I have returned... Tee hee!
This oughta be fun...
All right, to the reviewers!
diddly day: Yay! I like the couple too... There's not many HxE stories out there, but then again, there's not that many SH4 stories either. You never know with Eileen... As for your question about Haley, yes, there is a lot of me in her. The volleyball, creative writing, chocolate ice-cream, her being brunette... most of her likes, dislikes, hobbies are mine. The only thing that's really different is her age and physical features, though I am brunette with brown eyes. Also, our names aren't the same. I wanted to give her my first name... but... nah. Also, I never meant to threaten you... Sorry. I can take a good bit of creative criticism, so don't worry! Thanks!
SaddenedSoul: I am not harming SH:TOWCE. I meant that if I didn't have the original characters, then Cynthia and Richard or someone would have to magically appear from nowhere for the plot to work out. But... you are due for a kick::kicks:I want the Walter dummy::smashes Pipe into wall: IwantitIwantitIwantit! Also, I can't just run from teh ghosties! ... It's too much fun hitting Victim 13...
:laughs: Henry does, he will... and she won't. Thanks.
Gaia Faye: Shy Henry is the best Henry... though I can see him doing the chicken dance in front of a million people. Haley is basically there to be an anti-Eileen, but at the same time, be the match-maker.
As for PR and South Ashfield, I'm lazy. Also, I knew that... Haley has a Southern accent, another attribute of mine and I think she shall come from the lovely state of Georgia. Now, why is she up North? She has family up in Pleasant River, but she decided that Ashfield would be a better place to live. Why? You'll have to wait and see...Cotton... Ha! No, I will not start a flame war with diddly day. ... I like her story too much. I've never flamed anybody either to my knowledge... Thanks for the review!
Question: Why on EARTH do you three know what the other said in their review? It scared me...
Literary Alchemist: Room of Angel: Thanks!
Sanguine Insanity: I wouldn't say ALL Americans have no sense of irony. I know I have none. Glad you liked my stories! Thanks!
The Hardest Part: Thanks!
Okay... !Warnings! Spoilers, possible language... evil, and all that jazz.
I do not own anything from SILENT HILL; the lovely people at Konami does though. Nor do I own 'The Hardest Part,' which is sung by Coldplay. Their album rocks...
-
The Hardest Part
Chapter Two: Bittersweet, I Could Taste in My Mouth
-
"I want you to meet my boyfriend, Henry. I think you and him would get along!"
Why was this so difficult?
Henry winced at the hurt that sparked through his heart as he clutched the phone tightly, his breath quivering slightly as Eileen waited happily for some type of response from him. He couldn't even think... he was in absolute shock that Eileen would have the audacity to ever suggest this new man and Henry meeting. It was enough to be shunned away by the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but to hear that she wanted them to actually see each other personally... Henry could have sworn tears were prickling threateningly at his emerald eyes... it ached so heavily in his chest...
"Henry?"
How dare she... How could she... his thoughts all melded together like liquid being stirred so maliciously as he thought of the many ways to escape, but he was too sick at his stomach... He had the sudden to urge to throw up... to expel of his insides so heavily that he might choke and die... he could leave this miserable life... He wouldn't have to hear about 'Brad Caulns' and how much greater he was than himself... how perfect he was for Eileen...
"Are you all right, Henry?"
Why him?
"Y-yeah... I'm fine... That'd... be nice..."
"Really? Ah!" she squealed joyously and he pulled the phone away from his ear to keep his hearing around for a few more minutes though his eardrum still rung... "Oh, maybe you could bring Haley!"
Henry flinched at the image of Haley near this Brad-guy before shuddering in fear. Oh, God, that was the last thing he needed...
A happy Brad and Eileen plus a sad Henry equals one Hell of a pissed off Southern belle... it was nothing more than simple arithmetic, really. Easy as one, two, three... Now, why couldn't Eileen see that the equation meant trouble for all of them?
