บท 105: Welcome to Silent Hill
What makes a story worth to be enjoyed? Is it the characters? Is it the plot? Is it the thrill? Is it the achievement of the MCs? Or is it the "plot"?
Everyone has different tastes and no one could satisfy all of them. However, everyone agreed that a story must be engaging. Whether it was a comedy or romance. But, what about horror movies or games? A lot of people love the thrill and suspense of horror movies and games. Many were invested in it even while they were extremely terrified, or maybe that was the catalyst for them. Fear. Fear of what coming next, fear of the unknown.
Now... what if you were thrown into that kind of world? Would you still love the movies or the games? Or you hated it to the guts?
'Fuck...'
That was how I've been feeling since I stepped into the world of fog before me. I couldn't even see the landscape of the town, not even the color of the building could be seen without sticking my eyes on the wall. The falling ashes that resembled snow kept falling without showing any sign of an end. Everything was hazy, from the stranded car, flickering street lights, and cracked asphalt road, to the withering trees and the suburban houses.
Using Radar Sense to peer ahead was also impossible. This fog was not naturally made. It also blocked my ability.
'Where the fuck am I?'
I hadn't passed by anyone yet. There was no sign of life in this abandoned town, not even a bug. We passed by a certain restaurant. Plates and mugs were still on the table, seemingly deserted, without even the owner bothering to clean them up. Or they might have no chance to clean them all up. What made it even weirder, everything was in its pristine state. No sign of rush that was usually stemmed when disaster ensued. Only some signs of wearing out from the passing time.
I was gliding with my AT with Eve on my back curiously observing our surroundings. She looked up and pointed at the sky before saying, "Is this how the sky looked like?"
"Absolutely not, we're just in a weird place. The sky is much more beautiful than this." I assured Eve.
She hadn't seen the outside world. Aside from the textbook she read back when she was in captivity, she didn't have any knowledge about the world. Like a bird in a cage, she could only saw the bright blue sky through the tinted window, without even a shred of a chance to ever fly above and beyond.
It angered me when she told me about the days she spent as their fucking test objects. I wanted to curse on them, no... I wanted to return the pain she had been through toward those who harmed her. When I told her that all of those people were bad people, she defended some of them, saying that some were kind enough to her that they allowed her some freedom to enjoy herself reading those pictured books.
Kindness? The only kindness they gave her was their death. Pity? If they truly pitied her, then they should've released her from the pain and suffering she went through.
"But before we get out of here, let's find some clothes for you," I suggested while squinting my eyes to look for any stores.
She had been wearing a random patient garment and my trenchcoat. I didn't want her first experience with the outside world to be ruined by anything. Not even by a damn low-quality fabric. It must be perfect.
We passed by an old abandoned tailor shop. After I stopped by using some trick I saw in the anime, I smashed the door open.
As I put down Eve on the ground, bend over and put both of my hands on her shoulder, "remember Eve, breaking a door open like I just did is rude. So, after you break it open, you must always fix it or compensate using money."
[Shouldn't you taught her to not break in the first place?] interrupted Regina on my absurd logic.
Eve just nodded along while wondering what money is.
Ignoring the comment from my lovely assistant, I looked around for children's clothing, preferably a girly one. I picked a white dress with pink lily flowers embroidery at the edge of the skirt, a pair of white socks, and pink boots. Of course, I picked something that would fit her size.
I helped her change in the closet. It was her first time to even dress herself up. What the fuck was wrong with those people.
'Ah fuck, I forgot her panties.'
I could hear police sirens blaring into my ears. Thank God it was just my imagination.
After randomly picking a white and blue striped panty with a ribbon attached, I finally finished dressing her. Somehow I understood what Claire and Sherry felt when they brought me to a clothing store.
'She really exudes the little sister vibe.'
Seeing Eve twirling a few times, I smiled like an idiot. It warmed my heart to see her happily fluttering her skirt. The siren blared into my ears once again. However, unlike before, it was the real one.
'Shit, am I going to be arrested!?'
Just as I was about to take Eve and escape the vicinity, I noticed something odd. It was not a police siren. Instead, it was the sound of an old world-war era siren. A long nonstop horns that kept rising in tone, scaring the crap out of you.
