All was quiet.
All Izaya could hear was his and Shizuo's breathing. Izaya kept his eyes closed a moment longer before finally sparing a glance. Gray light filtered in through the windows. Izaya looked up fully. His eyes widened to see all was normal. There was no ladder leading to the balcony. No hole from where the man was snatched by barbed wires. No blood either. Shizuo and Izaya were the only dirty thing to be seen.
Alessa was gone. That was no surprise to the raven. She was now free, after all. She could finally leave this hell. She could finally die and maybe find peace.
Izaya looked down at Shizuo. The blond was unconscious against his lap, eyes closed and breathing even.
'Did he faint?'
Izaya found that a little funny. The strongest man in Ikebukuro swooned in fear. Such a rumor would ruin Shizuo's reputation, surely. But, this was a secret that would never leave the two.
Izaya hugged him close before shaking him. "Shizu-chan."
The blond didn't stir.
"Shizu-chan!" He shook him again.
Shizuo inhaled deeply. He let out a stuttering breath and opened his eyes. His toffee brown eyes looked around the room quickly before looking up at Izaya.
"Is-is it over?" Shizuo asked.
"Yes." Izaya smiled reassuringly. "Its all over."
Shizuo turned his head to look behind them. There was no one there—especially no evil little girl. The blond was relieved by that.
"Can you stand?" Izaya asked.
"I...I don't know."
The informant pushed himself to his feet, holding Shizuo's hands. The blond gathered his feet under himself. At least he could move them. That was a start, at least. With Izaya's help, the blond managed to get to his feet. His limbs were shaking hard and he had to bend his knees inwards to keep himself up. Izaya moved closer and put himself under Shizuo's arm, putting his own arm around Shizuo's back and holding the blonde's wrist against his shoulder.
The two started walking. Shizuo managed to put one foot in front of the other. He was mostly leaning on Izaya, who was pushing against him to keep him up.
"Fuck, this is one powerful drug." Shizuo groaned, grabbing Izaya's shirt and leaning against him heavily.
"I'm not surprised." Izaya said. "These cultists had to find powerful individuals to be the vessel of their god. They needed to have something that could knock out a monster without question."
"I'm not a monster, you shithead." Shizuo growled.
Izaya looked at him. 'He really doesn't remember anything.'
He then looked ahead of them. "I know. I was just making a point."
Shizuo's eyes widened to such a statement. He looked down at Izaya with that shocked look.
Izaya looked up at him. "What?"
"...Never in a million years did I think I'd ever hear you say that."
"...Well, after this, I know what a real monster looks like." Izaya chuckled. "Don't worry. If you want it like that, you'll still be my favorite monster."
"Har har har."
The two shared a chuckle.
The two walked down the steps to the choir. Izaya kept his hand on Shizuo's chest to keep the blond from falling down the steps.
"I'm glad you're okay." Shizuo said. "I've been looking for you this whole time."
"Thanks for not giving up on me."
"Well, I knew you were alive. Seeing you at the school proved that much."
"Same here. I assumed you wouldn't get killed, but I worried if you'd have the stomach to do what you needed to do to survive."
"I...I tried not to kill anyone. Just a few dogs and a moth."
"A moth?"
"It's a really long story. I..."
Shizuo fell quiet, remembering the black-haired, red-eyed man who actually claimed the kill on that moth monster. The man who looked just like Izaya and tried to kill Shizuo. The man who told Shizuo he was Izaya's older twin brother before shooting himself in the head.
Guilt began to tear at Shizuo's being. He should tell Izaya about Roppi. He should tell him what happened and what he saw. But he hesitated. He just couldn't find his voice. How could he possibly tell Izaya that his long dead twin was brought back from the dead just to be one of Alessa's pawns? How could he tell him that his brother was damned to be stuck in this world forever?
Izaya already had enough on his shoulder's right now. Maybe, when they got out of Silent Hill, Shizuo would tell him everything. But at the moment, it was probably best to keep quiet about it.
"You don't have to tell me." Izaya chuckled. "I had to do some things I'm not proud of either."
"...I'm sorry. I just..."
"It's fine. Really. Let's just get out of here."
Shizuo nodded.
Carefully, they made it down, back to the nave.
Shizuo was prepared to see a terrible mound of dead bodies. He was prepared to see a bloody mess, remnants of the massacre. But he was pleasantly surprised to see that wasn't the case. The church looked just as clean as it did when Shizuo first stepped into this place. Nothing was out of place. Not even the pyre was there anymore. It looked like nothing more than an abandoned church.
"They're...they're all gone." Shizuo said.
"Looks like the darkness took them all." Izaya stated.
