-Chapter 7 - Chemistry-
Heaven's Night had to be the second most happening place in Silent Hill at the time. Almost hidden behind Pete's Bowl-O-Rama, it was the best this rural community had to offer. Packed with all sorts of types from the scruffy drunk to the clean-cut business man, it was indeed a place to unwind. It was pretty small for a bar, though. There was little light filling the room with dabs of neon only where it was lit. The rest was dark with shadows moving about amongst the performers onstage. Thankfully, they were people.
Tonight, the bar was packed full to watch some concert; a local favorite among the women who were employed there. She had an almost phantomlike voice as she swayed about the stage dancing to the beat of guitar and tambourines. The audience grew wild. But amongst the howling and cheering, only two in the bar did not stir. They sat out of the light and in the furthest corner back as far from everyone as possible, close to the bar's entrance. The waitress just delivered their meals to the table and left. Once they were certain that they were safe, they finally spoke to one another.
"…So," asked Rod. "Where do we begin?"
"Well…" replied the scrawny man as he shoved the forked steak into his mouth. "We should head over to the Alchemilla Hospital over in the business district. Once we're there, we can--"
"No." interrupted Rod. "I meant with you. What's your name?"
"Oh, sorry. I still haven't told you my name yet, have I?" he extended his hand out to shake again. "My name is Michael; Michael Neumann. I was, er, in the military too, so to speak."
"What do you mean?" Rod asked. "Where you a soldier or somethin'?"
"Well, no exectly. Or not really, actually. I was… a scientist for them back in Saigon of 1968."
"A… scientist?"
"Yup. Back in the those days I was pretty drugged-out, but wasn't necessarily apart of the hippie movement. No protesting or any of that stuff. I guess I was close enough to being one, though. All my friends were. The only exception being I was a straight A student. Who'd a thunk it? Me, a stoner-genius. Anyway, me and my friends where having this killer frat party and I had whipped up a special batch of my campus-famous LSD that I used to jokingly call the "Show Stopper." Unfortunately, it was too famous for it's own good, hence that night, the Feds came and broke the party up and my ass got hauled to Riker Island Prison."
"I take it that had a part in you becoming a scientist, right?"
"Oh, you bet. Especially when every muscle-bound animal in prison wants to make you their new boyfriend. I was more than happy to."
"I don't get it." said Rod. "What do you mean."
"After 13 hours of praying to God not to get killed in jail, I'm led into an office by guards and lo' an behold I'm greeted by army generals. Indeed, I was a star alright. I was quite the little genius, they said; showing me my own scholastic records. Now here's the kicker: they wanted me to fly out with them to Vietnam not fight, but to do lab work for two years as a scientist. And in return, my criminal record would be flawless."
"Looks like you got a better deal than I did." commented Rod.
"I figured Vietnam would be Nirvana compared to jail, but maybe I was luckier right where I was. Those cock suckers used me and got exactly what they wanted!"
"…And what was that?"
"…A body count." Michael held his head in shame. "If you only knew the horrors I'm responsible for. But you do."
"What did you do?" muttered Rod in a low, snarling tone.
Michael sighed, "I'll tell you everything you need to know out behind the bar. If you let me finish eating, I'll give you all your answers."
--30 Minutes Later, Heaven's Night Back Alley--
"You did what?" demanded Rod.
"It was a rage-inducing drug known as 'BZ;' developed by our research department. But mainly myself."
"Is that what it is?" asked Rod, trying hard to restrain himself from throttling the former scientist before him. "You put drugs in our fucking food!"
"It wasn't up to me, dammit! It wasn't my choice." Michael shouted, then calmly shook his head. "After watching two teenaged POW's rip each other apart in the first human test, I pleaded with them not to use such a thing on people. Especially on our troops. Could you imagine the chaos? The havoc? Of course, you already know the fury of the Ladder."
"The what?" asked Rod.
"The Ladder." Michael confirmed. "It was created solely for the purpose to end life. Any life. To awaken from the darkest depths of your mind to kill. I had created a chemical Satan."
