Speaking of reviews, due to this stupid rule that you can't answer reviews in your own story, I'll have to answer them on my profile (it will be at the very top).
Now if you'll excuse me, I have the next chapter and two bday fics to work on. xp
Silent Hill 2: Founded Fears
Ch. 12
Innocence
When Angela awoke, she was no longer in the depths of the church, but rather what looked like the depths of the earth. Mother Samantha was the last image to run through her mind before it became blank.
"Thats not my real Mama, but she's so much better than the other."
Mother Samantha... how long had it been since that day...
...Angela was now a blossoming 15 year old in St. Peter's School for Catholics. Her bosom was already near that of a grown woman's, her hips were shaped to give her a nice hourglass figure, and her uniform complimented her in every way; something the other girls would have killed for.
Yet, she was the most misunderstood, most picked on, and most alone in the entire school; an oddity, considering how most teenagers were usually like (which would be, of course, social, outgoing, and for the lack of a better term, horny). It wasn't that people weren't attracted to her, but more like that they found so much wrong with her personality that they really couldn't find it in their shallow little hearts to accept her, and instead they opted to torment her endlessly. It is said that if a chick were to be injured, other chicks and even grown chickens would peck at the wounded one until it died. Children are no different, and Angela had major injuries, although not on the outside. Every day, she would stray away from men in such a fashion that it was questionable whether or not she was attracted to them. This led to rumors that she happened to be lesbian, and lesbians really weren't all that appreciated in Catholic School as much as they were in the porn industry. Every day, she was shunned for her non-conforming ways, non-conforming meaning that she would not respond to any boy's advance on her, damaging the pride of quite a few, and her absolute refusal to chat with the other girls about subjects such as how much make up to buy, what to wear, who is making eyes at whom, etc. Angela didn't participate because she thought that the others were shallow and were no better than the whores Daddy met with. The girls turned it around and called her stuck up, and they made sure that everyone in the school knew about it.
So there she was, walking down the halls having to endure whispers and snickers, as well as braid pulling when she (and the teacher) weren't looking, having books knocked out of her bag, and constant sexual harassment. The last was the worst, as Angela never took those without some kind of violent reaction. Normal people would be scared whenever someone tried to rip their hair out or try to bite them in the jugular vein, but these aren't normal people we're talking about-they're middle schoolers, and where there are middle schoolers, there are teachers who are just as bad as the students when it comes to discipline. The manipulative bastards always tease Angela when the instructor's back was turned, and when they got a reaction out of her, they would call out to the teacher, or they would turn around and see Angela reacting, and Angela would be sent to the office again, in shame and defeat.
...Just about everyone was getting away with touching her. And Angela was truly helpless to control her anger. To top it all off, she was to afraid of the threats made to her by other students that if she ever told, worse things would happen to her (Angela's imagination really scared her, as she imagined what kind of things 'worse' might be).
Truly, there was only one haven away from these little brats, and that was Mother Samantha's room. She was the only one of the nuns that did not scold Angela, and she was very kind to her. Angela even considered her as a second mother, seeing as how she had the same first name as her real mother. She was smart enough, however, not to tell this Samantha Orosco-where Daddy's power laid in manipulation and physical abuse, Mama's power lay in psychological torture and derogatory comments towards Angela's sexuality and 'slut like' behavior. One more than one occasion, Mama's words have left Angela on the verge of killing herself.
At least Angela knew that in Samantha's office, she knew that she was safe. She knocked on her door, and entered the room when a, "Come in" chimed from the other side.
The office was furnished with many, many teddy bear paraphernalia. That much would be obvious to someone who first walked into the vicinity. The shelves were adorned with tiny bears with black button eyes and various outfits, which included blue collar workers, a fisherman, and a nun of all things. Aside from pictures of herself and her family, the rest of the wall was occupied by pictures of bear cubs and mama bears, as well as Teddy Roosevelt, holding his rifle while looking proud over one of his latest kills. Angela noted with pride that one of the bears on the shelf was her own bear given to her. Angela intended to have it back someday, but loaned it to Samantha while she was attending school, mainly because Angela knew she would like it, and also that for the time being, she would take care of it better than herself. Angela sat down in front of Mother Samantha, who had tea ready for herself and some cold juice for Angela, who never really liked tea at all.
