Me: And after a long as hell wait, Chapter 21.

Rendan: Sweet Kami, this one took a while.

Zero: No kidding.

Me: Yeah, this one had a bit of an interesting history. Aside from what happened that messed me up for a while (it's on my profile if you're really curious), I've had this done for a while, but my Beta was having problems with his computer so he only just got back to me on it. His computer still isn't working so we're trying to work out a solution to the problem.

Rendan: I get it.

AJ: Jesus Christ, though. It's about time we found out what happened next.

Me: Yeah... speaking of, would you mind getting something for me?

AJ: What?

Me: A ten pack of Yoohoo. Or just ten cans. Take your pick.

AJ: M'kay. *leaves*

Rendan and Zero: *Stare at me.*

Zero: Mind if I—?

Me: Go nuts.

Zero: Azard doesn't own Silent Hill or Hey Arnold! They are the respective properties of Konami and Craig Bartlett. All Azard owns are the plot, the OCs, the monsters he's created, and whatever other insane bullshit he's come up with.

Me: Thanks for that... Anyway, read and enjoy!

Chapter 21: The First Puzzle

It had been some time since the four kids left the halls of the school, hopefully leaving behind Pyramid Head and The Guardian as well. Along the way, the four stopped in several places to either catch their breath or train a little bit. Arnold and AJ had clashed a few times since leaving and not once had Arnold been able to block the surprise attack. It seemed that every time he got close the pattern of attack would suddenly change, leaving him completely clueless and utterly confused all at once. Arnold had little idea how consistently changing the method of attack would help his paranoia any. If anything, it shot it through the roof. Of course, it wasn't any easier dealing with both that and the taunting from The Guardian.

Helga clashed a few times with AJ too, though hers were attempts at performing sneak attacks, all of which failed spectacularly. She either missed entirely, was blocked, or hit the wrong person! Thankfully any damage Helga caused was minor. She wasn't going for a kill shot after all. When Arnold or AJ tried to explain why it might've been happening, Helga ignored them and only replied by saying she'd figure it out herself. It seems her time in Silent Hill hadn't stemmed her stubbornness. If anything, her time in this town of curses and Hell amplified it some. Humorously, that only happened while AJ was around. When he'd take Lila some distance away to teach her the basics of combat, Helga was consistently bothering Arnold for pointers, pointers he was only too happy to give. Of course, he got those pointers not from his own experience, but from someone else with more experience than he, and it wasn't AJ.

Lila was beside herself. On the one hand, she was getting the training she so desperately wanted. On the other, she couldn't ever see herself taking the life of another creature, evil or not. The whole concept was completely alien to her and not one she cared to dwell on for long, so she didn't. When she would bring it up, she would be told by AJ that she'd have to learn to accept her own inner darkness, and that it did exist whether she believed it did or not. Sadly, this led to many more questions, each more confusing than the last with the worst and most confusing of them all being, what was her innermost darkness.

"How much further?" Arnold asked. Helga and AJ had been leading the way for a while considering both of them had the only two flashlights. AJ kept walking but did turn his head to acknowledge Arnold.

"We're close enough," AJ replied. "We should be there in a few minutes."

"Hey, Army Brat," Helga began, "why exactly are we heading to this place anyway?" AJ gave her a curious glance.

"Are you sure you want me to answer, or will you immediately think I'm evil or something again?" AJ asked jokingly. Surprisingly, Lila giggled at this, despite it sounding incredibly forced, while the other two stared at him as if he were crazy.

"Why are you joking at a time like this?!" Helga shouted.

"He's coping," Lila spoke. "He's doing everything he can to remain sane, especially in a place like this, even if it means joking during the ever so bad times." AJ blinked and smiled sincerely at her, causing Lila to smile back even slightly. "I'll admit though, his humor is sometimes ever so dark."

"Kinda happens when you're stuck in a place like this," AJ muttered loudly enough for the others to hear. "It's hard to keep some lighthearted humor, especially when there's no light to speak of." Arnold turned to Lila.

"How'd you figure that out?" Arnold asked her.

