Chapter 1

Banshee

… It was a hazardous drive, through the harsh rain and the lingering fog. Anthony had been on the road for about 4 hours now, no sign of life. He had planned to pull into a motel before it got dark, but unfortunately he hadn't been able to find one community since he left a small gas station on the outskirts of Brahms. Anthony was presently traveling down a country road which for the most part, he had to himself. He was in desperate search of a town; the drive was beginning to become almost impossible. The time, he believed, was around 12:40 A.M.

"Fuck…" he muttered under his breath. Anthony squinted and struggled to see the road ahead of him, but the pelting rain, along with the fog was concealing his view of anything 5 feet beyond the hood of his car. Anthony sat back in his seat and sighed, he was exhausted. His concentration on the road was now barely in his mind. Instead, he stared at the fog thoughtfully. As his used Honda Civic sped through the low clouds, they swirled about as if they were dancing; the sight was ghostly and majestic.

Anthony's attention was soon back on the road as his car rumbled. He was startled by this, but soon realized that he had hit something. A small shot of anxiety rushed through his veins, but soon faded and a new feeling was replaced with it. Out of nowhere, what appeared to be two headlights streamed through the fog right in front of him. Anthony immediately hit the brakes throwing him into his seatbelt, hard. He groaned loudly and then looked out the windshield and saw a very strange sight.

He was right. The lights he noticed were that of a car's two headlights. The headlights belonged to a red Suburban that was awkwardly placed in the middle of the road, facing diagonally to him. The driver's door was ajar, and seemed to be battered. Anthony took off his seatbelt and opened his door, stepping out into the pouring, cold, rain. "H-hello?" he called, but no answer. He began to walk towards the car, but froze. The road was covered in trails of blood, some leading from the car to the woods that were on each side of the road.

Fear was now grabbing a hold of Anthony as his eyes darted around the scene. Then, he caught site of something he had missed while he was staring through his windshield, the passenger side door was ajar as well. That wasn't what caught his eye though; below the door he saw a pair of legs, coated with blood. Anthony was breathing harder now and tried to call out to see if the person was alive. "H-H-hello?" he stuttered quietly. He couldn't seem to add much volume to his voice.

In his mind, Anthony was reassuring himself that the person was just unconscious and that this was a high jacking gone wrong. Then other thoughts floated through his mind, "The blood, it seemed fresh…" The thought made Anthony nervous and he began to tremble. What if the convict was still in the woods…? Waiting for the right moment to jump Anthony and slit his throat. He began, slowly, to walk toward the limp body that laid the ground. The only audible noises around him were the droplets of rain, pelting the ground furiously, and the sound of his own footsteps, slowly approaching, what he knew to be, a horrible site.

"Wait…" he thought to himself. Anthony stopped moving and listened, he had noticed that his steps sounded off beat. There was the sound of footsteps, behind him. As soon as he heard it, the sound stopped. There was a rustling noise and then silence. He spun around quickly, his heartbeat climaxing. Anthony was temporarily blinded by his Honda's headlights, though he thought he could just see a shadow… He held his arm up to shield his eyes, the disorientation soon passed, as did the shadow. It had vanished, merely an effect of the lights.

Anthony stood there in a trance; he was too frightened to move. He was nailed to the ground by the raw terror of the situation. After what seemed like an hour he grabbed a hold of his mind and began to turn back towards the accident. Slowly, he turned his body around, and prepared himself for the awful sight. He turned and swallowed hard, but then he gave himself a mental punch in the face. "What if that person is still alive?" He shouted to himself in his mind, "and is in desperate need of help! They could be frightened and in pain and I could help them but I'm too scared?" This motivated Anthony and just as he thought this he began to walk towards the passenger door, slowly.

He was afraid, but his legs kept walking… Until he realized something that made his heart skip a beat. A shot of complete horror flew up his spine and he froze. Anthony was staring below the passenger side door, where the body once lay. All that was there now was another trail of blood leading into the woods. He began to breathe heavily as he realized, he wasn't alone. Anthony's emotions were mixed and confused, he felt as though he could cry, but couldn't. He turned back towards his car, and took one step, stopped, and shivered. He saw something out of the corner of his eye…

A shriek was heard over the sound of the rain that made Anthony's skin crawl… He turned his head slowly towards the foliage and became paralyzed with fear. He saw something staring back at him through the bushes, its figure was darkened by the night sky and fog, yet its eyes… a bright yellow, the pupils barely visible. Like those of a cat's, only brighter. Anthony stumbled as the creature with surprising agility fled its dwelling and ran deep into the foliage, concealed by trees and bushes. Once more, he heard the same terrifying screech. Then all that was heard was the sound of rain droplets, pelting the ground.

Anthony clutched his chest, and let out a struggled gasp for breath. His heart was racing, he feared he would have a heart attack or a stroke if he didn't calm down. He slowly slumped to the ground, his eyes still transfixed on where the thing had been sitting, watching, waiting… He sat there for what felt like hours, trying to cope with what had just happened. In his mind he battled with himself, trying to find something, something that could explain what had happened, what he saw, but his mind was blank, he couldn't think, he could only feel… Panic slowly withdrew, and his heart began to calm. He picked himself up, cautiously, and glanced once more at his surroundings. The rain had subsided, but not the thick mist, which enveloped Anthony as if it were to choke the breath from his lips. Suddenly, a powerful gust of violent wind tore through the scene. Anthony stumbled backwards; the wind stung his face and eyes and raped the once peaceful air around him. He braced himself and began to retreat to his car stumbling. He forced himself onto the hood of the car and peered down the road. The wind roared and burst, snapping at his face. The blanket of white fog began to peel away, revealing a rusted old sign off to his right. "Silent Hill… 7 mi." The wind fell dead immediately, he was left in silence.

Anthony stood idle for a moment staring. He didn't know why but as he read those words his mouth went dry and his throat clenched. He didn't dare stay a moment longer; he pulled his eyes away from the sign, and got inside the car. "Silent Hill" burnt in his mind. "It feels… familiar," he thought to himself as he turned the key. The Honda shook to life and sat idle. "I'll report this when I get into town, the authorities will know what to do." Anthony pulled away from the scene and sped off. The sky twinkled in the twilight, and the sun began to stretch its rays across the horizon. A dim red light poured through the hills, being shattered against the fog as it beamed. "That thing… what…" He shook it out of his mind, he didn't want to see that thing again, he didn't want to remember… "Silent Hill" flashed in his mind once again. What was it about that place anyway? He leaned to the passenger side and opened the glove compartment. He took a cigarette from its pack and slammed the compartment shut. "Too much, this is just too much…" he muffled with a cigarette comfortably sitting in-between his lips. Anthony reached for his silver plated Zippo lighter and brought it to his mouth, with one quick flick, flame engulfed the wick and burned brilliantly. He froze, "What was that?" He tilted the lighter at an angle and tried to get the reflection back into view.

Horrific screams resonated through the hills, followed by the screech of tires… Moments later came the inevitable sound of metal being twisted and glass being shattered. Then the countryside was again at peace.