A/N: Muchos Gracias for the reviews my friends, and as a reward I present this essentially filler chapter lol. Slightly shorter than normal but that's because there's not much to say about this section of the game really so I just used it as a chance to fill out some of Angela and Eddie's backgrounds, anyway, have fun:
Chapter 5: Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole
It was protesting muscles rather than any real desire to move that eventually roused James.
His limbs moved without the consent of his burnt out mind carrying him away from the elevator, down quiet dusty halls, and out of the place of healing which had so scarred him.
Outside was darker than any night he had ever seen, but it barely registered, he'd seen it before, it was just an outward projection of the void in his mind. Nothing mattered anymore. Not the blood drying on his clothes, the weary ache of every muscle, the artic cold of the night air…
If one of the terrifying creatures that had stalked him since arriving in this town were to rear up before him that instant, James would have allowed it to slay him without lifting a finger.
Of course no such abomination came to relieve him of his pain.
No, that would be to easy, he thought bitterly, You've taken Maria, now you're content to watch me suffer…
James sat on the cold stone steps to the hospital, his head hanging limply between his knees, there was nothing left in this town to motivate him to move, if he was lucky, he would just freeze to death right there…
But that's not true is it?, something whispered, but what was it? His voice of reason? Why did it bother trying to intervene here of all places.
"Go away", he said out loud, "Just let me die"
Mary… He said Mary was in the park… Maria is gone, but maybe Mary…
That brought James to his feet again, if Mary was still there, still alive, then maybe he could save her before it was to late, maybe…
Maybe he could atone for all his failures so far.
Mentally calling up his map of Silent Hill, his feet lurched off into the darkness as if once more on autopilot.
"Please be safe Mary… you're all I have left"
Eddie woke in the strangest of places. The last thing he remembered he was happily eating pizza in the old bowling alley he had taken refuge in after he heard all those weird screams back in the apartment building, trying his best not to let his good mood be ruined by James and that snotty little girl, Laura, then… then he must have passed out, cause the next thing he knew he was here, some sort of run down cafeteria.
He had spent a few minutes trying to prise open the shutters; it felt like weeks since he had eaten anything and he imagined he could smell all the things that would be waiting on the other side.
Unfortunately the steel shutters had proved stronger than he, denying him the one kind constant in his life.
Always the way ain't it?
He had felt lethargic and despondent for a long time after that, just starring sullenly at the wall, or moping around the room aimlessly.
Eddie had thought about may things during that time, his family back home, his old man and the big sister who had taken care of him when their mother had died leaving his father a useless wreck.
His sister had been the one who'd protected him from the bullies who made his life hell, never aware that her interference just made them loath him more when she wasn't around.
The overweight slob who needed a woman to protect him. That had been how they saw him.
"Bastards", he half growled, half whined, drawing one flabby arm under his nose.
But he'd shown them in the end… hadn't he, that was why he was on the run… but what exactly had he done? Eddie's mind was fuzzy on the details before arriving here at Silent Hill and coming through the tunnel that lead into town.
He shook his head lightly, adjusting the cap his sister had brought him as a present when it came loose and allowing himself to drop where he stood.
What was he supposed to do next with no one around to help him?
It was only when it finally entered his mind to look for a way out that he found it.
It was sitting on the table nearest the doors, almost impossible to make out in the dim light.
A revolver. Polished to an almost ridiculous degree, it's six shot barrel was fully loaded and spun with an ease that showed a lot of love had gone into maintaining this weapon.
Eddie hefted it, admiring its weight and balance, but most of all, the impossibly familiar feeling of power it gave him. He had felt this before… but where.
Images flickered briefly through his mind: a dog, a boy about his age crying and screaming in rage and pain, all over lain by barking and a cruel, hollow laugh that chilled and excited Eddie in ways he couldn't explain.
He felt sure he'd heard laughter like that before, in fact, he knew he had. He had heard that type of laughter all his life from his heartless peers growing up. Those who had taunted him about his weight, stolen his things, pushed him, hit him when his sister wasn't around, all for no other reason than that it seemed to amuse them.
