Chapter 2: SIMPLE LITTLE TOWN
Silent Hill. I can only vaguely recall the last time I heard about the place. It's a picturesque, tightly-knit community where everybody knows everyone. A place full of friendly faces and a few attractions such as Taluca Lake, Lakeside Amusement Park, and some hotels and restaurants. Either I made that blurb up or it was in some brochure I read a long time ago--I'm not sure. The fact is it's a boring sprawl of a town with nothing interesting to do, but it keeps on with the charade that it's a resort community so it can net some dumbass yuppies into helping with the local economy.
Or at least that's my take on what I remember from the town. Silent Hill is the closest town to Brahms, but I've only been to Silent Hill twice in my life. The first time was when I was a little kid, barely 13, going to a trip there with my aunt and uncle because my parents didn't want to deal with me for a while. We stayed at a cheap little hotel that faced parallel on the opposite side of the lake with the big, expensive hotel. The first day they took me to the amusement park. It was an old park, with only a few rides scattered around the grounds.
It had a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and a broken-down carousel. The rest of the park consisted of over-priced hot dog and cotton candy stands and a "guess your weight" stand. I spent the rest of the vacation at the lake. It stretched far and wide into the horizon, the other hotel on the opposite side of us looking like a dot. While there were times I'd simply sit on the dock and watch the sun set, I was mostly swimming. It was a natural, salty lake where you could fish and nearly drown trying to reach the bottom of the lake.
Then I remember, on the last day of the trip, when I was swimming and my uncle came alongside me in a paddleboat. He chuckled and told me something about watching out for the monster at the bottom of the lake. Asshole. It's stupid things like that, that people say to you as a kid that rattles you. Of course there's no monster in the lake, but when you're swimming in there and can't see anything, your imagination starts to take over.
A fish darts by, a twig snags you, or your legs brush by seaweed. Then you think there's some shapeless thing swimming around you just waiting to drag you down for no reason at all. Strange memories come back to me as I shake my head and try to walk into the town without falling on my ass. The feeling's a tad familiar, like being drunk but not being inebriated enough to where you can't feel the pounding in your skull. The second trip to Silent Hill wasn't as joyful, and speaking of which, was relatively recent.
It was maybe two years ago and it started when I went to a bar in Brahms that I'd never been to before. It was a little more upscale than my normal hangout, a place playing poppy music and where everyone's eyes are either glued on the plasma screen playing NASCAR or ogling college girls. You know the place, right in the center of town instead of down an alleyway. I ordered some fruity drink that I can't identify with a decorative plastic sword sticking out of it and it tastes more like a strawberry than a stiff drink.
I order a no-name brand bottle of whiskey and get to work on killing my brain cells. My limit is usually six shots, but today I was in a shitty mood and felt like pushing it. The alcohol works its way into my system fast and I feel like either screwing or fighting. I turn to the nearest thing in a skirt and long hair.
"Heyy--" I slur the words and almost fall off my stool.
"I'm with somebody." She cuts me off even before I finish the sentence. She's a plain looking woman with a ponytail of black hair.
"No need to get…uh, rude. I was just wondering if--"
"Look, I'm sure you're a nice guy but…"
"I'm not fuckin' finished. I was just wonderin', if you were wonderin' and. Lemme see…" I take a moment to glance at my hands and see that I'm still pouring shots and drinking between sentences. The glass overflows with the clear drink and I spill it on my pants. Some frat type with a backwards hat walks up to us and the two leave.
"I said, hey, about that thing?" I stand up and it takes a little effort to keep my legs balanced.
"Piss off." the guy says, walking away holding his woman. I take a moment to think of something clever back.
"Hey, I got a bunch of photos of your mother naked fucking my dog in the trunk of my car, wanna see 'em?"
To be fair, that's not exactly true. I didn't drive my car, I walked. The guy turns around and gets right into my face. I stumble back and put my fists up wobbling from side to side. My strategy is to make myself look drunker than I am. Right now I'm only relatively buzzed. He glances back at his girlfriend who shoots back a scolding look and a sigh. He walks out, muttering something about cooler heads prevailing. I watch the two of them walk across the street to another bar. Silly bastards didn't give me any satisfaction at all.
Something on the next stool catches my eye and I pick it up. It's a pair of car keys and I put two and two together with the parked car that has a college sticker on its side. I didn't have to take the car, I think to myself as I speed down the highway out of Brahms, but it felt like the most logical progression of the night's festivities. I dumped the car into a ravine thirty miles away from Silent Hill and just took a bus there. I only spent two days bumming around the place.
Those two days are just a haze to me, I can only remember one thing that happened there. I was walking in the park and come on some grungy homeless man with no teeth and only one arm. He pulled a thick book out of his ratty, black trench coat and held it up high over his head as he shouted to those passing by.
"You may take pity on me because of my disheveled state, you may ignore me because of the things I say, and you may even fear me…but I say unto you all to heed my words and listen closely!" he smacks his lips and gulps, continuing on with the tirade.
"I am an evangelist, sent to tell you all of the new doctrine. The new bible. Believe me because I have seen it, the dark world you can only imagine in your dreams. I have lived through it, and I have been chosen to spread the word! And the mark. The mark of the new god, your new messiah. The days of Jehovah are coming to an end and I beg you all--believe in the new word and tell the rest of the world and you will be saved. A path to paradise will open unto the masses."
A cop talks to the man in a soothing voice, but he keeps yelling at everyone in the park. The cop grunts and yanks him by the arm, practically dragging him by the ground as he keeps preaching. The bum's eyes shift to me and his voice goes into a low pitch, barely audible.
"You know what I saying. You are…one. Like me…" His eyes roll up into his heads and he starts convulsing. The cop props him on the ground and starts yelling at people to get medical help. I just stand and watch as foam froths from his mouth and his life leaves him. I'm still watching as he's taken away in a body bag. I think I remember seeing him on one of those missing cards. These are things I haven't thought about in a long time, and random thoughts just come to my head as I make my way through the foggy street.
Silent Hill. It's just like any other small time town in America. There's really nothing to see that you haven't seen before.