COMPLETE: (Non-Pokemon) Silent Hill 2: Eddie's Story

[Rocketshipper]

I posted this fic on another forum and it got deleted because of the content ^_^. Contains graphic violence and language. I hope this isn't too long for a single post.

Silent Hill 2: Eddie’s Story

*Yo, Rocketshipper here. I can’t believe it, I’m actually writing another fanfic. I’d thought that the last one had killed all my writing desires permanently, but I guess not. This one won’t be as long as that one though, it might even be shorter than the Tenchi one-shot I wrote (yeah right!). First the legal stuff, I don’t own Silent Hill or the characters James, Mary, Maria, Eddie, Angela, Douglas, Frank, or Laura; they are all owned by Konami. I decided to write this fanfic because Eddie is my favorite character in the whole Silent Hill series and I don’t think the game explored him enough. I hope it turns out alright and I hope you readers enjoy it. I apologize in advance for the bad language. I normally don’t have swearing in my fics, but I wanted to be true to the characters and the world, so it’s kind of a necessary evil. I’ll see you at the end of the fic. Have fun! Extra Note: In response to my first review on (YAY! A review! Someone actually read my fic!) I went back and broke up some of the long chunks of text into more paragraphs. I suspected that someone would comment on that. The reason I didn’t put in more breaks before, or that I didn’t use chapters, was because I felt the story all sort of flowed together, there weren’t any real pauses where I could put chapters in. But at least now some of the big paragraphs are smaller. I hope this makes it easier to read*

“Get out of my house now, you worthless, stupid, fat, tub of lard. The sight of you makes me sick!”

The drunken rantings of my stepfather, Todd, rang through the house as I quickly pulled on my favorite pair of black and red striped socks and shoved my feet into my sneakers. As soon as my laces were tied I jumped to my feet and was out the door. I jumped in my beat up white truck and turned the keys in the ignition, relishing the calming sound of the engine. I quickly pulled out of the drive way and drove off down the street, finally glad to be away from home and away from my stepfather’s insults.

My name is Edward Dombrowski, but I prefer just plain Eddie. I live in the town of Ashfield, and my life completely sucks. I get that kind of stuff all the time. “Dumb-ass” “Blubber-butt” “Fatso” “Worthless”, I’ve heard them all. Nobody cares about me, everyone hates me, and no one gives me any respect. I’ve taken it my entire life. I’ve never had a real friend; I’ve always been the loner, the outcast, the one everyone else picked on. In school everyone always made fun of my weight or my clothes or the way I talked. I was beaten up almost everyday, and when I came home my stepfather would usually beat me again, because I came home with torn clothes, or I didn’t do perfectly on some test, or just because he felt like it. Todd is the worst one of them all. He never does anything except sit around and drink booze until he’s plastered. Mom’s too scared to stand up to him, and I really can’t do anything either. I never knew my real father, my mom married Todd before I was old enough to remember anything. Mom doesn’t keep any pictures of him around and refuses to talk about him, so I don’t even know his name or what he looked like. When I was younger I would sometimes fantasize that my real dad was someone famous or that he was somehow still alive and would one day come back and rescue me and Mom from Todd, but I grew out of those day dreams a long time ago. Things aren’t any better since I graduated either. I had ok grades in school, but they weren’t nearly good enough to earn any college scholarships. When I asked Todd if he would help pay for college he laughed in my face.

“Why should I waste my hard earned money to send a complete retard like you to college? You’d never make it through one semester!” He said to me. It’s not like he’s buying anything more important with it, all he uses it for is booze. The electricity and phone services might get cut off and we are barely getting by, yet he still has to buy alcohol every night. I hate Todd, I wish he was dead. If I could pay for college myself I would, but keeping a job is starting to become even more difficult than before. Everyone in this small town knows me, and none of them want to hire a 22 year old still living with his parents who isn’t even in college. A lot of businesses are owned by the family and friends of people I went to school with so you can bet none of them want to give a job to a fatso like me. Some businesses are even owned by some of my former classmates who already finished their educations. There is almost no greater humiliation than having to ask the person who used to use you as a punching bag to give you a job, and watch as they throw your resume in your face and laugh. Even when I can find a job I can never hold onto it for more than a week or two. No matter what I do I always seem to screw something up or make my boss mad and end up getting fired. In fact, yesterday I was just fired from my job working at the gas station by the highway. It was the 4th job in a row that I got fired from.

“I just can’t trust you behind the register anymore, Eddie. I can’t watch you every minute.” Mr. Keen told me. I hadn’t even done nothing! I bet he fired me because his daughter was one of the ones who was always giving me a hard time in school. She probably told him to get rid of me. I hate them all! What was worse was Mr. Keen phoned Todd to tell him why I had been fired and when I got home he was waiting for me. He bashed my face so hard that my nose bled for nearly an hour afterwards, and my right eye swelled shut. After he had finished punching me, just to make extra sure I got the message, he dislocated three fingers on my left hand. Now they are swollen up to nearly the size of sausages, and they’re throbbing like crazy. I could barely make a fist with my left hand, my fingers hurt so much. I took some extra strength Aspirin when I woke up this morning but it didn’t help much. He beats me up every time I lose a job. I despise Todd! Thinking about him made me again become aware of the weight in my pocket and I smiled despite myself. I’d pulled one over on old Todd.

Resting my aching left hand on the top of the steering wheel, still keeping my eyes on the road, I slowly reached my hand into my pocket and pulled out the prize. Todd’s prized revolver, the one he bought at the gun show last year, the one he sometimes used to threaten mom and me. I’d stolen it from his sock drawer that morning, before I left the house. I was fed up with my life, fed up with no one caring about me, sick and tired of being abused and walked all over by everyone. I had nothing to live for. I didn’t know what kind of model the gun was, I’m not an expert, but I did know what it could do and I knew it would get the job done. The gun had three bullets already loaded in it. Todd had lots more ammo lying around but I hadn’t bothered to grab any, after all, I only needed one bullet.

Through the fog I finally saw the bridge that led out of town. I slowed the car down and parked on the shoulder right where the bridge began. I got out, leaving the keys in the ignition, and walked out to the center of the bridge. I paused and looked across the serene water of the Ashfield River, taking in the crisp air and rural scenery one last time, before I raised the gun to my head. I placed the muzzle against the side of my head, pulled the hammer back, closed my eyes, and slowly began to count to three. Suddenly, I head the scratching of claws on concrete and before I could open my eyes to locate the source I felt a sharp pain in my right ankle and yelped in shock. I looked down and saw that Henry Fletcher’s vicious pit bull, SC, was using my foot as a chew toy…again! I hate that dog.

Henry was one of the star football players at my old high school, and one of the chief instigators of my routine pummelings. He got into some prestigious college with a football scholarship, and he’s now attending graduate school. Whenever he gets back into town he wastes no opportunities to harass me. Nothing has changed since high school. Even when he isn’t verbally abusing me I can tell he’s thinking about making fun of me, just by the way he looks at me. He mocks me with his eyes, I know it. They all looked at me with contempt and disgust, especially Henry. He always had his stupid dog with him wherever he went and he still takes it everywhere when he gets back into town. The dog, in general, wasn’t very nice, but for some reason it always seemed to like to attack me especially. It was as if the dog could somehow sense vulnerability inside of me, as if it knew I was an easy mark. My life sucks so much that even lower life forms think I’m pathetic. Come to think of it, Henry probably taught the stupid thing to attack me. I glared at the dumb dog and kicked it away. SC backed up and growled menacingly. I ignored the stupid animal and put the gun back to my head, when it suddenly pounced again, this time sinking its teeth in even harder.

“OWWW, damn it, get off me you dumb dog” I yelled, kicking the monster with my other foot in a vain attempt to dislodge the creature. The dog let go and backed up, growling at me. Anger began to stream through me as I stared at the snarling creature. The dog leaped again and this time I gave it a good kick in the face, causing it to yelp and bound back. I sneered at it and laughed, but the dog continued to growl at me and began inching forward again. This was getting ridicules. My anger began to accumulate and thoughts ran through my head as I glared at the hated monster. I stared the creature down, my right hand clenching the gun in anger.

“I take crap from everyone else in my life, and now even some dog is giving it to me? I am sick and tired of all this. You stupid dog, I am NOT the person to mess with!” I yelled at the creature, my hand tightening again. The situation almost seemed to be a representation of my whole life, and all the rage and anger I’d felt and stored up in my life suddenly seemed to appear and boil over at the utter absurdity of the scene. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, STUPID FUCKING dog, I’ll kill you! It all happened in what seemed like an instant. SC sprang at me again and as he did I leveled Todd’s revolver at him and pulled the trigger. The bang was shockingly loud, louder than on TV, and the gun kicked in my hand, nearly causing me to drop it. SC yelped in pain as the bullet tore into his abdomen, and he bounced across the pavement, blood splattering the ground. The dog cried and thrashed around, causing its ruined intestines to spill out of the gaping wound in its belly. I laughed as I watched it thrash and squirm on the ground, then, to my surprise; it twisted its head around and began chewing on its own intestines. I watched with sick fascination as its movements began to slow down and become weaker and weaker. Finally, with one last whine of pain, the dog died, curled in a ball, a large pool of blood beneath it. Suddenly I heard footsteps running towards the bridge and a sharp knife of panic cut through me as I realized that Henry must have been nearby and heard the shot. I looked down at the body of the dog and then to the gun in my hand and panic rose even higher. A few moments later the burly muscular body of football star Henry came running out of the woods and up to the bridge. He stopped a few feet away and looked down at his dead dog in stunned shock. Time seemed to be frozen as Henry stared down at his beloved pet. After what seemed like forever he looked up at me and his face was etched with rage and hatred as he noticed the gun in my hands.

“Dombrowski…you…you killed my dog! You killed Simon, you sick sack of garbage!” He yelled as he stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. “I’m going to beat you so bad you have to stay in the hospital for a month, and then I’ll make sure they lock you away for a long time, you fat piece of shit!” Henry ground teeth in anger and took a step towards me, causing me to step back in fear.

“St…stay back! I’m warning ya…” I managed to force out as I stepped back again and clutched the pistol even harder.

“You don’t scare me, Eddie. I’m going to make you pay for what you did to my dog, with your own worthless blood!” Maybe the presence of the gun didn’t really register with Henry, or maybe he just didn’t care. Whatever the reason, Henry lowered his shoulder like the quarter back he was and charged me. Fear and panic filled my mind and at that moment all I could think about was protecting myself. I have no doubt in my mind that Henry probably would have killed me. What I did was self defense! I raised the pistol and fired again at the charging football star. The bullet shattered his left knee, sending a cloud of blood and bone shrapnel spurting into the air, and he went down hard, sliding across the pavement straight into my legs, knocking me over as well. I quickly got to my feet and backed away from the scene. Henry clutched his ruined knee and screamed in pain. As I watched him lie on the ground, bleeding, the gravity of the situation suddenly hit me and a feeling of dread settled into the pit of my stomach. I was in serious trouble! I’d killed a dog and seriously wounded one of the towns’ most beloved community members. No one would ever believe for a minute that it was an accident, that I was only protecting myself. They would all take Henry’s side, it would be his word against mine. And Todd would probably shoot me himself for taking the gun. All thoughts of my plans for suicide were completely erased as I realized that I had to get out of there…fast.

I turned and ran for my car. Through his cries of pain, Henry managed to shout out a warning to me. “You better run, ass-hole. I’m calling the police and they’ll be sure to hunt you down, no matter where you run to”. I ignored Henry and jumped into the driver’s seat of my truck. As soon as the engine started I pulled back onto the road and sped off across the bridge at nearly twice the speed limit. In only a few moments the town of Ashfield was left far behind me. After a few more minutes I slowed the car down to normal speeds and began to try and think about what I should do. I could never go home now. If I thought people hated me now I couldn’t imagine how they would treat me after what I had just done. My life had just effectively ended and I hadn’t even shot myself yet. Suddenly I glanced up and noticed a road sign off to my right. “Silent Hill, 50 miles” it said.

I’d heard of Silent Hill a lot while I was growing up. It was a famous resort town that was really popular with many Ashfield families. They all raved about its peaceful lakes, its quant small town atmosphere, and its clean mountain air. My mom had always wanted to visit the town but Todd never wanted to go anywhere. Lately there had been a lot of crazy rumors about there being some religious cult in the town that tried to perform some freaky ceremonies and resurrect their god, something like that. There were also rumors about the townspeople vanishing into thin air and the town being haunted by demons. I figured the rumors were probably made up in order to try and attract even more business to the town. Just then I was struck with a brilliant idea. I could hide in Silent Hill. A lot of the local police believed the silly Silent Hill rumors and they weren’t likely to show up in the town looking for me. I might even be able to get a new start. A town where no one knew me or my past, it sounded too perfect. I quickly made my decision to head for Silent Hill. After about 45 minutes I finally spotted my exit and turned off. The road wound through the dense forest as it headed towards the isolated mountain town. I was so caught up in looking at the scenery around me that I almost didn’t see it in time. A huge metal barrier totally blocked off the tunnel that led into the town. I quickly slammed on my breaks and the truck stopped just inches from the wall. I stared at the barrier in disbelief for a few moments.

