Silent Hill: The Inner Monster
Page 13
By John Priest (Noctros, Drake, Efrit, etc)
*John's Story*
It's been several minutes since John left the liquor store. He's since crossed Bachman Road and Finney Street and is about to come close to Virginia's Bodas. As he passes the shop, he looks at the shop and at first, sees only the dusty window. But a face quickly appears and surprises John, who quickly raises the emergency hammer in preparation. But as fast as the specter's visage appeared, it disappears in a flash. John just stands there, blinking, wondering what just happened? He takes a breath and shakes his head, He thinks that this town is already getting to him. As he walks towards the end of the street, he looks to his left and sees that the road has crumbled and turned into a seemingly endless pit. He looks ahead and sees that the sidewalk, which according to his map leads to Midwich Elementary, is intact. Knowing that it'd take too much time to re-track for a possible, yet unlikely alternate route to Midwich, he gets on the sidewalk and starts walking south.
As he walks down the sidewalk, he can't help but feel uneasy. Both sides of the sidewalk have caved in, turning this sidewalk into some sort of single platform. One mistake and he could be sent spiraling into the abyss. He walks alone on the stretching platform, trying to not look over the edge and to stay on his feet. He's always hated heights, the very thought of excessive heights makes his stomach turn with fear. It's sort of funny to him, people all around him assume he's a cold, fearless man. But he isn't oblivious to how they came to that conclusion. He's 6'6, he always wears a cold look on his face, he usually wears his trench coat, so in short, his very appearance is intimidating and he knows it. Though, sometimes he wishes that people would give him a chance, before making a judgment on his character based on appearance. It's that kind of thick headed thinking that has made John an outcast to the world, not like he minds though. He learned long ago that sometimes, it's best to be alone than be used and manipulated. He knows that his way of thinking may be considered dark and foreboding, but he doesn't care. He's been through too much to have kept his innocence, he's been kicked around and abandoned too much to really have any pleasant opinions about the world.
But he doesn't let those feelings cloud his judgment, he knows what is right and what is wrong. That's why he tried so hard to save Tai, why he tried to make friends with those people in Alchemilla. He hates to think about Jennifer though, how corrupted she was. It sickens him to see such a person, how such a person could even gain any friends still surprises him. He's just glad he's gotten out of that hospital and hopes he won't have to go back. But, he feels a pang of guilt for these thoughts. He doesn't know what happened to either Tai or Michelle. He hopes that both of them are ok, especially Tai. Seeing her own friend die like that, must of had a massive impact on her psyche. She already seemed a bit unstable and it worries him because this town doesn't seem keen on giving anyone with even the slightest bit of problems, a break. But, she seemed strong enough to defend herself, no matter what happens to her. So, he'll just pray that she's alive and okay.
Michelle though, he's uncertain on how to think of her because he can't really understand her. She seems nice, but he's learned that not everything is what it seems. He tries to feel safe with her, but this ominous, spiritual warning keep's him from feeling safe around her. He's not sure, but he thinks she may be hiding something, something dark and corrupt. Nevertheless, he hopes she's okay. Eventually, after several minutes of walking, he sees a gap in the sidewalk. He inspects the gap and concludes that he could jump over to the other side if he had enough momentum. So, he takes off his trench coat and ties it together with the Emergency Hammer. He then places the duffel bag on the ground and takes the hammer by its handle. He starts swinging it, faster and faster till he's gained enough momentum in his swing and he lets go. The momentum of the swings causes the hammer and John's trench coat to speed across the gap and land on the other side.
With a quick and satisfied "Yes!"
John puts the duffel bag back across his shoulder and walks back several feet before turning around and running towards the gap. As he approaches the gap, faster and faster, his heart pumps with a mix of fear and adrenaline. Then, the moment comes. He jumps with all his might combined with the amount of speed and momentum he gained from running. Time seems to slow down as his hurls across the gap, which has seemed to have become bigger. But time resumes its normal speed as John lands on the other side. He lands legs first and falls to his knees, in which he sits down on the ground to rest a bit before resuming his little adventure. After several minutes of just laying on top of the concrete sidewalk, he gets up and places the duffel bag onto the ground.
He unties the arms of his trench coat from the end of the Emergency Hammer and checks it's pockets. Everything is okay and nothing is broken. He puts on the trench coat and places the duffer bag back around his shoulder. He grabs the Emergency Hammer, checks the ground, and is off. As he walks down the sidewalk and comes near Midwich, he hears a screech coming from behind him. He looks behind himself to see several Rotted Screecher's, flying straight at him in a V formation. He grabs the glock from his right pocket and starts shooting at the flock of screechers as he backs up. He manages to get several bullets into the right screecher, causing it to fall on top of the screecher to the right of it, causing both of them to fall into the abyss. John then stops shooting as they get closer and instead runs towards Midwich. He runs as fast as he can, not even stopping to see if they are still following him, which they still are. As he comes to the entrance of the school, he is glad for a second before one of the screechers fly right in front of him, blocking his escape.
