A New Fear: The Next Chapter Part 12
You just noticed?
Without even being prompted, Ai wordlessly helped Shadow to his feet. But her hands didn’t let go of his arm; she seemed bound and determined to just stay there.
Ai, look at me. Upon hearing his voice, Ai looked up at Shadow. She looked sad, and confused. He had more than a vague idea as to what she could possibly be sad and confused about.
She was obvious frustrated at her lack of any real power or capabilities. She could use Silent Hill's shifts between dark and misty, and she could perform a few incantations through Latin phrases. But she didn’t have any real experience with a weapon, or the strength to use one.
He’d never given her a chance to try.
Okay, so I messed up. It was trial and error Shadow didn’t really mess up, anymore. That had stopped only forty-some years ago. But, now that he thought about it, he really should have taken the time to
But there had been no time. Ever since these people had shown up, everything about his life had been changed. And with his other half’s reappearance, he’d gone so far as to retreat back to a place he never expected to return to.
Yet, it wasn’t really the time to be thinking about stuff like this. He gave Ai an understanding smile, and that seemed to quiet her unease. Ai separated from Shadow, but didn’t go back toward the others. Instead, she continued down the hallway; she was just as eager to get out as anyone else.
Lets just go. Damion was beside him, holding Tommy once again. Lin and Dierdre had begun to follow Ai.
All they could do was get out of here, first.
Shadow looked at Lira, then shrugged, starting after Ai, Lin and Dierdre; Damion wasn’t far behind.
*-*
Everyone was silent as they too trudged onwards, down the long hall till they reached a large doorway that seemed to glow in a peaceful sort of radiance. Standing in front of it was the bloodied version of Tommy that they were forced to fight a while ago. But...there was another one with the not-Tommy, only this version of Tommy had a hole where it's heart should've been.
"So, we meet again, huh? Well guess what, this doorway back here is the only way out, and don't think we're just gonna let you leave." The Bloody not-Tommy stated, smirking as he held a blue sword with a Reverse Halo of the Sun scratched into the blade.
"Who the hell are you guys, and why won't you just die?!" Duncan asked, irritated by the two Tommy's inability to die.
"We are incarnations of Tommy's feelings. My friend here is Tommy's hate, and I am Tommy's torn feelings for Dierdre. Dierdre...do you love me?" The heartless Tommy asked Dierdre, a depressed yet hopeful look on his pale face.
*-*
Geez Damion set Tommy down--yet again--and looked at Shadow. He nodded slowly, and they both looked at the two creatures before them. There were two, meaning they could each take one on. But it wasn’t guaranteed that they would stay in a one-on-one fight; they might team up against either of them.
***
A pulse of dark energy drew his gaze away from the blockade. Which one of you shall I kill first? Oh, great. IT was that side, again. But wait...this could work to their advantage.
Yet, it was still weird to hear those kinds of words coming out of Lin’s mouth. She sounded almost like...Damion and himself.
Small puffs of darkness appeared in the air around her. Dark projectiles--a pair for each one of the creatures before them--flew out; the two directed at the bloody one landed in his shoulder and one of his hands; the dark daggers pierced the heartless one in the neck and shoulder.
It didn’t seem to have any kind of effect. He was just about to conclude that that was a pointless move...until Lin raised the hand that didn’t hold the dark sword. Snapping her fingers, dark bolts began to discharge from the barbs, effectively damaging and possibly numbing.
Damion nodded to Shadow, and they both drew their guns. They advanced on either side, while Lin walked right down the middle, silvered eyes never leaving the two would-be guards.
*-*
The Bloody Tommy ripped out the dark projectiles, ignoring the numbing in his left shoulder as he charged towards Damion, swinging his sword in hopes of wounding the devil. He was able to get in a few cuts, but due to Lin's dark projectiles, he would always be halted in his progress. More dark projectiles flew towards him, and he deflected them with ease, but this left him wide open, allowing Damion to shoot him in the shoulder. "Is that all you've got, because I can tell you know, this battle has only just begun!!" The Bloody Tommy cried, charging to attack Damion once again.
***
The heartless Tommy coughed out blood, falling to his knees due to the pain and the utter shock of the blow. He slowly pulled the dark object out of his neck, and looked towards Shadow, who approached him, a gun pointed at his head.
"I didn't want to fight, all I wanted was an answer..." The heartless Tommy muttered, his voice weak due to the injury to his throat. "Are you going to deny even that to me?!" The heartless Tommy asked, staring at Dierdre with a deeply hurt expression. Suddenly, a third Tommy appeared, this new Tommy's feature was that it was crying blood and had his eyes closed.
"To those who cause me pain, heed this, all my pain shall be shared by one other. Now, feel my sorrow!" The teary Tommy cried, pulling out a knife and stabbing himself in the gut, and disappearing the moment the knife pierced his skin.
Sean clutched his stomach, blood forming around the spot he was now gripping on to. It felt as if he had been stabbed by an invisible knife. Sean eventually fell to his knees, wanting to reserve his energy and try and survive this near-mortal wound.
*-*
Quiet. Lin grabbed the heartless Tommy and grabbed him by his collar. She forcefully pulled him up, soon face to face with the suffering clone. I don’t like the way you’re talking. Maybe I should just cut your tongue out.
She smirked, turning her sword this way and that; she seemed to be deciding his she was going to stab him in the head, or just shove the blade down his throat. Maybe I should just slit your throat and you can drown in your own blood.
At this point, Shadow faltered, gun lowering as she stared at Lin in horror. What was happening to her? Shed never talked like that, before. The only time he’d ever heard such insanity...was from himself...forty years ago. And Damion
Lin held the blade against the heartless Tommy’s throat; a thin line of blood began to appear beneath the blades edge. “Stop.” Lin turned her head, glaring at Dierdre.
