SILENT HILL-Not My Friend
Noah lay there on the cold metal, wishing it would all go away from him. He didn't think he could take anymore of this. His gaze moved upwards
to rest on that goddamned rabbit again, it's blank and not wholly lifeless eyes staring back at him. Taunting him, daring him to go on
just a little further. A little futher and I'll take your soul, steal it and tuck it into my spiffy hilbilly overalls and skip through this fucking town singing
do wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo. Noah cackled sleepily, as he could picture the rabbit doing just that. Or perhaps, it was daring him to go on
in order to right all the numerous wrongs he'd made. A chance to make it all right, or lose your soul to the fuzzy long eared devil himself.
The true nature of Silent Hill, perhaps. Another chance, winner take all. "I'll take those odds." Noah grumped as if someone had just roused
him from a pleasant nap. He wasn't going to stop here, he wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going to lose to a gigantic blood soaked
pipe wielding mascot or to this hellish town. "I'm Noah Woodens, you sonuvabitch." Noah spat out to the bunny in a subdued voice,
drunk with grief and pain. "Noah fucking Woodens, you got that?" He raved, slapping the bunny hard across it's foamy cheek.
He limped away from the rabbit, examining the menu once more. Under the picture of him the stencling proclaimed
'THE REAL DEAL DOUBLE DECKER-This is what it's all about folks! Our tried and true combination of top grade ham, salami, roast beef
and pastrami meat hunkered down with crisp iceburg lettuce, sweet pickles and four kinds of sliced cheese that will leave you smiling
like you were six again. Try one today! They're selling like hotcakes! It's your last chance don't miss out!-75.'
Noah shook his head in amusement, as miss had the 'M' and 'I' scribbled out in black, replaced with 'W' and then 'U'.
Noah fished around in his pockets for the three remaining quarters, noting that all three selections were exactly 75 cents.
A strikingly good price for today's economy. "I'm not wussing out, you asshole." Noah told the rabbit, glaring at the silly thing as
he rubbed his chin. He had come here to find James, and had found instead that everything that kept his friend was either a lie
or something he could no longer bear to have in his life. "Sorry, my friend." Noah apologized, eyeing the picture of Estelle.
She was who he wanted to find now, dying with James had been his original plan but not anymore. Now he wanted to live, with Estelle.
To get her out of here and make her as happy as he could, as happy as she made him feel. But she'd chose to stay behind, reminding
him with her last words that this was his fight and his alone. Noah had realized that at some point, and also that the only way to see Estelle
again was to go on his own path. And hope she was a part of it, waiting to greet him with that smile of hers at the finish line.
"Alright, here we go." Noah said softly, taking a deep breath to stop his hand from trembling as he touched his own picture and pressed into it.
His fingers went right through, causing the picture to bleed as a small metal obejct slid out from Robbie-kun's pants with a 'ka-ching'.
Noah took brief amusement in that it now looked as if Robbie-kun had an erection, chuckling lightly as he went over to the rabbit.
It was a coin slot, of course, Noah should have seen that coming.
Like the ones in pool tables or laundry machines that make you push the slot back in once you've placed your money into it.
He saw there were four slots, yet he only had three quarters and the menu had advertised each item as costing exactly 75 cents.
Noah shrugged slightly, placing his money in the first three slots. Raising an eyebrow as he met Robbie-kun's eyes, he pushed the
slot back into the bunny. There was a sound of clanking metal gears, as Noah turned towards the sudden noise and hefted the pickax
in his hand. The ladder, seemingly something more than that uncurled again. Only this time straight out across the night sky.
It formed a bridge, connecting to a similar squared metal platform about sixty feet away. An eerrie red light of some sort shone over there,
as Noah began walking across the ladder. It was a little difficult, stepping on the far spaced rungs in such a manner.
He reached the other side, only daring to look down once his feet touched the solid metal of the second platform. The blackness below
seemed infinite, and something within it stirred causing Noah to look away and concentrate on the task at hand. He already knew
there was all sorts of ugliness out to bury him in this town, being big or fearsome didn't mean anything. The platform was almost
devoid of anything, save a small desk with an old wooden chair. Noah sat down in it, making sure it would hold him before resting his
full weight on it. All the drawers of the desk were inexplicably locked, one of them sporting a strange metal plate with a thin slot.
