by Silent Haven
Chapter 1: The Shrink
“I’m glad you came, just turning up shows your commitment to process… “
These were the first words I heard Dr K tell me that day… That day that I’ll never forget. When hell froze over. Recalling memories that shattered my world like glass on cold steel… Still to this day it’s hard to remember. Coming to realization was hard on my heart. Now I know why I hid it from even myself…
“I’ve read your notes; the other therapist didn’t work out for you… I want you to know this will be different. We take this at your pace. No notes, no drugs, no theories. We go back to the start, understand what happen. “
I don’t remember much before meeting Dr K. I don’t even remember scheduling an appointment or even walking into his office for the session, but then again I don’t remember much since that winter. But I guess that’s why I’m here…
I didn’t care too much for Dr K, he seemed to be a pretty intelligent man, maybe it was just the fact that I have had too many doctors before mainly psychiatrists who felt like drugs where the answers to my problem… Well like he said, my last therapist didn’t work out. My last doctor only made me more depressed and anti social, it just became an unhealthy situation. So I left. As I said, I am anti social, have been since the event. I freeze up in social situations and I get nervous. It’s funny because I was never that way before. I was always the guy who was the life of the party, the conversation starter, I hated dull moments. Now… Well, now I sit here in this chair talking to this middle aged man, who I don’t even know, about my past and my fucked up emotionally drained life. I tried not to get too close to Dr K although that became nearly impossible with all the psycho therapeutic questions he asked me. And the fact that I knew I had to share my story and what happenehim, just made it that much harder to not let him into my brain.
“Take a look at this short form, I promise it’s the only one you’ll see during your therapy.”
I, being so anti social now, am already sweating to even speak through pencil and paper. He can tell my nervousness as I sit frozen like a statue… I have cold sweats and knowing he can see the sweat drip down my brow only made me more nervous and just as I go to pick up the golf pencil on the table in front of me he says,
“Try to answer truthfully, it’s easier that way.”
I wipe the sweat from my brow and begin to answer the questions. The form had questions about my personality traits. It asked about friends, drinking (lord knows I have my fair share), whether or not I listen to other people’s feelings, my organization techniques, and even questions about relationships and sex (lord knows I don’t get as much as I use to). I finish the form and try not to look him in the eye as I hand it to him hoping he only skims through my answers or at least doesn’t judge me too harshly.
“You’ve been unfaithful? Is that true?”
Great… He didn’t skim… I nod yes to answer his question…
“Ok, let’s get started then…”
Chapter 2: My Story
That was my queue. I knew that this is when I had to tell my story, the story that none of my doctors prior could understand. I knew I had to speak and tell the events just as I remember them. If it’s one thing I knew well it was everything that happened that night. You know, the only time I ever really speak, it was always about this. It was always about this damn story. Don’t get me wrong it’s not always the easiest thing to talk about; I mean it happened so recently, but it was the only thing I can speak about, the only thing I wanted to speak about because I wanted so badly to find answers, to find resolution in what happened. So here it is my story, just as I remember it, from the very beginning…
It was cold, very, very cold. It felt well below zero. My face was completely numb and I had a splitting headache and my heart was racing. I couldn’t tell which was pounding harder, my head or my heart. These were the feelings I had as I came to. I was face first, out cold in the snow. I had to find my glasses in which fell off my face when I fell to the ground. After finally regaining consciousness, I realized I been in a car accident. My car had apparently swerved off the road slamming straight through a fence into a ditch. That’s when I realized. Cheryl! I quickly turned, preparing myself for the worst. Not seeing her in plain sight, I run back into the car. I looked everywhere; not finding her in the passenger seat, where she was before the accident. I check the back seat of my station wagon, maybe her body was thrown around in the car. I knew she wasn’t thrown out because none of the glass on the car had been shattered. After having checked everywhere in my car, Cheryl was still nowhere to be found… I notice her passenger door was open and that maybe she had fallen out when the doors smashed open just as I had. I remember the flashlight I had stored in the glove box and quickly snatch it to use to see if Cheryl was lying unconscious under the vehicle. I see nothing. I call out her name over and over. However, yelling her name almost felt useless as I could hardly hear myself over the blizzard,
“Cheryl! Cheryl!”
The snow and wind seemed to muffle and dampen my voice, making me strain harder and harder as I called for Cheryl,
“Cheryl! Cheryl!”
In front of where I had smashed my car, was a wasteland of junk off to the side of what appeared to be a train. I must have smashed through a junk yard. Well, my car is now in the right place because it is no longer useful to me and the only thing I cared about was finding my little Cheryl. Maybe she had walked off in a daze after the accident; I mean I didn’t even know how long I was out for and if she is close by, this junkyard was not a safe place for a little seven year old girl to be. It was dark; the only light was from the illumination of my flashlight. Cheryl didn’t have a flashlight; I was growing more worried by each passing minute that she was not found.
As I walked through the junk yard looking for some sort of clues or maybe something that might have belonged to her. I was having no success. I tried to remember for the life of me why I crashed. I can’t seem to remember before waking up face first in the snow. Maybe I got sleepy and drifted off while driving or maybe I lost control going over a patch of black ice. All I know is that I will never forgive myself if Cheryl is hurt. I jumped a steel door in the yard that led me to what seemed like an abandoned garage. Maybe there was someone here that could get me help. I checked the door leading in and it was surprisingly unlocked. I peaked in with my flashlight and didn’t see anyone. I made my way through the garage and come to another unlocked door that led to a hallway. I then thought about calling 9-1-1 for some help but I didn’t know where to find a phone in this area and even if I found a phone, the electricity was completely out in this building from the blizzard so no phone would even work. After checking the bathrooms here, finding nothing but graffiti tagged walls, I had come to another door that led me to a Deisaco gas station mini mart that is obviously attached to this auto shop or garage. I wanted to get out of this building it seemed to be leading me nowhere. If I could just find an exit I could possibly find someone somewhere else in town.
I find a door with a steel rusted dead bolt lock that took a little effort to slide open to leave this shop. I whisper Cheryl’s name once more under my breath just before opening the door that took me back outside in the chilling blizzard again. I began running just to keep my body temperature from dropping as I frantically illuminate street signs and the powdered vacant cars on the sides of the street with my flashlight. I look at the next street sign to see where I am. Finney Street. I am in an area I now recognize. My breath is as thick as fog and lingers for quite a while before finally fading. I can hardly see past the blizzard but I do see a shop with an open sign still on. I walk in but only to find another place vacant of life. It seems like my Cheryl isn’t the only one who has disappeared in this town. Inside the shop are packed moving boxes as if someone were recently here trying to leave as fast as they could. The inside looks as wrecked as the gas station.
