Arrhythmia
By destroy
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Part. II
In the windowpanes of vacuous restaurants, I saw our reflections. The caked on grime gave us a worn appearance. She was disheveled and dirty. Quiet yet irrational.
Nearby shop signs swayed and creaked innocently in the warm breeze. Classes of mannequins peered through stained windows with their smiles and well-being frozen in time. I took the air at a quick pace, crushing aged yellow newspapers under my heel. The hopelessness of the town washed over me with each step I took, overwhelming and almost bringing me down.
We hadn't been saying much to each other. At this moment she still didn't even know my first name. And what was there to know about her? Rose: a prisoner in her own home, her marriage. She was incredibly naïve, though wounded in her heart. She wanted reciprocated love from a never-ending source: her daughter.
My gun was beginning to feel heavy in my hands as I cocked the barrel towards the concrete. We trotted in silence, past the familiar empty buildings.
The cracked street was sick with steam below our feet. The blaze below wanted badly to break free. I clipped the ground lightly, as if my tip-toeing would not disturb the Devil.
How was I able to once elude this Hell unscathed?
"Let's try this way."
Rose peered up from behind a posted map. She ran as quickly as she could towards a similar looking street that seemed to go on for miles. Her breathing bounced rapidly in her chest, as she pressed on with an exhausted will.
Though it was out of my jurisdiction, I felt that I should've said something or at least led the way. But I was lost and desperate. At this point, the wind could've mildly nudged my back and I would've gone in its direction. Even if I was armed, my gun was as useful as my faith.
I followed her.
-
A mother with nothing but love for her kin, I had to admit that her determination was admirable. It was not my part to rekindle her marriage or counsel her affections, though. The child was kidnapped by the mist, and that thought is what kept me going.
My chest was starting to burn. My utility belt weighed me down and my limbs felt as though they would fall apart below me. The residue raining from the sky soaked into our skin, our eyes. It was hard to see and my stamina was diluted.
I had no sense of time here. I glanced down at my watch.
9:42.
The hands were forever glued to the last moment in which I had a chance to burst free. Would I let this woman speed off while I turned the other direction?
9:42...I cherished the past. My wrist held the only reminder that a world outside of here does exist and I was able to once dwell in it.
-
Rose began coughing as her lungs tried to grab more of a breath than it could handle. Hunched over, hands on her knees, she spewed bile onto the smoking asphalt.
"Rose!"
Tucking the weapon away, I placed my hand on her shoulder as she lurched underneath me.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She choked and wiped her mouth. "Come on, we have to hurry."
"Rose… I think we should rest for awhile."
She stared at me, unwilling to stop. But her eyes were tired. Her denial was rotting her energy. She was sure to give.
"Sharon! We have to get to her."
Pulling away from my hands, she continued at a much slower rate. How was I to convince someone to put their child on hold for the sake of their own well-being? I stood for awhile and watched her. Sauntering slowly and further into the town, the fog hugged her body and her form was almost invisible. Chasing her is what got me here in the first place. I felt small resentment for the woman even coming here. I wanted to slap the sides of her face and knock some sense into her. I sighed into the dirty air.
-
Where would I be right now, had I not hazarded back here?
…Rose was gone. I pressed forward.
The past of Silent Hill haunted me somehow, though its demise was not in my power. I wondered to myself what it would be like to know that home to these souls no longer exists. To know that they now step outside underneath a stranger sky, the sounds of their children's laughter silenced. Were Rose and I just intruders? The thought had crossed my mind. If we make it at all, what will the world look like to us now? Will we forever take the green grass and our familiar routes for granted? Will we shun the flat love of our families? Or will we crawl out of this Hell kissing the ground and revering God?
Up ahead on the path I could see a figure heaving and hunched on its side. Rose. Her body had caved in and she lay crying and forlorn on the dirty street.
"Sharon…" She cried. "…where are you?"
Her voice was cracking and I was amazed that she was still able to cry. She scratched her fingernails into the ground, searching for something stable to hold onto. Her ardent tears spider webbed clean trails down her dirty cheeks. The world was spinning around her, she was lost. Her fractured scream of her child's name had me steadying my foot on the street for balance.
"Rose."
I knelt beside her and carefully sat her up.
"We're going to find her. I promise. You just need to take a break. You're exhausted."
My promises were empty. I had no idea where Sharon was. My suggestion of rest was at my own cause though I couldn't admit it. I felt as hopeless as she did.
"Come on."
I coaxed her, raising her to her feet.
Peering from left to right, I searched for a suitable place to catch our breath. A rusted out café peeked back from the distance, its door was detached from the hinges.
We urged on towards the building. My hands grasped each side of her shoulders, as support for her next fated failed step. She continued to sob. I didn't know how to comfort the woman. "Shh." I wanted to tell her. "Everything is going to be okay." But I had made enough false commitments.
-
The barrel of my gun poked into the doorway first. Empty. I gestured for Rose to follow me, as I headed to a small reserved area in the back. The floorboards below us creaked and made my heart jump. Broken teacups lay on their shattered sides. Dry coffee stained the tables.
I pulled out a chair.
"Sit. Relax and breathe. We'll head out when I think you're ready."
Rose sat without much to say. She was defeated and distressed. She whispered to a small locket which she wore around her neck. "Sharon", she kept saying. "I'm coming, baby."
Clipping my holster shut, I sat across from her. She glanced at me every now and then, before resting her head on the table and softly shutting her eyes. Her breathing was slowly steadying, her fingers still inter-locked around the charm. A thought raced through my mind to stroke this woman's hair, to hug her and apologize for her loss. But I kept my place.
The room was quiet and still. I felt tired but I will not sleep. Soon the walls will be black. The alarms will sound in the distance. It was a menacing thought that the silence will soon be disturbed. The idea had me once again resting my hand on my weapon. Right now it seemed as though it was just the two of us. Her soft breathing…
In…out…in…out.
I've seen it though. And I know it's real.
In…out….
The shadows were coming…listen, and you'll hear.
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A/n - Reviews are always appreciated. Part III to be added shortly.