"Hello Angela," began Samantha, "how were your studies today?"
"They have gone very well, thank you for asking," responded Angela in her usual courteous fashion reserved only for the woman before her.
"What have you learned today, might I ask?"
"Um... lets see... I believe we covered those angels in the beginning of the book of Revelations. They were all very interesting."
Samantha nodded, "Very nice, little one," she took a sip before continuing, "You are most definetly progressing in your studies. You are already ahead of the other children in so many ways."
"Thank you, Mother Samantha. That means a lot to me."
Angela meant what she said.
As two hours passed, talks went from studying to that of how life was at home. Angela was usually shy around that part, but she chose to talk about it anyway, as she always felt that she could trust Mother Samantha. The two conversed for quite a while, although something was clearly bothering Samantha. As their conversation drew to a close, Samantha finally stated what was on her mind.
"Are your mother and brother treating you okay?"
Angela looked stunned at the question, but only for a split second before she changed her demeanor to that of meekness.
"Why yes... they always treat me the way I should..."
"...Angela...," began Samantha after a brief silence, "I know how hard it was for you to go through that whole ordeal with your father three years ago. And I know that it must be hard on your family as well. Especially David. I knew for a fact that he was being strong armed into obeying your father and being loyal to your family as well. I could see it whenever his parents were being made fun of as kids teased him. He would adopt a dangerous look on his face as though he wanted to kill the person. Very unstab- Oh, I'm sorry Angela. Am I upsetting you with this?"
Angela was looking a little haggard as Samantha had kept talking. It wasn't because that she was offended, but rather what Samantha had said struck home. How often did her brother and mother tell her to be good and keep quiet about what went on between them so that the family wouldn't be shamed? How life would get worse for her if she told what happened? And this wasn't a threat from them, but a threat from society that couldn't love girls who seduced their fathers by being born and losing their virginity. If they found out how bad her family really was, she knew that everyone in the world would leave her for dead.
Even Samantha.
But what was important was that Samantha didn't know what was going on, and that it was kept secret.
...But she knew that Mother Samantha was worried, so Angela knew what to say.
"Nothing is wrong. Not with what you say or what happens at home," Angela responded with a fake smile, "and while my family isn't perfect, I know for a fact that God can forgive anything."
Samantha's face showed some relief, before being replaced with worry at what Angela said next.
"Besides which, according to the scriptures, since God can forgive anything, then there is no need to worry about what they do to me, because they'll want to go back to God's path eventually, so until then, I can suffer anything they give me."
"...Angela-"
"I mean, whats the big deal about such matters if God can pardon anything?"
"Angela," Samantha said more sternly, observing the false hope in her eyes.
"And if he can forgive those people, surely he can forgive me for what happened between me and Dad-"
"ANGELA!"
Angela stared stock still at Samantha, who had never yelled at anyone before. Never.
...Surely, this must be a sign that she did something wrong. Her eyes began to tear up.
"Mother, I'm... I'm...," her mouth started to quiver. Samantha, surprised and ashamed of herself for that outburst, got up, walked over and comforted Angela. Angela, surprised at this, lost her resolution and began to cry on Samantha's shoulder, letting out everything from self loathing to frustration that she so long held inside.
When her sobbing started to subside, Angela began to talk again.
"Listen to me carefully, child. God can forgive anyone, but he can't save all."
Angela looked up, a bit of curiousity showing through her tears.
"Why is that? What kind of people who can't be saved?"
"People who don't want forgiveness, and those who refuse to be accepted into God's way."
Angela now gave a puzzled look. Nuns never usually spoke this way.
