Silent Instability Chapter One
Sam would have gone on all night if allowed. He was talking about the usual mundane crap that he always talks about. He's quite young just fresh out of nursing school but reliable, and maybe trustworthy, although Beth doesn't really trust anyone except for the few, like Penny and some of her patients. Sam is about 5 foot 7 in height with wavy, short but not too short sandy blonde hair. He was talking to Beth Molesworth. Beth is the head nurse of The Guardian psychiatric hospital; she has long nutmeg brown hair, and brown/green eyes with a rather strong looking, harsh face, but gentle and loving at the same time. She wasn't listening to Sam rattle on about how he's bored and lonely the way he always does, or him saying the same thing as last night about no one loving him or him feeling ugly all the time or him going on about how Beth is hot in the way that would make one think that he is hitting on her, she was instead remembering last night after she got home from her shift, being in bed with Penelope Bennet, her partner, and how Penny's shoulder length black hair falls over her face when it is not in a pony tail and her strong jaw line and high cheek bones, and her blue/green eyes that Beth always loses herself in. As well as her long legs, what with her standing at 5 foot 11 and Beth at a mere 5 foot 2 as well as her shoulders. Those two have been living together ever since Cybil, Penny's sister went missing. Beth was best friends with Cybil and didn't want Penny, who was staying at a hotel alone at the time staying alone in her pain. So Beth asked her to move in with her or at least stay during the time she was there. It started with Penny moving into the spare room. But over time Beth and Penny had noticed themselves falling hard for each other. This in turn gave each other strength to keep going and Penny strength to keep searching for her sister. She originally lived outside of town when her father called her to tell her that Cybil was missing, as a result Penny came home to the town of Brahms to look for her then go back home, but everything changed when she met her sister's best friend and as a result, never left again. And the sex that had taken place just a few minutes before. Sam doesn't know though that Beth is gay and that she's taken and that should he try anything, then Penny could threaten him with Authority as she is a cop, just one promotion off from becoming detective, like father like daughters.
Beth gets caught out by the clock that she happens to be staring at when thinking about Penny's warm, naked body under the soft, furry, warm blanket writhing with hers when she realises it is 4am which means she has to do her rounds. It just so happens Penny is working a late night too, so she's still at the police station working on a case of her missing sister, Officer Gucci had said "take as long as you need on it, Cybil was a good cop, and you are not the only one who wants her back. In the mean time I'll take up the cases that Cybil left, just find her, whatever it takes." Beth snaps back to reality and looks at Sam, "Sam, could you shut up for 5 seconds and let me enjoy the peace before the storm that is some of the patients waking and screaming from nightmares?"
"Uh sorry Beth, I do go on a bit, don't I?"
"Yes, and about the same old crap too, you should get out more" replied Beth as she walked off getting her keys out to open the safety door to the ward to do her rounds. She opens the door to Lisa's and Sarah's room, Lisa is a schizophrenic who has been here at The Guardian ever since she was first admitted during her psychotic break. Which was three years ago. She is about the same height as Beth with long red hair, red of a violent, vibrant, deep colour which suits the fact that she can be hard headed and feisty when she needs to be and she has the face of someone who has been through a lot, yet still friendly and warm. Lisa never really recovered, not even with the help of meds, although her meds have helped her to calm down a bit, she still gets hallucinations and is highly disorganised, but she's so used to her hallucinations now that she doesn't really think anything of them, no matter how scary they may be, or even if they might be real. Her roommate Sarah is such a good match for her not only as a roommate but as a best friend as well, as Sarah has Aspergers and even though Lisa is sharp minded and VERY observant, Sarah is just as, if not more, observant but also HIGHLY organised, so she helps Lisa in organising herself and Sarah also has a memory like an elephant and often reminds Lisa of things, Sarah is essentially the same height as Penny, and she gets highly protective of Lisa. She has short black hair, with dark, really dark eyes. Then you have John, a manic depressive guy who can get hot tempered and with him standing at 6 foot 5 and being quite muscular, he can be quite scary. But that gets useful if you are in a fight and had him as backup as once you earn his trust, he's like a cat in that you have it for life. He basically has lagoon blue eyes and short brown hair with a goatee, however due to older age he is starting to grey at the temples, and he looks like his soul has been through very rough times. Penny, even though she is not a patient but a cop has Tourette's and as a result is always shrugging her shoulders and closing one eye in the sense that one might think she was winking at them had they not known she has Tourette's. The only time Penny involuntarily yells out profanity at someone is when her stress levels are up from either being protective of someone or pissed off, or both. Then you have Martin, a guy who is mentally challenged in the way that his mental development has been delayed but he is fearless of everything, which is what makes him such a good thing for William. Martin's parents at the time could not afford to look after a child, let alone a child with Down syndrome, thing is with Martin, you wouldn't know it, as he looks just like any other guy. He is of same height as John and has shoulder length light brown hair and a rather angular face. Once you talk to him, you know that he has trouble. Then you have William, whose phobias leave him almost unable to function, his fear of being alone, along with his fear of darkness as well as his fear of open spaces and crowds, or in some situations a lack of a crowd when in an open space in the dark and his fear of dead bodies. He is more along the lines of 5 foot 11, Like Penny and Sarah. He has more of a gentle face, and green eyes, but due to a slight genetic mishap, he has no hair on his head, so he looks like a skinhead. But once you get to know him, he is quite a gentle, friendly guy.
