Your Dark God

Title: Your Dark God
Author: Chaosdreamer (dreamerchaos)
Warning: Slash hints, gore, horror, AU. Hard R for violence.
Pairing: Pyramid Head/James
Disclaimer: Silent Hill is owned and copyrighted by others beside myself. I'm only playing with the boys.
Author's note: Well, I've made it as far as the Apartment Complex and have run into Pyramid Head several times. I also attained a thorough walkthrough of the game (haven't read ahead beyond the characters Maria, Eddie, and Laura, though XD) I will be using the walkthrough to try to help me with the layout of the town and hopefully I'll provide adequate description of the appropriate buildings. If not, I apologize.
Warning: Definitely bit of gore. Death of one or more minor character. Harshness. Pyramid Head being rough. (hitting James, dragging, etc.) Dark, one of my darkest pieces.
Alternate Universe: Just my thoughts on how the scene in Room 307 could have gone differently. Also, I read a plot analysis of Silent Hill 2 (as far along as I am) and about the power and presence of Alessa, curious about the part she plays and how I can work with that. At the same time, I have an inkling to make Pyramid Head seem a more worthy and stronger foe, even if it may be incorrect to the fandom's conclusion. Again, I'm only to the Apartment Complex so far in the game so any mistakes are my fault entirely. But I stumbled across Mary's fate during one of my fic readings. That could be a good or bad thing, depending.
Dedication: To the Silent Hill fans who make this fandom breathlessly wonderful and so new. For making it real, even when stained with the brutality and anger that resides in the world of Alessa and Silent Hill. To those who pushed me to keep going in this fandom even when I was tempted to fade away into the background. Many thanks.
Author's Note: I know that Pyramid Head doesn't speak in the game. At best, I think the most he could manage would be to speak verbally if the helmet was off, etc. Or at the very least, somehow be able to speak telepathically, maybe?
'…….': Thoughts
"……": Speech

***********************************************************************


Even though he could barely see through the rotten wood slates of the closet door, James still was able to prevent himself from reacting physical to the violent struggle occurring before his eyes. He cringed and clamped his eyes shut so that he didn't have to watch the mannequins being torn into and ripped apart. A series of crackling pops and twisting grind of bone against cartilage was a nauseating symphony of horror that tested his endurance. Blood misted through the small space in the kitchen and fell to the floor in a hushed fall and soft breathless sigh like rain.

Two wet and heavy thuds of meat signaled the shredded portions of the last mannequin falling to the stained and blood-covered floor. He hoped that the mannequins' deaths had been quick, but was fairly certain that the blood and butchery had begun to be carried out long before he had entered the room and stumbled across a blood bath. James' eyes hesitated before flickering open already able to envision in his mind a muted version of the damage and ruin that was left in the apartment. The pyramid creature that had ripped the disfigured female demons apart stood over the carnage with his apron soaked with matted bloody bits and dripping down into red puddles under his boots and latex gloves stretched tight over clenched fists. He seemed to be examining his bloody work, the large helmet tilting from side to side as if counting the pieces that were left.

One hand was clamped over his mouth and nose to keep from making any audible sounds of distress and fear. The stench of the torn bodies was horrid, thick and putrid worse than an overused outhouse during a hot summer day. James' stomach seized up instinctively and acid stung in his throat forcing him to swallow desperately to force the hard burning knot back down.

This creature, he was obviously on an entirely different level from the other demons James had previously encountered.

The armless and twisting things that wandered the street were slow, but at their very worst they slithered like serpents doped up on speed when knocked to the ground moving and snaking at an alarming speed chasing after James. He had finally resorted to shoving and pushing the ones on the street aside as he ran past leaving them in his dust while he desperately searched for some sort of sanctuary from the nightmare world that was coming to life all around him. He did this while giving his best effort at ignoring the ache and burn in his lungs while avoiding slipping through the broad stretches of cooling blood upon the streets that had been left by a body being dragged across the pavement. The radio had been a blessing in disguise, providing a split-second warning of danger as the creatures would sudden appear and pitch themselves in his direction out of the fog and spraying acid from the gaping opening in their chests.

By sheer luck, he had stumbled across the corpse of someone…or something… at the dead-end of that alley. The body was left propped and leaning against the alley's fence as if the individual had fallen into sudden slumber. But no one could possibly sleep through having their skin flayed off of their bodies or chunks of meat ripped off. James had offered a small apology to the individual as he searched the putrid remains of their clothing, trying to find something he could use. He found the key to the Apartment Complex and made a mad dash to what he had thought would be a safe haven.

His luck failed him then. The radio he had acquired hissed wildly when he found his way to the first floor hallways, groping through the heavy darkness and finding locked doors outside of the safety of the scarce light bulbs upon the walls. He had almost run right into another one of those things from outside, ducking out of the way of the acid spray. Making a break for the stairs James had wandered and searched the rooms, through the garbage, cluttered chaos, and darkness until he had found first a handgun. Then a little girl that seemed to have some sort of vendetta against him since she had stomped his hands through the bars on the third floor, kicking away the key he had been reaching for. A working flashlight had been left upon the breast of a dressed mannequin the outfit strikingly similar to Mary's surrounded by the halo of soft white light streaming from the small flashlight.

He had run from the room even before the first mannequin creature had darted out of the shadows, instinctively reacting to the slowly enclosing scuffle of noise that made the hair on the back of his neck rise. Continuing his search he had wandered into another room and found a key to one of the rooms back on the first floor, but not before seeing the pyramid demon for the first time through the bars at the end of the hallway. The red glow that has surrounded the demon pulsed and burned like it was fire-hot. He had ducked into the nearest room, only to be greeted by a corpse sitting in a lone chair in front of a flickering TV set that was caked across one corner with blood, the same room where he found the key to the first story room.

James had followed the trail and clues no matter how bewildering they were, resisting the urge to kick the old grandfather clock as he attempted to work out the riddle etched into its side. Finally an audible click signaled his success and he was able to move into the room through the open doorway hidden behind the large clock.

After all that effort, all that work, he had finally left the room and had gone up the stairs to the third floor. Ending up in Room 307… and stunned speechless by the sight of the two mannequins being mercilessly attacked and slammed around within the kitchen directly connected to the main room.

He knew, James KNEW that he would be spotted if he attempted to make for the door again no matter how close his fingertips were to touching the door handle. His only option was to retreat into the nearest hidden space. The closet. Thankfully, the rotten wood and rusted hinges had made barely any noise as he closed it behind him.

The only problem from that moment on was that there was only one way in, and one way out.

There was nothing in the small space that would help him other than a key left on a lone shelf. His handgun had some bullets, but James was pretty certain that the best he would manage would be to just piss the thing off if he dared to fire the gun.

Still the handgun offered him a minimal amount of comfort, the cold metal a firm and solid weight in his hands providing him with an equally physical and mental anchor.

The pyramid shaped helmet rose and turned in the direction of the closet door, like he could sense the indecision and direction of James' thoughts.

It couldn't be. James hadn't made a sound. He hadn't even cocked the gun.

'…shit….' James could barely think of any other word to describe how badly the situation had turned.

As ineffective as it was James shuffled back further into the closet and pressed his back flat against the farthest wall from the door. Foolishly wishing that something else in the general direction of the closet had caught the demon's attention. If the demon figured out that there was new prey very close by, then James had little that he could do since he had inadvertently cornered himself.

The demon rose up from a half-crouch from among the gore and blood, taking slow and steady steps in the direction of the sealed closet door. Each step was slow and methodical the heels of his boots made wet squelches and rippling slaps through the spreading puddles of blood. Too soon for James he was standing outside of the small space, latex covered hands laying palm-flat along the rough door causing the thin portal to creak under the firm press and solid weight. Fingers tapped in a slow and unhurried pace along the wood's surface like the fingertips were seeking out any imperfection or weakness and trying to sense the alluring heat of a human body hiding so close by.

Time stretched on, James' hands growing clammy as he waited to see what would happen next. He was too afraid to breathe deeply half fearing that that alone would cause the massive helmet to jerk up and peer through the wood slates directly at him. When the finger taps ceased and the hands pulled back a ways, James thought that the demon had sensed that there was nothing to his interest and was preparing to move away.

His last thought was extinguished by the crack and thunder of breaking wood as the hands shoved forward and through the door, cracking and tearing the door off of its hinges and shoving the broken pieces inward into the small interior of the closet.

James shielded his head and face with his arms, hands crossed in front of him as shards of wood flew at him. Sharp pain shot through the limbs and palms as rough broken wood scrapped and smashed into him. A heavy gasp was shoved from his chest as a large piece of wood smacked into his abdomen physically knocking him forward flat against the wall. His face stung from where a few shards of wood had grazed close scratching his cheeks and chin.

A hard grip that matched steel closed over his wrists that were crossed over his forehead. James lurched forward and was pulled off of his feet and onto his knees. He cried out while the fabric of his pants did little to stop the burn as he was dragged roughly out of the closet. He fell onto his side hanging limp meanwhile his arms strained from the painful angle they were being pulled back over his head.

His world rocked and flipped and with a hard forward jerking motion that left the world spinning the demon literally lifted the man throwing James across the room towards what was left of the two mannequins. He slid and rolled across the gore stained floor limbs and body smashing hard and breaking his fall.

James' head bounced off of the wood floor beams and stars and lightning sprang along the surface of the damp wood underneath already scratched hands. Glass shards stung his hands when the flashlight that had been attached to the lapel of his green jacket shattered from the sharp impact. Dizzily James' body jolted once when hitting the floor, and the handgun was shaken free from the shocking blow and spun across the floor to disappear among the thick piles of meat and limbs. By some odd chance, the radio wasn't smashed to pieces, but the switch was forced in the 'OFF' direction.

James didn't really notice the wellbeing of the radio, instead trying to dispel the bouncing blobs of color that danced across his eyes. The ends of James' hair spread across the pools of blood, the front of his shirt and pants quickly darkening to crimson. His breath shuddered and gasped against his forearm that kept him propped up far enough from landing face-first into even more spreading fluids. He was dangerously close to slipping and falling completely into the organs and meat smeared beneath him, dead flesh jiggling, brushing close to his hands.

James jerked back when his eyes fell upon the twisted end of a hip bone not far from his face that was connected to pasty flesh and the limb that was already beginning to stiffen and lock in place. He tried to shuffle as best as he could far enough away from the bloody chunk.

A harsh glide of boots walking steadily towards him caught his attention, James turned partially to peer over his shoulder at the approaching figure.


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


To think that James really thought that he could hide from him.

The notion of something so mundane actually working disgusted him. While he may have been focused more upon the writhing demons underneath him that attempted to twist away to try to escape from his fury, he did not miss the rabbit-fast beating of a human heartbeat close by. His hands had snapped and ripped the limbs apart, the blood spraying across his front like a torrential waterfall, cooling his rage and destruction for a moment.

It had been nearly exhilarating to slowly approach the small space where the man hid, listening as the heartbeat quickened, muffled breathing escalated to a lengthy crescendo that stretched forever.

When his hands pressed along the wood of the door, he didn't have to bother peering through the rotten slates to see the man inside. The tips of his fingers and the palm of his hands soaked in the pulsing heat that surrounded the man, a living breathing force that throbbed and beat with life, calling to him.

'HAVE YOU ANY IDEA, JAMES?' He wondered. 'HAVE YOU ANY IDEA THAT YOU CAN'T ESCAPE? HOW YOU CALL TO ME.'

The relationship between the two of them was as old as the sanctuary of a mother's womb but at the same time as fresh as a newborn. It was what had made them what they were, the thing that tied them together was soaked with ill intent and lack of knowledge of the possibilities, the power that was innate and curled deep inside. The Calling; always there but just waiting for that one moment of strength to summon the shadow from within but weak enough for the counterpart to punch and rip its way out of the cage that had sealed it away. The power to throw down angels and the ability to give a demon wings. Humans were the ones who created and destroyed worlds, an example being the one known as Alessa.

Her pain and anger had poisoned her, turned the power inside of her more viscous, more rancid than any that had come before. The power, the potential within that become diseased and festered while giving Alessa the power to bring to life her darkest dreams. Alessa had believed that her anger and wrath had made her into a god. She believed that she created Silent Hill and the many other realms and plains. She claimed Silent Hill as her own personal world. Her Hell.

She was not the first, nor would she be the last. All that she had done was open the door that had always been there. Opened to door to those that had waited so long for an entity powerful enough, fierce in body and presence that they could tear the door off of its hinges and allow for another world to break across that breach. The seam that had separated the worlds was no longer solid, becoming a mere trickling stream to cross rather than the unending bottomless ocean.

