Silent Hill: the Restless Two

Prologue: Waking from Restless Dreams

Levi smiled slightly. He was dressed in his casual clothes once more. His shift at Happy Burger was done. Levi hated fast food with passion. His boss was a nice guy, though; nice enough to let him take off early to spend time with his girlfriend. He watched the blond girl sleep with her head down restlessly at her table. She twitched listlessly, and muttered things sleepily. The afternoon sun hit her head in such a way that it made her bleached blonde hair shine white gold. The dark roots of her truly black colored hair stood out to his watchful eye. He was pretty sure that her dad was on her to get it dyed again. The reason for that truly was complicated. A deep matter of personal safety, really. One he didn't want to think about.

His smile became soft in nature. Levi touched his girlfriend's shoulder gently, and shook her a bit. "Heya, Heather." He whispered mildly, trying his best to coax her awake. "Wakey, wakey."

The girl took a few seconds to wake up. It wasn't the nice awakening he'd hoped for. It was rather rude, from the looks of it. Heather's head shot up, letting out a sharp frightful gasp. Her saucer wide brown eyes darted left, right, up and down in panic. Her alarm subsided instantly when she saw the concern lying in a familiar face. "Thank god…" she breathed deeply, letting out a thankful calming breath. She touched the white and gold porcelain trinket hanging from her neck on a string thin silver chain. It was as if it was her one link to life. "It was just a dream…"

Levi blinked, concerned blue eyes shown with deep worry. He comfortingly moved his hand over her shoulder back and forth, noting the slight dark circles under her eyes. "One of…those dreams again." he said tentatively. It might have sounded like a question. It was an observation. He said it quietly enough for only her to hear.

Heather nodded miniscule. Levi sat down across from her, chair screeching unpleasantly when he pulled it back. Heather winced slightly at the sound. Levi didn't like it any more than she did; that sharp sound reminded him all too much of the metal scraping on metal echo that haunted his dreams, and waking hours.

Levi grinned wryly. He indicated the dark circles under his eyes playfully, sticking out his tongue. "I made sure to get plenty of those things before they got me." He jested cheerily, making a pretend gun with his right hand. He cocked it back, and let it "fire" soundlessly above Heather's head. "I was like Rambo, Heather. They didn't even get the chance to draw first blood."

Heather's lips twitched slightly until they morphed into a thin smirk. She seemed to lose all her former nervous tension. "I had an unlimited ammo machine gun," Heather confessed, running a hand through her faux blonde hair. "I was gunning them down…they started to get overwhelming in number. It was getting bad…" Heather shivered involuntarily. Those nightmares could often get the best of him as well. Levi put a hand on Heather's lying openly on the table, it was very gentle and warm hand hers. "Until you came…" Heather said quietly, genuine glad smile crept up on her lips. "Thanks for watching my back again, partner."

Heather squeezed his hand affectionately. Levi returned it just as tenderly. He shrugged carelessly, throwing her a small wink. "No problem, part. Only returning the favor…" He returned conversationally. "You saved me plenty of times, too. I used to think I was crazy…until I met you." He gazed distantly off to the side, looking out the window at the thriving crowds of people who walked the mall in happy ignorance; if they only knew about the terrible world lying beyond the thin veil between this one and the next. His voice got very quiet from the decent conversational bravado he showed moments ago. His vacant blue gaze was haunted by distant sadness. "You straightened me out, Heather."

Heather leaned forward, and pecked him on the cheek. She guided Levi by the hand, leading him out the door at a friendly pace. She smiled widely, that nice smile told him it was alright to let go. For now, those visions hardly mattered. It was wonderful to have somebody who understood. In a lot of ways, pain founded a strong basis on which empathy could be built. On this skeletal foundation of understanding found in friendship, a house of love could be put together to hide from the fog.

The two teenagers ventured off into the busy mall. Heather and Levi pretended to be nothing more than ordinary teenagers. They were both touched by a place that had taken more than its fair share of souls; whether these two souls would be claimed by the town that took all…was left up to their own connected will.