This is a one shot I had waiting on my computer since the beginning of April when I finished playing Silent Hill Downpour. It's based on the ending known as "Truth and Justice" which is apparently the canon ending for the game. I thought I lost it when the computer I had most of my stories on broke but I recuperated it along with all of them and I just realized.
LD: I do not own Silent Hill.
Graveyard Encounter.
Standing in front of Frank Coleridge's grave for what seemed an eternity Murphy Pendleton stared at the cold dark gray tablet with the inscription in golden letters with a very sad expression wearing some casual clothes sunglasses, despite being a rather cloudy afternoon and a New York Yankees cap. He wouldn't even dare to think the man had been his friend despite how well he had treated him, and yet he liked to think that if the circumstances had been others, the old man and him would have been good friends. He closed his eyes as he remembered the old man's last words to him, the last ones he'd pronounced in his life.
"Run Murphy" he had said weakly as he had feared for Murphy when he saw Sewell hit Murphy with his baton even after he had been struck himself and laid there. He had to grit his teeth as his remembered Sewell taking the knife, that Murphy was supposed to use to kill Frank before he backed off, and stabbed the defenseless man to death, pinning all responsibilities on Murphy later.
"I'm sorry Frank" were the words that escaped his words after he finished remembered. He chuckled darkly, even after Anne had forgiven him after learning the truth at the end of their final confrontation in Silent Hill, he could not stop apologizing because something on the back of his mind told him he was as responsible as Sewell was for Frank's death.
"Excuse me. What are you doing?" An annoyed strong feminine voice asked interrupting his thoughts and pulling him back to the real wold. Turning around he saw a woman about the same age as him, with auburn brown hair made up in a pony tail, she had longer hair than the last time he saw her six months ago, wearing a black funeral dress and carrying a bouquet of flowers. It was Anne Cunningham who didn't give any signs of recognition. Her annoyance seemed to be only due to the fact that there was a stranger on her father's grave
Pulling off his glasses he greeted her. "Hello officer." He said with an unsure voice as the woman's eyes widdened in recognition.
"Murphy?" She asked her voice now a mix of emotions, surprise, anger, fear and an emotion he couldn't quite recognize. Murphy just nodded. "What the hell are you doing here?" She continued "What if someone sees you?"
"I was in the cemetery. I was visiting my son's grave and I passed casually near Frank's... Officer Coleridge's grave. I thought about paying my respects. I've been alone the whole time, and I don't think anyone would have recognized me if they'd seen me, no one is looking for me, I'm supposedly dead after all" when he finished he threw her a grateful look for faking his death so that he could escape.
Anne's eyes fell, annoyance completely gone from them. She had investigated a little about the case of Murphy's child murder, she'd learnt almost everything the public had known about the case and even a little more digging on her own. She knew how the sentence his child's killer was given was not nearly enough sentence for the crime he had commited . How his son's murder and the trial had destroyed or finished destroying his marriage. She knew he'd lost his job and almost gone broke after the divorce too. And she of course knew about his little revenge history against the man who'd killed his son. "I'm sorry" She whispered. "Thank you for taking the time."
"Don't worry I was just leaving anyway" He said with a kind smile. He understood her reaction really well. "It was my pleasure to pay my respects" He added as he began to walk away putting the sunglasses back on"
"Wait" she said hurriedly as he passed by her side. He stopped and looked at her in confusion while she looked at him without making eye contact. She seemed embarrassed. "Please stay."
"I wouldn't want to intrude." Murphy said. She rolled her eyes, her embarrassment gone.
"A little late for that" she said, however there were no underlying tones neither negative nor positive in her words, she was just stating a fact. Turning around again Murphy observed as Anne approached her father's grave and deposited the flowers before praying silently for about a minute, a prayer he also joined silently.
"So how have you been?" She asked when she was done with the prayer. She did so without turning around still looking at her father's grave.
"Fine" He said a little surprised she actually cared for what was going on in her life. True, they had parted on good terms and she'd actually let him gone. "I found a house on one small town about 80 miles away from Silent hill, and a job without the need to answer too many questions. I've been forced to deal with some shady people to get my new papers and ID but other than that no problem." She frowned at the last statement.
"You have to be careful with that kind of thing, those kind of people are trouble most of the time." She said turning to look at him. "I wouldn't want to see you back in jail. Especially not because you mixed yourself with a wrong crowd." Also even if she didn't say it she wouldn't like to reply to the questions her superiors would ask her about why a man, a convict, she reported dead was alive and well either.
