Misty's leg had been properly bandaged, and the doctor had remarked on how she was very lucky it hadn't been infected. Brock had winced at that, interpreting it as an insult to his bandage job. But right now, Misty didn't care about who was better at applying first aid. Ash had walked into a secluded part of the hospital basement, and the way things were going, Misty didn't want to lose sight of her friend.

Misty steadily limped in the direction she had seen Ash go, walking past babbling patients and their fearful Pokemon. They didn't notice her go past, too shellshocked to notice anything at all. A few were clutching their hands and whimpering to their mothers. Others had their eyes shut tight, hopefully asleep. Many were staring out into space with horrified expressions, images of the creatures burned into their visions.

Slowly but steadily Misty made her way to the office Ash had locked himself into after reading Kalville's past. Silent Hill's past. The document Markus had made had answered a lot of questions, but everyone felt they weren't the ones Ash needed. Or May, for that matter…

Misty distinctly heard Ash talking to someone in the room. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she could tell he was rather excited and scared at the same time. He stopped talking suddenly. The girl was about to knock when the door suddenly burst open. Ash nearly ran into Misty before catching himself in time. The girl nearly toppled backward from the surprise, but managed to straighten herself quickly.

"Misty?"

"Ash? Ash, what's the hurry?"

Ash looked very nervous, eyes darting about everywhere. "Um…um…I need to use the washroom." Ash quickly moved down one of the corridors.

"Ash, it's that way." Misty pointed in the opposite direction that he was going down.

"Oh, right. Hehheh." The boy bashfully turned around and started walking the other way. His eyes kept moving to Misty, as if waiting for her to turn around.

Misty eyed her friend with some suspicion. "Ash, what's going on?"

"N-nothing." Ash replied quickly.

"You're lying."

"No I'm not!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah…"

"Who were you talking to?"

Ash froze up at that question. "Nuh-nobody…"

Misty glanced into the room and saw a discarded telephone on the floor. "Ash, stop it. This isn't the time for secrets, what's going on?"

Ash shivered slightly. He couldn't lie to his friend. "It's…it's just…" he babbled, backing away and trying to escape.

Misty cut him off angrily. "Just WHAT? Ash, tell me what is going on right now or I'll – "

"I know where Alessa is." The boy gasped out.

Misty's eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped numbly.

"The guy on the phone…same guy from the radio…gave me an address…"

Misty glowered at Ash. "And you were gonna sneak off? You were actually going to leave us in here while you go out into the monster-infested streets to find a psychopathic reality-warper who can kill you with just a thought?"

Ash had no answer, and hung his head down in shame.

"Unbelievable. You iare/i insane. What'll happen to us if you die? What about your mother? Have you thought about her? We've barely survived the last few days, we're finally in something resembling a safe place, and now you want to go back out? What do you think you can do?"

Ash looked Misty straight in the eye. "I don't know Misty. I guess I figured maybe I could actually confront the person responsible instead of just sitting here, hiding in the basement, waiting for food and supplies to run out because we're too afraid to go out and look for an escape or a solution or SOMETHING!" Ash snapped.

This time Misty had no answer.

Ash sighed into his hand. "Do you have any better ideas? Because believe me, I'd love to stay here where it's safe and…"

"No. You're not sitting here."

Misty and Ash turned to the sound of the new voice. May had escaped her doctor's eye and had limped into the conversation, with Jessie and Brock following her. Brock was trying to hold her back and vainly convince her to get some rest.

The glowering girl pointed at Ash, her finger quivering with pure anger. "You got us into this. You are going out there, and if come back without my brother I'll kill you myself, GOT IT?"

"May…"

"I got it." Ash answered her.

"Good!" May snapped, finally allowing Brock to drag her back to her cot for some much-needed rest.

Nobody moved or spoke for a minute. Jessie and Misty looked at Ash, waiting to see what he would do. Would he really go back into the monster-infested streets? To meet with a deadly girl who could kill him then and there? To save his friends and father?

Ash took a deep breath and began walking to the stairs.

"Ohhhhh no." Misty stopped him.

"What? Misty, I gotta..."

"I know. You're not going alone."

Ash blinked. She was still following him? He couldn't believe that she would risk her life to help him. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised. This was hardly the first time she had followed him into a dangerous situation. "Thanks Misty..." Ash managed to sigh. "You're the best."

