Love and War

It had been one week since Annette had left Silent Hill. Leonard sat at the kitchen table looking at his sandwich. It had been the day that Annette left since he had last heard from his mother. She had not visited him in any way; he looked around the clean apartment that he had barely cleaned. He had kept the place tidy since Annette left. He stood up, walking over to the window. Since he had delivered his message to the cult, they had all been hiding from him, locked away in the structure. Their cocoon of lies. He walked from the apartment. Seeing the tall, black, elderly mailman standing in front of him, a white and pink envelope in his hand. Leonard looked at him, getting the letter from the man, looking at him. The man turned and walked away. Leonard looked at the letter. It was from Annette. He opened it, getting the letter unfolding it, and read it.

'Hey, Leo,

I've been here thinking about you, wondering how you were. Are you well? Are you happy? I got a new job yesterday, my mom says hello. I've told her about you. Come to think of it, I've told all my girlfriends about my soldier in Silent Hill.'

Leonard chuckled at the word soldier regarding him, this woman telling everyone about him. He didn't know what to say about that. He continued to read the letter.

'They say they're happy I got out of my downward spiral. I know you want to have people look at you as a hunter, friend, enemy. I feel bad for the poor people who you consider to be under two of those titles, but me, you are my lover and my friend. I know that you have your things to deal with in Silent Hill, which is why I had just brought this up in this letter. There are strange men following me, shady-looking men always outside my house at night. They just stand there and look through my window at me from the yard. I'm freaked out. I called the police, but even while they stand there the men never move. I don't think that the police can see them. I don't expect you to do anything about it, but I thought I would tell you in case something happened. But I love you and wish you great days and better sleep than I saw from you.'

Leonard looked at the letter. "The Order, they aren't after me." Leonard folded up the letter running towards the town's entrance.

Annette stood in the kitchen watching her ramen cook, looking out the window to see the tall men dressed in heavy armor. There were three of them. She looked away, walking to the front door locking the locks, doing the same with the back door, closing the windows turning the air conditioner on. Going back to the stove. The sound of chains rattling caused her to jump. She ran to the door to see heavy chains wrapped around the door. She looked outside to see the men gone. As the door being kicked with a brute force filled her ears, she screamed, backing away. The chains were sturdy, her door being held on the hinges by some unknown force. She looked out her window to see it was rattling. The outside looked normal, running to the phone. She picked it up as it disconnected. She ran to her bedroom, slamming the door laying her vanity chair against it hiding in the closet.

She watched from the window as the three men struggled two becoming covered in bugs as the third man fell into a hole upon falling to the ground. She saw a fourth man standing looking at the men, a man dressed in a black trench coat and black baggy pants. She felt her heart skip beats. "Leonard, he got my letter! He's here to help me, thank you, God."

She got from the closet running from the room as the chains unlocked her door opened, as her savior stepped inside. He closed the door as the chains once again locked. She ran to him, jumping in his arms as he caught her, wrapping his arms around her, closing his eyes. Moments later, he got from the embrace, looking at her. "White is definitely your color, sundresses look perfect on you, love."

She looked at him. "Thank you. Come get you some ramen, I can make me some more." She got behind him, taking his coat, his bare torso toned. She looked at him, then hung his jacket on the coat hanger. She walked past him as he followed behind her. He sat down at the table as she distributed the food, getting him a spoon, sitting the contents in front of him. He looked at it.

"Thank you." He looked at the food.

Annette sat beside him.

"Did you know those men? Who were they, no one else sees them? Why only me?"

"They were members of the Order, I know them. You see them because of our connection. I suppose you are now in this war. I had tried to avoid this, but our relationship has put you in danger." He pushed his food away, leaning further into the seat.

Annette looked at him. "Don't you like ramen? I can cook something else."

"No, it's not that. I don't think I can eat anything."

"You're troubled, aren't you? You can't just blame this relationship on yourself. I think I fell in love with you before you had even thought of the idea. This was as much my fault, if not more than yours. Let's agree so you don't overthink it, we both let our emotions and desires for someone in our lives lead us to this war. I agree."

He looked at her. "I will not agree with that. You were lending a helping hand to someone. You were being the person your parents raised you to be. I will take my chances at overthinking this than placing the blame on you, much less think of it as something that I should regret. I have no regrets about anything I've done."

Annette looked at him. "Good." She scooted the food back towards him. "Get busy with the food. Neither of us has regrets, so get cracking." He looked at her, she smiled. "You missed some excellent meatloaf yesterday. Would you like some of that, with some garlic bread?"

"I'm starving, honestly. I guess my body is adapting to this realm. That can't be good."

Annette laughed. "Table buffet coming up. Why don't you get comfortable, take a shower, find something to do this will take some time?"

"Shower, Annette I have nothing to wear but this."

She looked at him. "You would think, I've been busy preparing for you to get done with Silent Hill. I put a room together and got you some clothes. I did some snooping at your clothes sizes while I was cleaning your apartment. Your room is down the hall to the right."

He looked at her as she smiled. He walked from the room. Finding his room, opening the door, to see a king-size bed covered with a black comforter and plush white and black pillows with a white throw laying across it for decoration, two lamps sat on the wooden bedside tables. He found the light switch, turning it on. Brilliant white light filled the room. He walked over to the bed, taking his gloves off, feeling the comforter, looking at the large room, religious pictures hung on the walls, he walked over to the closet to see it full of black shirts, and black boots, to black sneakers. He took the valtiel amulet from his pants pocket, laying it on the dresser. He got a black fishnet shirt from the hanger, going to the dresser looking at the pants. He retrieved a pair, walking to the door across the room to see a medium bathroom.

He looked around. "An actual bathroom, with water." He walked in, closing the door.