No. Alessa was no god. At least not his god. If he had to say that one being was his god, then he would be forced to admit that it was James.

James. The one responsible for giving life to him. They were on opposite sides of the mirror too similar to be differentiated, separated only by the mechanisms turning and rolling inside of their heads.

So then what was James to him?

A father? A brother? Lover? Was there anything that bound them together?

Was he nothing but a stray thought? Just a simple mistake?

They were both totally different. They were exactly the same.

How that thought made him rage and want to tear the man into strips of meat and bone.

How it made him want to chain the man and hide him far and deep where only he could see and touch him.

'IS THIS A COMMON THING?' He thought this as he tore through the door, finally seeing the man as he shielded his face from the flying debris as it crashed around him. 'DO THE CREATIONS EQUALLY HATE AND LOVE THEIR CREATOR? LET ME LOOK UPON YOU AND SEE JUST WHO YOU REALLY ARE.'

……

James Sunderland.

Husband.

Widow.

…Murderer.

His hands closed over the convenient handle that James' wrists offered. A low snarl trickled from his lips as his fingers tightened over wrists that were smaller, weaker than his own. He could snap and crack them open with hardly any effort. Pierce James' flesh with the ragged ends of his own bones just by tightening a hand and yanking hard enough to the side.

'YOU BECAME A MURDERER WITH THESE HANDS. THESE HANDS, WERE THEY THE ONES THAT SHAPED ME INTO WHAT I AM?' He asked himself.

'I COULD BREAK THEM. I COULD BREAK YOU. YOU ARE WEAK. I CAN DENOUNCE YOU AND OVERTHROW YOU. I COULD KILL YOU, EVEN IF YOU ARE MY "GOD".'

'SO WHY HAVEN'T I?'

It was a bittersweet victory to hurl that smaller form away and watching James smash into the ground. His body bounced like a rag doll, face buried against his arm as he fell among the gore and gristle. He caught the clatter of the handgun as it flew across the floor and the shine of the glass shards that symbolized the damaged state of the man's only light source. Symbolizing his fall from grace without the light to guide him.

'BEHOLD.' He wanted to laugh at James' predicament. 'THE LIGHT ABANDONS YOU. AND NOW, YOU KNOW ONLY THE DARKNESS.'

The blood was spilling across and tainting James' clothing, sullying the relatively clean and neat pants, shirt, and jacket. James cringed back from a shattered limb of one of the mannequins that lay close to his face. His hands slipped along the thick streaks of fluid as he attempted to rise to his knees. Hearing the demon slowly approaching him, James turned partially, looking over his shoulder with fear-filled eyes. His body was visibly shaking, the tips of his hair dyed crimson from being dragged through the gore.

A strangely alluring and poignant sight that made something inside curl and flex with rising interest. 'YOU ARE AN ATTRACTIVE MAN, JAMES. BUT YOU ARE ALMOST BEAUTIFUL IN THIS MOMENT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME WITH SUCH FEAR BUT ALSO SUCH OBSTINACY, EVEN IF YOU ARE COVERED IN BLOOD.' He couldn't help but acknowledge.

Indeed while James was clearly afraid, eyes shining with the fear, they also hardened and his lips tightened seemingly to avoid making any sound of distress for the demon to gloat over.

He barely made a sound even when the demon's hand fell and circled his throat. A short grimace of pain marred his face as he was again lifted bodily up off of his feet wheezing as the hand encircling his neck so quickly cut away his air. Smaller hands closed over the larger wrist connected to the hand that was slowly strangling him, squeezing as if he had any hope of tugging the punishing grip away.

But it was in vain. James was no match for the strength that lay within the demon.

With several large steps, he was standing in the same area where he had carried out his attack on the two mannequins. A rough shove and James was forced into a sitting position on top of the counter. The man banged his head against the small cabinet as he instinctively jerked back and away from the hand that fell slowly away from his throat. James coughed brokenly, swallowing around the soreness from the sharp grip that had been removed from his windpipe.

His hand did not travel too far from James. Grabbing a thick handful of shirt and open jacket he forced the man to sit still until they were pressed chest to chest. He couldn't help but grin at the look on James' face as the bulk of his body forced its way between James' knees so that he was trapped close and tight with nowhere to go.

James shoved at his shoulders, twisting his head away from the pyramid helmet that hovered so close above his forehead. In silent warning his hands fell to clench around the top of James' thighs, the threat left unsaid between them.

'YOU KNOW I COULD DO IT. I COULD RIP YOUR LIMBS APART, JUST LIKE I DID TO THOSE TWO. BUT THE QUESTION IS, WILL I?'


***********************************************************************


'I won't scream…I won't beg…I won't…I…' James' internal mantra was failing to offer any comfort. He was shaking so violently that the hands that lay over the top of his knees were the primary forces that kept him from spilling into a useless heap onto the kitchen floor.

He was also shaking from the cooling temperature of the blood that was pressing and trickling across his skin, pushing its way through his clothing. His neck itched from the thin tendrils of red that slid down from damp strands of hair. He couldn't shift in discomfort to try to shake or wipe the unsettling moisture away, his body too stiff from being thrown across the room.

'I hurt all over…' James' body was aching from the attack in the closet, the numerous scratches stinging from the contact of blood along open wounds. Chest and shoulders ached from being used as a cushion when he had slammed into the floor. His head….it felt like someone was using a hammer along the inside of his brain cavity.

There had been no mercy in the attack, not that James had expected any. Pyramid Head drove into him with punishing brutality, James fearfully that he would end up as a lone smear across the floor by the time the demon was through beating and breaking him down.

'What the hell is he?' He thought numbly. 'Some kind of curse, something that's sole purpose is to torture me?'

The shoulders that his hands were pushing against may as well be made of brick since Pyramid Head was not budging an inch away from him. His body was pressed close to James, but loose like the smaller man's struggles were as weak as a fly's.

'I'm scared. I'm so fucking scared. Am I going to die here? No. I've made it this far already, just to end up trapped here and used as a punching bag.'

'Mary.'

'Mary, if it's true that it ends here, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to make it and to find you.'

James stilled his struggles, accepting how pointless they were becoming. Both of his hands fell away from Pyramid Head's shoulders to rest at his sides. He hissed as they pressed against the cold tile, cuts stinging from the icy contact. His head felt suddenly too heavy for his neck to hold. It fell back so that he was peering up at the helmet that masked his attacker, somehow able to sense where the eyes were that obviously watched his actions.

"Do it…Just do whatever you're going to do, then. I can't stop you." James admitted. He felt like he was daring the demon to finish off the job. Perhaps goading him would make James' death much swifter then it had been previously intended. Any small victory on his part he would gladly take with him to the grave.

He didn't want to see what Pyramid Head's response would be. Closing his eyes, for what he believed would be the final time, James hung onto the hope that perhaps if he were fortunate enough, he may find some way to once again be given the chance to search for his wife in another life or time.

It was the only hope that seemed worth holding onto.


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


When James' eyes fell shut after the man's dare, he felt such rage, such fury that he could have and was resisting the temptation of snapping the man's neck. He resisted it, though, knowing that such level of damage would bring him little.

The fool. Did he really think he could goad him? Him? The Red Pyramid?

Apparently.

He let the silence and the stillness hang around them, letting the tension and the moment build.

Allowing himself time to scoff at what James was obviously doing.

'TRYING TO ENVISION YOUR DEAD WIFE, JAMES? HOW LITTLE YOU KNOW. THE DISEASE STARTED HER PAIN, BUT YOU ENDED IT. WOULD OTHERS DESCRIBE YOU AS HER SAVIOR, OR HER EXECUTIONER? AND GUESS WHERE THAT LEAVES THE TWO OF US?'

His role was obvious. He was James' judge and punishment. He knew that from the beginning, before he ever laid eyes on the man. He had been born for him.

That gave him a great deal of power over him. And that presented him with so many possibilities.

It would be too easy, really. To beat James into bloody and ragged pulp. To kill him. To assault him in mind and body. But it was far too anti-climatic and seemed too degrading for the individual who was responsible for his being. James had BELIEVED, and thus, Pyramid Head had come to life. He had a purpose that revolved, surrounding James like a circling predator.

It all came back to James. James, who believed that he deserved to be punished for his deed, even though he had repressed what exactly he was being punished for.

Personally, he couldn't care less for punishing James for ending his wife's life. As brutal of a thought that it was, the disease would have killed her ultimately. It would have been long and painful, and Mary would have most definitely have hated James for allowing her to suffer in such a way.

So, why was Mary calling for James, haunting him even when she was gone? Because James wanted to also believe that there was a chance that, his wife was alive and whole. He wanted her, felt that he couldn't live without her. Too afraid to live for himself but too afraid to die, all because of the memory of his wife.

If only he knew what she had become.

She didn't want to punish James because he had given her a swifter and less painful death. She wanted to punish James because he thought he deserved her wrath. He was willing to play the martyr for her. Even though it had been her in the hospital who had screamed at him to leave her alone, to get out and to get away from her.

James punished himself far more than anyone else could.

So, why did he want to be the one to punish James since he ignored the one thing that James was guilty of?

Because he could.

Because he had the power to.

Because he was selfish, and perhaps the punishment would make James wake up to the fact that now, he would never escape from the hell he had created. That he had shaped the world of Silent Hill. He had created the Red Pyramid, unintentionally, irreversibly. But at the same time that birth had brought with it great power that the Red Pyramid was willing to use on what he saw fit.

Whether James was his god or not, ultimately James was his, as he was James'.

And now that James had fallen, and could not find the strength to rise again…

How could he not want to pounce upon that opportunity and hold it tightly to him?

To claim the One that had finally come and awakened them. The One that would never leave this town and would be bound in this limbo for all eternity trapped by the force of his own creation and power. Like Alessa, but with far more naiveté regarding his role in the world and far more desirable than that harpy could ever be.

Oh, he was a Monster to think and dream of such things. But he already knew that. The humans who hissed at and condemned such intentions and darkness were reacting towards their fears and the wickedness that was already spreading its seeds inside of their own souls since the moment they looked at the world with open eyes. Innocence was an illusion, a short dream that passed by in the flick of an eye. The only ones who could claim any vestige of innocence were infants and children. But they would grow up and out of that fantasy time and life.

His hands were opening and closing, clenching and unclenching as he settled deep in thought. Really, what could he do? There were so many possibilities, but there were as many consequences that he didn't have the desire or patience to contend with.

For one thing: he did not want to drive James to insanity. A babbling and drooling fool was an eyesore and a symbol of his lack of control for allowing permanent damage to be left behind. It would be better just to end such humiliation with the twist of a hand before it started.

To avoid that, he would have to reconsider some things.

Punishment could not be ignored. By the rules of this world and by that…woman…whatever she had now become…Alessa…James had to pay some price. Every action had a reaction. That was the primary law.

But was there a chance that a punishment existed so that James would be unable to run away from Silent Hill. He didn't need to want to stay here, in this limbo, with him. Not initially, at least.

There was the same small dilemma that kept his mind running in circles. What was the appropriate punishment? What would truly make James break but also keep him whole?

It suddenly struck him, so suddenly that for a moment he felt like a complete imbecile.

A sharp grin followed his revelation.

A punishment…but also a reward.

'NO MATTER YOUR CRIME, YOU STILL BRAVED YOUR FEAR AND CAME HERE. EVEN AFTER FINDING THE TOWN DEAD AND LEFT TO ROT IN A GRAY WORLD OF MONSTERS AND LABYRINTHS.'

'SO, YOUR PUNISHMENT FOR DARING TO COME HERE...'

'YOUR REWARD FOR HAVING MADE IT…'

'…IS THE TRUTH.'

That truth would set James free. It would set him free as well, to allow him the chance that no other had ever had an opportunity to do.

To overtake, overthrow, and overpower his creator.


***********************************************************************


'What is he waiting for?' James couldn't help but wonder. His body was rigid and clenched tight as he waited for the expected blow that would most likely kill him. Would it be fairly painless, or drawn out? Would he be able to keep from screaming or begging, or would he be choking around the pain and blood unable to sound out his agony?

He needed to stop thinking about it in such horrific detail otherwise his heart may just decide to give out on him and end the indecision.

Coiling together the last vestiges of his bravado James carefully opened his eyes, head ducked so that he was peering up through the sweaty fringes of his bangs. The pyramid helmet was dangerously close to his forehead, so close that James could reach out with one hand and trace the long lines of metal and edges.

Not that he was remotely brave enough, or perhaps foolish enough, to attempt such a feat.

