The Silent Nightmare II

[Mikey]

"Hello?" A creepy voice on the phone asked. Nasaly and screechy, it continued. "Is this Jaqualine? If so, I have a message for you. Your supposed to go to the roof. A present is waiting for you. Dont worry, your mother would never allow anyone to hurt you." The voice said, and then the line went dead.

Mikey, having heard nothing from the phone, looked at Jack and asked her "Who was it?"

[Reaper]

Jack just stood there for a moment. If she was in a straight place where she was alone, at the moment she would have been freaking out. She closed her eyes as she lowered the phone. Taking in a deep breath she slowly let it out. She stood there for a bit longer with her eyes closed, and continued to take in deep breath's and slowly let them out. Finally she opened her eyes and hung up the phone. "Don't know," she said as she finally answered Mikey's question. She turned to look at him and smiled lightly. "I'm sorry. I don't know our roll here in this hell. Mine seems to lead to a mother I have never known, but yours . . . I don't really know why you are here," she said as she waved him toward the door.

"It was a message for me," she explained as she followed him out of the room. She looked around the hall till she seen the stairs. The little bit of light coming from the window's showing enough to show that it was fairly darker the further up the went. Walking forward a bit into the shadows of the hall her foot hit something. Staring down at the ground it took her a second to reach down and feel around for it. Coming up with a flash light, and the batteries still worked. "The messenger said that we had to go to the roof, that a present was there for me, and that my mother wouldn't let anyone hurt me." She sighed a bit as she walked to the stairs and turned the flash light back to look at Mikey.

"That's weird and creepy, but it also worries me greatly. I'm worried about what would happen to you. I'm told I'm safe, but there was nothing about you." Shaking her head as she continued up the stairs occasionally waving the flash light back to make sure that Mikey was still there. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this. You could have stayed home, but I know it wasn't really your home. Though you could have stayed never the less, but you didn't. I'm glade you came with, and I'm glade your here. I'd probably be freaking out right now," she said with a slightly laugh. Shaking her head as she finally reached the roof door.

Slowly she turned the knob, and pushed it open. Revealing a tar covered ashed roof. On the far end was wrapped box. "I kinda want to freak out right now," she said with a strained laugh. She waited till Mikey was one the roof before heading over to the wrapped box. Kneeling down she unwrapped it, and opened it up to see what was inside. "I kinda feel like she's trying to make up for all my lost birthdays, but I don't see why not. She had no choice in life but to give me up," she mumbled under her breath.

[Mikey]

Inside the box was something quite odd. While the other gifts had been mostly innocent, this one was quite twisted. Maybe by the way the town was, or maybe the person leaving it was just twisted. Either way, the contents of the box were no teddy bear or even a slightly unnerveing peice of paper. Inside the box was a doll that was genuinly creepy to behold. It looked as if any moment it could come to life and try to kill them. Attached was a note.

"Keep this doll close. It will protect you from harm in a way you least expect. Mother."

Mikey was still occupied with the doll, quite creeped out by it. What he expected didnt happen, yet, but he was still careful. He saw the note and what was written on it, and then started to think.

"Is it just me, or does that handwriting look like an kids? Like, little kid's." Mikey asked, and then drifted off. It was probably just nonsense or his imagination or something. He wouldnt be surprised if he started seeing things.

[Reaper]

Jack sighed as she stood up and pocketed the note. She took the doll from Mikey and looked it over before tucking it under her arm. "This way," she said leading him to a ladder that lead to the ground level. She purposely left his question about the handwriting along, because she agreed with him on that matter. She sighed a bit as she climbed down the ladder, and made her way to the edge of the alley. She looked around for the creepy man and when she found nothing she stepped out onto the street. "Best bet try to find a good place with a map of the town," she said as she pointed him down the road.

She looked around as they walked, her hand absently gripping the creepy doll tightly. Her eyes scanning the street for the strange man that they had seen earlier. "I figured a convenience store or a gas station," she said as she looked around finally spotting one just up the street, and across the street from a bowling alley. "There," she pointed as she took lead. She slowed her pace as they came to the gas station. Looking around to make sure it was clear she stepped into the store. "The bowling alley will make a good marker for us. It should be on the map," she said more out of hope as she looked for one. "Help me find the maps," she asked as she started scrounging around the shelves.

[Mikey]

"Okey dokey." Mikey said when asked to help find the maps of the town. He started on the opposite side of the building that she did, scanning shelves of goods all around. He overlooked the various snack and drink isles, bypassed the novelty junk, and ignored the other things that had nothing to do with what he was looking for.

He scanned all the shelves on his side of the store, and came up with nothing. Jack came up with nothing as well. They met in the middle isle, scanned it together, and finally stopped in defeat.

"Well fu*k beans..." Mikey muttered, looking over at the front counter. It just occured to him that that was where a map stand would be. Excited at his newfound good idea, he went to the counter and checked it out. Again, nothing. "Damn it to hell!" He swore loudly, giving the counter a good kick. Drawers shook in their framework, one of which popped open and showed a mess of papers.

