Silent Hill 4: The Not-So Parody-(The Farming of Narcotics)
When Henry managed to find his way out of the tunnel that the hole led in to, he fell out of the sky and landed quite hard on his back in a patch of dead grass. Pain coursed through his body like fire, and he slowly stood up, aching all over. "I'm falling out of the sky now," he muttered. "How far will I go for some alcohol? I mean, shit…" He rubbed the lower part of his back and looked about himself. He was in a clearing of some sort, but most of the grass around him was brown and lifeless and the flowers were withered. He snorted and passed through some trees and brush, pushing back the foliage with his hands as he went. He ended up on a dirt path, with only a solitary lamp post as a source of light.
"First a subway, and now a forest… This is getting ridiculous." He unhooked the lamp from its station and held it before him. Overhead the moon was a thin sliver in the black sky, and hardly any stars were out. He grimaced and went down the path and through a gate, and before him was a giant steel wall, and from that sign that hung down from it Henry found that it was an industrial compound. "More of their damn pollution, I swear! It's killing all the weed!" He lowered the lantern and proceeded into the compound.
The steady hum of machinery greeted him, and behind the metal fences all around him there were oil cans and other strange things. Henry disregarded them and walked down the steel walkway to the next gate. He got the box of ammunition resting on the barrel nearby and suddenly he was assaulted by a hive of moth-like creatures. "What the hell?" Henry said as they swarmed around his head. He batted them away with the lantern and then squashed the damned things. "Stupid flies… stupid…" Henry kicked their corpses away and traveled deeper into the compound. He entered a large area and went down a catwalk. Along the way more moths attacked him, but he finished them with minimal effort.
"Wow, these things aren't even a challenge…" he said when the beanie ghost from the subway gnawed its way through the metal fence and hovered down to face him. "You? Again? Give it up, I don't have any weed!"
"…Yes you do," the ghost responded, startling Henry. It pointed at him. "It's in the back of your pants."
"No shit?" Henry looked back at his jeans and saw that a cigarette was sticking out from the back of his pants. "You've got to be kidding me," Henry said, shocked. "Cynthia must have put it there when I wasn't looking…" He plucked it up and stared at it. It called out to him.
Smoke me, Henry, it said. Smoke me and everything will be all right. All your problems will be solved. Just like in college.
'You made things worse, you damn Cancer stick.' He threw it to the beanie ghost. "Here you go, I don't want it!" And as the ghost reached for it longingly Henry left the compound as fast as he possibly could.
He found himself back on the path, and out of the mist that filled the forest he saw some more dogs advance towards him. One of them was pink rather than green, and one of the green ones, Henry was sure, had been dry-humping it. "Hey, you dogs getting it on over there or what?" They growled in response and lunged at him. Henry strafed to the side and produced his handgun. He popped some bullets into the dogs and killed one of them, but the pink over came at him again. "You don't know when to give up, huh?" Henry demanded as he slammed the lantern into it, shattering the glass and putting it on fire. The dog whined and Henry laughed at it before getting the hell out of there.
"I lost my lantern, but that's okay…" he told himself. As he shut the gate behind him he turned to the front and saw a lime-green car—with the engine still running—parked near a tall tree. Henry approached it and saw the license plate, which read: 1337 JSPR
'He gets an eight-digit number?' Henry thought. 'The biotch.' He found the driver's door opened and circled around the vehicle to it. Inside he saw a notepad resting on the seat, and he took it up.
I finally returned to Silent Hill, after all this time! It's been nearly ten years since I was last here, with Sein and Bobby. They were killed here, so it was creepy, and I saw the guy that did it. He was so stoned; the smoke was puffing out of his ears! He offered me some, but I don't smoke. And then that retarded nosy guy came and asked me about the plantation. I don't know anything, I swear. But I got here and that's all that matters!—Jasper Gein
"What a dumb name… and plantation? My itch…" Henry dropped the notepad but stopped and looked the car over. "Wait a second… this guy must be a lame-ass." He got into the driver's seat and drove into the tree that was next to it repeatedly, damaging the car extensively. Snickering, Henry got out and saw some lights beyond the next gate. He went through the gate and saw numerous candles lit and set on wooden stands. An enormous boulder was nearby, and sitting beside it on a stump was a lanky man with faded jeans, a tight, green shirt, red sneakers, and a small Mohawk. Henry took him as the owner of the car.