"I could," he replied meekly. "I'll have to see if she doesn't have classes..." He tapped his fingers against the phone, hoping that she would pick a date where Haley would have to go to Pleasant River University for the day and wouldn't be back until nightfall with a whole lot of work to do. Or maybe she would pick a day where she would have to work at Books-A-Million... or go see family... or do something that would take time away from the
He could hope...
"How's the twenty-first sound?" she asked obliviously, unaware of the importance of the date's number. He heard her pen scribble against a piece of paper as she waited but he found that he couldn't right off the bat...
In fact, Henry had stopped all motion and the room became quiet aside from his short breaths. He could feel it... that nerve was on its last stand... It was pummeled by thoughts and evil memories until finally, deep inside, that tiny nerve snapped... so deep inside of his mind... He couldn't think for a long second, his mind going off into an eerie ebony mist where nothing was heard or seen... but something about hearing that... num...ber... it... sc...ared... h...im...
"Receiver of Wisdom... Twenty-first Sacrament..."
His vision flickered darkness and crimson as his mind flashed treacherous memories of decayed monsters and gore and rust encrusted everywhere around him... Corpse-like ghosts hovered along the putrid air, searching for a victim to appease their anger on while wandering their eternal Hell. A disfigured doll in a wheelchair asking for its lost parts so that it could prepare for the Receiver of Wisdom... Eileen possessed, walking straight to her death with dark violet veins crisscrossing on her injured skin... It was all too much to take and to add to his horrific dilemma, the smell of burning flesh met his nostrils and he lurched forward, his throat burning as acidic blood spilled from his mouth. The sound of him vomiting sanguine alerted Eileen enough to knock her out of her peaceful trance to realize that something was wrong with her friend.
"Henry! What's wrong!"
He gasped then choked on his words as blood slipped heavily from his mouth and onto his torso and the carpet, staining both wretchedly. He trembled and as his eyes hazed over, he felt another presence in the room with him... just behind him... looming there... waiting to kill him... waiting to finish what He had started... Henry began to pant in fear of the malicious presence and from the bodily malfunctions he was dealing with. He clutched the bed-sheets tightly as his body was wracked with anguish and his head began to feel heavy as his nausea heightened. He wouldn't last much longer...
"I-I... Eileen... He-help...He's--!"
His body and mind had finally taken enough abuse and Henry's body fell to the floor with a loud thud as he fainted from the extremity of the ghastly remembrances plaguing his fragile mind. Eileen's frantic shouts echoed throughout the room from the telephone, unaware of His insane grin. The shadow-like presence loomed about the room, watching his prey and listening to the woman's panicked shrills before He found Himself staring down at the unconscious man by his feet. He knelt down, letting his calloused and grimy fingers caress the man's neck as His other hand delved into His coat pocket before drawing out a small knife.
"One step closer..."
-
Haley was not in a good mood...
She had a term paper due in the morning... she had to go to work in thirty minutes... and now, Eileen calls to ask her if she would come with Henry to meet Brad before telling her that Henry had a 'weird episode' or something like that before he fainted...
The brunette had no idea why Henry loved a senseless, ignorant woman like Eileen...
So, here she was, rushing out the door to run into Room 302 to see if Henry was okay. ... God only knows how much trouble it would be for Eileen to do it herself with her little boyfriend waiting for her. She was lucky that Haley didn't let out her frustration on her... In fact, many little defamatory names entered her mind menacingly as she quickly opened Henry's door... But that wasn't terribly important right then.
Panting slightly, she turned right and reaching the end of the hallway before turning the knob to the bedroom and thrusting forward to see if...
Once the sight registered, she screamed.
Henry was sprawled carelessly on his stomach with dried blood covering his chin as his head laid in the blood-soaked carpet. In one limp hand, Haley could see the white plastic of the phone, which scratched the deathly tense air with its electronic beeping. She brought a pale hand to her shivering lips as she approached his body slowly; afraid of finding whatever caused this incident. When no person or thing came out from the shadows, she fell to her knees to turn Henry over on his back.
