All Things Quiet And Sweet 10 - Chiaroscuro

Story by Z-JAM-C on SoFurry

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#10 of Chronicles of FinalGamer 15 - Silent

After opening the way further into the amusement park, a chance encounter with an antagonistic stranger leads him to nowhere. But the monster that hunts for him sends him down another path, to another part of town.

What IS the town planning next in store for the FinalGamer?

Silent Hill is copyrighted to Konami, FinalGamer to me


Finally reaching the foot of the main attraction, James gazed upwards into the black foggy sky. The rollercoaster track towered above him, as still as a tombstone. The track seemed to be offline, yet the carriages were nowhere to be seen. This wasn't relevant to him until he found a note within the control booth of the ride.

Jonas left the security key in the carriage When you get a chance before the park opens, check them or we're fired

"Damn right you should be fired," said the raptor with frustration. "What kind of fucking moron leaves a key in a rollercoaster?! Uuuuugh...it's neeeeever easy is it?" He had no idea how to call back the carriages, and his memory of the rollercoaster's workings from Kremland was vague. At that moment, he realised that he had been to a carnival before. Though it was more of a death trap and a lesson in public flaunting than it was an amusement park. Sighing with a fond memory for the days with his shipmate Kruz, he decided there was only one thing left to find the key. Walk out onto the track itself, and search the entire track for the carriages. He walked along to the right, thankful that the design had made it safe to walk on, in terms of having no slats between boards. The track rose and fell before him, undulating with an absurd rhythm like all good rollercoasters should. But he could barely see anything resembling a rollercoaster cart anywhere. He kept on walking and climbing during the steeper sections, already feeling rather dangerous by doing this alone, but he didn't care. He wanted to get out of the fairground at any cost, even to the point of blatantly risky ideas. He could hardly call this town anything but safe. The park was also oddly silent, and other than the carousel, he had encountered no other monsters since arriving. Not even the giant beast could be heard, which frankly unnerved him all the more. It surely hadn't wandered off, even if he hoped it had. A new distraction however gave him something new to ponder. Someone else was on the track.

At a point of the track where it dipped down towards ground level, someone was lying across the rails. He walked closer, wondering if it was alive or dead. It was someone in a grey hoodie, lying on his back, struggling to free his foot trapped underneath a bent rail. Despite the silence of the ride, he was struggling with an intense psychotic panic. "UNGH! U-UNGH! C-COME ON DAMMIT! ...D-dad?" He looked off towards the side, as if someone was watching them on the other side of a tall fence separating the public from the ride. James saw no one, but the guy on the track clearly did, his young yet deep voice reminiscent of downtown cities shaking with fear. "D-dad, h-how...how are you...w-whut? N-no, no I'm doin' all I can! I'm tryin' to find him dammit, I'm tryin', j-just help me! Whut?! ...No! N-NO! PLEASE DAD DON' LEAVE ME, I'M SCARED! HELP ME! PLEASE DADDY HELP ME, I DON' WANNA DIE!" He started to break down into tears, heavy deep sobs while clutching his head. James could see black scaly hands ending in claws around the hood-covered head. But even more disturbing was the telltale sound of a carriage coming from up ahead. Clicking and clacking straight towards the poor fellow on the track, who also heard it coming. His struggling intensified, as did his bass screams. "N-NO! NO PLEASE GOD NO! SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE, HELP MEEEEE!" Normally the fear of death would have stopped him and merely witness a bloody death. But somehow, a suicidal streak was emerging, masquerading as bravery when he ran straight towards the hooded stranger, heading towards the direction of the carriage. He grabbed the stranger hard, quickly tugging his leg free before throwing both of them out of harm's way and onto the grass beside the track. The rollercoaster screamed past them mercilessly, crying at its loss of a fresh corpse to splatter upon its face. James looked towards the hooded stranger, breathing heavily. It was a black raptor, bigger than him in both height and muscle, at least 6'5''. Blue circular marks were around his eyes with a thick chin and snout panting at James. He looked familiar, but what was even more distressing was what he had on his back. Pyramid Head's Great Knife. "You..." "G-get away." The black raptor crawled backwards. "W-wait, lemme just-" "GET THE FUCK AWAY!" He scrambled onto his feet in a panic, his tense eyes a faded almost grey-blue. "TH-THIS DOESN' COUNT! YOU GOT NUTHIN' TO SAY TO ME! NOTHING!" "Please, I just wanna ask-" "NO! WHAT YOU DID DON'T MEAN NUTHIN', YOU FUCKIN' KILLER!" He stood up and ran into the darkness, clearly shaken in his stumbling run. "Wait! WAIT!" James was left to wonder who he truly was. He had never seen him in his life, yet that voice was definitely the same from the church. The fuck is up with that guy? I'm sure it's that dickhead from the church, he even got that...rapist fucker's knife. How did he even get that anyway? And what was his problem about his dad? Well he's gone now, who cares. I better keep going. That rollercoaster came back along this way, maybe it stopped.

