James tried the door with the key marked COURTYARD and found that the key fit the lock.
"Yes." He murmured to himself as the door opened.
James stepped outside into the chilly, foggy air and sighed, realizing how glad he was to breathe in the fresher air as opposed to the stale air with the scent of decay. He could hardly see in front of him. He began walking forward, the weight of the handgun was menacing, making him fully realize the danger, yet still a large comfort.
It seemed a bit weird to him, he didn't know why he was suddenly thinking about it at a time like this, but guns were as twofaced as a human might be. They are either there to hurt you or to protect you. They can inflict pain, or cause a great deal of comfort. It was just a thought anyway; he didn't even know why he thought it.
The form of a chain linked fence came into view, and soon a large hole in the fenced area.
It's a pool. James thought. But there's no water.
James walked further toward the fence and glimpsed around the pool area. It was as ordinary as any swimming pool area might be. It was very large with lounging chairs and umbrellas scattered around the area. The gate opened with a creak. James walked inside the area and looked curiously around the pool. He didn't know why but, it just seemed so…ordinary. Real people had once swam in here, people who lived ordinary lives, people who didn't know anything of the evils of the town, people who died and stayed dead. James could already see the picture, a sunny day here and very hot. Woodside Apartment occupants coming out of the building with bright towels and bags wearing bathing suits. They talked with neighbors, swam some, never with a care in the world. James shook his head, washing away the thought.
The radio went off again. James looked up, his hand immediately tightening around the handgun. It was suddenly his best friend. Three dark figures were walking around in the swimming pool, the ones with no arms. There was another object sitting in the swimming pool. A baby carriage.
Why is that there? James wondered to himself. He could also see that there was something in there, what was it? James crept closer to the pool, aiming his gun at the creatures. Just as he was at the edge, his foot slipped on a wet patch at the edge of the pool and James fell in.
Thunk!
"Damn!" He cursed as pain went up his bottom side. With a groan, he got to his feet and grasped the edge of the pool, rubbing where he had landed. His radio was going crazy now, but his gun, where had it gone? He must have dropped it when he fell. He had to find it!
Come on, where did it go? James sank lower to the ground and shined his flashlight closer to the ground, though it did him no good. One of the figures was hurrying toward him as fast it seemed it could go. The monster's had a dance of their own those straightjacket demons. James watched in shock as they came toward him, its back bent backwards and its right side jutted more to the right then it came up back again, preparing to attack poor James.
Dammit. James thought as he backed away and began to hurriedly scan the floor for the stupid handgun, nut it had fallen out of sight. No wait, there it was! James could see it, lying just a few feet away from the baby carriage. James moved out of the way as straightjacket demon came closer to him. It tilted its back back and made a hissing noise, preparing to spew out the acidic spray. James just nearly past it and he slipped again and fell onto the hard, cold surface of the pool. Green grime softened his fall this time, allowing him to jump right back up. As quickly as he could, James scooped up his gun from the slimy ground and turned around, aiming the weapon at the designated target which was about four feet away.
Bang! Bang!
The straightjacket demon fell down and began to squirm around on the filthy ground. James took his opportunity and grabbed the object and paper that was sitting in the baby carriage and took off. James ran up the stairs out of the pool near him and was out of the pool area. James hoped that the monsters didn't know how to climb the stairs.
Don't look back.
James slowed and looked down at the key that he had just swiped. The tag attached to it was marked FIREESCAPE. There was also a letter that was lying in the carriage that he had picked up as well. It was cream colored paper folded and…smelled of something. James paused and sniffed the letter, inhaling the scent of fresh flowers. Perfume, but not just any perfume, Spring. Spring had been Mary's favorite perfume and she had worn it almost everyday. James had given it to her as a Valentines Day present, along with chocolates.
Did Mary write this? He wondered to himself as he eagerly opened the letter and began to read.
The only thing I can think about anymore is the sun; I haven't seen it in so long. My hospital room has no windows and the only light I see are the lights above my head and the lights in my dreams, though I am having less now, or else their nightmares. I'm afraid to look in the mirrors anymore, I'm afraid to see what I've become. Oh, all I want is my husband to come to me. James, where are you?
Mary did write this! James thought excitedly. She is alive; she really is here, waiting for me!
How had she known that James would the letter though? James wondered this briefly, but he was still too excited to think straight. It didn't look like a note, maybe a diary. James vaguely remembered the thick red book with the gold lock sitting on the night table beside Mary. When he had asked her what it was, she had just said that he would soon see it when the time was right, whatever that meant.
James safely tucked the paper into his breast pocket, right next to Mary's picture and the letter, and kept on walking forward. A building loomed ahead of him in the fog, though it wasn't Woodside Apartments, it was a different building and the door was unlocked. James walked inside, curious as to whether this would lead him to Rosewater. It was a dark hallway with doors on the walls.
