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S . I . L . E . N . T . H . I . L . L . I . N . N . O . C . E . N . C . E

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Faith

So God hasn't been lost.
We must offer our prayers and not forget our faith.
We wait in hope for the day when
The path to Paradise will be opened.

--

Three months later…

Dahlia Gillespie stood over the grave of her lost child.

The citizens of Silent Hill gathered behind Dahlia, keeping silence and waiting for the mother of the past girl to pay her respects.

The news was terrible. All who attended the funeral felt their own remorse. Not for the child whom their children said deserved it, but for the mother; who was charitable - volunteering in the orphanage that was adjacent to the Christian Church, volunteering in the Brookhaven Hospital - where she consoled the poor people on the ground floor who's minds had been warped or lost due to some ravage or other. They grieved for Dahlia's home, which was burned to the ground by some twisted Satanist motorcycle group.

The girl for whom the funeral was for had died in the blazing fire of the house. Though the citizens did not speak it, they where grateful that the strange and unacceptable child had died, and not Dahlia Gillespie.

People avoided staring or thinking too hard about the girl standing beside Dahlia Gillespie. Claudia Wolf remained as still and silent as a statue, her strange eyebrow-less face emotionless as she looked to the grave of her best friend.

Dahlia Gillespie had said that Claudia Wolf could be trusted. That her father Leonard Wolf had been mistreating her, and thus had been appropriately arrested by the police. Dahlia Gillespie, the angel that she is, had decided to take the street mongrel in; adopting her as her own child.

The people secretly hoped that this was due to her mourning, and would soon hand Claudia Wolf to the authorities in the orphanage as she should be.

The citizens of Silent Hill - oblivious to the true events - gathered behind Dahlia Gillespie; keeping silence and waiting for the mother of the lost child - Alessa Gillespie - to pay her respects.

--

When the funeral was over, Dahlia had retreated to her private room in the Church, and was dressing out of her funeral clothing. She stood behind a screen while Claudia kept her gaze to the floor, a frown had settled over the girl's face.

Annoyed, Dahlia huffed; "What troubles you, child?"

Claudia didn't lift her eyes from the wooden flooring, as if she hoped the floor would answer for her. "…" She always answered these days to anything with a pause. "Why do we have to lie about Alessa? God was successfully impregnated with her, right? What went wrong?"

Dahlia paused herself, only for a brief flash of a second. Her duty was to appear sure to everyone in the Order. It was why everyone followed her.

"We had interference from someone outside of the Order, and even Silent Hill itself. Someone saved our Mother of God, and God Herself was unable to be born properly." She said in her strong tone that everyone responded to.

" 'For God to be successfully born, The Chosen One must sacrifice her Body to the righteous flames of Xuchilbara, so God may ascend from the ashes of Her mother, much like Her first Birth.' " Claudia recited from one of the scripts. She knew each of them by heart, Dahlia was almost proud; if it weren't the fact that Claudia was the object of her pride.

"That’s right, dear Claudia." Dahlia recited herself. Keeping a happy face for Claudia was difficult. But Claudia had proven her worth to the Order, her dedication. She had turned in the two unclean boys who had tried to hinder Alessa's progress - God's progress - by stopping the Birth. But old thoughts die hard, so Dahlia would just have to be patient.

"To answer your original question. We must keep Alessa hidden. There are other devils in this world. Many of them would dream of nothing better than to destroy our God, and take away our Paradise. This way, Alessa and God will be safe until God has matured enough." Dahlia recited this as she had many times to the doctor of Alchemilla Hospital, who was a devoted member of the Order, and who would be tending to Alessa from now on.

To everyone else, Alessa was dead. To the members of the Order -the sisters and the minor Fathers- Alessa had been taken away to another place to perform a different ritual that would birth God. Only a select few of the Fathers knew Alessa's true state.

That the plan to Birth God had failed drastically, that God still remained buried in the womb of a burnt and near-dead child whose Comatose state could not be shifted despite all attempts. That their only hope to ever bring about Paradise was to wait, for who knows how long, until Alessa's strength returned enough for them to try again, and even then the chances of God being born from such a damaged source was dicey.

They had tried many times to birth God using children they took from the orphanage, but all tries had failed.

Only Alessa had actually been impregnated, only Alessa had been enough for the Great Protector Valtiel, only Alessa was the Chosen One…

--

Dahlia had decided to visit Alessa. Claudia had decided to study more of the scripts rather than accompany Dahlia. She preferred it this way. She couldn't relax around the strange, blonde eyebrow-less girl.

They had decided to keep Alessa in the Alchemilla Hospital rather than the Brookhaven Hospital; to run less risk of her discovery by any of the Order members.

As Dahlia passed the hall to the great doors of the Church, she passed Father Coleman. She didn't greet him, as he didn't lift his solemn eyes from the ground.