"Hey, Jasper," he called. The man turned his head towards him and Henry walked over to him. "I knew it was you. You looked like the type of dumb-ass that would write that pointless stuff back there in your car."
"Y-You mean my, my notepad?"
"You stutter, too? Yeah, your notepad. Anyway, I'm Henry. Do you have any idea where we are?"
Jasper nodded fervently. "Yeah, we're… we're in the, the f-f-forest n-near Silent Hill… I c-c-came to see the, uh, or-orphanage… but it's supposedly, a, a plantation… They used the c-c-c-children as w-w-workers… to farm the stuff…"
"A plantation? Of what? Was it weed?" Henry leaned in closer to him. "Tell me. I have to know, man. I need that weed."
Jasper frowned. "Well, actually, yeah… it w-w-was w-weed…"
"I knew it!" Henry did a little dance of joy. "Imagine it, all that weed… for myself! No ghosts or whores to steal it away!" He made for the gate but Jasper grabbed his arm.
"T-They s-stopped farming the, the weed a f-f-few years ago. The only… w-weed left is in the b-b-building, and I want to, to get in there too."
"For what? The weed's mine."
"I don't w-w-want your weed… come on, I'll s-s-s-show y-you." Jasper led Henry down the path again and towards a metallic wall that impeded their progress. There was a set of double-doors in the wall, and a giant sign was beside it: WELCOME TO THE SILENT HILL SMILEY-ORPHANAGE-THAT-HELPS-MOLD-CHILDREN-ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD!
Henry squinted at it. "That doesn't make any sense. Children from all over the world come here?" Jasper shrugged and pulled the doors open. He went through and Henry followed him into another massive area. A great, two-story building took up quite a bit of the space, and the whole place was fenced up. Toys and other things dotted the ground and, crude drawings were on the fencing. "The weed's in there?" he asked while pointing at the building.
Jasper nodded.
"Is it locked or something?"
He nodded again.
"Do you have the key?"
He shook his head.
"Damn it!" Henry kicked at the grass and sent some blades flying into the air. Jasper rubbed his throat.
"I have… s-s-something that might, might help you, though… The n-n-n-nosy g-guy gave it to m-m-me… but I won't g-g-give it t-to you for free."
"Huh?" Henry faced him and grabbed his shirt collar fiercely and jerked him forward. "What the hell do you want, then? Didn't you understand me earlier? I need the bloody weed!" He let Jasper go and the guy backed away in fright.
He dusted himself off quickly and cleared his throat. "I've been r-r-really th-th-thirsty… and I w-w-want something c-c-chocolate… Oh, so thirsty… C-Chocolate… T-Thirsty…"
"Okay, okay, I get you. You're starting the scare the hell out of me. So, if I get you something chocolate to drink you'll give me this thing?" Jasper nodded and Henry noticed another hole in the fencing. He headed for it. "I'll check if I have anything at my apartment. I'll be back soon."
He entered the hole and Jasper wandered off.
Woo… Intermission.
(Ding) Now continuing with your program.
When Henry got back someone was ringing his doorbell without stopping. He tugged at his hair and went to the peephole to see who was being such a nuisance today. And he knew who it was. "Damn it, Irene!" he muttered angrily as she stuck her face all the way up in front of the hole.
"Hey, Henry…" she said stupidly in her bimbo-like fashion. "Are you in there? Where are you…? Where's my tampon…? Do you have it…?"
"Do I have to go out there and slap you or something? I don't have your damn tampon, you bimbo!" He saw a man walk into view behind her, and he nudged in beside Irene for a look. "What the hell do you want?" Henry questioned, but of course they couldn't hear him and thus could not respond.
The man stroked his brightly-colored, dazzling tie. "What are you doing out here, Irene?"