Misty just shrugged in response, smiling slightly.

Jessie suddenly pushed past both of them. "I'll drive." She said in her usual forceful, commanding tone.

Ash was about to protest, but a look from Misty told him not to argue. The boy sighed, and joined the two women leaving the hospital. With any luck, he would return with Pikachu, Satos, Max and James.

He prayed.

"Gotten quite all of a sudden." Jessie remarked, glancing out the window of the ambulance. "I hate it."

Ash had to agree. The streets of Kalville were almost empty; nothing but a few wrecked cars and the occasional prowling creature, growling hoarsely at them but never chasing them. It was as if they didn't care anymore. Ash shared that sentiment.

Misty drummed her fingers against the ambulance cot impatiently. Soon, they would confront the person responsible for this nightmare directly. With any luck, they could find their captured friends and family, find some means of escape and get everyone out of this hellhole. When they arrived. "Can't you go any faster, Jessie?"

"Yeah, and run into a building or something in this fog? I'd like to rescue my partner while I'm still in one piece, thank you." Jessie snapped back before returning her attention to the road ahead.

Ash glanced at the written directions the voice on the phone had given him. "Turn left at Bachmann Road. Then keep going straight until you hit the woods. The emp...Alessa's house is the first building you see in the forest." He recited.

"Ok, keep your eyes open. I wish this fog would let up a little more...I can barely see the road signs." Jessie replied simply. There was a silence for a few minutes, Ash and Jessie watching for the sign to Bachmann road.

"Hey Jessie?"

"What?" the woman replied in a sullen tone.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Jessie glanced up at the right moment. "Bachmann road. We're off to see the Empress."

Driving through the woods towards Alessa's secluded house, everyone in the vehicle felt a sense of impending danger.

It wasn't just the fact that they were coming to the home of likely the most dangerous adversary they had ever encountered. They couldn't hear any normal sounds od the forest; there were no birds singing, no bugs buzzing, or even the rustle of the wind.

Every so often there would be an audible crash or growl…the monsters were in the woods. Ash dreaded to think that they could escape the town and go out into the world. Worse, the creatures hiding in the woods seemed to be keeping pace with the ambulance. Were they being followed?

Or worse, were the creatures going to meet them there?

Ash saw the house first.

If it had been any other situation, Alessa Gillespie's home would've been quite nice. A large cabin in the woods, built for someone who wanted privacy and a nice view of the town. It was at least three stories high, and likely held a full kitchen and living room. Ash figured it was a Kalville vacation home Alessa had bought after she had been resurrected.

But now, it looked intimidating. The windows seemed to be glaring down at the puny mortals who thought they could face the empress of Silent Hill. Several Shuppets were hovering around the building, feeding off the negative vibes of the house and it's occupants. The paint had been ruined by the thick fog, peeling off in several places. What hadn't been dampened had been torn at by angry claws.

Just like the hospital, multiple corpses of the monsters were lying around the building, ruining the appearance of a once picturesque lawn. Misty was a little puzzled. it looked as though they had been attacking the building...one of the cat-creatures still had it's claws embedded in the wall. But wasn't Alessa controlling them? Why would they go after her?

"You stay in the car." Ash told Jessie as he and Misty began walking up to the home. "If things go bad, we'll need a quick getaway."

"Alrighty then, whatever you say, sir. Chauffer Jessie will be waiting to pick up you and your date." Jessie tried to add as much sarcasm to her voice as she could, but the truth was she was very glad she didn't have to go inside.

Misty turned to Ash. "You don't think she'll drive off?"

"Not without knowing where James is."

"Yeah…" Jessie sighed, hoping the children didn't hear.

Ash stared up the walkway to the front door, or what was left of it. It had been torn off it's hinges and thrown aside, smashed to splinters on the lawn. There was an inky blackness through the doorway. Not the most encouraging sight.

Music was emanating from the house. A beautiful piano piece. Somebody was home. A voice quietly singing confirmed it. Alessa's voice, eerily soft and seemingly soothing.

You lie, silent there before me.

Your tears, they mean nothing to me.

The wind, howling at the window,

The love you never gave

I give to you.