Dierde looked directly at the heartless Tommy. She was glaring daggers, “You cant expect someone to answer a question when you're clearly only giving them one option. If I say something that you don’t like, you’ll probably hurt someone here in some way.” She gripped the shotgun, turning away, “As much as it pains me to say this...I don’t have an answer to give.”
*-*
"Then I'll leave. I only came to hear your answer, but you obviously don't trust me enough to even give me one. That is best answer you could've ever given me." The heartless Tommy stated, wearing a grin on his face as he suddenly vanished.
"You son of a bitch!" The bloody Tommy cried, enraged by his 'companions' sudden betrayal. He looked around, and knew that he would never be able to win, not when Damion had so many people attacking the bloody Tommy at once. "Fine, you can leave, but you better hope these little friends of yours stick to you like glue, cause the moment you're alone with me, I will kill you! That's a promise!" The bloody Tommy cried, vanishing like the other Tommy's before him.
"Well...now that that's taken care of, let's get out of here, okay?" Duncan asked, unsure of Lin's 'condition'. Duncan kept a firm grip on his sword, almost expecting Lin to attack him. Sean got up, startled that his wound was already starting to heal.
Tommy was leaning against the wall, smiling for a second before letting out a little bit of a grumble from under his breath. He was blissfully unaware of the entire skirmish, and boy did somebody have a story to tell him when he woke up.
*-*
Finally! I thought wed never leave.
Ai was the first out, followed by Dierdre, and Damion (once again, carrying Tommy.) Everyone had gone outside...Except for Lin and himself.
She was staring at her now-empty hand, that just moments ago had been fisted in the heartless Tommy’s shirt. She dropped her hand abruptly, head turning almost mechanically to look at Shadow. They stared at each other, neither willing to back down.
But her eyes fluttered closed. The sword slid from her grasp, falling onto the stone floor with a loud clatter before disappearing in a cloud of darkness. She held her head with both hands, groaning in what was most likely pain.
A minute later, she stood up straight, again, hands lowered back to her sides. Her eyes were back to that gray-hazel hue. But there was a haunted expression on her face.
She walked past him without say a word, stumbling slightly before she regained her balance, and stepped out into the fog.
*-*
Nero, who had been following the whole way, quickly ran through the doorway, which slammed itself shut.
"What do we do know? It's not like we're gonna see them again..." The bloody Tommy asked the heartless Tommy, both staring at the closed door in front of them.
"Of course we'll see them again, we are Tommy, right? So we'll always see them, in technical terms." The heartless Tommy replied, the hole in his chest decreasing slightly in size.
"Whatever."
***
The group walked into the fog, and upon closer inspection, realized that they were back on the road that led to Silent Hill, but everything seemed different. The hole that they had fallen through was gone and everything seemed darker, not alternate world dark...just dark.
"What the...why is it so dark around here?" Sean asked, puzzled by the sudden change in lighting.
"Well, maybe it has to do with us killing Samael...and she was the god of this town, right? So maybe the link between the town and the outside world is bending."
"Check your watch, has the time changed at all?"
Duncan didn't understand what this question had to do with his guess, but he shrugged and looked down. His watch was stuck on the same time he had arrived here, like it had always been. "Uh...no."
"If the border between the 'worlds' really was bending, then your clock should've started up again. But thanks for playing!" Sean stated, knowing full well what happens to electronics that wander into Silent Hill. He may not have known much, but he did know some of the basic info.
"Whatever, let's just go to the prison already!" Lira stated, not wanting to stay in this town another second.
"Hold on a sec, I think we should check the police office, get some equipment or something." Sean replied, knowing there would be some kind of artillery in a police office.
"Anybody in favor of going with the noob, raise you hand. If not, keep it down."
***
Tommy lay there, unconscious in Damion's arms, a peaceful expression on his face. He was oblivious to the current argument due to his lack of consciousness.
*-*
“I don’t care; lets just go to the police station. We were going to go there, anyway.”
All at once, the somewhat light atmosphere seemed heavy and uncomfortable. Damion watched Lin as she walked on in the dark fog, right hand on her left arm; she was clearly insecure or bothered by something.
Shadow was to his left; he was watching Lin with a calculating look on his face. Something was up. Usually, shed be trying to lighten the atmosphere, or at least directing everyone, not giving them much of a choice.
But she was just as quiet and passive as Ai.
There was just something horribly wrong about it. Disturbingly, horribly wrong.
But every time someone came within a foot of her, Lin made it a priority to move away.
All they could do was go on, though.
Samael is not dead. He heard Ai say softly off to the side. Yes, if Samael were truly dead, they would’ve been out of here. You couldn’t kill a god just like that. No, she was still alive.
She’s right; old goat face isn’t dead. She’s still alive and kicking.
Yet it was futile to really stand here and not do anything. Lets just head to the police station.
*-*
"What's her problem?"
"Who cares, let's just get going..." Sean stated, hurrying ahead of the others. He wanted to make sure that there was nothing abstracting his vision.
'Anne...Where are you?'
***
Duncan sighed, 'What has been going on...Lin's being possessed by this darkness thing, Tommy's got a floating time bomb, Gavin's got some kind of god-like rod, Naomi's gone missing, and now we've got two people on our team that could turn against us at any minute. Samael is still out there, that's a good thing, but I need to know the truth about my real parents...no, I need to know why I was abused, why no one loved me, and why that song is so familiar...' Duncan remembered the music that had been playing in Elysia's room, and started to hum it without thinking about the people around him as Duncan continued to follow the others.