“I guess this means I’ll have to walk into town” I grumbled to myself as I backed the car up, turned it around, and parked it in the parking lot of a rest stop a few feet back from the barrier. There was one other car in the lot, a light blue, beat up piece of junk. Whoever had parked it there hadn’t bothered to close the driver’s side door when they left; must have been in a hurry. I turned the truck off, pocketed the keys, and opened the door. The breeze was warm and moist, so I decided to leave my coat in the truck. Before leaving I opened the glove compartment and pulled out a big fold out travel guide I’d thrown in there once a long time ago. I flipped through the guide and soon found the town map of Silent Hill. I tore the map out and tossed the guide back. I began to close the glove compartment, but then stopped and reached in again to grab my favorite hat and my lucky wrist bands. I slipped the black wristbands over each hand and put my blue baseball cap on backwards over my short blonde hair. I looked down at the gun and tried to decide whether or not I should take it. I probably wouldn’t need it, since I wasn’t planning on shooting anything else, but then again…you never know. I finally decided that I better take it along and slipped it into one of my pants’ very large pockets. I closed the truck door and plopped down on the ground to study the map and figure out how to get into Silent Hill. I was deeply absorbed in the map when I felt soft kick land on my left leg. I looked up to see a small girl standing over me. She had fairly long blonde hair and was wearing a blue dress over a blue and white striped shirt. She kicked my leg again, harder this time.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Eddie, who’re you?” I replied, a little annoyed at being interrupted.

“Why are you here?” she asked, ignoring my question, as she walked around to the other side of me.

“I’m sort of running away from the police.” I replied. The girl cocked her head and gave me a weird look.

“Are you going to kidnap me or something?” she asked, taking a small step back. I chuckled at the absurdity of the question and put down the map so I could look at her directly.

“Don’t worry” I assured her “I’m not going to do nothing to you. But ya know…didn’t yer parents ever teach ya not to talk to strangers?” The girl’s eyes suddenly became sad when I finished my question and she looked down at the ground.

“I don’t have any parents” she said sadly. I felt a pang of guilt rush through me and I looked down. I guess I wasn’t the only one with a sucky life.

“Sorry “ I said.

“It’s ok” she said, before smiling at me “I’m Laura and I came here to find Mary.”

“Is she one of yer little friends” I asked, amused.

“No, she’s a nice lady who was staying in the same hospital as me a few months ago. She was always talking about this place and I figured she would be here, so I ran away from the orphanage and came here to find her. I found a letter she wrote for me in our nurse’s locker. She said she wanted to adopt me. It would be really nice to have Marry as a mom. Her husband is a jerk though” Laura turned and started walking away towards a path leading into the woods. I quickly got to my feet and chased after her, tucking the map into my pocket as I went.

“Wait, Laura, do ya want me to come with you? I could help you search” I said. She turned, looked me up and down, and then shook her head before turning and running off down the path.

“No thanks. I can take care of myself. A fatso like you would just slow me down” She called over her shoulder as she disappeared down the trail and into the fog.

“Hey!” I called after her, a little bit angry “That’s not very nice!” But she was already gone. After a moment I decided to let it go. She was only a kid after all, she probably didn’t know any better. After another quick look at the map I started down the trail Laura had taken. The path wound aimlessly through the tress and cliffs as it slowly headed towards the town. The entire area was cloaked in an extra thick layer of fog, an unusual occurrence for this time of year, and I could barely see 4 feet in front of me. I made sure I watched where I stepped and moved slowly, so that I wouldn’t accidentally walk off the path and get lost in the fog. The air was extremely quite and it was kind of creepy. Every now and then I thought I heard the sound of footsteps or the rustle of bushes off somewhere in the fog, but I figured it was probably just forest creatures. After about 10 minutes of walking I came upon a large Cemetery. I checked the map again to make sure I was going the right way and continued on, noting how creepy it was to build a walking path into town straight through a Cemetery. After a few more minutes I traveled through the tunnel that ran under the main road into town and began to pass some of the ranches that were on the outskirts of town. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the path spilled off onto Sanders Street and I was finally in the town of Silent Hill.

I paused for a moment on a bench near a flower shop so I could catch my breath. It was only then that I began to realize something was wrong. I didn’t hear ANYTHING. No honking horns, no engine sounds, no footsteps; the air was dead and utterly quit. I should have been able to hear the sounds of pedestrians and cars as they moved about the downtown area on their way to lunch or work, or wherever. There was nothing, it was as if the town was completely deserted. I jumped off the bench and ran up to the front door of a nearby flower shop. The sign hanging on the door said it was open but there were no lights on inside, and no sign of anyone around. A feeling of dread slowly began to rise in my gut. Where was everyone? I turned and jogged down the street towards the intersection ahead. As the fog cleared I stopped dead in my tracks, a flash of panic hitting me again. In front of me, right at the intersection of Sanders and Lindsey Street, a large amount of blood had been smeared on the street, as if someone had dragged a bleeding mutilated body across the road. I slowly looked up and noticed that the blood smear continued on up Lindsay Street. I instinctually reached into my pocket and brought out the revolver, comforted by its weight in my hand. What the hell was going on here? Could all those crazy Silent Hill rumors have really been true? I was starting to think that they were. Despite my better judgment, I began to cautiously make my way up the street, following the blood trail. Maybe someone had been hurt, maybe there was something I could do, still, I kept the gun out in front of me, ready for anything. At least, I thought I was ready for anything.

As I reached the point where Katz Street ran into Lindsay I saw something approaching out of the fog in front of me. Suddenly a form stepped out of the shadows and I recoiled in disgust. The thing was human in shape, and the upper half of it’s body appeared to be sealed inside some sort of straight jacket or bag, except it wasn’t made of fabric or plastic, but what looked like human flesh. It’s entire body glistened and looked like it had been stained black by some sort of dark mud or viscous liquid. It stumbled forward like a drunk man and its torso writhed inside the skin bag as it let out a spine tingling screech. It was disgusting and freaky, but I was too occupied with watching it move forward that I didn’t think to consider it a threat. The thing stopped a few feet from me and leaned its upper half back. Suddenly an opening appeared on its chest and a cloud of grey liquid sprayed straight at my face. I jumped back and threw up my left arm to shield myself. As soon as the grey liquid touched my skin it instantly began to sizzle and suddenly my arm was on fire with pain. The liquid was acid! I screamed in shock and backed way from the creature, clutching my arm to my chest. The thing squealed at me and leaned back again, preparing to launch another blast of acid.

“No you don’t, you bastard!” I screamed in anger as I raised my gun and fired. Blood splattered across the creature’s front and it fell to the ground with a screech and lay still. With the creature dead I took the moment to examine my arm closer. My upper arm and wrist had been protected by my clothes, but the rest of my arm was now red and raw, as if I’d received the world’s biggest rope burn. In some places the skin was peeling up and blood was beginning to ooze through. My dislocated fingers were now throbbing twice as hard. This had really not been my day. Maybe coming to Silent Hill hadn’t been such a good idea after all. I glared down at the hideous creature that had attacked me. “Got what you deserved, you freak!” I yelled as I kicked it in what I assumed was its head. Suddenly the creature let out an unearthly shriek, one that caused me to jump nearly a foot in the air, and scuttled backwards across the pavement. It was still alive! It moved across the ground with surprising speed and shot underneath a nearby car. My heart starting pounding as I raised my gun again and pointed it in the direction the thing had gone. I concentrated hard so I could hear its movements…and that’s when I heard the sound of more footsteps. I turned around and nearly had a heart attack. There were three more of the freaky zombie things stumbling up the street behind me. I swung my gun around pointed it at the closest one. Click. I was out of bullets!

The creatures let out bone chilling moans as they continued to stumble towards me, and as I watched them approach my whole body was filled with fear. Suddenly, with an ear splitting shriek, the original monster shot out from under its hiding place and charged straight at me. That was the last straw. I turned and ran down the street in blind terror. The fog was still thick around me and I couldn’t tell where I was running to, but I could still hear the awful sounds of the creepy monsters all around me. I kept running straight ahead until I saw a large chain link fence off to my right. I quickly spotted an opening and ran for it, slamming the gate shut behind me. I was in a courtyard in front of some building. I didn’t bother to check which it was, I just ran up to the nearest door, praying there weren’t more of those things inside, and threw open the door. The inside was nearly pitch black, but I didn’t care, anywhere was better than the monster filled streets. I slammed the door behind me and sank to the ground with my back to it, trying to catch my breath and calm my pounding heart.

I must have sat there in the dark for a good 15 minutes or more before I was finally calm enough to move and figure out where I was. I pulled the map out of my pocket and attempted to read it, but the room was just too dark. I remembered seeing two side by side apartment complexes marked on the map, I was probably in one of them, although I wasn’t sure which and it probably didn’t matter. The pain in my burned arm suddenly caught up with me, forcing me to put the map and gun down so I could take another look at it. It was bleeding even more now, and it hurt like hell. Stupid acid spitting freaks! I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my bandanna, which I pressed against the most damaged area of my arm until the bleeding began to slow. After a moment I carefully tied the bandanna around my arm as a makeshift bandage, then I slowly got to my feet. Putting the map away I began to cautiously make my way across the dark room, listening for the slightest sound of movement and kicking myself for not having brought more ammo with me for the gun. Finally my eyes adjusted to the low light and I could make out a set of stairs going up and a corridor ahead of me that led to a single door. I quickly jogged up the corridor and tried the door. Locked! I sighed as I turned and headed back towards the stairs. I began to slowly climb the stairs, still listening for monsters. After a moment I stepped off onto the second floor landing. I took a few steps forward and promptly tripped over something lying on the ground. I fell forward and caught myself with my hands, gasping as a shockwave of pain shot through my swollen fingers. This was really not my day.

After a moment, when the throbbing pain began to subside slightly, I turned around and began to search the ground for what I had tripped over. After a moment I spotted it, a small square box, barely visible in the low light. I bent down to pick it up…and suddenly inhaled in surprise as I saw what it was. It was a box of revolver rounds, the exact same kind of brand that Todd had in his drawer at home. As I stared at the box I began to get a very strong creepy feeling, as if someone or something was watching me. I knew the chances of just randomly stumbling upon a box of bullets for a gun that had JUST run empty was very very low. It was almost as if someone had left the bullets there on purpose, knowing I would need them. Someone was playing with me, and I didn’t like being played with. Still…I also wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I quickly reloaded the revolver and cautiously made my way towards the door to the second floor hallway. I slowly opened the door and stepped out into the nearly pitch black hallway, letting the door shut behind me. I listened closely and, not hearing anything, turned to my right and began to slowly walk down the hall. On my right was an empty laundry room and apartment [HASHTAG]#203[/HASHTAG]. The hall continued in front of me while a second hallway branched off to my right. I was about to continue down my current hallway when I heard familiar sounds coming from the hall to my left. After a moments hesitation I decided to investigate and slowly began to move down the hallway. I passed two apartments on the right but the sound continued to get louder. The hallway suddenly ended in a strange gate, and I realized the sounds were coming from apartment [HASHTAG]#208[/HASHTAG]. It sounded like someone was watching TV. I knocked on the door but no one answered and I heard no movement inside. I tried the doorknob and was surprised to find it unlocked. After a moment’s hesitation my curiosity got the better of my fear and I entered the apartment. Little did I know what was really in store for me.

The door opened into a short hallway and I immediately noticed the TV sounds were coming from my left. I turned and entered a large living room area with a small connected kitchen. At the far side of the living room, near the large windows, was an old fashioned TV and pulled up close to the screen was a large easy chair. The TV displayed a young looking quarterback answering the questions of some ditzy reporter. But it was the person sitting in that chair that really turned my blood to ice. He turned towards me and grinned a very evil grin as he took another sip from a bottle of whiskey. “Wasn’t that a beautiful touchdown, Eddie? I think even a total dumb-ass like you could appreciate it” Said Todd as he turned back to the TV screen. I stared in stunned silence, unable to comprehend what was in front of me.

“Wha…what…” I stuttered, taking a step back at the same time “What are you doing here?” Todd looked back at me with contempt in his eyes.

“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” He spat in disgust. “I’m here because your here.” I stared at him in confusion.

“What are ya talking about? You’re not supposed to be here. This doesn’t make sense!” I shook my head and closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them Todd would be gone. But when I opened them Todd was still in that chair in front of the TV, glaring at me with disgust.

“You thought I didn’t know” He said as he stared at me, burning a hole through me with his eyes. “That you took my gun and ran off like a little girl. Well, I knew alright. You’re such a pathetic weakling, Eddie. You can’t face up to anything.” Todd laughed at me and I felt the mocking disdain in his eyes. Anger began to bubble up inside me, but I did my best to hold it down. Todd turned back to his TV and began flipping through channels. “I don’t even understand why I entered your pathetic excuse for a family in a first place. All your damn mother ever does is nag and complain all the time. Bitch needs to learn her place. You both need to learn your places” The anger inside me suddenly exploded and took a step towards the chair.

