Dark Descent

Disclaimer: Konami owns everything Silent Hill.

 

Chapter 1: A Sanctuary Transformed

Central Square Shopping Center - Part 1

 

With the shock one would get from a sudden burst of thunder, Alessa awoke from her ordeal. Her body was covered in sweat and her heart was hammering wildly in her chest. She looked around frantically expecting to see the hellish surroundings and demonic adversaries that had driven her to that deathtrap of a roller coaster. Instead she was alone, sitting at a wooden table inside the shopping mall’s Happy Burger fast food joint. She placed a hand on her chest in an attempt to soothe the sudden ache in her chest. The frightening trip through that awful place had been only a dream.

“Oh man. What a nightmare,” she muttered, rubbing her tired eyes. She wiped away the sweat on her forehead with the back of her head. That dream had really scared the hell out of her – it had been years since she had woken up this shaken from a nightmare.

She laid her head in her hands for a few moments while she adjusted to being awake. The sounds of the passing traffic were audible outside the burger shop, but she didn’t pay them much attention. A glance at her watch showed that it was 6:30 at night. Damn, she swore silently. Her mother would be worried sick by now.

The young woman sat up and stretched, glancing around at the empty restaurant. What the hell happened? She had never fallen asleep in a public place like this before. She pinched the skin on her arm to make sure she was really awake.

“Damn,” Alessa breathed, still a little disoriented. Her stomach felt a little queasy too. That dream…it seemed so real. So vivid and detailed. And the pain inflicted on her by those monsters…

Alessa shook her head. Despite how vivid it may have been, at least the whole thing was nothing more than a dream. Thank God for that. Although, hadn’t anybody noticed she was having a nightmare right in the middle of this place?

Come to think of it, where was everybody? The shutters weren’t down, so there had to be some employees around; the mall didn’t start closing tonight until seven. How long had she been out? Did they just leave her there without even trying to wake her up?

“Some staff,” Alessa scoffed. She would make sure to give them a piece of her mind the next time she saw them.

Outside the burger shop, she instinctively reached for her cell phone, only to find that her vest pocket was empty. That was strange. She could have sworn she had brought it with her. Thankfully she still had some change to call home. Alessa headed for the nearest payphone, wondering what was up with her today. She had to be really tired or really distracted by something, though she had no idea what. Probably both, to do something as stupid as falling asleep in a mall. 

“Mom? Yeah, it’s me. I’m still at the mall,” Alessa said once she heard her mother’s familiar warm voice. Little was she aware of the stranger lurking nearby, listening to her every word, waiting for the right moment to approach her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. Actually I did, believe it or not. Yes, I know how stupid that was. I’m sorry. But I’m all right. Anyway, I’m coming home now. Uh-huh. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. No, I haven’t heard from him. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. Okay, I will. I love you too, Mom. Bye.”

Alessa hung up the phone. She didn’t get very far before she heard a gruff voice behind her. 

“Alessa, I need to speak to you.”

Alessa stopped and turned around. She instantly became wary as she saw the strange guy standing there.

 

The Caucasian man looked to be in somewhere his fifties. His clothes spelled out plainly he was a rough working man: a dull gray shirt with a red tie, dark slacks and old brown shoes, and a worn-out brown trench coat. A dark fedora hid what Alessa guessed was probably a receding hairline. A week’s worth of stubble lined his aged face, making him look rougher than he already did.

“How do you know my name?” Alessa asked sharply.

The man held up his hands. “Let me explain. My name is Douglas Cartland. I’m a detective,” he informed her, wasting no time in introducing himself.  

Alessa raised her eyebrows. “A detective, huh?”

“That’s right.”

 

“Really? Well nice talking to you,” Alessa said, resuming her walk towards the mall exit. She was no fool, and a strange middle-aged man in a mall who knew her name was definitely a sign of trouble.

“Hold on. There’s someone who wants to meet you. Just give me an hour, no, half an hour of your time,” Douglas insisted as he followed her.

Alessa stopped and turned around to face him.

“Look, I don’t know what you want with me, but I’m not interested,” she said firmly. “I know better than to talk to strangers.”

The older man didn’t relent, following her as she walked away from him. “I swear, I’m not gonna hurt you. You are Alessa Gillespie, aren’t you?”

Alessa froze in her tracks. She felt her blood run cold.

“What did you say?”

Douglas spoke slowly, hoping not to startle the confused girl. “I said I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanna talk to y-”

Alessa harshly cut him off. “No, not that. What did you call me?”