Travelling back the way he came, his assertion had been thankfully correct. A row of rusty red carriages had stopped patiently at the rollercoaster platform. James immediately began to search each and everyone, until he found the key taped underneath one of the seats. "Wha...okay that was deliberate, what the fuck." Shrugging it off, he took the key and immediately raced back to the main entrance, past the carousel and reaching the large security gate. The key neatly fit into the security lock, but then came another problem. The siren. Not the fog siren that would occasionally infect the town with its other side, but the security alarm. It deafened the raptor, and could surely be heard across the park. And almost as if it were replying to it, the roar of a huge monster came from the darkness. "Oh...god." Even worse, the gate took its time in opening, slowly winching itself up into the security gate roof with a noisy scraping sound, rusted from years of disuse. James threw his hands up at it, mentally willing it to go faster, waiting for a large enough gap to crawl underneath it. The monster's roars were closer now, and soon they were accompanied by the clearer sound of huge footsteps. The radio revived itself with a scream of panic to accompany his own. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god COME ON!" The gate continued its slow ascent, taking its time at the raptor's cost, the footsteps coming close enough to shake the ground a little bit more. James panicked, whimpering with the inability to run anywhere else, before the gate had opened enough to at least let him crawl through. He didn't take any chances in waiting, diving through the gap and wriggling his way under the turnstiles, before running eastwards with all the speed he could muster. A magnificent crash came from behind him. The beast had slalomed through the security gate, and was now almost certainly following him. Its thunderous feet trampled along the night gravel, the raptor only looking behind him once to gaze upon the most terrible beast. His mind could barely comprehend it. It was like Frankenstein had recreated a dinosaur.

Large twisted arms like that of his own. A vicious whiplike tail in the shape of a club, snapping back and forth behind it from a discoloured blue body. A thick bony long-crested head placed painfully upon a warped stunted long neck, with a huge pair of jaws that could surely devour James in one bite, literally. It was the most horrific-looking abomination he had ever seen in his life. Even from this distance, he could see the dozens of stitches that littered this aberration's body, stitches as big as the raptor. Even the jaws did not belong to the same creature, or what remained of them. He kept running, panting in fear, trying not to scream and lose air from it. But the road was long and dark, and no light came to him. No places for him to hide in either. Even from this distance, he could see the dozens of stitches that littered this aberration's body, stitches as big as the raptor. Even the jaws did not belong to the same creature. He kept running, panting in fear, trying not to scream and lose air from it. But the road was long and dark, and no light came to him. No places for him to hide in either. Then he saw something along to his right. A shining light, just like he wanted. The light blinked in and out of existence, occasionally shining towards him before somehow turning away shyly. Even he knew what it was. He desperately made his way towards it, the saurian abomination lumbering behind him, trying to lean its horribly blood-stitched neck forwards to maul his prey. James could practically feel the beast's breath by the time he ran off from the road, hot like brimstone against his back as he headed south towards the light. A lighthouse stood at the end of a pier, a dark tower that stood at the precipice between earth and sea. To James, it could very well be the gateway between life and death.

