A Mother's Love

Leonard arrived in the bathroom, the occasional tear coming down his face. "What was I thinking bringing Annette here? Bringing her here from a place that she was safe and content, to this world of everything she was against. He sighed, sitting at the bathtub. He sighed, thinking of the dream he had and why it had seemed so real. His mother, besides Annette, was the only person to show him kindness. He knew she wouldn't approve of his lifestyle. Once he thought about it, he didn't condone his lifestyle. He looked at his side as the bandage was coated in blood. He unwrapped it as the dry blood clung to the cloth. He thought of Annette, the young woman who was currently cooking in the kitchen. Her innocence and playful nature drew him closer to her. He loved her and cared for her deeply.

"I vow, Annette. Here and now, I will protect you. My mother, I couldn't save, but, I plan to make up for that. I'm not a monster. My mother was right. I may be a part of this life, but, I'm not a monster."

He felt as his body became sore and excruciating pain shot through his body, as he fell onto the floor, as another wave of pain come from both the landing onto the cold hard floor, and the impact of the wound smacking that ground. A faint buzzing entered his ears as visions of the cults who chanted. 'Burn him.' rang out in his ears. The once faint buzzing became ear-shattering as his vision became hazy and his head pounded. The air-raid sirens in the distance rang as he was feeling powerless to stop the realm from transforming. With everything in him, he brought the realm back to the fog surrounding him. He heard Annette yell. "Leonard!"

Annette ran to him, shaking him. He looked at her, but with a blank look in his eyes, she noticed he was miles away. She looked at him, stroking his head.

Leonard looked at his new surroundings as his wound closed with a sigh of relief. He continued to look around his surroundings; seeing two pyramid heads each holding spears in their grasps standing around him, but the sight between the two Pyramid Headed creatures caused him to sink to his knees seeing a bloody man hanging from a hospital bed, and that bloody figure was him, his body caked with blood, the heartbeat faint, his still movements he thought the worst. He looked at the brilliant white light on the other side of him. "What is this place?"

"You're at the crossroads, a realm of Silent Hill that no one, not even you, have seen, Alexander."

He looks to see a figure dressed in white standing in the light.

"I must be dreaming again."

"You're not dreaming. This is real. You desired a change, didn't you, you inadvertently summoned this world. A world that holds all darkness and all light, a world that is but isn't. You have a choice to make, Alexander. You want to protect the young woman behind the wall. With your injuries, that was an impossible task. However, she was also in danger to you. I have brought you here, to settle feelings you feel as though you have let me down. You have done no such thing, it's time that you know the truth of what happened that night in 1801."

Leonard looked at her. "The truth? What truth, mother? 1801 was my death, not your demise. I saw them bury you many years later."

His mother looked at him. "A mother's love knows no limits. I returned home from church early. I found you lying on your bed. But I was too late to save you. I was so heartbroken. I clothed you, I stayed with you most of the night. Your father, I assumed, had left the home to escape the noose. You were so cold… so lifeless." Tears came to her eyes. "Though I knew you were gone, I didn't want to accept it. I must have carried on a conversation with your body all night, but somehow I didn't feel alone. I felt you there. I couldn't explain it, but, it felt like we were together again. You're right, I didn't die in 1801. I died years later. By the same people you are battling now, I had brought you here to bury you in the lovely graveyards. I had buried you. But the vision you call a dream, I gave you that revelation. I'm trapped in Silent Hill as much as you are, though you got a decent burial, and I don't regret that. But for me, I'm always on the run from my hunters. Cursed to never die, always running, running from them Pyramid Head is my protector. He attacks you because he thinks of you as a threat. I summon him to me when your battles become too extreme."

I looked at her. "You're in Silent Hill, where? Tell me I'll come and get you. I'll take you to safety."

She looked at me. "I'm beside you, buried along with you. It's my soul that is on the run."

"Why, you're not evil. Who had you ever wronged?"

"I'm a murder, I shot your father a year after your death. The love of a mother knows no limits. Even in death, Alexander, we are together. I don't regret any of it."

I looked at her as tears fell from her eyes.

I walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her, as she returned the embrace, allowing her tears to flow freely from her eyes. I stroked her head. Feeling tears come from my eyes.

Annette still held Leonard as tears came from his eyes. She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe his tears. "Please, come back. I promise I won't hurt your feelings by calling you crazy. Please come back to me."

She got his hand, kissing his fingertips as tears fell from her eyes.