Play@YSDC

As they surface once more, they find the pain clears and the water tastes fresh rather than tinged with blood. Blinking against the harsh light of dawn, harsh since the darkness that had overwhelmed them, they find themselves standing up to their chins in water, close to the wooden pier. The kitten clings, shivering, to the wooden post, it's little claws digging in for dear life. Following the line of the pier reveals a majestic garden backed by a beautiful hotel, coloured wonderfully in the fading sunlight. Or is it dawn rather than dusk? It is impossible to tell. Somehow, unbidden, the sight of Lakeview Hotel hearkens Cecilia back to her honeymoon.

This place is all the more beautiful than it is in the pamphlets.

The air is sun-warmed and there's a smell of baking cookies that hangs heavy in the air, lacing it with nostalgia, and in the distance they can hear the strains of a piano as somehow someone plays such fine, beautiful music in this strange, exotic place. The fear is no longer palpable in the air. It almost feels like, at any point, she might see Katie darting around the hedge rows.

Cecilia attempts to shake the water out of her ears, about to tell Jack that she'll be fine, just please don't let go... but she opens her eyes, and her jaw drops.

She stares at the hotel, the pier, and the beautiful sky for a long, long moment. Wasn't there a hideous chunk of scaffolding just over there? There's no fog. No monsters in the dark. No pain, even.

Her mouth twitches oddly, face twisting into an utterly bewildering expression. Then she throws her head back and laughs.

"Oh my God, Jack, it's the fucking hotel!" She says it like it's not obvious, lifting her arms out of the water to make wild gestures. "Holy shit, this is not happening!"

It's not very funny. She's not even sure why she's laughing. But it feels right.

A memory of softness and candlelight. Lies. Performances. But it was so lovely.

It's a momentary distraction before she remembers something else.

"Oh, God!" She smacks herself in the forehead, still giggling. "I left my luggage in the fucking car!"

Although his mind still hasn't left the seriousness of the entire situation, Jack couldn't help but break into a grin. He waded forward and embraced Cecilia.

"We made it!" he said, holding her tightly. "I can't believe we freaking made it!"

Moment later, he noticed what he was doing and quickly backed away. "Ehh... umm..." he mumbled. "I'll help you onto the pier."

Even as Cecilia returns his embrace, not thinking of it as anything more than excitement-fueled affection, the happy thoughts begin to fade.

Isn't Katie supposed to be at the Amusement Park?

She nods. "Yeah, thanks... just lift me a bit and I can pull myself up." Her mind feels fresh as a daisy, but her body is still so tired. She shouldn't need help, but she's not looking forward to having to swim again.

Cecilia glances at the kitten. "Do you know if they allow pets?"

The kitten's ears flatten tight to its head as it determinedly climbs up the wooden post onto the top of the pier. It's so cute as it moves, its little paws reaching up and grabbing hold of wood in tandem, followed by hind legs, then fore paws, until finally it's at the very top and gazing down at them with a short meow. Jack manages to boost Cecilia up onto the pier without too much trouble but Jack found it far more difficult when he tried to haul himself up and out of the cool lake water.

It was going to be alright... for once in the day. Cecilia was going to be safe in the hotel and all the creepy things were gone... he still couldn't help himself but smile.

"Hey, help me up," Jack said, extending his hand towards Cecilia. "And I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there," he finished, motioning towards the kitten.

Cecilia takes his hand and pulls, but she's still feeling weak from the ordeal in the water. Jack's going to have to put in some effort as well if he's going to get up onto the pier, though it shouldn't be that hard.

"I have a room booked..." She trails off, guilt washing over her like those strands of golden hair. "No, we... I got distracted. I still need to find Katie."

It's so strange. This town was almost completely deserted, its buildings in absolute disrepair... what happened? Where could her daughter be now? Was she just seeing things under the water?

Jack groaned, lifting himself out of the water. The shoulder was still killing him, and as he saw Cecilia's face, a dark shadow fell over his own. He hated seeing her like this. He hated seeing her sad.

"Can't we wait... Just for a little bit?" Jack said softly. "You look tired."

"No!" It comes out harsher than she'd meant. She is tired. "There's nothing weird and dangerous trying to drown us, we can see without flashlights, and I don't see any screwed-up architecture. We're safe, which is the best time to look for her!"

Cecilia sighs, opening her purse, which has stayed faithfully on. "Look, you don't have to come. I- I really appreciate your help, but you need to get some help for that shoulder, and I need to get Katie out of here." She sifts through the wet contents, looking for the map pieces. Her purse may be sturdy, but it's not watertight.

"I don't have time to rest. I've done enough waiting around, and you ought to know what it got me." Cecilia claps a hand over her mouth. She didn't want to say it like that. "God, I... I'm sorry, I'm just..."

Tired. Stressed. Worried sick because Katie could have gotten anywhere in all that time.

"Th-that's not fair! I..."

Jack stopped himself. Who was he kidding... She was right...

"I... I'll be waiting in the hotel," he said, dejected and hurt. "I think it's best for everyone that way."

Cecilia turns away from him, swaying slightly as she tries to stand. But her legs burn with fatigue, her stomach clenches with hunger, and she collapses onto the pier.

Everything hurts. The sun-warmed wood of the dock shouldn't be comfortable, but she could fall asleep right here. Sleeping again, waiting for Katie to inexplicably show up.

No, she can't do that. She can't stop looking. She can't...

"...help." Maybe Jack won't. She wouldn't blame him.

OOC,This is what happens when you don't eat, don't sleep, and get into many high-stress situations.

"Wha... No!" Jack rushed to Cecilia's side.

"Get up!" Jack pulled on her, fully aware of how weak he was too. "Get up! Damn it..." he said as he tried to drag her limp body towards the hotel. "Come on... You can't just collapse here... Come on... We can get help if we just get into the hotel..."

"Fine." Defeated by her own body, Cecilia lifts her head off the pier and grabs Jack's arm. Now that she's out of the water and the excitement is gone, she's so much colder. And she doesn't have a spare change of clothes with her.

"But what if no one's there?" she asks. It's so beautiful here, and it might not even be real. A hallucination, brought on by her own approaching death. She wouldn't be surprised. "Just long enough to get back on my feet. No more waiting. Promise me that, Jack."

If his promises are worth anything.

"I promise..." Jack said quickly, lifting Cecilia back to her feet. He helped her towards the hotel, stumbling more than a few times.

There shoes thud wetly against the wooden pier as they start walking toward the hotel. There's no sign of anyone. No sound of traffic. Not even birdsong. But the view is majestic and the air feels so warm and smells so nostalgically beautiful. If it's a dream, it's almost worth not waking up.

From behind them, a plaintive meow sounds, and a glance over her shoulder confirms the little kitten is standing at the end of the pier, shivering, and gazing helplessly after them.

Cecilia briefly lets go of Jack to go and collect the kitten, watching her step.

Jack welcomed Cecilia back and walked unsteadily with her for a little while towards the hotel until he fell forward, dragging Cecilia down with him and then landing on the ground face to face.

He froze for a few second before breaking into a nervous chuckle.

"Well," he said. "This is awkward. Ehem. I suppose we could do a staring eye contest against each other to pass the time or we could help each other up."

"Oh... And one more thing..."

"No staring contests," Cecilia says flatly, pushing herself to her knees and offering her free hand to Jack.

The kitten hisses under the pressure from the sudden pain of being squeezed around the ribs, and sinks its itty bitty fangs straight into her hand, before hurriedly licking the spot, as though realising that it really doesn't want to be dropped, thank you, and would much rather be squeezed than left to its own devices. It also shivers in her hand and shakes its head, loosing some droplets of water from its furry head.

"Thought so," Jack replied, grinning. He lifted himself up and walked with Cecilia. A dark shadow passed through his expression once more before quickly dissipating.

"Let's get inside the building already."

"Ow! Bad cat!" Cecilia gives the kitten a stern look, though it's bound to work about as well as it did on baby Katie. She's not aware that she's hurt it; she doesn't know how to pick a cat up or how to discipline them.

"Agreed." She sighs. The pier seems to stretch forever. "You were going to say something earlier?"

"Forget it," Jack said. His smiling exterior faltered for a moment. He sighed.

"I don't know why I am helping you," he said cooly, gazing at Cecilia. "Why I am risking my life for you. And it's freaking me out."

He kicked away an imaginary pebble.

"I mean, it's not as if we know each other for a long time or anything. Hell. We are complete strangers. After this is all over and done with, you are just going to cast me out along with whatever memories of this godforsaken town, like a leper. You need me now, but as soon as you don't... I'm just going to be a freak."

He let go of Cecilia and stumbled a few steps ahead. "And I wouldn't even blame yah. I mean, I still am fairly certain that I got fucking murdered. Not to mention that I tried to kill you.I am going to have to spend a few years in a freaking asylum if it isn't true. And I wouldn't even know anyone there because I would have left the damn town. So why the fuck am I even bothering with doing all of this? You'll find Katie but..."

He turned and gave Cecilia a deep look. "I'll get absolutely nothing." He let out a deep sigh.

"Could you do me one favor and not sue me for trying to kill you back then when we get out of here though?"

What he's saying is true. In the thoughts about what she might or might not do - will I visit Katie like I said? How am I going to explain anything to my therapist? I don't want to go back to the ocean any more - Jack is absent. She'd assumed he would go his own way, or stay in Silent Hill. He said he needed to be here.

