Rules in tags (TW: This RP includes heavy themes, such as various mental health problems and death)

(Since the Silent Hill 2 remake, I wanted to do this again, but I revamped and changed some things.)

(SPOILERS FOR SILENT HILL)

You recently received a letter from your best friend, who died a bit ago. He tells you that he "can't wait to see you again" and to "come to the town of Silent Hill to meet up."

Loaz stares a hole through the letter, turning it over, reading and rereading it over and over. It has to be a joke, right?
It's his handwriting. Who else writes like this?

"I give you full permission gto haunt the hell outta me," they'd once told him. They never intended their joke to be taken literally.

No. No, they're just trying to find connections. This is some sick joke junk mail. Worryingly accurate sick joke mail. Loaz is grieving; grief messes with you bad. This doesn't mean anything.
...
But what if...
No. This is a murder tactic!
"God, but what if!" Loaz grumble-shouts. The edges of the card crumple at the edges in their grip.
Silent Hill. Had they ever even been there? Heard of the place?
Do they want to know?

After hours of frustrated deliberation, Loaz caves. As much as they'd refused to admit it to themself, they were fascinated by the letter. They're honestly more interested in how someone could fake something like this so perfectly; they kinda want to meet the guy just for the heck of it.
And if it is a murder tactic, they'll find someone to haunt the hell out of themself!
Or, maybe it is real, and they're about to make one of the best stupid decisions of their life.

Loaz shoves the now thoroughly crumpled letter into their pocket.
"Worth a try, eh?"

The man turns around

"Hello."

"Hi!" Loaz half-yelps, instantly retracting their hand. "Sorry to disturb you! We were just..." They glance back at Noah, "looking for someone. Have you seen anyone around?"

"... In the bowling alley. Why?"

"Bowling alley. Noted!" They beamed back gratefully. "We're looking for friends. We just haven't seen much of anyone here. Just me, him," they pointed back at Noah, "and you. I'm Loaz by the way. Lovely to meet you and thank you for the lead." Loaz spoke so quickly it was surprising they weren't stumbling over the words. So there were people around somewhere. The more people they found, the more hope there was of this being legit.

~He might really not be gone!~

".. I'm Hank."

"And the one back there being quiet and not associating is Noah." They introduced the other enthusiastically. "Thank you again. Honestly. This is good." They looked back to Noah grinning ear to ear, hands clasped excitedly against their chest.

Noah waves timidly

Hank: "You're welcome."

(Hi omg sorry it took me so stupid long to get back to you I completely forgot)

“Welp, we got a lead, we good to go?” They started moving again before turning back towards Hank. “Do… you got anywhere to be, dude?”

(It's completely fine, lol)

Hank: "No."

Noah speaks

Noah: "You ready?"

“If you say so.”

They wave to Hank and nod to Noah. “Yup. Let’s get moving! Bowling alley!”

"Yeah. I help you find your friend, you help me find mine?"

Do you go with Noah?

"Sure." Loaz can finally offer a legitimate smile. Yes, they had just thought this was a murder plot. Yes they were still very intimidated by the very concept of being here. But also, they kinda needed a person to talk to, and if this was a ruse and they never found their friend, even if Noah or someone did take them out, at least they wouldn't be going out without due social interaction first.

What great circumstances to be making replacement friends. Loaz is trying not to think too deep about things here.

"Alright.. You wanna check out the overlook at Toluca Lake?"

"I'm going to trust you know where that is!" They announced. "Lead the way!"

Noah and you walk to the overlook

It's no less foggy here, not that Loaz was expecting it to be. Still, the fog seems to insist on interrupting their merely taking in the environment. Who knew clouds could be rude.

Is it polite to start shouting 'hello's and 'are you there's? The town is empty so there's nobody to disturb other than Noah, but it is supposed to be *Silent* Hill.
They also most certainly still feel off.
But also how the heck else are they supposed to find anyone here?

"Hello?" They called out into the mist.

You see a man leaning on the overlook

Hope! Or imminent doom.
WHO CARES!

Loaz approaches with only mild caution. "Hellooo." They greet casually.

The man doesn't acknowledge you

"Excuse me?" It can't be that he's out of hearing range unless his ears absolutely suck. Loaz is naturally just a bit too loud and always a bit too close for their own good.

They lightly tap the man on the shoulder. "Sir?"

The fog starts to turn red

"Uh... I-I think we should hide.."