The exit door on the other side of the checkout counter was locked by security controls operated by security cameras. I went into the next room where I found the security controls and unlock the door to continue through. This door took me to a back alley where I jumped a couple of fences that lead me to a playground area. I begin hearing noises… Almost like someone swinging on a swing. At that moment I could have sworn I saw, in the pitch black darkness, an apparition of a little girl sitting on the swing fifteen feet away from me in the corner of my eye… I never believed in ghosts but I know I heard something then saw something. Backing away quickly, I pointed my flashlight towards the swing and saw nothing, the swing wasn’t even moving. Then quickly pointing my light towards the merry go round and slide, my flashlight captures nothing. I did, however, see something small reflecting my flashlight back at me. It was a key, a key to the wooden door that would get me out of this creepy area. Something just did not feel right about that playground area and it was giving me a bad feeling about where my poor little Cheryl could be. Maybe it was just my imagination, wanting Cheryl to be there; maybe it was warning me of Cheryl’s fate. I may never know. I went through the wooden fenced door and ended up on a main street next to Diner 52, across from Good Ol’ Days Irish Pub. This was my favorite Diner in town, sort of a 50s style cafe and it looked like the lights were on outside and inside. I enter the diner with my fingers crossed in hopes of finding life or some sort of help.
Chapter 3: Diner 52
I walk in through the door that still had ‘Happy Holidays’ painted on the glass and inside I saw at the far end of the diner, sitting at a booth, a very conservative looking police woman. She was thin with brown hair, tied in a pony tail, under a cap. She was loading rounds into some 40 caliber Smith and Wesson. She seemed very intent, finally somebody who can help… I walked over to her with a fast pace and out of breath say,
“I need your help.”
She sarcastically replies with,
“Car stuck in the snow? Need help de-thawing your windshield?”
“It’s my daughter, she’s missing.”
“She run off?”
I take a seat at the booth with the police women to tell her what happen. I can see her name tag. It says her name is Cybil Bennett.
“We were in a car accident, when I came to she was gone.”
“Car accident? And where did this happen?”
She stared almost emotionless back at me and though I don’t usually trust cops to understand or care in situations like this she was the only help I had at this point.
“The highway just outside town. I came off the verge and ended up in the junkyard… My daughter is missing!”
She interrupts me saying,
“That road’s not in my jurisdiction.”
“What?”
“You want state police.”
“You’re kidding. My daughter is out there. You have to find her!”
“A lot of people need help tonight, look around; the whole town is a mess!”
“You’re screwing with me!”
“Can I see your license?”
This cop was beginning to frustrate me with her lack of cooperation in trying to help me and seems to be more interested in whether or not I have a warrant out. I throw my wallet with my license on the table in front of her.
“Harry Mason, Levin Street. It says here you live on Levin Street?”
“Yeah,Yes.”
“Sure hope you weren’t drinkin’ before you had your crash.”
I roll my eyes.
“Look, chances are your girl headed home right? It’s only a few blocks away.”
…I began to think about whether or not Cheryl could have made it home in the snow, we were close to home but…
“Sir, you gonna answer your phone?”
I couldn’t feel the vibrations of my phone through the thick fabric of my trench coat pocket. I completely forgot I even had a phone on me. I must have hit my head good and worried so much about where Cheryl was and finding immediate help, it completely slipped my mind. I pull my IPhone out,
“Phone? …Yeah…”
I answer the phone but no one is there… I look at the phone, still in shock I forgot all about it.
“They hung up…”
“That was probably your little girl. The storm’s makin’ the phones act up”
I hated how calm this police woman was acting, while my hair was turning grey. She seemed to be so sure that Cheryl was ok… Either that or she just thought I was drunk or crazy… Whatever it was it was frustrating. Just then the two-way radio on her belt was calling her to a specific location,
“Ok, I gotta go.”
“What?”
I can’t believe this lady is going to aid to someone else’s problem before mine… This was ridiculous. I couldn’t believe it. She stood up from the booth, putting her gloved fists on the table, looked me in the eye and said,
“Look, go home. Your daughter will be there. In the morning call state police about your vehicle. This is no time for running around town, liable to get yourself locked up. That’s me askin’ nicely”
She walks away… Just like that… I say nothing in reply. What’s the use, there’s no cooperating with that bitch. All she did was jerk me around, didn’t even offer to give me a ride back home. Some police officer…
I sit there for few moments at the booth as I think about what just happened and what I am suppose to do next, I figure I might as well go check the house. At least I remembered I have a phone on me now, and thank God the IPhone comes with a GPS application so I can find my way around if I end up in an unfamiliar territory. Silent Hill is a pretty big town. It has a nice amusement park, a big lake and a big mall. I’ve lived here all my life. It’s almost like you can’t leave… Ask anyone, not the visitors of course, they always leave and only ever visit. But if you grew up here and lived here… There was no moving away… This place is special to those who grew up here. I was born here and I’m 30 now. It really is the perfect place for my job too. I’m a writer. I only have two inspirations in life, my daughter Cheryl and this town. Oh, and the weather here, no one is shocked to see snow, especially in January. It gets real cold in Silent Hill because it is so far north east on America’s map. Our warm days are in the 40s. Although, I haven’t seen a blizzard like this in years.
Well, I didn’t want too much time to pass and since I have a phone I decided I’d call 9-1-1. I know the police woman wasn’t any help but maybe there would be more hope with calling in. I dial the numbers and I get half a ring before I get an answer,
“9-1-1, what is you emergency?”
“My daughter, my daughter’s missing.
“9-1-1, what is you emergency?”
It seemed as though she couldn’t hear me…
“My daughter’s missing.”
“Is there anyone there? Is this a prank call?
“No. No. My daughter…”
“OK. I’m going to hang up now”
“No wait- Shit.”
I didn’t understand. Was there something wrong with my phone? I mean I couldn’t hear that incoming call earlier and the police woman did say there were phone problems being cause by the blizzard. I guess I’ll try calling in a little bit. But right now I need to go back to my house, back the way I came, back into the bone chilling snow.
“Please be there.”
Chapter 4: Delirium
Psalm 104:2 “Covering Himself with light as with a cloak. Stretching out the heavens as a curtain”.
Stepping out of the warm diner that my body had adjusted to, I step back out into the blizzard. I immediately felt the freezing wind chill hit the warm flesh of my face, causing me to squint, but I know I must push on. I program my house address into the GPS on my phone, stuff it in my pocket, and wrap my coat tighter around myself and duck my head down as I walk against the snowy winds, heading towards 1206 Levin St. I make my way back through the wooden fenced door where that playground area was, where I know I saw a ghost of a little girl who appeared to be the same size as Cheryl sitting on the swing. I decide to snap a picture of the swing to keep it in my phone as a memory. Just as I snap the picture, two things happen at the same time, I see the swing move and at that same moment my phone vibrates frantically. Out of terror and startle I jumped. I got a voice mail, without a ring, on my phone. I check the voice mail… Its Cheryl’s voice in a frightened, almost crying voice,
“Daddy… Where are you?”
