Tobias woke up, eyes wide, hand feeling the weight of the bottle in his hand. Almost absentmindedly, he burrowed a little closer to the wall that held up his weight, shivering once more as he clutched the bottle tightly and glanced around, left, then right, then left again. . . nothing. Nothing at all.
Coughing, he rubbed his face and felt the grime on it, then lifted the bottle to his lips. A few heady swallows, his body warmed up, his mind dulled down, taking the edge off the dreams just a bit. Some nights, when he drank enough, he had dreamless sleeps. . . those were the good nights.
Other nights. . . nights like this.
"Karen." He felt his voice crackle a bit, groan as if it were crusted over. He rubbed his face again, wiped it down, then took another swig. No rest for the wicked. He stood up, peed in the corner of the alley behind the dumpster, and decided to try to walk the soreness out of his back. Bottle in a paper bag, finish the drink. . . throw it away. Hear the glass shatter.
He shuffled out of the alleyway half asleep, half awake? Maybe he was still sleeping, maybe he hasn't been sleeping at all, and the world was still just a nightmare. It all blurred together anyway these days.
He passed by an electronics store.
-- Edited by Tobias Brook on Monday 22nd of June 2009 12:31:59 PM
the street hasn't changed since before you went to sleep. A small news broadcast mentioning missing person's only shown for a few moments. People who will most likely never be seen again and who people won't recognize if they see them again.
One of them Tobias knows one of them, one of them is Karen.
Tobias blearily watched the news report while the few people on these dark and abandoned streets kept distant. He smelled funny, that much he knew, but he didn't care too much. He watched the familiar face appear on the screen.
"Karen. . . " he grunted out, staring at the window, reaching forward to touch it. "I guess they got to you too. After all these years, I guess they got you too." He shivers and then coughs again, pulling his coat around himself, glancing over his shoulder.
He thought he saw a familiar face in the distance, watching him, but it was a trick of his eyes, a trick of the light. "I gotta get more medicine." He rubs his face and blink again. "Silent Hill" he said, quietly, like a curse, like a weight. The words carried great meaning to him.
1 AM on the filthy back streets of South Ashfield was no place for memories. Tobias had run when the dreams started and he always looked back, though not from regret. "Nuts to it." Poor Karen, the place finally got to her.
He walked down the street towards the cafe, back alley, take it slow, peek in. Anyone there? The place was quiet, a few cats, hanging near the back door. Don't get too close, the feral things don't like competition. A sound of a clang, the trash for the night. "Thank God for the Health Department."
Tobias waited a few seconds then quickly moved to the trash bin, taking out his knife and cutting open one of the bags. Mostly fresh, still in foil packages in a plastic bag of their own still warm from the heat lamps. Fried Chicken, Home fried Potatoes, leftovers kept until closing then thrown away to rot. Enough food for a day or two.
Timing was the secret, it was all about the timing. Get in quick enough, you can get a fresh free meal before it even got cold. IF you were nice they'd even give you the extra food. The old manager did. The new one was a little less willing to do hand outs. "Get a job" they shouted at him. But the jobs never stuck, the kindness never lasted, the world kept changing on him.
Money was a temporary kindness, handed out from strangers. He was a hunter and gatherer, dependent only on his skills. No Cro-Magnon Man ever stalked its dinner with more care than Tobias Brook. He had to, there was nothing else for him to do. When all else failed, those old instincts came back, those old skills. . . he gathered what food he could into plastic bags, and ran before the cats could gather for the milk laid out at night. The old manager never liked cats either.
Two blocks away in his back alley, laid out on cardboard with paper stuffed trash bags for comfort, holding a bottle from his stash, nesting well and staring up at the skies, Toby chewed on a lukewarm piece of fried chicken. "Karen." The word, unbidden repeated from his mouth, as he paused midchew. He sighed and stared at the ground "DON'T JUDGE ME!" he shouted out. "I couldn't do anything! Shut up."
He buries his head in his arms and leans forward, clenching his eyes shut, before exhaling again, shaking his head and looking up. "Oh. . . it's you."
-- Edited by Tobias Brook on Monday 22nd of June 2009 03:15:29 PM
"Yes it's me, who else where you talking to?" Ben asks and sits down across from Tobias in the alleyway and looks at the man, "You don't look like life's been treating you too well."
The comment isn't mocking or meant to be demeaning, it's genuine and with a small touch of concern.
"Times are tough all around, Ben. Life treats some folks better than others. . . " He takes a piece of chicken and chews a bit of it. "Hell, at least I'm surviving. More than most of our friends can say. I didn't get a lot of help in that, but I'm surviving. Not everyone was lucky as you. I had to make my own luck."
