Chapter 1: A Nightmare Correspondence

It started in such an innocent, simple way. Julia Kaye opened her apartment mailbox like she always did when she came home from work. Inside was a couple bills, an ad flyer for grocery store coupons and an unmarked, sealed folder. She waited until she got inside to relax on the couch before opening the letters. The coupons she tossed in the garbage, the bills were taken directly from her bank account but she opened them anyway just to make sure everything was in order. The folder was interesting, a small, gray thing with no addresses or stamps on it at all. She wondered how it had gotten into her mailbox and thought that it was probably meant for someone else. Curiosity won out, and she tore open the folder.

Inside was something nothing could have prepared her for. It was a small newspaper clipping, a small family photo on the right. It had been torn on the sides, not cut, the only straight edge being the one that ran along the top. The heading read "PARENTS MURDERED, CHILDREN MISSING" Trembling, she read what was certainly the most disturbing thing she had ever seen.

"The bodies of two Silent Hill residents were discovered early this morning by a neighbor. Jason Stormson, 40, and wife Emily Stormson, 39, were found stabbed to death in their homes in a shocking double murder. Their two young children, Alexander and Julia, were missing from the home. Police are collecting evidence but so far no leads have been-"

The text ran out along the torn page. She read it twice, three times, but it still couldn't register. In the picture were a man and a woman she had never seen before, in front was a young boy holding a baby. It was a blurry photo, but the boy was unmistakably her brother, Jonathan. She would know that face anywhere, even though the last time she saw him she was only six. That made the strangers smiling in the picture her parents, the small child in Jon's arm her.

There had to be a mistake, some horrible mistake. She remembered precious little about her past before the orphanage, which she could recall clearly. Jon used to take her wherever he went, ever since she could think. He looked exactly like he did in the picture on the paper, all bright and full of cheer. Once she asked him why they had no Mama and Dada, then he grew very serious. He said, and she would never forget those words, "They're not with us anymore Jewel. You have to learn to take care of yourself."

It was only a few weeks after that she was checked into the orphanage, without Jon. She cried every day, wishing that he would come back, but he never did. When she was old enough, she asked the sisters there what had happened to him. Sadly, they told her that Jon did indeed spend the night there, but he was gone the following morning. He had named them both as Kaye, the name she carried now. Questions that haunted her for a lifetime suddenly leapt out of the past and into her lap. Had he seen the killer? Was he looking for whoever did it now? More then ever, she just wanted to talk to him again, hear his voice. For years she told herself that he had a reason for abandoning her when she needed him the most. Maybe this was it, it had to be. The boy in the picture was Jon, there was no doubting it. Did he send the newspaper clipping? She had to know.

The top of the paper read "TRISTATE NEWS AUGUST 17" but the rest had been torn off. Quickly her mind began racing, and she got off the couch onto the computer. An hour of searching got her nothing but a name, the parent company that had bought out Tristate Publishing years ago. Within five hours, she was on a plane, heading east.

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"Mr. Duffy? There's a young lady here to see you."

"Ah yes, send her in please Carol."

Into his office came a smaller but imposing woman, about 5' 7" but all business. Her smooth, tanned skin framed a oval face, arching eyebrows set with a graceful chin and full, lightly reddish lips . Her hair was shoulder length and dark brown, her figure trim and attractive under the blue blouse and long black skirt she wore. But her most stunning feature were her eyes, glittering green and full of fire. Duffy had never seen such a strong looking person so young.

"Mr. Duffy?" she said cordially, "we spoke on the phone, I'm Julia Kaye."

"Yes Ms. Kaye, please sit." She had a rolling suitcase he didn't even notice, which she pulled up to the chair when she sat. "I understand you want to know about our merger with Tristate? This was a long time ago."

"I know sir, but its very important that I track down a copy of a certain issue of the Tristate. You see, I lost my parents and I believe there is some information in that issue that might be able to help me find out about them."

"Is that so? Well we stopped printing under the Tristate name about twenty years ago. Most of the back issues were destroyed or given away."

"Is there maybe a company record on microfilm somewhere?"

"No ma'am, but I think I know someone that can help. He was the editor of the Tristate until we bought it, a good friend of mine. I'll put you in touch with him. If there's some way to find what you're looking for, he'll know it."

"Thank you Mr. Duffy, you don't know how much this means to me." she said gratefully.

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Thomas Jones was an old man, but still sharp. He was suspicious of meeting someone he didn't know, but he trusted Cal's judgment of people. He saw her coming a mile away, Cal described her dead on. He waved her over to his table in the coffee shop.

"Mr. Jones, thank you so much for seeing me. I know this is a bit unusual." she said, smiling prettily.

"Nonsense. Cal told me all about what you're looking for. I don't do much these days, its good to get my old bones into some action. Now he said you were looking for an old Tristate issue? I edited every day for that paper since 72'."