"Bastards", he spat with conviction this time and not a hint of weakness, waving the revolver around as if daring them to come out of the shadows to taunt him now.
There was an unreasoning rage growing in Eddie, one out phase with his normal, pliant personality that made him feel as if he was growing beyond himself in someway.
Go with it, embrace it… You'll like it I promise…
Eddie had no idea where the voice came from, but right now it didn't really seem to matter.
The doors to the cafeteria slammed open, and a tallish man with slicked back black hair and a blood splattered suit staggered in, not even noticing Eddie as he hastily closed the doors and began looking for something to barricade them with.
"Oh god, oh god", he babbled to himself, "All of them, all of them were… oh god"
Eddie watched him scrambling about, relishing his frenzied helplessness even as part of him urge him to go offer aid.
He felt so far removed from this panicked little man right now that it was laughable, so superior…
It was then that the man noticed him, and almost wilted with relief.
"Oh, thank god, quickly, help me barricade this door", he said, his lips barely visible under a thick moustache and his eyes wide, almost feverish.
Eddie panicked for a moment, suddenly unsure of what to do, his feeling of godliness vanishing as if it had never been, luckily the voice he had heard only moments earlier intervened, telling him smoothly and calmly what to do if he wanted to feel that way again.
Eddie levelled his revolver at the man's head, "Sit down"
The man looked at Eddie with confusion and fear, and a little of the feeling came back. Eddie smiled like a drug addict who's just got his first hit in weeks and motioned almost lazily toward the nearest bench.
The raven-haired man sat warily, his eyes flicking back and forth between Eddie and the door.
"Please", he begged, making Eddie's smile widen unconsciously, "We've got to barricade that door, they'll be hear anytime soon!"
"Shut up", Eddie said, as if pronouncing judgement from up on high.
He made sure he had a good two-handed grip on the revolver and levelled it at his victim's forehead, his hands shaking with anticipation.
"You don't have to be afraid of me", the man said pityingly, clear not understanding why Eddie's hands were shaking.
His pity cut Eddie like a knife. All his life it was the closest thing to acceptance he had ever gotten, but now rather than comforting him, it just sickened him, and his grip tightened.
"I'm not afraid", he replied, his finger slowly wrapping itself around the trigger, excitement over what he thought might happen next making his voice quaver.
"Of course your not", the other man said, licking his lips and glancing nervously at the door.
He's just like the rest… You can hear the contempt in his voice… but you have the power to make him stop before he hurts
Part of Eddie knew what the voice was talking about and was sickened… but another was intrigued… he could just end it now, before he was hurt, he held this stranger's life and death in the palm of his hand… and it thrilled him.
There was a scratching and mewling noise from the other side of the door and the man almost leapt out of his seat.
"They're here! Quickly we must-"
"Sit down", Eddie bellowed, some of his sense of control slipping, confusion making it hard to remember what he had been planning.
Outside the mewling changed to a loud barking, as if some huge dog were on the other side trying to get in.
Each bark seemed to grate on Eddies nerves, his fingers tightening around the grip of the revolver.
God, why won't it shut up?!
"Listen you stupid fat piece of shit!" the interloper screamed, only belatedly realising his mistake.
You know what to do…
Eddie's breath quickened, his pulse raced, and his finger began to tighten on the trigger as rage washed everything else away…
James stood outside the entrance to a place called Neely's Bar. It wasn't far from the park now, but something about this building had captured his attention. He had heard it's name before, it was mentioned in the diary of the corpse he had found, one of the few places of refuge the poor man had found in this forsaken town.
James stood pondering; should he go inside? His flashlight was all but useless in this all encompassing black, he hadn't seen any monsters since leaving the hospital, but in this darkness they could be on him before he knew it… It might be better if he spent some time here, at least until daybreak, but then again in this town who knew when that would be, and worse, what about Mary? How long could he really expect her to be safe waiting in the park all alone?
James finally decided to enter, if nothing else he might be able to find some supplies here if someone had been using it as a refuge of sorts.
