A/N: This was a while coming since after I originally wrote it the file got corrupted, and I couldn't bring myself to redo the entire thing for quite a while. But like I said, this is a version of the story continuing on from "Turn Left" where Sam and Dean go the other way and end up in Silent Hill. You may want to read that story before this to know the set up, but it isn't necessary for understanding it. The idea is inspired by the Doctor Who episode "Turn Left" where an alternate universe full of dire situations springs up based on one pivotal choice at a junction. This opening is shorter than originally planned, since I'm still lacking the motivation to redo several hours of work and rewrite everything I lost, but it's a start.
Disclaimer: Non- profit work. I don't own Silent Hill or Supernatural. And so on.
Turn Right
They were about fifteen miles from the intersection when it happened. Dean had opted to take the road on the right, Sam's half-hearted attempts to dissuade him crumbling against his stubbornness, and now they were on the route that the sign had indicated led to a town called Silent Hill. It still wasn't as though either of them knew for sure they were going the right way, but Dean figured that if they reached the town and refilled on gas, then they'd be able to work things out from there and find the way to Pleasant River. Hopefully without having to resort to asking directions.
Sam hadn't made a comment since Dean had chosen to ignore his suggestion and turned right, but he was still scowling down at the map on his phone as he tried to pinpoint where they were. It wasn't proving easy. The dense fog that had pervaded them for the past several miles was growing even thicker by the minute and visibility was rapidly declining. The whole thing added to Sam's sense of unease, and although Dean was trying to hide it, the clench of his jaw showed he felt the same. He was wishing he'd gone the other way.
"Ease up, Dean," Sam warned after several minutes of silence. "If I'm right, there's a gorge somewhere in this direction. The road's gonna bend sharply and you'll be driving on a cliff edge."
"I've got it, Sammy," Dean replied, trying to sound at ease, but there was an obvious underlying tension in his voice. "You still think we're going the wrong way?"
"Don't you?"
"It's just the fog. We'll be able to work things out better when it clears."
Sam's scowl deepened. There was something about this fog that was unnerving, and neither of them had been prepared for it when they'd read the news reports to alert them to the case. He wondered if there was something they'd missed. "Yeah, which it's not gonna do any time soon," Sam replied indignantly. "I don't like this."
"Stop being a baby. How do you expect to hunt monsters if you're scared of a little fog?"
"It's your driving that scares me. Just take it steady."
"This is steady."
"Yeah, for you. Not for any normal person."
The bickering had taken on a slightly more hostile edge, both of them not liking the situation but not wanting to admit to it. Dean had the full fog beams on, and up ahead he began to make out a railing that marked the edge of the road as it curved sharply round a cliff face. Looked like Sam had been right. He bit his lip and eased off on the gas. "Alright, there. You were right. Happy now?"
Sam still looked uneasy. "No, because that definitely means we're going the wrong way."
Dean took the turn carefully, still struggling to see through the fog as he glanced down at the gas meter. "Well, we don't have enough gas to turn back now. Let's just keep going until we reach the town."
He sounded irritable at having been proved wrong, but Sam found he didn't have any urge to say "I told you so." Instead he looked concernedly down at the map on his phone screen. There was still no phone signal or GPS, but the display had started doing something weird, flickering in and out of brightness. He gave it a couple of taps as he tried to zoom in on the map he had pre-loaded, but the screen froze and suddenly distorted shapes flickered across it. "Dammit," Sam muttered, thinking it was a great time for the phone to crash.
Dean noticed something was wrong. "What is it?" he asked, glancing over at Sam's side of the car.
"Nothing," Sam murmured back. "Just technology doing what it does best." A moment later and the phone seemed to have sorted itself out as the map returned to the screen.
Dean frowned. "Let me take a look," he offered, holding out his right hand while he kept his left on the wheel. "Where is it you think we are?"
Sam didn't give it to him. "Doesn't matter, Dean. We can only go this way now anyway. I'm just trying to figure out where Silent Hill is."
"And where is it?"
Sam looked up to see Dean was still trying to look at the phone screen, clearly thrown out by the discovery that his sense of direction was entirely off, but as Sam raised his head something caught his eye through the windshield in front of him. The fog was still hanging thick in the air, but the headlights flickered over a dim shape on the road up ahead. Dean obviously hadn't seen it, but given their current range of visibility, it wasn't far away.
"Dean, look out!" Sam suddenly shouted, gesturing for him to pay attention to the road, and as Dean's head suddenly snapped round again they were both able to make out the figure in front of them: indistinct, but clear enough for them to tell it was a child, dark haired and female, standing in the middle of the road just a few metres away.
The car swerved. Dean swung the wheel as far as he could away from the girl, slamming on the brakes, and the tyres screeched as the Impala skidded to a stop. The back end of the car swung round harshly and collided with the barrier at the road edge, and they both felt the vibrations shudder through the front bench. Sam's head slammed hard against the window, causing stars to erupt behind his eyes, and pain shot sharply through his chest from the sudden lash of the seatbelt. He had no idea what had just happened and he couldn't see either Dean or the girl, but then another shockwave tore through his neck as the car abruptly halted.
