Messiah of Silent Hill
A fan-fiction by Airo Smicktor
"Death is a friend of ours; and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home."
- Sir Francis Bacon
Beginning
The Video Store, Real World.
"Douglas, it's time to close up for the night!" The old man's voice said from the front door. "Remember - I'll be away tomorrow, so make sure you put up the sign to let everyone know we're closed for the day."
"No problem Sir." Was Douglas' reply, closing the till and locking it.
"Alright, I'll see you soon then." He said with a smile, before leaving, the little bell above the door ringing as it closed.
Douglas sighed, moving around the desk with hardly any purpose put into it. He walked over to the door, reaching up to close the top latch, then pulling out the keys from his pocket and locking the door. Again he moved, briefly glancing at the racks of movie videos on either side of him. He went around the desk again, and switched off the main light of the room as he left it.
Turning left, he walked a short distance and opened the door into the wash-room. Flicking on the light, the fan rattled into life as he walked over to the sink, and stared at his reflection in the mirror.
What stared back at him was a teenage boy/man (whichever way you look at it) with brown eyes and purple hair (natural colour black). Just about average height for his age, and quite thin - He ate little, but was rarely (and to some, strangely) hungry.
For a second, a bitter smirk appeared on his face, before his frown returned.
"Just remember..." He told his reflection. "It's either this or going back."
Leaving the wash-room, he continued down the corridor to the storage room at the end. What was a storage room. For the past few years, it had served as his home.
Flicking on the light, he looked around. To his left in the corner was the old mattress, and the pillow and sleeping bag on top of it. Opposite this, in the top left corner of the room, was a small table and chair where he'd eat. The plate, knife and fork from lunch were still there, as well as the daily newspaper. Many local people came in to the store, so it was useful to keep up with the news. There was also the sign for the front door on the table that he'd have to put up.
In the top right, there was a small storage box where he kept various items when he didn't need them. As a result it was a little dusty, since nothing ever happened of interest, bar the odd light bulb needing replacing. The only things relatively clean were the bottles of hair dye.
Beside this was another box, this time used for keeping what little clothes he had in. Mostly underwear, socks, and a couple of T-shirts. He didn't need much. It's not as if he'd ever leave the store that much.
He usually just wore hat he currently had on. Black trainers, worn jeans, any T-Shirt that fitted him, and his faithful hooded top. It was his favourite item of clothing, mainly because it's pockets seemed to be able to hold an amazing amount of items.
This was 'his room', 'his life'. A runaway orphan, living in the back room of an old man's video rental store just a couple of blocks away from a shopping mall.
Looking down at the floor, it occurred that tomorrow could be very boring for him. Since he'd be all alone, there'd be nothing for him to do, unless he wanted to check up on some more things at the library.
He raised his right hand up to his eyes, looking at his watch.
"Still early afternoon..." He mumbled to himself. He had no problems talking to himself, especially when no-one was around. No one could joke or call him crazy then. "Must be that train he was talking about..."
The sound of a bell ringing grabbed his attention. He blinked, squinting at the door as if something was wrong with it.
"The front door?" It certainly sounded like it. "But... I locked it? Didn't I?"
He blinked again, before shaking his head.
"Must've forgotten... Better put that sign up, before I forget about that..."
He walked over to the table, and picked up the sign.
Item: Door Sign
Reads 'Closed due to family business. Sorry for any inconvenience.' Better put this on the front door.
He put it in his pocket, next to the only other item he had - the store keys.
Item: Store Keys
Keys for the Video Store. Opens main door, back door and video storage room.
Turning around, he left 'his' room, walking back down the corridor and into the main area of the store.
Flicking the light on, he had a quick look around. Empty, as expected. Once around the desk, he went over the front door and took out the Door Sign.
He easily placed it on the window of the door, just above the opening times. He check the sign was properly on, before checking the locks.
"Guess I did close them..." Seeing that everything was locked. "Maybe a draft or something..." He shrugged.
A thud behind him made him spin around. Nothing.
He looked left. He looked right. He looked back at the desk again.
Maybe he was spending way too much time in this place.
Walking forward, he moved to go around the desk, when his vision was drawn to something on the desk.
"Huh?"
An ordinary wallet was placed in the middle. A wallet that was definitely not there before.
He picked it up, looking at it. A small piece of paper fell from inside it, which Douglas caught in his other hand. He looked at it.
Memo: Note from Wallet.
'TAkE iT. I dONt NeeD iT.'
(The writing's scrawled, sort of child-like.
The bell went off again, and Douglas looked at the front door. There was a shadow of a figure on the other side of it. Quickly he ran around the desk, still holding the wallet and note, up to the door.
He just managed to catch sight of what looked to be some guy in a coat (that looked to be a little dirty) before he walked out of sight.
Quickly pulling out the keys, he unlocked the front door, then the latch, before opening the door and going onto the street, looking to where the man had gone to.
All he saw was an empty sidewalk, and the cars going up and down the street.
"Wh... What?"
That couldn't have just... Happened... Right?
He looked again at the wallet, opening it up.
Item: Wallet
An ordinary wallet, full of money and credit cards. There's a name on the cards and the wallet - 'R. Braintree'.
He stood, looking to one end of the street then the other, before turning his head back to the store.
"Damn..." He put his hands to his sides. "That 'Silent Hill effect' must be catching up..."