But it doesn't have to be that way. She takes a deep breath, and carefully picks out a response.

"...I think I actually know you better than most people." Assuming he's been honest with her. He doesn't seem to have a reason to lie. "Conversations with people I should be acquainted with are... they've gotten hard since the divorce."

They all talk about the same things, hedging and avoiding her eyes.

"When I found Katie in the hospital, I could have left you behind. I didn't." She gives him a soft look, though behind it is the confusion of trying to reconcile reason and emotion. "I told her that it was so I could watch you, but... that was only part of it."

Katie would be next to her right now if she'd listened. The feeling of small fingers locking with hers seems like a distant memory, and she wipes a tear from her eye.

"Jack, I want to help you. I want to help people. Did you think I went to law school just to hit on the receptionist?" (She really does need to stop saying that. She's not twenty-five anymore, damn it.) Cecilia lets out a shuddering sigh, shaking her head. "And I try, and the moment I step in it's all a big mess, and I don't know what's right anymore."

"You're a good person, Jack. That's why you help people. Why you're helping me. And you don't just try - you are." She sniffs back tears, her fingernails leaving crescent moons in her palms. "You've never had a daughter who hides from you because you don't pay enough attention. A rapist getting a slap on the wrist for everything he's done has never been your fault."

"No one has ever pretended to love you because you were a convenient lie."

They reach the lawn and start approaching the tall hotel building, flanked on left and right by fountains. There is the scent of freshly mown lawn and sap from recently trimmed hedges that takes Cecilia back to her grandfather's home when she was a small girl. For a moment, she could swear she was being watched and that, should she turn around, she would see her daughter sprinting from hedgerow to hedgerow with a delighted squeal. She could almost hear her daughter pleading to go out on a boat ride on the lake, visit the amusement park, go swimming, anything, all the while her mobile phone rings, forcing her to plaster it to her ear and say 'not now, dear' and 'not yet'.

"No... No.... You don't understand..." Jack mumbled. "I'm not a good person..."

"I never was."

He chuckled. "Thing is, I don't want to help you," he said. "I just... I just can't help myself. Ever since I laid eyes upon you, I couldn't..."

His voice cracked. "Everything that I feel towards you feels like a one big lie. A big prank being played on me. Only hatred towards these feelings... And by extension, you, feels as if it's true. No... No.... No..."

Jack shook his head. "I'm only a good person on the outside, Cecilia. Inside, I'm evil as it gets."

He shook his head sadly. "Do you remember how I almost killed you twice? Make that three times. I considered drowning you in the lake simply to stop all the lies... I..."

His face fell. "I'm a horrible person."

He looked up at her, horrified. "No wait, please... I... I don't know what I'm saying... It's just the nerves, right? It's just paranoia... It's just that... I... I don't know what to do..."

Jack suddenly paused. "Wait," he said. "You... You want to help me?"

1985. Wisconsin.

Daddy is playing croquet with Grandpa while Mommy is inside with Grandma, asking what is the deal with Wisconsin and cheese and Cecilia not now go play outside.

So she puts Molly the Collie's leash on and walks her in the grass even though she can't walk really, just kind of slide because she is a pretend dog.

It's not a significant memory. Imperfect and fragmented. Only the smell of the grass reminded her. But there's something familiar...

Katie, mommy's on the phone.

Katie, be quiet, go color.

Katie, mommy doesn't want to talk about daddy right now.

She's snapped out of her thoughts by Jack. Specifically, the way he talks about his feelings... about her...

No. Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to.

"Of course I do," she whispers. "I'm just not sure how, and I... I can't remember the last time I actually helped anyone, Jack. I can't do anything."

"If you do end up... institutionalized... I'll try and visit you, okay?" Cecilia swallows hard, unsure of what she just said. Was that all right? Would he even want to see her again?

"No... No... You can't... You can't send me there..." Jack gasped, suddenly grabbing onto her hand. "I just... I just need somebody to talk to and... I don't know... I don't know anyone else but you..."

"I... I'm sure it's just this screwed up town," he said, chuckling. "I just need to get away from it all for a while. That'll be all. Come on, let's go..." he said, walking towards the nearest entrance to the hotel.

"But... Cecilia?" he suddenly said, turning towards her, his face reddened. "I... I would love seeing you again... After all this is over and done with... I would want nothing more than that... In fact... Can I..." he gulped.

"Can I stay with you, at least for a little while?" he asked. "I just need some time to settle down to a new city. New home... I'll be gone then..."

They've reached the rear door. Heavy wood. Windows on either side of it heading across the walls. There's a diner here, and a cafe, and a bar downstairs in the basement. Cecilia recalls her bedroom had two single beds in Room 105. She can almost imagine Katie drawing with crayons on a scrapbook on the floor in front of the television, humming an off-tune to herself. She can almost imagine herself sneaking into the bathroom, pretending to bathe, sitting perched on the edge of her bathtub and using the Wi-Fi connection to check her emails and other details. Almost like it was some kind of perverted action. Maybe it was?

"I- I didn't say I'd send you..." Cecilia stutters, recalling what Jack said in the hospital. They'd chain themselves together and go to the nearest mental institution... does he still think that? She relaxes her hand, trying to slip it out of his grasp.

Maybe it is the town. It's certainly been fucking with her own head more than enough. If she needed therapy before all of this...

"...Yeah. Maybe we could be... friends." It's strange. All the friends she'd had before left with Nathan... well, sometimes Mark comes around, but that's just who he is. "It's going to be lonely without Katie around... someone to talk to would be..."

Cecilia sighs, pursing her lips when he makes his request. Is she really willing to let someone who almost killed her twice - three times - sleep just a floor below? They'll have to wait until Katie's gone, at least.

Maybe she can consider the hotel a trial run, of sorts. Jack's probably not going to leave, after all, and she'll likely sleep lightly anyway. "Let me think about it, okay? I'm really tired. It's... kind of a big thing to ask."

"Thank you..." Jack said. "Come on... Let's get inside..."

Cecilia nods silently, following close behind him.

The two walk up a flight of stone steps onto the wooden verandah and then push open the double doors into a wood-panelled hallway with rich, red carpet, and near-white wallpaper. There's a map to the left of you, pinned to a cork board by the rear doors. Just ahead is a set of descending stairs, before which is another corridor that intersects this short one. The hotel is lit by a set of old-fashioned lights glowing within slightly orange lamp shades and white wall scones that flank some of the doors that give the corridor a warm, hazy feeling, as though you were sitting by a bonfire. Down the left of the stairwell stands a flight of stairs heading up to the first floor. There's the sound of piano music that trickles through the building, although it's impossible to tell where it's coming from.

OOC: If you would like to see what the hotel looks like, check out this youtube clip. You might want to skip the rowboat scene.

"Which way should we go?" Jack whispered to Cecilia.

Cecilia points at the map with a raised eyebrow.

There are a total of four floors in the hotel, counting the basement floor. The hotel map is separated into two parts; one for the hotel guests and one for the hotel staff, where the staff map includes every room. Above ground, the majority of the building consists of guest rooms. The second and third floors are mostly private rooms on both sides, whereas the previous floor's rooms are exclusively on the west side. There is a central staircase that extends up to the second floor, however, the third floor can only be accessed by a small stairwell. The hotel also has two elevators, one used by guests and another used mainly by staff. Notable locations inside the hotel building include:

The "Lake-Shore" restaurant
Cafe "Toluca"
Basement floor Kitchen
Basement floor "Venus Tears Bar"
Third floor "Observation Room"

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Jack sighed. "I know that, but where in the hotel exactly? The Lobby? Your room? The restaurant? I don't think they would let in people who are soaking wet, suffering from hypothermia and stress, and bloodied."

He looked at the map. "Hmm. Probably should pick up a few first aid kits from there..." he mumbled to himself.

Cecilia reaches into her purse for her wallet, to make sure her driver's license is still there and intact. It ought to be, but after an ordeal like that, you can't be too careful.

"Let me check in, then we'll go to my room... God, I hope they don't ask any questions. I am not explaining any of this." She shakes her head and starts up the stairs to the first floor.

Fuck, is she serious? Jack thought.

What the hell was he supposed to do when they were alone in the room together, wet, tired, and hungry?

"I follow yah," he mumbled, trying to hide the shotgun into the coat.

Cecilia is already on the first floor so rather than going upstairs she heads through the double doors to the right and out into the foyer. A large glass window reveals the inside of a gift shop filled with local knick knacks and bouquets of flowers arranged in rather colourful displays along the walls. A door leads into the gift shop. Beside the shop, closer to them, stands a vacant reception desk with a door set in the wall just beside it. Behind the heavy wooden counter sits a modern black swivel chair and computer and the back wall is covered in little mail boxes marked with hotel room numbers, and set into the wall are two doors. Dawn light glows through the rich red curtains that are drawn across the wide windows on the other side of the lobby and a set of wide stairs lead up to the 2nd floor.

"Empty hotel with piano music coming from nowhere in particular," Jack said.

"That's... That's not creepy at all... Do you think we could get something out of that computer?"

"You don't know that it's empty." Cecilia walks up to the desk, tapping her foot impatiently. "The lights are on and everything. I guess we just have to wait?"

"And no." She folds her arms and gives him the sort of look she wears in court. "The computer at the hospital was one thing. This isn't even close."