"He told me," Lila responded. "Before we reached the—" Lila paused as her mind flashed images of the Lakeview Hotel before her eyes as the recent memories of that place resurfaced, causing her mood to instantly darken. Sadly, she'd been trying to forget those, but it seemed as if the town, or her mind, wouldn't let her. "Before we reached the hotel," she repeated, "he made a joke after Pyramid Head killed a group of cultists. I asked him the same question Helga did and he told me what I just told you." Arnold said nothing as he let that information sink in. Oh how he hated it when that boy had a point, even if Arnold said he'd ignore that hatred and work with AJ to escape.

"That depends," Helga said with a strangely joking mannerism, "on whether or not you'll make our deaths quick. Last thing I need is to be a head where all I can do is make a face at the Order cultists. Guess I could always work on them while I can think of the good ones. Hell, if you can keep my head alive, I'll use that time to make a bunch of faces just to piss off the cultists." Arnold's jaw nearly dropped. That was dangerously macabre humor for Helga. So much so that it was quite disturbing, as a matter of fact. What made it worse was the smirk on Helga's face, almost as if that macabre humor had actually brightened her mood a bit.

"That's the spirit, hopefully we won't become some anytime soon," AJ joked back before he turned serious. "As for what you asked, the Green Lion Antiques was basically where Alessa's mother, Dahlia Gillespie, ran The Order. It was a small shop of sorts, I guess. Never went inside there myself but I've seen it enough to recognize it. In any case, since Dahlia led the sect of The Order that runs rampant in this place, she basically made that little shop the base of operations. If I'm right, that's where most of the plans were made."

"And if you're wrong?" Arnold queried.

"Let's just say I pray to whatever god actually exists that what you just asked isn't the case. I've seen most of the cult's hideouts in my time here, either by accident or on purpose, but I've never seen any place that could have been the main base. I shudder to think of where they planned everything if not in this one."

"Why do you say that?" Lila asked.

"Dahlia was, by far, one of the biggest zealots I've ever seen, and I've had the misfortune of meeting her once," AJ continued. "With how strongly she believed in her 'religion', I can only imagine how many artifacts she had there." No one missed the emphasis placed on the word 'artifacts'.

"And by artifacts you mean—?" Helga began for clarification.

"Anything," AJ replied. "That could mean anything from random objects to things that might've been used to—" he paused briefly, "—convert nonbelievers."

"Torture devices, you mean?" Arnold asked. AJ merely nodded.

"Some of them I've probably even seen before they were carted off to be used on some poor soul." AJ shook his head as it dropped in such a way that some of his hair actually blocked his eyes from view. He froze in his place and his hands slowly rose to hold onto his head before he continued. "And their screams. Their goddamned screams!" AJ's declaration had a bigger effect than he'd hoped. Everyone had stopped and were now staring at him in a mixture of worry, shock, abject confusion, and, strangely enough, sorrow. AJ, upon lifting his head, noticed the looks he was getting and turned his head away from everyone as a sorrowful smile formed on his lips. "I've said far too much, it seems. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"You really were a victim of The Order, weren't you?" Lila questioned. AJ said nothing in response. Lila shuddered a moment before moving toward the boy and wrapping her arms around him. Sometimes silence was all the answer one needed. Lila's question conveyed whatever doubt she or the others may have had regarding their fourth companion, and he'd ended most of them without saying a single word.

"AJ," Arnold called out to him. AJ turned to face the other boy in time to see Arnold shake his head once. "Once we're done with this place we're taking a break and, during that time, you will tell us about this." AJ's eyes narrowed.

"And what makes you think that I'll talk about this?" AJ questioned. Arnold smirked.

"Simple," Arnold replied. "You need us to believe you're sane in some sense and keeping a secret that created this outburst wouldn't be doing that. Not only that but doing this is a good way to get rid of some of the guilt you might be feeling. Also, you told us that we have to accept our darkness as a part of ourselves to have a hope of escape. With that in mind, why you haven't escaped suddenly makes a hell of a lot more sense." Helga and Lila turned to Arnold expectantly, wanting to know what he thought about that. He did bring up an interesting point. If accepting your inner darkness set you free, why wasn't AJ free yet? "There's still a darkness inside you that you haven't accepted, probably having to do with what The Order did to you, and that keeps you tethered to Silent Hill." AJ blinked in surprise and opened his mouth to speak before he promptly shut it again. When he did finally speak, his voice conveyed his clear surprise.

