Hey all! This is my first story I've posted in about four years, so sorry if it's kind of lame.

Pretty much what this story is about is the views of Mayor Bartlett, Dr. Fitch, and Judge Holloway as they face what they've done to protect Shepherd's Glen. This chapter's about Sam Bartlett and his son, Joey. Alex makes an appearance at the end :)

WARNING: This story has major spoilers about Silent Hill: Homecoming, so if you haven't played it, this is a warning. I'm a Homecoming nerd, so I know way too much about it and spoiled a ton of parts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill, Silent Hill: Homecoming, or any of the characters. If I did, Sepulcher would be my guard dog.

Enjoy!

Rina

Inhume

We, the Family Bartlett,
In order to ensure our continued protection and prosperity,
Do enter into this Holy Contract with our God,
Accept our duties as Executor of Law and willingly consign our child to the earth in God's name.

Sam Bartlett could only scoff at the contract now. Sacrificing what was most important to him - What good did it do? Shepherd's Glen, the town he was supposed to be running, protecting, was as well off as this town now. Empty, decaying, all hope for it abandoned...

"Silent Hill, ugh. What a piece of shit," Sam snorted, taking a long, noisy gulp from his liquor bottle as he stared at his surroundings contemptuously. The empty windows, the cold hallways, the heavy air—Why the hell was he in this shithole again? He hadn't been to the Grand Hotel in five years, so why was he here now? He didn't remember how he'd gotten here, or why he was here to begin with. Must've drank too much booze again...

He stared at the half-empty bottle in his hand, swishing the amber liquid around for a few seconds before drinking more. He could not deny it, especially now. It'd been fucking with his mind lately, a little too much for his liking, but it was still better than having nothing at all. He'd seen strange images involving things he would rather not remember and was glad he couldn't right now, because he was too busy wondering why his feet were moving him to the entrance of the hotel, his hand twisting the door knob and letting himself into a building full of complete darkness. It only made sense in this town.

'Huh...' He didn't remember the hotel looking like this...But then, he preferred not to remember a lot of things. It was completely run-down, the ceiling caving in some areas and dust covering everything by at least a few inches. When he reached out and ran his fingers over the surface of a nearby end table he was not surprised that he could not see his fingerprints. Grunting, Sam drank some more and allowed his feet to walk him to wherever they wanted to go. He had already lost so much control anyway. Maybe this time he'd end up in a bed instead of the front lawn of his house.

'Joey, I need to talk to you.'

'What's up?'

Voices, voices all around him. He could almost feel skeletal hands wrapping around his brain, wracking across it, pulling up these bits, these voices. He did not recognize them because he preferred not to.

He shivered slightly, unsure if it was from the unnaturally freezing temperature of the hotel or if it was from the voice he just heard in his fucked up head. It sounded familiar, the name Joey, but his head was so hazy, way too full of alcohol to think of anything coherent. He entered the dining hall, where he stopped and swayed on his feet for a few seconds, closing his eyes as if deep in drunken thought. Joey, Joey... Yes, he knew a Joey...

Maybe it was just him, or had the darkness grown even more? It felt like it was slithering around him, shadows that were almost alive. They seemed to fog up his mind even more.

'...Dad?'

Sam turned fully on his heels, glaring at the shadows around him, closing him in. "Alright, who's the little punk that's followin' me?!" His voice held a slight shake, a slight fear at being called 'Dad.' He hadn't been called that in a while... Someone was fucking with him.

"Come on out, you little bastard, or I'll kick your bratty ass!" He stood stark still for several seconds, or minutes, or hours, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that someone was messing with him, and it wasn't going to be taken lightly. Sam clenched the bottle in one hand as he grabbed some random object from a nearby broken down table, aiming it every which way, his hand shaking terribly. He could see nothing in the darkness.

"I know you're around here somewhere..." His voice was slurred, as was his hearing and vision. Everything was so blurry, so whirring in his ear...

Except for a loud thump coming from the lobby. That had been loud and clear and so familiar…He froze slightly, his inebriated heart suddenly coming to life, pounding in his chest. Even alcohol could not hold down fear.

'Good evening, Mayor Bartlett? What are you doing here at such a late hour?'

'...J-just tending to the garden...'

'... At this hour, Mayor?'

