Chapter 4

Steven has been given the ultimatum of finding his brother or be reported to the police by his mother.So,with little choice,Steven must now venture to Silent Hill

Steven stood on the side of the highway and waited patiently for a car to drive past.Since he didn't drive himself, Steven was forced to hitchhike his way to Silent Hill.While he was waiting for someone to come along and give him a lift, a stranger came out from the trees.They looked like a fisherman from some kind of t.v show.Rugged beard, tattoos, yellow raincoat, big build, and tanned skin.

"Hi there.My name's Max."Said Max, in a very deep tone.

"Um...hi."Replied Steven, unsure as to what was going on.

"You seem a little lost there lad."

"Just trying to get to town."

"Which one?"

"Silent Hill."

"Silent Hill?Why didn't ya say so?"

"Because..."

"I fish in the lake there.If you'd like,I can take you directly there, free of charge."

"I'm not really sure if I should just..."

"Look.You could be standing here waiting for hours to see if anyone will give you a lift.Or, you could come with me and accept the free ride to town."

"You do make a good point.Besides, I'm sick of standing in the rain."

"Then it's settled!I'll give you a lift into town."

As unsettling as it was, Steven was just glad to be getting out of the rain.But there was one thing bugging him.Max.For some strange reason, Steven found him familiar.Almost as if he knew him from somewhere.The voice, the face, and even the clothes he was wearing, all looked so familiar.

"You coming?"

Steven shook his head and broke himself away from the deep thought he was in.Max was standing there waiting to see if there was any life in him.

"If you want a free ride into Silent Hill,the boat is through the trees."

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Steven followed Max.The two of them ventured through the thick forestry and eventually came to the shore of Toluca Lake.Max hadn't lie.He really did have a boat, but it was very peculiar. The boat appeared as if it hadn't been submerged at some point, being covered in underwater life, suffering water damage, and a patched up hole in the bottom.

"Does this thing really float?"Steven asked sarcastically.

"She might not be pretty but she sure does get the job done."

Steven watched from the shore as a box was loaded onto the boat.Max followed it immediately, stumbling as he climbed up over the edge.

"I can't believe I'm about to climb into this deathtrap.Do I really want to do this?"

"Are you getting aboard or not?"

Going against his better judgement, Steven climbed onto the boat and sat down.Then, with a rev of the engine, the boat pulled away from the shore and sailed off.Steven still couldn't put his finger on where he had seen Max before.But he didn't get much longer to wonder as the boat approached a wall of thick fog.

"Max?"Stammered Steven."is that normal?"

"Perfectly.The town has always been surrounded by a thick fog.Nobody really knows why."

It was spooky.One minute there was no fog, then there was.As the boat penetrated the wall of fog, Steven found himself growing concerned.He had heard the tales of people getting lost in the fog and never returning, but Steven had never witnessed it himself.

"The fog is cold."Mumbled Steven, shivering at the sudden drop in temperature.

"What do you expect fog to be?Warm?"Laughed Max.

After what felt like forever, Max pulled the boat up alongside a small pier.Ironic as it was, it was the same pier from Steven's nightmare.It was a little creepy since he had never been there before in his life.Still, not wanting to come across ungrateful for the assistance, Steven climbed out of the boat and turned to face Max.

"You don't need to thank me,boy.Just be careful."

Steven found the statement rather startling.

"What do you mean?"Asked Steven.

"Silent Hill isn't like any other town.You might find more here than you initially thought you'd find, especially about yourself."

"I'm not here for anything but to find my brother."

"Chris might already have found what he was looking for, so why go after him?"

"Hang on.I never said my brothers name."

"Interesting."

"How do you know his name?"

"I gave your brother a lift into town a few months ago, but never saw him again."

"You gave him a lift?"

"Yeah.Said something about needing to find forgiveness for something he had done in his past, that he could no longer run from it."

"Did he say what it was?"

"No."

"Damn it."

"Anyhow, I had better get back to fishing or my wife will kill me."

"Thanks for the lift, Max."

"No problem.As I said, watch yourself."

