SH2 Novel - Chapter 2B

Silent Hill 2 : The Official Novel

By Sadamu Yamashita
Translated by Lady Ducky

Chapter Two -Someone's Lurking in the Apartment- Part B


A violent screech pierced the heavy silence near the intersecting hallways of the second floor.  Though the sound came from the hallway extending north, the cry was muffled slightly as if it had come from the upper floor.  The first thought that came to James's mind was of Mary, but then he recalled the image of the little girl as she ran away.  Irritating as she had been, he certainly didn't hate her enough to hope she would be attacked by a monster.  He couldn't wish that kind of death on anyone.

Rushing in the direction of the screams, James once again came face-to-face with the monster blocking the north hallway.  Without hesitation, James aimed his gun at the creature.

"Get the hell outta my way!"

The twisted monster shrieked and recoiled as a shower of bullets pierced its body, dark drops of blood spattering against the walls.  At that moment, James felt a rush of exhilaration.  There was no need to turn around and flee; he could finally stand his ground and fight back.  Though this monster was his enemy and he wouldn't argue that he wanted it dead, his actions didn't feel like "murder."  No, it was different.  It felt more like he was taking advantage of the situation, like he finally had the upper hand.

Stepping over the creature's corpse, which now lay un-moving in a pool of blood, James hurried through the hall.  His heart sank, however, when the beam of his flashlight fell on yet another shutter blocking his path.  Just on the other side, he could see a staircase extending into darkness.  That had to be the way to the main part of the third floor…  Acting impulsively, James turned and grabbed the doorknob of the room nearest to the shutter.  Thankfully, the door was unlocked.  He swung the door open and plunged into the room marked 208.

This room was adjacent to room 209, which was located on the other side of the barrier.  If he was somehow able to break through the wall that separated the two rooms, he would be able to reach that staircase.  That was James's plan anyway.  Rushing from the living room into the bedroom, he was able to find the north-most wall.  In the middle of the wall sat a large rectangular object.  It appeared to be an old grandfather clock.  James shoved it out of the way, the clock moving easily over the carpeted floor.

"What the…"

He stared at the wall, dumbfounded.  There was a gaping hole in the wall behind the clock.  This building…even though it looked nice on the outside—these rooms were falling apart.  This must really be low-income housing if the owner had use the clock to cover up the crumbling wall until it could be repaired.  Good thing they never got around to it.  Now James didn't have to waste his energy busting through the wall.

Emerging back into the hallway, James hurried up the stairs to the third floor.  Where did that scream come from?  With little other options left, James went about checking every room.  Like the first floor, all of the doors seemed to be locked until he reached the door to room 307.  James paused, his hand on the doorknob.  He could just barely make out sound coming from inside the room.  Carefully opening the door, he stepped inside.  At first there didn't seem to be anything inside, even though the rustling noise continued.  Whatever the commotion was, it was enough to send tremors through the floor.

"Mary….?"

His wife's name came out as barely a whisper as his breath caught in his throat.  James stood frozen.  By the time he noticed the shadowy movement in the back of the room, there was no time to escape.  At that moment, an open closet door caught his eye and he quickly hid inside.  He really didn't want to look, but he couldn't help it.  Trembling, James peeked through the lattice of the closet door.

In the darkness he could make out the forms of three monsters that seemed to be engaged in some sort of struggle.  Two of them were the mannequin-like creatures that he'd encountered in the hallway, but the third was different.  It was completely unlike the others.  It had the shape of a large man, and appeared to have a huge triangular head that was muddled with dark brown and deep crimson hues.  Rust clung to the corroded metal as if it had seen many countless years of wear and damage.

It was a demon.  At least, that's what James thought.  A red demon… a monster…  The words printed in the old newspaper article resurfaced in his mind.  Is this the same terror that Walter Sullivan felt when he witnessed this bizarre creature?  Certainly this thing had the appropriate appearance to be called a demon.  Unlike the other monsters, this creature was clothed in a grimy robe and wore dark knee-high boots.

