Chapter 9

What's happening? Am I still sleeping?

Linda felt herself being in such a state when she wasn't in a deep sleep yet, but not awake either, like something in the middle. It was nothing but darkness surrounding her, but she could hear distant voices whispering something unclear and her body felt every touch. She felt like someone was holding her in his arms, but all body ached, like after a serious fight a few moments ago. A large hand caressed her face and head gently, and Linda could feel that it had a glove on. The touch was so soft, so gentle that Linda felt herself falling into a deep, blissful oblivion. Before slumber enveloped her, she heard a faint voice practically at her ear:

"Linda… wake up…"

"Huh… what…" Linda could barely murmur a few incoherent words.

"Open your eyes…"

There it was again. The voice sounded female. No, it's more like a voice of a child. Linda slowly turned her head on the right, because that's where the voice came from. She opened her eyes finally. Although her vision was rather blurry, she saw a rather good-looking girl standing before her. It was hard to tell her age, but Linda presumed she could be around thirteen or fourteen years old. The girl had short dark hair and wore a knee-length blue dress with a white collar, white socks and black shoes. But before Linda could say something, her vision got clear and she realized that she was in a totally dark, in fact, infernal world. Everything looked rusty, filthy and covered in blood. There were even a few mutilated corpses here and there. But even that wasn't the worst. Turning her head back, the young woman saw a faceless head tilting above her. She realized that she was lying in the arms of a monster. He had no eyes, no nose and no ears, and only something like a thin line was barely visible where his mouth should be. As much as she could see, the monster really wore gloves on his hands and something resembling a ceremonial robe. His arms were muscular and everything was stained in dried blood. Linda wanted to scream, seeing such a creature looming above her, but the monster covered her mouth with his palm in one quick motion, muffling her scream.

Damn, this is just great…

First this strange girl, then being in some hell of a world, and now this creature holding her… What's next?

Then Linda realized something – she has already seen this being once. She remembered climbing up the ladder and this creature was behind it, rotating the valve. And the surroundings looked pretty similar to this world. He was doing his things and seemed ignorant to her presence. But as soon as she turned her head, he was there, on the wall. No matter where she looked, she saw him. Although he had no eyes, Linda could feel him watching her every minute. What's more – he never tried to harm her. And he wasn't intending to do it now, too. Yes, it's him, and Linda was more than sure about that. But what's even stranger – this girl somehow seemed familiar to her.

Seeing Linda's fear, the girl kneeled down and gently caressed her hair.

"Shhh… don't be scared. He won't hurt you."

"W-what? Who is this creature?" Linda stuttered.

"He's my guardian," the girl replied. "And he's your guardian as well."

"My guardian? Why? What are you talking about?" Linda asked, widening her eyes. Her guardian? Since when she has a guardian? It makes no sense.

"You don't remember anything now, do you?" the girl smiled kindly. Linda just shook her head.

"No, but… I think I've seen this being in my dreams," she pointed her head to the monster that was holding her. "And somehow I find you familiar either. It's like… like I've seen you somewhere already."

The girl nodded, like she understood everything.

"Oh… it seems that you have some memories. Well, let me help you remember then."

She put her palm on Linda's forehead, and it felt like thousands of needles pricked it from inside. Darkness consumed her for a few moments, and then suddenly a multitude of images flashed before her eyes like a slideshow. The school, children bullying this poor girl, the diabolical cult of Silent Hill, the church, the crazed cult leader… the God…

And then, like by a click, the dawn came upon her mind.

"Alessa!" Linda exclaimed. "It's you!"

Hearing her name, Alessa smiled delightfully. At this moment she looked like a happy child that had just got a toy that she wanted so much.

"Now you remember everything, Linda?"

"Of course. That's why you seemed so familiar to me," Linda sat up slowly, still being in the arms of a monster. "My god… so this is why I continue seeing the dreams about Silent Hill. It's actually you who tried to make me remember, am I right?"

"Well, yes, but not just me alone," Alessa replied. "As this is my world, I rule everything here. So it means that all the town of Silent Hill was calling to you. But don't be scared. I know, this world might seem like Hell to you, but don't let it fool you. It's the incarnation of my anger, of my feeling of revenge."

"Oh yes, I think I know what you mean," Linda nodded sympathetically. "Your mother, Dahlia… it's all because of her. She burnt you severely, wanting you to birth the God. That crazy bitch…" she clenched her teeth in anger. "Oh, sorry… it just went out by itself. I guess I shouldn't talk like that. She was your mother after all…"

Alessa just shook her head with a grin.

"No, no, don't worry, you're right. I hate my mother for all what she did to me. My anger doesn't concern you, so you don't have to be afraid. You were the only one in my class that treated me kind, so… you were like a sister to me, just like Claudia was. We both were forced to pray to God every day. This is not the childhood that I'd wish for."

"Sure, no child would ever want to go through this," Linda said. "I wish I could do more for you when we were still in school. Can I at least hug you now?"

Right after Linda said these words, Alessa practically jumped into her arms, pressing her face to Linda's chest. Despite going through all the torture, she was still a child that just wanted love and kindness. Linda felt her eyes filling with tears. This poor girl has suffered a lot, all her peers treated her awful, and mother didn't care about her. All she cared for was her damn God. So at least she could give Alessa some comfort.

Suddenly Alessa jumped from Linda's lap.

"Now… it's time to awake…" she said, her voice began to fade.

"Wait! Alessa!" Linda exclaimed. "Who is this guardian that you mentioned?"

"Come to Silent Hill…" her voice had already turned into whispering. "You'll understand everything."

Just like Alessa's voice, everything started to fade – the monster that held her, the infernal otherworld, everything. Darkness consumed her again. After some time Linda opened her eyes again and found herself in her bedroom.

"I'm back…" she whispered, sitting up on bed and rubbing her temple. "This dream of mine… no, it wasn't even a dream. All felt so… real. Much more real than all of my previous dreams together. It's like… I travelled to the otherworld. And that girl… Alessa. It looks like we knew each other and went to one school. But… it seems like all that happened in another life." Linda scratched her head that was still hurting from all what she has just experienced. "She mentioned a guardian… Her guardian and mine, too. This strange creature that held me in its lap… Uff… It's too much…" Not having finished her thought, she threw the blanket off her body. "I have to go to Silent Hill. Alessa also urged me to do it. She said – when you arrive, you'll understand everything. So I have one more reason to go there."

Linda took her phone and glanced at the clock. It was quarter to half past four, so there were still fifteen minutes until the alarm goes off. She turned it off and got out of bed. There was still time to have breakfast, so she planned to use it for this purpose now. After taking a quick shower, Linda dressed up, putting on her jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, a thick jacket and boots, then combed her hair and tied it in a ponytail. Her heart was beating fast while she thought about her last experience and what could await her in Silent Hill. What could Alessa mean by saying "you will understand everything"? This question didn't give her peace, just like everything else. But Linda understood that no answer will come if she doesn't search for it herself. And if going to Silent Hill is the only way – so be it.

With that thought she had breakfast, then put her backpack on. It was ten minutes to five, so at half past five she will already be at Alice's place. Checking her flat once more to make sure if she hasn't forgotten anything important, Linda left home.