"God damn," AJ said before he let out a chuckle. "I underestimated you, Arnold." Arnold's confident smirk could've put anyone to shame. "Sorry about that, but yeah. There are parts that I haven't accepted."

"If you talk about it," Lila began, "it might be easier to accept." AJ nodded.

"Fine, but after we get the next key. We're close anyway, so it'd be pointless to stop now. T'would be even better if we got out of the Otherworld, but I doubt we'll be that lucky," AJ commented. He glanced around briefly before smiling. "We're here." The three students turned their heads and saw the building AJ'd been looking at. Sure enough, on the front of the building was the sign 'Green Lion Antiques'. AJ approached the doorknob and tried to jiggle it, if only to see if it was locked or not. To his evident surprise, the door opened without a hitch, allowing them entrance into the store.

'It opened,' Arnold noted, 'which might mean someone's here.' He tried to look in front of his militaristic comrade but found only darkness. Even the flashlights that Helga and AJ carried weren't revealing much. "You think someone's here?" Arnold asked.

"I don't know," AJ replied. "But it's certainly possible. I can scout ahead while you three look for anything of importance. If I come under attack, you three retreat as quickly as you can and I'll catch up as soon as possible. Sound okay?" Arnold sighed.

"It wouldn't be smart to go alone, especially if this was The Order's base of operations," Arnold pointed out. "But then again, I don't know if we're ready to face the cultists yet, especially since they're actually thinking people." AJ nodded.

"Just be careful," Lila said. Saying no more, AJ stepped into the store with the three others following behind him. The insides were clear proof that this wasn't just an antique shop. The walls, like so many others in Silent Hill's Otherworld, were colored in the same shade of dried blood and entrails. There didn't seem to be a ceiling, or if there was, it couldn't be seen in the inky blackness that resided above them. Despite the darkness above them, the remainder of the room was strangely illuminated by a hellish red glow that was completely invisible from outside the shop.

In the wall opposite the entrance, there was a small crawlspace, probably just big enough for someone to squeeze through, leading into some unknown area of the shop. In the room they were in, a large number of strange items littered the area. Some were chairs, others lamps and vases or some kind of antiquity, and yet some looked as if they belonged in a museum for strange and unusual torture implements. The only one the four could readily identify was a closed casket that looked like the outside of an iron maiden which rested in the far right corner of the room. Others included a chair with spikes and straps and a table with cuffs to hold the hands and feet with some kind of strange slot for a blade or something of the like. Still others were just strange and seemed impractical, but only because the four knew not how they worked.

AJ wasted no time and made for the crawlspace. After giving a short look into the crawlspace and finding nothing, he repositioned himself as lowly as he could get to the ground and went through it. For a short moment, no one else made a move. They waited for some kind of confirmation that he was either okay or under attack. In the latter case, the three were sure to flee, if only because that's what they agreed upon. After a moment, their reply came.

"It's all clear," AJ called from the other side of the crawlspace. "Start looking, I'm going on."

"Hold on!" Lila shouted. "I'm coming too!"

"WHAT!?" Came the incredulous reply from the other side of the crawlspace. Lila crouched to get to the opening near the floor.

"If the key is somewhere like it was in the school, you'll need me to get it since if you do it you might get hurt again! At least if it's there, we won't waste time when you have to come back to get me and bring me there. If it's not, at least we made sure our time wasn't wasted," Lila explained. There was nothing but silence on the other end for some time.

"Alright," AJ reluctantly said. "Hurry up, we don't have time to spare." Lila nodded, not that AJ could've seen her, and began to crawl through the space and reached the other side. "I've got her! You guys do what you've gotta do. We'll be back ASAP!" As the sound of their footsteps began to fade, one more statement reached their ears before it completely faded away. "If I tell you to run, you run, no..." The message was clear enough.

Arnold and Helga immediately set out to find whatever it was that they could've been looking for. A hole, a mark, or some kind of entrance that could've given them some clue as to where the key was. Was it even there? The duo shuddered to consider the possibility if it wasn't. If this spot was The Order's base of operations, the cultists would no doubt be returning eventually and Arnold and Helga did not want to be there if and when they did return.