“Don’t talk about my mom like that!” I screamed, my blood nearly boiling. Todd turned around and gave me another icy stare, then smiled coldly

“What are you going to do about it, Fat-boy? You going to fight me? I’d like to see you try. I’ll beat you so bad you’ll have to spend a year in the hospital” he warned, before turning back to the TV. He flipped the channel again and this time the TV displayed a very familiar scene. It was a shot of my mom’s bedroom. My mom was sitting on the bed and it looked like she was crying. Todd walked into the room and my mom stood up and began talking rapidly to him, as if she was pleading. Suddenly Todd lashed out and slapped her hard on the face and she fell back onto the bed. Seeing the slap was like being punched in the stomach. My mom began to cry and Todd pushed her down onto the bed and began beating her. My mom tried to fight back but Todd pinned her down and ripped off her blouse and bra. My stomach did a flip flop as the horrible scene unfolded in front of me. Todd laughed out loud and tossed back a mouthful of whiskey. “Your mom didn’t like what I did to you last night. She thinks I went too far. She said she wanted to call the police and turn me in. Well, I couldn’t have that. She had to be taught her place.” He put the whiskey bottle down and licked his lips. “She squeals real nice!”. The scenes on the TV suddenly changed to an earlier event, this time they showed me and Todd in the living room. Todd punched me in the face and blood splattered across the front of my shirt as my nose began to bleed. He continued to punch me in the face and gut until I was on the floor, gasping for air. Todd laughed hysterically and slapped his knee at the scene. In the TV, I tried to punch Todd back but he grabbed my hand and bent my index finger back. I cried and begged Todd to let go of my hand, but he just laughed at me and moved onto my middle finger. “You’re such a pathetic cry baby, Eddie. Look at that; can’t even fight back right. Your lucky I was in a good mood or I would have just broken you whole hand and called it a day.” He said and laughed again at the scene. The video on the TV looped and I was once again forced to watch my mother mercilessly attacked and raped by Todd. Then my torture scene repeated again; Todd beating my face in, my feeble attempt at self defense, and Todd sadistically dislocating my fingers. Then, the scenes repeated again.

Todd laughed and laughed, enjoying watching our pain and suffering. Todd laughing, my mom crying in pain. Todd laughing, my blood splattering against the wall. Todd laughing, me screaming out in agony as my fingers are bent back. Todd laughing…and laughing…and laughing. Laughing at me. Anger and hate boiled inside me uncontrollably and my vision literally turned red. I barely registered what I was doing. The revolver in my hand came up and I fired without thinking. The bullet tore through the back of Todd’s head, splattering blood, bone fragment, and brain all over Todd, the chair, and the TV screen. The bullet exploded out through Todd’s chin and shot through the top of the TV at an angle. The TV spouted a shower of sparks and the screen went snowy. It all happened in less than two seconds. I blinked in surprise and stared at the scene before me. The hissing static of the TV and the slow drip of blood were all I could hear. As I stared at the grisly scene before me the anger I had felt slowly began to fade. It was as if my normal consciousness suddenly snapped back into focus, I looked around and realized where I was…and what had just happened. I looked down at the corpse in front of me in horror and then looked down at the smoking gun in my hand, the instrument that had killed him. The murder weapon. I had killed someone! Panic seized me and I spun on my heels and bolted for the door, not daring to look back. I ran out into the darkness outside and charged down the hallway, towards the stairs that would take me out of this horrible place. As I ran a million thoughts and feelings zoomed through my brain in the space of a second. I had killed someone! The situation was now a million times worse; it wasn’t just a dead dog and an injured football player anymore. If anyone found out about this…I couldn’t bare to think about it. Still, in the very back of my mind, behind all the panic and fear, lurked a dark thought, struggling to come forward. “You did the right thing. He deserved it!” “No!” I screamed out loud as I reached the end of the hallway. I tried to slow down as I swung to my right down the first hallway, but I was going too fast and skidded into the opposite wall as I turned. Pain shot through my left shoulder, but I ignored it and made a run for the door leading to the stairs. I reached the door, flung it open, and rang inside. A surprising sight awaited me.

I wasn’t at the stairs at all, what was in front of me was yet another apartment room, exactly the same as the one I had just fled from. I spun around and violently twisted the doorknob behind me but the door was now locked tight. I looked around the room and began to panic even more. It was impossible; the stairs had been through that door when I had come up earlier. Rooms couldn’t just move on their own. What was going on here? I was just about to start pounding on the door and calling for help when I heard something that sounded like a soda can being opened. Scared to death of what I might encounter, but still curious and hopeful for the possibility of finding some help, I turned and walked down the short hall to the large living room. The small connected kitchen was on the other side of the living room, exactly across from the connecting hall I was in. A person was standing by an open refrigerator, drinking a can of beer. As soon as I stepped into the room he heard me and turned around. For the second time in only a short while my blood froze and my breath caught in my throat.

“So I finally found you, you fat, disgusting, piece of garbage” growled Henry as he took a step towards me. I looked down in horror and saw the bloody ragged hole where Henry’s kneecap had been, the place where I had shot him. Henry took another step forward and I could see the shattered and mangled bones in his leg move and rub together. The meat of his leg made a wet squishing sound and a fresh trickle of blood flowed down his pants leg and into his already soaked through sock. The sound and the sight of the wound made me sick, along with the knowledge that I had been the one who caused it. I put my hand over my mouth and closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths. “What’s wrong Eddie-boy? Is your handiwork causing you to feel a little queasy?” He mocked, taking another step forward “Well, the feeling’s mutual. Having to look at you every day would make anyone sick. You’re a pathetic waste of life, Eddie. You’re a coward, a wimp, a loser. After you shot me you ran away like the fraidy cat you are, because you couldn’t face up to the consequences of what you did…could you?” Henry yelled as he took yet another step towards me. He was almost directly in front of me, and I took a step back, still terrified.

“Why are you here?” I asked timidly, taking another short step back. “I left you back in Ashfield. You shouldn’t even be able to walk!” Henry grinned at me, and began to walk back towards the kitchen.

“You haven’t figured it out yet? I’m here because you brought me here. You brought us all here.” He said and laughed, casting his disdain filled eyes over me. He tossed his head back and chugged his beer in three huge gulps, then tossed the empty beer can at me. I quickly stepped out of the way and the can bounced past me back down the short entry hall. “What, you afraid of an empty can, Eddie-boy?” asked Henry, with another disdainful laugh. “You were always so pathetic in school Eddie. Remember all those times we got you in the locker room? Wasn’t that fun? It sure was fun for us”. Henry laughed again and grinned at me mockingly. My mind was filled with the horrible memories of all the times I encountered Henry and his friends. Times when they would shove my head in the toilet, or when they tried to force me to eat a urinal cake, or the time they ripped off all my clothes and shoved me into the Girl’s locker room. Most of the time Henry’s goons would just hold me down and Henry would spend a good 15 minutes using me as a human punching bag. I tried to block out the painful memories, but I couldn’t stop thinking about them, as if something else was controlling my mind and forcing me view them over and over. Henry continued to laugh and mock me. After a moment he stepped forward again, grinning evilly at me. “You were so pathetic back then Eddie. You still are, don’t get me wrong, but back then it was a special kind of pathetic. You couldn’t do anything right. You couldn’t even protect someone you liked” My heart suddenly stopped as I realized where this was going. Anger flowed through my veins again and I stepped forward, clenching both of my hands, despite the pain.

“Don’t you dare talk about that, you bastard!” I yelled at him, feeling the rage start to flow through me. Henry just shrugged his shoulders dismissively and gave me an arrogant look.

“You know it’s true, Eddie, don’t deny it. Everyone knows. You couldn’t stand up to us, and if you had just kept your nose out maybe things would have been different.” He said evilly, before he closed his eyes and spoke wistfully, as if recalling some fond memory. “Dana, ah…Dana. I wonder what she looks like now. Hot, I bet. She was a great lay.” Henry laughed at his crude comment and rage instantly flowed through my body. The terrible memory began to resurface in my mind, a memory so horrible I had done everything in my power to forget it.

It was after a football game, in the parking lot. Dana, one of the prettiest girls in school, and one of the only kids who didn’t bother me, was being harassed by Henry and his friends. I don’t know why they were bothering her, and I don’t know what came over me, but I suddenly felt the urge to stand up for her. The guys told me to butt out and mind my own business, but I wasn’t going to back down this time. No one else was around; we were the last ones in the parking lot. The guys attacked me and beat me to the ground with their fists, then Henry started swinging at me with a golf club he kept in his car. He got in one good whack at my chest and cracked two ribs, which put me out of the fight permanently. Then, as I lay on the ground, bleeding and racked with pain, they...they…!

“The whole hero act was so pathetic coming from you that it wasn’t even funny. We had to do it, to teach you a lesson. If you hadn’t interfered, then none of it would have happened. But you don’t have to feel completely guilty, Eddie. The slut was asking for it.” Explained Henry, as he laughed again, filling me with even more rage. “She would have never gone out with you anyway, why would she have needed a useless, pathetic, retarded, tub-of-lard as her boyfriend? You probably wouldn’t have known what to do with her in the sack if she had drawn you a map!” Henry threw back his head and laughed with all his might. The images of that horrible night played and replayed in my head. The horrible pain as Henry shattered my ribs with his qolf swing, watching as they attacked the girl I liked, and powerless to do anything about it. The memories combined together and ran before my eyes, the images of cruel Henry overlapping, playing over and over. The Henry in front of me continued to laugh and laugh, mocking me, attacking me. Pathetic…pathetic…pathetic… My vision went red again and I raised the gun and pointed it at him.

“Shut up; shut up¸ shut up, SHUT UP! Don’t laugh at me!” I screamed and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Henry in the shoulder, causing him to stumble back towards the kitchen. Blood splattered across his shirt and dribbled down onto the floor. I fired again and the bullet hit him in the chest, causing him to double over. More blood splattered on the floor and on the white refrigerator behind him. I screamed again in unrestrained furry and fired three more times. The first bullet went wide; the second hit him square in the stomach, right above his belt. The third bullet drilled straight through Henry’s left eye and exited the back of his skull in a bright explosion of brains and blood. The blood splattered all over the open door of the refrigerator and all along the back wall of the kitchen. For a few seconds Henry’s body stood like a zombie, and then it fell back, landing half in and half out of the open refrigerator. I stood there, my whole body shaking as the anger slowly faded away and reality came back into focus. Reality hit me on the side of the head like a sledge hammer and I stared at the body in paralyzed shock. I had killed him…I’d murdered Henry!

Everything that had happened that night suddenly combined with the grisly carnage in front of me and my stomach could no longer take it. Without even realizing it I ran straight for the nearest door, tore it open, and, seeing that it led to a bathroom, threw myself down on the floor in front of the toilet, just as I lost my lunch. I puked my guts out for what seemed like forever, and just when I thought I was done I started all over. As I was throwing up I heard the sound of the door opening and footsteps coming across the room. Panic hit me again and more nausea swept over me. Who would it be this time? The door to the bathroom area suddenly opened and I glanced back to see who it was. I was very relived to see that it wasn’t anyone I knew. The man was wearing blue jeans, a gray shirt, and another unbuttoned green shirt over it. He had a pleasant face and short blonde hair. There was a small flashlight shining out of the pocket of his green shirt. I suddenly realized that the guy must have seen the body outside. Thankfully the gun was out of sight, behind the toilet where I had dropped it when I ran into the bathroom. In almost an instant I realized that I couldn’t let this guy, whoever he was, in on what had happened. I didn’t know if I could trust him. He probably wouldn’t believe my side of the story; he’d just call the police. In that one instant I decided I had to lie to him. I turned back to the toilet and puked another mouthful of bile into the water, then addressed the man. “It wasn't me! I didn't do it!” I said, sounding totally lame.

“Do what?” asked the man.

“I didn't do anything. I…I swear! He was like this when I got here...” I elaborated, hoping he would buy my lame lines. I was never very good at making excuses. The man looked at me curiously.

“My uh…my name's James. James Sunderland.” He said. I glanced back at him and then dry-heaved into the toilet bowl.

“Um…Eddie” I replied weakly.

“Eddie, who’s that dead guy in the kitchen?” asked James as he took a step closer. A shot of panic went through my body and my brain rushed to come up with something to say.

“I didn't do it. I swear I didn't kill anybody.” I replied, kicking myself for not coming up with anything better. Now he really wouldn’t believe anything I said.

“You're not friends with that red, pyramid thing, are you?” He asked, taking a short step back. Now I was just confused. What was he talking about?

“Red Pyramid thing?” I asked, before coughing up another glob of bile. “I don't know what yer talkin' about. Honest. But I did see some weird-lookin' monsters. They scared the hell outta me, so I ran in here...” At least that line was true.

“Well, I guess this place isn't too safe either.” He admitted before inquiring about Henry’s body again. “What happened here anyway?” Darn this guy was persistent.

“Uh I, I told ya I don't know. I'm not even from this town. I just, I just...” My voice trailed off as I heaved again. James looked at me curiously and scratched his head.

“You too, huh. Something just brought you here, right?” He asked.

“Umm... yeah. You could say that...” I responded, not wanting to go into too much detail.

“Well whatever it is... I think you better get out of here soon.” said James, as he turned back to look cautiously at the door to the apartment.

“Yeah, yer right.” I admitted, before asking a question of my own. “What about you?” James turned back to me and gave me a weary and guarded look. I suddenly got the feeling that he was hiding something too, something big.

“I'll leave as soon as I'm done here.” He responded cryptically. “Eddie... be careful”. He started to turn and head back to the door of the apartment. I was suddenly hit with a pang of loneliness and for a second considered going with him.