He dodged through the various barrels and gates the dock was filled with, leaping or barging through them, with the beast behind him undeterred as it crashed through each barrier before it. James was slowed down a little, which only made the monster salivate to the point of it raining black bloody spittle upon the raptor's head. Soon he reached the door of the lighthouse, frantically slamming it behind him. There was nothing inside the place but a box underneath a winding spiral of stairs that lead to the top. He slowly slumped down to the floor, shaking with relief, his breaths ragged with exhaustion as his legs started to develop a burning sensation. He hadn't realised how fast and far he had run until now, and the pain was just settling in. He thought he could finally relax a little, eyes closed as he pressed his snout against his knees. Then the entire building shuddered. The beast was smashing its head against the lighthouse. "O-oh f-fuck." He shook with fear and wasn't sure whether to stay at the bottom or head to the top. He eventually reasoned in his panic that he would have a better chance at the top to at least leap into the water and save himself. His legs throbbed, begging for no more, but he had to keep going. He needed to keep running. He made his way up the stairs as fast as he possibly could, whimpering at the exhaustion in his thighs. Each step upwards was marred by both pain and the shuddering of the foundations. He felt like he was in an earthquake, the tower shaking violently with each roaring slam the beast made to it. But he had to keep going. It was a long way up and he couldn't stop, no matter how much his legs begged. He tried to think of other things to take his mind off the pain in them.

I can do this dammit, I just have to think, I just have to get away from him! Sarah wouldn't complain dammit, you can do this James. Please hold on lighthouse, please hold on 'til I get to the top. God dammit my legs, I haven't been this tired since...since...I don't know, come on, think of something! What IS that thing? Some kind of fucking feral monster?! Why does it want me?! Am I the only person left alive in this place that isn't a monster?! Eventually, he finally reached the top in what felt like a few minutes, but even he was unsure of the time it took. The light of the tower was a resplendently large bulb, as tall as the raptor himself, who felt wonderfully safe within its glow. He kept himself in the light, feeling safe in the light as it shone out towards the misty lake. Nothing else was up here, and the shuddering of the building was still felt all the way to the top. But things were about to get worse. Just as he was about to brave himself into the depths of the lake and swim away from the Feral, another creature soon penned him in. The bare light was suddenly overshadowed by a large pair of bony thin-fleshed wings, coloured a virulent purple. He knew whose wings they were. His heart started to beat faster from the shadow they spread across him. Even if he knew this thing couldn't be Ridley, he couldn't trust anything anymore in this town. "Oh GOD! N-NO! NOT YOU TOO! NOOO!"

The beast he could only call "Him" suddenly swooped down at the raptor, who was forced to defend himself with the rifle. The handgun he felt was too weak to work here, and he tried to remember what he did wrong before. The winged creature however wasn't going to make things easy, as it swooped down absurdly fast, knocking him down hard with scratches upon his back. He remembered how "He" had clawed at his back in the past. The pain was even worse from the memory alone as he cried out with tears in his eyes. He slowly got back up, supporting himself with the rifle as he readily waited for another swooping attack. Sarah's words echoed in his mind as he backed up against a solid part of the bulb's housing, a sturdy-feeling glass window. "Hold it...tight to your shoulder. Tightly...aim when you want to shoot. Then...FIRE!" He managed to shoot at the winged creature once, but missed easily. However, his shoulder managed to absorb the recoil this time and it didn't hurt like before. He quickly ejected the cartridge for the next shot to be loaded. He had to make this count, and he tried to keep himself standing from the shaking of the lighthouse. The Feral's roars of frustration terrified him, making his aim shaky. Breathing hard, he steadied himself to aim once again, waiting for the winged beast to swoop down at him. It circled around the lighthouse, gauging its opportunity to assault the raptor again. The rifle wasn't steady, but he was trying his best with the blood starting to ooze down his back, his scissors and scabbard intact somehow. The flying monster stopped, and readied itself for another lunging attack. James summoned up his fury within a single shot, suppressing his fear as he roared with a renewed strength: "FUCK YOU RIDLEY!" The rifle shot slammed straight between torso and wing, shattering the very bone and causing "Him" to spiral and skid across the lighthouse's metal grating with a harrowing screech. Now he was grounded, but he wasn't out yet. One wing had been broken badly in the fall, hanging limply, barely kept attached to its purple body by the very seams of its muscles.