Beth opens the door to Lisa and Sarah's room to give them their meds only to realise neither of them are there. Now Beth knows that they would not try to escape as they feel at home here, safe, safer than they ever felt, and she knows this because they told her, even Martin and John and William said this too. Martin bunks with William and considers him like a brother, as William looks after him, and when William is having phobia issues Martin looks after him. Martin also looks after Beth. John currently doesn't have a roommate. But when ever Beth needs a nap during her shift when there is another nurse on duty with her, like tonight, John lets her nap on the spare bed as it is more comfortable then the hard couch in the TV room or the chair behind the nurse's desk. Beth closes the door to Sarah and Lisa's room and opens the door to Martin and William's, to see that they are not there either, she closes their door and opens the door to John's room, he's not there either. Beth makes a phone call, "Penny?"
"Sweetheart?"
"I need your help in finding several of my patients"
"Which ones?"
"Lisa, Sarah, Martin, William and John"
"Of course I'll help, I mean that's my job"
"I know they didn't try to escape though, as they all told me that they think of this place like home, and my instincts are telling me that something's up. There is a security camera right by the only exit that they could have gone out of, but it was locked. I'm off to the surveillance meet me there?"
"I'm right around the corner on my break, so I'll be right there"
"Thank you"
"My pleasure, Beautiful"
Beth gets to the surveillance room and notices Penny already waiting. Penny kisses Beth on the cheek in greeting while the security officer is setting up the tape "Ok, here we go, this should be about the time those patients of yours went missing"
"Rewind a bit, the clock on the wall in the shot is saying 4am, which is when I opened the safety gate to start my rounds" said Beth.
The security officer rewound the tape then stopped it and pressed play. Penny, Beth and Security saw John, Martin, William, Sarah and Lisa walk out, Beth also saw a flash as they were walking out, although Beth thought she was seeing things, but apparently Penny saw it too, as she asked what it was and Security said he didn't know. Penny, knowing Beth, knew that Beth would want to take the tape to her other surveillance friend who has more sophisticated gear. So Penny said to security "I need to take the tape"
"Of course" he said then ejects and hands it over. Penny turns to Beth and winks then exits the room Beth follows her closely behind. As they are walking down the hall,
"Beth, I had a feeling you would need the tape to take to your surveillance friend, hell he has more upmarket surveillance gear then we do at the police station. But that's because we can't afford the more upmarket stuff at the moment"
"Thank you My Lovely, are you going to come with me to see James?"
"Of course I will, I mean I took this case for you, and there is definitely something making the stench of rotten fish"
"Your cop instincts telling you the same thing huh?"
"Yep" They go back to main desk where Beth grabs her belongings from her locker in the nurse's room. As she walks out she throws the keys at Sam and says, "I have to go find our five, you stay here and hold the fort"
"How long will you be?"
