Prologue (1/2)
Silent Hill 2 : The Official Novel
By Sadamu Yamas.h.i.+ta
Translated by Emily ”Lady Ducky” Fitch
But sometimes I have to ask
myself this question. It's true
that to us his imaginings are
nothing but the inventions of
a busy mind. But to him, there
simply is no other reality.
Furthermore he is happy there.
So why, I ask myself, why in the
name of healing him must we drag
him painfully into the world of our
own reality?
-Doctor's memo
Prologue –Girl–
”It looks kinda like milk.”
Laura's face stretched into a smile.She began to laugh, her teeth peeking from behind her small lips.The town was shrouded in a thick fog that blurred everything into white, as if she were in some sort of magical land.Laura imagined that some clumsy G.o.d had carelessly dropped his cup and spilled his morning milk all over the place. The mysterious atmosphere could be a sign that there were fairies or something hiding out there.The thought made Laura's heart tremble with excitement.The eight-year-old girl began to playfully hop and skip along, her skirt fluttering behind her.Slowly and smoothly, the fog flowed and drifted though the air.
”Come on, hurry up!I'm gonna leave you behind!” Laura shouted over and over again, calling out to her companion.
The two of them were here because they were on a journey to find their friends&h.e.l.lip;
Only he was fat and a bit thickheaded.Sometimes all he did was mope around and he always seemed to be scowling.But Laura didn't care too much.She could put up with him if it meant seeing her again soon.The person who gave her that letter&h.e.l.lip;.
Chapter One –Beckoning Town-
On the other side of the dirty clouds was a vision of himself.Reflected in the mirror was his own face, stiff and lifeless as a corpse.Actually, I guess I am dead, James Sunderland thought.My heart's as good as dead anyway.He wasn't filled with a sense of loss, he just felt like his life wasn't worth living anymore.He had become indifferent.Work, free time--none of it really mattered anymore.Even the strong scent of ammonia that permeated the filthy little room couldn't catch James's attention.The dirty urinals caked with a yellow, moss-like substance, the sticky wet floor that soaked into the soles of his shoes--none of it brought a flicker of emotion.
”Mary&h.e.l.lip;could you really be in this town?” he asked the James in the mirror.He had doubts about the incident.Did it really even happen?But&h.e.l.lip;
With his hands on the sides of the wash basin, he peered into the mirror.Despite his att.i.tude, he felt the tiniest spark of hope.He shook his head and brushed the bangs from his face to clear his vision.He knew it was really true because it came in a letter.
He stepped out of the gloomy building and gazed up at the cloud-filled sky. A damp wind brushed James's cheek. Across the parking lot was the vast Toluca Lake, mist dancing on its surface and stretching over the entire scenery.
In my restless dreams,
I see that town.
Silent Hill.
You promised me you'd take me
there again someday.
But because of me, you were never able to.
Well, I'm alone there now&h.e.l.lip;
In our ”special place”
Waiting for you&h.e.l.lip;
There was no doubt that Mary had sent this letter, it was written in her familiar handwriting.Three years ago, he had spent a holiday with her in this small town, and now James was here again.Alone.His car sat in the corner of the small parking lot, engine at rest.Even though it was in perfect working order, it wouldn't be of much use.The highway was the real problem.The tunnel at the far end of the parking lot that led to the town of Silent Hill was blocked off by a st.u.r.dy fence and. There was no choice but to go another way.
After retrieving a map of the town from his car, James descended a stairway at the edge of the parking lot.With each downward step, the fog thickened.By the time he reached the lake's sh.o.r.e, his entire field of vision was shrouded in white.More and more James was beginning to feel an unnatural suffocating feeling.However, even in this oppressive atmosphere, his mind was occupied by thoughts of Mary and the letter.He sank into a grave mood, stomping the ground as he continued to walk.
The letter certainly had Mary's name written on it.What a foolish, impossible idea.His brow furrowed and he shook his head in disbelief.It couldn't be true.
Because his wife, Mary, had died three years ago.Because of her illness&h.e.l.lip;
It was such a cruel joke. A joke played to mock James even though he was still heartbroken and grieving.Maybe it was one of his neighbors?Or perhaps it was one of his coworkers?After he lost his wife, James took to drinking and began to conceal his sorrow with outbursts of anger.It affected everyone around him to the point that his coworkers didn't want to put up with his sullen behavior.Just as he pushed everyone away, soon they wanted nothing to do with him as well.For that reason, he could easily see how someone could hold a grudge against him.
Extending along the lake, the end of the path was surrounded by trees and dense fog.Even after just a few yards, he couldn't see the overlook where he had started from.At the head of the valley the mist also hid Toluca Lake's magnificent scenery, but James could care less.He didn't come here to sightsee.As he walked, all he could picture was Mary's face.Even if James still had his doubts about the letter, it, along with the memories of his beloved wife, was what had brought him this far.
It was no wonder then, with these kinds of thoughts in his head, that James found himself wis.h.i.+ng for a miracle.Did she really die three years ago?Or had she died and somehow been revived?Perhaps after the funeral, and after the workers and mourners left the grave unattended, Mary woke up and began desperately beating the lid of her coffin?But if that were true, why would she have waited three years to contact him?He considered the possibility that she received brain damage due to asphyxiation and suffered memory loss as a result.The workers would have fled in terror at seeing a supposedly dead person move.Leaving her without any idea of who she was, or what she was doing there--to unsteadily wander off somewhere.Or perhaps, he thought, she could have been kidnapped by some ill-intentioned grave digger&h.e.l.lip;
James ground his teeth in frustration.The noise of the dead leaves scattered along the path crunched louder as he carelessly trampled over them.It was irritating how his imagination kept spewing forth one unpleasant scenario after another, no matter how hard he tried to stop it.In any case, there was one thing he hadn't been able to prove: whether or not Mary was even alive in the first place.Still, James found that he was afraid to find the answer to that question.
But if she really has been alive this whole time and didn't try to contact me until now, maybe she's been trying to avoid me?What if she ran off and has been living with another man&h.e.l.lip;Those kinds of thoughts crossed his mind as well.Womens' hearts were so difficult to understand.For a moment, he felt a burning surge of hatred, but it soon drowned in his melancholy mood.More than anything, he just wanted to see Mary again, and more than anything else, he dreaded that meeting.Forcing back his hesitation, James pressed on putting one foot in front of the other like a sleepwalker.
Suddenly, James came to a halt and held his breath.Just in from of him, a human shape appeared in the fog.
Could it be Mary?
Naturally, it wasn't James's wife.Looking closer, he found a dark-haired woman standing still and staring pensively at a gravestone.Without even noticing it, James had wandered into a cemetery.Sensing James's presence, the woman let out a gasp of surprise and spun around to face him.He greeted her.
”Sorry, didn't mean to startle you.I'm looking for a town called Silent Hill.Would you mind telling me if I'm going the right way?”
”T-town?You're going to the town?”The woman tilted her head doubtfully, the surprise on her face even greater than when she first noticed James.Though she still had youthful features, dark, heavy circles hung like shadows under her eyes.
”Yeah,” James replied.
The woman hesitated for a moment, then answered, ”&h.e.l.lip;Yeah.That's the right way.I know it's a bit hard to see&h.e.l.lip;you know, because of the fog, but&h.e.l.lip;there's only one road s-so you can't really get lost.”
”Thanks.”
”But&h.e.l.lip;”