To Protect and Serve

Silent Hill Play Novel: Cybil's Scenario

Introduction

It’s an uneventful night in the the small peaceful town of Brahms. Police officer Cybil Bennett was spending her night shift chatting on the phone with a friend at the police station situated in Silent Hill. There hasn’t been an incident in Brahms for several years and without much else to do on her shift Cybil is glad she can use the phone to pass the time.

Without warning her phone call to Silent Hill is cut off and Cybil is puzzle over the sudden termination. Did a phone line go down?

After being unable to get through to Silent Hill several more times and without any other pressing matters Cybil decides to take a quick motorcycle ride down to Silent Hill (surprise of her friend and co-worker Sally) to figure out the communication problem.

Cybil grabs her helmet and speeds off into the warm night.

Puzzles

Phone Puzzle

Location: Police Station
Information: Cybil comes across this phone in the Police meeting room. There is a phone number written beside it. Push the directional pad to the right to reveal the complete phone number and dial that number on the telephone to recieve a clue about Cybil’s next destination.

Block Puzzle

Location: Alchemilla Hospital
Information: Before Harry and Cybil can enter the hospital they must solve a block puzzle to open the door. Those who have played Silent Hill will recognize these blocks at the plates Harry collected to open the door at the back of Nurses’ Centre in the Alternate Alchemilla Hospital.

Use the D-pad to move the pieces and the R-Trigger to select the pieces to move. You want to place each coloured block on their corresponding brown indentations. Please note that once each box is placed in the brown indentation are will force another box to move as well! To solve the puzzle you must place the pink and blue boxes in their end spots first and when they move place them back in their correct positions.

– Move the Blue block right.
– Move the Pink block right.
– Move the Pink block down.
– Move the Green block up.
– Move the Blue block left.
– Move the Yellow block down.
– Move the Yellow block 2 spaces to the left.
– Move the Pink block up.
– Move the Green block right.
– Move the Yellow block up.

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Enemies

Air Screamer

Location: Outdoors throughout normal Silent Hill.
Attack Method: They’re mobile, fast and difficult to shake off
Weakness: Their speed means it’s hard for them to change direction quickly.
Best Tactics: Listen out for the telltale sound of their wings. When one tries to attack, quickly change direction, side-step or stop completely. The Screamer will miss you.

Groaner

Location: Outdoors throughout Silent Hill.
Attack Method: These enemies are fast and nimble and sometimes attack in packs.
Weakness: None when you’re gunless …
Best Tactics: Run away. Without your gun, there’s nothing you can do!

Jelly

Location: Hallway, Alternate Midwich Elementary
Attack Method: It attacks in the dark corridor
Weakness: None
Best Tactics: None: you don’t need tactics as Cheryl calls it off of you. This mysterious jelly is also seen after Cybil is swept away by the aqueduct current and wakes up in a mysterious elevator

Alessa

Location: Alchemilla Hospital
Attack Method: TBC
Weakness: TBC
Best Tactics: TBC

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Weapons

Handgun

Location: Cybil gives it to Harry in the Café, but may get it back in the Police Station
Cons: There’s a limited range and this weapon can have little effect on bosses or the tougher enemies
Pros: It’s quick, easy to use. You can also move when firing

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Items

Handgun: Cybil gave hers to Harry on meeting him in Café 5 to 2. If Cybil meets Harry again in the police station he will give the gun back because he has armed himself with a steel pipe.

Police Phone: A phone Cybil found in the police station with a phone number beside it.

Telephone Memo: Memo beside police phone with the phone number (38*2647*) written on it. Cybil dialed the number on the phone and spoke with Cheryl on the other end who pleaded for her father. Through her conversation with Cheryl Cybil learns she is hidden somewhere in the school.

Cybil’s childhood doll: Cybil can find herself holding this rag doll after she is pulled into the raging aqueduct in attempt to save Alessa or Cheryl. When found in the elevator Cybil remembers her parents brutal murder and explains how it inspired her to be a police officer. This doll is also shown/found by Cybil immediately after she becomes possessed.

Green jelly: Cybil can find herself holding this after she is pulled into the raging aqueduct in attempt to save Alessa or Cheryl. The jelly grows and binds her to the floor of the elevator.