Dahlia didn’t feel any pangs of remorse for Father Coleman. His dastardly son had tried to destroy God, wouldn't co-operate with "our crazy religion" and demanded to see Alessa. He had been restrained in the Brookhaven Hospital (another reason to keep Alessa in Alchemilla) because of his vicious attack on one of the sisters when he awoke after being carried back from the Lakeside Amusement Park. The poor sister was still in hospital with her broken wrist. The last she had heard about Stanley Coleman, he had been completely committed to Brookhaven Asylum program, and was now suffering delusions of a girl that doesn't exist. He had been found in the Amusement Park clutching a handmade doll that he claimed belonged to Alessa, though this changed; and it now apparently belonged to his great love; Heather.

Father Coleman was one of the select few Fathers who knew Alessa's exact state, and did all he could to repay his son's betrayal with any way he could see. Dahlia was still too furious at him to try to use this to her advantage.

--

Dahlia was greeted in Alchemilla by Dr Kaufmann, and a lovely looking nurse wearing a red cardigan stood beside him. Dahlia threw a glare at the doctor, and he smiled and shook his head.

"Ms. Gillespie." He greeted, his voice as polite as ever, "We've been expecting you; please do come with us."

He turned and headed to the elevator, the red nurse didn't leave. She continued to walk with Dr Kaufmann, keeping her eyes to the fake-tile plastic floor. Dahlia kept her head up and back straight, making sure no emotion played on her face.

They entered the lift alone, and Dr Kaufmann pressed a key into a control below the floor buttons.

This routine was familiar to Dahlia now. The light flashed "B1" but took us lower than that. This place led them to the area where they kept their none-legitimate drug supplies, blood bank and documents of the patients histories. There was a room set aside for Alessa though, a small room, where her destroyed daughter lay in a coma.

As soon as the lift doors closed, and they began to descend, Dahlia turned on Dr Kaufmann. "Who is she?!" she hissed, jabbing a finger into the red nurses chest bone. The red nurse took a step back, looking horrified.

Dr Kaufmann remained as calm as he always was, and turned to Dahlia. "Don't worry, Nurse Lisa Garland is new on this job. She's just joined the Order." He said pleasantly. Red nurse returned to stare at the floor, believing this to be best.

"You let someone outside the Order join? This isn't a social club!" Dahlia hissed again, her temper as large as ever. "She has to be killed!"

Red nurse's eyes widened with fright. But Dr Kaufmann appeared at ease.

"Please remain calm, Ms. Gillespie." He said, "Lisa's mother is a sister of our Church. She's perfectly within the laws to know of the secret. Lisa is the best in her field, better than most nurses and doctors. She knows to keep secrets and she can look after Alessa better than I can."

Dahlia didn't, couldn't calm. "I am the Priestess of the Order. I decide what goes on! I decide whether or not Lisa joins. I decide whether or not Alessa should be looked after by some new wench!"

Red nurse was shaking now. She was fearful, but she kept her head down and tried to melt into the background. Her red cardigan made her stand out. Dr Kaufmann sighed, "I have full patient loads all the time." Dahlia knew this was bull, but let him continue, "I can't spend all my time monitoring Alessa while I have other pressing things." Dahlia was about to explode with the heresy that enflamed this lift, but Kaufmann held up his hand, "Lisa can look after Alessa better than I can. She will dedicate her life to God, and thus keep Alessa going with every second of her life. Your fears and emotions are completely misplaced."

Dahlia finally looked at Red nurse, taking in her features. She was pretty, and blonde, but seemed bright enough under her fear. Dahlia jabbed a finger at her again, "Tell me, Lisa!" she spat, "How do I know I can trust you to keep anything and everything about Alessa to yourself?"

Red nurse shuddered and took a deep breath, she lifted her head, her jaw set strongly. "I've managed to stay out of everyone's -even yours- attention so I could complete my nursing degree in peace. I will dedicate myself to anyone in the Order who comes under my ward" she paused, realising she wasn't saying the right things, "Mother Dahlia. You are our Priestess, our shepherd, in our travels to Paradise. Alessa is our compass, who will guide you to our Promised Land. Anything that will help Alessa recover, to Birth God, will have my full and utter devotion. If keeping Alessa the most important secret is what it will take to do this, then I shall keep my promise of silence through torture and death."

And Dahlia was finally able to calm herself. Her mouth became a thin line, but she nodded at Lisa, and accepted her. Just then, the lift doors opened. The three stepped out and began making their way to Alessa’s room. Lisa kept behind to two, to keep herself out of Dahlia’s attention. They entered Alessa’s sickroom.

The sickroom itself was depressing enough, but the thing covered in soiled bandages, twitching and breathing ragged breaths could make anyone want to commit suicide. Though it had been three months since the end of the Ritual, Alessa still showed no signs of recovering. Her wounds wouldn’t close and continued to seep blood and pus through the bandages. Her charred skin looked wet and crispy dry at the same time. She bared no resemblance to the girl she was not too long ago. It was only when you heard her voice that she began to resemble Alessa Gillespie.

