Author's Note: I do not own any franchise rights to Silent Hill. All rights are owned by Konami.
"What kind of place is Silent Hill?" he asked.
Isaac awoke from an awful, uncomfortable slumber. His legs were tucked too deeply into his chest, and his arms were stiff from being bound behind his back. His neck ached from being in the fetal position for too long. Upon awaking, the first thought in his head, the only thought in his head was sheer panic. Isaac flailed about, kicking the metal cocoon he had found himself trapped in, and struggling against the ropes that bound his legs and arms together. He tried to yell out for help, but the gag in his mouth left him producing only muffled screams. There was no light, so he could not see, but he could feel that he was in a dark, cramped space. He could also feel movement outside and he could feel that his surroundings were being transported. He could feel that he was on the road. He struggled without thinking. At that moment, he was reduced to only the frightened animal within himself. He knew he was in the trunk of somebody's car.
Isaac cried. He cried unrestrained and in great heaving gasps that left him breathless. His hair, his messy shoulder length hair, stuck to his face in wet clumps as a result of his tears. Strands of dirty brown hair made his eyes and nose itch. He became further agitated, wishing to god he had cut his damn hair earlier. Being annoyed at least stopped him from crying. He was still too scared to think straight. He could only think in the here and now. The adrenaline coursing through his system didn't give him room to think beyond this moment. Instead, he shifted positions. He rolled over on his side and faced the inside of the trunk, where the back of the seats should be.
He kicked the back of the seats over and over again. It was much softer than kicking the other metal areas of the trunk. He did not know for how long he tried kicking the seats, but he gave up when it was clear there'd be no response. Isaac's kidnapper wasn't going to help him, why would he anyway? Isaac layed there in the dark, not knowing what to do. He remained silent for another undeterminable length of time. Then he remembered his cell phone. Isaac felt for his cell phone by shifting left and right and seriously hoping he'd feel its familiar weight in one his pockets. There was nothing there. Isaac's cell phone was gone. The kidnapper had probably taken it from Isaac. Isaac knew it had been foolish to think the kidnapper had left him with his phone.
Isaac felt his prison decelerate. His body slid involuntarily towards one end of the trunk as the car slowed. The car eventually stopped entirely. Isaac didn't know what to think. The engine died, and a door opened and slammed closed. Isaac felt the thumping of his own heartbeat. He heard footsteps outside. Louder, coming closer. Then they stopped. Isaac couldn't breathe. Then the footsteps started sounding softer, like they were fading away, and Isaac heard another car door slam.
The trunk popped open slightly.
A small sliver of light invaded the dark space. Isaac was momentarily blinded by the small sample of freedom. When he regained his senses, He surged forth like a madman. He scrambled to kick the trunk open all the way. He was rewarded with a full blast of fresh air and sunlight as he fell out of the trunk and onto the pavement below. His shoulder took most of the blow, and whatever pain he felt from that injury was quickly forgotten. The glory of daylight and freedom was a salve to all his wounds.
But where was his kidnapper?! The panic returned full force as Isaac spun around, searching for his attacker. In the distance, shrouded in a light mist, Isaac spotted an ugly white van. It was driving at full speed away from Isaac, its tires screeching across the pavement. He caught a glimpse of the license plate, BDE something, before the mist obscured Isaac's view. Isaac did not chase after it, he had no wish to confront his kidnapper. The fear rooted him to the spot. He watched as the vehicle became smaller and darker in the light mist until it was gone completely. Like it had disappeared from the world.
Isaac noticed where he was now. He was in the middle of an empty stretch of road on some nameless highway. Nameless… until he could figure out what that name was. It was an average four lane road, low to the ground. Immediately across the lane, Isaac saw tall evergreen trees and large mountaintops in the distance. On Isaac's side of the road, more evergreen trees, but the land sloped downward into a nearby lake. If one was not native to the New England area, the view would be breath-taking. To Isaac, who lived in suburban Maine, this scenery was an everyday occurrence.
Isaac stumbled when he tried to stand up. He involuntarily grunted, forgetting that his feet were bound together by rope. With care, Isaac managed to stand up again. He turned away from the direction the white van had gone and inspected the car he had been imprisoned in. It was a worn, dark blue Ford Focus. It was a new enough model that the trunk could have been opened remotely by key chain. Isaac figured that's what the kidnapper did before driving off in the van. There was also something on the ground a few feet away from him. It was a cheap folding knife, the box cutter variety you could safely keep in your pocket.
