(A fair warning to all my readers: This is where the story starts to get really, really good… I guess… but this chapter's going to be a doozy, so it might be longer than usual; I have no idea…)

MichelLover67: Yes, this is the beginning of the end, in a way, but there are still a good number of chapters left, I think… I plan to make this as enjoyable as possible.

Gaia Faye: The Brangy Competition was something I thought of some time ago, as it was for a more humorous scenario; actually, I might put that in at the end… The easter egg is found with the scene where James is picking up Nicole; it's something Myron says…

SageoWind218: Yes, I noticed that. I'm going to refer you to my response for Gaia Faye. Another hug will be down in this chapter, or the next, too… I give off those little bits of suspicion of Sydney during those scenes, so that's why he's there… You won't kick me now! Maniacal laughter

The Extremely Crappy Days at Ashfield High

Chappy Twenty-Two: Revelations

Christian awoke suddenly, the faint noise of static running through his ears. It disappeared, however, after a moment, leaving the teenager in complete silence.

Had the subway car stopped? He wasn't completely sure, but no one was there to tell him. It was empty; not a single person was inside the subway car, well, aside from him at least.

Christian looked around, his head suddenly coursing with pain. He found his left hand rising to massage his forehead and as he touched his skin, he felt beads of sweat. Why was he so hot all of a sudden?

He removed his vest, setting it down on the rubber seat beside him. He felt faint, his vision beginning to blur. What was going on?

"So I see it is beginning… I am glad I made it in time…"

Christian turned to the voice, the lights attached to the ceiling starting to flicker. "Can you see? It is only the side affects…"

The teenager squinted, trying to make out the figure that was standing at the end of the subway car. He stood up, craning his head forward.

"Side affects…? What… Who…?"

"It is a drug created through the use of White Claudia… I gave you an extremely small amount; just enough to disable you… Its full effect should not kick in…"

Christian attempted to approach the man, his vision recovering very slightly. "I doubt you know who I am... My name is Jeremy Blackheart, a member of The Order, a religious group which originated in the tourist town of Silent Hill."

Christian froze, his eyes narrowing. "T-The Order…? That… cult? So it is real… I should've known…"

Jeremy smiled, not that Christian could see that he was, though. "Ah, good, good… So you do know of our existence… This saves me from explaining most of the situation to you, not that it would help much… but I suppose you should know…"

"What, what are you talking about?" The blonde teenager wobbled back. "Just… Just what is going on here…?"

"Try to relax, please. In any case, I'd like to make this quick… You see, Christian, you are very crucial to our cause… Actually, you are our cause, but you are, in a way, useless…"

"W-What…?"

"I had believed that you were the human manifestation of God, but you are not; you are merely a shell, harboring God's soul… We needed an appropriate host, someone who was, at the very least, somewhat close to you… A friend… I believe some of my associates have already secured that person…"

It was difficult for Christian to take all of this in, but that last part fueled him with anger. "W-Who…? Who did you-,"

"It doesn't matter at this point, Christian, as you won't actually care in a few hours… We must be on our way; there is no time to waste."

And with that, Jeremy removed a handgun from his coat and shot the teenager once in the heart.

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"S-So, you t-t-think I c-c-c-could get a d-drive h-h-h-home, J-Josh?" asked Myron as he walked beside the brown- haired teenager.

"Uh, sure, my dad should be here in about half an hour, anyway…" Joshua yawned as he stopped. "Oh, crap, I forgot…"

"What?"

"I have to go pick up this book… Mr. Wells said he wanted to check it out, so I've got to go get it."

"Oh, o-okay…" Myron replied while backing away. "I'll j-j-just go g-get something f-f-f-from the vending m-m-machine."

Joshua nodded and headed back into the high school; he passed Ms. Mason along the way…

"Oh, Joshua is Christian still here?" she inquired quickly, causing him to turn. "Christian? No, he left right after school ended; why?"

"I wanted to ask him about the composition I issued… Where are you off to, by the way? You seem to be in a rush…"

Joshua scratched his head. "I'm picking up something from Mr. Wells; he told me to get it from after school, anyway."

Ms. Mason nodded. "Alright… Have a good day…" Her student nodded back and continued walking, but she watched him.

'Wells… I better keep an eye on him…'

She followed.

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Mr. Sydney Wells sighed as he read through the last pages of the journal. 'I had no idea Joseph kept a record of the events…'

He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes glancing around his classroom…

There was a knock on his open door. With his back to the entrance, his head didn't turn. "Yes?"

"Uh… I came for the journal, Mr. Wells… Are you done with it?"

"Joshua… Please, could you close the door?"

