I do not own Silent Hill.

Lilith awoke in a place she did not recognize, in a bed that was not hers, wrapped up in blankets that smelled as if they had been locked in a trunk in someone's attic for the good part of the decade. She pressed her palm to her head, remembering the ordeal she had suffered the night before. She touched the sutures in her forearm and winced, remembering the creature who had slaughtered in front of her before carting her off to stitch her up and lock her in. But, looking around, it didn't appear to be the same room at all. The walls were a light blue and the bed posts were a white painted metal and there was an old, spotted mirror on the far wall. It couldn't be the same place, but then again…she recalled how the world had shattered from a foggy ghost-like town to an iron wrought hell.

Filled with a sudden anxiety, she threw the blankets aside and stood up, astonished to see the white nightgown she wore was free of any stain- no blood, no dirt, not even a single snag in the fabric. Her little white shoes shone spotless on her feet.

Catching the eye of her own reflection, she crossed the room and stared at her own mangled face. There were cuts and bruises and a large gash in her lower lip. She looked dreadful. A huge dark spot covered her cheek like a purple blush. Her copper hair fell pin-straight around her shoulders, her bangs laying flat across her forehead. The small splash of freckles that crossed the bridge of her nose only helped the sickening purple splotches to stand out more.

Lily went to the door, pressing her hand against it, remembering the Pyramid Head creature slamming a great iron door. But now it was just wood beneath her fingers. Wrapping her hand around the old doorknob, she tried her luck and, with a little effort, it turned and opened up into a hallway. She had no sense of where to go, so she took a guess and went to look for the exit.

She made her way outside, but felt no relief as she walked back out onto the streets of the still, eerie ghost town of Silent Hill once more. Not knowing what else to do, she ran for the end of town, hoping the road would somehow be there. "please, please, please," she begged to no on in particular. But, it was to no avail. The same drop off. The same thick fog. The same nothingness.

Tears of anger and hopelessness filler her eyes as she screamed, "what do you want from me!?" she picked up rocks from the road and flung them into the fog. This couldn't be real. It had to be some sort of elaborate dream. She had to wake up.

In desperation she yanked at the stitches in her arm. The flesh split apart and the blood poured. She dropped to her knees, screaming. It was like every nerve in her arm was set on fire, but she just kept jerking, her screams of pain echoed back to her from the fog. She was shaking, her head ringing-

"Child, stop!" The voice of a woman sounded out to her then a face dropped before her, dirty with long salt and peppered hair. She was dressed in rags, but hastily began to rip pieces of cloth from herself and wrap them around Lily's arm before hoisting her up, "come, child, I will take you somewhere safe."

"No!" Lilith screamed, jerking away, "you people are crazy! You threw me out! You tried to kill me!"

"I am not a part of Christabella's cult. Her and her damned congregation brought this upon themselves. If they tried to kill you and find you out alive, they will certainly try again. Now come."

Unable to see any better alternative, she gave in and let the woman usher her through the town to another building and into a small apartment. The woman sat her down at the table and retrieved a box from the cabinent. Sitting across from her, the woman took Lilith's arm and unwrapped it. With a pair of tweezers that she took from the box, she began to remove the stitches that Lilith had already yanked loose.

"What happened?" she asked, working on cleaning her arm. The shock of the whole situation and the fact that it was real began to make her feel numb, so whatever the woman was doing didn't register with her senses.

"I…I was running. I hid and this-this thing attacked me. It had…" Lily stopped to think back on the skins of people she'd saw dangling in the closet, "oh god it had…and it's face…"

"Deep breath, child. You are safe for now. You were attacked then, by a creature?"

"Yes."

"Many of the monsters leave a poison in their wake, that is why it hurts so. At least Christabella's cult had the decency to treat you before throwing you back into the fire."

Lilith shook her head, "they didn't. They called me a witch. They invited me, told me it was a sanctuary, but then…"

"What made them change their minds?"

"I don't know. All I said was my name-"

"What is your name?"

"Lilith. Lilith Mason."

The woman hesitated only momentarily before resuming her work. "It has been many years since I set foot in their church. I neither know nor remember any significance in that name."

"There isn't any," Lily said, "it's just a name."

"I'm surprised you lasted after they threw you out."