"I need a certain issue, I don't know the year, only the day, August 17th."

"Well that beats lookin' through every damn one to find what you need. The paper was damn near fifty years old before it got taken over by Global, so worst comes to it you only got to look through fifty August 17s before you find it. Cal said you were looking for your parents?"

"Yes sir, I'm an orphan. I think I can find information about them that was printed that day."

"How'd you know it was out paper?"

"Well…I have a clipping here…"

"Well why did you say so to begin with young lady! I can probably give you the year jus' looking at it."

"Well Mr. Jones…its kind of…I don't know…"

"I can help Miss, you just gotta let me."

Her face lost all of its cheer, and she solemnly reached into her suitcase. She handed him a small clipping, one that he would need his glasses for. "Well let's see here now…oh…oh my…you wanted…"

He looked up at her, her eyes cast down on the floor. "Miss…why are you looking for this?"

She grudgingly brought her gaze up to his. "Because Mr. Jones…I'm in that picture."

Thomas had to take a minute, going back through the many years of his life to a much busier time. "I remember that day, I think. I didn't want to publish such a gruesome story, but it was big news. I got the call from Deputy Mills, he filled me in on the details. I was thinking that day of how could one man be so cruel to good people."

He almost lost his train of thought, but examined the paper more closely. "It's a color photo, probably run off the old Mk printer. The font is still the owner's style, so we're lookin' at anywhere from 75'-80'.

"Do you know anything about that town they're talking about? Silent Hill?"

"Hmm? No I don't recall that. Our region was fairly large at the time, it says small town right here. It was probably from up north more, where there's more country. Let me call a friend of mine…"

It was an old woman this time, shaking as she poured Julia a cup of tea. She sat down and smiled at her, very content. "It's so nice to have visitors." She declared, sipping her tea carefully. "Thomas said you're looking for a town in one of our newsies? Oh, those were the good days. We had so much fun then. Me and Delly would go out on Fridays and…oh I'm sorry my girl, what was it you wanted?"

"I'm looking for a town Mrs. Dorter. I can't seem to find in on any map. It was in your paper in the 70s."

"Hmmm? Well what was it called?"

"Silent Hill."

"Oh…" Mrs. Dorter looked away, then stood up and turned around.

"Is something wrong?" Julia asked.

"Why…would you want to know about that place?"

"Its very important Mrs. Dorter. I need to know some things I can find them there."

"There are no answers for you there, girl. Stay away from that place. Its…been abandoned for years."

"Please Mrs. Dorter, I have to know. My whole life I've needed these answers."

The old woman turned back, something in her eyes that was not there before. "That town is cursed, girl of mine. Sending you there is something I can't do."

"I'll find it Mrs. Dorter. If not from you then from someone else. I don't care about any dangers, I have to know. If you just tell me, I can get it over with faster."

"Yes…I see that. I will tell you, but only because I believe in you" She wrote down a long note on a napkin. Before Julia could thank her, the old woman put her hands on hers. "You just promise me if you're in trouble, you'll get out of there."

"Alright, I will. Thank you."

Mrs. Dorter watched her go from the window, until the car was down the street and out of sight. Why did people seek out that place with such conviction? The memory of that conversation would keep her up that night, she knew. She went to pray.

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The road was torturous and forced her to go slow, the thick woods threatening to swallow up the broken concrete completely. She had bought an entire set of camping gear and supplies to last her a week in the last town before here. The man behind the counter had asked her where she was heading to. She lied and said Canada, she made the mistake of telling someone her true destination a few stops ago. The clerk refused to let her pump gas and gave her back her money. He said she was sick in the head for even trying to go and that he was calling the cops. Julia stole a prefilled gas can on the way out to her car and drove as fast as she dared, hoping to not hear sirens in the background.

It was beginning to get foggy, the higher in elevation she climbed. Finally the dirt road ended in a fenced gate, overlooking a roaring river. Behind the gate was a rusted steel bridge that led to the other side. She could ram right through it with the car, but it was a rental. She got out and searched the area, finding a large rock to back the lock with. She drove on.

The fog got worse and worse until she could only see ten feet in front of her. Slowly creeping upwards into the mountains, the road became more and more erratic and bumpy. After what seemed like an eternity, she came to a part of the road that bordered a cliff, where a large, green sign had been posted. It read in faded and cracked gold lettering, "Welcome to Silent Hill" Julia was still looking at the sign when she hit something and the tire popped suddenly, cracking the silence with a bang. She almost jumped out of her skin, but quickly brought the car to a stop. She cursed her bad luck, the rest she would have to go on foot. The took the keys to the car and unloaded the large knapsack that would hopefully keep her going on her trip in and back to the last town.

"Jon…" she whispered, and took the first step.