Author's Note: This is my first time doing a Silent Hill fic, so please bear with me. My story is a little off the actual story of Silent Hill 4 as it will include my OC and others things and the story is based before the events of SH 4. Hopefully I don't screw this up and if there are any problems just tell me... anyways, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Silent Hill 4 characters or places etc, copyrighted to Konami.
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Not All It Seems
Chapter One
Knock, knock, knock.
Frank Sunderland jumped at the sudden knock on his apartment door. He had been dozing in his recliner as it had been quiet that afternoon, no tenants coming knocking on his door to tell him about a broken washing machine or to complain about the noise of kids running up and down the hallways, so he thought he'd take a quick nap but that wouldn't be the case anymore.
Lifting himself up from the old, worn-leather chair, Frank made his way to his door and opened it to come to face with a blonde-haired woman.
"Can I help you?" offered Frank.
The woman shifted slightly, the leather of her motorcycle jacket creaking quietly. She smiled at Frank and stuck out her hand, ready to shake the older man's.
"Hi, Mr Sunderland. I'm Gwen Romano, I called you about looking at one of your apartments."
Frank's memory came to him and he smiled, taking the young woman's hand and shaking it.
"Ah, yes! Miss Romano, of course. Just hold on a moment and I'll get my keys." Frank quickly scurried off to fetch his keys and while he was gone, Gwen took a peek around his apartment, her head just slightly inside of the room, eyes wandering around taking in the details of the wallpaper and the furniture. She heard some footsteps coming from where Frank had disappeared and she snapped her head back pretending like she didn't have a nosey round.
Shutting the door behind him, Frank gestured down the hall he lived in to the apartments 106-108. Gwen nodded, looking down the bland hallway. Frank then led her out into the building's main hallway.
"Opposite this corridor is apartments 101-104." Frank pointed at the double doors opposite where they stood, "And over here are the pigeon holes for each of the tenants."
Gwen looked at the 'tiny-looking lockers' on the wall near the table against the stairs. Frank then gestured that Gwen follow him so he can show her room 301 at the top of the complex. As they were walking, Gwen studied the place around her. She could of found a better apartment block somewhere else in the city but it never hurts to have a look. The decor of the place wasn't too bad as it could of been lightened up abit, replace the pale green of the wallpaper to something abit more nicer but she guessed it didn't matter. Frank had showed her the two pairs of double doors saying that they were rooms 201-208, turning another corner to go up some stairs, Gwen noticed that there was only one set of double doors so this must of been the highest floor.
As they were walking down the hallway, Frank opened his mouth to say something.
"There are currently two residents on this floor, room 304 back there is empty at the moment," his thumb pointing backwards behind him, his face turned slightly to look at Gwen. She turned her head and watched room 304's door get smaller. "And in 303 is Eileen Galvin, she's lived here for a few years and 302 here belongs to Henry Townshend."
Gwen watched the numbers of both doors flicker by and they finally arrived to 301. Jiggling the keys to get the right one, Frank managed to find the right key and he successfully opened the door.
Frank and Gwen stepped inside the small but somewhat-cosy apartment. Frank stood near the kitchen counter letting Gwen observe the room.
The sound of heeled boots echoed on the wooden floor as Gwen looked around, obviously it was empty and had been for a long time but checking to see if the apartment was in good condition was important to the blonde. She made her way down a small hallway which had two doors opposite eachother and then at the end of the hallway was another door. She had a look through the bathroom which was to her left and checking the tiling and sorts. She had a quick look in the bedroom. All good so far. And lastly checked the back room which must of been some sort of laundry room.
As Gwen was gone, Frank quickly checked the cupboards in the kitchen to make sure nothing has been left there and he hadn't noticed. The echos of her shoes became clear again and Frank stood still waiting. She came back in the room and stood near the windows looking out at the view.
"The last tenant here was abit of a clean freak and I checked the apartment a few times. Everything is in good condition, what do you think?" asked the grey-haired man.
Ignoring the question and still looking outside the window, Gwen sighed quietly.
"How much is the rent?"
"Weekly, its 150 but you have a choice to pay that once a week or 350 once a month." replied Frank.
A few moments of silence passed.
"I'll take it!" came a quick reply.
Frank's eyebrows raised in surprise. That was quick. He thought.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Positive. I like this place, and I'd be able to pay weekly." Gwen turned, arms crossed with a smirk on her face. Something about the apartment attracted her. It wasn't the best of places but it just had this sort of 'feel' to it. She couldn't really describe it.
"Fine, when can you move in?" Frank liked this new tenant already.
"Probably tomorrow no doubt. I haven't got that much stuff so it shouldn't take long."