"Where- WHERE!? I'm not going back in *there* with that guy, he'd probably just shoot us or something! He had a holster, he had a f**kin' holster, I--" The rant trails off into panicked gasps. They have no way of justifying the weather and that only piles onto their breakdown. Everything is wrong, there's no plan, no nothing. Only red air and noise and the feeling of their heart punching their ribcage and their lungs not working.

"H-Hey, hey.. We can't panic here.. We need to-"

You suddenly start to hear metal scraping across the ground behind you, which makes Noah immediately freeze up

"I'LL PANIC WHERE I WANT- ...to..." They stiffened. "What's'at?"

Noah slowly turns around and his face twists onto an expression of pure terror

"... U-Uh..!"

Loaz was practically flat against the wall, gripping to the brick for all it was worth.
"WHAT?" They scream. With how sharp it was and how dry their throat felt, they worried for a moment that the shout had ripped a hole in their neck.

You turn around and see a tall figure, which stands around 7 feet tall. It has no shirt, and it wears a blood covered butcher's apron around it's legs. It drags a massive knife behind it, there appears to be dried blood on it. The most standout part about it, though, is the large, pyramidal shape of its head which is made of metal

Loaz has no way of moving. They couldn't force their feet to quit being stubborn if they tried; it was like the concrete had swallowed their boots. It took all of its strength to draw in the next breath.
All it could do was stare. Loaz never thought they'd be so afraid of a triangle.
Even in their petrified state, amidst nearly nothing but pure terror, there was the tiniest flicker of one other thing they couldn't help: fascination. All their panicked "what"s and "how"s were followed by curious ones, near silent, largely drowned out, but Loaz couldn't deny they still felt them. They almost didn't want to move. Just to see...

NO. Those are stupid thoughts. They need to move, they have to unroot themself, pry their fingers from the wall.
~Breathe. BREATHE GO***AMN IT.~

Noah seems to find the words to speak again

"W.. We need.. Uh... We should run..."

They should. They should run. Breathe. Move. Run.
The thing was huge, but it was heavy. Strong, but still over-encumbered by metal. Loaz could be light and quick as a bug once they got moving. From a purely logical standpoint, there was no way this thing could catch up to them. Not without ditching that knife and stupid hat.
Loaz jerked away from the wall. The figurative concrete around their legs was starting to crack.
What could possibly be the strategic advantage of wearing a big metal pyramid on your head anyways? Mild intimidation? Surely it was uncomfortable beyond belief! And how do you see anything higher than the floor?
Thinking about it like that, it was comically excessive. They couldn't help but snort.
They managed a step.
Another.
Overthought had its benefits just as underthought did. Picking apart the surface-level scary, finding all the flaws, it brought a bit of comfort, at least enough for Loaz to pull themself out of the self-imposed glue trap.
They grabbed Noah by the arm and picked up running.

"If I remember correctly.. The bowling alley is.. Thhhhhhis way."

Noah points in a direction

“You got it!” Loaz gave a thumbs up and skipped off in the indicated direction. The fog may be thick enough to bite but in Loaz’s head the sun is shining.

Noah follows

"You're a cheerful one, eh?"

Loaz shrugged. “Hope’s hope, right?” They spun on their heel and carried on. After a moment their shoulders started to settle. “I probably shouldn’t be. I’m just setting myself up for disappointment, but… I like it better being the guy who’s unrealistic than 24/7 miserable.”

"I like it.."

You both eventually arrive at the bowling alley

A little run down, looks empty as ever, and not another face to be seen on the way there. Taking the "silent" part very literally. Quite impressive, really.

A bowling alley certainly isn't the first place they'd really get their hopes up about. Maybe a bar or some diner with one of those jukeboxes; they never have good music but he always liked them anyways. Loaz never got the appeal of anything other than the colored lights.

Then again, maybe the bowling alley's got one of those and he's in there having the time of his life. Loaz wouldn't even judge anymore if that were the case, it wouldn't matter.

They were eager enough to get inside they coulda kicked the door down, but they, with such beautiful restrain, politely shoved it open instead. "Helloooooo!"

You see someone sitting at one of thr far lanes, eating a pizza

Noah follows you in

"Hey, there's someone over there."

It's happening. This is ACTUALLY happening!
~Reel yourself in, you don't know for sure.~
It takes a gut punch of rational thinking to keep Loaz from hyperventilating out of the sheer rush of emotion just being in this building with another living, breathing human being.