"I don't know, but Penny will be with me, and I'll be back as soon as possible"
"Ok"
At James' office, Beth gave him the tape and he put it in the machine. Beth had told him of the flash she saw as her five were walking out and she asked him if he could clean it up and play it in slow motion to try and make out who or what it was. James did just that, he froze it on that scene cleaned it up and replayed in slow enough motion then froze it again. Beth had a look of shock on her face like she'd been poked with a cattle prod and with an absent mind she ran her fingers across her right shoulder where the scars of some letters had been branded into her skin, "M.B". Penny had noticed the scars the first time they had sex together. She sort of asked Beth what they were about but Beth didn't want to talk about it at the time. And Penny understanding that Beth must have been through a lot to receive them didn't push the subject further. She also knew that if Beth really wanted to, she would tell her of her own accord. Beth looked at Penny deciding it was time to tell her. She realised that if she were to have Penny's help with defeating this man she would need all the help she can get and that meant telling Penny the truth of everything that happened, as much as reliving those memories will pain her, Penny will have to be able to trust her more than she ever has, more than Beth ever has trusted herself.
After Beth and Penny left James' office, Beth asked Penny if they could stop at a coffee shop to talk. They decide to stop at The White Crane coffee shop that is on one of the main streets virtually in the middle of nowhere. The town they live in is just a small town with not very many people. One of those towns where if you are not careful then one tiniest bit of information you don't want spread around town will spread like wild fire. Thankfully though, Penny being a highly decorated cop meant that no one had whispered rumours or spread information about Beth, not even Beth's own psychiatrist, but then Dr Alice Mott is bound by patient privilege not to mention one of Beth's best friends. Alice is about 65 and had been seeing Beth since she was about 16 which is when Beth left Silent Hill for good because with Beth being a spiritual person she could tell Silent Hill was going to Hell. And Beth left before it could grab her with its dark fingers and bring her to insanity in more ways than one. She did feel guilty for leaving some people she knew up there to suffer the wrath of Silent Hill disintegrating into a hellish nightmare. But what could Beth say to make them believe her? Uhh guys? I think this town is about to go to hell and destroy your sanity and your emotional wellbeing you need to leave now before it is too late Hah, yeah right, no one would have believed that, besides everyone up in that town thought Beth was a nutter of the sort that is not worth listening to anyway, so as far as Beth was concerned they could fend for themselves.
At The White Crane coffee shop, both Beth and Penny order the same thing, a large skim latte. They then grab the booth in the corner that is the most secluded, the quietest and the most out of the way of other customers. Beth looks into her latte and breathes slowly. She then looks at Penny while running her fingers across her scars again with an absent mind. Penny just looks at her. "Penny, you asked me the first time we made love what these scars were about"
"Yes, and you didn't want to tell me, which is absolutely fine. I mean to receive something like that you would have to have been –" Beth put a finger over Penny's lips.
"Shh, let me finish, You know, of course you know, you grew up in Silent Hill yourself. At Alchemilla Hospital there was this doctor, he was known as just The Doctor. I had been left in an orphanage and he was the physician who would come to tend to the children and teenagers there. This was why I left when I was 16. But before that, one day The Doctor came to see one of the kids who had gotten sick, Jacob had been sick for days but every time The Doctor came to see him, he seemed to just get worse. So one day when The Doctor took him all together, the kid was about 5, I followed him because my instincts were telling me that something was wrong. I followed him all the way to Alchemilla Hospital. There I found that he wasn't just a physician he was also experimenting on the kids and teenagers at the orphanage. It was only a matter of time before he got to me. Some of the kids and teenagers I saw there were in really bad shape. They were ones that I thought had died because they were so sick when they left and didn't return. Now I wish they had at the time just so that they felt relief. Not many of the other kids or teenagers had been branded with letters. The branding was saved for the ones that Doctor considered special, his prized lab Rats."
"You being one of them" commented Penny who had a VERY concerned look on her face. Beth saw this and kissed Penny on the cheek and nose.
