"This way!" yelled Claudia, running towards the glow. Andy followed nervously. He felt safer now that Claudia had found him, but he was still worried that Alice might be there with her candle. She'd been nice at first, but then…she got really scary.
Something fluttered away from Claudia's hand. It shone white in the glowy light as it span like a helicopter to the floor. He couldn't see where it landed, but she was quite far ahead and he didn't want to get left behind.
"Claudia!" he whispered, moving after her. She kept running. He followed her out from the trees and was relieved to see the glow was coming from a little fire. Catching up to her they stood, by the orange and red flames. It was still cold out so he stood and warmed his hands.
"You dropped something, back in the woods."
"It's not important."
"It looked like a piece of paper."
"Honestly Andy, it's not important."
Claudia sat down on a blanket by the fire. Andy knew the blanket; it was dark blue with green lines that made the blue into squares.
"Is that my blanket?" he asked.
"No. Sit down." she answered. He sat.
"It looks like mine."
"All the children in Wish House have one on their bed." she snapped, "When the earthquake came I was able to take anything I wanted in the confusion."
"That's what an earthquake is like? I haven't been in an earthquake before…I fell down a hole."
"You've been reading Alice in Wonderland too much." Claudia rolled her eyes like she didn't believe him. It was funny that he fell down a hole like Alice and then met a girl called Alice. But it really happened.
"I did! I got this."
He showed her the rag doll.
"Where did you get this?" she asked, snatching it from his hands. He thought that maybe it didn't belong to Alice. Maybe she shouldn't have given it to him.
"I found it." he lied.
"It belonged to a girl at the orphanage, a long time ago."
"Who?"
"Her name was Alice. She was a little older than me and I remember really liking her doll. I never had one, father wouldn't buy me one. She hardly spoke and went missing not long after she arrived."
"Maybe she just ran away and lived underground and that's how I found her dolly."
"It would be nice if that were true." sighed Claudia, "But she wasn't there long enough to see Wish House for what it was. And besides it was during the big fire."
"What big fire?"
"There was a fire in Silent Hill, a few years ago. A few people died. My friend died."
Andy didn't know what to say. He could see Claudia was upset.
"She was my best friend. She looked out for me and didn't care what the others thought…I'd give anything to have her back. Anything."
"I think sometimes people can come back when you dream. You can talk them and stuff. I wanted to talk to my mom at the hospital but she was asleep. I want to dream about my mom tonight."
"I see Alessa in my dreams all the time, playing cards like we used to when we were your age…those ones never come true."
They sat quietly for a minute. The fire crackled and popped, keeping them warm in the cold summer air. From the forest came a rustling. The snap of twigs under feet distracted the pair. Andy's head turned…standing further down the path was a girl in the darkness. She waved. He couldn't see who it was. It might have been Alice.
Claudia was looking back the way they came. He got up and moved towards the girl.
"Andy…if you could see your mom again, really see her, what would you be prepared to do?"
"I'd do anything." he said, feeling sad. Looking back he saw a teardrop on his friend's face, the reflection of the fire dancing around inside it. It rolled to her chin, dangled, and then dropped.
"I'm sorry." she cried.
Over her shoulder, back into the woods, he saw a white haired man walking quickly towards them. Behind the white haired man came a big man moving more slowly. It was Mr. Wolf and Fat Pat.
"Oh no! They found us! Run!" screamed Andy.
"He said if I helped them get to you then I could see her again. I could see Alessa."
"You told them we were here?" he couldn't believe it.
"That paper I dropped…I was leaving a trail for them to follow. I knew they would see my fire so I brought you here."
"But why? I thought you were my friend!"
"I'm sorry! You have no idea how much I've missed her!"
Andy turned back to the girl. She had started walking between the trees. He took another step in her direction.
"Andy…don't run. It will just make things worse…we can go through this together." smiled Claudia, "Alessa will save us."
He didn't care about Alessa. He hated Claudia. He didn't want to be saved. He backed away from his former friend.
"If you run, you'd better hope that I catch you. I could protect you. If father catches you first I don't know what he will do."
"ANDREW MORGAN!" roared Mr. Wolf, a few feet away.
He was frightened, but he was also very fast. He took another step back.
"Don't run." whispered Claudia.
Andy ran.