Dark Descent

Disclaimer: Konami owns everything Silent Hill. It's just fun to play in their sandbox.

 

Chapter 2: Riddles in the Madness

Central Square Shopping Center – Part 2

 

Alessa made her way back to the storage room. Getting the key out from under the heavy wooden panel proved to be a piece of cake using the tongs. She threw away the tongs, having no further use for them, and looked over the key she found, noting the inscription “MY Bestsellers”.

Hmm...that bookstore...

Right near the bakery was a bookstore by that same name. It would appear that was the next stop on her journey to find a way out of Central Square.

If only she had a rope, Alessa lamented. Then she could just descend down to the first floor plaza. The drop from the second floor wasn’t that large, only big enough to be too risky to attempt. With nothing to cushion her fall, the risk of breaking an arm or a leg, or hurting her back and her neck was too great. On the other hand, who hadn’t climbed a rope in gym class at some point in their life?

Of course, there was only one problem with that. The only hardware store inside the mall was located on the first floor plaza, exactly the place needed to reach in the first place.

Guess it’s the bookstore then.

The path wasn’t without its obstacles, though.

Alessa cursed when she saw three bipedal creatures blocking her path to the mall. Stepping blithely over the body of their fallen comrade, the bizarre eye-like beasts stomped towards her with their peculiar wail, making it clear they meant business. Alessa didn’t wait for her to reach them. She quickly gunned down one of them and moved to take care of the others. But before she could reload her gun, the door of the storage room behind her suddenly slammed open, and out came an all too familiar creature.

The bandaged dog she had encountered earlier came charging at her full speed. Acting on instinct, Alessa kicked out with the heel of her boot, striking the dog right across its mutilated skull. The animal fell back stunned as Alessa struggled to regroup. Meanwhile, her other aggressors were mere feet away. Alessa glanced briefly between the two threats, realizing she was caught between the proverbial rock and a very hard place. She came to a decision. It was risky, but she would have to take them head on. Gripping her handgun by the barrel, she smashed the handle into the skull of one of her attackers, driving the creature down. Her efforts did not go unrewarded; its companion struck at Alessa with its torso, catching her in the left hip. Alessa grunted in pain, but she didn’t hesitate to run now that she had the advantage.

By now the demon hound had recovered from Alessa’s kick. Smelling the scent of prey nearby, it once again lunged with feral intent, and two confused monsters were unlucky enough to be standing in its way. Alessa risked a glance back, and gasped as she saw the canine maul one of the eye creatures, already beginning to tear the flesh off its victim’s body.

Alessa couldn’t be happier to escape the carnage. She leaned back and exhaled deeply, taking a moment to calm herself. Thank God, she thought with no small amount of relief, as she spotted her destination across the walkway. But her relief was short lived. The two surreal giants from before were still lumbering around, still every bit as imposing. Only now, one of them was wandering close to the worst possible store it could have chosen.

MY Bestsellers.

Alessa bit back a curse. Somebody out there certainly wasn’t making it easy for her, were they? She wouldn’t make it inside as long as the monster was there. Taking aim, she fired a shot at the tall being, hoping to attract all its attention. The creature didn’t appear to have noticed it, so she fired a second and a third. The gamble worked; the monster turned it her direction and began to move. Alessa waited until it was fairly close, watching the creature to her far left out of the corner of her eye, making sure it remained at a safe distance. When her main obstacle reached her, Alessa dove out of the way its huge right arm, running for the entrance of the bookstore. She fumbled to insert the key and unlock the door. Finally, she heard the telltale click she was hoping for. She rushed inside the bookstore and immediately locked the door, standing back with her weapon drawn. The glass displays didn’t appear large enough for the monsters to easily break through, but that didn’t mean they might not try it anyway. Fortunately, they must have realized this prey wasn’t worth pursuing, and resumed wandering aimlessly outside.

Whew, safe at last, Alessa thought. She stared around at the shop. The shelves were crammed with books and magazines, most of them common paperbacks and publications. There were a few shelves containing hardback volumes, and even some filled with music CDs. She also saw that there was a pile of scattered hardcover books on the floor of one isle. She picked one up and examined it, idly nothing the title on the cover: Shakespeare Anthology Volume 1: Romeo and Juliet. She shrugged, placing the book back on its shelf. She wasn’t a major fan of Shakespeare, though she did enjoy the plays she read in high school, as well as their film adaptations. Still, she didn’t have the time to sit and read at the moment. Her focus was on the exit way behind the cash register.

The door was locked. Alessa grimaced when she saw the keypad next to it – was a second-rate bookstore really in need of a secret code to protect its merchandise? Next to that, a note scribbled on a sheet of loose leaf was pinned to the wall. Alessa’s eyes skimmed over the contents, eyebrows arching in mild disbelief as she read a most unusual and very cryptic memo.

In here is a tragedy---

art thou player or audience?

Be as it may, the end doth remain:

all go on only toward death?

The first words at thy left hand:

a false lunacy, a madly dancing man.

Hearing unhearable words, drawn

to a beloved's grave--and there,

mayhap, true madness at last.

As did this one, playing at death,

find true death at the last. 

Killing a nameless lover, she

pierced a heart rent by sorrow.

Doth lie invite truth?

Doth verity but wear the

mask of falsehood?

Ah, thou pitiful, thou

miserable ones!

Still amidst lies, though the end

cometh not, wherefore yearn

for death?

Wilt thou attend to thy beloved?

Truth and lies, life and death:

a game of turning white to black

and black to white.

Is not a silence brimming with

love more precious than flattery?

A peaceful slumber preferred to

a throne besmirched with blood.

One vengeful man

spilled blood for two;

Two youths shed tears for three;

Three witches disappeared thusly;

And only the four keys remain.

Ah, but verily...

In here is a tragedy...

art thou player or audience?

There is nothing which cannot

become a puppet of fate or an

onlooker, peering into the cage.

Wow. Now there was a brainteaser if she ever saw one, Alessa decided with a trace of annoyed sarcasm. Obviously she wasn’t going to get out of here until she solved the riddle. But what did it mean? To her credit, the answer came to her almost instantly.

The Shakespeare volumes.

Alessa tore the memo off the wall and went back to the isle where four of the books still remained on the floor. She placed each of them back on back on the shelf, reading off the titles on by one: Volume 3: Macbeth, Volume 2: King Lear, Volume 5: Othello, and Volume 4: Hamlet. Soon enough, the Shakespeare Anthologies were once again lined up in their rightful place on the bookshelf. That was when it hit her – the volume numbers.

Yes, that had to be it. Each volume number pertained to a different digit of the code. It was the only thing that made any sense. The only question was…what was the correct order?

Alessa reread each part of the cryptic memo.

The first words at thy left hand:

a false lunacy, a madly dancing man.

Hearing unhearable words, drawn

to a beloved's grave--and there,

mayhap, true madness at last.

The first clue was obviously Hamlet. The references to false lunacy and “unhearable” words gave it away. That meant the first digit in the combination had to be 4.

As did this one, playing at death,

find true death at the last.

Killing a nameless lover, she

pierced a heart rent by sorrow.

This one was pitifully obvious: Romeo and Juliet. The second digit was 1. Next clue:

Doth lie invite truth?

Doth verity but wear the

mask of falsehood?

Ah, thou pitiful, thou

miserable ones!

Alessa was rather confused by this one. A mask of falsehood? Plenty of Shakespeare characters could lay claim to that particular trait. Come on, Alessa, you read all this in high school, she chided herself. Of the remaining three plays, she was most familiar with Macbeth. Looking at the next two descriptions, she realized that neither of them suited the tragedy of a king who fell to his own ambition and deceit. The third digit had to be 3. 

Next was a hint that would have also confused Alessa, had it not been for the last line in the passage.

Still amidst lies, though the end

cometh not, wherefore yearn

for death?

Wilt thou attend to thy beloved?

Truth and lies, life and death:

a game of turning white to black

and black to white.

Black and White? Othello, she realized, remembering the board game of that same name. The fourth digit was 5. 

Only one more play remained. Alessa didn’t even have to think about it. By process of elimination, the choice was very clearly King Lear. The fifth digit had to be 2. There it was, spelled out plainly by the hints. 41352. Or was it?

Wait a minute. Alessa read the last two passages.

One vengeful man

spilled blood for two;

Two youths shed tears for three;

Three witches disappeared thusly;

And only the four keys remain.

Ah, but verily...

In here is a tragedy...

art thou player or audience?

There is nothing which cannot

become a puppet of fate or an

onlooker, peering into the cage.

No, that number wasn’t the code. It still needed something more. She tried to make sense of the final four hints. One vengeful man spilled blood for two – was that Macbeth? His wife was the one who convinced him to assassinate the king. On the other hand, Macbeth wasn’t vengeful, just ambitious. That meant it had to be Hamlet, since he was taking revenge for both himself and his murdered father. But what did that have to do with the code?