He cringed and bit back a sound of pain as the hands upon his legs clenched and unclenched without thought of his sensitive state. The innate strength within those latex-covered hands caused an ache that reached down beneath his skin making James worry about the chance that he would have hand shaped bruises across his flesh.

The demon must have been waiting for James to become somewhat distracted. With the striking speed of a snake the hands on James' knees shot forward and clapped over his face, fingers caging the front of his skull in an unmoving grip. The thumbs and first two fingers felt as if they were digging into the tissue of his cheeks and into the edges of his eye sockets, James' eyes had been forced wide open by the stretched fingers and tight hold. The farthest fingers out of all five of Pyramid Head's fingers were buried among the hair along the edge of his skull that was above his ears. Anchoring the man's head so that he was forced to let his shoulders drop in acquiescence or else suffer the strain of twisting within that unforgiving cage of the demon's hands.

James wasn't willing to remain as limp as a doll. He didn't know what the demon's intentions were, but something in his head was nearly shrieking in warning that whatever Pyramid Head was planning could hurt him beyond anything he had anticipated. Whatever intuition or voice was warning him, didn't seem to notice that Pyramid Head could just as easily harm him by crushing his skull since he was capable of doing such a thing if he could tear limbs out of their sockets.

"Get off!" James cursed and flailed grabbing onto the rough hands that gripped his face. His legs were kicking as far as possible, but the motion only allowed Pyramid Head to pin him down further as James' struggles caused him to slip downward and sprawl awkwardly across the countertop.

His skull throbbed and the pressure was mounting as he struggled erratically. Attempts to slam his boots into the demon had no success since they were pressed tight together with not enough space for him to draw back and strike out.

The hands were too solid to budge and rip away from his skull. Too hot, so much that James was certain that his flesh should be smoking and popping. "AhhHhh!!" James choked in pain as the heat began to dig deep like miniature lances twisting and tearing through muscle. It seemed to grow and grow from within, spreading through him and winding its way as far as it was able to reach.

His hands couldn't gain real purchase on Pyramid Head's due to the slickness of the gloves and the crusting blood. He cried out as a flare of heat made his palms burn and the cuts along the damaged flesh nearly screamed from the scorching burn. His skin turned a bright red from the contact, trembling from the shocking heat that had sparked between his hands and the demon's flesh.

'Hurts…oh GOD!!!….I'm being burned alive!' James was now making inarticulate and pained sounds as the skin beneath Pyramid Head's hands and fingers began to grow pink and red from the heat, the burning sensation leeching into his brain like hot knives. The heat lanced into parts of his brain almost scalding the inner flesh on contact. Disrupting nerves and neurons and making signals shoot and stutter in an uneven tempo.

He was thrashing so hard and wildly that Pyramid Head was having a difficult time keeping him from slipping to the floor. James was trying to curl into himself and huddle away from the pain that was slowly eating into him. He didn't hold back the continuous screams that began to spill out like a broken record playing over and over. His throat was seizing and screams softened as saliva in his throat and mouth dried up. James was rocking himself forward until his forehead nearly touched his knees, blind to the world around him while bright nova light burned within his retinas.

James' eyes rolled back showing only whiteness, but the act gave him no mercy from the pain as Pyramid Head's hands begin to slowly but determinedly sink into his flesh inch by inch. Pushing past the aching skin, fingers curling and delving deep while his body shoved James tight into the narrow space as his body began to buck and rock from the attack.

There was no blood flow. Bones did not break, and flesh did not rend and shred. When no spaces lay between the two, Pyramid Head's torso began to melt and shift into James until they were connected by flesh. And still the demon continued to fall and sink into the man, as if allowing himself to be swallowed by a black hole or quicksand. No physical laws could explain such an act and how James' body didn't disintegrate and shut down under the crushing force of the demon's larger bulk.

The pain of their two bodies melting into one another and Pyramid Head physically melding into him was beyond description. It wasn't bearable.

A loud sob of pain when Pyramid Head finally stopped and held himself from continuing to meld with James. But the demon's torso was halfway into James and their hips and thighs could not be easily distinguished from the other. His hands were buried deep with James' flesh surrounding the area where his wrists disappeared into the man. Pyramid Head's elbows were half-buried in James' chest like he was propping himself on top of the man. As he breathed and shifted, Pyramid Head's form shifted deeper and sometimes withdrew out of James' form like there were no physical barriers between them.

To watch it was astounding. It was like James' body was incorporeal, but he was obviously there. For the demon to push his hands and body so deep into James without blood spilling or the human's body breaking under the force was impossible.

Pyramid Head pushed as close as he could until they lay chest to chest, James somehow able to sense past the pain and feel the two heartbeats as they raced and pounded beside one another. James could sense when their eyes met, even through the obstacle of the helmet that masked the demon's face. 'Is this how you plan to kill me, then?' It almost hurt too much to think the words paining him like broken glass along his brain. 'Are you going to tear me apart from the inside?'

He didn't need to wait long to find out. The demon's hands that were buried within James' head clenched and twisted as if gripping something tangible inside.

James felt something inside of his shatter and break underneath the unforgiving onslaught.

The dark corner of his mind, where he hid his deepest fears and every memory that haunted him began to seep out like an oily river. Broken free of the fragile crystal ball that had sealed it tightly away, with the fear and regret that had surrounded it, now was freed to wash away everything that had kept James from allowing himself to see what he needed to see. All was washed away with the truth.

It was then that James thought he had truly died.

Every fuzzy image and recollection was blown open and flared to life with a bright nova of light that nearly blinded him even though it burned within his head and not in front of his eyes.

'No. No. Not three years. She wasn't gone for three years.'

'But the note….'

'I can't…'

'Where is she?'

'She's not here…'

'Mary, you're so cold…'

'Why aren't you breathing?'

'Mary…'

'MARY!!!!!'

'MAARRRRY!!'

'Wake up! You have to wake up! I'm sorry!! You were in so much pain. I….I…'

'….What have I done?!'

'I came here to save you.'

'But it was I who….'

'I was the one who….'


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


The devastation in James' eyes was proof of his success.

'AND THAT IS THE TRUTH THAT ONLY I CAN OFFER. THAT ONLY SILENT HILL CAN OFFER. BUT SOMETIMES THE TRUTH CAN BE ENOUGH TO KILL YOU.'


***********************************************************************


It could have been minutes, or hours. Even days until finally Pyramid Head's hands pulled back and out of him without a sound leaving James' skin unblemished, their bodies separating until a sliver of space lay between them. The cuts and scrapes from being slammed around and grabbed onto were numb like they had been dealt hours before. Not that James could have told anyone how much time had passed. His eyes had rolled forward into their proper position but the pupils were dilated. He could barely define the color and textures of the kitchen around him, lean flopping weakly to the side.

The crashing roar filled his head, a bone-thrumming pain as everything swirled around in a never-ending tide. Neurons and clusters of nerves sparked and fired panicked signals in the face of such an onslaught barely able to keep up.

Pyramid Head could allow the small distance to lay between them, knowing that James was still caught in the last dregs of the river of memories that was flowing within his head. His limbs had gone limp and were useless to hold him up. Pyramid Head slid close and used his bulk as a barrier when James slumped against his front, the contact causing the man to make a abrupt sound of discomfort. James' body wouldn't work for him, even when he screamed and shouted in his head for his limbs to move, to do something.

The bright shine of pinks and reds were fading from his skin where the demon's hands and body had sunk into him. The trauma of it wasn't even close to fading. James' breath was ragged and short, chest rising and falling in miniscule shifts. His mouth opened as if he would make some sort of sound or was attempting to form a word, but soon would fall closed and James would either shake his head raggedly or his eyes would flicker open and shut.

He barely noticed the heavy weight of the hands gripping the top of his shoulders. The grip caused the material to shift and James was again aware of the cooling blood that had soaked into his clothes, now making the fabric stiff and frigid to the touch. He was trembling from the coolness along the surface of his skin and from the cold spot that had settled inside of him. A hard ball with needles and spikes of ice that branched out within.

James only blinked slowly as the helmet drew close enough that he could hear Pyramid Head breathing, the sound rusty and ringing within the confines of the large red helmet. He didn't know what to expect now, and was too tired and drained to find the strength to care. A long moment hung between them, and James waited for Pyramid Head to make the first move.

It wasn't long before he did.

With a swift pull and a twist Pyramid Head grabbed a handful of the back of James' jacket, hauled him off of the counter, and set him onto his feet. Barely giving the man time to lock his knees into place before he was almost jerked off of his feet as Pyramid Head used that handhold to start to drag James out of the door and down the hallway. The man knew he had been in that hallway earlier but it had suddenly become an unfamiliar world to him. The walls he had used to trace his way along looked too far for him to attempt stretching his head towards to touch them again, their presence daunting. Everything seemed so new, like he had opened his eyes to the world for the first time. It left him in awe. It terrified him.

Pyramid Head didn't give James any time to contemplate the area around him as he headed towards the stairway dragging the stumbling man behind him, keeping James from falling but not allowing him to fall far behind.


***********************************************************************


Laura was just getting ready to leave the Apartment Complex through the main doors on the first floor when she heard heavy footsteps upon the stairway above her. The tread was long and steady, and from the sound, the person who was walking was far bigger than she was. It also sounded like they were towing something.

Half-expecting to see James coming down the stairs after having not been able to reach the key that she had kicked away, Laura ran back into the farthest corner of the room to watch the stairs, listening for the footsteps that were becoming louder and louder in the half-dark room. She was both curious and resentful to see where James planned to go. Was he searching for Mary like she was? Had he found some clue that told him where Mary had gone? The little girl pushed that bitter thought away.

The footsteps were at the top of the stairway and making their way down. Laura pushed back into the corner where there was no chance she would be seen. Midway down the steps and Laura was able to make out with the miniscule amount of light from the small windows the rough outline of a person coming down.

It wasn't James. At least, one of them wasn't.

James was being dragged down the stairs by the other man, practically falling against the taller man as he was pulled and led by the grip on the back of his jacket. The stranger's hand held the jacket so tight that James was almost standing on the tips of his boots all but hanging in the air. The man was unfamiliar to Laura, and dressed strangely. Taller than James and wider in the shoulders, wearing some sort of apron stitched through the back with heavy thread, stained brown and red in areas and with heavy black boots that sounded like drums coming down the stairs. The stranger was wearing latex gloves, like the kind the doctors used to wear in the hospital she had lived in for a while.

Taking another look at the man, she realized that in a way, he DID resemble James. She couldn't see his face since both men were now at the bottom of the stairs and their backs were to her, but the taller man had long hair down past his shoulders but the blond shine was the same color as James'. When the stranger's head surveyed the area and turned partially to the side so that she could barely make out the line of his jaw and neck, she could again see the similarities between the two men. Was the stranger James' brother, or something? But if that was the case, why was he practically dragging James around by the scruff of his neck?

And when did James' clothes and hair get so dirty and were patchy with big stains of brown?

As she was wondering this, the stranger seemed to have been satisfied by his brief study of the half-lit area before he strode purposely for the doors, James almost losing his footing when he was too slow to start after him. The doors were shoved wide open by one of the stranger's hands, and Laura covered her eyes from the sudden spray of gray light and fog that brightened the room. Dimly she heard the doors slam shut and the distant creak of the metal fence gate opening and closing that had sealed the Apartment Complex from easy entry.

Laura practically leapt out of the corner, not wanting to lose track of both men. Carefully she approached the doors and slowly pushed them open, peering outside into the fog and into the street.

Slowly she moved forward a step to the open gate turning in various directions ready to draw back in case she had been seen. The fence gate was still swinging slightly, hanging open, but Laura turned left and right but could not see a sign of the two men. It was like they had vanished.

Rushing the rest of the way out of the Wood Side Apartments and through the fence gate, she came to a sudden stop on the sidewalk. Looking left and right again, she still couldn't see any trace of the two men. How could they have disappeared like that?

Laura almost missed something on the pavement of the street. Cautiously she approached the mark, bending down and inspecting the fresh red stain shaped similarly to a large boot. Laura was on her feet in an instant when she realized what the red fluid was, and she traced with her eyes the steady trail of red boot prints as they disappeared in the direction of the Brookhaven Hospital.


***********************************************************************


James was able to guess the building they eventually entered by the name and the reception desk on the main floor. What he couldn't understand was why they would be going to a hospital. It appeared to be massive, from what he had been able to see from the outside. A person could easily get lost in here.