She already knew, of course. She wasn’t deaf. But she needed to hear it again, if only to confirm the unsettling truth suspicion building in the pit of her stomach. Douglas was only too willing to oblige.

“What? Alessa? That’s your real name, isn’t it? Alessa Gillespie.”

Alessa paled at the second mention of that name. Gillespie…a name from years past, linked with nothing but terrible memories of abuse and neglect and atrocities that should never have been allowed to take place. A name she wished dearly she could forget. 

 

Douglas noticed the way Alessa suddenly seemed shaken. He moved close to reassure her that he meant her no harm, which only caused her to take her an insctinctive step back.

“Stay away from me,” Alessa told him. She resisted the urge to pull out the switchblade she carried for self defense.

“Alessa…”

“I said stay away!” Alessa screamed, taking Douglas by surprise. The detective instinctively backed away, taken aback by the young woman’s sudden burst of fury. Alessa took the opportunity to put some distance between her and this stubborn, stupid old man trying to his pry into her business.

 

“Alessa, please! I have to talk to you. It’s about your childhood,” Douglas said, reaching for her arm. She roughly shrugged it away and looked at him with blazing eyes.

“My childhood,” Alessa stressed, “is none of your goddamn business! When I get home, you better believe my parents are going to hear about this!”

“They’re not your parents,” Douglas blurted out before he could stop himself. He cursed himself for his stupidity, but the damage was done. Alessa’s expression turned absolutely venomous.

“Man, fuck you! Who the hell do you think you are anyway, telling me something like that? You don’t know anything!” Alessa ground out. Her fists where clenched from the anger she felt boiling in her veins. It took every ounce of self control she had not to take a swing at the man’s face.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. It wouldn’t do any good to do something rash. When she felt slightly less furious, she went up to a nearby restroom and addressed her exasperating pursuer.

“I need to go in here. And don’t even think of following me inside,” she warned Douglas.

The detective held up his hands. “Okay, I got it. I’ll wait here.”

Alessa gave him a hard look. Though he felt a little ashamed of it, Douglas wilted her gaze. There was something about the way this girl was staring at him that told him it would be very unwise to make her any angrier. The term ‘hazardous to his health’ seemed an appropriate way to describe that gut feeling.

Without a word, Alessa went into the restroom.

“Damn it,” Douglas swore to himself as he watched the brunette slip away. He wasn’t immoral enough to follow her in. Not yet, anyway. She couldn’t stay in there forever.

He was certain of one thing: his client would be very upset if he lost this target.

   

~

Inside the restroom, Alessa leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. For the next few minutes she was safe, unless that guy actually was enough of a pervert to come into the women’s bathroom. In which case, the persistent Mr. Cartland would find himself with Alessa’s switchblade stuck in a place no man wanted anywhere near a knife. 

“God, the nerve of some people. Who the hell does he think he is anyway? I knew I should have brought my stun gun with me today,” Alessa muttered as she entered one of the stalls. After taking care of some urgent business, she vacated the stall and washed her hands at the sink. She tried not to stare at the mirror for too long while she splashed some cold water on her face.

There was something creepy about the mirrors here. She found it odd she hadn’t noticed it before, but she was certainly aware of it now. She wondered whether there was any validity to her nervousness, or whether this was just a childhood phobia manifesting itself again in the most inconvenient of circumstances.

As a little girl, Alessa never liked mirrors. Ever since she could remember, she found them rather creepy. There wasn’t a good way to explain it, other than a feeling that they were almost like a doorway to another world on the other side, and that if she stared at the mirror for too long, she would be drawn into that world.

In retrospect, she knew how ridiculous that sounded. But the mind of a child was a curiously odd thing. And if Alessa was fully honest with herself, the things she had seen in her time since more than confirmed that some childhood fears weren’t that silly after all.

Nonetheless, Alessa had outgrown that particular phobia as a teenager. So why was it suddenly rearing its head again? Was the stress of her current situation playing tricks on her mind? Or was there something else here she wasn’t aware of? Whatever the reason, she averted her gaze from the reflections as she dried her hands, focusing instead on her current dilemma.

She wondered what to do next. She wasn’t going back out there again. That so-called “detective” was still outside waiting for her. The more she thought about him, the more unsettled she felt. There persistence with which he tried to get her to talk both enraged her and gave her the creeps. And how did he know her former last name? Or about her childhood, for that matter?

As soon he mentioned the name “Gillespie”, warning bells instantly went off in her head.

