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It's been a while since you've saw...anything, really. Right now, you're on a bus headed for Silent Hill, a resort town in Maine. There's only two other guys on the bus, for whatever reason, minus the surly-looking driver. Outside of the bus is a thick fog that completely envelopes the vehicle. The sound of the road hasn't changed at all. After what seems like an hour or two of silence, the driver suddenly perks up. He looks at everyone through the mirror with dull eyes, and speaks with a cigarette-scarred voice. "Hey, the stop for Silent Hill's comin' up. Get your things." Wait, 'stop'? You're pretty sure you're going to a bus station... Eventually, the driver slows down, the air brakes hiss, and you stop. He opens the door, and as you walk to the front, he smiles. "Welcome to Silent Hill! Enjoy your trip."  You step off the bus, into a...gas station. Far cry from a station, that's for sure. You can hear the bus peel off behind you, and not much else. The town sounds completely empty.
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Sep 2, 2014 03:06
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 22:31 |
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Alan Cross I stepped off the bus, pulling a cigarette out of my pocket, lighting it and taking in a well-deserved smoke. It had been too long on that bus without being able to take one smoke break. I looked around the gas station as I inhaled. This was the stop for Silent Hill? Couldn't the driver have taken us further into town? For that matter, has this gas station even been used in the last five years? I thought this was supposed to be a bustling tourist town. I pulled the cigarette out of my mouth, slowly blowing out the tobacco smoke with a sigh. "Silent Hill is right," I quipped to myself. Waffleman_ posted:
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Sep 2, 2014 03:15
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Leila Shigane FP 3/3 The bus lurches to a stop as I stare out the window. Silent Hill has a rep as a resort town--that means what I should be seeing is some kind of transit center. Buses, trams, and taxis all rolling in and out to whereever their happy passengers want. A gas station--which, judging by the dollar fifty a gallon pricing being advertised hasn't been used for a while--is not what I was expecting. As I step off the bus with my messenger bag (it's not a purse. Don't call it a purse) over my shoulder and get my bearings--nope, no transit station a short walk further on--I turn back to the driver and call out. "Hey driver! What's the big--" He shuts the door in my face and peels off in a right hurry. Never seen a bus do that before. With a grunt, I shift my bag and look at my fellow travellers. "Well, then. This doesn't look much like a resort. Where'd that jerk actually drop us off?" Leila Shigane posted:High Concept: Headstrong Former Detective Davin Valkri fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Sep 2, 2014 |
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Sep 2, 2014 04:44
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Hunter Parker "That's a good question." I furrow my brow; nobody leaves that quickly unless they're upset about something. Maybe the driver was just unprofessional. "Do either of you have a map? I meant to buy one once I was in town. Failing that..." I gesture vaguely at the gas station. "We check there, or we start walking, I suppose." Antivehicular posted:Hunter Parker
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Sep 2, 2014 09:47
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Alan Cross FP: 3/3 I blew out another cloud of smoke and turned towards the gas station. "I suppose it only makes sense to check this place out first. Gas station in a tourist town like this should have maps. If anything, there's probably an attendant we can ask directions."
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Sep 2, 2014 15:14
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Leila Shigane FP 3/3 I look at the smoking man with a bit of surprise. "You really think a place this old has an attendant?" I shrug. "Place looks all dried up. I'd sure like gas for a dollar forty-nine a gallon. But I guess ten year old maps are better than being lost in the rear end end of nowhere." I start stepping forwards towards the door. "You guys coming' in or waitin' on me?"
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Sep 3, 2014 14:56
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Hunter Parker "Oh, I'll come with you. It was my idea, after all." I start walking towards the gas station, one hand going into the pocket of my coat to discreetly check my phone. If I could get signal out here, that would be an easy way to get a map and some proper bearings. Of course, that was a pretty big "if"...
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Sep 4, 2014 07:31
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Hunter No signal, no wi-fi, no service. Your phone is completely useless as a means of communication. Looks like you're stuck with the old-fashioned type of map for the time being...provided you can find some.
