Chapter 3: The Strange Threads We Weave

"I'm going to tell you a story." Victor began.

"But-"

"Now now, don't interrupt. You can ask questions afterward.

"Ahem. There once lived a prince who dwelt in a magic castle all by himself. He had no family, no friends, no servants or subjects but he loved his home and never left the lands around it. One day he was walking in his territory when he chanced upon two strangers. The prince had never seen other people in his lands before and needless to say the strangers were just as shocked to see him. Being a well mannered host the prince offered the strangers shelter and eagerly listened to what they had to say. It turned out they were ambassadors from the neighboring kingdom and were simply there to collect lumber.

"They beseeched the young prince to come back with them to their kingdom and meet their king. At first the prince was hesitant to leave his castle. After all, he had been there for years on his own without any help and lived quite well. But the ambassadors insisted that they be allowed to repay the prince's kindness. Perhaps it was loneliness but eventually the prince relented and joined the ambassadors on their journey home.

"Now the foreign king was a dangerous and cunning man but the prince was naive to such things. The king greeted him warmly in his magnificent hall and held a great feast in the prince's honor. Impressed by the king's generosity the prince talked with him as he did with the ambassadors. The king spoke of taking the prince in and teaching him arcane magic as well as to learn to hear the whispers of the , perhaps it was loneliness or the silk tongue of the foreign king and his promises of power but for whatever reason the prince agreed to stay.

"True to his word the king sent the prince to his wizards to learn at the feet of the masters. Years fell off the calendar while the prince delved deeply into realms he never knew existed. The king's men were tough on the prince and even branded his wrist with the king's emblem to make him prove his devotion. In truth the prince did not care for the king's aims or enriching his coffers; he merely wanted to continue his studies in the arcane.

"It was years before it was clear to the prince that he had been blinded by his pursuit of knowledge. The king was expecting something in return for all of the time the prince spent there. The training facility was little more than a prison and the prince realized that he would never be allowed to walk out anytime he pleased. The king was planning on using the prince as his own personal assassin whether his subject wanted to or not. Evil, binding magic would ensure the prince's obedience to the king and rob him of free will. Cursing his own ignorance and blindness the prince sought of a way to escape and get back to his castle.

"Fortunately the king's wizards had been planning to return to his homeland for some time. It seemed that the special paper they wrote their spells on came from the trees around the prince's castle. He saw in the trip his chance to escape once entering his old lands but the wizards would be on their guard. Stealing a handgun the day before the trip he listened as they told him of their mission. They greatly feared the entire area due to the two demons that apparently lived there. The prince had never seen such things during his time at home but the wizards assured him they were all too real.

"One was an ancient demon that had always been a part of the land's history. There was no stopping it, no negotiating with it and it certainly had no mercy. This demon appeared randomly and was to be feared should it show itself. While fearsome and nigh invulnerable the beast was slow. It also picked its targets with no discernible pattern so wizards were not as worried about it as they were the second demon.

"Not nearly as old as the first the other demon was twice as likely to attack them. Though they feared this second demon the wizards believed they had the means to destroy it. The prince had never seen a demon before and through persistent questioning found out more about them. The first seemed to be tied to the town itself. It second had once been a man and in fact a wizard under the king's banner. Decades ago that man had murdered a large number of the king's men and using forbidden rituals shattered the limits of mortality. The demon who was once a man had kept his hatred of the king from his previous life and ruthlessly exterminated any of the king's men he could find.

"So they undertook the dangerous foray back to the prince's realm. Everything was going smoothly as the wizards prepared to cut down the trees needed to make the special paper. There were a lot of rituals involved that the prince watched carefully; he knew that someday he would have to do them on his own. The wizards were quiet and worked quickly as they did not want to be detected by either of the demons. The prince was still trying to look for a way to make his escape when a scream erupted nearby.

"From above a lone attacker dropped down from the trees onto a wizard and killed him on impact. It was already assaulting another by the time the prince knew what was going on. Horrified he watched as the wizards casted spell after spell but none seemed to affect the raging demon. Snapping out of it the prince ran and retreating deep into his lands. He kept going until he could no longer hear the awful screams of the wizards and the sounds of combat. Quite scared and not knowing what to do he ran into a building and started locking doors behind him. Huddling in a darkened room he stayed as quiet as possible as he tried to get his labored breathing back to normal. Surely there was no way to know where he had gone?

"There was apparently. It wasn't long before there was a deafening crash followed by another. The last door the prince cowered behind exploded off its hinges and behind it stood the demon. Now that the prince could get a good look at the demon it appeared no different then a normal man. Blood dripped from soaking red hands and the monster wore a maniacal grin that made the prince squirm. Using a spell he had been taught by the now dead wizards he read from the special paper and put up a protective barrier.