There weren’t many people who knew about that name and the childhood associated with it. And those who did know the story behind it fell into two categories. Either they were her friends and family who sought to protect her, or an enemy who sought to exploit her. A suspicious old man she didn’t know most definitely fell into the latter category at the moment.

But what alternative did she have? She couldn’t stay here forever. Her switchblade gave her an edge if he was unarmed, but it wouldn’t do much good against a gun. She looked at the closed door of the stall farthest to the right. The stall was occupied – Alessa saw the person’s shoes, or rather boots, below the door. It was worth a shot; maybe the person could lend her a cell phone, or at least accompany her outside.

She knocked on the door. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah?” A feminine voice responded, with a hint of a sultry quality to it. Alessa thought it sounded familiar. She shook away the thought. Probably just the stress of the situation, she decided. Same as that mirror thing.

“Uh…are you, uh, just about done here?”

The woman hesitated. Alessa didn’t blame her. It was an odd question to ask someone in a place like this.

“Uh, yeah, maybe. Why do you ask?”

“Well, there’s this really weird guy outside who keeps following me. I think he’s trying to kidnap me or something.”

“What?”

“Please, you have a cell phone I could borrow?”

“No. Sorry,” the woman apologized.

Alessa’s heart sank. “Oh. Then can at least go outside with me? Maybe if he sees us both he’ll back off.”

“Why? You have something you could use against him?”

“I have a knife I carry on me. But I’d really prefer not to

“Sorry, hon. Knife or not, I really don’t want to risk my life for someone I don’t even know. No offense, darling, it’s nothing personal,” the woman said casually, as if Alessa’s life wasn’t possibly at stake.

“What?” Alessa cried in disbelief. “But what am I supposed to do?”

“Find someone in mall security,” the person suggested.

“There aren’t any nearby!”

“Then I guess you’re out of luck.”

Alessa banged on the stall door. “Please!”

“Sorry, I can’t help you,” the woman said with an air of finality. And that was that. 

“You…” Alessa didn’t know how to finish the sentence. A dozen different insults came to mind, each one worse than the last. What kind of sick, twisted person refused to help out someone in this situation? And a woman too? Alessa was absolutely disgusted. 

“I’m sorry, hon. I really am,” the person apologized, as if she actually meant it. Yeah, right.

Well, Alessa thought sourly, so much for that idea. And so much for helping out your fellow man.

“Bitch. Hope you fall in there,” she muttered under her breath, loud enough for the woman to hear. A disgruntled “hey!” came from the stall. Alessa ignored her.

Fortunately, another option presented itself.

There was only one window in the bathroom. Shining with vibrant sunlight, it stuck out like a sore thumb against the uniform brown of the walls. And against all odds, the window was unlocked. Alessa smiled triumphantly. Pushing up the glass, she climbed through the opening and found herself in an alley outside the mall, enclosed by a high wooden fence.

A quick glance behind her showed Alessa two things: one, the back of the alley was blocked by a tall chain link fence, and two, the sun was setting. It would be dark soon. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a deserted mall at night with a creepy old guy stalking her. Taking the obvious route, she headed north up the alley, only to run into a problem only a minute later.

“Oh fucking hell,” Alessa swore when she saw the large van blocking the end of the path. Why in the world would anyone park there? Not that it mattered much. Whatever the reason, the alley was a dead end.

That left going back inside the mall. Amazingly enough, there was an entryway right nearby. Alessa frowned. This all seemed a little too convenient, like someone had gone to the trouble of arranging the whole scenario. It was more than just bad luck. Something else was going on here. Something that probably had a lot to do with that Cartland man. Damn. She would just have to hope she didn’t run into him again. And if by some chance she did, she would just have to deal with it. She was quick enough with a knife. Maybe she could take him out before he drew a weapon.

The nondescript door led to one of the employee sections of the mall. Cardboard boxes and memos lined the dull gray hallway, including a poster that sent a small shiver up Alessa’s spine. Although it appeared to be for some theatrical play, the woman’s face on the poster looked remarkably like her, and seemed to gaze back with eerily haunting eyes.

Creepy…

Tearing herself away from the bizarre image, Alessa continued down the corridor. Most of the doors were locked, except the one leading back into the main shopping area. A fleeting moment of relief passed through her when she saw the familiar stores. Unfortunately, the hall to the main plaza was barricaded. So were all the stores, except for one establishment where the anti-theft barrier was pulled down only halfway. And weird noises were coming from that store. 

