chapter 12: alternate silent hill
Harry's eyes were squeezed close, playing images of Lauren and Cheryl over and over as he felt the world around him change. He slid one eye open, seeing the drops of water falling to the blackness below.
He took a quick glance around and saw the buildings were now covered in rust, crumbling and decrepit. The road was nothing but metal, with barbed wire snaking along broken road signs. There was nothing but dark overhead, the entire sky a pitch-black canvas.
"Not this again…"
He felt his hands start to shake a little, the only sound filling his ears being the pitter-patter of the slight rainfall. He decided to head toward the Silent Hill Lighthouse he saw on his map several blocks south. There was a set of old cement stairs, and he descended them quickly as the radio emitted faint static.
He heard out in the abysmal distance a monkey-like growl, followed by several demonic whooping sounds. He saw stuck in the small water canal ahead there was a fairly large houseboat, the sliding glass door already slightly ajar. He was blinded by a flashlight, and brought his hand up to his face.
"Harry?!"
He looked closer as he heard Cybil's voice, a smile spreading across his face.
"You know, amongst all this hell your voice sounds really nice." He said, unable to suppress a chuckle.
"You see this?! Is this real?!"
He nodded only once, keeping his gaze locked on hers.
He asked, "How did you get here?"
She shook her head, taking a seat.
"Uh, the sewers," she sighed, "I made my way through the sewers. When I went in everything was just as it'd been since I got here." She shot him a glance.
"When I finally made my way out everything was dark and like…this"
She motioned toward a mirror, which was completely encrusted with rust and dark red stains.
"This town…" Harry mumbled. Cybil raised her flashlight on him.
"What…?"
He looked over.
"The fire here, something terrible happened that night. Something is happening to Silent Hill. It's being invaded by the 'Otherworld'."
Cybil shook her head in confusion. Harry continued to speak, mainly to himself as if trying to sort the situation out.
"It's a world of someone's nightmarish delusions come to life, and its trying to swallow everything up in…'darkness'."
She was eyeing him carefully, thinking about his explanation. It was impossible, like something from a movie or…nightmare. But given the current situation, was he correct?
"And Cheryl," He continued, "she's in this darkness somewhere, lost and scared. The only thing she can think of is finding me…daddy. She needs my help. She's my little angel, she's all I have left…and I've got to find her."
Cybil was smiling now.
"She's lucky to have you." She said, touching his shoulder slightly.
Something suddenly bursts through the door, and both flashlights fall on the figure.
It was Dahlia Gillespie.
"You! You were at the church! You were the one who lead me to the hospital!"
"And you failed yet again! Can't you see around you? The town is being consumed by darkness as you two do nothing!"
"Calm down, what are you talking about? Cybil commanded authority in her voice.
"Soon it will be over. The Mark of Samael is almost complete! To banish this nightmare you must stop the demon and end the darkness!"
Harry stepped forward, pointing a finger at the old woman.
"It's that red Pyramid thing isn't it!"
She shook her head.
"He is merely a product of the demon, sent to prevent you from finding your precious…Cheryl."
Harry felt his anger boil.
"Where is she! Do you know?!"
Dahlia stepped back, closer to the exit.
"Only the demon knows where the girl is. It takes the form of a child, hiding behind the face of an innocent. The Lighthouse and the Amusement Park. Those are the final locations. This is your last chance!"
She turned and opened the door, Cybil and Harry trying to follow her.
"Wait! How do I stop the demon?!" Harry called out.
The mysterious woman halted for a brief second, turning only to shout something barely audible.
"Use the Flauros that I gave you!"
She sprinted down into the darkness and out of sight.
"That was seriously weird…" Cybil said after several moments of silence.
He rubbed his temples, trying to break the jumbled mess of thoughts darting in his head, trying to get a plan for them both.
"What now? I'd say finding your daughter and checking out those two places sounds good to me." Cybil said, looking off into space.
"Yeah. You go ahead and check the Amusement Park. I'll run up and check the Lighthouse then meet you there."
She started to take the exit Dahlia had left by when she stopped and turned, pulling her second handheld walkie-talkie from her belt.