Along with the siren horns, the wall inside the clothing store started decaying like a dissolving tissue paper, revealing an old rusty wall smeared with unknown red liquid. Most of them were leaking from the ceiling. The flooring was also scrapped from the ground, sometimes only scraped by an unknown force.
The world around us was changing. The atmosphere, the lights, the rotten smell, everything. Eve stuck close to my waist. She was afraid... and so was I. It felt like we were being watched, but we couldn't see anything, as the world started to turn pitch-black.
"Firaga..." I muttered, the cold dark air was swept by the warm ball of fire.
I had one sticking close to Eve. It didn't burn her as she played with the ball to lighten her mood. The other two fireballs were used to light the surroundings.
I kept thinking about the clues I had been gathering so far. A foggy town snowing ashes, abandoned buildings and homes, an eerie sounding siren, and the suddenly darkening world.
'No way... no fucking way...'
I already had the answer, but I didn't want to accept it. Not because there was a possibility that I was wrong, but because of the high likelihood that my guess might be correct.
I equipped my trenchcoat that Eve used earlier and picked a random yellow raincoat for her use. I was in a hurry, we must escape as soon as possible. Or at least find a safer place until the darkness took off. I used Mass Reinforce, buffing both my gears and Eve's clothes.
Seeing me panicking in the darkness with only my fireballs as the light source, Eve asked, "where are we going, Mr. Butterfly?"
"Out! Anywhere but here." I replied.
I crouched and piggybacked her. I knocked down the door I fixed using Reinforcement earlier and glide away. I was in a hurry as I traced back the road where I came from. The world around me still underwent a drastic change. In my calculations, it needed at least a full minute until it covered the whole town.
It felt like a race as I kept kicking the ground and speeding on the road. Behind me, darkness was engulfing the world like a wildfire. I could hear the terrifying howling somewhere inside the creeping night.
"No way!"
I jammed my fist into the asphalt, forcefully stopping my advance. It drew a long line until I finally stopped a few meters after.
Before me, was something out of the ordinary. I slowly stepped forward, to look at it properly. In front of me was nothingness. The road was cut off from existence. A great endless maw laid before me. I was standing at the edge of this town, of Silent Hill. And this place was looked as if it was ripped off from the outside world.
Meanwhile, darkness finally caught up with me. I was still staring at the other side of the maw as darkness overtook the foggy world.
Darkness has descended.
===°°°°===
Somewhere in the Mojave desert.
"It has been three hours, Chris." reminded Aya Brea.
They had been waiting for Edward to show up, but no matter how long he waited, he didn't appear.
By this time, the sun was already shining brightly on them even though it hadn't reached its peak yet. The cliff behind them was the entrance into the Shelter. A huge steel door was standing all mighty, hard to miss. It was unbelievable how it could exist up until now without anyone having a single grasp of its location.
"I know... that's why I'll go back," said Chris, picking up his M16 and a small backpack full of resources he hadn't spent yet thanks to Edward's involvement.
Aya felt like Chris was being reckless, she held his arm and reminded him, "It's dangerous, Chris. We must wait for backup."
"And when will they arrive!? Just like you said, it has been three hours. I have been waiting like a madman without any clue whatsoever about his wellbeing." snapped Chris. He had been waiting for too long. Any more than this would drive him crazy.
"Tch... fine! But I'll go with you," announced Aya.
"No. You must stay until the rescue comes. Someone has to tell them everything that transpired in here." said Chris, refusing Aya's volunteering.
"I insist!" declined Aya. She was firm with her decision and Chris felt her sincerity. But still, he couldn't endanger her any more than this. Whatever was inside, either had escaped already or lurking in the darkness below.
As Chris was going to adamantly refuse Aya's resolution, another voice interrupted him.
"Nobody is going anywhere with anyone."
Startled, both Aya and Chris aimed their weapon at the new guest. It was a bald black man with an eye patch on his left eye. A black leather trenchcoat displayed the dignity of a man with power in his hands.
"Nick Fury?"
"It's Director Nick Fury, now," added Nick, flaunting his new positions.
"How long have you been here?" asked Chris.
"I was here when you started making out." smiled Nick.
""WE DIDN'T!!"" yelled Aya and Chris. Both of them was so flustered by Nick's words that their face turned red from embarrassment.
