Silent Hill: Reflection
Chapter Two
Jessie always hated the dark. She always feels that darkness is the home for monsters. Staring at the unfamiliar surroundings, Jessie slowly walks around with the flashlight in her hand.
She could not remember how she had come to this place. The last thing she remembers was her sleeping in her room, and then she woke up all alone in this place. This frightened the hell out of her. She had been walking around the place for a while now, trying to find her way home. Earlier, the place had turned dark to the sound of an air raid siren. Jessie trembles at the sudden change in the environment around her. Everything now seems like a horrific nightmare as she had witnessed the hideous transformation of her surrounding from a peaceful-looking town into a dark hellish environment, with rusty metal cages and bloodied walls.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she grabbed at her flashlight tightly in her hands. Jessie finds herself rooted to the ground. Her breath quickens, as though she is going into hyperventilation. Jessie tries to steady her breathing. This has gotta be a dream. It has to be! I'm so gonna wake up in my bed. Please let me wake up in my bed. Please! Jessie squeezes at her eyes for a second. With trembling breaths, she slowly opens her eyes but only to find herself still looking at the grotesque sight before her. Suddenly, she thought she heard a noise behind her.
Jessie quickly swirls around.
"Hello? Who's there?" She asked, with trembling voice. She points her flashlight forward, towards the source of the sound.
"H-hello?" She asked, again staring at the beam of light ending in the darkness.
Then, she hears it. It was a low growl, not loud but definitely a sound. Jessie felt as though a wave of cold force had struck her. She could feel her hair stand and the feeling of uneasiness crawling under her skin. Not wanting to stay and find out the source of the sound, Jessie quickly made a run into the opposite direction.
Mike Sturm wakes up to the sound of buzzing from the fluorescent light. Squinting at his eyes to the glaring light above him, he uses his right arm to block the light. He looks around the cold sterile room. The strong smell of antiseptic is making him gag a little. A patient monitor beside him displayed a distinctive flat green line, accompanied by the sound of a monotonous tone. A hospital? I'm in a hospital?
There was no one else in the dimly lit room. Mike slowly pulls away the blanket and slowly sits up from the bed. He then looks at his body from under the patient's gown, expecting to find wounds or bruises. But there were none. Why am I in a hospital?
Suddenly, a female voice announcement came from the hospital sound system.
"Paging for the family member of Peter Sturm. Will the family of Peter Sturm, kindly come to the registration counter, please."
Mike heart skipped a beat. Pete?
"Paging for the family member of Peter Sturm. Will… " The female voice suddenly changes into an eerie low growling male voice. "… MIKE STURM, YOU ARE WANTED AT THE REGISTRATION COUNTER!"
The fluorescent light in the room starts to dim.
"What the-?" Mike said, startled.
"… the family of Peter Sturm, kindly come to the registration counter, please. Thank you!" The voice, once again, has changed back to the sound of a female.
What just happened? Did I imagine it?
Mike wondered, still staring at the light, which was now shining brightly as before. Mike lifts his legs off from the bed and steps on the cold linoleum floor.
Shit! It's damn cold! Gritting his teeth, Mike quickly moves his bare feet across the room to the door. Opening it, he slowly peeked into the empty hallway.
"Hello?" He asked, turning his head left and right in both directions of the hallway. There was no reply except the sounds of his echoes reverberating down the hallway and the monotone humming of the fluorescent lights.
Where is everyone?
Out of his instinct, Mike reached for the scalpel off the table beside the door before making his way out of the room. Reception Counter. Mike quickly looked around the deserted hallway, trying to find the way to the reception counter. To his left, there were barricades and signages. Mike sees a white signboard beside one of the barricades that read "CAUTION! RENOVATION FOR THE EAST WING IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS. DO NOT ENTER!"
That leaves him the right direction down the hallway.
Mike turns around and slowly makes his way down the hallway. As he moves silently down the quiet hallway, Mike occasionally tries to fidget at the handles on the doors to some of the rooms. Unfortunately, all of the doors were either locked or broken.
Soon, Mike came to an intersection at the end of the hallway. In front of him, on the wall, is a poster showing a large Red Cross sign with the words at the bottom that reads "Donate Blood, Save Lives!"
Next to the poster is the hospital directory.
BROOKHAVEN HOSPITAL DIRECTORY
EAST WING (E1 – E12) - Turn Right
RECEPTION - Turn Left
PHARMACY - Turn Left
Mike turns left at the junction towards the reception counter.