Alessa was muttering now, the bandages crossed her bald head and face, but her mouth, nose and right eye had been left exposed. Dahlia could see her eye moving as she dreamed beneath her mangled eyelid. Her nose whistled as she breathed, and it was only because the room had become ever so quiet that the girl’s mutterings could be heard.

Her left hand had been left exposed too, due to the fire her fingers had melted together, the blackened appendage twitched and clutched at the sheets below her. Her fingers tried to separate themselves to no avail. It looked like Alessa was having an intense nightmare.

And Dahlia found her sadness directed not at Alessa, but at the God-child nestled in her womb. No bump showed through Alessa’s stomach, but Dahlia knew She was there. Dahlia wished with all her being that she could carry God in her own womb. No God should be born from such a pathetic looking creature that was now Alessa. But this was necessary, else Dahlia would have sliced open her daughter and take God into herself.

Upon entering the room, Lisa took in the sight of Alessa’s bandages and began her work. She unravelled the bandaged at her feet, very carefully as to not upset the wounds any further. There was a bucket on a plastic chair near to where Lisa was standing, steam rose from the bucket. Lisa gathered some of the warmed, wet bandages that sat in the bucket and began redressing Alessa’s leg.

Dr Kaufmann was checking Alessa’s vitals on the console opposite Lisa. The steady beep of a sleeping heart cut through the silence. “Still no signs of recovery.” He muttered to himself, and Lisa repeated him, keeping her tone low as if Alessa was actually sleeping.

Dahlia showed no such respect, her strong voice boomed in the small room; “Is there any possible way to awaken Alessa?” she asked. Both Lisa and Dr Kaufmann cringed at her voice, and Dahlia struggled not to shout at them.

“I have tried everything in my knowledge that would awaken her, but she continues to sleep.” Dr Kaufmann murmured, “Why do you want to wake her?” He looked at Dahlia over his glasses, his eyes intense.

“Because God needs to be born from the suffering of her Mother, like in the beginning. When all the world struggled, God birthed Herself to save our horrible and desolate world, we need to imitate those times as best as possible, and we can’t do that if Alessa sleeps soundly.” Dahlia responded.

Lisa’s voice was the quietest whisper, to anyone else it might have sounded like she hadn’t said anything at all; but Dahlia heard her. “She seems to be struggling enough.”

And then Dahlia was shouting at the Red nurse. Even to Dahlia herself her words where undistinguishable, but a hatred beyond anything Dahlia had ever felt before rose from the bottom of her heart, and she directed it all at Red nurse.

Lisa shied away from Dahlia, backing into the corner, Dr Kaufmann was looking panicked from Dahlia, to Alessa, to Alessa’s charts.

A sound cut through Dahlia’s ravings. A strangled sound so alien that at first no one could determine where it came from. But then, almost as if everyone realised at the same time, all three looked down to the pathetic creature lying on the hospital bed.

It was Alessa. She was twitching hard enough to call it convulsions, but they weren’t rapid. A broken noise uttered from her throat, and her exposed eye was squeezed tight. Something wet fell from the eye.

“O God…” Lisa whispered, “she’s crying…”

Dr Kaufmann was looking at Alessa with pity, “Lisa is right. She seems to be suffering enough.”

Dahlia wanted to scream at him, but found all her will sapped at the sight of her crying daughter. Dahlia thought she’d lost all love for her failed offspring, but apparently not. She merely listened to Dr Kaufmann.

“So suffering nurtures God…” he mused, then turned to Dahlia, “Ms. Gillespie. We needn’t wake Alessa to achieve your goals.”

Dahlia turned to him, “What do you suggest?”

“There is a drug that I have been experimenting with.” He explained. “It manifests the effects of dreams on comatose people. I use it upstairs to that the people who seem to have pleasant dreams can feel them even more.”

Lisa followed, “So if we administer it to Alessa, then her nightmares will be magnified.”

Dr Kaufmann nodded, “Yes. This will surely help, if not speed up God’s Birth. It is a strong drug, this will work.”

Dahlia had started smiling. Her fleeting feelings for Alessa where gone now, in the face of this plan. All that mattered now was Birthing God, and achieving Paradise. Alessa would be rewarded eventually in Paradise, but until then; Alessa would have to suffer.

--

Jayla: Aaaaand, that’s it! :3 Tis the end of Silent Hill Innocence. It technically ended in the previous chapter. This chapter merely explains what happened since Vincent fell unconscious and sets up for the next story! Yes! Innocence is merely Part 1 in my Silent Hill story! Watch out for Silent Hill Wanderings, Part 2! Please keep reading!