Chapter 5

Linda and Alice reached the library in fifteen minutes, walking rather fast. The librarian greeted them with a friendly smile, as she knew Linda, who visited this place quite often, taking a book or two to read.

"Hello, Mrs. Brady," Linda greeted her. "Today I came here with my friend, Alice. We'd like to read something."

"Nice to meet you, Alice," Mrs. Brady said. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, yes. Could you please give us some encyclopedia about the towns of Maine? Or maybe… about abandoned towns?" Linda asked.

The librarian thought about something for several seconds and then replied:

"I think there is an encyclopedia about towns in the whole country and one about the towns of Maine. But abandoned towns… Are you interested in any such town or a specific one?"

"Um… I'd say – a specific one. We'd like to know more about the town of Silent Hill," Linda explained.

"Well, there are no books about it," Mrs. Brady said after a pause. "In encyclopedias you can find only brief information about it. But I'll check the archive, there might be some old newspapers or records. Please come to the reading room, I'll get the encyclopedias for you first and then check the archives."

"Thank you very much," Linda smiled to her, and both women went to the reading room and sat at the desk while the librarian went for the books. After a few minutes she returned with two rather thick books which were the town encyclopedias, and then left for the archive while Alice and Linda studied the books.

"Huh, not much in this one," Alice said, reading the general encyclopedia. "It says here that Silent Hill has been a popular tourist town, loved by people. But it has a bloody history. These lands belonged to Native American tribes that called it "Place of Silenced Spirits". During the British colony in 17th century the Native Americans were forced to leave their lands that were sacred for them, some of them were massacred by European settlers in genocide. Bastards…" she huffed angrily.

"I agree, those European settlers were indeed a bunch of sick psychopaths," Linda added. "They didn't care about human lives. All they cared about was their stupid belief. But they forgot that God never approved violence, no matter if people worshipped other deities. It's all a pure invention of insane fanatics."

"Exactly. If they thought they'd purify the lands like that, then they were pretty wrong. No one would believe in something if it's forced."

"Right," Linda said, reading the second book. "Here is in fact the same information, only told in slightly different words, but for most part is the same. It says also that in 1692, around the time of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, a woman named Jennifer Carroll was accused of witchcraft and burned alive by Christians. Then, in 18th century, nearly a century after British colonization of America began, at the start of the 1700s, an epidemic swept through the area surrounding Toluca Lake, including the burgeoning settlement. With a large portion of the populace dead, the settlement was abandoned. The town became known as "Silent Hill" only in 19th century."

"Yes, I can see it here, too," Alice said without lifting her head. "And the last lines say that later the town became populated again, but strange events occurred, like mysterious disappearances of people. And the local cult, named "The Order", had much power in town."

"I wonder if this Order could be behind those disappearances," Linda speculated.

"Could be. Everything is possible," Alice agreed. "Oh, here comes the librarian. Looks like she has found something."

Mrs. Brady returned with an old newspaper in her hands. Judging by its appearance, it was printed either in the very end of 19th century or in the beginning of 20th century.

"This is what I managed to find," she said, opening the newspaper and putting it on the desk in front of both women. "It's a newspaper from the year 1918, "The Chronicles of Maine". There's an article about a tragedy that occurred in Silent Hill. A small ship sank in the middle of the lake for unknown reasons. Unfortunately, this is all I could find in the archive."

"Thank you, Mrs. Brady, it's very important," Linda exclaimed. "Every piece of information is important."

"I wish I could help you more than that," she sighed "but here is nothing more about this town. All information is gone. Officially this town doesn't exist, but as far as I know, it's still there. Maybe there are some old magazines or newspapers somewhere, but I doubt that. The town has been abandoned for years, and I don't think that something could still be left, except for buildings."

"Well, the only way to find the answers is to go to Silent Hill and find out the truth," Linda said confidently.

"That would be logical, but…" Mrs. Brady hesitated.

"But what?" Alice asked.

"I heard frightening stories about that town. In the street I heard someone saying that people still disappear there. Some went there and never returned. I had no time to stop and listen because I was in a hurry, but obviously there's still something bad going on in Silent Hill. I wouldn't risk to go there if I were you."

"Yes, we've read the warnings online," Linda said "but I'm afraid I must go there. I suffer from nightmares about Silent Hill, and if I don't find the roots of it, I might never get rid of them."

"Oh, I understand," Mrs. Brady replied sympathetically. "Of course, if you feel you need to, then it's your decision. All I can advise is to be careful."

"Thank you," Linda said, and the librarian went back to her duties. Alice and Linda began studying the newspaper.

"So, let's see what we have here… Yes, it has a description of the incident on Toluca Lake," Linda began to read loudly:

"A small steamboat named "Little Baroness" sank in November 1918 in Silent Hill's Toluca Lake for unknown reasons. Fourteen people on-board died as a result of the sinking. The reason is yet to be discovered, but there are suggestions that it might have been engine problems. Yet this theory is under a question due to the statement that the engine was repeatedly checked before letting the boat into operation, and there were no signs of malfunction."

"There's something strange going on in this town, and we have to find out what it's all about," Linda was determined like never before. "You know, I have a feeling that all the events are somehow connected with mystics and supernatural. Although I wouldn't call myself a true believer, but somehow everything points out at that."

"I don't know… I also don't really believe in supernatural, but you could be right - there's really something like that in this town. Too many mysteries in it, but no answers," Alice said. "I hope we wrap this mystery up soon."

"Yeah, I hope too," Linda sighed. "I was thinking that we could go next Saturday, early morning. Is it alright with you?"

"Sure, no problem," Alice smiled. "Then we have to start preparing for the trip."

"Right, we have to think what we need to take with us," Linda agreed. "We still have time till Saturday, so we'll get those things done."

"Ok then. So, should we go now?"

"Yes, I guess we're done here," Linda said, closing the newspaper and books. "I'd like to have a walk in the park, just to breathe some fresh air. It helps me relax a bit."

"Good idea. Let's go then," Alice said and took one of the books.

Both women gave the books and newspaper back to Mrs. Brady, thanking her for help. She wished them good luck and they left the library.