Reaching the reception, Mike looks around. There isn't a single soul around. Who made the paging call? Where are the nurses? As he approaches the reception counter, he sees a patient's report on the counter top and picks up the report.
"Brookhaven Hospital, Silent Hill
Ward S12, South Wing
Patient Name: Peter N. Sturm
Age: 19
Next-Of-Kin: Mike K. Sturm
Age: 24
Relationship: Brother
Doctor-In-Charge: Carl Steven
The patient, Peter Sturm suffered from _ and _ the _. The police have confirmed that Peter Sturm was_ on the _. Attempts to _ by our _ is _. His _ is approximately _."
The report was badly stained with blood that makes some of the words almost illegible.
Pete? What happened to him? Mike looked around the quiet reception lounge. Silent Hill? Why did I wake up in the hospital? Where the hell is everyone?
Mike knew for sure that something is definitely wrong. But what? He knew that under normal circumstances, the hospital shouldn't be empty. He needed to find someone. Someone who might tell him what is going on around here. And Pete. According to the patient's report, it stated that his brother was admitted into this hospital. Unfortunately, the report was so badly stained that he could not read the complete content. Mike realised that his priority would be to find out what exactly happened to his brother. He looked at the report again. Ward S12, South Wing.
Placing the report back on the reception counter, Mike made his way around the reception area to search at the desk. There's gotta be a map around here. Mike pushes the scattered papers and files aside but found nothing. He then tried his luck with the drawers. The first one was locked. Mike cursed under his breath. He then tries to open the second drawer below. To his surprise, it was unlocked. Mike quickly pulls the drawer out. Sitting inside the drawer is the map of Brookhaven hospital and a flashlight.
Mike grabs the hospital map and flashlight. After identifying the location of the South Wing, he turns to his right and enters the double door.
Jessie tried her hands on the glass doors to the flower shop, off Sanders Street. The bell to the door rang gingerly as she pushes the door open. Jessie heaved a sigh of relief and rushes in before closing the door behind her.
"Hello?" She called out.
The grim interior of the flower shop greeted her with silence. Rows of white flowers occupied the racks beside the cash register next to the entrance. Above the rack was a sign that says "White Claudia". On the other side of the shop, were stacks of fertilizers and other nutrient sprays. Above the fertilizers stack is a poster with a picture of a beautiful plant and the words "Audrey Jr. Coming soon." across the top of the poster in bold letterings.
As Jessie ventured further into the shop, she sees a large sunflower costume slouched on the floor at the far corner of the shop. What is it? Jessie trembled as she shines her flashlight at the costume. A foul smell was emitting from the costume. What is that smell? Is there someone in that costume? Jessie covers at her mouth as she slowly walks towards the costume. Halfway through, she stopped. Somehow, she felt as if there's someone else in the shop. Jessie instinctively looks over her shoulder, making sure that there's no one creeping up on her before she continue walking up to the sunflower costume. Now shining her flashlight closer at the sunflower costume, she realised that there were blood smears on the costume. Jessie involuntarily throws her hand to her mouth to stifle a cry. That's a m-mascot.
Obviously, she did not want to know who is inside the costume.
Suddenly, the front glass window of the flower shop exploded. A creature that looked like a flying bird with three female mannequin head crashes in. Jessie screamed and quickly ran for cover behind the cashier counter. The creature screeched in a high pitch as it collided into the wall.
Not wanting to attract the attention of the creature, Jessie quickly turns her flashlight off. The creature gave out a loud screech as it recovers from the crash. Looking around, the creature spied the mascot on the floor and slowly moved towards it.
Jessie sniffled as she peeps over the cashier counter.
The creature screeches again, as it neared the bloodied mascot costume on the floor. From her hiding place, Jessie sees that the creature is now back-facing her. She then slowly shifted her glare from the creature towards the main door. No, it's far too dangerous. That creature's probably gonna notice me before I'm even close to the entrance.
Jessie quickly looks to the other end of the shop. She sees a wooden door. Something is written on the door. However, it is too dark for her to make out the words without her flashlight. Jessie slowly takes another peep at the creature from behind her hiding place. The creature is still oblivious of her presence. Jessie hesitated. Then, with trembling hands, she turns on the flashlight to shine at the wooden door.
On the door were the words "Staff Office."
Suddenly, the creature stirred and turned around. As if drawn by her light, the creature gave a loud screech. Jessie screamed and she quickly emerged out from her hiding place and ran towards the door and opens it.
The creature then break into a fierce chase after her, when suddenly, another creature of the same kind came crashing into the window, knocking the wind out of the pursuing creature. Jessie gave the creatures a final horrid glance before closing the door and locking it behind her.