"Not to worry." He said, his voice calm. "I took precautions." He added. She just nodded and looked back at the grave. "What about you?" He asked after a few moments passed and she didn't speak. "How is your life doing?"
"Fine" She replied sharply and briefly, a clear sign something about the question bothered her.
"How is job?" He pressed trying to get more information out of her.
"I transferred. To my dad's old work place." She said her tone clearly forced as this time she tried to sound casual. He frowned at this. Her dad's old work place, with Sewell. With that bastard who had taken her father away from her. He knew why she'd done that, she'd explained to him while she had confronted him on Silent Hill. "My father didn't believe in revenge. But I do." The words she had spoken that time resounded in his head. His frown deepened clearly seeing her intentions.
"Anne you didn't..." He began. "You didn't do anything to him? Did you?"
She turned to look at him again, anger clear on her eyes as she stared at the former convict. It was clear she was going to snap at him, to ask him about his moral authority to try and talk him out of killing the son of a bitch, her father's murderer, when he himself had gotten himself arrested just so he could exact revenge on his son's killer. But seeing his truthfully concerned eyes and an expression that told her he truly cared, although she wasn't exactly sure why he did taking into account their story together, she stopped herself from lashing out at him. On the other part he almost regretted asking the question, even if it was a valid one and a very likely thing that she would exact revenge on her dad's killer it would have been all over the news.
"No" she said through gritted teeth. "No I haven't. Not because I didn't want to or the bastard didn't deserve it. In fact I was going to confront him when I returned home from our "little experience". I went to his workplace and I had my gun ready, I was going to send him to the other world as soon as he confessed the deed of killing my dad." The suffering was obvious on her face as she spoke. "But I didn't... I couldn't... my father wouldn't have wanted that." She said as tears fell from her face.
Murphy stared at the woman for a few seconds before closing the distance between them and hugging her comfortingly. The first few seconds he thought she would reject his comfort, push him away and tell him to leave, in the worst case scenario he was afraid she would shoot him, although he was sure that case scenario was a products of his memories of their adventure in Silent Hill, where Murphy had been her Boogeyman, the personification of her fears and the target of her hatred.
She, however, didn't push him she just sobbed into his neck silently and enjoyed his comfort while a part of her, told her it wasn't right of her to be crying into her body after what she had put him through at the town. That part was quieted down however as Murphy rubbed her back soothingly.
"It's okay, it's gonna be okay." He spoke as he did so. "Don't cry anymore please."
She nodded but continued crying for a good two minutes with Murphy speaking those words repeatedly before she pulled away and looked at him with puffy red eyes and straightened her dress and his clothes.
"Thanks" She whispered hoarsely as she tried to get a hold of her own emotions.
"Don't mention it." He replied as he threw her a worried look. "I guess I better get going" he added, turning around. She just nodded and something compelled him to turn around again and look back at her.
"Can I borrow your phone?" He asked and she nodded not quite understanding why he would want her phone. Picking it up he began entering something into it as she watched him curiously. A minute later he handed it back to her. Looking at her she noticed she had entered a new contact with two phone numbers. The name of the contact was Murphy Sanders.
"What is this?" She asked a little confused.
"It's the number of my house and my job." He replied unsurely as he looked back at her. "If you ever need to talk or whatever don't hesitate to call."
She stared at it and then at the number he had introduced on her cell phone. Which she did next surprised Murphy as it would surprise anyone who knew Anne a little. The Corrections Department officer smiled warmly at the former prisoner, a smile that Murphy thought made her more beautiful than she normally was, she may have been his enemy but even then Murphy had to admit she looked beautiful. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Thank you" She said. "I will." She added. And she didn't say it just to be polite, she truly would call him whenever she had to talk, for she felt no one could really understand her better than the man in front of her. A thought occurred to her then, a thought about an idea she'd had even after she couldn't shoot Sewell. "In fact" She spoke again. "I will be talking to you a lot because I would like your help with something."
"What is it?" He asked determined to help her.
"Can you help me with my case to bring Sewell down? To justice I mean." She asked a little insecure. She was after all asking him something that could end his new life and land him again on jail if it went wrong, and that was the best case scenario. His response however was fast and without a trace of doubt.
"Count me in." He replied offering his hand, he'd been wanting to get back at Sewell for a while anyway. "Partners?" he asked.
Still surprised, very pleasantly, by his quick response she shook it. "Partners" she agreed. And with that Murphy turned around and made his way back to his car.