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Sep 5, 2014 02:52
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Leila Shigane FP 3-1?/3 As I stride towards the door, I reach into my messenger bag and pull out a little flashlight. It's not police issue--if it were it'd be a lot bigger and heavier--but it lights places up enough. I give it a shake and flip it on, and it flickers to life. It feels kind of small at the moment...eh, it's just the fog. It'll burn off. Spending an FP to say that Leila does, in fact, have a flashlight on her already. "Hello?" I call as I push the door open, trying not to sneeze at the dust. "Anybody?"
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Sep 5, 2014 03:08
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Sure, I'll happily take the FP. Leila Nobody returns your calls. The place is dead silent, and it seems you're the only visitor this place has had in a long while. Directly in front of you is a checkout counter, and a kiosk of different brochures and maps. To the left are just empty shelves and coolers, some sporting cobwebs. Several different bottles and boxes are laying on the ground, along with some general debris, and more than a few tiles are cracked or outright missing. Above you, fluorescent lights with broken tubes hang from the ceiling precariously. Everything is covered in a fine layer of dust.
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Sep 6, 2014 00:17
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Alan Cross As I looked around the decrepit gas station, I let out a huff of air. "And this is the bus stop? It looks abandoned. There's gotta be something here." I decided to channel my inner Jake Shore and look around the place by the woman's light. Investigating the gas station for anything we can use. <Krysmbot> Waffleman, /+/-+4 = 4
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Sep 6, 2014 00:28
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Hunter Parker No big surprise on the phone, really, but it was worth a shot. I make a beeline for the maps, looking for something that shows Silent Hill and the surrounding area in enough detail to navigate by -- at least, to find our way to the tourist district or city center. If this is such a big tourist town, there's got to at least be an information center, right?
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Sep 6, 2014 00:39
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Alan You browse the empty shelves, trying to think if you could use this kind of location on one of your next books. The boxes and bottles on the floor are all empty, except for one. A box of ammo lies hidden among the debris. When you look up from the floor, you see that the woman's light fell on something in the far corner of the room, causing a metal part of it to glint. When you walk closer to investigate, you discover that a pocket knife has been thrust into the wall.  Pocket Knife Simple folding pocket knife. Easy to use, but won't do much damage. Hunter Finally, an actual map. You grab one from the kiosk, but the moment you try to unfold it, something falls out from between the folds. An...envelope? It's plain white, without any addresses or stamps. Huh. Uh, anyway, map. Christ, Silent Hill's a big place. After scanning the map, you manage to find out that you're in the South Vale district. You try and find any type of information center, and the closest thing you can find is probably the Town Center in the Resort District. Sounds like one, at least. But that's quite a ways away... Kumaton fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Sep 6, 2014 |
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Sep 6, 2014 01:40
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "Jesus Christ," I mutter to myself as my flashlight hits glinting metal, ones that the man beside me walks in and holds up. "Someone losing a pocket knife I can understand, maybe, but what's a gas station need with ammunition? Bullets and gas pumps don't mix." I step into the store area and give my flashlight another shake as I shrug at the other two men. "Some resort town, huh? Anyway, since we seem to be stuck in the same predica-- My train of thought is cut off by the flutter of paper. "What was that?" I stride over, reach down and pick up the envelope, holding it up in front of my flashlight before popping it open. What's this here? Time for a bit of police Investigation! [17:53:24] <DVAway> !r fudge+3 [17:53:25] <Krysmbot> DVAway, +/--+3 = 2
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Sep 6, 2014 01:53
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Alan Cross A smirk crossed my face as I picked up the ammo and the knife. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Better take them so n one can misuse them." Slipping both into my coat pockets, I walked over to the woman, looking over her shoulder at the envelope. "Did somebody leave their paycheck here? I'll take it."
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Sep 6, 2014 01:58
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Leila When you hold the envelope up to your light, you immediately see the sihoullette of a house key. Not much else is apparent-you're not even sure that there's a letter in here.