 

Uh-oh. Strange noises coming in an abandoned place usually meant trouble. As if she didn’t have with a strange old guy tailing her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much choice in getting out of here. 

 

Alessa cautiously approached. The sounds were too muffled to distinguish, but they sounded like a bunch of moans and groaning. Her curiosity was piqued. Some employees engaging in a little after hours tryst? She smirked, envisioning the scenario in her head. But no, the noises were too deep for that.

Something else was going on. A darker idea occurred to her. Had she stumbled onto a crime of some sort? That “detective” certainly looked suspicious enough. Thoughts of vandalism, theft, or worse entered her mind. She shivered; worse often consisted of two things: rape or murder.

The protective shutter was down half-way, but Alessa had no trouble pushing the bottom of the doors open. She slid inside like a snake, grimacing at the germs that were surely scattered over the sticky, dirty floor.   

Alessa stood up and dusted herself off. This particular shop was a small clothing boutique; she remembered stopping here once or twice, though the items for sale were rarely to her taste. Strange. The store was virtually devoid of any merchandise now. The odd noises from earlier were gone too. And lying on the center of the floor was a gun.

Alessa’s eyebrows lifted slightly. What the hell was a gun doing in a clothing boutique? Unless there was really was a murder taking place…

She knelt down to examine the weapon…

Abruptly, the odd distortions from earlier returned with a vengeance. Only now, they sounded more like groans mixed with a horrid wet ripping noise, as if flesh was being torn from someone’s body. Alessa looked sharply to the left…

That was when she saw it.

Larger than any conceivable human being, the giant mass of flesh and bone hunched over the floor was the very definition of inhuman. Its misshapen head twitched in frenetic, disturbing spasms as the creature bit grotesquely at the meal in front of it. Alessa gasped when she saw the very human body lying motionless, bloody beyond recognition as the monster gnawed on its prey’s carcass like a rabid beast.

It was the creature from her dream, and it had already found its first victim.

Suddenly, it became aware of Alessa’s presence in the room. She felt a shiver run down her spine when it turned its sight on her. There were practically no facial features on the monster’s cylindrical skull, only a crude horizontal slit twisted into the form of a ravenous grin.  

 

The creature advanced on Alessa, rising to a daunting height of at least nine feet. Alessa was taken aback at the sheer size of the thing, but this was no time to hesitate. She quickly picked up the handgun and acting on instinct, aimed at the creature’s skull and fired. The bullet found its mark, and blood sprayed from the small wound. However, the monster didn’t appear to be fazed in the least. Its head continued to twitch with in seizure-like spasms as it approached. Alessa shot it a second time and a third, but the monster kept coming even as she fired round after round of gunfire.

Click. Click. The gun was out of ammo. Alessa panicked. What the hell was she going to do now? She was cornered against the wall, with this thing still standing, and she had no other weapons besides her switchblade, which wouldn’t do much good against something of this size. She readied herself for an attack, hoping she could at least dodge those huge arms enough to get out of here.

It never came. Just when the creature was going to strike, the strength suddenly left its body. The thin legs seemed to give out first, leaving it to balance for a second on its oversized limbs before it collapsed and remained still.   

 

Alessa took some deep breaths as the adrenaline in her system started to wear off. She stared at the creature she had killed, taking a closer view of its grotesquely misshapen features. She nudged the body cautiously with one boot. It was dead, whatever it was. Where could it have come from? Never had she seen anything like this before, until that horrible nightmare a while ago. What in God’s name was happening around here?

A voice at the back of her mind whispered that she already knew, save the one she feared to even mention out loud. She forced to voice to silence. That possibility wasn’t an option. No way. Not now, not ever. What happened in that accursed town was over, and it was never going to happen again.

One thing was certain. She had better find out some answers to this mess, and soon. If there were more of these creatures around, she was going to have a very hard time finding a way out of this place. 

~

 

Tiptoeing around the fallen monster, Alessa looked around to see if there was anything useful. Briefly, she glanced at the body the beast had been munching on. From what she could tell, it was, or rather had been, a woman in her late twenties, possibly early thirties. Alessa turned away before the nausea overtook her. She felt sorry for whoever the woman had been, but there was nothing she could for her now.

There were only two things of notice. Settled on a hanger above a stack of purses, Alessa noticed a modestly sized knapsack. Next to the handbags was a box of handgun bullets.

