Categories > Games > Silent Hill > The Music Man
When David Foster left Josh’s abode, the young singer went about to grabbing his laptop and sitting cross-legged on the couch in the next room with it before him, the best search engines up and with the town’s name Silent Hill typed quickly in each of them. He couldn’t help but flinch as most of the sites that were brought up proved to only be pages presenting tabloid and urban legend. Not the most reliable sources were they and Josh was quick to click the back button and continue searching for captions that seemed to be more reliable.
“They have to have some sort of site… for promotional reasons…” he said to himself as he continued searching, but finding no official site of the town. Sitting back against the couch from his slouching position and heaved a little sigh. He tried another search engine, one that utilized in finding news articles than actual websites.
From Josh’s right, Sweeney barked as he trotted in and jumped up onto the couch next to the singer. Josh looked over at the dog and smiled, a genuine smile, before raising a hand and petting the white fuzz, “Hey boy.” His greeting wasn’t as exuberant as it normally would be, so Sweeney took the initiative and rose himself up to lick at Josh’s face. “Sweeney, quit,” Josh laughed, reaching up a hand and lightly pushing on the dog’s face before simply turning into a loving smothering.
Sweeney pushed himself affectionately against Josh and the singer submitted happily, not minding the computer much as his dog lay lazily on top of him. “Okay, okay,” he said softly, barely above a whisper. He shifted, grabbing his laptop and setting it down next to him. Sweeney laid across his owner’s lap, head down over his paws and nose pointed towards the screen of the laptop.
As one of Josh’s hands typed, the other rest comfortingly over his head, lightly scratching at the white fuzz. The dog’s presence was always a comforting factor. No matter what sort of stress he may be going under, Sweeney was always there to cheer him up in some way, shape or form. The endearment was short-lived however as Josh came across a News Article over his requested target.
The page firstly showed a picture that drew Josh’s eyes away from the text… It portrayed a building—a house—not quite engulfed in flames, but blazing enough to catch anyone’s attention.
Local Girl Dead in House Fire
Upon reading the heading, Josh’s head jerked back, his eyes shutting tightly as a high pitched noise blared in his ears. White flashed behind his eyelids and Sweeney jumped off of him before turning back and barking at him.
Josh froze for a mere second before breaking from his stupor, breathing deeply as if he had been recovering from the deepest pains. Sweeney whined sorrowfully, backing away from him with tail down and head hanging from his shoulders. He gave another bark, causing Josh to jump, startled. The sound ringing in the singer’s ears began to fade, replaced by frightened sounds by the wheaten terrier.
Raising a hand, Josh rubbed at his eyes, groaning painfully and sinking back in the couch. Sweeney jumped down from the couch and backed up, putting a good 10 feet between them. “Sweeney…” Josh wheezed, “…I’m okay… Boy, come back… everything’s alright…” He pleaded weakly, his vision fuzzy with white.
Sweeney lowered his head, letting out a quiet, uncertain sound. He inched forward as Josh extended his hand, though his motions were reluctant and as he got closer, he started to softly growl in his throat. He sniffed at Josh’s fingertips and noticed that something was horrendously different. It was something that shocked the dog and he reached his head forward, his teeth snapping on the singer’s fingers.
Josh retracted his hand with a yelp, “Ow!”
Finally snapping back to reality from a haze, Josh grabbed at his fingers, punctured and bleeding, staring painfully at the bite wound before his eyes went to Sweeney, who was visibly lowering himself in a doggy cringe. He made a whining sound, confused and afraid as he stared up at Josh, who looked away from the dog before heading into the bathroom.
As Josh ran his bleeding fingers under cold water, he stared down at the bowl of the sink, the scarlet smearing within the water as it went down the drain. He stared as the thick scarlet swirled with the thinner liquid.
His trance was broken by a bark from Sweeney in the other room and be grabbed a towel from the cabinet, drying his fingers before grabbing bandages and wrapping up his fingers. Upon returning to the living room, Josh eased himself back down on the couch and looked over to Sweeney, reaching his hand out again and this time actually petting the dog on his head.