Rod was silent for a moment. He remembered the nausea and headaches he had felt on that night in the Delta so many years ago. The drug. The rage. Was this truly the key? "We all went crazy that day. Everybody was fightin' left and right. What happened to Charlie?"
Michael was silent for awhile as well, trying to find the words to tell Rod the awful truth. He never forgot the look on the last soldier's face he had told this. "Charlie was never there."
"…What?"
"The Ladder had some… side effects. Hallucinogenic side effects. It warped reality; made you see everyone as an enemy. Your worst fear." Then Michael lowered his head and began to stare at the pavement below him. "But the effects… were supposed to be temporary. It would only wear off after a good 7 hours, but somehow it screwed enough with the brain to alter your perception for the rest of your life. And as you got older, the visions became more… surreal."
"We killed each other?" Rod felt to weak to stand any more, so he collapsed against the wall; sinking to the floor.
"That's why I had to find you, Rod Alessandro. I had to undo the damage I had inflicted."
"But if this is all just one big hallucination," Rod stared at his trembling palms. "Then what about those demons in the subway? What about my friends coming back from the dead? Why are they so real? You saw them too, right?"
"…During testing, me and a colleague decided to strap ourselves down and… use ourselves as test subjects. Thankfully, we hadn't chewed all the way through our straps when we finally came out of it. Oh, Rod, the visions I saw! But the visions hadn't gone away. Not for me."
"You too?" asked Rod. "But you knew it was a mistake! Why take it yourselves?"
"I learn. To use my knowledge of it's power to figure out a way to kill it. As for… the demons, I know almost nothing of them. All I can say is whenever those secret government scum are near, they're eventually right with them. They seem real. Maybe it's because of that plant…."
"What plant?"
"A special flower that grows only here in Silent Hill, called the White Claudia. You can use it to create another hallucinogenic drug called PTV. It was what we used to give birth to our Ladder."
"You said there was a cure." said Rod. "That you've done this before."
"And there is!" said Michael. "And that's why we came here, to Silent Hill! I can make an antidote from the White Claudia flower to counter-act the hallucinogenic side-effects of the Ladder. But the only bad part is that the flower is illegal to grow due to the fact it can be abused just as easily. Hell, it's the shit the natives got high on before the settlers came. Only one hospital has a license to prescribe PTV, and that is the Alchemilla Hospital all the way across the lake."
"So if we can get this White Claudia flower, I can be normal again?"
After a long silence, Michael finally spoke. "I promise you, Rod. Once I have given you the cure, you will finally know the truth."
"So how do we get it?" asked Rod.
"The former college of mine," began Michael. "He was the head of our research department. His name was David Thomson. And he was completely bat shit over this BZ thing! While I struggled to rid myself and the world of it, you only wanted to bask in the glory of it and discover new ways to make it stronger. And it is this maniac who's now a doctor at the Alchemilla Hospital. One of the top ones, too. We'll just have force him to give us what he's got."
"By what means? Storming in there like crazies? How do you think that'll work?" asked Rod.
"First, I'll talk to him to see if he will comply. If not, I'll figure something out. All I know is for now on we better watch our steps a little more carefully because this whole town I believe is in on this." Michael said. "But first, we need to crash at a motel for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll stock up and head over to the hospital."
Rod sighed. "All right. But one more question."
"Yeah?"
"You said you used the cure before. On who?"
Michael stopped in his tracks and turned only enough to see Rod out the corner of his eye. "Jacob."
"What? Really?" asked Rod, excited. "You spoke to Jacob? When?"
"It wasn't too long before I found you. I had only one vile of the cure saved. I was gonna use it on myself… but I chose to give it to him first."
"So he was cured?"
"…Yes, he was indeed cured. But I must warn you, upon taking it you must come to terms with yourself and fight your fear, for when the time comes it will almost destroy you. Only then will you see it's fury in all it's glory. Once you win, only then can you finally be free. I however, will only be cured of this curse only after you are. Then I can free myself too with out any guilt in doing so."
"So where is he now?" asked Rod.
"I dunno." replied Michael. "After he was cured, I didn't see him again."