"Um… okay…" The brunette teenager closed the door, a tad confused by his teacher's actions. "Can I have the journal now?"

"Tell me, Joshua, do you know who Walter Sullivan is?"

Joshua shrugged. "He's that serial killer person…"

"Yes, yes he is… Your father, he… never told you about his stay at South Ashfield Heights, has he?"

Joshua shook his head, still bewildered. "Sir, what does this have to do with me picking up the journal?"

"It has everything to do with it…" Mr. Wells stood, his face and body still facing the chalkboard. "Your father tried to hide it, I suppose; he didn't want to frighten or confuse you… Didn't want to complicate your life…"

"No disrespect sir, but what the hell are you talking about? I just want the journal… I mean, I don't know what my dad did there… was it drug- related or something? Did he do something naughty?"

Mr. Wells chuckled, turning to the teenager. "It would seem your father hasn't been completely honest with you, and I am to blame for that as well."

"Okay… What?"

"I am not Sydney Wells… It is merely a false identity I created a number of years ago… It took time, and carefulness, but it made things so much smoother…"

Joshua cocked his right eyebrow up. "So… Okay… If that's true, who are you?"

The man formerly known as Sydney Wells reached behind his head and undid the ponytail, allowing his clean, blonde hair to fall. "I am… Walter Sullivan."

Joshua took his backpack off and dropped it on the floor before unzipping it. "That's pretty ridiculous, Mr. Wells… That guy's dead, now, could you stop with the jokes and give me the journal?" he asked while taking out a granola bar.

"I wish it were that easy, but I'm not joking around…" he walked out from behind his desk, his brown coat swaying slightly. "Walter Sullivan was dead, but that was until you were born… Joshua, please pay attention…"

The teenager looked up as he tore off the wrapper of the bar. "Um, yeah, when I was born… Can I have the journal back now?"

Ignoring the question, he continued. "You see, Joshua, because of you, my life was returned… and I owe that to your father and mother…"

"Uh… The journal?"

"Henry never realized it… that you, in a way, were my reincarnation, but if you are my new form, I shouldn't be here…"

Joshua sighed a very annoyed sigh. "Okay, cut the crap, Mr. Wells, and give me the journal!"

The teenager stared expectantly at Walter, waiting for him to hand over the red book. Unfortunately, Walter did no such thing. "As much as I'd like to, you can't have it… Not yet, at least… You have to understand first, as you are the true Final Sign… The unison between Receiver of Wisdom and the Mother Reborn…"

Joshua took a bite out of the granola bar. "Okay, fine, I'll listen…"

Walter nodded. "Good… I'm not surprised your parents kept the truth away from you; they might not have understood at the time, either… Do you know what the '21 Sacraments' are, Joshua?"

"Is it something I should know…? You're really confusing me, Mr. Wells."

"The '21 Sacraments' was a ritual in which twenty- one souls were sacrificed to bring about the Holy Mother, who would bring salvation to the nation of sin… I believed it was possible to free my mother through that ritual… Free her from this disgusting world…"

Joshua plopped the rest of the bar into his mouth, quickly downing it. "Go on, go on," said the teenager as he folded his arms.

"The ritual was never completed; the two final Sacraments eluded me, and I died, by your father's hand… but I didn't really die, as it was impossible to completely kill me… I existed, and yet I did not exist… My soul and body had been separated once again, but not for long; my soul found a new host, your body…"

"And is that because my parents were the last two Sacrament- thingies…?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay… Continue."

"So, I finally understood; the only way to complete the '21 Sacraments' was to kill you, the true Last Sign, but-,"

"Okay, what?"

"…but I couldn't, even though I could've easily found your home once I was revived… You see, I awoke in Room 302 of South Ashfield Heights, and I had no clue of what had happened. Then, gradually, the memories began to seep back in… But I also acquired memories that weren't my own… Henry, and your mother, they were both in them, and I began to realize that I was seeing life through the eyes of a child, slowly growing and maturing… And as I learned the truth, I could not… kill you…"

"Uh, why not?"

"A bit of a selfish reason, actually… I was curious to see how having a mother…" Walter swallowed hard, "…and a father was really like. I began to envy you… hate you, for once again I was cheated out of what I really wanted…"

Walter smiled, chuckling. "But I bid my time… Preparing for the day when I would complete the '21 Sacraments'… and today is that day, Joshua."

The teenager yawned loudly. "Okay, are you done now, Mr. Wells? That wasn't a very funny joke, and I want the journal back, but I'll give you points for having a very big imagination."

Walter did not respond, just continued to stare at the boy.

"Can I have the journal now? My dad might be here by now, and Myron's waiting too."

