Silent Hill: Meredith J Who: Meredith What: A trip to another door Where: Silent Hill When: Recently Warnings/Rating: Nothing to speak of
She didn't have a goal when she went to the hotel other than 'exploring'. There were other worlds out there, she knew that much, but she hadn't really taken the opportunity to explore anything other than where her and Neil had ended up together. That place, that Las Vegas, was similar to home, but different in ways too, but its similarity to home made it that much more painful to be there, by herself, in that penthouse. She didn't leave because she was angry, or disappointed, or anything like that. Meredith left because she couldn't stand a minute more spent waiting on someone else.
She took little with her when she left, just her purse, keys, and journal, and everything that went along with her in her purse. Her outfit wasn't really one meant for adventuring, but it was comfortable. Red pants with a grey sweater and a light-weight coat, it was comfortable enough for a Las Vegas winter, but she found herself slightly chilled when she stepped through the door. It was just after 9 in the evening, and the world she had left had been clear and mild, but the one she stepped into was anything but.
She was on a bridge, water stretching out on either side. The air was cool, a damp nip in the air that made her pull her coat in closer against her, and when she turned around to find the door back to the hotel, it was gone. Meredith had heard about these things, places that didn't let you out as easily as they let you in, and her stomach felt heavy with the thought that she had found one of those. But no matter. She would do this. She'd find her way out, and then maybe home wouldn't feel so stifling. Maybe then she wouldn't mind waiting.
Her boots were heavy as she picked her way down the bridge, towards a town she could just make out in the distance. The air was calm, but the further she walked, the fog that concealed the town stretched out to lick at her toes, to kiss the exposed skin of her hands and face. A shiver raced down her spine and she wished she had brought gloves. It wasn't necessarily because of the cold, but because she simply wanted to cover up. Not being exposed - that seemed important just then.
The town seemed abandoned, fog rolling along the streets, seeping into the alleyways, making seeing any further than a handful of feet in front of her nearly impossible. There didn't seem to be anyone else there, no other signs of life, and the stillness of the city, the vacant way it stood, made her more than a little uneasy. Turning back didn't seem to be an option given the way that the door had disappeared, so she pressed forward, hoping to find something, anything.
She walked for an impossible amount of time, the moon rising high in the sky above her, visible only as a patch of brightness against the clouds. Staying out in this world, exposed and vulnerable, didn't seem to be the best idea she could have had, so she started looking for a place to stay, a place that seemed at least relatively safe. There were options, she thought, many of them, but nearly every door she tried, every handle she tugged on, was locked. Broken. Inaccessible. And the urgency was building with the uneven footsteps she could hear somewhere beyond the fog. The sounds that weren't natural.
There was panic swelling in her stomach and her search became more frantic. Doors were tugged on, pounded on as she moved from one building to the next, and finally, one let her in. She didn't stop to see the sign or what kind of building it might have been, instead she concentrated on simply closing that door behind her and putting as much distance between it and her as she could manage.
The interior reminded her of an apartment building, stairs leading up, a wall of mailboxes on one floor, and there was a nagging hope that at least one room might be unlocked for her. She ignored the stairs for the moment and started down the first hallway only to stop with a shriek as something became visible in the utter darkness of the hallway. Her heart lept into her throat and she backpedaled wildly, wondering what possessed her to leave the safety of the penthouse for this. This wasn't what she had wanted. Not this sort of danger, at least! She had wanted something different, something other than the penthouse, but this was going too far.
Meredith ran, her footsteps loud on the wooden floors, hair flying out behind her. Doors were tugged on with an increasingly frantic pace, corners were turned, the darkness closing in. She was almost at a loss when one finally gave, the darkness within greeting her with open arms as she slammed the door shut behind her. The color had fled from her face completely as she looked for something to block the door, a chair shoved in front of it before she stumbled backwards and sat hard on the dirty, dusty bed that took up the majority of the room.
She was breathing hard, the sound of blood rushing in her ears, her fingers wound tight in the fabric of her purse that was in her lap. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she said over and over to herself, eventually dragging her heels up to the edge of the bed, her face pressed against her knees.
She had looked for an adventure, and adventure? It had found her.