-Chapter 1-

-Hope House-

Jacob Swanson awoke several hours later to the shrilling ringing sound on his alarm clock. Rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, Jacob sat up in his bed. It was several hours ago that the nightmare jolted him awake in a pool of sweat. Glancing at the clock, he noted to himself that he had several hours before the Opening Prayer service he was required to attend. Slowly getting to his feet, Jacob slid his feet across the cold linoleum floor to his closet, grabbing his toiletries for his morning shower. Flinging a towel over his right shoulder, Jacob moved out of his room and proceeded to the bathroom.

After several minutes in the shower, Jacob slid his hand across the foggy mirror, clearing up an area for him to use. He was a mature looking individual, who looked to be in his mid twenties, when in fact he was only nineteen years old. Brushing his damp hair, Jacob found himself absentmindedly running his fingertips over a long scar near his collarbone, his blue eyes transfixed on the mark. Jacob found himself doing this more often than not these days, a reminder of what happened, Jacob always thought to himself.

When Jacob was ten years old, he was with his mother and father driving on Bachman Road during a rainstorm. They had just come from seeing a movie and where on their way home when it happened. From the back seat of the car, Jacob saw a pair of white headlights moving at a fast pace towards them and swerving from left to right. He moved to point it out to his father who immediately saw the swerving car and slammed his foot on the brake pedal, causing the car to hydroplane on the slick street. As the car spun, Jacob was thrown back and to the right of the back seat, the speed of the spinning pushing his body against the pleather seats. It was at that moment that the swerving car and slammed directly into the front part of Jacob's parent's car, causing Jacob to slam his head on the passenger side widow, knocking him out. When he finally came to, Jacob found himself in the hospital surrounded by doctors, the soft beeping of his heart rate and the murmurs of the doctors greeting him. Jacob tried to call out for his parents but was quieted by a doctor.

"Relax, son," the doctor whispered. "You've been through very much." Jacob had only realized that a nurse stood on the other side of him and was stroking his bandaged forehead.

"What happened?" Jacob asked. "What happened to my parents? I remember a crash…" Jacob's voice trailed off as he strained to remember what exactly occurred.

"Your parents were involved with a tragic accident," the doctor said sadly. "Of which you are the only survivor."

What had happened was that a drunk driver slammed into Jacob's car at a very fast speed. His parents were killed instantly since the drunk driver had slammed directly in front of the car, pushing the entire front end into their laps. The impact forced their upper bodies to thrust forward, causing the steering wheel to crush the father's ribs and his mother's skull crushed as it slammed into the dashboard. The only thing that had saved Jacob was his position in the back seat, and walked away with a concussion and a deep cut from loose shrapnel. Jacob would spend several months recovering at Alchemilla Hospital.

Before he was released, the head of the Hospital held a meeting with Jacob to discuss living arrangements. Since he had no extended family members, the doctor said his only option was to stay at Hope House, an orphanage that was ran by Silent Hill's resident religious community.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Jacob whispered, "Nine years ago, today." Sighing, Jacob threw on a white undershirt and walked to his room, passing other Hopefuls, as the orphans of Hope House were called, who were just waking up. Back into the quiet confines of his room, Jacob proceeded to put on his uniform. For boys, it consisted of an all black, long sleeve shirt with a red collar, long black slacks and dress shoes. Girls wore the same type of garments, but had skirts instead of slacks.

Hope House was an orphanage in Silent Hill maintained by the religious community. Its mission was to take in wayward souls and treat them as their own children. The orphanage also doubled as a seminary school, educating the orphans in the ways of their religion. It was here that Jacob found his home after the death of his parents.

Brushing away a hair on his shirt, Jacob grabbed his book bag and texts for his first class, as he planned to head straight there after the Opening Prayer. Most of the other orphans Jacob interacted with seemed to enjoy the learning environment and the studies given to them, but for some reason, Jacob just couldn't get it. He wasn't as enthusiastic as his classmates were and often found himself daydreaming during classes, having been caught doing so several times and forced to say why in front of the other students. Apart from incidents like these, the Sisters and Fathers did not mistreat anyone or offer any extreme punishments to those who have misbehaved.

As Jacob made his through the throng of students in the main hall, he heard his name being called out from the lull of other passing student's voices and conversations. Spinning around, he smiled softly as he saw who had yelled out his name. Running down the stairs was Jessica Watson, a girl the same age as Jacob. As she ran down the stairs, her long brown hair tied into a ponytail bounced with each step, her black skirt flowing as she made her descent. Jacob ran his right hand through his wavy black hair, making sure that it was presentable. He always felt a strange knot in his stomach every time he was in Jessica's presence; always finding himself lost in her light blue eyes. He smiled as he watcher her graceful figure glide down the stairs, masterly shifting her body around other students she passed by. As Jessica ran to him from the steps, she placed her hand on Jacob's right shoulder, keeping her steady as she panted softly.