The inside surprised him, it looked as if everything had been stripped out and ransacked short of the bar itself, and the bare walls covered over with newspapers.
James scanned them briefly, each one documented a tragedy of sorts; rape, murder, arson, all were accounted for on the bar's limited wall space. James wondered how it was possible to have come to this sleepy town so often and never caught mention of any of these atrocities.
A quick check behind the bar revealed some old health bars, the kind that was little more than flour and nuts glued together with what the manufacturers claimed was fruit paste but rarely tasted like anything available in nature. He forced himself to choke down one with a few belts of a well-aged whiskey to warm him up a little.
He purposely stopped and emptied the rest over the floor.
Getting drunk would be far too dangerous here, and in his current state of mind he might not have the courage to stop himself if he had the option.
He had just pocketed some of the remaining health bars, and was about to leave when he noticed the writing partially obscured by the newspaper.
Knowing full well that horror and help came in strange forms and places in Silent Hill, but feeling emboldened by the presence of substance generously labelled food now coating his stomach, or perhaps just a little intoxicated, he carefully peeled back the paper and read.
The warmth imparted by the liquor vanished as he did so:
James, if you really want to find Mary then maybe you should just die… but then
again , you might be going to a place far different from her James…
He read it again and again, trying to figure out who could have written such a crude and hateful note, who could have known he would be here to read it.
The only person thus far who had left him such scribbling had been his mysterious guide, but this hand was far to light, too feminine to belong to the sorrowful shadow he had met in the hospital.
Suddenly feeling a great need to leave, he gathered everything he had with him and headed out of the bar full speed, all sense of safety gone. This was more proof that what was happening was in someway targeted at him, and by someone who could follow his movements at will, maybe even someone who knew him somehow…
It took a long time, searching Rosewater Park before he could admit that Mary wasn't there, if she had ever been. There was no trace anyone had been there in years, despite the impossibly pristine nature of the park and all its features.
Such as the one he stood in front of right now. It was a smallish statue of a nun praying, accompanied by a footnote he couldn't quite make out, most likely a dedication of some sort, perhaps even to one of the town's many hidden tragedies as his guide had hinted.
He lent against the statue and sighed in vexation.
Had his strange guide lied? Or had Mary been forced to leave, perhaps even now running in fear of her life, pursued by god only knew what.
James wiped away angry tears and tried to figure out where she might have gone. The old man had said coming here might give him peace of mind, but all it had done was raise more questions and more worries.
James was looking up at the statue when something else about the old man's speech hit him, something about praying for salvation… could that have anything to do with this statue?
Getting up he searched around it, checking it from base to tip.
All he found was a small mound of earth near the base at the rear of the statue, almost as if something had been buried there recently.
Dignity forgotten he dropped to his knees and dug with his bare hands, once chuckling at the thought of what Mary would say when she saw him like this, covered in dirt and blood like a little boy who had been fighting, for he felt sure that whatever was buried here would help him find her.
"She'd give me the rough side of her tongue… what there was of it anyway", he muttered around a half grin, knowing that the Mary of his memories at least had never had the confidence to stand up to others often.
When his fingers scrapped the top of the box, he almost lost a fingernail because of how frantically he was digging. It was the work of a few minutes to excavate it, carefully digging around it so that he could lift it clear.
It was a small iron box, its catch so rusted that he almost couldn't open it. James didn't know what he expected to find, but once more he felt disappointed, all that was inside was an old key, the words "Silent Hill Historical Society" carefully engraved on it.
James had taken Mary there once at her insistence, she was fascinated by anything she could learn about Silent Hill, and he had suffered through one boring lecture after another for the sake of pleasing her and her hopes of learning more about the sleepy town's past.
Personally speaking James didn't like the past, it was too full of bad and tragic things; his alcoholic father, his wife's supposed death and more recently, the death of Maria, the woman he'd sworn to protect.
No the past was best left where it was, safely forgotten or at least ignored… but again, hadn't the old man said that some of this town's greatest tragedies came from forgetting the past?