The boat pulled away from the pier and disappeared into the fog.For a brief moment, Steven swore he could hear what sounded like something sinking.Max was a strange character, but there was more to worry about.Steven turned back around to face land and made his way towards it.If he was going to have any chance of not facing time, finding his brother would be the key to success.Not only this but hopefully get answers behind the nightmares.

Steven followed the pier to dry land and came across a familiar sight.The dirt path that led up to the road.So, Steven walked up the trail and came to a road.This time there was no chasm, just tarseal.It was a major difference to his nightmare.

"Since the road is intact, I might as well follow it."

He did just that.Steven followed the road leading through the Saratoga Valley, then turned right onto Nathan Avenue.This led directly to the Observation Deck, followed by the tunnel from his dreams.However, Steven had a need to pee.So he made a quick pit stop at the toilets on the Observation Deck.

"Gotta pee real bad right now!"

Steven barged into the toilets and was stunned to find all of the cubicles out of order.

"You have got to be f*****g kidding me right now!"

With zero options, Steven walked over to one of the urinals and used it.He unzipped his fly, then began to pee.

"Oh my god that feels so good."Steven sighed in relief.

As fast as the happiness had started, Steven was silenced.He got a terrible fright when a loud noise came from one of the cubicles.It was a splash of water, followed by something hitting the floor.

"I checked the toilets...all of them were empty."

Steven was petrified in fear.The door to the cubicle had indeed been locked when he entered the toilets, but it was now obvious that something had been inside one of them.Things got serious when the door swung open and the noises grew louder.

"Hello?"Whispered Steven.He zipped up his pants then began to slowly approach the cubicle.

The noises got louder and louder.A loud splash echoed throughout the toilets forcing Steven to suck in a deep breath of air,hoping that whatever it was would just go away. Steven managed to get to the stall and see what was in there.To his surprise, there was nothing.While it was distressing for Steven, it was also a massive relief.His mind was put to rest.So, Steven walked over to one of the sinks and washed his hands.

"Must have been my imagination."Chuckled Steven,trying to shake off the fear.

Yet again, the sounds echoed out from within the cubicle.This time however, something did come of it.The same headless figure from Steven's nightmare, came stumbling out of the cubicle.Each step it took was like a stagger, simply due to it lacking a head.Sadly, the lack of a head didn't stop it from knowing where he was.

"No way...I must be dreaming again."

The creature made no attempt in stopping.It marched towards, Steven, gurgling on blood inside of its throat.Steven had no way to defend himself so he ripped off the pipe beneath the sink, holding it in front of him.That's when he noticed one difference with this creature.The one in his dream had no skin,however, this one did.A dark line was at the center of the creatures abdomen, clearly covering something beneath it.

Now within range of the creatures reach, Steven became vulnerable.It lunged at him but did no damage.Instead of actually attacking and causing physical harm, the creature just nudged him with its shoulder.The attack was useless and caused Steven to laugh.This was a massive mistake.Almost as if the creature could hear him, its stomach ripped open to reveal a set of ferocious teeth.When the mouth opened wide enough a long tongue covered in barbed wire, protruded from within.

Steven now had a problem on his hands.The creature lunged at him once more, this time with its mouth and tongue lashing out.He drew back the pipe and smacked the creature in its chest, forcing it to stumble backwards.This seemed to enrage it.It let out a menacing snarl and lunged again. Steven was left with no choice.He drew the pipe forth, readying himself for the expected assault.When the creature was in his reach, Steven smacked it with the pipe.

The creature fell on its knees and no longer posed a threat.Steven on the other hand, was not going to give it a chance to get up.He took the pipe and rammed it down the creature throat,finishing it off at last.The now lifeless body fell back on the ground and twitched like a fish out of water.A large pool of blood formed around the corpse, also releasing a foul odor.

"Holy s**t,"Gasped Steven."that smell."

Steven had never killed anything before.When the reality of his first killed kicked in, Steven couldn't help but vomit.He turned to the sink and vomited his guts out.To also try and get some clarity on what just happened, Steven exited the toilets and took in a deep gasp of air.

"I've never killed anything before in my life!Oh my god, what have I done?"

Reality finally set in and forced everything in to perspective.Steven had thought of the entire situation as not real, still being one of his nightmares, but he knew that it was true.There was no denying the horror he was now in.If he wanted any hope of surviving, Steven would have to get a grip.Only then would he be able to complete his task.And the next step in progressing was to go through the tunnel.

Steven entered the tunnel and  immediately heard a disturbing sound.At first it sounded like metal scraping across the ground, but then it became clear it wasn't. The more closely Steven listened, the more he found it similar to the noise the dog made.Now he really was on edge.Steven only had a pipe to defend himself with.It was much too heavy to swing than the switchblade.

Still, with no other choice, Steven opted to enter the tunnel and exit it was fast as possible.He was apprehensive at first because he didn't have a flashlight to guide the way, but that was about to change.Steven cautiously made his way into the tunnel and eventually came to the same car from his dreams, discovering that it had a flashlight in the backseat.

Steven used the pipe to smash the window and grabbed the flashlight.He switched it on, then continued through the dark tunnel.As Steven made his way towards the exit, he was confronted by another one of the headless creatures.Taking arms, Steven beat the creature until it was dead.There weren't any more distractions along the way which allowed him to make it safely to the other end of the tunnel.

Finally, Steven stood with Silent Hill.How hard could it be to find one person in a small town?This is what was running through Steven's head.He was following, Nathan Avenue, right before coming across the Ridgeview Medical Clinic.Although it appeared abandoned at first, Steven soon found that it wasn't. The front door was slightly open. Steven used his pipe to pry open the door, then entered the building.

"What the hell happened to this place?There's s**t everywhere."

Every inch of the clinic looked like it had been ransacked at some point, debris all over the place.However, there was one door that was in good condition. Steven approached it and read the name tag.

"Dr Walters?How can this be?"

Yes, the name tag on the door was that of his psychologists.The discovery was both concerning and warming, but mainly troubling.So, to cure his burning need to know what was going on, Steven opened the door and entered the room.With a flash of light, Steven  found himself in his psychologists office.But something was off.Instead of being on a sofa for a usual visit, Steven was handcuffed to a wooden chair.Dr Walters was seated behind her desk.

"Dr Walters?"Muttered a confused Steven.

"Hello Steven." Replied Dr Walters.

"What's going on?"

"No crime goes unpunished,even for the victim."

"What?"

"If you want to find your brother and free yourself from the madness that is plaguing you, then you will have to remember the past.No matter how painful it is."

"I don't understand what is going on."

"You will.In time."

"Where are we?And how did I get here?"

"We are in the same room which you just entered."

"No!We are in your office, not some random room."

"Are we?'

Seeing as the room was built out of wood, all of the planks cracked and fell down.The walls, the floor, and the ceiling, were now covered in a thick layer of dust.Because the dust was a dark grey, it made the entire room seem void of life.Then, as if blown by a gust of wind, all of the dust blew away and vanished.Steven was again standing in the medical center.To be more precise, Steven was in a doctors office with no idea as it how he got there.

"What the f**k just happened?"

Sitting on the desk was a small bottle.Upon further inspection, Steven saw that it was full of a strange looking liquid.The label read:MED PLUS.It was intriguing enough to open it and find out what was inside.The strong smell of medicine, fruit, and alcohol, poured out of the bottle.Steven was quite surprised by this.He had expected it to smell nastier than it did.Even the color of the liquid made him apprehensive.

Although he didn't know it, Steven had picked up a health drink.Throughout Silent Hill, health drinks lay scattered.Finding one and drinking it would give you a small amount of energy if hurt, restoring you back to health.This would come in handy.

"Well, bottoms up."Sighed Steven, raising the bottle to his mouth.

A cut on the back of his hand instantly healed once consuming the health drink.

"Isn't that nifty?"

On the desk was also a key.Once picked up, Steven read an engraved message.

"Open the door that lead to darkness?I wonder what that means."

There was a task at hand.If he wanted to have any chance of finding his brother and escaping Silent Hill, Steven would need to get a move on.So, he left the clinic and began to plan what to do next.