I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.


CHAPTER 03 – A DISAPPEARANCE IN SILENT HILL

Two months had passed since James Wheeler started at Brahms police force. Within this time frame, the remaining officers on vacation had returned, being properly introduced to the newbie as well. So far, he seemed to get along nicely with them... or at least most of them.

A certain Officer Stone, who happened to be the deputy and second-in-command there, appeared to have taken a dislike to him, to the point of not even acknowledging the rookie's presence whenever he greeted or talked to him. Wheeler, at first, wondered what he'd done to have pissed the older cop off, but only when Cybil revealed that Stone came from a very religious and conservative family in Silent Hill and probably held some sort of repressed racism, that he finally understood. In fact, it even explained how someone like him had managed to achieve the position of deputy there (namely 'influential parents'). Anyway, Wheeler knew that there was nothing he could do about it: he couldn't change his skin color and racists wouldn't be convinced otherwise, thus, as long as Stone didn't discriminate him openly, they would have to live on with that.

It wasn't one man's prejudice that was going to keep him from fulfilling his duties as a law enforcer.

Currently it was late in the night and the police station was almost deserted, save for the few officers doing the night shift. Included in the party was Wheeler, who, having just arrived, stopped first at the station's kitchen for a good cup of freshly brewed coffee. Clearly he wasn't fully awake, an expected side-effect of staying up late. As a consequence, he didn't notice the person walking up to him.

"Hey there, Jimbo!" the person called out.

Whirling around, a bit startled by the sudden call (who wouldn't, being inside a nearly empty police station at night?), he recognized his teammate, Mayberry.

"Mayberry," he greeted back. "Got the owl shift too, I see."

"Yeah," Mayberry answered, heading to the machine for some coffee as well. His tone of voice indicated he wasn't too happy with the night shift. "The boss said he needed more people pulling all-nighters and we, newcomers, are usually thrown at it."

Wheeler nodded in agreement, preferring not to make any comments. After all, he had been in the job for only two months and acting whiny so soon wouldn't look professional. It couldn't be helped anyway, the sheriff himself had said that they were understaffed. Someone had to do the job. Plus, his colleague's statement made Wheeler remember that him and Mayberry were the newest ones around compared to the other members. Mayberry had been admitted three years back to replace Robert upon his imminent retirement, nonetheless he was still included in the 'rookies' category.

"Is anyone else in the shift?" Wheeler asked, matter-of-fact.

"Officer Bennett is." The other dully responded, as he finished filling his cup up.

"Bennett?" the dark-skinned man repeated, surprised. "I thought she had the morning shift."

"She volunteered for this one too," the curly-haired officer replied. "She said something about this time around being the most likely for offenses to happen."

"And where is she now? Haven't seen her since I arrived."

"On her way to Silent Hill. Apparently, the communication with the local police is down and she went there to take a look," he said, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. "I offered to go with her, but the station couldn't be left unwatched, so she told me to stay."

Inwardly, Wheeler couldn't help but admire the policewoman for her helpful attitude. Despite the young age (she was 28, only two years older than him), Cybil was one of the most, if not the most, devoted officers in Brahms. Her six years of dutiful service in the Brahms police proved that. Plus, notwithstanding the fact she had already done her assigned shift, she was still willing to work overnight just to keep the population safer. No wonder the team held her in such high esteem.

"If you had arrived a tad earlier, one of us could have gone with her. Silent Hill isn't as safe as it used to be." Mayberry continued.

"Why? Is it because of that time with the DEA?"

"That too," the other cop tilted his head. "It's, of course, a sore spot for us, but not what I meant. It's because of what happened two years ago."

Seeing the baffled expression on his colleague's face, Mayberry concluded he hadn't learned of it yet. Well, not that Cybil would be bragging out loud about it, as the woman herself was very discrete regarding her accomplishments.

"Two years ago," he begun telling, bitterly. "Some maniac kidnapped a boy here in Brahms, then drove all the way to Silent Hill and threw the poor kid down an old mine pit." He paused for another sip. "Bennett was the first to find him, but the boy was in such condition, hurt and famished after days, that many thought he wouldn't make it. Nevertheless, she didn't give up on him. She stayed with him for three whole days, keeping him warm and supporting him emotionally, before help arrived and rescued them. She's been considered a heroine ever since."