No matter how much the two looked, nothing they went near seemed to be revealing much. Regardless of that fact, while looking, Arnold's attention was, for some reason unknown to him, being drawn to the closed iron maiden in the corner of the room. As he approached, Arnold couldn't shake the strange feeling of dread that enveloped his entire being.

(Location: With Lila and AJ)

Lila remained mostly silent while AJ led her through the secret passageway that existed behind the shop. It was strange enough that the crawlspace led them them to a room where the only way to go was down, but now the two found themselves walking through a strange tunnel system, not unlike the ones in the other Order hideouts, in an attempt to find one of the keys that would set her father free. Lila looked around as much as she could but, for the life of her, couldn't shake the constant feeling of unease as the passageway seemed to change from a manmade tunnel to some kind of monstrous intestines. Slime and liquid dripped from the ceiling and even the walls themselves began to pulse and churn almost as if it were something's digestive tract.

Like usual, AJ showed no fear in this nightmarish place, something that Lila found, for some strange reason, reassuring. In truth, Lila didn't know why Arnold was so perturbed by that. The very idea that AJ wasn't afraid was a good thing, wasn't it? It had to be, since he'd always remained calm enough to make a good decision. The only time he showed any real fear was when Pyramid Head was around, and Lila didn't blame him for that one bit. She too was scared witless by the monstrous creature and didn't think she could remain calm when it was around. If Lila was sure of one thing and one thing only, it was that AJ's bravery gave her the courage she needed to continue on with little fear of the future. She didn't know exactly why this was but, in a place like Silent Hill, she wasn't about to question it.

AJ suddenly stopped and glanced around. Lila noticed that he shuddered violently, as if a terrifyingly cold chill just rushed up his spine. Lila moved to him and placed a hand on his back, trying in some way to be reassuring.

"Are you alright?" Lila timidly asked.

"Yeah," AJ replied. "I don't know why, but I just got a really bad feeling just now, almost like someone walked over my grave." AJ turned to face Lila in time to see her turning pale. "Sorry for the expression." He turned away. "Doesn't mean I don't have a bad feeling though." Lila nodded as the two continued onward, walking deeping through the tunnels where, hopefully, there'd be one of the keys needed to free her father.

(Location: With Arnold and Helga)

Arnold opened the iron maiden cautiously, if only to make sure something didn't suddenly pull him in while the torture device slammed shut. To his surprise, not only was there no monster within, but most of the spikes that would normally be inside an iron maiden had been removed and, in place of the spikes, a dresser was placed neatly inside the device, untouched by time. The loud creak of the iron maiden as Arnold opened it drew Helga's attention there too. The two got a better look at the object with the extra help of Helga's flashlight. The dresser appeared to be made of a sturdy wood, maybe oak or mahogany, not that either of the two could tell the difference, and had three drawers from top to bottom. The top drawer, unlike the other two, had a golden lock placed on the outside, no doubt signifying they'd need a key to get it open.

Arnold opened the bottom drawer first as it seemed going from bottom to top might be the best option. Inside the drawer, aside from dust and a few cob webs which destroyed the image of the dresser being untouched by time, he found a first aid kit to replace the one he had to use in the school after AJ'd been attacked and another health drink. Welcome additions to their supply line, that much was certain. He closed the bottom drawer and opened the middle one. Inside was a massive amount of papers, many with different dates on them. As Arnold and Helga looked through them, two things were certain. Judging by the name on the bottom, each and every note there was written by Dahlia Gillespie and each note signified some kind of obscure mention of how to best serve their God. Other than that, there didn't seem to be anything of importance. Before they shut the drawer, Helga's flashlight revealed a gleam hidden underneath some of the notes. She dug through them and procured a key which had been hidden near the bottom.

Arnold shut the middle drawer and watched as Helga attempted to fit the key into the top lock. It fit perfectly and Helga, wasting no time, finished unlocking it and pulled it open. Inside the final drawer was a large file. That was it. No health drinks, no keys, no first aid kits, not even a weapon or marble ammunition for Helga. Arnold removed the file and carried it over to the other desk in the room. He let the file hit the desk with a loud slam before he opened it. For a while, he did nothing more than stare at the first file with a sense of dread, which read in bold and in all caps, 'GUARDIAN CANDIDATES, MAY GOD GUIDE US IN OUR ENDEAVOR'.

