Izaya groaned as he opened his eyes. He stared up at a gray sky. His mind felt numb, like a hangover without the throbbing headache. He was too groggy to move. Too tired to think. He just wanted to stay there for a while.

'I can't…stay here.'

Izaya's head rolled on the concrete roof to look around himself. Alessa was no where in sight.

'I have to get to the hospital.'

The raven forced himself to roll over. He was parched and wished he had some water. He looked around himself.

'Tsuki had water on him, so maybe I could scavenge the body.'

It crossed his mind how disturbing it was for him to come to that idea without hesitation. However, he banished any self-chastising. Moral high ground wasn't important right now. It was just for survival and nothing more.

He looked to where he had dropped the blond.

Tsuki wasn't there. There was a puddle of blood, a bottle of water, and a bag of chips, but no body.

'Did the Darkness take him?'

Izaya couldn't think of any other reason why the body would be gone. He decided not to think about it too much, less he acknowledge the fact that he murdered someone in cold blood. He didn't want to take the chance that he had a breakdown from guilt and self-loathing. He didn't have the time for that. He had to find Alessa.

Izaya put his hands to the concrete and pushed. His limbs felt so heavy. He groaned. With great effort, the informant managed to get himself to his feet. He stumbled for a moment but kept his bearings. He made his way over to the water bottle and chips.

'Chips are better than nothing. Let's eat that then get going.'

Izaya grabbed both. He then looked up.

His eyes widened.

'The church…'

The building Izaya stood on was one of the tallest in the town. Since this place had the same cross as the hospital and the church, he could only assume they were owned by the same person—thus why this place was more lavished and taller. From here, Izaya could see a hill on the outskirts of the town. Atop that hill was a church. Big, made of wood and very hard to miss.

'How the hell have I not seen that from ground level before?'

Izaya had plenty of reasons why he hadn't. It was on the opposite side of town. Most of the buildings were at least three stories and if they weren't, they sandwiched between two tall buildings. Izaya wasn't looking up when he's running. He was on a set mission with a goal in mind every time he went back into the town. He had enough reason not to notice it. That didn't make him feel any less stupid.

'Those are the people who burnt Alessa.'

His eyes narrowed.

'After I'm done eating, I have to go there. I have to know what kind of people these witch burners were.'


Shizuo looked around himself. He brought his hands on either side of his mouth.

"IZAYA!"

There was no response. Shizuo clenched his teeth.

As soon as the darkness ended, Shizuo got the hell out of the mall and just started running. He called out for Izaya over and over and over, running without a care anymore. He had to find Izaya. They had to get out of here as soon as possible.

'This place is twisted and fucked up! It's worse than I thought!'

"Your brother is my chosen savior. To make sure things go well, I'll need your help."

'This was set in motion since Izaya was a little kid! Nothing is going to end well if Izaya keeps chasing after Alessa! I've got to find him! I've got to get him out of here before that demon kills him!'

Shizuo stopped running to catch his breath. He then inhaled deeply, closed his eyes tight shut, and put his hands by his mouth.

"IIIZZZAAAYYYAAA!"

His voice bounced off the building, echoing across the empty city. Within a few seconds, it faded away.

And in the next moment, Shizuo heard wild barking. His eyes widened and he jolted.

'Did I alert the horde?'

The barking was getting closer.

'Run.'

Shizuo rushed over to the nearest third story building. He jumped on a window sill and propelled himself up. As he passed the third story window, a hand smashed through the window. The shattering glass made Shizuo jump before he ankle was grabbed and he was pulled harshly. He grabbed the roof ledge, digging his fingers into the concrete. He glowered down at whatever grabbed him. He couldn't see anything but a gray hand with long, pointed finger tips. Those finger tips were digging into his leg, drawing blood. He heard something akin to a child's cry.