Much as the mannequins struggled to pull away from his grip, they were overwhelmed by the pyramid monster's strength.  With his large muscular arms he was able to choke the life out of the creatures as easily as if they were helpless children.  Now painted in their own blood, the two were casually discarded into a heap on the floor.  Neither of them moved.  The sight of twisted corpses sent an icy chill down James's spine as cold sweat trickled down his face.

Suddenly, as if sensing his presence, the pyramid creature slowly turned its angular head in the direction of the closet doors.  James's heart skipped a beat.  He had been so distracted by the horrible scene playing out in front of him that he hadn't noticed the sputtering bursts of static coming from his radio.  He franticly dug in his pocket and switched the radio off.  Sitting in the cramped closet completely frozen and not even daring to breath, James silently prayed that the creature hadn't noticed him.

The terrifying silence was broken by heavy footsteps that caused the wooden floors to creak.  It was coming towards the closet.  James could do nothing but hold his gun at the ready.  The sound of ragged metallic breathing came from just outside the door and the tiny space was quickly filled with the stench of rotting flesh.  There's no way I'm going to survive this.  There's just no way.  James clutched the gun tighter in his shaking hands.  If victory goes to the one who makes the first move…

For a moment, his despair turned to determination.  James pulled the trigger, firing blindly in the monster's direction.  Once I run out of bullets, I'm going to die, he thought bleakly through the ear-splitting shots.  What hope did he really have of killing this massively strong monster?  If anything, he was just going to make it angry.  It would shrug off the bullets like mosquito bites and come smashing through the door any second now.  And then James would be next to join the pile of corpses.  I'm going to die.  This dusty little closet might as well be my coffin.

And then the time came.  The spray of bullets ceased, and silence fell over the room.  James almost thought he could hear the flapping wings of the angel of death coming to take him away… but the silence only continued.  There were no footsteps, no breathing, nothing at all.  Is it dead... ? Did I really manage to kill it? Relying on that vain hope, he peeked through the latticed door.  The room appeared empty.  He pushed the door open as quietly as he could, barely breathing as he took a better look.  The pyramid monster was gone.

Now that he thought about it, while he was loading the creature full of bullets, it had howled as if it was screaming in pain…  Maybe it was afraid of the gun and fled?  James wasn't fully satisfied with either of these explanations.  He just couldn't bring himself to believe in his unlikely victory.  It seemed very unlikely that the monster ran away, seeing as the front door was still shut tight.  It was like…  it just disappeared from the room like smoke.  As James sat exhausted on the floor, his eyes fell on the massacred mannequins.  A dark red pool spread across the floor underneath their mangled remains.  He found that even after his narrow escape from death, he felt no sense of relief.

With a stiff body and uneven gait, James left room 307.  Why…why am I seeing all these messed-up things? He walked through the dark third floor hallway, his face still pale.  He stopped.  On the floor at his feet lay a small key.  The one the bratty little girl kicked away. Sure enough, when he shined his flashlight across the hall he could see the metal screen that had blocked his path before.  Where was that girl now?  Mary wasn't anywhere on the third floor.  There were no people at all.  James had come rushing up here like some wannabe hero, only to find the "person" he'd come to save was a couple of dying mannequins.

James climbed down the stairs.  He had been distracted by the screams from the third floor before, but now he could at least continue his search.  Using the light from his flashlight, he reloaded the handgun using the box of spare bullets.  He also remembered to switch the radio back on.  Soon he was back where he started: the first floor entry hall.  Last time he was here he was under the impression that people still lived here, but now he was almost certain that the building was deserted.  At least now he didn't have to worry about getting caught breaking into someone's room.

James immediately noticed that the door to room 101 was slightly ajar, even though it was locked the last time he had checked it.  Cautiously, he pushed the door open and looked around inside.  It appeared to be empty.  However, he was greeted with an unpleasant sight when the flashlight's beam shined into the small kitchen.  It was a corpse.  James had almost grown accustomed to the sight of dead monsters… but even with the body badly beaten and the face obscured by shadows, this was clearly a human.