'Yeah, none of your business, Paul.'

'I'm sorry, Mayor... Here, let me unlock the atrium for you...'

The skeletal hand was sinking in, his head filling with sparks and dirt as the voices were clear in his ear, breaking through the alcohol, wringing his brain dry.

A pain shot through Sam Bartlett's temples, and he dropped his liquor in shock and agony, watching with fearful blurred vision as it bounced on the carpet, some of the clear liquid spilling out. In the darkness the liquid looked red.

"No!" He cried desperately, ignoring the pain and scrambling to the ground to pick up the bottle. He needed this stuff, and inspecting the liquid, he sighed in relief. Good; it still had a bit in it; enough at least to get him out of here, this darkness.

Drinking some, he chuckled nervously, sitting pathetically on the ground and listening for more of the voices. But there was only heaviness, only a silence…

"It's all in your head, Sam..." He whispered, nursing the bottle and keeping a hand on his pounding forehead. Beneath the skin he could feel his pulse race as though it wanted to jump out of his skin, his body. "That was long ago. No more guilt, no more regret, it's over..."

Liquor was suddenly becoming weaker when it came to blocking out his mind—He realized that as soon as the noises came back.

No more thumping, but dragging, as if someone was hauling something extremely heavy, heading towards the dining hall where he was still sitting, frozen, aghast. Gasping to himself, the mayor scrambled up wildly from his spot on the floor and bolted to a pair of double doors, doors his subconscious knew were the entrance to the atrium.

He slammed the door behind him and ran to the end of the hall, cursing to himself as everything began to clear up now, becoming sharper, realer. No, the images were coming back, he couldn't see them anymore!

Stumbling to the end of the hall he rammed himself again the doors, crying out loud in dismay to find they were stuck. Whoever was coming this way would find him...

"No, please no..." Sam Bartlett cowardly whimpered to himself, cradling his alcohol in one arm as he clawed at the door. "I don't want to see that, I can't see that!"

'Um, that's a pretty big bag of fertilizer, Mayor Bartlett, are you sure you need that much?'

'Of course, it's a special kind of fertilizer, really good for the plants.'

How cruel of him to say... All for the plants, the plants that never were to see one piece of that fertilizer, plants that would never grow but only ever die…

Sam felt the ground crumble beneath his feet, giving way from soft carpet to nothing but soil, all soil, as he sank into it. It filled his shoes. "No, no!" He squeezed his eyes shut, leaning heavily against the door, watching images flash before his eyes.

He was a struggler, that was for sure. Sam pulled the bag out of the back of his car, dragging it along the ground with great struggle. He kicked the bag every now and then to stop it from squirming, but it only slightly worked.

It would be impossible to sneak him by the guards without question, but he had no choice. Giving a tentative smile to the lobby men, he asked Paul to open the atrium for him so he could get this over with.

Sam opened one eye, unable to stop the trembling taking over his body. Why was he seeing these things? He didn't deserve this torture...

Lie, lie, lie, you cowardly bastard.

Without warning the atrium door he was leaning on unlocked and opened with a loud bang, and he stumbled through with a heavy gasp. He landed on his knees on the ground, clutching his liquor bottle, gasping for breath, and stared with empty grey eyes at the atrium in front of him. Just like the rest of the hotel, everything here was in disarray. All of the plants were dead and tossed around, the once beautiful flowers a deathly black. All except for one plant...

Always that one plant…

In the middle of the atrium was a large and stately tree, its red leaves still and silent, so bright it was almost unnatural. It loomed over everything. It appeared menacing to Mayor Bartlett, as it always would. The secrets it covered as big as this tree...

Staggering to his feet, Sam stumbled towards the tree, resting an aged, shaky hand on the bark. It felt so alive, almost as if was breathing, as if it had a heartbeat of its own.

"Joey loved his garden..." He whispered, running his hand through his slowly greying hair. His son was always playing out in the garden, planting and caring for it...

Sam Bartlett wiped a hand on his forehead and tossed the shovel to the side, finally finishing the six foot deep hole. He was almost done, and everything in his life would go back to normal...Almost.

