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Dark Descent	By : PyramidHead316 Category: +S through Z > Silent Hill Views: 8598 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Disclaimer: For the references here, X-Men and Cyclops are obviously properties of Marvel Comics. The video games belong to the companies that own them, including Konami of Japan, Nintendo, and Namco Inc. I make no profit off of this fic. Happy Reading.

Chapter 12: Reminiscences of Yesteryear

The rain fell upon the car in droves, leaving it slick with water and leaving the road equally so. The wipers worked furiously on the car to keep the view clear, so that the windshield didn’t become too foggy. It was dark all around them, and the foggy atmosphere that still lingered slightly didn’t make things easier. The car sped along the isolated road, maintaining a cruising speed that was neither too slow nor reckless for their well being.
Alessa sat solemnly in the passenger’s seat. They had not spoken more than a couple sentences since they departed the house. They had nothing to talk about, to be honest. She wasn’t here because she wanted to be, nor was he doing this for a close friend. They were here because of convenience – because it was convenient for her to take a ride with him to Silent Hill, and it was a convenient way for him to appease his conscience. They were each afraid to break the delicate truce between them.
“Cheetos?” the half-mumbled query came. Douglas offered her a shiny bag.
Alessa looked at the cheese puffs. She knew she had to keep up her strength. It wouldn’t do well if she was weak from hunger while she was trying to fight her way through those things in the town. This wasn’t exactly a home cooked meal, but it was better than nothing. She took the proffered bag and dug in.
“How long is it gonna stay like this?” Douglas asked bewildered, as he looked from side to side.
They had not seen one single human soul out on the road in all the time they had been out here. It was obvious they were still in that world of fog, whatever it was.
“It probably won’t shift over until we reach Silent Hill,” Alessa answered.
“What’s the deal with Silent Hill, anyway?” Douglas asked suddenly. “It used to be a quiet little town, but now…”
Alessa looked at him. “You’ve been there?”
“Once, on a missing person’s case. A long time ago,” Douglas shook his head. “Never did find the guy. I tell you, that’s one screwed up town. What the hell happened to it?”
Alessa gave him a distant look. “I was born and raised there, all my life. At least until I was 14,” she said.
The other felt awkward. “I’m sorry,” Douglas apologized.
Alessa looked at him. “It’s okay. I know that place isn’t exactly a great place to visit nowadays. It’s pretty terrible, and it’s only getting worse.” She paused. Alessa’s voice took on a distant tone. “The Order’s taking over that place. They’ve subdued the authorities and their members are growing in numbers three times than they ever were before. The power in that town is growing out of control, and it won’t be long before it’s too dangerous for anyone to enter without assistance.”
Douglas was without remark. No doubt he wasn’t used to someone talking about power and the supernatural and things like that, but it was true. There was no other way to explain the situation, except that whatever power was lurking there was growing beyond anyone’s control. Alessa wasn’t going to deny it.
Alessa nearly laughed in her mind. She knew she must really sound crazy. But Douglas had also seen that monster before, so he knew she wasn’t just making stuff up.
They were silent for a little bit. Douglas’ curiosity was suddenly sparked.
“Why Summers?” he asked suddenly, about her changed last name.
Alessa smirked. “My dad was a fan of X-Men way back. Not Wolverine, though – he hated Wolverine. He thought he was a stupid rebel who acted like an asshole to everybody for no reason whatsoever. But he liked Cyclops. He thought he was a great leader and a noble human being. My dad didn’t know his real parents, so he picked his own last name.” Alessa paused, thinking reflectively. “And…it sounded like a good name to start over with. Like the sunshine of a new morning, or a brand new spring day. I didn’t want to use my real last name. Not after what she did…” Alessa closed her eyes in pain. “It…that was her name, not mine.”
Douglas didn’t know how to respond. He turned his eyes back on the road.
Alessa held her hand to her head. “My head is killing me. That place has taken all the energy out of me,” she said. She felt exhausted, weary from everything, and almost downright sick. She wanted to lie down for 9 days and pretend this was all a bad dream. She knew that wasn’t an option, though. This wasn’t a dream, and she wasn’t going to wake up.