Ash turned to Misty with a nervous look on his face. Her face was just as scared, if not even more so. They almost didn't go forward. But the thought of what was at stake spurred them on. Taking a deep breath and clenching each other's hands, they stepped through the threshold.

Light filtered in from the windows and several holes in the walls. The room just past the front door was small, with little more than a closet for guests to hang their coats in. Another door, battered but still on it's hinges, led into the rest of the house. It seemed that they would have to work up the courage to go through another ominous doorway.

You really don't deserve it

But now, there's nothing you can do.

So sleep…in your only memory

Of me, my dearest mother…

Taking another deep breath, Ash opened the second door…

Right to a sight that made Misty shriek.

What used to be a well-furnished living room was now crawling with insects. There were hundreds of them, from spiders to millipedes to ants and even a few butterflies. Multiple broken terrariums explained their presence in the house, and the corpse of a four-armed monster explained how they got loose. That corpse was literally being devoured by some of the larger insects with fangs.

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.

It was always you that I despised.

I don't feel enough for you to cry

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.

Almost immediately, Misty ducked into the closet, babbling hysterically. "Bugs. She just HAD to be crazy about bugs!"

Ash groaned. All that had happened, and she was terrified of a bug collection? "Misty, this isn't the time for this! We gotta get through that…"

"I – I – I – I can't! Did you see some of those things? Some of them were bigger than my foot!" Misty babbled.

"Misty, close your eyes. I'll get you through…"

"No…no, I'll drag you back. Just go, just go!"

"What? Are you kidding? You followed me here and now you're asking me to –"

"Just GO! I'll be fine…" Misty sighed into her hand. "I…I'm sorry. You need to go to her. Just go, don't worry about me. You'll be ok. I'll be okay."

So insignificant, sleeping dormant deep inside of me

Are you hiding away lost, inside the sewers?

Maybe flying high, in the clouds?

Perhaps you're happy without me…

"Misty…" Ash sighed in resignation, and braced himself to face Alessa alone. "If you hear me scream 'Run', run. Don't look back."

"But Ash…"

Ash shook his head. "Just…just stay there until you hear from me."

"Ok." Misty gulped.

Ash had just turned back to the doorway when Misty made a noise.

"Ash?"

"What?"

"Good luck."

Ash smiled that smile of his, for the first time in a long time. "Thanks."

After Ash had walked out of the closet, Misty shut the door for safety. Taking an even deeper breath than before, Ash stepped into the insect-infested living room.

So many seeds have been sown out of fear

And who could have sprawn up so blessedly?

The music was coming from the next floor up. Ash could see a staircase that would take him to Alessa.

The chittering creatures never acknowledged his entrance. They were too busy feasting on the dead monster on the floor. It seemed like a lot of meat.

Something bothered Ash, though. That thing was huge...it would've been impossible for these insects to topple it. Not the mention the creatures outside…what was killing them?

Ash promptly had that question answered as several of the faceless nurses suddenly jumped from the ceiling, carrying knives, syringes, guns, and katanas, twitching madly as they came closer. Ash was quickly regretting coming here and was about to yell at Misty to run…

When Alessa smashed her fist onto the piano keys, creating a very jarring note that made Ash cringe, the insects scatter and the nurses stop in their tracks. "LET HIM IN!" she bellowed in a terrifying voice.

At their empress' command, the nurses cleared Ash's path to the staircase. Several of them leapt up to the ceiling, crawling into the shadows like spiders. Others just stood still, weapons at the ready, watching for Ash's next move.

The boy didn't move for a few seconds, thinking his next step could very well be his last. But he had to confront Alessa…but she could kill him…but his friends and father…

"Get up here, Ash. We need to talk." Alessa remarked from upstairs before starting her piano again.

Doing everything in his power to keep himself from shaking, Ash slowly stepped forward. Images of Satos, Max and Pikachu flashed through his head at every step. He had to help them. And if that meant facing off against this psychopathic girl…

Then that was what he would do.

If I had died, I would never felt sad at all.

You will not hear me say 'I'm sorry'

Where is the light?

Wonder if it's weeping somewhere?"

The faceless nurses 'watching' his every step, Ash slowly walked up to confront the Empress of Silent Hill.

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.

Goodbye.

It was always you that I despised.

I don't feel enough for you to cry.

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.

Goodbye.