Chapter 3

"God damn it!" Linda jumped in her bed again "When is it going to end?"

The young woman looked at her clock. It was ten minutes to six which meant that after those ten minutes the alarm will go off. Linda switched it off got up from bed.

"This time it wasn't so bad, comparing to last time," she said to herself "at least no killings before my eyes which is already good. But my old school… and that creature… He was always there, in each such dream of mine. But why? What does it all mean?"

Too many questions but not even a single answer. Linda sighed heavily and began preparing for work. She made herself a quick cup of black tea and ate a few sandwiches. Washing her teeth and putting a bit of makeup she dressed up and left home.

The day at work passed rather peacefully. She put a stamp on the document that had to be translated and signed it. As it was arranged, at ten the lady came for it and paid the price. After she left, both women had to talk things over.

"Today you look better, Lin," Alice said with a smile "I guess you slept better?"

"Well, yes, kind of," Linda replied "at least it wasn't as bad as it was last time."

"What do you mean? Again those strange dreams?"

"Yes, but this time it was more peaceful comparing with the last one. At least no bloody scenes, which makes me happy. Again this thick fog, of course, but guess where I found myself? In my old high school," Linda closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember details. "It was deserted, just like that unfamiliar town that I saw before. And… that creature… the one with triangular helmet on its head. I faced it again."

"And what did it do?" Alice asked curiously.

"Hmm… it just came and stood before me for a moment, like pondering about something, and then picked me up and threw me on his shoulder like a bag full of potatoes, and left. That's all I remember."

Alice fell into thoughts for a moment.

"Interesting. Have you got any ideas about the meaning of these dreams of yours? Especially the appearance of this beast?"

"No idea, really. I've thought about it hundreds of times. And still can't understand why such dreams occur from time to time. I wish I knew it," Linda sighed. "What's more, I don't recognize the town that I appear in. Of course, there are many ghost towns around the world, including the States, I've seen many pictures of them. But this one… Completely unfamiliar."

"I see. You know what? When we come to my place, we can search online together for ghost towns, at least in our state and the closest ones to it. Maybe you missed some of them after all."

"All right, good idea," Linda agreed. She liked this offer after all. "You might be right, I could have missed some city that is not maybe known so well."

"Sure, you can't know about all the towns in the world, can you? There's too many of them and may be not enough information about each one."

"I agree. I feel that today we'll find out something new," Linda smiled.

"Could be," Alice replied. "By the way, yesterday evening I prepared pizza. It's left only to bake it."

"Oh wow, really? That's cool. You're professional in making pizza" Linda grinned slyly.

"Oh thank you, it means a lot to me," Alice blushed slightly "it's one of my favourite foods that allows you to fantasize as much as you wish. I made seafood pizza this time."

"I adore seafood!" Linda exclaimed happily.

"I know, dear" Alice said with a warm smile "that's why I made it like this. At least your mood with rise a little bit."

"Alice, you're a true piece of gold, indeed," Linda looked at her friend with gratitude in her eyes.

"Nah, no problem," Alice replied a bit shyly "that's what friends are for."

Time went fast and soon the work was over. Both women waved goodbye to the headmistress and left the building. Chatting merrily, they boarded the bus and after thirty minutes were at Alice's home. Taking the coat and boots off, Alice rushed to the kitchen to put the pizza into the baking oven while Linda slowly took the street clothes off and went to the bathroom to wash hands. After approximately an hour a pleasant aroma of freshly baked pizza filled the flat. Both women enjoyed their dinner in a peaceful, domestic atmosphere, laughing and making jokes from time to time. They ate half of pizza, feeling rather full already.

"Would you like to have tea now?" Alice asked.

"You know, later a bit, ok? I really feel so full," Linda panted heavily.

"Me too. Anyway, we have nowhere to hurry. Tomorrow is Saturday, so we can sleep how long we want. We have enough time" Alice smiled happily. "So, what do you say about using this break and surf the Internet? Ghost towns, remember?" she winked, mentioning them.

