Lily Thompson's Journey: Deception

[Laraqua]

One of Silent Hill's famous fogs has settled over the town like a blanket, brushing the tips of the pine trees that sprout up around the slopes that surround them as Charles drives along the road at a snail's pace to keep from hitting any of the other cars that have yet to start coming down the other lane. Charles taps his gloved fingers against the steering wheel as he listens to Johnny Cash sing about a crown of thorns. The fog seems to thicken as they draw closer, until it's almost a shock to see the bright green sign that welcomes them into Silent Hill.

Her brother crooks a smile at the sign. "What a resort town ... foggy and desolate. Bet the hotels will all be run down as well. Only the best for my little sister." He quirks an eyebrow at her at the end of her line, obviously wryly amused by their current predicament.

[Kadael]

Lily has her eyes on the road, or what she can see of it. "It's perfect. I love it, Charles." Both her smile and her words ring hollow, though not for lack of enthusiasm.

She twiddles a pencil between two fingers, her hand hovering over a blank page in her sketchbook. It's a very real possibility that he'll turn the car around and make them go home - but he promised - if the place doesn't agree with him.

"Thank you so much for bringing me here. I'm inspired already, I just need to paint it, pencils won't do it justice..." She does have some half-formed vision in her head, but it's more an excuse than anything else. For once, Lily really doesn't want to paint - she's itching to get out and go somewhere and talk to somebody!

And get away from Charles. Without making him mad. Somehow.

[Laraqua]

Charles sighs. "Always the same, aren't you? Well, looks like we might have much of the place to ourselves judging by this weather." He pulls over onto the Observation Deck and stares out through the foggy windshield as he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights one, filling the car's interior with billowing smoke. Somewhere, out there, a light sparkles brightly, winking in and out. "Huh, a lighthouse. That's one piercing glow to be seen even through daylit fog."

Something about the light resonates with her. It's like a siren call. A beacon of excitement. It's hard to describe her reasons but she knows that there's something calling her there. Some reason to bathe in that light or visit that place. Perhaps this is what she should paint. Or perhaps its the lighthouse tower herself.

"Well, it's your celebration, so if you want to wait here awhile and paint, that's up to you. Otherwise, we can check ourselves in to the hotel and then go take a look around town." He leans back in the car seat and stretches. "Nothing's too good for my sister."

[Kadael]

Without a word, Lily unbuckles her seatbelt and scrambles out of the car to pop open the trunk. The suitcase that holds her art supplies is messier than she'd like, but her paints are all in order and it's easy enough to get her easel set up on the deck.

She selects a portrait-sized canvas and lays out an impromptu work area. Regrettably, she ends up putting most of her things on the ground, since she was stupid enough to leave her caddy at home.

Confident and inspired, Lily mixes her colors and begins.

The work is a disaster the moment she puts paint to canvas.

It's a squiggly mass of something. It was supposed to be a pillar of enthralling light. Everything here is such a distraction: the feeling of being outside, the urge to explore, even the subject itself. The lighthouse is just so pretty.

Maybe I can pass it off as modern art...?

[Laraqua]

It's just not ready to be captured. She simply can't fully comprehend its symbolic meaning to her from this point. Without fully understanding what it means to her, how can she show the world its meaning? Sometimes, such things can be unveiled through the painting, through the artwork, but this one is still too much of a riddle for her to fully understand. It calls to her, sings to her, and such soundless noises resonating through her soul are deeply distracting.

Charlie puts his head out of the side window and glances at her painting. "Nice work, dear sister of mine, but it's worth getting a move on before the battery goes dead. C'mon, it's getting cold. Just you be careful not to get your wet painting all over my upholstery." Then he pulls his head in and winds up the window. It may be a luxury car but he's never trusted electric window winders.

[Kadael]

"Coming." Turning her back to the car for a moment, Lily sticks out her tongue and rolls her eyes. She's going to need a shower once they get to the hotel.

She picks up her supplies and seriously considers kicking the painting as far as she can. Charles won't like that, though.

Once everything is in the bag again, she takes the canvas off the easel and gently lays it on the passenger seat. She folds the easel up, puts it in the trunk, and holds the painting in her lap when she gets back to her seat. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. Let's go."

[Laraqua]

"Great," said Charlie. "It's not like I'll be driving very quickly in this fog." He twists the key in the ignition and there's not so much as a sputter from the engine. The interior lights are on. The heaters are on. The radio is on. But no sound from the engine. "Wait, that can't be right. The battery should still be okay." He switches off the radio and the heaters and tries again. Still no sound. He tries putting the heaters and radio back on but now they're not working either. He slams the palm of his hand against the dashboard. "Great! Just great! This is just what I needed."

He pulls out his smart phone and curses again, his jaw tightening and his eyes narrowing as an unspeakable rage slowly flows beneath the surface of his skin. "Can't get a signal. No internet access either. Goddamnit!" He shoots a glare her way. "Don't suppose you bothered to get down any details for the local mechanics?"

[Kadael]

Lily's fingers tighten on the edges of the painting, and she shrinks back against the passenger side door. "No. I don't know. I'm sorry."