She grabbed his farthest shoulder with her shaking hands before pulling it toward her, her erratic breath accompanying his soft groan as she effectively turning him over.
Nothing seemed wrong expect for the blood all over his rough chin and bland shirt and she sighed as she placed a hand to her chest, thankful that he was all right. Haley, however, took no chances after her relieved moment was over and began to look over his body for anything out of place. Her fingers slid through his hair softly, checking for any knots he might have gotten from his fall to the floor but she found none, which made her sigh once more. Then, her nimble hands glided down to his neck where she felt something freshly carved into the juncture between his shoulder, just under the collar of his shirt...
She traced the wound, mouthing out what she sketched with the now ensanguined pads of her long, white fingers...
...21121...
Confusion etched across her brow and she began to look around for the object that could have cut into Henry's flesh. Haley was sure that she would have something, but she found nothing truly dangerous around his bedroom and she could only safely assume someone had come in and done this crime before rushing out with the weapon in hand.
Humming a tune, the brunette placed her hand over the phone and set it back on the hook, stopping the incessant ringing that annoyed her to the quick before getting Henry onto his bed and heading to the bathroom to wet a washcloth to wash his face with.
As she entered the bedroom again, the phone rang. She was sure it was Eileen checking to see if Henry was all right and Haley had already come up with a few good words to tell the older woman with. She answered the telephone before sitting on the bed beside Henry and wiping the blood off of his chin.
"Hello?"
"Anti... A-Anti..."
The voice was nothing like Eileen's, nor did it sound anything like a human's. To Haley, the person on the other line was something similar to a snake...
"Um... there's no 'Anti-'"
"AntiSacrament... He looks for you..."
Haley became quiet, her chocolate-colored eyes widening at this unknown person's strange statement. It's breathing became harsh wheezes and she shuddered as if a piece of ice fell down her back, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the phone. She began to stutter, unsure of what she was saying, but needing to place her mind on something. "Wh-who's looking f-for--?"
"You are His enemy...You hurt Him... You fight against Him...You must die..."
The dial tone followed those horrendous words and Haley sat frozen for several moments, her heart racing along with her mind, which was trying to come up with a meaning to the voice's statements.
-
Eileen didn't call for the rest of the day, and Haley was still tending to Henry, who had gained consciousness about an hour after the mysterious phone call. She didn't burden him with the conversation she had after she had found him, but she did get on to him about scaring her to death...
"Like I was supposed to know that I would throw up blood and pass out today?"
She was about to retort back from her place in front of the stove, but she held it in as her mind went back to the numbers on Henry's neck. He hadn't mentioned them, so she was sure that he didn't know about them. But now, she was curious about the phone call and the numbers, and she felt it in her place to find out. But not right now... not while she was taking care of him.
So, she let her mind drift from curiosity to anger.
"Eileen isn't going to call back."
Emerald orbs blinked at her, and she knew he was thinking about the conversation between himself and the woman in question. Haley wanted Henry to be happy, she really did... she just thought that Eileen wasn't the person he would be happy with. Eileen was outgoing and laid-back where Henry was quiet and shy along with being serious. They just didn't seem to match as a couple, but the younger brunette had to get them together some how... for Henry's sake. Speaking of Henry...
"How bad did you want to kill this guy when she talked about him?"
She turned her head and through her slightly obscured vision, she saw the damage Eileen and her new boyfriend had done to him emotionally. The college student sighed sadly, wishing that there were some way to cheer up Henry when he was like this, but there was nothing to do be done about it. Leaving him alone to wallow in his own grief was about the best anyone could do... and Haley hated doing that to him. If sweets made him happy, she would bake endlessly for him; if just talking about it did the trick, she would give up her precious time to sit there and discuss what was ailing his heart... But nothing worked. Henry was just one of those people who didn't want to talk or find comfort in eating twelve pounds of baked goods... He was complex; a difficult puzzle that needed to be put together soon or else he would harm himself mentally, emotionally, and physically, but try as she might, she couldn't breach his seemingly fragile surface... Whenever she tried, it would sustain itself, slightly quiver, and then still itself as it protected him from anyone that wanted to know his problems.