"I'm just kidding, you don't have to be so worked up," said Nick, snickering. Then, he added, "Unless..."
"Stop with the teasing, Sir. Any more than this, their head would explode." interrupted Phil Coulson while making a hand gesture of an explosion.
Soon after, Chris and Aya heard the sound of helicopters and various vehicles coming toward them. It was the backups they had been waiting for.
"Now, can any of you explain everything to me?" ordered Nick full of seriousness. None of his goofy attitude from before could be seen on the current him. There was only a sense of authority in his gesture and commands.
Chris briefed everything to him, up from the start until now. Aya would fill the blank here and there, backing up Chris's statement.
"So you say, after the Starfall, you saw a huge creature dropping what seemed to be a living object, and you lost contact with Killswitch, am I correct?" asked Nick, reaffirming the story.
"Yes. We were supposed to gather in here and then, either return to the city or wait for rescue. But it has been three hours and there's still no answer from him." replied Aya this time.
"It's weird because we picked up a signal from his intercom earlier this day, and it seems he's not here," said Nick. Phil nodded as well, as he was the one who noticed it.
"I know. He must be somewhere in this wasteland. He might be injured and is hiding from whatever is chasing him." said Chris, feeling hopeful, not knowing he was misunderstanding something.
"That's not what I meant. When I said he's not here, he's not in this damned desert or the state of California. His signal suddenly jumped from here to somewhere in the Northeastern States. That's more than 2000 miles away." explained Nick in all seriousness.
"How can that be?" muttered Chris, he was half relieved, half worried. He was relieved that Edward actually got away, even though it was unknown how he could jump far away. He was worried that he had no information about his wellbeing yet.
"He's always been a surprise. By this time, I started to numb myself if it was regarding him," said Nick. However, that was the least of his worry at the moment. He then added, "Rather than that, I'm more curious about this thing in front of me."
His expression was gloomy and grim. He was looking at the huge metal door before him. His curiosity wouldn't have peaked if not for the fact that there was a symbol or a logo on the metal door. As someone who worked for SHIELD for quite a long time, he was pretty much familiar with this symbol.
"Why a symbol of Hydra is in a place like this?" mumbled Nick Fury.
===°°°°===
Paleville, Silent Hill.
A woman was walking through a dark passage with a single lighter in her hands, providing a limited source of light. It was unknown if it was hers or her husband's.
As she walked through the narrow passage, she finally met a dead end. A wired fence blocking her way. As she turned around, deciding to return to the main road, she heard the wailing of a child.
Using the lighter to lead her way, she walked closer and closer toward the voice. In the darkness, a small figure slowly showed itself. However, the child she saw horrified her, The owner of the wailing voice was a disfigured child with a twisted body. Even the way it walked was too creepy. The woman screamed as she fell on her butt, not knowing what to do.
As the disfigured came closer to her, the wailing stopped. Too bad, the worst came right after.
"Guwaaaaaaaa.....!!!!"
It was a call for its brethren. The woman was surrounded by countless disfigured children. The closer they got, the more detailed the condition of their body. It was unrecognizable. Their body was full of burns and even the ember of the fire was still being kindled by their breathing.
As she turned desperate, she stood and forced her way out. But she was overwhelmed by the countless numbers of these Great Children.
As her chance to escape diminished little by little, she heard a gunshot close to her.
Bang!
The one that was trying to rip her dress was blown into smithereens with a single shot.
Bang!
And another.
Bang!
And another one.
Bang!
Bang!
It didn't stop and kept firing. Soon, a pathway was made solely for her. All of the Great Children that was previously blocking her way had already vanished.
Her eyes moved toward the end of the pathway. There was a boy in a black and white trenchcoat holding two handguns and a girl in a yellow raincoat, waiting for her.
The boy then smiled. As if waiting for this once in a lifetime chance, he held his hand toward her and said, "Come with me if you want to live."
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
NightHowl
NightHowl Sorry for the late update, there was no signal or wifi in the place where I've been since three days ago.
By now, you should've known which iteration I chose for this story. For the dunce out there, it's the movie.
I picked the movie because Edward already has enough enemies to fight, so this Silent Hill will just be a one-off.
Why? You'll know by the end of the story.
Anyways, it's getting dark. It's 1.30 AM in my place.
See you in the next chapter!!
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง