Chapter 1

Amused Yet?

A simple rowing boat crept slowly closer to the shore from the misty lake. The water was hazy gray. If you looked within the depths of it, you could imagine wet, slimy dead hands approaching to get you from the surface. It wouldn't be a surprise if that actually happened. That lake was named Toluca Lake – a lake that haunted and hid the corpses of many people within it's dark embrace. It hid many other secrets also, but those were yet to be unseen, just like the hands. They were only in the imagination of the woman rowing the boat yet.

"So... this is where my roots lie."

Her gaze rose to face the high figures at the shore. She wasn't certain, where she was, but she made a guess of being near the amusement park she had read about.

"Lakeside Amusement Park, is it?"

The guess was correct. The high figures appeared to belong to a Ferris-wheel and a roller-coaster. As the woman was looking at the shadows, the boat bumped at the shore startling her.

"Oh geez..."

Just before she rose from the boat, she saw that her black sneakers were wet and glanced at the bottom of the boat. It seemed like it was leaking, because there was water enough to reach her ankles.

"How did I not notice that before?" the woman muttered to herself. "And I still have some way to go before I reach Silent Hill."

She sighed sipping her dark brown, almost black hair from blocking her sight. Only her light blue eyes separated her from looking like someone from the Caribbean. She was tanned and slim, despite the feminine parts of her body, which appeared curvy. Her hair reached the middle part of her back. She would've needed glasses, but she refused to wear them for her looks. Her name was Frederica Dilemma. Occupation: nurse. The reason for her heading to that long disappeared town called Silent Hill was academical.

"Guess it's no use. I have to plug it."

Another gaze given to the amusement park before Frederica started to head to the gates. Even the slight breeze she felt on her hair couldn't swipe away the thick fog that surrounded everything. You could barely see there, so Frederica searched her pocket for a flashlight. It hardly helped at all.

There was tile-walls that created an alley-like pathway after the gates. It seemed to go on forever because of the fog, so just to save her eyes, Frederica looked upwards and saw the sign which said Lakeside Amusement Park. The colors on that sign looked bright enough to be painted just yesterday.

"Maybe this place wasn't abandoned that long ago."

She used a moment to hesitate at the gates. The place looked creepy. It wouldn't be a surprise if it was rusty enough to fall apart just by touching. The thought of getting crushed by waste didn't sound like a very good idea, but neither did the idea of staying there or rowing in a boat with a hole on the bottom. Frederica bit her lip and stepped forward.

"I might as well look around. This feels like a place that a girl of her kind would like", she thought.

Frederica's trip across Toluca Lake was not made for fun or enjoyment. Sure, she had decided to go to Silent Hill with a rowing boat, but that was probably the only thing she did just for relaxing. This journey could be called a business trip of a kind. Frederica was sent there to look for a patient who had gone missing. And that was done after the patient had killed her therapist of course. Some would have thought that finding the girl should be a job for police from that on, but since Frederica knew her better, they let her go after her. There she was now. Near the place that patient had talked so much about.

"Uhm, hello?"

As Frederica walked through the gates following the alley for a while, she saw a bench. There was something sitting on it, something similar to a human figure. Like a plump man. She had a weird feeling, so she approached the thing. When Frederica finally saw, what it was, her eyes narrowed. A large, stuffed animal. A bunny with pink fur, large smile and empty eyes. It could have been like any other mascot-suit for children to poke, but its lips were messy. Bloody. As if it had eaten someone alive. It made Frederica feel disgusted.

"Dear God..."

She felt shivers going down her spine. A funny thought of wearing that suit entered her mind, but she shoved it away with a nervous laughter. That would only slow her down. Besides, Frederica was sure there was no children around to play with.

In another universe she might have lived in Silent Hill with her whole family, but after her parents died, she was sent away to her aunt. It's not like her aunt took care of her though. She was thrown to an orphanage right after she got out from Silent Hill. Frederica sighed. Despite that she had never been there before, she felt nostalgic. Images of her running in that place with joy in her eyes just to get to the carousel with her parents were rolling in her head like a film.

That film was soon to be cut by a shadow. Frederica was startled by it, but she was soon already shouting.

"Hey!"

Too bad that the figure was already nowhere to be seen. Frederica sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Maybe she was imagining things. That wouldn't be the first time.

Well, up to look for something to plug a hole with. After shooting a last quick glance at the disturbing bunny, Frederica walked towards the next gate she saw. It creaked open leaving the sound echoing throughout the whole amusement park.

The next thing that appeared in her sight was some boutiques. Or at least that's what the signs hanging on the small buildings told. But what caught Frederica's attention the most was a small, screeching sound she heard from her right side. She shot the spotlight of her flashlight at the source. What she saw was an old, battery-using radio. As she came closer to reach for it, the noise became louder. Frederica narrowed her eyes and clicked the radio off for a moment.

"..and this has been ON all these years without the batteries running dry?"

She clicked the switch again and the buzzing started again. After repeating the motion a few times the radio was still making sounds. It didn't play music of any kind though. Frederica shook her head and was just about to carry on...

A loud clank startled her. She turned around. The sound came from where she came. From the gates leading to the shore. That wasn't the only weird thing. Without Frederica even touching the volume-tab, the radio was now screaming louder.

A short moment was used to hesitate again. Frederica hid the radio in her pocket and took a few steps to the gates she just entered. She peeked around the corner to see, what had made that sound. All she saw was the bench fallen over.

The radio was now on its full volume. It hurt Frederica's ears, but she didn't mind. She was concentrating on the bench now. As she approached the bench again now that it had fallen, she noticed something new next to the bunny. For her surprise, it was just what she needed to plug the hole on her boat; nails, a hammer and a board.

"Is there anybody out there?"

No answer. Frederica felt shivery again. There had to be someone out there. Those things couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere, right? Well, that stuff was what she needed the most at the moment. Taking them wouldn't hurt her or anyone else. This was an abandoned place. It's not like someone would come out claiming that that stuff was his/hers.

So, Frederica picked up the supplies without hesitating. When she rose to leave, she saw something hidden in the fog again. A shadow. It seemed to be... growling? But it also seemed human.

"Excuse me... hello?"

Whatever the figure was, it now started teetering towards Frederica. As she narrowed her eyes to see it better, she noticed that it didn't have any hands. As if it had a straitjacket on. Those blue eyes of hers soon widened in a shock of what she saw. That thing wasn't a human. It was rust-colored and had a hole of a kind on its stomach. Said simply: it looked like a human whose skin had been turned upside down without leaving a mouth to be seen.

If there was a time Frederica didn't hesitate at all, it was that second. She turned on her heels with the supplies in her tight embrace and ran. Ran like the Hell itself had gone loose. She didn't scream – she was trying to save the oxygen she was breathing for running. Through the alley, through the gates and to the shore. She almost jumped to the boat and started nailing the broad like mad.

"Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit...!"

It didn't take long for her to be ready to leave. She rowed a few times and breathed deeply before looking to the shore. There was nothing there, but the radio, which was still in her pocket, was screeching like there was no tomorrow. As she got further from the shore, both the radio and Frederica herself calmed down.

"What the hell was that?" she thought holding her head between her hands, which were still trembling from fear.