AN: Just something I thought I'd try.. I hope I get some reviews for this one, as I feel pretty good about it. This will be my first serious Silent Hill story. This first part is just a prologue, a diary entry for Heather. In the next chapters it will be in a third person perspective. Please tell me what you think of this first chapter. Thank you 

21st June, 2006

Has anything really awful ever happened to you? And after it's happened, you just can't get it out of your mind? You think about it all the time, and the experience never leaves you? Something like that happened to me. Even today, it's hard to just wake up, go to work and get on with my life. I'm constantly checking over my shoulder, waiting for something to happen. Even though I know it's over now and ancient history, I can't shake this feeling. The worst of it is, that I know it'll stay with me for the rest of my life. And there's not much I can do about it.

It's not as if it causes any real upsets in my day to day life. It doesn't really cause any upsets period. It's not like it makes me afraid to leave my apartment, or say go out late at night with a few friends. But every now and then, especially when I'm alone, I feel like someone is watching me. I can't really explain it. But the feeling I get when this happens is a mixture of fear and irritation; fear because of all that's happened to me in the past, and irritation because it just won't go away.

Nevertheless, I'm not going to let it ruin my life and change who I am. I don't think I've changed that much, though some of my friends have told me I've been a lot more reserved since it happened. I guess you don't know. Okay, let me ask you this. Ever heard of a town called Silent Hill?

You've probably heard about it on the news. You know those mysterious vanishings you often hear about on the radio? What they neglect to tell you is that the vanishings took place near or in that town. I've heard people say that it's supposed to be haunted, though they've never actually been there. I can confirm that, though.

How long has it been now? Two, three years? It feels like only yesterday for me. Well, my little experience in Silent Hill started out with a casual trip to the mall one Sunday. I can't remember the exact date. I remember hugging my Dad and kissing him goodbye on the cheek, not realising that this would be the very last time I'd see him alive. My whole world fell apart that day, and I can still remember it all, every last detail, right from the moment it began to the moment it ended. Strangely enough, I don't regret any of it. In a way it changed me, made me a stronger person. However, there are a couple of things I do regret. Not killing her on the spot when I had the chance, and not getting back in time to save him.

I don't really want to talk about him. But I just know that I have to, otherwise I'll keep it bottled up inside me. My father.. oh, God.. why did it have to happen?

I lost him that day. She murdered him. Who is she, you might ask? I definitely don't want to talk about her. Let's just say she was a crazy old hag with a lot of crazy ideas, and she deserved what happened to her.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about him. He was everything to me, and she took him from me before I even had a chance to prevent his death. It still angers me to think that I could have put a stop to it, but there's nothing I can do about it now. I feel nostalgic just looking at pictures of him, or us together, or reading some of his novels. I actually found an unfinished one in his drawer a few weeks after he died. The main character was a girl of seventeen. She was beautiful, courageous, and she had a loving heart. As I flipped through, I knew that he had based this character off of me. He was just so talented, and it's a shame that it was never published, because it really was a beautiful story. Maybe one day I'll attempt to finish it myself, though I don't half the talent he did. I guess I just miss him terribly. Anyone who has ever lost a parent or relative probably understands what I'm going through, I guess.

Well, if I stay on the subject of my father I think I'll start tearing up, so I'll move on now. Back to the subject of Silent Hill, I've always considered going back. I often do in my dreams, or nightmares, but most of the time it's just dark and desolate, devoid of any life whatsoever. I never feel a thing when I dream about that place, nor do I feel anything when the time comes for me to wake up. That part of my life is over now, I've simply let go, and now I'm just trying to live out my life in peace, without the worry of any crazy cult coming after me.

I just had to write it down, to get it all out of me. Now I can just get on with my day, and not think about it anymore. Anyway, this guy has just walked in, and I suspect he has a crush on me, since he's always coming in here and checking me out. We'll have to see what becomes of that.

Cheryl