"What's so different about a comuter? And what kind of a look is that?" Jack said impatiently. He walked next to Cecili and rang the bell.

"This is Captain Jack Fifer of the FBI, demanding that you return to your posts immediately!" he yelled out to anyone within hearing range.

"If nobody comes back, I vote that we try to fiddle with the computer."

"This is a 'you-are-suggesting-illegal-things-in-the-only-place-we-have-to-get-some-damn-sleep' look!" Cecilia's frown deepens, but she jumps when Jack rings the bell.

"Jack! You're a bartender!" She stamps her foot ineffectually, then attempts to shove him away from the desk. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Excuse me if I'm a little bit impatient to find another human face or a freaking clue as to what happened to the damn town after being nearly eaten by monsters at least 8 times today! That's 8 more than recommended amount for a life time!" Jack snapped back after he fell on the floor due to Cecilia's push. He sighed as he shook himself up.

"Listen... Let's not fight about a freaking computer and a receptionist... We really have bigger things to worry about."

Cecilia blinks, her face softening. She hadn't meant to push him over, but he's just as tired as she is. "...You're right. I'm sorry."

"I think we're both on edge right now... justifiably." She makes a halfhearted effort to smile. "I got excited about this beautiful, safe-looking hotel, and then I remembered Katie, and it's like I'm being pulled in two directions."

"It's so different here. Like... the town hall," she says, remembering the light, the decor, and... the strange man. But he doesn't matter.

Jack's face also loosened. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." his hand reached out towards the side of her face.

"I... Umm..." he flicked away something imaginary on Cecilia's cheek. "You had a little bit of dirt on your face. Probably from the lake," he said hurriedly.

Cecilia looks away, nervously rubbing her arm. "Yeah... I haven't seen a mirror in too long. Probably look about as horrid as I feel." She shrugs, giving the kitten a scratch behind the ears.

Why does he keep looking at her like that? It's almost like he wants to make her feel uncomfortable. She knows that she's far from presentable; does he have to keep staring to rub it in?

"No, no no..." Jack said. "You look really... beautiful..." He coughed.

"When the hell's the receptionist coming here?"

Cecilia snorts derisively, though she regrets it when the throbbing pain of her broken nose starts up again. "Ow! God... no, you don't have to say that... ugh, the sooner this heals, the better."

She shrugs again, and gives the bell another ring. It is odd - wouldn't someone have heard Jack falling? Or at least the yelling?

"You think I'm joking?"

Jack stared at her, looking confused and uncertain, as if fighting over a major decision.

Seemingly have made a decision, he reached his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him and gave her a small kiss.

"There," he said, letting her go. "No questions?"

It's easy to misunderstand things. Even easier when you've been unconsciously convincing yourself that the most obvious possibility is wrong. The obliviousness melts away as Cecilia stands there, everything falling into place.

"I..." Her voice catches; her throat feels tight and has the heating in the lobby suddenly come on? The unhealthy pallor of her face has been replaced with a deep flush. Her lips move, but no sound comes out.

She turns her back to him, shoulders hunched almost defensively as she stares at the ground. It's a nice floor. Almost like it's never been walked on before and why?

When was the last time that happened? Cecilia can't shake the feeling that, no matter how small, there was intention behind that kiss.

Something that she's just realized was missing before.

Jack's face reddened and he turned away from Cecilia as well.

"That was... silly of me to do so," he finally said, sighing. "I'm sorry."

They're both tired. It's not good for judgment. And the receptionist taking so damn long isn't helping either. Cecilia needs some time alone to think about... well, everything, and she's tired and hungry and she'd be doing this whining out loud if she could get a word out!

She reaches over and smacks the bell once. Then twice. Then she's just ringing it to fill the silence.

No one's going to show up. There really isn't anyone here.

"Why don't we... go somewhere else?" Jack offered, keeping a respectful distance away from her and still turned slightly away.

"There are probably couches everywhere in the hotel... Or we could just... borrow a key from the desk."

"Right. Borrow. Sure." Her mouth is dry as she goes around the desk, looking for wherever the keys are kept. She really ought to care about this 'borrowing,' but for the most part, her mind has gone blank. All that's really left is confusion.

Jack leaned against the wall and buried his face into his hands.

There's a key cabinet on the wall but it's locked. There may be a key for it in one of the drawers near the register or perhaps in one of the rooms behind this reception office. They can't hear the piano from this room but there seems to be the tinkling of romantic music coming from a speaker in the gift shop. It wasn't working before. Now it is.

"Alright, now that's just convenient," Jack muttered as he heard the music. He walked around Cecilia and into the office behind her. "I'll be looking for... something, I don't know," he told her as he ineffectively shifted around objects.

"Mmkay," she mumbles, trying to see if she can pull any of the desk drawers open.

That music. It sounds like Paris. The honeymoon.

Je t'aime, mon coeur, mon ange... She'd said it so earnestly. She was so sure of everything back then.

The drawers contain stationary, notepads, guest sign in registry, contractor sign in registry, a roll of complimentary tickets to an Artaud Theatre production, and a de-motivator calender (small). There aren't many drawers here. They could head into one of the back rooms to see what's inside there. A single envelope sits in Room 105's box. Wasn't that the room that Cecilia had hired?

Cecilia takes the envelope and looks it over. She also checks the calendar, to see what the date is - if it's marked, of course.

Jack looked over her shoulder. "Hey, what did you find?"

After noticing his position he almost instantly stepped back.

The calender is turned to the wrong month. Turning it back, she sees that it has something written on the 17th May, 2011: The Incident - Protect Versus Media Storm. That's, what, three days from now? Tomorrow? It's so hard to tell. On the 18th May, 2011, is written: Fucking lawyer (underlined thrice). Two days from then on the 20th May, 2011 is written: Consult Safety Rep. Install railing?

The envelope has her name on it, written in her ex-husband's penmanship, and the postmark matches. Unfortunately, it seems like it's already been opened. It's empty.

Cecilia hands him the calendar. "No keys... but look at this."

She keeps the envelope. There's no reason to, and the most she can come up with is that it might help her to find the missing contents. Somehow.

She also goes back to the drawers, to get a look at the registries.

"Rook 105?" Jack said, eyeing the items. "We can break in there if things come tothat... I have a few lockpicks."

"Don't ask."

The registries have a list of names that she doesn't much recognise. Her ex-husband's name isn't listed there but that's not all that surprising. He wouldn't be the sort to sign a guest registry anyway, let alone send a letter and then arrive in person. The contractor registries point to a wide variety of people post The Incident, including a lawyer, but not much else that gives her any clues.

"Ugh, fine." Cecilia closes the drawers and stuffs the envelope into one of her pockets. "Let's just head over there."

"Maybe later we can get some food from the kitchen." She's actually not sarcastic - she really is hungry, and there's evidently no one around to buy anything from.

They head back out through the double doors into a corridor where the faint strains of piano music can still be heard, past the stairs leading down, past a more narrow set of stairs heading up, past the men's and women's toilets and through another door into another corridor where golden numbers are bolted to each locked door. The walls are rather plain, almost intimidating, with its wooden half-panelling, but there's a soft glow to the wall sconces and a beauty to the landscape paintings that off-set the severity and old-fashioned nature of the rooms. This is surely no modern-styled building (though the ducting reveals ducted air conditioning).

Jack tried to pull out his lockpicking kit and accidentally pulled out his Tarot card deck instead, sending one of the card floating to the floor. The Fool.

"Oops," Jack said, quickly picking it back up. He took out a lockpick and fiddled with it nervously in his hand.

"Hey... Umm... Listen..." Jack said, his voice as tiny as a fly. "You aren't mad at me because of that... Right?"

"No. I'm... confused, but I'm not mad." She leans against the wood paneling, looking at the pick in Jack's hand.

Cecilia's fingers pass over that tiny pocket in her purse. She opens it, just to feel the cold band of white gold, to trace the tiny inscription running around the inside. "I'm afraid," she whispers.

"I'm..." Jack muttered, turning slightly away. "I'm afraid too."

He didn't tell her what exactly he was so afraid of.

He twiddled with he pick a bit more as he walked past the doors. Easy enough locks. He should have no problem opening room 105 if they come across it.

Jack turns to look at door 105 and then crouches down to pick the lock. He has it sorted in no time at all and opens a door to reveal a Twin Share with two couches flanking a coffee table, a bar fridge, and a television set on a small cabinet beside the two couches. There's no other door in this room. The occupants must use the toilets just down the hall. Other than the furnishing, there's a few other obvious bits and pieces. Cecilia's baggage has been stowed around the room, including the handbag that she lost ages ago, which sits on the coffee table. There's no sign of Katie's belongings, or Katie herself.

The kitten meows piteously. It's obviously hungry.

Jack took of his heavily bloodied and wet trenchcoat and placed it next to the door, suddenly feeling hours of worth of fatigue rush to his head. The wound in his stomach, shoulders, and head all began to ache.

He looked down at his feet to notice that he had been dripping blood ever since the hospital.

"I..." Jack said. "I'm going to the bathroom," he said. "You could look to see if there's any food around here..."

He sauntered over to the bathroom, closed the door, and took off his shirt. How bad was his wounds anyways?

"But I didn't unpack anything," Cecilia mumbles to herself, setting the kitten on the floor and flinging her coat over one of the beds.