Shizuo clenched his teeth. With his free leg, he kicked off the concrete wall, which propelled his grabbed-leg back. The thing that was holding him—a demented gray person no bigger than a child with a face that twisted around it's skull—was pulled through the window. It lost its grip on Shizuo's leg from the sheer force of his kick and fell towards the ground. It screamed and clawed at him on the way down. Shizuo glared. He couldn't care to give these monsters anymore mercy. He was a man on a mission now and anyone who got in the way of that was just an obstacle.

For Izaya.

He had to find Izaya and get them out of this hell.

That was what drove Shizuo.

The blond pulled himself up on the roof ledge. He stepped down, then pulled his pants leg up to check his wound. He wasn't bleeding bad. It didn't seem like the thing actually cut deep, so Shizuo would be fine. He dropped his pants leg and looked up.

Shizuo paused when he saw something in the distance. It looked like a house of wood. He could barely make it out between the numerous taller buildings.

'What is that?'

Shizuo rushed over to one of the taller buildings and jumped. He hopped from window sill to window sill until he made it to the top. He rushed over to the other side of the roof. Now he could see—and what he saw was a church on top of a hill. Instantly, laying eyes on that church made a chill run down Shizuo's spine. A profound fear that he didn't understand gripped him.

'I can't go there. There's something…wrong about that place. I…'

Shizuo hugged himself. A painful twitch ran up his body. He clenched his teeth and was forced to roll his neck to relieve the pain. He put his hand on the back of his neck.

'I can't go there. I just can't go there. It's—wait…'

Shizuo's eyes widened with realization.

'What if that's where Alessa is? Which means that's where Izaya is! Or at least, he'll show up there!'

Such a thought pushed Shizuo to start running across the rooftops.

'Izaya will be there! Eventually, at the very least, he'll show up there! He'll come and then we can leave this god-awful place.'


Izaya looked down at the map in his hands. He had found the church on his map and was making his way towards it.

'Should I be doing this? The hospital is in the opposite direction of this church. Alessa wants me to go to the hospital.'

Izaya looked at the street signs. He followed his map.

'No, I have to go. I only have one side of the story. Alessa's perspective. Since she's a demon, either these people are here because they deserve it or they're lost souls without a Sheppard.'

Izaya glowered.

'If they were innocent, then why would I need to help a demon? Alessa created this place. This prison known as Silent Hill. She should be able to do what she wants. Unless it's the opposite? What if they are trapping her here to keep her out of the real world? '

Izaya stopped in his tracks for a moment.

'Why me? Why does she want me? Why did she bring me and Shizu-chan here? Why did she give me those nightmares? She wanted me here, but I don't know why…'

He glowered up at the sky.

'Only if I find Alessa will I be given answers. Alessa, this church. They're interwoven in something revolting. This witch burning, the fire within the hotel is what started it all. That much I know.'

"Alessa is a demon." Izaya said with conviction. "I doubt she was innocent. But you're my only way to get to the truth."

"Can you decide that so easily?"

Izaya's eyes widened. He looked down. Standing before him was the little girl he was seeking, looking up at him. Izaya jumped back a few steps.

"Have you forgotten all you've seen so far? Was Alessa truly a demon?"

Izaya stared at her. Then his eyes narrowed. "Either you're speaking about yourself in the third person, or you're not Alessa."

The girl smiled.

"You're a demon, aren't you?"

"You won't know what I am until you find Alessa." The girl turned and pointed to the church. "The church only blackens. But you're welcome to see for yourself."

Izaya looked up at the church. He glowered at the wooden building in the distance.

"How do I—" Izaya looked down.

However, Alessa was gone.

'…Shocker.' He glowered at that. He then let out a soft sigh before looking back up at the building. 'The church only blackens, huh?'

"They deceived me. They made me believe they were fighting sin. But they lied. They lied!" the words of Dahlia Gillespie echoed in Izaya's head. "They took my daughter from me! In the name of their god, they blackened her! They are liars! They are deceivers! If you look for sanctuary with them they will drag you to hell with them! They'll only blacken you, as well!"