“James” I called out, causing him to stop and turn around. I was about to suggest I come along, but I was suddenly hit with the feeling that it might be a bad idea. “I... I... um... You be careful too.” I finally choked out. Suddenly another wave of nausea hit me and I turned back and hurled more stomach juice into the toilet. After a moment I heard James approached again and stand over me. After a second I felt his warm hand on my shoulder.

“Eddie, are you okay” He asked, this time his voice showing a new note of concern and tenderness. I almost reconsidered my decision of remaining alone right then, but fought it.

“Yeah, I guess…” I answered weakly, before turning and giving him the best “I’m alright” smile I could muster. “I’ll be fine by myself” I assured him. James looked like he was reluctant to leave, but then he finally stood up and began to walk away.

“Alright then…” he said “Good luck…” After a moment I heard the apartment door open and close, and then I was alone again. I continued to feel sick for several more minutes, before my stomach finally settled. For the longest time I huddled in the corner of the bathroom, clutching the revolver to my chest, too terrified to move or leave the apartment. Who knew what else could be waiting for me out there? After what seemed like an eternity, I finally summoned the courage to move. I couldn’t just sit in the apartment for the rest of my life, I had to get back to my car and get out of this freaky town. I pulled the box of revolver bullets out of my back pocket, where I had shoved it earlier, and quickly reloaded the gun. I cautiously left the bathroom area and ventured back into the main living room area. I tried not to look at Henry’s body as I made my way across the room to the door. This time the door was unlocked and I wasted no time in leaving the nightmarish apartment room. I glanced around the hall and was surprised to find that I was now in the first floor hallway. The number on the door I had just come from read 101 and the hall layout was totally different from upstairs. Somehow I had moved from the second floor to the first without using the stairs. Becoming even more freaked out by the second, I made my way north up the hall and exited through the first door on my left. I found myself in an open courtyard, choked with thick clouds of mist. As soon as I had taken a few steps forward I heard the familiar moans and shrieks of those crazy acid zombies. There must have been a few hanging around the courtyard somewhere, but I couldn’t see them because of the mist. Holding the revolver out in front of me for protection, I cautiously made my way through the fog. I quickly spotted another path to my left and headed towards it. I soon found another door and opened it. I found myself in the dark corridor of the apartment lobby; the very place I had started from only an hour or so ago. In fact, the door I had just opened had been the same door I’d found locked when I first arrived. I quickly headed across the lobby and opened the door to the outside world.

The mist outside was still unbelievably thick and I could hear the distant cries of those things. I paused in the small fenced in courtyard in front of the apartment and pulled out my map, intending to plot my course back to my car. Deciding on my route, I stuffed the map back into my pocket and exited the fenced in courtyard, ready to make a run past any wondering zombies. I turned to my left and jogged down Katz Street, heading back towards Lindsey Street and my route out of town. The mist was so thick and solid that I almost didn’t see the danger until it was too later. The road in front of me abruptly ended in a huge gaping chasm. “Oh…!” I cried in surprise as I dug my heels into the ground and skidded to a stop, just inches from the edge. For a moment I lost my balance and teetered at the edge of the cliff, before I finally fell backwards onto my butt. My heart was pounding from the close call as I slowly inched forward and peered over the edge of the hole. The bottom of the hole was nowhere in sight, all I could see was a never ending black abyss. Looking up I could just barely make out the other side of the hole through the thick swirling mist. “That was close” I muttered to no one as I struggled to my feet and looked at the obstacle in my way. There had been no hole in the middle of the road when I had come this way earlier. Now the only way back to my car was blocked.

Once again the creepy feeling of being watched I had sensed back in the apartment returned. Something obviously didn’t want me to leave yet. Cursing to myself, I pulled out my map and checked to see if there were any other ways back to Sanders Street. No luck, I was blocked off, the only way I could go was back down Katz Street where I had just come from. Resigned to my fate, I stuck the map back in my pocket and began to go back the way I had come. This time I walked more slowly and kept an extra sharp lookout, just in case there were anymore bottomless pits waiting for me. I eventually reached a large wall right in the middle of the street, a wall that wasn’t on the map. Scrawled across the rock was a message, written in some red substance, probably blood, that said “Leading into Nightmares” and next to the writing was a door. “What is this, some psycho Alice in Wonderland game?” I quipped to myself. Looking around and seeing that there was no where else I could go, I sighed to myself and headed for the door.

The door opened easily and I passed through, finding nothing unusual on the other side except more mist. I continued forward until I came to an intersecting street, then I stopped and pulled out my map again to check my position. As I looked at the map a new plan for escape began to form in my mind. I could go north to Nathan Avenue and then try to head east, back towards the car. Even though the road was blocked I was sure I could find a way back to the hiking path I’d walked before, and then it would be a straight shot back to the car. I stuffed the map back into my pocket and cautiously, but quickly, made my way up Monson Street towards Nathan Avenue. But my hopes were soon destroyed when I reached the end of the street and turned onto Nathan Ave. Right in my way was yet another gaping chasm. Beyond frustrated, I kicked a large rock into the bottomless hole and once again brought out the map. It looked like my only hope now would be to walk west along Nathan Avenue around Lake Toruca and hike out through the woods. It definitely wasn’t something that appealed to me; Silent Hill was pretty isolated and who knew if any of the weird monsters from town were wandering around the woods too. Unfortunately it looked like my only option. Resigned to my fate, I put the map away and began to make my way down Nathan Ave. Every now and then I would hear the moans of those freaky monsters and sometimes I’d think I had spotted one through the thick mist but none ever emerged to attack. After several minutes I arrived at the place where Carroll Street intersected Nathan Ave. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath and was about to start walking again when I heard the sound of footsteps.

They were too fast and even to be one of those shuffling acid zombies and they seemed to be moving away from me. Through the thick mist I thought I caught a glimpse of a small person, clad in blue. Laura? The form disappeared in the fog and a few seconds later I heard the sound of a door opening and closing. Every instinct in my body told me to just keep walking but I had to know who it was. If it was Laura then she might need my help. I set off after the person and in a few seconds a building appeared in front of me out of the mist. The sign on the front of the building said “Pete’s Bowl-O-Rama” and the front door was slightly ajar. I cautiously opened the door and entered the dark lobby of the bowling alley. The room was empty and I immediately turned to my left and headed through another door into yet another empty room. Finally, I entered a third door and found myself in the main bowling alley room. Suddenly my nose was hit by an overwhelming smell, the smell of cheese and grease. Sitting on a table near one of the bowling ball dispensers was a pizza box. My stomach growled and I suddenly realized that I was starving. I hadn’t eaten anything all day, and I’d thrown up everything that had been left in my stomach. For a brief moment I wondered where a fresh pizza had come from in a town like this, and whether or not it was safe to eat, but my immense hunger and the overwhelming aroma overpowered my good judgment. I crossed the room, sat down at the table, and opened the box to find the most delicious looking veggie lover’s pizza I’d ever seen. I was just about to bite into my first slice when a small figure jumped out from the shadows by the bowling ball dispenser.

“Boo!” cried Laura. I jumped almost a foot off my chair and nearly fell over backwards. Laura hopped onto the table next to me and broke out into a fit of unrestrained giggling. “You should have seen your face!” she said and she continued to laugh.

“Don’t do that!” I yelled, trying to calm my pounding heart. “I’ve had enough scares for one day.”

“Can’t you take a joke?” She asked as she stopped laughing. “Grownups are no fun.” I smiled at her and shook my head.

“It’s not that. It’s just this town is kind of scary. I’ve seen some pretty freaky things since I got here”

“Things?” Laura asked, giving me a weird look. I nodded as I picked up my piece of pizza and finally began to eat.

“Yeah” I said between bites “monsters and blood and stuff.” Laura gave me another look and shook her head.

“You’re crazy. I haven’t seen any monsters around.”

“Well then what do you think did this?” I asked as I pointed to my bandaged and blood smeared left arm. “One of dem creepy things spit acid at me. Nearly burned all the skin off.” Laura stared at my arm curiously and then looked up at me. A look of half concern and half curiosity passed over her face.

“How comes you got a black eye? Did a monster do that too?” she asked innocently. A feeling of bitterness hit me as I was reminded of last night. Thinking about that made me remember what had happened back in the apartment, and my stomach suddenly felt a little queasy again. I set down my pizza slice and reached up to tenderly rub the edge of my swollen eye.

“Well, I guess ya could say that.” I finally responded. “My step dad hit me. Almost broke my fingers too.” Laura looked very surprised, as if the idea of a parent, even a step-parent, hurting their kid was beyond her understanding. For a second she looked angry.

“Did you tell on him?” she asked forcefully. I smiled weakly at her naivety and slowly shook my head. “Well why not!” she intoned “Parents aren’t allowed to do stuff like that. My teacher said so!”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference” I answered sadly “No one cares about me.” Laura didn’t seem to have anything to say to that, and an awkward silence filled the air. In an attempt to steer the conversation in a different direction, I pushed the pizza box across the table towards her, “Want some pizza?”

“Nah, I don’t like vegetarian. I only eat pepperoni” she said.

“Suit yourself” I replied as I finished the rest of my pizza slice before starting on another one. I ate in awkward silence for a few minutes with Laura watching me, before the silence was finally broken.

“You’re running away right? Is your dad chasing you?” I shook my head

“It don’t really have anything to do with him.” I said, although that wasn’t entirely true. If I hadn’t taken Todd’s gun then maybe none of this would have happened. Laura looked at me with scrutiny and seemed to be thinking of what to say next.

“So what'd you do? Robbery, murder?” She finally asked. For a minute I went on alert, but then relaxed. I didn’t think I had anything to worry about from Laura.

“Nah, nothing like that” I replied. Laura looked at me with skepticism and laughed harshly.

“Ha, You're just a gutless fatso!” She said.

“Whadda you have to say that for?” I asked, a little hurt by her careless insult. Laura cocked her head and stared at me.

“I thought you said the cops were after you.” She replied, her voice less harsh than before. For a second it didn’t ring a bell, then I realized I had told her that, and I felt a little twinge of embarrassment. I don’t really know why I said it back then, maybe because it sounded better than the truth, but now I suddenly decided to come clean.

“No, I just ran 'cause I was scared. I don't know what the cops are doing.” I said truthfully. Laura gave me a sympathetic look.

“But if you did something bad, why don't you just say you were sorry?” She asked. For a moment she seemed to be thinking then she continued. “Well... I guess I run away a lots too.” I was suddenly hit by a wave of sadness as I remembered again how I could never go back to my home. I looked at Laura and I was suddenly all too aware of her childishness and innocence. She wasn’t old enough yet to understand the realities of life, the cruelty and apathy…the fact that many people just don’t care about you. I turned away from Laura and looked down at my pizza.

“It's no good. They wouldn't listen. Nobody will ever forgive me.” I answered sadly. A few tears formed in my eyes but I discreetly wiped them away before Laura could see. I looked up at her and decided to change the subject. “Did ya find the lady you're looking for... What's her name... Mary?” Laura looked at me and shook her head violently. An irritated look appeared on her face.

“No, I haven’t found her yet. I did run into her husband though. He’s such a jerk! I hate him” Laura hopped off the table and began to pace across the bowling alley.

“Do you want me to come along? I gotta weapon, so I could protect you.” I asked as I reached down and placed my hand over the pocket where the gun was. Laura seemed to consider for a moment, then shook her head.

“Nah. I’m ok by myself. You’d just slow me down, remember?” She said as she walked through the darkness towards the other side of the room

“Oh yeah” I said, remembering her comment from before. Suddenly the door behind me opened, causing Laura to run away into the dark shadows. I turned around to see the guy from the apartments walk into the room.

“Eddie!” he exclaimed with surprise as he crossed the room to my table. I looked up at him as I grabbed another slice of pizza.

“Oh...” I said lamely, as I tried to remember his name. “Umm, yer...”

“James. We met in the apartment building” He explained.

“Yeah, I remember, but...” I began, but James interrupted.

“Are you alone here, Eddie?” James asked, as he glanced around the dark bowling alley.

“Uh, no…” I answered as I glanced around the room, trying to spot where Laura was hiding. A green bowling ball rolled out of the darkness and stopped near my table. I heard footsteps and James and I spotted Laura at the far side of the room, opening the door that led back to the main lobby.

“Bye-bye” she called as she exited through the door.

“Wait, come back!” called James, and he took a step towards the door. “Eddie, let’s go after her!” he said with excitement as he looked back at me.

“Huh? Laura? But why...?” I asked, totally confused by James’ strange excitement over the girl. James turned back and looked at me with a questioning look.

“Laura? Is that her name?” he asked.

“That's what she said.” I answered as I took another bite of the pizza. James’ looked down at me with exasperation.

“This town is full of monsters! How can you sit there and eat pizza?” asked James, his tone showing his frustration. A twinge of annoyance hit me and I looked up at him.

“She said she was fine by herself. Said a fatso like me would just slow her down.” I answered, still feeling a little hurt by the comment Laura had given me back then. James looked about ready to walk away, but he took a breath and asked another question.

“Who is that girl anyhow?”

“I don't know. All I know is her name, I swear.” I answered. James sighed again, and I could tell he was at the end of his patience.

