Silent Hill: Part 1 - Follow The Leader

Silent Hill: Part 1 - Follow The Leader

I inhaled sharply as I awoke, barely able to open my eyes. The world around me was a bit blurry, but I could make out that it was daylight - dreary and overcast, but daylight nonetheless. I slowly sat up and various bumps and bruises screamed in protest. My head pounded furiously, making me wince. Blinking away the fuzziness, I touched the left side of my forehead. My fingers came away bloody, but not excessively so.

Ugh, how long was I out? What happened?...

A light, cool breeze carried the scent of motor oil and burnt rubber to my nose, as if to refresh my memory.

Accident.

I leaned heavily on the steering wheel for a moment as I tried to get my bearings, waiting for the throbbing in my skull to subside. Then, an anguished thought flashed across my mind.

Cheryl!

I looked over at the passenger seat. I stared at it for a split-second, first dumbfounded, then alarmed. The door was wide open and Cheryl was gone.

My thoughts raced. Was she hurt? Did she try to go get help? Was she taken? Each scenario that came to mind seemed worse than the last. Fortunately, I didn't see any blood other than a little of my own on the steering wheel, but that was of little comfort. All of my body's aches and pains were suddenly flushed out by my fear for Cheryl. I had to find her.

I stumbled out of the wrecked jeep and took in my surroundings. Apparently, the blurriness I experienced before wasn't entirely in my head after all. The thickest, densest fog I'd ever seen swirled all around me, distorting everything and expanding in all directions. I literally couldn't see more than a few yards in front of me. I eventually could make out some buildings and storefronts on either side of me as I walked, which apparently meant that we'd made it to Silent Hill after all. But besides the supernaturally thick fog, I made another strange observation: there was a very light snow falling, the flakes melting as soon as they touched the ground.

What in the world... Snow? In June?

I stopped in my tracks and listened. I could honestly say that I'd never before experienced such a dead silence. No traffic, no people, no pets - nothing at all. The fact that I expected a quaint, but bustling resort town made what I was seeing nothing short of unsettling. The place was a like a ghost town. Where was everybody? More importantly, where was Cheryl?

Cheryl...where could you be?

I carefully made my way down the abandoned street. I was just about to cross an intersection when I thought I heard something. I stopped and heard a light clacking sound, like shoes on pavement.

Footsteps?

I ran around the corner, hoping it was Cheryl. As I got closer to the next corner, the fog cleared just enough for me to see a dark-haired little girl standing next to a set of stairs. Her back was turned, but it looked like she was wearing a baby blue plaid jumper and a pink shirt - the same outfit Cheryl was wearing. I was relieved.

"Cheryl?"

The next thing I knew she was running across the street, disappearing into the fog. She didn't even look back. I stood there for a moment, taken aback. Any kid would've been happy to see their mom or dad in such a frightening situation. Why was Cheryl running away from me?

I jogged after her until I could see her through the fog again. "Where are you going?" I asked, puzzled. She hesitated, but didn't turn around. Then, without a word, she started walking into the fog again.

I was more than a little worried now. Maybe she was hurt. Maybe she'd hit her head and didn't know who I was. I called after her. "Hey wait! Stop!" At the sound of my voice, she took off running again. I took off after her. I expected to catch up with her after a few strides, but she was running too fast.

"Cheryl! Come back!"

A few seconds later, she'd disappeared completely. It was almost impossible to tell which way she'd gone because of the fog. Just when I thought I'd lost her, I heard footsteps to my left.

The alley.

I turned and ran down the garage-lined alleyway. I couldn't see her, but I could still hear her running. Soon after, I heard a squeaky metal gate open and slam shut. I was afraid I wouldn't know which direction she went, but when I finally came upon a brick wall at the end of the alley, I saw that there was only one way she could've gone. There was a lone set of gates on the left with a "Beware of Dog" sign tied to them. I entered.

What I saw next in the connecting alley almost made me vomit right where I was standing. From what I could tell, lying on the ground in front of me were the remains of a fairly large dog. It looked like it had exploded from the inside. A gory mess of matted fur, bone and teeth was scattered around half of an exposed rib cage. There was blood everywhere and its entrails were spread out on the pavement. The smell was beyond horrible.

Who - or what - could've done this?

I edged past the grisly scene, even more afraid for Cheryl's safety.

I continued cautiously along the twists and turns of the narrowing alley, which was also permeated by the relentless fog. It appeared that I was between a group of industrial buildings, judging from the number of pipes and the vague scent of rusting metal. Suddenly, Cheryl's faint footsteps stopped. I raced around corner after corner hoping I'd finally catch up to her, but I never saw her. It was like she just vanished into thin air. I felt the first tinges of panic trying to set in, but I flat out refused to allow myself to come undone. My little girl was out there somewhere, maybe hurt and confused. She was counting on me. One way or another, I promised myself, I will find her. I pressed on.

