Alex Shepherd (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
waywardshepherd) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
overplays2012-11-26 11:04 am
waywardshepherd) wrote in overplays2012-11-26 11:04 am
there is a storm in the distance
[ The rocky shore under his back digs in, hurting even through the thick material of his jacket. When he tries to breathe, he chokes, turns on his side to cough up water onto the rocks. His head's pounding, his throat's sore - he wasn't here a second ago. What happened?
don't be afraid, son.
He pushes himself to sitting, runs hands through damp hair, slicking it back. He's soaked, again, like the first time he'd arrived in Silent Hill. But he'd - he'd been in the underground area. The sacrificial chamber. That thing, and Josh, he'd said his goodbyes -
joshua will be safe
His head's pounding, harder now. It hurts, it hurts and there's just images, bits and pieces that he can't quite fit together. He'd left the chamber, but then what? He'd met with Elle and Wheeler, right? That was the only conclusion that made sense. But there wasn't anything of that in there, there was just dark backgrounds, the feeling of being cold and wet, of fear and dread and hands holding him down.
What happened?
It comes all at once, feels like a physical blow. He remembers being tied up, waking in the old claw-footed tub in his childhood home. Remembers his father walking in, the confusion and disbelief he'd felt at seeing Adam alive. That couldn't have been right. The Bogeyman had cut him in half. Alex had felt the blood on his skin.
don't be afraid, son. your sacrifice will save all of us. joshua will be safe to carry on the family name.
But Josh was dead. Alex had killed him. Right? Or had it all been a delusion, something his guilty conscience cooked up to get him back home, make him face what needed to be done? What had happened? What was real, what this even real or was it a dream, another delusion? Had his father really drowned them right in their own home? Was Shepherd's Glen still safe for another fifty years?
Is he going insane?
He can feel his breath coming short, chest tightening in an oncoming panic attack. He doesn't know what to do, where to go, but he needs to move.
So Alex moves. He stumbles to his feet, moves into the fog-covered streets of Silent Hill. He doesn't want to be back here, but if he's here there must be a reason. Maybe if he looks, he'll find an explanation for what's going on.
(God, he hopes so.) ]
don't be afraid, son.
He pushes himself to sitting, runs hands through damp hair, slicking it back. He's soaked, again, like the first time he'd arrived in Silent Hill. But he'd - he'd been in the underground area. The sacrificial chamber. That thing, and Josh, he'd said his goodbyes -
joshua will be safe
His head's pounding, harder now. It hurts, it hurts and there's just images, bits and pieces that he can't quite fit together. He'd left the chamber, but then what? He'd met with Elle and Wheeler, right? That was the only conclusion that made sense. But there wasn't anything of that in there, there was just dark backgrounds, the feeling of being cold and wet, of fear and dread and hands holding him down.
What happened?
It comes all at once, feels like a physical blow. He remembers being tied up, waking in the old claw-footed tub in his childhood home. Remembers his father walking in, the confusion and disbelief he'd felt at seeing Adam alive. That couldn't have been right. The Bogeyman had cut him in half. Alex had felt the blood on his skin.
don't be afraid, son. your sacrifice will save all of us. joshua will be safe to carry on the family name.
But Josh was dead. Alex had killed him. Right? Or had it all been a delusion, something his guilty conscience cooked up to get him back home, make him face what needed to be done? What had happened? What was real, what this even real or was it a dream, another delusion? Had his father really drowned them right in their own home? Was Shepherd's Glen still safe for another fifty years?
Is he going insane?
He can feel his breath coming short, chest tightening in an oncoming panic attack. He doesn't know what to do, where to go, but he needs to move.
So Alex moves. He stumbles to his feet, moves into the fog-covered streets of Silent Hill. He doesn't want to be back here, but if he's here there must be a reason. Maybe if he looks, he'll find an explanation for what's going on.
(God, he hopes so.) ]
no subject
GET AWAY
and Alex shifts himself, steadies his stance more, holding his ground this time as he grips the sword's hilt tilt, clenches his jaw. He lets the ghost come closer and thrusts the sword forward, hard, catching it in the chest and pinning it to the ground. He's shaking when he moves away from it, praying in his head that for whatever reason it can't get free, still shaking all over from its touch and the echoes of noise in his head. ]
no subject
Congratulations.
[oh. look who's standing behind you.
little walter finally reveals himself once again, eyes lighting up once he sees the ghost defeated. running right by alex, he hugs walter tight around the knees.]
no subject
He shudders at the thought, rubs a hand over his face, weary after just that battle. And then that voice comes and he whirls around to see that man again, Walter, and little Walter runs over to hug the older tight around the knees.
My brother - shit. Shit fuck goddammit. He watches Walter warily, jaw clenched so tight his teeth hurt. ]
no subject
The adults have to talk now, why don't you go play.
[he lifts a hand to touch his hair, in an instant the child is gone leaving the two men alone.]
You're a formidable fighter, even in the midst of psychological warfare. Impressive.
Have you accepted the truth?
no subject
What truth. [ His tone is biting; it's obvious he's angry. He's always had a temper, and anger is an easy defense to fall back onto when he's still reeling from what just happened. He glares full stop at the other man. ] If you're about to spout some Order bullshit at me, you can save it - I've already heard it.
[ Judge Holloway. That crazy bitch. ]
Did you do that? [ He points back at the pinned ghost, though his eyes never leave Walter, brown and gray bright with fury. ] Did you leave that thing there for me? For some fucking test?
no subject
The truth of your mortality. The end of your life. And the beginning of this life.
[he spreads his arms out wide]
I am not here to speak of a God or a savior, a being of absolute judgement and punishment. For what I do and for whom I do it for, there is only one.
Mother.
[reverence. a prayer. a word which devotion rings from.]
From the warm closed off walls of the womb, we are given strength, the will to thrive, to open our eyes to a world throbbing with pain.
She, is the one true salvation. Mother accepts all, loves all, is all.
The ghosts of victims lurk in this town, living in a world of darkness with no hope for salvation. They know only pain. You have proven yourself to be capable of resisting, no matter how far you sink into darkness.
You. You are special.
no subject
(If he went through it at all.)
The mention of the ghosts gets Alex glancing back at the one pinned behind him, almost involuntarily, the sight of the thing still clawing and moaning quietly giving him chills. Not more than Walter's next words do, though.
You are special. ]
I don't want anything to do with you or your 'Mother'. If that's the family you mentioned, leave me out of it. I've got my own, and I - [ He pauses, falters, considering his next words. Takes a breath. ] I gotta get back to them. And even if I am dead? I'm not interested in this shit.
no subject
You haven't truly accepted it. There is no going 'back.' Your home is gone. Your family is gone. All that is left now is the skin of your palms and the empty wishes that will never be.
no subject
Even if I can't go back, I still don't want anything to do with you or your Mother. I've had enough of that kind of trouble already. If I'm gonna be stuck in this place, I'm gonna spend it as quietly as I can.
[ He likely won't be able to avoid monsters, whenever they decide to show again, but Silent Hill won't have any interest in harassing the dead as it does the living, right? Or so is his hope. ]
no subject
[the question is steady, lethal, precise.
walter reappears crouching over the impaled ghost, smiles wistfully. the ghost meets his eyes, and strangely enough, ceases all activity. stock still, like a predator turned prey.]
no subject
It's when someone gives me bad vibes that I assume they mean to do me harm.
no subject
You would know all about that, wouldn't you, soldier?
[he waves a hand over the ghost, it opens it's mouth to scream but it's too late, it dissolves into a sick puddle of blood.]