Silent Hill:

The Forgathering

Prologue

Visalia, California

A life-altering letter arrived in the mail for Alan Bradley. It was from a place called Silent Hill, West Virginia. Alan had never heard of this place before in his life, but he knew from the moment he saw the town's name that it held a special significance for him specifically. He tore open the envelope and took the letter out. It read:

Boy, have I got some great news for you, Mr. Bradley. You have won a free trip to Silent Hill! Come experience the sights here like the beautiful vastness of Toluca Lake or, if you're in the mood for some fun, come to the Lakeside Amusement Park where you'll find a variety of rides and concessions to keep you entertained for hours! Enclosed are two airline tickets but the catch is you MUST bring your son. It is crucial. You will arrive in Shepherd's Glen, a town located right outside of Silent Hill, and you will be escorted to the Grand Hotel, where you will be staying for the duration of your trip. So come on and enjoy yourself! You may not want to leave! In fact, we may not let you—ever!

Sincerely,

The Silent Hill Restoration Committee

What? I didn't sign up for any trips, Alan thought. He reached inside the envelope and pulled out the tickets. They appeared to be genuine. Alan stood staring at them for a moment. Well, I was planning on spending my three weeks at home, but it looks like I'm going to be going to Silent Hill now. Oh well. It sounds great. I bet Greg will be happy to get out of the house too.

He walked back to his house from the mailbox and went inside. He went to his son's bedroom door and knocked.

"Come in!" Greg shouted. Alan entered. Greg was lying on his bed, watching television. Alan handed him the letter.

"Here, son. Read this." Greg's eyes scanned hurriedly over the letter and Alan saw a gleam appear in his eyes.

"Wow, awesome! Can we go, dad? Please?"

"Yeah, I suppose we're gonna go. Can't pass up a free trip. Not one that sounds this good. Now, pack your things. We're leaving tomorrow."

"WOO-HOO!" Greg jumped off the bed and ran to his closet. He grabbed a suitcase off the closet floor and began tossing clothes in it.

"Well, you could at least fold them," Alan said.

Silent Hill, West Virginia

Cheryl Mason looked in her rearview mirror at a sign that said: Welcome to Silent Hill. She laughed quietly to herself. Yeah, right, she thought. Good riddance to Silent Hill.

As she drove, she started whistling a tune to herself. It was the lullaby that her mother had always sung to her as a child. She squinted to see out the front windshield. Although she had exited Silent Hill, a dreary fog still lingered in the air like the world's largest, softest marshmallow. A building loomed in the distance but Cheryl couldn't make out what it was. As she neared it, she noticed a sign in front of the gate that led to the building. She could barely read it but as she got closer she was able to make out what it said: Alchemilla Hospital.

WHAT? she thought and slammed on the brakes. That can't be. I just left Alchemilla Hospital.

She turned in her seat to gaze out the car's back window. She noticed a sign facing away from her. She knew what it said but she backed up to read it nonetheless.

Welcome to Silent Hill.

She put the car in reverse, turned, and drove away from the sign again. Still the fog remained. Another building. The same building. Alchemilla Hospital.

Welcome to Silent Hill.

But as Cheryl was driving away from the welcome sign again, she noticed something else written on it. This message had not been on the sign before. Now it said:

Welcome to Silent Hill. You're not going anywhere you little bitch.

Leila Smith was tired of trying to commit suicide. Every time she tried, she either stopped herself or was hindered by another person. The last attempt she had made to hang herself was abruptly put to an end by her boyfriend, Saul. He walked into the room at the exact moment that she stepped off the chair and quickly grabbed her. He was used to her suicidal tendencies but he started screaming at her as soon as he had removed her head from the noose and lowered her to the ground.

"HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?" is what he had shouted, along with other things.

She had just stared off into the distance as usual, used to this reaction. For some reason Saul always stuck around afterwards. She knew he loved her. She loved him too, but she just didn't love herself. She had too many flaws for them to not matter to her.

And those dreams. Oh God, the dreams. A little girl with a horribly burnt face. And, during the night after she had tried to hang herself, the dreams got more audible and more terrifying. She heard two words being repeated over and over again. Silent Hill. Silent Hill. Silent Hill.

She awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. She looked at the clock. It was 12:07. She got up out of bed, went into her office, sat down, and powered up her laptop. She went to Google and typed in "Silent Hill". She scrolled down a bit until a particular link caught her eye. It read: Silent Hill, West Virginia: A Ghost Town with a Past Full of Evil and Death. She clicked on it. She started reading the article.

Prior to the 17th century, the area where Silent Hill was established was home to an unnamedNative Americantribe that used the land for rituals. At the end of the century,settlersarrived and founded the town; shortly thereafter, they began to rapidly die off. The deaths were attributed to anepidemic, and Brookhaven Hospital was built to treat those affected. Eventually the settlers fled the town, leaving it abandoned for nearly a century, until it was resettled as apenal colonyin the early 19th century. Twenty years later, another epidemic broke out, and Brookhaven Hospital was rebuilt and reopened. In the 1840s, the prison was closed, and the town once more abandoned; in the 1850s,coalwas discovered there by another wave of settlers, and it became aboomtown.

During theAmerican Civil War, the town served as aprisoner of warcamp; after the end of the war, the building used to house prisoners was converted into a state penitentiary, and later on, Silent Hill became a resort town. Around the same period, a group of religious zealots founded a series of smalldoomsday cultsbased upon theeschatologyof the unnamed Native American tribe which occupied the land before settlers arrived. Collectively referring to themselves as "The Order", the cults, each of whom worshipped a differentsub-deity, practicedhuman sacrificeandnecromancyin an ongoing effort to resurrect "The God", an ancient deity which they believed would usher in an age of paradise by killing all humans. The belief system incorporated such obscure terms/concepts as "Gyromancy", "Mark of Samael" and "Talisman of Metatron". To fund their efforts, The Order dealt a psychedelic drug called White Claudia, manufactured from a plant indigenous to the town. The drug trade served to increase tourism to the town from the residents of surrounding areas, who traveled there to obtain White Claudia. The drug trade was eventually crippled in the midst of a war between The Order and local authorities in which members of The Order murdered several police officers. Users of White Claudia often experienced hallucinogenic encounters with demons. (Source: )

When she had finished reading, she shut down the laptop, got up, and went in the kitchen and grabbed her car keys. She went to the garage, got in her car, and shut the door. She opened the garage door, cranked up the car, put it in reverse, and backed out of the garage and the driveway.

She knew that Silent Hill was only two states over so she figured she could make it there before nightfall. Saul would wonder where she went, but she knew this was what she had to do.

Everything in her life had led to this moment. Silent Hill was her destiny.