"The spell enacted a force field of sorts that no monster could pass. The demon calmly approached and gingerly touched the barrier that should have burned him alive. His crimson hands tapping on the unseen wall the demon seemed to be searching for something. Suddenly it punched at the air and rent a hole in what was supposed to never break. The paper the spell had been written crinkled on its own in a few places as the half frightened, half amazed prince looked on. The demon began assaulting the gap and the paper further deformed itself until the barrier shattered. The prince was left with nothing in between himself and the demon but a paper that had simply shredded itself in his hand.

"There was only one last thing the prince could do to save himself. From his coat he pulled out the handgun meant to free him from the king's grasp. Not knowing if it would even work he shot hysterically at the now smirking demon. Ducking and side stepping almost faster than the prince's eye could follow like a mad ballerina the assailant closed the distance between them. None of the bullets hit and in a heartbeat the demon was upon him. The gun was ripped from the prince's hands and he was lifted clear off the ground by one of the demon's steel cable hands.

"The prince was done for and he knew it. All he could think to say was, "Why?" before he air was choked out of him.

"Why?" repeated the demon. "Know you not your sins?"

"The prince tried to shake his head no but it didn't work very well. The wet, still warm blood of the wizards was being ground into the prince's throat while his attacker seemed to be thinking. Suddenly the demon pulled him close so that they were face to face. The prince looked into a pair of eyes that could have belonged to a corpse. Unblinking, unmoving the demon held the prince there as if it was inspecting a rag doll. The creature's breath was hot and rank of carrion which would have made the prince vomit on the spot if he could breathe.

"Without warning the creature dropped the prince to the ground who sputtered and gasped for breath. The demon stood over him without moving like an evil statue. When the prince could talk he explained that he was only interested in learning the king's magic and was never believed in their cause. An eternity seemed to pass until the demon spoke again and it said, "Son of Man, thou speaks of truth. Thine ignorance be no excuse but I will give thee a chance to redeem thyself."

"The demon lifted his hands to the air and red spatter fell onto its face. The prince was confused, scared and utterly fascinated by the baffling monster before him. The demon suddenly dropped down to a crouch and was again face to face with him. It said, "I will stay my wrath but thy life belongs to me now. Should I have need of aid thou will come to my beckoning. Pledge this and thy metal heart shall beat another day."

"The prince didn't know what to think of all this but if it meant the demon wasn't going to kill him then he would go along with it. He agreed and the demon nodded.

"I have one more favor to bestow upon thee. Hold out thine arm."

"Why?" the prince asked.

"Fool boy," the demon said with a smirk, "that mark be a tracking rune they carved unto thee."

The prince looked at his arm in shock. Using the mark on his arm the king could have found him no matter how far he chose to run.

"But fear not o' scorched leaf. I have medicine."

"The demon produced a wickedly sharp blade and a serrated smile that made the prince sick. There was nothing else he could do. He held out his arm."

The bumps of an uneven road unceremoniously rocked him out of sleep. It was dark but light crept in from the corners of his prison and Chuck realized he was in a trunk. The after effects of whatever he had been given made his mind sluggish and head heavy. Folded on itchy lining his limbs were cramped and ached after being stuck in the small space for who knows how long. It took him a moment to realize that his hands had been bound at the wrists. It was likely the work of the bald man who had brought disorder to his orderly little world.

Byrd! Chuck would have bolted upright if he could. The menace of a man was probably driving the car that held him at that very moment. None of it made sense to Chuck and even why he was still alive was a mystery. Byrd had murdered what were supposed to be FBI agents right in front of him. They were all convinced Chuck was someone he wasn't and that was likely Byrd's doing as well. There was no money it or useful information that Chuck had worth killing over. There had to be something in it for the bald one unless the man was totally insane. Having seen a lot of insanity the mental patient could tell that Byrd was all too rational.

By the rocks hitting the underside of the car and the bumpiness of the ride Chuck could tell that they were on a dirt road. It was day judging for the light coming in and there was no sound of other traffic or ambient city noise. They proceeded for what had to have been the better part of an hour and Chuck was beginning to wonder exactly where he was being taken. The temperature had dropped and whatever heat he could feel was coming from the car's cabin. What madness was he involved in now?

It was hard to tell but at least another hour passed before the car began to slow down. They came almost to a full stop before crunching onto a bed of rocks and finally parking. Voices were coming from nearby but the words were too muffled to make out. The rumbling engine of the car he was in was shut off and a door opened. The voices stopped and Chuck heard the driver of his car crunching towards the trunk where he lay. In a moment a key slid into the trunk's lock and it flew open. Blinding light poured into unready eyes and he attempted to shield himself from whatever was coming at him. Strong hands hauled the human package out of the trunk and Chuck blinked while blurred images came into focus.