It took several seconds for either of the brothers to recover. Sam had his eyes shut, still dazed and with pain throbbing through his skull, but then he heard Dean anxiously calling his name. "Sam? Sammy?"
He tried to respond as quickly as possible. "'m fine," he grunted, easing his head back up and putting up a hand to touch the blood that was now trickling down the right side of his face. His heart was still pounding from the sudden panic, but it seemed like they'd both survived. "What the hell was that?" he asked, blinking his eyes unsteadily as he looked over at Dean. His brother seemed shaken, but otherwise unharmed. "Where's the girl?"
Dean was giving him a worried look, but when he became satisfied Sam was mostly okay, he turned his attention back to the road. "I have no idea," he replied in confusion, eyes searching around them for any indication of the figure they'd just seen, but there was nothing and Dean knew for certain that they hadn't hit anything. Growing more panicked and frustrated, he quickly kicked the car door open and got out to have a better look around. He was standing in the fog beams, desperately casting his eyes about, but still he could see nothing except the skid marks from the tyres behind them. "The hell?" Dean snapped. "There's nothing here."
Gingerly, Sam eased his own door open and got out to join Dean. He was still a little dazed and his head hurt like hell, but he was gradually coming to his senses. The Impala had come to a stop so that it was angled at almost ninety degrees across the road, but fortunately it didn't seem that too much damage had been done to the back end from the impact with the barrier. That was at least one thing Dean would be relieved about.
Sam grimaced, rubbing his sore neck as he tried to see anything through the fog. It was possible that the girl was still out there in the mist somewhere, but where had she come from in the first place? There was a solid cliff on one side and a sheer drop on the other, and the nearest town was still a couple of miles away. Something about this was deeply unsettling. "Okay, this is weird," Sam remarked as he looked round, seeing nothing more than Dean did.
"Damn right it's weird," Dean grunted, taking a few paces forward into the fog. "Hello?" he called out into the mist. "Uh, kid? You out there anywhere? Anyone?"
Nothing. And there was something way too creepy about that kid for Dean to think he would gain anything by going to look. This had definitely crossed over from being simply unsettling into their kind of weird. Whatever hunt they'd planned for, Dean thought things had just got a hell of a lot more sinister. "Alright," he grunted, before turning to cross back to the car. "We need to get to this town, and then we're getting some answers. Something weird's going on here." He climbed back into the Impala and turned the key to restart the ignition, looking simultaneously freaked out and pissed off. The engine gave a growl, stuttered for a moment, and then faded back into silence. When Dean tried again, it repeated the exact same thing. "Dammit," he muttered angrily.
Sam had been about to get back in the car, keen to just get on and reach the town, but as he saw Dean slump down defeatedly over the steering wheel he paused at the door. "Dean?"
"That was our gas just running out," Dean grumbled at the floor of the Impala, before looking up at Sam with a scowl.
Again, Sam didn't really want to point out that if they'd just taken the shorter route to Brahms as he'd suggested, they have been able to get there. "Alright," he said instead, keeping his voice measured as he tried to stay calm. "I guess we're just gonna have to go and get some then. It's only a couple of miles to the town now; we can walk it and go find a gas station."
Dean considered it for a moment, and then nodded as he climbed back out of the car again. "Only option we've got," he said in frustration, crossing to the trunk to collect an empty gas can. As he rummaged for one of the emergency containers they had in there for situations like this, buried underneath the disorganised arsenal, he picked up a pistol and held it out to Sam. "I think this may be a good idea. Don't know what might be out there."
They both glanced warily out into the fog before Sam nodded grimly and took it off him. Arming for the supernatural right now seemed like a plan, when there was clearly something not quite right about this place. "Dean, does this fog feel strange to you?" Sam asked sombrely as they both equipped themselves with whatever small arms and weapons they thought might be useful.
Dean cocked an eyebrow. "Sam, this whole damned thing feels strange."
"No, I mean…this isn't like regular fog. It's too…dry. Whatever's causing it, it doesn't just seem like a freak weather thing."
Of all the observations he could have made, that was one Dean thought only Sam would have noticed, but it was Sam's attention to detail that was always so useful on hunts. "Well, there's definitely something freaky about it," Dean commented, slamming the trunk shut and then going to close the doors. "We're just gonna have to find out what. Let's go ask in the town. I think we may have another case on our hands."
As he picked up the gas can and prepared to walk away, he gave the Impala a couple of pats on the hood. "Don't worry, Baby, I'm coming back for you," he said to the car, glancing at the dents and scratches she'd obtained from the collision. "And I'm gonna bring you some juice and get you fixed up."
It almost made Sam feel a bit better watching Dean be his dorky self with the car, but the greyness surrounding them was dense and sinister, and enough of a reminder that they needed to be on guard as they began to walk towards Silent Hill.