(Location: With Lila and AJ)

The duo had reached the end of the tunnel to find nothing in the final area. At first glance it seemed to be nothing more than a large room, not unlike the rest of the tunnel. It was a room that looked like some beast's intestines with the walls pulsing and contracting while some kind of slime or something oozed from both the walls and the ceiling. At least, that's how it was until they looked up. Caught in the light of AJ's flashlight and giving off a shining gleam was a key suspended by a thick chain far too high for either of them to reach, and even less of a chance of breaking the chain to retrieve it. Lila took the other key from her pocket, the one that she'd retrieved in the school and looked at the two to compare. At a glance, they were exactly the same. They'd found it! One problem still presented itself; how were they supposed to get it down?

Lila looked around a second time to find anything she might've missed before and spied a lever in the wall in one of the corners of the room. Not knowing why or how she could've missed that before, Lila quickly hurried over and pulled the lever down— and almost instantly regretted it. The room began to shake and the contracting, intestine-like walls began to move faster, secreting more slime onto the floor as they did. The middle of the ground suddenly began to rise, nearly reaching the ceiling, before it opened, revealing it to be full of long, razor sharp, teeth and clamped down on the chain holding the key, snapping it without issue. From there, it opened up completely, the mouth like appendage forming a toothy circle with a few select openings while the key rested in the center. Three stone slabs raised from the ground, one at each wall aside from the entrance, and resided there. On each of the stone slabs, there appeared to be writing and some kind of writing along with a turning wheel with several words written upon them. Just above the turning wheel was an arrow that pointed down. What it meant, Lila wasn't sure. She glanced at the gaping maw that now took up a majority of the floor with unease. There was no way she could walk onto that thing without it snapping and devouring her whole.

"W-What do we do now?" Lila asked. AJ said nothing for a time, instead going to each of the stone slabs and looking them over carefully. He went to each methodically before he finally stopped and grabbed Lila, pulling her to the far side of the room, exactly the opposite of the entrance. Lila was confused until she noticed the static on his walkie-talkie spiked and saw another Jilt making its way, slowly into the room. It spotted them and let out a shriek before converging on their place. Lila stared at it, unblinking, and watched as the Jilt made its way to the center of the mouth-like appendage at the center before it snapped shut in less than a second, killing and devouring the creature within. The walkie-talkie's static level quickly dropped again to a dull roar just as the mouth opened again, revealing no trace of the Jilt it had eaten.

"Now I get it," AJ said. He turned Lila's attention to the stone slabs. "This is a puzzle for you to solve. This subject matter... I think I've forgotten everything about it, but I'm guessing you know. You have to solve each of these correctly, then walk into the mouth to retrieve the key. If even one of them is wrong, those jaws will snap shut and devour you. If I step in there, probably the same thing will happen to me. This one's all you, Lila." Lila shuddered as her eyes glanced back over to the gaping maw. Was there any chance of her doing this? She honestly didn't think she could, not with her life on the line. "I believe in you," AJ added. Lila turned to him and saw his smile, that confident smile that showed how much trust and faith he had in her. For whatever reason, it worked, and Lila turned back to the slab and read it.

I have seen much in my time, but one thing keeps me strong, despite the pain that may be only mine, this helps me feel like I belong. Lila's attention then turned to the arrow and the wheel before she realized the arrow pointed to what would be her answer. She quickly glanced at the four words adorning the wheel. Sorrow, Friendship, Compassion, Love. She thought of it briefly, wondering which of the four the answer could be. Almost immediately she cancelled out sorrow, as there was no way that could've been the answer, but the other three each had their merits. Compassion definitely seemed possible, but at the same time not. Anyone can give or fake compassion, but it only makes you feel better, not belong. Love, however, can make one feel that way and can erase a lot of pain, but love is selective, and very unlikely to include more than one person outside of familial relations. Then again, what was the state of belonging? Belonging to what? Family? Society? Needless to say it was a very vague riddle. Lila looked at the other slabs and turned to her companion again.

"Can two answers be the same?" Lila asked. AJ pondered this for a moment.

