Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill. This wonderful video game series belongs to Konami and its respected creators.

The sun was slowly disappearing. Darkening clouds were coming together, swallowing the sky whole. As the sun disappeared, the warmth of its rays seemed to vanish. A cold wind started to sweep, and Harry could have swore he started seeing snowflakes flutter about.

Harry Mason sighed, weak and exhausted from all the fighting and all the crying. He loaded up the last of his luggage into the station wagon. He turned back to look at his house one more time. Dahlia stood just feet in front of him, holding herself uncomfortably. Harry couldn't look her in the eye. They were tired of it all. This was the best they could do for each other, and for Cheryl.

Dahlia looked up into his eyes, and for a moment, Harry thought he saw regret there in her eyes. "Will you be careful?"

"I'll be fine," he stated, glancing away.

"But-"

"Look, we said enough, Dahlia," Harry seethed, not wanting to see that look on her face any longer. He glanced over into the yard. Cheryl was recording them with the camcorder.

Harry felt pain hit his heart. He was not only leaving behind his home and the woman he loved, but he was also leaving behind the one thing that was most important to him. His daughter…

Harry took the few steps over to her. "Sweetie, please don't film this."

He kneeled down to get at her height. She kept the recorder going, but she looked up at him. The look in her eyes seemed to stab his heart through, and he had to look away from her tear stricken face for a moment.

"Look, this has nothing to do with you, okay? This isn't your fault, Cheryl. Just because Mom and Dad don't love each other no more, doesn't mean that we don't still love you. Come here, sweetie."

Cheryl tried to smile, but just couldn't. She dropped the recorder and threw her arms around him. She started crying again. Harry bit his tongue, squeezing her tight. He glanced up at Dahlia; saw her look away in guilt.

"Please don't go, Daddy! Please!" Cheryl cried.

"I have to, honey. But don't worry. I will get to come see you every weekend, okay?"

"Promise?" she mumbled, sniffling.

"Promise," he said, voice cracking. He kissed her on the forehead and then stood up. He took off his glasses for a moment to wipe the tears from his eyes. He smiled reassuringly down at his daughter, but it seemed to cause him even more pain to do so.

He gave one last look at Dahlia before getting into the station wagon and pulling off. Watching in the rearview mirror, he saw Cheryl run out into the street. Dahlia snagged her arm before the young girl could start chasing after the car. Harry quickly looked away. He turned the music on loud and put his foot harder on the gas pedal to get away from it all.

Brahms wasn't too far. He had a nice apartment already rented to him. He just needed to get settled in. Harry knew that it was going to be a long time before he completely got over this, but at least he would be able to see his daughter every weekend. That would help heal the pain that has been in his heart throughout this whole ordeal with the divorce and with Dahlia.

Now it was really snowing. The temperature was dropping fast. Harry knew he should have left earlier. It was already starting to get dark, darker with the looming clouds above. Harry could already see ice forming on the road, and the snow was already sticking.

Harry drove the streets of Silent Hill, heading for the edge of town so he could make the trip to Brahms. All the while, he couldn't stop thinking about Cheryl. His daughter was only seven, and she was losing her parents to divorce. Harry regretted the long fights and stress. His feelings and Dahlia's feelings were one thing, but Harry could only imagine what Cheryl was going through. She was so young and insecure. She was fragile.

Oh, Cheryl…I'm so sorry, he thought, closing his eyes for a moment.

By the time he got out onto the highway to drive towards Brahms, it was completely dark. The snow was falling hard, and the wind wasn't letting up. Harry wanted to hurry to get out of the storm, but knew that it would be dangerous to speed up on these roads.

Harry glanced up into his rearview mirror and only saw darkness behind him. He noticed the heart locket that hung from the rearview mirror, it swaying slightly as the car was in motion. He forced himself to look away, but he just couldn't. He opened the locket up, seeing the picture of Cheryl smiling back at him while she sat on a swing.

Harry was overtaken with grief at the sight of her smiling face. He slammed his fist hard into the dashboard, yelling out. Seeing her on the weekends wasn't going to be enough for him. Why did it come to this? How could it?

Harry needed to focus on the road. He wiped the tears away with his fingers to get behind his glasses. The night before him only seemed to get darker and darker. Nothing seemed to be showing beyond his headlights. Harry tried to take deep breaths to calm himself. His heart was in too much pain.

A large animal stepped out into the road. Harry panicked, seconds away from hitting the deer. He slammed on his breaks, but his tires did not grip from the ice. Harry turned the wheel, hitting into the deer and flying off of the road. The station wagon went out of control, and before Harry could blink, he felt himself being slammed forward.

His head struck the steering wheel with much force, and he felt the crack that pulsed through his skull. Harry couldn't move, but knew that he could feel blood seeping out of his head. He tried to lift his head, and could barely do so to see the tree that the car had smashed into. Steam poured out of the crushed radiator, and Harry's heavy head was keeping the horn going.