Wheeler was aware that unpleasant events were a part of any policeman's job. Dealing with death, hazards, blood, atrocities... it came with the line of work. However, that story suddenly changed many of the concepts in his mind. In Cybil's stead, most officers would have just followed standard protocol: they would call for help the moment they found the boy and just leave it like that. Very unlikely anyone else would have risked themselves by climbing down the pit and staying with the boy to make sure he was okay. And if the child died in the meantime, they would simply claim they did everything in reach for the victim and soon enough the subject would be forgotten. After all, people died everyday and the public opinion would quickly find another thing to worry about.

But that was not what Cybil did. No, she went a lot further than the job required; that kid's life mattered more than her own in her opinion. What she did, actually, showed that the policewoman wasn't a simple-minded public servant, who only acted up to impress the higher-ups and push for promotions, as he frequently had pictured prior to his admittance in the police. Her actions spoke of genuine concern for the population, of commitment to the 'serve and protect' motto. In short, that story made his respect for the policewoman go up a notch.

"By the way, what do you think of Officer Bennett, Jimbo?" Mayberry abruptly asked, with a sly smirk on his face. "I've noticed you been talking a lot to her recently, more than with any other officer here."

Drawn out of his musings, that question caught the rookie off-guard. What the hell was he implying with it? He couldn't possibly be thinking...

"What are you saying, dude? She has been just teaching me stuff about the work, nothing more." He answered, hiding the mild indignation he felt for Mayberry's assumption.

The smirk didn't vanish from his colleague's lips though. "Come on, you don't have to be ashamed. Bennett is quite gorgeous, don't you think?" he paused for the last sip of coffee. "Still, let me warn you, pal: she may be nice, but she's not interested in men. Some of us have already tried, myself included, and to no avail. She's much of a lone wolf, if you ask me."

"Gee, thanks for the advice." The newbie answered with a sharp tinge of sarcasm. Officer Bennett was beautiful, yes. She had a friendly personality, yes. She was worthy of admiration, yes. Even so, Wheeler certainly wasn't looking for a relationship with her. Honestly, he always considered kind of foolish to be romantically involved with a co-worker, as it usually ended up in a complicated (and distressful) overlap of personal and professional issues.

And, just for the record, he considered scolding Mayberry that if he kept acting like that, he wouldn't be taken out of the 'rookies' list anytime soon. Wheeler decided against it in the end; his colleague was probably only playing a childish taunt on him.

Anyway, Wheeler had an idea of why the blond woman was so focused on her job. Adding to the previous story, there was also another that Sheriff Gucci himself had told him a few weeks back. He had learned it however, under the condition that he'd never comment it with Bennett, as it was a rather sensitive subject. This one had been about the reason she had joined the police in first place.

According to the chief, Cybil had been orphaned at a very tender age, her parents being shot in cold blood by a thief who had broken into her home. She was hiding inside the closet at her parents' room while the ordeal took place, her still innocent eyes witnessing through the entire vicious act. Thomas, who was a rookie cop at the time, had been part of the team that investigated the murder scene in the next day, and the first to find her. The poor girl was still into said furniture, mute and curled up into a tiny ball, so tense and traumatized that she was barely breathing. The paramedics had diagnosed it as PTSD and, as a result, she had spent the following three months in the psychiatry ward of a hospital. Finally recovered, she had been raised by family relatives and, to a certain degree, by Officer Gucci himself, who acted as mentor to the young girl. In fact, it had been through him that Cybil, by the time she had reached legal age, was admitted into the police academy and Brahms police afterwards. Thomas still remembered her words when he had questioned her decision of becoming a cop: 'I want to be a police officer. This way, I'll make sure no child will have to go through what I did.'

Words full of unbending resolve, carving into stone what would be her life mission.

'Lone wolf, huh?' Wheeler pondered. 'Can't blame her for being so into her job anyway.' For an instant, he felt a little ashamed of his own motives. He had joined the force, of course, in order to help and protect society like everyone else. However, he had to admit that the job's benefits and social status also played a large role in his choice. Not that these things didn't matter, but now his reasons seemed so lame compared to hers. His parents hadn't been killed (and he was thankful for that), therefore he didn't quite understand how it was like to go through that kind of situation, nor the feelings that motivated her, for that matter.

Yet, he hoped one day to have the same drive as his female co-worker.

Suddenly, the phone on Mayberry's desk rang, startling them both (again, the station was very silent due to the hour) and interrupting their chat. The desk's owner walked up to and took it.

"Brahms Police Department," he answered, in an attempt to look professional. A voice spoke on the other side of line, to which Mayberry quickly recognized. "Hey, Robert. What's up?"

It was Officer Tower, Wheeler identified. That man was supposed to be comfortably sleeping in his bed, beside his wife, just dreaming on his nearby retirement. Why would he be calling at this time?

That question was rapidly answered as Mayberry displayed a shocked expression on his face. "WHAT?" he asked out loud. "Are you sure about it, man?"

Faded the initial shock, the rookie was now starting to feel afflicted. What could have been said that left his colleague in such a state? The talk proceeded on for another handful of uneasy instants.

"All right, I'll tell the others," Mayberry finished, before hanging up the phone. He turned to Wheeler, who was bearing a very apprehensive face by now. "The boss was found dead in his house just a few hours ago. They say it was murder."

A deathly silence followed the cop's words. The announcement had been so alarming that Wheeler needed a pair of seconds to sort out his mind and speak coherently. "You're kidding, right?"

Unfortunately, the reply came in the form of a shake of head. "Wish I was. Robert confirmed to have seen the sheriff's body himself."

Shock gave in place to dread. That was it. Two months in the force and Wheeler was already experiencing his first major incident. "Do they know who did this?" he asked, now with a noticeable trace of fear in his voice.

"Not sure," Mayberry stated, feeling uneasy himself. "But Robert suspects it was the drug dealers. Many officers have been receiving threats lately."

In the end, Wheeler's suspicions had been right. The criminal organization they were facing was indeed more powerful than they first deemed. Assassinating the head of police in Brahms was no trivial issue, and if those thugs had managed to kill the sheriff, what to say about any other officer?

"Anyway," Mayberry continued, once again cutting off his musings. "We have to call Bennett back and tell her of it. It's not safe to be riding off alone now."

Wheeler couldn't agree more with his colleague and both of them headed to the station's radio. The dark-skinned cop still hadn't learned how to operate the device yet (it was something Cybil had promised to teach him later), so he let the other policeman do it. He pushed on a few buttons and adjusted the communication frequency before speaking on the microphone.

"Base to Officer Bennett... Base to Officer Bennett... Bennett, do you copy?" he repeated over and over, hoping to hear his teammate's voice.

Several anxious minutes passed, only static sound meeting their ears. Things were becoming truly worrisome. First, Sheriff Gucci was found dead. Next, they lost contact with another member. And in Silent Hill, of all the places. That location wasn't so far that radio communication would suffer that much interference. Thus, either her radio was off or broken (and they knew neither was the case, since Cybil, as the dutiful officer she was, always kept her equipment on and in good maintenance), or... something happened.

Suffice to say, uneasiness only increased among them. They couldn't avoid thinking it was too much of coincidental the chief being killed and Cybil going unreachable simultaneously. Deep in their minds, lurked the terrifying possibility that whoever was behind one, was responsible for the other as well. If a manhunt was going on, it wasn't the time to lose track of their team. They needed to act, and swiftly, before it got out of control.

"Jimbo, get the guns ready in the cars," Mayberry ordered. In normal circumstances, he didn't have the authority to issue orders, even to a rookie like Wheeler. However, since it was an emergency and he was the oldest officer around, for once he would have to act professional and take matters in hand. "I'll call up the others and tell them a situation's arisen. As soon as they arrive, we'll all search for Bennett together."

Feeling the sturdiness on his co-worker's words, Officer Wheeler nodded and immediately headed to the armory to prepare for the mission.


PTSD = Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

In SH comics "Past Life", a certain Reverend Stone is mentioned, which leads to think that the Order's priest Jimmy Stone (from SH4) hails from a very old family in Silent Hill. The 'Officer Stone' in this fic may be just considered another descendant of that family.

Cybil's past had inspiration from both the SH movie and the game.