To Alice's dismay, the Bird Leg Cabin, is nowhere to be seen. It is as though it had never been there at all. It is a disconcerting sight to behold. A stark reminder that reality is as much a matter of perception, as it is fact.
Alice recalls the warmth of Alan's fingers intertwined with her own. The bright light that had engulfed them in that all too brief moment. The longing and love felt when his lips briefly met her own.
Her memories of the dark place soon start to fade. Leaving Alice uncertain if what she witnessed, and experienced had been little more than a strange dark dream.
Yet she is here, shivering in the cold, seated on the rotted wooden remains of what had once been the pier leading to the Bird Leg cabin. It is confirmation enough that it had been no dream.
The revelation brings with it a new and even more terrifying truth. Alan is gone. Trapped in a hell where there is no escape.
Once more, the darkness has devoured all that she loved.
Consumed by sorrow, Alice quietly weeps.
Only when Sheriff Sarah Breaker places a warm blanket on her shoulders does Alice realize she is no longer alone.
'Alan's gone…He's not coming back,' she whispers, through tears. The Sheriff speaks, but Alice hears only the rich baritone of Alan's voice.
'It's not a lake, it's an ocean.'
Author's Notes: This is about where things start to shift from canon to alternate universe. I tried to combine the video game and novel's endings, as both were equally striking. I do hope this did not fully detract from the scene.