Silent Hill: Resonance

Chapter 10: Kimble's Legacy

CRASH!

"God!" I yelped as I spun around, lighting up the hallway with the flashlight.

Bringing up the rusty pipe in an offensive positon, I braced myself for anything. Deep ragged breathing was the only sound that seemingly echoed the hallway, and that was coming from me. The source of the sound was a locker door being swung open.

Sighing in relief, the only thing that came into my mind was, who opened it? Finally putting myself at ease, I pulled the flashlight out of my pocket and inspected the locker. Similar to the exterior of the lockers, the inside of the locker was covered in peeling paint and rust, and it was completely empty.

Empty except for a thin book that looks like it had corroded with the rest of the locker. But I could still read the fine text…

Saint Joseph's Catholic School

Yearbook, 1984

My mind couldn't wrap around what I was holding in my hands. It took a couple of attempts for me to finally realize what I was reading, as though it were in a foreign language, "How the hell…What did…"

I groaned as my head began to pound to the beat of a thousand drums, "This is too much to be a coincidence…"

My elementary school yearbook was in this locker? I wanted to leave that godforsaken place behind, now it's here in my hands. I flipped to a random page to find every portrait violently scribbled out with black marker, along with every name.

Some pages simply black scribbles and X's to conceal identities, but others contained overlapping pictures and colors, looking like something from an acid trip. But no matter what was on the page, every name and picture was completely ineligible. Following a sudden urge, I flipped towards the back of the book to the R's.

Reed…Rios…Roosevelt…Russo…Rudd…Ryan! Jacob Ryan…

A whimper escaped my lips as I looked at the picture, the only picture in the entire book that wasn't scratched out. It was me…My God, I looked sick. Dark circles rung underneath my lifeless eyes, my hair was long and scraggily and clearly hadn't been cut in some time. My heart felt pangs of…guilt? Sadness? I couldn't put my finger on it. I felt pity for that young boy, but I was disgusted by him at the same time.

Shutting my eyes as well as the book, I tossed it in the locker, followed by slamming the locker shut. I placed my forehead on the cold material, breathing deeply, introspecting on my situation. Why the hell is this here!? I had to shake myself out of it, this administrator's office was down the hall and I couldn't let this red herring distract me.

In fact, I felt as though someone had placed this here specifically to do that. But I disregarded the idea as paranoia, no way anyone could know where I went to school and went through the trouble of finding the yearbook.

I turned the cold knob on the door and to my relief it wasn't locked, the door creaked open. The administrator's office was a small, pathetic office that had furniture that consisted of hand-me-downs. But behind the desk sat a man who stood as I entered, I took a step back, "O-oh, sorry! I…I didn't know that anyone was in here. Are you the technician or something? I need to get the internet back and up."

The man shook his head no. He stood tall with broad shoulders that were covered in a thick flannel and black trench coat. His thick black hair was graying and supplemented his beard. It appeared as though he hadn't cleaned himself in some time, the beard was disheveled and the hair on his head was oily from gel that hadn't been washed in days. He spoke in a deep gravelly voice, "No, none of that. But I've been waiting for you."

"You've been waiting for me?" I asked, wondering if I've ever seen this man before.

He extended a hairy hand to shake mine, "Darko Takacs, member of the Silent Hill City Council."

I shook his rough and rugged hand, "Uh…Jacob Ryan." Though for some reason, I felt he already knew considering he was waiting specifically for me.

He motioned for me to sit on an old creaky chair with rusty nails holding its joints together, I did so as he grabbed the chair from behind the desk and threw it down in front of me. Taking a seat down he spoke, "Jacob, I'm sure as you've already seen, Silent Hill isn't doing so good right now. The FBI and state police clearly are not welcomed here and their constant barraging and demands have sullied our town's spirts before our Fourth of July celebrations."

I was confused. Why the hell is this guy talking like things are normal here? NOBODY is in this town! Who's spirts are being "sullied"? I spoke, clearly uncomfortable, "I…I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure the FBI doesn't get involved unless there's something illegal going on. Their investigations are criminally related."

I bit my tongue, not sure how much information to divulge. However, Darko chuckled, "Is it because of the drugs? Is that what they told you? I've been on the city council for nearly twenty years, and yes, there is a serious drug problem pouring across our city. At first it was mostly contained to the southeastern corner of the town, the poorer part of the city you know? But now it's spreading all over…It's our dirty little secret you know? The tourism hasn't been bringing in enough after the recent tragedies, so the money brought in from the PTV has relieved many of the deficits in our budget."

He rubbed his bearded cheeks, as if he were trying to get some warmth back on his face. I coughed, not knowing what to say next in such an uncomfortable situation, "You were waiting for me? Is there something I can help you with?" I hesitated to ask.