It hissed towards James, ready to kill with cruel yellow eyes. Those eyes terrified him, the building shuddering like a bell at a funeral around them. He was amazed by how sturdy it was to withstand such an assault. A part of him however was overwhelming his fear with anger, a cruel smile coming from James as he ejected another cartridge. Three shots left in the clip. He had no idea how many bullets he had left overall, but he quickly estimated it was less than 10. "I've been waiting to do this for four fucking years." He timed his words with the loading of his next bullet in an effort to strengthen his vigour. The shadow of Ridley was not impressed, snarling with a pained screech, wanting revenge for its broken wing. James readily aimed, but the creature was deceptively fast and charged immediately with the speed of a bullet. The rifle shot completely missed as the raptor was slammed hard onto the ground, wings shadowing him as he was clawed viciously. He screamed and put up his arms, trying to protect himself, wounds scarring along them before he summoned a powerful fire blast straight into the demon's face, roaring with rage as his eyes tightened before getting up, trying to kick the creature away. "Ridley" backed off, a smile upon its pterodactyl features as it readied itself for another charge.

James quickly ejected the next bullet, with only one left in his rifle. He had to make this count, there was no way he would have time to reload the whole thing in a fight against this thing. Somehow, the monster knew this too. The lighthouse slowly began to creak and teeter in one direction, the slightest sense of gravity suddenly placed upon them. "COME ON THEN, TRY AND TAKE ME!" James kept his anger strong in order to keep him focused, to fight away the terror he felt as he waited for the right moment to shoot. But before "Ridley" could do anything, an even more terrifying sight came up from behind. The Feral's head loomed into view about the lighthouse, immediately biting the first thing it saw. The winged monster shrieked in a pleading fury as its body soon pulled in between jaws, a resounding screech and crunch following each other. Blood and purple sinew spewed across the lighthouse, splattering onto the bulb housing as well as James. But the battle was over. Not because one monster had somehow destroyed another, a mangled beast whose wings were snapped like twigs noisily within the cavernous maw. But because the lighthouse suddenly toppled over towards the water, the beast pushing it straight ahead. James could do nothing but fall into the black lake. He screamed out with one last shot into the sky from his rifle, desperately clinging onto it as he sank into the murky depths. All he could see was the grand silhouette of the lighthouse above him, heading straight for him. Before he could even see it hit the water and dive after him, darkness took him.

The water felt like ice, wrapping him within deathly cold fingers as his vision faded, the lakewater scraping against his back scars. His hand kept clasped to the rifle, somehow staying with him. As the faintest of light disappeared from the surface, he felt the water disappear. The cold liquid submersion faded from his senses, replaced by a strangely dusty air. The pillowy feeling of water was no longer underneath him, but now he felt the feeling harden into a solid mattress. He opened his eyes, staring up towards a red bloody ceiling, a light shining from his chest. A fan was motionless above him, the air not even touching its rusted dull blades. He could hear a clock ticking faintly somewhere in front of him. When he felt the feeling of water finally recede from him, he slowly lifted his head, disoriented once again. He was in a patient's bed somehow, moth-eaten but still comfy enough to sleep on. Various disused cabinets were along the wall to his right, ending in a door directly right of him. He gently lifted himself off the bed, his legs a little shaky but at least fully recovered. The pain in his back was also gone. He was even surprised to find his torch was still on without the faintest flicker. "Where...this isn't Brookhaven hospital. I don't remember any room like this." Three doors were around him. One to his right, one on the wall north of him in the corner, and one to his left at the other end of the room. The doors nearest to him were broken-locked. He sighed, at a loss for words for once. He decided to take the door furthest from him, exiting out into a small cramped rectangular room filled with medicine. Bottles lined up in rows upon rows of tinctures, ointments and pills. None of them interested James, but he did take an energy drink for the road, drinking it immediately to refresh himself. He also realised his rifle was not with him, quickly checking behind him to feel it somehow back in its holster. He waited until he was in a larger room to properly examine it, exiting through the other side of the rows of drugs. The hallway was waterlogged and riddled with all sorts of damage. Fire, decay, woodrot. Somehow it looked in less of a bad state than Brookhaven, which he was now certain that he wasn't in. There was never any place even close to resembling this back at that hospital. For starters the floor was carpeted with a worn decaying green colour.