It's another apartment building. James realized as he walked further in, his light reflecting of the decaying rust covered walls. James chose one direction randomly and stopped all most immediately in front of a room. Room one oh one. James walked inside the room, being careful to listen for the sound of static by his radio. When he heard none, he walked in more, feeling a bit more at ease, but there was still something wrong.
What the…James walked in further. Oh my…
"What happened?" He murmured to himself. His green eyes were wide with fright, a frown settling on his face. In the kitchen area in the apartment, the refrigerator had fallen over, and someone had been lucky enough to be in its path. James backed up a few steps, suddenly overcome with nausea. The persons legs were poking out from under the giant machine, they had been dead awhile.
James's ears caught the sound of something suddenly, in the next room. It was making weird sounds. Gun at the ready, James slowly went over to the door from which the sound was coming from. It sounded awful; it did nothing for James's stomach.
Whatever it is, James thought grimly. It's making me feel sick.
James paused in front of the door and took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever lay behind the door, and slowly opening it to find, much to his relief, someone just as human as he was.
A man easily twenty pounds overweight sat on the floor in front of the toilet, vomiting out his stomach contents. He was wearing a striped red shirt and a baseball cap pulled backwards. James hovered in the doorway, feeling a bit sick himself. The man on he ground seemed to sense him and turned his head around, looking suspiciously at James with cold grey eyes. His blond hair was matted to his forehead with sweat. The next second, he went back to the toilet and gagged, throwing up again. James just stood there, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"It wasn't me!" The man exclaimed between gags. "I didn't do it!" He coughed noisily and bent over further and groaned.
"Didn't do what?" James asked, wondering what the man could have possible done that had made him so violently ill. He didn't seem like the man who would do something wrong, more like a clumsy man.
"I didn't do anything!" The man continued, still hunched over the toilet. "I, I swear! He was like this when I got here!"
James walked a bit further into the cramped bathroom, his stomach churning as he glanced at the toilet's contents. "My uh, my name is James. James Sunderland." James said, trying to be friendly and not seem so straight forward.
The man coughed. "Ummm…Eddie." Eddie said, sounding like he was going to repeat his performance.
"Eddie," James said, trying not to stare at the toilet again. "Who's that dead guy I the kitchen?"
Eddie began to vomit again. "I didn't do it! I swear I didn't kill anyone!"
I never said you did. James thought to himself. "You're not friends with the red pyramid thing are you?" James asked, trying to purposely steer the conversation in a different direction.
"Red pyramid thing?" James asked, turning around again to look at James. "I don't know what yer talkin about." He resumed his position at the toilet, his chubby hands grasping the sides for dear life. "Honest. But I did see some weird-looking things." He explained, then gagged. "They scared the hell outta me, so I ran in here." Eddie bent back over the toilet.
"Well," James said with a sigh. "I guess this place isn't too safe either." James crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at Eddie. "What happened here anyways?"
Eddie did a slight movement that could have been a shrug, or else it was a heave. "Uh I, I told ya, I don't know. I'm not even from this town! I just, I just…" He couldn't seem to able to describe why he was here, like he didn't really know why he had come. James understood this; after all, he was searching for his wife that had been dead for the last three years.
But she must be alive. He reminded himself. I have proof…that she is here!
"You too huh," James asked. "Something just brought you here, right?"
Eddie let out a sigh, his thick torso relaxing. Ummm…yeah. You could say that…" Another tremor went through his body. Eddie bent his head down.
"Well, whatever it is," James said, straightening up. "I think you had better get out of here soon."
Eddie didn't argue. "Yeah, yer right. What about you?" He asked, sounding a bit cold suddenly.
James hand automatically went to his breast pocket. He could hear the gentle rustle of the papers that resided in there. "I'll leave as soon as I'm done here." James began to back out of the bathroom. "Eddie…be careful." He cautioned, though it really hadn't been necessary for him to remind Eddie. James started to walk away.
Eddie was still on the ground in front of the toilet, looking very pale. "James, I…, I…um," James turned around and patiently waited for what Eddie had to stay. Eddie was looking at him looking like he had something to say to him. Then, he suddenly turned away, deciding against it. "You be careful to." He said.
James nodded and went back into the room. He purposely avoided the decaying corpse underneath the fridge, but found a pack of handgun bullets lying on the counter. James went back into the hallway and began to try all the doors, finding most of them locked.
I need to find my way out. James thought to himself. Where is this exit in this building?
James headed upstairs next. Almost as soon as he reached upstairs, his radio went off. A straight jacket demon came his way, but James hardly glanced at it. He shot it three times before it went down, then ran over and crushed the head underneath the heel o his shoe. He was no longer scared of the monsters. To him, they only represented something that kept him from getting to Mary; and that made him mad.
