I appreciate everyone that thought this story was written well enough to read the second chapter. I'll ask that people leave comments so I can continue adding chapters that please. Whether it is a good review or a bad, I'll consider both. Thank you, and enjoy chapter 2!
To say Richard was nervous about what he'd discovered would have been one of the gravest understatements of the past century. He was terrified; scared beyond anything he'd ever been before, not necessarily for himself, but for Sarah. If his hunch was correct she was in Silent Hill, for what reason he didn't know, but he couldn't imagine that she could be safe.
Despite his fear, he drove carefully, not wanting to get into a wreck before he'd had a chance to speak with Father Jeremiah. If that happened it could easily damn Sarah's chances of surviving. Though with how long he'd waited, he wasn't sure if she was still alive or not.
As he rounded the final bend to St. Peter's Church, he saw that the parking places were surprisingly empty. Normally the church was busy despite the day. Inwardly he heaved a sigh of relief. His first meeting with Father Jeremiah had been a complete failure, and Richard had hoped to avoid making a scene when he returned.
After parking and retrieving his box from the passenger seat, Richard quickly walked up the stone steps until he stood underneath the awning of the moderate gothic church. On previous visits he'd been intimidated by the architecture, always in awe of the large stained-glass windows, the slate roof, and the carved stonework that decorated the church both inside and out.
Now, he had no time to gawk at the works of man, and knocked loudly on the heavy oak door. The sound echoed far more than it would have if the church had been full. As a result, his knock turned into a deep boom the reverberated in every bone of his body, sending chills down his spine, and probably drawing the attention of even the residents of St. Peter's Cemetery.
As he waited for the door to open, he tried to avoid looking at the stonework. Ultimately he failed, and his eyes came to rest on a beautifully carved angel plummeting down to earth from the heavens. For the first time he realized the carvings represented scenes of the bible, though he couldn't place this one.
"Lucifer being cast out of heaven and sent to serve his sentence in hell." A somewhat hesitant voice said from behind Richard, startling him so badly that he dropped his box, spilling the contents onto the steps of the church.
"I'm sorry Father!" He immediately apologized as he bent down and began picking up the ancient scrapbooks. "I didn't know you where there, but I have to talk to you about……."
His words were cut off as the oak door slammed shut. While he'd been picking up Sarah's works, Father Jeremiah had walked past him and entered the church, successfully barring his entrance.
"Father, you don't understand!" Richard pleaded desperately. "It's not about me, it's about Sarah!"
"I've put Silent Hill behind me Richard." The Father said. "If you can give me one good reason why I should open this door and let it all back in, I will. If not you can kindly get off this property."
A thousand ways to tell Father Jeremiah what had happened raced through Richard's mind, but as the few precious seconds he had ticked away his mind drew a blank.
Behind the door a heavy bolt clicked, locking the door and sealing Richard out. Even as he searched for just the right way to say things he heard footsteps walking away from the door.
"WALTER SULLIVAN!" Richard yelled at the door, saying the first thing that came into his head. "I think he's back in Silent Hill!"
"Walter Sullivan was killed years ago in Brookhaven Mental Hospital." Father Jeremiah said harshly from behind the door. "Now, despite my prodding to keep you from researching Silent Hill, I see you have. So I'll humor you. What made you think Walter Sullivan was back in Silent Hill?"
"The murders have started again." Richard said simply, not knowing any other way to say the news.
For long seconds no sound came from behind the door and Richard had just decided to turn and leave when the lock sounded again and the door swung open to reveal Father Jeremiah.
"What do you mean the murders have started again?" He asked quietly.
"The article in the paper." Richard said, opening the scrapbook to the final page. "Whatever happened in Silent Hill before is happening again."
The blood drained slowly from Father Jeremiah's face until it was as pale as the collar he wore. Next to the carvings on the church, he would have been a perfect statue to join them.
"Finally, he crossed himself repeatedly while saying prayers quietly under his breath, and motioned for Richard to follow him into the church.
As Richard and Father Jeremiah passed into the church, a profound change came over both men. Father Jeremiah became more calm and serine, drawing strength from his surroundings. On the contrary, Richard was able to almost tangibly feel time flowing through his fingers and knew that wherever Sarah was, she was still in danger. To him each of their quick steps took hours, and yet the paths the Father took kept going. First down the hallway, then left through another door, down another small corridor and finally to an office with his name.