"Yes…You can get them to leave. The FBI and the state police, they're wasting their time here at Midwich, even if they did get their message out it wouldn't reach DC. Their entire force is gone and you won't be able to do anything to save them, you're the only ones left. If you want to leave, your best bet is to get to that helicopter at Brookhaven."

"But Brookhaven is on the other side of Toluca Lake, and that lake is huge. Taking the road around it would be way too long! Plus, none of the cars here even work!"

"Correct. Take this." Takacs reached inside his big coat and brought out a key, "This is the key to my speedboat. You'll have to make your way to the lighthouse, near Lakeside Amusement Park. At the lighthouse is a dock, there I have my boat parked."

I raised in eyebrow in suspicion. Who the hell just hands someone keys to a speedboat? I thought of the countless cars that were immovable and stagnant, "So, cars don't work but boats do?"

Darko leaned in, speaking in a quiet and deadly whisper, "Don't question things. Don't assume things. Silent Hill…The old gods haven't left this place, and they don't play by the rules you and I do… Do you have a map of the town?"

I hesitated before I nodded, opening my satchel and pulling out the map. Standing up, I spread the map out on the crappy desk where the ancient monitor sat. Darko walked to my side and put his bear claw on my shoulder.

Shit, this guy is tall.

He was at least 6'4 or 6'5, and looked like he must have worked out often even at his age. He didn't look old, but I could see white hair growing and spreading across his head and beard. He smelled faintly of alcohol. He took a second to inspect my map, "You've obviously spent some time on the streets, haven't you?" He pointed at the X's that I made to mark where the streets have been demolished.

He held open his hand, "Your marker?"

I handed him the sharpie I had been using, he made several more crosses and X's on several streets: Riverside, Low, Cielo, Koontz. He made a large bold circle around the Silent Hill Town Centre, "All the streets are obliterated, you'll have to go through the town Centre. That's our local mall. It closed about seven or so years ago when Toluca Mall opened in Brahms, how could our little fifty store mall compete with a two hundred fifty store behemoth? You'll have to make your way through there and down Wein."

Reaching inside his coat once more, he pulled out a second key and handed it to me, "This is to get by the security gates at the mall's entrence"

He closed the marker cap and handed it back to me, "I have a question," I spoke up, "Why are you trying so hard to get us out of here?"

He looked at me with a deadly glare, "I told you already why, the FBI is wasting their time here harassing the local people. Now, listen to my words…Do not trust the Trinidad clan. The second they came to this town with their money, it's gone to Hell. When Anibal Trinidad first came in 1915, it was slow at first, but it was his ancestor's doing that led our city into it's current state."

Trinidad clan? Aaron? I gave a meek nod as a form of understanding, though I was lost. Darko straightened my collar almost fatherly-like before quietly walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. Left only by myself in the room, I stared at the map for a while longer while trying to gather my thoughts. The key felt cold in my hand before I dumped it in the satchel.

I folded up the map and put it in my satchel as well. I guess I was done here.

Did Darko Takacs have something to do with the dope trade? He didn't answer much but he was in a rush to get the FBI and police out of here. And he didn't want me to trust the "Trinidad clan". Aaron wasn't much help and was rather mysterious too, but I figured the sooner I found him, I could get my questions answered.

I figured I would at least give the Wi-Fi a try, despite what Darko told me. I thought we should take every chance to get out of Silent Hill as possible. Approaching the router, I scoffed at the realization it was off, "Yeah, I doubt DC would get the message too." I sarcastically added.

Finally turning it on, I made my way out of the office. Turning the cold knob, I heard the familiar click click. Raising an eyebrow, I attempted to turn it again. Click click.

"The hell?"

Again, more forcefully. Click click.

Putting my weight against the door, trying to force it open, still to no avail. I began to panic, banging and banging on the door, "HEY! D-DARKO! ANYONE!?"

Using the pipe as a battering ram also led to nothing. Swinging around to the windows, smashing the pipe against them led to nothing.

Then came the sound. It was an ear-piercing screech directly into my brain and disrupting all my senses. But this horrid cry came hidden in a loud siren, one that surrounded and encompassed me in its noise. Covering my ears did nothing.

My vision blurred. I was going to vomit. I collapsed on the floor in a burning sensation.

When I finally awoke, I was still in the administrator's office. I brought myself up and stood on my shaky feet. I reached for the knob, and it turned without hesitation. Opening the door and stepping out into the hallway…

…Something was different.

A sense in the air, something inside my soul, I wasn't…where I was before. It looked the same at first, but a couple of things were off. The hallways...Did they shrink? I don't remember the walls being this close before, I still had leeway, but not as much as I first entered the school. The walls had obvious signs of decay and age, water damage and rust. Furthermore, the floors were in a state of disrepair with broken and ripped out boards infested with countless termites, I could walk on them, but I would have to watch my step.

No…This was not where I was before.