Not standing for this, John charges ahead with both hands gripped tightly on the handle of the Emergency hammer. With one fast and anger fueled swing, he impales the left, spike end of the hammer onto the Rotted Screecher's head and carries the corpse inside with him as he escapes from the remaining two. When he is inside, he briefly drops the handle of the hammer and places his hands on top of his knee's, taking massive breathes to calm himself down. Just then, he hears the remains of a breathe from the corpse of the screecher. Acting with fear and anger, John quickly grabs the Emergency Hammer and uses the blunt end of the hammer to crush and obliterate the body and bones of the dead screecher. Blood splashes forth onto the floor as the blunt end hurls upon the corpse, turning it's bones into a heep of blood and mush. After several minutes of rage, John raises the hammer one last time and with a mighty swing, he destroys the cranium of the screechers corpse.
He swallows some air and tries to re-calm himself. He thinks to himself
"Stupid....stupid....it's just a corpse, it was dead when the left end of the hammer impaled itself onto its head"
He covers his face with his right hand and slowly brings it down, wiping the sweat from his face. After several minutes of breathing and relaxing, he is finally calm. He looks around the lobby, seeing nothing more than a bench and the door leading into the main complex. Taking one last look at the dead screecher, John heads towards the door and goes through it. After he is through the door, he looks around to see his surroundings. The look has a classic feel, with some modern touches like up to date lockers and such. He looks to his left and notices the Reception area, in which he heads towards it. The little door that usually separates the receptionist from the visitors is open and broken off one of its hinges. John goes through it and sees that the entire area is a mess. Papers scattered everywhere, a mini-fridge left open with a dying light, and oddly, a knife stabbing a piece of paper on top of a separate, smaller desk.
He goes over to the small desk and sits on the accompanying leather chair, resting his tired feet and giving himself some minor form of relaxation. He grabs the handle of the knife and removes it from the piece of paper. He places the knife onto the main desk and unfolds the piece of paper, revealing the piece of paper to be a map of Midwich. John looks at the map and puts it up inside his inner pocket when he's done. After several minutes of relaxing in the chair, he gets up and heads into the accompanying office. Inside the office, he finds a single lamp on, illuminating the continents of the desk it's placed on. He goes over to the desk and searches through it.
Inside the desk, he finds a case of handgun bullets and places it inside his inner pocket. He tries to find a few more items, but he is out of luck and finds nothing. He's about to leave but quickly notices a strange piece of paper. Written in red ink, it says
"When the weapons of Corrupt Ice and Pure Fire are placed in opposition, ready to clash, and fueled by the Flames of Hell, only then will the path be brought forth into the open"
This riddle boggles his mind. What does it mean, and what path is it mentioning?He places the note in his inner pocket, for later reference. He exits the office and the reception area, heading into the infirmary so that he can gather some supplies.
Inside the infirmary, he finds a quite, sterile room, reminiscent of Alchemilla's rooms. He goes through the medical supplies cabinet and gathers a few medical pack's and a health drink, in which he places them inside his second, spare inner pocket. He then exits the infirmary and heads towards the Courtyard. He opens the door slowly, knowing that this area is outside and may be swarming with monsters. He peeks through a slight opening and sees the two Rotted Screechers he escaped, camped out on the branches of a dead tree.
Not wanting to waste any more precious ammo, he tries to come up with some sort of decoy. Just then he remembers the corpse of the dead screecher he carried in with him as he escaped. He runs back to the lobby and grabs the body with his hands. He opens the door quickly and keeps it open with his leg, he then hurls the corpse out into the open and watches as the two screechers come to feast. As they come and eat their sudden meal, they do not anticipate the incoming pain that John has prepared for them. John light's a Molotov cocktail and hurls it at the group, setting the screecher's aflame and stuck on the ground because of the thickening agent he used.
He paces over to the suffering screecher's and impales both of them in the head with his emergency hammer, with two separate swings. He piles the burning carcasses on top of each other and letting them all be consumed in the purifying rage of the flame. John takes a deep breathe of air and calms himself, he's avoided wasting ammo and has killed these monsters. He looks at the surrounding courtyard, noticing how empty, almost depressing on how the way it looks. He decides to get out of the open space before the smoke attracts more of the damned birds. He walks into the hallway with his guard up, but thankfully nothing is there to attack him. He exits this hallway and goes into another as he exits through the doors. He notices that this hallway is just as empty except for a flight of stairs to his right.
Not sure on what he could do, he ponders to himself on which way he should go. Just then, he hears a scream coming from above and wondering what it could be, he rushes up the stairs. Once he is on the second floor, he tries to pin the point on where the sound came from, but he's having trouble doing so. Then, a second scream is heard coming from Classroom C and he goes to the door. He takes out his glock and quickly bursts the door open, hoping he can help whoever is in trouble.