Silent Hill: New World, Old Hell
Sam Davies
I would prefer not to fight; I always get blood on my clothes, either my own or someone else's, whenever I fight. I prefer to talk because it is not messy and I know I cannot lose. I'm a lawyer with a reputation of defending the defendants, who are clearly not guilty, and coming out on top. I'm a winner with words. Susan would tease me and call me "Silver Tongue."
Susan, that's why I'm here, to find Susan, my fiancée, my love, my life. I met her about a year back, around November, at a library. There she was, propping up a ladder to reach some books on a shelf. She asked me to hold the ladder while she climbed up (she wore a skirt that day but I still avoided looking up). She struggled with this one large, heavy book. She tugged and pulled at it until it came out, but she lost her balance and fell on top of me. We both sat up, looked at each other, about ready to apologize, and we froze. We locked eyes for a minute before we stood up and introduced each other. A year later, we went back to that library in the very same row of shelves. It was there that I proposed and she said yes without a second thought.
A month after that proposal, two days before the marriage, she just up and vanished. No one saw her leave in the middle of the night; no one heard her car drive away; no one knew where she might have gone and no one knew anything! Bunch of idiots! That was my wife-to-be, how could they miss her? And some tried to blame me and say it was my fault, that I should have been keeping an eye on her. She's not a fucking child, why should I watch her? God help me!
The next day, a letter comes in the mail for me. It said to go to this apartment in Silent Hill. It gave me a room number too, but I was still confused. Where the hell is Silent Hill? I've never even heard of that place. Sounds like a small town that's pretty much dead because they're not getting enough vacationers.
I told my brother about it and he got scared. His face completely drained. When I told him I was going there, he freaked. He said, "Don't fucking go there! Haven't you heard the stories about the place?" I told him, "No, I haven't", and he started telling me ghost stories. I lost interest in about two minutes and got up and left. He begged me not to go (not on his hands and knees but he was still begging), gave me more warnings and ghostly nonsense. Obviously I ignored him, packed my bags, grabbed a map and drove off.
Apparently, Silent Hill is in Pennsylvania. I was in Sudbury, Ontario. That was an eleven, almost twelve, hour drive through the snow and ice. I left at noon, so it was midnight by the time I got near the place. I had no prior knowledge of how long a trip this would be because I did not bother to check first before leaving. Frigging bullshit! If it wasn't because Susan ran off, and the only clue to her whereabouts was a letter saying to go to Silent Hill, I would not have made this trip.
I finally came across the welcome sign; "Now Entering Silent Hill" and my car began to make noises. Just as I check the dashboard for any blinking lights, to which there were none, the car suddenly stalled and began to swerve. I drove both of my feet into the brake pedal and held them there till the car had come to a full stop. An unexplainable sight came to my eyes when I popped open the hood of the car; the engine was literally frozen in a cocoon of ice. That cannot be possible! So I ended up throwing on my sweater, grabbing my suitcase and trudging through the snow, freezing my ass off all the way! Lord, help me, please! I stopped to look beyond the trees and what I saw was the outlines of buildings. I continued my trudging but my foot slipped out from underneath me and I immediately fell on my ass. I picked up speed as I went for a ride, down the hill, on the seat of my pants. Trees and unorthodox shapes whooshed by me, I prayed for dear life, but the ride abruptly ended when I flew off a small mound of snow and ice and crashed, face first, into a tree. Why, god, why?
I awoke at some later time in a daze. I sat up, lightly touching the tender wound on my forehead, and noticed my surroundings. I was in the town, sitting on a bus stop bench on the side of the road. The town was dead quiet, no car motors, no barking dogs, no laughing children, not even the wind was blowing; absolute silence. I could barely make out shapes of distant objects because of the fog. It was such a strong fog, I had never seen anything this thick, but there was something about it. Something about the impaired visibility and the mute noise made me feel at ease, creating a soothing atmosphere of mystery.
I pulled out the letter from my pocket, reading the address, and got up to begin my search. I wandered the empty streets of Silent Hill, hoping that I was and was not the only one here.