She walks over to the coffee table and picks up the old handbag. It's been missing for how long now? And yet it's just here in front of her... curious, she opens it and sits down to go through anything that might be in there.

Everything is as she's left it, except for the tissues, that appear to have been used (ick) and left in her handbag.

Jack finds that all of the wounds he's managed to treat are largely healed, though the bandages pull stickily against his skin when he tries to check beneath him, so it's probably wisest to leave them be.

Cecilia shakes her head, drops the handbag on the floor, and starts rummaging through her other bags.

Cats eat meat, right? Ugh, but why would she carry meat around in her luggage? Really, she's just looking for some fresh clothes. Food will be addressed later.

The clothes are a lot more crumpled than she remembers, like they've all just been tossed in the bags, and not all of them are in there. Amongst them are a few knick knacks, like the sort of thing you'd buy at a resort town.

Jack emerged from the bathroom, looking slightly confused. He wandered over to the fridge, ignoring Cecilia as of this moment, and began to dig through the contents.

There's a large number of expensive miniature drinks in the bar fridge of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic kind, but no health drinks.

Cecilia picks out something green, brown, and warm, along with new underthings and socks. Actual socks, to keep her feet from freezing. At this moment, she's glad that she chose practicality over style for her vacation wardrobe.

Especially when it comes to sleepwear - all of her stupid, fancy things are back in Maine. Not that she wears them anymore.

She gives Jack a little wave before heading out to the bathroom to change.

Jack blushed and turned away from the bar fridge to wander over to the cabinet. Surely there has to be something here... he opened the cabinet and searched for anything inside.

The cabinet contains a DVD in a blank case which is marked in black texta: Vacation Clips From Mobile Phone, 2011.

Other than that, there's a few moth balls and not a whole lot else.

Jack closed the cabinet and stood up. His wet pants were beginning to stick to him, making him itch in all the wrong places. Maybe there was a bathing robe or something that he could change into.

He put the trenchcoat near the window to let it dry in the sun and stood waiting near the door to the bathroom.

Cecilia peels her wet clothes off, dries herself with a nearby towel, and starts dressing. It's so nice to finally be dry after all of that wading through water.

She avoids the mirror as best she can. It won't do any good to indulge her vanity now.

Even if she does wonder what Jack sees in her.

Jack knocked nervously on the bathroom door.

Cecilia jumps a bit at the knock, but it's probably just Jack. She pulls her shirt on, makes sure the strings on her sweatpants are properly tied, and gathers up her old clothes.

"Yeah?" she asks when she opens the door, once again staring at her feet. "Something, uh... um, hi. It's open."

Jack jumped when she opened the door, suddenly incredibly self-conscious of his bare and bandaged chest.

"Umm... There's nothing to eat in this room," he said. "And I left my shirt in here and..."

He blinked, realizing that he had been leaning forward toward her all this time. He pulled his head back, walked past Cecilia wordlessly, closed the door once Cecilia left, and then began to dry himself with the towel.

"Okay." Cecilia nods, head still firmly pointed downwards (she is absolutely not looking at how well-built or injured he is) as she scurries past him. It's only when she hears the door shut that she realizes something.

Does he know he's in the womens' bathroom?

Instead of going back to Room 105, she decides to head down the hall to see if she can find a kitchen.

"Crap," Jack muttered when he looked around and realized where he was.

Feeling even more awkward than before, he hurriedly left the bathroom and went into the men's room to pick up his shirt.

Cecilia knows exactly where to go. Perhaps after all the trouble in town, she's found some way to etch the map of this place into her mind -- or perhaps it's because this whole place seems eerily familiar. It almost resounds with nostalgia. The biggest kitchen is likely behind the restaurant though there may be food in the various cases of the cafe. It's really up to her what she's after. There's also alcohol in the pub downstairs if she wants to get a stiff drink of dutch courage. At least while she's gone, she'll have some time away from Jack while he puts the shirt on in the men's bathroom.

Cecilia heads for the big kitchen. She doesn't feel up to eating anything heavy, and she's more likely to find something kitten-suitable there.

It's strange to think of herself as alone now. Is it such a good idea to avoid Jack? What if he sees it as an outright rejection of his feelings, and it feeds his anger? He still has the shotgun - damn, she should have taken that back when she had the chance.

Jack sighed. What was going on with him? He looked at hinself in the mirror.

"What are you staring at?" he snarled.

He tried to wear his shirt ahain, discovered it to be bit too wet, and dragged it back to his room to dry it. Cecilia wasn't there anymore.

"Mew," the kitten said. Jack turned around to face it looking at him with a hungry eye. "Can't eat me yet," Jack muttered before picking it up. "Let's go find Cecie."

Cecilia enters Lake Shore Restaurant on the ground floor and finds that most of it seems to have been tidied away, as though someone were in the process of packing up after a big night. A few tables are still in position and one is still prepared with a plate of schnitzel, gravy, and peas and corn (still wafting steam and smelling cooked and delicious) and silverware. There is also a grand piano at the corner of the room, most likely used to play music while patrons eat, though there's no one there now. There's a door behind the heavy wood counter that likely leads into the kitchen.

The lone dish on the table looks so good. She was never a fan of eating her vegetables, but this is no time to be picky. Cecilia seats herself in front of the plate, picks up a fork, and starts eating.

Table manners, of course, are an afterthought. So is the kitten. Cats shouldn't eat people food anyway, right?

It tastes so good and warms her belly at the same time. She didn't realise how hungry she was until she takes that first bite. The schnitzel is superbly cooked and it's so large it almost hangs off the plate. The chips are nice and salty and the gravy is just right, not too thick and not too thin, and certainly not lumpy. The peas and corn are, well, peas and corn. Decent, and food, but neither here nor there compared to the rest of it. They taste delicious dipped in gravy, though. Mm....

Show,Do Americans eat schnitzel, chips and gravy? In Australia you can get it at any good fish and chip shop. Do you have fish and chip shops?

"Cecilia?" Jack called out as he wandered through the hall, bare-chested, holding a kitten, and looking ridiculous.

She could be anywhere, really, and with these solid walls she probably wouldn't hear him unless he shouted for her. Or screamed. There is the map at the front of the hall by the rear doors which could give him a few places to start looking.

"Well, damn," Jack muttered. "I knew it was a bad idea to split up."

Cat meowed agreeingly.

"Looks like it's just you and me for now, alone and defenseless against monsters in the dark."

The cat meowed, frightened.

"Cecilia!" Jack shouted out. "Where could she be..." he walked over towards the map.

Resisting the urges to lick the plate clean (but the gravy is so good) and fall asleep in the chair, Cecilia gets up, stretches, and heads for that back door. Finding something suitable for the kitten shouldn't be too hard.

And maybe she should bring back some food for Jack too.

Ceciliaheard her name being called out. It was most assuredly Jack's voice. He wasn't far outside the door.

She turns around, her dulled reflexes raising her arms a bit too late to defend herself if need be. But he's not here. "Yeah?" she shouts back, putting a hand on the kitchen door. "I'm looking for food!"

Oh, great. She just told him where she is. Well, not really, but he's not stupid. He can figure it out. Was that a good idea?

Why is she being so damn paranoid?

Jack immediately turned to the direction of the noise and started walking. "Thank god, I thought you disappeared for a moment there!" Jack shouted.

"What? No." Cecilia rolls her eyes and tries the door to the kitchen.

It opens smoothly in her hands to reveal a rather smart and modern kitchen. All shiny chrome surfaces and modern looking knobs comfortably lit by the glare of many fluorescent lights. It looked like the attempts to keep a classic feel to the hotel didn't extend to the kitchen at least. There's a large meat locker door at the other end but there is also a pair of fridges standing up against one wall. The kitchen, in particular, smells like baking cookies and pizza.

"Wait," Jack said. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen! Are you hungry?" She opens the fridge on the left, looking for any cooked meaty things that a kitten might enjoy.

Jack can no longer hear her. Too many walls in the way.

There's nothing in the fridge. Either of them.

Jack wandered along the side of he walls in the general direction of the voice. She had to be in some kind of restaurant, right?

That's odd. This kitchen seems so clean, and utterly devoid of food, but the scents tell another story! She bends over to check the oven.

Jack opens the door to the restaurant and enters a room that looks like it's being packed away (or unpacked) with chairs mounted on top of the tables in one corner. A few tables are still out and one is set with silverware and a gravy-smeared plate. There's another door that likely leads back out into the corridor and a door that should lead into the kitchen. There's no sign of Cecilia in here.

Cecilia finds two ways of cookies in the oven. One are peanut butter cookies and the others are double choc chocolate-chip cookies and they all smell quite warm and freshly baked. Yummy! Her tummy growls at the thought. Yes, she's already eaten, but she was starving beforehand.

"Cecilia?" Jack shouted out. His stomach growled at the sight of the plate. How long has it been since he has last eaten anyways? It seemed awfully convenient that somebody would just leave out plates of food in an abandoned hotel though.

"Are you in the kitchen?"

Cookies! Cecilia uses her old, wet shirt as an improvised potholder and pulls both trays out, setting them down on a free countertop. If only Katie could be here to share.

When was the last time they baked a batch of cookies together? It was supposed to be a family thing, when they were a family. If she thinks hard enough, she can remember helping her own mother with her silly pink apron, trying to sneak handfuls of chocolate chips right out of the bag.