Lily touched a hand to her cheek, "I almost didn't. I wouldn't have if it were not for that-" visualizing, Lily realized he seemed very much human, but she wasn't sure what to call him, "-creature? Man? I'm not quite sure, but he had a great sword and a big metal contraption on his head. He killed the creature that attacked me and some of the people from the church. After they threw me out, I remember looking up at him then waking up in a room where he stitched me up and locked me in. I fell asleep and when I woke up, everything was…different. the way it is now, and I ran out."

Lilith realized she'd probably been speaking too much, but when she looked up from the table, the woman was staring at her. "You are lucky you got away," she said.

"He didn't seem like he wanted to kill me," Lily mused.

"No, child, but he will make you wish you were dead."

The woman finished stitching her arm and put the things back into the box. "Thank you," Lilith said.

"You may rest here."

"What is your name?"

"Gillespie. Dahlia Gillespie."

"Ms. Gillespie, can you tell me what is going on?"

"How did you come here?" Dahlia asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The people of the church and myself were here when the darkness came. But there are those who come for other reasons, they seek out Silent Hill. Or sometimes Silent Hill seeks out you as a purgatory, a punishment and an awakening. Of course there are those poor souls who take a wrong turn and simply get sucked into this dimension."

"I just woke up here. I was at home, just me and my dog, going to bed," she gestured to her nightgown, which was no longer as clean as it had been a few hours ago, "and I wake up in the middle of the street of some creepy ghost town. I had thought I was dreaming…wait. What do you mean 'this dimension'? Are you saying I am in some freaky alternate universe!?"

"We are all trapped her, in her nightmare, as punishment for all our evil."

"Whose nightmare?"

"Alessa's."

I don't know who she is."

"She is my daughter," Dahlia said, "she was my little girl before they took her from me. They did terrible things to her."

"I'm so sorry," Lily told her sincerely.

Dahlia didn't say anything more, but poured a dark liquid from a kettle into a small glass and cut a piece of bread and gave it to her, "it will make you feel better."

"Thank you."

"Mmm," was all she said in response. Lilith ate the bread, not realizing how hungry she had been, and drank what was in the cup- which tasted like cold tea. Dahlia went into the other room and brought back folded blankets, laying them over the couch, "you need to rest. You'll heal better and it will help you keep your wits about you."

Lilith got up and crossed the room when she caught sight of an ax leaning against the wall, "do not fret. I would have not wasted the food had I planned to end your life," she said, "now here, lie down."

Lily did as she was told, pulling the blankets over her chest. Though she had slept for who knew how long, she did not feel rested. Dahlia sat in a rocking chair, facing the window, knitting. Lilith watched the back and fort motion of the rocking chair until it gently drug her into sleep.

Lily jerked awake at the sound of the siren. She was suddenly on her feet, taken with panic, "is it coming back!?"

"We will be fine, so long as we stay inside," Dahlia told her. Lily looked through the window, out onto the street and watched as everything darkened and the world peeled away to reveal a twisted, terrifying Hell. Figures emerged from the shadows and the air was filled with dreadful, sickening sounds that walls couldn't block out.

The figures made their way to the building Lily and Dahlia were in. "What are they doing?"

"Looking for you," the woman answered.

"What do I do?"

"You stay here."

She watched them, a shiver going up her spine as they screeched. Then she heard a scraping sound and looked for the direction from where it came. "It's him," she said and sure enough, Pyramid Head came out from the dark and began cutting the creatures down. He looked up at them through the window and, although she couldn't see his face, she knew he was staring at her. Lilith pressed her palm to the glass and he responded by reached out his hand. He wanted her to go down there, down to him.

"Don't do it, child," dahlia said, as if reading her thoughts. She was about to respond when a dog like creature ran and latched his powerful jaws onto Pyramid Head's arm. He flung it down, slamming into the concrete hard. It didn't move again. More dogs came out of the fog along with a grey skinned creature with long, clawed hands and legs made of metal blades.

She could see him fighting hard, but the dogs were fast and the bladed monster kept attacking him relentlessly. Pyramid Head was bleeding and when they got him on his knees, she couldn't take it anymore. She turned from the window, grabbed the ax that leaned against the wall and ran through the front door, ignoring Dahlia's protests.

Lily ran outside to where he was knelt on the ground, but still swinging. The dogs easily evaded him and one bit into his sword arm. With all her might, Lilith ran forward and swung. She heard it yelp and as it rolled to the side, she saw that it had six eyes and two sets of jaws.

She jumped back and turned just in time to avoid the jaws of another. She swung again and there was an awful crunching sound as the ax buried itself in the dogs skull, dropping it immediately. Pyramid Head had regained his composure, standing up and positioning himself between her and the two remaining threats. He was very injured, but stood firm, weapon in hand.

She tightened her grip on the ax and moved forward to assist him, but he held her back with his free hand. The dog charged and he sliced it in two easily, in mid air. The gray skinned creature dodged a few of the blows, but eventually was caught in the chest. Lilith watched as it shriveled up, releasing a dying scream before it slumped to the ground and deteriorated into ash.

Lilith stood still for a moment before dropping the ax and rushing over to Pyramid Head. He was so large that she was barely even up to his chest and he was twice as broad as she was. Yet, despite this, she felt immediately responsible to make sure he was okay. Despite what Dahlia said, although it was in the back of her mind, she owed him. She would had died if it weren't for him.

She grabbed his arm and looked where he had been injured. It was bleeding terribly and after a quick glance, she could see many more wounds like it. "We need to get you back to that room with the medical supplies," she looked around for more monsters, but saw none. "God, that's a lot of blood." He had his sword in the ground and was leaning on it slightly. Without much thought, she slipped out of the nightgown and tore the fabric, wrapping it around his hands, his arms, wherever she could, tight as she could, but the fabric wasn't long enough to tie around his chest or his biceps.

"I don't remember the way, but we need to go back," she picked up the ax, "you can't take the sword, it will only cause you further pain," his grip on the tightened in protest, telling her that there was no way he'd go without it. For the first time, Lilith realized that it was taller than she was, "please," she said, "we can retrieve it later-"

"Lilith!" Dahlia yelled from the bottom steps of the apartment building, "come back inside." As Dahlia called her name, she realized how exposed she had become, standing there in her slip in the street.

"I can't, he needs help!"

Dahlia took a step closer, arms out and Pyramid Head stood straighter, pulling Lilith close with his free arm and holding out his sword with the other, as if warding off the old woman. "Please, child, come," Dahlia begged.

Lilith looked between them, both who had helped her. Dahlia's warning resounded in her brain 'he will make you wish you were dead.' Perhaps she should go back…after all, wasn't he a part of this Hell? A monster who had murdered in front of her? She wanted to say something, but then-

"Stay." His voice was deep, but he spoke so quietly she didn't think Dahlia heard him.

"Okay," she whispered. Despite his injuries, Pyramid Head picked her up so that she was sitting in the crook of his arm. Lilith gasped, grabbing onto his shoulders, feeling very high off the ground. "put me down! Carrying me will only incapacitate you further!"

He let out a sound that almost resembled a chuckle. "Lilith!" Dahlia yelled as Pyramid turned, carrying her and dragging the sword behind.

"It's alright!" she called over his shoulder, "I'll be back, I promise!" Dahlia just watched after them with wide eyes, but the sight was soon lost as Pyramid took her around the corner. He wasn't going fast. In fact, he seemed as if he were taking a leisurely stroll on a sunny afternoon. She kept thinking she saw things out of the corner of her eye and, the more she thought about it, she probably did see things. Screams and shrieks still echoed and she closed her eyes and ducked her head.

"Maybe if you put me down, we could go faster," but he didn't. She was about to make another remark when an ear splitting, bone chilling scream cracked through the air. She recognized what made it so much more terrible- it was human. "Are you going to hurt me?" Lilith asked, but didn't actually suspect he would tell her one way or another. "That woman said you will."

"No," he said.

"You won't hurt me?"

"No," he said again.

"But you're one of them, aren't you?" No reply. She shivered, "aren't you cold?" he only appeared to be wearing a long skirt of some sort.

"No," he said. Well, at least he was speaking. Sorta. Lilith kept her head down, wanting to keep conversation in order to distract her from the horror they were walking through.

"Do you know why I'm here?"

"No."

"Can I go home?" he didn't respond, so she assumed it was a no. Or that he simply didn't know. "My dog," she said, "there's no one to take care of him," Lily didn't supose he really cared, but it did make her sad to think she would never again see the big, white German Sheppard that she'd rescued three years ago. He was her only companion in the world, "he must be frightened."

"Are you frightened?" Pyramid Head asked her, grabbing her attention.

"Yes," she answered truthfully, "I am so frightened."

"Of me?"

Lily bit her lip, worried about how she should answer. "Yes. I saw you kill those people like nothing. I fear you could crush me with one hand and no second thoughts."

"I could," he said, "but I won't."

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked.

"You can't," he answered simply. Which didn't do much to alleviate her worry. Lilith wasn't a strong girl and while she knew she should at least try to fake it, it wasn't her, it never was. She bit harder into her lip as the tears welled up, not wanting to make a sound. But as she blinked, they dropped down onto Pyramid's arm.

"I am to protect you," she heard him say.

She blinked, "why?"

No reply. He didn't say any more and neither did she. He kept walking, as if he had no care or wasn't bleeding out. She wondered if he would just collapse. It seemed rather ridiculous, maybe she really was dreaming. Maybe she was in a coma and this is some bizarre, never ending coma dream. She had read about those. People in a coma could live out their whole lives and never be aware they're in a dream until they're woken up. Maybe something like that was happening to her.

Pyramid Head looked down at the girl in his arm. Her brow was furrowed as if she were deep in thought and her bottom lip was slightly pouted. She bit it and shivered against the cold. She had a nice mouth, if only he were at liberty to use it. He also couldn't help the way certain parts of her body reacted to the cold. It wasn't as if she were modestly dressed, he could feel the flesh of her thighs against his arm, his hand hooked under her knees. But he supposed it was his own damn fault since he let her strip down in the middle of the street without telling her his wounds would heal momentarily. In fact, they'd already done so.

Pyramid had to admit though, despite her admittance of fear, she rushed out to help him, ax in hand. It impressed him, but only a little. Mostly it surprised him. He didn't think she would actually come to him so willingly, let alone be concerned for his well being.

The wind blew again and she shivered. He wished she would stop that. The retreated automatically further back against his warm body. He groaned inwardly. It was frustrating. A woman in his grip, nipples hard, slip teasing high on her thigh and he couldn't fuck her. Once he dropped her ass back in the room and locked her up, he'd have to find a nurse or two…or more. At least she'd finally shut up. She asked way too many annoying question. He could already tell this was going to be a pain his ass.

Pyramid took her back to his room and plopped her down on the bed and shut the door behind them. Lily jumped to her feet, "you need to sit down now," she urged. He jammed his sword down onto the floor, letting it stand on it's own. Gently she touched his arm and ushered him to the bed. His cart of surgical equipment he usually kept for torture were still there. Hastily, she wheeled it over close and began cutting the fabric of her once favorite nightgown off his arms. Grabbing the disinfectant, she poured it over the wound and wiped the blood away.

But there was no wound. "what…" she said, wiping and cleaning the other injuries, but there were none. "What the hell? I saw you get hurt. You lost all this blood."

He made a sound that sounded like a laugh that echoed in his helmet. Lily scowled and stood up, "you made me undress for nothing!?" he grinned, if only she could see it, "I loved this nightgown!" she yelled, throwing the wet, bloody clothes onto the floor, noticing the blood stains that painted the entire room.

She turned toward the door, pulling on the handle, but Pyramid got up and slammed his hand against the door. She jumped and backed away, getting the message. Her eyes were wide with a jolt of fear.

'You're not going anywhere, princess,' his mind snapped sarcastically before remembering she couldn't hear. He groaned. Pyramid Head wasn't fond of speaking. He never had a need for it. "You're not going anywhere," he said, his own voice sounding foreign to him.

"Why?"

Was she stupid? "Do you really want to take your chances out there alone?"

She wrapped her arms around herself, "I don't know if I like my chances in here…"

He felt his agitation flare, "I already told you, I'm not going to kill you."

"You also told me not to trust you."

He had no response. He simply turned from her, "I'll be back," he growled before opening the door and slamming it shut behind him.

"Prick," he heard her mumble from the other side of the door.

'You have no idea,' he thought. And with that, she shuffled off toward the nearest hospital, sword scraping along behind. The darkness would disband soon, but not before he would be satisfied.