"Fantastic. Well Miss Romano, if you give me a call tomorrow before you arrive, I'll give you your key and the apartment will officially be yours." With that Frank shook Gwen's hand, she had a good firm grip and a smile on her face.
"Thank you Mr Sunderland." she smiled.
"Please call me Frank."
Both of them made their way back down to the main hallway, saying goodbye to eachother. Gwen walked out of the front doors to South Ashfield Heights and smiled to herself.
Well that has just made my day!
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All morning Henry could hear multiple heavy footsteps invading the quietness of the hallway outside his front door. Even from his bedroom and the pillow squished tightly against his face, he could still hear loud mumbling and the sound of people moving furniture and items. Someone was obviously moving in next door and at eight fucking thirty in the morning! Then again that was alright because Henry needed to get up for work.
Against his pillow, Henry let out a loud sigh and threw it beside him. Getting up, Henry made his way to his window and drew the blind up abit so he can get a view of what was going on. A mini moving van was outside the apartment complex in the parking lot, with men carrying some chairs and other things into the apartment block. Sighing again tiredly, Henry drew both blinds up half way and made his bed. Then padded barefoot down his hallway to make himself some breakfast.
Henry turned the radio on to the city's main radio station, AFM.
"And here in Ashfield today, it looks like they will be some sunny spells for most of the day but will get colder as the day goes on..."
Henry listened to the weather report as he chomped on some corn flakes, the sound of the weather reporter's voice becoming quieter as he could hear a woman's voice calling up the hallway.
"Can you be careful with that please? It belonged to my mother!"
Henry rolled his eyes and finished the last of his cereal and gulped down the last of his orange juice. Making his way to his bathroom, Henry heard objects being moved around next door. Shrugging, the brunette man turned the shower on and waited for the heat to come on before stepping in so he can get ready for another long day at work.
Ten minutes had past and Henry was out the shower and changed. The noises from next door had stopped so he guessed that the new tenant was moved in and hopefully by the time he had left, she made no more sounds. He could feel a headache coming on already. After quickly drying his hair off with a towel, he grabbed a light jacket from his wardrobe to put on over his navy blue shirt and gone out of his bedroom to slip on his broken-in boots.
Henry collected his bag for work, keys and wallet and made his way out of his front door then turned around to lock it.
Too busy looking into his bag, Henry turned around and bumped straight into someone and dropped his keys and heard a loud thump hit the floor. A cardboard box had fallen aswell, spilling the contents from inside. Neatly folded clothes had scattered into heaps around him and whoever the clothes belonged to.
He saw a blonde head kneeled on the floor picking the things up. Henry realised how rude he was being and knelt down too to help the stranger pick up her belongings.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." His voice shaking ever-so slightly. Clever, doofus! Henry scolded himself mentally.
"Oh it's fine really." A strong New York accent came from the woman and Henry looked up at her face.
He parted his lips slightly in surprise and took in this woman's face. She had very strong features, with big, beautiful eyes that were the colour of a bluey-grey. Her black eyeliner was drawn on giving her the feline look and her lips were painted a blood red. Her make up brought out the paleness of her skin. She wasn't porcelain, she was more... milky. And judging by her pale blonde eyebrows, her hair was naturally that colour.
Snapping out of his thoughts on this girl, Henry smiled gently helping her pick up the rest of her clothes and picking up a black satin bra with it, Henry chucked it into the box, blushing. The girl picked up Henry's keys and handed them to him as they both stood up.
"Thanks." he mumbled.
The girl smiled at him warmly and stook her hand out to him.
"You must be Henry Townshend. Mr Sunderland said you lived in room 302, I'm Gwen Romano." said Gwen.
Henry took the girl's... Gwen's hand and shook it limply.
"N-nice to meet you, Gwen." Henry managed to get out.
Gwen looked down at Henry's bag and noticed a camera, a professional one, sticking out from the opening of the bag.
"You're a photographer?" she asked, pointing towards the chunk of plastic.
Henry followed her finger and stared at his camera.
"Oh... yeah. Well kind of. I work for The Ashfield Herald, I'm a journalist." Henry felt another blush creeping up his neck.
"Wow... that's cool. Well I best let you go. It was nice meeting you." Gwen smiled and walked past Henry, raising her hand to wave.
Henry waved back, his eyes glued to her side as she was opening the door. He heard the door of room 301 close and jumped slightly. Henry gathered himself together and finally started to walk down the hallway. He had to catch the train to get to work and he was worried that he'd be late but that's not what was stuck on his mind.
No, the pale face of Gwen was burnt into his mind and all he could think was;
...Woah.
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A/N: Well that's my first chapter. I hope it didn't sound crappy. And I hope Henry or Frank weren't too out of character. Let me know, reviews would be nice thanks.