When Matt woke up with a groan, the first thing he noticed wasn't the dried blood on his forehead, the fact that he had been knocked unconscious, or that it was morning. It was the ash.

It seemed to drift gently from the sky, working with the thick fog to turn everything in his sight a sickly pallid gray. Rubbing at his forehead a bit, he unbuckled his seatbelt and managed to get out of the car to look at the damage.

The front end of his car was compacted into itself from the impact. He looked up at the sign he had hit. It didn't appear damaged at all, the smooth surface still perfectly showing the town's name.

"Silent Hill? Never heard of it." He grabbed his lighter and a pack of cigarettes out of the dashboard, lighting one up and trying to get the car started. Of course, no such luck. He sighed and picked up his cell-phone, taking a much needed drag of nicotine. Several phone calls and quite a few cigarettes later, he realized there was no way he was getting a signal anytime soon. He picked up his wallet, making sure there was change in it before stuffing it in his back pocket and wandering into the fog in search of a pay phone.

He hadn't been walking for more than a few minutes before the humid heat in the air got to him. He had no idea why it was so hot. It felt like he was in a furnace. When he finally saw a phone, his hair was plastered to his face with sweat and his vest was removed and draped over his arm. He picked up the phone, holding it to his ear and relishing how cool it felt as he deposited a few quarters into the coin slot. After a moment thinking about which of his friends would have time to come pick him up, he dialed a number and waited. He grinned when he heard the click indicating his call had been answered.

"Hey Max, I need—" Screeching. A strangled noise resembling a scream, partially drowned out in the static. Matt gave a panicked yelp as he dropped the phone, watching it spin on its cord. The noise continued until he snatched it up and ended the call.

He was about to pick up the phone again, his heart still beating wildly in his chest, when he heard a quiet gurgling sound from somewhere behind him. His hand froze in mid-air as he listened.

"…Hello?"

No answer, just another hushed gurgle and a few dragging footsteps. Matt swallowed thickly, turning his head to look for the source of the noise.

He really wished he hadn't. It wasn't human. God, there was no way it could be. It writhed as it took shaky steps toward him; the skin on its tiny form burned, blackened, melted, twisted, features pulled back across its skull, its deformed mouth opening to let out a distraught wail as it reached for him—

He had never run so fast in his entire life. Logic and rationality were long forgotten; he wanted the secure feeling of being in his car. Cursing under his breath, he blindly let his feet lead him in a panicked sprint. Finally, he saw the sleek red paint of his car, welcoming despite already being covered in a thin layer of ash.

He reached for the driver's side door handle and promptly felt the barrel of a gun shoved against the back of his head, and a hand gripping his shoulder. Still panicking, vaguely realizing that the shriek he let out was less than masculine, he struggled for all he was worth.

…Which apparently wasn't very much. He found himself shoved against the hood of the car, the gun still held firmly in place. He could see a fringe of blonde hair at the edge of his vision as the gun's owner leaned down to growl in his ear.

"Calm the hell down and stop resisting!"

He immediately obeyed, trying to look back. "H-hey, you're that cop! Listen, something's going on here, I—"

"The only thing going on here is that your little stunt last night made us both wreck our vehicles, and that you scream like a woman." The officer cautiously relinquished his hold on Matt's shoulder, watching him for a moment before putting his gun back in its holster. "And it's Mello, not 'that cop'."

Matt turned to face him, his face still slightly pale with panic. "Mello? Okay, Mello, there was a—a monster, I don't know what else to call it. I-it was all burned, and it made this awful noise—" He made a vague gesture with his hand, unsure of how to even begin describing what he had seen.

Mello stared at him a bit. "Right. What drugs are you under the influence of right now, sir?"

"Wha—none! I'm not on drugs!"

Ignoring Matt's rather loud objections, Mello was about to handcuff him when the noise he had just been talking about resumed. Matt let out a quiet whine. "S-see, listen, that's it. It sounds like there's more of them now. We have to get out of here."

He was quite right about there being more; four of the creatures were hobbling towards them through the fog, all letting out the same shrill cry. Mello dropped the cuffs, watching the creatures as Matt continued frantically repeating that they needed to leave.

The blonde whipped his gun out of its holster and planted a bullet in each of their heads, watching them drop to the ground. He shakily stepped over and made sure they weren't getting up and, after replacing his gun, looked back at Matt.

"Something really is wrong here."

"…Told you so."


(Author's note: XD Matt's so immature. I guess dealing with those little monster creeps doesn't do much for your thought process dealing with witty comebacks, huh? Also, for the past few days I've been listening to Silent Hill music and anything by Krzysztof Penderecki that I can get my hands on. Makes for a pretty creepy atmosphere. I'd recommend listening to any of it while reading this. Remember, Project Playlist is your friend! XD)