Where was she calling from? How could I have missed this call? How could I… I was literally hitting myself in the head asking myself that question. It must have gone straight to voice mail. My phone must be really flipping out now. This damn blizzard is really not helping me out here. I go back to look at the photo of the swing I took, that I know moved after taking and to my amazement I caught what must have been what I saw earlier on my way to the diner. It was… I couldn’t believe it. It was a very blurry grey yet obvious image of an apparition of a little girl sitting on the swing, but not just any little girl. It looked to be Cheryl. Something was really wrong now… I have never in my life experienced such things… Was I going insane? Was this cold weather taking its toll on my sanity? I had physical evidence a photo and a voice mail that proved I was not going insane. I know one thing is for sure Cheryl is still alive and I must find out where she called from!
I jump over the wooden fence, back to that back alley. As I am making my way back to Finney Street I regretted not getting a cup of coffee or hot coco while I was talking to that police woman in the diner, but I knew it would have just slowed me down… The more I thought about hot coco I realized something that I was too preoccupied to notice at the time… Why was that police woman in that diner alone while the diner was open? Where were all the employees? The chefs? No one was there but they were open… And why were they open? It had to be past 11:00 pm. Diner 52 closes at 10:00 pm. I wasn’t completely sure of the time but it is pitch black out here and Good Ol’ Days is always open to at least midnight. This town seemed to be getting stranger by the minute and that women did mention something she noticed about this town tonight too… Well, I had a goal and if Cheryl was still alive I will die trying to find her. I found the door back though the shop with all the boxes. I leave the shop, taking me back outside by Finney Street, when just then my phone begins vibrating. Cheryl! I begin frantically searching for my phone, as it is deep in my coat pocket. Where are you, you damn phone? It hits the third ring and I finally find it. It’s an incoming call from… ‘Home’.
“Hello? Cheryl?”
“Daddy? Daddy?”
The phone call has a major fuzz of static over lapping Cheryl’s voice but I can barely make out her words,
“Sweetie, You’re ok? Are you at home?”
She didn’t reply but because of the static I can’t tell if she is or not and I know that this interruption is going to cut this conversation short and I don’t know if I’ll be able to call back.
“Sweetie? Wait there”
Just then, clear as day, her sweet soft voice breaks through the fuzz and I can hear her say,
“You have to run daddy, you can’t fight them. Run!”
“What? Is somebody with you?
The fuzz began to grow louder and more intense…
“Cheryl, I’m coming to get you!
I lost connection with Cheryl.
“Damn it!”
This damn blizzard is really starting to piss me off.
Just then, it happened. It only ever happens when I least expect it. Every time I tell my story of what happened to me and my daughter that night, it happens. I become delirious. This is, as my doctors in the past described, when a person may be restless or agitated and exhibit a marked deficit in attention. Someone who is delirious can become delusional and begin to hallucinate, and this is exactly what began to happen to me. I sat there in Dr K’s office and I knew I was slipping but this is something I know I couldn’t avoid. My doctors in the past told me I was doing this, yet I was in denial and I refused to believe this was an issue I had. They told me it was due to post traumatic stress disorder and that recalling these memories was the result of my hallucinations and my sort of comatose state. My psychiatrists told me, on the scale of consciousness, that just below delirious is a sleepy state called somnolent, in which I begin to mumble and have involuntary movements. As I began to slip into a somnolent state, I was unable to tell if Dr K could tell I was having these hypnagogic hallucinations and I know he must have read that this was an issue I had.
It sounded like hundreds of car wrecks happening at once. It was so loud I had to cover myears or I knew I would go deaf. The story I was telling was taking on a life of its own. It was sucking me in, in a way that seemed to possess me as if to punish me for exposing the truth of what happened to me. The worst part is it’s always a terrifying experience and medical history in the past has shown patients to have died while in this type of sleep state from spontaneous heart failure. This is truthfully the main reason I don’t like to tell this story.
Whatever the static was that was breaking up my phone call with Cheryl seemed to have left the phone and invade my brain and this town as the streets began to crack and the traffic lights began to plunder to the ground. I thought the street was going to collapse under my feet. Oh my god! The sound was deafening! And all I could do was watch. I watched when I saw in the distance, behind the buildings… Ice… Ice like glaciers… Huge, begin to form around and over everything. The buildings, the traffic lights, the street lights, they were all freezing over! The temperature in a matter of seconds without warning made a massive drop and the air became extremely dry. I became blinded by my own breath. My breath was so thick from its molecules freezing within a matter of seconds, I could feel it like snow on my face. This experience I was having felt so real. I had never seen anything like this. I knew that this time I wasn’t hallucinating, this was really happening. Everything finished freezing over and my heart was pounding, harder than I have ever felt it. I was the only thing in this area that was not frozen over and was giving off heat. It had to have been close to zero at least. I was frantically shivering and felt like running but I knew I had to walk slowly so I didn’t slip on the ice. The air was a dead dry silence now. I could only hear the sounds of car alarms in the distance. I had to find somewhere warm and fast. I thought it was cold before but now it is deathly freezing. I could easily get hypothermia if I am out here too long.
I walk with a fast enough pace that I wouldn’t slip looking for a door I chip away at and get inside to find warmth. Everything was white and shades of blue from the ice and snow it was hard to make out anything but I come to a door that isn’t frozen. I open it up. It takes me to a back alley. The floor here is dry concrete but the walls, as I felt with my hand were all covered in solid ice; seemed to almost freeze over my hand as I place it on the frozen walls. I walked through this unfamiliar back alley when I began to hear noises… It was all around me… Sounds of footsteps and running… I guided my path as I walked still ever slowly while also searching for the source of the noises I was hearing. It seemed to have gotten darker somehow… Maybe it was just the feeling I was having that made it seem that way or maybe my flashlight was going out but it was much harder to see now. When all of the sudden I saw it. I knew it. It was them… It was them that Cheryl was talking about…
It jumped out at me behind an icy wall. They were back to get me. The damned demons were back to take me to the hell they came from. It screamed, right as I saw its face, distorted, behind the icy wall I knew ALL I COULD DO WAS RUN! And that’s what I did. They were following me behind the icy wall, screaming as they ran like apes. I didn’t want to look at them too long, it was horrifying. And their screams, their screams were unavoidable, it sounded like slabs of heavy metal dragging on concrete. Like nails on a chalkboard times a hundred and it was giving me a migraine. I was beyond panic and surprised I hadn’t passed out from shock and fear. All I could do was run and run, run to safety or until I lost them. I ran and ran In what felt like a damn maze, trying to choose the right doors to lose them or find a safe haven but only feeling like I was getting more lost. And all I could hear in my head was Cheryl’s sweet voice behind the static,
“Run daddy, you can’t fight them. Run!”