Many doors were available to the raptor in a hallway that skirted around to his left up towards an elevator. For now he checked them one by one, each of them given helpful names on the doors. He checked his rifle first however, realising the clip was empty. He quickly loaded it up again, finding himself left with only 7 bullets overall, including the 5 in the clip. "Shit...I wish I had more. I'd really want more of these. Actually come to think of it I'd really need some more handgun bullets too..." All of a sudden, his hands started to tingle. The same telltale tingle of the nanos ready to create something. "Wha?" His mind started to tinker, thinking back to bullets. They sparked again at his wish for them. It was an absurd idea, but then again, they were nanos, they had all sorts of potential that he had no idea of. No...they can't do that...can they? With no reason not to, he slowly began to focus once more, willing the nanos with the same intensity as he did whenever wishing for fire or water. He could see the bullets in his head, settling for the rifle ones for now, the ones he really wanted. He wanted them badly. Slowly his hands began to pulsate, and a strange machine-like sound began to scrabble between his fingers. He closed his eyes continuing to mentally beg, fingers twitching hard as he felt something slowly start to form between his hands. Soon, the nanos were done, and he heard something clatter on the floor. A fresh set of rifle bullets. Exactly the same brand as the ones he was using, in their green box and all. He gently picked it up. They were still warm.

"...holy fuck. I...I can do that? ...no way. N-no way. I need to try this again." He put the rifle bullets in his satchel and tried once again for another item, this time the handgun bullets. The same process happened, taking the same amount of time as he closed his eyes and felt his hands twitch once again. This time however, he opened his eyes when he felt the solid presence within his claws. There it was. A small box of handgun bullets, in the exact same red box as the other ones, being created piece by piece with an absurd automatic speed. Soon as the nanos were finished, the box fell, but he grabbed it before it hit the floor. His eyes widened with a mix of fear and glee. "Hhhaha...hahaha! HHHHA HA! Ohhh...oh god...u-um, okay! I...I can do this now...r-right. F-fuck..." He pocketed the handgun bullets as well, trying to deal with his newly-discovered power, not even able to comprehend its benefits for now as he breathed deeply before examing the doors before him. The store room was open, but nothing of interest was inside other than one or two first-aid kits, as well as a strange little item marked as an "ampoule". James had never heard of it, but it was just the right size for him to put into his satchel. It looked like a brown needle-long bottle, but it was marked for good medicinal effects, so he took it nevertheless. An office was next to the store room, but it was broken-locked. So was the kitchen, but the doctor's office and the director's office were not. The doctor's office offered little for him to salvage, a cabinet of files and a rather plain wooden desk. But there was an interesting pile of papers upon the desk. Someone had been poring over them extensively, various folders laid upon it in a somewhat-disorganised pile. One folder caught James' eye, and startled him with what was written upon it.

Sarah Ibenez Maria Francesco Clinton Booth King

"...n-no. That can't be her. That's gotta be a coincidence right?" The document inside had been torn off, leaving only the header, which he noted came from the obstetrician. A chill of sorrow ran down his spine at realising what one was. There was nothing else inside, except for a strange-looking card and a handwritten note. The card was stained with dry, coagulated blood. It was a tarot card, marked "The Lovers". Two naked beings embracing each other, within the radiant aura of a god. He remembered the other tarot card that he picked up back in the apartments. "The Chariot". Do these have some kind of connection, thought James. These look familiar too...where did I see these things before? He decided to keep it with him, feeling a significance to them before reading the handwritten note.

You couldn't get past your damn problem. You wanna be a mother more than my wife? If you can't make this work with me, then I'm leaving. I'll let you keep the damn bar to live in, I'm not heartless but I can't make this work anymore Sarah. I'm sorry, I know I'll never understand your pain, but I can't handle this anymore. Please forgive me. Live your life in your bar however you want.