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Walkthrough

General Silent Hill

Cafe 5 to 2: Cybil wakes up outside the Café on her arrival to Silent Hill. Goes inside to get out of the cold and meets Harry Mason.
Inside Café 5 to 2: Cybil walks into the café and finds Harry unconscious on a bench.
Silent hill Streets: Cybil travels down these various generic Silent Hill streets during her scenario.
Blocked Path: After Cybil left Harry in Café 5 to 2 to go get back up so found all the roads were blocked or lead to an abyss.
Police Station: Cybil visits the Silent Hill police station in hope of finding the friend she was speaking with back in Brahms or at least someone to tell her what is going on in the town.
Police Station Meeting Room: It is possible for Cybil to meet Harry in here and receive her handgun back. If she doesn’t find she uses a police the telephone and gets into contact with Cheryl who is hiding in Midwich Elementary.
Church: Cybil meets Dahlia here with either Harry, whom she met in the Police Station, or Cheryl, whom she found in Midwich Elementary. If Cybil entered the church with Harry they find out that they just missed Cheryl with Dahlia’s daughter to the Hospital.
Parked Car: After leaving the Church Cybil catches up to Harry here and finds him out of breath, coughing, and bleeding from injuries suffered from his car accident. From here they make their way to the Alchemilla hospital.
Entrance to Antique Shop: While looking for a way out of the cold streets of Silent Hill with Cheryl Cybil spots the open entrance but they never make it inside.
Amusement Park Merry-Go-Round: A possessed Cybil finds herself sitting here after blacking out. She attacked Harry and is shot in retaliation here.
Acqueduct: Cybil and Cheryl spot a person (Andy or Alessa) drowning in here and Cybil attempts to save them.

Midwich Elementary

School hall dark: Cybil travels the dark halls while searching for Cheryl and may get attacked by some sort of jelly called off by Cheryl.
Music room: Cybil can either hear a piano or a scream come from this room and finds it empty. It is only when she attempts to leave the room does she see Cheryl crouched by the door.

Alchemilla Hospital

The Hospital looks like it’s in ruins. In front of the door lies a pedestal with 4 colored blocks and Cybil can not enter until she Cybil solves the puzzle and unlocks the door.

Reception desk: Harry and Cybil split up here to look for Cheryl in the hospital.
Hospital Third floor: Cybil encounters locked doors here and is forced to head back to the reception area.
Hospital Second floor: On her way back to the reception area Cybil hears a noise on this floor and investigates. She runs into Harry and Alessa attacks them with a ball of light.
Open door on first floor: After Alessa’s attack Cybil finds this recently opened door on the first floor and finds either a bright light or stairs to the basement on the other side.
Stairs to basement: Cybil goes through the open door and can find a sets or dark stairs that go into a burning basement.

Other/Otherworld Areas

Burning basement: Cybil comes across this burning basement in the hospital or under the streets of Silent Hill.
Elevator: Cybil finds herself inside this elevator after being swept away by the aqueduct current. It brings her deep underground and opens into the other world hall.
Other world hall: This hall leads Cybil to the final door.
Final door: this door mysteriously appears at the end of the other world hall. It has a burning doorknob.
Final Area: A large open area in ruins and a raging fire is spread through out.

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Endings

What to know how to obtain each of the endings? Follow our handy pictorial guide – just click for the full-size version!

Ending A

Steps to get this ending:

Coming soon!

Ending:

In the moments before the doors of the elevator open, Cybil prepares herself for the worst. Her trip down the aqueduct had not been gentle; her body was bruised and her head ached, but there was no telling what fresh horror would be waiting for her and, hurt or not, she needs to be ready.

The doors of the elevator slide back, revealing a dark, other-worldly corridor and a blast of hot air envelopes Cybil, making her head throb with pain. Dazed momentarily from the heat, Cybil staggers from the elevator, into the hall, and looks around to get her bearings.

The heat is suffocating. Worse still, it continues to rise as Cybil moves down the hall, but she continues, undaunted, until she comes to a large metal door.

Cybil reaches to open the door but snatches her hand back in shock: the doorknob is hot! She pauses, concerned that there may be a fire raging on the other side of the door; it certainly explains the heat in the hallway.

In the end, she doesn’t have a choice: she can’t go back the way she came and she can’t stay in this suffocating hallway. She can only go forward.