With each step I took, it seemed like the atmosphere was becoming more and more foreboding. The further into the alley I went, the air seemed to get heavier and a little warmer. And though I couldn't be sure, it looked like the sky was getting darker.

Maybe it's just me. I did hit my head...maybe my perception is off...

Way in the distance somewhere, almost inaudible, I noticed an unusual sound. It was a kind of dissonant howling that faded in and out, almost like a broken air raid siren. The faint but incessant wailing only underscored my anxiety. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong with this place, which only made the knot of worry in my stomach tighter. The shadows in the alley had grown longer and deeper by the time I reached the next set of gates.

The speed at which the sky darkened had me completely unnerved. No sooner than the gates had closed behind me, I was plunged into almost total darkness. My mind told me that was impossible. It just wasn't possible that the sky could darken that fast, aside from an approaching tornado, but it certainly didn't seem like a simple shift in the weather. Once again, I inwardly reminded myself of my head injury, but I couldn't convince my senses otherwise. This definitely didn't feel like a hallucination. Even more disturbing, that howling I'd heard before had grown distinctly louder. It seemed to crescendo as the last of the light was drained from the sky.

How will I ever find Cheryl now?

Then, it occurred to me: the old man's lighter. I'd never smoked, but I'd kept it because it was the only thing I had left of my father. I'd always carried it around as both a reminder of him and as a kind of good luck charm. Right then, I couldn't have been more grateful for my sentimentality. I pulled the heavy, old-fashioned lighter out of the inside pocket of my jacket, flicked it open and thumbed the wheel. It sparked and ignited, just as reliably as ever. Though my visibility was still rather limited, I was thankful for that small flame.

Better than nothing, I guess.

Just then, I felt something cold and wet drip onto my hand. Then, a drop on my head. Gradually, the air became warm and humid as a very light shower began and I was pelted with raindrops. And, oddly enough, it seemed as though the fog had dissipated. First pea soup fog and snow, then total darkness and rain. What next? I wondered. Maybe I was becoming paranoid, but it was almost as if something didn't want me to find Cheryl.

As I rounded the next corner, I began to hear a high-pitched squeaking sound, like an old cart with an un-oiled wheel. The sound grew louder as I walked, until the lighter gradually illuminated the source of the grating noise. Lying on its side in a corner was an old, rusty wheelchair, its wheel spinning wildly as if someone had recently knocked it over. Odd as that sight was, I simply disregarded it and kept walking.

The next thing I stumbled upon, however, gave me serious pause. More accurately, it simply startled the hell out of me. At first I only saw the vague shape of it since my small flame could only cast so much light. But when I approached it and realized what it was, it was as out of place as anything I'd ever seen, not to mention gravely disturbing. A rusted gurney, draped with a dirty, bloodstained sheet, was standing in the corner in front of me. And it looked like someone, or something, was underneath the sheet.

A junked wheelchair is one thing, but this...

I had no desire to look under that sheet and I certainly wasn't going to stick around to see if he or she - or it - was still alive. I kept a watchful eye on the shape under the bloody sheet and tried not to touch it as I hurriedly shuffled past the gurney.

Not far from where I encountered the strangely placed hospital equipment, I began to see large splotches of red on the ground. The splotches became huge splashes on the pavement as I continued apprehensively to make my way through the winding alley. As much as I didn't want to admit it, the bright, coppery scent of it was undeniable. It was blood. I only prayed that it wasn't Cheryl's.

Though I hadn't noticed the change before, the wall on my right was no longer the concrete wall of a building. Now there stood an extremely rusty fence, also splashed sporadically with blood. Then, when I rounded the next corner, the concrete wall on my left ended and another decaying metal fence began. When I reached above my head with the lighter to get a better look, the fencing appeared to be extremely high, disappearing into the darkness above me. For reasons I couldn't explain, this change in my surroundings seemed to add to my uneasiness. Though I knew the ridiculously high fencing had to end somewhere, I felt caged, trapped. I tried unsuccessfully to shake off the feeling as I continued meandering through the alley, my dread growing with each messy splatter I saw. I soon began to notice fleshy chunks accompanying the blood, and my increasing feeling of dread was mingled with utter disgust. A few steps away, the lighter illuminated a shiny, wet pile of what looked like internal organs, surrounded by an obscene amount of blood. Lowering the lighter, I followed the trail of gore, despite my gut-wrenching fear of what I might find.