The two creatures screeched at each other for a brief moment before turning their attention towards the closed wooden door. Then they geared up their speed and charge at the door. After a few bangs, the door latch gave way and the door came crashing open.
The two creatures screech as they enter, only to find the room empty. The window behind the manager's desk was opened.
Jessie had escaped from the window.
Mike arrives at the South Wing of the Brookhaven Hospital. With weary eyes, he slowly makes his walk down the hallway. Constantly reading the map and referring it to his surrounding, Mike shines his flashlight ahead of him as he walks down the deserted hallway.
A dragging noise.
Mike stopped momentarily. What's that noise? Then he hears it again, this time more distinct. He uses his flashlight to illuminate at the dark hallway in front of him. A nurse! Thank god!
"Excuse me, can you-?" He asked, only to find his voice trailing off.
There's something wrong with the female figure before him. Somehow, the nurse appears to be moving in an awkward movement. Mike shines his flashlight directly at the nurse. He gasped. The nurse is dressed in a tight fitting bloodied uniform with low sexy neckline displaying her voluptuous breasts. As she advances, Mike could see the shining reflection of the knife in her hand as the metallic blade reflected the light off from his flashlight. Moving his flashlight up, he sees that the nurse is faceless.
"What the fuck?" Mike exclaimed. She's not human!
The nurse started hurling abusive swings with her knife as she moved towards him.
"Stay back!" He shouted, raising the scalpel in his hand. "I-I don't want to hurt you!"
Despite his warnings, the nurse continues her mad advancement. Fear gripped him as he sees the hostility in the nurse as she approaches with killing force. Mike successfully managed to dodge her two swings at her knife, but he carelessly misses on the third. Mike jumped backwards and made a quick check on the slash from the lady from hell. Fortunately, the blade only made a tear on his shirt. There was no wound on his skin, or whatsoever.
I've gotta be more careful! He carefully made a few more dodges before he finally managed to attack her with the scalpel. The nurse made erotic weird moans whenever he slashes her with the scalpel. Mike tactically swings at his scalpel, making sure to constantly keeping an eye on the nurse's mad attack. The killing blow came when Mike managed to slash nurse's throat. The nurse fell to the floor, gagging and gargling to the gushing blood from the deep slash on her throat. She then went into a spasm before finally came to a cold stop.
What the hell is this?
As he stared at the body of the nurse in disgust, he hears the sound of a door slamming coming from the end of the dark hallway.
Mike jumped.
"Hello?" He shouted, shining his flashing towards the darken end of the hallway. "Pete? Is that you?"
Mike continues walking down the hallway. Reaching the intersection at the end of the hallway, he finds another hospital directory.
BROOKHAVEN HOSPITAL DIRECTORY
SOUTH WING (S1 – S6) - Turn Left
SOUTH WING (S7 – S12) - Turn Right
Mike proceeds right at the intersection. He silent reads at the numbers on every door he passes. S8… S9… S10… S11…
… S12.
Mike turns at the door handle. To his dismay, it was locked. Dammit it! He angrily turns at the door handle, as though trying to vent at his anger for all the trouble coming here just to find the door locked. As he heaved a sigh of disappointment, he sees a note on the door and uses his flashlight to shine on it.
"George,
I accidentally left the key to room S12 in the doctor's lounge. Could you get it for me? It should be in my coat pocket! –Carl Steven"
GREAT! Mike refers to the map to locate the doctor's lounge. The doctor's lounge is located two levels above. Mike folds the map and enters through the stairwell door located in the middle of the hallway.
Elise walks aimlessly in Silent Hill. Where is everyone? Her initial intention was to seek help from the town ever since her car broke down just outside of the town. However, after reaching the town, she realises that something the town probably needed more help than she does. Looking around, the town somehow looks like more of a ghost town. Abandoned cars were parked along the side of the road, with their body left for rust and corrosion. The dusty mannequins displayed a feel of eeriness as they stood grimly in the display windows of shops. An overturned rusty wheelchair sprawled beside the streetlamp, with one of its wheel spinning.
Huh? Is there someone here?
Suddenly, flakes of black ashes fall from the sky. Elise looks up in the sky to find millions of ash fragments falling from the sky. She raises both her hands facing upwards, letting the ash flakes land on them. Rubbing her fingers together, she could see that the ashes decompose into mere black smears. Ash?
As she looks around at the endless rain of black ash before her, she noticed a brightly lit house a few blocks down. Finally, there's someone in this town!
With that, she sprinted down the street, towards the house.