"If I'm going by what I've seen, no," AJ answered. "I've never seen a puzzle like this where two or more of the answers were the same, otherwise they'd be too easy. Sometimes though, the puzzle isn't just about common knowledge, but about personal things, things that only certain people know. They're rare but they exist." Lila nodded and moved toward one of the other slabs, this time the one on the right of the room as it was with her staring at the only entrance. Just like before, she read the inscription on the stone slab. Among the stars in the sky, One thing remains true, There are many people that pass me by, But only one of you. Lila looked down at the arrow and the wheel. This time the arrow was on the left side of the wheel. She took a long, hard look at the wheel and read the four words upon it. Friend, Aunt, Teacher, Mother. Lila didn't have to think twice on this one. She figured at least one of the riddles had to be easy. Without hesitating, Lila turned the wheel so that the arrow pointed to the word 'Mother'. She stopped as soon as she heard the wheel click into place.

Turning to the only slab she hadn't been to, Lila walked around the gaping maw to the slab on the opposite side of the room. Similar to the slab before, the arrow was now on the right of the wheel. Before she looked at the wheel, she read the inscription. Many things can hold true, But none like this are so sweet, The only thing that matters to me and to you, The one that makes me complete. Lila read the inscription over one more time before looking down at the four on the wheel. Friendship, Love, Motherhood, Family. Drat, another somewhat vague one. This was another value riddle, as what would be most important to someone. Lila shook her head. There was any possibility to this answer, as everyone had different values. Some valued friendship more than anything else, others motherhood, family or love. It seemed an impossible choice but only one of them were right. The question was which of them was the right one?

'Sometimes the puzzle isn't about common knowledge, but personal things only certain people know,' Lila thought. She shut her eyes and thought more about what that meant. 'It seems ever so broad to be a question about common knowledge so if only certain people could know this kind of thing, who is the person that knows? If AJ can't solve this, that means it's not something he knows, which could mean,' Lila paused in her thought as what she thought was realization struck her, 'it's something only I would know. It's what the answers are to me.' She looked over the inscription again. 'Can it be that simple? The one thing that makes me complete, is...' Lila grabbed the wheel and turned it until the arrow pointed to a particular word, 'Love. Family isn't really family without love, and the love my daddy and I have makes us a real family. If we didn't have that, family wouldn't mean anything.' Lila quickly scampered back the first slab she'd read and went over the inscription again. Suddenly it was much easier. 'What makes me feel like I belong.' She turned the wheel, getting a click as she reached the word 'friendship'. 'What I wanted in the first place was to belong, so I wanted to make a lot of friends.'

Lila turned to AJ who'd been watching her the entire time. For a moment, she said nothing as she looked at him, only smiled and gave him a brief nod before she took her first, long, step into the mouth. One step in, nothing happened. So far so good. Two steps in, still nothing. Three and four, still safe. With each step Lila felt more and more dread take hold of her, as each step could very well have been bringing her closer to her doom. She turned again, if only to get some more reassurance from her companion. From what she saw, he mouthed the words 'I believe in you' again. She turned again and continued. Five and six steps in, no movement from the mouth. Five more steps to go. Seven, eight and nine, the mouth moved just slightly, making Lila freeze up as she waiting for the maw to shut and kill her. It didn't come. Instead, the mouth moved but only in such a way that it appeared to be breathing ever so lightly. Lila raced the remaining steps in and was now directly in front of the key. Still no clasping, still no death. As soon as she grabbed the key, Lila determined, she'd race out of the mouth like the hounds of hell were on her heels.

Lila reached down ever so cautiously and, for a time, her hand hovered above the key that sat motionless in the center of the monstrous maw. She took several deep breaths as she readied herself for the inevitable burst of speed she felt she would need. Lila's breathing picked up in speed as her hand inched lower slowly. As soon as her fingers were around the key, she picked it up and darted out as quickly as her legs could carry her, her eyes shut in fright, stopping only when she collided with something— no, someone. Lila opened her eyes to find herself in the vest of her companion again. Glancing up, she noticed the proud smile on his face. With a motion of his head, he drew her attention to the center of the room. The mouth hadn't moved a single inch.