Cybil steps through the doorway and into a large, open room; the floor shakes violently beneath her feet and the entire room is engulfed in flames. She arches her neck and tries to see through the smoke; in the distance she sees a figure rise from the ground and run toward a flight of stairs on the other side of the room – a small mass clutched against its chest.

She can’t be sure, but Cybil thinks that the figure is Harry – although she can’t imagine how he would have gotten down here; she calls to him, but she chokes on the smoke and her yell turns into a wheezing coughing-fit. When she can finally breathe again, she looks up to see the figure disappearing through a door at the top of the stairs.

Cybil runs after the departing figure but her pursuit is halted as she trips over a motionless figure sprawled in the middle of the floor. Cybil looks closer and sees that it is a girl; she is severely burned and dressed in a one-piece, white dress. As Cybil stands over her, the room shakes violently and, as if in response, the flames spread farther across the floor, partially blocking her path up the stairwell.

Cybil realizes her chances for escape are dwindling rapidly, but she cannot leave a wounded civilian behind. Cybil gathers the girl in her arms but almost drops her again in shock when she sees the girl’s face: Cheryl.

Cybil isn’t sure what to make of this new twist.

Could it really have been Harry she saw earlier or had she seen someone else? She feels certain Harry would never leave Cheryl behind. Perhaps it was just some crazed town-denizen-turned-arson, fleeing the scene because he was responsible for the girl’s condition and the current inferno that raged within the room.

Cybil nearly falls over as another tremor shakes the room and she realizes that conjecture about the figure she saw is best saved for later when both she and the girl are safe. Cybil cradles the girl in her arms, protecting her as much as possible from the licking flames, and makes her way across the room. She reaches the stairs and races to the top; the room explodes behind her as she approaches the landing and she crosses through the doorway as the room is destroyed behind her.

For a moment, Cybil feels relief, but as she crosses the threshold, it occurs to her that, once again, she has no idea what she will find on the other side and she wonders if she will be ready for it.

Digital Trading Cards received:
20 – Key
22 – Music Room
25 – Aqueduct
26 – Elevator

Ending B-1:

Steps to get this ending:

coming soon!

Ending:

Dahlia tells them that Cheryl has gone to the Church with her daughter, Alessa, but Cybil isn’t sure she believes her; this woman gives her the creeps; however, Harry is – understandably – unwilling to leave a single lead uninvestigated so Cybil follows after him.

Dahlia sneers condescendingly as they walk away from Alchemilla Hospital, but neither Cybil nor Harry notice; their attention is focused on the task ahead of them.

Cybil realizes that they have their work cut out for them as they approach the hospital; it is huge and, although she doesn’t like the idea of sending a civilian off by himself in this place, Cybil suggests splitting up so that they can search it more effectively. Harry agrees without contest, happy to have someone else make the decisions, if only for a moment.

Cybil tells Harry to begin his search on the bottom floor and to work his way back up; she will start her search on the top floor and work her way down. Theoretically, the two of them will eventually meet in the middle and one of them will have Cheryl in tow. The hope in Harry’s eyes keeps Cybil from adding the last thought that runs through her mind:

Assuming Dahlia hasn’t sent them on a wild goose-hunt.

Cybil’s grand plan is thwarted when the third floor turns out to be impassable: every door but the one leading to the second floor is locked. Frustrated, Cybil begins her decent and wonders if there might be a master key in the reception area that will allow her passage. She reaches the second floor and a thought strikes her: if Cheryl is here, they can use the hospital intercom to attract her attention and let her know that someone is here looking for her.

Wryly, she admits to herself that it would have been nice if her revelation had occurred before she climbed three flights of stairs. A noise echoes in the stairwell as she passes the door on the second floor landing and she stops.

Thinking that the trip may not have been wasted after all, Cybil pushes open the door. It swings open, eerily silent, and the noise stops. Cybil steps into the bright hallway and spots a young woman standing motionless a few feet away. She approaches the girl, wondering if she’s found Cheryl or Alessa but stops, stunned as the girl lifts a ball of bright, blue light over her head.

A warning rings out behind her and Cybil drops to the floor; she follows the ball of light with her eyes as it whizzes over her head and cries out in horror as it strikes Harry squarely in the chest.

