*waves arm fanatically in the air* Hello there, lovely people! :D Golly, I didn't expect this story to have such support so soon, but I am very happy to hear that you're all enjoying it so far! ^.^ This would have been published sooner, but icky seasonal sicky stuff got in the way. Bleh. But annnnyywhooo, I have changed the rating from T to M because we're gonna get more more violent :D ...and sexual ;D That's just how we roll in Silent Hill. :P

But that's enough rambling from me. I really appreciate your support and all your lovely comments ^.^

Of course, I don't own Silent Hill. Just the fic. Hope you enjoy! :D

Lilith sat on the bed, her arms wrapped around her legs, her head resting on her knees. She'd tried to get the door open, but to no avail. Her knuckles were bruised and throbbing after resorting to attempting to beating the door into submission.

Suddenly, there was a sound that reminded her of peeling paint and she watched as the world shifted back into place smoothly. The room changed back into a one room apartment with light blue walls. It took her around ten seconds to get past the shock of it and jump off the bed. Lily still didn't want to accept that this was real or that she would be here for any extensive amount of time. But, the fact that she could feel pain and exhaustion told her that she needed to.

She rummaged through the drawers and the cabinets and the closets of the entire apartment, but there was absolutely nothing. Feeling disheartened, she tried the front door. It was unlocked. Slowly she opened it and stuck her head out cautiously, looking up and down the halls and listening for any signs of life- human, animal or other. While it seemed like the monsters only existed when the town was in the "Other", she wasn't going to take any chances. Plus, she didn't want to run into anymore of the murderous Jesus freaks in case they had any urges to bash her head in again or burn her alive. Which was incredibly rude.

Creeping out into the hallway, she shut the door quietly behind her and noticed the number on the door. 666. How ironic. Another time, another place, she would have found it funny and rolled her eyes. But it was not the time nor the place. It did, however, inform her that she was on the sixth floor, which was kind of important to know.

As she went down the dimly lit hall she tried every door. Most of them were locked, but finally she found one to cave under her urgency. She went in slowly, peeping around the corners to make sure it was safe. After finding no hint of a threat, she began pillaging around. In the dresser drawer she found a ton of women's undergarments. She sighed a breath of relief when she pulled out a black sports bra that looked her size. She put it on, rolling her shoulders. That felt better.

Lily began rummaging around the drawers and the closets. She was going to need clothes. Thankfully, whoever had once lived here was close to the same size as she was. She found a black t-shirt and some dark jeans that hugged her hips, but didn't prevent any movement. She also found an old bomber jacket and a pair of ragged, but durable, brown boots. They may have been old and dusty but Lily was grateful. She grabbed a few other pieces of clothing and stuffed it into a large pack she'd found in the closet.

She found a working flashlight, but that was about it. Throwing the pack onto her back, she made a mental note of the room number in case she'd need another quick shopping trip. What she really wanted was a map.

Lilith made her way through each floor of the apartment building without incident. She searched through all the rooms (all the rooms that would open for her anyway- which weren't many) but didn't find a whole lot. She did come across a first aid and a few energy drinks, which she supposed was better than nothing.

On her way down the stairs she tripped over a metal pipe, catching herself before she smacked onto the ground. Picking it up, she didn't suppose it was the best weapon in the world, but it would do until she found something better. With her new weapon and a change of clothes she felt more confident.

In the front lobby of the apartment she found a desk. Hopping over it, Lily saw keys with different room numbers on them and stuffed them in her pack. She also found a detailed floor plan of the building. With a pen taken from one of the drawers, she marked which rooms she'd been in, which ones she couldn't get into and which ones she may want to visit again. Searching through the drawers she came across a small hand-held radio on a string and extra batteries. She tried the radio, but it didn't seem to be working. Nonetheless, she hung it around her neck and left it on, just in case a voice broke through. Or a song. Maybe they could all hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Or do the Thriller.

Lilith hummed the 'Monster Mash' as she hopped back over the desk and went out the front door. She made a mental note of all the street names. Eventually she came across a hospital, the door standing wide open.

Lily looked down at her ugly stitched up arm. Now that she was clothed, the next items on her list were food, medical supplies and weapons. And what better place to look for medical supplies than a hospital?

But then again…a hospital? Seriously? Lilith put her hand on her hip and scowled. It's creepy as fuck, she thought. She'd seen enough horror films to know that the hospital was the last place you wanted to go.

She bit the inside of her cheek and tightened her hold on the metal pipe. "Screw it," she said, before sprinting up the stairs.

The front room was lit only by the light that shone in from the outside. On the front desk there was an old, crumpled piece of paper that read, 'medical supply shipment #143 to second floor store room.' Well that was incredibly convenient, she thought, pulling out her flashlight and making her way deeper into the building.

