S . I . L . E . N . T . H . I . L . L . I . N . N . O . C . E . N . C . E
Claudia Wolf's feet thumped on the mahogany flooring as she ran. She darted past surprised brothers and sisters of the Church, and elicited some angry shouts from the Fathers. But for once, Claudia's focus was on something so intense that the automatic reflex of obeying her elders had left her.
'Alessa!' The shout in her thoughts urged her feet forward. Claudia dodged a sister trying to cease her stampeding, and sped onwards.
Finally, she reached the sleeping rooms. They were set in a small corridor with doors leading into the sleeping quarters of the Fathers. Alessa had obtained one of these rooms, that was how important she was.
Alessa's room was at the far end, the smallest room that was really more of a cubby hole than a bedroom. But it suited her fine, Claudia knew. It got her away from the neighbourhood with the mean kids and distrustful adults and into the realm where people seemed to respect and admire her.
Claudia paused outside Alessa's bedroom, taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Her excitement made Claudia shiver and shake; she shook her head to clear her mind. Straightening her rumpled school dress, Claudia raised a fist to knock on the door.
Alessa Gillespie stared thoughtlessly at the Block. Its front cover clean and unmarked, the words "Drawing Block" written in bold capitals on the top right corner.
She had been trying to draw it again, but -as always- she failed. It followed her everywhere, it floated into her dreams, it was always there; just at the edges of her vision; darting away as she tried to see it properly.
She had seen it properly, once. When it … introduced itself. The memory of its mangled form still vivid in her young mind, but still she couldn't draw it. Claudia had said it looked scary when Alessa had first shown her friend her first attempt at drawing it, saying that this must be the creature; she couldn't fathom why Alessa insisted it was wrong.
But it always was, and Alessa wasn't going to show her mother until she had gotten it right. Her latest attempt was indeed her best yet, this time she had depicted it in front of the Church; standing beside Alessa. Tall and brooding, she had drawn its shadow cast over Alessa like a nightmare. And although this was true, this abomination she had created on paper was a nightmare; a horror, but that wasn't all. It was also something else - like a … a … a guar-
A knock on the door drew Alessa's attention away from the drawing book, and the thought was gone. "Yes?" said Alessa politely. A familiar voice filtered through the doors ageing wood; "Alessa, sister! It's me!"
'Claudia.' She thought, a smile reaching her face as she said aloud "Come in, Claudia!"
Rather than coming into the room, Claudia burst through the door with barely suppressed excitement. Her eyes wild with it, her hair wild too; though probably from running. She was slightly out of breath still.
Alessa grinned at Claudia, "Sis, you don't need to knock to come in here. That's only for peeping boys." She chuckled lightly.
Claudia smiled too, something she only did around Alessa. "I'm sorry, but I thought maybe you where in your drawing mood." She said, "I don't like to disturb you, in case you can finally draw your monster right."
Alessa looked at the Drawing Block, "I had just finished." She said, sadly, "I still haven't got it right. But I'm almost there."
Claudia was looking at the Block too, "May I see?"
Alessa handed her the Block and Claudia flipped through it until she came to the latest page. When she found it, her brow furrowed; "This is devastating." She murmured, "And it's still not right?"
Alessa shook her head slowly, and placed the Block under her pillow when Claudia handed it back. Sometimes, sleeping with the Block under her head at night helped her dream of the creature.
"So, what's got you so excited?" asked Alessa, turning her attention away from the book for good that day.
Claudia's eyes sparkled, "I heard your mother speaking with one of the Fathers!" she said, sitting on her knees close to Alessa, "I wasn't supposed to hear -I was hiding in the confession booth- but your mother was talking about starting the initial preparations for the ritual soon!"
At first, Alessa's heart dropped. 'So soon,' she thought. But then Alessa found her attention drawn to the bruises and cuts on Claudia's face and hands, her eyebrows thinning with each passing month, her once brown hair fading into a white blonde, and she was reminded of why she was doing this.
'For Paradise, for Claudia. In Paradise, your father can't hit you anymore.' She thought, and for everyone else too. All of the unhappy and evil people in the world. We'll all go to a better place, and Claudia won't be hurt anymore. 'Neither will I.' she added as an afterthought, thinking of school.
Claudia was eyeing Alessa's pillow, "It's all going to start soon." She said, "Do you even need to continue looking for this creature?"
Alessa looked down, her eyes portraying solemn. "Yes, I need to do this. It's … important. If I'm going to get through this safely then I need it."