Spilled blood for two…did that mean she had to add two to the first digit? That would make the first digit 6, and by the same logic, the second digit would be 4. She repeated the next two lines to herself. Three witches disappeared thusly…now that was a clear reference to the witches in Macbeth. For them to disappear…

I have to take out the number, Alessa realized. Yes, that made the most sense out of anything. The last hint stated that only four remained. Those “keys” were clearly the digits for the keypad, and the code was obviously composed of four digits. Subtracting away the 3 for Macbeth’s volume, she was left with the following code: 6452.

Alessa hurried to the keypad. She entered the four numbers, expecting the door to unlock. Instead, to her utter disbelief and disappointment, she received the beep that indicated she had entered the wrong combination.

What? You’ve gotta be kidding me!

She slammed a fist against the door in irate frustration. After all that work figuring out horrible riddle, how could this be the wrong number? What the hell was it then?         

She skimmed again over the memo, trying to figure out where she had gone wrong. The last two numbers weren’t the problem, she was sure the 5 and the 2 were correct. The problem had to be in the first two digits, and she was certain it had to do with math. She thought back to the original numbers before she changed them: 4 and 1. Those couldn’t be the correct one, since that ignored the last part of the brainteaser. Adding to them obviously wasn’t the solution. Neither could she subtract or divide from them. That left only viable option.

Alessa multiplied the volume numbers for Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. Four times two and one times three, respectively. 8352.

Crossing her fingers, she entered the number sequence into the keypad. This had better work, she thought sourly, because otherwise, she was going to be seriously pissed off. She needn’t have worried. This time, the keypad turned green and released the lock on the door.

Yes! Alessa thought excitedly, practically bouncing a little. She couldn’t help it, she was just glad to finally be getting out of this place. Making sure her weapon was loaded, and vowing not to touch anything Shakespeare for a very long time, Alessa left behind the haven of the MY Bestsellers bookstore.

 

~          

 

As soon as she entered yet another employee section of the mall, Alessa realized she wasn’t alone. Several meters ahead of her, clad in a dark long dress, was a very pale young woman with long blonde hair. Alessa eagerly approached her, happy to see another human being who wasn’t stalking her in this place.

“Hey, are you OK?” she asked, concerned about what may have happened to the woman under these bizarre circumstances.  “Who are you?”

The woman didn’t answer her. She simply stared at Alessa with an expression that gave her the creeps. A peculiar sensation ran across her back as the woman’s eyes bored into her, as if they were trying to penetrate into her very soul. Suddenly, she didn’t think it was such a good idea to get close to this person, whoever she was. Finally, the woman spoke.

“Who I am is not important at the moment,” she answered vaguely, giving Alessa an appraising glance. “What is important is that you remember your true identity. You must reclaim your true purpose in this life. Only then will the cycle be complete.”

What in the world… “Huh? What are you talking about?” Alessa asked, perplexed.

“Don’t you know?” the woman countered.  “Have you forgotten so much about yourself?” she chided, giving Alessa a look bordering on disapproval.

“What do you mean by that? You’re not making any sense,” Alessa stated. This woman sounded a lot like somebody from her old religion, yet that was impossible. It had been years since she was last present in her hometown, and after the chaos she left behind in her wake, everyone in that godforsaken place had to believe she was dead. There was simply no way any of them could be aware of her current whereabouts.

She tried a different route. “What do you know about those monsters?”

The woman gave the slightest of smiles, responding in an awed, almost reverent tone. “They have come to witness the Beginning. The rebirth of Paradise, despoiled by mankind.”

“Paradise?” Oh, no…

The fear that Alessa felt upon hearing that single ominous word far eclipsed anything she had experienced during her encounters with the creatures occupying the mall. Suddenly, this entire situation took on a terrifying new perspective, and it was more vital then ever that she obtained some hard answers to what was happening. And whoever this strange woman was, she was going to be the person to provide them.

But before Alessa could move to threaten her, a powerful throbbing suddenly took hold of her forehead. Alessa dropped to her knees in anguish, holding her head with both hands, whimpering as the dreadful migraine pounded inside her temples.

Looming over her, the strange blonde woman merely smiled, not appearing the least bit concerned over Alessa’s pain. As she departed, leaving Alessa to struggle with her agony, an impossible, haunting thought inexplicably forced its way into her mind.

Claudia?

~

* Riddle of Shakespeare books: from Silent Hill 3

Some dialogue may be borrowed from Silent Hill 3.