Again, Alessa’s suspicion was roused. First she discovered a handgun in the most unlike of places, then she encountered a strange monster that took all the bullets in the handgun to kill, and now she found a box of ammo for her to conveniently reload said weapon? A convenient coincidence if there ever was one. Too convenient in fact, just like the blocked alleyway outside. What could be going on?

Alessa counted twenty bullets inside the box. She pocketed ten and reloaded her gun with the remaining half. She took the backpack as well and slipped it over her shoulders. She smiled to herself. Technically, she supposed this was shoplifting, but the store wasn’t going to miss one measly backpack, and it would come in handy if her vest pockets ran out of space.

The rear door of the shop led into another utilitarian corridor. It wasn’t difficult to find the exit, but she noticed something else too: a map of the Central Square Shopping Center, split into three separate sections, one for each floor. Alessa skimmed briefly over the map. Strange, she noted. She had been here on countless occasions, yet she’d never quite thought about how large the Central Square Shopping Center truly was, with its three floors and the maze of employee-only sections. Finding a way out might prove to be more daunting than she realized. Folding the map into a small rectangle, she stuffed it into one of her vest pockets and headed for the second floor. 

Upon exiting the stairwell, everything appeared safe on first glance. Then she heard it: an odd wailing sound that reverberated throughout the area and grew closer by the second. Alessa’s hands tightened their grip around her weapon as she rounded the corner and spotted her newest aggressor.

It came at her on two short legs, resembling nothing less than a gray, vein-laden blend of a fish and an eyeball on legs. To Alessa’s disgust, the creature appeared to be dripping some sort of slimy, viscous fluid with every step it took. She didn’t waste any time in shooting it. The creature rushed through three of her shots, and Alessa realized she had to put some distance between her and this thing, whatever it was. She jogged further down until she was a good fifteen feet away, and then unloaded another bullet on the repulsive beast. Finally its legs gave way, leaving it to writhe numbly on the ground. Alessa didn’t hesitate. She leaned close and delivered a shot directly through the monsters’ skull at close range, putting the dying aberration out of its misery.

As before, Alessa stared at the creature she had just disposed of. Another one, she thought to herself, lips settling in a grim line. Another monster, one equally as inhuman as the beast she left behind at the boutique.

What’s going on? Alessa wondered yet again. Where were these things coming from? More importantly, what were they doing here in the first place? And what happened to the shopping mall’s employees?

Something very bizarre was going on here. And it was appearing more and more important to Alessa that she get out of this place and find some answers. It was obvious this went far beyond that stranger claiming to be a detective.

She decided to explore a bit. She tried the storage room doors one by one, until one finally yielded open.

In retrospect, had she been any slower to react, she might well have found herself dead. As she idly opened the door, she was expecting the storage room to be empty. It wasn’t. Low to the ground, chewing noisily on what looked to be a piece of dried process meat, was a creature that for all intents and purposes, resembled a medium-sized dog. That was, until the smell of burnt flesh hit Alessa’s nose like a wall. She gasped with nauseated horror, not just from the stench, but from the realization that the ‘skin’ on the dog was actually composed of loosely wrapped bandages, with some very charred flesh showing underneath.  

Suddenly, the ravaged dog lifted its head as it detected the presence of an intruder nearby. Quicker than Alessa would have thought given its fragile appearance, the dog turned to face her, revealing a head that was split into two. With an intimidating growl, the creature charged at its prey.

Snapping out of her shock, Alessa immediately threw the door shut as the monster leaped forward to attack. Barely a second later, a loud thud was heard coming from the room, followed the sound of claws scratching against metal. Alessa retreated backwards and aimed at the door, in case the dog somehow broke through to the outside. But after nearly a full minute, the noises ceased, and the door remained closed.

Alessa breathed a huge sigh of relief. Whether the dog had gone back to its meal or whether it was just wondering how to get past this obstacle, she didn’t know. She was just grateful she had one less thing to worry about. For now, at least.

“Shit,” Alessa swore, somewhat irritated with herself. That was a close one. Had this ‘hellhound’, for lack of a better term, come after her as soon as she opened the door, or had it been a monster like the one at the boutique instead, she would have been in trouble. It was just a moment of carelessness, but she knew she couldn’t afford another one if she wanted to survive. She would have to be extra careful from now on.

There was only one other accessible room, and this time, Alessa wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. She turned the handle slowly with one hand while holding her fully loaded handgun with the other. However, there was nothing waiting inside this one save for the usual shelves and crates.   