Wine poured into a crystal clear glass and swirled around in a red whirlpool. Julia watched it for a moment before quaffing half of the contents. Liquor was never much her style anymore but at the moment she wouldn't mind knocking back a shot or three. Her man was still in the living room on the couch; she didn't know what to do with him. The story she had heard was unsettling to say the least but all this at once was almost more than she could take. Years had passed pleasantly without them ever talking about that place. Even now she could see the empty mist and haunting shadows that always seemed to be watching your every movement. It made her shiver thinking about the horrors she battled just trying to make it from one end of the town to the other.

The first thing to do was to calm down and assess the situation. Bringing the wine bottle to the living room she was careful to set her drink on a coaster. No sense in simply throwing caution to the wind. "Let me see your arm." she ordered.

Offering her his left appendage Julia grabbed Victor's wrist and turned it up. Just past his palm was a faded and ugly square of a scar less than an inch by an inch.

"I never wanted to know where all your scars came from. I figured it was better that way." she said.

"I'm a bit self-conscious about it." he explained without sounding like it at all.

Taking a deep breath Julia forced herself to ask the next question. "What are you going to do now?"

"Have things to pack and a plane ticket to buy." he said with maddening nonchalance.

"So you're going." she stated angrily.

Victor wrinkled his brow in confusion and said, "We just talked-"

"No, you talked and told me, kind of, how you're mixed up in all this. I don't see how that equals us talking about it."

He sighed and she reached for her wine. Victor stared off into space while she simmered about how thick headed men could be and sipped some liquid courage.

"This isn't something I want to do." he began.

"Liar." she accused bitterly.

"It's true I'd like to go home again but not like this. Not with this hanging over my head. But in the back of my mind I always knew that this would happen. I never thought I'd really be free. Plus... things would have to be pretty bad if he's calling in that favor."

"You don't owe him a damn thing!" Julia protested. "Your little deal was forced to begin with."

"You don't understand do you?" he asked tiredly. "This isn't a back alley handshake agreement or a promise of a friend to come to a birthday party. This is an old world pact. If I don't go when he calls me then he will come for me. For us."

"Are we in danger?" she balked.

"Not yet." he quickly assured her. "I wasn't convinced until that woman showed up. That was him showing me that he knows right where I am and that he can reach out to touch me if need be."

This was a possibility Julia had not considered. She always thought of Silent Hill as being trapped in its own sphere of influence. That it could still go beyond its misty limits was troubling indeed. "Can't we run?" she asked a bit more meekly.

Victor shook his head slowly. "There is no place we can go that he can't find me. I might be able to stay hidden for a while if I had my papers but even those would run out eventually."

"Goddammit Vic," she said in exasperation. "I thought we were out. I thought we were free of this."

"Did you?" he asked absently. "Did you truly believe that there would never be another reason to set foot there? " The question caught her off guard. Perhaps a small part of her never really believed it would be over. She merely wanted it to be but if that was the case then she wouldn't have bothered staying in fighting shape and keeping her aim sharp. Had she too always been prepared to go back? Too mad to even suggest he might have been right she said, "That's it then? You're going?"

"I have to Jewel. For you. To keep you out of harm's way."

"Oh, this is for me now?"

"Yes. You don't want him coming for you and neither do I."

"When are you planning on leaving?"

"Tonight. Now."

"And when are you coming back?" she trembled.

"I…" he started and she knew what he was going to say. Tears began to well up and for once she wasn't ashamed of them.

"I don't know if will be back Jewel…when my debt is paid I will leave one way or the other."

"Did you ever stop and think about me?" she cried and the next thing she knew he was hugging her. She hated crying and especially in front of someone but this time it couldn't be helped. Everything had just hit her all at once and it was overwhelming. Sobbing until there were no more tears time seemed to slide quickly by. As her mind cleared and she focused on the matter at hand Julia was able to think straight. She knew he was going to go and there was nothing she could do to stop him. He had promised her to never set foot in Silent Hill ever again unless there was no choice.

So he was going to go. However, it would not come to pass without certain ramifications. No no, he wasn't going to get off that easily. There were things to do, plans to make, gear to collect and notices to give. The real world could wait while they sorted out their little problem.

"I'm sorry." he whispered softly in her ear as he held her.

Breaking away she wiped his sleeve on her face. "I'll need a day or two to pack and arrange things."

"What? I didn't-" he sputtered.

"Think this through? Break it to me very well? I know that." she said through blurry eyes. "But of course I'm going too."

Victor looked like she had just told him she killed his cat. "But…but...I wanted you to stay here so I would know you'd be safe!"

"Right. And you thought that I'd be happy to sit here and worry while you're out doing who knows what. I don't know who you've been hanging around the last two years that would roll over and let this happen but it isn't me. I'm going and there's nothing you can do about it. Capisce?" she spelled out.

"But-" he started weakly.

"But nothing. If you're willing to go and you expect me to be okay with it then if I was going you should also have to be okay with that."

"Um...what?" he scratched his head.

"Ugh, never mind, just go pack you brute. I have some calls to make."