Douglas looked sideways. “You know, you can lie down for a while, if you want. I’ll be all right here,” the older man offered.
Alessa smirked at him. “Sorry, but I’m not going to lie down right next to you, if you don’t mind,” she said wryly.
Douglas smirked in amusement. “Huh.” She still didn’t trust him.
Alessa turned back to the road. The rain drops were falling on the window, obscuring the view of the forested landscape going by. She could almost pretend that it was just the two of them in a desolate environment with no threats or monsters; just two relatives going on a vacation through the countryside together. But she knew what was out there, and what was waiting for them in the town. The truth was this man was a veritable stranger, and they were not going on a vacation together. They were going to confront a group of individuals that had grown more dangerous through the years, and had apparently recovered enough to launch a full-on assault against her, after the defeat she handed them years ago. This was likely going to end with their deaths, or at the very least they would never be able to look at their lives the same way again.
Douglas was focused on driving along the road. Alessa knew he was dying to ask her what this was all about, but he respected her privacy too much to do so, especially after his full-on interrogation earlier at the mall. Alessa decided it was time to tell him the truth. She needed to unburden herself, and she felt like she was going to burst if she didn’t share the truth of what this was all about with someone.
At least he was a sympathetic ear. He was someone who would listen to her, and possibly give her comfort, or at the very least, not pass judgment on her.
“A long time ago, there was a little girl in Silent Hill,” Alessa began, her voice soft as she spoke quietly. “She was hated and picked on by everyone. The little girl didn’t have any family other than her mother, and she was treated terribly there. Her mother wanted her to be a part of the Order she belonged to, but the little girl just wanted to be loved. She only wanted to be loved by everyone and have a mommy and daddy who loved her,” Alessa spoke softly, remembering the memories of that time long ago, losing herself in the recollections like it was merely yesterday. “She was picked on at school and tortured relentlessly every day. You see, the girl had special powers. It was a power not seen in the town in a hundred years. She could kill people with her mind, just by wishing for it,” Alessa murmured softly, closing her eyes in pain.
The detective glanced sideways. “Wow,” Douglas was awed and a bit terrified.
“The torture continued every day for days on end, until the little girl got sick of her existence,” Alessa continued, resuming her troubling story. “So one day, the little girl prayed to the gods of the town to grant her a new life, without the pain she knew. And miraculously, one of the gods answered her call. Her power was to make things happen, so when the little girl made that prayer to the gods, one of them answered her. The Red god reset the timeline, creating a new fate for the girl over her old predestined one,” Alessa spoke softly.
The reaction was predictably complete surprise. “What?” Douglas burst out, his face incredulous and obviously wanting to ask her if she was making this up or not.
Alessa was serious. “I know it sounds incredible, but that is exactly what happened. The Red god split the girl’s life in two, creating a situation where one girl would continue her old path, but another version of the girl would get a chance at happiness in a new reality.” Alessa became distant. “That little girl still exists out there, somewhere. I’ve followed glimpses of visions of her life in my dreams, and she’s led an absolutely terrible life. I definitely wouldn’t want to be in the situation she’s in now,” Alessa said, shuddering privately in horror at what she knew of her alternate’s life. “But me, I went on to something better,” Alessa smiled tightly, recalling the good memories she had of her life. She’d definitely had some good ones, though they came close to being outnumbered by the bad. Alessa went quiet in her tone again. “I don’t know why he did it. He was following his own agenda, so it benefitted him in some way to have me away from my mother. Or perhaps, he felt some small shred of pity for me. The little girl drew people to her who would take care of her, unknowingly, strangers who would otherwise have never met her. The Red god threw them together to take care of her, so that she would always be taken care of. I was still with my mother, but they took me away from her, from the mother who could never take care of me,” she said softly. Alessa sniffled a bit, wiping away some mist from her eyes. “I created my own family, because I didn’t have one of my own,” she spoke thickly with emotion.