I could hear their fleshy feet slapping the ground as they came closer and closer to me. I could hear their heavy wheezy breathing and periodically screaming as they got closer. I felt one snag on to my coat but I jerked my coat to get it off and run faster, pushing myself harder. I smash through each door almost knocking it off its hinges then slamming each one behind me. I was going through building after building trying to lose them. I had no weapon, only a flashlight, but I knew these things were pure evil and could not be killed by anything manmade. My legs were sore and very much in pain but I couldn’t stop now. I had Cheryl on my mind the whole time keeping me going. I was running with a limp now, grunting and telling myself to keep going. I finally begin to leave them behind as I bust through double doors with a lock I can use to trap them. I lock the two doors taking me back outside. I fall to the concrete floor in terror and completely out of breath. I lay on the ground to catch my breath, looking up at the pitch black sky. There running had raised my temperature and was no longer cold but in fact a little warm. I open my coat a little as I feel a cool breeze come over me as I lay there lifeless, recapping what I just went through. I knew this was real I thought to myself. I am not this psychotic to make this stuff up on my own. What do they want? I didn’t know. All I know is I am free from their terror and now completely lost. I tilt my head up a little looking back behind me, still lying on the floor. I see a street sign; I flash my light over to it to see where I am. I am shocked to see what it says… Levin Street. I angle my flash light a little left and further back… I see my house… The demons led me straight to my house… The place I wanted to be…
Chapter 5: Happy Family
[I promise to honor and respect you. To love you for who you are and the way you are. Our marriage will be a source of strength, so you can go into the world and achieve great things. I am your muse, and your best friend, but I will be much more. I will be your wife.]
I must have been getting into what I was saying to Dr K because I didn’t realize when I had finished what I was saying I found myself back in his office not speaking and not remembering what I last said or how long I even had been speaking for. It happens. I always get so caught up in my story I forget how long I had been talking for, sometimes I even forget where I am, but this time it was much different.
“Sometimes just remembering a traumatic past event can be as painful if not more then when it first happened.”
Dr. K says facing away from me, at his counter sipping a cup of water. As he puts his cup back down on the counter to turn and face me he says,
“It’s good that we touched on the car crash. That would have been a breakthrough before, but let’s leave that topic for a while.”
He didn’t say anything about me freaking out or anything. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried that he didn’t say anything. I didn’t know if I should ask or tell him about it… As he was talking to me he was walking around his chair to sit in it, directly in front of me. The only thing between us was a coffee table, which is where he directed me next.
“I want to talk about… Family. It’s important, right? I don’t mean all that touchy-feely crap. You’re not a very touchy-feely person.
I look at Dr K with a very offended and odd look, and he noticed… Who is he to tell me who I am? I know who I am. But at the same time he was right… I haven’t been very touchy-feely since I lost Cheryl. Hell, what am I saying I haven’t been very touchy feely since the divorce.
“You are giving me that look…”
Yep he definitely noticed
“I’m talking too much. Well, let’s have you talk, let’s play true or false. This is a psycho therapeutic technique I have used in the past with my clients and my studies have shown to have been very therapeutic as it draws my clients to reflect on past events and current feelings as well as bring out some truth for both you and me to discover.”
Great here comes the sweat… I could feel it drip down my arm pits and my cold sweats were back too. I knew I couldn’t hide myself from Dr K; I was definitely going have my insides all out on the table by the end of the day.
“Trust me, this will be easy. The only things you need to say to my questions are true or false as soon as an answer comes to your head. No elaborations and no answering with a sometimes. Just true or false. Ok? Here we go.”
I nervously turn the coin in my pocket as he begins his questioning…
“Is it true you are a private person?”
Right away I answer,
“Yes. I mean true.”
“Please try to focus, just take a deep breath. No one is going to judge you.”
I take a deep breath and sit back with my eyes closed. He continues to his next question,
“Would you say it takes a while for people to get to know you?”
I sat there with a moment of pause before my answer because I was thinking of how I used to be. I was suddenly brought back to when I first met my ex-wife, before Cheryl was born, before we married… We met here… in Silent Hill… She was visiting. I had run into her on the lake, Lake Toluca…We were both riding Dufour Yachts when we bumped into each other. I was writing a novel, that’s what I usually did when I was out on the lake. That’s when I saw her boat coming towards mine. I tried to stop the boat but just wound up hitting my head on the bough and getting tied in the sail (I quietly chuckle to myself). But I felt so comfortable around her. I didn’t feel embarrassed or shy at all. God she looked amazing that day. She was wearing a beautiful red dress. I could almost smell the air come back to me at that moment right then in there in Dr K’s office. I instantly fell in love with her. I miss those days… When we were happy. When I was happy. It didn’t take long to share my feelings, my everything with her. If Dr K would have asked me this true or false question then I would have answered with a sure false. But I knew that’s who I am today… With hesitation I reply,
“True.”
“Uh-huh. People can choose their friends but not their family. Would you prefer to spend time with friends over family?”
I didn’t have a big family. Both my parents are dead and my ex-wife’s family all lived in Europe. It was only me, my wife and Cheryl, but they were all I needed. As for friends, my friends were family and my family were my friends… It was a tough question, but when it came down too it friends were all I had left. With what happen to Cheryl and the divorce. I had no family. With a sadness in my voice I answer,
“True.”
He finishes his polygraph test and leans forward, interlocking his fingers.
“Nothing surprising there… Now, you’re going to like this. On the table, are some colored pencils and a picture; I want you to let out your inner child and color it in, but color it in just how you see it reflecting personal preference, with whatever comes naturally.”
The picture has a house, a garage; a car surrounded by trees and just in front of the house was a man and a woman. I knew exactly where Dr K was going with this… The title of the picture on top said ‘Happy Family’. Dr K was trying to get me to talk about Cheryl’s mother, my ex-wife. I wasn’t sure yet if I was ready to talk about that just yet I was hardly getting into my story about Cheryl and what happen that night in Silent Hill.
I decide to just color in the picture just how he wanted me too. I colored in with “whatever colors came naturally” (I say to myself in a mocking tone). Crazy shrink… I quickly shade, using pastel colors. As I am shading I am feeling like this was merely a waste of time. I knew he just wanted me to get thinking of my wife… I slide the colored picture across the table to him when I am finished.
“You’re finished?
“Yeah.”
He glances at the picture then back at me.
“What a lovely family home. Is your home like this?”
Sarcastically I answer,
“True.”
