dark jeans. Long legs ended in faded cowboy boots. I'd say she was pretty. No, not pretty. The bitch was gorgeous.

And I wished to God that it was her gorgeous corpse in the ground instead of James's fresh one.

"No I didn't, I'm..." My pulse started to pump violently again. "I'm fine."

When I didn't take her hand, she pulled away awkwardly. I had the sudden urge to claw James's name into that slender wrist. Blood for blood.

"Look, I'm not sure what's going on here but I think it's best if we just wait here for a while. Whatever is out there hasn't tried to get in, so we're okay for now." She shrugged her shoulders, shaking her hair as she headed to the bar to pour herself a shot of whiskey. "I just have no idea what the hell is going on here. Today was a normal day. Well, except for the fog, that was a little-"

"Uh, Maria, was it? I don't know what's happening either, but can you just shut up for like five seconds?" I interrupted her. She seemed offended. Huh, couldn't imagine why. Every vile thing I wanted to say to her was fighting to get out, all of it choking in my throat. Which was probably a good thing since the bitch did just save my life.

"Wow, that's a piss-poor attitude. No need to bite my head off."

I rolled my eyes as I walked over to the bar and sat on a stool next to her. I nodded to an empty glass and she raised her eyebrow at me.

"Really? Aren't you a little young? Not to mention incredibly rude?"

I grimaced as the words finally unstuck in my mouth. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Maria, I just got here and I've seen nothing but an empty, dark town filled with... with whatever. Given the circumstances, I think there are way more important things to worry about than my underage drinking."

She pursed her lips but grabbed a glass, poured the whiskey anyway and slid it towards me. I knocked it back, immediately regretting it. God, it was disgusting but it helped calm me down a little bit. Her lip curled but she didn't say anything. Instead she drank hers without so much as flinch. Silence threatened to settle over us so I started to play with the empty glass in my hands, needing to keep them busy.

"So what brought you into town? Did you come with your family?" She looked sincere when she asked but it didn't sting any less.

I couldn't look at her so I talked to the bar instead. "No, it's just me. This is gonna sound kinda crazy, but I'm here because of you, Maria. My dad... I think you knew my dad. It would've been eight years ago, but he used to come here."

When I finally looked up, Maria pushed herself from the bar and walked around it. She took her empty glass and started to wash it in the sink.

"You came here for me? What are you talking about, Laura? I haven't worked the stage in five years, not since I bought the place. If he was a regular I might be able to help you but eight years is a long time. I can't remember every face."

"Well you must've made an impression on him because he even had your card showing when you...worked." I took the bent card out of my pocket and dropped it on the bar. "They found it on him."

Maria turned off the water and dried her hands. She took the card, looking confused. "What do you mean, "they found it on him"? What was your dad's name?" Shrugging her shoulders, she handed the card back to me.

"They found him here about a week ago, in the park. James Sunderland."

"In the park? I heard that some guy was found...oh shit." The pitying look she gave me made me want to cry. Or hit her. Maybe both. "Oh shit, Laura, I'm sorry. For what it's worth, I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

That's not what I wanted to hear. Her pity was the last thing I wanted. I set the glass down and suddenly stood up from my stool. I shoved my hands in my pockets, balling them into fists because now I think I would hit her. "Yeah, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that my dad killed himself. I'm sorry that I had to come to this God-forsaken town, looking for you. And I'm sorry that your frickin' name was cut into his arm."

Beautiful black eyes narrowed at me. "Hey, don't get mad at me. I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, Laura, but it's not funny. Why would my name be on his arm? I don't even know who he is!"

"That's exactly why I'm here, Maria. I'm trying to figure that out. If he hasn't seen you since you stripped here, then why the hell does he have your card?" The thought of James gawking at this woman while she was naked made me sick to my stomach.

Maria waved her arm around at the club. "I told you, I don't know. Even if I was the one who gave him that card, how the hell am I supposed to remember? All I know is that the cops found him on a bench in Rosewater Park. No one's mentioned anything about my name being cut into anybody and if you think I had anything to do with it, then you can just leave."

"Fine. Since you won't tell me anything, I'll just leave and figure it out on my own." I turned on my boot heel and headed toward the door. Screw it if there was a demon waiting for me, it'd be better than talking about James. Anything would be better.

As I reached out to unlock the door, a fist suddenly pounded on it. The sudden noise scared me so badly I stumbled backwards. I heard Maria rummaging under the bar and when I turned around she was pumping a shotgun.

"Get behind the bar, Laura. Now." The tone of her voice told me she wasn't screwing around so I ran around the bar and crouched down. The pounding on the door got louder and Maria carefully made her way over to it, the shotgun raised high.

"Who's out there?! What do you want?"

"My name is Detective Holland! Please, something's going on out here and I need to talk to someone!"

Maria nearly dropped the shotgun at the sound of a human voice. As she rushed to the door to unlock it, I stood up as Detective Holland stumbled into the club pretty much like I did. As soon as he was inside Maria slammed the door shut and locked it.

"You have an incredible ability to find me, Detective."

He turned toward me in surprise. His dark button-up shirt and jeans looked rumpled and he hadn't shaved in a while. Even while looking like hell, he was still attractive. Why did I notice that?

"Laura, thank God I found you. But what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, Detective. No matter where I go, you seem to appear out of thin air." I grinned for the first time since I arrived in Silent Hill. I don't know why but it was good to see him.

