Chapter 4

She dove into the murky water with her eyes and mouth clinched. She could risk the water's toxicity and perhaps emerge with her life, or stand above and be filleted with no hope of survival. There was also the risk that those bugs could swim, all three possibilities probably meant she was dead anyway. She waited… and waited… but, no bugs touched her. The blade didn't pierce her body. She remained as deep as she could and held her breath for as long as she could, until her chest felt like it would implode. She couldn't go without oxygen any longer.

She rose to the top of the water. She gasped for breath between coughs; she tried to clear her vision. The man was gone. The bugs were gone. The water was clear and free of metallic odor. The world was as it had been before she slipped into the well. The sun shone above, the wildlife noises surrounded her and the greenery was as bright as ever. What the hell?

She must've sat down and fallen asleep once she climbed out of the well. She looked up to see a large wooden bench and a fence outlining the ledge. She must've sleepwalked from the gazebo. But, how did she fall through the chain link fence, down into the water? Where was her stuff?

She'd dropped everything when the thing began chasing her in that other world. She couldn't carry everything and run fast enough to escape them. But, in this world, she probably left it all near the well. That was some damned dream. She wrestled herself up the embankment and back on the path. She was soaked to the bone. She had to just press on, with or without her equipment. Regardless of what she lost. Her car keys remained in her pocket, her purse was in her car's trunk, she would return to her car in a different way. Her body chilled as she retraced her steps towards the church. It was the same route she'd taken in that dream.

There were no signs of ash or fire anywhere in the countryside. The healthy trees clustered around the massive black iron cemetery gates with elaborate floral scrollwork. It looked as it had in the camera's lens, well as it had in that dream. She opened the creaking gate and stepped inside. The cemetery was empty, but far from desolate. It was gorgeous.

She crossed the field of burial, her camera and bag lay near the outer fence at the gate. She paused. That made no sense. That had just been a dream. That hadn't been real. It was impossible. But, there they were. She reached out and picked them up. They were tangible. Maybe it was best not to question it. It happened, she escaped, and she was safe. She just needed to get back to her car and out of this strange place. She peeked through the scrollwork of the gate before she left the grounds. If her bag were here, would that creature be out there? If he remained out there, she would just go back the other way.

There was no sign of figure or bug. She took a deep breath and walked through the old entrance. He might just be ahead. She peeked around the corners, but still no sign of the pyramid man.

Why was she looking for him? It was ludicrous. She scratched her stomach and winced. It burned. She looked down and there was a long scratch on her skin, beneath the ripped portion of her shirt. But, it wasn't ripped, it was sliced. It couldn't be sliced. That had just been a dream, hadn't it?

She shook her head as her mind raced. What had she done? She'd just wanted to know what happened to those people, but she had a sinking suspicion she already did. Maybe they found their way into that world. They found their way into that dark place where fire glowed and ash rained. Maybe that wasn't just a dream world.

She pressed on towards the highway. The trail should just loop back around onto the road ahead, that's what the articles stated when Sunderland went missing. She would walk back to the car once she hit asphalt. There wasn't anything further to see here and she wasn't looking here any longer. It didn't matter what that place had been, she would dismiss it as a dream and be done with it.

She approached the rear of a gray guard rail ahead. Now, she just needed to choose which direction went back to her car. It was probably west. She ambled through the brush and stepped across the barrier. It was good to be back on solid road. Her focus was broken when she looked eastward down the road. She stopped. She squinted to see movement in the distance. Someone approached her slowly. She could barely see them, they must be tiny.

She watched as the colorful blur became a pretty blond girl, a child. Her denim jumper had a rocket ship on the front of it with teddy bears as astronauts. What was a child doing out here? She approached the girl, "Hello?"

The little girl half-smiled, "Hi. What are you doing out here?"

"I was afraid I was lost, but it's okay. What are you doing out here?"

"Walking?" The child sarcastically raised her eyebrows. She almost laughed at her reaction, but decided against it.

"Which way is town?"

"It's that way," the little girl pointed behind her with her thumb.

"Are you out here alone?"

"Sure, I'm usually alone." She smiled.

"Aren't your parents afraid someone will try to kidnap you?"

"Are you going to kidnap me?"

"Well, no…" she had to at least grin. "Of course not. I would be worried, though, if I were your mother."

"I don't have a mom or a dad."

"You live in Silent Hill?"

"I do now."

The little girl eventually confessed her name was Laura Ambrose. She had come to find a woman named Mary, a woman who was going to adopt her. But, she never found her. Laura paused a minute and looked up at her, "So, what are you doing here?"

"I am a reporter in Portland. I was trying to find out why so many people disappear here."

"In Silent Hill?"

"Yes."

"I haven't ever heard of anyone who disappeared here. Are you sure you have your facts straight?"

"Well, I thought so."

"I guess Mary, sort of, disappeared. I don't know if she was ever really here to begin with."

"Mary?"

"She was my best friend in the whole wide world." The little girl's expression clouded. She hung her head in silence.

"You must've loved her."

"I did, but I didn't like her husband."

"Why not? Was he mean?"

"Yes. He was mean to her, not me, just her."

"What was his name?"

"James."

The name stuck in her mind. Could that be Sunderland? "What was his last name?"

"Sunderland. Mary was Mary Shepherd-Sunderland, his wife. She was wonderful. Why? Do you know them?" Her expression brightened.

"No, no. I have heard James was missing, though."

"No, he isn't. He's somewhere in town."

They progressed towards the area where her car was parked. She would drive her into town. It wasn't safe for a child to be walking on the roads alone, even with no threat from people, there were threats from nature. The skies overhead became gray. A light mist drizzled through the protective limbs overhead. She was already wet, so that didn't matter. She wanted to get in the car and turn the heat on as high as it would go.

Fog developed on the lake and lazily rolled onto the highway as they rounded the final curve. She couldn't see the rest area from the turn, visibility was gone. "Why does it get so foggy here?"

"It usually is." She nodded. "I'm not sure why, I think it's the lake."

They eventually arrived at the rest stop. Her bag seemed to weigh twenty pounds more than it did when she started the walk. Her shoulders ached where she'd carried it. They got in the car and started towards town.

Laura watched her for a minute. "Have you been swimming?"

"It's a long story… really. I fell in the lake." The child studied her a minute longer, as if she didn't believe the story, but she didn't ask questions. She was glad. She was too tired for answers. This had already been the longest morning she'd ever experienced and it wasn't even lunchtime. She was exhausted. Maybe she should conclude they day's events and go home now. Maybe she shouldn't look any longer. Maybe she should get out of town while she could.