Shizuo looked down at him. "What's Alessa gonna do now?"
"I don't know. I was told that she wanted to get revenge, so that she could finally rest."
"Rest? Like...die?"
"Yeah." A sad smile crossed Izaya's face. "She's been torturing these people who hurt her since she was eight-years-old. It's been forty years of just trying to kill these people while they hid in their church from her wrath."
"So...So, she really was just a little girl?" Shizuo asked. "She wasn't a demon?"
"Alessa, herself, no. She really was just a little girl. But the dark part of Alessa...I'm not so sure."
"The dark part...?"
"The little girl we've been seeing. She's the one who created this. Who made all these monsters and called the darkness. Alessa has her own powers too, but the dark part of Alessa is definitely the scarier one."
"Is...is there a light part of Alessa? A good part?"
Izaya's eyes widened with realization as he looked at Shizuo. It was so obvious that never crossed his mind before. Such a look make Shizuo chuckled. However, he only chuckled once as a sad look crossed Izaya's eyes. The raven he looked back at the ground.
"If there was a good part of Alessa, I think it was burned away by these bastard cultists."
Shizuo's smile vanished with such a seldom statement. His hand tightened on Izaya's shoulder.
The two walked down the center isle of the pews, heading for the open doors at the end of the church. Soon enough, they were out of the stone building and out into the gray world of Silent Hill.
The two came to a stop as something was making its way up the steps. A hunched over figure with gray hair.
"Dahlia." Izaya said.
Shizuo looked down at him, shocked he seemed to know this person. The woman looked at him as well.
"What are you doing here?" Izaya asked.
"I felt her. I felt my daughter's presence."
"Yeah. She was here. In the church."
Her eyes stretched wide. Without hesitation, the woman ran forward. Shizuo was surprised to see this person with terrible posture start moving so quickly. The blond wanted to get out of the way, but Izaya didn't move. He held Shizuo still. The blond didn't like that. This woman had grabbed at him twice now. He really didn't want to let there be a third time.
The woman didn't touch them, however. She ran right past them into the church hall. Izaya didn't move from his spot. He turned to look over his shoulder, watching the frazzled woman look around the church frantically.
In a few minutes, she returned, looking dejected. Her expression was laced with so much sorrow, so much agony, that Shizuo felt like he was going to cry for her.
"She's not here." Dahlia said. "She..."
"No." Izaya said. "She got her revenge. Seems like she left once she was satisfied."
"Revenge..." The woman sat down on the cold stone floor. "Why didn't she come for me? Why didn't she take me with the others?"
"Why would she?"
"Because I let them...!" The woman buried her face in her hands. "I should have known better than to trust my sister! I should have known..."
"There was nothing wrong trusting your family. Christabella set it up to isolate you and Alessa, to back you into a corner so you had to turn to her. It wasn't your fault."
Dahlia looked up at him wide-eyed. "She did..."
Izaya looked at Shizuo. "Here. Can you stand on your own for a moment?"
"I can...I can try."
Izaya nodded. He let Shizuo go, although he didn't leave his side completely. Shizuo's legs were terribly shaky and Izaya kept his hands out, ready to catch him. The blond decided he'd just sit down. It'd be safer that way. He went down slowly, but his legs couldn't support him so he plopped to the ground.
"You alright?" Izaya asked.
"Yeah. I'm good." Shizuo exhaled heavily. "I'm okay."
Izaya nodded.
The informant then turned to the woman. Shizuo had no clue what they were saying, so he decided to watch the landscape, eyes peering out for any monster that may come their way. Izaya sat down by Dahlia, looking at her with a soft gaze.
"Christabella, the cult group she was with, they wanted Alessa. I think you know. I think he saw it sometimes, didn't it? You knew Alessa was a special little girl."
Agony crossed Dahlia's gaze. But she didn't say anything.
"Christabella knew it too. So she would stop at nothing to try and get Alessa under her foot. She wanted to use Alessa and she needed you to be out of the way. I mean, if Alessa went missing, you would have torn up the entire town trying to find her, wouldn't you have?"
"Of course, of course!" Tears dotted her eyes. "Of course!"
Izaya nodded. "Christabella knew that too. So she had to back you into a corner. She was the one who started the rumors about Alessa. She's the one who encouraged the kids to isolate Alessa. She set it all up, so you would give Alessa over willingly."
Dahlia clenched her teeth hard as rage began to fill her eyes.
"It wasn't your fault."
Dahlia tilted his head down. "My baby girl. I shouldn't have listened to her! I should have done anything else!"
"It's not your fault. It's not your fault, Dahlia."
