Sarah Connelly was sixteen. She sat contently before her dressing table, adorned in a beautiful, pink princess ball gown. It was Halloween. She put the finishing touches on her mascara and sat up straight to examine her appearance. Her best friend, Casey had invited her to a party in Silent Hill, a few miles away from the small town in which she lived. Sarah was normally a tomboy; jeans and a tee shirt, no make-up usually. Her choice of costume was highly unusual, to say the least. This sudden transformation could only be attributed to one thing...a seventeen-year-old named Ryan Talbert. His blue eyes and brown curls caught the attention of many girls at school, but Sarah was determined. She brushed her shoulder-length blonde hair and day dreamed about the encounter for about the tenth time that night.

**RRRIIINGGG!!** the telephone started Sarah out of her romantic fantasy. She laughed at herself and picked up the receiver. It was Casey.

"Hey, girl, Ive been outside for fifteen minutes, where the hell are ya," Casey complained with the smile. "I wanna get there soon before all the booze is gone!"

Sarah wasn't thinking about getting drunk, all she wanted was to make a grand entrance and take Ryan's breath away.

"Let me get my coat, Ill be right there!" Sarah smiled, hung up the phone, and rushed out of the room.

Her mother was sitting before the television, munching on Halloween candy meant for the trick-or-treaters. Sarah always got along well with her mom. Her dad left when she was about five, so her mom was all she had and Sarah thought of her as a close friend. Mary Connelly heard her daughter getting a coat out of the closet and got to her feet. She was wearing a classic witch costume, pointy hat and everything.

"Oh, let me look at you!" She cooed. "You are so beautiful. I remember you used to dress up in princess dresses when you were little. My baby...all grown up."

"Mom," Sarah laughed, embarrassed. She knew her mother couldnt help it. "Casey's waiting. I gotta go." She planted a quick kiss on Marys cheek and headed for the door.

"And Ryan's waiting, too." Her mother grinned with a wink.

"Mom!" Sarah grinned, blushing and shut the door behind her.

Sarah pulled on the coat and trotted down the front steps, past the glowing jack-o-lanterns they had made and the cotton spider webs draped over the bushes. Fall leaves covered the ground. Casey was sitting in her car, dressed as a Playboy bunny. Korn could be heard from outside the car. Sarah climbed in the passenger side, careful not to shut the door on her dress. Casey turned, smoking a cigarette.

The party was bustling with costumed teenagers music blaring, liquor flowing, people laughing - it was obvious that no adult supervision was present. Just the kind of party Casey liked. Sarah wasn't much into parties. She always felt the outcast and really would rather be at home with her mom, had it not been for Ryan.  Casey had gone straight for the alcohol, as she usually did, leaving Sarah to fend for herself. She scanned the masked faces and wondered if any of them was Ryan...this wasnt exactly the fantasy she imagined.

Several hours passed and Casey was nowhere to be found. Sarah heard the commotion as the party goers decided to set up a Ojai board and turn out the lights. She wanted to go. Sarah quietly moved through the room looking for Casey. She thought she saw bunny ears over in the corner, on a couch. As Sarah approached, she realized that her best friend was making out with a 'vampire'.

"Hey, Casey," Sarah hated to interrupt. "You about ready to go?"

Casey unlocked lips with the boy and turned. She was plastered. "What -  now?"

Sarah's heart sank. The vampire...was Ryan.

Sarah pulled on her coat and stormed out, hot tears welling up in her eyes.

"What?" Casey slurred. She shrugged and resumed the tonsil hockey with Ryan.

The streets were empty. Not even a car, Sarah noticed, having walked several blocks away. The streetlights blinked red, swaying back and forth in the cool autumn breeze. It must be after midnight, Sarah thought. She didn't mind the rain, actually. She cried a little to herself and just kept walking.

Sarah stopped.

A dog was standing in the middle of the street, just staring at her. Its outline was blurred by the rain, but it didnt seem hostile. Probably lost, she thought. Sarah started walking again, and watched the dog in her peripheral vision as it began to snarl...