The desktop had only grueseome pictures drawn in varying colors, each sheet of paper a different work of 'art' and seeming to tell
a story. "Can't I just kill something and get the hell out of here?" Noah growled, studying the pictures. None of them held any meaning
for his situation, though one seemed to depict him and James in his apartment. They were essentially stick figures, and the one of Noah
seemed to be talking to James. James looked severely uninterested, a cartoony sweatdrop hanging from his brow. Noah sifted back through the
other drawings, which had all changed. The art now made a little slideshow, with him talking and James looking more and more aggravated
in each picture. The last piece of paper had Noah being stabbed by James who had apparentely had enough.
Noah frowned, pursing his lips as he realized that's how it had been. Until he had formed himself to James' ways, desperate to keep his only
friend. Noah looked back down at the one drawer with the metal plate, acting out of some lurid instinct borne from surviving the town as long
as he had. He took out his knife, now stained with his blood from cutting his shirt to ribbons. He jammed it forceably into the plate's slot,
hearing a blood curdling scream that sounded like James as the plate bled. The drawer remined shut, but the top drawer popped open an inch or two.
Inside it was a final piece of paper, depicting Noah stabbing James first. "Would you really have it come to that, James?" Noah said sadly,
taking a quarter from the drawer. Nothing else was in it, and it wouldn't close again either. Noah stood up, taking hold of his knife as
he pocketed the final coin in his jeans. The knife came free immediately, the blade breaking off inside. Noah sighed, patting the pickax
as he started back across the ladder refusing to look down. 'Don't you give out on me." Noah said to his pickax, not wanting to think
about how he'd do with no weapons at all. Noah reached the first platform again, the metal slot prompty sliding out from Robbie-kun's
crotch. Noah placed the last quarter in it's place, shoving the metal device back into the rabbit for what he hoped was the last time.
The ladder withdrew itself, curling back up to the edge of the platform before extending again, straight up. "Lovely." Noah mused,
resuming the climb. Another platform was not to far up, and held a small bottle of ether along with two health drinks and a
first aid kit for Noah to find. He drank one of the health drinks greedily, throwing the empty bottle off the edge into the void beneath
him just for fun. To his surprise Noah heard a dull thunk, and a loud angry growl from something that sounded quite big. It was best
to keep moving no doubt, Noah thought as the ladder seemingly read his mind and extended out flat again. He could see no
adjoining platform this time, but walked along the ladder anyhow for lack of a better option. Whatever that thing had been
it was best if Noah wasn't around when it came to see who had hit it with a bottle. There was indeed another metal platform,
this one much furhter away and having nothing at all for Noah to pick up and nowhere else to go.
"Bummer." Noah said, shining the flashlight around.
The platform did have a back wall however, rising not more than four feet. All along it were scribblings in blood, most he couldn't make out.
He saw the word help a few times, some choice four letter words also. The only things that really stood out read 'UOYSEVOLEIBBOR'
and 'YNNUBEHTRAEF'. And that was only due to them being written in black as opposed to red, and the inordinate size of the letters.
Noah studed them closer, as he could have sworn he heard footsteps. He turned, shining the flashlight back to the ladder-bridge.
Nothing was there. He turned back to the wall, whirling around again as he was sure he'd heard someone this time.
He kept the flashlight shone on the bridge, sweating cold as fear gripped him. There WERE footsteps, and they were coming closer.
He heard an almost cheerful laugh, and gentle cooing as the footsteps stopped. "Oh no, you have got to be shitting me..." Noah
mummered, as the footsteps picked up their pace, coming quickly towards him now. "You have got to be shitting me!!"
Noah repeated, his shouts echoing into nothingness as Robbie-kun came barreling down the bridge at him. He was moving
extraordinarily fast, yet it seemed more like he was skipping. The pipe still in his hand. Noah backed away and rasied his
pickax as Robbie took a swing at Noah's head. Their melee weapons clashed, Noah catching the horrid white rabbit's
pipe in the pickax's top arch. They were deadlocked, pushing against each other as Robbie did nothing but stare at him with
shiny eyes and mutter arcane things Noah couldn't understand as Robbie's head seemed to be oddly pulled and twisted by space and time.
The huge ears flopped as the bunny's head twtched and convulsed. Noah was petrified, screaming his guts out as Robbie-kun
pushed him aside side with the strength of ten men. They both went over the edge of the platform, falling forverer. Noah could only scream
as he distinctly heard the rabbit sing 'doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo'. Please let me die, Noah thought. Please God let the fall kill me
before it gets any worse...