Izaya reached a hand out and touched her head to gain her attention. She looked up at him with sorrow. Izaya smiled at her warmly.
"Alessa forgives you. She loves you deeply. After all, you're her mother. And mother is God in the eyes of a child."
Dahlia's eyes widened. Izaya wasn't sure why, but she looked at him in shock. Her eyes trailed down to his chest. Her hand with her long black nails reached up and touched the thin scar where he had been stabbed.
"Alessa..."
Izaya was confused by that. Her hand tightened on his shirt, grabbing him hard.
"Alessa...!"
She tilted her head down and started to cry. Izaya decided not to question this poor crazy woman. Instead, he patted her head and just let her cry.
"Alessa forgives you, Dahlia." Izaya said.
The woman didn't response.
Shizuo looked at the two, then looked back over the landscape. A breeze hit him, so he hugged his coat closed. Well, Izaya's coat closed. Shizuo was a little surprised Izaya didn't comment on that. A part of him wondered if he had noticed at all, or if he didn't care. But he figured he'd bring it up later.
Izaya was preoccupied at the moment anyway. The raven decided to let the woman sit like that for a few more minutes. Then he went to stand. However, Dahlia's grip on his chest only tightened.
"No, you can't take Alessa from me..." Dahlia said, a growl layering her voice.
Izaya tilted his head in confusion. "Alessa isn't here. I don't have her."
"No, you do! Here!" Her grip tightened again. Izaya felt her nails pierce his skin.
The woman raising her voice drew Shizuo's attention. Izaya just looked at her in confusion for a moment. He didn't want to hurt Dahlia. But what she was saying didn't make sense. So, instead, he grabbed her hand and forced it up. At the same time, he stood. The two struggled against each other before Izaya won out. He tugged his hand away and Dahlia practically fell trying to reach for him again. However, she didn't make an attempt to get up as Izaya walked back away from her.
"Alessa isn't here." Izaya said. "She got her revenge. I'm sure Silent Hill won't be here for much longer. You'll also be free from your burdens."
Dahlia didn't answer. Izaya took the lack of response as his cue to go. He turned around and walked back to Shizuo.
"Come on." The raven knelt down. "Let's—"
"Power often sleeps until the angels call upon it." Dahlia said. "Or until suffering pulls it forth."
Izaya looked back at her.
"Fear will eat away at your control until it is all you have."
Izaya didn't understand any of that, but he couldn't help feeling like that was a warning.
"What'd she say?" Shizuo asked.
"...Nothing important."
Izaya turned to the blond.
"Come on. Let's go."
Shizuo reached up for Izaya while Izaya reached down for Shizuo. The two worked together to get the blond standing once again. Shizuo patted the dirt off his butt and the two started walking once again. The gray sky cascaded over them, dropping ashes as usual. Everything was eerily quiet, the only sound being the two men's shuffling footsteps as they made their way down the stairs.
"What do we do now?" Shizuo asked.
"Well, Alessa gave me permission to leave once I help her get her revenge." Izaya smiled up at him. "We can get out of here now, Shizu-chan."
Shizuo's expression brightened immediately. "Really?"
"Really! We can finally go home."
'If only that were true.' Izaya thought bitterly.
"Izaya, this way!" Shizuo yelled. "Hurry!"
Izaya didn't need to be told twice. The raven ran to Shizuo, who was standing down an alleyway. Once Izaya was by his side, Shizuo pulled a dumpster over and kicked it hard. If flew down the alley and collided with the Gray Children down the way.
The two turned and ran, down the crumbling street. Izaya reached to his shoulder to feel if the bag strap was still there, which it was.
'Good, don't want to lose that.'
Shizuo led the way through the darkness of Silent Hill, holding a flashlight up so they could see where they were going. The beam didn't pierce very far, but it at least illuminated where they were walking so they didn't run straight into a mine shaft. Izaya had his flashlight up as well, shining it in front of them so they'd be able to see any monsters before it was too late to avoid them. The bleeding rain didn't make visibility any easier as it was constantly getting in their eyes and mouth. Even though the two were used to such a sensation, they still didn't like it, nor did that make maneuvering any easier.
Izaya made sure to stay close to Shizuo. Last thing he wanted was to fall behind and the two get separated again. They needed to stick together if they were going to survive.
The screeching of the Gray Children started up again. The ones who were hit must have gotten up, or maybe this was an entirely different batch. It didn't matter either or way. All that mattered was they were being chased again.
"Izaya, which way do we go?!" Shizuo yelled.
"I..." Izaya looked around. "I don't know!"
"Should we go up?!"
Izaya looked around them. It was far too dark to see if anything was around them. He couldn't even see the Gray Children that were no doubly pursuing them. He then looked up.