Isaac immediately grabbed the knife to try to cut the ropes binding his feet. He did this by sitting down and pulling his knees up to his chest so that he could bring his bound arms up in front of him. He sat on the side of the road, in the grass, while he sawed through his ropes. It was a long process. The knife clearly hadn't been designed to slice through something as thick as this, but luckily it was chipping away it. No cars drove by while Isaac worked on his bindings. Once or twice, he thought he heard an animal, yet there was very little noise overall.
At last, he cut through the ropes enough that his feet were able to slip out of them. They fell in a heap around his brown sneakers. When Isaac stood up, he noticed his clothes, especially his jeans were soiled from the dirt on the ground. His brown timberland jacket was a little worn and dusty from his time spent in the trunk. In the end though, what did it matter? His life was more important than some clothes.
Isaac could move around freely now, but his hands were still tied together by rope. He tried briefly to hold the knife in his mouth, but couldn't get a steady motion with it, nor could he get a good angle if he tried sawing backwards with his hands. He was forced to give up freeing his hands for now. Instead, he inspected the Ford Focus again, looking for something useful. There was nothing else in the trunk, no tire iron, and no spare tire even. The doors to the main part of the car were open, but without keys he couldn't drive it. There was nothing in the seats, and the glove compartment was just as barren.
Isaac closed the driver door, frustrated and confused. Where did he go from here?
That's when Isaac spotted a large road sign, way off into the distance. He hadn't seen it before because of the light mist that had previously pervaded the area. The mist was gone now. Isaac started walking towards the sign, as if he were drawn to it. He slipped the knife (safely folded) into his front pocket. As he got closer to the sign, he made out the lettering.
Welcome to Silent Hill
"Silent Hill…" Isaac whispered, barely audible.
He paused for a moment. The sign filled him with… dread? hostility? No, it was none of these emotions. No, the sign filled him with a sense of… anticipation. Something was coming. A challenge.
Then the moment was gone, and Isaac wasn't sure what had come over him. Either way, he needed to get help. He continued down the road that led towards Silent Hill. It was a lonely, silent walk made all the more morose by the return of the mist, now a thick fog. The big question rolled about in Isaac's mind. Why had he been kidnapped in the first place? And then, only to be dropped off in front of a town? That knife Isaac had found a few feet away from the trunk must have been dropped off by the kidnapper. Why had the man done that? Why had he been kidnapped and freed here? Why? Isaac still had trouble thinking straight. He could still only concentrate on his here and now.
In addition to fog, it was now raining. The trees to the sides of the road had disappeared, cut down by lumberjacks seasons earlier, replaced by stumps and grasslands as far as the eye could see in this fog. The rain, the fog, and the lateness of the day all contributed to the sudden onset of a cold snap.
"Fuck me." Isaac complained.
He pulled his Timberland jacket closer into him. He could feel the cold and the rain seeping into his skin. He wondered if maybe he should wander off into the grasslands at the side of the road and seek shelter there. Maybe there'd be a small lumberjack storage shed or something like that off to the side. Isaac ended up deciding against it. He was already in Silent Hill, and it was probably safer to stick to the road. A road would eventually feed into the town proper. If he was patient, he'd eventually reach town and get help.
Speak of the devil, Isaac saw the outline of a man in the fog.
"Hey! Over here!" Isaac called out over the rain. He even waved his arms about.
The figure in the fog drew closer to Isaac. It waved its arms about in mirror imitation of Isaac.
"Can you help me?! I was attacked!" Isaac yelled out.
The figure in the fog cocked its head to the side. It reminded Isaac of something dogs do when they try to understand people.
"I was kidnapped and broug-"
The outline of the man cocked its head at a full 90 degree angle. It pointed at Isaac. Isaac froze in place. The head of the man in the fog continued to turn until it reached 180 degrees. It looked at Isaac with its head completely upside down.
Isaac screamed. His legs gave out and he sank to the ground. His mind nearly shattered at the impossible thing before him. Isaac scrambled backwards on all fours, desperately trying to put distance between himself and… it. It kept advancing on him, its finger pointed determinedly upon Isaac. Isaac kept screaming in wordless horror.
A heavy swirl of fog blocked Isaac's sight of the shadow figure. When the swirl of fog dissipated, the figure vanished.
For the longest time, Isaac just sat there in the grass, paralyzed. When the rain abruptly let up, and the fog completely faded away, Isaac still sat there. The full town of Silent Hill lay before him then. The road entered into a street which led to street lights, buildings, mailboxes, and cars. Isaac saw all of this, but comprehended nothing. Empty silence devoured him.