“It’s okay…” he said quietly as the frightened dog hauled himself up onto the couch next to his owner, “It’s okay, boy…”
He went back to his laptop, taking a deep, cold breath before reading the story under the heading. Unfortunately, the text below offered no useful information. Small girl killed in house fire; case assumed accidental. It did, however, offer information on the town of Silent Hill and where it was.
“New England…” he whispered as he read from the bright screen, “That far away, huh?”
Josh’s eyes shut and he shook his head in a small jitter before opening them back up and staring back at the screen, “New England?” He opened up a new tab on his browser and searched it, “…That’s not even a state is it? Just a region…? Oh that’s really helpful… And it’s all the way across the freakin’ nation!” Sweeney put his head in Josh’s lap and gave a soft sound.
“Well… I don’t know if I have any choice… Maybe I should go there… take some time off and see what’s going on…” He looked in direction of the kitchen, more specifically the note on the table. Josh looked back at the screen of his laptop, going back to the tab that had the news article of the town.
“…That fire…” he whispered softly.
Th—at… …g-g-g—ir—l…
“…Looking at this picture…” he said with a wince, staring at the picture with half-lidded eyes.
Sweeney looked up at him, ears going back and his whole doggy being freezing where he was.
“…makes my head hurt…” he whispered.
…d—idn’—t… …d-d-d-ie—…!
He stood up, knocking Sweeney off—though gently, as Josh moved slowly, his eyes staring widely at the screen. He turned his body, eyes never leaving the building ablaze beneath the header as he backed away from it.
“…Why is that… so familiar?” he whispered to himself.
With a shake, Josh turned and headed back into the kitchen, his eyes catching the aged note abandoned on the table. He froze in his tracks as he stared at the ancient papyrus, backing away from it before turning and heading up the stairs. With a saddened whine, Sweeney headed up the stairs behind his owner. Josh threw himself on his bed, burying his face into his pillow.
“Why is this happening to me…” he gasped into the pillow, his words and voice muffled against the cushion. Sweeney jumped up onto the bed and ran his nose over Josh’s hair before panting against his ear. “Why me?” he rose his head and looked at Sweeney, eyes tired and red.
Reaching up towards the bedside table, Josh grabbed his cell phone and sloppily dialed David’s number. Raising the phone to his ear, he waited for the older man to pick up, “…David… It’s Josh…”
“Josh? Yeah? What’s up, kid?”
“I made my decision.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“I’m going… to Silent Hill.”
“They have to have some sort of site… for promotional reasons…” he said to himself as he continued searching, but finding no official site of the town. Sitting back against the couch from his slouching position and heaved a little sigh. He tried another search engine, one that utilized in finding news articles than actual websites.
From Josh’s right, Sweeney barked as he trotted in and jumped up onto the couch next to the singer. Josh looked over at the dog and smiled, a genuine smile, before raising a hand and petting the white fuzz, “Hey boy.” His greeting wasn’t as exuberant as it normally would be, so Sweeney took the initiative and rose himself up to lick at Josh’s face. “Sweeney, quit,” Josh laughed, reaching up a hand and lightly pushing on the dog’s face before simply turning into a loving smothering.
Sweeney pushed himself affectionately against Josh and the singer submitted happily, not minding the computer much as his dog lay lazily on top of him. “Okay, okay,” he said softly, barely above a whisper. He shifted, grabbing his laptop and setting it down next to him. Sweeney laid across his owner’s lap, head down over his paws and nose pointed towards the screen of the laptop.
As one of Josh’s hands typed, the other rest comfortingly over his head, lightly scratching at the white fuzz. The dog’s presence was always a comforting factor. No matter what sort of stress he may be going under, Sweeney was always there to cheer him up in some way, shape or form. The endearment was short-lived however as Josh came across a News Article over his requested target.
The page firstly showed a picture that drew Josh’s eyes away from the text… It portrayed a building—a house—not quite engulfed in flames, but blazing enough to catch anyone’s attention.
Local Girl Dead in House Fire
Upon reading the heading, Josh’s head jerked back, his eyes shutting tightly as a high pitched noise blared in his ears. White flashed behind his eyelids and Sweeney jumped off of him before turning back and barking at him.