She found the stairs and made her way to the second floor. It was so dark, she could see nothing except for what was illuminated by her flashlight. Each door had a number or a plaque indicating what it was, but no store room. Lilith got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

She whirled around, brandishing her pipe, "who's there!?" she called. But there was no answer. She stared, trying to make out any movement, but there was nothing except darkness that seemed to stretch on endlessly.

Lilith's radio suddenly jolted to life, causing her to jump and spin back around. There, in the light of her torch, was what appeared to be a woman in a dirty nurses uniform. There were bandages wrapped around her head, concealing her face. But what set Lily on edge was the way it moved. Jerky and spasming as it came towards her unnaturally.

"Stay back!" Lilith warned, but the thing wasn't listening. It just kept coming. "I'm warning you! Back off!"

Something gleamed in the nurse's hand. Something metal and sharp. Lily gripped her pipe with one hand and ran upon the nurse before it could make a move against her. She swung hard and hit the creature in the head. There was a loud crack and it dropped to the ground, flailing like a fish out of water. Lilith swung down onto the creature's head, smashing in her face. Again and again and again until it stopped moving.

The nurse lay motionless on the floor, unrecognizable from the shoulders up. Lilith backed up and put a hand over her mouth, staring at the gruesome sight before her. I had to, she thought, looking at the nurses hand with a scalpel clutched tightly in her hand. She would not feel guilty. She defended herself. That's all. It would have killed me, she told herself. But looking at the grisly corpse, she wondered if it had been more than simple self-defense.

Her radio was silent and it was quiet as it once was. Maybe it only went crazy because that thing had come close, she reasoned, deciding it best to leave it on in case it warned her again.

Lilith continued, checking each door, but this place was like a fortress. Was every door is this town locked? She picked up the pace, wanting to find the storeroom and get out. But, when she rounded the next corner-

"Oh shit," she said, her radio screaming. A whole gang of nurses turned to look at her, making sporadic movements and loud moans.

Her flashlight flickered, "no, no, no! Not now!" she smacked it with the palm of her hand, but it was no use. The light was snuffed out and she could see nothing. She could only hear the nurses shuffling her way and the screeching static of her radio. Lily turned, feeling up against the wall for a door. Finally, her fingers traced a frame and encircled the knob. She when in and slammed the door shut, locking it. She felt the wall until she touched the light switch. She flicked it up and turned to take in her surroundings.

Lilith raised her pipe. There were four nurses, on the floor and on the metal operating tables. They weren't moving. They were naked and there was blood everywhere.

She was pretty sure they had to be dead, but she gripped her weapon tight nonetheless and backed into a corner where she could watch the whole room, including the door where the nurses gathered right outside, getting louder and louder as they tried to break in. She turned off the radio and remained still, hoping they would go away.

Looking over at the naked, bloody corpses, she wondered what did this and if she would make it out before she ran into it. She couldn't help but notice the position of the bodies, broken and spread wide. It didn't take a lot of imagination to figure out what took place. But, as she looked at them, the image of the nurse she had brutally mutilated earlier flashed before her. She tried to push it out of her mind and focus on how the hell she was going to get out of this. She should have listened to her inner voice. Hospitals are bad ideas.

The moaning outside the door was even louder now and there was banging and scratching on the door and the handle shook as they tried to force it open. Her heart hammered and she looked around frantically to see if there were any alternative exits. There weren't. Desperation and despair crept up inside her and gripped her with it's icy fingers. This is it, she thought, it's over. She closed her eyes and waited for them to inevitably break through.

But then she heard it. That scarping. That metal against metal. Her eyes flew open and there was an immediate relief in her chest. Lilith listened as he came closer and closer, until he was right outside the door. The nurses sounded as if they were trying to run away. She went to lean up against the door and pressed her ear up to it. She heard one of the nurses wail in pain and the sound of something hitting the floor. Then nothing. Did he even know she was in here?

Lily gasped as the door was ripped open and she went tumbling forward. She smacked against something hard, causing her head to buzz. "Ouch," she said. Looking up she realized what it was she had hit. "Oh….Uh. Hi," she smiled and laughed nervously. But Pyramid Head didn't laugh. From her position she could see up under his helmet. His face was shrouded in shadows, but she could make out the outline of features that were distinctly human.

"What are you doing here?" He asked plainly, his voice deep and stern, somewhat echoing from inside his helmet.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," she pushed off of him with both hands and he didn't even budge, "it's kind of a long story and…" she looked back over her shoulder at the dead nurses, "I just wanna get out of here."

She looked up at him, waiting for him to take her away from the awful place. Of every room she could have went in, she wound up in that one. The one he'd been in only a few hours before. The way she kept looking over her shoulder, he knew the sight disturbed her.