As James stood in shock, he heard a pained moan come from the bathroom door.  It sounded like a person… but then again, the mannequin's screams sounded like a person, too.  Perhaps it was the monster that killed the resident of this room?  There's no way he was going to bust down the bathroom door and find out.  He wasn't stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice.  Still… this wasn't something he could ignore.  Stepping quietly over to the door, James strained his ears and listened for any other sounds coming from inside.

"Shit, shit, shit!  I…  I…"  A male voice murmured.

So it was a person after all.  Even if it wasn't Mary, maybe he had some useful information about her.   James opened the bathroom door and found a somewhat chubby man kneeling on the floor.  Clutching the toilet tightly, he vomited into the bowl until his stomach was empty and he could only cough violently.

"Uhhh, hey there.  Are you alright?"  James spoke up.

The man looked over his shoulder with his round face.  He wore a backwards baseball cap on his head, and he seemed to be a bit younger than James.  Terror in his eyes, the man shook his head back and forth.  "It wasn't me, I swear!"

"What?"

"I didn't do anything.  He was like that when I found him!  I just… just…"

"It's okay, just calm down."  James crouched beside the man and patted his back reassuringly.  It seemed like the man misunderstood his intentions.  James didn't quite know the circumstances, but the man was acting defensive as if James was someone here to arrest him.  "You don't have to worry, I'm just a tourist.  My name's James.  James Sunderland.  What's your name?"

"Eddie…" the man muttered in the same frightened tone.

"Okay Eddie," James said with a nod.  "The… person in the kitchen.  Did you know him?"

"N-no!  I didn't do anything!  I'm no killer!"  Again Eddie furiously shook his head.

"Okay, okay, I understand, Eddie.  I don't think you killed anyone.  You seem to be in shock, and I was a little worried.  It was just a question."

"I didn't kill him…  I…"

"Of course you didn't.  If anything it was probably those monsters—maybe the weird wriggling ones, or the ones that look like mannequins.  Maybe even the red pyramid thing."

"A red pyramid thing?  I dunno anything 'bout those things.  Honest.  I did see some weird creature though.  Scared the hell outta me, so I ran in the apartment building to hide."

His words filled James with disappointment.  After all this time he finally found another person to talk to, and he wasn't even a resident of the apartment building.  Even if the chances of getting any information about Mary were slim, maybe he could get some answers about Silent Hill.  "What exactly happened in this town?"

"I don't know.  I don't know anything.  I don't even live in this town."

"What?  You too?"  James shrugged.  "Well, then why are you here?"

"Umm…  well…"  Eddie hesitated.  It looked like he didn't want to talk about it.

"Fine then.  But you better hurry up and get out of here.  This place isn't right."

"Y-yeah…  I'll do that."

"Be careful, alright?"

"Okay.  You too James."  At least Eddie seemed to have clamed down.  The fear was gone from his expression, and some color had returned to his pale face as they parted.

After all that, James wasn't able to find Mary anywhere in the apartment building.  However, there was another option.  When passing through the courtyard, James had noticed another building adjacent to the Woodside apartments on the west side.  Rather than brave the monster-infested Katz Street again, he decided to search for a shortcut.  The two buildings were so close, there had to be a way to jump across somehow.  Maybe he could find a window in a room on the second floor?

Wasting no time, James climbed to the second floor and advanced to the western end of the hallway.  Luckily, the window on the other building looked to be missing altogether.  Bracing himself, James jumped across and through the window, landing in a forceful manner and rolling across the floor in the adjacent room.

As soon as he left the room and entered the hallway, James found himself face-to-face with yet another mannequin-like creature.  Unsurprisingly, the monsters were running rampant in this building, too.  Aiming his gun without fear or hesitation, James opened fire on the mannequin until it fell lifeless to the ground.  Again, he felt the satisfaction of defeating another monster.  However, James would have to force himself to start avoiding unnecessary conflict in order to conserve ammo.  As it was now, the remaining number of spare bullets was distressingly low.  