'Alessa was burnt. They lied to Dahlia in order to burn her daughter. All in the name of their god.'

Izaya clenched his fists.

'What if they weren't witch burners then? What if they were sacrificing but hid it behind the label of purification? God has never asked for human sacrifice so what the hell could their end goal be?'

"…Maybe it's not God they wish to appease, but the Devil…"

A deafening storm siren tore through the landscape a moment after the words left his lips. Izaya jolted and quickly looked around himself.

'Oh, no.'

He then looked up at the church.

'Quickly!'

Without a second thought, he broke out into a run.


Shizuo jumped off the edge of a building, landing on a closed dumpster. He hopped off and pressed himself to the alley wall. He panted harshly through his nose. He was trying to keep his voice down so he could hear if anything was coming. There didn't seem to be any pitter-patter of dog feet or the shuffling of bare feet on concrete.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe for now. He looked out of the alley. Less than a block away was a patch of grass. There was a black fence around the area and he could see gravestones behind it.

'Is that a cemetery?'

Another chill went through his spine. He didn't want to go there. He really didn't want to go there. Every part of his being was telling him not to go there.

"...Izaya, you better be here..."

Shizuo pushed off the wall into the street. He was walking, so his thundering footfalls wouldn't echo off the concrete. However, his knees were bent and he was hunched forward. Such a stance would let him break out into a run without a moment's hesitation. His head was on a swivel as he looked left and right constantly. He could hear his heartbeat in his ear. His fists were clenched and sweaty.

He walked down the street without incident. He paused at the edge of a house—the last house on the block before it would give away to the cemetery. He couldn't see the entrance to the gate. He decided he wouldn't look for it and instead hop the fence. He looked left—nothing; right—nothing. He inhaled deeply to calm his thundering heart.

He then bolted forward, breaking out into a run. In four strides, he was across the road. He pushed off in a jump and grabbed one of the horizontal black bars to propel himself up. Up and up he went until he stood on the top bar of the fence. He pushed off to jump over the spiked tips. He soared through the air for a moment before he landed in soft grass.

He looked around himself quickly. Nothing was in sight. He breathed a sigh of relief before standing up properly. He took in his surroundings more. The fog seemed much thicker here than the rest of the town. It was hard for him to see far, which only made him nervous. He started walking at a slow pace, nonetheless, heading towards the obvious hill. Gravestones lined the whole area in straight lines. Some were taller than others while some were significantly smaller. Some had angels watching over them and some were unmarked graves.

The graves confused him a bit. He couldn't read English, but numbers were universal. Many of the graves were from long ago. The most recent ones were within the 80's and 90's.

'None of these are new graves. Has nobody died at all? Is there even any people here?'

He looked around himself with confusion.

'No, that one lady on the bridge is definitely a human. And weren't those guys in the gas mask people? They were killed by the darkness. Unless maybe monsters kill monsters here.'

Shizuo glowered slightly. He shook his head.

'I shouldn't try to reason how this terrible place works. I just need to get Izaya and get out of here.'

Something tall and dark started to form out of the fog. He stiffened and felt fear force his heartbeat to quicken. He slowed to a stop and knelt down behind a grave. He rubbed his hand through the grass, eyes trained on the black mass, until he found a rock. It was small and white. With little effort, he chucked the rock. It flew through the air with great speed and hit the black thing. It bounced off and didn't move. It sounded like wood.

Shizuo glowered. 'Was it just a tree?'

The blond stood up and slowly walked over. It was indeed a tree. The bark was pitch black, but a tree nonetheless. Shizuo felt stupid for being so paranoid. He let out a heavy sigh and walked closer. He could see one solitary tree branch stretching outward from the trunk. It was high above Shizuo's head. He couldn't reach it unless he used his unnatural strength to grab it. There was a rope wrapped around the large branch, attached to a tire.