They take in a deep breath, fix their star glasses, tuck their hands in their pockets, and walk further in. It's an effort to look, move, and sound as distinctly 'them' as possible.
"Heya."

The man doesn't turn around

That dealt a blow to Loaz's confidence for sure, but they weren't gonna let it crush it out.
"Helloooooo~" They chirped "Guess whooooo~!"

After much consideration, you head to Silent Hill. When you arrive, you see the run down looking welcome sign. You look past, and see a ghost town with a thick fog blanketing the entire area

Yeah this definitely felt like a murder tactic. Foggy ghost town in the middle of nowhere, invited by ominous letter from someone who’s not even around anymore, whoever sent it Isn’t exactly subtle.
But Loaz is stubborn. They’re not about to let some still-hypothetical killer stop them from seeing this through. Until they see a guy run at them with a weapon, they aren’t going anywhere.

Loaz carries on past the sign and into the fog. Their friend hadn’t specified *where* in Silent Hill he’d be. Leaving it to them to guess, Loaz assumed.
That did sound like him.
Maybe there’s a little hope after all.

You walk past the welcome sign and see someone walk out of an abandoned building. He's wearing a black unzipped jacket with blue jeans. He has messy black hair and green eyes. He'd holding a crumpled-up piece of paper. He looks at you and smiles

"Oh, hello!"

The man nearly startles Loaz right out of their boots. They stumble back a bit before processing that they aren't in immediate danger.

"Hey!" Then Loaz notices the paper. Their hand almost instinctively slips into their pocket to fiddle with their own crumpled letter.

The boy gives a wave

"What are you doing here?"

"I..." May as well say. What's this guy gonna do with the info anyways. "I came looking for my friend. He told me to meet here, the town, just generally." They pulled out their letter. "You wouldn't happen to have seen anyone else here?" The hope in Loaz's voice was kinda pathetic, especially by their standards

Noah tilts his head

"No, sorry.. Wait, your friend told you to meet him here? Me too!"

"Huh. Funny." They stare down at the paper in their hand. Perhaps they should ask the status of this boy's friend but that was probably not information a stranger would just give them. Loaz themself wouldn't. Sensitive stuff.
Loaz finally looked up. "Uh, what'd you say your name was? Sorry, I guess I should've asked."

"Oh sorry, I didn't, heh.. My name is Noah!"

"Noah." Loaz repeats. "I'm Loaz." They glance vaguely over their shoulder. "So... uh, common friend hangout spot, eh? Foggy empty town. Classic." They at a slight twinge of humor, as if the fog itself could visualize their own awkward tension and that tiny twinge of a chuckle could slice right through it.

The man sighs and turns around. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, and he wears a blue polo shirt and jeans. He wears a backwards cap on his head.

???: "What?"

Not him.
Still not him.
Outside is foggy as ever.

"Hey, sorry to disturb you. I... thought you were someone else." Loaz made an attempt to mask their disappointment, though it wasn't all too convincing.

???: "I don't look like many other people."

Noah slides in beside you

"Yeah, I don't... I don't know how I got things mixed up." They tried to add a chuckle to the end as if that could cover up the lump in their throat.
They keep falling for this. He's dead, they know this. 'Keep your chin up, there's a chance,' they keep saying like that's how it works. Now look at them, jumping from place to place, person to person, in a town they hardly know looking for someone who shouldn't still exist. Yet his handwriting sat crumpled in their pocket. Was that really all that motivated them?
If it was, it was effective at it. Loaz couldn't set it aside if they wanted to. Ever the opportunist. Always a chance.
"I'm sorry." Loaz wiped at their face.

Noah looks at you and frowns a bit

Noah: "You okay?"

It's hard to find the right word to reply with.

"I don't know." That sounded pathetic. But what else could they say?

???: "What else do you want? Or did you just come here to bother me?"

Noah: "Hey, lay off them.."

???: "Don't talk to me like that."

You notice something the man is sitting on, it looks like a holster to a gun

"I'm sorry." Loaz strained bitterly, staring at the man. What gave him the right to talk to them like that? They gripped tighter to the fluff of their sleeves.
~Take a breath. He has as much a right to feel as you do.~
It was childish, to need to talk themself through things like this. Fortunately, nobody ever had to know about that. All in their head, perfectly safe and non-judgemental.
Loaz took note of the holster. They shuffled back as subtly as they could. That was hardly the scariest part of this whole scene to them, but it surely contributed. They didn't want to think they were problem enough to provoke violence, but their head was on a bit of a swivel in this state.