The only thing worse than his uncomfortable kindness is his anger.

She bites her lip and looks down at the ugly canvas. Stopping was a waste of time.

[Laraqua]

"Damnit, I'm not about to hitch hike." He pops the bonnet, removes the keys from the ignition, and gets out of the car, heading around to the bonnet. He lifts the hood and starts staring at the engine, fists on his hips, as though his mere glare might startle the car into working. Then he checks the oil, the water, and all those others bits and pieces that he actually knows how to do. Then he circles the car, kicking a tyre here and there, as though that might cause the car to start. Then he makes a strange, strangled sound, slamming his fists through the air, before abruptly turning and walking off into the thick fog, following the low line of brick wall out of sight.

She's alone.

[Kadael]

Well. Lily leans forward, looking at the wall of fog, but Charles is well and truly gone.

She should be excited. This is what she wanted! But right now, she's more scared than anything else. Even if the car was working, she wouldn't know a thing about driving it, and she has no idea how far she is from the town.

Leaning the painting against the seat, Lily unbuckles her seatbelt and hops out of the car.

Maybe he didn't go too far. He'll come back. He wouldn't leave her alone in the fog.

"Charles? Charles, you... forgot me..."

[Laraqua]

Silence.

[Kadael]

Lily takes a few tentative steps down the side of the road, then switches to a faster pace. Leaving the car there, all defenseless and unlocked, makes her nervous, but there's nothing she can do about that. Charles has the keys.

At least he can't blame her for wandering off. He left her. He wasn't watching her. It's his fault.

Yeah.

[Laraqua]

Lily hurries across the asphalt of the observation deck to the footpath that follows the short wall that protects her from tumbling down the pine tree-covered slope. She can't bring all of her art equipment, which is a shame, but she can try to hop the wall or follow it left or right to its destination. That is the way to the lighthouse, and to Silent Hill, unless she wants to flee down the road that brought them here or cross the road and try to clamber up the slopes away from the town and to higher ground.

[Kadael]

Lily heads toward Silent Hill, drawn to the pretty lighthouse. Who knows? Maybe there will be a mechanic close by.

She hopes the journey won't be too long. Her shoes weren't made for walking. Not that she does that a lot in the first place.

[Laraqua]

Lily heads left at the wall and follows it along, her gaze taking in the crumbling brick, moist from the fog, until she reaches an old faded sign by a small gate and landing that leads down the slope in a long hiking trail. Alternatively, she could follow the low wall as it folds back toward the road and the immense underpass that she can vaguely make out through the fog. Of course, that's the direction Charlie went.

[Kadael]

Go looking for her angry brother, whom she wanted to escape in the first place, or head down a lonely trail to an unknown destination? Decisions. Lily's heard that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't, but Charles is one hell of a devil.

The unintentional pun makes her smile a bit.

She narrows her eyes at the sign, trying to make out what's left of it. Regardless, she'll head down the trail.

[Laraqua]

Lily still can't quite make out more than IKING TRAI on the smaller sign but she can read the big blue sign that says: TOLUCA LAKE in white writing. She can also catch a glimpse of her brother's silhouette moving back toward the car. She'd better hurry if she doesn't want to get caught while she can still feign innocence. She moves quickly down the concrete steps of the stairs down to where it joins a dirt path. Her shoes crunch pebbles as she hurries down the dirt path, flanked on one side by a steadily growing incline and on the other by a pine-covered slope. Vaguely, in the distance, she can still make out the lighthouse beacon through the pine tree's foliage and it seems to almost be taunting her, beckoning her.

"Lily!" her brother's voice, at once commanding and questioning, breaks through the otherwise near silence of rustling trees and crackling of animals moving across pine needles.

[Kadael]

Lily freezes like she's just been hit, her eyes going wide and her shoulders rigid. So Charles came back after all.

Running further into the trees is an option. So is going back to the car. If she plays her cards right, he'll believe that she just got scared.

The path is so inviting compared to her brother's disconcerting stare. I won't be told what to do anymore! It's a nice thought, one that sounds good and confident in her head.

But then she imagines his voice overpowering it all. Not every little sister has a brother to take care of them, and give them all they wanted. She thinks of the food, and the warm bed, and everything he's ever gotten her. And if he decides to take that all away, how long will she last?

Staring at the ground, Lily trudges up the concrete steps and drags her feet back to the car.

[Laraqua]

The whispering pine leaves seem almost to be mocking her as she makes her slow way back up the concrete stairs toward where her brother's silhouette looms beside the car. His shape is barely in sight before he comes hurrying toward her, but his gaze isn't heavy with rage, but twisted with fearful concern. He rushes up to her and grabs her by the upper arms, his grip tight but non-threatening, and he shakes her a little as he speaks, "You're all right? You're all right!" He stares slowly around him as though expecting to see someone else, then darts toward the boot of his car, dragging her by the wrist as he fumbles for the keys with his other hand.

[Kadael]

"Charles, what happened? Is there someone there?" Lily struggles to keep up, knowing that in his fervor, Charles won't hesitate to pull her by the hair if he has to.

He cares. It should be touching. She almost wishes he'd gotten mad instead.