“Seriously, tell me about your home. That’s where you were getting to. What was it like? What was the household like? What happened when you got there? Was Cheryl there?”
Chapter 6: Home Invasion
“Well, it was much more complicated than that.”
I say as I continue to tell my story:
I stood there, staring at my house, wondering if Cheryl could really be inside. It was lightly snowing out now. I walked past the familiar white picket fence that I put up only a few months ago and up the steps onto the porch of my powder blue house. I could see that the lights were on inside so somebody would have to be home. I wondered if it was my ex wife. Maybe she had been there for Cheryl if she had come home, maybe someone found Cheryl and called my ex wife to get her. In either case my ex wife should not be home. We weren’t divorced yet but we had had a huge fight earlier that day that sent her storming out of the house to her friends place a couple towns over. I can’t imagine Cheryl would even think about coming home, home wasn’t much of a stable happy place anymore. I’m sure she saw it as a place she feared from all the yelling and screaming that was going on. That’s why I wanted to try to take Cheryl’s mind off things by driving her to Lakeside Amusement Park, a fantastic amusement park right by Toluka Lake in Silent Hill. I had taken Cheryl there one time before, but something went terribly wrong on our way there. As I approach my door I knew I was going to find out some sort of truth, I was about to find out who was home and if Cheryl was safe inside. I could hear people inside laughing and clapping as if there were some party going on.
“What the…”
Did I have the wrong house? I checked the address just to be sure. 1206. No, this was my house alright. The same ‘Welcome Home’ floor mat was lying there on the porch. Just as I go to turn the door knob the door opens and an older gentleman in golf club shirt, who appeared to be in his 50s, greets me.
“Hi there.”
I didn’t reply, I just stood there, shocked, confused and quite offended.
“What are you doing in my house?”
I ask, with much confusion in my voice.
“I… I think you have the wrong address”
“No, this is my house”
I hear his wife yell from inside the house,
“Who’s that at the door hun?”
His wife, who was also wearing the same golf club polo shirt as her husband, came walking up. She just greets me in the same nonchalant matter.
“Oh. Hi there.”
“What are you people doing in my house?”
The woman just looks at me confused and says,
“This is our home. We’ve been living here for… A long time. Isn’t that right mike?”
“1206, Levin Street, my name is Harry Mason. This is my house. My daughter just called me from here.”
The man replied,
“From here? Uh… Lucy, honey, Do you think perhaps our little princess has been up to her old tricks?”
The woman chimes in,
“We’re sorry. Katy has been acting up, she likes to make prank calls.”
“Prank call? Why are you playing games with me?”
This woman was sure her daughter had played some kind of joke and completely missing the fact that she is in my house!
“Sorry for any upset Katy has caused. We’d like to help, but it’s getting late, and…”
“This doesn’t make any sense, this is all wrong. Cheryl is inside isn’t she?”
These people must have kidnapped my baby girl, because I knew that I wasn’t going insane. Just then the man buts in with an agitated tone in his voice.
“The only thing that doesn’t make sense is your being here. You’re upsetting my wife”
I couldn’t believe he has the nerve to invade my home and act agitated with me and treat me like I am doing something wrong. I was here just a couple hours ago.
“Why are you doing this to me? My daughter is in there!”
The man denies one last time before slamming my door in my face.
“No she’s not. Please get off my property.”
I hear the walls rattle. I feel wooden planks of the porch beneath my feet rumble as he slams the door on me. I stood there for a moment in shock. There was no way I was leaving without getting some logical answer to why these people are holding Cheryl and my house hostage. Their innocent old golf club look wasn’t fooling me. Cheryl called me from here I have the proof. Just as I begin searching my recent calls in my phone to try to call Cheryl back, I hear a car pull up. It’s the police. Thank god! The police officer steps out of the car as I walk down the steps of the porch towards them.
“Mr. Mason.”
It’s Cybil, the police woman from just before in the Diner.
“Shit.”
This woman is just going to think I’m crazy, but then again she saw, she saw that my ID had this address.
“A reported disturbance came through on dispatch, the address rang a bell.”
“Yes there’s been a disturbance. There are people in my house. I think they have my daughter.”
She just replies with a sarcastic tone
“Hell of an accusation. I know the couple that called this in. Mike Stewart is a doctor he doesn’t have your daught…”
As she is telling me this mumbo jumbo about these lunatics in my house, I pull out my wallet to show this woman my license once more. I cut her off before she finishes.
“You saw my license. This is my house.”
“Let me see that license again, you had an accident remember. You know you are punch- drunk angry. I can’t get a hold of the station on my radio, let’s go over there together and sort this mess out.”
I stood there as she just expected me to leave my house with no answers, without my daughter. What has happened to this town?
“Look, im sorry if I came across as a hard ass before, I’m getting a lot of calls coming in and there’s a lot going on right now. I just bumped you up on my priority list, ok? Come on. “
I decide this maybe the only way to figure this mess out. She opened the back seat door of her police car for me to sit down. I decided to just go along with it, I didn’t have a car or a ride anyways.
“Mind your head.”
We pull off in the snow away from my home towards the police station and hopefully towards some answers. This is really starting to aggravate and stress me out.
Chapter 7: Restless Dreams
I sat there in the back of this police cruiser which, though was warm, wasn’t the most comfortable seats and I only felt as if I should be handcuffed sitting here in the back seat with how she treated me. I know that’s what this police woman would prefer anyways. I wonder if she is going to actually help me now. She did ignore me in the diner then again in front of my own house.
“Officer Cybil Bennett, anything happens to my daughter, I’ll hold you responsible.”
“She’s not in the Stewarts house.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’ve been a cop for twenty years and all twenty of them in this town. I know the place and I know the people. I know the Stewarts haven’t kidnapped your daughter.”
“They are in my house.”
“Says your ID… You sure that’s your house? Just how well is your head working Harry?”
This woman really thinks I am crazy. I have had no signs of psychological illness before this night and this police woman is just jumping to conclusions here.
“I haven’t forgotten anything. Some things are fuzzy, but the rest I know. I know that was my house.”
“What else? What else do you know?”
I can’t believe I was being asked to basically prove my sanity… I was now being put on the spot to basically list the things I know. I said the first things that came to my mind:
“I’m Harry Mason, I love my daughter very much, I live in Silent Hill, I write for a living, crap pretty much.”
“Conspiracy thrillers? Murder mysteries?”
Did this woman really ask me this? How is this even relevant? Was she implying something?
“uh… Sometimes. Whatever they pay me for, I work for hire. My stuff is big in libraries, never sees hard cover.”
“Real life is a lot more boring than your stories. We’ll find your daughter Harry and life can be normal again.”