My heart hammering, I walked along the gory path for a short distance and stopped at a rusty fence where the trail ended. I slowly raised the lighter--

--and the warm light danced on the grotesque figure of a nearly skeletonized human body, hanging just above eye level on the fence. A short, sharp cry of horror escaped my throat as I recoiled wildly, almost losing my balance. I glanced warily in every direction as I quickly backed away, breathing raggedly.

"What the...what's going on here?!"

I desperately hoped that whoever did this wasn't still lurking close by. I stood still for a moment, trying to ignore that ever-present wailing and listen for any kind of movement nearby. Fortunately, I heard nothing else. Though the thought of inspecting the hideous display in front of me was terrifying, I had to take a closer look. I had to know.

Please...please...not my little girl...

I hesitantly crept toward the ghastly scene again, reluctant to get any closer than arm's length. Upon closer inspection, the body looked as bad as I thought, but even worse, it smelled...fresh, as if he or she had been alive not five minutes ago. It looked like most of the skin and muscle had been ripped off and its insides torn out. But most disturbing was the fact that it didn't seem to have a face. Actually, it looked like a warped flap of skin had grown over its face. I also noticed that it was tightly bound to the rusty, blood-spattered fence with barbed wire, posed as if the person had been crucified. The only thing I could hold onto was the small relief upon realizing the body was that of a fully-grown adult instead of a small child. Cheryl was alive. She had to be.

I couldn't stand to look at it any longer. I began to back away from the strange corpse, when a peculiar noise from behind me pierced through the siren-like howling. It sounded like a cross between a child's laugh and a choked, high-pitched squeal. My blood ran cold. I whirled around, trying to find the source of it--

--and felt a sudden, sharp stinging on the front of my left thigh, followed by warm wetness. I yelped and stumbled backwards, more so in surprise than in pain, but I managed to stay on my feet. I looked down and saw a decent sized gash on my leg and frantically waved the lighter in front of me, searching, and saw my attacker shamble out of the darkness toward me. It was a...thing, about the size of a small child, but the resemblance to anything human ended there. The weak light reflected off of its deathly pale skin, which looked like scar tissue half covered in a dark, greenish mold. It was naked and sexless, and like the body on the fence it was also faceless, a patch of gnarled skin where the face should have been. I was still confused as to what had cut me, until I noticed that it was holding a serrated, slightly rusted knife in one tightly curled fist as it lumbered toward me. My face twisted in horror and disbelief.

God...what is it?!

I shook my head in denial of this madness, this knife-wielding monstrosity in front of me. I swiftly backed away and it lunged, swiping furiously at me. The creature came forward again and slashed at me, barely missing me as I darted out of the way and backed into the fence. I could smell it as it lurched past me, like ash and rancid meat, making me swallow back bile. The force of its attack tipped it forward and it fell, squealing, and sprawled itself onto the bloody pavement. Panicked, I edged along the fence and searched for an opening or a gate, only to realize that the area I was in was a dead end. When I saw the creature attempting to get up, I decided to make a run for it, to go back the way I came. I was running past the rising creature, when another disfigured arm slashed out of the darkness on my right, slicing my right calf. Choking back a cry of pain, I lost my footing and fell hard onto my hands and knees, the lighter skittering across the pavement. Hot needles of pain shot through my legs.

Another one?!

Despite my injuries, I managed to grab onto a nearby fence and pull myself up as the second monster shuffled toward me. I'd just gotten to my feet when it raised its knife, and I kicked it as hard as my injured leg would allow, knocking the creature backwards. I limped hastily toward the mouth of the alley--

--and the cold, bony fingers of the first creature grabbed my leg, sinking its knife deep into my thigh.

No--

It squealed loudly, quickly pulled the knife out and readied itself to stab me again, still tightly grasping my leg. For its size, the creature was ridiculously strong. I struggled with it, flailing wildly every which way, tearing at it even as the blood poured out of me. Suddenly, another sharp stinging on the back of my right knee caused my leg to buckle, bringing me down hard on my knees again and sending fresh waves of pain through my body. The creature I knocked down had gotten up and slashed the back of my knee, crippling me. It seemed to squeal in triumph as I fell, while its brother used the opportunity to stab me in my lower back. Then, both of them were on me.

NO--

I was screaming, thrashing at the two frenzied, squealing monsters as they repeatedly plunged their blades into me, each wound as hot and sharp as the last. I scrabbled weakly at the ground, trying to get away, but my strength was fading fast. My vision blurred and dimming and my breathing labored, my body finally betrayed me, fully surrendering to the creatures' attacks. As the world spun away, I heard the cackling shrieks of the monsters and the overwhelming crescendo of the siren fading. Cheryl's name was the last word to cross my lips when the darkness came to claim me.