The tray is surprisingly cool though the cookies appear, and smell, both warm and freshly baked. There's plenty here. About twenty per over-sized tray. She settles it on the countertop with ease. No monster leaps out at her. No severed head rolls out of the oven. This place seems so safe. Nothing horrible at all has happened recently. Perhaps it was all just a dream? Or a nightmare? Perhaps this hotel was shut down out-of-season and she'd just madly stumbled inside? There's no monsters. Nothing wrong. Just a lack of hotel visitors and staff.

Jack hears no answering call. In the silence of the restaurant, it's easy to think that he might be utterly alone.

"Cecie...?" Jack said, his eyes suddenly round. He walked quickly over to the kitchen and opened its doors.

"Oh, hi." Cecilia's eyes dart around the kitchen, eventually settling on the trays of cookies. She takes a double chocolate one and nods at him. "Uh, look what I found!"

Maybe... this is a good time to talk about things. Or not. Not is also good.

"Nice," Jack said, moving towards her and still holding on to the kitten. He let it down on the kitchen counter and leaned against it as he picked up one of the cookies.

"Got anything for the kitten though?" he said, eyeing the meat locker.

"No. The fridges are empty." She nibbles on the cookie's edge, then suddenly feels awkward and stuffs the cookie into her mouth, so she won't have to talk. Swallowing, she reaches up to brush the crumbs off her face... oh, God, there's still gravy there.

Cecilia quickly turns her back to him and tries to lick it away from the corners of her mouth, pretending to fiddle with something in her hands.

"Hey," Jack said, putting a hand on her arm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she squeaks, tensing up the moment he touches her. She yanks her arm away and quickly wipes her mouth, then turns around. "I... I just..."

Cecilia's eyes meet his for a split second before she looks away, down at the kitchen floor. "Jack, I think we should talk. About what happened. In the lobby."

Well. There's no taking that back now.

"Alright," Jack said, pretending to be nonchalant, looking straight into where her eyes would have been. His expression was indecipherable.

Fine. Don't make this any easier.

"Why?" Cecilia sighs, her hands quivering. She picks up another cookie, just for something to do. "I'm not the most..."

She pauses. He knows about everything she could possibly fill that blank with. And somehow, he's apparently fine with an unstable, irresponsible single mother whose husband just left her, who's almost completely dependent on others, who's not the sexy flirt in a suit she was ten years ago. Obviously, that's not important. To him.

So instead, she cuts that sentence short and begins something else. "I thought you said you hated me."

"Yes," Jack said. "I... I guess I did say that," he chuckled.

He wiped away at the perspiration on his brow. "God, this is... this is silly... I guess..."

He paused. "I don't know what to think about you," he said finally. "Ever since I met you, I couldn't help myself but feel..." his voice trailed off. "And I... I didn't know why. I guess it just works like that, doesn't it? I... I didn't feel in control of myself anymore. That's why I guess I thought I ha..."

He shook his head. "I was just confused. That's all. I... I didn't feel this way towards another person before..."

That makes some amount of sense, though she can't help wondering. No one? He did say he's never had a girlfriend...

"Jack, what am I going to do?" Cecilia throws the cookie back onto the tray and leans against the counter. "I- I know you're a good person-" not counting the murder threats and insanity "-and I really do... like being around you..." except when you're trying to kill me

"But, God, my life is a mess, and I don't know if I can deal with any romance again, and I can't forget him." Who 'him' is probably doesn't need to be said. "And what about Katie-" you did make some nasty threats "-and my therapist! Hello, Dr. Jameson, I completely ignored what you said about dating after divorce! My new boyfriend tried to kill me three times!"

She stops for a moment to consider that conversation. That might be worth it, if only for the look on his face.

"I just don't know, Jack. I don't know if it's... safe. For either of us."

"But... I can help you!" Jack said. "I... I know life's kind of turbulent for you right now... I can help you get past it... I..."

Jack sighed. "I want you. I'll never leave you behind..."

"People like us, trying to solve each other's problems..." Cecilia shakes her head. People like us? When did she start thinking like that? "You really think that works?"

Acknowledging her own failures and faults is something she's been trying to avoid her whole life. Now they're all lined up in front of her, waiting to throw themselves back. Does that mean anything? It makes her feel sick.

"Do you know who else told me that? That he'd never leave me? 'As long as we both shall live,' he said." The words sound hollow, now. Images and words threaten to overwhelm her, as though she could escape into that day and relive it over and over again. "D-do I seem dead to you? I can't tell, Jack. Maybe I would be, if he'd let me--"

No. That's too much. Go back.

She presses her palms to her eyes, trying to blot it out. To make everything go away. Will it ever work?

Jack stood in front of Cecilia and then wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him. His body trembled half out of desire and half out of fear. Fear of messing something up again. He had screwn up so many things in his life. He didn't want to fail this as well...

"Shut up," he whispered softly into her ear. "You don't look dead. Don't even think about that..."

"H-he lied to me for years," Cecilia says, sobbing into his shoulder. She wraps her arms around him, feeling the bandages under her fingers. "I loved him, I really did, and I was just something to hide behind!"

Dr. Jameson says crying is a healthy release. But it's just proof that you're not good enough, right? Good people don't need a 'healthy release.' Especially not with witnesses around.

She's known people who have lost so much more, and yet they're so collected. They don't burst into tears or get hostile when they talk about it. Why can't she be a strong person like them?

"Now he lives in a quiet little house near the beach. With people who love him." Cecilia holds him even tighter, her eyes stinging and her nose running. "And every morning, I wake up in a bed that's too big for one person. My daughter says that I never do fun things anymore. I can't even take a vacation without screwing it all up."

"I don't want to do this all over again, Jack."

The kitten mews plaintively, locked in a tight embrace, and chews on Jack's thumb.

Jack suddenly pushed her away.

"No... No... This... This feels wrong...." he muttered. "We just met... You've just divorced and... This... This is probably a natural reaction to being in a stressful life-threatening situation..."

If he was even alive, that is.

"And... And..." he said, shaking his head. "You deserve better than some stupid bartender... Oh hell... I... I love you so much.... This isn't fair..."

Then, catching sight of her eyes, he hugged her again and pecked at her cheek. "That was silly of me, not abiding my own philosophy... If you want something, just go for it..." he kissed her this time. "I... Won't let you be alone, Cecie," he whispered. "I promise..."

He lay the kitten down on the counter. "But why are we discussing this in the kitchen?" he said, eyes twinkling. "Let's go feed the kitten and... We could talk more in the room."

It does feel wrong, but does that matter now? They're in a good place. A safe place. It's so easy to imagine everything turning out for the better.

She still doesn't trust him. But it's so nice to have a focus; something to anchor herself to now that Katie will be gone. It should make her worry about his commitment and his promises, but all of that seems to melt away.

So Cecilia kisses him back this time. Perhaps a bit too aggressively; not out of desire, but because she's so used to taking the lead, coupled with the lingering fear that he'll leave if she's not good enough.

She smiles when she pulls back, still holding him tightly. It's a sincere smile, for once.

"All right... but I see that look in your eyes. Just talking." Cecilia almost laughs, but settles for a grin. Someone who actually might try something. It's a strange feeling.

Jack chuckled and walked along with her towards the Meat Locker and opened it. Cats ate meat, right?

As Jack starts opening the meat locker door, he catches sight of a swinging figure with long blonde hair and bloated, peeling skin.... The smell strikes him moments later. Cecilia's not at the right angle to see it yet. If he shut the door and walked away, the mood wouldn't be killed. He could lie and say it was empty, after all.

Jack immediately closed the locker. "Oh god, that smells bad," Jack said, chuckling. "How old are these meat anyhow? 6 years? Puh."

He turned to Cecie. "Let's go somewhere else."

Cecilia wrinkles her nose. "That's strange. Those cookies are fresh, and I just ate some schnitzel out in the restaurant..." She dismisses it as another aspect of this empty hotel. Spoiled meat isn't that much of a concern.

She nods in agreement, walking back to the counter to grab the tray of peanut butter cookies and dump its contents onto the other tray. "Can you get the kitten? I want to take these with us."

Jack nodded as he picked up the kitten whilst shoving one of the cookies into his mouth. "Arhfnsi..." he paused, took out the cookie, and said "Maybe they'll have something for the kitten in the gift shop or the basement..."

Cecilia shrugs. "I don't think they sell stuff for cats in gift shops. Maybe the basement first, and if we don't find anything, we check the map again."

Before she turns to walk out the door, she briefly shifts the tray to one hand (it's a bit unwieldy) and gives Jack a one-armed hug. This whole business makes her nervous, but the atmosphere of the hotel has a way of calming things down.

As she heads out of the restaurant, it soon becomes apparent that the food on the table has been re-set. Now it's a few shaved slices of glazed ham, complete with roast vegetables, and a glass of sparkling white wine.

"Oookaaaay," Jack said, munching on the cookie. "Do you think that this is too convenient?"

And can kittens eat glazed ham?

"Yeah, kind of," Cecilia says, staring at the food. "Did you hear anybody out here while we were in there?"

OOC,It mostly depends what it's glazed with, but they probably shouldn't... maybe if the glazed bits were torn off. I'm not a kitten nutritionist. Nutrkittionist.