Shizuo couldn't help feeling disturbed by that. 'Why is there a tire swing in a cemetery? What demented child is using a graveyard as a playground?!'

Shizuo didn't like that at all. That was so wrong on so many levels that it pissed him off and unsettled him at the same time. He glowered at the swing for a little while, debating tearing it down. Eventually, however, he decided it wasn't worth his time.

He looked up at the church once again. He could see the wide staircase through the fog now. The steps were black and ominous. The hill itself was quite steep and so the stairs were also steep. And atop the hill, above the fog, was the church.

Just the sight of the brown building made his whole body twitchy. He hugged himself for a moment, resisting the urge to run away. He had to go there. He had to know if Izaya was there. He knew Izaya would show up there eventually, so he couldn't let this strange, irrational fear take root.

Shizuo let out a heavy sigh to calm his nerves. He then walked forward.

However, he quickly stopped in his tracks when he heard a long, breathy exhale right behind him. It was so loud it sounded like it was right in his ear. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end before he quickly turned around. There was no one there.

At least, no one living.

The tire swing was gone. In its place was a man, hung from a rope by his neck. His skin was pale and his body limp. He looked like he had been dead for hours.

Shizuo couldn't contain the scream of horror that tore through his lungs. He jumped back and fell flat on his rump, staring at the dead person in terror. All his composure went to the wind at such a sudden change in scenery, panic taking root inside his chest.

"What the hell is this fucked up place?!" Shizuo yelled.

'I shouldn't be here! I shouldn't have come here! This place is worse than any other part of town! Izaya wouldn't come here! He...'

Shizuo had trouble keeping his emotions in check. After everything he had been through and everything he had seen, this one last sight of macabre was too much for his nerves. Tears stung his eyes as he clenched his teeth hard. He closed his eyes tight shut and shook his head to try and keep tears from spilling forth. He pressed his clean sleeve against his eyes, applying pressure to them so he couldn't cry.

"God, this place can't get any worse, can it?"

As if inciting bad karma, a storm-warning siren went off. It was so loud and piercing that Shizuo had to cover his ears. He looked up at the church in shock. He didn't know this was the place those sirens were coming from, but it seemed to be the case with how loud it was. Shizuo could see flocks of birds flying to the top of the church.

Shizuo clenched his teeth as newfound fear began to fill his chest.

'If the other world is coming then there's no way I can go there. It'll be crawling with monsters and Alessa will be stronger, won't she?! We can't go to her den when it goes dark!'

Shizuo looked up at the church. Then looked around himself. He saw dark shapes coming towards him from the fog. He jolted. Before he could even stand up, people came into focus.

Shizuo's eyes widened. 'Eh?'

They were all wearing gray clothes, looking quite outdated—maybe from the 90's—and conservative as they didn't show any skin and the girls were all wearing skirts with stockings on. Shizuo was surprised, since he knew American women tended to wear pants in recent years. But what was even more surprising was how normal they looked. They were just regular, Caucasian people. A little dirty, a little ragged, but nothing abnormal about them.

They came out of the fog in a swarm. All of them looked frightened as they ran past Shizuo with little care and went up the stairs in a haste. He watched them go in shock.

"W-w-w-wait!" Shizuo called.

The blond pushed himself to his feet and stared at the crowd running by him, trying to gain anyone's attention.

"Wait, who are you?! I thought there weren't people in Silent Hill!"

A few people looked at him but didn't stop their run.

"Who are you guys?! Wait!"

Shizuo ran with the crowd. No one tried to stop him. He got a few scared looks, as if they didn't know what he was or who he was—which was valid, so Shizuo didn't fault them. The blond went up the steps with them. The siren was still deafening in his ears, and it only got louder as he went further up. But he didn't stop. If these were normal people, then maybe they had the answers as to why Alessa wanted Izaya!

"Have you seen my friend?!" Shizuo called to the person next to him. "He had black hair and brown eyes and really skinny! He's Japanese like me!"

The person looked blank. He had no idea what Shizuo was saying.

Shizuo could see the top of the slope now. There was a black gate around it with a single entrance way at the top of the stairs. Everyone could only file in three people at a time but there was no traffic jam as they all ran without pause. There were only about ten more steps before Shizuo reached the peak.

However, there was a dark mass in the middle of the stairs. The people were pushing pass it, shoving it out of the way as if it was garbage, and continued on without a care. Once Shizuo was close enough, he recognized the dark mass.

'It's the weird woman from the bridge!'

Shizuo fully intended to run by her as well. However, she spotted him and she wasted no time grabbed his wrist and stopping him.

"You run not towards sanctuary but from your fears!"

"I don't understand what you're saying!"

"Do not join the others! They are deceivers; they are damned!"

"Please, let go!" Shizuo tugged. "I don't want to hurt you!"

She pulled Shizuo close, taking a step up so she could talk in a lower voice, filled with malice and swiftness. "They are wolves in the skin of sheep. They brought about their own hell; they'll take you with them."

Shizuo didn't understand anything she had said, but the tone in which she spoke sent a chill down his spine. Such convictions, such hatred. Was this person not part of this group of people? Why did she hate them so much?

Shizuo didn't get the chance to ask as a piece of concrete came flying past him and hit the woman in the face. She let Shizuo go as she groaned and turned her head, falling down three steps before catching herself.

"FILTH AND LIES!"

Shizuo looked up to see a girl, probably about 18 or 19 years old with red hair. She was glaring death at the woman and was wasting no time leaning down to grab another piece of concrete from the broken step.

"Hey, wait!"

Shizuo rushed up the steps. He grabbed the girls wrist and struggled with her to keep her from throwing the concrete while also trying not to hurt her.

"Don't!" Shizuo yelled. "She's a person like you!"

"What devil's tongue are you speaking?!" The girl yelled. "Witch!"

Shizuo and the girl were knocked over by the crowd. The blond put his arm out under the girls head so she didn't crack her skull on the steps. He then looked up.

"Anna, come!" A man screamed as he paused. "We have to go! Come!"

The girl and Shizuo looked up at him before looking down at the decrepit woman. The girl then pushed herself up. The man offered a hand out to her, which she took and got her to her feet. Shizuo looked at the strange woman on the steps. She made eye contact with him before glaring up at the girl.

The siren stopped sounding. At the same time, the world went completely black. Shizuo couldn't see anything. He quickly palmed his flashlight and turned it on.

The darkness was arriving. The ground was turning from gray stone to red flesh-like flooring, pieces of it tearing off and flying up towards the sky. The red flesh was spreading upwards like spiderwebs towards them. Shizuo jolted as he began to tremble.

"Come, Anna!"

The voice of the man pulled Shizuo out of his terror-induced staring. He looked up at the two. Anna was struggling against the man, the only people left on the stairs, while she desperately was trying to pull her arm back for another throw at the woman.

Shizuo pushed himself to his feet and rushed up to them. "We have to go!"

He grabbed the other girls arm and gave her a tug. The man looked at Shizuo with obvious suspicion but they were able to put her up two steps together.

The woman further down glared at them. She then put her middle finger, ring finger, and thumb down. Her pinky and index were pointed outwards in which she pointed them towards her own eyes. She swung her hand in a swooping motion, pointing whatever that hand sign was towards the trio.

Shizuo felt another chill go down his spine. This one was violent and made his whole body twitch painfully. He quickly looked over his shoulder to see a male physique with a metal pyramid head materialize behind them. His arms were outstretched and ready to grab them.

"MOVE!"

Shizuo gave the girl a harsh shove, which shoved the man as well. The two fell, the hand of the swinging pyramid head missing. Shizuo jolted to the side at the same time so he also wasn't grabbed.

"RUN!" Shizuo yelled to the two.