 

Alessa scanned the rows of items. There was a box of fifteen handgun bullets on one of the shelves, along with a small brown bottle with a nondescript tan label. Alessa looked over the label. There were no ingredients or nutritional facts listed, only a small cross and the words “Health Drink” on the front of the label. Alessa stared curiously at the item. Who hadn’t heard of the “energy drinks” sold by a variety of brands in countless stores? On the other hand, she had no idea what in this thing, and she wasn’t very tired in the first place. Alessa had a healthy sense of curiosity, but she wasn’t curious enough to tale a sip of something that could very well be poison. She threw the bottle into her backpack, making a note not to touch the stuff unless absolutely necessary. 

 

There was one more thing on the shelf that caught her eye. It wasn’t an object though. Rather, it was a drawing on the side of a cardboard box. Concentric circles, with arcane symbols scattered in between, were etched in exquisite detail on the box. Three small circles were arranged in triangular formation at the center of the symbol, along with four indecipherable characters. The symbol was crafted in luminous red paint, and stood out vibrantly against the drab gray of the merchandise shelf. It was almost hypnotic in a way, Alessa noted, staring at the marking with rapt attention. It seemed so familiar as well.

Wait a minute…

“I’ve seen this thing, before,” Alessa realized aloud. “But from where?”

She tried in vain to recall where exactly she had seen this image before. Nothing came to mind. Out of the blue, hints of pain rose at the back of her skull as she intensified her efforts to remember. Alessa brought a hand to her temples, grimacing as the hints gave way to a dull ache. Oddly enough, the pain subsided as soon as she stopped trying to figure out where she had seen this bizarre symbol before.

“Ugh. What’s wrong with me?” Alessa murmured, softly rubbing her eyes to clear away the mild wooziness. It was staring down that she noticed the glint of something metallic nearby. Kneeling down to investigate, she realized that the object was a key, caught beneath a wooden pallet. Alessa attempted to pull it out, to no avail. She stretched her arm as much as possible, but the key remained an inch or two firmly out of reach. The platform was also far too heavy for Alessa to lift by herself.

“Damn.” She tried to think of an alternative, but there was nothing around she could use to pull out the key. At least not in the storage room. The mall, on the other hand…

Alessa headed outside to the where the stores on the second floor were located. One of them was certain to have something she could use to get that key. A spare key wouldn’t just be laying around this place for her to find for no reason. There was a purpose to it, she was sure of it.

As it turned out, the second floor of the shopping area was not entirely vacant. Alessa’s heart sped up when she saw the two enormous beings wandering on opposite ends of the walkway. She forced herself to remain calm, not wanting to attract their attention. Moving as quietly as possible, she ducked into the first store she found to be open, Helen’s Bakery.

The smell of fresh bread and pastries surrounded her as soon as she entered. The counters were stacked everything from varied loaves of bread to a wide assortment of bagels, donuts, tarts, cookies, pies, cakes, and other superbly tasty snacks. Most of them were displayed behind glass or sealed in wrapping, but a considerable number were in the open air on trays and baskets, to entice customers into sampling the goods. For a brief instance, Alessa could almost ignore that there were two bloodthirsty demons walking around outside. Everything looked and smelled so delicious.

 

And lying on a tray on one counter, next to a loaf of sliced bread, was a pair of tongs.

Aha! Success, Alessa thought with some glee. The tongs looked just the right side to fit under that box in the storage room. Holding on to the pincers, she considered half-seriously whether or not to take a donut from one of the shelves. As far as she could tell, everything still seemed fresh, and it wasn’t like there was anyone around to complain. However a flyer near the register gave her pause for second thoughts. The flyer was designed in the motif of the bakery, with a picture of a bread loaf and the bakery’s slogan. There was just one notable difference. On the word “bread”, the first letter had been crossed over in marker with a capital d.

Alessa was familiar with the slogan of Helen’s Bakery: “Crispy toasted bread delivered right to your very door!” But now, the slogan now read something else entirely.

“Crispy toasted dead…” Alessa read to herself. “What in the hell…”

Alessa took a second look around the bakery. Everything still looked the same, and smelled the same as well. But now she wondered if things were really as they seemed. It was clear that over a matter of hours, perhaps minutes, something beyond comprehension had happened to the mall. Everyone except her and three other people appeared to have vanished into thin air, and now one of those individuals was dead at the hands of the creatures that had apparently infested this whole place. Was it possible something had happened to the food here as well? Or was this flyer just someone, or something, trying to play a joke on her?

Either way, she wasn’t sticking around to find out.

~

* Some dialogue taken from Silent Hill 3.