Silent Hill: Eulogy
Chapter 1
It was a quiet summer Sunday night in Ionia, Michigan, as the town began to quiet for the night. Residents across the town were in bed, resting for the busy Monday ahead of them. Not everyone was having sweet dreams, however. In his one bedroom apartment, Andrew Carmis tosses and turns, cold sweat dampening his shaggy hair.
Andrew held his head in pain, his eyes shut. Loud music blared in his ears while lights of more than a hundred different colors flashed. He did his best to endure the torture to his senses, but eventually his mind surrendered and he passed out. When he awoke, he was in the middle of what appeared to be a forest. Standing up, he looked around, though found no landmarks to guide his way. Seeing no other options, Andrew started to walk. It felt like he had been walking for hours before he finally caught sight of light between the branches. Running forward, his heart nearly skipped a beat when he came upon the edge of a cliff. After catching himself, he looked down and saw the lights of a town. He didn't recognize the town below, but he knew it wasn't Ionia. Before he could contemplate for very long, the ground began to shake, the cliffside giving out under him. Andrew began to free fall, unable to save himself.
Andrew awoke with a gasp, surveying his surroundings. He was back in his apartment, the sun seeping in through the window. He began to wonder about the dream, but didn't have much time before his mind jumped from the loud beeping of his alarm, reminding him he had to be at work. He put the dream out of his mind, showering and dressing for the day, eating toast while he hurried down the stairs. Stepping out the front doors, he scanned the street for his car, finding it a few cars down from the entrance. Walking down the street, he stopped next to the front door of a 1990 Ford Orion. Andrew paused for a moment, staring at the car before he climbed in and began driving.
It was a relatively short drive before he pulled in across the street from his work, a law office. Andrew stared out at the building while he put the car in park, when he suddenly winced in pain, holding his head. Groaning, he felt his way to the glove compartment with his other hand, opening it up and feeling around, picking up a bottle of ibuprofen. Dropping four pills into his hand, he put the bottle away, giving it a moment for the pills to take effect. Once his head pain had died down, he stepped out and walked up to the office.
Andrew worked through the day as he usually did, albeit more sleepily than usual. "Carmis." came a woman's voice from behind. "Are you feeling alright?"
He looked up and saw his supervisor, Ashley Thomas. "Yeah, I'm fine Ashley." he told her. "I just haven't been sleeping well."
"Nightmares again?" she asked, getting a quick nod in reply. "Andrew, you need to take a break. Take the rest of the day off, then find yourself something to do for the next week."
"Thanks, but I'm good." he replied, continuing to work on his computer while they talked.
"No, you're taking a week off. You'll need to take some vacation days soon anyway, you're reaching your limit. Now come on, finish up and head home."
Andrew sighed, he knew there wasn't any arguing with Ashley. Finishing up for the day, he packed his things together and walked out to his car.
Stepping through the front doors, Andrew walked over to the mailboxes, pulling out a package of envelopes from his own. As he walked up the stairs to his apartment, he stopped, dropping the mail in surprise. He held a postcard in his hand, staring at the picture. The town from his nightmare was in beautiful detail on the front of the postcard. Quickly, he turned it around and checked the back. In scratchy letters, the back read "I'm waiting." He looked for the return address. Silent Hill, ME. Andrew looked at the return name with fright and disbelief. Brendan Manwell. Quickly picking up the mail, Andrew rushed inside and shut the door, locking it behind him.
A storm moved in late in the afternoon, lasting well into the night. Andrew was still awake nearing midnight, staring at the postcard on his coffee table. The more he looked at it the more he wanted to deny it existed. And the name, Brendan Manwell. It rung in his head, he wanted to forget it, to throw away that name, but it wouldn't leave. It brought him to headache, which he quickly remedied with some ibuprofen. Once the pills took effect, he sorted out his thoughts, bringing his laptop over to the table. It took him a surprisingly long time, but he was able to find a road map to Silent Hill, ME. "A week off." he said to himself. "Looks like I found my vacation spot."
Andrew was on the road the next day, following the directions he had acquired. He stopped at a diner on the way, walking up to the barstools and sitting down. "Can I get you anything?" the waitress behind the counter asked.
Andrew looked up at her, she was a brunette. "Just some coffee, please."
She nodded in response, turning around to the coffee pots. "So what brings you out this way?"
"A postcard someone sent me, I'm heading over to Silent Hill to meet him."
The woman gave him a quizzical look, setting the coffee cup down in front of him. "Silent Hill? That's got to be a mistake."
Blowing some of the steam away, Andrew took a sip from the mug. "A mistake? why?"
"Nobody's lived in Silent Hill for years, it's a ghost town."
Andrew shook his head, this journey was getting weirder and weirder with every passing moment. "That's impossible, I have a postcard."
"Well, I hope you find who you're looking for." she told him.
After Andrew finished his coffee, he made his way back out to the car, climbing in. What the waitress said lingered in his head. He opened the glove box, taking the postcard out. He looked it over, felt the material in his fingers. He was certain it was real. Setting it back in the glove box, he pulled away from the diner and continued on his way.
As Andrew approached the town, the streets became barren, no cars in sight. The trees were plentiful, the same breed of tree as he had seen in his dream. Looking ahead, he saw the turn off to Silent Hill, and quickly adjusted for the turn. As he turned onto the road, his radio turned to static. Andrew searched, but couldn't find any stations, and resolved to turn off the radio. He was left in silence in the car, when he was suddenly hit with another headache. He lowered his head into his hand for a moment, and when he looked up he saw a slightly blurred figure in front of him. seeing no time to stop, Andrew quickly swerved out of the way. Trying to turn back onto a straight path, his tires slipped on the road. He panicked as his car went into a roll, ending up back on it's wheels as the driver's side slammed hard into a tree. The impact had left Andrew with a worse headache than before, his head bleeding, his body slumped back in the chair. Undoing his seat belt, he felt around, vision blurred, for his glove box. Just as he found the handle, his body gave up, and Andrew blacked out, strewn across the front seats, a bleeding cut on his forehead.