Mikey picked them up and started to look through them, but it would take a while. HE looked up at Jack and said "Why not. Weirder things have happened."

[Reaper]

Jack grinned slightly as she watched Mikey fumble threw the paper work. She looked at the creepy doll and sat it on the counter over looking him. "Here, let this creepy ass thing keep you company," she said with a slight laugh. She once more walked around the station again, but still nothing came up. It was quite odd. Even with the town as old as it was there still should have been something to help them find their way. She sighed heavily as she closed her eyes. Looking to the front of the store she could see the creepy doll sitting on the counter. "An why that thing?" she asked herself. Shaking her head she took one last look at the shelf before walking to the back.

"Storage room. I'll check there," she called out as she made her way to the very back. She turned the knob but it wouldn't move. Tilting her head a bit before it dawned on her that they would need a key. Most places even then kept the doors locked so why would this one be any different. She ran her hand along the side of the door. The sound of splintering wood could be heard, and soon enough the wood had been chipped away so the door could just slide open. She went to reach for the door. Though as she did that it swung open knocking her back into the shelf.

Walking . . . more like stumbling out of the room was a weird creature it's arms bound to it's body with what looked to be a straight jacket. It spit at her causing her to jump back, and as the black liquid hit the ground it sizzled as it ate away at the tile flooring. jack in turn kicked the creature knocking it back into the storage room. She shut the door, and pulled one of the larger shelfs in front of it. She stepped back as it continued to beat at the door. Jack on the other hand headed for the front of the store. "If you haven't found anything. I think it's best we wing it and head out of here," she said as she walked to the front door. She stepped out into the streets to look around, but they were clear as for what she could tell.

[Mikey]

"Why, were almost through the pile?" Mikey asked, shuffleing papers. Thats when he heard the loud thump from the back room. "On second thought, maybe we should go..." He said, standing up and walking around the counter to the door.

They walked out into the street, minding their sides and back for anything trying to sneak up on them. They walked through the empty streets for quite a while before coming acoross a building that may hold some answers. That building was the library, aptly named Silent Hill Public Library.

"Well, I'm sure they got something in there." He said, walking up the stairs and inside the building. He did his customary spot check of the building, making sure some big f**ker with a machete wasnt ready to jump out and shove it up someone's ass.

"All righty, lets check...hmm. Where do they keep maps in a library, anyway?" He asked, looking around the fairly spacious building.

[Reaper]

Jack looked at Mikey and pointed to what looked like a magazine section. "Check there. That should be where they keep a lot of there documentations. I'm going to check out the history of the down," she said as she walked down another row of book shelves. She looked around trying to find some type of book that would give her an idea about this place. An if she was lucky had some type of map inside. Even though it probably would have been old. She finally stopped at one of the shelves and pulled off an old dust covered book.

Running her hand along the cover to reveal a picture of the town. She grinned slightly in triumph. Opening up the book she flipped threw the pages at first just glancing over the pictures. Maybe luck would be with her along with some type of map, but still she didn't get her hopes up.

[Mikey]

Mikey walked over to her, eyeing the book she had found. He had had no luck in locating a map of any part of the town, but had found quite a few outdated world maps and even several of America. The place was so old, it had several almanacs, noted as outdated, that didnt include Texas or some of the other southern states.

"Well, glad to see you had better luck than me." Mikey said, looking over her shoulder as she flipped through the pages.

They heard a creaking then. Not one like someone was moving around, but like the bookshelves were shifting. The crack of wood sounded, and then it was silent for a few seconds. Silent until a single book fell, smacking into the ground several feet away. It was covered in dust, must have been 1000 pages thick, with a heavy purple cover that looked like it was inlaid with gold.

The cover had the words "Manual of Spellcraft" printed on it. Mikey looked at it and then at Jack. "What do you think the odds are that that book and only that book happened to fall down?" He asked her. Quite strange indeed. He walked over to it to pick it up, and got a quick zap. Much like touching a door knob after dragging your feet accross the ground. "Ow." He said quickly. He tried once more, and again it happened.

[Reaper]

Jack looked at Mikey and then down at the book. She closed the one she was looking at and set it back on the self. "Looks like the book doesn't like you," she said with a slight grin as she knelt down and looked the book over. Tilting her head slightly she reached down rather cautiously, but touched it without any problems. "Great," she mumbled under her breath as she picked the book up. Standing up she dusted the cover off and mumbled even more to herself.

She started flipping threw the pages at first mostly to clear the book of it's dust, and second to get an idea of what was in it without even reading it. She looked up at Mikey an then back down at the book. "I'm not a witch," she spoke under her breath. Though with the prior events she herself was beginning to wonder exactly who or rather what she was. Never before had her abilities been this strong, or rather taken such a great tole on her like they had back in the mall.

[Mikey]

"Maybe your a wizard?" Mikey said, more of a joke than anything else. "Eh, maybe I just played too much Balders Gate..." He muttered, looking over her shoulder again. Jack could read the book fine, but to Mikey it looked like Egyptian Hyrogliphics mixed with Chinese and a bit of Klingon for good measure. Oh well.