Reaching the end of the second floor hallway, James descended the stairs.  In room 109, an unexpected reunion awaited him.  The room was mostly empty with a large mirror stretching across one of the walls, not unlike a ballet studio—that, or the person who owned this room was just particularly narcissistic.  A woman was lying on the floor in the middle of the mirrored room.  Like a child playing with a toy, she held a sharp kitchen knife in her hands which she used to stab the floor with monotonous repetition.  The face reflected in the mirror was familiar—it was the woman he'd met at the graveyard.  Noticing James's reflection, the woman spoke.

"Oh, it's you," she said listlessly.  With her faint voice and vacant gaze, she seemed like a completely different person than the one he'd met before.

"Yeah.  Call me James."

"I'm… Angela.  Angela Orosco…"

"Angela, huh?  That's a nice name."  James addressed her in the gentlest way possible.  The way Angela stared so intently at the knife as she buried it into the floorboards again and again… she looked very much like she wanted to kill herself.   "So… what are you doing here?"

"Looking for my Mama."

"Really?  I thought you were leaving town before.  Haven't you found her yet?"

"N-no, I…"

"Did your mother live in this building?"

"I don't remember…"

"So all you know is that she lived in this town?"  She's just like me… running around town looking for someone with only the smallest clues to go by…  James felt bitter sympathy for her situation.

"Is that so?"  Suddenly, Angela raised her upper body and glared at James with a strange light in her previously empty eyes.  "How do you know that!?"  She yelled, her expression turning fierce.

"What do you mean?" James asked, puzzled at her response.  Angela gripped the knife tighter.  That blade was uncomfortably close…

"How did you know that Mama lived in this town?!"

So that was the reason.  Man, I better watch what I say.  She really looks like she'd kill me if she got the chance. Not breathing a word of these thoughts, James replied, "I just thought that since you were looking for her here, that your mother lived here.  Anyone could have thought that…"

"Yes…  I guess you're right…"  The hostility disappeared from her face and Angela fell back into her lethargic behavior.

"Isn't that why you're here?"

"I…  I don't know…"

"Then why come to Silent Hill in the first place?"  At James's question, Angela cast her eyes to the floor.

"Why are you in this town?" Angela avoided the question by asking it right back.

James thought his search for Mary to be somewhat of a private matter, so he answered vaguely, "I'm looking for someone."

"You find them yet?"

"No."

"You and me both…"

"Yeah, I guess we're stuck in the same situation..." James murmured.  Suddenly, he found that he could no longer contain his troubling emotions and they all came spilling out.  "That's not all.  She, my wife Mary, has been… dead for a while now.  But I…  I really want to believe that she's still alive.  That she's living in this town somewhere.  I just got this letter from her.  If she was really dead, how could she have possibly sent me a letter?!"

"J-James…"

"Sorry.  I just… I just needed to tell someone."

"I hope you find her."

"Thanks.  I hope you can find your mother."  Perhaps some of James's passion rubbed off on her, because Angela seemed to regain a bit of humanity.  She even managed to smile.

"I won't give up.  I'll look everywhere for her if I have to."  Angela pulled herself to her feet and stood in front of James.

"Let's go together.  I can protect you so you don't have to carry that around anymore.  Besides, that knife doesn't suit a young lady like you at all."  James spoke cheerfully, gently closing his hands around her fist that held the sharp blade.

"Don't touch me!"  Her hysteric scream pierced his ears.  She tore herself away and pointed the knife at him threateningly.  However, she quickly regained herself.  "I-I'm sorry… it's okay.  I'll be fine… by myself."

"But—"

"Why?  Are you worried about me?  You think I'm going to kill myself?"  Angela stared at the gleaming blade as if she was spellbound.   "And… m-maybe you'd be right.  As long as I have this… it would be… so easy to do..."

Hastily, as if she wanted the thing out of her hand as soon as possible, Angela tossed the knife on top of a shelf.  Dashing towards the door, she fled into the hallway.  James didn't follow her.  Clearly she had a severe social phobia.  To her, it would probably be more frightening to be with another person than to wander the monster-infested halls all alone…

James happened to spot a photograph that had fallen on the floor where Angela had been lying.  Someone had shredded it to pieces, though.  Looking through the tattered scraps, it appeared to be a picture Angela with her family.