The sack he brought with him had stopped moving momentarily, the fabric moving up and down slowly with labored breathing. Giving it a small frown, Sam hauled the bag into his arms, and tossed it into the ditch, turning away to grab the shovel again as it landed with a loud thud on the ground, a small cry coming from inside.

He did not turn to look, he could not turn to look. He barely noticed at all when it was all he seemed to care about.

Filling the shovel up with dirt, he dumped it into the ditch, going as fast as he could to cover everything, cover up his sin.

"Thank you, son, for protecting us for another fifty years. It was the only thing we could do."

And that had been the end. The skeletal hands poured the alcohol from his sense, pulled away the curtains that had hid the truth, the flimsy excuses for excuses. He could not forget when there was nothing there for him to hide behind.

Sam stared at the roots, finally remembering what had happened. He had drank it out of his mind years ago, but now he couldn't resist it anymore as it pushed against his skull, banging and banging, screaming muffled screams.

"Joey..." He muttered, looking back up at the tree he had planted overtop his son. It really was a lovely tree.

It was the only thing he could have done; the only way to protect Shepherd's Glen was to sacrifice a child every fifty years. He had to choose Joey, his only child.

He had tried to give Joey a happy life. Bought him anything he wanted, spoiled that kid rotten to the best of his power. Anything to make his life happy before this had to happen. He did his best...

'Dad can I get these to plant?'

'Sure son, if that's really what you want. Why do you love plants so much?'

'I just like creating life. And plants are so tiny that they need someone to look after them, you know? They need a protector.'

'Is that all you want? Just a stupid plant boy?'

'It won't be stupid, you'll see.'

A warm feeling rushed through his heart as Sam took another drink, his cocky and contemptuous attitude coming back. He was too far gone to realize that it was all just a defense mechanism anymore.

Who cared? Who cared about all those stupid plants? Come winter they would all die anyway.

It was done now, no reason to look back on it. The sadness and complete guilt he held in his heart before was gone, and he smiled as he swayed on his feet, returning to his drunk, delusional world. The safe world.

"Well, Joey, I planted you in the garden! You loved your garden, right? This was the best I could do for you - now you can be in here all the time, sleeping in the garden!"

His voice echoed unanswered off the walls, and he chuckled, a sloppy grin on his face. Why bother dwelling in the past? It wasn't going to hurt him now! His laughter grew for a few minutes, brought on by the weight of things he could not imagine until it burned a hole in his mind, and he became almost hysterical. What else was he to do anymore but laugh? He had already forsaken his son once, why not do it again on his grave?

He had no clue why it was funny. Maybe because for a while he had been afraid he would see Joey haunting him or something...Ha! He didn't believe in such things! No such things…

The atrium door opened and closed again, and Sam Bartlett turned to meet a young man who looked slightly familiar... He was wearing a tan army jacket, had blackish brown hair, and a slightly worried look on his face. Sam, in the darkness, did not see the blood spotting the man's tan jacket; he could not bother to see it anyway.

Wait a minute... The thoughts in his brain were swirling, but he could almost recognize him...

"Mayor Bartlett? Mayor Bartlett!"

Ah, so it was him. He'd recognize that voice from anywhere. Alex Shepherd, the sheriff's kid. But now that he knew who he was, Sam's voice wasn't cooperating.

"Mayor Bartlett, I need to talk to you." Alex said sternly, giving the drunk a strange look. Alex hadn't been around for years, there was no way he would've known that the once good Mayor Bartlett became nothing but a crazy drunk. Not many people knew, because no one really wanted to know anymore. Not since Joey had disappeared.

"Yeah? Well, make an appointment in my office," Sam said smugly, avoiding the other man's annoyed gaze. He would avoid it all at all costs.

"Don't you remember me? My dad's the sheriff." Alex was trying to get through to the man, but it obviously wasn't working very well. Who could get through to something that wasn't really there anymore?

And the Sheriff? That piece of shit? Sam laughed, retorting, "Who? Adam Shepherd? That guy couldn't protect a donut shop! Leave me alone!"

He didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, especially Alex Shepherd, the kid who ruined everything. He was why nothing worked...

All in vain…

Annoyed at the Mayor's failure to cooperate, Alex decided to change the subject. "What the hell happened to Shepherd's Glen? You're the mayor; these people are your responsibility!"

