OPEN POST; [ JAMES SUNDERLAND / SILENT HILL 2 ]

[redsquares]

(( out of her head, she sang ))

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[reapoman]

We should probably try to make it back towards the town if we can, but...

[ He glances back behind them. There are vines everywhere, and vague shapes moving through the fog. Ivan makes a face. ]

Through the church it is.

[redsquares]

You’ll get used to this, eventually. All the detours.

[Will he tho. Once again it’s delivered dryly, but he starts moving. He glimpses those shapes, too, and he doesn’t want to waste time finding safety.

Assuming they reach the church without incident, he squints as the building makes itself clearer through the fog as they near. The door, just like last time, has messy words carved into its wooden front:

ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF GOD’S GLORY

He scoffs when he sees it.]

Yeah, tell me about it. Well, at least this is still the same.

[He might not have entered the church… but he did check every nook and cranny before moving on, like a proper horror protagonist.]

[reapoman]

All bets are off once we open the door, huh?

[ No use in putting it off. He shoves one of the double doors open with a little effort, thanks to an upturned pew that's in the way. The inside of the church is in absolute shambles, littered with broken furniture, the windows smashed and boarded up in places. What windows are left don't exactly paint a welcoming picture as the cold, fog-choked light streams through the grimy stained glass. ]

Hm. Charming.

[ There's a couple of places to go — side doors off the main sanctuary — but most prevalent is the altar at the front of the room. ]

[redsquares]

It's seen better days.

[It would be strange, he thinks, if the church were in good shape. A spotless, safe sanctuary. Things are never so easy in this town once things have begun to change.

He steps in, making sure not to stumble over any detritus. James takes stock of the area, noting the side doors, but of course he's going to head towards the altar first.]

I wonder where all this is ultimately trying to lead us.

[reapoman]

Hard to say.

[ This, as Ivan steps his way over some debris, tagging along with James like the lost puppy in a survival horror setting that he is. ]

Where did your journey take you?

[redsquares]

…To the hotel.

[Yes, the same one he was trying to get to when he arrived.]

The room my wife and I stayed in during a vacation here once… years ago.

[reapoman]

Ah. I see why you'd like to go back.

[ There is a lectern sitting on this altar, half-draped with a red sheet. An old curtain or something maybe. Pulling it away will reveal a large, old tome that bears a shocking resemblance in look and content to the weird cult shit James unearthed around town before.

The moment Ivan lays eyes on it, he goes very still indeed. ]

[redsquares]

Yeah. It’s fallen into disrepair [to say the least] since then, but the location is still… important to me.

[But he can leave it at that for now. In fact, James approaches the lectern and reveals the book, letting the cloth fall to the ground. He picks it up with his free hand curiously, turning it over and feeling a dread sort of familiarity.]

Hey, is this-

[He glances at Ivan and pauses, catching sight of his face.]

Ivan?

[reapoman]

Don't—

[ Ah, too late. Damn James' tendency to go touching everything he finds. Maybe there's nothing harmful about the book itself — though in this town, who knows? What Ivan does know is that's the tome, the one that gave him all his secrets and power and set him on a downward spiral so absolute he left piles and piles of bodies in his wake. ]

Put that down. Please.

[redsquares]

[Everything about Ivan’s body language reveals the obvious: he recognizes this book. James doesn’t know what to do for a moment, but then eventually sets the item back down.]

You know what it is?

[He has a bad feeling he does, too.]

[reapoman]

I do.

[ He steps up to the lectern alongside James, though he looks almost afraid that the book sitting there will leap up and try to bite him. ]

That's a Necromancer's tome. The very same I used for guidance.

[redsquares]

It looks so much like the one I found in this town.

[Necromancy, the very idea still sound fantastical despite all that he’s been through — but clearly it isn’t. Here, it might’ve worked. And wherever Ivan’s from, he actually practiced it, once upon a time.]

I don’t know if we can just leave it. It might be a part of another…

[Puzzle or riddle, he wants to say. But he just trails off, uncertain. This is no doubt a raw subject for the other man.]

[reapoman]

I know...

[ It probably is integral to whatever they need to do to get out of here. ]

I just... when I think about the things I did with that book in my hand, I...

[redsquares]

[Ah. His heart twinges a little in sympathy for Ivan as he briefly glances at the book again. He won't bother telling him he's not that man anymore, the one who might sacrifice others for the sake of saving someone precious, because that doesn't change the past. Doesn't change the associations with the past.