Without a sound, Harry falls to the ground…

[Version A: Cybil found Harry on the floor either not moving or taking about “the strange girl”]

The strange girl vanishes, but that is the least of Cybil’s concerns. Dismayed, Cybil jumps to her feet and rushes to Harry; she kneels next to his still form and helplessly watches as Harry takes his last breath. Tears sting her eyes and guilt washes over her: she had worried about sending Harry off on his own, but in the end it was Cybil who had stumbled blindly into danger and Harry who had been the protector.

Cybil rubs the tears from her eyes fiercely and pushes her anguish and guilt to the back of her mind; she lets the anger over Harry’s needless death fill her instead.

Anguish is numbing.

Guilt is immobilizing.

Anger is motivating.

She can use anger.

Cybil is convinced that the girl she saw was Alessa – Cheryl would never attack her father so violently – and she returns to the first-floor and heads for the reception area with renewed determination. If Alessa is here, then at least half of Dahlia’s story is true. Maybe the other half is as well.

Cybil’s single-minded focus is broken when she notices a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. Cybil turns quickly, concerned that Alessa has returned, but the movement turns out to be an open door swaying softly on its hinges.

Cybil thinks back to their arrival at the hospital and she is sure this door was closed when they arrived. No, not closed.

Locked.

Cybil approaches the door and carefully peers in; harsh though it was, she learned a valuable lesson on the third floor about stepping blindly through doors in this place. She knew it was possible that Harry had found a way to open the door on his way up from the basement, but the ominous feeling that emanated from the other side of the threshold makes her believe that it had been someone, or something, else.

Cybil is sure she is being led by whatever opened the door, but she is also sure that if there are any answers to be found in this place, they are through this doorway. She wraps her anger around her like a suit of armor and crosses the threshold to find a staircase leading down into a dark basement.

The stairs seem to go on forever but Cybil eventually finds herself in a hot, underground corridor. Cybil smells smoke and a scorched smell she cannot identify; something ahead of her is burning. The heat of the hallway is oppressive but Cybil moves, as if compelled, toward a large passageway at the end of the corridor pausing only for a moment to put out the flames when her clothes smolder and then catch fire.

Cybil steps through the passageway into a large room filled with flames and sees Dahlia and the murderous Alessa starting at each in the center of the room, oblivious to the flames. They turn as Cybil enters the room; Dahlia looks at her in surprise but the girl seems unaffected by Cybil’s appearance and stares at her calmly.

Cybil finds her calmness infuriating. Anger licks at her mind as eagerly as the flames lick at her heels and Cybil embraces it. She approaches the two figures, determined to bring an end to their machinations, but the look in Alessa’s eyes makes Cybil rethink her plan. Instead of confronting Alessa directly, Cybil pulls her sidearm from its holster and places the muzzle against Dahlia’s forehead…

[Version B: Cybil found Harry on the floor with his eyes opened wide]

Dismayed, Cybil jumps to her feet and rushes to Harry; she kneels next to him as he struggles to breathe. Harry issues another warning, barely a whisper this time, and crawls between Cybil and the mysterious girl, pleading with her to stop the attack.

Unmoved, the girl throws a second ball of light. Harry is engulfed by a brilliant blue flash and his body disintegrates, leaving nothing but a scorched stain on the floor.

Cybil has never been so terrified in her life. She jumps to her feet and races down the hall but with every step the stairs that seemed so close at first become farther and farther away. She fights the urge to look over her shoulder to see if the girl is somehow interfering with her escape and runs harder, but adrenaline only lasts so long.

Cybil begins to pant as exhaustion creeps up on her; eventually her legs fail her and she is enveloped in a bright white light…

Cybil wakes with a start in Café 5 to 2. Disoriented, she struggles to get her bearings. She hears what sounds like her motorcycle engine humming outside the café; did she really leave her motorcycle running and unattended? She sits up and notices that Cheryl is sitting beside her, gazing calmly out the window. Stunned, Cybil sits up straighter causing Cheryl to turn and take notice of her. Cheryl doesn’t say anything, but she smiles brightly at Cybil then jumps up, dashes out of the café, and disappears into the rising fog.

Cybil scrambles from the table and rushes after Cheryl; as the fog closes around her, Cybil wonders why it feels as if she’s been running, without getting anywhere, for a very long time.

