Silence over Nekojima #22 (The End)
"This isn't real! It can't be real!"
"What do you mean, sweetie? What isn't real?"
"Kotami, should we take her to see Fujiwara-sensei?"
The words stuck inside Miko's throat, choking her.
You're dead! she wanted to scream. Dead!
S̸̺͙̋̈́͘ẖ̴̗̽̄͛͜è̴͉̙̞̚'̶̇͝ͅś̴͖̞̃̐ ̶̛͖̅̑n̷̜̖̍́͝o̵̬͌̎͗t̶̫̪̊͜͝ ̴̗̭͛́͝d̴̛̙̍é̵̠͖ả̴̠͕̱͑ď̷͙̂, an oddly persuasive voice whispered in her ear. S̵̫̘͇͝h̵̘̱͌̏̚e̴̟͐'̷̥̘͗̌s̶̥̎̄͝ ̴̢̫̀̔r̶̨͑i̵̒͜g̷̙̖͜͠ĥ̴̖̽͝t̴̪̏̔͝ͅ ̷͙̺̅h̷͚̓̅̒ẻ̶̼̤̊r̷̼̐e̷̮̠̤͂̀͘.̴͇́
No! She drowned! I remember when they brought the news! There was a storm -
Ț̸͖̜̎̌̆h̷̢̛̼ĕ̴̼̱̕r̶͇̓é̶͕̎ ̷̨͈̬̿̈́w̷͎̉͘a̸̹̭͈̓͒̀s̷̬̅̅ͅ ̴̮͐n̶͙̻̳̆̊̃ỏ̶̢͓͠ ̴̭̩͛s̵͙̃̈́t̵̟̅o̴̧͍̽̈r̸̥̟̐̊m̸̲͓͛̕.̷̮̗͇̒ ̶̮͎͂Y̶̫̹̜̆̏͘o̴̤̜̾u̸͓̿̎r̵̲͙̬̍ ̵̧̧͂̂͝m̵͉͒ò̵̼͛͝ͅt̷̻̘͒̀h̵̠̞͊̉͜ë̸̜͓́͌̎r̵̳̐̊͊ ̸̞̲̉̽i̷̛̱̍̉s̷̟̀ ̶̹̘̬̈a̸̳̫͒l̷̟̋̓i̵̪̥̇͠v̶̧̺̘́è̶̖̿̉ ̶̱̺̋ä̷̲̱́n̷̤͊͂̈ḑ̴̰͍̕ ̷̥̈́̍͝w̷̧͓̗̽è̵̝̦̀͠l̶͚̹͋l̴͉͘.̶̠̗̞̌̏͆
Miko began to hyperventilate, panic driving its talons into her heart. Reality felt brittle, as though it would shatter any moment.
"Poor thing, you're shivering! We should get you home, and give Dr Fujiwara that call."
Kotami drew her daughter into a hug, and as she did Miko was sure she would go mad. Two separate realities existed simultaneously in her mind, the paradox threatening to tear it apart: in one, her mother was dead, and Nekojima was being taken over by a malevolent entity which had been dormant for millennia, but was awake again and hungry for conquest and revenge.
In the other, Kotami was alive and...and...
D̶̢͛̈́̉o̵̦̹͋͂e̵̛̩͒̽ś̵̳̦̦͐͠ ̶̲̌̏i̸̝͚͖̊ť̴̡͚̟̀ ̶͙̎m̸̳͆a̴͎͆̓̇ṫ̵̰̭̓̂t̸̬̤̃̄ę̷̪͖̅́̾r̴͇̥͆̚͠?̸̨͊ ̶̨͋͆͑Ỷ̸̧̙ơ̵̙̞̭̎͝ủ̵̲ ̵̺̎̅h̶͉̅̈͑ả̵̳̯̽̿v̶̦̺̈́̆̽e̸̢̞̐́̈́ͅ ̵̧̬̺͛ÿ̴̙́͝ȯ̵͔ǘ̷̠̓̄ṙ̴̬̙̓͝ ̵̛̟̊f̸̨͖̦̈́͂̃a̵̛̗̺͑̾m̸̠̦͒̓́ï̵͉̌͐l̵̝͈̏y̵̠̆͒,̵̞͚̩̍͒̎ ̵̨͓̝̇̏ẏ̶̲͎͖́̇ő̸̧̞͉̄͝ǘ̷̯̉ȑ̵̞͝ ̸̭̥̿̕f̵̠̂̐͝ȓ̵͎͆͘ȋ̸̢͉̗e̸̺̺̒̋̿n̷͖͕͍͛d̷̹̰͐͠s̵̠̅.̷̙̺̅͒ ̷̧̯͠Ę̷̭̈́̍̿v̶̯̅ę̶̰͋̂͝r̴̘̆͂ỳ̸̢ẗ̷̹͕h̴͈̏i̷͚͂n̷̖͌͋g̵͉̣͎̏ ̴͕̒i̸̗͒̄s̵̼͉͔͂̋͝ ̸͍͔̘̒ȃ̴͈́͝ş̵̟̀͝͝ ̸̜̲̩͂͊î̶͔̭͔̔̚t̸̰́͑̿ ̷͓̜̞̂͆s̸͈̄̉h̶̡̫̊͜ö̵̹̬̯́ŭ̴̘́̇l̸̨͚͚̓̌d̶̛̯͍̼̈̈́ ̴̛͎͔͝b̵̢͉̗͑̐e̶̫͗͝.̴̜̓
L̸̨̨̼̬͉͔͙̩̩̦͖͛̾͑̿̽̊̌͋̚͝ę̷̨̛̬̫̹̭̻͈̜̥̥͔̺͊̓̔́̋̽̀̀͘̚͠t̷̩̩̺̼̬͓̖̯̳̥͆̄̀̚͝ ̸͖̬͌̇͌̌̈́̈́̐̋̕̕͝͝g̸̢̜̜̦͙̪̞̙̖̐́͑̍̍̇̏ó̸͓̤̠̠̰̟.̶̨̢̗͔͈̞͍͙̾̒̚ͅ.̶̰̞̻̠̮̮̣͙͚̬͈̞̘͆̇͂.̴̩̍̓̆͆̓̀̅̉̽̕͝͝͝
"Is everything all right? Miko isn't still feeling ill, is she?"