"Huh…? Oh, I'm just looking for Henry. He hasn't come out in awhile… What are you doing around here, Richie?"
"It's Richard, damn it!" he corrected, and then turned back to the door. "And I'm not doing anything! I was just enjoying a stroll through this crappy apartment."
"…Okay."
"Anyway, what's this guy like? I've seen him around sometimes. Looks like a stoner to me."
"You're gay," Henry insulted from his place behind the peephole.
"Oh, I've seen him around too. He calls me a bimbo and it turns me on. He's really hot."
"…Right, well, I should go call the super."
"That's a great idea. Henry won't come out on his own."
Henry watched them leave the vicinity and he moved away from the door. '…Weird.' He remembered why he was there in the first place and checked the refrigerator. A bottle of chocolate milk was the only thing left in the fridge, and he took it out and shook it. "This seems like it would work. Well, whatever, the weed is waiting for me!" Henry went back to the hole.
WOO… Intermission.
(Ding) Now continuing with your program.
When Henry returned he saw that Jasper was nowhere to be found. The guy had vanished. Henry cursed under his breath and moved around and about the building. With no traces of where he went, he chose a gate at random and passed through it. He trekked through the forest and killed some more dogs when they ran out at him. Soon enough he found the entrance to a cemetery. He went inside, where he found a familiar face.
The man from the subway with the sock was balancing himself on a coffin that had been dug up out of the ground. A little boy was sitting next to it, watching him with wide eyes. "Another round, sock man, another round!" The man laughed and flipped around to walk the rim of the coffin again. Henry snorted.
"You two haven't seen a stuttering guy with a Mohawk wearing red sneakers around here, have you? I have to talk to him immediately." The man shook his head, and so did the boy.
"Sorry, man, haven't seen any type of guy like that around. Have you, little Wally?"
"No. I just got here, big Walter."
"Wait, both of your names is Walter?" Henry asked. He tapped his chin curiously. "Why does that name sound vaguely familiar to me…? I don't know… but if you guys see that dude tell me, okay?"
Henry turned to leave when Jasper ran into the cemetery from out of the trees and rammed Walter to the ground. He vaulted over the coffin and laughed maniacally when he saw the boy. "It's you!" he cried. "The third Revelation! I've been waiting for this day forever! Something's going to happen! Something BIG is going to happen! Something is going to happen, damn it! IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN RIGHT NOW!" He farted, and Henry shaded his face in embarrassment. "BUT I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING! SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING TO HAPPEN! IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!"
The kid—little "Wally"—sped off into the forest, and Jasper chased after him. "Get back here, Jasper!" Henry yelled as he went after them.
Walter watched them go and then he whispered to Mr. Sock, "They're very strange." And Mr. Sock replied, "Yes, quite strange indeed…"
Meanwhile, Jasper forced Wally all the way to the orphanage site, but when Henry arrived there the boy was gone and Jasper was idling by the entrance to the building. "Jasper, you freak," Henry said as he walked up onto the front porch of the building. "I brought you some chocolate milk, so where's this thing that'll help me open this place up?" He handed Jasper the bottle and he took it greedily.
"Oh yes… chocolate milk… this is exactly what I wanted!" He twisted the cap off and began to guzzle the milk. Henry gave him a minute before rolling his eyes and tearing the bottle from his grip.
"Alright, that's enough for now. Give me what I need and you'll get some more." Jasper nodded quickly while wiping away the brown liquid from his chin and lips. He dug around in his pants and brought out a rusted spade, which he threw to the floor in front of him. Henry picked it up and stared at it perplexedly. "A spade? What in the crap am I supposed to do with this?"
"I d-d-don't know," Jasper replied as he stole the milk away. "G-G-Go and f-find some way to open the d-d-door, p-please."
"I'll do it when you bother to," Henry responded curtly, and he looked at the spade more closely. A short message was inscribed in it.
dig under the tree of the HAND and the FOOT will follow after
"…I don't get it."
"I s-s-saw a weird, h-hand-sh-shaped root d-d-d-down that way…" Jasper pointed towards one of the two gates Henry had yet to explore and then licked his lips hungrily for every last bit of the milk. Henry shivered as he began to moan and drink the last of the bottle.
"I'll go check it out then. You can just go and do nothing like you have the whole time you've been here." Henry went off and Jasper shuddered with delight as he emptied the bottle. 'What a freak,' the brunet man thought as he left the orphanage site and continued on down the path. It had pretty much dissolved into mud, and it took Henry some effort to trudge to the opposite gate. He went through that and saw a strange tree that was covered in odd, red ribbons. Underneath it was a root that resembled an open hand, and Henry knelt down before it. "This must be it!" He reaffirmed his grasp on the spade and started to dig.
A good few minutes passed by, and the spade clicked against a solid surface under the dirt. He threw the spade to the side and clawed through the dirt, his tongue out and his eyes gleaming. "My weed, I shall have you soon enough!" He uncovered a small chest and pulled it out. He flipped the lid over, but the only thing inside was a key which was in a similar condition to that of the spade. Henry sighed. "…I guess I got a little ahead of myself. Anyway, this should be the key to the orphanage, and therefore it is the key to the weed!" Henry scrambled to his feet and ran back in the direction he had come, but rather than end up in the previous area, he passed right by the ribbon tree. "What the hell? I was just here…" He repeated this several times, each time ending up back at the tree. "What is this shit?" he demanded. "I just want some weed!"
He raised the key to the light and saw that it was well had a message inscribed in it.
you have to put this away and then take it back or else youll be stuck in a cycle of DEATH… lol
"Screw you," Henry said, and he looked around for a hole. There wasn't one in the immediate area, so he went towards the back. He saw a hole in a giant wall—he noted the well close by, too—and then stepped into the hole.
Woo… Intermission.
(Ding) Now continuing your program.
This time Henry tumbled out of bed when he woke up, and he cursed heatedly. He got to his feet and glanced at the key in his palm. He shrugged and walked to the living room, where he turned to the chest against the wall. "This should work for now." He opened it—he cringed at the squeaking made by its hinges—and dropped the key inside. Then, on a mere whim, he decided to check on Irene.
'She has to be doing something kinky. I mean, she seems like the type…' He peered into the hole and there was Irene, not doing something kinky. She was talking to someone on the phone, giggling like the airhead she was.
"Oh-my-gosh, I know! There's something weird going on around here too. I want to get out…! Huh? A date? Well, there's this hot introvert"—Henry found it surprising she knew what this word meant—"living next door, but I think he's going through like, a super depression or something. He hasn't come out of his room, and he kept one of my tampons… What's he doing with it? I don't know. Wait, I'll ask…"
Irene set the phone down and crawled over to the hole in the wall. Henry cocked an eyebrow up as she peered at him through it. "Henry, are you there…? My friend wants to know what you're doing with the tampon…"
"Uh…" Henry glanced around and edged closer. "You can see me, Irene?"
"Of course, I can, silly," she said, and giggled. "Why are you peeping on me, anyway, you naughty, naughty, boy? If you wanted some all you had to do was come over and ask…"
"No, no, Irene, I have something very important to tell you."
"What…? Does it involve you not coming out? Why aren't you coming out, anyway…?"
"No, it has nothing to do with that. I need alcohol, and fast. You need to find a way to get me a drink. I can't do it from in here. I'm trapped."
"But, Henry, I can't stuff a wine bottle down this hole, it's too tiny…"
"That's your problem. Look… just do it… I have some business to take care of. Just find a way to get me the alcohol, okay? If you do... I'll give you your tampon back."
"Really? Cool, I'll go find some and when I pick up my costume in a little bit."
"Costume?"
"Yep! You'll be the first one to see me with it on, Henry! It's for the party tonight!" she replied proudly.
"Alright, that's nice, just get the alcohol." Henry scooted away and got up, and then he went back to the hole.
WOO… Intermission.
(Ding) Now continuing with your program.
Henry returned to the orphanage site and saw Jasper cuddling the empty chocolate milk bottle on the steps. He shook his head and went back through the hole there.
Woo… Intermission.
