Chapter 12

During all the days after his encounter with Linda in the city, Mitch could only wonder what she meant by saying that she would wait for him in some deserted town. And why a ghost town anyway? What does she want in an abandoned town? Mitch was totally confused. The name "Silent Hill" meant nothing to him, he has never heard of such place. To be sure, he checked the online map for such town, and there it was – in the state of Maine, not far from Portland, the city where they lived. So she didn't lie after all. This strange town really exists. But why is she going there? What is she up to? In any case, Mitch was determined to find it out. Knowing Linda, he knew that she always preferred to do things as early as possible, so she would definitely go around five or six in the morning. It was Saturday morning now, and if he remembered it right, she was going to travel there today. If the luck is on his side, he'll manage to catch up with her and finally teach her a lesson for all his mental suffering. This time no one will be around and there will be no lucky escape.

***

James and Alice slowly opened their eyes, and together with the awakening came also headache. They were happy to be alive, but their happiness lasted for a few seconds after they realized that darkness surrounded them from all sides.

"What… What the hell is going on here?!" Alice practically yelled. She was so scared like she has never been before, and it was no surprise. It was not just dark, but everything around seemed like covered in dirt and…blood. They were still in a theme park, or so it might seem, but it looked like this place has turned into real hell.

"Keep your voice down," James tried to calm her down. "Such phenomenon happens here. Last time when I visited Silent Hill, I experienced the same thing. A loud sired went off and the world literally changes right before your eyes."

"Or, to be precise, while you are unconscious," Alice said in trembling voice, and it seemed like an echo. The only sounds that broke the dead silence were their voices. Alice then started turning her head around nervously. "Lin, are you… Hey, wait a minute… Linda?"

"Where is she?" James asked.

"I… I have no idea. She's not here. I'm positive she was right here, with us when the siren blared. And now she vanished! Oh no… no…" Alice was close to crying. Linda was like a sister to her and now she was gone. "I can't believe we lost her!"

"Alice, please, don't panic," James put a hand on her shoulder. "If you give in to panic, it will be only worse. Try to stay focused. If we lost her, we must start searching for her right now. Let's begin examining the park first."

"All right, let's do it," Alice agreed. "If we find nothing here, I think we should go to those places that Linda showed on the map. She mentioned seeing them in her dreams, so perhaps we could find some clues there."

Holding their weapons ready, they began looking around, trying to stay close to each other. James already knew what danger lurks in this darkness, so it was up to him to protect Alice and himself. He fully realized that he liked her from the first time they met, and made him even more determined to be her bodyguard. They've had one date already, and she was obviously feeling something for him. If they manage to get out of this hell alive, James hoped that they can develop their relationship into something more.

Searching the park gave no success, nowhere was any sign of Linda's presence. Alice was totally upset and frightened, but James tried to do his best to keep her calm. Of course, he felt fear, but not to such an extent, as he has gone through the Otherworld of Silent Hill and managed to survive on his own. Both of them had flashlights, otherwise navigating through this darkness would be a disaster. While examining the park and shining the flashlight into every corner, James noticed a steel pipe lying in the very corner underneath the first seat row in what looked like an open air theatre.

"Now this would come in handy. I suggest preserving the rifle and shotgun for dire situations, in case if we encounter any strong enemy. Many of the creatures were weak and could be easily defeated in melee combat, at least so it was in my case. We better use the ammo wisely."

Alice nodded in agreement. After all, there were very slim chances to find extra ammo in this place, and she had a bad feeling that they will need to use the weapons, although she truly hoped she was wrong. She always thought that monsters existed just in fairy tales, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Yeah, you're right. I just hope it won't be that bad to start using guns."

"I wish it was so, but I'm afraid we must prepare for the worst," James sighed. "I have gone through this nightmare once and can say for sure – if darkness comes, it brings its creations with it. I'm going to fight with this pipe and you can hold your shotgun ready. If it gets really bad, don't hesitate and shoot. I hope we can find something that you could use as a melee weapon. Believe me, you will need it."

Alice didn't like the sound of that, but James seemed to know what he was talking about, he sounded confident. Deep inside she was happy to meet such a brave man that was strong enough to survive such nightmare like this. Somehow she was sure that with him around, they will be the winners in this dangerous game. The main goal now was to find Linda.

Making sure that there was nothing useful left in the park, James and Alice followed the road to another part of the town. The first location they planned to check was Alchemilla hospital. It was one of those places that Linda mentioned, and according to her story, Alessa showed her this place in her memories. The road seemed long, but Silent Hill wasn't a big town, so it didn't take too much time to reach that part of it. There was still the sinister silence around and the footsteps of two people were the only sounds that could be heard. But it was soon to be changed, as James heard the radio in his pocket starting to go off, but the sound was nothing but static.

"Uh oh…" James said with fear in his voice "that sounds bad."

"Why? What is it?" Alice asked.

"If you hear the static from my radio, it can mean only one thing – there is a monster around here, and it's near."

"Oh, my God! What are we going to do?" Alice was literally trembling from head to toes.

"We're going to defend ourselves," James replied confidently. "Whatever there is, prepare for a fight."