“Things were still hard. I was still tormented every day, but at least now I had them there to help me deal with the pain. I appreciated that, having someone to turn to when things got bad,” Alessa said, blinking back tears. “But then my real mother found her way back into my life. No matter what the Red god tried to keep her away, it didn’t work well in the end. She wanted to summon the ancient god of the town, so that she would wield the power it had over people, and she decided to use her own daughter as a sacrifice.” Alessa’s expression glowered with darkness.
“She burned her own daughter alive. She decided it was worth it to sear the flesh off her own daughter, and drive her to the brink of death, just to wield the power that the god would bring her. She shot my mother, my adoptive one, killing her own adopted daughter and burning the house we were in down to ensure the flames would consume me. She was merciless in her pursuit,” Alessa said, her voice now rough and angry with every passing word.
The detective shook his head in incredulousness. “That’s crazy,” Douglas said in disbelief. He wasn’t sure which part was the most insane – the beginning details, the work of gods in the story, or that a woman would literally burn down her house with two innocent people in it in an attempt to summon some mythological, long dead deity in a pursuit for power of the same kind. Douglas felt for Alessa if what she was saying was true, and he had a feeling it was going to get much worse in terms of what had happened to her.
“Maybe so, but it worked. The god was implanted into the girl, like a parasite feeding on its host. My dad was beaten to within an inch of his life by one of their demons and my mom was killed. He would later bring her back, using the Order’s own methods, but they did kill her. This was their main god, the one who supposedly created everything including mankind and the other gods, and they wanted nothing to stand in their way,” Alessa said, voice turning very dark. “They tortured that little girl, to ensure that she would serve their purposes.”
“They left me to rot in the dingy basement of a hospital. Their god drove me mad with suffering from within, feeding on my suffering. I nearly went insane from the sheer agony I was feeling. They wanted it this way,” Alessa recalled in recollection, closing her eyes at the memories of the pain. “This was their Creator Deity, the one who would supposedly give them power over human beings and even other gods; they wanted it to grow stronger. It wasn’t until several years later, when Dad returned to the town and got me, that I finally escaped.”
“How did you get out?” Douglas asked, looking sideways briefly from the road.
“We got sucked into that place, the misty world that you’ve already seen. I pulled them in, using my newfound powers to manipulate the situation. I confronted my mother there, and the doctor helping her. I killed people, many of them, to escape from that hell,” Alessa closed her eyes, “I didn’t regret it. I attempted to destroy the whole plan, so that all the suffering would end. I wanted to die, after all the pain I’d been through. It didn’t matter in the end, though. The god was still born, and it attempted to escape into the physical world; our reality. I killed my mother, my birth mother. I commanded the god to kill her. But then the god started following its own intentions, and I couldn’t hold it back. It’s funny, I was afraid of the threat it would bring, that it would kill the entire world. But in the end, that god was killed by three ordinary people working together, brought there by circumstances beyond their control. A writer there, vacationing with his daughter, that cop who had been there to help, Cybil Bennett, and my father, Chris Summers. The god was weakened by the resistance I had given it, and it wasn’t born properly. It was able to be killed by ordinary firearms, thankfully for our sakes,” Alessa explained to the detective. The doubting look was still there, but it was being replaced by the realization that he was caught in something way over his head.
“What about Mason?” Douglas asked, bringing up the other piece of interesting information he had discovered.
Alessa looked at him sharply. “Harry had been there vacationing with his daughter. When I was burned during my original ordeal, I split myself in half to escape, so to speak. Part of my soul, the part that could still love, cherish, and care for someone, was formed into the form of a little girl. The other, full of hatred and rage at her situation, remained chained up in that hospital basement. It was a form of bilocation, and something I could only do because of the god inside me. Harry found me when he was a tourist there, and he took me home with him. He raised me as his own, along with his then-wife. I could sense what my other self was doing, and it made me happy to know that some part of me, any part of me, was living away from that burnt flesh and musty trap in the basement. But eventually I had to call her back to the town. I needed the strength of my other self to fight Dahlia and her powers. When I met up with her again, I re-absorbed her into myself. She didn’t know that she was part of me, but when we connected again, she – we – instantly knew what was going on,” Alessa said, clarifying the details of something she knew Douglas had to be desperately wondering about.