There were some new sorts of creatures here in the hospital, some sort of masked and pipe-wielding nurse demons, but as soon as they caught sight of Pyramid Head, they disappeared very quickly. Falling back down the connecting hallways and making themselves invisible within the shadows of covered corners. The other demons in this place seemed to obviously fear Pyramid Head, and James had noticed that the armless ones in the streets had been noticeably absent as James had followed/been dragged after the taller demon. Before he hadn't been able to do anything to get them to leave him alone, and now it was like they had never even been there in the first place.

He almost groaned out loud as another flight of stairs appeared, the tips of his boots catching on every other step as Pyramid Head practically marched up the stairs not allowing James to voice any disagreement. Very soon, they were on another floor the areas too dark for him to get a good impression at first. But his eyes slowly began to adjust allowing him to make a rough assessment.

The place was an utter mess. Some of the doors were obviously bolted shut, but others looked as if something had been pounding mercilessly on the metal or wood in an effort to break their way in. James caught sight of a door labeled Men's Locker Room as he stumbled past, one of the few that had legible writing on it.

Pyramid Head was peering into any room that's door was opened or that he could simply force open. That massive helmet turned and inspected every nook and cranny, seeming to take offense when something didn't suit him. Whatever he was searching for, he didn't seem to find to his liking.

Once again, they went up another flight of stairs, and James could have cried. He was tempted just to let his body fall limp from the exhaustion of being dragged around like luggage.

One room appeared to satisfy Pyramid Head, and James saw the logo S3 that marked the door. Inside was a fairly decent space. Not too little, but not too big. The only really interesting feature in the room was a fairly decent bed. The mattress looked almost clean, and the pillow and blanket suffered only from a small amount of dust.

James expected Pyramid Head to throw him into the room like he had in the Wood Side Apartments, but the demon was relatively gentle, merely giving James a light shove in the direction of the bed. James caught himself before collapsing on the tempting softness, looking over in wariness as Pyramid Head remained in the open doorway.

With a clear warning Pyramid Head pointed a finger at James and then the room in general, a decisive message for James to stay put. Having delivered that silent command, Pyramid Head shut the door with a resounding bang that echoed throughout the hallway outside.

James crouched over the edge of the low bed, amazed at what had just transpired. Was he hallucinating?

'He just told me to stay? Well, didn't VERBALLY tell me to, but it was obvious what he meant. Like I'm some sort of child or something.' James was flabbergasted and somewhat humiliated. Here he had feared imminent pain and death, and after being thrown and banged around and dragged through blood, gore, down and up stairs, he was now designated to stay in an unfamiliar room like he was a disobedient child.

With cautious steps, James warily approached the closed door, mindful of the slowly retreating footsteps. He leaned against the door with his ear pressed against the wood, listening to Pyramid Head withdraw from the floor, hoping that he was also leaving the building entirely. He felt much safer the farther Pyramid Head was away from him. His body stung too badly for him to appreciate the demon's own styles of kindness of providing James a somewhat safe haven to lick his wounds and an area to rest.

It didn't make sense why Pyramid Head had spared him, let alone dragged James to a relatively safe area for his wellbeing. What were his intentions? Was he planning on finishing James off later? Savoring the event?

Sighing softly James turned away from the door, leaning his back against in and slowly sliding down until he was sitting with his back against the only exit. His head dropped so that it was resting on top of one knee. He was beginning to feel emotionally and physically exhausted after everything that had occurred. His body ached and pulsed with bruises and numerous cuts, while his mind quivered from the horrible realization that he had been lying to himself all of this time. The shrouds of lies being torn free hurt like an open wound. With deliberate speed and painful clarity, he could recall every single detail of the crimes he had committed. Every brushing touch, each smell and taste that had filled his sense heightened every single memory.

'It's starting to seem like I really do belong in this Hell.' James pondered. 'And look how fast I've had a tormentor picked out just for me.'

A part of him, the selfish part inside, cringed away from the thought of being anywhere near that demon that had his sights set on disciplining James in whatever way he saw fit.

'By which would I rather be punished? The laws of Hell, or the laws of man?'

If he were to be punished by this Hell and Pyramid Head, James knew that no escape lay anywhere nearby, and there would most likely be no end or death for him.

'But I don't deserve to live. Not after what I did to my wife.' James argued. 'If I were to be punished by the police and the court, it would probably be considered first-degree murder. I stand a good chance of facing the death penalty.'

The ultimate punishment by human laws and hands: death.

James rose to his feet, boots scraping absurdly loud in the small space as he turned to face the door.

He couldn't stay here, that was for certain. He had been given a golden opportunity. Pyramid Head hadn't killed him, so now there was a chance of escape. But escaping was only part of what James was planning.

'This is for Mary.' He told himself. 'This may be the only way that she can have the peace she deserves. Even if I end up burning in Hell for it.'

His hand fell onto the knob, finding cold comfort in the heavy weight against his palm but doubt and fear made him pause.

Not fear of what the police would do with him, if he found some way out of Silent Hill and back to human civilization. He feared what Pyramid Head would do to him if he caught wind of what James was planning to do. James was pretty certain that trying to run away from him would not amuse Pyramid Head. And who was to say that those nurse demons out there wouldn't suddenly appear and block his way now that the more dangerous demon had left the building?

"Which is worse? The devil I know, or the devil I don't?" James asked, trying to come to a quick decision since this would most likely be his only chance out of this place. He didn't have to work hard to pull up a perfectly-detailed of Mary in a hospital bed, her face pinched tight in a grimace with anguish and eyes glistening as she tried to muffle the agonizing pain. She had suffered so long, but she had held on. Living for him while she slowly died inside. Even holding her hand to try to comfort her made Mary scream and sob in misery, limbs kicking and jerking underneath the rough scrape of a hospital blanket. She had been so strong, much stronger than he could have been under the same kind of despair and agony. And how did he repay her? With a lullaby and a fat pillow that gave her a swift end as her chest heaved for air. It had been quick, her body already so far deteriorated that lungs quivered and fell in search of oxygen. What right did he have to take the role as her angel of death?

What goes around comes around. It was time to make his amends as best as he could.

'For Mary.' He reminded himself. 'For her.'

A loud and steady groan signaled the doorknob being turned, and James carefully leaned out of the safety of the room and quickly surveyed his surroundings. Carefully scanning the dark hallway hoping that his eyes had adjusted enough that he hadn't overlooked any looming danger that was eager to take him out. Since he was without flashlight or a weapon, he groped blindly for the undamaged radio and flicked the switch back to 'ON'.

To his relief, there were no hissing static or warning whirs of gears. It was a small victory, but the radio hadn't worked both times when he had run across Pyramid Head. He would have to be very careful.

'Okay….slow and steady. I can do this. I haven't been in this building before, but I know that I'm somewhere three floors up. Just get to the stairs first and work my way down. All I have to do is get onto the street and somehow find my way to the flower shop. I know where to go from there.'

Wincing as the door made enough noise to echo through the hallway James slowly closed it behind him, hoping that neither Pyramid Head or the other demons would realize early on that he had left his designated spot. The more time he had between him and them the better.

His hand against the wall to guide him James carefully began to make his way slowly down the hallway where he knew that Pyramid Head had dragged him up the stairway. He made as little noise as possible, carefully stepping over and around any debris or barricades. It took him nearly three minutes groping around in the darkness before relief settled in him when his hand came into contact with the cold handle of the door leading to the stairway.

Once inside his hand sought out the hand railing, and with slow shuffling steps forward he found the top of the stairs and began to take careful and slow steps down one at a time.

It was nerve-wracking. With every step, he expected the radio to burst to life and for something to reach out from the shadows and strike him down. His own imagination would best him if he didn't slam a lid tightly over it.

Down one floor. He had made it to the second.

He took a moment to calm himself, taking slow and steady breaths. He knew that to panic would do little to solve his situation, and that his only options were to continue forward or to go back.

It wasn't difficult to make that choice.

James resisted making an audible sound of gratification when he finally reached the bottom of the long flight of stairs. He had made it past the second hurdle. Now he just had to get out of the stairway, through the halls and out the doors without anyone or anything noticing.

James carefully eased the door open and stepped out. The radio practically screamed as it came to life.

Instinctively James ducked, and that saved him from having a lead pipe shoved into his skull as the weapon clanged loudly into the door where he had been standing.

He scrambled forward, head down and running using the radio to signal when he was too close to whatever was attacking him.

A strong grip tugged at the end of his jacket. Without a thought, James pulled his arms free, mindful of the sting and burn from open wounds and stiff shoulders. Whatever had grabbed him stumbled backwards as it pulled hard and suddenly found the prey gone and the reward for its efforts only a piece of clothing.

James could just make out blocks of light ahead, soft gray light cutting through the small windows on the front doors. He didn't stop to slow down as he burst through the doors, almost falling down the steps in his haste. The doors bounced several times against their frame before falling silent, the force of James dashing through them ringing loudly through the area. Vaguely James heard rapid and shuffling noise from inside the building he had just fled out of.

'GO, GO, GO!!!' He yelled to himself, giving him no time to catch his breath. Just running, and desperately searching to find a familiar street sign.

It felt like he was running for hours, ducking by or pushing away the demons that drew too close, popping out of the fog almost right in his face. With every street corner and intersection he searched for a familiar name, making a quick change of direction down another street. James came to a screeching stop when he came to the corner of an intersection, gulping deeply for air as he read the street sign.

~LINDSEY STREET~

There! He knew where he was!

Taking a turn in the direction he knew he needed to go, James continued for another block or so before another sign began to shape itself out of the fog. Again he came to a stop, using the short time that it took the read the sign as a small break.

~SANDERS STREET~

One more! At the very least!

He was practically running on empty when he finally came to the next street sign.

~WILTSE ROAD~

Right over there. The flower shop! He could just make it out.

Using that as his guide, James ran for the tunnel that he had used to enter Silent Hill. The rest of the way was long and narrow, but all he had to do was get through the Cemetery, back up the stone stairs and up the rest stop.

He just had to keep running!


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


He had the sudden need to kill something. Slowly. Very slowly.

He KNEW, as soon as he arrived back at the Hospital, that something had occurred while he had been away and patrolling his territory.

The Nurse Demons shivered and cowered away from him, forgetting their weapons as they shielded their faces and heads turning away from his rage. One attempted to offer amends by presenting him with James' green jacket, but he grabbed the damaged cloth and threw it away with a sound of disgust.

Useless! All they knew was to attack mindlessly, even striking many of their own numbers in their wild thrashing. They couldn't comprehend a single command of keeping a lone human contained on one floor.

Shoving any stray female body that came too close he stormed up the stairs, his footsteps like thunder as he threw himself up to the third floor and practically ran for the room that James had been left in.

The door was nearly broken off of its hinges as he tore it open, confirming what he had already expected once arriving.

The bed wasn't even rumpled, having not even been used at all. Bare of any human presence or warmth.

James was gone.

James…was…gone.

What was so hard about understanding the command of 'stay put'? Did he have to go as far as to verbally tell the man? Didn't James understand that he was being merciful by not chaining and tucking him into the darkest and deepest hole in the basement of the building? He had given James a great boon no other had been graced with…and the man had thrown it right back in his face.

'YOU ARE MINE. WE ARE THE SAME, BUT I AM STRONGER, MORE POWERFUL. I AM THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN PUNISH AND REWARD YOU. BUT I SPARED YOU, AND THIS IS HOW I AM REPAID.'

'HOW DARE YOU…'

'HOW…DARE…YOU…'

'JAMES!!!!'

'YOU DARE TO RUN AWAY FROM ME?!'

At the same time, another small part of him was howling in disbelief and betrayal. 'HOW CAN YOU LEAVE ME? I TOOK YOU. I CONQUERED YOU. YOU CAN NOT DEFY ME!' It was the rules. By rights, he had won. Everything had been going precisely as it should until James had decided to be a fucking hero for that damned dead bitch. James may be eager to play the martyr for the woman who eagerly accept his demise and clasp it to her breast in order to feed her wrath from a painful early death. But if James thought that he could escape through death everything else that had recently come to pass here…

A roar, an animalistic fury poured out of him, and he spun and bolted out of the room.

'YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE BROUGHT DOWN UPON YOURSELF, JAMES!'


***********************************************************************


James had collapsed onto his knees just outside of the Cemetery. His legs felt as weak as a young foal's. It felt like lead weights had been strapped to his limbs trying to pull him down onto the dirt path. Everything just hurt.

What hurt worse was the sudden and painful roar that echoed throughout his skull, causing him to clap his hands over his ears as if it would stop the ocean of pain and noise. Whatever the sudden roar in his head signified, he didn't expect it to be anything remotely good.