“Forget you” He said as he turned and walked across the room and out the door. I watched him go and wondered for a moment if I should join up with him. It took only a few seconds for me to decide not to go; I couldn’t quit put my finger on it but there was something about James that made me nervous. He seemed very pre-occupied and it felt like he was hiding something, although I guess I wasn’t one to talk. I sat in the empty bowling alley and continued to eat my pizza. Soon my mind began to wonder to what had happened in the apartment building only a short while ago. I’d already started to try and block out the memories, but there was no getting rid of them. Things had become much worse than they were before. Now, I hadn’t just killed a dog and injured someone, I had actually killed two people! I had pulled the trigger and ended their lives. It had been so easy. But the scariest part of it was that deep down I had enjoyed it. Todd and Henry had always been on my case ever since they came into my life. They never did anything except treat my like dirt or worse. Both of them had done countless unspeakable things to me. They deserved to die!

“No” I suddenly yelled out loud. I shook my head and tried to eject the horrible thought, but it would not leave my mind. “They deserved it!” taunted my thoughts “They never cared about you for one second of their lives. They deserved every ounce of pain you inflicted on them, and more. You have nothing to be ashamed off. You did nothing wrong.” I shook my head and tried to get my thoughts straight. It was almost as if there was a second voice inside me, a voice I couldn’t control. It terrified me. I began to think again about the town. The feeling of being watched was stronger than before. Why had I come to this town? Every since I’d got here it had felt like I was being watched and led. The bullets on the stairs, the changing rooms in the apartment, the holes that blocked my path and forced me go a certain way, and even the steaming hot pizza I had just happened to find when I was becoming extra hungry; everything seemed set up. Once again the same question surfaced to my head, WHY had I come to this town? Did something want me here? Was I part of some dark, twisted game? The silent bowling alley suddenly felt oppressive and claustrophobic, and I knew then that I couldn’t stand to stay in this town another minute. I had to get out of here.

I dropped my half eaten pizza slice back in the box and headed out the door that Laura and James had exited through. I entered into the bowling alley lobby again and quickly headed for the main entrance. Outside the fog was as thick as ever and I quickly checked my map to make sure of which way I was going to go. I turned to my left and headed away from the bowling alley, up towards Nathan Ave. Once I reached the intersection I turned left and began the long hike that would take me around the lake and to the woods and freedom. I cautiously made my way along the road, my gun in hand, ready for any monsters and watchful for anymore bottomless holes. After what seemed like forever I spotted the Silent Hill Historical Society building, shrouded in the fog on the right side of the road. I kept going past the building and continued into the fog. As I kept going hope began to rise in my heart. It may have just been my imagination but as I continued on it seemed as if the fog was thinning out and the horrible moans of the monsters became distant. But just as I was beginning to think I was safe and sound I caught site of something that totally destroyed all my hope. Yet another bottomless pit was stretched out in front of me, cutting off the road completely. I was so close I could even just make out the woods through the fog on the other side of the road. The pit was too far across to jump and I couldn’t see any way to walk around. My last means of escape cut off before my eyes, I slowly sank to me knees and cried out in despair.

It was over! I was never getting out of this stupid town! As total despair took over I fell onto my side in a fetal position and began to bawl like a 5 year old. My life sucked! I’d gone through my whole life without a single real friend or a shred of love from anyone. My step dad hated me, my mom was too scared and beat to effectively protect or help me, and all I ever got from my peers was ridicule or cold indifference. I’d been fired from every job I’d ever had, I couldn’t go to college, and now I was a criminal on the run in a town that seemed to have descended into the innermost circle of hell. My life was useless, pathetic, meaningless; I could never do anything right, and everyone would always hate me and treat me like dirt. I’m not sure how long I lay there crying and miserable, it could have been hours or only minutes, but I was suddenly aware of the uncomfortable weight of Todd’s gun in my pocket. I sat up slowly and pulled the stupid thing out of my pocket, looking down at it with hatred and disgust. It was just like Todd, all it had done was bring me pain and misery. If I hadn’t taken it then I wouldn’t have shot Henry’s dog or hurt Henry’s leg. I wouldn’t have had to run away, I wouldn’t have had to hide in this god-forsaken town, and I wouldn’t have killed anyone. Suddenly, for the first time in this never ending day, I remembered why I had taken the gun in the first place. I was going to shoot myself, because I was sick and tired of my life. Now I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t done it. I’d been so close to ending all my pain and misery but then the dog had come along and a new chain of events had been triggered that had now dragged me even further into despair. “Better late than never” I said miserably to myself as I brought the gun to my head and closed my eyes. This time I wouldn’t hesitate. My finger slowly began to tighten on the trigger. Just then a surprisingly strong gust of wind swirled around me and my map of Silent Hill was ripped from my pocket. I opened my eyes and watched as the map was blown open and fluttered to the ground right in front of me. My eyes grew wide as I saw it. There was now a large red circle drawn around the Silent Hill Historical Society. It hadn’t been there before. A cold shiver crept up my spine and the feeling of being watched returned. I stared at the map and then looked down the foggy road back to where the Historical Society was, and then slowly lowered the gun. This wasn’t finished yet.

Whatever force had brought me to this town still had something it wanted me to do, and I was getting sick and tired of being manipulated. Whatever it was that was controlling my path was going to get a piece of my mind, and a bullet in the brain. I shoved the map back in my pants, wiped the tears and grime from my face, and got to my feet. It only took a few minutes to jog back to the Historical Society. Soon the building loomed up in front of me like an ominous gargoyle. I cautiously approached the entrance and tried the door. It was unlocked. I quickly slipped in and found myself in a dim, small, and creepy lobby. The door shut behind me and I heard a soft click as the lock slid into place, sealing me into the mysterious building. I freaked out and spun around to try and open the door, but it was no use. I was trapped. I was already regretting my decision to investigate this place. Slowly, my heart still pounding in my chest, I crept forward and entered a larger gallery with many paintings covering each of the walls. Most of them were relatively normal, but there was one in particular that caught my eye. It was a large painting of a rainy overcast day. In the background were large clusters of hanging corpses that seemed to be strung up in some strange cage like contraptions, and standing in the foreground in front of them all was a hideous monster. Its body was very similar to the body of the monsters I had encountered earlier, except it wore what looked like a worn out burlap sack instead of skin tight rubber. Its legs and clothes were stained with the same horrible substance that had been on the monster I’d seen. In it’s hand was held a rusty sharp looking spear, and instead of a head it had a large rust covered metal pyramid. The title under the painting read "Misty Day, Remains of the Judgment". Staring at the picture gave me the major creeps and I quickly backed away. I didn’t really understand why, but there was something about the thing in that painting that scared me. I quickly made my way out through the only exit in the room and into the next connected art gallery.

As soon as I entered the room I spotted a very large hole in the far wall, one that looked like it had been violently torn into the wall by some large vicious animal. Since it appeared to be the only way out of room, other than going back the way I came, I slowly approached it and peered into the dark. There appeared to be a flight of stairs on the other side of the hole, descending down into darkness. The stairs looked like the only way to proceed forward, but they looked ominous and dangerous, and besides, I didn’t have a light. I slowly backed away from the dark hole and turned around, very relived that I hade an excuse not to go down there, and jumped in surprise as something rolled out of the museum display case in front of me and thumped to the floor. I stooped down and picked up the item. It was a flashlight, no doubt another gift from the mysterious force in control of the town. “I guess ya want me to go down there?” I said to no one in particular as I switched on the light and wearily turned back to the dark hole in the wall. Taking a deep breath to calm my pounding heart, I stepped through the hole and began to make my way down the stairs. I descended for what seemed like an eternity until I finally came to a door, which opened up into a small empty room. I opened another door and found myself in a maze of dark smelly sewer passages.

I wandered around in those dark tunnels for what seemed like hours. I stumbled upon dead ends, empty rooms, and at seemed like an army of cockroaches. I wandered around for so long that I could have sworn the rooms were moving around on me again, just like they had back in the apartment. Finally, after what had to have been hours, after walking down a very familiar corridor for what seemed like the 100th time, I finally opened a door and found something new. It was a small room with a rusted metal gate set into the ground. I looked down between the metal bars of the gate and saw what looked like a long hallway in some sort of building. There was a tiled floor and doors on either side of the corridor. The only odd thing was this corridor went straight down. I knelt at the edge of the strange gate and slowly opened it. The mysterious hole lay before me and I gazed into it, staring down the strange fun-house corridor that stretched out directly beneath me. My only path forward was to jump.

I knew it was a bad idea. I had no idea what was at the bottom of the hole, or if there even was a bottom. I could end up falling forever in this hellish world. I slowly moved away from the hole and turned back to the door. Just as I was about to open the door and leave the room, I felt the urge to turn around and look back again. Suddenly I was hit with the strongest feeling I’d experienced in the town yet, a feeling that I HAD to jump in. Right then I knew, the answers to why I was here, why I had been called to this horrible town, lay at the bottom of that hole. With my heart pounding so hard that it nearly burst from my chest, I stepped to the edge of the abyss, took one last look down into the pitch black depths, and jumped.

I don’t remember falling or landing, the next thing I knew I was laying on a hard and grimy surface. I slowly opened my eyes and was met by total darkness. I quickly fumbled around on the floor and found my flashlight. For a moment I panicked, worried that it had been smashed in the fall, but I was relieved when it snapped on and the comforting white glow penetrated the dark. I slowly swept the flashlight in front of me and studied my new surroundings. I was in a fairly large room that was packed with decrepit looking tables and benches. It looked like some sort of cafeteria, although food had obviously not been served here for a long, loooooong time. Nearly every inch of the room was covered in dirt and grime. It looked like no one had been here in hundreds of years. I slowly swept my flashlight across the room in front of me and sighed in relief, as it appeared to be empty. I suddenly heard the sound of an object scraping across the floor behind me and something let out a chuckle. My blood turned to ice and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest as I slowly turned around and pointed my flashlight behind me. The gruff, intimidating face of JP Doogan glowered back at me.

“Well Dombrowski, looks like your finally awake” he commented in a bored voice as he looked at me. I stared back at him, not really knowing what to think. Yet another person from my life had appeared in this town with no explanation. Soon memories from my past begin to surface in my head once again.

JP had been in the same homeroom class as me in high school. He was fat, just like me. He didn’t have any real friends, he was known for being arrogant and sort of a jerk, and most of the time he just sat by himself somewhere and read a comic book or just stared off into space. He always had what seemed like an endless supply of candy bars with him. No one really liked him, especially Henry and his gang, but no one messed with him because they were afraid. JP’s dad was a HUGE buff man who had been a high ranking Marine for many years. He was a very scary looking man and didn’t have much of a sense of humor. Everything with him was strict rules and discipline. Rumor had it that once in elementary school some kid had said something that could be interpreted as insulting about JP in ear shot of his dad. JP’s dad supposedly grabbed the kid and scared him so bad that he didn’t come back to school for over a week. No one really knew if the rumor was true, but no one was willing to find out, so they all just left JP alone. Of course they still talked behind his back. I heard many horrible things about him, all probably untrue.

JP was one of the only people in high school that I tried to become friends with. Once, when Henry and his goons were harassing me in the library JP gave them a good glare and told them to stop messing around or else. Henry immediately apologized to JP and he and his friends left the library. They didn’t bother me again for a couple of weeks and it was that incident that first made me consider becoming friends with JP. It didn’t occur to me until later that JP had probably intervened because those guys had been bothering him, and not because he wanted to defend me or anything, but at that moment I wanted to believe that we could be friends. I told myself that we had things in common and it would be cool to hang out, but deep down inside I really just hoped that if I was friends with him then his father’s influence might protect me as well. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a mistake. The first time I asked JP if we could hang out he just brushed me off. “I don’t need to be friends with you. I like being alone” is how he replied. After graduation JP stayed in town and began following in his dad’s footsteps by becoming a local cop. I’d run into him a lot but we never really talked. We hadn’t really talked again after that time I asked if we could be friends. He avoided me through our last few years of high school and didn’t intervene in anymore of my problems. In fact...I shook my head and pushed the memories away. Back in the present, I eyed JP warily as I slowly walked across the room to stand by the table.

“Let me guess” I said wearily, as I looked down at him, “Yer here because I brought you here? Just like with the others?” JP looked up at me, smiled, and nodded.

“That’s right” he said “We’re all here because of you.”

“I don’t get it!” I yelled angrily, as I rubbed my good eye with frustration. “That don’t even make sense! How could I bring you here? WHY am I even here?”. I turned and glanced around the room, swinging my flashlight over the decrepit tables and into every dark corner of the room. “I know yer there, whatever you are!” I yelled to no one in particular. “What do ya want with me?” JP snickered to himself and pulled a chocolate bar out of his jacket pocket. He chomped into it and stared at me with condescending eyes. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. Not at all.

“You’re so stupid! I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet, after everything that’s been shown to you” said JP as he laughed harshly. “But don’t worry; I think you’ll be getting it very soon.” JP flashed me a cold smile and I could see the chocolate on his teeth. He was really starting to irritate me.

“So, if there really is some purpose to all of this, are ya going to help me find it, or are ya gonna just sit there?” I asked indignantly. JP seemed to consider for moment, but then gave an uninterested shrug and took another bite of his chocolate.