"Yes, me being one of them, I thought he'd died a long time ago. But obviously not, now he has my five. So I'm going to go back there to get them. They need me, I know Lisa and Sarah will be alright, But the others will need me. They are way outside their safety net and they consider me their guardian, protector. And I need to fulfil that role"
"And I'm your guardian and protector, Sweetheart, which means I'm coming with you, as I will not have the woman I love going to face her demons alone, besides I have demons of my own to face, not to mention a sister to find." Both Beth and Penny get up simultaneously and pay for their respective coffees. They leave The White Crane and get in Penny's car and head to home. There, Penny gets changed out of her uniform and into some grungy clothes. Beth steals a few glances as Penny takes off her shirt then her trousers while Beth is getting other things ready. Beth normally wears dark jeans, boots and a t-shirt. Or in this case a sleeveless black shirt. Once they are ready Beth grabs a backpack with not much in it. They get into the van, as realising that when they find the others to take them back to town they will need a bigger vehicle then Penny's, and head on to the main road. On the highway, it suddenly becomes very overcast with a wind blowing, kind of like the atmosphere and that feeling you get just before a tornado or hurricane hits, Just outside Silent Hill the car breaks down. So, both get out deciding to hitch the rest of the way.
At one point after glancing at the "Welcome to Silent Hill" sign, Beth sees something out of the corner of her eye. She looks in the direction of the movement and sees a white crane. She can't figure out if she's seeing things though. As when she lived here she saw things all the time. It was only after she left that she stopped seeing things. She reaches out to Penny without looking at her to ask her if she sees the crane too, but touches air. Her head snaps round to where Penny was standing, she looks behind her but no sign of Penny. She realises in her gut that Penny must have been taken and recomposes herself, realising that Penny is a cop and can take care of herself. She squares her shoulders and keeps walking. She looks out for the crane again but doesn't see it. So she heads towards Alchemilla Hospital where she last saw The Doctor those years ago. The siren starts blaring as shadow falls and Beth is sent into absolute darkness, such darkness you can't actually see your own hand. Beth last heard that siren as she was leaving Silent Hill for good when it first happened, she switches on the ear torch that she was given by Penny for the times during blackouts at home. She starts hearing a familiar noise and realises it is the call of a Night Flutter, she quickens her pace to the hospital doors to get inside for at least shelter from them as well as the Troglodytes and Groaners that she encountered on her way out last time. Once inside, she heads towards The Doctor's old office as a starting point as to where Penny and her five are. On the way she hears a scream. She goes to the room it came from and pulling out the handgun that Penny lent her; she gingerly grips the doorknob and slowly opens it. There in a chair that looks like an execution chair now that the world has disintegrated into the Otherworld she sees a clown sitting and restrained at the ankles and wrists with blood speckling the front of his shirt one of his ears is bleeding and his nose is broken, he has a deep wound across his neck not deep enough to reach his jugular or his wind pipe though, and another down his cheek. Clown is about 5 foot 8, his hair has gone completely grey both from age and from the effects of Silent Hill. He has a harsh looking face, as a result. The clown is wearing a VERY faded clown suit, with the reds, yellows, oranges and blues almost completely faded out except for a tinge. He looks at her and manages to rasp out "Thank god, someone who is actually alive and human"
Beth grabs a piece of cloth she eyes and wraps it around Clown's neck and ties it off to stop the bleeding," How long have you been here?"
"Ever since this place went to hell" he breaths. He sees the scars on Beth's shoulder as she turns slightly because she thought she heard a noise behind her. "You're one of the Rats too?"
"Yes"
"What's your name?"
"Beth Molesworth, what's yours?"
"Edmund Blanche, You're the one who tried to warn us in the orphanage about this place?" he raises a brow
"Yes"
"I wish I had believed you, I wish we all had believed you, then there would not have been so much death and destruction the first time round, I remember I used to try and make you laugh. You looked so sad. I didn't even know why at the time. But after you left I found out why you looked so sad and vowed to myself to defeat the Doctor and get the kids out. Unfortunately The Order found out my plan and because The Doctor is one of their more powerful elders they protected him and told him of my plan"
"And as a result he branded you and you became a Rat"
"Exactly, He, this place, has screwed me up enough, along with the Order using me that I have tried to kill myself several times. But I can't, not yet, because there are still a few people left and I need to stay as I'm the only one who knows enough about the order to keep him in line and away from the others."
"You seem pretty ok to me"
"That's because you caught me on a good day, now help me out of these restraints, please?" he takes a deep breath when he realises that he wasn't really breathing properly as a result of the wound in his neck. Beth then puts the gun back in the top of her jeans and unties the Clown. "Miss Molesworth, why did you come back anyway?," he rasps
"Call me Beth, please. I came back because some of my patients went missing. And I'm here looking for them. Along with Penny."