Alessa closed her eyes. “Harry couldn’t accept it. Although he’d fought until the end, when he found out that his little girl wasn’t coming back he was devastated. His mind completely snapped. It didn’t matter what Dahlia and the other cult members had done, he blamed me for murdering his little girl. No matter what I did to show him, he refused to believe I was his daughter. He tried to kill me. Cybil was forced to shoot him, in order to stop him from killing me,” Alessa said, sounding as dark as Douglas had ever heard her.
Alessa took a moment to regain her composure. She took a deep breath and continued on for Douglas’ sake, determined to get the full story out.
“I was actually afraid of her at first. She had already attacked me before. But when push came to shove, she just couldn’t let him kill me,” Alessa said, smiling in reminiscence of the cop. “Dad took me away from there, to live with him. Cybil went her own way, to live far away from us, sadly. Later on, Dad brought Mom back. He used the Order’s own methods, finding a god that was sympathetic to him. He didn’t regret it, because that tragedy was something that should never have happened in the first place. It’s hard to protest against it, given the situation. After that, we lived like a regular family for several years,” Alessa said, closing her eyes in remembrance of the good times they’d had.
Douglas didn’t know what to say. This girl had gone through hell to build a life for herself that would satisfy her, and in one single moment it was taken away from her. He had the feeling any words he could say would be trite at the moment.
“They loved me, even though they didn’t know who or what I was. They were my parents, and sometimes more. They were my friends, my equals. I didn’t have many friends, but I could always talk to them about anything,” Alessa said in a breaking voice, eyes closed in solid grief. She was shaking. “I ruined their lives, but they never held it against me. They never blamed me for everything that happened to them. They only saw me as their daughter. Nothing more. I never got to tell them…how much they meant to me. I appreciated…someone treating me like an actual human being, not a freak with supernatural powers, or a little girl to beat and abuse until she was almost dead, or a pagan to be condemned for worshipping the wrong god. I loved them; I hope they know that,” Alessa sobbed, finally allowing herself to be overwhelmed by her grief. She couldn’t bear the pain anymore, trying to pretend she was all right.
It was done. Douglas now knew every dirty little secret that she had ever hid; how freakish and twisted her existence was – and the depth of what she had lost.
Douglas didn’t say anything as he listened. There was nothing else to say. There was no way to apologize enough times to Alessa for what he had cost her, and what she had suffered. He was afraid to touch her, lest she shrug away his touch in disgust and creep further away from him mentally and emotionally; she looked fragile and pale, if he were honest with himself: he was almost afraid of breaking her in some way, as irrational as that sounded. So he settled for silence, letting her know he supported her by making the attempt to comfort her before drawing back. He settled on driving, keeping his eyes focused on the road while he gave Alessa her modicum of privacy, however minimal it was. The rain fell on the car in droves, leaving long streaks of water on the windows matching the ones on Alessa’s cheeks.
“I know Claudia’s trying to summon the god again, and she hopes to use me for that purpose,” Alessa said, staring seriously at the falling rainfall outside the window. “But I won’t let her. I won’t become their experiment again, to use as they please in whatever way they see fit,” Alessa said, looking right at Douglas with a determined look in her eyes. He had every idea that she meant business.
The car sped along toward its destination, as the rain continued to fall on the road. The two lost souls in the car kept their thoughts to themselves, concentrating on their respective musings for a while. There were no two doubts about it. They were lost souls, each with nothing left, and though they didn’t want to admit it, there seemed to be a connection forming between them. They settled on the silence for now, not wanting to shatter the uneasy truce they had formed.
Never let it be said that silence had to be uncomfortable.

~

The light slowly filtered into the motel room little by little, gradually bringing the specter of daylight into the sanctuary. The darkness in the room gradually evaporated, until the daylight was breaking fully into the motel room. Alessa tiredly raised her head from the rumpled pillow, rapidly blinking her eyes from exhaustion as her blurry vision cleared up. Despite her earlier mistrust of Douglas, she had finally managed to trust him enough where she could get a few hours’ sleep for her own sake. She was a light sleeper in emergencies, so if he tried anything she was certain that she would sense it and wake up. She trusted him not to shoot her while she was sleeping, at any rate. They were in a motel that Douglas had discovered, and they had commandeered for the time being. They pulled in late at night, or early in the morning, rather, and Douglas decided that he would give her some time to rest and they would start with their investigation in the morning, since she could use a few hours’ sleep. Alessa appreciated the offer, honestly.
During the trip over, Alessa had told Douglas more about her past, clarifying some of the details for him. The whole story was a sordid, twisted affair. The Red god had cursed Dahlia with the inability to fully carry a child to term, as long as she possessed her selfish intention. It knew that Dahlia only wanted a child because of the power that it would bring her, and in response it punished her, making her unable to carry a child to term the whole way. Due to it, that forced Dahlia and the doctor helping her to try to find some way around that. For a reason she still didn’t understand, Alessa needed to be born, but the Red god would control the circumstances in which she was born. Unfortunately, they did find some way around that. Dahlia and the doctor helping her had used Julie as a surrogate mother, using magic and the doctor’s own methods to implant Alessa’s unborn being into her. Alessa was still Dahlia’s, but she would now be nurtured inside another person’s body for the term. Afterward they wiped her memory of the events. Julie had no recollection of what happened to her. She thought she’d gotten pregnant naturally. Afterward Dahlia had to stay away. The Red god’s curse was that Dahlia was unable to carry a child to term without miscarrying, and further interference in her life would not be tolerated. But the Red god found out what they did, and since they had already gotten away with it, he let them be in favor of watching over Alessa. It was the Red god’s hope, Alessa guessed, that being unable to bear children would teach Dahlia some humility, that she couldn’t have a child just for the power aspect of it, and that eventually the Red god could lift the curse he had placed on her, without requiring intervention from the two strangers he had lined up to take care of the special child. Unfortunately Dahlia and her cohorts found a way around that, seeking the help of another god. As the years passed, the Red god felt its power waning, and it was forced to turn its attention to other matters. It could no longer watch over Alessa actively, and Dahlia found a way to worm her way back into her life, despite the persons it had entrusted to be her guardians. The Order grew more powerful, until it finally attacked them, killing her surrogate mother and forcing the other parent to leave.
Alessa awoke to see Douglas putting several bags down on the table in front of her, just below the motel bed. She stretched languidly, staring at the assortment in front of her. “What are these?” she asked curiously.
“I got you these. I thought you might get hungry,” Douglas said simply. There was no ulterior motive in the statement.
Alessa stared at the packages. Cheetos, chips, and snack cakes, along with what appeared to be some breakfast food in pouches. Not exactly a sample of fine cuisine, but it would sustain her for the next eight hours or so. She needed energy, no matter how much she didn’t feel like eating.
Alessa allowed a small smile. “Thanks,” she said genuinely. It seemed like he was genuinely trying to help her. Good to know. Douglas looked satisfied over the compliment.
Alessa got a puzzled look on her face. Something had just hit her.
“Hey, you didn’t feel me up in my sleep, did you?” Alessa asked curiously.
The pleased look dropped from his face. “What?” Douglas burst out. The old detective sounded scandalized.
“There’s no need to sound skeptical. I know that’s what a lot of guys like to do in this position. Put their arms around the girl a little, while she’s out of it, you know. Grab a side of boob,” Alessa said casually, recalling some of the things she had heard about teenage guys, not to mention, older men, over the years. Then again, she had said to Heather that she could do the same thing if she wanted to, once, so who was she to call the kettle black? It was just her thoughts, that’s all.
Douglas was offended. “Hey, do I look like a pervert to you?” he exclaimed, looking every bit the indignant old man he was feeling like at the moment. He looked closer and saw her eyes dancing with mirth, with her laughing quietly to herself. “You’re teasing me,” he realized, seeing the giggling she wasn’t restraining.
“I’m sorry,” Alessa chuckled, barely restraining herself. She had to laugh, to keep the pain away, or else it was going to overwhelm her again. And she could not afford for that to happen right now. And this seemed like something that was so easy to pick on; he was so sensitive! She knew it was silly, but it was something she could pick on at the moment, to distract herself. She had always had a weird sense of humor, and it was definitely coming in handy at the moment. “It was just so easy.”
“Do you always talk like that?” Douglas asked stunned, gruffly scoffing a bit at her blunt attitude. He had never seen a girl like Alessa before, who was so free and comfortable with herself. It was interesting. He also felt a bit guilty, deep inside. She was changed now, and it was because of him.
“That’s one of the results of growing up with a single dad. I learned to say whatever I wanted, at anytime I wanted, regardless of who was in the room,” Alessa smiled, wistful at the memories. “Of course, he would have been mortified to hear me talk like that. He didn’t like it when I got graphic,” Alessa said sheepishly, backing off a bit from her bold attitude.
She understood why some people were made uncomfortable by that, but that was the way she was.
“Huh,” Douglas grunted, a bit amused. He had known smart ass punks like that all throughout his life. Sometimes they really annoyed him, but in Alessa he could see himself tolerating it, sometimes. She was unique.
“Are you okay?” Douglas asked. He knew she had been through a lot, but he hoped she had at least gotten a decent night’s sleep.
“I’m fine,” Alessa said. She was a little cold, wrapping her arms around herself, but that was about it. She was keeping a thorough check on her emotions, until this was all done.
“I’m going to go check out this Leonard guy’s house,” Douglas said, grabbing the prior map in hand. He had made a crude copy of it, afterward giving the original to Alessa.
“I’ll go head for the hospital,” Alessa said, nodding in assent. They had discussed this before. Douglas would check out the more confined place, having more experience snooping around, while Alessa would check out the more public place.
“Are you sure you’re going to be all right? I can switch if you like,” Douglas offered her. The hospital would probably be a more public place, with people there, but the thought of letting her walk alone into a building full of mental patients was a little unsettling.
Thinking about it, he hated to admit it, but it may have in fact been better for her to go to the seemingly more dangerous place, with one single target that she could take down easily.
“I’ll be fine,” Alessa reassured him. She smiled mischievously at him, staring at him curiously while she looked him over. “Are you sure it’s not you who’s afraid to be alone?” she asked knowingly, smirking a bit.
“You’re damn right I’m afraid. I’m fifty something years old, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Douglas said unapologetic, admitting what he knew was the truth. “I feel like I’m dreamin’.”
“It’s not a dream, it’s a nightmare,” Alessa said, correcting him with a thoughtful shake of the head. He had no idea about the things she had seen, and she had a feeling he would see much worse before the day was out. “You don’t want to know some of the things that are out there in this world. Trust me, I’ve fought some of them before, and they are some really nasty beasties. There are some things out there that surpass anything in your worst nightmares,” she said. The old man looked disturbed by the thought.
“I just want to wake up already and have a smoke,” Douglas said, sighing from the weariness of it all.
“Trust me, that won’t happen. This is reality,” Alessa affirmed to him. She knew what he was feeling, but it was a moot hope. No matter how much he wished it, they were not going to wake up from this ordeal. The sooner he accepted that, the better it was for them.
“Are you going to be okay with that thing?” Douglas asked, looking at the gun she had out beside her on the bed.
“Yeah, why?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Isn’t that gun a little big for a girl?” Douglas shrugged, pointing out what he thought was blatantly obvious. He wasn’t looking to offend her, but that gun looked a little out of place in her tiny hands. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it. He was an old fashioned guy.
“You sound like Snake,” Alessa groaned, a bit in disgust. It was then that she noticed the blank look on Douglas’ face, and that he was looking absolutely puzzled by her statement.
“Solid Snake. From Metal Gear Solid,” she clarified for him. Douglas’ face was still blank, and Alessa was a bit disheartened as she realized he had absolutely no idea what she was saying. “It’s a video game series,” she sighed, a bit disheartened that she even had to explain. She looked at him a bit in disgust. “I’m not surprised, I guess the last video game you played was probably Pac-Man,” she said dismissively.
“Hey!” Douglas exploded with an offended look on his face. Alessa looked up sharply at the raised tone in his voice.
“Mario. It was Mario. I’m not that old,” Douglas said, muttering a bit in mock offense. He knew his hair was thinning, and he looked a little bit grizzled and rough around the edges, but geez! He then noticed her silently laughing and felt a bit annoyed at himself, and her too. “You’re really good at doing that, you know,” he said, gruffly scoffing a bit in disgruntlement. She knew what he was talking about. Making fun of the old man…he supposed he deserved it, but it was still annoying that he was stuck with her like this.
“I’m sorry,” Alessa laughed, allowing herself to lose herself in the moment. She had to laugh, otherwise she would cry. If she didn’t find the humor in the situation, she would go insane from the guilt and the pain that was wracking her. So she laughed at his offense. “You’re just so easy to tease,” she laughed.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Douglas said, frowning as he turned to walk away. He paused. Something occurred to him. It was about something that she had said earlier, which he found curiously interesting. “Hey, you said that you were able to draw people to you when you were a child. You think maybe you couldn’t rustle us up a little help, here?” Douglas suggested, with a curiously cheesy grin on his face.
“Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. What happened was a drawn-out process, and it would take several years to execute. I wouldn’t be able to do it here,” Alessa said. Alessa lifted an eyebrow at him. “Besides, do you really want to involve more people in this mess?” she asked wryly.
“Heh. Good point,” Douglas said wryly, shaking his head. She was right, of course. More people involved in this mess, for them to worry about – that was the last thing they needed at the moment. He soon found another concern to concern himself with, though. He looked at the young woman, curled up on the bed and looking very frail in her pale demeanor. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” he asked, still worried about her.
“I’m sure,” Alessa smiled at him. She had her handgun and her weapons, and the other things she had brought. She appreciated his concern, but the truth was she could manage by herself. They needed to get out there.
Douglas turned to walk away.
“Douglas?”
Douglas turned back.
“If you find Leonard and it turns out that he gets aggressive with you, don’t hesitate to shoot him,” Alessa said.
Douglas looked at her closely. What was it that was so concerning her, that she would advise him to shoot someone who could be their best bet for information? Did she know who Leonard was? If so, what could be so concerning about him? He nodded simply. Somehow, he already knew that it wouldn’t be wise to ask her.
“All right,” he responded, in a low gravelly voice. And then he left the motel room, off to pursue his lead.
Alessa looked around the motel room. For the first time in the past eight hours, she was alone. She looked around the seedy motel room with a fine eye, taking in all the details of what was apparently a vacated building, noting the dirt and grime settled over some of the things in the place. She had taken a nice, long shower as soon as she got here, unable to bear remaining grimy with the essence of that place on her in its sweat and blood. Miraculously the plumbing still worked in the motel room, despite the place’s state of disrepair, allowing her to get cleaned up. She was thankful, otherwise Douglas would have had to put up with her in that state for the rest of their stay. The water was also a soothing presence, allowing her to get lost in its comforting warmth as the streams cascaded down her back. She had eaten too, the few food items she had brought from home. She needed to keep up her strength. That was the practical side of things, taking over the emotional aspects.
The place looked like it hadn’t seen activity in a year, with a fine sheen of dust covering everything except the bed. It was odd that the piece of furniture was untouched while everything else wasn’t, but she wasn’t about to question it. She wondered how this place could stay operational when the place was obviously abandoned, but it wasn’t something worth going too much thought into. It was just another of the mysteries of the town, one she would never have an answer to.
The tables and lamps were covered in dust, and all the TV showed was “snow”, static from the result of the cable being cut off. There was nothing interesting in the room, other than what she had already seen. While it would be tempting to remain here hidden away from the dangers, she couldn’t dawdle around here too long. It was a safe sanctuary, but that was all.
She had to go out there. There couldn’t be any more delaying it. This was the only way any of this would ever get solved.
Alessa looked down at the gun in her hand. There wasn’t anyone else in the room, but it was all the reminder she needed of what she had to do.
“Well, let’s take care of business,” she said to the open air.
~
AN: Some dialogue may be borrowed from Silent Hill 3.
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Dark Descent