I sure hoped she was right. I sat back in the chair of the police cruiser as we continued driving through the snowy streets of silent hill towards the SHPD station. As nerve wrecked as I was at that moment the silence to myself and the drive became a little more relaxing mainly because I was warm. But the car was dark inside and the only noises I heard as I leaned back in my seat was the humming sound of the car’s engine as it vibrated the vehicle, and the squeak of the wipers rubbing against the glass of the windshield, pushing the snow to the edges of the window. I cleared my mind as I laid back in my seat and thought of Cheryl’s well being. I could only see out the front windshield as all the other windows were covered with a thick frost and heavy snow. I could see the buildings as we passed by them. I was watching each snow drop hit the window. For a moment it felt very entrancing and serene. I was feeling very tired. I had been through a lot with in the past couple of hours and was finally thinking I might get some help and now I was finally getting a chance to just breathe. Cybil looked back a couple times to check on me, I guess to see if I was awake because I was so quiet.
I began to drift to sleep… I began to slip into a dream. I was sitting in a car but not a police car. It seemed like a memory of my past. I was in the passenger seat of my station wagon with my ex-wife in the driver’s seat and Cheryl in the back. We were on a road trip to Ashfield. These road trips usually consisted of me singing a sing-a-long tune, those always made the time pass by faster and always made Cheryl smile. She always loved it. The dream was very hazy. I looked to the back seat and saw that Cheryl was sound asleep; the trips were usually pretty long. I can remember sitting there and looking at my wife as she was focused on the road in front of her but she took the opportunity to look over at me and say,
“I love you Harry.”
Just then the dream got darker and I become very cold. So cold I could see my breath. The darkness began to shroud around me. I was curling up to keep warm. I couldn’t speak. This was not a memory that I could recall. I looked at my wife. She looked dead and pale. She had an evil smile on her face as her eyes glowed with a bright blue that I could feel glaring into my soul. I was having trouble breathing. I looked back at Cheryl and she was gone. At that moment my ex-wife said to me with an evil grin,
“I took care of it Harry, I fixed the problem.”
I started yelling, and trying to open the door of the car, trying to wake myself from this nightmare I knew wasn’t true.
“Whats wrong Harry? Harry? Whats wrong?”
Just then I began to become conscious of my surroundings and heard Cybil’s voice:
“Harry? You ok back there?”
It was just a dream, I sighed in relief.
“Sure, holding up.”
“I’m sure your daughter’s ok, we’ve just got to clear this thing up. We should get you to the hospital once we know she’s safe.”
I really had no concerns about my health any injuries I sustained in the accident were not any of my concerns right now.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
“The human brain is a delicate thing Harry; need to get you checked out.”
I really could go without this woman’s need to patronize me… She just continues on…
“My dad thought he was tough. He got hit on the head by a punk resisting arrest. He was never the same after that. You gotta look after yourself Harry, for your daughter’s sake.”
“Point taken.”
I sat back again, but this time not falling asleep. I just waited restlessly for us to get to the station.
Chapter 8: Stranded
[Hell. I told them not to go too far, but they wanted to mess around with the new girl. No one was supposed to get hurt. I’m burning the trash - no one will know we were here.]
The snow began to get thicker, almost like a fog. I could tell Cybil was having a hard time seeing the road because she leaned forward to focus and see better through the blizzard. The windows were fogging over and the window had a thin layer of frost distorting the view. I could see she that was trying the defroster, higher wiper speed, brights, fog lights, but nothing was working.
“This snow is crazy. Man, I can’t see the road. Wait here I’m just going to check where we are.”
She stopped the car, opened the door and I immediately felt a huge rush of cold air fill the car, hit my face and blow my hair back. The door slammed shut behind her from the force of the wind alone.
I sat there in the car alone. She took the keys to the car with her when she left and the doors back here were permanently locked.
She was taking awhile. It was probably going on ten minutes. I wondered,
“Where had she gone?”
I decided to climb my way to the front passenger seat to see if I could see where she was. I couldn’t hear her and it was taking way too long for her to be gone this long. I couldn’t see through the front windshield it was completely covered in snow. I decided to snoop around a bit. I opened the glove compartment to see if Cybil had any sort of real confirmation or certification for being a real officer for SHPD. The only thing in the compartment was a pack of cigarettes, about half the pack was still there, and a lighter. It had been years that I smoked before this night. Now… Now I’m a chain smoker. I guess you can say after what happened I was a completely different person and not in a good way. I still have that same pack of cigarettes today, because I had my first cigarette from it in like 12 years. I smoked that whole pack that night.
I tried to roll the windows down to see if I could see her outside, but all the windows in the front seat were frozen shut. Great, now Cybil is gone and I’m left stranded. I don’t even know where I am. I unlock the car door and step out into complete darkness. My flashlight only illuminated maybe ten feet in front of me and five feet around me. It was still snowing of course which means it was also still bone chilling as well.
I decided to just walk straight down the road Cybil was driving down before, maybe I’d find her or reach the Sharif’s department or something. I hoped she wasn’t hurt or trapped but in all honestly Cheryl was the one and only thing I was worried about, the only thing I could worry about right now.
I began running. Running was the only thing that would keep me alive. It kept my blood warm, because like I said even though it was still late January, the coldest point of winter, and snow was not uncommon in Silent Hill; a blizzard like this was rare. Running also gave me good pacing, I knew that where ever Cheryl was she was expecting her Daddy to come and save her. I pulled my phone out, scrolled through my recent contacts and stopped on ‘Home’. I had to figure this thing out on myself. I had to see if Cheryl was there. I pressed enter on my keypad… I got nothing but a busy signal…
“No. Pick up”
I mumbled these words to myself as I dialed a couple more times after. These people took the phone off the hook, I know it! They were toying with me and for all I know Cybil could be in on it. Well, the only thing I could do was continue on.
Mounds of snow were building on the sides of the roads. I stayed running on the paved road where there was no snow. Running in the snow only slowed me down and took more energy out of me. This road was so long I began to think I should turn back, I wasn’t seeing the station of Cybil. Just then I saw a cabin not too far off, with a security light on. I hopped the wooden fence that had been running along side of the road for a while now and followed the trail leading up to it. It was the ranger’s station connected to Woodland Lodge of Silent Hill. Just as I approached, I saw on the outside of the lodge, a payphone hanging off its receiver. Right as I saw the phone a sharp pain, like a migraine, hit me. I had to stop and hold my head from the excruciating pain. Right after, almost at the same time as I felt that pain in my brain my cell phone vibrated. It was a voice message. Again? What is going on with my phone? Was it Cheryl? Because the call didn’t come through and apparently went straight to voice mail, I was unable to see who it was or the phone number. I dialed to listen. It was an unfamiliar voice. It was a young woman, maybe teenage or early twenties:
“Damnit, mom. Why you never pick up? I need you. I’m at a party in the woods, but I’m feeling uncomfortable. I need you to come pick me up.”