"So...why dont you try it out?" He asked. "I dunno, set something on fire or hit someone with a lightning bolt or something. It's got junk like that in it, dont it?" He asked.

As Jack flipped through the pages, she saw that, essentially, there were several spells that 'may work' should she try them. There was also some information on rituals and bits about identifying symbols and explaining certain phenomona and all manner of other things.

[Reaper]

Jack looked up at Mikey for a moment before returning to the book. "It shows some of what I can already do . . . Well damn," she mumbled under her breath as she turned to walk back to the main area of the library. "From what this says all that I've done are nothing but entry level skills." She paused for a moment and looked around before looking back down at the book. "If that's so, and it takes a tole on me that badly I really hate to see what higher level skills do to me," she said as she walked to the table and set the book down.

Flipping threw a few more pages she stopped before looking at Mikey. "Well that's good," she said with a grin. "Guess not all spell craft is incantations and stuff like that. All I have to do is focus and concentrate," she said as she held her hand out almost as if offering her hand to someone. The same book she had been looking at earlier pulled itself from the book shelf and slowly floated toward her almost like someone invisible was carrying it. She took the book in hand and tossed it down on the table. "So what's the call?" she asked as she looked up at Mikey. "Do we want to hit the lake and cross it to the new portion?" she asked as she started flipping threw the book more.

[Mikey]

"We could try. Do you think a boat is going to be lying around for us to take though?" He asked as they walked out the door. Again, the streets were quiet. No wandering monsters, no miners, no guys with s*** eating grins on their faces evaporating people, none of that. Odd indeed.

The walk from the library to the docks was quite short. Apparantly, they had run quite some distance from Mr. Smiley and walked a bit more to the library. And all in the right direction. Must be a lucky day. They reached the actual dock with no incident and started to search for a boat. "Well, I'll be damned..." Mikey said, calling Jack over to the small rowboat.

"If the worst thing we have to do is row accross the lake, I'm gonna dance a jig, I swear to god..." He said, hopping down into the boat. He half expected to fall through and hit the water, but the boat held nicely. He untied the bow line and waited for Jack to get in before he pushed away from the dock and grabbed the oars. He started to row out and looked over at Jack.

"Hope your not sea sick, because that would make two of us..." He said, starting to feelhis stomach jumping around.

[Reaper]

Jack nodded as she tucked the book away safely in her pants. She straightened up her coat as she looked at Mikey. "Do you want me to row?" she asked as he himself seemed persistent on rowing across the lake. She grinned slightly as she turned around to look out across the lake. It was then that she remembered. "Oh s*** we left the doll," she grumbled. Though not like she really wanted to carry it around with her. She sighed a bit as she shook her head and looked down at the water. For a moment she thought she was seeing things, but the sudden shift in the boat told her she wasn't.

She looked back to the dock they had come from, but they were closer to the other side already. Bad thing was that they were still pretty far away. The boat shifted violently threatening to throw them out into the water. "Hold on," she called back just as what ever was below the water hit the nose of the boat. The boat was thrown up wards knocking them both into the water. Jack tried to swim to the surface, but found herself being pulled further down. Jack tried her best to get her foot free, but the further she went down the harder it was to breath. It was then that she noticed Mikey wasn't that far away.

Cursing slightly she had to do something or they both would drown. She reached down putting her hands on the tentacle like limb that held her leg. The water around her grew cold as the limb froze in place. With that she was able to break free. She swam over to Mikey and fighting to keep from passing out. She grabbed hold of Mikey and looked at him with a grin. Then without warning she pressed her lips against his, and blowing what little air she had left in her own lungs into his. She parted from him with a grin before pulling herself down to the limb that held him bound. Once more placing her hands on it as the water grew cold, and the limb turned to ice. She shattered the limb allowing Mikey to be freed.

Jack pulled on his arm as they started to make their way to the top. She feeling the strain in her chest as she started chocking. She gripped her throat as she continued to struggle, and eventually passed out in the water.

[Mikey]

Mikey continued to the top of the lake, dragging Jack with. The end of water and the beginning of air less than ten feet away. It may as well have been a mile, but he couldnt give up. Only a few more seconds. His heart pounded and his chest tightened. He was lightheaded and could see his vision starting to go dark. Only a few more inches.

The splashing sounded like a thunder clap in his ears as he finally made it to the top. He gasped for air for a few seconds before he turned back to Jack. She was at the top with him, but he didnt know if she was breathing or not. He had to get back to the boat. The boat...where was it? He looked in every direction before he found it, having floated off about 20 feet north.

It didnt take long for him to get back to it, even while he was dragging Jack along. He seemingly never tired, not even when he somehow lifted Jack into the boat and then climbed in himself. Even then, he wasnt tired.

He layed her on her back and started to check for a pulse or to see if she was breathing. She didnt and she wasnt. He started pushing on her chest, trying to start her heart and lungs again, giving her a breath of air as she had done for him under the water.