Chapter 3: Joseph
April 1992
It had been over half a year since Ernest had fled the museum. Curiosity had brought him close to returning, but he could not forget what he had seen there. His fear would return, and all thoughts of entering the museum again were banished from Ernest's mind. He kept the bronze key in his office at the hospital, and he would often turn it over in his hands when he was alone there.
Ernest had largely kept to his routine since the incident, reviewing paperwork at the hospital, then withdrawing at home after his work was finished. He still planned to investigate the resurrection ritual Finch's book had spoken of, but his fear of what lay in the society kept him from returning there to research. He felt it was best to leave it alone until he found an alternative.
His routine continued until, one warm spring afternoon, the files of the new patients crossed his desk. Ernest's signature was required to approve admittance, but he had gotten into the habit of skimming the documents and then signing them. This time, however, a specific patient caught his attention.
Joseph Barkin His illness seems to be rooted in the fact that he believes he is guilty of causing his daughter's death. His symptoms suggest a psychotic break and paranoid delusions. Normally calm, but has a tendency towards violence when excited.
Ernest read the first sentence again.
He believes he is a guilty of causing his daughter's death
The file went on to describe how Barkin's daughter Louise had died in a boating accident on Toluca Lake about a month previously. The girl had slipped and fallen into the water. Her father tried to catch her, but all he had caught were a few hairs, which had gotten snagged on his wedding band. Barkin had gradually withdrawn from his life, spending most of his time in Louise's room, looking at her hair, which he had kept in a box. Things came to a head one day when he sat down at the breakfast table and held a long conversation with his daughter as if she were in the room with him. Mrs. Barkin tried to snap her husband out of it, but he attacked her, almost killing her.
Ernest went through the rest of the paperwork more quickly than usual. He had to meet this man. For the first time in years, Ernest Baldwin was going to personally interview a patient.
***
"My Louise, she didn't die."
Joseph Barkin was a tall man, with dark hair and glasses. There was nothing distinctive about his face, but his expression was unlike anything that Ernest had seen in his long years at the hospital. He looked as if he were totally at peace with himself and the world. Joseph sat on his bed, holding his box in his hands. They were in Joseph's room on the third floor, S14.
"Then what happened to her, that day on the lake, Joseph? Where is Louise now?"
Joseph turned to look out the window. "She was taken, Dr. Taken to the land of fog. Taken to the otherside."
Ernest's hand squeezed the key in his pocket. The land of fog. Where he had gone in his dreams repeatedly.
"And you have seen her there?"
Joseph looked back at Ernest.
"Yes. I tried to follow her the first time, but I couldn't. Only I can see her there, but I can't go with her when she leaves."
Joseph began to cry silently.
As Ernest got up to go, a sharp pain sent shock waves through his head. The bronze key dropped to the floor as he brought his hands to his hand. It only lasted for an instant, but Ernest could have sworn he saw a little girl in damp clothes with ashen skin sitting next to Joseph on the bed. Ernest blinked, and the scene returned to normal. The otherside. He had to know more. He left Joseph's room, his mind contemplating this new development.
***
As the weeks went by, Ernest kept a close watch over Joseph's progress. He had worked with tools in his normal life, and Ernest discovered it had a calming effect on him. Because of this, he had allowed Joseph to keep a few tools in his room. Joseph had been kept under observation of course, sometimes by Ernest himself. It was at such a time that Ernest saw him construct a box. It was much smaller than the one he kept his daughter's hairs in, and was designed to be sealed shut with nuts and bolts.
Ernest made a search of Joseph's possessions while he was in the day room, and brought a wrench specifically to open the new box He was shocked by what he found there. Within the box was the museum key, which he must have dropped when he first interviewed Joseph. Ernest wanted to take the key back, but didn't. He somehow knew implicitly the key would be safer with Joseph than himself.
***
June eventually came to Silent Hill, and spring mellowed into summer. A day trip was arranged for the well behaved patients to Rosewater Park, to give some time outside of the hospital walls. Joseph was allowed to go with, and Ernest went to keep on an eye on him. He had seen that Joseph was bringing the box with him, and wanted to know what he had in mind.
The park wasn't particularly large, but on clear day, there was no more beautiful place in town. The hedges and flowers spoke of natural beauty, but the best part was the lake, especially when it reflected the setting sun. Joseph, however, was more interested in the statues at the park's interior. One commemorated the local civil war hero Patrick Chester. The other statue was more obscure. It depicted a woman from the previous century named Jennifer Carrol. There had been a religious dispute between zealous Christians and a local religion, only remembered through rumor. Carrol had belonged to the local group, and had been executed by the Christians because of it.