(Ding) Now continuing with your program.
Henry got the key and went back to the hole.
WOO…Intermission.
(Ding) Now continuing with your program.
"Jasper, get off your ass; the moment of truth is here." Henry was standing over him, dangling the key in the other guy's face. Jasper stood up and gaped. Henry nodded and slid the key into the keyhole(:3). "My weed awaits…!" he exclaimed victoriously while swinging the door open. He looked inside with disbelief. The whole place was empty, aside from some overturned tables and chairs. He and Jasper walked inside and the brunet ground his teeth. "Where is it, you said the weed was in here!"
From the small stairway the beanie ghost floated down to the foyer, a few bags of grass in its arms. Henry saw him and gasped. "You! Let go of my weed! Give it to me!" The beanie ghost cackled and then phased through the wall with the weed in its possession. "No, it's not fair!" Henry screamed. "I fought for it, damn it! I fought for it!" He slumped to the floor near the window. Jasper ambled around the room and Henry slowly crawled for the stairway. "He might not have taken it all… I have to hope…" But it was a false hope, for the locks for all the doors were broken and he could not open any of them.
"This is all your fault, Jasper!" Henry shouted as he stomped down the stairs and rounded the corner of the wall. "If you had bothered to help we could've gotten here before he did! Damn it! The weed was in my grasp, just like before! Why must I be impeded by incompetents?" As Henry was fuming he saw a scrap of paper on the floor near a derelict altar that had fallen over. "Another damn memo…"
The Second Sign, and God said:
"Take thy Sock and bless it with the blood of thee ten virgins,
Secede thy life for thy Sock and surrender thy mortality,
For thy Sock shall open up thee way to Paradise."
"…That made no sense," Henry said, and he ripped the scrap up. "Useless." He turned to the only door left unexplored and saw smoke streaming out from the cracks. On the door was a lime-colored plaque. "Hey, this is like the other one," Henry said as he removed it from the door. This one's depiction was much too messy to make out—like the one before—and Henry read the title: PROCRASTINATOR
"Whatever." Henry put the plaque in his pants and reached for the doorknob. He heard a series of painful screams from inside and his brow went up. "Jasper, what the hell are you doing in there, you freak?" He entered the room.
The first thing he saw was Jasper aflame; he was shaking violently as the fire consumed him. Henry sighed in disgust at the sight of the candle in his hand. "How sick can you get, man? First that Wally kid, then the milk, and now the candle? Get a old of yourself."
Jasper laughed and laughed as he continued to burn. "I SAW HIM! I SAW HIM! THE DEVIL! THE ONE WITH THE SOCK, THE ONE THE NOSY GUY WAS TALKING ABOUT!"
"Shut up already!" Henry yelled at him. "You deserve this! You want me to help, huh? What happened to my needs? What happened to my weed? Why should I help you when you didn't help me?"
Jasper just kept on dancing wildly and Henry saw something carved in his chest: 1721. Henry ignored that and spat at him. "Did you forget to stop, drop, and roll, Jasper? Did you? You stupid freak!" Jasper finally stopped and fell on his knees, the fire spreading out to the floor. Henry flicked him off. "I never liked your damned sneakers, anyway!"
Henry suddenly felt lightheaded and drowsy, and the world began to lose focus. "You… stupid freak…" he murmured one last time before blacking out.
Woo… Intermission.
(Ding) Now continuing with your program.
Henry woke up with a horrible headache. It felt like a hangover. "Damn it…" he mumbled. "…Shouldn't have drunken all that wine before." He heard the radio from the living room and groaned as he sat up.
"The body of a thirty-year-old-male was discovered today in the forest near Silent Hill. The victim was identified as a Mr. Jasper Gein. Police have ruled his death a homicide, and the details of his death were eerily similar to that of the Walter… Walter… Walter something murders some years back. Authorities are investigating. Have a nice day!"
"Go screw yourself," Henry said and he shuffled into the den. Another red note was underneath the door, and the television set was blaring static. "The hell…?" Henry groaned as he screwed his eyes up. He turned the television off and went for the red note…
To be continued…