chapter 2: cybil bennett

Quietness. Coldness. Darkness.

Harry sat up straight to escape the nightmare. He blinked his eyes several times and saw a feminine figure walking toward him. She was attractive, with shoulder length blonde hair and a police outfit. "Surely I must be dead now…" He mumbled.

"How do you feel?" She asked, her voice smooth and official. She sat down on a bar stool opposite of him.

"Was that alley way just a…dream?" He thought.

"Excuse me sir, but how are you?" Harry looked up.

"Oh…Like I've been run over by a truck. I'm fine though I guess." The woman nodded.

"Glad to hear it. When I found you in that alleyway with blood at your knees, I was worried something bad had happened. Are you from around here? Why don't you tell me exactly what happened?" Harry shook his head.
"Listen I just got here. I'm sort of on vacation with my daughter Cheryl…" He trailed off.

"Have you seen a little girl around here with short black hair, just turned seven last month." The woman shook her head.
"I'm sorry, the only other person in this town that I've seen is you." Harry shook his head.

"You got a name?" She asked, eyeing him up and down.

"Yea, Harry Mason. My daughter's name is Cheryl."

"I'm Cybil Bennett. I'm and officer from Brahms, the next town over. I was called to come and investigate here, but the town is deserted. But I saw your jeep and looked around and finally found you in that alley. I tried to help you walk but you seemed to be sleepwalking. When I got you to this café you just passed out." Harry shook his head at the events going on. "How long have I been out?" He asked.

"Oh, a couple of hours." Harry stood up and headed toward the door.

"Hold it! Where do you think your going?" Cybil stood up as well, walking closer to him.

"My daughter, I've got to find her!" Harry said quickly, feeling a bit angry with Cybil.

"Something bizarre is going on in this town, do you even have a gun?" Harry hesitated. He hadn't shot much before, but knew how to use and handle a gun. He didn't want to tell her that though. "Ummm, no." Cybil half smiled and sighed.

She reached around to her back holster and pulled out a black standard issue police handgun. She handed it to him, but jerked it away when he reached for it. "Before you pull the trigger know who your shooting. And don't do it unless you have to. And don't, by any means, go blasting me by mistake. I'm going to go get some reinforcements. Stay close by, I'll be back as quick as I can." Harry nodded, sticking the gun in his pocket.
"Yeah, thanks." Cybil walked pass him and headed out of the café and into the fog. Harry looked around the café. Aside from the long bar and rows of bar stools, and several coffee tables by the windows, the café was empty.

Several coffee mugs and glasses were on the bar and ground. He saw on the stool and rolled up map. He picked it up and unrolled it. It was a map of Silent Hill. He could see the café he was in, and up a few blocks was the alley Cheryl had went through.

Or so he had thought. That meant he was in the section of the town labeled Old Silent Hill. A bridge that went across a section of Toluca Lake led to Central Silent Hill, with places such as the antique shop and the Alchemilla Hospital. And then there was the Resort Area, with the amusement park, Rosewater Park, and Toluca Lake Hotel.

"Must be Cybil's…" He thought. Also among the items were a chest pocket flashlight, a kitchen knife, and some flavored medical drink. He took the map and the flashlight. With all of the items he considered useful, he headed toward the door when a loud burst of white noise filled the small café. He looked around until his eyes fell on a bright red pocket radio on one of the tables. "What's going on with that radio…?"

Harry thought. He walked over and leaned toward it. He lowered the volume a bit. CRASH! He turned and looked toward a window as glass shards went everywhere. He then heard the crash again, and felt the glass beside him crash, sending razor sharp pieces of glass flying. He covered his face, and looked around to see the cause of the window breaking.

A rock was at his feet with a note attached to it. On it written in blood was:
Careful what you wish for

He picked up the radio and quickly headed out of the café. "Guess I'll check that alley again." He pulled out the map and saw that the café was on Bachman road, and that if he went up a block or so and turn left onto Finney Street, the alley would be there.

He tucked the map back into his pocket and headed down the street. As he walked, he realized just how alone he was, and how quiet Silent Hill was. The snow had begun again, and if anything about the fog it had only thickened.

Toward the end of the block he turned onto Finney Street and saw ahead the alleyway. He started down it when suddenly the pocket radio burst into loud white noise again. He looked around puzzled. What was causing the radio to do that?

A low growl came from in front of him, and he felt the urge to pull out the handgun Cybil had given him. When he saw something lurking in the fog ahead, he did so. Suddenly the think leapt forward, and he fell back, firing two shots. Both missed, one going into the air and the other one went into a garage door beside him. It jumped over him, and Harry saw it was some sort of…dog.

It's sinewy muscle glistened in the heavy mist, and it was impossible huge. Harry jumped up and ran forward to avoid conflict. He heard its heavy footsteps behind him, and its deep raspy breathing. He saw the little gate ahead and ran through it. He was already prepared to see the other dog's remains, but was surprised to see the beginning of the alleyway clean.

He turned to face the gate and pressed him self against the brick wall. He waited a few moments, taking some deep breaths when suddenly the dog jumped over the fence. In the split second it would take to land on Harry, he reached over and pulled and steel pipe from its place and swung it madly in front of him. He felt it connect with a sickening crack and a splatter of blood, and the thing fell down dead in front of him.

He gave it a good solid stomp before continuing down the alley. Almost halfway down though, it stopped. Somehow the brick walls had caved in, preventing further passage. "Huh…?" Harry looked around in bewilderment. On the ground in a small pool of blood were a handful of handgun bullets, and several scraps of paper. Harry sucked in his breath sharply as he saw what it was.

It was Cheryl's sketchbook she had brought with her on the trip. He had given it to her on her fifth birthday. There was a doodle of a person on the front, and Harry knew Cheryl had drawn it to be him. Beside the sketchbook was a loose piece of paper. On it was Cheryl's handwriting that said to school. "Humm, she's at the school…"

Gripping the steel pipe, he headed back out of the alley and onto Finney Street. He pulled out the map, and saw toward the bottom left was a rather large square labeled Midwich Elementary School. Harry saw he could walk a few blocks onto Levin Street and take a right and go down Matheson Street onto Midwich Street and just follow that street to the school.

He placed the map back into his pocket and headed down the block. A red Chevrolet car came into view. He had a bit of hope, and opened the door to find that the keys were still in the ignition. He tried to start the vehicle, but it was completely dead.

He continued on to Levin Street and saw halfway past a small neighborhood the road was just…gone. An endless foggy abyss was beyond the endless void of the broken road. "But…how?" He could only imagine that the snow flakes that fell down there would fall forever. "This town…what happened seven years ago…?" He looked over to his right and saw that some of the houses continued over to Midwich Street.

"But to get there I better hope some of the houses are unlocked." Harry thought disappointedly. He went back onto Levin Street to the quiet little neighborhood. He tried the first house, a small yellow house with closed and locked shutters. The front door was no difference. He tried the next door, and then the next. As he neared the fourth, his radio blared some more white noise. He instinctively rose his steel pipe as he saw another dog shadow step out from a doghouse.

He saw it raise its twisted snout and sniff the air and start running toward Harry. He brought the pipe down, and caught it in the creatures behind. It yelped, and Harry couldn't help to feel a little sorry for it. It turned and charged at Harry again. He raised the pipe and brought it down in another powerful swing. This time it connected with the things skull, and it fell down in spasms of pain. Harry reared back and kicked it in the head, killing the monster.

Harry walked up and tried the front door, but it was locked as well. Harry sighed and walked down off the porch. As he passed in front of the doghouse he saw something glinting off the fog. He knelt down and saw that the entire doghouse was covered in a thin layer of…gore. He braced himself and reached inside and pulled out the object.

It was a house key. He wiped off his hands and smiled, then walked back up to the door and tried the key. It turned smoothly and the door unlocked. He stepped inside the house, and actually noticed that the house seemed to be less quiet than the entire town itself. He sighed again, and slid down to his knees. "Cheryl, where are you? What's going on here…?"

He wiped the beads of perspiration away from his forehead and took a deep breath. There was a coatroom beside him, and ahead was a hallway with a door on the right wall. The hall opened up with a living room/dining room to the right and ahead were the kitchen, a bar, and a back door.

He walked down the hall and looked around. There was no dust on anything, which probably meant the house hadn't been abandoned for long. He saw a calendar on the wall above the TV, and saw it was a calendar with the date from seven years before. "Odd…" He thought. He walked around to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, but saw it was empty. He turned the faucet, and nothing came out. Harry sighed again, and walked over to the back door.

It was chain locked from the inside, and he opened the lock. He stepped outside to the back yard. To his right were a white picnic table and several lawn chairs. He didn't have time to see much else because the sky began to go dark, and pretty soon everything was pitch black and the snow stopped. It didn't turn to rain though. He reached inside his chest pocket and turned on the flashlight. He walked by the table and went through the little wooden gate.

This led to a small alleyway. He pulled out his map and saw if he turned left and left the alley he would be on Midwich Street and he could just walk down the few block and there was the school. He tucked the map away and went down and left the alley. He heard his radio begin emitting noise again, but it was so quiet the monster must be far away. He ran down Midwich Street, to afraid to stop with darkness all around him. Finally he reached a tiled walkway, and saw a large stone sign etched with the words

Midwich Elementary School

Harry saw a broken down bus parked by the sidewalk as though it was ready to load kids. It made Harry uneasy, and he just bypassed the bus and headed up the walkway. As the flashlight brought the massive building into view, Harry hesitated. The structure was huge and very old style. It was built like an old hospital, and he wouldn't have been surprised that it might have been at one time.

The large wooden double doors sat in place, and a small ruffle of wind sounded like the school was calling his name. Harry shivered, and felt the piece of paper in his pocket that had read "to school."

"Cheryl…" He thought solemnly. Building some more will power, he walked up slowly to the huge elementary school, ignoring every warning going through his mind.