But he would have to deal with her worrisome behavior until she was sure she could leave him by himself.
"I didn't want to kill him," he answered quietly as his fingers fidgeted while she stirred the stew she was cooking in her pot. The loud crackle of grease against battered chicken took away the desired silence as she deposited the breaded poultry into the hot skillet and Henry stood up from his place on the couch and came over to sit in one of the stools at the island. He stared at her with a longing gaze as she continued to cook dinner for the both of them and a drifting thought slithered to his attention.
"Why can't I fall in love with you?"
She gasped as the porcelain bowl she had in her grasp almost fell though some of its contents dropped onto the white tiled floor. Exhaling her relief, she placed the dish onto the counter before heading over to the sink to wet a rag to wipe up the mess. He watched her the whole while, waiting for her to answer, but she was obviously eluding the question, because the second the floor was impeccably clean, she was back to tending to the food.
"Answer me, Haley..." he said grimly, indicating his serious as he lowered his head for his eyes to be shaded by his long, brunet bangs. Despite his impatient tone, however, she stayed silent as she opened the nearest cabinet to retrieve a new, smaller bowl to ladle some of the beef stew into it for him. Stepping to him, she carefully placed the dark blue bowl before him and as she tried to walk away, he grabbed her wrist harshly. She shrieked abruptly and through her own bangs, gazed at him with apprehension and shock.
She tried to pull herself away from his grip, but he held strong, watching her with solemn, lonely orbs of verdant. "L-let me go, Henry..." she whispered as she yielded by letting her head fall. He shook his head sadly, slackening his grasp enough to gently draw her closer to him.
"Tell me..."
She slowly tilted her head enough to show him her tears, and he noticed her eyes darted to his left shoulder. He tensed when her over hand touched said shoulder, but he did nothing to stop her. Her body trembled before falling against him in a wail of melancholy and anxiety, her arms wrapping around his neck as he coiled his around her waist. "I-I can't... be her, Henry... You love her, not me..."
Rubbing her back contentedly, he whispered lovingly into her ear; "I know that... And I'm sorry..."
"You scared me, you heartless jerk! When she called to leisurely tell me that you had collapsed! She acted as if you had just stopped talking! 'Can you go check on Henry? He's having problems...' If she cares for you as she says or acts or whatever she does to make you think you have a chance, she sure didn't show it then! She didn't even hear anyone else that could have cut those numbers into you!"
All sadness and passion was cast aside at her last sentence and Henry jerked away from her enough to glare into her eyes in cold, undisguised fear.
"What numbers?"
She sniffled and she sobbed pathetically as he shook her slightly, demanding an answer from her. Quickly shaking her youthful head, her hair flinging itself everywhere at her emotional outbreak, she inhaled the air around them deeply through her lips in an attempt to calm herself down. It worked, thankfully, and she composed herself enough to mumble a reply to him. "When I came to make sure you hadn't died or something... I check your shoulders for any wounds... I found freshly cut numbers in your neck..."
"What are they?"
"21121, I think..."
She went on telling him about the phone call she had gotten afterwards, but he was too shocked to do anything but stare at her, his disbelief showing all over his handsome features.
'He can't be alive... can he?'
-
End of Chapter Two
-
I know, I know... I didn't put Eileen's boyfriend in her, but I did put his name in there! Oh, yeah... the AntiSacrament thing... This is something I have been working on for a while... When I mean 'while,' I mean that I thought up the idea about four months ago. I went all and out with the AntiSacrament idea, and my Xanga account is 'AntiSacrament.' It might be a little chopped up, and maybe its a little confusing and stupid, but I do intend to make it somewhat understandable. If I don't... sorry.