"Yeah Anthony, why don't you tell us why you're here?"

Maria walked over to the bar and set her shotgun down. She looked pissed as she crossed her arms over her busty chest. At the mention of his name Detective Holland frowned, sighing as he turned to face her.

"Please Maria, it's Tony. I was looking for Laura, I needed to speak with her about something important but she wasn't at her apartment. It didn't take me long to figure out that she came here to Sile-"

"Um, excuse me, do you two know each other?" I pointed my finger back and forth between them. Detective Holland nodded while Maria shook her head. What, was he a regular of hers? My pulse threatened to start hammering again.

"We do, Laura. I know that Ms. Renna owns this establishment and I knew she'd-"

"You did not just call me Ms. Renna. Jesus Christ Anthony! you're gone for three years without so much as a phone call in all that time and now you stroll into my club, asking me for help. You're an asshole!"

I stepped between the two as they bristled at each other. Must be a touchy subject. "Okay, obviously you two know each other but I really don't care right now. What I care about is something really weird is going on here and I still don't have any answers about why my dad killed himself."

Detective Holland at least had the decency to look ashamed. "You're right Laura, now is not the time to bring up past issues. I think I should take you home immediately, it's not safe here." He turned to Maria who was still glaring daggers at him. "Do you know what's going on here? I was driving into town when my car died for no apparent reason. All of a sudden I heard sirens and everything just... went dark."

Maria shrugged. "The same thing happened here. I was just cleaning and setting up for tonight when I heard the sirens too. I heard... something out there and then I heard Laura scream. I got her inside and, well, here we are."

Detective Holland looked at me questioningly and I nodded. "Yeah, that's about right. I got the address from the card you gave me and I wanted to talk to her about my dad."

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he opened them I was surprised to see irritation there. "I gave you that card because it was your father's personal property. I didn't give it to you so that you'd actually come here. I don't think Maria had anything to do with your father's death."

"Finally, something we can agree on," Maria mumbled from the bar.

"So you don't think it's a little coincidental that the name on a card from this strip club is the same name that's carved into my dead dad's wrist?"

"That isn't proof that she had anything to do with it. Even if she had contact with him, there isn't any physical evidence that links her. I've already confirmed that she was here on the night of his death."

"He's right, Laura. Look, I'm truly sorry but I really don't have any answers for you. And as much as I hate to say this, I think Anthony's right. You should go home, it clearly isn't safe here."

I looked from one worried face to the other. They can't be serious. Forget my blood. This time my rage started to boil. "So I'm supposed to just, what, tuck tail and run back home? And forget everything that's happened, including my dad committing suicide?!"

I stepped from behind the bar and pushed past Detective Holland. When I reached the door, I looked at the both of them and said, "If you don't have any answers then I'll find my own. I don't need either of you." I unlocked the door then threw it open. I could hear Maria yelling at me to wait as it slammed shut. Wait for what, for my hero to come and rescue me? I was rescued once and look how that turned out...

"There are no heroes here, Maria," I muttered as I headed down the stairs. The neon pink light above guided me down the steps and I wondered if my temper was going to be the death of me. The town was still engulfed in fog and darkness but I couldn't turn back now, monsters be damned.

When I stepped onto the sidewalk, I shivered slightly. Just being in the club for a short amount of time made me forget how dark and quiet it was out here. I didn't hear anything coming after me but I was still nervous. On a sudden inspiration I turned right and started walking down the street, toward the hospital. Maybe I could find Rachel and see if she knew what was happening here. That was the first solid plan I've made since I came to this hellhole.

I sighed in relief when I noticed that there were a lot more streetlamps down this way that glowed through the darkness. Nothing could sneak up on me now. Still, I felt like I should be ready for fight or flight.

The closer I got to Brookhaven the more I couldn't decide what was creeping me out more, the silence or the dragging sounds I kept expecting to hear. The thought of seeing Rachel kept me from freaking out but I was dismayed when I saw that the parking lot was empty. There were a few ambulances but it didn't even look like the hospital was open since all the lights in the building were off.

"What the hell kind of hospital closes? Where is everyone?"

As I was looking through the windows hoping to see some signs of life, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, barely making out a figure coming toward me in the fog. When I saw the unmistakable light of a flashlight turn on, I turned and started to run.

"God damn it, Detective."

I could hear his footsteps speed up as I went from a jog to a full on sprint. Right as I flew up the steps to the entrance, he yelled for me to stop. I prayed that the doors were unlocked and my prayers were answered as I yanked them open. I slipped inside and fumbled with the lock for a second. I heard it click right before Detective Holland ran into them, making the whole damn door frame shake.

"Laura, please unlock these doors. I just want to help you!"

It was pitch black as I shook my head and pulled out my phone. I hit the flashlight app and slowly moved the halo of light in front of me. I found the light switch on the wall but nothing happened when I flipped it. I sighed as I started to make my way to the nurse's station in the utter dark.

I called over my shoulder, "Sorry, Detective. No one can help me now."

"Laura! Wait, Laura we need to talk!"

His shouts faded as I walked further down the hall. A small sign pointed me toward the station and my boots squeaked on the linoleum with every step. I entered the room, sighing as I closed the door behind me to lean against it.

No one can help me now.