'I think…it's safe to say that I don't have much time now…'

On his hands and knees James managed to push himself forward and onto his feet, using the trees and steep dirt inclines as support as he stumbled down the dim and winding trail.

'Was it always this long? It feels like every step forward is two steps back.' He wondered.

After several minutes of running/stumbling, James had to stop disbelief in his eyes as he took in the fork in the trail ahead of him. One small trail went off to the left and continued on and on, the one on the right took a sharp turn upwards in a steep rise.

'This…this wasn't here earlier…was it? I can't remember. I can't remember where I'm going…' James panicked.

Did this place shift and change when someone wasn't looking? Was that what happened? He was SURE there had been no divides in the trail when he had traveled down it earlier!

Was he running in circles?

James physically jumped as a loud metallic bang rang all around him from far, far behind. The sound was like the ringing moan of a hundred damned souls.

Another forceful bang and James realized what was making that horrible noise.

The Cemetery Gates.

'He's coming!!' His mind screamed.

He didn't need the time to determine just 'who' was coming.

Making a quick decision James took his best option, darting to the right and running up the trail that steadily sloped upwards. It was practically killing his chest and legs as he slogged his way up the steep trail, slipping through thick patches of dirt and leaves with the fog blinding him so badly that he could barely see his hands in front of his own face.

His hands made contact with rough steps as he nearly stumbled headfirst into them.

The stone stairs!

James was nearly on his hands and knees as he clambered up the stairs, feet finally scraping along concrete one he surpassed the numerous stairs.

'Left! Left! The car is that way!!'

Panting loudly James ran in the direction of where he knew he had left his car, the fog literally brushing his face as he ran.

When he had been running for several seconds, James felt a trickle of apprehension and extreme alarm. His car had been parked VERY close to the stairs. It shouldn't be taking him this long to reach it.

Up ahead, almost a hundred feet, he could make out a large rising rectangle of light, trees edging along the pale radiance. As he drew closer, he could make out thin dark beams within the halo that stretched up and broke the bright rectangle of light into thinner pieces.

'What is…' He was slowing down from exhaustion at first. He finally stopped when he reached the object that had caught his attention, hands closing around the thick metal bars as he stared out in horrified incredulity.

He was INSIDE the sealed and barred gates that led into town.

The sealed gates that had kept him from driving his car down the long and winding road, forcing him to turn into the rest stop and take the side trail by foot.

He could see his car, not even five hundred feet from him upon the cobbled paved rest stop and near the old dirty washroom. The driver's door was still wide open, and not too far was the familiar white van.

Next to his car between it and the washroom was another vehicle, a red sports car. Two people, a man and a woman were standing outside of the red car with a map spread out along the hood, both tracing the lines and details with their fingers and speaking quietly to each other. The woman pointed back up the road from where they had most likely driven, and the man pointed repeatedly at a spot on the map until the woman merely sighed and shook her head.

James' grip on the metal bars of the large gate tightened. With the strength he could muster he rattled the gate as loudly as he could, trying to make as much noise as possible. "HEY!! HEY!" He shouted, trying to get the two people to look over in his direction.

They didn't raise their heads up from the map.

"HERE! I'm right here! Help me, please!! Get me out of here!!!" James screamed.

The woman's head rose and she frowned at James' car and the open driver side's door. She said something to her companion, and the man looked thoughtfully at the car. He approached James' car and leaned into the driver's seat, soon rising out from within the dark confines holding up James' keys. The two appeared very uncomfortable about the abandoned car that had an open door with car keys still inside, but no occupant inside.

James shook and threw himself bodily against the gates, the metal bars clanging and rattling loudly. How could they not hear him?! He was right there, practically screaming his lungs out!

"Please! Please, I'm right here! You've got to open the gates! PLEASE!!"

It didn't make any sense! The fog was literally cut off from the rest stop by the gates, not a tendril of the soft gray dampness reaching out from between the metal bars. The sky above the rest stop was a soft purple, the sun disappearing behind low dark clouds. And trail below the stone stairs was unhampered by the damp fog, and wild birds and animals called out from the bushes and trees.

The man pulled out a cellphone from his pocket, flicking it open and pressing three buttons. He spoke calmly and rapidly into the phone, looking back into James' vehicle and reading off the license plate number.

"Why can't you hear me?!!" James screamed until his throat felt like it was bleeding, smashing his hands against the gates until the cuts reopened and painted the bars red. He gave a hard enough shake of the gates that for a moment it sounded like it would fall down all around him.

Exhausted and dismal he slumped against the gates with his hands wrapped around the solid bars. His forehead thumped hard into one of the bars, attempting to jar to life another plan.

A heavy sound shuffled from not too far behind where James had come up the stairs.

James hissed softly in distress, jerking partly around and looking back behind him, barely able to make out through the fog the broad stairs that he had stumbled up-

Pyramid Head rose steadily out of the fog, taking the stairs evenly and with no hurry. The pyramid helmet turned in James' direction as the demon rose to stand at the top of the stairs. James was momentarily frozen like he was a sudden caught facing onrushing headlight coming straight at him.

No. NO!

Not now! He was so close.

Twisting around he turned back towards the rest stop, kicking and thrashing against the locked gates. He had to get out, and fast. He just needed the two people to hear him and look over. But it was like he was mute or they were deaf to his cries. "Don't leave me here! Don't leave me with him!!" He pleaded.

It was like he wasn't even there. They weren't looking anywhere in his direction. They couldn't hear him screaming like a banshee. There wasn't even an interest in the large almost medieval walls and gates that stood as a silent sentry to guard the dark road into the town.

There was no hope in pleading or screaming at them. Some sort of invisible barrier stood between James and his freedom. 'Why aren't they listening?' James couldn't believe that he was so close and yet so far away.

James did scream, long and anguished as latex hands and arms reached around and encircled him from behind. He thrashed and bucked wildly within the solid heat of Pyramid Head's form, the gates crashing ominously from the two battling and pushing against the other. "Get off me! Get away! Just leave me alone!" James refused to let go of the gate even as the demon began to pull at him, his hands white as they clung desperately around the bars almost as thick as his wrists.

Pyramid Head's hands soon sought out the problem that was keeping him from physically grappling James away from the gates, sealing tight with punishing force around the hands that encircled the bars. James cried out in pain as his hands were trapped and slowly being smashed tight between hard unforgiving metal and the brutal strength of the demon's hands. When his hands slackened their grip for just a moment Pyramid Head almost tore them away from the bars, twisting James arms so that they wrapped around himself, allowing the demon to encase James' torso and arms within both of his. James kicked and jerked helplessly as he was pulled back away from the gates, the heels of his boots scraping loudly across the pavement as he continued to thrash about.

The fight that the man offered did nothing to slow the drag and pull of the hands and arms around him. He continued to shout and scream as a hand slammed over his mouth muffling the noise. Not that his cries had been answered earlier, but the act of screaming long and loud seemed to be his only way of declaring his defiance and rage.

He was being pulled away from the freedom that had been so near. He had been close enough to almost touch it if the space between the bars hadn't been too tight for him to squeeze an arm through.

Slowly the fog swirled around the two figures, both beginning to melt away and disappear back the way they had came. Falling away like specters.

James didn't stop screaming until they were right outside of the tunnel leading into the town.


***********************************************************************


The man shut off the cellphone and pocketed it. There was nothing else he could do; the police would respond to his call about a suspicious abandoned vehicle. No apparent driver had been around, but the state of the car was unsettling. It wasn't often that a person left their keys in their car with the driver's door wide open.

The wind howled through the strange large gates that stood not that far away. He stilled suddenly, and then turned in the direction of the gates and the darkness within that looked as thick as a wall.

"What is it?" The woman asked, curious of why her companion seemed so suddenly intent.

The man frowned, tilting his head and listening. "Strange." He said out loud. Shaking his head, he looked over at her. "I thought I heard something."


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


The chase hadn't been long, not even tiring for him.

For James it was another matter.

The man had stopped screaming and thrashing like a wild animal, finally. Instead, he hung unresisting in his arms, rocking himself with his head hanging low, a soft sob escaping occasionally. The failure of his escape had left a deep mark upon him and the man grieved over once again returning to the town.

The temptation of freedom had not been unrealistic. It was understandable why he had attempted to run. It must have felt like a harsh slap to the face to have his way barred when he made it so far.

But he would not let James' fear and misery allow him to escape the punishment for his error.

The few demons around them scuttled away or hid behind various cars and other structures. Eyes followed the two as he dragged the smaller man. None dared to follow as the two returned to the Brookhaven Hospital. The Nurse Demons that patrolled the interior of the building made themselves scarce.

He didn't drag James back up to the third floor. No, he had something else in mind.

Instead, he went down, taking the stairway that not even the Nurse Demons dared to trespass. Dragging the limp body with him as he went down, one, two, three levels. Down to the farthest floor and beyond the basement's basement.

No human had ever come down here before. At least, not alive. Where they were going was very special.

The entire floor was one long stretching unlit corridor leading towards a single open doorway. A lone light bulb flickered with a scant amount of life inside, outlining the barest edges of the items within the confines of the room. Various and widespread implements and devices were scattered and strewn about. Some had been tossed negligently to the side having no practical use at the moment but offered him a pleasant nostalgia when he recalled how he had used them previously. Others, the rare few which were his prizes, were maintained with almost obsessive care, not a hint of rust or wear and tear visible.

There was one item in particular that he was most interested in.

James was beginning to stir and a little amount fight was returning to him as he began to take in the room. Soft moans of distress echoing along the dirty concrete walls as he took in the sight of the few corpses that were left to rot in cages hanging from the ceiling. His arms tightened and he forced James to lift his head, not allowing the man to close his eyes or shield his face. He allowed James plenty of time to take in the sights, wanting him to memorize every inch and every surface.

'HERE. HERE IS WHERE YOUR PUNISHMENT WILL TAKE PLACE. I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THAT YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF.'

In the farthest reaches of the room, against one wall was a long wide black slab. Getting closer, one could see a long metal handle and a lock system on the outside for the metal bolt to slide into. The top of the black object looked as if it opened up, but it had to be incredibly heavy.

Not as if it was anything that the Red Pyramid couldn't handle.

James' struggles increased in magnitude while with one hand he slid the bolt out of the locking mechanism and with a heavy creak began to pull the top up, the door on top of the long black box coming up with its hinges groaning from the heavy weight.

James began to thrash mightily, sensing the purpose of what that box was for. He lifted the man off of his feet so that he would stop wiggling so much.

Propping the open door against the wall, he gathered James up until he was grasping the struggling man as if preparing to throw him down a never-ending gully, one hand gripping the man by his collar and the other by his flank.

James' struggles were useless as he dropped the man into the container, and with an angry motion slammed the door shut as James began to shout within the confines of the box. The rough fall had been greeted with a rough *CRACK*, and he gained a small bit of pleasure in realizing that the radio that James had managed to hang on to was broken and several of its buttons falling to the floor of the container. A hard tug and the bolt slid home, and James' hands and feet drummed dully from the inside of the box against the door.

He didn't need to worry about James suffocating. There were minute and barely visible cuts and slits in the thick metal, invisible from the inside so that no light penetrated into the box, but allowing for plenty of air for the victim to breathe.

James could stay there for the time being. A day or two would be enough to educate him of his mistake and of the consequences that followed. The man could scream himself hoarse but his pleas would no nothing to dissuade him. He had been patient long enough.

It was time to see if James was finally beginning to understand. Understand that he could not run, and if he did, James would never escape the taint that Silent Hill, that he had left upon the man.


***********************************************************************


A coffin.

He was locked inside of a black coffin.

James hands and legs were hurting, but still he kicked and banged his fists against the sealed door. It didn't budge an inch.

The space was so small. He could barely move around in order to turn onto his side, with no room in order to prop himself up. It physically hurt to move or stretch within the confined space but still he kept throwing himself as hard as possible against the door above. The blows he landed only caused his limbs to ache further.

He was blind. It was pitch black within the confines and James' fast and wild breathing was pathetically loud in the small space. He hiccuped softly, swallowing several times to try and dispel the bubbles of air that caused his chest to jump and twitch. In desperate hope he ran his hands as far as he could along every inch of his prison, hoping, praying for some sort of opening or weakness.

There was none.

The metal was too thick for him to hear anything, leaving him deaf to the outside world, in the darkness and his only companion was the trembling rush of his breathing.

"Let me out!!!" He shouted, his voice ringing and hurting his ears within the tight space. He felt small droplets falling from the roof of the container as his hands continued to smash into the hard metal, unable to see the red droplets falling onto his face and neck.