'It's probably our only hope.'
"Yeah! Up!" Izaya called.
The two turned towards the first tall building closest to them and ran to it. Shizuo then grabbed Izaya's wrist and with a mighty swing, he threw the raven up. Izaya was ready for it and kept his composure as he landed on a window sill, letting his flashlight dangle around his wrist. The raven glanced behind him to see Shizuo jump up as well. The two started climbing, parkouring up the building. They hopped window sill to window sill until they reached the roof. The irony that the two were parkouring together instead of Izaya trying to escape from Shizuo was not lost on either of them.
The two jumped onto the roof. Both of them swung their flashlights around, looking for the hillside with the church on it. Their lights only pierced the dark for a few feet ahead of them. There was no way it'd be strong enough to illuminate across town.
"What do we do, Izaya?" Shizuo asked.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." Izaya looked around rapidly.
Izaya clenched his teeth. 'Dammit, I was being so conscious on time! Why did the Darkness suddenly spring on us?!'
"Do you know where we are?" Shizuo asked.
"No. We got too turned around."
"Shit."
"We might be okay up here." Izaya said, pointing his flashlight to the sky. Blood was still dripping from the clouds they couldn't see, but he looked up anyway. "I don't see any Night Flutters."
"But they might show up. Especially with our flashlights acting as beacons."
"Wanna go indoors then? Stay on the top floor? The Darkness is usually safer inside."
"What if we get trapped?"
"What do you want to do, Shizu-chan?!" Izaya glared at him. "We can't just sit here and—"
Izaya's words fell off as three sets of sharp talons dug into his shoulders. In the next second, his feet were pulled off the ground. He called out in pain and surprise.
"Izaya!" Shizuo leaped into action without hesitation.
The blond jumped off the ceiling and landed on the creature. A monster that had the head, wings, and feet of a pterodactyl, but had the body of a man. Even worse, its face was covered in withering worms. Shizuo didn't hesitate to grab the monster by the neck with one hand and punch it in the face with the other. Shizuo's hand sunk into the skull like it was mud—or rotting flesh—until it poked out the other side. That sensation made his skin crawl near painfully. The worms landed on his arm and began biting at Shizuo's skin like leeches, but he didn't care.
The creature was bent forward due to Shizuo's weight on his neck so none of the worms got on Izaya luckily. However, that didn't mean he could sit there and let Shizuo save him like a damsel. Izaya pulled out his hunting knife from the sheath and reached up. He cut the creatures Achilles tendon on one leg, which made it release him. He was now being suspended in the arm on one shoulder, the talons digging deep to hold him. He called out in pain before reaching up and cutting the other tendon. Izaya dropped to the ceiling, holding the knife out so he didn't accidentally stab himself, and landed on his side.
Shizuo grabbed the creatures wing and tugged hard. They both heard a snapping sound before the Night Flutter fell to the ground. The creature screeched, but only momentarily. Shizuo silenced it by stomping in its neck. With one crush of his heel, Shizuo separated the monsters head from its body.
"Come on!" Izaya yelled, pushing himself up. "Inside now!"
Shizuo didn't argue. The two turned and ran to the door. Izaya grabbed the door handle, but it didn't open. It was locked. Without a word, Izaya stepped out of the way. Shizuo lifted his foot and kicked the door hard. It broke off its hinges and flew down the staircase until it hit the wall.
Shizuo grabbed Izaya's wrist and led the way into the dark spiral staircase. Both of their flashlights were on. Izaya shined his behind them while Shizuo guided them ahead. Down and down they went, running like hellhounds were on their trail. Soon enough, they finally reached the bottom level. Shizuo grabbed the door handle and opened it, in which Izaya peaked his head out into a lobby. He looked around and was relieved to see there was no one there. No monsters of any kind. However, there were many outside, he could see their withering bodies reflecting off the windows. They would probably see them through the glass if they made any noise.
With that in mind, Izaya pulled Shizuo back into the stairwell and closed the door quietly. Izaya didn't say a word as he pulled him under the stairs and sat down. They both turned off their lights. Izaya want panting heavily while Shizuo merely huffed softly.
"Are you okay?" Shizuo asked.
"I'll live." Izaya touched his arm. "We need to get those worms off before they eat through your arm."
"Oh, right."
Shizuo quickly unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off. Izaya then flashed his light. He exposed nearly ten to fifteen worms making a feast out of Shizuo's arm. As soon as the light touched them, they shriveled and began screeching in pain. Izaya didn't show any mercy. Soon enough, a few turned into harden lumps and fell off Shizuo's arm, leaving a bunch of small holes in his skin.