“Nah. I don’t feel like getting up. You don’t need my help; go do whatever you want by yourself. It’s not like we’re friends or anything” he replied with his mouth half full of chocolate. JP’s flippant comment struck a sore nerve and my annoyance with him began to grow towards something else. I turned away from the table and took a few steps towards the exit, ready to forget about JP and move on, but I couldn’t conquer the feeling welling up inside me. JP’s arrogance had always bugged me. Always going around and ignoring everybody else, acting like he was superior. Just because his dad was a Marine didn’t give him the right to think he was better than everyone else. My mind began to wander through my memories again. I thought of high school again, most specifically of that one day near the end of senior year.

I’d been eating outside by myself and some of the jocks came over to my table and started giving me a hard time. They stole my lunch and pushed me to the ground. It was then that I saw JP sitting under a tree close by. As the guys kicked me around I tried to make eye contact with him, to see if he would help me again, but he just turned away and went back to reading. That day JP ignored me completely. He acted as if I was some worthless bug beneath him, unworthy of any help at all. I turned away from the door and looked back at JP, who was still eating chocolate, with new suspicion. JP smiled back at me, and to me, it suddenly seemed fake. In school JP had never been openly mean to me like other people, he had just ignored me. Could it be that all along he had secretly been making fun of me just like everyone else? Did he laugh at me when I wasn’t around? Did he tell his dad about how worthless and pathetic I was? Did he secretly enjoy watching me get beat up everyday? Was he just like everyone else? Just then a possibility of why he and I were here began to dawn on me.

JP kept his eyes on me as I stood there watching him. I stared into his eyes and suddenly felt anger begin to grow stronger inside of me. JP’s eyes shown with arrogance and contempt. I knew he was thinking about how stupid he thought I was, and how much better he was than me. His eyes laughed and mocked me. He thought I was worthless, just like everyone else! In an instant I pulled my revolver from my pocket and pointed it at JP’s head. His face suddenly filled with fear, a sight that filled me with a sense of satisfaction. “Dude, what are you doing?” he stuttered. I grunted in disgust and glared at him.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” I yelled angrily at him “You were making fun of me, just like everyone else!”

“How was I making fun of you? I didn’t say anything!” JP replied, his voice beginning to fill with panic.

“Ya didn’t say it, but you were thinking about it. I know, cause you were makin fun of me with yer eyes. I saw you!” I replied, as I pulled by the safety on the gun.

“That’s crazy, Dombrowski!” responded JP, as he begin to slowly rise to his feet. “You’re seeing things, man. I wasn’t makin fun of you, I swear!” I glared at him, and took a step back. I didn’t want him to rush me and grab the gun.

“Yer lyin! You ignored me in high school. You told me ya didn’t need me as a friend. You were always actin like you were better than me!”

“That’s not true!” JP replied, looking very scared. “I didn’t think I was better than you! Listen to yourself, Dombrowski, your talking crazy.”

“Shut up, just shut up!” I screamed and tightened my grip on the gun. “I’m tired of everyone in my life walkin all over me. I’m tired of being treated like garbage.”

“I understand, and I agree. You shouldn’t let people walk all over you. But I’m not one of those people. I didn’t make fun of you. Now…” JP took a tiny step forward and held his hands out. “Give me the gun, and we can talk this over like normal people”. I took a small step back and re-aimed the gun at JP’s head.

“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll shoot, I swear” I told him. JP looked at me with fear and swallowed, gathering his courage as he took another tiny step towards me.

“Eddie” he said, in a firm commanding type voice, the kind you use to talk to a child who’s just done something bad “give me the gun, and we’ll talk it out” He took another small step towards me. I pulled the trigger. The bullet hit him in his forehead, dead center, and blasted out the back of his head. Blood and brains splashed across the wall behind JP and splattered across the floor and table next to him. For a second JP’s body stood where he had been shot, a thin stream of blood running down his face from the hole in his forehead, before it slowly slumped back into the chair where JP had been sitting before. The body sat up in the chair for a moment, before it slowly slumped over and fell onto the table face first. Soon a small red pool of blood began to form under JP’s face and spread across the table. I stared at JP’s body and slowly lowered the gun as my body began to relax again. I went into a state of mind that could best be described as shock. My mind swam with random thoughts and feelings. I slowly sank down and as I hit the floor my flashlight bounced away and flicked off.

I don’t know how long I sat there in the dark, not thinking or feeling anything real, but suddenly my mind was snapped into focus as a blinding light was shined in my face. I stared ahead and saw James standing in front of me, shining his small flashlight in my direction. He must have jumped down into the hole like I did, although I hadn’t heard him land in the room. I looked at him, but my mind was still half wandering through incoherent thoughts and feelings. I was suddenly aware of the weight of the gun in my hand and I glanced sideways at JP’s dead body in the chair beside me. Right then all the things I’d seen and experienced in this town came into focus and I was shocked by the simplicity and obviousness of it. The realization took me so much by surprise that I couldn’t help blurting out my thoughts right then and there.

“Killin' a person ain't no big deal.” I said matter-of-factly, as I stared through James. “Just put the gun to their head...pow!” I raised the gun in my hand and pointed it at my own head, and mimed the action of shooting. James looked at me with shock, but I didn’t really care.

“You…you killed him?” James asked with a little hint of fear in his voice. I quickly stood up and looked at James. I was suddenly hit with a small feeling of apprehension. Killing was wrong…right? James could tell somebody. I could get in trouble.

“B,but...” I began, attempting to defend myself “It wasn't my fault. He, he made me do it!” My voice started to sound panicky. James held out his hands in a comforting motion and gave me a worried look.

“Calm down, Eddie. Tell me what happened.” I looked over at JP’s body and tried to think. What should I tell him? I was becoming confused.

“That guy... he, he had it coming!” I replied. “I didn't do anything. He just came after me! Besides he was making fun of me with his eyes! Like that other one...” James looked shocked again. He took a small step back..

“Just for that you killed him?” he asked with surprise and disbelief. The question annoyed me. Everyone was always making fun of me and treating me bad, so why wasn’t it a good reason?

“Whadda ya mean 'Just for that'?” I asked. James looked at me like I was crazy.

“Eddie, you can't just kill someone cause of the way they looked at you...” He said to me, in a desperate tone. The statement didn’t link in my mind. What? Why not? I looked at him questioningly.

“Oh yeah! Why not? Til now I always let people walk all over me. Just like that stupid dog. He had it coming too!” Just thinking about Henry’s dog made me angry. I could feel the emotions rising up inside me again. James looked at me with real fear in his eyes.

“Eddie?” he said with a fearful pleading tone to his voice. Right then I realized that I couldn’t trust James. He didn’t understand, after all, he was a grown up. Grownups never understood my problems, they were always against me. In fact, James COULDN’T understand in the first place, he hadn’t been through what I had. I realized that I couldn’t let him know anything else; if I did he might turn against me just like all the others. I had to ditch him.

“He he. I was just jokin', James.” I said, trying to sound casual. “He was dead when I got here. Honest. Anyway, I gotta run.” I turned away and walked towards the double doors leading out of the room.

“You’re going out there alone?” asked James. His voice was calmer now and held more worry in it than fear. I turned back to him and nodded

“Yeah.” Was all I said in response as I shoved Todd’s pistol into my pocket and opened the double doors. I heard James call my name as I exited but I didn’t look back. Outside I quickly headed down a dark hallway, not really paying attention to where I was going. I passed by doors and tables and through rusty iron gates. The dark was nearly complete and the hallway was filled with the sounds of shuffling feet and zombie moaning. A few times I thought I felt something brush past me or walk in front of me, but I didn’t bother to turn on my light or even raise my gun. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I finally understood why I was here. All my life I had been mistreated by everyone I met, but I never had any way to deal with it. Things had gotten so bad that I even contemplated ending my own life, but then Silent Hill called to me. It brought me here to show me the truth, to show me what I had to do. The people who always hurt and ridiculed me, they were all scum; they had no right to treat me the way they did, they deserved to be punished. They deserved to die, and now Silent Hill had brought them here, brought them to be judged and punished. I briefly recalled when I found the revolver bullets on the stairs of the hotel so long ago. Back then I’d thought it was a creepy coincidence, but now I knew the truth, Silent Hill had been preparing me for what I was to do. I soon began to talk to myself, and my words became like a mantra that I repeated over and over as I continued farther into the darkness. “Nobody wants me, so they can all just die. Nobody cares whether or not I exist; nothing ever changes, so they can all just die!” Each time I repeated the line I felt a little stronger, a little more confident and as I walked on through the dark I smiled to myself and patted the gun in my pocket. No one would ever make fun of me again. I’d show them all. The monsters could no longer hurt me and I didn’t have to worry about getting lost anymore. I felt deep down inside that the town was leading me somewhere through the darkness and I followed my feelings, unhindered by my previous fear and doubt.

As I walked I thought of James and began to wonder why he was here. What dark secrets were hidden in his past? I knew that the town must have called to him too, as it did for me. What had the town wanted to show him, what was his purpose? For the briefest instance a picture of a girl flashed through my mind, a girl with blonde hair and a sharp tongue. For a split second a tiny twinge of recognition sparked in the back of my mind and I hesitated. Who was that girl? I shook my head and threw off the strange feeling. I had to keep focused. I continued moving farther into the darkness, journeying to the place where the town was leading me.

I passed through more doors and passageways, jumped down through more holes like the one I’d gone down before and made my way through dark twisting tunnels. I climbed up and down ladders and waded through stinking sewers, always surrounded by the moans and howls of the strange Silent Hill monsters. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I opened a door and found myself in a small courtyard filled with graves. The courtyard was surrounded on all sides by concrete walls and it appeared that the door I had entered through was the only way in or out. I slowly craned my neck back and gazed straight up. There was no ceiling on the courtyard; the walls just seemed to ascend up and up forever into infinite blackness. After a moment I lowered my gaze and began to walk towards the far wall, threading my way between the many gravestones. After a moment I reached the far end of the room and stood in front of three graves that appeared to be freshly dug. Two of the graves were half filled with dirt, but one of them opened up into infinite blackness. I pulled my pocket flashlight out, clicked it on, and shined it towards the three grave stones in front of me. The first one I read had the name of some girl I’d never heard of written on it. “Angela Orosco”, it said. I swung the flashlight away and moved on to read another one of the head stones. The name on the second stone took me by surprise.

“James Sunderland? What’s going on here?” I said to myself, as took a small step back from the grave. Why was James’ name written on this tombstone? For a second I felt my old fear coming back, but it was quickly squashed by my new found confidence. I wasn’t afraid. I raised my flashlight and pointed it towards the final grave, the open one, knowing fully what I would read on it. Sure enough, the name on the tombstone was mine, “Eddie Dombrowski”. I took a step forward and looked down into the blackness of the open grave in front of my tombstone. It was a hole just like the others I had jumped into that day, and I quickly realized that I was meant to jump down this one too. This was the path that had been set before me, and I had no choice but to go forward. Clicking off my flashlight, I gripped my gun confidently and stepped into the darkness of my own grave.

I didn’t fall far before I landed on solid ground. After a few seconds my eyes adjusted and I saw that I was in a long and grimy looking corridor. The only light in the hallway came from between the seams of a large door that stood at the end of the corridor. The only other feature in the hallway was a small flight of stairs that led down towards the door. There was nothing but a smooth black wall behind me and no other passageways or doors so my only choice was to go through the door at the end of the hall. I raised my gun to ready and quickly made my way down the hallway to the door. I stopped in front of the door and studied it. It was a large metal door, like a door you would find on a huge walk in freezer. I reached out and touched the metal; it was freezing to the touch. Smoky wisps of frosted air snaked their way under the door and swirled around my feet. Slowly, a smile crept across my face as I realized what the door meant and what was on the other side. I grabbed the handle and felt its cold surface on my hand before I ripped the door open and burst into the room, gun raised. I found exactly what I had been expecting to.

The door opened into the outer freezer of the Ashfield Industrial Meat Packing Plant. The room was fairly large and covered in a light layer of frost. Various racks and trays containing random tools were scattered around the room. I’d had my first job out of high school working at the Meat Packing plant, and it had been a total hell. I’d been assigned to work with the meat that was stored in the huge plant freezers, and everyday I labored endlessly in the freezing cold, surrounded by the dead flesh of animals. I hate the cold, and having to work everyday in a freezer was pure torture for me. And then there were my co-workers. They did everything they could to make my time working at the plant even worse than it already was. They teased me about my weight and looks, both to my face and behind my back. They left all the most difficult jobs to me and laughed when I messed them up which I usually did, being me and all. And then there was the dirty stunt they pulled on me, the one that got me fired. They told me one of the guys needed my help looking at some valve controls on one of the big drainage tanks in the main area. I should have suspected something; I’m not known for being any good with mechanical stuff, so I definitely wasn’t the best person to ask for help. It was all just a set up. My fellow co-workers must have left something there, something to make the metal extra slippery. I ended up falling over the railing, head first into the drainage tank, a tank that at the time was half full of pig’s blood. I hit my head on the bottom of the tank and was knocked silly; I’d probably have drowned if one of the janitorial staff hadn’t happened to have seen me fall. I received a cut above my right eyebrow; later I had to get a bunch of tests and stuff to make sure I hadn’t caught any infectious diseases from the pig’s blood mixing with my own. By the time the janitor got help and I had been pulled out, the entire factory was there to see my humiliation. I had to stand there in front of over one hundred workers, covered from head to toe in blood. I knew the ones who had set me up were all secretly congratulating themselves and slapping themselves on the back. They’d succeeded in publicly humiliating me. I tried to explain to the boss that I’d been set up, that my coworkers had tricked me into going up there just so I would fall, but the boss didn’t believe me. He said I wasn’t authorized to be up there anyway, and that falling was my own fault, then he fired me.

