CHAPTER ONE: Travis' Journey: Arrival

[Laraqua]

"All right, thank you," said Emily, jotting it down in her telephone. "They probably won't be long so you should probably head down to the lobby now."

[Laine]

"Well, I hope to see you at Midwich in the morning. Tell Walter that he can call me if he needs to talk as well."

He gives Emilyone last look and tries to smile as he shuts the hotel leaving Emily alone with someone on the verge of mental collapse.
With that he will head down the hallway and towards the stairwell to the lobby.

[Laraqua]

Travis can hear the key turning in the lock as he leaves and heads down the hallway into the lobby to await the taxi cab. Within a few minutes, a set of headlights flash against the windows and someone honks their horn. Peering out the window reveals a Toluca Cab Company taxi cab sitting just out the front of the doors.

[Laine]

Once he sees the taxi, Travis will go outside to meet it.Rather than sitting in the front passenger seat he will open the door to the back and sit down. When he buckles his safety belt Travis will look towards the cab driver.

"14 Bradbury Street, please."

[Laraqua]

The cab driver nods and drives Travis away from the hotel and all of the trouble he's encountered thus far. It doesn't take very long at all for him to end up parking outside of his property with a quick request for the fare. Soon, Travis is out of the cab and heading to the front door of his home. Despite the darkness, there's no sign of trouble anywhere around him.

[Laine]

What kind of town have I moved too? So serene on the surface..An insane former principal, some mad woman running around town throwing mind bending drugs on people. As hard as he used to hit at least I could predict Calvin. l

Travis wil look to the house of his neighbor's as he walks to his front door.

Will they be fighting again tonight?

[Laraqua]

The street seems quiet enough. A quick glance around makes the entire place seem like the serene resort town that he once thought it was. There's barely even any traffic noises, other than that of the taxi cab driving away. It looks like it'll be a pretty quiet night now that he's left all of that madness behind.

[Laine]

Travis will enter his home, exhausted he will sit down on the sofa. His life is in as much of a disaray as the piles of boxes that remain unpacked. After a few moments he will get up and open a box labeled 'personal'. Inside is a small stuffed panda which has seen it's own share of hardship.

This poor thing is stained in my tears from how many years? I can't believe I honestly miss him..

Underneath the panda he fumbles around with a variety of hastily packed belongings until he comes to a picture of himself and Calvin.

[Laraqua]

The picture seems faded for some reason, as though its been overly exposed to the light.

[Laine]

He will place the picture down for the time being and he nearly assumes a fetal position as he cradles the bear in his hands and begins to sob for the first time since he left to Silent Hill.

I shouldn't have left him..He would have been my chance to forget all that I have been through. I could have started again, this one I know I could have helped. There was no way anyone could have helped me and Calvin, it had to end..It would have been only a matter of time before he wouldn't have released his grasp around my neck. It would have only been a matter of time before we got in an accident because of his drinking..

As he continues his crying he will attempt to make out the time through his tear flooded eyes.

[Laraqua]

The tear-smeared hands slowly coalesce into view: 7:46PM. It's been barely a couple hours since he met Walter and yet it feels like so much has happened and so much time has passed. A dog barks outside, but it sounds like a little terrier. Nothing frightening there.

[Laine]

Travis blinks at the clock and then uses the panda to mop up his tears as he has always done since he first got it when he was 7 or was it 6,8 or 9? He wasn't certain anymore other than he had it for a very long time.

Are these the dogs Emily is afraid of? I have to work in the morning and somehow make my way to the hospital to sign up for volunteering..


He thinks of the events of today as he pulls our a diary of his and begins to write out the events of the day as he remembers them..

[Laraqua]

There's plenty to jot down in diary but it's only just passing 8.00PM by the time that he's finished. Maybe he could get to sleep right away or find some way to kill the time until it's his usual bedtime.

[Laine]

double post

[Laine]

Travis with great care and attention to detail will take out his paint set and head towards his easel.

Journaling is okay, but it can be too literal at times. Painting on the other hand equally takes into account the view point of the perceiver..

He chooses a palate of mostly grey, black and white shades and begins to paint a scene of how he'd imagine Walter as a young child. A great deal of imagery surrounds the young child, a hospital bed, a white flower, angels..The only color in the painting are the piercing blue eyes (they sparkle like the lake) of the young Walter which seem to stare back at him as he completes the painting. Somehow within the painting he manages to capture the innocence and fear that every child experiences.

[Laraqua]

It's a rather beautiful painting and he feels like he's captured Walter perfectly. Oddly enough, the painting has Walter with bandaged hands and a tear-streaked face and there's someone lying on the hospital bed, just a lump beneath the sheet, face hidden by Walter's body, but blonde hair visible around the edges. There's a glimpse of something in the mirror hung on the wall by the edge of the painting. The edge of black hair and a smooth, oval face. Travis doesn't recall intending to paint either of those two images into the picture.

[Laine]

The paintbrush and painter's palate fall to the ground beneath his feet as Travis begins to notice the additional details in his painting.

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. Picasso once said that..What happened to you, Walter..? Perhaps, but this is my painting and not his. Did I hold hands with god?? Maplethorp spoke to an artists' ability to walk hand in hand with the divine. How could I have forgotten that I painted this?No one else could have..it must have been me..

Despite his uncertainty Travis will gaze further into his painting(it is his, right), his attention focused on whatever lays beyond the mirror.

[Laraqua]

There's no further details that the naked eye can see though he can certainly make out that the side of the dark-haired face appears young, or at least unblemished, but there's too few other details there. The hands themselves have been bandaged multiple times with gauze and there's no sign of blood. Perhaps it indicates a massive scrape or something similar. But what could injure both hands? He's unsure. There's bound to be a dozen different possibilities there.

[Laine]

Travis can't seem to stop looking at the painting for several moments.

This can't be real...perhaps my unconscious has influenced my art more than I believe. I have a lot to do in the morning..I hope he is okay, I hope everyone is okay..

He looks across the room to the night stand where he left his cell phone.

At least I am not carrying it around with me...yet.

He picks it up to check the time.

Perhaps..well why should I hope for Calvin to call?

[Laraqua]

10:32PM. Quite a lot of time has passed since he checked the clock. Calvin might still be awake ... if he called him. Alternatively, he could always call their room number and check on Walter. Or perhaps it would be better if he just went to sleep.