A/N: Caution - this is story gory, graphic, and if I'm pulling it off right, disturbing, with a fairly high death count. I haven't seen any KH horror fics this fucked up with regards to imagery, hence the warning. This is a retelling of KH1, as though it took place in a mesh of Silent Hill and the world of American McGee's Alice. The basic plot is fairly intact, save one large difference regarding the Heartless.

He couldn't be more excited. After years of dreams and wishes, they were finally on the cusp of departure, about to journey to faraway lands. The raft was completed, their provisions were ready – everything in place for the most thrilling adventure they could possibly have. I just can't wait, Kairi's voice echoed in his mind, Once we set sail, it'll be great. Never mind whatever strange daydreams and such have passed through his mind in the past few days; there was too much to look anticipate.

A sudden gust of wind interrupted Sora's thoughts. His happy excitement turned to fear as he peered out the window, seeing the massive, dark cloud hovering menacingly over Destiny Island.

"A storm? Oh no, the raft!" The boy dashed down the stairs and made his way to his boat, riding the waves to the island, stopping at the dock, his exclamations lost on the clamor of the wind. "What's that? Riku's boat. And Kairi's!" Looking up, he spotted a silver-haired figure amidst a swirl of black, at once relieved to find his friend and fearful for what he saw. Calling out above the gale, Sora asked for Kairi's whereabouts, to which Riku responded cryptically that a door had been opened, extending his hand towards the brunet. As Sora made his way towards Riku, about to prod further about Kairi, however, figures began to emerge from the darkness. As the shadowy tendrils peeled away, Sora shrieked in terror at what his eyes beheld.

Bodies. Bloodied, decomposing, their skin a sickening green-grey the shade of corpses, twisted in masses of flesh that barely managed to give an impression of ever having been human. As their arms lunged for him, he recoiled, falling backwards as he watched the darkness engulf Riku entirely.

"Oh god..." he murmured, only stirred from his shocked paralysis by the bodies lurching his way, their cold, damp limbs scrabbling at his ankles. Screaming, he leapt to his feet only to tumble backwards, his heart pounding in his chest. Just as the monsters reached him, however, a dazzling light warded them off.

Keyblade...

The light took physical form, materializing as a large key with a golden handle. Sora had mere moments to react, however; as soon as the light faded, the monsters lurched forward again, flecks of their blood staining the sleeves of his shirt. Blindly using the key to strike away a head that looked as if it'd been wrung like a wet towel, he sprinted madly away from the ever-increasing horde of pursuers which left him only one safe passage – towards the secret cave. Dashing in, narrowly managing not to slip, he felt some of the abject terror coursing through him fade as he saw a familiar face, mercifully alive.

"Kairi!"

"Sora..." came the weak, scared response. As he moved to embrace her, as much to comfort himself as her, a black wind roared through the door, and Kairi vanished. Before Sora could react, the gust violently blew him out into the eye of the storm, a black sphere. Squeezing his eyes shut, he lost consciousness.

"Kid! Hey, kid, wake up, damn it!" a gruff voice shouted into his ears, the fear and urgency laced in its tone spurring Sora awake.

"W...what?" Sitting up groggily, disoriented, the sounds of metal cutting bone jarred him to his feet. As the haze cleared from his vision, the monsters – the same ones that had invaded Destiny Island – came into view. "What is this?!"

"Move yer ass if you wanna live!" the blond-haired man commanded, repelling a leaping monster with a swing of his spear. Grabbing Sora's wrist, he bounded forward, clearing a path towards the Accessory Shop, its sign dangling vertically. Suddenly, as they approached the door, the man lost his grip, and the monsters circled Sora, his eyes widening in fear. His mind blanking, he acted on instinct, swinging the key in his hands in large arcs, barely managing to keep flailing appendages at bay. A hand grasped his wrist; his heart stopped for an instant before he recognized who it belonged to.

"C'mon, get in!" The two stumbled through the door, gasping and huffing. As soon as the man let go, Sora collapse to his knees, wave after wave of nausea rolling through him at the disjointed but all too vivid images of what he'd just seen.

"My god, some kid managed to survive this long, out there?"

"Yeah, don't know how he did it. I mean, I found him out like a light. Barely managed to get him out alive."

"Squall, Cid, we need to tend to him first." Sora looked up at the sound of the soft, worried voice, his eyes meeting that of a young woman, her face framed by hazel-brown locks. "Are you okay?"

"I... I think so," he mumbled. Questions flooded his mind. "Where am I? What happened? What were they?" he babbled; then, as he began to make sense of his memories, the babbling faded into whispers. "This is just a nightmare. Just some awful nightmare. It can't be real... It can't be real!"

"Oh, poor boy," the brunette woman murmured as she took him in her arms, falling silent as she searched futilely for words of comfort.

"I'm afraid it isn't a dream," the brunet man leaning against the counter stated. Spying the weapon still grasped in Sora's hand, so tightly that his knuckles where white, the man added grimly, "And you'll have to learn to cope, fast."

"Who... who are you?" the boy asked, the man's serious tone forcing his thoughts into a semblance of order.

"My name is Squall," the man answered, "The guy who saved you is Cid, the young woman holding you is Aerith, and there's a girl in the other room named Yuffie. As far as we know," he continued, tone hardening, "We're the only ones left alive in Traverse Town."

Short introductory test chapter to get the atmosphere across. It'll only get more graphic from here.