It charged.

Sarah gasped and began to run. She knew she couldn't outrun it, it was lean and quick.

"In here!" a boy's voice called from a store ahead. "Hurry!"

Sarah picked up speed and ran inside the store, where the boy slammed the door behind her. They watched the dog snarl at them through the window and it was then that Sarah noticed something horrible...it had no skin.

"Oh, my god..." Sarah clasped a hand over her mouth.

"You'll be safe in here," the boy said. He was a little taller than Sarah, and about the same age. He had sandy brown hair and kind blue eyes.

"Thank you," Sarah blushed. She looked around. They were in a used bookstore. Books were stacked high on tables and chairs, as if in the process of being cataloged. "My name's Sarah."

The two talked for what seemed like hours, exchanging funny stories of their past by the light of a candle. The power was out, but they were not afraid. Sarah loved to read and felt at peace in the store. It was odd, Sarah thought, it felt as if she had met David before. She didn't tell him this, but the thought tugged at her mind.

An air raid siren broke their laughter. Sarah looked around nervously. "What's that?"

David seemed to panic and jumped to his feet, pulling Sarah up with him.

"It's changing, we've got to get out of here. Come on!"

As Sarah looked in horror, the walls of the bookstore began to transform into dark, bloodstained versions of their former selves...the blood ran from the walls and began to spread across the floor toward them...

David grabbed her hand and led her out the back door into an alley.

The pavement had been replaced with cold, rusted metal grating that clanged with every urgent step they took.

"Whats going on?!" Sarah cried.

"This way!" David begged and together they ran down the alley.

They ran for their lives past overturned trashcans and what appeared to be mutilated, bloody masses. Blood and flesh clung to the chain link fences and ran down garage doors. The air rain siren blared as they cleared a corner. It was a dead end. They could hear more dogs behind them, snarling and barking.

"This way." David urged, trying to catch his breath. He threw some old boxes out of the way and revealed a large hole cut into the bottom of a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. A metal sign read, 'No Trespassing.'

They crawled through the hole. A piece of Sarah's dress ripped on the fence. She turned back to retrieve it, but David pulled her to her feet.

"No time!" he shouted.

David and Sarah ran around a brightly painted kiosk. A large sign above it read simply, 'Cotton Candy.'

Sarah's heart raced. She knew this place...

"Wait!" Sarah pulled her hand away, stopping and staring at the kiosk. "Where are we?"

There was no answer.

"David?" she looked up. He was gone.

"David, hurry up." A womans voice called from behind her.

Sarah turned to see.

It was suddenly day time. The woman was her mother, although several years younger. She was wearing a red shirt and white shorts, hair pulled back into a ponytail. A golden locket hung around her neck and glinted in the sun. The amusement park was alive on this summer day, children laughing, organ music emanating from the nearby carousel. The smell of cotton candy wafted through the warm air.

"Just getting the munchkin here some cotton candy." A man's voice smiled from behind Sarah. She turned to the kiosk again in shock. It was her father. He bent down and presented the pink fluffy sugar to a smiling five-year old girl.

It was Sarah.

"You give her entirely too much sugar, David."

"Oh, you worry too much, Mary. Nothings too good for my princess." He picked up young Sarah as she contently munched on the cotton candy.

"Puppet show! Puppet show!" the young Sarah pointed excitedly as children gathered around a nearby stage.

The teen Sarah watched the scene in astonishment. She blinked hard. Could this really be happening? None of the people acknowledged her presence at all.

Sarah's father set her down on a bench so she could watch the show. A colorfully dressed jester enthusiastically announced the show as the children cheered with glee.

Sarah's parents sat on a bench a few yards behind and talked.

"We can't keep putting this off, David." Mary said sternly. "I hate putting on this façade and you know it."

"You know how I feel about this." David replied sadly, watching young Sarah ahead. "I think we should stay together for Sarah."

"You just dont want to pay child support, is that it?" Mary snapped.