There must an exit somewhere here. He thought to himself. He headed further down the hallway, pausing every so often to check the door locks in hopes of finding some ammo. He did find some handgun ammo, and stocked it up in his pocket where it would wait. Next, he went down the other hallway and found with an EXIT sign hanging over the doorframe, still faintly lit up.
Is this it? James wondered. He tried the door, but it appeared to be locked. Suddenly, he remembered his key that he had found in the baby carriage. James picked up the key from his pocket and placed it into the lock, finding it fit. The door was now opened. With a small whoosh of air through his teeth, he opened the door marked EXIT and stared at mild surprise at the doorway that was clearly not an exit.
What the hell is this? He wondered.
Instead of an exit stairway to outside, there was just a doorway leading to outside two stories above the ground. About three feet away was an opened window, just within arms reach.
I can get across there. He thought to himself. I just need to be very, very careful. James glanced down nervously, realizing the gap between the two buildings was just big enough or him to fall through and go crashing to the bottom. James took a deep breath and reached out to grasp the window panes. His hands shook a little as he tightened his grasp, and hesitated before pushing off. With a slight grunt, James's feet left the ground and pushed upward, smoothly putting himself through the window into another bedroom.
James realized he had been holding his breath nervously. He let it out in a whoosh and stepped more forward into the room, trying to steady his trembling legs. He was now in a bedroom. James looked around the room, not finding really anything of interest except for a brochure for Silent Hill. James picked up the brochure and began to leaf through it, realizing that he had read this before.
Unlike most resort towns, Silent Hill's history runs as deep as the neighboring lake, Toluca Lake. The town was supposedly originally settled on by Indians. The lake was used for many strange rituals. The lake was once known as The Blood Lake supposedly due to the odd rituals that were performed in that area by earlier settlers, although it is unknown exactly what rituals they did then.
James found particular interest in that one article although he had never really taken much interest in learning about cults and their strange beliefs. But, this town, what did really happen then? What was happening now? Did the past tie with the future here? What unfortunate fate did the once peaceful town meet?
And Mary, He thought quickly. Why are you here? Why did you lure me here?
James sighed and set the brochure down. Why, why, why. His head was starting to hurt again, throb was more like it. James didn't usually get headaches, but today, they just kept coming and going.
There was nothing else in the room, so James headed out into the hall. The door closed silently behind him. Like all the other hallways, this one was no exception. Lucky for him, he found a mannequin creature in the hall. James hot it and easily killed it without James walked down the hall, occasionally trying each door. At the end of the hall was the exit door, but it was locked. James Sunderland sighed; the day just wasn't getting any easier.
He turned around and walked further down the hall, stepping around the mannequin's corpse. One room was locked with a note hanging on the door telling someone that they left for a few hours and if they need to get into the room they could get the key from someone else's room. James decided that there was nothing else on that floor and headed down one floor.
The next room, one oh five, was unlocked and James went inside and looked around, making sure the coast was clear. He walked further in, his footsteps echoing off the decaying walls. A map sat on the table that read Blue Creek Apartments.
Blue Creek Apartments? He wondered.
James gave the room one last look before heading back toward the door. As he passed the closet though, a soft scent floated to his nostrils. James paused and looked into the closet where the smell had come from. Taped to the back of the closet was a piece of paper, the scent of Spring had been sprayed onto the paper. James took the paper off the wall and held it gently in his hands and began to read.
I had a dream last night, the first one I had had in a while. I was sitting by a creek in a green valley where the sky was a color blue like I had never seen. Everything was so calm, I was so happy. It was like I wasn't sick anymore, all the pain was gone. When I turned back around, James was standing behind me. He held out his hand and I took it, I felt do glad to have things back again. He began to lead me away from the creek and took me to our car. We were going somewhere, but I couldn't remember where, except that I wanted to go there. Once I was there, I knew the sickness would be completely gone. Then I wok up, and I was still in the hospital. I hope the doctors tell us what's wrong with me soon; I want to go wherever I went in my dream.
James sighed and put the letter back on the wall. This diary entry was before he and Mary learned the disease she was ill with was terminal. Before that's he had been full of so much hope often talking about what would happen when she got better and went home.
There was nothing else in that room James thought needed to be investigated, so he left. The next few rooms were locked except for room one oh nine. Handgun bullets sat on the coach. James picked them up, thinking in his mind that he might need as many as he could get. There was a door connecting to the next bedroom that was unlocked. James stepped inside the bedroom, finding that it was a large room with full length mirrors covering one side of the wall. James walked in a bit more, suddenly realizing that he wasn't the only person in the room. At the floor next to the mirror lay the girl from the cemetery. She dangled a kitchen knife in front of her face with a weird glaze in her eyes.