Josh froze for a mere second before breaking from his stupor, breathing deeply as if he had been recovering from the deepest pains. Sweeney whined sorrowfully, backing away from him with tail down and head hanging from his shoulders. He gave another bark, causing Josh to jump, startled. The sound ringing in the singer’s ears began to fade, replaced by frightened sounds by the wheaten terrier.
Raising a hand, Josh rubbed at his eyes, groaning painfully and sinking back in the couch. Sweeney jumped down from the couch and backed up, putting a good 10 feet between them. “Sweeney…” Josh wheezed, “…I’m okay… Boy, come back… everything’s alright…” He pleaded weakly, his vision fuzzy with white.
Sweeney lowered his head, letting out a quiet, uncertain sound. He inched forward as Josh extended his hand, though his motions were reluctant and as he got closer, he started to softly growl in his throat. He sniffed at Josh’s fingertips and noticed that something was horrendously different. It was something that shocked the dog and he reached his head forward, his teeth snapping on the singer’s fingers.
Josh retracted his hand with a yelp, “Ow!”
Finally snapping back to reality from a haze, Josh grabbed at his fingers, punctured and bleeding, staring painfully at the bite wound before his eyes went to Sweeney, who was visibly lowering himself in a doggy cringe. He made a whining sound, confused and afraid as he stared up at Josh, who looked away from the dog before heading into the bathroom.
As Josh ran his bleeding fingers under cold water, he stared down at the bowl of the sink, the scarlet smearing within the water as it went down the drain. He stared as the thick scarlet swirled with the thinner liquid.
His trance was broken by a bark from Sweeney in the other room and be grabbed a towel from the cabinet, drying his fingers before grabbing bandages and wrapping up his fingers. Upon returning to the living room, Josh eased himself back down on the couch and looked over to Sweeney, reaching his hand out again and this time actually petting the dog on his head.
“It’s okay…” he said quietly as the frightened dog hauled himself up onto the couch next to his owner, “It’s okay, boy…”
He went back to his laptop, taking a deep, cold breath before reading the story under the heading. Unfortunately, the text below offered no useful information. Small girl killed in house fire; case assumed accidental. It did, however, offer information on the town of Silent Hill and where it was.
“New England…” he whispered as he read from the bright screen, “That far away, huh?”
Josh’s eyes shut and he shook his head in a small jitter before opening them back up and staring back at the screen, “New England?” He opened up a new tab on his browser and searched it, “…That’s not even a state is it? Just a region…? Oh that’s really helpful… And it’s all the way across the freakin’ nation!” Sweeney put his head in Josh’s lap and gave a soft sound.
“Well… I don’t know if I have any choice… Maybe I should go there… take some time off and see what’s going on…” He looked in direction of the kitchen, more specifically the note on the table. Josh looked back at the screen of his laptop, going back to the tab that had the news article of the town.
“…That fire…” he whispered softly.
Th—at… …g-g-g—ir—l…
“…Looking at this picture…” he said with a wince, staring at the picture with half-lidded eyes.
Sweeney looked up at him, ears going back and his whole doggy being freezing where he was.
“…makes my head hurt…” he whispered.
…d—idn’—t… …d-d-d-ie—…!
He stood up, knocking Sweeney off—though gently, as Josh moved slowly, his eyes staring widely at the screen. He turned his body, eyes never leaving the building ablaze beneath the header as he backed away from it.
“…Why is that… so familiar?” he whispered to himself.
With a shake, Josh turned and headed back into the kitchen, his eyes catching the aged note abandoned on the table. He froze in his tracks as he stared at the ancient papyrus, backing away from it before turning and heading up the stairs. With a saddened whine, Sweeney headed up the stairs behind his owner. Josh threw himself on his bed, burying his face into his pillow.
“Why is this happening to me…” he gasped into the pillow, his words and voice muffled against the cushion. Sweeney jumped up onto the bed and ran his nose over Josh’s hair before panting against his ear. “Why me?” he rose his head and looked at Sweeney, eyes tired and red.
Reaching up towards the bedside table, Josh grabbed his cell phone and sloppily dialed David’s number. Raising the phone to his ear, he waited for the older man to pick up, “…David… It’s Josh…”
“Josh? Yeah? What’s up, kid?”
“I made my decision.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“I’m going… to Silent Hill.”
Sign up to rate and review this story