Prologue
Ernest Baldwin, the seventeen-year-old heir to the Baldwin Mansion and estate, was sweating. He disliked gatherings, even modest ones, and being the center of attention didn't help. The Silent Hill Historical Society had refurbished one of its rooms and dedicated it to the history of Brookhaven Hospital. The centerpiece of the exhibit was a portrait of Ernest's grandfather, Dr. Nathan Baldwin, who had guided the hospital's conversion into a facility for psychiatric care in the first decade of the twentieth century. Mr. Finch, the proprietor of the society, wanted the young man to unveil the painting. Worse yet, he wanted Ernest to make a speech.
Finch was just finishing up with his overview of the history of Brookhaven and the Baldwin family. He's quite fond of hyperbole, Ernest thought. My modest rhetoric should be a relief for the audienece after this bombast.
"And without further ado, I present to you ERNEST BALDWIN!" Finch stepped aside for the young man to take center stage. The audience breathed a sigh of relief that the showman had finished. Finch had to be begged to move the ceremony from the society to the more commodius Artaud Theater, and his over the top performance was in compensation for that concessation.
Ernest stepped up, breathed deeply, and began: "I never met my grandfather, but I wish I did..."
The speech was brief but well spoken, and the small group of family friends and museum supporters drove back to the Society for the actual unveiling. Ernest did his duty, was polite to all the guests, shook all the right hands, and excused himself. As he entered the outer room, Ernest's attention was grabbed a painting on the far side of the room. It bore the poetic name "Misty Day, Remains of the Judgement" and was painted by the eccentric artist Richard Upton Pickman in the 1920s. The image it bore was inspired by descriptions of the executioners who used to inhabit the area in its days as a penal colony. Like all of pickman's work, it had a surreal quality. The executoner was shown in full regalia, including a pyramid shaped hood and ceremonial apron, bradishing a long spear in front of a misty backdrop.
The door to the other room opened, and his father stepped in. He saw Ernest contemplating the painting and spoke up: "This town has had a dark past, son. The things that happened here drove everyone a little bit mad. I think that's what your grandfather was trying to remedy at Brookhaven."
Ernest never forgot those words, and the executioner stayed on his mind for a long while. Years away at college and later medical school banished the executioner to the back of his thoughts. It stayed that way for seventeen years, until Amy brought it back to the forefront with a vengeance.