I stared out the car window, watching as the world flew by. My parents argued in the front seat, yelling about something I didn't understand. I just wanted this move to be over. I wanted to start the process of starting middle school, making friends, and eventually graduating from middle school so I can start over with high school. I guess what I want is normality.
My dad, who was driving, swerved to avoid hitting a brown spotted dog and moved back to the road as fast as possible. He asked if I was okay, to which I replied with a shrug.
"Kids. Always so unenthusiastic. Can't you at least shake your head yes or no?" He fixed his eyes back to the road and I just sighed. A few houses started passing by and eventually we were at the new house. It was old, but still in good shape.
A perky looking kid with blonde hair and purple eyes ran up to me. He looked to be about my age, but I couldn't really tell. He had an orange shirt with dark jeans and those light up black shoes. He looked like an idiot, but I didn't want to say anything.
"Hi! I'm Tino!" The boy reached out his hand, but I just replied with "Hey".
"You're the new kid, right? It's nice to meet you! I'm sure this small town isn't as cool as New York, but we are very friendly! Would you like me to show you around?" I stared at him and he had a nervous look on his face.
Even though this kid was weird looking, there was something that was attracting me to him. Like, maybe he was a cool guy. He made me feel... strange.
"Well, let's go then!" He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me around the town, showing me parks and swimming holes and neighbors around. I started getting tired and had to rest on a bench.
"So, you like this place?" He sat next to me and pulled out a candy bar. I nodded, taking a piece from him. He sighed satisfyingly and brought the rest to his mouth. I still couldn't put my finger on why I just wanted to be around him. Maybe he was using something to trick me into liking him!
"So, why are you so attractive?" I asked. He spit a piece of the candy on the ground.
"Excuse me?" He seemed confused as he wiped excess spit from his mouth.
"Why does it feel like I have to be around you? Are you this way with everyone?" He stared at me for a moment, then laughed. He stood up from the bench and threw the wrapper from the candy away and pulled me back up.
"You're a strange guy, aren't you?" he asked.
"Funny. I was thinking the same thing." He gave me a pleased look after that and pulled me to another park, this one was full of kids around our age. One waved over to us and I looked to Tino for permission, to which he nodded.
Wait... "permission"? I didn't need permission to play with those kids. Tino came too, so it wasn't like it was an inconvenience. What's wrong with me?
Tino offered to walk with me back to my house. As we walked, I saw a brown spotted dog running across the road. It looked like the one we almost hit. I shrugged it off and we continued toward my house.
As we walked up to the door, he gasped, making me jump. He turned me around and put something in my hand. He grinned and I felt anger.
"Don't just make noises like that, it's too dark out!" he laughed and stepped back.
"Why, did I scare you?" This was the first time I felt like this. I felt... fear. It was almost as if these words changed who he was completely. I felt like I needed to be away from him. I ran into the doorway and closed the door behind me, breathing heavily.
I was in my room for the first time, when I remembered I was still holding whatever Tino gave me. It was a small folded note saying, "Do not open until the truth is known". I tried to pry the note, but it wouldn't open. I put it in my jacket pocket and went to sleep.
I had a horrible dream that night, dreaming that me and Tino were surrounded by fire and he pushed me into it. I died slowly and woke up in a cold sweat. I got out of bed and ran out into the streets, trying to remember where Tino lived. I was hoping that he would comfort me.
"Comfort me"? There must be something wrong with me...
I ended up running into a different kid instead; a girl with brown braids and green eyes. "Hey, do you know where Tino lives?" I asked, hoping she knew who he was. I noticed she had a look of fear when I said his name.
"You really don't know, do you?" She said in a quiet shaky voice, pointing at me. " You don't know where you are! You don't know how you got here! You don't know who. he. is..." she laughed violently and tugged at her own curls. I backed away a step.
"You almost hit a dog, right? That's how we all come!" was she talking about the brown spotted dog? "You swerved to miss it, right?! You remember swerving back?! WE ALL REMEMBER SWERVING BACK!" She started panting and grabbed the front of my jacket.
"BUT WE DIDN'T! WE JUST THINK WE DID! He creates the memories so we don't get suspicious! WE DIDN'T SWERVE BACK ONTO THE ROAD!" She shook me violently, making me feel incredibly nauseous. "I HOPE HE GAVE YOU A WARM WELCOME TO SILENT HILL!" She let go of my jacket and a sudden feeling of fear took over me as I subconsciously pulled the note from my pocket.
I opened the note, revealing large orange letters reading, "I am the Reaper of Death"