"There were five patients weren't there?"
"Yes, did you see where they went?"
"No, I didn't"
"Did you see a woman in grungy clothes?"
"No, But, I want to help you find them"
"Why?"
"Because I owe it to you, for not being observant enough to help you those years ago and for not believing you and taking heed of your warning. That, and I need your help to bring him down all together. I mean that is why you are here anyway, right?"
"Yes"
"Let me say this though. There is more to bringing him down then just walking up to him and-" the clown at this point, pulls out his 9mm handgun "and putting a bullet in his head or his heart or both. Remember I told you that The Order protected him?"
"Yes"
"We need to find a way to break that protection first. Then He will be bleed-able and hurt-able." Both Beth and Clown hear a noise and realise it is members of The Order walking down the corridor. They decide to hide under the desk, Beth then turns off her ear torch and they hold their collective breath. There are four members of The Order who open the door and look into the room. One still reloading his rifle that they carry round in the times that night has fallen. Another one carrying the torch and letting it roam over the interior of the room "That cop is one tough woman," says one
"Yeah and she obviously loves Beth" At this point Beth clamps a hand over her mouth to keep from making noise at the thought of Penny.
"Guys, you do realise that with Beth being gay our doctrine says that that is wrong, right?"
"I know, but it is more along the lines of love the sinner hate the sin, I'm sure we can make Beth come around, who knows, Penny may come round too, as she seems to be just as powerful as Beth. So maybe we can break them both," says one with a disturbingly pleasured grin on his face as they leave the room again under the impression no one is there. Beth and Clown climb out from under the desk and Beth quietly opens the door. She mutters under her breath "goddamn bastards" she then turns on her ear torch again. Apparently Clown heard Beth say goddamn bastards as Clown then says, "don't worry, they only say that being gay is against their doctrine because they need heterosexuals to procreate to keep their religion going as no one with any ounce of morals, and possibly intelligence as well, otherwise will have sex with them gay or straight"
"Ha ha, very funny"
"Actually I thought so" which makes Beth laugh harder, both hysterically and sarcastically as a result Clown laughs too but then immediately winces from pain. They walk out of the room and get to work on finding clues to where the others are. They decide to head where Beth was heading in the first place. Which is The Doctor's office. Once there, Clown starts looking through the filing cabinet while Beth opens the top drawer of the desk with the key that is sticking out of the keyhole. Beth looks through the pile of paper in it and finds one certain item of paper that is HIGHLY interesting,
"Huh? Well that puts a new spin on things"
"What is it?"
"It is The Doctor's death certificate"
"Bullshit, let me see" Beth hands it to him
"Well shit it is too" Beth at this point hears a squawking in the hall that sounds demonic but not really evil and Clown who jumps out of his skin from the sudden racket is now a tad pissed off
"Ok! What the hell was that?"
"I don't know but I'll go and check it out, wait here"
"Be careful"
"I will" she walks out closing the door and pulls out her handgun. She looks down the hall to her left, sees nothing, she looks to her right and she sees the tail end of something white disappearing around the corner. She cautiously follows it but quickens her pace at the same time. When she turns the corner she is almost blinded by a bright, white, pure light in the pitch black that is the Hospital in the Otherworld but she is able to make out that it is a white Crane of the sort that she saw before when first entering Silent Hill. She also makes out someone standing next to the Crane but can't tell whom it is. Beth then gets a flash back to the days when she was at the Orphanage and this man who was half Japanese and half Native American, practically took Beth under his wing when she first came in as a 13 year old. This was after she had started to pay attention and realised just what The Order, that her mother and father were members of, was about and she wanted nothing to do with it. This was also when she developed her second crush on another woman much to her parent's disappointment. They had tried for a year with partial success through manipulation to get her to not have a crush on the first woman. Her parents saw this new crush that their daughter had, and they also saw that she wanted nothing to do with the Order. So they put her in the orphanage. When she first arrived she felt very disassociated and alone with no confidence and due to growing up with parents who were in The Order she felt she had to hide everything about who she was, what she wanted whom she wanted but then along came Taregan Helaku Zhen whose name essentially