Silent Hill[on hold]

Chapter One

Dahlia gently turned the page of the book she held in her hands, her eyes scanned over the words, not reading them but just looking. She had spent hours watching Alissa reading, never understanding the spell that the books had the child under. A soft creak broke through her thoughts, turning her gaze up; she looked at her daughter who stood on the bottom of the steps. Her tiny fingers were curled around one of the posts.

            “Is something wrong?” She asked softly, closing the book and sitting it aside.

            Alissa’s large brown eyes looked down at the ground, “I had a bad dream…”

            Standing, she walked over to her child and picked her up, “I’m sorry Lissa; I’ll tell you a story that will keep those bad dreams away.” She smiled down at her while carrying her upstairs to her room. Laying Alissa down, she tucked her into bed and sat down on the edge.

            “A long time ago there was a very beautiful woman who loved everyone and everything, she was God and everyone loved her. One day she disappeared but promised to return to save us all.” She brushed Alissa’s hair from her forehead, “She will come down from the heavens and deliver us from paradise, and I know that you will live to see that day.”

            Alissa smiled a little, her eyelids growing heavy, “What does she look like mommy?”

            Dahlia thought for a moment, “No one knows, we just know that she is beautiful, and that we will know her when we see her. Now get some sleep, you start school tomorrow.” After placing a faint kiss on her forehead she got up, turned the light off, and headed back downstairs.

            While making her way downstairs to the kitchen she turned off the lights as she passed by them. The house went into complete darkness, the only light coming from the kitchen. Grabbing a glass she filled it with water to drink. Before she could even place the glass to her mouth her attention was drawn elsewhere. Outside the window of the kitchen stood a hooded figure with a mask on, staring at her.

            Anger boiled inside her at the thought of it being someone that was trying to pry into her life again, that wanted to take away her child. Slamming the glass down, she stormed out of the back door. The figure turned to watch her.

            “Get away from my house!” She shouted, advancing on the person. Just a few feet away someone grabbed hold of her from behind, painfully twisting her arms behind her back. A scream attempted to escape only to be stopped by a hand on her mouth. More hooded and masked figures came out of the darkness around the house.

            In their hands they held bottles filled with a foul smelling liquid and a rag stuffed inside, in the other hand was matches. Her eyes widened as she watched them light the matches and throw the bottles at the house. Some exploded on impact, sending flames all over the house, the others getting in the house through the windows. In a matter of seconds the house was up in flames. The figure holding Dahlia let her go, shoving her to the ground and spitting on her before running off with the others.

            Dahlia rushed to her feet and to the door, burning her hand when she grabbed the knob. Tears ran down her face as she ignored the pain, pulling the door open and rushing inside. She could feel her mind and body giving up, not wanting to even try.

            “What happened?” A male voice asked her from behind. She turned to see a man in blue jeans, plaid shirt, and wearing a trucker hat.

            “My daughter… She’s upstairs.” She looked at the flames with panic in her eyes. He said nothing more, rushing past her and into the flames, leaving her to collapse outside the house, left to watch the flames.

            Alissa curled up in the corner of her room, shaking in fear while curling into herself as much as she could to escape the licking tongues of the flames. Tears ran down her soot covered face leaving behind clean little lines that showed she was crying. Every few seconds she would cough, breathing getting harder. Her mind grew numb; she didn’t hear the sound of her door being kicked down, or the sound of the man shouting out to her. He rushed through the flames to her, pulling her up and into his strong arms, carrying her from the burning building.

            As he emerged from the burning building the fire department was arriving, getting to work as fast as they could. A woman with long white hair was off to the side with Dahlia, talking to her, comforting her. The man walked towards them with Alissa in his arms, her gaze locked on the woman. She could feel her stomach tighten at the sight of her, fear filling her.

            A smile came to the woman as she reached out her hands to take her from him. He was ready to hand her over until her felt Alissa tighten the hold she had on him.

            “No! I don’t want to go with her! Don’t let her take me Travis!” She screamed, hiding her face in his chest.

            His body grew rigid, “How do you know my name….?” He whispered to her. She looked up at him with her once brown eyes that had now turned black, a look of confusion coming to her.

            “I just do…” She said softly.