Prologue: Welcome to Water County

A short introduction to a work of fan fiction I started last year. I was feeling pretty serious about turning it into something but I'm still unsure how I feel about it.

Our story takes place in the small town Glenville of Water County. It was one of the first colonies founded in New England when the settlers first sailed across the ocean to America. Now-a-days it's known as the State of Maine and Glenville still remains. It's got that suburban, small town kinda feel. Everybody knows everybody. They grew up together, went to school together and went on to work together in their choice of careers. You might say its a little piece of heaven on Earth our town of Glenville. Never had any real problems with crime rates or unemployment. It's always been known as a secure place to raise a family. Hell, I'd go on to say that you wont ever find another town quite like ours. But ya see, the thing is that Water County is shared between our little town and wasteland that is Silent Hill. Now I don't know if you've heard any of the rumors about Silent Hill but I'm sure all of em' are true. And all those bad rumors give our town a bad reputation. You may think me a little senile, but I actually used to live in Silent Hill. Its a good twenty miles up the road from the I-90 gas station. That's the last stop between there and here. But the roads been blocked off for years and years. They don't want nobody goin' up there for any reason. Before I get to the bad let me tell ya about the good, old Silent Hill.

Back when I lived there it was a lively resort town. Full of rich history on the British settlers and spooky ghost stories of witch trials and the occult. Lots of people are interested in that dark side, that ghostly chill you got real late at night. Course' no one ever really knew if the stories were true or not. All in all it was a beautiful tourist attraction. Centered around Toluca lake and shrouded by woods it turned out to be a great vacation spot. Families drove up on the weekends from places like Glenville and went fishing with the kids. Those who didn't feel comfortable parking their RV's out in the National Park stayed up in the Lakeview Hotel. Coincidentally they built and amusement park just a 1/2 a mile up the road from it. I think it was just to get people to spend a little more money than they'd intended. After all, tourism is really all Silent Hill had going for itself back in the day. Steadily the tourists stopped coming to town. A couple of small business' had to close up shop because of it. But the real reason Silent Hill is now a wasteland is because of that one incident. It happened nearly Twenty years ago. Why, I bet you were just a baby then, weren't ya? Well one fine sunny day if you looked real close at the sky from that gas station on I-90 you could see smoke and ash rising up over the town. It was the pump attendant that noticed it first and called the police. The Water County Police department couldn't get a hold of anyone from Silent Hill. They sent a dozen police cars and about half as many fire engines to see what was goin' on. That day the whole town was ablaze, and ash fell from the sky like snow.

Now I know you don't believe much in ghost tales, but not one of those firemen or police officers ever returned. Even after the fire had been put out. If there was any report of what happened it was never made public. We know that it wasn't the fire that took em'. The last radio transmission was from the Deputy Chief of Silent Hill himself. He warned the Water County P.D. to not send anyone else into the town. Told us to quarantine the place and not let anyone come near it. The flames had been put out, but there something much worse to worry about than the damage it had caused. Before he could say anything more he was cut off, and the last thing they heard over the radio was his screaming. To be honest I was the pump attendant that saw the smoke and ash. My home had been burned to the ground and I was told Silent Hill was closed for good. But no one explained to me what had happened. They closed down our little gas station and blocked the one road up there, putting me out of a job! I had to know what happened. So, I went back into town when the patrolmen were dozing off real early the next morning. You wouldn't believe what its like to walk down the street and see cars parked with their doors left hanging open. Mail lying on the ground right next to the mailboxes, food still lying out on the counter at the diners. It was as if everyone had just vanished. The place was covered in ash and most of the buildings looked trashed. It was a real scary sight. But what scared me most was those monsters. That's right! Monsters! Not a soul I told ever believed me! But I saw em' with my own eyes. But you, you believe don't you? You're not like other people. I can tell by your eyes. I nearly made it out of there alive, but still the mystery of Silent Hill remains just that, a mystery.

What I wouldn't give to know the truth. Monsters don't just appear out of no where! One of the rumors, a ghost story I often heard the guides telling to visitors, was of an occult group called The Order. A twisted bunch they were. They believed that by opening the gate to Hell a God of great power would cleanse the world and leave behind a paradise for all to live in. I tell you it was them! They're the ones who let all of Hell lose on my hometown! The only reason that Hell hasn't spread all over by now is cause of good ole' Toluca lake. The monsters, the hallucinations none of it exists beyond the fog that lingers over the lake and all of Silent Hill. It's the only place on Earth that Hell truly exists. You want to find out for yourself don't you? That's why you came to me, asked me all these questions about the incident. There's no way to prepare yourself if you're going. All that I can offer you is May God be with you.

Author's Note

The idea of this prologue is to introduce the town of Glenville, where the main character is from and eventually to expand on his background before I delve into the mysteries of "Silent Hill".

Reviews

[Djzelly]

Ah! I wasn't too sure many people were familiar with Silent Hill! I do have a clear vision of the narrator in mind. c; I just wasn't too sure if I should introduce just who he is in the prologue or the first chapter? Should I go on to describe his appearance? He is only going to be playing a minor role in the story.

I know there are a few run ons. It's still very much a WIP. Thank you for my first review by the way!!