He offers some chicken to Ben, taking a swig of the alcohol and staring up in the direction of Ben, almost staring through him with bloodshot eyes. "Karen's gone." There was a lot unsaid in that statement. A lifetime of fear justified, a question behind it. . . a statement of fact.
He shakes his head "****." He rubs his face and takes a long swig again.
-- Edited by Tobias Brook on Tuesday 23rd of June 2009 07:12:16 PM
Ben raises a hand, "I'm fine don't feel hungry right now." He says and he nods.
"Karen isn't gone yet Tobias she's still alive, the two of us know exactly where she is." Ben says look at his old friend with a solom expression. "We also know what's going to happen to her if someone doesn't help her."
Tobias stares at the ground and says "The orphanage. . . **** . . . " He puts down the rest of the chicken, not hungry anymore. Staring at the grimy gravel in front of him. "So why am I the guy who has to go after her? I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly a US Marine or anything. . . I'm a bum, a reprobate, I can't even hold down a job for more than a week before I crack up and screw it all up."
"What makes you think I'll be able to do anything? If you're looking for a rescue team to help you out, I'm probably the most worthless one out there. You'd probably be better off going alone. "
-- Edited by Tobias Brook on Tuesday 23rd of June 2009 07:52:07 PM
"Because maybe this gives you a chance to face your personal demons, giving three ways this could turn out, you save Karen and face what you have been running from. You die or you pass all this up and you continue living like this."
Ben shakes his head and looks directly at Tobias, "It's up to you in the end what direction you take."
"Who the hell are you to judge me? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO JUDGE ME!? You just come out of my life like some sort of ****ing guru come to offer options and choices? Where the hell were you when I needed you? Why should I go down there to save her? It's not like anyone else ever came to save me! Sure, this place is a ****hole, but it's the best I could do!"
He shakes his head as he says "They got Karen, they're gonna get you and Moon too. . . and then I'll probably be next. You can't cheat death, Ben. . . and there are some battles that are just too big. If you want to save her so much, why don't YOU go in after her?"
-- Edited by Tobias Brook on Tuesday 23rd of June 2009 08:22:41 PM
"I know it seems hard Toby. As for where was I when I needed you? Why didn't you come find one of us? Do you think that the people you grew up with wouldn't help you?"
Ben frowns, "Why didn't you warn us? Warn us about what would happen to us? Because maybe you didn't understand completely, you where afraid. I'm not here to judge you. I just want to help you face this before it come up from behind you."
"What the hell was I supposed to say? I told you about the dreams, Ben. . . I . . . I tried to. But the ones who were there, were all dead. And the rest of them, taken away . . . they didn't know, I didn't know. . . how could I?"
He rubs his face as he looks up "How could I face you all after I ran away? I could have said something. I told you about my dream. I said it, Ben. . .I remember the images, and then the words came out all wrong and Moon thought I wanted . . . "
He shakes his head "No, I saw I had to run. I knew if I told the wrong person the prefects would have kept me there. . . I had to go. . . "
He closes his eyes and clenches them shut then open it up "I didn't know . . . I thought I was going crazy." He shivers "How could I find them? If I found them years later, that meant they could find me, and if they could find me, then . . . then I was already lost. . . all these years, no one found me. . . I hid away, kept in the back alleys. No one looked at me, I was . . . "
He looks up for a moment "How did you find me?" He stares into Ben's eyes . . . then blinks "****."
"Who else is going to listen to me? Who else will understand. It's your choice Toby, for Moon and Karen's sake, for Morris' sake, for Frank's sake. Someone needs to end this."
Ben smiles a little, "At least you won't be alone."
Tobias gasped as his eyes opened, he felt the bottle of booze firm in his hand, a cold piece of firm reality on a cool night. He panted, feeling the sweat bead on his forehead. He felt the ground underneith him as he tried to get his bearings.
A dream? A Nightmare? A hallucination?
"****, Ben . . . **** **** **** **** **** **** ****" Tobias curled up a bit, bringing his knees against his chest as he rocked in place against the brick wall that sheltered him from the wind. "Damnit, Ben. . . I guess you got lost first. . . " He exhales and closes his eyes.
"I guess you can try . . . but you cheat fate." He takes a swig of the alcohol, looking at it, then throwing the bottle against a wall.
"Silent Hill . . . Hell."
-- Edited by Tobias Brook on Tuesday 23rd of June 2009 08:50:36 PM