"Are you okay?" Shizuo asked. "You didn't get on you, did you?"
"No, I'm okay."
"You sure."
"Yes!" Izaya's voice was laced with irritation as he glared up at the blond. "Unlike you, I can actually feel pain."
Shizuo huffed. "Well, fine then. See if I care if you get injured next time. Hmph!"
"Oh, poor baby."
The two shared a glower. Then they chuckled. Neither were sure if it was general laughter, or just a small fit of insanity but it didn't last very long anyway. They then both sighed in defeat.
"The darkness should end soon." Shizuo said. "Should we stay here or make a break for it?"
"Let's stay here. I don't think anything knows we're in here."
"Besides the Night Flutters. They usually move in packs."
"If that one was with a swarm, we would have heard the others coming down the stairs."
"...That's true."
"You must have silenced it before it could alert the swarm."
Shizuo nodded, although he made a solemn expression.
Izaya spent the next ten minutes just burning worms off of Shizuo's arm. Soon enough they were all gone, after a double and triple check. Once he knew Shizuo was cleared, the raven pointed his flashlight to the worms on the ground. They burned more and more and more, like ants under a magnifying glass, until they were nothing but shriveled lumps of solid ash.
Shizuo stood and stomped on the ashes, dragging them across the ground so there was no way the darkness could save them. The two moved out from under the stairs, away from the ashes, and sat down at a different spot just to be safe. They sat closer to the door, ready to barricade it with their bodies or run through it if something came down the stairs.
The two waited, and waited, and waited. It felt like hours to them, but in truth it was probably only ten minutes before the ground began to give away to ashes. They started to peel off and fly up from the ground, making the black floor gray with concrete. The metal grate of the staircase became stone. The walls groaned before convexing out.
Then all was silent. Light filtered in from the top of the staircase. The two turned off their flashlights and waited a moment longer before standing. Shizuo helped the raven stand up. Izaya cringed, holding his shoulders in pain. The blond looked guilty, although he didn't cause the injuries, and he guided Izaya out of the room.
Without a word, the two left the stairwell, and made their way of the building.
Shizuo and Izaya let out a heavy sigh as they finally returned to their sanctuary, to the vacant church of the recently deceased cult. Shizuo grabbed the giant wooden doors and closed them shut. Izaya walked in further, shrugging off his backpack. He tossed it into a pew, cans clattering around inside, then sat down on the wooden seat. He lied down against the cold wood, leg dangling over the arm of it, and draped his wrist over his eyes.
"Hey," Shizuo said, hitting his shoe. "You can't sleep yet. We need to look at your wounds."
"Do we even have enough medical supplies?"
"Yeah. We're out of rubbing alcohol, but there's still bottles of turpentine."
"...I thought we agreed you'd use the turpentine since it hurts like a motherfucker for a normal person."
"Well, we don't have anything else. Your wounds are worse than mine so we can't let them sit."
"...Fuck." Izaya pushed himself up. "Alright. Let's get it over with."
Shizuo looked guilty once again. But he nodded. The blond led the way deeper into the church towards the bathrooms. The two knew their way around the place and went straight to their destination.
After all, they had been there for quite a few months now.
Alessa hadn't been true to her words. At that time, Izaya and Shizuo made it through the town without incident. No monsters had bothered them as they walked through the alleyways and down the streets. They returned to the orange raft and walked on. However, when they made it to the destroyed bridge, nothing had changed. The bridge was still broken. They couldn't get past. Izaya took a guess that maybe it was an invisible bridge, so both him and Shizuo put a foot out over the gorge and reached down. Izaya felt solid land, but Shizuo didn't. For Shizuo, there was no bridge.
And so, both were stuck in Silent Hill. Izaya lied and said there was no bridge for him as well and the two made their way back to town. The raven had the opportunity to leave. No doubt the bridge was still there for him. However, he wasn't going to. He was the one who brought Shizuo to Silent Hill. There was no way he could leave the blond here to suffer on his own. Regardless of it they were enemies, regardless of what lives they lived back in Ikebukuro, Izaya wouldn't leave Shizuo behind.
Especially now, after months of working together to survive. After everything they've been through, the two were comrades. Maybe they were friends, maybe they were brothers in arms. It didn't matter what label one wanted to put on them. All they really knew was Shizuo would die to protect Izaya, and Izaya was determined to get Shizuo out of Silent Hill.
So, until Izaya could figure out how to do just that, both of them would be trapped in the world of Alessa's darkest dream.
My sudden motivation to finish this story has nothing to do with the Silent Hill DLC that released on Dead by Daylight. I don't know what you're talking about. Shut up! XD