It was all their faults, my coworkers. They hated me just like everyone else and they made sure that my life was a living hell. And now they too stood before me in the outer freezer of the Ashfield Meat Packing Plant, more specters from my past brought before me by the town of Silent Hill. It was five of my co-workers, the ones who had been the cruelest to me. They were dressed in the white uniforms of the plant, their sleeves and pants legs spotted with dried blood and flecks of meat. They looked up from their work as I flung open the door and let it slam shut, their faces slowly going from surprise to recognition. I smiled at them and drew Todd’s revolver from my pocket. Looks of surprise and terror began to spread across their faces, but for too long they stood frozen, staring at me. Finally one of them turned and tried to make a run for the door to the walk in freezer, but it was too late. I didn’t say a word; I just smiled at them and pulled the trigger. Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang. I fired all six shots in the pistol. Blood, bone fragments, and brains painted the walls of the freezer and my five former coworkers collapsed to the floor, knocking over trays of tools and metal racks as they fell. I smirked to myself and stuck the gun into my pocket as I walked across the room to examine the bodies. Four of them were dead, but one was still alive, the one who had made a run for the freezer. My bullet had torn through the side of his neck, but somehow he had survived. I walked a few steps and stood over him. He slowly lifted his head and looked up at me, blood running out of his mouth and the hole in his neck. His eyes were filled with fear, and his mouth opened and closed, trying to form words, but no sound escaped his lips. I smiled as I pulled a single bullet out of my pocket and loaded it into my gun. “Eat this, asshole!” I said to him as I pulled the trigger.

For a split second his eyes registered panic, and then his forehead burst open in an explosion of gore. Brains and blood splattered my shoes. My coworker’s body twitched for a few more seconds and then slumped to the ground, finally dead. I frowned at him and kicked his head, shaking the gore off my sneaker. “You ruined my favorite shoes, you bastard” I said and kicked his head again. I walked away from his corpse into the center of the room and began to reload my gun. When six bullets had been placed in the chamber I slammed the cylinder back in place and spun it, relishing the sound it made. I looked around at the bodies of my former coworkers strewn about me and laughed. “They got what they deserved” I stated to myself as I turned and studied the larger metal door leading into the plant’s huge walk in freezer. Suddenly I heard the squeak of hinges behind me and turned to see the door I’d used to enter the room slowly swing open.

James Sunderland stepped into the room. His clothes were torn and the legs of his pants were soaking wet. His face and hair were grimy and streaked with dirt and what looked like blood. He held a handgun in his right hand and as he entered the brightly lit room he reached up with his left and switched off the small flashlight that was clipped to his shirt pocket. He had a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder and it was obviously heavy, considering the way he was carrying it. As he caught sight of me a look of fear and surprise came over his face, after a second he shoved the pistol in his hand into his right hand pocket. Despite the fact that the gun was put away, I felt my muscles tense up. I didn’t like that look he’d given me.

“Eddie! What are you doing?” He asked as his eyes slowly surveyed the carnage that I had created.

“What does it look like?” I asked incredulously. I knew that this time there would be no use denying what had happened, so I had to reply with the truth. Still, I eyed James suspiciously and tightened my grip on my gun slightly. I had to be ready, just in case James turned out to be like all the others. I gestured towards the coworker that I had just finished off. “He always busted my balls. 'You fat disgusting piece of shit! You make me sick!', 'Fat-ass, yer nothin' but a waste of skin.', 'You're so ugly, even you're mama don't love you!'” I almost literally spat out the insults as my memories of what they had said and did to me returned. “Well maybe he was right.” I acknowledged glaring down at his corpse. “Maybe I am nothing but a fat, disgusting piece of shit. But ya know what?” I asked and smirked derisively at his corpse before turning back to James. “It doesn't matter if your smart, dumb, ugly, pretty...it's all the same once yer dead!” I shouted back at his body, feeling adrenaline begin to flow through me once more. James took a small step back as I turned to face him again. “And a corpse can’t laugh” I said, satisfied with my conclusion. “From now on, if anyone makes fun of me... I'll kill em! Just like that.” I stated matter-of-factly, raising my gun to my head and pointing the muzzle at my temple, just to illustrate my point. James’ face was a mix of horror and shock, but I didn’t care, I had other things to worry about. I felt the pull of the town, calling me from behind the large freezer door. There were more people who needed to be judged. I turned away from James and began to walk towards the freezer door again, that is until James said something that made me stop in my tracks.

“Eddie, have you gone nuts?” asked James in a shocked voice. The realization hit me and I turned around to face James, anger slowly rising in me again.

“I knew it. You too?” I said slowly as I fixed a disappointed gaze at the man in front of me. “Your just like ‘em, James” I accused as I took a small step towards him. I mentally kicked myself for being so stupid; I should have expected that James couldn’t be trusted. He was an adult, he wouldn’t understand, couldn’t understand. He was going to turn against me just like everyone else in my life had. James’s expression turned to fear and he took a small step back, raising his hands in a warding off gesture.

“Hey I didn't mean anything” James added quickly, trying in vain to change the impression his last comment had made. It didn’t work. I glared at him and tightened my grip on the gun in my hand. I felt the anger and rage flowing into me again.

“Don’t bother. I understand” I replied, my voice full of sarcasm and contempt. I took another step towards him. “You've been laughin' at me all along, haven’t you? Ever since we first met!” The anger flared strong in my gut and I nearly saw red. I clenched my teeth in anger, and set my sites on James. “I'll kill you, James!” I shouted as I raised my gun, squeezing the trigger with my finger. James reacted almost instantly. He leaned out of the line of fire; just barely avoiding a bullet aimed at his head, and swiftly brought his hands up to grab my gun. I tried to bring the muzzle back towards his face, but he pushed my hands away with surprising strength, and nearly wrenched the weapon out of my grip. The two of us struggled with the gun for what could have only been 10 or so seconds, but it seemed much longer to me. Just when it seemed like I might be gaining the upper hand, James used a clever trick. He pulled the gun towards himself as hard as he could and then immediately pushed in the opposite direction, shoving me backwards using my own pulling momentum. I stumbled back several steps, and tried to regain my balance. The move only bought James a second or two, but they were all he needed.

I heard an earsplitting bang and felt my right side explode in blinding pain and heat. James had used the precious few seconds his move had bought him to draw his own hand gun and fire at me. I looked down at the ragged dark hole on my right side, a few inches above my waist, and suddenly felt my legs go weak. I staggered backwards and nearly collapsed, but somehow, maybe due to the rage and adrenaline pumping through me, I was able to stay composed and retreat. I grabbed the handle of the walk-in freezer door with one sweaty hand, while I clamped the wrist of my other hand firmly over the bullet wound. Somehow I got the door open and retreated into the huge cold cavern without James firing another shot at me. Maybe he assumed he’d fatally wounded me and I was crawling off to die. But he was dead wrong, I was going to pay him back for every bit of pain he had just inflicted on me. After I was through with him he’d wish he had never been born. Hunched over from the horrible pain, I made my way across the freezer as fast as I could and took shelter behind a large hanging rack of meat. Listening carefully for the sound of James coming through the door after me, I tucked the gun under one armpit and raised my shirt to look at the wound.

It was still bleeding, although not as much as I expected it to. I suddenly became aware of warmth and stickiness on the backside of my pants, seeping into my underwear, and I discovered a second hole where the bullet had exited my body. I didn’t know anything about gunshot wounds or how to treat them, so I had no idea how bad I was hurt; for all I knew I could be doomed, but it seemed to me that I would live. I figured that the bullet must have passed straight through the meat on my right side, without hitting anything vital, and maybe for the first time in my life I was actually thankful for being fat. It hurt like hell, but I could still think and move, and I was ready for another fight. I was going to take James down! I knew enough bout wounds to know that I needed to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, so I quickly set to work, keeping my ears perked for any sounds of James entering. With some effort I was able to tear a decent strip of cloth from the bottom part of my shirt. Gritting my teeth, I wrapped the strip of cloth around my waist and knotted it off tightly. I gasped and the new sharp wave of pain almost caused me to collapse again, but I quickly squashed the feeling with the force of my will. I wasn’t going to let this slow me down, not until I paid James back! I quickly loaded a bullet into my gun, bringing the ammo back up to full, and waited patiently for James to enter.

After another minute or two I finally heard the sound of a squeaking hinge and James pushed the large freezer door open and entered into the room. I slunk back into the shadows and watched James nervously look around the large cavernous room. As I watched James I was once again overcome with anger and rage. Why couldn’t any of them understand what I’d been through? Why couldn’t they all just leave me alone? I had to know, and as I glared at James I felt myself almost involuntarily asking him the question that was burning in my mind.

“Do you know what it does to you, James? When your hated, picked on, spit on, just cause of the way you look? After you've been laughed at your whole friggin' life.” I asked angrily. James whipped his head around and tried to locate me, but the huge room and echoing walls masked my real location. Good, I didn’t want him to find me just yet. I held my gun steady and began to slowly inch along the wall, trying to get behind James; and all the while I continued to talk, my voice bouncing off the freezer walls. “That's why I ran away after I killed the dog. Ran away like a scared little girl.” James turned and I was able to catch a look of confusion and fear on his face when I mentioned the dog. I sneered inwardly. “Yeah, I killed that dog. It was fun!” I paused for a moment, memories of that scene flooding back into my mind, a scene that now seemed like it was a million years ago. “It tried to chew its own guts out” I said with a laugh in my voice, relishing the growing fear I saw in James’ expressions. Was he finally realizing what a mistake he’d made when he’d messed with me? I hoped he was. “Finally died all curled up in a ball. Then “he” came after me, I shot him too. Right in the leg. He cried more than the dog!” I exclaimed and this time I did let out a small chuckle, remembering how Henry had screamed when I blew off his kneecap. I slinked into another dark corner and watched James uselessly spin around, trying to locate me. I reached down by my feet and picked up a large metal screw that had been lying on the ground. I carefully tossed it towards the opposite corner of the room. The screw clattered across the cold steel floor, making a surprisingly loud sound in the huge room. James spun around and pointed his gun towards the source of the sound, but of course he saw nothing. I snickered at my trick and slunk forward, taking refuge behind a large hanging carcass when James turned towards me. “He’s going to have a hard time playing football on what’s left of that knee” I commented to myself, relishing the thought of Henry’s precious sports career ending. My voice bounced off the walls and James turned away from me again and began to make his way towards the center of the room.

“You think it’s all right to kill people? You need help, Eddie” James stated, and anger flared in me again. James no longer looked terrified, he looked determined. I watched his fist squeeze the grip of his gun, watched his posture tense up, and my rage grew. He wasn’t scared of me anymore, because he thought he was better than me! He was taking the morale high ground in his own mind. But he was only fooling himself. The town had called him too. Who knew what horrible sin he had committed in the past, what dark feelings and thoughts he had locked inside his mind. This fact caused me to become even more enraged. How dare HE judge me! He wasn’t a saint either. I slowly began to inch my way closer to James, anticipating the moment when I would strike.

“Don't get all holy on me, James. This town called you, too. You and me are the same. We're not like other people, don't you know that?” I was close enough that James was finally able to locate where my voice was coming from. He spun around just as I stepped out from behind a huge hanging rack of beef. “Let’s party!” I yelled angrily as I charged towards him, raising my gun to fire at him. James jumped back in surprise and he fired a shot at me, but his aim had been thrown off and the bullet whizzed harmlessly passed my left ear. I fired my gun twice; the first bullet missed but the second hit James in his gun arm, just above the elbow. James cried out in pain as blood splattered his clothes and his hand suddenly dropped the gun, which bounced loudly across the floor and slid out of both our reaches off to my left. I laughed and adjusted my aim at James head, taking my time to find the shot. For a moment James looked like a deer caught in some headlights, an expression of shock and fear crossed his face as he froze. “Yeah” I thought to myself “Yeah, I got you this time.”

Without warning James dove to the side and rolled toward where his gun had slid. His sudden movement shocked me out of my complacency and I swung my gun to the left in an attempt to get a clear shot at him. I fired a shot but the bullet lodged in a hanging rack of beef instead. James took shelter behind another rack of meat only a few feet away from the gun, which, unfortunately for him, was lying in an unprotected spot of the floor. I smiled again and took aim at the area where the gun was, all I would have to do is wait for James to attempt to grab the gun and I’d have a clear shot at him. But James surprised me again; I was focusing on the gun so intently that the sound pierced into my ears like a javelin and caused me to jump nearly a foot in the air. I swung my gun towards the sound; it took me just a split second to realize that James had used the same move I’d used before; he’d thrown something across the room to try and distract me with the noise.

