"I finally met him! The one the nosey guy talked about... The Devil!"

–Jasper Gein, Silent Hill 4: The Room

No traces of life anywhere near the road I entered. Old cars, buildings untouched and deteriorating for years, and the falling ash were all I could see in the fog. No movement in sight. Not even an echo from anything besides my footsteps. The street was long and practically empty beside the various few cars and grass growing here and there. I looked up to the sky hoping to see a bit of sun, but the clouds didn't bother to move from the lack of wind. The hollow feeling of loneliness settled deeper into the pit of my stomach as I stood motionless in the street. I didn't bother with calling out to anyone. There were no footprints, no signs of life, nothing. It was as if God removed man and the animals entirely from his seven days of creation. I took a step back and wiped the sweat from my head, this pressure of not knowing where exactly I was rang in my brain like a tubular bell over a monastery tower and to the floor of my mental intellect.

I raised my hand to catch some of the falling snowflakes before noticing a sizable smudge of crimson on the back of my hand. Was that blood? Where did it come from? As began to investigate its spot, I wiped my head again, spreading more onto my skin. Was I bleeding? What had happened? What caused the blood to flow in the first place? I cleaned the frost off of a car's rearview mirror and found a big gash just above the right side of my forehead. It looked to have been bleeding for a while now but I never noticed. I needed to find something to clean it and stop the bleeding.

I thought I saw something in the corner of my eye as I stood in the cold. "Hello?" I called out. I remember running in the direction of whatever I saw at full speed, eventually ending up in what looked to be the town square. Where the thing I saw went I have no clue, but there was a convenience store within an arms reach. The windows were foggy and vile, but the front was unlocked. I remember turning the knob and hearing the ear-piercing moan it made as I opened it, causing the dust to briefly fly and settle to nothing once I shut the door. There were a few bandages and bottles of medical alcohol on the further side of the building with various antiques here and there along side it. Taking a bandage, soaking it with alcohol, sticking it on my gash, then using the other two bandages to tie it in place. Once it was tightened, I saw another reflection behind me. This time, I noticed a young girl's strand of hair rush past the window.

"Wait! Stop!" I remember calling to the girl as I rushed out to follow her but was suddenly interrupted by something I never expected to hear. Something immediately gives me goosebumps and thoughts of panic. Something that made me let go of the doorknob.

An air-raid siren.

I stood away from the door and watched as the gray and clouded world of Silent Hill gradually changed into an unsettling hellscape of darkness coating the town like a blanket. It wasn't a simple darkness where your eyes could adjust to the twilight and see a few feet before you. This was a profound darkness where you could still see all around you but have the faintest feeling inside of you that warns you you are not alone. A possessive darkness that clouds your mind with thoughts of trepidation and madness. The siren was blaring so loudly in the square, but slowly it started to fade into a hush that was overtaken by the clanks of machinery, the hissing of steam, and the drops of water. It was almost like the world was stripped away from its dull and foggy radiant and was instead replaced by a rustic industrial factory. I hurried to the exit of the store, but instead, I was greeted by a heavy concrete wall with mysterious stains spread across it. It was almost as if the door that was once there had never existed. I fell to the floor and crawled around, attempting to find anything to use as a tool for the time being, eventually finding a steel pipe and a flashlight. The flashlight flickered for a second but soon showed me where I needed to go.

There was one exit on either side opposite where I stood. One dripped with a mysterious liquid that covered the floor in small puddles that reflected from the flashlight glare, the other filled with two loud clacks and a long metallic echo that sounded like a rod being drug around across the floor. After a moment of deciding, I hurried to my right down the hallway of puddles and dripping. The bodies of the mysterious substance rippled beneath me after every step I took forward into the unknown. It stunk in the corridor like a rotting corpse polluting the hot air, and it felt like it was growing stronger the further I hurried down the hall.

"Hello?" I called down the hallway, sending my voice echoing from wall to wall. I paused to gag from the stench before continuing down. Eventually, my travel came to a single wooden door with a built-in window to help me peek inside. I tried opening the door but it was no use. The lock held tight on the inside, keeping anything and anyone from entering or exiting the four walls. I took a glimpse only to quickly look away from the sight. After regaining my senses, I finally knew where the putrid smell came from as I looked again.

It was I could only think was a man of an unknown age but looked to be caucasian sitting bound on a chair with what looked to be a box around his head. The man grumbled and groaned as he shook his head from side to side. Around him were what I could only think were a strange breed of reptiles, climbing over him, licking him, yet also biting onto his flesh. I didn't understand what was happening, yet I felt disgusted and violated just seeing it. As I stepped back, I noticed something move in the corner of my eye. I quickly shined a light and saw what looked to be a child standing alone at the end of the hallway. I gulped and stepped toward the child slowly, hearing him cry softly to himself as I drew near.

"Hello?" I spoke softly. "Are you alone? I am too. I can't remember who I am or how I got here. What's wrong?"

The boy stopped crying and slowly turned to me, revealing the word 'whore' drawn on his head with what looked to be an ink pen. His eyes were red from his tears and his mouth was chapped and blue on his pale skin with his purple veins visible. He looked to have missed the sun of months. Possibly his whole life. He looked at me for a long while, his eyes staring lifelessly into mine. "Help me…" He whispered, lifting his hand just before a loud wood-splitting bang startled me from behind.

I jumped and turned around to see the same man with the metal box on his head out of the room, dressed in a union suit soiled from what I could imagine was blood and bodily fluids. He moaned loudly as its body distorted and twisted before turning its head toward me and pointing my way. Immediately from inside the room, the reptiles ran out and charged in my direction, sending me back into a heavy sprint. I noticed the child I was speaking with was gone as pressed on down the hall. My heavy breathing along with the screeches of the creatures behind me was all I could hear at that exact moment. I felt the blood from my injury spread across the gauze, but I couldn't stop running. I needed to keep going. There was nowhere for me to go. Nowhere for me to turn to. I was doomed to be a victim of those monsters drawing near… Until I came upon a metal door. I tried opening it, but it was locked. I would've given up if it wasn't for the shadows of someone moving inside catching my attention. I banged my fists against the door and hollered loudly. "LET ME IN! LET ME IN!"

As if an angel had appeared, the door clicked and opened, letting me inside and saving me just as the creatures drew close enough to leap to where I stood and were unsuccessful in a matter of seconds. I shut the door and locked it behind me as the figure sat beside me. I turned to my savior, getting a good look at him.

A somewhat pudgy man dressed in a black shirt and pants with a golden badge that read 'security' on the bottom. He looked to be in his early to mid-fifties with a gray thick beard and shaggy hair with wings over the ears. His skin looked to be covered in sweat as if he had been running too. As he panted he looked at me.

"Thank you." I said to him, breathless.

"Forget it. If it weren't for what happened, I never would've helped you." He responded coldly. After a moment, he noticed my injury. "What happened to you?"

I touched my head. "I don't remember. It was bleeding when I woke up."

The man's eyes widened. "What do you mean you don't remember?"

I shrugged.

"You remember nothing?"

"Not one thing."

He looked around for a moment before standing up.

"What is your name?"

The man pulled up his pants and exhaled. "Lorre. Garrison Lorre."