"I think she may have caught a bug, probably at school. It's going around. She just needs some rest and a nice, warm bowl of soup."
Sick, yes...no! She was dead, dead, dead!
L̴̟̋ë̷̘́̂t̷͕̜̋͌ ̷͚͔͐̓g̶̟̽́̚ǒ̶̡̋.̷͔͉̘͌.̶̬͎͍̚.̵̨̤̖̏͆
It was so hot and stuffy... she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think! The sky pressed down on her, stained red as though with dried blood...and the warring realities (dead/not dead) were reaching a fever pitch.
She was so tired...too tired to keep fighting. The final thread, frayed to almost nothing, snapped.
"I think I'm ready to go now."
As soon as she spoke those words, she felt calmer, as if a great weight had been lifted off her chest.
Letting go wasn't as hard as she'd expected. Maybe this was what dying felt like. If so, it wasn't too bad.
"Wonderful! I'll be seeing young Miko again soon, when she begins her duties as our newest shrine maiden."
"We have much to do, but there is no need to rush. We have all the time in the world."
A̴̢͇͓̝̱͉̞̔̋̀̐͠n̶̞̲͕̒d̶̛̞̠͇́ ̶̨̛̺̤̺͍̩̱̼̏ẃ̷̫́̾̇̓h̸̡̺͕̙͓̀̅̾͋̊̇͗͜ë̴̡̢̯́̀͊͗n̸̰͊̈́̋͗̌̎̒ ̵̢͈̣̥̤̻́͆͊̈̉ͅͅẗ̶͙̟͍́̀̿͆̏͝h̸̨̏̎͝͝ê̸̛̱̻͙͔͗̌̔͂̀ ̸͉͍́̊̋̊̆͗́̀w̵͓͖̪͚̗̩͗̾̀ơ̸͓̥̎̌r̷̭̼̜̆̃̌̅̍̕͠l̶͇̖͖͖͉̈́͛̔d̴̡̡͉̳̓̐̈̐̔̽͂̌ ̸̢̛̣̙̞͇̊̐̀͛̿̂̀r̴̳͔̿͐͌̕̚e̵̳͂̽́͒̾̃m̶̗̋͗͆́ĕ̸̯̮̪̯̩m̶̹̪̎̊͊͛͋͑b̶̞̜̽͗̌́͐̄͂e̸͓͊͝r̶̢̝͉͎̟̺̬͛̀̌̃͠͝ş̷̤̹̜̙͇́̿͂͘̕.̴̧̪̜́̀̐̆̆̒͐.̵̞͉͍̥͙̞͇̅̍ͅ.̶͔̜̠̦̀͜ͅT̷͕̱͇͚͍̩͖̠́̆̓͊͝͝h̷̹͛̍a̴̗̠͎͔͉̓̓̚ţ̴͔̲͔̤͚̽̐͝ ̷̢͙̤̰̫̊̇͊̈́͝ẘ̷̯̮͉̝̩̯̂̓̓̆̕ọ̵̦̣̻̆͑̿ͅŗ̸̫̪̗͍͌͑̄̓͝l̶͉͎̬͒͗̎͐̅̔̉͝ḑ̸̥̗̣̭̅ ̷̬̯̾̄̐̒̒͒̔ẃ̵̜̻̤̱͊͠i̶̜̹͐̏͒̈́͐l̸̠͉̖̓̑́̇̉̽̉̕ḽ̴̖͙͗̋͊̐̾̚ ̸̜̎͋̓̓́̾͐̚c̸̢̟̰͙̅͗ë̴͚̗͇͚̭͙͝ǎ̵̰̼̩̠͉͙͌̑́͘͝ͅs̵̨͔̬̘̩̄̎̽͘ḙ̴͇̦́̒̏̐̌̈̚ ̵͉̹͕̳̱͖̼̿̅͝ͅt̸̢͍͍̝̉͋ͅõ̷͎̃̂̚͝ ̵͍̞̰̻͎͛̐̔ͅḇ̸̙͇͇̽̔̀̌́͝͠ẻ̷̥̲̬̮̈́͛͐͐͊́͊.̶̧͖͙̼͚̈͝
Welp! They got the bad ending. 🥲 But it felt fitting, for a Silent Hill-inspired story. I hope you enjoyed this spooky season treat, and don't worry, Nejojima is perfectly fine and fog (and monster)-free in the main timeline!