Noah lay there on the cold metal, wishing it would all go away from him. He didn't think he could take anymore of this. His gaze moved upwards
to rest on that goddamned rabbit again, it's blank and not wholly lifeless eyes staring back at him. Taunting him, daring him to go on
just a little further. A little futher and I'll take your soul, steal it and tuck it into my spiffy hilbilly overalls and skip through this fucking town singing
do wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo. Noah cackled sleepily, as he could picture the rabbit doing just that. Or perhaps, it was daring him to go on
in order to right all the numerous wrongs he'd made. A chance to make it all right, or lose your soul to the fuzzy long eared devil himself.
The true nature of Silent Hill, perhaps. Another chance, winner take all. "I'll take those odds." Noah grumped as if someone had just roused
him from a pleasant nap. He wasn't going to stop here, he wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going to lose to a gigantic blood soaked
pipe wielding mascot or to this hellish town. "I'm Noah Woodens, you sonuvabitch." Noah spat out to the bunny in a subdued voice,
drunk with grief and pain. "Noah fucking Woodens, you got that?" He raved, slapping the bunny hard across it's foamy cheek.
He limped away from the rabbit, examining the menu once more. Under the picture of him the stencling proclaimed
'THE REAL DEAL DOUBLE DECKER-This is what it's all about folks! Our tried and true combination of top grade ham, salami, roast beef
and pastrami meat hunkered down with crisp iceburg lettuce, sweet pickles and four kinds of sliced cheese that will leave you smiling
like you were six again. Try one today! They're selling like hotcakes! It's your last chance don't miss out!-75.'
Noah shook his head in amusement, as miss had the 'M' and 'I' scribbled out in black, replaced with 'W' and then 'U'.
Noah fished around in his pockets for the three remaining quarters, noting that all three selections were exactly 75 cents.
A strikingly good price for today's economy. "I'm not wussing out, you asshole." Noah told the rabbit, glaring at the silly thing as
he rubbed his chin. He had come here to find James, and had found instead that everything that kept his friend was either a lie
or something he could no longer bear to have in his life. "Sorry, my friend." Noah apologized, eyeing the picture of Estelle.
She was who he wanted to find now, dying with James had been his original plan but not anymore. Now he wanted to live, with Estelle.
To get her out of here and make her as happy as he could, as happy as she made him feel. But she'd chose to stay behind, reminding
him with her last words that this was his fight and his alone. Noah had realized that at some point, and also that the only way to see Estelle
again was to go on his own path. And hope she was a part of it, waiting to greet him with that smile of hers at the finish line.
"Alright, here we go." Noah said softly, taking a deep breath to stop his hand from trembling as he touched his own picture and pressed into it.
His fingers went right through, causing the picture to bleed as a small metal obejct slid out from Robbie-kun's pants with a 'ka-ching'.
Noah took brief amusement in that it now looked as if Robbie-kun had an erection, chuckling lightly as he went over to the rabbit.
It was a coin slot, of course, Noah should have seen that coming.
Like the ones in pool tables or laundry machines that make you push the slot back in once you've placed your money into it.
He saw there were four slots, yet he only had three quarters and the menu had advertised each item as costing exactly 75 cents.
Noah shrugged slightly, placing his money in the first three slots. Raising an eyebrow as he met Robbie-kun's eyes, he pushed the
slot back into the bunny. There was a sound of clanking metal gears, as Noah turned towards the sudden noise and hefted the pickax
in his hand. The ladder, seemingly something more than that uncurled again. Only this time straight out across the night sky.
It formed a bridge, connecting to a similar squared metal platform about sixty feet away. An eerrie red light of some sort shone over there,
as Noah began walking across the ladder. It was a little difficult, stepping on the far spaced rungs in such a manner.
He reached the other side, only daring to look down once his feet touched the solid metal of the second platform. The blackness below
seemed infinite, and something within it stirred causing Noah to look away and concentrate on the task at hand. He already knew
there was all sorts of ugliness out to bury him in this town, being big or fearsome didn't mean anything. The platform was almost
devoid of anything, save a small desk with an old wooden chair. Noah sat down in it, making sure it would hold him before resting his
full weight on it. All the drawers of the desk were inexplicably locked, one of them sporting a strange metal plate with a thin slot.
