Silent Hill: Resonance
Chapter 2: City Hall
Cru-un-nch . . . Crun . . ch.
I turned the map in my hands slowly, eyes glancing between the paper and what looked to be the Cielo, the street to City Hall. There was no sign in sight, no notification that the tall building in front of me was indeed the city hall, but once I saw the black law enforcement vehicles, both FBI and Maine State Police, all crowded in front in a large heap, I knew I was in the right spot. You'd think these guys would know how to park properly… their cars were parked wildly in the streets, up on the sidewalk and plaza. There was no rhyme or reason, no uniformity, and no sign of people and I hated the fact that this was becoming the new normal. Remembering the road's vanishing act and the sudden spell of solitude, I gulped. Hopefully, hopefully, I had just been seeing things… hopefully, I could find someone to get me the hell out of here. But everything in my body was screaming at me otherwise.
Pocketing the map into my satchel, I worked out the alibi in my head. I couldn't be too careful, after all, Bennett had tried to arrest me on the spot, "Okay…" I drew in a breath releasing condensation as I sighed, "My car was stuck outside of town, and I came in to get some help. I ran into Agent Bennett. He was going to help me with my car, but we got separated." No need to mention the broken road and how no one was at the barricade when I had come back from the back road. Hopefully, Bennett got there before me and already explained … they'd probably arrest him too if he told them the truth, who could possibly believe that? I tried to shove those negatives thoughts away.
The town plaza in front of City Hall was wide and expansive, with tiles of different shapes and colors covering the ground in a myriad of colors. I walked along the edge of it, eying the cluster of various reds and blues with a hesitant gaze. I half expected the plaza ground to vanish like the road too. Maybe it was the brightness of the tiles, how out of place they looked, or perhaps it was the unease that had settled in my stomach right when the road had disappeared. However, trying to push that all down to the lowest pit of my stomach, I attempted to admire the large tiles and colors.
I stumbled against large, wide stone steps leading up to City Hall, but as I ascended, my gaze still lingered. I didn't want to get my hopes up, remembering Murphy's Quantum Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Especially in this town. I understand that the place is on lockdown, but why aren't there any lights on in the buildings? Hell, why aren't the streetlights or traffic lights on? Why aren't their police or FBI cruisers patrolling the streets? Where were the people of Silent Hill? But I didn't have time to mull over it all once I reached the top of the stairs. Looming, solid oak doors stared down at me, their eerie façade making me throat dry as I slowly ran my hands against the heavy oak and the countless carvings and impressions, I pushed the door open. Again, I greeted with that thick and heavy atmosphere and a sense of foreboding.
Walking into the lobby, my face twisted in disgust. The discomfort wasn't from the carpet, a deep dark red, or the large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, or the shelves of books decorating the walls, but it was the thick layer of dust that coated everything. It even coated the air, making me feel suffocated as I shuffled against the floor. I walked further on, my feet leaving noticeable footprints across the dusty carpet. I coughed liberally into the sleeve of my jacket. You think City Hall would've put their best foot forward. Of course, there was no one. This was beginning to be… concerning. No FBI presence was in this building...
"What the hell is going on here?" I asked myself.
"Nothing at all. And that's the problem." Came a voice behind me.
I spun around at the sudden voice, almost bumping into the speaker in the process. The owner of the voice—a man—was tall, not too tall, and he was dressed in a black blazer with a dark blue buttoned up shirt and jeans. An expensive looking black and gold watch with chrome trimmings sat comfortably on his left wrist. He had brown skin and equally brown eyes with perfectly combed hair and a five o' clock shadow as black as the night.
"Oh. I-I'm sorry," I apologized, "I didn't think anyone else was in here." Although, I'm not complaining. The sudden solitude left by Bennett had left an awful taste in my mouth, to say I was more than happy to see another face was an understatement.
The man merely nodded, brown eyes never truly meeting mine as he mindlessly flipped through a book that I hadn't noticed before in his hand, then promptly shut it and threw it on a desk not too far from us. It skidded across the barren surface with a hollow thud, sending a thick wave of dust to twist in the air. Straightening his collar arrogantly, his eyes met mine in an almost unspoken agreement.
"Lemme guess," he began, "You came here looking for someone, anyone! Hopefully a big, strong officer to protect you? Am I right?"
He spoke arrogantly and condescending with a deep voice, but I ignored it, "Uh…yeah. I thought the FBI set up a base of operations here. Do you know anything about that?"
"They were supposed to, but they didn't. Changed their mind. Our tax dollars at work, am I right? But I do happen to know where their new base is…" He pointed his index finger at me.
I was perplexed for a moment. Agent Bennett said for a fact that their base was at City Hall… but this man was saying different. Maybe they did change their base, and didn't tell Bennett? After all, his radio was out. It was a possibility, though a small one. I had no choice but to accept his words as truth, "All right. Well, can you tell me where their new base is then? I need to get home as soon as possible."
He chuckled, "Where are you from?"
"Brahms." I answered uncertainly, "I'm from Brahms."
"So… you're not from here, from Silent Hill? Any family here?"
I shook my head, "No. I'm from Florida originally."
"Good. That's a start… I need someone who's not from here. I need someone I can trust,"
Okay, that was odd. Someone who's not from here? "You only trust strangers?" I asked with no thought, scoffing as I finished the sentence.
He looked at me for a moment before turning on his heel, "I'll tell you where the new base is… but what do I get out of it?" Pausing at the door, he glanced over a shoulder.
The hell? How could someone threaten to withhold information in a time like this? "What do you mean, 'What do I get out of it?'" Anger colored my voice, but it only seemed to bring a smile across his face.
He turned towards me, his eyes wide, "Since I was a little boy, I wanted to be a venture capitalist. And venture capitalism requires a give and take. I give you something, capital, and you give me something in return, equity or interest on my loan, whatever."
"So I give you something. And in return, you give me the location of the new base? Okay, I'll play along for the moment, what do you want from me?"
Dodging the questions once more, "Exactly! You're smarter than you look! Walk with me!" Without another word, he pushed open and left the dusty confines of City Hall. I bit my lip, considering my options. I hadn't seen or heard from Bennett since the road… accident? To top it off, this guy was an asshole. For all I knew, he was some crazy serial killer, but since the FBI agent, he was the only other person I'd met in a town that seems devoid of life. With an exasperated sigh and a sense of desperation, I chased after him.
Leaving City Hall, I caught up to him at the bottom of the steps. He walked briskly, forcing me to match his pace, in silence, a lack of sound that I was beginning to detest, "Where are we going?" I asked.
"Alchemilla. You probably saw it on the way here. It's the hospital that's undergoing construction. They're adding some additional rooms and such."
"Right, the hospital?"
"Mmm-hmm."
I took out my map and looked for the hospital. It was on Koontz Street and we were just turning onto Crichton. All the while, stillness remained. It drove me up a wall so I took a breath and said, "So… What's your name?"
"Names are for friends… But since you asked, I'm Aaron, Aaron Anibal Trinidad." He pronounced his last name with a perfect Spanish accent, "Really, my full name is Aaron Anibal Rodrigo Trinidad Martinez. But that sounds too wetback, soooo…"
I coughed awkwardly at that, "Well… I'm Jake. Jake Ryan."
"I didn't ask."
I bit my tongue. I had to resist not saying anything I would instantly regret. I tried to take my mind off it by changing the topic, "So, Aaron. Do you know what happened here?"
"It was like this when I woke up this morning. I remember the sirens all throughout the night, but I honestly thought I was just dreaming. I awoke in an empty house, my parents are off in Moscow and I was home alone. But then I got ready for school and no one was around."
"You got ready for school? Like what? College?"
"Err… no. High School."
"How old are you?" I asked in surprise, when I saw him, I honestly thought that he was maybe nineteen or twenty.
"Seventeen."
"O-Oh." I said, trying to contain my honest surprise.
"I know, I look older, but I assure you, I am seventeen."
I cleared my throat and tried to look at him without looking weird. He really could have passed for older, the kid practically had a beard, "So… you live in Silent Hill? What's it like normally."
"Honestly, it's really quiet. Hence, Silent Hill. Most of the little stores and shops are closed until the summer season when the town is absolutely packed. That's how the town makes money."
"And the drug trade?"
He staggered in his stride, eyes cutting to me, "What drug trade?"
I almost stopped, eyebrows scrunching together, "The… PTV trade. That's why the FBI and state police are here. The mayor and everyone in town was in on it?" Had Bennett lied? Was I going crazy?
"I have no idea what you're talkin-Hahaha!" He instantly burst into laughter, "I'm sorry, that was too funny! I couldn't hold it in! You should have seen your face! Yeah, the PTV trade! That's the real reason Silent Hill gets its money! You see, it used to be on the down low. Everyone kept real quiet about it. Then some idiots began to mass distribute that crap all over the upper eastern seaboard. Then came all the bad media. Oh my God! FOX and CNN and all of them were having a field day.
"Bad media?"
"Oh yeah! Those ten kids from Pleasant River University? All of them overdosed on PTV, but before they did, they stripped naked and ran all over town and stabbed four people. That's what PTV does to you, Scrambles up your brain like eggs! And that drug bust down in New York, a moving truck full of PTV caught by the DEA! Then the town economy tanks. We're scraping by, but barely. In all honesty, the townspeople thought the curse was coming back."
"'Curse'?"
"Oh yeah! You see… way back when Silent Hill wasn't Silent Hill, it was acres and acres of farmland and mines. It was all owned by the Gall…Gip…Gill…Gipsey family? Something like that. And the townspeople used to believe in… You know what? Skip the history lesson! A bunch of bad stuff happened like the sinking of the Little Baroness and people thought the town was cursed. And then the curse went away, and then a bunch of bad stuff started happening again with the train crash in the Devil's Pit where those kids died and now this! And they thought the curse came back. But there's no such thing as a curse! Now, there is such a thing as stupidity."
Aaron yammered on until we stopped in front of a metal barred gate in front of the hospital. Although the fog still loomed, I could still see enough to see a cluster of various construction machines and materials near the front of the building. Yet my eyes were drawn to the gate's padlock and thick chains, "Ah, gate is locked. Damn," I turned away, "oh well, let's go around the back to see if may-"
A loud, metallic ping! filled my ears and left them ringing. I spun around to see the chains on the floor and Aaron holding a pistol in his hands, "What the hell? What are you doing with a gun! You're seventeen! Where the hell-Give it to me!"
I was angrier that he scared the crap out of me more than anything. It was bad enough he was seventeen-year-old ass, but an ass with a gun? Hell no. I stormed up to snatch the gun away, but I stopped when he pointed the barrel at my chest. I stared, unease from before turning into something akin to fear, "No." His voice was darker than before, "Now step away before I pull the fucking trigger."
I gulped and did as he said. Only when I had retreated a good few steps away did he put the gun in the back of his jeans. "Don't worry. I'm trained. Trust me… You're just angry because even though I'm seventeen, my gun is bigger than yours. In fact, do you even have a gun?"
I stood there in silence as he laughed again, "Of course not… All you have is that little pipe of yours."
It was only then I realized I was still holding that same rusty lead pipe from earlier, "Oh… I-I just found it."
"What were you doing? Clubbing baby seals?"
He opened the gate and walked in the small courtyard. I followed reluctantly, feeling like some obedient dog, in complete shame in the fact that someone so much younger than me degraded me in such a way. Then again, I had no choice. Without him, I was lost. Gun or not… I needed to get back home.
Walking into the lobby of the hospital through slow, creaking, glass doors, I felt my whole body twist in on itself as that exact same pressure met me head-on. Aaron looked around the dingy little entrance that was littered with an equal amount of dust as City Hall, scattered plastic chairs, and a floor covered in wet and unreadable paper, "Sit here." Was all he said as he walked around the corner and out of view.
Again, I did as I was told. Like the dog I was.