But did that mean it was his past or that of the town that was important here, or was it both?
James was coming to realise that even with someone supposedly helping him, he still held more questions than answers since coming to Silent Hill… It was almost as if someone were purposely trying to hide something from him, but who and why?
James sighed heavily, brushing his hands together in a futile attempt to clean them as he worked things over in his mind.
Either way meant that the Silent Hill Historical Society would hold the answers. Of that he was sickeningly sure. He was well aware now that he was following the path someone had lain out for purpose or purposes unknown, but if at the end of that path, Mary waited for him, what choice did he have?
James slipped the key into his pocket and stood, making no attempt to dust himself off further.
Don't worry Mary, I'm coming I promise.
Angela came too sitting in the Teacup ride, her shoulder pressing uncomfortably against one of its shattered edges.
The ride was silent now, unmoving as everything else in the amusement park, and just as sinister.
She could remember all to vividly what had made her pass out, the note. He was here somewhere, and she couldn't ever be safe again.
She had been safe while she slept, nothing had ever happened while she slept, but now she was in danger again, she had to move, had to run.
Angela stood on shaky legs and clambered over the rim of the ride, her eyes and ears constantly alert for any sign that He was near. When she found nothing she stole cautiously from shadow to shadow, quiet as a mouse and just as fearful, trying see everything at once.
Where should she go? The entrance? No, that long dark tunnel, He would love it there, it would be the perfect place for him to hide. No, she needed to go deeper into the park, to find a safe place to hide until he went away, or until someone could come to rescue her.
Like a wraith she moved across the park, hiding in booths, stalls, broken rides to regain her courage before venturing forth again, each time feeling almost obscenely reckless.
Perhaps it would be better if she just gave in… NO! Never again, she had promised that, hadn't she? Promised when… Pain wracked her skull as she tried to remember and images floated through the crimson haze, just like they had when she had touched the knife…
Late at night, a bedroom decorated with girlish flare, a young girl curled tight in her bed, trying her best to pretend she was asleep, she was safe when she slept…
The door creaked open, light intruding harshly into the calm tranquillity of the room. A voice cruel and hard, even though slurred, "Angela?"
Stay still, stay quiet…
"I know you're awake Angela…", the voice moved closer, the scent of whiskey and moral rot thick in the air and on the back of her neck.
The girl tries not to react, knowing the slightest shiver will damn her forever.
Stay still, stay quiet…
A involuntary whimper was all it took, and events began their debauched cycle once again… but this time there would be a difference.
As the covers were drawn back, as a demonic chuckle that fitted every aspect of the monster's diseased essence filled the air, there was a flash of silver and-
A chilling roar filled the air, so close that Angela feared it came from the very ticket booth in which she currently sort refuge. The booth was empty save her, but that did little to ease the rising fear. This close, if he found her trapped in here like this…
Escape! Her mind screamed at her, catalysing fear frozen muscles into action and lending her feet wings of terror.
Angela bolted from the booth, running blindly, changing direction only when circumstance, or another terrible cry demanded it.
Eventually her unheeding run took her back to where she had entered the park, back to where the corpse of Mr. Timothy waited to greet her.
She turned to run the other way, away from that grotesque hug, but a strong thick arm stopped her in her tracks, flinging her to the ground where a heavy foot pinned her in place before she could scurry away.
"You've been very bad Angela", a thick, slurred voice intoned ominously.
"No I-"
"No excuses", the owner of the foot cut her off harshly, his voice softening gradually, somehow making it scarier, "You did it, it was you who used that knife, did you really believe you could get away with something like that and not be punished? And look what's happened to poor old Timothy because of you, you're a bad person Angela…"
Angela writhed and whimpered, unable to think enough to reply.
"But that's ok, I've found you now, now you can make up for what you've done…"
Something rough grabbed the back of her neck and she was dragged away into the shadows. Angela begged, pleaded, promised anything if he'd only realse her… but of course, he didn't.
Her screams echoed around the silent park long after she was gone, lost somewhere in the hell of her own mind.