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Sep 6, 2014 02:15
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Hunter Parker Focused on the map, I look over at the dropped envelope as Leila picks it up. "Huh, what's in there? Weird place to hide something, but guess it was safe enough in here... good news, I know where we are. Bad news, we're across the lake from the resort district and city center. It's a long walk, unless we want to find a boat rental..."
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Sep 6, 2014 02:32
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 I find myself cocking my head in confusion as I examine the envelope. "House key?" I say, half in surprise and half in answer to the man reading the map. "It's somebody's key. Maybe it's for something in the gas station. I dunno, why would you keep a key out here...not a paycheck, I'm afraid!" That was to the other man, the one oddly interested in the pocket knife. I sigh a bit as the other man explains just how far away we are from civilization. That drat bus driver. "Well, ain't this a peach...good thing I'm wearing running shoes. Well, since we're stuck in this together, might as well get the introductions out of the way while our legs aren't screaming at us. I'm Leila. Who are you gents?"
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Sep 6, 2014 05:05
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Alan Cross I took the spent cigarette out of my mouth and stomped it out on the floor. It's not as if anyone was around to care. "Name's Alan Cross."
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Sep 6, 2014 05:11
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Hunter Parker "My name's Hunter. Hunter Parker. Think we should try to find what that key fits to? Not sure it'll help us any, but I'm curious, and maybe we'll get lucky and find some car keys, right?"
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Sep 6, 2014 07:01
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "Well, it's good to meet you two, Alan, Hunter. As for the key..." I flip the envelope and catch the key in my hand. "If I had to guess, I'd say it'd be for a lockbox or something around here. But that's just a guess, mind."
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Sep 6, 2014 07:17
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Leila When you turn over the envelope, something else falls out. Along with the key, a folded piece of paper lands in your hand. Well, it was an envelope, so that makes sense, you guess. As for the key, it's made out of brass, with some wear around the edges. It's pretty much perfectly ordinary. Obtained House Key.
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Sep 7, 2014 03:58
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 ...well. That's what I get for making theories before having all the facts. I bite my lip a bit in embarrassment. "Huh. This looks more like a house key, not a lockbox key. What's this paper here?" I flip the paper open. Maybe it's a label for the key? "Uh, right. Anything in the back room, or should we start hiking?"
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Sep 7, 2014 19:57
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Alan Cross "Nothing stood out to me. We can't really stay here the entire trip. It's not like Shore's gonna solve a murder in a gas station. We should get going."
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Sep 7, 2014 20:34
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Leila The letter's pretty well worn. You're not sure how old it is, but whoever wrote it wasn't a fan of making things easy for you.
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Sep 7, 2014 21:33
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "What the hell?" I say out loud as I read the letter. "The place between rest and greed, what? Ugh...this thing's a dead drop from the world's most oblique dead dropper. Hey, uh, Hunter, was it? Any place on the map that could be 'between rest and greed'? Least it's something to think about on the walk..." I shrug and stretch my legs a bit. "We ready to go, then? I've got the light, you've got the map, you've got the...knife..." I point at Hunter and Alan, my voice dropping off in confusion at the latter. "Seriously, why'd you pick up the knife?"
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Sep 8, 2014 00:42
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Alan Cross I pulled out the knife and looked at it. "Well, it was kinda spur of the moment. I don't really like the looks of this place, you know? Who knows when some crazed junkie is gonna come out and attack us or something? Figured I could defend myself with it." I guess I've been letting my books get the better of me.
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Sep 8, 2014 01:15
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 That...makes more sense than I was expecting. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense still, but it does make some sense. "So you're a knife-fighter then?" I ask. "I don't think there's a lot of junkies around here...and I'm not sure how much good a survival knife is going to do you...but I guess if it makes you feel better about walking, so much the better."
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Sep 8, 2014 02:45
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Leila After your conversation with Alan, you notice something...off. You flash your light over in that Hunter kid's direction, only to find that he's...gone. There's really no other way to put it; he just vanished. Where the kid was supposed to be standing lies the map that was in his hands moments earlier.
