Fickle Bend: Numbing

"My body aches now that you're gone
  My supply fell through."
-You're not here (Silent Hill)

Anne Nelson always loved her father's story of the 3 Portraits of Angelo Mortimer.
It was a strange fable to tell a 6 year old during bedtime.
The story goes as such:

The fires of creation bore three Portraits to rise from the ashes.
From these ashes, rose Angelo Mortimer.
These portraits circled Angelo for most of his life.
Why you ask?
Its Because the portraits held the windows to stories of life.

The first Portrait was named the Monster of The Lost.
This portrait painted an image of fog and flames with a sole figure covered by the fog.
It was said to protect Angelo and held his individuality and soul.

"Why Daddy?"

Because the portrait's monster was never a monster.
Beyond the picture, more people were believed to have crafted the term for him.
So in pressure of the evil townsfolk, he turned himself into the monster they branded him as
And destroyed the village.
All to protect himself. And in doing so, this image painted the same individuality he grants himself as well as the name he was given.

The Second Portrait painted an image of a hill. It was called Spades.
It didn't look like anything special, but its actually Angelo's sense of sanity and peace.
This portrait granted Angelo the power to avoid bad luck and create silence.
So its basically his lucky charm.

"Why did he need a lucky a charm?"

Because honey, life is consistently plagued by good and ill luck.
In this picture, the hill is simple because there are no outside factors to ruin this.
Its the neutrality that grants it its peace.
And in this peace he keeps his luck.
But there is always a price to avoiding certain luck.

The final portrait was named Unchained and to the Skies.
The portrait itself painted a picture of a dark sky with a single ray of hope and below it are chains unshackled.
This portrait was said to hold Angelo's Happiness and front.

"His front?"

The person he's become to the world. No longer a monster.
But a person that everyone knows.

No one knows why the portraits chose Angelo.
No one knows where they came from.
Just that, Angelo lived a quiet life. He passed his portraits on to his three children.
The Eldest had the first choice, and immediately chose his Happiness.
The Middle child, chose luck.
The youngest was granted the father's soul and protection.
The portraits have then been scattered far off. No one knows where they are anymore and so few know the fable of The Portraits of Angelo.

"Wow. I wanna find the portraits when I grow up."
Her father smiled.
"But be warned my daughter. Such portraits contain so much power. In the wrong hands, misfortune can only be found."
The first time her father told her this story, he gave her a picture similar to the the Monster of the Lost.
She kept that picture even into her adolescence.
It was one of the lasting memories of her father.
2 years before her graduation from high school, her mother told Anne and her brother, Harry, that her father contracted cancer. Anne's quiet life was rocked, but her father only continued to smile. He didn't seem in pain. She used a lot of her days visiting her father, doing part time jobs to earn some extra cash, and help her older brother find an apartment for when he goes to college.
A few days after she had graduated High School, her father had succumbed to his illness and died peacefully in the hospital.
But just a day before that, he told her daughter that story once again.
His last words to her were:
"In peace and happiness, even monsters deserve them. Even Monsters create such peace. Such happiness. Because only such desires for peace and happiness do people create monsters. And in this story, the monster is not a monster. Remember my child... Of the three, its better to be lost, than to be surrounded by false happiness or peace."
Anne didn't quite get her father's words. Were they a premonition? Or just a dying man's story coming to fruition?
"Of course dad." She said, with a confused, but believing voice. "I'll be back tomorrow to visit okay? I love you."
"And so the light will come. I love you too, Anne."
And he was gone. Just like that.
She told his story during his funeral and burial. She saw her Uncle Ned, her dad's older brother cry in recognition of the story.
Even though Uncle Ned was here, her Aunt Denise, her dad's older sister, came around. Her Uncle and Aunt have long since severed their ties because of a past fight, but they could never hate their youngest brother.
She was surprised these two even came. There were barely words exchanged between her and her uncle or aunt because they live relatively far and have seen grand successes. Denise was an A list actor and barely had time for her family. But Anne loved her, her also A list husband, and her cousin Ivan. Ned was a busy CEO of a video game company. He only has a daughter, her cousin Sam. He's long since separated from his wife.
Her dad was a quirky and known Comic Book Artist.
Though he wasn't as successful as his siblings, Anne could tell he was a lot happier than them.
"I can't believe Warren is dead." Her aunt said. "I only just spoke to him 2 weeks ago after getting cast in his comic's movie. And now he won't even see his work come to life."
"But you didn't visit him in the hospital." Ned said.
"Please." Anne's mother, Patrice, came between them. She knew that they could start a fight at any second.
"I'm sorry Pat." The two said and turned their attention to Anne.
"So you're going to college." Denise said.
Anne nodded. "I'm going to be an Art Major."
Ned placed a hand on her niece's shoulder. "Following in on Warren's footstop huh? Our brother always was the black sheep."
"Hey Aunt Den, Uncle Ned? Where did Dad hear the story of the Portraits of Angelo Mortimer?"
The two exchanged looks.
"Our mother, your grandmother, told this story to us when we were children. We thought it was dark for a kid's story, but of us three, your father took the biggest interest." Aunt Denise said.
Uncle Ned said "He was given this picture... Uh... How did the story go... It was a picture that resembled the first portrait. The..."
"The Monster of the Lost." Aunt Denise reminded him.
From Anne's purse, she took out the picture. "Is this it?"
"Yes. That's the one. I'm surprised it's in good shape." Aunt Denise replied.
"Harry wasn't too interested in the story, so my Dad told him the usual ones. I was, so he gave me this picture."
"It seems that history repeats itself." Uncle Ned says. "Keep the picture close by. This picture may not seem too much, but everyone with this picture, everyone that Warren has been with, has lived nice, quiet, and happy lives."
Anne looked at her Aunt and Uncle. "Aren't you guy's happy?"
It seemed like a loaded question. But logical. Denise was a famous actress. She's showered in fame and money. Ned was a successful CEO and was at least a billionaire.
"Fortune isn't everything dear." Aunt Denise said.
"Despite our success, we face problems and bad days." Uncle Ned added.
The two look at each other for a while. Lower their heads and speak.
"We should really get over that day... Can't we?" Denise said first.
"For Warren... Let's just look past this." Ned said next. The two shook hands.
Anne was happy there was a bright side to such a sad day, but after they left(They gave her a lot of spending money, but she's not very spendy) she couldn't help but go back to her father's last words to her.
"Its better to be lost, than to be surrounded by false happiness or peace."
"What did that mean?