"Way to go," AJ commended her. Lila smiled but flinched when the ground began to shake. The murderous maw in the center of the room rose again, slowly shutting itself and retracting into the ground, leaving no trace that it was ever there. Once it had vanished, Lila placed the key into her pocket and the two began to make their way back to Arnold and Helga. Maybe they'd found something interesting.

(Location: With Arnold and Helga)

Arnold wasn't sure how long he spent staring at the front page in the file. It seemed too surreal that this kind of thing would actually exist. Then again, he was in Silent Hill and, if his previous experiences in this place were anything to go by, this town existed for this shit. Stranger still was the notion that The Guardian had kept quiet throughout all of this. In fact, Arnold couldn't even feel that strange pressure in his head when The Guardian was talking to him, or even there in the first place. Was something else occupying his time? Arnold seriously hoped so.

After who knew how long, Arnold removed the first page and set it aside, only to pale at what he saw. It was a picture with a name of someone he didn't know. What bothered him, however, was the information they had on this person. Name, age, date of birth, height, weight, blood type, address, parentage, all of it was there. On the next page was apparently some kind of information on the child in question, including the date they were grabbed by The Order. As Arnold and Helga kept going through the files, one file they found stopped them dead in their tracks. The picture, the information, however much was there, everything, was of the fourth member of their group. Arnold and Helga paused and, in their curiosity, decided to read it.

Candidate name: AJ —, for some reason, his last name had been omitted, or crossed off, or something. They were mere smudges on the paper done by someone. The height and weight seemed accurate, but the rest of the basic information was gone. They turned to the second page and continued reading. Date of acquisition: April 23rd, 1977. Details: Acquired through luck and deception. Candidate shows incredible promise for conversion and would, with little doubt, be an excellent guardian for God. Though he does not seem willing to convert, we will secure that given some time. Being an outsider, his conversion is paramount to our plans, provided of course one of the other candidates does not outperform him. Should a Guardian be properly chosen while he is still kept among us, we will either kill him if he hasn't converted or keep him as a member of our Order. Considering he is an outsider, his parents spent a great deal of time searching for him. We've permanently remedied the situation. Like him, it seems, they were unwilling to convert. No matter. The heretics can keep their beliefs in their new home, buried on the outskirts of town in some unmarked grave, no less than what such heretics deserve. Killing his parents might help some with the conversion, since we can lie and say they abandoned him to whatever fate may befall him. Either way, we have much to look forward to. Let us see just how much it'll take for him to break.

Arnold gulped audibly as he remembered the words of their fourth companion. It was clear that he had no knowledge of his parents' demise and would, with no doubt, be trapped in Silent Hill forever should this news ever be given to him. The only matter now is what to do with it? What he and Helga found would no doubt be of interest to AJ when he returned. Arnold picked up the paper and stared at it while trying to figure out what to do.

"What've you got there?" AJ's voice came from behind the two, startling Arnold a great deal. As quickly as he could, Arnold folded up the paper and slid it into his right pants pocket as he turned to his left to face AJ and Lila. Arnold was lucky enough that AJ didn't catch the action. Arnold sighed and crossed his arms across his chest. Saying nothing, he moved away so the two could see the papers. Lila was surprised to see a picture of her companion there, especially since it had a bit of information on him, but whatever could it have been for?

"Papers," Arnold replied. "More specifically, information on everyone that The Order kidnapped," he paused a second, "with the intent to turn them into The Guardian." Lila froze after Arnold spoke. If that was true then...

"I can't believe they kept these here," AJ muttered, though it was still loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Does this have to do with—?" Arnold began before AJ's small nod cut him off. He stood there, unmoving, staring at his picture on the paper. Lila, Helga, and Arnold approached him and tried to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. It wasn't to last. The strange sensation in Arnold's stomach kicked in just as the four heard a siren blare.

Me: And that's the chapter.

Rendan and Zero: *staring at me*

Me: What?

Rendan: Dude, what the—

Zero: FUCK!?

Me: What?

Rendan: Well, I guess there had to have been something to explain what's been going on.

Zero: I guess.

Me: Anything more needing to be said?

Rendan: Nope.

Zero: I'm good.

Me: Sweet. Since there's nothing else... Be good and be safe, everyone. I'm outta here!