means Crane full of sun that is pure and real. He is just a small guy, not very tall or muscular but very distinctly of Native American/Japanese decsent. But could still pack a punch if necessary. He taught Beth that she doesn't need to hide and he was just as spiritual as Beth is. But she didn't know that about herself at the time not until Taregan unlocked that spirituality with in her. He was the only one to ever listen to Beth. Not just listen but actually listen, he also left with Beth when she left Silent Hill as he knew with in his spirit, just as Beth did that Silent Hill was about to disintegrate into a nightmare. He could also see that she was very vulnerable when she first came in. Thus he took her under his wing and acted as the loving father she never had. He was the man who delivered her when her mother, Meredith Molesworth was giving birth to her. Taregan didn't actually like either of Beth's parents because of who they were, people that were loveless to others who had morals, values and traits different to theirs therefore Meredith and Fraser Molesworth were right and everyone else with the exception of other Order members were wrong. But during Beth's birth a white Crane came up to the window and made its usual squawking song and flapped its wings and looked straight at Beth. Thus, the Crane is Beth's totem, and Taregan knew this, he also knew as soon as he looked at Beth in the eye when he was holding her after she was born that she was an old soul, and one worth trying to save from her parents. But he couldn't legitimately take her, so he stayed in Silent Hill longer then he'd planned to watch over her. Beth snapped back to reality and looked at the Crane in front of her who was now looking straight at her. She looked for the person who was standing next to the Crane and she found him again. She could tell it was a he from the build. She realised at this point that it must be Taregan. He stepped forward and gave Beth a reassuring, firm hug. She relaxed in his arms smelling his familiar scent, wishing he were actually still alive. Her heart burned from the pain of missing him. At least in Silent Hill she can see him again. He looked at her in the eye and put a finger to a tear rolling down her cheek "Don't cry, not for me. But cry for the others that The Doctor has experimented on and use it to defeat him. You are strong, but stronger with the purity of the White Crane guarding your heart and mind. Remember we will be watching over you and Penny, they have tried to break her, but with her mind and heart being protected by her own totem she is still alive and intact. But hurry, she needs you. She doesn't have much longer," as he starts to fade away she reaches out to him while he's saying "and remember, not only will the purity of the Crane protect your heart and mind, but your love for each other will overcome their influences as well, so hold on to that. I love you, Beth" and he's gone leaving only the Crane looking at Beth in the eye that squawks again then runs off down the hall. She collapses to her knees weak from a fresh bout of grief for both the other people at the orphanage and for Taregan. She now feels Penny, she feels that she's alive, but weaker then she was. She then gets back on her feet with a renewed vigour and rubs her face with her hands and turns on her heel while squaring her shoulders and heads back to The Doctor's office. As she is heading back to the Doc's office she sees someone staggering down the hall towards her, she pulls her handgun again but that someone says "Don't shoot!" and she realises that it is Lisa, she quickly holsters her gun again.
Beth runs to Lisa and holds her up to stop her from falling. "Lisa? How did you find me here?"
"I saw this white, pure looking light and figured someone had to be here"
"Where's Sarah? William? Martin? Penny? John? And are you ok?"
"I know where Penny is, I saw her being taken into Finney High School"
"That's where we went to school when we lived here" By this point, Clown had heard voices outside and came to see whom Beth was talking to. "Lisa meet Clown, Clown, this is Lisa. He was there in the orphanage that I was put in almost when all hell broke lose"
"I'll carry Lisa," offered Clown
"I need to go get Penny, I can feel her but she's weak"
"Clown, you live in Wood Side apartments still, right?"
"Yes I do"
"Can you take Lisa there where you both can tend to your wounds while I go get Penny?"
"Then we will meet you at Finney High?"
"Only if you feel up to it"
"Ok"
"Well, in that case, we will meet you there, Beth," said Lisa
"Alrighty"
Clown pulls out his 9mm handgun, "this is more powerful then the one you are using, take it, you will need it"
"But"
"Hey, I have a backup in my boot, I always carry two"
"Ok" Beth holsters the 9mm and shifts the other gun to her own boot. Clown, who has a head torch of his own picks Lisa up in his arms and turns round and heads out a side door that leads to a short cut to a route to Wood Side apartments.
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