The phone call was obviously the wrong number. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor girl. It seemed very Ironic that behind the lodge were woods and I felt that pain in my head just before the call. I wonder if she were close by, either way as I said before I must press on and not let anything distract me.
I cautiously walked into the ranger’s station.
“Hello? Cybil?”
The light out front was on but it was completely dark inside and I had no idea where what or who was inside. I used my flashlight to see as best as I could. The place looked mostly empty. It was only one room; I could only see a couple of bunk beds, a conventional oven in the back and some chairs next to a table against a wall with a map of Silent Hill on it. The place smelt like fresh lacquer or fresh wood and it was just as cold in here as it was outside. This place had no heater at all. From the hanging phone outside to the vacant cold darkness in this log cabin, something just didn’t feel right. I wanted to get out of here as soon as I could. I made my way through the rangers station then through the lodge, leading me outside to the back, where there was a trail leading off into the distance. I thought I might as well follow this trail, it must lead to something.
All around me was cold, dark, woods. The message left on my phone by that young lady was haunting me as I made my way through, using my flashlight to guide me on the trail. Now I was running, not just to keep me warm, but I was damn dear frightened. I felt like demons were watching me and that I was on their ground and they were letting me know I was not welcome. This trail seemed to go on forever. It felt like torture. I contemplated on turning back but only thought well maybe I’m half way and that turning back would be worthless now and plus, I would just have to run all the way back to Cybil’s car.
In the dank, dark woods I was walking through I saw off in the distance something blue and red. I walked closer to see what it was. It was a sleeping bag. It was stuffed under a log. I could see something else also stuffed there. A Polaroid photo. It was a picture of a blond teenage girl. She looked to be in great fear in the photo. I wonder if this is the girl who called my phone earlier… Where was she now? Was this photo her last moments alive?
This photo made me worry for Cheryl even more. It brought about an even darker atmosphere here in these woods. I didn’t know what was going on with this town that night. I wondered if this was the mess in town that Cybil was talking about.
Chapter 9: Cold Dark Woods
[I’m not sure if it’s the cold or the pills that’s making me so numb. All the pain will stop soon.]
Since finding that sleeping bag I was becoming even more lost in the woods. The only thing I could see were leafless trees all around me, everything looked the same. I was using my flashlight to find my way back onto the path. These woods did not feel safe. It felt like there was a lot of sadness recently. I needed to find the path so I could get back on track and find Cheryl.
While trying to find the path, I saw a cabin or lodge off in the distance. The cabin had a similar porch light. I couldn’t tell at first if I had somehow turned myself around and just ended up back at the ranger’s station, but as I got closer I realized this was a different cabin.
I hoped that someone was there to help me out. I knocked on the door.
“Hello? I need help.”
No one answered my knocking or calls. I opened the door. It was completely pitch black inside and similar to the Sheriff’s station it was just as cold inside the cabin as it was outside of it. As I stepped further inside an overwhelming stench hit me. It smelt like rotting raw meat. I had to put my coat over my face just to continue on. How could anyone live in here like this?
I yelled from under my coat
“Hello, is anyone here?”
I saw inside, a bunch of hunting gear, rifles, animal skins deer skulls, and a knife thathad engraved on its handle, “All stories end in Death”. The knife looked very similar to one I have. It was passed down to me by my Father and my Father’s Father. They were both big hunters and used that as their cutting knife after hunting. It was a family tradition and had engraved, not this haunting negative message on it, but our Family name, Mason. I never had a son of my own. Only my daughter Cheryl, but when she was old enough she would be the one to carry on the family knife. The only thing I thought after I read the engraved message on the knife was I hope this one doesn’t… In the corner I saw a stuffed bear, the real skin and anatomy from a real bear. Hunting was pretty popular up here In Silent Hill since it is so close to the Appalachians, but whatever hunter that lived here was obsessed.
Next to a couple of beds was a night stand. I could see some kind of light was coming from inside the drawer. It was a pink flashlight.
[Daddy, I’m scared. I can’t see Daddy. Help me see Daddy.
There’s nothing to be afraid of sweetie, nothing is going to hurt you.
But the darkness will get me. Keep me safe from the darkness Daddy.
I won’t let anything hurt you sweetie, ever.]
I know that Cheryl was all I could think about, but that pink flashlight just reminded me of when Cheryl would cry most nights about her room being too dark. She was very afraid of the dark. She used to have me close her closet at bedtime if it was open and check under her bed for monsters. The flashlight inside the lodge reminded me of the pink Barbie flashlight I bought Cheryl only months before the accident. It made me think about how scared she must have been at that moment if she were somewhere in the dark without her Barbie flashlight, her safety flashlight.
I searched more through this drawer to see if I could find out who the flashlight belonged to or who might have been living in the lodge. I saw under the flashlight, a Mead journal. I looked for the most recent entry and inside it had written with blue pen, “Joel Jr’s first kill! It was a biggie too - 190lbs field dressed. Got him in the neck, went down like a dead weight. My son is a man now!”
This entry brought me back to the hunting days with my father. One hunting trip specifically.
[Come on son. Finish it. I am ashamed to be your father. You got it in the leg, now you’ve got to kill it. This is what we do; this is how the world works. Shoot you queer!]
I haven’t hunted since. I don’t really believe in hunting, it never really made much sense especially raising your kids to shoot innocent animals. I always tried to make him proud, but I was never good enough. I never wanted to raise Cheryl the way I was brought up.
I didn’t want memories or thoughts to get me down or hold me back. I continued into the kitchen area of this lodge. I saw a shadow of something on the counter. I shined my light on it. I had found the source of the smell. It was the rotting carcass of a deer.
I left this lodge right away. I couldn’t stand being in there anymore. Leaving through the back door I was back outside in the snowy woods, continuing on the path. I couldn’t believe it was still snowing out. The snow was probably close to a foot now. It had been snowing for hours.
Just then my phone rang.
“Oh God please let it be, let it be…”
The number was from here in town but I didn’t recognize it. I answered the phone call.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Mason.”
It was Cybil… I had no idea how she even got my number…
“Officer Bennett? What’s going on?”
“I’m looking for you. Where the hell did you run off to?”
“I’m in some woods”
Her tone picked up.
“You just ran from a police officer.”
“What? Come on.”
She was treating me like I was a criminal, like I was in her police cruiser, on my way to jail when I only went out to see where she disappeared to.
“Look, Mr Mason…”
“I’m trying to find my daughter. Christ, I’m not under arrest am I?”
“Mr. Mason! Get yourself back here now. Do not make things difficult for yourself.”
“I’m heading back to town.”