Other droplets of moisture spilled unguarded from the corners of his eyes and James flinched as his legs grew too tired to even flex or stretch. He had to fold his arms over his chest due to the small space and his hands were starting to sting when coming in contact with anything.

Was he going to be left in this coffin until he starved or died from lack of water? That would take days, maybe even longer.

James shifted around in discomfort, realizing how sore and tender his body was. He flushed in embarrassment when he realized that his bladder was suffering from a familiar ache. He flinched when his hips shifted a little to the side causing his stomach muscles to tremble. Heat flared from his groin to his bladder. It was humiliating to think that if he didn't get out of here, and if his bladder became too full…

'Don't think about it. Don't think about anything.' He tried to distract himself by feeling around for the radio, remembering that it had been on him when he had been shoved into the dark box. Maybe, maybe he could use get some light or something from it.

When his hands found the radio, he instantly regretting having formed any hope of using it.

The casing was cracked and falling off. Several of the buttons were shattered and missing. Even when he felt for the familiar switch and flicked in on and off, not a sound or hiss greeted his efforts. He had only been wasting his time and effort in hoping that it would offer him any solace.

With that last vestige of hope gone, James shoved the damaged radio away and curled on his side within the dark confines of his prison. As best as he could, he wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to keep warm, and perhaps as some sort of comfort. Small hiccups of breath and aching sounds echoed around him.

"let me out….please….let me out…I can't…I don't want to be here…"


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


A full day had passed, and he still wasn't quite considering the option of letting James out.

He did stay closer to the Hospital as he continued to make his rounds within the town, occasionally catching sight of the few humans that wandered the street. The older woman with short brown hair was of no concern of his. He would let her wander and search for her 'mother', no matter how useless it may be. She was wise enough to avoid him whenever she caught sight or heard him coming.

The little girl could be a nuisance, perhaps. She didn't belong here, but she wasn't willing to leave. Searching for her beautiful and kind Mary.

Mary…

Dead and gone, but left her mark behind.

And that Maria woman…she could be a problem.

She was there for a purpose, one that risked unraveling everything he had just accomplished. James would certainly fall for her spell, amazed by the sleek female who wore the same face as his wife. Not realizing the ruse that the woman carried out while smiling at him with the same breath, the wolf that hid itself in sheep's clothing.

He shrugged at that thought. If she became a problem, then he would deal with her. It wasn't as if she was going anywhere.

The Eddie person, he was someone that would have to be dealt with very soon. He was stuck in this town, seeing some of the things that lurked behind those walls but also blind to many of the others. Eddie was a danger to himself and a danger to any other humans. Already half-mad, deluding himself by professing his innocence and sniveling about how he was mistreated and verbally abused. Snuffling around like he was a whipped and repeatedly kicked puppy.

That didn't keep the man from sticking his nose where he didn't belong.

Eddie was getting too close to the Hospital. Whatever seemed to draw the man there was uncertain, but over the past few hours, he had steadily gone up and down the nearest streets that approached the building. At least the Patient Demons were doing their jobs in the streets and hounded the human until he was forced to back down and run for safety. But the man wasn't entirely stupid; the demons were guarding something and eventually he would find his way past them and into the Hospital.

From that point on…there was no telling what the man could or would do. He would have to get past the Nurse Demons first, and they would be quite eager to greet him with a lead pipe to smash open his skull. If by some odd bit of luck Eddie managed to scuttle his way past there wasn't too much that he could find. The only thing that he didn't want Eddie to find was hidden deep below the Hospital.

Again, if Eddie managed to have a bit of luck or misfortunes to find his way anywhere near the stairs leading down…

Later. There was always later.

He finished the last of his sweep and found nothing that required his attention. The only thing that caused him to momentarily pause had been the brief flicker and brush of Alessa's presence in the air around him. He had smiled at the dark slide of her filthy mind within his, amused by the girl's probe. Her efforts would provide her with nothing that could be used against him. She knew better from past experiences not to tangle too closely with the other dark forces in this limbo. While her powers and rage may be unique and particularly deadly in their own rights, there were plenty of other beings around that could snap her up like a twig and rattle her spite and gloated pride right out of her small body.

One day she would meet something that would respond less favorably to her probing searches. Waking up something else that would be in ill-temper and would response violently to being harassed by a little strip of a being that dared to bother it without giving it the recognition and respect it deserved. He looked forward to that time.

Returning back to the room and to James, he leaned over the black box that imprisoned James. He could not make out any sound from within, running his hands directly over the surface feeling for the body heat inside. Assuring himself that James was alive and breathing inside. He contemplated his next move, calculating the costs and the benefits.

Would James finally begin to learn?

Maybe. Possibly not.

If not, he would learn very soon.

'IT FILLS ME WITH PLEASURE, BUT ALSO WITH PAIN TO DO THIS TO YOU. IT'S LIKE I'M HARMING MYSELF, BUT ALSO HARMING A STRANGER. YOU MAKE EVERYTHING SO DIFFICULT, JAMES, WHEN IT COULD BE SO EASY AND SIMPLE. YOU LET YOUR HUMANITY BLIND AND TERRIFY YOU.'

He would wait and see. And if need be, they would continue this exercise again, and again, and again. Until he had worn James down to his lowest, stripping him apart until he was left anew.

Making his decision and finding it worthy he finally turned away from the box, heading for the doorway and calmly walking down the long corridor of his domain. He would wait one more day before he considered letting James out. That would be enough time.

If that didn't work, then there would always be next time.


***********************************************************************


James was now past the point of shame.

However long he had been in here, it was beginning to affect him. A listless babble filled his head to replace his voice.

Screaming and cursing Pyramid Head had done him no good, leaving his voice rusty and his throat aching. His efforts had only left his ears ringing from the continuous yelling. Inside he cursed Pyramid Head. He beseeched and pleaded for the demon to let him out. He was willing to do anything to get out, claustrophobia and solitude sinking its teeth far into him.

He had nearly cried like a baby when his bladder had filled to high capacity, hurting so bad that it felt like it would burst out of him. Over a stretch of hours it tormented him and finally ended emptying itself. His pants were stained, stiff from the drying dampness and the bitter smell made him nauseous. The simple thing of losing control of his bladder made him feel so weak and incompetent.

The cold had settled deep, like it was burrowing and making a nest in the marrow of his bones. His teeth clacked together as his body was wracked with shivers. He felt sick, stomach hollow and aching. The dull throb of open wounds had faded long ago, but he was aware of the tarnish and every mark across his skin. It was like a brand or tattoo left to haunt him.

James had been here, in this small dark space for so long that his limbs felt as stiff as boards. He could barely will his arms to lift as he once again searched the door above him, fruitlessly searching and checking to see if there was any kink or weakness.

He felt blind, deaf, and mute. There seemed no end to the pitch-black darkness that curled around him.

With a stiff sigh, James allowed his hands to fall and he twisted around to lie on his side wincing as stiff clothing from various dried fluids pulled and scratched against tender skin. He could feel the stringy strands of sweaty and filthy hair as it slid along his face and he shook his head in order to shuffle the annoying lengths away.

Lack of sleep had made him drowsy and his body spastic. Limbs and head would jerk at odd moments when he began to fall asleep, jerking himself awake and usually banging his skull hard into the metal nearby.

But he had to try to sleep, even to fall into another form of darkness, one that gave him time to heal his wounds. That would be a small blessing.

He curled and wrapped his arms further around himself, eyelids heavy as they fluttered closed. Just as he was beginning to drift and attempt sleep, a great rectangle of light burst free above him. James jerked from the painful brightness, burying his face in his hands to shield both eyes from the jabbing pain.


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


He jerked his head back with a noticeable motion away from the reek of a spoiled body, the door clanging as it slammed against the wall. The smell that rose from the black box told him a great deal of things, one of many being that James had been unable to control his bladder, and that the filth of sweat, blood, and urine had mingled to form a horrendous order even for him.

It may have not been a wise choice to leave James in for so long. The man's face looked noticeably gaunt and dark circles were heavy under his eyes or at least as far as he could see through the pale hands shielding the man's face. James was shivering uncontrollably, teeth clacking loudly as he huddled away from the light curling in as best of a fetal position in order to stay warm since he was without his jacket.

His face was stained red from where tears had tracked down his face, most recently from the suddenly spray of light in his eyes. Hair tangled and dirty hung around his temple with patches of various shades of brown staining the light strands. His eyes squinted and attempted to open trying to focus through the sudden spill of the small flicker of light from the lone bulb that was enough to make his pupils contract with pain.

James was a mess. He could barely look at the state of the man's clothing, where the majority of the smell was coming from.

That would be the first thing to go.

James looked up at him blearily as he hoisted the smaller man up and out of the box, noticing that James felt a little lighter than he had two days ago. He didn't bother to put the man on his feet, knowing that the stiffness would keep him from holding himself upright. One arm slung over his shoulders, his own wrapped around James' waist, and he was easily able to haul the lesser body with him, weighing a great deal less than his Great Knife.

The stairs were easy to stride up as he took two steps at a time, arriving at the second floor and moving in the direction where the Men's Locker Room lay. Carrying James' inside he took him past the lockers and into one of the showers where the entire room was covered in tile and lined with showerheads.

He placed James down underneath one of the showerheads, the man merely folding to sit down and blink slowly, eyes still trying to focus. He cranked the handles until water sprang out and James gasping as the sudden flow of water as it spilled over him. Taking the time to make sure that the water was comfortable enough for the human to handle, he bent down and with negligent regard to maintaining the state of the filthy clothing. He began to tear off large chunks of the soiled fabric. He was tossing the pieces over his shoulder like their mere presence disgusted and offended him. James tried to keep up with the disappearing state of clothing, hands trying to pull the ragged pieces off before he did, already having enough of being bodily lifted with each tug.

James stopped him when his hands fell onto the waist of his pants, like his smaller hands would really stop the demon. James' flush was bright and he turned away to shield himself with the ragged pieces that still covered him. He wanted to be the one to finish undressing himself. But he gave James the small bit of pride and privacy that he wanted, moving back and rolled his shoulders in order to shake the few droplets of water off of them and his helmet.

Turning to his left where he had seen a familiar white block he grabbed the small hunk of soap and tossed it at James' feet, not having to watch and make sure that James would clean himself of the stink and filth. The man reached out shakily for the bar relieved to have a chance to clean the grime that had formed into a persistent layer off of his skin.

He left James to clean himself in private. The ruined clothing at least assuring that James wouldn't attempt to run again while he was away finding something else half-decent for the man to wear.

Why was he taking the time or even caring about James' health, or that he was clean and clothed?

Because the sight of his creator lying in such filth and in such a state made him feel as if he had failed in some way, and failure was the last thing he could tolerate. It wasn't like he was beneath the capabilities of taking care of someone or something that held at the least marginal interest to him.

And James was well beyond being something of marginal interest to him.

The Nurse Demons shuffled out warily from their hiding places as he made his exit, answering the wordless command for them to guard the floors and not allow James to leave. They knew the consequences if they failed this time around.

It took him only a moment for him to familiarize himself with the town, recalling where and what each building held of value.

After searching up and down several blocks, he found what he was looking for. A somewhat decent looking clothing store, and through the dirty windows he could make out the large space inside and the racks of hanging shirts and folded pants in the wood cubicles along the walls.

The glass door was locked. He simply smashed his hand through and unlocked in from the inside, pushing the damaged doors open and forcing his way in. Not a single piece of glass imbedded into his skin and he shook the sparkling pieces off of himself. It wouldn't take long for him to find everything that he needed.


***********************************************************************
Eddie's POV
***********************************************************************


Some blonde man had just punched his fist through the glass door and broken into the clothing store. The building had offered no security so the act of breaking in had not broken a sweat.

Eddie watched from around the corner as the stranger disappeared into the unlit gloom of the abandoned store. The cracking of glass had drawn his attention away from his search for food, still hungry after the early meal. Laura was already pissed with him after already 'stuffing his face' with pizza and had left him to his wandering.

Was that the guy that she had mentioned earlier? What was his name? Jason? James? Had to be James.

But why the hell would he be wearing some sort of apron like people wore in a meat factory? Not any meat factory he had ever been in, though. Since when did somebody wear a butcher's apron that was sown from the back of the neck down to the bottom with thread as thick as his finger and wore such heavy boots and latex gloves? Didn't match the view he had of the guy's back and the long blonde hair trailing down to his shoulders.

Something smashed inside the store, a large display or whatever crashing to the floor. Whoever the stranger was, he wasn't being gentle with any of the merchandise.