This struck a nerve in Bartlett's mind. His responsibility? Bullshit. He had already fucking done his responsibility to them when he covered his own son in the earth. "Now you listen to me you little asshole. I did everything I could to protect those people! You can't stop what's already been started! What the hell else do you want from me?!"

Everyone was always asking him for things, for help, when all he wanted now was to be alone. There was no one left for him, anyway. The only problem with being the Mayor, everyone was up your ass every five seconds.

"Well, what about your son. Don't you want to protect him?!"

Sam froze, unable to think of anything to say. What could he say? "Joey? I didn't do much right with him. But I did buy him some nice things..." He remembered getting Joey that new scooter, the bike, the video games, everything he could get. "Remember Joey?" He said aloud, looking up at the tree. The red leaves were still. "Remember that nice present I gave you?"

'Now Joey get in the fucking car, we're gonna go buy you a shovel at the hardware store.'

'What for?'

'Well you'll need something to plant those plants with, won't you? I'll let you pick the shovel.'

'Alright.'

'Oh and Joey? What fertilizer do you prefer?'

'Well, I like the, you know, most expensive kind. I know its expensive dad but it does the job wonderfully. Anything can grow in it! Why, are we getting that too?'

'Not today son, not today.'

Alex raised an eyebrow, and continued, trying to get out of Mayor Bartlett the answer he wanted. "I'm looking for my brother Josh. I know he used to be friends with Joey. Have you seen him?"

Sam Bartlett was already too far gone, so all he heard was Joey. Always Joey. "Joey? No, Joey doesn't want to play right now...Why do you want to know about him?"

Did Alex suspect something? Sam shuffled nervously, eyeing Alex warily. He had been so good at hiding things, so good at staging it all. Had he failed somewhere? The Shepherd kid was smart, he could know something...

"Because he and Josh might be together, and maybe you know where they are. Maybe you can take me to them."

The cockiness in Sam came out again, and he snorted, backing away. "I'm not going anywhere with you, freak! I just want to stay here and sleep in the garden."

Unknowingly, he said again, "Oh, Joey loves his garden..."

There was a strange, ominous silence for a bit, and Sam finally finished the rest of his liquor, gulping it down loudly and letting the bottle drop to his feet. It rolled away from him, as though sensing what he truly was. But nothing mattered but the alcohol in his system. Ah, nothing felt better than getting rid of these memories...

Before he fully could however, as the last shadows of them lingered in Joey's smiling eyes, Alex shoved an item in his hand. When he looked down, Sam saw something that had been haunting him since he put it in the family mausoleum.

"What the hell is this?" He tried to toss it, but Alex forced it back into his hand. "It belongs to your son, doesn't it? Where is he?" He didn't want to answer these questions, not at all. Alex was a tough one though, and would probably give him no choice.

"Joey?" He said emotionlessly, staring at the writing he had carved on the back of the watch. 'Forgive Me.' He turned it back over so that those two words seemed to burn into the skin of his palm.

"Yes, Joey. He and my brother were friends, I need to find him."

Sam shook his head, looking sadly at Alex. "You shouldn't have come back, Alex. Times are bad. No one trusts me anymore... I can't protect them..." He tossed the watch into the dirt, too busy thinking to notice it sink into the ground, lower and lower until it was swallowed up, gone.

Alex should have stayed far away from Shepherd's Glen when he had the chance, when he was taken away. Then he at least wouldn't be suffering like everyone who stayed is.

"Protect them from what? What did you do?"

If Sam wasn't too deep in thought, he would have laughed. What he did? No, Sam Bartlett did nothing. He wished he had the courage, or cared enough, to tell Alex that it was him who did everything. The sacrifices had failed, and now monsters were invading the town. All because of Alex...

"Something has come. Taken everyone away. You can't stop them, they'll get you too." Nothing could stop them now, it was much too late. Five years had gone by the damage was done on all of them. On the body feet beneath them…Maybe if Sam Bartlett had not lost himself, he would have thought that at least Joey did not have to suffer through these new times. At least his suffering was over…

Alex didn't understand, and much to Sam's annoyance, kept questioning him. "Who's taken them? What are you talking about?"

Sam ignored him, instead focusing on his surroundings. The air had turned suddenly very warm, so warm it seemed to condense so that it was like ropes moving all around them, rows of nooses. And he heard something...like something was moving underground… beneath the tree.