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Sep 23, 2014 01:35
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "We ready to go, Hunter?" I ask absentmindedly as I look over the note again. "...Hunter?" I turn my flashlight over to where he should be standing. "Hunter?!" Okay, what gives?! "This isn't funny!" I reach down and pick up the map on the floor, cursing under my breath. "Rotten spoiled bastard...uh, hey, Alan, was it? Did you see that guy walk off somewhere?" For some reason, I turn the papers over in my hands, as if I somehow need to confirm they're real. "Okay...here's the gas station...we need to go to the info center and maybe catch a taxi...this Baldwin Mansion place is between an inn and a bank...maybe that's what the paper meant by 'rest and greed'?"
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Sep 23, 2014 02:10
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Alan Cross I looked over to where Hunter was, my brow raising at his disappearance. "No, I didn't see him go anywhere. Maybe he went to find a bathroom?"
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Sep 23, 2014 03:15
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "Would you use the bathrooms in a place like this?" I respond, wrinkling my nose.
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Sep 23, 2014 04:09
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Alan Cross "That's, uh....a pretty good point. poo poo, where could he have gone then?"
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Sep 23, 2014 04:12
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "I have no idea...did he leave without us?" I look out the front windows as if expecting to see him waving outside. He's not there...with a shrug, I walk over to the dusty counter, blow off some of the dust, set the map and the note down, and invite Alan over to look. "Maybe, I dunno, he set off for this place." I point to Baldwin Mansion on the South Vale map. "It's between an inn and a savings bank. 'Between rest and greed'. Maybe he thinks he'll find someone there. And it's closer than the information center, so...maybe...ugh, I'm a goddamn cop, people aren't supposed to disappear when I'm five feet away!"
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Sep 23, 2014 04:44
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Sorry for the lack of updates. A myriad of problems from that drat 'real life' thing have been keeping me busy. Leila After studying the map for a few seconds, you decide on two possible routes. The shorter one goes up by Rosewater Park using Nathan Avenue, but it seems pretty deserted. The longer route goes by more businesses (and hopefully, people), but it's, well, longer. Of course, there's also the matter of the space between you and Jack's Inn, but you don't know if it's blocked off or not.
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Oct 11, 2014 01:36
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "So...there's our options." I finish tracing the paths on the map. "We can get our bearings more after we check in at the inn here. Anyway, the path doesn't change much until we pass the bowling alley, so, let's get going, then?" The last word lilts up questioningly. Why is it questioning? I'm a cop! I should be firm on this! "Let's get going." Better.
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Oct 11, 2014 06:02
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Alan Cross I gave a wry smile and a sarcastic salute. "Right away, Ma'am." I had dealt with people like her before. Hell, I had written people like her before. That firmness was the telltale sign of a cop. If this Leila kept going like this, she'd probably end up finding herself in the pages of the next Jake Shore mystery.
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Oct 11, 2014 18:15
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Streets of Silent Hill The fog hasn't lifted, sadly. It's hard to see anything more than a couple of feet in front of you, and your flashlight doesn't help much. The only sign of life in the dead town is the distant sound of footsteps that quickly dissipate into silence. They sounded like they came from your left...maybe it was that Hunter kid getting a head start on you?
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Oct 15, 2014 03:37
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Alan Cross I squinted and looked around the area. poo poo, I couldn't see anything in this fog. Then the footsteps. That drat kid's gonna get himself killed. I turned my head to the sound and called out. "Hey! Hunter! Is that you?"
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Oct 15, 2014 03:41
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Leila Shigane FP 2/3 "Jesus, shouldn't the fog have burnt off by now?" This flashlight seemed okay in the gas station, but out here I can't even see the beam on the ground...maybe I should have bought the police spec. "Hunter? Hey! I know you're probably anxious to get going, but you shouldn't run off like that! You might get hurt in this drat fog!" I cup my free hand to my mouth. "Hello?"
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Oct 15, 2014 03:52
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