Chapter 1 – Welcome to Silent Hill

Fear pumped through his veins as he ran through the narrow alleyway, looking back for the creature chasing him, not noticing the raised slab until he tripped over it, falling chest first onto the cement.

"Crap…nonononono…" he muttered, picking himself up. He looked out in front of him at the slightly jarred door, a smile mixed with joy and terror forming on his face. "H-hey! Hey kid! O-open the door! Lemme in!" he said, scrambling up and running towards it. The door slammed shut before he could reach it. "No! Open the door! Please! Come on, let me in!" He rattled the door frantically. "Fuckin' kid, open it! Damn you! Ope-AH!" the sound of his scream was quick and filled with pain as his body hit the door with a loud thud. From the inside, it was a dull and oddly deafening sound. As he slid down, his last breaths came out in bloody spurts. The sound of claws and teeth ripping through flesh could be heard from the inside as well, along with the sound of something heavy being dragged down the alley. The door opened slightly in time to see a bloody hand disappear behind the corner, leaving a thick crimson trail behind.

"I…I'm sorry…" a small, innocent voice said softly, "but I couldn't help you… they wouldn't let me…"

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'In other news, a man identified as 24-year-old Peter Wilks of South Ashfield was found at 4:15 this morning, brutally beaten and stabbed to death outside of the Silent Hill Cemetery . The police have not released any further information at this time, but we'll keep you informed when more is available. Now for the weekend wea-' a hand changed the radio station as the driver sighed.

"Peter Wilks huh? Poor guy. I was just starting to like him too." He said, taking a drag of his cigarette and turning the volume on the radio up. He blew the smoke out of his nose and rubbed the stubble on his chin.

'Dancing alone again, again

My rain falling, only the scent of you

Remains to dance with me

Nobody showed me how to return the love

You give to m-'

The song cut off and white noise replaced it. "Shit… what the hell…" he muttered, changing stations again. Every one he turned to came to white noise. Frustrated he punched the radio in a vain attempt to turn it off. "Probably all these damn trees…" he said, glaring at the scenery around him. Sighing he slowed down slightly and opened a map. "Let's see… I'm in the forest right now… so that means a few more miles and I'll be in Silent Hill." He said to himself before laughing lightly. "This is perfect! I can't believe they turned this story to me after Joseph disappeared! I mean, sure it sucks that he can't be found, but damn! I'm finally getting my big break! Wish House, a normal and charitable orphanage is actually a brainwashing and torture center for children, god this is way better than a story about some old lady and her bakery!" he said, as he closed the map, threw it in the back and accelerated. He kept the white noise blaring as he passed a girl walking on the side of the road. He looked back, slowing to a stop before putting his vintage '85 Nissan 'Sunny Spirit' in reverse and stopping next to her.

"Hey girl, you headed to Silent Hill? 'Cause I could give you a ride, if you want." He said, practically yelling over the radio. "Oh, and sorry about the noise! The damn radio won't turn off." The girl looked at him, confusion in her dark eyes. Her mouth moved but he couldn't make out what she said. He turned the radio as low as he could make it. "Say that again."

"You're going to Silent Hill?" she repeated. She didn't seem to notice the white noise still blaring.

"Yeah. Name's Ken McMurphy." he said, holding a hand out to her, which she didn't take. He cleared his throat and ran the out stretched hand through his graying red hair. "I'm a journalist for the South Ashfield Times. You need a ride there?" She thought for a bit before nodding.

"Sure..." she walked around the passenger side as he unlocked it and she sat down, looking down at her hands in her lap. He pulled back out to the middle of the faintly noticeable path and drove.

"So, what's your name?" he asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"...Delilah." she said simply, more silence passed.

"Okay... do you ha-"

"Why are you going to Silent Hill?" she asked suddenly. He looked at her and blinked before looking back at the road.

"I'm going because I have to."

"You have to?" she asked. He nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I'm going for work. I took over the lead story after the Head Journalist disappeared. He was doing a story about an orphanage and some weird cult called 'The Order'. Ever heard of the Wish House?" he saw her stiffen out of the corner of his eye.

"...Yeah. I've heard of it..." he nodded.

"Apparently that serial killer, Walter Sullivan used to live there. He was all over the news, killed 10 people before they caught him, even a couple of kids. Anyway, from what I've read, Wish House belonged to 'The Order' and they brainwashed the kids under their care. I even heard they tortured any disobedient ones." he was silent for a few seconds. "Anyway, I'm just going for testimonials from people who worked there and knew what was going on. You…" he looked at her, "wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?" he watched her for what seemed several minutes. Delilah kept her head down, staring at her hands. He looked back at the road, his eyes going wide.

"SHIT!" he shouted, slamming on his brakes and turning the steering wheel. Something... someone hit the drivers-side door, shattering most of the window on impact. The victim half rolled, half slid off of the car roof, landing limply on the leaf covered forest road as the now damaged and bloodied Nissan slid to a halt. Ken and Delilah sat in silence, both shaking uncontrollably. "...D-did I... just h-hit someone...?" he asked, looking over at his passenger. She swallowed past a lump in her throat and nodded, not saying a word. "Shit..." he said, looking out of his shattered window at the limp, unmoving form a few feet away. Taking a shaky breath he unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door, now noticing the large dent it had received. He left the door open and slowly walked over, his heart pounding in his ears. As he got closer, he noticed something odd about the figure. It appeared to be naked and its flesh was pulled tight around its hairless form. "...What the hell..." he muttered. He stopped about 2 feet away from it, staring. The figure had landed on its side and he now had a good view of it... actually, it was a little too good in his opinion. The front of its body was lumpy and it looked as if it were wearing a straightjacket made of flesh. Its face... it didn't actually have one... and there was a grayish-black patch on its chest that was sunken in. Half of it was covered in blood and debris from the ground.

"God... what the hell is this thing?" he asked himself. Ken took a step back and, as he did, the straightjacket creature rolled on its torso and stood on its knees. It made a hideous muffled scream as the hole in its chest pulsed in and out. The creature arched its back and screamed again as a fountain of black liquid ripped through its chest. Ken jumped back with a loud yell as the liquid hit the forest ground with a sizzle. "Shit... acid?!" He looked around frantically as the straightjacket creature started to walk towards him on its knees. Then he saw a thick branch resting on the ground and just as the acid-emitting creature got closer he lunged for it, grabbing it as the monster screamed and shot acid at him once more. He covered his face with his free arm, hearing the sizzle of the burning liquid as he smashed his weapon against the top of its head. It flinched and fell forward as Ken jumped back. With another hideous scream it turned onto its stomach and quickly crawled through the bushes and into the forest. He stared at where the creature had fled for a few minutes, trying to process what had just happened. He snapped out of his trance when a stinging pain shot up his arm. He didn't realize he was pulling away until he heard Delilah's voice.

"Hold still... if we don't clean the acid off, your arm won't heal right." she said. He blinked and looked down at his right forearm. Delilah had wiped off quite a bit of blood from his arm with a wet washcloth and pressed down on it, to clean both the blood and acid off. He looked at her and noticed she was staring out in the direction the straightjacket monster had crawled off to.

"... Do you know what that thing was?" he asked. She was silent for about a minute, before nodding.

"I think it was a Crawler..."

"Crawler?" he repeated. He watched as she rummaged through the bag she wore at her side, which he had just noticed. She pulled gauze out and took the washcloth off his wound, his blood welled up instantly.

"Yes... but they... Crawlers only exist in the Otherworld..." she said as she wrapped his arm. The reply sounded as if she were talking to herself rather than another person.

"The Otherworld... sounds like a load of bull to me..." he muttered. But he couldn't help thinking... that acid-throwing Crawler was real... he had the open, bleeding wound to prove it. After what had happened only minutes earlier the concept of an 'Otherworld' didn't sound far off... "I'd need proof..."

"What?"

"... I'd need proof of the Otherworld... photos, tape recordings, video-footage. If I can get at least two pictures..." Delilah shook her head.

"It's too dangerous to go out when we're here."

"So you're suggesting we stay here and wait to get attacked by that Crawler again? Seriously, all we need are two pictures. Then we'll wait for the Otherworld to disappear or whatever the hell it does, go back to South Ashfield, write an article about it and we'll be famous!" Ken said, getting a bit overexcited. She sighed and frowned.

"Ken, it isn't that simple... once you're in Alessa's world-"

"Wait a second, who the hell is Alessa?"

"Alessa... she created the Otherworld. Ken, once you're here, you can't go back... not until you can either kill your personal demons or when they want you to go. When the sirens go off, the monsters leave, everything goes back to normal but the roads leading out of this town disappear. You'll be stuck in Silent Hill just like everyone else."

"Everyone else… you mean there're others?" she nodded.

"They hide when darkness falls…" she replied quietly. He nodded and started to think. A few minutes passed before he nodded again.

"Alright… when do the sirens go off?" he asked. She looked up in mild surprise at the sudden question.

"We might hear them in a few hours. They tend to go off randomly. It's safer just to stay in one place." She replied. He stroked his goatee lightly with his index finger as he nodded at every word she said.

"Alright, let's go." He grabbed her arm and started to pull her away.

"Wait, where are we going?" she asked, trying to pull away from his strong grasp. He said nothing as they walked towards his car. "Ken!"

"Just get in, I'll explain." He said, getting in the drivers side. She hesitated before sighing and getting into the passengers seat. He started the car and maneuvered it until they were back on the road leading to Silent Hill. "Alright, here's what I was thinking. Since we can't leave until we've defeated our 'personal demons', I say we explore a little." He said, looking at her with a wide grin. She stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds before her expression turned to anger.

"You've got to be kidding… didn't you hear a word I've said? If we go out into town we could be killed!"

"Then we won't leave the car." He said, shrugging his shoulders. Semi-silence passed between them in the car, the only sound was the white noise still coming from the car's radio. To Delilah, the silence was horribly awkward, but to Ken… well, he didn't seem to notice. As the minutes ticked by, the pair heard a sudden, sputtering noise. "What the…" Ken muttered, looking around at the scenery. Before long the boxy little car came to a painfully slow halt. "Shit…" he said, turning the key in the ignition. Nothing happened. The engine wouldn't even attempt to start. "Damn it! Not now!" A few more turns of the key and the car was pronounced dead. Delilah sighed with relief. Thank god! Now the journalist wouldn't get them killed in town! "Fuck!" Ken shouted, punching the steering wheel angrily. Delilah jumped slightly and yelped as the car horn went off alarmingly loud. He took a few deep, calming breaths. "Alright… all we have to do is-"

"Stay here." Delilah finished. Ken looked at her, a frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Like hell! I've waited for years to get a story this good! Every time I go to work, it's the same damn thing; 'Old Lady Wins Bake Sale", "Cub Scout Gets another Badge". This is my big chance to make something of myself and no ugly-ass monsters are going to stop me!" With that said he took the keys and got out of the car and opening the trunk, rummaging through the things in it. Delilah blinked in surprise and disbelief.

"Y... you can't be... Ken, you can't be serious! You're going out into town for a story... you're actually going to risk your life for that?" she asked as she climbed from her seat to his, poking her head out of the open door. "Are you really that stupid?" He ignored her as he found what he was looking for. He didn't bother to close the trunk of the doomed Nissan as he left with his things. The first noticeable things on his person were the portable flashlight sticking out of the front pocket of his shirt and a tire iron in his hands. He walked briskly past her, a serious frown on his face. She glared at his back and sat back in the seat, her arms folded across her chest. "Stupid stubborn journalist..." she mumbled. She watched as the bright light disappeared around the corner. "..." A sudden rustling noise came from behind the car, another muffled scream piercing the air. Delilah was out of the car and sprinting towards where the light had been, turning the corner with a slight slide before catching up with him. He looked back at her, smirking smugly as he kept walking, the light from his flashlight light throwing creepy shadows on his face and on the scenery around them. "...What?" she asked carefully. The smirk didn't fade.

"I knew you'd tag along." he said. She frowned and looked away without a word. As they walked they passed a large green sign with the words "Welcome to Silent Hill" in large white letters. Both noticed that someone had replaced "Hill" with "Hell" with red spray paint and both felt a shiver down their spines.