He grinned. He wanted to tell her he did t. He wanted to see the look on her face. But he didn't. It would only make her more afraid of him and the more afraid of him she was, the more she'd run from him. Which meant he'd have to chase her and probably chain her up, which was something he really just didn't feel like dealing with.

Pyramid Head noticed, disapprovingly, that she had found clothes. He also noticed the splatter of blood on her face and on the pipe she dropped. She killed one. Good for her.

"You should have stayed in the room," he said.

"I'm sorry," she told him meekly.

"Let's go," he said. She went to take a step, but he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Hey!" she shouted in surprise. There was a flash of darkness and when she blinked, they were outside and he sat her on her feet. "How'd you do that!?" she asked, slightly amazed. She looked at him with slight awe, "It's nothing," he told her.

Lily looked around, noticing that they were somewhere she hadn't been. They stood on a patch of grass and looking out, Lily could see a still, pale lake that stretched beyond the fog. "Where are we?" she asked, but he didn't answer. He just turned and began walking. She followed him but he stopped near a small swing set where a little girl was swinging back and forth.

"I have been waiting to meet you," her voice rang out in the silence, without looking at Lilith. "Come swing with me," she said. Lilith looked to Pyramid Head, but he gave her no indication on anything. He just stood there, on guard.

Slowly, Lily walked over and sat on the swing next to the girl, rocking slightly. The old chains squeaked in protest but eventually hushed. "What's your name?" Lilith asked the little girl.

"I have many names," she said, "but for now I am the dark part of Alessa. You may call me such."

"Alessa…" Lilith mused, "you're Dahlia's daughter."

"I am not," she answered, "but Alessa is."

Lilith furrowed her brow in confusion, "she said you were taken from her. We should get you back home. This is no place for a child to be alone." Indeed, Lilith wondered how the girl was even alive. She was dirty, her purple dress was in tatters and her black hair was matted, but overall she didn't seem injured.

"Alessa cannot return to her mother."

"Why not?"

"She lays alone, not living, but not yet dying. When they took her from her mother, they accused her of being a witch, even though she was a very good girl. They tried to burn her, but Alessa survived. Her hatred and her anger grew and grew. That is when I came. All the innocence and purity that remained within her- we sent away. I am her darkness and I promised her they would all fall into her deepest nightmares."

"And that's what this is? Her nightmare?"

"Yes."

"Then why am I here? What have I done?" Lily asked.

"You have done no wrong towards Alessa. We can see that you live your life peacefully."

"Then why-"

"I do not know," the girl snapped. It was obvious that the fact agitated her greatly, "I'm hoping you might tell me, Lilith Mason."

"I don't know," she responded truthfully. "I just woke up here."

"I brought you here," she paused as if considering what she should say. "I am old and I am powerful. But, by no means am I oldest or most powerful."

"What exactly are you?" Lilith asked.

"Some call us demons-"

"Demons? You're a demon?" Lily stopped swinging and looked at the girl skeptically.

The girl looked back, "is that so hard to believe?"

Considering everything that's happened and everything that she had seen (assuming it was real), she supposed that it wasn't. In fact, it would make sense in some weirdly obscure, twisted sense. "No," she said, "I guess not."

"Good," Alessa turned her attention back to the lake, which sat eerily against the backdrop of the fog. Lilith wondered what sort of horrors lay just below the surface. "That will make this easier," Alessa said. "As I was saying, I am not the older nor the most powerful. Those beings tend to themselves most of the time, but now and then they impart direction and it must be followed. They want you. They have directed me to harbor you here until Silent Hill is no more, at which time you shall descend with us back into that Darkness Eternal."

Lilith had no idea what she was talking about, but she didn't like the sound of it. It was like she was speaking some terrifying gibberish. Lily remained silent as she processed what she had been told. She didn't even want to believe anything the girl said about demons and eternal darkness.

But…deep inside, she didn't feel an overwhelming disbelief like she should have. Somehow, it made sense, but she had no idea how. "What do they want with me?"

"I do not know, they do not say."

"Why can't I just, ya know, wait at home until you're done here then?"

"They wish you to remain in this realm until such time."

"Why?"
"They do not say. But keeping you alive and…relatively unharmed is imperative. I have designated this task to Pyramid Head. He shall protect you and teach you. He will not fail in his obligation."

Lilith looked back to Pyramid Head who still stood, strong and silent.

"How come the-"

"I have no further time for questions at this moment," Alessa hopped suddenly off the swing.

"Wait!" Lilith said, jumping up to her feet.

"I shall see you soon, Lilith Mason. We may speak more then," and in the blink of an eye, she was gone. And again, all was silent and all was still, as if she had never been there at all.