"Take this. If we find anything we can beep each other in. I'm on channel four." She said, checking her own after handing him the other.
He clipped his to his belt, nodding.
"Good idea. Thanks." She soon left, leaving him alone in the quiet houseboat alone.
"Now or never."
He left through the sliding door and started up the darkened brick walkway, his destination being the Lighthouse. He saw a gaping hole in the chain-linked fence to his left, made from something with much force.
"…Pyramid Head……?"
He didn't like the thought of running into him again, or vice versa, so he quickened his pace as he saw the silhouette of the Lighthouse in the distance.
There were a couple of stairs leading up to the old metal doors, and he heard something rumble behind him. It was an ape-like monster, his fur covered in wet, glistening slime. It's face looked broken, with only fragments of a mouth, nose, and chin. It had two glowing white eyes however that was locked on Harry. It howled, causing him to jump and drop the iron pipe. It didn't matter.
He hurried into the Lighthouse, immediately faced with a huge, spiral staircase. He touched it, and it felt like it would collapse.
"Safe…"
He placed a foot on it, the rickety framework stronger than it looked. He ascended slowly, keeping focused on the single door he spied at the top.
He saw dust particles flaking from the hooks attaching the staircase to the ceiling, and he slowed nervously to a stop. If it broke now the fall would surely kill him. He continued, hearing something coming from the top of the structure. The door at the top was almost rusted shut, but he managed to force it open. He saw first the glowing circle in the middle of the roof, and he walked over to it.
Among the white glow were several wavy wisps of red, blue, and yellow light.
"This mark…it's the same one I saw at the school and hospital. This is what Dahlia has been talking about, the Mark of Samael.
He saw something approaching him from the darkness, the figure small and petite. The very unique face, particular clothing and small size made her instantly recognizable as the girl he had seen in the boiler of Midwich.
"It's you…You're here to."
She was silent, only staring at him with a saddened look of confusion and frustration.
"Are you doing this? Are you the demon controlling the town?"
She stepped back, starting to slowly dissipate. He studied her face, a bell ringing in his head.
"Wait, you're the girl from that photograph. I remember it from the basement of Alchemilla, in that pitiful room."
She continued to fade, taking several steps backward.
He started to follow her.
"Are you Alessa…?"
There was a pleasant look to her face, and she was suddenly gone from sight.
"Wait, don't go yet! Damn I was too late…" He felt hopeless, the seal on the ground now burning out. She truly was gone.
"The Amusement Park. Cybil might have found something…" He mumbled, making his way back down to the ground. As the door to the Lighthouse opened, his flashlight suddenly fell on about four of the ape monsters, swarming in a pack and waiting.
Harry pulled up the handgun and open fired, causing a frenzy among the beasts. Two died instantly, and he ran over to the railing to take aim at the last two as they leaped toward him. He ducked, both monsters flying over the railing and howling as they fell into the darkness below. He made his way back to the houseboat, no signs of Cybil's return prevalent.
"She must've found something then…"
He pulled up the radio and tuned it in, pressing the call button.
"Cybil? Can you hear me?"
Her voiced soon replied, as calm and authoritative as always.
"I hear you, over."
"Found anything? The Lighthouse is a no-go." He said into the speaker.
"I just climbed this ladder out of the sewers and I saw some carousel horses dumped in the sewage, so I think this is the right way, over."
"Okay, I'm coming to catch up with-"
"Hold on, I hear something. She kept the talk button pressed, and he heard her draw her weapon.
"Hello?"
She called to something unseen. He then heard her cry out, followed by the loud thump of something colliding into her.
"Cybil? Hello? Are you okay? Can you hear me?!"
He called frantically, with no response.
"Oh shit…"
He hurried out of the boathouse and back toward the sewers, descending back into the skanky raunch. He made his way down the first tunnel, turning left as he approached a fork.
There was evidence of something heavy being dragged, and he nervously looked forward as another fork came up.
This time he went right, his footsteps echoing in the metal tunnels loudly. Finally he saw a ladder come into view, along with the fake horses floating in the water. The ladder must be the same one Cybil ascended. He climbed up, seeing several blood drops on the ground. Something had happened to her.
But her body was no where to be seen.
This was bad.