"Well," Jack said. "I think that we should risk it for the kitten."

He walked over to the plate, picked up a knife, and began chopping one of the hams into fine pieces as the kitten looked on hungrily.

The kitten doesn't so much watch as struggles to get loose and lunge forward to try to plunge itself face-first into the ham.

"Where did you find this kitten, anyway?" Cecilia looks on with surprisingly tolerant eyes as the kitten flails. It's so cute. "In the bar, right? How long was it there?"

She takes another cookie from the tray. It's not like the kitten can eat them.

"No idea," Jack mumbled, feeding the kitten a thin strip of ham. "It was in the closet."

"The closet? Who puts a kitten in a closet?" she asks between bites of cookie. "Let me guess, no food or water in there for it?"

It really shouldn't be thirsty now, though.

"Yup," Jack said, chewing on a piece of ham as he put another strip into the kitten's mouth.

"Poor kitty. You've been through a lot, haven't you?" Cecilia sets the cookie tray on the table, picks up a bit of ham, and offers it to the kitten once it's done with its current piece. "Katie's gonna be so happy to see you, yes she is..."

Jack picked up a little side plate, put a handful of thinly sliced ham upon it, and placed it on the floor along with the kitten. "Well, I don't know about you," Jack said, leaning on the table and popping one of the roasted vegetables into his mouth. "But I think this food's safe enough. I don't think I've had anything to eat for days... It seems as if today just stretched on for weeks."

"Well, it had better be. After all that's happened, I'm not willing to die from poisoned gravy." She's tempted to reach for some of the remaining ham, but she knows she should leave it for Jack. She just had a full meal, and he's probably famished.

Instead, she reaches for another cookie. As she's biting into it, she suddenly realizes something.

"Oh, God! What's Katie going to think about you - us? I know things have been hard for me, but she hasn't been taking it well either!" Cecilia nibbles frantically at an edge, the cookie practically being shaken apart by her hands. "Her daddy left mommy for another man, and now mommy's with the guy who's crazy pants!"

She shoves the cookie into her mouth and grabs at her hair, like a sad picture of maternal angst. "What am I doing?!"

"C...crazy pants?"

"She said that. In the hospital. I'm sorry, I just thought about Katie and how she didn't like you before." Cecilia relaxes a bit and tries to smooth down her hair. "I know that all of that was a while ago, but... Katie remembers things."

The door opens and standing there, leaning her hip against the door frame is Katie, looking wet, bedraggled, and more than a little cross. She looks more like an irritable pre-teen than a teenager with her eye roll at the pair of adults. "Thought I'd find you here. Let's just go, okay?"

Speak of the devil.

Cecilia stares at her daughter, trying to sort out her feelings. "Katherine..." She takes a deep breath, letting it out in a heavy sigh. "I'm glad you're safe."

The way she's acting is so strange. She wants to punish her somehow, make sure she understands that it's dangerous to run off by herself. Especially when the town is full of hideous monsters.

But the all-consuming coldness of the water is becoming a distant memory. And Cecilia knows that if she were a better mother, Katie wouldn't have run off in the first place.

She's angry. Who's to blame? Herself? Katie? Jack?

"Where were you?" She folds her arms, trying to keep the tone of her voice even and cool.

"Amusement Park, as I said." There's a flash of rebellion in her daughter's eyes. "Look, why don't we just go, okay? You can scold me later when we're not surrounded by monsters!"

"I mean, I saw your car's outside, so we can just take that, right?"

Her eyes roll over with infinite irritation toward Jack.

"And we can even bring him along."

Jack quickly turned aside when Katie glared at him. Something in her eyes disturbed him greatly.

"Don't you use that tone with..."

Monsters?

"Katie, there aren't any monsters out there." Cecilia turns to Jack, looking for confirmation. "In fact, there's nobody else here, right?"

"My car is back at the bar, isn't it?" She shifts her weight, letting her arms hang at her sides. "And I don't think either of us can drive right now... honey, we were going to look for you as soon as we could. But we're really tired and I've been worried sick and- and Katie, why did you run off like that?"

"Really tired? Wait ... what?" Katie stares at her, slack-jawed. "Tell me you're not thinking of sleeping here. Wait, were you going to take a nap?"

She stares at her mother, accusation strong in those eyes.

"Only long enough to recover from... I know you weren't there, but some scary things happened. When we got here, it was safe." Cecilia bites her tongue, and she hates it. There's a part of her that wants to lash out at her daughter, to make her sorry for this attitude.

To her, Katie's being unreasonable, and she's only six, and what right does she have to judge, and what on earth is she so angry about?

"Katie, is there something you need to talk about?"

"Cecie," Jack said. "She's dripping wet and she probably went through hell just like us, waiting for us at the amusement park. She has all rights to be annoyed."

"Oh, I get it, you were safe," she said, punctuating her statement by pointing at Cecelia. "You were safe and tired and scared having been out there with a man with a gun so you figured you'd have a short nap while it was nice and safe."

She paused, and her voice becomes dangerously low. "It really is all about you. Isn't it?"

"Well, I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna get in that car and we're gonna leave to a place where I get to be safe. Where I get to have naps. Where I matter!"

"Katie! You chose to run off to the Amusement Park! You could have stayed with me!" Unable to keep her voice from rising, Cecilia puts her hands on her hips and locks eyes with her daughter. "This is not my fault - I didn't make you go. Do you understand that I was trying to keep you safe?!"

"I tried to follow you, but I couldn't, I'm telling you! Katie, I..." Her anger wavers, and the sharp edge in her voice fades. "I'm sorry that I made you feel like you don't matter. But you do, sweetie. You matter to me more than anything in the world."

Even if I can't seem to show it.

"Jack," she sighs, shutting her eyes and putting a hand to her forehead. "Let's go."

"Alright," Jack said weakly. "I'll go get my stuff."

"Really? Your stuff?" She rolls her eyes. "You'd never survive a housefire. Let's go get our stuff and not drive away from a monster infested town. Oh yeah ... good idea ... that's fantastic. Fine. You go get your stuff. Mommy, why don't we go wait by the car like you usually do?"

"Katie! I know you've been through a lot, but that doesn't mean you get to be rude." Cecilia gives Jack an apologetic look, then falters. From her daughter's perspective, this man is the crazy guy who tried to kill Mommy. She doesn't know about what's happened since then... and now is really not the time to tell her.

She bends down and picks up the kitten, ignoring any cries it might make from being pulled away from its ham. Frustrated and bitter, she wonders if Katie will even like it, or if she'll just spit in its face too.

Wait by the car, like you usually do? Is that about the restroom? Angry remarks are the least of what she deserves for that, but... Katie said it was okay. And it wasn't okay at all, but what changed?

OOC,Oh, man. I neglected to mention Cecie's purse while she was in the hotel room/changing clothes. Does she still have it with her? The car keys are in there, after all...

Show,She's a woman. Therefore, she has her purse.

The kitten hisses at Cecilia, then growls at Katie, and struggles to get back to the food. Katie, for her part, doesn't even seem to notice the kitten.

Jack turned around and glanced at the kitten's reaction before heading off towards the room to grab his shirt, trenchcoat, and most importantly of all, his shotgun.

Cecilia wants to follow him - a desire born out of fear, as though letting him out of her sight is somehow dangerous. But she knows that, despite the way she feels, things will be okay. The uneasiness she feels around Katie is only due to her anger, and she has nothing important in that hotel room anyway. Nothing irreplaceable.

She has her daughter back for the second time. They're in a safe place. And no matter how confused she is about them, she does have feelings for Jack... doesn't she? And he seems to return them. Enthusiastically.

So why isn't she happy?

"All right, come on." Cecilia offers her free hand to Katie, trying to shake the sadness and anxieties away.

Katie accepts her hand with a brief flash of a smile.

Jack quickly wore the shirt in the privacy of the room.

The kitten had growled at Katie. Why? It had growled at only monstrous things before. Then there was that matter of the body in the freezer.

He quickly wrapped the trench coat around himself and put his hand inside the inner pocket. Good, the gun was still there. He then looked a Rochelle's coat that was placed on the bed. Didn't Cecilia have his switchblade in there? He rummaged through it in order to find it again. That or any other interesting tidbits that she left behind.

Cecilia leads Katie out of the hotel, periodically glancing over her shoulder to see if Jack's caught up.

Jack finds everything is as he's left it, though there's a stiffening tension to the air, and a sense that he's about to be left behind if he dallies long enough to search through coat pockets.

It may already be too late.

Cecilia heads out into the foyer and crosses toward the door and as she does, Katie slips her hand into her mommy's and gazes up at her, skipping all the way.

"We'll get to go home now," she says, seeming both very serious and very wistful at the same time.

Cecilia pulls open the front doors to reveal dazzling sunlight and as she steps out, one hand poised to protect her eyes from the light, the doors slip shut behind her. She blinks against the light, hearing the distant, almost muffled, sounds of traffic and birdsong and voices, and something scribbling behind her. Turning, she squints against the light and sees Katie finishing her drawing of an X upon the door in chalk. Then the noise hits her in full and she finds herself standing on the front step of the hotel, a businessman passing her by with a suitcase in his hand.

"Let's go home now, mommy," says Katie. She turns to her mommy and it's only now that Cecilia notices that her eyes are a different shade of blue than they used to be.