Eddie hesitated for a moment before running as quietly as possible across the street until he was hiding right outside the open doorway and peering inside. Whoever the guy was, there was a lot of noise and awful banging to be made by just one person. It sounded like a small army in there.

He could just make out the outline of the big man's body near the back of the store as he ripped a shirt off of a hanger, inspected it before tossing it away and shoving his hands deep into another circle of racks. There was already a hip-length blue jean jacket slung over a broad shoulder, and the guy added a gray shirt on top of it. His body actions made it look as if he were performing some sort of chore that irritated him. But the care he took when he found whatever caught his eye left that theory in the dust.

What the hell was the guy thinking, stealing clothing? It wasn't like the clothing would fit him, since he was obviously larger than the size of clothing he was slinging around. The store wasn't cheap or anything; he was taking some fairly decent stuff.

That jerk. Taking other peoples' stuff like there wasn't anyone who could stop him. Moving around the store and pushing things aside like he didn't have a care in the world. Reminded him of Larry, the bully who would steal his lunch money and would laugh at him when he and his friends pushed him into a puddle of water or on the tracks.

Would his eyes bug out like Larry's did years later when he had shoved the nozzle of a gun down the bully's throat?

When the man's back was to the door, beginning to pursue the cubicles that were filled with folded jeans, Eddie slipped into the store and ducked behind one of the nearby clothing racks, trying to use the darkness to shadow his movement. The gun in the waist of his shorts was a heavy presence that just begged to be used and fired.

He didn't see the man's head lift up slightly and the face turn, a bright green eye peering over a shoulder through long strands of hair. Muscles along the face flexed and moved as if he were breathing deep through his mouth and nose. The man smiled sharply, lips pulling back in a leer.

If Eddie had been looking, he would have seen the broad mirror far in the back of the store and to the strange man's right that sat directly in the path of the doorway.

Eddie would have also seen the man's figure in the mirror, but with a strange and heavy pyramid helmet covering his hair and features.


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


Well now, this was an interesting turn of events.

He didn't truly need the mirror in order to keep the doorway in sight, but it had warned him at the same time that he had heard Eddie's heartbeat. Taking a moment, he had breathed deep, savoring the familiar sickly sweet smell of sweat and metallic tang of the gun. The man was carrying a weapon on him, probably planning to use it.

So, he thought he could sneak up on him.

Eddie was being a brave little puppy. For selfish reasons, obviously.

'ARE YOU REMEMBERING THE BULLY'S WHO PICKED ON YOU, EDDIE?' He thought with perverse pleasure as he easily tracked Eddie's movements without turning his head. 'DOES SEEING ME SOMEHOW RECALL YOUR FEAR AND YOUR PAIN? YOU THINK YOU CAN USE ME AS A SCAPEGOAT FOR YOUR ANGER?'

'TRY ME.' He dared, soundlessly pulling a pair of dark blue pants out of one of the wood cubicles on the wall. Dismissing Eddie for the moment, he tried to figure out if they would fit James. It wasn't like he knew the man's size or anything. Stepping back mentally, he briefly shaped his hands in the air in front of him, recalling the width of James' hips and the heaviness of his thighs when under the weight of his palms. This pair would work. James would have to go without socks or underwear, or simply come down himself to get such materials. He was only bringing James new clothing because he had caused the sullied and disgusting state of his previous attire.

Hearing a hanger fall to the floor from behind and to the left, he smirked and muffled private laughter as he listened to Eddie trying to soundlessly approach him from behind. Like an elephant trying to hide behind a blade of grass. His hands twisted the material of the pants until the fabric curled tight and he moved inaudibly in Eddie's direction.

Time to play.


***********************************************************************
Eddie's POV
***********************************************************************


'Where the hell did he go?'

Eddie was sure that the man had been standing right there. The last time he had checked, the stranger had still had his back to him and was standing with a pair of jeans within his grasp. Eddie's palm was sweaty and the handgun slipped around in his grip, the chunky blonde man pulling it out from the waist of his shorts.

Where was he?

Eddie ducked behind another clothing rack. There was only a little bit of light that expanded into the store. The clothing racks rose above him, shielding his position but also masking wherever the stranger had gone. The room was eerily quiet, nothing stirring and everything around him still.

Something fell to the floor ahead of him, and he quickly leveled his gun in the direction of the sound, arms shaking as the sound came closer.

A small clear globe with little twists of quartz sprayed through the interior, some sort of display item, rolled past his line of vision. It thumped mindlessly into the wall, clinking softly from the dull contact.

Eddie rose a little further up from his crouch, tracing the direction where the globe had come from.

The clothing rack at his back shook violently and something fell past his face.

Eddie gagged as something tight wrapped around his neck several times. He was lifted up off the ground, legs and feet dangling above the floor and his gun fell as he scrabbled at the noose that was choking him. His fingernails dug into the jean fabric, wheezing and coughing as he was lifted until he was hanging in front and above the coat rack with his legs kicking uselessly through the air.

Something within his neck was bending and snapping.


***********************************************************************
Laura's POV
***********************************************************************


"Eddddiiieeee!!!" Laura yelled down the street, stomping her foot angrily on the pavement. "Hey fatso, where did you go?!" She demanded loudly.

'You dummy!' She thought angrily, 'I don't know what I was thinking when I came up with the idea that you could help me.' Eddie was a lot older than she was, but SHE was the one having to look out after him. It wasn't like he could take care of himself. All he knew how to do was stuff his face with cold pizza.

And now he had disappeared down another corner. Hunkering around for food like he hadn't just eaten an hour ago. He was probably lost!

On the other side of the street, Laura heard something crashing around within one of the stores that's front door was busted open. A blob of shadows rocked and smashed around wildly from within, Laura squinting as she peered through the dirty windows trying to make out the dark forms.

"Eddie? Is that you?" She called out, taking several steps in the store's direction. "You better not have broken that door, you dummy!"

More crashes from within, and Laura realized that Eddie might be in there stealing or something. Eddie was going to get them in a lot of trouble if someone saw him doing that! It had been bad enough already when they had broken into the Bowling Alley and he had spent the entire time choking down slice after slice of cold pizza.

"Eddie! Stop fooling around. You're going to get us in trouble!" Her warning was apparently ignored since Eddie did not immediately appear from the store. Something large crashed to the ground inside the store with a warning creak of shattering glass.

Rushing to the door and darting inside Laura was getting ready to yell at Eddie and give him a piece of her mind when she screeched to a halt. Her eyes widened impossibly huge as she took in what was happening in front of her.

She had been right. Eddie WAS in the store.

But so was that man from before, the one that had been dragging James.

He was standing on one side of a clothing rack and Eddie on the other. His massive form stood tall enough that he was easily reaching over the top of the clothing rack. The muscles in his long arms bulging and holding fast. Eddie wasn't standing, though. He was up in the air being strangled by the thick fabric within the man's hands, legs kicking and his tongue sticking out from between blue lips. Somehow, the stranger had reached long arms over the top of the rack reached down and lifted Eddie up by the neck, and was using the jeans as a makeshift noose. While strangling Eddie from behind, his arms didn't show a sign of trembling or fatigue from holding the man all the way up in the air.

"..Eddie?" Laura stuttered fearfully, body frozen in place by the sight of the heavy man suffocating. It was sickly entrancing to watch flesh bulging and nerves popping along the edges of the skin while flesh sported little dots of red and black and blue bruises darkened and rose to the surface.

The man's arms strained and pulled tight and Laura looked on and listened in incomprehension as Eddie's face suddenly bulged and his eyes bugged out of their sockets.

**SNAP**

Eddie's legs stopped kicking like a puppet's strings being cut his arms falling slowly from digging into the material gouging into his thick neck. One of the man's hands loosened and let go of one end of the noose and Eddie slipped free and crumbled onto the ground on his stomach. His face was mashed into the floor from the fall.

'His neck isn't supposed to bend like that…' Laura privately analyzed the angle of Eddie's neck with surprising calm, but her mouth shaped her distress and terror.

Eddie's killer circled partway around the farthest side of the clothing rack. With a large black boot, he nudged the body onto its back, giving it a small kick as if to make sure that the body was going to stay where it had fallen. The stranger stepped the rest of the way around the clothing rack and came to stand and face Laura. She felt remarkably small and helpless underneath the bright blue gaze.

"J-James?.." She stuttered, peering up in confusion and fear.

The stranger smiled at her question, tilting his head to the side hair slithering and snaking across his face to outline the sharp grin. The dark smile of a wolf.

It was a nightmare version of James. He bore the same facial features and hair color, but the body was wrong and so was the attire he wore. And James couldn't possibly lift someone as heavy as Eddie let alone strangle and snap his neck in mid-air.

Whoever the man was he suddenly darted forward, mimicking a striking beast even though he stopped well out of arm's length from the little girl with that cruel smile still painted across his lips.

Laura screamed shrilly, shielding her face and making a mad dash for the door. Thin legs ate up the distance as she ran, never looking back as she fled from the stranger that wore a familiar face.


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************

He hadn't even come remotely close to her, but the little girl had screamed like a frightened rabbit and fled in the face of his staged wrath.

A soft sound of amusement echoed through the store as he watched the small figure disappear down the street.

He looked down on the floor at the cooling body, and then at the rumpled jeans still held within one of his hands. The two other items had stayed on his shoulders throughout the struggle. Snapping the jeans in the air with a loud crack he examined it to make certain there was no damage, finding himself remotely surprised that the clothing had suffered little from being used as a makeshift weapon.

Hmmmm. One could do amazing things with their hands if they really wanted to.


***********************************************************************


The warmth of the water that fell from the showerhead began to pull the aches and pains right out of his body. Heavy torrents of the flow had long ago washed away the grime and dried fluids, his hair darkened to a burnt gold shade from the wetness.

It had been a little difficult to remove his pants and underwear when the shower had soak them clear through, but he had managed to shuck them off with a wet sound of peeling fabric. His shoes and socks had been harder, but he had finally gotten them free and tossed them out of the range of the water and drains, and hopefully they would be completely dry pretty soon.

Pyramid Head had been gone for an easy half an hour, leaving James to soak and wash away the evidence of his time in the Wood Side Apartments and that hellish box down below the Hospital.

Two days. That had to have been how long he had been down there.

Felt like years.

While down there a small part of him had begun to shrivel and die, like a plant being torn away from the warm hand of the sun. His legs were having a difficult time of trying not to tremble and shake so badly even though the warm water was helping with sore muscles.

The soap had been a blessing. James had used it until only a crescent sliver remained after rubbing and scrubbing at every inch of his skin until it was pink from the constant treatment. He had used the last of it by creating thick patches of suds and using it to clean his hair. Dirty and rust brown water collected underneath him and slid down the drain.

The waterfall of warmth and cleanness had swiftly made him drowsy, the effort to clean himself surprisingly taxing and he felt so tired near the end of washing all the grime off of him. His eyelids drooped and shot open as he tried to stay awake, lacking in sleep after only managing brief restless naps while he had been imprisoned.

He raised his head at the familiar tread of boots, looking up in surprise as Pyramid Head came into the large space with three pieces of clothing draped over one of his shoulders.

Pyramid Head indicated with a hand for James to rise, but he hesitated his face flushed as he tried to cover his nakedness. "You…" He coughed, his voice still rough and making it difficult to speak. "…You need to look away."

The statement did not move the demon. If anything, he seemed confused by that request since his head tilted partially to the side as if questioning why James would point out the obviousness of his lack of dress.

'Well, he doesn't seem to get the concept of subtlety.' James noticed.

Trying to ignore the flare of heat across his face James rose slowly and carefully to his feet gripping the handles and turning them until the water flow ceased abruptly. Using his hands to shield his privates, he turned to face Pyramid Head.

He yelped as the clothing was thrown almost directly in his face, barely catching them before they fell. He huddled the mass of fabric against him.

"I get the hint." He mumbled under his breath.

Since there were no towels or anything around for him to use to dry off James tried to wring out his hair as best as he could, afterwards sliding on the pants, shirt and jacket. The dampness that remained on his skin caused it to goosebump, but the clothing was soft and just the right size even with him having to go commando underneath the pair of jeans.

His boots and socks were still somewhat damp but James didn't want to go anywhere without some sort of protection. He hadn't missed the shards of glass and other sharp implements scattered through various buildings and floors. Quickly he pulled socks and shoes on, expecting them to be on the move soon and not wanting to have to stumble after the demon while trying to finish dressing.

Pyramid Head awarded James' compliance by not snagging his arm and pulling him along, merely indicating with a jerk of his head for the man to follow him.