"Do you understand? The bible does contain God's words, but it is made into man's interpretations. God can forgive. But there are those that are beyond his salvation. The scriptures can lead to worse things because misinterpretation has often lead to misunderstandings."
"But-"
"No buts," Samantha said sharply. She would not see another child lose themself like this, "Obey the the rules of God, but be wise in who and what you trust. Understand?"
"...Yes, Mother Samantha," said Angela, resigned.
"I'm going to go home now."
Angela picked up her bag and left in a hurry. Samantha plopped down on her chair, feeling tired all of a sudden. Just then, a man wearing a gray business suit came in and sat down. He had deep green eyes, dark skin, and a bald head. The only reason why Samantha allowed this rude intrusion was because that she already promised to meet this man earlier, but she got preoccupied with Angela. She was lucky that he was still here.
"Hello, Mr. Schreiber," greeted Samantha.
Schreiber grinned and responded back in kind.
"Did you understand everything in the document that I left you?"
"Of course," his grin dropped, "how did you manage to stand the company of those bastards?"
The document was an account of an undercover investigation Samantha did earlier (unusual for a nun, but Samantha wasn't a nun that was too conservative about compliance towards 'her role'). She wrote it in the event that she was killed. She had good reason to fear-the undercover investigation was done at the Wish House of Silent Hill, an orphanage run by a cult that brainwashed children and kept them in prison cells, where they were abused and starved, among other things. Normally, Samantha wouldn't do something so dangerous, but her love of children was only surpassed by her love of God, and she could never forgive herself if she didn't bring this cult to light. She knew for a fact that people who got too close had died, but that was a risk someone had to take. That was why Joseph Schreiber was in her office right now.
"I could barely stand them. Only my religion stopped me from pulling out a katana and slaughtering them all."
Joseph gave her a quizzical glance.
"You like japanese media, don't you?"
Samantha just smirked.
"I'll start immediately," continued Joseph, "although, I don't know how much I'll be able to find out about these people. They seem really secretive."
"Thats alright. Just get the basics out there."
"...One more question, Mother."
"Yes?"
"Thats the first time I heard you yell at a kid like that. Was something wrong?"
"...How long were you waiting outside?"
"Lets just say that I won't be reading the Bible for a while. Too much to question," he teased.
Samantha rolled her eyes, then spoke:
"She was too much like this one child that was being led on in that place."
Joseph nodded his head.
"His name... was Walter," Samantha paused, remembering her account with meeting him, "The scriptures he read were not only for some sort of Satanic ritual, but also gave him a misunderstanding of what it did. The Holy Mother that he wants to summon is not the mother he wants to meet-he was abandoned as a baby and longs to see her-but rather it seems to be a spell to revive a suitable host body for a demon to be born in, the so-called 'Holy Mother'. Whats really bad is that the witch Dahlia encourages this boy in this belief, telling him to go through with it. If something isn't done... he may end up killing 21 people."
Joseph was silent about this.
"Angela looked exactly like that boy when he told me about the 21 Sacraments, and I didn't want her to be fooled by pages in a book."
"A rather loose thing to call the Bible."
"You have no idea what the true origins of that thing is, although its still good to follow, for the most part anyway."
Samantha paused, thinking, then started again:
"I've decided that I'm not going to let you be the only one playing hero."
The reporter raised an eyebrow at this.
"I've suspected something was happening with this girl and her family, and that comment just terrified me. I'm going to call the social services and accompany them to her house. I didn't do it earlier because there was no proof of abuse, but... I should have followed my instinct."
"...You're a truly good woman, albeit a bit strange. I'll do my part to the best extent and expose these guys," Joseph said, "After all, you were the only person brave enough to actually fight these guys, knowing the consequences. I shall do the like."
The dark toned man got up from his seat.
"I wish you luck with her family."
He shook her hand, then left. When she was alone, Samantha allowed herself one final phrase before leaving the office:
"And I'll wish all that luck transferred to Angela.