My Visit to Silent Hill -1-

Silent Hill...a place that was meant to be a paradise...Tranquility...Serenity...the perfect place for a vacation. That is, until the ritual...after all that had gone wrong, it left the small town in a cursed and forsaken state. A demon homed town lined with blood and rust and hidden in ash. And overtime, a handful of people have wandered into the mist, and even fewer returned. The most well known accounts were of Harry Mason, the father searching for daughter Cheryl in the town's alternate school and amusement park, James Sunderland, widowed husband relearning his past. Heather Mason, unknowing about who she really is and stopping the curse placed upon her, and Henry Townshend, trying to escape from a cursed room. At least, those are the accounts for gamers...

...as they were for myself. Sadly, I needed to wait longer than most to be able to play. I never owned a PlayStation One, so Silent Hill One wasn't in my possession until the PS2, although I didn't even own one until the PS3 was in the works of coming to America. So, upon finally getting the platform, my first game purchases were Metal Gear Solid One and Two, Kingdom Hearts One, Jak and Daxter and the newest Final Fantasy at that time [which one it was, I have forgotten, since I had lost track of the four Final Fantasies I own]. It was on the manual of MGS2 where I first heard about Silent Hill, with an ad for the second in the series. And after doing a few months of hunting down both of the first two, I learned soon after that the last two were well in stores and for cheap. So, on buying all four within three months, the Silent Hill series was finally my own.

As with any video game, you play it in the beginning and are told the story through the eyes of the character you're playing as. For me, a very similar story was told four times. But I didn't want to be told the story from a movie, so I never went to see the film interpretation. I imagined it would ruin my view of a very good series. The plots, graphics and use of true horror was amazing. And I soon began to wonder...

What if there was a REAL Silent Hill?

When I told my friends about this idea, or should I say fear of mine, they told me I would end up one of the side characters. Y'know, like one of the ones who help out for a little while then get killed either by you or a monster. Thanks guys. I thought. If you come with me to Silent Hill, I hope Pyramid Head comes through and kills you.

Soon after managing to complete each game with a good or better ending to each [which was difficult the first few times around] and advancing to more video games of my liking, the real Silent Hill idea became a bit more of a good story idea than a fear. And eventually, even that faded off in my mind.

One day in the middle of a summer break, and as I was beginning to get back into past games, I replayed through Silent Hill One. Harry Mason will always be my favorite hero, and so goes the idea that nothing is better than the original. I played the game straight through that entire day. And I finished with the best ending possible. I felt accomplished. I also felt unbelievably tired. I looked to my clock as it read 3:38 am. So I saved, shut down my loyal PS2, and fell into my bed. I didn't even bother on changing into pajamas, I just needed to sleep. And I plugged my iPod's ear bud into my left ear and began listening to Room of Angel.

You lie silent there before me...your tears, they mean nothing to me...

I felt myself starting to fade out. I snuggled closer to my pillow as I got a bit colder.

The wind howling at the window...the love you never gave...I give to you...

I thought maybe since I had stayed up this late that my mind made my body feel odd things. I could've sworn the foot of my bed was shifting like waves on the water. My feet started to feel like they were bouncing just slightly.

Really don't deserve it, but now, there's nothing you can do...

Soon, the feeling went up through my legs. I clenched my fist and shifted, keeping my eyes firmly shut as my heart began to race.

So sleep...in your only memory...of me, my dearest mother...

Then, the feeling came up to my chest, making my eyes shoot open in fear. I figured if I saw there was nothing, the feeling would go away. But the feeling didn't go away...it built even stronger. My bed...it was almost completely gone. What was left was a deep, swirling, red and black pool. It looked and stank like blood. I screamed at the sight of it, as well as my body almost engulfed within it.

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes...goodbye...it was always you that I despised...

I grabbed at what was left of my bed, which wasn't much, just a pillow and an eighth of a mattress. I tried to pull myself out of it, but when I looked to my arm, it was as if I was looking straight through my skin to the veins. There were creeping vines from the liquid going through my arms, and controlling them.

I don't feel enough for you to cry...here's a lullaby to close your eyes...goodbye...

I tried to fight back the liquid, but as I gripped at my mattress, it forced my hand back open and even began to push me deeper into the hole. I screamed as loud as I can and tried to roll out of it, dragging onto the mattress as long as my hands would let me with the liquid controlling it. Soon, I felt my neck sinking through it, leading up to my face, filling my shouting mouth. I choked at it, and it seemed to want to fill me. All of the liquid rushed faster and faster into my mouth and nose. I felt it going into my lungs. My vision blurred with death before complete darkness from sinking completely in.

Goodbye...goodbye..._goodbye...