To him, the horn seemed faint and distant. Harry blinked heavily, already not remembering what just happened. All he could do was think of what he left behind. He remembered things from long ago. He saw them so clearly in his head as pain traveled throughout his body. He remembered meeting Dahlia for the first time, he remembered Cheryl's birth. He remembered her first word was "Dadda". He remembered her walking for the first time. His daughter was still so young, and he was leaving her behind. Harry felt tears pouring out of his eyes. His glasses, the lenses were cracked and he could hardly see through them.

He looked over to the locket, still open from earlier. He tried to lift his arm to get it. His arm was so heavy. It took all of his energy just to reach up and yank it off of the rearview mirror. Harry opened the car door, and then blindly felt for the seatbelt release. When he hit the button, he had no power to catch himself. He fell right out of the car into the snow. The car became silent. Harry felt icy coldness start slithering up his body. He couldn't move, could hardly breathe. He saw that the snow was turning red with all of his blood.

This wasn't fair. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen. He needed to be at home with his family. He needed to be home with his young daughter. He brought the locket up to his face so he could look into the face of his beautiful daughter. He could only smile, amidst the agony he was feeling. And though blood continued to pour out of his head wound, the real pain was in his heart.

This isn't right. This isn't how it's supposed to end. I wanted…a happy ending. Cheryl…I'm so sorry…

He felt so tired. Slowly, his eyes started to flutter. He saw the snow still falling all around him. He focused on the photo of his daughter. It was the last thing he saw as his eyes fell shut, and his last breath was taken.

***

Cheryl sat by herself on the sofa while her mother was in the kitchen doing dishes. She wiped the tears away from her face another countless time. The television was on, playing cartoons that were on mute. Cheryl had no heart to watch them. She just couldn't figure out what she did wrong. Daddy had left hours ago. It was late; way past her bedtime but Cheryl refused to go to sleep.

Dahlia came into the dim lit living room. She was so exhausted and emotionally distressed. And though everything was finally over, she did not feel the relief off of her shoulders as she had hoped. She stared down at her young daughter, sighing weakly.

"Cheryl, sweetie. I know this is rough, but Daddy is going to be okay. It is going to be for the better. Alright?"

"I miss him!" Cheryl yelled, grabbing her teddy bear and squeezing it hard. Her Daddy had bought her the little teddy bear with the yellow and blue tie.

"I know you do. You will get to see him on every weekend though."

"That's not enough!"

Dahlia was too tired to argue with her. She saw more tears start to come from her daughter's eyes. She went to hug her daughter and wipe the tears away, but a loud knock came at the front door. Startled, Dahlia looked at the time. It was late, almost midnight. She got up to answer the front door.

"You think that's Daddy?" Cheryl mumbled.

Dahlia didn't answer her daughter. She pulled open the door. In front of her stood Sherriff Jonathan Bennett. Dahlia knew the man well, considering her wild teen years. Now that she had settled, she and Mr. Bennett had seemed to come to an agreement and respect for one another. Dahlia moved to let him inside. It was still snowing like crazy outside, and the darkest it had ever been.

Sheriff Bennett pulled off his hat as he entered into the warm house. Curious, Cheryl got off of the couch to come over. Bennett gave them a weak nod, his expression grim and crushed. He let out a long sigh.

"Mrs. Mason?"

Dahlia ignored the name. There was something in his voice that she didn't like. "Yes? Is everything alright?"

"I'm sorry, but…your husband had a car accident."

"What?!" Dahlia grunted.

"Daddy?" Cheryl murmured.

"He didn't make it. He was dead at the scene. I'm sorry."

The world seemed to shatter around Dahlia. The guilt and the pain all came stabbing her back. She fell onto her knees, crying out. Cheryl was screaming and crying. Dahlia grabbed her daughter and held her close. They wept together, even as Sheriff Bennett dipped his head and stepped away to let them be alone. This vast emptiness and pain came over Cheryl, something she didn't quite understand. But she did understand that she was never going to see her father again, and that stricken her with anguish. Anguish that she would never seem to get over…

A/N: Very short, yes, I know. But I just wanted a little something to write for Silent Hill. I just finished Shattered Memories, and though I love the original much better, this re-imagining of the first Silent Hill was still brilliant. I first got the Wicked and Weak ending, which just about killed me it was so sad. Then I got this Love and Lost ending which isn't much better, lol. Shattered Memories definitely was a great Silent Hill game through and through. Anyways, I wanted to write a little something sad for Harry's last moments in the car accident and then Cheryl's response to finding out. I know it's sad, but I was in the mood for it. And even though this is a sad story, I hope all of you still enjoyed it! Thanks for reading and reviewing! XD