"You had better be careful," Jacob said as he smiled at her. "We don't want you to trip and falling down those stairs."

"You worry too much, Jacob," Jessica smiled as she spoke, tilting her head to one side as she looked at him. She looked into his eyes before speaking. "You look tired, Jacob. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Jessica, really."

"You had the dream again, didn't you?"

Jacob didn't tell too many people about the nightmares he had been having for the past several months except for a small few, such as Sisters and Fathers who had found themselves in the dormitories right when Jacob had woken up from the dreams, hearing his soft cries. Jacob didn't confide in his fellow students except for Jessica, who had a certain caring air about her.

"Yeah," Jacob sighed softly. "It was the dream again."

"Why won't you ever tell me about them?" Jessica's eyes looked almost sorrowful.

"I don't think you could handle what it is I see. I barely can."

Jessica stroked his shoulder softly before speaking. "They are just dreams, Jacob. They can't do anything to you."

Jacob nodded and straightened himself. Glancing around him he noticed that they were the only ones in the hall.

"We had better hurry if we are going to be on time for the Opening Service."

Jessica smiled. "You're right, let's go!" And with that, Jessica took Jacob's right hand into her own and led him to the Assembly Hall.

The Assembly Hall was about the size of a small auditorium that took the form of a large rectangle-shaped building. On both sides of the walls there were wooden risers that would hold each individual person in Hope House. At the front of the chapel stood a small marble altar that stood in front of a row of cushioned seats. As Jacob and Jessica walked in and found their seats, Jacob gazed at the grand stained glass window that was the showcase of the Assembly Room. The window was shaped into a large circle that depicted god in the center, Her long hair flowing much like her bright red flowing gown held up by what looked like intricately designed angels. Her arms were spread out from her body and her hands holding a single object, a serpent and a reed.

Jacob found a seat next to Jessica and conversed lightly with her and the students around him. All conversations halted as soon as a bell began to ring, filling the ears of every one in the room with the long drawn tolling of the bell. This was the cue for everyone to rise to their feet as the Fathers and Sisters entered the Assembly Room, making their way to the seats behind the altar. A tall figure, wearing an all black robe that covered his entire slim figure, rose to the altar and placed his hands in the air above him. His voice rang out in the room, much like the opening bell.

"Good morning to everyone," Father Matthew spoke with a warm smile on his face.

"Good morning, Father" the crowd spoke in unison.

"I trust all of you had a pleasant and restful night. As I saw coming in, many of you look refreshed and prepared to begin your day. Let us give thanks to god for Her blessing us with such a lovely day."

The Assembly Room went quiet as everyone bowed their heads and offered a silent prayer of thanks.

"'Tis a joyful day indeed for everyone today" Father Matthew spoke several minutes after the silence. "It is my understanding that all classes today will be taking a field trip today."

There was a murmur of general excitement among the students at the mention of a field trip. Outings always proved to be enjoyable for everyone as it gave everyone practically a relaxing day off from studying and daily routines. Father Matthew picked up on the murmuring and smiled at the glowing faces.

"I trust today's outing will be as informative as entertaining. Today we will be taking everyone to the Silent Hill Historical Society, located next to Toluca Lake. After spending ample time at the Historical Society, we will all spend the rest of the day at Rosewater Park and enjoy ourselves."

There were pockets of cheering and applause from different parts of the Assembly Room at the news. Jessica smiled at Jacob. "I love Rosewater Park! I used to go there when I was younger." Jessica had told Jacob that she was placed here after her parents had gotten a divorce when she was only five years old. That was probably what had helped the two of them to find each other. Both Jacob and Jessica were at a loss when it came to familial bonds. Jacob smiled at her words and spoke of his excitement as well.

Father Matthew spoke above the chatting. "We will be leaving immediately, so I want you to get into groups based on your classrooms. We will wait outside of the House and board a bus that will take us to the Historical Society. It will be quite a drive, so I do not need to remind you to be on your best behavior."

And with that, everyone proceeded to leave their seats and find their class groups. Jacob was a little dismayed by this news because he was in a different class than Jessica and wouldn't be able to see her until they got to the park and outings such as these found the groups were separated until they got back to Hope House.

Jacob stood with the rest of his class in front of the House waiting to board the long yellow bus that rested on the street in front of him. He sighed as he took in the cool smells of spring and waited for his turn to board the bus to the Historical Society.