I suppose I should have put this first, but Silent Hill is the property of Konami, all rights reserved. Glad that's out of the way.
A large apology goes out to anyone that read chapter four. I made a mistake towards the end by putting in Richard's name when I should have put Walter's. Thanks to Saddened Soul for pointing that out to me.
Now comes the point I'm sure you all were waiting for…the first place that Richard will visit in Silent Hill. Enjoy!
It was a short walk down into Silent Hill, and Richard quickly found himself standing in the middle of a fog filled intersection. After looking around, he finally saw a street sign standing on the corner of the street he stood on.
"Midwich Street." He said quietly to himself before looking around for something that would clue him in to where he was. Though the fog made it difficult, after a bit of searching he found a smashed box of brochures for the city. Most were wet and useless from the fog, but in the middle of the pile he found one that was useable.
With the map spread out in front of him, Richard saw that Silent Hill was much more spread out than he'd thought. With Walter on the loose, he'd hoped to have a smaller town that he could learn quickly. Now he'd be forced to cross large open spaces where the fog hid everything except what was literally arms-length away.
The map also showed him that he was only a block away from Midwich School. Since it was the only school on the map, it seemed a good place to start in looking for clues not only to Sarah, but to the mysterious Alessa that Father Jeremiah had talked about.
Richard knew, somehow, that whatever Sarah was involved in also involved what had happened years ago with Alessa. Even if he found nothing at the school, he had to start somewhere and he figured that the last place Walter would want to go was a school run by Silent Hill.
As he turned, he saw that someone had already beaten him to deciding his first destination. A bloody arrow had been drawn on the ground behind him, pointing down the road in the direction of Midwich School. Beside it sat two boxes of ammunition for his Beretta and a note.
After tucking the map into his jacket pocket, Richard picked up the ammunition and the note. Written in dark marker was a simple mocking script in an unfamiliar handwriting.
You seem to have problems forgetting things. Take the bullets with you. They'll stop your nightmares…they might even stop me.
W.S.
It didn't take a genius to figure out who W.S. was; the only question was why he hadn't taken the opportunity to kill Richard yet. Surely if he could sneak up on him with such ease, then ending his life wouldn't be difficult.
Putting those thoughts out of his mind, Richard rigged a small pouch to carry the boxes of ammo in and began to walk in the direction of Midwich School.
Only a few spaced street lamps kept the street from being awash in blackness, and Richard had to struggle even to catch a glimpse of them in the heavy fog. Even with the pale yellow light they cast, Richard had no choice but to walk slowly with his pistol in front of him.
Every passing moment his nerves were tested as vague outlined shadows crept silently along the hidden road. He couldn't tell what the shapes were, but somehow that didn't make him feel any better.
After passing a few streets, he saw what he thought was the school ahead in the fog. It was difficult to make out, but he breathed a sigh of relief that he'd made it without another encounter with Walter.
In the distance a siren suddenly began to blow and within seconds Richard's world was turned upside down. In the span of a single blink everything he knew changed.
The streetlamps still gave off their light, but now cast a blood red glow into the night. The road cracked and split, entire cars sinking into suddenly opening caverns that belched fire. Buildings quickly lost their warming quality; decay, rot, and blood painting their walls. Even the night itself became darker, as if the moon itself had disappeared.
At first Richard didn't move, scared to do anything that might set the world off into another shift. He had no idea what had happened to force the world to change so dramatically, but whatever it was wasn't something he wanted to repeat.
Slowly the sound of the siren faded from the night, echoing around the street until finally disappearing altogether. Silence filled the night until Richard began to hear a low crackling sound coming from his right.
With no idea what was making the sound, he raised his pistol and spun. The sound followed his movement, growing slowly louder. Not willing to waste ammo on something he couldn't see Richard continued his turn, only to find the sound still following him.
Only after calming down a little did he realize that the sound was coming from his belt. With a heavily shaking left hand, Richard reached down and plucked the two way radio from his belt. In his haste to get to the city he'd forgotten to shut it off after checking to see if it worked. Now it belched a steady stream of static, filling the air with white noise.
Around him, the fog began to swirl as vague forms appeared. In an instant Richard assumed a shooter's stance, left foot slightly in front of his right and the pistol shoulder level on his left side.
The form suddenly materialized only a few yards from Richard, sparking a sudden remembrance of the fascination he'd had with mythical beasts he'd had as a boy. Now, however, there was no safety of a book's page. In front of him was a creature so hideous as to sicken him at the very sight of it.
Standing only three feet tall, the creature had the lower body of a scaly lizard, but stood on two legs with both feet ending in sharply curved claws. Its chest had a white luminescence that reflected the bloody glow of the street lights, with withered human arms, pale and liver spotted, protruding from its torso.
The worst sight, however, was by far its face. The creature had a human looking head, but with severe differences. Long stringy white hair hung lankly from its head, stained a dingy gray from the rot and decay of the city. Richard saw it was grinning hungrily, revealing rows of needle-like teeth that cracked and crunched together as it opened and closed its mouth. The creature's eyes were what captivated Richard. Much as its belly, the eyes were a pale color that perfectly reflected the crimson glow that now highlighted the orbs, giving them a demented and homicidal gleam.
Richard didn't wait any longer to examine it, in fact had only seen the creature for a second, before he raised his pistol and fired two shots. Twin blasts of fire shot from the muzzle, the light shadowing several more in the fog, and the creature's twisted face disappeared in a shower of crimson. The force of the shots flung it backwards, the body twitching disgustingly on the ground before lying still.
From the swirling fog came two more of the twisted things. Moving quickly, they let out a high pitched squeal and bent down to their fallen member. Needle-sharp teeth ripped into the dead creature and wet smacking sounds filled the night air even as bloody chunks of the creature disappeared into human looking mouths.
Gagging, Richard turned and ran down the street. From behind him one of the creatures raised its head and screamed a single word into the night air, the sound being heard and picked up by countless other creatures around the street.
"RICHARD!" They screamed in a high-pitched cackle, a sound so chilling and full of the promise of death that it only spurred its target on in his desperate flight to the nearest building that would get him away from the horrific creatures.
That building just happened to be the Midwich School. In his hurried flight, Richard covered the remaining distance to the destination Walter Sullivan had set out for him a seeming eternity ago.
Richard passed a hedge wall that stood as tall as his neck and continued running, lowering his shoulder and slamming hard into the entrance. The door's lock held, and as he leaned back Richard heard the sound of pattering feet and the scraping of claws on concrete. Behind him, the creatures screeched his name again.
He slammed into the door hard again, rocking it back on its hinges and creaking loudly under the strain, yet it still held. In a panic, Richard stood back and fired two shots at the lock, sending wood shards flying through the air, but shattering the lock on the door.
A final shoulder slam knocked the door open, and Richard dove through, firing shots at the lizard creatures even as he landed. Two more exploded from his shots before he could gain his feet and slam the door shut. With the lock shattered, all he could do was brace himself against the door and hope that he was strong enough to hold it back from the creatures.
The expected blow never came. From outside Richard heard the same eating sounds as before and didn't waste his time. A heavy chair rested against the wall and in a moment Richard had it securely wedged against the door. The weight wouldn't stop the creatures if they truly wanted to get in, but it would stop most attempts…as well as make a huge noise if they finally did break in.
With a deep breath, he looked around and found that the beyond the blood-red glow of the streetlights, it was impossible to see beyond the gloom. Sighing, Richard pulled out his pen light and switched it on. The light cut a tiny swath through the darkness, and illuminated a set of double doors.
Steadying his nerves, Richard held his pistol in front of himself, and opened the door. It was time to find some answers.