"Sure, I haven't forgotten," Linda grinned "I just wonder whether we can find anything that might be at least a bit similar to what I see in my dreams."

"We shall see" Alice said, turning on her laptop "who knows? Luck might await when you least expect it."

She opened the browser and they began searching information about deserted towns in America, paying most attention to the state where they lived and the neighbouring states as well.

"Hey, Lin, look here. Here is one abandoned town in the state of Pennsylvania."

"Oh yes, it's Centralia. I've heard about this one. Abandoned because of huge coal fire underneath the town," Linda said. "And it still is burning. It says that there's so much coal that it will burn at least two more centuries."

"Uh-huh, I see," Alice answered. "And it says it's dangerous to walk around that place. The ground is totally unstable and there's risk to fall through and get burned alive."

"True," Linda agreed "you know, if it wasn't for that, I'd have visited this town. Photos are good, but it's always much more interesting to see everything with your own eyes."

"No doubt," Alice smiled. "I expected you to say this. I only wonder how you're not scared to go to abandoned places? I remember when we both went to an abandoned school building, each of my limbs was trembling like an aspen leaf."

"Now, now, it wasn't that horrible, was it?" Linda huffed "If curiosity gets the best of you, it's nothing you can do but give up and go. Well, there was a feeling of fear for an hour or two, but after that was relief. We didn't find anything though. But it was a fine experience."

"Hell, yeah, especially for you, risky one," Alice burst into laughing and Linda joined her in a few seconds. While laughing, she caught a glimpse of a name of a town she had never heard about – Silent Hill.

"Hey, Alice, look there. What's this?"

"Where?"

"On the left, it's mentioned about a town called Silent Hill. Strange name for a town, don't you think?"

"Let's check it then," Alice said and clicked on that name. In that moment photos of town and a brief story of it popped up on the screen. "Well, well. Looks like it's another ghost town. And it's located in the state of Maine, not far from Portland, where we live! How come you haven't heard of it?"

"I'm also surprised, believe me," Linda replied thoughtfully "especially because it's in our state. The name "Silent Hill" indeed tells me nothing. Let's have a look at its story."

"Ok, let's do it," Alice scrolled the text down to see how long it was. "It's really a short description here. I guess you should go to the library or to some archive to know more details. But generally… Hmm, the things written here don't sound very inviting. Look at this:

"Silent Hill is a rural town, located in the state of Maine, at the lake Toluca, the history of which goes back to England's early colonization of America. The local Native American tribes considered the Toluca lake area to be "The Place of Silenced Spirits", and was long considered to have a kind of spiritual significance and an air of mysterious power. It was considered to be a holy place, where many rituals were conducted in accordance with the indigenous beliefs. A particular tribe who worshiped a deity known as Kwekwaxawe referred to the area as Kwekwaxawe Kanesda, meaning "Nest of the Raven" in their native language.

Although it is known as a scenic resort area, it is a cursed place where the town's former inhabitants were once driven away, brutal executions were once carried out, and a mysterious plague was once prevalent. Today the town stays deserted, truly deserving to be called a ghost town. Even still people avoid coming close to this place which, as some of the witnesses claim, is covered in a thick fog and hides horrifying secrets. Those who were so unlucky to visit the town, wanted to deliver the following warning to people:

If you value your life and sanity, stay away from the town of Silent Hill.

The details are unknown, but there has to be a reason why they are warning us to keep away from that place. Silent Hill might be indeed dangerous, but it still has to be investigated to know the truth."

"Well, what do you say?" Alice asked.

"Wow, this sounds undeniably frightening," Linda said, studying the text with her eyes. "But I also won't deny that it fires up my curiosity and I really want to find out what this is all about. Why is this place dangerous? Where does the danger lie? There are so many mysteries that beg to be uncovered, and I'd like be the one who will do it."