But he can at least offer-] ...You don't have to touch it. I can do whatever we need to do with it, and then get out of here as soon as possible.

[reapoman]

[ His gaze flicks over to James, finally torn away from the tome, expression on his face unreadable as he tries to figure out what to do with that gesture of kindness.

Once again, he can't help but think this is his trial. He should be the one to deal with it. ]

I— [ Boy, it's sure gotten dark in here all of a sudden. What ground-level windows are left that haven't been covered by plywood are suddenly filled with the looming, silent forms of people crowding around the building.

Or, maybe not people, considering the unnatural way they move, the strangeness to their gait and the crooked ways they stand. They don't make a move for the moment, they simply stand there. As if waiting. Ivan has a sinking feeling they won't be waiting for long. ]

... Alright. Let's see what we need to do.

[ im out of puzzles help me ]

[redsquares]

[NO

okay fine

Ah. The shapes crowding the windows can't mean... anything good. They're under pressure to get this done quickly, and James exhales a little breath through his teeth and gestures for Ivan to follow him into one of the side rooms.]

Let's try in here first.

[The side room doesn't have much to it — more boarded-up windows and ruined tables and chairs. Maybe this was a small meeting room of some sort, but it's hard to tell, bereft as it seems to be right now.

But, notably, sitting dead center in the room atop one such table is an old, rusted box. It's locked, of course, and its locking mechanism is a pad of numerical buttons.

There's a note on top.]

[reapoman]

[ 🥺

Ivan doesn't like walking away from the book or all those silhouettes closing in, but what choice do they have?

He steps into the room after James, casting a glance around before zeroing in on the box and the note. ]

I didn't know they made keypads that went all the way to fifteen.

[ Anyway, he'll check out that note. What's it say? ]

[redsquares]

Neither did I. What's even the point?

[But since when did any of these puzzles make logical sense?

James follows warily, eying the note as Ivan picks it up. It reads, in a messily scribbled hand:

OPEN WITH TWO
LEAVE FOUR]

[reapoman]

... Too much to hope we'll be dealing with song lyrics again.

[ He holds the note in such a way so James can see. ]

Thoughts? Or do you suppose we don't have all the information?

[redsquares]

[He leans in to read the note, frowning.]

Not much to go off of. Says "two" opens, though...

[James just opts to reach out and press the number 2 on the keypad. It gives a little beep and lights up... But the lock doesn't unlock itself.

However, the 2 remains lit up.]

Okay, not that, then.

[reapoman]

Two must be the first number in the combination, then.

[ Hmm. He ponders the note again. ]

"Leave" four. I can't even begin to guess, so we might as well look around a bit. ... Quickly.

[ The shapes outside the windows seem restless, and it's only going to get worse. Ivan can't help but wonder how many of them there are. A silhouette for every death and betrayal? If so, then he and James are sure to be overwhelmed if those shadows become more than just shadows. ]

[redsquares]

Maybe. But leave four what? Are there only four numbers that we don't press? That's much too long to be a reasonable combination...

[He sighs, frustrated, making a turn around the room. He doesn't see any notes, no other items that might help them just bust this thing open, and he shakes his head.]

Just try a few more numbers?

[They don't have time to stand here and input endless numbers, but maybe they can gather more info if they just press buttons. James has definitely done that before.......]

[reapoman]

[ Open with two... leave four. He gives a little shrug and starts randomly pressing numbers to see if they'll stay lit up. Maybe he'll stumble on the right solution? Of course, when he jams the wrong button and has to start over it starts to get annoying, but that's also when a pattern maybe clicks into place.

Such as hitting the buttons so they light up in the shape of a giant 2, leaving four buttons still untouched. ]

[redsquares]

[The lock disengages with a click! Good job!! James raises his brows.]

Oh, clever. It meant it literally.

[Should Ivan inspect the rusted box, it creaks open to reveal a ceremonial knife. A sharp blade with an ebony handle and a skull carved into its base.]

Is that it?

[There’s also an inscription along the blade, should Ivan be keen-eyed enough to spot it:

sunder a friend’s heart in two
usher in life anew ]

[reapoman]

[ A ceremonial what now. It's hard not to spot a fancy knife sitting in the bottom of a rusted box, harder still to ignore the inscription on the blade.

He very, very tentatively reaches in to take it out. ]

"Sunder a friend’s heart in two. Usher in life anew."

[ How do you feel about that, Mr. Sunderland. ]