"No, of course thats not it! I'm sure I'll find work soon and things will be better again, I promise." David forced a smile for his estranged wife. "Come on, Mare, we can make this work. If it's finances youre worried about..."

"Come here, let's not discuss this in front of Sarah." Mary got to her feet and began walking toward the hall of mirrors a few feet away.

David hesitated and looked at young Sarah, who was laughing at the puppet show.

"Oh, she'll be fine." Mary frowned. "We'll be right back."

With that, they entered the hall of mirrors. Teen Sarah followed.

They were the only ones inside the attraction. Their voices echoed off the mirrored walls, creating a hollow sound.

Teen Sarah struggled to find her parents, lost in the maze. Her dress rustled as she walked, drawn by the mysterious visions. Sarah heard voices, then began to see images reflected sporadically in the mirrors like an old film.

"I don't want you in Sarah's life." Mary stated flatly.

"What??" David's eyes grew wide. "But--Mary...she's my daughter, too! You can't just take her away from me! We can work out something, don't do this...!"

As he pleaded, Mary slipped her hand inside the purse at her side.

"I dont lose, David. Its time you learned that." Mary thrust a knife deep into David's side, piercing his lung. He gasped for air eyes wide. His lips moved, trying to speak, but a hollow gurgling noise was the only sound he could make.

"Noooo!" Sarah screamed at the images. Tears streamed down her face. "Mom...noooo...!!"

David's eyes rolled back into his head as his knees began to fold beneath him. He clutched at his wife, but she only watched calmly and with satisfaction.

David's fingers grabbed hold of the gold locket around Mary's neck and the chain snapped...he crumpled to the floor without a sound.

Sarah shook violently, sobbing in disbelief as she watched her mother step over her father's body and move back outside. Sarah knelt down next to her father and placed a hand on his head. She cried and stroked his sandy blonde hair, desperately sorting out the visions in her mind. With a sniff, she reached down and gingerly plucked the necklace from her fathers hand.

Sarah stepped outside the maze and watched as her mother approached the young Sarah, still laughing on the bench...unaware of what had just occurred. Sarah whined as Mary picked her up. The show wasn't over yet.

"Its time to go." Mary said flatly to the little girl.

"Wheres Daddy?" young Sarah looked around from over her mother's shoulder.

"He left."

Sarah's eyes narrowed with hate as the visions disappeared and the world faded into night. The air raid siren moaned as the cold rain once again began to fall on her head and face.

Sarah walked steadily and solemnly down the street toward the house where she had left the party. From behind her, two bright headlights illuminated the street. A car came to a stop and Casey's voice pierced the silence.

"Hey, Sarah!"

Sarah stopped walking and looked at Casey.

"I've been looking all over for you, girl! You really scared the shit outa me!" Casey yelled from the drivers seat.

Sarah said nothing, but slowly made her way to the car and got in.

Casey lit a cigarette and put the car into gear.

"Where'd you run off to?"

Sarah said nothing, but turned the necklace around in her fingers.

"Hey..." Casey said, concerned. "Are...you okay?"

"Yeah," Sarah replied quietly. "I just want to go home."

Mary Connelly was sitting on the couch, watching an old black and white horror flick when Sarah walked in. The candy bowl was empty. Candy wrappers littered the couch and surrounding area. She didn't get up, but turned her head.

"Hey, how'd it go, honey?" She smiled. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah." Sarah said emotionlessly, passing her mother and heading toward the kitchen. "I met a boy."

"Sounds intriguing. What's he like?" Mary said, watching the screen.

"Oh, pretty nice, I guess." Sarah set the necklace down on a table next to the couch. "You dropped this."

Sarah entered the kitchen as Mary curiously looked over at the table. She absently grabbed the necklace and looked at it closely. Her jaw dropped and she could feel her blood running cold. Her heart began to race as she stared intently at the trinket.

"H-honey...?" Mary couldn't keep her voice from shaking.

A drawer opened from inside the kitchen.

"Where did you find this?"

Sarah slowly walked toward the couch, knife in hand.

"Silent Hill..."

Mary turned and screamed.

-Written by CrAsH