"So what do you propose? To go straight to the town itself? I would go to the library or archive first, if I were you," Alice replied "first we should find more information and know at least a bit of the town's history before doing anything else."

"You're right. We have to choose a suitable day to visit the local library here at first and try to find some archive if there is one. It would be a good starting point," Linda continued staring at the screen. "Um… could you please zoom in the pictures? I'd like to see closer."

"Yes, sure," Alice clicked on one of the photos and it opened in a new tab. It was a photo of one of streets in Silent Hill. Next photo portrayed Toluca lake, on the third one there was a view of hospital called Alchemilla. Linda's eyes widened. Somehow it all seemed too familiar to her, like if she had already been to that town, although she knew it wasn't possible. If she had never even heard of it, then where did the feeling come from that she had been there? It was right then when she realized something. Dreams. So that's it. Silent Hill is the place that she had been seeing in her nightmares. A deserted town covered in thick fog. The few witnesses claimed it to be covered in fog, so there was no doubt – it was this town she found herself in after falling asleep. With this thought Linda began to pant heavily. Alice noticed it and began to worry.

"What's wrong, Lin? Are you alright?"

"It... this is it…" Linda murmured, not paying too much attention to her friend's question. It looked like if she was under hypnosis.

"What? What is it?" Alice shook her a bit, and Linda's mind returned to reality. "Can you please explain me what's going on? Linda, you're scaring me!"

"I'm ok, Alice, don't worry. It's just…" Linda tried to concentrate "when I took a closer look to the pictures of this Silent Hill town, it seemed too familiar. And then I realized that it's the place I see in my dreams. I got scared, and that's why I had such heavy breath."

"Wow, what are you saying?" Alice widened her eyes. "But how is that possible if you didn't even know about this town's existence?"

"Well, that's the question. And I want to find an answer to it. I want to find out what does this all have to do with me."

"Well, what can I say… In this situation it's absolutely necessary to find it out," Alice agreed "maybe then your nightmares will end. But to be honest… it scares me a lot."

"Me too," Linda sighed "but I must find out the truth. Maybe, as you said, it will put an end to my nightmares and I can find peace of mind."

"I hope so. And I'll help you as much as I can," Alice said, hugging her friend and trying to calm her down. Linda really looked nervous. "Would you like a cup of tea? It will help you relax."

"Yes, please. I wouldn't mind to have one now."

Both women went to the kitchen, and while Alice was preparing tea, Linda switched on the TV, trying to push away the thoughts about what she'd just found out. It was 08:00 p.m., time for evening news. Alice made black tea and they ate a few more pieces of pizza while drinking tea, talking and watching news. The time went by and Linda seemed distracted from the thoughts about new information. She was smiling happily while chatting to her friend. After one hour, when it was nine, she decided it was already time to go home and rest.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go home," Linda sighed "I need to rest and think everything over. It's indeed unexpected what we've found out today."

"Yeah, it definitely is. Are you sure you'll be fine? If you want, I can expand the sofa in the living room and make a place for you to sleep here," Alice offered.

"Oh no, dear, thank you, but no need. It's not that bad after all."

"Ok, for any case, I offered. I'm a bit worried about you, you know," Alice smiled to her.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Linda smiled back. "Thank you so much for everything. Your pizza was really great, I enjoyed it so much. Next week I invite you to my place, ok? I already have an idea of a treat" she winked.

"All right then," Alice grinned "sounds intriguing already. Hey, how about going out tomorrow? Maybe to the cinema or something?"

"Sure, I'd love to," Linda agreed "we'll contact by phone tomorrow and make a final decision. Good night."

"Good night." Both friends hugged each other and Linda left.

It was almost ten when she arrived home. As she had a meal by Alice, there was no feeling of hunger, so Linda decided to take a warm, relaxing shower. No matter what thoughts raced through her mind, it helped her to relax. Right after that she went to bed, hoping for a peaceful sleep. She had things to ponder about, and tomorrow she will have time for that.