The desktop had only grueseome pictures drawn in varying colors, each sheet of paper a different work of 'art' and seeming to tell
a story. "Can't I just kill something and get the hell out of here?" Noah growled, studying the pictures. None of them held any meaning
for his situation, though one seemed to depict him and James in his apartment. They were essentially stick figures, and the one of Noah
seemed to be talking to James. James looked severely uninterested, a cartoony sweatdrop hanging from his brow. Noah sifted back through the
other drawings, which had all changed. The art now made a little slideshow, with him talking and James looking more and more aggravated
in each picture. The last piece of paper had Noah being stabbed by James who had apparentely had enough.
Noah frowned, pursing his lips as he realized that's how it had been. Until he had formed himself to James' ways, desperate to keep his only
friend. Noah looked back down at the one drawer with the metal plate, acting out of some lurid instinct borne from surviving the town as long
as he had. He took out his knife, now stained with his blood from cutting his shirt to ribbons. He jammed it forceably into the plate's slot,
hearing a blood curdling scream that sounded like James as the plate bled. The drawer remined shut, but the top drawer popped open an inch or two.
Inside it was a final piece of paper, depicting Noah stabbing James first. "Would you really have it come to that, James?" Noah said sadly,
taking a quarter from the drawer. Nothing else was in it, and it wouldn't close again either. Noah stood up, taking hold of his knife as
he pocketed the final coin in his jeans. The knife came free immediately, the blade breaking off inside. Noah sighed, patting the pickax
as he started back across the ladder refusing to look down. 'Don't you give out on me." Noah said to his pickax, not wanting to think
about how he'd do with no weapons at all. Noah reached the first platform again, the metal slot prompty sliding out from Robbie-kun's
crotch. Noah placed the last quarter in it's place, shoving the metal device back into the rabbit for what he hoped was the last time.
The ladder withdrew itself, curling back up to the edge of the platform before extending again, straight up. "Lovely." Noah mused,
resuming the climb. Another platform was not to far up, and held a small bottle of ether along with two health drinks and a
first aid kit for Noah to find. He drank one of the health drinks greedily, throwing the empty bottle off the edge into the void beneath
him just for fun. To his surprise Noah heard a dull thunk, and a loud angry growl from something that sounded quite big. It was best
to keep moving no doubt, Noah thought as the ladder seemingly read his mind and extended out flat again. He could see no
adjoining platform this time, but walked along the ladder anyhow for lack of a better option. Whatever that thing had been
it was best if Noah wasn't around when it came to see who had hit it with a bottle. There was indeed another metal platform,
this one much furhter away and having nothing at all for Noah to pick up and nowhere else to go.
"Bummer." Noah said, shining the flashlight around.
The platform did have a back wall however, rising not more than four feet. All along it were scribblings in blood, most he couldn't make out.
He saw the word help a few times, some choice four letter words also. The only things that really stood out read 'UOYSEVOLEIBBOR'
and 'YNNUBEHTRAEF'. And that was only due to them being written in black as opposed to red, and the inordinate size of the letters.
Noah studed them closer, as he could have sworn he heard footsteps. He turned, shining the flashlight back to the ladder-bridge.
Nothing was there. He turned back to the wall, whirling around again as he was sure he'd heard someone this time.
He kept the flashlight shone on the bridge, sweating cold as fear gripped him. There WERE footsteps, and they were coming closer.
He heard an almost cheerful laugh, and gentle cooing as the footsteps stopped. "Oh no, you have got to be shitting me..." Noah
mummered, as the footsteps picked up their pace, coming quickly towards him now. "You have got to be shitting me!!"
Noah repeated, his shouts echoing into nothingness as Robbie-kun came barreling down the bridge at him. He was moving
extraordinarily fast, yet it seemed more like he was skipping. The pipe still in his hand. Noah backed away and rasied his
pickax as Robbie took a swing at Noah's head. Their melee weapons clashed, Noah catching the horrid white rabbit's
pipe in the pickax's top arch. They were deadlocked, pushing against each other as Robbie did nothing but stare at him with
shiny eyes and mutter arcane things Noah couldn't understand as Robbie's head seemed to be oddly pulled and twisted by space and time.
The huge ears flopped as the bunny's head twtched and convulsed. Noah was petrified, screaming his guts out as Robbie-kun
pushed him aside side with the strength of ten men. They both went over the edge of the platform, falling forverer. Noah could only scream
as he distinctly heard the rabbit sing 'doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo'. Please let me die, Noah thought. Please God let the fall kill me
before it gets any worse...