They didn't hesitate. The man pushed the girl up and the two ran behind the pyramid head man and up the stairs. The pyramid head had his gaze trained on Shizuo. The blond pushed off the steps with all for limbs and quickly followed after the two people.

The trio made it to the top of the steps and that was when Shizuo was grabbed. His eyes stretched wide as his arm was wrenched backwards. He called out in surprise but wasted no time looking. With his foot outstretched, he swung it around and felt his heel slam into the metal. The monster let out a scream that sounded more like a roar as he let Shizuo go and stumbled down a few steps. Shizuo balled his fist and punched the man's metal head. Another roar came out as he fell down the stairs.

The two Caucasian's looked at Shizuo with wide eyes. Shizuo looked at them, then looked at the church. His eyes widened to see the door closing.

"RUN!" Shizuo yelled.

They jolted. Shizuo gestured for them to go towards the door. They looked and, once again, didn't hesitate to run. Shizuo did too. Already, he could tell they wouldn't make it though. The door was closing too fast and these two people were not running quickly at all. It was going to close on them and Shizuo was certain the red pyramid bastard would catch up to them.

Shizuo pushed harder. He ran in front of the two Caucasian's and made it to the door. He put one hand on each door and pushed—however, he was shocked to feel strain from his arms. The doors were so heavy! It was all he could do to keep them open the little amount that he could. His arms shook. The doors groaned. He could feel the veins in his temples constrict with his efforts.

The two people wasted no time crawling through Shizuo's sprawled legs and getting inside the church. Once they were through, Shizuo let the doors go and jolted forward. He fell to his knees against polished floors, panting heavily as his muscles were given time to relax. The door slowly creaked behind him. He looked back to make sure the pyramid head wasn't there.

His eyes stretched wide. The pyramid head had made it to the top of the steps, but that wasn't what was so shocking to Shizuo. What was shocking was the sight of someone running up the steps. Black hair and a black long sleeve with obvious Asian decent running right towards Pyramid Head.

"IZAYA!"


Izaya panted heavily as he made it to a cemetery. His flashlight was firmly in his hand while the gun—safety on—was in the other. The Darkness had just started. The ground had given away to black concrete, goopy flesh, and metal grates to display burning mine shafts under. Once he entered the cemetery, the ground simply turned red like infection and black like burnt flesh.

He rushed up the steps, taking them two steps at a time. His flashlight shined over someone on the stairs. His eyes stretched wide, ready to run in the opposite direction in case it was a monster. However, it was nothing to fear. It was Dahlia Gillespie, making her way down the steps.

"Why are you here?" Izaya asked.

"I go where I please. The Darkness doesn't want me."

"Well, isn't that convenient." He looked up at the church. "So, I can assume the monsters don't attack you? So, if I'm with you, I'm also safe by proxy."

Dahlia stared before continuing down the steps.

"What can you tell me about the church?" Izaya asked.

She stopped in her tracks. She looked up at him with sorrow.

"I met the girl that's been pretending to be Alessa." Izaya went on. "The demon that looks like a little girl."

"Alessa wasn't a demon! She was my daughter, my innocent little girl! She wasn't—"

"Why did the church burn her?"

"...Fire doesn't cleanse, it blackens."

"So it was just a stereotypical witch burning? In this day and age?"

"They called her sin that needed to be cleansed from the community."

"Why did she bring me here? What does she want from me?"

"Evil wakes in vengeance. Be careful what you choose."

"Vengeance..."

Izaya looked up at the church.

The siren stopped ringing as the world went pitch black, indicating the Darkness had fully arrived. Izaya shined his flashlight up at the ominous building. It shined against the cross on the top—the same cross Izaya had seen all over town.

"I need to see for myself." Izaya said.

"It is there own sin that keeps them here."

"Maybe. But I need to see what type of people these witch burners are."

With that said, Izaya rushed past Dahlia. He broke out into a run as he went up the stairs as fast as he could. He made it to the top in a few seconds. There were two things he noticed as soon as he got there. Shizuo was inside the church doors, which were slowly closing. And Red Pyramid was slowly walking towards the door.

"IZAYA!" Shizuo screamed.

He saw the blond pushed to his feet and run to the doors, but they closed shut.

Red Pyramid 'looked' at the door. Then slowly turned and 'looked' at Izaya.

'Oh, shit.'


"Izaya!" Shizuo yelled, banging on the door. "IZAYA!"

He grabbed the door handle and pulled. The doors didn't budge at all. He pulled again, tilting his head back with his efforts.

"He's a witch!"

"He's going to let the darkness in!"

"He's trying to kill us all!"

"Stop him!"

"Someone stop him!"

The crowd behind Shizuo became a cacophony of screams and yells. He paused to look at them, not entirely sure what they were kicking a fuss about. He could figure though. He was trying to open the doors when the pyramid head was just outside. But he had to get out there. Izaya couldn't take that thing on by himself. He had to help him!

"Why can't I open this door?! My friends on the other side!" He called to them, hoping one of them would understand him. "Please, he needs help!"

"He's one of the demon's monsters!"

"He's as strong at the pyramid monster!"

"He's going to kill us all!"

"He's—"

"THIS IS A SANCTUARY!"

A woman's voice boomed across the crowd, silencing everyone. Said woman stood on the alter, the floor dipping downward to look like a basin behind her. There was also a tapestry of what looked like a witch burning on the wall behind her, but Shizuo didn't care to look. His eyes were trained on the woman. She wore dark blue attire that looked similar to nun robes. However, her hair was very prominent as it was thick, curly, brown, and put up into a messy bun. Two men stood on either side of her.

'Is she the leader?' Shizuo wondered.

"Please!" Shizuo yelled, letting the doors go to fully turn to her. "Open this door! My friend is on the other side! The pyramid thing is going to kill him!"

"Christabella, he's a witch!" A man yelled—the man that Shizuo had just helped get into the church. "He's strong enough to attack the pyramid monster! He kicked it down the stairs!"

"He's a monster! We have to burn him!"

"Quickly!"

"We have to get him out!"

Shizuo glared at them all. 'They're not listening to me!'

The blond looked around. There were windows all around but he couldn't see any that were pointing towards the front of the church since the door way was in a small corridor. He rushed around, which caused a few of the people to scream and back away. He looked around again. There was a window around the corner from the door. He rushed to it and peered out to see Izaya, standing at the top of the stairs, looking at the pyramid thing.

"Izaya!" Shizuo banged his hands on the glass. "Run!"


Izaya could see Shizuo in his peripheral through the window, banging on the glass with as much fury as he could muster. He didn't even make a single crack with all his efforts. Although, Izaya couldn't really spare the blond any form of attention as he looked only at Red Pyramid. He was more than ready to run.

However, he didn't since the Red Pyramid didn't give chase. He just stared. A second later, the little girl showed up too. The demon, Alessa. Her eyes were pure black this time and her skin as pale as ash. It was the first time Izaya had seen her look so monstrous.

"He's not going to attack me, is he?" Izaya asked.

"Not unless I say so." Alessa smiled.

"Okay...Does that mean I made it to the real Alessa? Is she inside that church?"

"Of course not. You know where she is."

Izaya didn't answer. 'B151.'

He then looked up at Shizuo. "Why hasn't the Darkness spread inside the church?"

Izaya could see Shizuo clearly. Inside was brightly lit with no signs of dampening.

"Alessa holds all the answers." The girl said.

"Can your Darkness not enter there?"

The girl just stared.

"Will he be safe from the Darkness in there?"

"From the Darkness, yes."

Izaya looked at her. 'If they were witch burners, then they're probably extremely conservative. They wouldn't take kindly to a foreigner, less to one that was as strong as Shizuo. If they find out his ungodly strength, he's as good as dead.'

Izaya glowered. He rushed over to the church, which sparked Shizuo to furiously tap on the window to gain his attention. Izaya waved to him in acknowledgment before rushing to the door. He grabbed the handle and pulled hard. The door didn't budge. He grabbed one handle with both hands and planted his foot against the other and pulled. No amount of strength would open the door.

"You can't get in." Alessa stated. "There blind conviction compels all from their church once the darkness has arrived."

"Why should I trust you over them?" Izaya looked back at her. "You're the one who started all this."

"No, we're not." She smiled near innocently. "But we wouldn't have chosen you if we thought you could be easily swayed."

"We?"

"You will see."

She reached her hand out to Izaya. The raven looked at her, then at the pyramid head. The monster was no longer looking at him, but at Shizuo in the window. Izaya stepped around the corner to look at Shizuo too.


Shizuo stared at Izaya wide-eyed. 'Why isn't the pyramid thing attacking him? Is Alessa keeping him safe? She does control everything!'

"Izaya..."

Shizuo heard someone walk up behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see that woman and her two male goons. She looked at him, then out the window at Izaya.

The blond looked back out at Izaya too. The raven stared at Shizuo through the glass. He then turned away towards the little girl. He gave the pyramid thing a wide girth but walked over and took the hand of the demon child.

"NO!" Shizuo yelled, shaking his head. "Don't go with her! Izaya!"

Shizuo banged on the window to gain his attention. Once the raven was looking at him again, Shizuo began shaking his head fervently. Izaya looked guilty for a moment, before turning away. Alessa guided him off.

"NO! IZAYA!" Shizuo banged on the window again.

He tried to open the window, pushing on the seams. But it didn't budge.

"WHY CAN'T I OPEN THIS?!"

Shizuo slammed his hands on the window as hard as he could. Not even a crack. He clenched his teeth hard in frustration. Izaya was already out of sight. Hopelessness filled him as he he tilted his head down and rested it against the window.

"Dammit, dammit!"

'How can you still just blindly follow her?! You have to know by now she's the cause of all this!'

"What do we do about him, Christabella?" One of the men asked in a low voice.

Shizuo looked over at them. They were all staring at him. The woman in blue caught Shizuo's attention in particular. She was staring at him with a calculating gaze, seeming to size him up. Shizuo felt small and uncomfortable under that stare.

"We'll deal with him later." The woman said. She then turned and looked at the group. "For now, we must pray."

With that stated, she turned and walked back towards the alter.

"Wait," Shizuo said, "Who are you people? What's going on here?"

He was coldly ignored. Everyone turned away from him to walk towards the alter, letting the woman in blue through. Said woman cupped their hands together and stopped within the dip in the floor. Shizuo could see from where he stood that there was a strange cross symbol on the ground. A hexagon was in the center and both ends had crosses on it while on the side was another horizontal line to make it a giant cross as well. The woman knelt down in the middle of the hexagon. Four people, the two men that had been following her closely and two women, knelt down on either side of her.

'Are they praying?'

The others sat down in the pews.

"And then I saw them," The woman started, "from who's presence—earth and heaven—fled away; and no home was left to them."

Shizuo didn't know what she had said, but whatever it was was repeated by everyone in the church. Shizuo slowly walked over until he was leaning against the far wall, just staring at them.

"And I saw the dead—the great and the small—and they were judged according to their deeds."

It was repeated once again.

'This feels like I walked into a cult. Are all western churches like this?'

"And anyone's name not found in the book of life," the woman in blue looked at Shizuo. The blond immediately felt a chill go down his spine, once again. "They will be thrown into the lake of fire."

The crowd didn't repeat it back. Instead, light filtered in from the stain glass windows above. Shizuo's eyes widened. Bright, white light that almost looked ethereal came filtering in to shine over the woman and her followers in the circle.

'Wait, did they just pray away the darkness?'

Shizuo looked from the light source to the people, staring wide-eyed.

'Who are these people?!'