Before he could question, Alex grabbed him by his arms to yell angrily into his face. "Where's. My. Brother?!" He growled, glaring at Sam with smoldering brown eyes. But Sam could feel nothing, and anger meant little to him anymore.

Sam simple shrugged him off, muttering, "You can't save them…" He moved to walk off, only to be stopped by a shaking in the ground, a tension in the air. All the signs... Holding his arms out to balance himself, Sam looked around for the cause, grey eyes wide open in fear. Oh god, please no...

To his horror, the shaking was coming from exactly where he hoped it wouldn't. The tree, the plant that was covering his son, began to lift from the ground, suspended by bloody wires that seemed to fall from the black ceiling, the red leaves dissolving into dripping blood. Just a façade, a charade…

"What? Oh, God." Alex backed off a few feet, pulling a gun out of his pocket. "What's happening? What did you do?!"

Same Bartlett could only watch, riveted, as something was dragged out of the ground under the tree, its body shaking away the dirt as it screeched uncontrollably. The wires caressed its charred and broken flesh, blackened and dirtied and cut and destroyed.

No... Only Sam knew what this creature was, and mouthed in silent fear, a silent scream.

"Joey..."

The horribly mutated body twisted every which way, the gag covering it's mouth soaking with blood as it's large, mud covered arms steadied it's upside down body.

His son had become this terrible creature. This creature he created, from turning his son into a seed in the dirt, planted him in the garden, and he grew into this... this monster. What he had planted now he must sow.

"No, please!" He spoke without meaning to, his voice high-pitched in fear. "Please forgive me!" Was there any room for reasoning left?

'Dad I got the biggest shovel, I hope that's okay?'

'Boy, that's what I wanted you to get.'

'What do you want to help me plant next?'

'Well actually Joey, I wanted to know if you've ever planted a tree.''

The beast turned swiftly towards him, knowing him even in death. The murdered and the murderer, the beast and the beast of a man. Sam could only hope his son had forgiven him and would spare his life. Maybe he did understand that he had to do it, that killing him would protect everyone.

'Dad stop it! Stop it you're hurting me! Please!'

'Just be quiet, it will all be over soon.'

'What the hell will be over? Let me the fuck go dad! I mean it!'

'And I mean this. You were a good boy Joey, while you lasted.'

'What does that…? No god no! Dad! Daddy please don't, please! STOP IT!'

'Joey it's time for you to be quiet and go to sleep. Do as you're told, like I'm doing.'

'HELP ME! Stop! Daddy—'

'I know it hurts but I promise you that it will be over soon. You like to sleep, anyway…When you wake up it'll be all over.'

His maybes were horribly wrong.

The monster that was once Joey roared, blood falling to the ground from his mouth, its beady dirt-filled eyes staring with hatred at Mayor Bartlett. It knew, he knew, Joey knew. Those final words, those fake promises, the promise of a sleep without nightmares. There were always nightmares in Silent Hill, always.

"You Sick Fuck!!!" Alex's comment was ignored as Sam Bartlett stared up at his son, taking in what he had done. All of it and none was for him.

'Please, Joey, please forgive me!' He thought frantically, watching as Joey raised a long, cadaverous like arm. Too little, too late. Joey had always known, as he had planted each flower with the shovel that would eventually be used to bury him; he must have known. "Please, show mercy on me! P-Please, protect me in this moment of-"

'Dad what's your favorite flower?'

'The orchid.'

'Isn't that the flower you place on graves?'

It was all over in one sudden slam. As unexpected as Joey had seen his own death, so was his father's. There was no need for shovels or fertilizer this time.

The mutated form of his son had slammed his fist down on top of him, not only strong enough to smash him but to return the favor. He had done what his father had done to him, buried him six feet under in the soilwith a single slam and without a second it would be Mayor Bartlett's turn to sleep in the garden, buried with his sins.

'I've always hated orchids.'

If you don't know what "Inhume" means, it means burial. I thought it fit :P And the beast is Sepulcher, Joey's manifestation

I would love if anyone had any suggestions for the next chapter, which will be about Dr. Fitch, because I find writing these characters really difficult because they don't give much background on them

Reviews are loved!

-Rina