Claudia grimaced; she hated this pursuit of Alessa's. To her, it didn't seem so important; Alessa hadn't even told her mother about this creature. And Claudia had promised Alessa that she wouldn't tell her either. But Alessa was adamant … no … desperate to discover what this monster was, and why it was so important. 'To be safe.' Thought Claudia, 'That's why she's doing it. But what kind of monstrosity like her drawings of this being be, and how can it be safe?'
Claudia never voiced those thoughts. Alessa could see things, and when she did; she would draw them. Often, it was things that could happen in the future. They almost always did, (only one hadn't passed, which was a drawing of UFO's floating above the church) so Claudia didn't want to stand in the way of Alessa's future readings.
A sad thought entered Claudia's mind. That stupid Block … Alessa was leading a happy enough life until the day those mean girls in school stole the Block and looked through it. When they saw pictures of accidents that had passed, they thought Alessa had a sick and twisted mind to get off on these kinds of things. They confronted her during class, and Alessa; innocent then, had told them that she had drawn those pictures before they had happened.
'And then the abuse started. The first Block was burnt, and Alessa was branded a Witch.'
When Alessa's mother had seen her beaten and broken daughter return from school that day, she had demanded to know why. Alessa, frightened and confused, told her mother of the Block she had kept hidden since first receiving it on a birthday, and told her of its contents. Her mother was excited, and had begun speaking to the Fathers of "the chosen sacrifice" finally arriving.
Neither Alessa nor Claudia knew what it meant, but the audible excitement filled the Order, Alessa had moved into the Church to begin her teachings of the Order's religion, and had been treated delicately since arriving. She would receive a new Block when one was filled, and they perceived what Alessa and Claudia both conceived as mere doodles with utter fascination. Surely this was a good thing?
It was Claudia's birthday today. This made Alessa's hellish day at school more bearable. There wouldn't be a party, Leonard -Claudia's father- was never one to shower his daughter with affection. But Alessa would sneak out of the Church, and together Alessa and Claudia would spend the day exploring Silent Hill.
A trip like this would seem strange to others, but both children had been excited about it for the past few weeks. They planned to wander the town and search for famous landmarks of the Order, Alessa would describe stories or pictures of the area and Claudia would listen attentively.
And so, when the sun was setting to the west, and the girls had spent the day exploring and telling as they had planned, Alessa and Claudia settled on a patch of grass that overlooked Toluca Lake. The water glistened and sparkled, and for once; Claudia felt peaceful. Only a small sense of dread lingered at the thought of returning to her father, but her strongest feeling of joy made the dread tolerable.
"Thank you, Alessa." Said Claudia, she sat with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. She glanced at her friend sitting in a more relaxed manner, "This has been the best day of my life."
Alessa looked at Claudia, and smiled sincerely; "I'm glad." She replied, and then said; "Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot this!"
Alessa turned and reached into her rucksack that contained the remains of their lunch, and pulled out a piece of folded card. She handed the card to Claudia.
Claudia looked at the piece of carded paper folded neatly in half, and saw Alessa had drawn a picture on the front. It was of the two of them, sitting on a patch of green looking out into a sea where the sun was setting. 'Another future reading.' She thought, and smiled at Alessa, starting to hand it back.
Alessa chuckled, "Open it up, silly!"
Claudia started, and looked back at the paper to realise it was a birthday card. Her first birthday card. Claudia's hands shook as she unfolded the card;
"To my little Claudia,
Happy birthday!
I love you like you were my real sister.
Here's to you!
Love, Alessa"
Dark spots appeared on the card suddenly, and Claudia was surprised to see she was crying. The card was shaking violently now, and Alessa had put a hand on her shoulder.
Claudia had learned to master crying silently and nowadays when she did cry she hardly noticed she had been crying until she went to the bathroom for the night, and look in the mirror to find her eyes red and face tear-streaked. When her father had finished the beatings, Claudia had learned not to shake anymore.
But as she sat there, crying with muffled sobs escaping her, shaking like an earthquake, Claudia let her emotions go. She flung herself at Alessa, and Alessa caught her, wrapping her arms around Claudia's back. And there they sat, Claudia sobbed so hard she started coughing, tears streaming down her face in sheets, barely managing to stop the hiccups. Claudia managed to hear Alessa say; "I'm sorry. I'll make a better one next time."
Claudia was already shaking her head violently, "No! No-not that- not that!" she managed to say, "Th-thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!" and her words where lost in a sea of sobs.
Claudia didn't see, but Alessa was smiling and crying silently herself as she stroked Claudia's hair.
AN: Hope you enjoyed! This was once part of a full story but in the end I decided to end it as a oneshot.