Digital Trading Cards received:
19 – Telephone

Ending B-2:

Steps to get this ending:

Coming soon!

Ending:

Dahlia tells them that Cheryl has gone to the Church with her daughter, Alessa, but Cybil isn’t sure she believes her; this woman gives her the creeps; however, Harry is – understandably – unwilling to leave a single lead uninvestigated so Cybil follows after him.

Dahlia sneers condescendingly as they walk away from Alchemilla Hospital, but neither Cybil nor Harry notice; their attention is focused on the task ahead of them.

Cybil realizes that they have their work cut out for them as they approach the hospital; it is huge and, although she doesn’t like the idea of sending a civilian off by himself in this place, Cybil suggests splitting up so that they can search it more effectively. Harry agrees without contest, happy to have someone else make the decisions, if only for a moment.

Cybil tells Harry to begin his search on the bottom floor and to work his way back up; she will start her search on the top floor and work her way down. Theoretically, the two of them will eventually meet in the middle and one of them will have Cheryl in tow. The hope in Harry’s eyes keeps Cybil from adding the last thought that runs through her mind:

Assuming Dahlia hasn’t sent them on a wild goose-hunt.

Cybil’s grand plan is thwarted when the third floor turns out to be impassable: every door but the one leading to the second floor is locked. Frustrated, Cybil begins her decent and wonders if there might be a master key in the reception area that will allow her passage. She reaches the second floor and a thought strikes her: if Cheryl is here, they can use the hospital intercom to attract her attention and let her know that someone is here looking for her.

Wryly, she admits to herself that it would have been nice if her revelation had occurred before she climbed three flights of stairs. A noise echoes in the stairwell as she passes the door on the second floor landing and she stops.

Thinking that the trip may not have been wasted after all, Cybil pushes open the door. It swings open, eerily silent, and the noise stops. Cybil steps into the bright hallway and spots a young woman standing motionless a few feet away. She approaches the girl, wondering if she’s found Cheryl or Alessa but stops, stunned as the girl lifts a ball of bright, blue light over her head.

A warning rings out behind her and Cybil drops to the floor; she follows the ball of light with her eyes as it whizzes over her head and cries out in horror as it strikes Harry squarely in the chest.

Without a sound, Harry falls to the ground.

The strange girl vanishes, but that is the least of Cybil’s concerns. Dismayed, Cybil jumps to her feet and rushes to Harry; she kneels next to his still form and helplessly watches as Harry takes his last breath. Tears sting her eyes and guilt washes over her: she had worried about sending Harry off on his own, but in the end it was Cybil who had stumbled blindly into danger and Harry who had been the protector.

Cybil rubs the tears from her eyes fiercely and pushes her anguish and guilt to the back of her mind; she lets the anger over Harry’s needless death fill her instead.

Anguish is numbing.

Guilt is immobilizing.

Anger is motivating.

She can use anger.

Cybil is convinced that the girl she saw was Alessa – Cheryl would never attack her father so violently – and she returns to the first-floor and heads for the reception area with renewed determination. If Alessa is here, then at least half of Dahlia’s story is true. Maybe the other half is as well.

Cybil’s single-minded focus is broken when she notices a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. Cybil turns quickly, concerned that Alessa has returned, but the movement turns out to be an open door swaying softly on its hinges.

Cybil thinks back to their arrival at the hospital and she is sure this door was closed when they arrived. No, not closed.

Locked.

Cybil approaches the door and carefully peers in; harsh though it was, she learned a valuable lesson on the third floor about stepping blindly through doors in this place. As she leans over the threshold, a blinding light engulfs her.

He vision eventually clears to reveal a cemetery. It takes her a moment, but Cybil is surprised to realize she recognizes her surroundings: it’s the cemetery where grandparents are buried. Confused, Cybil looks around and notices a small crowd gathered near her grandparents’ graves. Predictably, the crowd is dressed mostly in black and visibly upset; less expected is the fact that Cybil recognizes the faces in the crowd: her parents and younger sister are standing together near the center of the group while the others – the Police Chief and her follow officers from the Brahms police force and her friend Sally – stand in a loose ring around them.

A cold terror plucks at Cybil’s spine as she approaches Sally and asks her who has died. Sally doesn’t respond to the question; instead she speaks to Cybil’s mother in a low whisper about an accident. The cold grip on her spine tightens and almost against her will Cybil turns to read the name on the headstone: Cybil Bennett.

Cybil steps back from the grave, her head spinning with confusion and disbelief in equal measure, but the feeling that she is being watched makes her look up. The girl stands motionless, clad in a one-piece, white dress, and Cybil recognizes her even before she calls Cybil’s name.

With one last glance at her mourning family, Cybil steps away from her grave and approaches the silent figure.

Digital Trading Cards received:

05 – Dahlia
14 – Groaner

Ending B-3:

Steps to get this ending:

Coming soon!

Ending:

Dahlia tells them that Cheryl has gone to the Church with her daughter, Alessa, but Cybil isn’t sure she believes her; this woman gives her the creeps; however, Harry is – understandably – unwilling to leave a single lead uninvestigated so Cybil follows after him.

Dahlia sneers condescendingly as they walk away from Alchemilla Hospital, but neither Cybil nor Harry notice; their attention is focused on the task ahead of them.

Cybil realizes that they have their work cut out for them as they approach the hospital; it is huge and, although she doesn’t like the idea of sending a civilian off by himself in this place, Cybil suggests splitting up so that they can search it more effectively. Harry agrees without contest, happy to have someone else make the decisions, if only for a moment.

Cybil tells Harry to begin his search on the bottom floor and to work his way back up; she will start her search on the top floor and work her way down. Theoretically, the two of them will eventually meet in the middle and one of them will have Cheryl in tow. The hope in Harry’s eyes keeps Cybil from adding the last thought that runs through her mind:

Assuming Dahlia hasn’t sent them on a wild goose-hunt.

Cybil’s grand plan is thwarted when the third floor turns out to be impassable: every door but the one leading to the second floor is locked. Frustrated, Cybil begins her decent and wonders if there might be a master key in the reception area that will allow her passage. She reaches the second floor and a thought strikes her: if Cheryl is here, they can use the hospital intercom to attract her attention and let her know that someone is here looking for her.

Wryly, she admits to herself that it would have been nice if her revelation had occurred before she climbed three flights of stairs. A noise echoes in the stairwell as she passes the door on the second floor landing and she stops.

Thinking that the trip may not have been wasted after all, Cybil pushes open the door. It swings open, eerily silent, and the noise stops. Cybil steps into the bright hallway and spots a young woman standing motionless a few feet away. She approaches the girl, wondering if she’s found Cheryl or Alessa but stops, stunned as the girl lifts a ball of bright, blue light over her head.

A warning rings out behind her and Cybil drops to the floor; she follows the ball of light with her eyes as it whizzes over her head and cries out in horror as it strikes Harry squarely in the chest.

Without a sound, Harry falls to the ground.

Dismayed, Cybil jumps to her feet and rushes to Harry; she kneels next to him as he struggles to breathe. Harry issues another warning, barely a whisper this time, and crawls between Cybil and the mysterious girl, pleading with her to stop the attack.

Unmoved, the girl throws a second ball of light. Harry is engulfed by a brilliant blue flash and his body disintegrates, leaving nothing but a scorched stain on the floor.

Cybil has never been so furious in her life. Angry tears sting her eyes as rage washes over her: she had worried about sending Harry off on his own, but in the end it was Cybil who had stumbled blindly into danger and Harry who had been the protector.

Blinded and propelled by anger, Cybil tackles the girl and wraps her hands around her throat. The girl pushes ineffectively against Cybil’s arms as her grip tightens. Struggling for air, the girl’s resistance weakens and her arms fall heavily to the floor. She struggles to speak and her words are barely a whisper, but it is enough.

A single sentence worms its way past the rage and into Cybil’s consciousness: I was only trying to save you.

Stunned, Cybil’s relents and her anger cools as its place in her mind is replaced by doubt. She had been convinced that the girl was Alessa because she couldn’t believe Cheryl would ever attack her father so violently, but now Cybil wonders if she was wrong.

The girl coughs and gasps for air as Cybil’s hands loosen their grip.

Cybil moves back and kneels contritely as the girl sits up. She opens her mouth to apologize for her actions, but her eyes are heavy and it’s hard to speak. She looks at the little girl questioningly but the girl has nothing more to say.

Cybil’s vision begins to blur, but even after her eyelids slide shut and darkness claims her, the blank, emotionless gaze of the little girl haunts her mind.

Digital Trading Cards received:
15. Harry
27. Cemetery

Ending C-1

Ending:

As consciousness slowly returns, Cybil hears organ music playing faintly and she struggles to open her eyes. At first her vision is blurry, but her eyes eventually focus: there is a merry-go-round in front of her and she is sitting slumped over in an old-style wheelchair.

Cybil tries to raise her head but nothing happens. Concerned, she checks what she can see of the wheelchair for restraints. She sees nothing that might be holding her down and again attempts to move her head. The results are the same. Fear grips her as she tries, in turn, to move each of her arms and legs and fails. Even the fingers of her hand are unresponsive to her mental demands. Although there is no outward sign, Cybil’s mind races and panic threatens to overtake her, at which point she realizes that not even her breathing is under her control.

Cybil fights to reign in her fragmented thoughts and thinks back over the events before she passed out. She remembers finding Cheryl – the girl had been standing next to her when Cybil passed out – but she doesn’t remember anything else. She wonders if someone has drugged her and strains, again, to lift her head.

Miraculously, Cybil’s head lifts from its awkward tilt and hope charges through her, but her hope fades as it becomes painfully obvious that the movement was not of her doing. The lifting of her head was only the beginning; like a puppet with an unseen master, Cybil pushes against the wheelchair, stands, and faces the man that has appeared before her out of the darkness.

As Cybil stares into Harry’s eyes, clouded with confusion and worry, she wonders if her own eyes betray the panic she feels, or if they have become blank and unreadable, as unresponsive as the rest of her body. As she looks at Harry a voice whispers inside her that he is her enemy – that he must be killed – and she is horrified by the thought: Harry is not the enemy; he is her ally!

But Cybil is a prisoner in her own body and she can only watch, helpless, as her hand moves, unbidden, to her hip. Harry’s pleas for an explanation are ignored; she draws her gun, points it at Harry’s chest, and then fires on her friend.

Shocked, hurt, and confused, Harry staggers backward. Concerned for his life, Harry raises his own gun, albeit with obvious reluctance, and returns fire. The bullet pierces Cybil’s chest and she falls backward. Cybil struggles to breathe as her uniform becomes soaked with her blood and she raises her hand weakly toward her chest.

Her arm barely moves, but the movement is completely under her control and Cybil realizes that whatever drug or spell had held her captive before is gone. Harry kneels at her side, weeping and she struggles to say something to him, but her vision is fading in and out as her mind flirts with the idea of unconsciousness, and her head lolls lifelessly to the side instead.

She sees a small creature slithering away from her and she wonders if this was the cause of her curious paralysis. Cybil is so focused on the parasite that she barely notices when Harry runs off in pursuit of something, leaving her alone.

Cybil realizes she has been left for dead and struggles to stand. Leaning heavily on the wheelchair she eventually gains her feet and looks around. The ability to once again control her movements gives her much-needed motivation and she considers her options: she can follow Harry or she can follow the glistening trail of her former controller and possibly find her way back to Cheryl.

Even if she had noticed the direction Harry ran off in, Cybil isn’t sure she could keep up with him with her injuries. With her decision effectively made for her, Cybil pushes herself fully to her feet and stumbles off in pursuit of the recently exercised parasite.

Panting heavily with pain, Cybil staggers from the amusement park and follows the creature’s trail through the open door of a garage and down a long staircase. The stairs seem endless and Cybil is convinced they are taking her deep underneath the town, not just to a simple basement. Eventually, Cybil finds herself in a hot, underground corridor. She smells smoke and a scorched smell she cannot identify; something ahead of her is burning. The heat of the hallway is oppressive and the throbbing pain in her chest makes walking difficult, but Cybil moves, as if compelled, toward a large door hanging ajar at the end of the corridor. She leans against the wall for support as she walks, chastising herself angrily: if she hadn’t lost track of Cheryl and let herself be possessed by that creature, she, Cheryl, and Harry would probably be on their way out of this God-forsaken town.

Cybil stumbles and falls to her knees as the ground shakes violently. The temperature in the hallway seems to rise in response and the heat radiating from the walls and floor is enough to burn her arms and face. Cybil uses the wall as a support and pulls herself back to her feet but stops to shield her eyes with her hand as a bright, white light spills out from the other side of the door ahead of her.

The light fades and Cybil resumes her advance toward the distant room; determined to make it inside.

[Variant A]

Fire begins to fill the hallway and Cybil falls to her feet as another tremor ripples through the corridor. As the flames lick at her skin, Cybil uses the last of her strength to crawl the final few feet and pull herself through the open door. Once on the other side, she collapses on the floor gasping in pain and struggling for air. She grimaces at the fiery pain that presses mercilessly against her ribs as she lifts her head and looks across the room.

The fire has spread to this room as well and in the middle of it is Harry. He kneels next to a girl that Cybil doesn’t recognize and she passes something to him. Cybil realizes it is a baby when Harry stands and looks down, smiling, at the bundle in his arms.

Cybil looks back at the girl on the floor and echoes of thoughts that were never hers float through her mind like whispers on the wind. Although she doesn’t know how or why, she understands.

Perhaps it is a parting gift from her parasitic puppet master or the divine revelations of a dying woman, but whatever the source, the knowledge is soul-crushing: the baby is Cheryl. More than that, she is the key; she represents the beginning of everything that has happened here and if Harry succeeds in saving her then everything he has suffered through, everything Cheryl has suffered through, and everything she has suffered through will simply start all over again.

And as certain as Cybil is that she is dying, she is also certain that Harry cannot see the awful truth: for this to really be over, he must leave Cheryl behind.

With her last breath, Cybil struggles to call to Harry – to warn him – but her strength is gone; as the flames approach and her clothes begin to smolder, Cybil surrenders to the inevitable and lets the world go black around her…

[Variant B]

With Herculean effort, Cybil throws herself against the doorframe and uses it to pull herself through the door. Once on the other side, she collapses against the wall for support gasping in pain. She grimaces at the fiery pain that presses mercilessly against her ribs as she gulps for air and looks across the room.

Although she feels that she shouldn’t be, she is surprised to see Harry in the center of the room. He kneels next to a girl that Cybil doesn’t recognize and she passes something to him. Cybil realizes it is a baby when Harry stands and looks down, smiling, at the bundle in his arms.

Cybil looks back at the girl on the floor and echoes of thoughts that were never hers float through her mind like whispers on the wind. Although she doesn’t know how or why, she understands.

Perhaps it is a parting gift from her parasitic puppet master or a random flash of omniscience, but whatever the source, the knowledge is soul-crushing: the baby is the key; the beginning of everything that has happened here, and Harry cannot be permitted to save it.

Distracted by her revelation, Cybil doesn’t notice as the flames from the hallway spill into the room and her arm catches fire. Indigo smoke rises from her arm as she staggers toward Harry and the child. She calls to Harry; tries to explain and begs him to see the child for what it is: a devil.

The only sounds that escape her parched and blistered lips are shrieks and howls.

Harry is startled and notices her for the first time. He places the child gently on the ground and draws a hand gun from his hip.

For the second time that day, Cybil realizes that she is not her own master.

For the second time that day, Harry points his gun at his friend’s chest.

But this time is different.

This time, there is no recognition in Harry’s eyes; only anger and determination.

This time, Harry doesn’t plead with her for an explanation; he mutters angrily at himself about not having killed her properly the first time.

This time, Harry doesn’t recognize her, or, if he does, he doesn’t believe that she is real.

Unable to speak or move, Cybil’s thoughts beat against the confines of her mind: I am real. Even though I cannot speak; even though I have been shot in the chest; even though my arm is on fire, I am still alive. I am still real.

Cybil feels the impact of the bullet as it strikes her forehead, but doesn’t have time to wonder at that fact. The world swirls red around her and her body falls to the floor. Her mind floats free of her body and she sees Harry come forward and gently close her eyes with the palm of her hand…

Cybil’s attachment to the world around her begins to fade and she muses that dying is not so very from the world ending – from her perspective, the end result is the same – and as she surrenders to the growing darkness it occurs to her that the truth she has found in death is not the one she had expected to find.

Digital Trading Cards received:
03 – Cheryl
29 – Her Fate

Ending C-2: