chapter 3: midwich elementary school

The thick wooden doors slammed closed with a resounding bang. There was no turning back now. Harry took in his surroundings. It was a lobby type area, with cushioned wooden benches along each side of the walls.

Several school bulletins were posted up, along with some drawings by the children and a map of the first and second floors. Harry took the tack out from the map and folded it with the map of Old Silent Hill. He went through the next set of double doors that led to a hallway filled with lockers.

The Infirmary was to his left and a lounge was to his right. He walked to the Infirmary, but stopped at the office before he went in. Several books were laid out but un-readable because of the caked on blood. He tried to scrape it off with his fingernail but saw it was only ruining the books.

He left it alone and went on inside the Infirmary. The school itself was in moderate shape, with the paint flaking occasionally in places and the windows were broken or boarded up, letting in some light. The Infirmary had some over stuffed chairs and a junky medicine cabinet. He searched through them but didn't find much of anything. As he turned to leave he saw on the wall was an old yellowed painting.

It was in terrible taste. It was of an old metal door, with two cages on each side. In each cage was human outlines with barbed wire strung throughout their bodies. The door itself didn't have a keyhole or a handle, but a small peephole in the middle of the door.

Harry shivered. The walls in the picture looked like they were covered in blood and rust, and the cages were old rusty mesh wire. Kind of like how the environment looked in the alley way after the gruesome transformation. He left the Infirmary and stood in the hall, examining the map. The school was huge, with many classrooms and several restrooms. In the middle of the first floor was the courtyard.

He decided to check there. Outside the air was still lukewarm, with the gently falling snow. Hedges lined around the outside with several weak looking wooden benches. In the corner of the courtyard however, was a massive clock tower that easily stood several stories higher than the school building.

The clock itself wasn't working, the hands stopped at 11:14pm. He walked up to it and saw there was a small door at the bottom. He pulled on the handle and saw that it was locked. He tried to peer to the keyhole but only saw a ladder that went down. He stood back up and sighed.

What the hell was he doing? Where was Cheryl? "Cheryl hunny! Are you here!" He called out, not really expecting an answer. He walked to the opposite side of the courtyard and entered the school through a different door. Here the corridor looked the same, lined with lockers and such. A locker room was here, along with a music room and another lobby area.

He went into the other lobby, and saw at the end a huge cooling fan. It wasn't on and it was behind several metal bars, but it didn't feel safe, for children anyway. Satisfied that the room was totally empty, he left this area and checked the locker room. "Cheryl?" He said quietly.

A banging made his heart jump and he looked around. These lockers weren't the type that lined the halls, but rather were gym style lockers. He heard the rustling again at the end of the room, and walked cautiously over to the end set of lockers. The last one had a loose hinge, and would rattle occasionally. Could Cheryl fit in one? He walked up to it slowly and placed his hand on it, the grip on the pipe in the other hand increasing. He sucked in his breath-

-and the door opened before he pulled, and an orange tabby cat jumped out. Harry laughed at his fear, letting his breath out. "Just a stupid cat Harry, get a grip…" He heard the soft padding of the cats feet on the concrete floor until it suddenly hissed violently, and a strange growl followed by an odd wet sound filled the room. Harry jumped again, and ran over to the other side.

No sign of the cat was to be found. This disturbed Harry. He left the locker room. As soon as he did the door to the courtyard closed, and he saw the figure of a little girl running across the courtyard. "Cheryl!" He began to pursue her, running back outside and into the other corridor. A door to a classroom closed as he entered, and he followed what appeared to be Cheryl.

As he entered the classroom, the radio began to emit the high pitched static again. He didn't see anything, but heard the shuffling steps of something small, and close. He then looked down and stumbled back as he saw several of the burnt children he had seen in the nightmarish alleyway walking toward him. They scream, their mouths stretched open across their face, the skin stretched tightly.

The beady little white eyes searched for Harry through the disfigured face. He rose the pipe, and crushed the first one. A second was running freakishly fast from underneath a desk, and he stuck out his foot. It grabbed on, pulling with more strength than he expected.

He began to shake his leg around as a third came from underneath the teacher's desk. He hit the third one with the pipe, and sent it squealing across the room. He then brought his foot down, crushing the second one's legs. He then kicked it again, it's body dissipating in ash and blood. The third one came again, giggling in a freakish voice. This time it had a dissecting knife. He readied himself as it came at him, and then pulled out the handgun and shot several shots into the small body.

It screamed, falling into another pile of ash and blood. Harry took several deep breaths. "This is not a dream…what's happening to this place?" He whispered quietly. On the teachers desk was a note, written by a K. Gordon. Apparently one of the teachers. He picked it up and read it.

I'm concerned about one of my students, Alessa. She comes to school with bruises on her body and is always taunted by the students, being called a witch and such. I think we should check into her home conditions.

He shook his head and darted across the classroom. A desk caught his eye and he slowed to a stop, backing up to the desk. Everything was covered in dust, but this desk had two handprints on it, outlined in dust. Scratched into the desk were the words

GO home

WITCH

Drop Dead

The desk puzzled Harry, and carefully he opened it. Inside were several discarded crayons and some textbooks. On the cover of an old folder was some info on the student who had sat at the desk.

Name: Alessa

Hometown: Silent Hill

School: Midwich Elementary

Harry looked at the book in thought. "Alessa…?" He whispered. He heard a door close in the distance, and dropped the desk and his thoughts were immediately transferred back to Cheryl.He ran out of the classroom and saw the door to the girls bathroom close.

"Wait! Cheryl!" He ran to the door and burst through. Immediately he heard a soft sobbing. "Hey, its me, daddy. Cheryl just come out…" Harry walked to the first stall and kicked it open. Nothing was inside but a tainted toilet. Harry checked the next stall, and then the next. Finally he came to one that was shut firmly. This was the last stall. "Cheryl?"

He pushed harder, and then reared back and gave the door a hard kick. It slammed open, the loud squeak echoing in the bathroom. He almost wished he hadn't bothered to open it. Inside was a horrific scene of torture. A man was strung up with barbed wire, his feet bent back and tied to his head, the barbed wire wrapped around his eyes to his feet, securing his feet in place. His arms were outstretched, the barbed wire deep in his wrist's.

The wire was also wrapped around his white torso. What was left of his clothing suggested he might have been the janitor. Written on the wall behind him was

dare you dare you double dare you and an arrow pointing at his mouth. Harry gagged. The stench alone was putrid, but the ritualistic style pose and death were enough to make anyone gag. The skin was peeling in places and shriveling in others. He looked closer at the mouth and saw the end of a key. "No way…" He said breathlessly.

Harry was by no means a coward, but this was one word, gross. He built up every last nerve and took a step inside the stall, setting the pipe down. He reached forward and made sure he was heading for the mouth, then closed his eyes and reached forward. He felt the key, and his thumb grazed the dry, rough lip of the corpse. He pulled away, cursing darkly.

"Damnit Harry you can do this!" He told himself. He reached forward again, this time keeping his eyes focused on the key. He grabbed it again, and pulled back quickly. A piece of barbed wire cut his hand as he pulled away, but Harry didn't care. He examined the key. It was an old skeleton key with a tattered tag on the end.

He could make out "Clock Tower". Harry smiled and stuck it in his pocket, picked up the lead pipe and headed quickly out of the bathroom. He took in a long breath of somewhat fresh air. He walked over to the door to the courtyard and went outside, leaving the stale air of the school. He walked over to the clock tower and inserted the key. It turned easily, and Harry smiled with satisfaction. He opened the door and broke through the cobwebs.

He turned on the chest pocket flashlight and looked down the ladder. It descended into darkness. He dropped the lead pipe, and after a second or two heard it hit the bottom. Harry lowered himself down and started down the ladder. After what seemed like an eternity his feet hit solid ground again. He picked up the pipe, and saw that this area looked older than the school, with trash scattered about. Harry walked forward, and saw opposite the ladder he came down was another one going up.

He stepped toward it, looking up. It looked exactly the same. Suddenly, he heard the siren again. Far away at first, but it steadily grew louder. "Just like before…" Harry gripped the pipe and started up the ladder, unaware of the nightmare that awaited him.