Joseph seemed most attracted to this second statue, but Ernest had no idea as to why. He watched Joseph move around behind the statue, box in hand. Ernest followed him, and saw him digging with his hands in the ground. Joseph was muttering to himself.
"Yes, the good lady will protect it."
Ernest watched as Joseph made a small hole, placed the box in it, and replaced the dirt over it. Joseph turned to look at him.
"Dr. Baldwin, I'm finished here. Can we go back to the lake now?"
They went back with the rest of the group, but they never spoke of what had happened at Carrol's statue.
***
Ernest continued his attempts to understand Joseph's "otherside" experiences. He knew that it was somehow connected to his dreams and the thing at the historical society, but he couldn't quite pinpoint it. Joseph could see Louise when others couldn't, that much was clear. It also seemed apparent that he couldn't touch her, or go with her when the otherside receded. But what did that mean? Were Joseph's otherside, the foggy dreamscape, and the altered museum somehow the same place? That had to be it.
While contemplating the idea during one of his sleepless nights, Ernest remembered a passage from Lost Memories: the natives who had lived on the land that later became Silent Hill had called it the "place of silenced spirits." Could it be? Was he living on sacred ground where the dead could speak to the living? Something didn't fit. Ernest had no idea how something like that could work. Why had his daughter's spirit filled him with such fear, if she only wanted to talk to him? Why was Joseph not afraid?
Joseph had no more information, that was perfectly clear. Although Ernest was convinced Joseph's visions were real, he had become completely disconnected, and his psychosis kept him from being able to answer anything more clearly. In fact, since the trip to the park, Joseph had become even more withdrawn, and hardly even spoke now. He kept a diary, but his writing became increasingly nonsensical as time went on. Ernest was left to turn his new problem over in his mind, much as he had turned the museum key over in his hands.
One evening, Ernest decided to walk the short distance home from the hospital, so he could be free to contemplate without having to focus on the road. He turned the matter over in his mind as he walked. The pieces of this puzzle still didn't fit. It felt as if he had missed something, something that was hiding in plain sight. Ernest hadn't gotten far when the pain went through his head again, stronger than before. He grabbed his head, and his eyes and mouth clamped shut. The pain receded, and when he opened his eyes, Ernest saw a different town. Silent Hill had been engulfed in a fog thicker than Ernest had ever seen.
Cautiously, Ernest continued to walk towards his home. He was almost there when something drew his feet towards Rosewater Park. The park was as empty as the rest of the town had become. He felt drawn, drawn to the statue of Jennifer Carrol. He navigated through the twists and turns of the park, and what he saw there made him choke up. Amy was standing at the base of the statue. It was not a deformed mockery of the girl like he had found at the museum, this was her. She uttered a single word.
"Daddy."
Ernest threw himself to the ground and pulled the girl into a tight embrace. He cried for a long while.
Then something changed.
Amy felt different in his arms, and he was afraid to look at her. She spoke again.
"Daddy, come with me."
The voice was different, harsher. It sounded soulless.
Ernest mustered his courage and looked at the girl. What he saw made him gasp and push her away. While she was in his arms, Amy had turned into another Amy-thing. Her neck and limbs were twisted and broken from the fall.
"Daddy," it croaked.
He screamed and ran, ran until he was on his own doorstep, where he collapsed.
***
When Ernest came to, the fog had receded and the town was back to normal. He could hear the sounds of cars and people walking. Mrs. Kramer was looking down on him, with a disapproving eye, but she said nothing. She knew he still hadn't recovered from Amy's death. After getting a meal foisted upon him by the housekeeper, Ernest retired to the study. He wouldn't find Amy in the otherside, he knew that now. But how did Joseph's experiences factor into this? Ernest went over Joseph's paperwork again; he had kept copies at the house. One line leaped out at him, the same which had caught his attention in the first place.
He believes he is guilty of causing his daughter's death guilty of causing his daughter's death GUILTY GUILT
Ernest had his answers. The otherside was caused by guilt. Joseph found peace there. He would only find punishment. Ernest wouldn't find his redemption there; the otherside wouldn't make his dreams end. He turned to the book of Lost Memories. Its rituals were his only hope now.