"That's not your daughter." Jack said that, in the hospital. She'd mostly ignored him, just listened to Katie... Katie?

Katie's eyes are green.

Cecilia jerks her arm away from this child, this child who isn't her daughter. She... looks so much like Katie, but those blue eyes... nobody in their family has those eyes.

"Who are you?!" she shouts, avoiding the child's gaze. "What did you do with Katie? TELL ME!"

The feeling of safety is gone. Now, there's only fear.

"Shit," Jack muttered, just taking the coat out of the room with him. He rushed towards the main entrance to the hotel.

The businessman gives them a wide berth as he passes, then goes into the hotel and shuts the door.

The girl gives her a rather sombre and level look. "You still don't remember, do you?" There's no emotion in that voice. No accusation. There's barely an indication of a question. "You felt no urgency to find her because you knew.... You already knew ... you just couldn't remember. I'm all you have left of her. If you turn your back on me, you'll have nothing." With that, the girl who looks so much like Katie turns and walks toward the car without a backward glance.

Show,Sorry Jack! You're too late. We'll soon return you to your own thread in a moment.

"Remember what? Do you know something about what happened?" Cecilia takes just one step towards the girl, eyes wide with curiosity and dread. Something happened to Katie. She just doesn't know what, and the thought of it terrifies her.

Following Katie - not Katie - down the stairs and to the parking lot, she turns and takes a last look at the door. Is Jack coming? What the hell is that X supposed to mean? "All I have left... what are you talking about? You know what happened that day, don't you?"

The girl doesn't answer until she reaches the car, at which point she turns to Cecilia. "I can be Katie. You want me to be Katie. I'm the closest thing you have to your little girl." She pauses, still with that level blue-eyed gaze. "And I'll tell you everything once we've cleared these hills. I'll tell you all that you could ever have wanted to know and then you can choose what happens next."

"No. I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me what's going on." Cecilia stops a little ways away from the car. People promising things. People lying. People being vague for no damn reason. She's done with this bullshit. Nobody's going to point a gun at her if she puts her foot down.

At least, not this time.

"You think you can be some kind of... replacement? For my daughter?" She shakes her head, scowling. "No, you tell me who - no, what you are. There's no way you're just a little girl."

She tilts her head to one side in that oh-so-familiar way but there's a maturity in her gaze and a wistful sadness to her lips that were never a part of Katie's make-up. She stands like that for a long moment, gazing at you as though you were the confused child, and then she draws in a long breath, holds it, and lets it out. As she speaks, her words change steadily from the calm adult she's trying to be until her petulant childishness becomes clear. "I can't tell you that. Not here. We either go right now or ... or I ... I'll have to go back and then you'll never know. If you don't want a replacement daughter, then fine, I don't want a replacement mother, either! I don't want you and you don't want me but we need to get outta here right now if we're ever going to get revenge." She points at the car. "You get in that car right now and drive me out of these hills or I swear to the mother of God that I will start a hellstorm that you won't survive. I will not be denied!"

At that rather intense proclamation, she sniffs and says a little whinily, "I want to go hoooome."

Tears start to spill down her cheeks and she digs her nails into her palms, balling her hands into fists, trying to rein them in. "I need to find her. Don't you understand? Please ... they've taken someone from both of us and I gotta get her back. I can help you but only if you leave right now." Her tone is stricken. She's pleading with you. The whole metamorphosis took barely a minute but it seems almost like a natural attrition of her defences.

"Stop! God, stop it! I'm so sick of people telling me lies!" Cecilia strides forward and grabs the girl's shoulder, shaking her. "How am I supposed to believe anything you say when you pretended to be my daughter?! How could you just stand there and do that to me? For God's sake, you ran off when I could have gotten you out of this place, and now you want to leave?"

don't please no you're better a better person she looks like Katie she looks like

She crouches low to the ground, pressing hard on the child's shoulder as if she could drive her into the earth. "I thought I had Katie back. I thought she was okay. I thought we could go home, and she'd be happy." Cecilia drops the kitten on the asphalt of the parking lot and seizes the girl's other shoulder, her hands trembling as she squeezes. "But because of you, I wasted hours that I could have spent looking for her on you. You don't know how that feels, do you? To be given so much hope because of a lie... I lived that for years."

no not right don't do it don't hurt her you're supposed to be good

"And you think I'm taking you anywhere? You think I want any more of your help?" Cecilia shoves the girl backwards, shaking her hands as though she's touched something filthy. "No. You're not really going to help me. You never did, did you?"

stop it don't be angry

Katie is flung back by the shaking, the forceful shove down that had held her rooted in place, just as a child should. Her gaze lands on the kitten's sodden corpse that lays on the ground by Cecilia's feet. There's the faint wailing of a police siren in the background and Not-Katie flinches and looks back over her shoulder. "You made your choice...." She says it in such low tones as though merely commenting on the weather but there's a tension to her face that shows the importance of it to her. "If you want to find Katie, you're looking in the wrong place. I can show you. I can show you where Katie went. It's not far."

With that, she picks herself up, corpse-pale now, her long blonde hair falling from the ponytail and falling straight just past her chin. She holds out her hand, fingers twitching slightly, and gives Cecilia the slack-jawed look of the severely traumatised. It's not the shaking that did it. Cecilia can feel that much in her bones. She's not responsible for it. The girl has simply retreated down to someplace inside of herself where no one, and nothing, can ever touch her.

The tension that envelops Cecilia suddenly disappears, and her arms go slack as she looks at the girl again.

I hurt her. I hurt a child. Willingly.

The warmth, the bird song, the siren... all of it fades into a sort of numbness. Wordlessly, she touches her hand to the girl's, staring off into the distance.

I'm a monster.

The little girl takes her hand and guides her forward, moving around the hotel with slow, careful steps down a side path that leads to the rear gardens. The motion reminds her, jarringly, of another walk down this very same path. She'd walked it before, several times, with a beautiful and vivacious young woman, with little Katie in tow. They had their favourite bench on the rear verandah where they could watch the passing boats and the glittering lake. Ash... She'd even been willing to put up with the odd phone call or quick email to or from work. It was Ash who'd pulled her along back here once, just as it was Ash who'd coaxed her into going to Annie's Bar and leave Katie with a good babysitter at the hotel, and Ash who'd convinced her to take Katie to the Amusement Park rather than just relaxing away from all of the queues and the noises. Ash, with the laugh that could warm any room, and distract anyone.

Something in that last thought jars her to her bones.

Distraction...

It only takes a moment for the images to start coming back. The voice on the phone, too - We need to talk about Katie and where you go from here.

You're not still moping about your gay husband, are you?

Brown eyes, dark hair, that smile. Pieces of a face to put to that laugh. She's starting to remember.

Back when this vacation still seemed like a vacation, Ash was there... listening to the story of Cecilia's divorce, offering her own tale of marital hell. She made it easier to relax, and forget.

Cecilia had hardly thought about Nathan, or... or Katie...

"Ash," she whispers, her grip on the girl's hand tightening. "I was here with Ash..."

The little girl doesn't say anything. She simply reaches out and unlatches the side gate, leading her into a garden filled with hedges, where Ash had once told her the whole place had burned down and rebuilt. Ash had been a local once in Shepherd's Glen, and her town had always hated Silent Hill for its prosperity and it's 'wonten ways' as her mother had put it. Ash was married. She had a little girl as well, around the same age as Katie, but she'd run off. Not to find herself, she'd hastened to add, but to lose herself. She was always at least a little bit drunk but always smiling with that kind of freedom that you get when you've hit rock bottom, as she herself used to say. She'd tell Cecilia that all her work worries, all her ex-husband worries, were just that. Worries. Thoughts. Dips in the wind.

In the end, nothing has to matter.

She was always a little manic about that. As though there were a secret there that she wouldn't tell. But she was such fun. She'd sidled up to them one day while Cecilia had been on her smart phone, in the restaurant, and talked her into having a vacation. God, she'd seemed so annoying and pushy, just walking up to a stranger, but she was fun and had a great sense of humor that was infectious and, in the end, grudgingly, Cecilia had started to like her.

The vacation had been fantastic.

Except....

Except....

Something had distracted her.

The little girl led her across the well-trimmed lawn to the path that led down towards the glittering water and Cecilia could remember shushing her daughter, sitting at one of the tables on the verandah, drinking a glass of wine with Ash, and desperately trying to ignore both of them as she hastily tried to deal with just one more email. This one had been a toughie. The toughest. Same demanding guy she'd spoken to before on the road.

Wait....

Wait....

That email had led to a phone call. He'd called her up. She'd had that very same conversation before.

And now, as her feet tread the path, she remembers herself sitting in that car, driving through Silent Hill in the fog, talking to a silent mobile phone as echoes of an old conversation ran through her mind. It was that same conversation. That same conversation which had distracted her.

...don't normally deal with this kind of thing, but... very serious concern. Have you canceled your credit cards...

Arthur Machos. An older man, and very well-off. Identity theft. He was disagreeable and loud... she remembers, of course, she spoke to him just a day or two ago.

But...

Cecilia willingly took opportunities to distract herself from Nathan - and, by extension, Katie. She was always trying to ask questions about things that hurt, things she didn't understand.

You said babies come from a mommy and daddy's love... but if Daddy doesn't love you, why--

Katie, stop.

But you said I could ask any--

No. Go to your room.

That's not fair!