Inside the small office was not what Richard would have expected from the normally stern preacher. A rosewood desk sat next to a large bookshelf filled with multiple titles. A small laptop lay on the desk with oldies playing softly from the speakers. The only light came from a sixty watt bulb in a small white porcelain lamp sitting on an oak end table next to the only window.
Without wasting a moment, Father Jeremiah crossed the room in five steps and closed the curtain on the window, effectively leaving the lamp as the sole source of light. On the radio, Elvis sang about his blue suede shoes.
"Why did you come to me about Silent Hill." Father Jeremiah asked as he sat behind the desk in a rickety chair. He motioned for Richard to sit in a matching one on the opposite side before he continued. "What gave it away that I'd been there?"
"Nothing," Richard said honestly. "It was only a letter from Sarah that told me to come to you."
"A letter…" the elderly priest said slowly. "And you think this was all brought about by the article she saw in the paper?"
It was a question that Richard had thought about since he'd first read the letter. What had made Sarah react the way she had? What was it about Silent Hill that made it so infatuating?
"No." He said at length. "I think she'd been searching for something for years. There must have been something that happened a long time ago that made her go to Silent Hill. Now she's gone back."
He jumped as Father Jeremiah slammed his hands down on the desk. "She went back to that accursed town!" He nearly yelled, causing several birds outside to take wing. "Why didn't you tell me before? If she left there's no time to lose."
"Father, what are you talking about?" Richard demanded. "Why did Sarah go back, and what is so special about Silent Hill?"
A fierce sigh was his only response for several seconds. Ultimately, Father Jeremiah looked at him both curiously and seriously. "Do you truly love her, Richard?" He asked gently. "There's no shame in saying you don't. In this day and age it's difficult to find anyone that truly loves someone, but if I'm going to help you, I have to be sure that you do."
After taking a deep breath, Richard nodded. "I love her more than anything in the world Father."
After nodding several times, Father Jeremiah motioned for the box that Richard still held. Handing it over, Richard was surprised to find himself reluctant to pass over the same artifacts that had so scared him. It was almost as if he were handing Sarah's very chance of survival over. Nevertheless, he pushed the feeling away and released the box into the aged priest's still iron grip.
"What you have in this box are items that no mortal should ever have laid eyes on. The scrapbooks are a constant link to Silent Hill. I think Sarah knew that and hoped that if the forces behind the town ever decided to reassert themselves, that she would have a warning and be able to stop it."
"What forces are you talking about?" Richard asked.
Without answering immediately, Father Jeremiah reached for the leather book, pausing only for a moment to read the words on the front. "Silens Tumulosus." He said under his breath. "Latin for Silent Hill…at least that's the closest translation I can find."
With skilled fingers, he flipped through the pages, giving a disgusted snort at the contents. Without stopping his page turning, he began explaining things to Richard.
"Silent Hill was founded over two hundred years ago. It was a time of fear in the America's. Nothing was certain, but what the founders did know is that they needed a new savior. I don't know exactly what had happened, nor do I even think those still in Silent Hill know to this day. The true reason is lost in time. All that's certain is that for some reason the residents turned their back on God."
He stopped flipping and began reading, crossing himself several times as he did so. "Henceforth, our fair town shall be under the protection not of the Christian God, but of those very ones he cast out in ages past. In a town meeting only yesterday, we called upon Baal, Diablo, Mephisto, Beelzabub, and above all their lord and master Sammael to guide and protect us."
"I read those names earlier." Richard explained. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"In the Catholic Church, we recognize that the devil has several other demons with him in hell. Those mentioned in the article are all the highest ranking demons of the underworld. To name one of them is terrible, but to call upon all of them." Though the room was unusually warm, he shuddered.
"That explains some of them, but who is Sam…"
"In God's name do not utter that word here!" Father Jeremiah shouted. "Do so and you could very well damn us all!"
"I'm sorry!" Richard stammered.
Father Jeremiah nodded. "It's not your fault that you're dealing with forces you've never dreamed of." He collected himself further before continuing. "It's common knowledge now that one of the greatest secrets of the Catholic Church is the true name of God. In this day of the internet and fallen priests, it's become almost common knowledge. What isn't commonly known is that the dark churches of the devil know the true name of the devil."
Richard's eyes opened widely at the news. "Do you mean to say…"
"Yes." Father Jeremiah whispered sadly. "They formally asked the devil to be the savior of their town…and used his true name to get his attention. This is why Silent Hill is so deadly.