Noah: "Dude, what's your problem?"

???: "You're bothering me. Go away."

Oh how dare Loaz breathe the same air as this man. You'd think a person would be more sympathetic. Loaz straightened up. "Well excuse us! How horrible, two people are standing in your general vicinity, oh the humanity! You must be under a lot of stress right about now!" They weren't sure where the frustration, the volume, the words were coming from, but they welcomed them. They'd repressed enough. "How do you think I feel, putting every ounce of hope I have into this place, only to run into someone like YOU?! You could not be further from the person I'm looking for, I don't know how I ever made the mistake of thinking you were him."

Loaz spun sharply on their heel, heading back for the door. "Noah let's go." They commanded. "Wouldn't wanna cause this guy any more trouble."

"Hahah, yeah.. I guess this is a weird place, but, I still wanna find my friend.. By the way, have you seen a man around here, around 6'1", dirty blonde with blue eyes?"

"Nope. You're the first person I've seen." Loaz shook their head.

"Ah.. Okay.."

Noah looks dejected

"So we're both lost. Fun!" Loaz jams their hands into their pockets. "Guess it's 'scour the whole damn town and keep our fingers crossed they're even here' time for me! I shouldna expected 'im to be right at the entrance. Honestly, some people." They sigh, half-humoredly resting their forehead on their fingertips.

They lift their head. They already went over that they probably shouldn't ask; they hardly know the guy, but. Also means it can't really hurt the relationship any more that way, right?
"Uh, excuse me if this is a weird question, but," Loaz tries to word this as gently as they can, "your friend, is he... alive?"

Noah looks confused

"Uh... Yeah.. I hope. He went missing two days ago."

Loaz nods. Their jaw clenches. "Yeah, uhm... yeah, I hope so too." They tried to offer a reassuring smile, but it looked as forced as it was. "If anything he's probably here if that's the case."

It was their turn to mention their guy, wasn't it. The question wouldn't make sense otherwise. But they're trying to do the comforting here and dropping the 'my friend who invited me sure as hell *isn't* alive and should not be here' bombshell would more than likely do the opposite.

"Hey.. I have an idea.."

"Yeah?" They straighten up.

"How about we help each other out?"

"As in, you come with me?" They wouldn't be opposed to not being alone. That's why they came here, wasn't it? So they wouldn't be anymore. "Or, I go with you? Or whatever."

Noah turns with you

???: "Fine. Get outta here."

Loaz throws up a perfectly mature and inoffensive gesture over their head as they fling open the door to the bowling alley.

You and Noah walk out of the bowling alley

"People..."

"People! Ugh!" Loaz shouted, gripping at a clump of their hair. "Honestly, I don't know this guy, I don't expect his comfort or his pity, or yours for that matter," there was no bitterness behind the remark, just a matter-of-fact statement, "but you'd think it'd be common sense to not complain about someone who's obviously not doing well! Honestly, the gall of some people!"

Loaz let out a long, heavy sigh, leaning back against the wall of the building. They let their head slump into their palm. "Where do we even go from here?" they mumbled, "God, I need to stop being so sure of myself."

"... Maybe we can check the school?"

"What's the point of that? 'Oh we'll just look in every building until we find some SEMBLANCE of ANYTHING there!' What a plan!" They gestured wildly and frustratedly with each shout. "This isn't real, it CAN'T be real. Those people are gone. This," Loaz gripped their letter tight in their fist. "isn't real. it's just..." they made to toss the crumpled message to the ground, yet couldn't seem to find the guts to open their hand. "...junk mail."

"I-"

You suddenly hear a siren blaring in the distance

Loaz lets out a cry of alarm, shuffling back to ground themself against the wall. Their breaths come in short gasps as they try to emotionally process and acclimate to the noise. It's overwhelming in their current state.

"What- wha's'at?" they cough out between gasps.

Noah looks confused

"I don't know.. Maybe just a malfunction...?"

The fog around you gets more dense

"Make it quiet~." Loaz groaned, wrapping their arms over their ears and head. They knew Noah had no logical way of doing that, but logic was the least of their concerns. Their brain was no clearer than the air around them, maybe that's why it looked denser.
~Breathe. Just breathe.~
Easier said than done when their lungs didn't seem to want to put in the effort of drawing in enough air.

(Loaz: Oh this guy has a gun. Maybe I should be careful.
Loaz, not even a full minute later: )

(lmao)