"This isn't a joke, Joshua…"

"Then what is it?" Joshua responded, taking a few moments to return his former teacher's stare. His eyes widened extremely slightly.

"You're telling the truth… aren't you?" he asked very nervously, slowly backing away. Walter gave a small nod as he began to approach the teenager. "I've waited sixteen years…"

Joshua's eyes darted around, searching for an escape route, or a weapon, or something!

'Oh God, oh God, oh God…. He's going to freakin' kill me!'

Suddenly finding something, he quickly dove for a lone pencil on the desk beside him; grasping it firmly in his right hand he stabbed it forward, plunging it into the serial killer's chest.

'Score!'

Walter seemed a bit bewildered; he wasn't really expecting for that to happen. Nevertheless, after a few moments of staring the pencil, he grabbed it and jerked it out.

Joshua stared at the wound, startled, his jaw gaping.

"Now, Joshua… don't be difficult," stated Walter as he threw the pencil to the floor. That was it for the teenager; he pulled the door wide open and ran out.

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Myron sighed as he waited for the candy bar to fall from its place inside the vending machine. It was taking forever, as was Joshua, who'd gone to pick up some book from Mr. Wells.

The other machine right next to this one didn't even work at all, and as Myron glanced at it, he noticed that all of the students, teachers, and other people were gone; what was even stranger, was that no automobiles were present. There was a vague mist floating around as well…

"I'm going to get a snack!"

Suddenly, a young woman with short blonde hair wearing something a Gothic person would wear skipped over to the other vending machine, eyeing its contents.

"Hey, Alexis, you want something?" she shouted as she turned back. Myron turned to where she was looking, seeing a somewhat old brown van. It was parked abstractly in the parking lot, and a young man with red hair was leaning against it, his arms crossed. He was pretty much wearing the same black coat, shirt, and pants as the woman.

Receiving no response, Catherine turned back to the machine. She removed a crumpled up dollar from her coat pocket and inserted it into the small pocket; she then punched in a few buttons on the pad, and waited… A few seconds later, something hit the bottom of the machine; Catherine bent down, stuck her hand into the opening, and took the bag of chips before running back to Alexis.

Myron couldn't believe it; the vending machine worked!

As he was trying to understand how it did work, however, Joshua suddenly came running out of the school doors.

"Myron!" he exclaimed loudly as he stopped in front of the geek. "Come on, we have to go…"

"J-Joshua! D-D-D-D-Did you g-get the book?"

"What…? No, no I didn't, but we have to get out of here, he's-,"

Joshua ceased talking as he looked around, noticing the area was empty of life… Alexis and Catherine were nowhere to be seen. "Where the hell is everybody?"

Myron shrugged. "I d-d-don't know. Anyway w-w-w-what's t-the p-p-problem?"

Joshua shook his head. "There isn't time to explain…"

There was a sudden scream, which caused both of them to turn and see Catherine running back to the van and throwing the back doors open. Alexis followed, and he was holding what seemed like a female girl by the arms.

Myron nudged Joshua in the arm. "Isn't t-t-that N-Nicole?"

Joshua folded his arms. "Actually, I think you're right… but why are those people… Wait… It's that guy!"

"W-Who?"

"That guy from the store! He humiliated me!"

"Okay, b-b-b-but what a-a-about N-Nicole?"

"We have to go…"

"What?"

"They're obviously kidnapping Nicole for some reason, so we just sneak into the back compartment."

"W-Wait, J-J-Josh…"

Before Myron could even protest, Joshua was already racing for the van…

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Catherine climbed into the passenger seat of the van, while Alexis got into the driver's. She turned to Nicole, who was gagged, with her hands tied behind her back.

"Um, are you comfortable? Is the rope too tight?"

Since Nicole was gagged, you couldn't really tell what she was saying, but it was most likely a curse.

"Don't bother the girl, Catherine," said Alexis as he put his seat belt on. "We have to hurry."

"But can't we get something to eat?"

"No… we can't; Jeremy wants us in Silent Hill as soon as we can get there; he has most likely already acquired the boy…"

As the two were talking, Joshua quickly opened up the back compartment double- doors of the van and hopped inside. He was soon accompanied by Myron, who was taking a breath from his inhaler.

Catherine and Alexis had no idea of this, and Joshua quickly tapped Nicole on the shoulder. She wiggled over onto her side, looking up at him with a surprised expression.

He smiled and gave her a wave, before pointing at Myron, who was inspecting a blanket of some sort. "I t-think w-w-we can use t-t-this f-for h-hiding," he said in a hushed whisper.

Joshua nodded as the van began to drive away from the school.

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Walter Sullivan stroked his chin as he walked up to the window, watching the van drive off. He smiled. "And so the game begins…"