Dr. Alex Colvin: The Jetty

[Laraqua]

The fog rolled in like a living entity until it swamped the lake and hung about the buildings like a death shroud, allowing only a wan light to filter through from the sun. Alex stood at the end of the jetty, the letter held in his hand to a 'darling' whom he had dared to think.... No. This letter was too familiar. The last one that he had found in his friend's bedroll on the front lines had been vague. And why had someone shoved it into his letter box? What did it mean? His gaze flicks across it once more.

My dear love,

Oh, how my heart has trembled with the chance to see you again. I had hoped and prayed that I might get back before the next great offensive but how could I be sure? There is a chance, perhaps, that I will reach you before this letter does! Such is the method and the madness of the Army Post. I have, unfortunately, had to cope with this for so long that it must be months since I have received any of your letters. Never fear. I await with bated breath for each letter and have faith that they Army hasn't lost them and that they are on their way.

When I see you again what shall I do? Shall I run to you and lift you into the air and spin you around? Shall I walk up behind you and sweetly nuzzle your neck and indulge in the scent of your hair until you turn to see me, smiling? Shall I walk to you plainly and then hold you close to me, safe and secure the knowledge that we are together again?

When I am once more on the American shore, I will wire at once to pay for tickets on the La Bella Sinclair so that we might spend a romantic evening upon the waters of Toluca Lake?

Regards,

Declan O'Connor.

The envelope is postmarked only a few weeks ago and he's meant to have been dead for a lot longer than that. What could it mean? It is his handwriting and his florid overly romantic style. There was a ticket to this Christmas paddle boat also pushed through his letter box. It isn't here yet but it should be soon. Is Declan here? How could that be possible? He'd heard a lot of things living in Silent Hill about ghostly visitations and strange letters that appeared years after a person's death but he'd likely dismissed them all as harmless superstition. Now in the midst of the fog awaiting the paddle steamer....

[WilliamLandressy]

Everytime he looked back at the letter he made no more sense of it, it just leered back at him making his jaw clench. If this was a taunt he didn't want it, if this was a joke it wasn't funny. What if.......just mabye.....it was neither? He had to chuckle at that.
Stuffing the disturbing letter into his pants pocket Alex pulled out his cigerettes and lit one up, taking a long draw to calm his nerves. As he blew the smoke it was quickly eaten up by the oppresive fog that seemed to claw ay his worried mind.

Why are you here Alex? Even if he was alive and this wasn't just some sick joke, what would you say to him? Even if you should be sorry, would saying it be enough?

Flashing a nervous glance at his watch he started biting the inside of his lip, like he always did when he was thinking too much.

The letter was obviously ment for Lizzy. Does that mean she'll turn up here too? Christ, do I really want to be around for that?! I haven't seen her since.....we burried him.... Unconsiously his raised his hand to his cheek, the sharp smack of her hand still paining him.

He threw the cig infront of him and stamped it out in frustration.
"Ashes to ashes....or so I thought."
He stared off into the grey veil that lay across the lake and it's environs, wondering what answers waited for him out there. For a man who's keen mind loved knowledge and understanding, it made him shiver. When the night was through, would he want to know.

[Laraqua]

He hears it before he sees it. The sound of the paddles gently cutting through the water. Other than that all is silent.

There should be a queue. This is a popular ride especially so near Christmas. The local jazz band would've practised for months.

Where is everybody?

[WilliamLandressy]

The muted sound of the boat through the fog only seemed to un-nerve him even more.
After checking his watch again to make sure he wasn't early he scanned around behind him to see if there were other passengers further back on the jetty.

[Laraqua]

It's hard to see anything through the fog but by squinting he can see a little further than he initially could. It really seems like he were alone on this jetty. At least the reassuring light of the lighthouse was still blinking overhead. If not for that it would seem that there were nothing in the world but him, the jetty, and the approaching paddle steamer.

A paddle steamer which seemed unusually quiet.

Where was the sound of the big band? Where was the babble of conversation? Perhaps everyone else had gotten on at the jetty behind the Lakeview Hotel - it was conceivable that it had been booked out back there - but there should still have been noise certainly. Perhaps this was the first pick up point and then they'd be heading to the hotel to pick everyone else up?

[WilliamLandressy]

The eerie silence was like a weight, on his body and his thoughts. As the noiseless steamer loomed ever closer Alex could think of nothing but to wait and see what sights, and hopefully sounds, awaited him.
"Alex...there has to be an explanation. Don't wig yourself out without having all the information." Yeah, like talking to himself was ever a good sign of things to come.

[Laraqua]

The paddle boat glides into position although no one can be glimpsed upon its decks. The windows themselves are blacked out but surely the restrictions shouldn't cover the entire vessel. It takes him a moment to realise that the war is finished. Are they trying to bring back the vibe of WWII? Oh well. Perhaps a man with a torch will be out soon.

[WilliamLandressy]

Chewing on his inner lip he gingerly covered the distance to where the boarding plank should be lowered. The silence pressing on him he felt the need to call out to someone, anyone that might be on this eerie and forboding craft.

"Ahoy! Anyone aboard?"

Ahoy?! Thats what you went for? Ahoy?! You really have lost it... His brow furrowed in self anoyance.
Peering through the fog laced blackness with only the stalwart lighthouse for company he waited for a responce.

[Laraqua]

The boat stands there silently. The gap doesn't look like a comfortable one to jump, although he could try it, but perhaps if he wants to board it this might be worth finding some sort of platform or some other plank to place across the gap.

[WilliamLandressy]

If he was un-nerved before he was worried now.
Boats don't just glide into jetties by themselves, even though there's no noise there has to be someone steering it. Perhaps an accident injured most of the crew?!
The thought of people in need of help spurred him out of inaction, darting back towards the landward end he franticly searched the jetty for planks and boards to allow him egress onto the mysterious craft.

[Laraqua]

Moving back down the jetty, he spies a pine wood coffin with a tool box sitting on top of it that sits at the edge of the jetty. The lid would certainly be long enough to bridge the gap but it does seem strange that it's here. Furthermore, Alex doesn't remember passing the coffin on the way here. Thinking about it, his journey to this jetty is rather vague in his mind.

[WilliamLandressy]

"We are here today to lay to rest the soul of the much loved Declan O'Conner, who was called suddenly to our Lord's grace whilst serving his country. A reliable friend to many here today, including his best friend Alex Corvin who was with him at the end, and a devoted husband to his darling wife Elizabeth."

The memory of that touching eulogy hit him hard as Alex stared at the coffin before him, similar to Declan's in it's simplicity. Who had placed it there on this jetty and how seemed irrelavent when compared to WHY it was here, with him, in this seemingly deserted place. When he thought back to how he got here Alex's mind drew a sickening blank, only images as vague and hazy as the foggy night air that clung to his suit. The last thing he could remember clearly was the hole in the ground. The hole surrounded by mourning black and sobs of lose, framing the box that had contained one of his longest friends.

He fought back the confusion, fought back the twin tears that threatend to break his composure. He had a purpose, he had questions that demanded answers!
Without a second thought he grabbed the tool box, determined to find something to dislodge the coffin lid.

{OOC},{Oh great, a coffin. This can't bode well no matter how you slice it...}

[Laraqua]

The tool box contains the usual selection of tools. Wrench, hammer, nails, screwdriver.... As his fingers wrap around the screwdriver, there's a sudden thump against the jetty boards beneath his feet and the sound of water sluicing about. Putting the toolbox on the ground, he takes a quick look for any nails to remove but there doesn't appear to be any. The coffin lid is loose and could be easily lifted.

[WilliamLandressy]

The sudden thump and splash made Alex look down and around at his none too friendly looking environs.

"Steady, it's likely nothing. Just the atmosphere playing on your mind." His reasurances didn't help much but he always talked to himself in times like this, alone and worried out his mind.

Trying to focus on the task at hand he slowly reached out a hand to the un-nailed coffin lid and began to lift it off towards him, almost as if the coffin lid may act as a shield against the sights the may lay within. The cold handle of the screwdriver was still clutched in his right hand as one may clutch a cross.
Please let no nails mean it's empty...

[Laraqua]

The wood creaks as he slowly lifts it up and toward himself, pulling it loose to reveal the empty cavernous space within its pine interior. No corpses, no bloodstains, and certainly no bogeyman. Still, it is unusual to find a coffin on a jetty.

[WilliamLandressy]

A breath he didn't know he was holding was let go with a sigh, white knuckles flushed with colour as his grip on the screwdriver slackend.
He didn't know what he expected to find in an open casket in a place like this, his imagination never normaly gripped him that way.

You know that's one of the reasons Lizzy left you, no imagination. A great mind but no sense of adventure.

"You feel so empty sometimes Alex, like your face is a mask and your hollow inside! I need more than that!"

"If she could see me now...she'd laugh. Out of my element and being scared by shadows. Hehaha!" He laughed but his face didn't smile along, leaving the false mirth hanging in the dead space and night air.
Remembering where he was he stuffed the screwdriver thoughtlessly into an empty pocket and hefted the pine lid over to the still silent steamer. Carefully positioning it he layed it across the gap and made sure it was stable. The liquid obsidian of the water below not looking too inviting.
After being satisfied with the make shift gang-plank he slowly made his way across and onto the hushed deck of the La Bella Sinclair.

[Laraqua]

His shoes echo against the wood, turning from the solid sound of the coffin lid to the hollow resounding thuds of the deck. The echoes only seem to intensify the silence that surrounds them. There's no traffic. No engine sounds. No barking dogs. Just him and this silent and sad vessel. He can make out a door through the wisps of fog or he could follow the deck around.

[WilliamLandressy]

Taking in the apparent desertedness of the vessel did nothing to spur the good doctor on to investigate the blacked out interior, instead opting to circumnavigate the deck. Hopefully clues to explain this odd scene will present themselves in the comforting light of the moon and lighthouse instead than the, rather likely given the seeming lack of crew, ill lit bowls of the ship.

"Hello? Is anyone on board? Is anybody hurt?" He called out almost to the boat it self, if only to fill the silence broken only by his polished brogues

OOC,How many feet of visibility is there in this fog by the way?

[Laraqua]

The fog obscures anything over a few feet away. The outer deck encircles the vessel that has several life saving doughnuts around the railings with a set of stairs that lead up to the upper deck.

[WilliamLandressy]

As he searched the main deck of the ship he noticed that the life rings arranged on the railings all seemed to be accounted for, as far as he could tell by the fairly regular spacing. The un-natural fog seemed to hang closer than ever as he peered through the soupy grey, making him quicken his pace as he searched.

It's just fog but why does it seem so....forboding and sinister....
It was then he realised he couldn't remember how long he'd waited on here for this ship, or when then fog had desended on him. In fact...he couldn't remember there NOT being fog here!
"Don't do this to yourself Alex. Your...having a minor memory lapse, with all the stress it's hardly surprising. You've seen this in enough patients to know it's temporary. Focus and concentrate, the letter, the tickets, this blasted boat. Deal with the other questions later." His calm bedside tone helped calm his nerves a little as he realised he was beside a set of stairs near where he started.

Gripping the cold steel rail he made his way to the upper deck.