After telling Cybil I wasn’t going to turn back I hung up. I saved her number in my phone under Cybil. There was no way I could have tried to make my way back now. To be honest, I really didn’t know how close I was to town. I couldn’t see any lights or streets, just trees. Cybil wasn’t even going to help me anyways. Now she just wanted to arrest me. I was in trouble and probably had a warrant out now and for no reason.
I began running this time. I came to another cabin, also with nobody home, but this time this one was locked. I began to feel like I was becoming lost. I didn’t know if I was going to make it out of here. I was thinking maybe this story would end in death, the death of me. I was getting very cold and knew I could easily get sick and die out here. I stopped to check my GPS on my phone to see where I was and how close I was to town. Just then I heard some kind of scream that sounded like a little girl come from inside the cabin.
“Hello? Is someone in there? Cheryl?”
The scream almost sounded like Cheryl’s. I heard it again. I had to get in there!
I saw on the side of the cabin, a bunch of logs and an axe used to cut down the pieces of tree. I grabbed the axe and began hacking away at the door and its handle. As I was smashing the door open I could hear the screams continue more frantically with each hack at the door as if she felt the pain of the axe. I finally get it busted open. I went running in.
“Cheryl?!”
Running in the screaming stopped. It was dead silent. I saw inside a mattress on the floor against the furthest wall and blood splatter leading from it to the streaks of blood on the floor next to the mattress.
“What the hell happened here?”
Then it started happening again…
Chapter 10: Fight-or-Flight
The Loud sounds, I had to plug my earS once again To keEp from defiNing. It was the sound of the devil’s laughter. The floor began to freeze over faster than I could run back out of the cabin. It was happening again. The same freezing chill came over as my breath began to blind me from its thick fog. I was slipping in. I was slipping deeper and deeper with each nightmare, hallucination, delusion or whatever this was. It was sucking me back to that very night I had lost my little girl. It was making me relive every horrific experience I had felt that night. This was torture.
They have no control over what has just shadowed over them. They sat there staring at Dr K not responding. Dr K was trying to talk to them but they couldn’t make out the words. They could see but weren’t able to engage. They are trapped. Trapped within themselves, trapped in a world in which they have come to know and believe.
Just before running out of this cabin, I grab a few flares that were sitting on a shelf thinking they might come in handy. Walls of Ice surround me outside. I couldn’t believe how cold it had become. I had no direction I just kept moving. I almost felt as though I was being led by something else.
I followed them. Step by step. I was in control now I must keep them moving. A blue glow I have framed in a world of snow. A path guided in dark will reveal truth I intend to show.
Cheryl’s voice ran through my head.
“Run daddy, you can’t fight them. Run!”
I began running. My heart was racing. I didn’t see anything or anyone. I had no idea why this was happening. I have had dreams that seemed real but this took me from Dr K’s office right into Silent Hill on that same night. I felt like I was being watched in the shadows. I periodically used my flashlight to look behind me as I kept up my pace. I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t see the demons.
I came up on various log cabins in which I just stormed into and out of hoping for someone to be inside of one to help me. I was alone, utterly and hopelessly alone. No sign of any life. I wondered if I would be stuck inside of this hellish nightmare. Just then I heard a door from the up stair rooms of one of the cabins. I heard heavy breathing and the sound of footsteps coming down the dark stairs. This whole cabin inside was pitch black other than the little light from my flashlight that began dimming.
“Shit, I must be losing battery”
I couldn’t see what was coming down the stairs but it didn’t sound inviting and I didn’t want to stick around to find out. I ran out the back door of the cabin.
Run, run until you can run no more!
I ran for my life. Hearing the door open behind me I look back. My dying light captures one of them coming through the door. I turn back around and run faster!
emit ni nrael lliw uoy gnihtemos si sihT
They ran at me screaming. My flashlight was becoming dimmer now. It went from little light to no light. I had to run in the pitch black. I could Still hear them screaming behind me as they got closer.
“Uhhggh!!”
I tripped and hit the floor shoulder first. One of them jumped on me as I fell to the floor. It began choking the life out of me, trying to kill me.
Relax baby I’lltake care of you. I’ll sing you a peaceful lullaby.
I couldn’t see anything. I knew I was going to die. I didn’t know if I should just let it kill me right there and then or go down with a fight. Just then I remembered…
“The flares!”
I could use the flares to help me see and maybe even as a weapon. I ignite the flare. The light from the flare seemed to keep the demons off of me. It let go of me instantly once it was lit. I held the flare with me the rest of the way, smashing through cabin door after cabin door but what seemed to be no end. I couldn’t find a human being for the life of me. What has happened to me?!?!
You won’t run from your fears for much longer. You will reach an end. The truth wont remain frozen in time forever.
I came to a cabin complexly dark inside like the others but my flare lit the room pretty well. The room looked awfully familiar. The light caught a couple shadowy figures, one on the couch and a couple by the counter. They seemed to be human! A Family! Thank god! Wait… They are frozen… They seemed to have been frozen alive! OH MY GOD. ITS US! ITS MY FAMILY!
Cheryl is on the couch, crying, frozen. And it’s me and… My wife. Ware all frozen. What has happened here?!?! Where am I?!?! I was brought back to a time just before our divorce. Oh god, poor Cheryl…
[I’m on the phone. Yeah, I’m coming back early. This isn’t working out.
Mommy!
Not now honey, Mommy’s on the phone. Harry, Put your damn drink down and look after her!
Mommy!
Shush. Go show Daddy. This whole trip was a bad idea. He’s not better here. Worse if anything.
I can’t put up with it anymore.
I won! Mommy, I won!
Alright! In a minute! Give me a second, Diane.
I know, that’s the problem, Diane.
Mom, look.
Was that your glass? What was she doing…
Mommy!
Oh my God, is that blood?]
Why was she never there for you Cheryl? Why? She knew I was busy fixing the car or doing something. She always tried to put the blame on me. Cheryl was trying to show her something… What was going on here? I stood back up from the frozen couch. They were gone.
“The frozen bodies, where did they go? Who is doing this!?!?!”
I continued on, leaving the cabin. I had no idea what was going on or why this was happening to me. This was truly a living nightmare. This was truly happening to me but I couldn’t understand how.
Rid yourself of whatever it is that is constricting you.
I kept running trying not to let my mind distract me. I used my flare to shield me and to light my path. There were glaciers all round me and Ice beneath my feet. I was slipping over and over again on the ice. It was really wearing me down. The demons seemed to become more in number now, trying to fight them off through narrow iced over caverns.
Find the light; for your own sake.
Finally I reached a cabin with a light on! Slamming through the door I fainted from my nightmare and awoke from my delusion… I became instantly warmer as I slowly came back to Dr K’s office.