The only thing left to mark that she had ever been there was a small piece of paper, on which was written:
Angela,
I will always be here, you can never escape me, or what you/we have done, I'm waiting for you…
Love Daddy
James let himself into the old building belonging to the Historical Society without too much effort. The door swung open with the ponderous ease that let him know that, for better or worse, he was following the desired path.
Inside was almost as he remembered it, although a few item's cases had been smashed, and the contents removed. Why anyone would both looting a place like this, especially considering everything that was happening to the town was beyond him, so he paid little attention to what had been taken.
There didn't seem to be anything of interest in the first room, even the dusty old paintings were the same as those he remembered, each hinting at this secret or that, though so cryptically that no one but the artist would or could be sure what they meant.
All save for the painting that dominated the one wall in, and indeed as far as James was concerned, the Spartan room in which he found it.
Under the polished brass plate into which the title 'Day of Judgement' had been carved in cursive, was a picture of the pyramid headed creature James had seen infrequently in his time here, the one that terrified him the most.
It stood amongst a number of suspended cages, each containing a vaguely female body bound upside down to the bars, a bloody spear like the one it had used to kill Maria clutched in one stubby hand, surrounded by mist.
James all but fled from the room, unable to shake the feeling that the painting had been left for him to find, another taunt from whomever was doing all of this. If it had been intended to scare him it had succeeded.
He was reluctant to search the new room he found himself in, and indeed it proved unnecessary, for one of the small room's walls was gone, and in it's place a crudely fashioned tunnel and staircase leading into darkness.
The purpose of the staircase was obvious, it was where he had to go next if he wished to find Mary, but he hesitated.
The last time he had used a staircase like this, the last time he had willingly descended further into the darkness, Maria had been killed. Would he have to make another such sacrifice if he continued?
But what else was there to do? He couldn't turn back now, not with Mary, and possibly answers to the madness of this place ahead… but if he didn't, how could he live with the consequences of what might happen…
Before indecision could paralyse him, he thrust himself down the stairs, keeping up a confident and measured pace so as not to allow himself the opportunity for cowardice.
Whatever happened next would be on his own head he decided.
That was by no means an assurance of success however, as James should have known…
The stairway seemed to go on forever, and it became difficult to keep unwanted doubts and fears out of his mind, and he felt his new found resolve flagging.
He felt himself slowing as those fears began the insidious process of sapping his strength.
Had he not reached the bottom of the stairs so suddenly that he almost fell, he might have turned tail and run, as it was, he no longer had time for thoughts of flight.
Before him was a simple iron door, lacking engravings, pictures or puzzles of any kind. As he placed a hand on the unassuming handle, he felt that such simplicity was somehow significant, that perhaps he was getting closer to some sort of truth, some logic behind the madness.
Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Regardless, there was nowhere to go but forward.
He swung the door aside and made to step through boldly, only barely catching himself on the doorframe in time.
There was no floor in the room beyond the door, just a gaping void into nothingness.
James hung there not moving, not speaking, barely breathing; so complete was his bewilderment.
It didn't make sense, why all this just to show him a hole?
James found himself starring into its depths, almost as if entranced. There was something down there he was sure, something both important and deadly…
"What? Why- AAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHH!", James screamed as something pushed him roughly from behind, sending him toppling into the darkness, his flailing arms failing to find purchase as the void rushed to embrace him.
"Deeper down the rabbit hole", a shadowy figure said with a mirthless chuckle, adjusting the ragged cloak about his bony old frame and coughing roughly into one claw like hand, "I'm sorry about that lad, but you've come too far now, I just hope you're strong enough to face what you've been running from…"
---Author notes---
Sorry, could resist that last bit. Anyways, progressing more smoothly than I hoped so expect the next chapter pretty quickly, longer than this one.
Also, as I said in the previous version; if anyone wants to do side stories with any of my new characters ie: Guide, Mr.Timothy, man in suit with Eddie etc, just e-mail me and we'll set something or other up.
See you all in Chapter Six: Temperance and Virtue Despoiled
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell
