Chapter 1

Beginnings

I had to see it for myself to believe it. I never get out much in my life but when I got the brochure to the place I thought it was a well thought out joke. Hell I thought it was some Halloween themed party that was being done by my friends. Worse is when I got an email, then a Facebook suggestion, and finally I went to look up the site itself: Silent Hill. I still was skeptical, someone was probably doing a really well done Halloween prank. Silent Hill couldn't exist, it's just a place in a well done video games series that's steeped in symbolism. Granted it's had a movie that was terrible as well as an insult to the actual series and some comics about it, most weren't very good at all and had missed the whole point of what the town along with it's inhabitants are supposed to be. Yet I just had to go there, something in the back of my mind or deep down in my gut just kept telling me to do it. What was funny and weird was just the location: Kansas. No seriously I couldn't believe it either at first; Silent Hill, Kansas. Next thing I'll see is the Necronomicon from the "Evil Dead" series being in a museum located on "Elm Street" where there is a bar called "Mike Myer's Grill" and next to it is "Jason's Hockey Emporium". I need to stop over thinking these things, especially to just get a point across. In all seriousness though, I needed to get away from my usual stomping grounds. I don't know why I just didn't go to Japan or Great Britain though, it's not like I don't make enough for a nice vacation. Oh wait that's right, I'd be trying to find someone to replace her. She meant everything to me and she knew it. She knew I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life and that I would have done everything in my power to keep her happy. In the end though she didn't feel that way about me, and in all honesty who could blame her? Who would want an overweight, over dramatic, and all around depressing guy like me? She said all I had to do was just change but I couldn't do it. I tried, but I just couldn't bring myself to go through with it. What did she know though, she wasn't there when the accident happened. No everyone tells you it was an accident, you just don't want to take on all the blame for it. I could have saved the kid, I just wasn't fast enough. He didn't deserve to die that way, no one deserves to die that way. Stop it David, your just bringing in the negative thoughts because you haven't taken your meds today.

David opened the glove compartment of his rental car revealing the pill box. It was Tuesday at nine in the morning, normally he'd be sleeping in bed waiting to wake up next to her. Her scent was always wonderful, smelling of lavender and roses on her red hair. Neither of them would have to work on Tuesdays normally which made it a great day to just be lazy in bed and watch a movie or two from their collection or from Netflicks. There was no rush, their roommates would either go to class or go to work. Stop day dreaming, you are on vacation and you're going to find a way to enjoy yourself without her. When you get back you'll handle everything then, she'll have moved in back with either her family or other friends and you'll not have to see her again. Still "Silent Hill" was probably one of your dumber plans of getting away. He sighed and started the car again driving into town. The weather report said it was going to snow apparently, which made him smile a bit. Odd coincidence or just God being funny by messing with his head; probably both knowing his luck. He liked snow though; when heavy would snow fall or a blizzard was done it was nice to see the entire neighborhood covered in pure white. Everything was quiet and serene, like the world was asleep in a blanket of white and spring would awaken it once again when the snow melt. Everything would be greener and the flowers would bloom. Roses would blossom around the house, she loved roses and always enjoyed plucking the wild ones. Everything goes back to her, you really are pathetic. They had left three white roses on the boy's grave after the funeral. David was invited because of his effort to try and save the boy. He wished that it was an insult from the parents, that they were rubbing his failure in his face. It wasn't his fault everyone kept telling him, he did what he could to save the boy. He hated hearing that, of course it was his fault he was the one that didn't react fast enough. He was supposed to keep the kids in line at the park, they were supposed to stick with their buddies, they weren't supposed to go off with anyone they didn't know or to even leave the group. Boys will be boys they said; of course kids will go anywhere they were told not to go to. The screams though; those screams he heard still haunted him. Stop it! Your going back down that road again. Just stop thinking about it and keep your eyes on the road!

"Oh shit!" David shouted as he hit the breaks.

He wasn't fast enough though; his victim was knocked into the air a few inches and a loud enough thud was heard as they landed on the car. David stopped the car and rushed out.

"No, please no, please be alive and not critically injured or in a mood to sue me!" He helped the man off the car as he said this.

"Ouch, that's what I get for walking in the middle of the road huh?" The man said dusting himself off.

"You're okay?" was all David could say as the old man smiled at him.

He looked to be in his late sixties or early seventies, which David still couldn't believe that the man appeared to be uninjured.

"Of course I'm ok, you weren't going at high speeds like most of the young folk around here, and I just said it was my fault for walking in the middle of the road in the middle of the day."

David wasn't sure if he should be recording what he just heard or hug the old man.

"Well if your really ok then could you answer me a question?"

"Shoot."

"Where is everyone else?"

He hadn't noticed until he had gotten out of the car. The town seemed empty, shops had their lights out, the dinner looked closed, and there wasn't a single other person outside other than him and the old man.

"Oh most folks have left town on holiday for a while."

David stared at him dumbfounded. It was the middle of January, sure he was on vacation because of his status as a substitute and for apparent mental health reasons, but every other town was full of people living busy lives. Well it is a small town and they probably aren't the only ones in the country to go on vacation and leave most of the town desolate.

"Well where are you headed to…Uh what is your name?"

"Just call me Jerry and I'm on my way to that dinner over there. My brother Richard and I run the place, and it's my turn to open today." "But why bother opening if there is practically no one here?"

"You're not the only traveler to pass through Silent Hill. Some people are bound to be hungry when they come around." Jerry said with a nice smile.

"True enough. Well would you mind if I was your first customer of the day?" David said smiling back.

"Of course and you wouldn't mind if I raised the price a bit as a small bribe to keep an old man from pursuing legal matters for getting hit by a car being driven by a distracted driver?"

David laughed nervously for a bit. "Not at all actually, I'm starving."

"You can park just about anywhere on the side of the street, no one will care really."

David parked near a fire hydrant, he might as well test his luck with the law anyways. As he stepped out of the car he stood still for a minute, hearing a whisper from some distant entity, or what he believed was probably the wind. He heard his name, the name of the student, and Melissa's name, but he shook his head with disbelief. Your letting the stories get to you. Just have something nice to eat and go about the rest of your vacation; just wanted to get myself away from all the nightmares, all the demons that haunt me.

The diner itself reminded him of that place college students would hang up in their rooms when they want to look like they appreciate classic artwork; a nice way to try and impress the women on campus instead of a poster of a nude female model posing that all the guys keep eyeing thinking of what they would do if they had the chance to have sex with the model. Then you find out someone stole the poster and defiled it in ways that you just tell them to keep it and vow to never get another one. As he entered the diner his eye immediately caught sight of a wall that was filled with pictures, mostly in black and white while a few were in color. Various photos of parades, parties being held both here in the diner, at other people's houses, and even at the various businesses that were celebrating anniversaries of all varieties; the smiling faces made him feel a little bit at home. It was just like any small time, home slice of America; this was probably all a coincidence and he was just getting worked up over nothing in the end. Until he saw the one thing that was consistent in all the photos: the boy. No it couldn't be him, half of these photos were from the nineteen fifties, a long time before the kid was even born. That wasn't the only thing that disturbed him though, no it was the child's expression: unchanging sadness. No matter where he stood it was the same look, the same sad, disappointed look on his face. No signs of anger, just emptiness in the eyes, as if the kid was nothing more than a statue of sadness that was erected at a memorial for children that have died in a war or to a plague. Those sad eyes of emptiness looked like they were staring into the camera, until finally the boy's head turned towards him slightly as if to meet David's gaze. Stumbling backwards a bit David felt a cold shiver down his spine, he immediately thought of "someone walking over your grave". He looked again but the boy was still there back in his original position. Nothing had changed; the facial expression was the same.

"What would you like to have now that I got the grills going and the fryers ready?" Jerry's voice snapped David back into reality.

He smelt the grease and fat starting to cook on the grills, the sound of the oil in the fryers starting to boil.

"A burger with all the trimmings sounds good right about now. Some fries as well if it is not too much trouble either." David said as he turned towards Jerry, who was standing behind the counter.

The kindly old man nodded and went towards the back room where the fridge was. The sounds of hamburger meat being worked with could be heard as the kindly old man walked out. Making a ball out of the meat, he took his thumb and made hole in the middle. Inside the hole he poured what appeared to be a name brand steak sauce and closed it up, being gentle as he placed the ball onto the grill, then after washing his hands he grabbed a spatula and smashed the ball of meat into a flat pancake. The sounds of the meat cooking, the smell of the steak sauce, grease, and cooking oil filled the entire diner. David decided to sit at the bar, choosing a stool that was cherry red, the cushion was covered in a fabric that sparkled in the light as if the chair itself was a soft ruby to sit on. Placing his elbows on the table, David closed his eyes and started thinking again. He was in a town with a name that was famous in horror history, he was sitting in a dinner that had a wall of photos that contained the boy that had died, and he was hungry. Priorities demanded that he eat something first and then figure out what was going on, a full stomach will give the brain the energy it needs to think properly.

"Listen Jerry is there a place I can stay for a while like a hotel or something? I'm kind of planning to stay here for a few days."

Jerry turned his head towards David as he flipped the hamburger patty. "There is a small inn down the street, I'm sure my brother Richard would be there. We can go there after you've eaten of course so there is no rush. It's not like the old fart doesn't go anywhere unless he's hungry or has an errand he doesn't trust his staff members to take care of for him."

He chuckled a bit after saying that and finally pulled the burger off the grill with his spatula and onto a fresh bun that was golden brown.

"I'll be right back, just need to grab the fries and I'll set up the trimmings while they cook. Just relax for a few minutes more, I promise it'll be worth the wait."

David silently nodded in response. He wanted to look at the photo's again, just to see if his mind was playing tricks on him or something. It has to have been my brain playing tricks with me. It just has to be. David then approached the wall again looking through the photos once more. To his relief the boy was gone, and the feeling of dread he had slowly disappeared.

"I hope you don't mind but you won't have any tomatoes on your burger. I seem to have run out and I doubt you'll want me to go out to the grocery store to get some fresh ones to make you wait longer for your food."

David turned his head towards the kitchen door."That's fine, I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes anyway. Just add extra ketchup and my taste buds won't really care." In the corner of his eye, David thought he saw something dash across one of the photos.

Taking a step back and staring at the wall of photos, David looked around from corner to corner wondering what he saw and hoping he was wrong and that it was the light playing tricks on him. The boy was still gone, but David felt like his presence was still in the photos somehow. He didn't want to think too long about it.

Then he noticed it...

It was quiet, it shouldn't be. Jerry hadn't responded, the entire diner was straight quiet.

"Jerry are you there?" He said turning around hoping to see the old chef coming out from the back room. Please answer me, please...

His heart sank when he heard a strange sound coming from the Jukebox, it was like one of the records were being scratched inside. His cry of pain was drowned as the sound grew louder and louder to the point where covering his ears was doing nothing to help. Stop it, stop it, stop it stop it!

"STOP IT!" David screamed out as he found a nearby chair and threw it with everything he had at the Jukebox.

The noise stopped but the sound after was what almost made David's mind shatter. No matter how hard he tried to forget it that sound was ingrained in his memory forever. It was the sound of the boy's cries for help, his screams of anguish and what was worse in his mind was that the it was coming from behind him. He forced himself to turn around despite the fact he knew what he was going to see next was going to be something he wasn't going to like. Oh god what the hell is wrong with you? David thought as he was speechless at the sight before him. All the original pictures have disappeared and instead a collage had been made into a standing red coffin, the top half was already opening and instead of the sound of creaking from the hinges, it was the sound that had came earlier from the Jukebox. Inside the coffin was the mangled features of the boy, his face had caved in on the right side, flesh had turned black from decaying, his eyes were wide open and the left was gone. Instead a tunnel of flesh that had blood and yellow puss dripping from it, mixing into orange tears had started. His sunken right eye was already crying tears of blood, his lips parting into a disgusting smile of worms and ants moving across his discolored teeth. The boy was dressed in his funeral clothes, although they had become tattered and worn; as his decaying hands were pulling out from the inside of the coffin as black tentacles spread from behind it slowly inching their way across the portraits and spilling out across the walls, expanding and branching out even across the floor. Stepping back as they inched closer to him David turned to run towards the door behind him only to see it had been engulfed in darkness. Expecting everything to go black, he braced himself for any odd feelings that were about to come from the tentacles. Just pretend your in a bad hentai and it'll just end faster. That thought brought little comfort to him, but it was better than nothing. He wanted to close his eyes but felt like that would be redundant if his whole world was about to go dark in a matter of seconds. Yet nothing was happening to him physically. No tentacles were were engulfing him, in fact they had stopped altogether after going under his shoes. Everything was pitch black in coloring, yet he can see the rest of his body as if it was clear as day. That and when he looked up the open red coffin was still standing up in front of him, only it had closed apparently when his back was turned. Of course it's just me and this thing, I really don't want to open it though even if it's my way out. There is always, always something worse when it comes to these kinds of things. Then again I really don't want to stay here and see what will come after me first.

"Alright then..." he said out loud.

"Time to see what kind of hell is in store for me."

He approached the coffin slowly, wishing that this was all a nightmare that he will wake up from the next morning. It's not though, no matter how hard he wished it to be. As his hand touched the edges he felt a strong chill of dread and sadness, slowly opening the coffin and moving his head to peek in, thinking it would help stave the shock of whatever was going to be inside. He heard his heart pounding become louder the creaking sound of the lid on the casket and finally he breathed a sigh of relief that seemed to echo in his mind.

There was nothing inside...

As he swung the door all the way, David immediately started feeling the cushion inside in the hopes of finding a door. What he found was when he touched the area where the body would be laid blood soaked through slowly making an outline of a boy of normal height. The blood started out red and soon darkened into pitch black, yet the blood never spread over the entire cushion. With another deep breath David pulled back the cushion, and was greeted by the site of complete emptiness. He felt a small breeze come through the opening, so walking through the opening would probably be better than staying a room that will probably not change until he finally left. It's just how this world works, or at leas the game makes you think it's the way it's supposed to work. All right then, lets get through this nightmare and hope I come out of this alive and sane enough to pass in society.Taking another deep breath David went right through the opening, fighting the temptation to shut his eyes in fear of what will happen. There was no falling sensation though, a small grace he was glad to have received, however as he stepped further the sound of raw meat being squished together made him turn to see that the opening he had walked through had closed. The whole room suddenly became lit, and he dreaded what he had just walked into: the walls of the room were made of red meat. The sound of a beating heart was loudly ringing in his ears and David at first dismissed it as his own, however the more he listened the more he realized the room itself was in fact giving off the sound. Because the room wasn't disturbing enough as it is.