Mona finally gets a drink.

Mona had already used four of her five new bullets taking out a monster since returning from the brink of her crisis. It was the same kind she'd encountered in the store from before, going down without much of a fuss despite the costly use of ammunition. On the plus side, she managed to finish the encounter without being injured save for a small bit of strain on her ankle from kicking it as much as she did once it was down.

The fact she only had a single bullet left brought back thoughts of suicide. Even so, she couldn't allow herself to indulge in that kind of pessimism again so quickly, forcing herself onward into whatever new nightmare awaited her. Nightmare or not, though, she was getting nowhere fast if she didn't have an idea of what she needed to do.

Odd as it was, maybe the monster from before was meant to corral her towards where the town wanted her to be next like when a team of them forced her into the hospital. Would being able to kill it the way she did mean she actually pulled one over on Silent Hill? No, that seemed impossible. That fleeting moment of optimism did her soul some good, though.

And then she saw him. "Sable!" she yelled, running as fast as she could to catch up to the elusive man before he could pull another disappearing act. Thankfully, he didn't try to escape, turning to face her with an almost smug smile as she approached, expression unchanging even after she pulled her gun on him.

"You look tired," he said as if he wasn't staring down the barrel of a loaded pistol.

"Tell me what's happening here right now," she demanded, trying to keep her hands steady. Though she hadn't killed anything reasonably human since getting to this place, she knew that she could if push came to shove.

"Here and now, you're pointing a gun at me for some reason," he said. "I don't know why you're doing that. It won't hurt me."

"You want to test that theory?" she said, voice quivering a bit.

This seemed to amuse him if the chuckle escaping his lips was in any way genuine. "There's no reason to waste your resources on me," he told her. "Come on, let me show you something." He held out his hand towards her.

Mona took a step back, keeping her gun focused on him. "What do you-"

"Take my hand," he told her. "So you can walk where I do." Though it took her a few moments of consideration, Mona did eventually do as he asked, something Sable seemed pleased about. Completely unafraid of the fact he was turning his back to someone who still had a will and means to kill him, he led her towards one of the buildings along the side of the road.

Opening the wooden door (already a strange design choice for what should be a place of business), he pulled her through into a dingy, broken apartment, the door shutting behind them before Mona could even check to see where it led after that. "Here we are," he said. "The Hillside Apartments have seen better days, but they're a home."

This description seemed like an understatement given the massive hole leading to the outside, part of the wall having entirely fallen out overlooking the street below. The rest of the room didn't seem to be in much better shape with scuffed, broken floorboards, peeling green wallpaper adorned with tacky yellow flowers, and a bed that looked to be in desperate need of a change of sheets.

What really caught Mona's eye, though, was the disgusting refrigerator, something green growing on the front of what was likely meant to be a white paint job once upon a time. This did little to stop her from flinging open the door, grabbing the first bottle of water she could find and immediately drinking all of it.

"It's safe enough," Sable said, though it was unlikely she even heard him. "When you're done here, you should probably take a look around. I think this is where you want to be."

Midway through another bottle, she paused in drinking to swallow, then asked, "How do you know?"

"I've got a way of...reading this place," he replied, predictably giving an answer that made no real sense. "Like I know what the town wants sometimes."

"You control this place?"

He laughed. "No, of course not. No one can control Silent Hill. Plenty have tried, but they're all dead now. I'm just along for the ride. I'm entertaining for it, I think." While it certainly seemed like the town could be sentient, Sable was now fully anthropomorphizing a collection of buildings. "Course, the fun ends if it ever gets tired of me. But I just have to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Am I part of that fun?" Mona asked, gripping her gun a bit more tightly.

"I didn't bring you here if that's what you really mean," he told her. "But, in a way, that's why I helped you before. It wouldn't be fun if you couldn't defend yourself." Sable cracked his neck, walking to stand at the edge of a hole leading outside, seemingly unconcerned with the prospect of a three floor fall to the asphalt below. "Anyway, I think I've done enough. I'll be watching, as always."

"Wait, where are-" Before Mona could even finish her sentence, Sable had already fallen backwards out of the room and seemingly to his death. Running over to the side, she stuck to the wall and looked out, straining to see through the fog to try and make out a body at the base of the apartments. While she couldn't know for certain until getting outside, her instincts told her he'd be back sooner or later.

Once again, Mona was now all by herself in Silent Hill. Still unable to understand why she was here, Sable's true intentions, or how those two things fit together, the only path that remained was forward.

Looks like Sable decided to be helpful again. I wonder if that's going to work out well in the long run.

These people teleport too much. Sometimes I wonder why I bother tracking them across the actual map of Silent Hill. At least that probably won't be an issue for a little while again.

That's all we have for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to drink questionable water you find in unmarked bottles.