Silent Hill: The Inner Monster

Page 15

By John Priest (Noctros, Efrit, Drake, etc)

*John's Story*

John enters the room to find no apparent source of the scream, but he does have a suspect in what caused it: A Dark Desire. The foul beast is perched on top of a bunch of desks, trying to break through the make-shift blockade and get its prey. John then begins to hear the cry's of terror, once more filling the room and echoing throughout his mind. John raises his glock and points it at the monster, whistling to catch its attention. The whistle is successful and causes the fell beast to turn its head, in which John lets off several shots, hitting the Dark Desire in its chest and head, killing it and causing it to fall off the desks and onto the floor. John slowly walks towards the body of the beast, getting to it and hitting it with his right foot. When no reaction comes, John lower's his weapon knowing the monster is dead.

He says aloud "Whoever's here, your safe now" trying to sound nice.

He waits for a bit, wondering if maybe the screams were merely his imagination, or perhaps his sub-conscious affected by the town's corrupting influence, signaled out a danger? But, if that was the case, why didn't it alert him to the presence of the Necrotic Screecher's back on the sidewalk? After several minutes, he begins to turn away before he hears a quiet grunt and turns his head towards the desks as he sees a figure come out from beneath the desks. From what he can see, it's a female with black hair, small build, and medium height. When the woman stands up, she quickly clings to John's torso and looks up with a smile. When he sees her face, John's heart stops for what seems like an eternity. She looks like Chanlia, his lost friend. With the exception, of her clothes which are far more modest and not revealing, she could be Chanlia's twin.

She says to him "Um....th-thank you...sorry for taking so long...I...I just wanted to make sure you were human..." says the stranger in a timid tone.

She sees his shock affected expression and asks "I . . . is something wrong?" But he doesn't hear her. The only thing he can see, is the past memories of Chanlia. All he feels, all he hears, is the extreme sorrow and grief that he experienced with her sex addiction and how she spiraled down into her own destruction.

But, he finally snaps out of his trance a few moments later, seeing the girl and asking "Hm? What?"

In which, she replies "I was asking if your alright" and he says "Yeah...sorry, you....just look like someone I once knew....and you brought up some memories...." Says John with a depressed tone. She looks down at the floor and replies "Oh....I'm sorry....."

but John quickly puts his left hand up and shakes his head, saying "No, don't worry about it, it's not your fault"

She lets out a soft "Yeah . . . but . . . " but he smiles and says "Don't worry about it, now then what's your name?"

She hesitates for a bit, but breathes and replies "Nalia"

He goes forward and hold's out his hand, saying "John Garland, nice to meet you"

She slowly moves forward and shakes his hand, replying "Nice to meet you too...." trailing off at the end, hinting to John that she's shy.

He then asks "How'd you get here?" in which she replies "I....don't know....I just woke up....on these desks and that....that thing was their"

After John hears this, he tries to think of why she'd be here. Is she a innocent bystander or perhaps something darker? More sinister? Whatever reasons the town had for bringing her here, all he knows is that she'll need someone to help her. So, he decides to ask her to come along with him.

"Nalia, do you have any weapons or something to defend yourself from the monsters?" Asks John, a stupid question considering she crawled beneath the desks, but a necessary one

She replies "No...sorry..." showcasing her ever present shyness

He walks over to a desk and sits on it, turns his head towards her and says "Would you like to travel with me?"

In which, Nalia smiles and looks at him with bright eyes, saying "You wouldn't mind?"

He replies "Of course not, now come on, we need to get out of this hell hole" In which she smiles as they leave the classroom and into the Hallway.

They head to the right, down the long hallway. She sticks close to John, making sure to be within a arms distance of him and the protection he provides. As they pass the pink lockers, they both start to hear a rattle, which echos throughout the school and into their minds. The constant, annoying rattle unnerves both of them, bloating Nalia's fear and gnawing at John's patience. They finally get to the end of the hallway, near the doorway to the hallway with the Locker and Music rooms, but they freeze in their tracks as they hear a shatter come from the boy's bathroom.

They carefully approach the right side of the door, John raising the glock and putting both hands on it. She motions for Nalia to stay as he goes forth. Finally, he busts through the door with the Glock pointed forward and his nerves turned to stone. Inside, he finds the shattered remains of a mirror and a clogged towel dispenser. He sighs and turns around to tell Nalia that the coast is clear, but when he turns around, she is gone. He comes out of the bathroom door and looks around, with no sign of Nalia anywhere.

He yells her name "NALIA!" hoping to catch her attention if she is nearby, but several minutes of waiting make it clear that she isn't near by. He shakes his head in frustration, unsure what to really make of her sudden disappearance. Is she a ploy designed by the town to cause doubt or has she simply gone away? Whatever the case, this sudden absence has had a effect. He doubts himself, wondering if maybe Nalia is a simple illusion crafted by the town to deceive him? After all, it's not likely a coincidence that she looks like a more pure, tame Chanlia. But, what if it is? Maybe it is just a coincidence, and right now, she may be in danger.

He tries to come up with some sort of plan, but his minded is clouded with doubt and fear, both mixing to form a stronger combination of both foul feelings. He struggles to regain his composure, finally taking it back after a long inner struggle. He puts his left hand on his head and slowly brings it down, closing his eyes as it passes them and reopening them as it comes off his chin. He takes a big breath of air and lets it out slowly, slowing his heart down to its normal rhythm. As he begins to relax, he starts to hear a quiet shuffle and he quickly turns around with the glock pointed straight ahead, What he sees, is the slow moving remains of a Charred Woman, trying to crawl its way out of the stall. He lowers his glock and puts it into his right pants pocket, taking the emergency hammer in his left hand, into both. With it, he lifts it over his head and slowly walks towards the Charred Woman. As he gets to the foul demon, the monster notices him and tries to crawl away in a feeble attempt to avoid its incoming demise. But, its to no consequence, for he gets to it quickly and swiftly brings the hammer down, ending its corrupt life.

This act, does little to heal his frustration with the situation at hand, but it does calm him a bit, ending the foul life of A abhorred apparition. He looks around inside the bathroom, finding only the destroyed remains of the glass that attracted his attention first. He sighs and goes towards the doorway, stopping at the towel dispenser and deciding to clean his hands. He breaks open the broken towel dispenser and picks up the single piece of paper. As he begins to wipe his hands, he notices a strange writing on it. He unfolds it to find a sheet of piano lyrics, titled "The melody of the damned" with a little note written at the bottom.

It says "To gain the flame, you must listen to their pain"

This riddle confuses him a bit, but he quickly guesses that these lyrics are meant to be used to listen to the melody of the damned, which will open the way to the flame. With the note in his inner coat pocket, he heads off to the music room, hoping to find a solution to his dilemma.