Anger exploded in my head and I whipped my arm back in front of me and fired, but I hadn’t had time to take proper aim and the bullet shattered the concrete at James’ feet as he dove for the gun. James grabbed the gun and rolled to his feet in one smooth motion. My mind tried to catch up as I adjusted my aim but the anger that flooded my body made it hard to think and caused everything to feel as if it were moving in slow motion. James pivoted around on his heels to face me and fired before I could regain my composure. I heard a tearing sound and felt a sharp pain as the bullet grazed my right shoulder, slicing through the fabric of my shirt and digging a shallow groove into the skin beneath. I cried out in anger and pain and my left hand involuntarily shot up to my shoulder; I felt warm blood beneath my fingers and winced at the sharp sting. I quickly stepped back and took cover behind a hanging rack of meat as James took another shot at me. I clenched my teeth and tried to ignore both the pain in my shoulder and in my stomach as I attempted to re-gather my thoughts and figure out a plan.

My anger smoldered inside and it took all of my will power to prevent myself from charging out into the open and rushing James again. I had to think! A head on attack was obviously not going to work anymore; I’d lost the element of surprise. I’d have to out smart James. I thought for a moment and realized that James had fired 3 bullets at me, 4 if he hadn’t reloaded since he shot me the first time. I wasn’t sure, but I thought his gun looked like the kind that held 10 bullets in a clip. Except for our fight the huge freezer was totally silent, and I knew that James hadn’t reloaded since he came into the room, because I would have heard it if he had. I had two bullets left in my gun and I realized that my only chance of winning this would be to wait until James tried to reload or ran out of bullets.

My thoughts were interrupted as James fired another shot and the concrete a few feet from my feet exploded. Another echoing bang sounded through the room and another bullet smashed through concrete, this time right between my feet. I jumped and stumbled away from the hanging rack of meat, realizing too late that James was deliberately aiming at my feet in order to force me out of hiding. Two more shots rang out and I felt the bullets wiz past; one blew past the left side of my head, making the hair around my ear shift in the wind, and the other passed between my arm and my left side, right under my armpit. I slid across the floor and found a larger rack of beef to hide behind; one that hung almost all the way to the floor so my feet wouldn’t be targeted anymore. I hated to admit it, but James was good and for the first time since I realized my purpose in Silent Hill fear began to enter my mind.

At this rate he might just kill me, but I was still counting. He had, at the most, 3 bullets left, and he hadn’t reloaded yet. If I could just avoid three more bullets my window of opportunity would come. I heard James slowly walk towards my hiding place, and then he fired the gun again. The bullets slammed into the huge hanging rack of beef I was hiding behind but they didn’t have enough power to fully penetrate the layers of sinew, fat, and thick bone. BANG!…eight…BANG!...nine…BANG!...ten…Click! My heart leaped when I heard that sound. His gun was empty! My confidence flooded back as I leapt out of my hiding place and leveled my gun at him, ready to pump my last two shots into his brain. My mind was filled with smug gloating thoughts. “I knew you’d screw up, and now I’ve got you” I thought to myself as I stared right into his eyes, my finger tightening on the trigger.

But I didn’t see fear in his eyes, I saw victory and desperation, and my mind suddenly flashed with shock. My brain seemed to move backwards in slow motion, the scenes flashing repeatedly before my eyes, as if in a vain attempt to reverse the move I’d just made, to pull my body back behind the meat rack to safety, to get it out of the range of the shotgun that was held in James’s hand, the shotgun that must have been stored in the bulky bag James had been carrying, the shotgun now pointed at my chest.

My ears went momentarily deaf as the gun fired. My stomach exploded in overwhelming pain as I was blown backwards. I landed hard on my back and slid several feet across the floor. My head swam with pain and I nearly passed out, I vaguely heard James call out my name but I could barely concentrate on anything. I could feel all the strength leaking out of me as my blood began to pool underneath me, soaking into my pants and the back of my shirt. I tried to lift my head and spots exploded in front of my eyes. Through my blurry vision I could see that my stomach and belly had been shredded into raw hamburger by the shotgun shell James had fired. For a moment I thought I could see my own insides, I couldn’t believe I was still alive, and then the sight of all that blood and gore suddenly made my mind swim again and my head dropped back against the concrete hard. I realized that I had been tricked; James must have fired those last shots in rapid succession on purpose, just to lure me out. I coughed and my body was racked with horrible pain and I tasted blood in my mouth. I realized then that I was dieing and their was nothing that could be done.

The pain and fear of the situation pierced my thoughts like a knife and the overwhelming confidence and anger that had been driving me evaporated. It was like waking up from a nightmare; for those few hours I had been someone else, someone dark and angry, but suddenly that feeling left me, as if another force inside me suddenly disappeared, and I was just Eddie again, scared, pitiful, lonely Eddie. A chill suddenly swept over my body and I shivered involuntarily and the pain and my fear grew. I was scared, I didn’t want to die! My mind was filled with images as my life flashed though my dieing mind. I saw my mother and Todd and everyone who had ever ignored me or hurt me, but I also saw the blue sky on a bright summer day, felt the cool breeze on my face, remembered the numerous stars in the nigh sky, and I suddenly felt small tears well up in my eyes. I was scared to die; I didn’t want my life to end. I hadn’t had the best life in the universe, that was an understatement, but at least I had been alive. “As long as life exists there is a chance to find happiness”. Someone had said that to me once a long time ago, but I had forgotten how true that was. I wasn’t an evil person, I’d never hurt anyone in my life, but I’d repressed all the anger and frustration I felt at the world deep down inside me, and Silent Hill had prayed on that darkness. I gave into Silent Hill’s call, let myself indulge in despair, anger, and frustration; and my dark side had got the better of me. I no longer felt glee and exhilaration at the thought of the murders I had committed; now I only felt sadness and disgust.

I heard footsteps on concrete, which sounded a million miles away, and looked up and saw James approaching through my hazy vision. He stood over my body and gazed down into my eyes and I saw a look of sadness and regret in his eyes. Even though he’d shot me in self defense he still felt remorse. I looked back into his eyes and felt myself slowly fading away. All the pain and cold I felt in my body suddenly seemed like it was far off, as if it was happening to someone else. In my final moments before death one last thought floated into my mind and I remembered Laura. I’d forgotten all about her, ever since I lost myself to my dark desires. I wondered if she was safe and if she had found who she was looking for yet. I’d been drawn to the innocence I saw in her, because it reminded me of what I’d had so long ago, and what I’d lost. If only I had stayed with her, maybe I could have protected her, and maybe held back the dark demons of my own mind at the same time. In the last seconds as I faded away, I looked straight into James’ eyes and hoped, prayed, that he would find Laura and protect her instead of me. Then as I felt my mind and consciousness finally roll out from under me and fall away, I remembered Laura and her sharp tongue, and her naïve childishness and there were so many things that I regretted and oh my god I didn’t want to die! I wanted to keep goingwantedtolivewanted…

Epilogue:
James hesitated for several seconds before he approached Eddie. His shotgun had done quit a number on him; James could hardly stand to look at him, but he knew he had to. He had done this to him after all. Eddie’s shirt was soaked almost completely through with blood and a decent sized pool was already forming under him. His belly looked like a bomb had gone off at point blank range in front of him. Finally, James walked towards Eddie and stood over him. He got an even better look at the damage his gun had caused and felt his lunch suddenly begin to rise in his throat; he choked it back down with significant effort. Eddie stared up at him with eyes that seemed to look straight through him into the distance and James felt a sudden surge of pity for the man. The fact that he had shot Eddie in self-defense, that he had been completely justified in doing so, didn’t cross James’ mind for a second. He hoped that someway, somehow, Eddie could be saved, but it was just wishful thinking, anyone could tell just from looking that he couldn’t survive that wound. James watched as Eddie’s chest rose and fell slowly, up and down, up and down, until finally Eddie let out one more breath…and then didn’t take another.

At that moment the situation hit James full in the face and he took a step back, vaguely aware of the sting of tears in his eyes. “Eddie! I... I killed a... a human being... A human being...” he heard himself say as he looked down at Eddie’s lifeless body. Despite everything that had happened, despite all that he had seen that day and night in the hellish town of Silent Hill, James was shocked and relieved to find he could still feel. James finally looked away from Eddie and towards a single door on the far side of the room. His mind ran through all the events that had transpired that day, and new fear began to rise inside him. “This town called you too. You and me are the same” Eddie had said, and maybe it was true. Maybe all of them, him, Eddie, Angela, Laura, and even Maria, maybe they had all been called by the power of the town, called so that they could be devoured by the darkness. For what seemed like the millionth time in the last 24 hours James’ mind once again turned to the letter he had received from his wife Mary, the letter that had compelled him to come to this town. “Mary…Did you really die three years ago?” He wondered out loud to himself. With one more fleeting glance around the room and towards Eddie’s body, James marched across the room to the exit door, threw it open, and left the room.

Ashfield Daily Times

June 3rd: Early Morning Assault: Early this morning local football legend Henry Fletcher was shot by another local, Edward Dombrowski. Mr. Fletcher, who is now recuperating at Ashfield General Hospital, told police that he was on a walk with his dog when they came across Mr. Dombrowski, who proceeded to shoot Mr. Fletcher’s dog. When Mr. Fletcher tried to grab Mr. Dombrowski the man shot him in the knee and fled the scene. Edward Dombrowski is the son of Linda Ellis Dombrowski.

June 6th: Local Resident still missing after assault: Local police are still keeping an eye out for Edward Dombrowskie, the local man who shot and killed a dog and severely wounded a man on the morning of June 3rd. Police now know that the gun used in the assault belonged to Todd Dombrowski, Edward’s stepfather, who reported his gun missing soon after the event on June 3rd. Mr. Dombrowski had this to say about his step son. “The lazy fat ass was probably going to put himself out of his misery but chickened out. He was never good at finishing things.”

June 10th: Cars of Missing Ashfield Residents Found: Early this morning police found the car belonging to missing resident Edward Dombrowski parked at a rest stop just outside the town of Silent Hill. Edward Dombrowski attacked another Ashfield citizen with a stolen gun and then fled in his car on June 3rd and Police have been looking for him ever since. But Edward’s car was not the only car authorities found at the scene; the car belonging to Ashfield resident James Sunderland was also discovered at the rest stop. The car was found with the driver’s side door hanging open and nothing in the car. Police suspect that James may have met with foul play. James Sunderland, who recently lost his wife Mary to cancer, has been missing since June 1st, when his father, Frank Sunderland, reported him missing. Frank Sunderland is the superintendent of South Ashfield Heights Apartment Complex.

June 15th: Rumors and Superstition Surround Missing Person Case: No new breakthroughs have been made in the case of missing persons James Sunderland and Edward Dombrowki since the two men’s cars were found on the outskirts of Silent Hill 5 days ago. Police finished combing the forests and lake surrounding Silent Hill on June 12th and no new evidence has turned up to the whereabouts of the two men. Rumors, however, are flying and some believe that the two men’s disappearances may be related to the strange happenings that have been reported in the town of Silent Hill. Mysterious disappearances, strange noises, and sightings of mysterious and strange animals, which some people have called “monsters”, have been reported. Older Ashfield residents fear that these incidents may have something to do with an ancient religion that has supposedly resurfaced among some of the Silent Hill residents. Some of the wildest speculations say that this cult recently attempted to resurrect their demon god in human form and instead reeked havoc on the town. Though these stories are nothing more than rumor and conjecture the Ashfield Police department has continued to refuse to search Silent Hill itself for the two missing locals. Our illustrious chief of police refused to comment on the situation.

July 1st: Private Citizens Take Investigation Into Their Own Hands: Last month the local police department failed to turn up anything substantial in the investigation of two local citizens, Edward Dombrowski and James Sunderland, who mysteriously disappeared on the outskirts of the town of Silent Hill. In response to the authorities’ lack of effort in the case several concerned citizens, including James’ father, Frank Sunderland, have conspired together to hire a private detective to search for the missing residents. The detective, a man named Douglas Cartland, will be arriving on Monday.

July 10th: Private Detective Returns Looking Spooked: After several days of investigation in the town of Silent Hill, Douglas Cartland, a private detective hired by several Ashfield citizens to search for missing residents Edward Dombrowski and James Sunderland, returned to Ashfield with no news of the missing citizens’ whereabouts. Douglas refused to comment to anyone about what he had seen in Silent Hill, only that he had not found any evidence of Edward or James. What made an impression on this reporter’s mind is that the detective looked positively spooked, as if he had seen a ghost. Douglas left Ashfield only a few hours after returning; on his way to another assignment.

*Well…it looks like I’m done! FINALLY! This is why I hate writing, it takes so freaking long and I always end up staying up super late. I started this fic before Christmas and it’s now July 29th. Not as long as my last Pokemon fic, but it still felt like forever. I hope you readers enjoyed it though. This is the first fic that I didn’t write in script format, so I hope it turned out alright. I’d like to thank all my friends who helped me with various things in this fic, especially SuperLiz cause she read parts of the fic while I was still writing it and gave me feedback . I’d also like to thank Admiral Blueberry, the author of the Silent Hill fic “Sunny Days Don’t Last Forever”. It was the first Eddie fanfic I ever read and was partly what inspired me to write my own. It’s short but good. A few of the ideas in this fic (like Eddie having a step father) were used in that fic, so credit goes there. Now all I have to do is come up with a title ;; and fix the two billion grammar errors that I usually have in a fic. My next project (after a good long rest) is going to be a Digimon Frontier shippy fic. Look forward to it! . Well I should probably go to bed now. Ja ne! Extra note: Eddie’s story . Not very interesting but it’s the only thing I could come up with after all this time. If some other reader has a better title I might use it*



Well that's it. I wonder if anyone will read the whole thing ^_^.