Silent Hill: Origins

Chapter 8: Final Preparations

All was quiet as Travis ran back through the halls of Alchemilla. It was the first time things really felt abandoned. No longer did Travis feel like eyes were watching him from shadows, everything was just cold, empty. The feeling of monsters lurking around the corner had followed him his whole time here, he was surprised to feel alone for once. The echoing of his footsteps were all he could hear, the cold wind blowing through the broken winds all he could feel. Yet through it all, he had a strong sense of foreboding. Nothing was here, but something else was coming. How Alessa left... he knew now that his time in Silent Hill wasn't over yet.

Even as Travis reached the exit, he couldn't find Alessa. She'd simply disappeared. He was starting to wonder again if he ever saw her at all.

And then he was outside, in the familiar muggy fog of Silent Hill. But at the bottom of the short stairs in front of him was a face he didn't expect to see, but he felt it made sense for her to be here. The woman claiming to be Alessa's mother.

She pointed a crooked finger at Travis, scowling. "What have you done?" She shook her head in frustration. "You broke the spell! Now she is free."

Travis trudged down into the courtyard. "I just want to end this. I thought that's what she wanted too." He glared at the woman. "I want out! Can you help me?"

"You want out?" the woman laughed. "Far too late for that!" She started to circle around him. "Even with your misguided help, she can't stop us now. The ceremony begins soon." She clapped her hands together. "Finally, she will birth God!"

Why did I honestly expect you to say something coherent? Travis thought.

"Here she comes!" the woman exclaimed, pointing passed Travis. "Look upon what you have wrought!"

Travis turned to see Alessa standing on the steps in front of the door. But as she began to gently lift off the ground, Travis gave up on wishing for any kind of normalcy. The wind kicked up around her, and the concrete steps gave way to rusted metal, the concrete shredding away like paper skin. She stared directly at Travis, and floated down the steps towards him. The courtyard started melting away, falling into the sky. What was left behind were wicked machines and metal grating looking down into fire or darkness.

Travis couldn't find the other woman either. She'd just disappeared. And as Alessa's strange powers seemed to grow, shredding the world around her, Travis thought maybe that woman had the right idea.

What the hell happened!? Travis panted, running down a blind alley.

Even as quickly as he moved, he couldn't outrun the world falling apart. Brick walls were replaced with prison bars, disgusting hands of demons reaching out to him. The ground broke and split, hellfire spewing up from beneath. Blood clung to his shoes, slowing him down and threatening to trip him.

But then, as he turned yet another blind corner, he came face to face with a giant amalgamation of flesh and bones. Travis slipped as he tried to slow down, hitting the ground. The monster raised a bloody stump of a fist, and suddenly a wall of rusted metal shot up between the monster and Travis.