John

He remembered this note. It suddenly flashed strongly in his mind, to the point that he almost felt like he was back home again. One day he went to get something from Sarah's room, he couldn't remember what, but this note was in a drawer of hers. Murmurs of realisation flickered from his lips. "This was her husband right? Why didn't she throw this away? ...no wait, what's it doing here? She was never in this town...she couldn't have been here. Th-this can't be her. She wasn't..." His head started to hurt, and he put the note back down, gently backing away from the desk to leave the doctor's office. He decided to try the director's office, which merely looked like a smaller fancier version of the doctor's office. A more immaculate cabinet, as well as a higher-quality wooden desk. Nothing was on it that interested him, other than one very clear report.

Delaney Case Report The victim, a Mr. Frank Delaney, was thrown down a stairwell, whereby his neck was broken due to the sudden awkward fall between the wall and the stairs, resulting in a twisting of his clavicle. There is unfortunately no DNA from the killer upon his body, and nothing unusual about his person to cause otherwise. Further information has been sent to the police station.

"Wh...what?! N-no, this can't be the same guy! ...wait, police station?" He felt as if the town was leading him around by the tail, guiding him towards places it wanted him to go to. He knew that he had no other choice, for the town would never allow him to travel anywhere else. He needed to know more about this. He resolved to try and find the police station. Perhaps something in there might also explain what happened in this town. He left the director's officer, with no reason to go to the elevator as he found it to be inoperable. The stairwars beside it were also barricaded with safety warnings, forcing him to walk back down the hall and open the last door. This one allowed him to access a smaller hallway with two bathrooms and yet another barricaded set of stairs. He decided to ignore it and walk onwards down the last door, leading him towards the front room of the hospital. A short hallway took him to the main waiting room at reception, where someone was waiting for him. "...LUISA!?!" Sitting on a rather plain-looking couch in the waiting room, was the dark-clothed canine, smiling as if nothing had happened at all. Not a single drop of blood even stained her. "Hehe, hey there sweetie." "But...you're alive!" "Of course I am dear, why, did you get lost?" "We-well...I...that thing with the fucking cowcatcher head and the big dirty apron and the fucking huge knife, it shanked you right in the back!" "Wh-what? Hahaha, James, you need to lay back on the drinks." "But seriously, we were in the hospital, you tried to get in and he...he stabbed you Luisa..." He felt so terribly confused, and she did not seem to respond to this as the raptor turned weak at the knees. She merely smiled, flicking her ears with a brush of her hand.

"James, sweetie...did something happen to you? After we got separated down in that hallway in the hospital? You confusing me with somebody maybe? Hehehee...you were always so impulsive, remember the stuff you used to dig up for me?" James' eyes widened in an apprehensive confusion as she continued in a strangely taunting manner. "L-luisa?" "You said you got everything taken care of, but you were a little slow with that package. Maybe you should mind your step more." "H...how do...how do you know all that? You're just Luisa, right?" He stood closer to her, intrigued and bewildered. "...I'm not your Daisy." "So you ARE Luisa, right?" "I am...if you want me to be." She stood up and gently pulled him closer, her lithe hands rubbing at the raptor's cheeks. "I'm here for you James...see? I'm right here." "...why...does this feel familiar?" "Hmm?" "This whole conversation, here. It feels like...like I'm playing out someone else's memory...like some weird deja vu." "It happens...especially in this town." "I'm so confused." He groaned and pushed his face into his hands, trying to make sense of the static inside his mind, both figuratively and literally. "Maybe you should keep walking then. Or you can stay with me?" "I...will you be alright? Here? What are you gonna do?" "I'm waiting here. This IS a waiting room after all." "But for what?" "Never you mind." She poked a tongue at him, the same way Daisy used to. He felt like she was taunting his heart. "Alright...I need to get to the police station. You know where that is?" "Oooooh, someone's been a bad boy." "Just tell me, please." "Okay okayyy...you just go straight ahead, up either Crichton or Wilson Street, you can't miss it." "Right. Thanks...you gonna be okay? There's some first aid kits in the store room if you need 'em." "I'll be fine thanks. You go and do what you need to do." "You don't wanna follow me around?" "Nnnnnah. I think I'll be okay riiiiight here." She giggled lewdly, making him uncomfortable for the first time in hearing a woman do such. With a nod of acceptance, he walked out of the hospital, which according to the reception front, was called Alchemilla Hospital. The moment he stepped outside, he immediately regretted it.