That was how the conversations ended. And as Cecilia had pulled further away from things like family, friends, and love, they stopped happening.

Ash brought her back. But it was...

None of this seems right...

What happened that day...?

The little girl leads her off the path as they come to the sloping shores of Lake Toluca and Cecilia can see the pier in front of her but the little girl doesn't head towards the pier. Instead she veers toward the lake itself. Her hand is so small in Cecilia's. So small, so frail, and so weak. The police sirens can be heard growing increasingly loud as the police car approaches.

"Ooh, I wanna go swimming!"

Katie's words, echoing through Cecilia's mind.

"Later, honey."

"Aww! It's always later! You said that days ago. When can I go swimming?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Machos, you were saying?"

Katie had sulked for awhile and Ash had tried to cheer her up but then Ash had gotten that withdrawn, thoughtful look in her eye and had hurriedly taken a few drags of a cigarette (she gave it up, but she changed her mind, why plan for tomorrow when it may never come). Katie had grown bored of her sulks (she always did) and started running around the lawn, darting around bushes, and chasing birds. Cecilia had watched her for a little while, but then she'd needed to check something on her laptop. Ash had gone to buy more smokes.

The little girl stood on the edge of the shore and pointed into the water. "There."

"She's in there."

No. It's a lie. Like everything else. It's not true, it's not, it's...

Cecilia's hand slips away from the little girl's. The lake is mirrorlike in its calmness, a reflection of the sky, blue as the girl's eyes. It seems to stretch forever.

She told Dr. Jameson that she'd wanted to die in the ocean. She would swim as far as her arms and legs could carry her, until she was too tired to go on, and too far from shore to go back. So that there would be no other option. Her mother had given birth to her in the water. It seemed fitting.

He looked at her, the line between his eyebrows growing deeper. "It's good that you changed your mind. As hard as this is for you, your daughter needs you. I think you know that."

"And drowning is one of the most horrible ways to die."

She sinks to her knees, palms flat against the soft ground of the shore, completely still save for the movement of her breathing. She stares out at that vast, blue lake, as though she could see her daughter's tiny silhouette drifting within the waters. All of the hours spent running around town, sleeping in Annie's Bar, waiting for something to happen. None of it matters. None of it ever mattered.

"I don't know," she says, fingers curling into fists and grabbing handfuls of the dirt, "how I... can go back home, or keep... God, I..."

"I killed my daughter. I killed her. I..."

That's the last coherent thing she says before bursting into tears, sitting on the shore of the lake with only a mockery of Katie's life as a witness.

"Parents never really love their children as much as they love themselves," says the little girl almost absent-mindedly. "You called to the town. You wanted to be here. You wanted me." She sits down on Cecilia's lap and wraps her arms around her and gazes up at her. She looks so much like Katie but for the hair cut and though blue eyes. "Silent Hill brings so many dreams to life. Nightmares too. We could go together. We could go home. I'm all you have." Her lower lip trembles and tears start to spill down her cheeks again as the facade breaks. "Please, I ... I don't want to die here. I don't want to go back. They'll take me back. They'll...."

She glances out over the lake, near trembling with fear.

"Please don't give me away like my mummy did."

"I don't want to go back. I ... I...."

She gazes at Cecilia with those big, blue eyes.

"I'm scared!"

"I don't want to burn again!"

Cecilia throws her arms around the little girl, holding her close as though she really could be her daughter, pressing her fingers into the soft strands of her blonde hair. And for a while, she just sits there on the shore of Lake Toluca, crying with her, shutting her eyes, pretending they're in some space separate from the outside world. But the police siren beats into her skull, the waters lap hungrily at her knees, and time is still moving.

She goes quiet when there are no longer any tears left to cry, and slowly opens her eyes. Nothing seems real. Like a playset for a dollhouse: coated in plastic, unfeeling, trying to pass itself off as something more than an imitation. Swallowing what little fear is left, she pushes the girl away and rises to her feet.

The water is cold as it touches her ankles.

The little girl steps back and watches her step into the water. She doesn't argue or fuss. Simply stands by and watches as Cecilia makes her decision.

The sun is so warm against her face, providing a stark contrast to the cold water that envelops her feet.

She half-expects to hear tires on asphalt again - that time, though, she hadn't even made it into the water. That's right, there's no one to stop her now.

Will it surprise anyone? Will they care? She can imagine herself as a statistic on some website, the ones that pretend to give a damn about you so you'll buy their books, their CDs, whatever. She's seen it all before, and it's sickening. Maybe this is something she should have done a long time ago.

There isn't even anyone she'll miss -

and then she thinks of Jack

- No. Cecilia wades further, faster into the water. The less time she has to think, the more likely it is that she'll go through with it. One last promise to keep.

After all, this is what she... wants.

Deserves.

As Cecilia wades further into the water she remembers her daughter's wet hair on her arms as she'd pulled her floating body out of the water. The stark terror as she applied CPR. The relief when it worked, when Katie puked up the water, but Katie didn't wake up. She didn't regain consciousness. The sirens. Different sirens. Ambulance sirens. The police came later to ask all the right questions and ensure that she wasn't to blame. They'd been politely official. Grieving mother and all that. It wasn't likely that she'd drowned her own daughter, after all.

Then the doctors. The nurses. The news. Katie had been without air for around five minutes. That was a long time. She was young, but there was bound to be brain damage. They couldn't tell her how much. They wouldn't know until Katie woke up. If she'd woken up.

The phone call. Breaking it to her ex-husband. Calling the others. Family. Friends. Others called her. Shared in the news. Commiserated. Asked questions.

A parade of visitors and well-wishers dropping by Silent Hill. The pitying looks from the Silent Hill hotel staff.

Katie didn't wake up.

Ash grew distant. Starting poking into things. Conspiracy theories. She once said she swore she could hear Katie calling to her in the ward. She stopped that pretty quick after Cecilia swore at her, yelled at her, blamed her for the whole thing. Ash went back to the bar, kept drinking, muttering stuff about searching out conspiracies on the odd occasions they met in the Lakeview Hotel hall. Last Cecilia had heard, the bartender there had been stabbed.

The cold water laps at her heart as she continues to wade purposefully into the water.

She wants the memories to stop, but they keep coming, replaying themselves over and over again in her mind. Were these last couple of days - the bar, the hospital, the deserted hotel - just a delusion? The mannequin. Her injuries. Jack kissing her. Merely constructs of a broken mind trying to pull itself together...

Cecilia's been screaming at people to stop lying. Even before Silent Hill. She said that lies were destroying her. But the one person who never could seem to tell the truth was herself.

Holding Katie's hand in the ICU, trying so hard to put on a brave face, and reading her stories out loud from her favorite books. She remembers that.

Please wake up, Katie. I miss seeing you smile so much.

Involuntarily, she takes a breath just before her head goes under the surface.

The lost little girl stands by the lakeshore and watches as Cecilia walks into the water until she drops beneath the water and out of sight. There is no need to linger. No need to wait and watch for bubbles or any sign of a struggle. Lake Toluca takes whatever is freely given even more than it takes what struggles against it. Cecilia will not escape the waters cold embrace and, for that, the little girl is glad. Her death appeases the violent, vicious shard within her that has been flamed countless times over the decades that she has waited here. This is the woman whose stubborness kept escape from her and it feels good to similarly deny her escape.

The girl glances back at the hotel over her shoulder and smiles faintly to herself.

At least she still had Katie. The girl she had lured into the water, only to have been retaken by a desperate Cecilia re-entering the foggy nightmare of Silent Hill. Yet the town had not seen fit to allow its prize to be returned so readily and so the girl had the chance to take her away again. So perhaps she would not yet have the chance to finalise her plan and bring her family back together again but she had pieces of it.

And Silent Hill could be so much fun during the tourist season.

She turned and skipped away from the lake, bounded across the lawn, and unlatched the gate. The police sirens had stopped outside of the hotel and she had very little time to retrieve Katie's present before she was spirited away into the Other Side. She saw Cybil Bennett leaning against the police car, arms crossed over her chest, and a wry grin over her face. Soon that grin would slip once they were safely back in Silent Hill. Soon the officer would panic and struggle against the monsters in shock and horror. Perhaps she would 'turn', again. Perhaps she would remember. More likely not. It didn't really matter. Cybil would keep her safe even as she kept her trapped here.

Alessa's parting gift.

The girl crouched down beside the kitten's lifeless body and picked it gently, gingerly up, and as she did so the kitten sprang into life in her hands. It was like Katie. It couldn't live out in this side of Silent Hill but it could exist within the Other Side. The girl was as much a part of the Other Side as she was of this place and so her hands allowed it life.

"Do you think Katie will like her prezzie?" asked the girl innocently.

Cybil smiled down at her. "I'm sure she will but we have to go now."

"Okay, but I think we should come back here to visit Katie."

They would begin the drive and the fog would roll in and the car would stop and it should be easy enough to convince Cybil to turn around and head for shelter in the hotel. As the little girl climbed into the police car, clutching the growling kitten in her hands, she spared one final glance at the lake that had just claimed another life. She always imagined that all those killed in the lake lived at the bottom of it, caught and frozen in agony, much as she so often was, although perhaps it was true what the Order said. Perhaps the lake cleansed what it killed. Perhaps it was atonement, freedom.

If so, then Katie should be proud.

Her mother was free.