Silent Hill: Seasons

Chapter 5: Window Shopping

Damien made his way down the steps of the police station and began following the map in the direction it showed the mall. Once again time seemed to have passed at an alarming rate. It was no longer raining, but seemed to be a nice summer day; at least it would have been if the streets weren't filled with smoke and ash from the underground fires.

Damien passed many more abandoned vehicles on his walk to the mall. He tried to avoid as many shadow creatures as possible, but there were still a few that were unavoidable and he dispatched them with the axe.

After a few blocks of walking he finally reached the mall. He opened the door and let himself in. Damien knew not to expect anybody to be there, but it was still a shock to find the mall empty of people.

Being inside the mall Damien was now tasked with locating The Diner, the map he had only showed that The Diner was at the mall, but it didn't show the location within the mall. Looking around he quickly located a directory and found that The Diner was located on the second floor on the opposite side of the mall. He began making his way through the first floor of the mall passing store after store.

Soon Damien came to a stop when the sound of static was emitted from the radio. He looked around but there was nothing to be seen in any direction. He approached the nearest store window to see if there might be a shadow creature inside, but as he drew closer he noticed something odd. There was a mannequin in the window but it was as if someone put it together wrong, it was headless and it had legs attached where the arms should be and arms where the legs should be. The mannequin was also naked; it wasn't wearing any clothes to represent the style of the store. The static from the radio became loudest right next to the window.

To Damien's amazement the mannequin came to life and smashed through the window, scattering shards of glass everywhere. The mannequin's arms (which were really legs) were swinging around wildly, kicking towards Damien. He stepped back to dodge the kicks from the arms (legs). As Damien tried to take another step back he felt something grab his leg and down he fell to the ground. He lost his grip on the pistol and it skittered across the tile floor. Looking at his leg he could see the mannequins hand from its leg (arm) holding on to his ankle. Damien kicked his leg free from the mannequins grip and got back on his feet. When he kicked his leg free the mannequin lost its balance and fell down onto its belly. Damien pulled the axe from his waistband, lifting the axe high above his head; he brought it down with all his strength slamming it into the back of the mannequin. He tried to pull it the axe back out, but it was stuck hard into the mannequin. The mannequin clambered back up to its feet (hands) and started after Damien again. Damien dove for the pistol on the floor quickly grabbing it and aimed for the mannequin firing two bullets into its body. The plastic mannequin dropped to the ground motionless. Damien gave it a good kick in the side since it didn't have a head. When the mannequin didn't move and he realized the static had faded away he wrenched on the axe with all his strength pulling it free from the mannequins back.

Damien stood there for a few minutes trying to regain his breath and his composure. After a few minutes he had gathered himself and was ready to continue through the mall to get to The Diner. Damien started the journey again and found his way to an escalator that led to the second floor. After reaching the second floor he kept on his path to reach the other side of the mall.

"Help!", came a cry from an electronics store as Damien passed. He stopped and turned back to the store hearing the cry for help again. Looking around he could see that all of the televisions were powered on. Although it was very strange, each television appeared to show a different image, but at the same time they were all connected. It was like all the televisions were making one big panoramic picture. There were five televisions in a row, the middle television was showing an image of an old decrepit looking church, the trees around the church were ablaze with red and orange leaves, there were pumpkins lining the edges of the church steps and on the televisions around it there were crowds of people standing around watching the church like they were waiting for something to happen.

As Damien was passing by the television with the church he heard the cry for help again, it was coming from the church. Seconds later the church door opened and to Damien's amazement there was a familiar face. It was a woman with black hair and her hands bound in front of her.

"Damien, help me!"

Damien confused at what he was seeing stared intently at the woman on the screen before calling out to her, "Natalie?"

Another woman exited the church, her blonde braided hair hanging in front of her. She began to speak to the crowd.

"I come to you fellow believers, to bring this woman... no, this witch to justice today."

Whispers could be heard through the crowd, "Witch. Witch. Witch."

"We must cleanse her soul; she must pay for the wickedness that she represents." Debbie stared directly at Damien before speaking again. "I ask you fellow believers; please pray for Damien as he knows not that she is a witch." As she spoke these words the crowds of people turned around to face Damien. Damien couldn't tell before, but now that the crowds of people were staring at him he could see that they were all wearing different kinds of masks.

The people in the crowds began shouting, "Cleanse her soul, burn the witch!"

"We will wait for you Damien, as to be fully repentant you will need to be here to witness the burning of this witch." At the end of Debbie's words all of the televisions powered off.