James stayed close, not wanting to raise the demon's questionable patience and ire. Moving slowly but staying within sight, he followed Pyramid Head down the stairs to the main floor, at least trusting the demon to lead him past the dangers that the Nurse Demons posed. He was thankful for the railing that ran along with the stairs, using the beams of metal as a crutch all the way down to the first floor while he tried to shake feeling into waking limbs.

Following Pyramid Head out onto the streets was far more difficult, the world outside almost unbearably bright and large after being confined to such a small and dark space. The few times he hesitated Pyramid Head turned slowly back around, just looking in his direction but James quickly moved sensing that he was testing restless waters. But Pyramid Head was determined for him to follow, like this quest was a confirmation to see if James was now more obedient to follow his wordless commands.

It was strange. Well, part of it was. As they walked, the Patient Demons not surprisingly lurched and drew away from Pyramid Head as he strode by, their twisting and stumbling forms almost bowing low to the taller demon as they ducked to avoid him. Not shocking at all for Pyramid Head to be revered and feared, all other beasts acknowledging his presence.

What surprised James was how they reacted to his presence.

Whenever James moved just a step too close by mistake to one of them, the creatures would nearly fall over themselves in their haste to get away. It was very unsettling. Before the demons had stopped at nearly nothing at trying to bring him down, and now they nearly ran away from him in fright. Was it because he was tailing Pyramid Head's shadow? Were they too afraid to attempt attacking the human and possibly drawing the stronger demon's wrath down upon them?

Pyramid Head's pace was casually slow but it allowed James to keep up well enough. Walking was giving his limbs time to stretch and sore muscles to work out any kinks.

Passing through the middle of a four way stop James almost missed the slim female shadow that was hiding partially behind the building's front archway.

"J-J-James? Is that you?"

James stopped in his tracks and wobbled before righting himself, body not quite ready to handle sudden movements. He turned in the direction of the familiar voice, recognizing the short brown hair and the scared face and timid form of the woman from the Cemetery.

"Angela?" James turned, taking a step towards her. "What are you doing here?" He asked. He tilted his head, trying to recall their conversation from the first encounter. It hadn't sounded like she wanted to be anywhere near the town, and yet here she was. "What are you doing in town? Did you find your Mother?" He tried to coax her to speak.

Angela's shoulders were twitching noticeably, staring at James like she had never seen him before. "You're not James. You're one of them." She murmured so low that James almost missed her words.

"What? Angela…" James tried to take another step towards her, but she automatically jumped, leaping back like she had been scalded.

"STAY AWAY!!" She shrieked, shaking her head wildly and pointing an accusing finger at the blond man. "You lied. You lied. Was it some sort of game you were playing, trying to pretend to be someone else?!" Angela demanded loudly.

"What are you talking about?" James shot back, confused as to what had caused the woman to begin acting so strangely. "Angela, it's me, James. I've always been James." He tried to sooth the distressed woman. "Nothing's changed since the last time we talked. You have to believe me."

"YOU LIAR!" Angela fired right back.

"Angela!" James' yelling didn't stop Angela from spinning away and sprinting like a fleeing deer. "Angela! Angela, wait!!" James shouted.

James yelled out it surprise as a strong manacle circled his upper arm and he was spun around, Pyramid Head nearly slamming James up against him. James automatically gripped the tight hand encircling his arm, trying to pull himself free. "I can't leave her! What if she gets hurt?" He demanded.

Pyramid Head tugged James towards him again, wordlessly ordering the man to follow him back down the street and away from the disappearing woman.

James planted his feet flat on the ground and locked his knees into place. He cursed the taller demon as he struggled wildly against the unforgiving grip. He couldn't just leave Angela alone! What if one of the other demons tried to attack her while she was running in a blind panic? He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened to her because of him. "I'm not some toy for you to drag around, you asshole!"

To his advantage, James sensed the other's intentions before the other hand came towards him to try to grapple him closer. Nearly wrenching his shoulder out of its socket he twisted and spun around and somehow managed to yank his arm free. He almost fell flat on his face from being relieved so quickly from the anchoring weight but he was quickly on his feet and running.

The demons up and down the street as he ran after Angela literally dashed around the stalled cars along the sides of the streets and disappeared down the smaller alleys when James appeared from out of the fog. James could just make out the faintest outline of the woman up ahead. "Angela! Angela, wait!"

She was already tiring from the short run, darting down to her left to disappear around the corner of the connecting block.

'If we keep this up, both of us will be flopping on the ground in no time gasping like fish. I can barely breathe from running such a short distance already.' He slapped a hand on the corner of the building and used his momentum to shoot around and down the block after Angela.

He almost ran right into her back, the young woman standing still in front of an open store as if rooted solid to the ground.

"Geez!" He yelped in surprise and jerked back to avoid smashing into her and sending the woman crashing headlong to the ground.

Angela wasn't paying any attention to James. Both hands were clasped over her mouth and her breath hissed fast and sharp from between her fingers. Eyes were wide and locked on something within the store.

"Angela…" James was concerned. She had been so agitated earlier, and how this. What had caused her impromptu mood swing?

James' eyes followed hers, taking in the stained and dirty windows and the single metal and glass door that had been smashed open and into the interior of the store. Clothing racks and displays were lying on their sides or smashed to pieces, clothing hanging half-off their hangers and some left in tangled piles across the floor. One of the piles not that far into the store drew his attention. The shape was wrong.

'Wait..no…that pile isn't just clothing..' James realized in horror, tracing with his eyes the tennis shoes that were connected to thick pale legs and blue knee-length shorts and a striped shirt and baseball cap.

The skin was totally wrong, too bruised and gray to be normal and looking as if it belonged to some sort of plastic doll. And the neck was at a very odd and gross angle. A dry tongue was sticking out from between dark blue lips, neck bright red and spotted black and blue. Flat glassy eyes stared up at the ceiling.

James nearly stumbled over himself in his haste to back away, clapping a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from taking in the reek of a slowly decomposing human body. "oh shit…oh shit, oh shit…"

This wasn't something else. All the other bodies James had seen had been too old and bloody that it had been almost impossible to tell that they had been human. Their skin had been flayed and gore painted thick, and no facial features had been present to determine whether the victims had been male or female. This…this wasn't what he had been expecting.

But why? Why him, and why here? Had the man been looking for supplies or something?

James looked up and found a sign labeling the store as a clothing boutique. The man may have been scrounging for clothing. No, the man's clothes were in decent shape. There was no apparent reason for him to be breaking into a store and-

He paused, hand rising to trace the edge of his open jacket while his eyes remained locked on the store's sign above him. The more the thoughts inside his head began to haunt him, the more ready James was to nearly tear the clothes right off of his body.

Pyramid Head had come back with clothing. Three pieces. He had to have gotten them from somewhere.

'No…it's too much of a coincidence. He had left the hospital. He had been gone long enough. And he did come back with those pieces of clothing…' Had the man been lured inside or had he been at the wrong place at the wrong time? There was no blood present and it didn't seem like Pyramid Head's handiwork, but he couldn't and wouldn't put it past the demon to be able to break a person into many pieces without separating them limb from limb.

"Did you.." James took a deep gulp in order to swallow the thick gorge in his throat and prevent his stomach from heaving, "did you know him, Angela?"

She didn't answer him, her breathing still hard and fast.

"…hey…" James' hand pulled away from the jacket and reached out and lay on her shoulder, hoping the touch would call her back to him.

It worked too well. With a near inhuman shriek she jerked away, hands over her ears as she screamed and cried. "Noooo! Why are you showing me this, James?" She sobbed, turning away from him and running half-stooped over from her continuous cries.

"I didn't…" James' hand still reached out towards her, eyes shifting from the sign above and after her, but stopped on the window. The slide of his reflection across the dirty glass had drawn his attention. He could just make out the barest details of his reflection…but something about it wasn't right. It was too distorted.

Angela and the body lying not that far away faded away. His vision tunneled and centered on the figure in the glass. As if entranced and having fallen under a dark spell James drew closer to the window reaching out and wiping at the grime cleaning the polished glass as best as he could. He looked back at the face that reflected back towards him.

"Oh my god."

He traced the edges of the face, cheeks, and mouth. He kept wiping hard repeatedly to try to clean away the hallucination that reflected across the glass's surface. The glass squeaked and shined brightly, utterly clean. But the face staring back at him kept shifting and changing.

One second he was looking right into his own face and then the features would shift, skin becoming a cool gray with dark blue lips and eyes a flat hollow gaze peering back at him. Just as quickly his features would melt and spin like churning water until his eyes began to tear from trying to focus so hard. And again the features changed, back to his normal features except the tears spilling out from the corners of his eyes were a dark rusty red and the rest of his face was covered in a thin crust of drying blood.

The eyes flared black, pupils and the white of the eyes all a swirling pool of shadows. Hair lengthened and turned pitch black, falling down his to the middle of his back. The mouth parted as if to speak and a viscous flood of fluid poured out. The face grinned back at him with teeth painted gray.

The figure in the glass coughed soundlessly and spat out the fluid. Hair remained the same length but turned a burnished shade of gold. Eyes flickered back to blue pupils. Lean hands slapped against the inside of the reflection as the twin face stared back.

James fell back and away from the horrible sight, rubbing at his own face as if it would wipe away and dispel the frightening image. "I'm losing my mind. I've gone crazy." He moaned softly. "Wh-what's happening to me?"

James didn't stop moving back almost running backwards until the firm heat and weight of another body from directly behind stopped him. He knew who was there without turning.

"It's a lie. It's not real." He mumbled both to himself and to the demon against his back. "This can't be right…"

He cried out in low pain as a hand clenched tight at the bottom of his skull and propelled him forward, nearly slamming the side of his face into the portion of the window that he had been peering into.

James clenched his eyes tight and tried his best to turn away from the shifting features that peered back at him in the reflecting glass. The face inside the glass turned gray until it appeared to be composed entirely of gray fog, allowing James to see through the unsmiling face and the individual strands of hair. "I don't understand!" He voiced his incomprehension. "I don't know what it is you want me to grasp. I don't know what's going on."

Pyramid Head jerked him back by the back of his skull until he was looking at the full image of himself that included the demon standing up against him. He gave him a rough shake and pointed at their reflection.

And the pieces slowly and terribly began to fit.

In the reflecting glass he was standing there, with his ever-changing features and shifting face. But beside him was another figure dressed in the same butcher's apron and attire that Pyramid Head wore. The stains of old blood that hadn't flaked off of the apron swirled like a large hand was shifting them. The face…

"aaahhh…aa.." He couldn't even voice the words or complete sounds that were screaming inside of his head. James was staring back at two figures reflected in the glass that were near twins of his own. He focused on the taller figure. The hair was too long but it was a perfect match. The face was the same if a little bit sharper. The eyes…the eyes were too feral, too bright. But with both of them standing together, James finally began to understand at least a small percentage of what it was Pyramid Head had been trying to beat and force inside his skull.

Sensing that James was beginning to realize and see the truth the smile that rose upon the taller and darker one's face, his twin, was as beautiful as it was nightmarish with teeth glistening bright and pale white.

'We could literally be twins from birth.' The voice was a dull roar within his head. 'We have the same face. But for what reason is that? It's like he's some sort of shadow, some dark part of me. Or perhaps I'm the one who is the shadow. Is that a hint of what purpose he has?'

Pyramid Head's hand fell from the back of his head. The demon reached for the glass that had trapped their image together, his hand literally pushing through the picture and shattering the glass. A white-covered hand caught a large shard of glass as the pieces tumbled and fell to the floor, the jagged tooth and carved edge dangerously sharp and easily six inches long.

He turned from the further damage he had caused to the storefront, facing James. The smaller man could only stare back up at him in confusion, not comprehending the other's motives.

Without warned Pyramid Head took a step forward and shoved the blade deep into James' stomach.


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


James' eyes widened and a burst of blood spilled out from between his lips when the glass blade slid deep into his gut. He felt the tip of the weapon click against one of the vertebrates of James' spine.

The hiss that escaped James' when the weapon slid smoothly back out sounded very similar to a balloon deflating. The blade was slick and completely coated with a dripping film of crimson that seeped between his fingers and down his wrist and forearm.

'LET US SEE IF YOU ARE FINALLY BEGINNING TO REALIZE THE INEVITABLE.'


***********************************************************************


The wet sound of the blade sliding out of him nearly made James retch if he wasn't already done coughing up the blood that had suddenly risen and filled his mouth.

James' legs came dangerously close to buckling from the lightning pain that was firing through his body. He clamped both hands over the area that the wound lay, split open, feeling the fluid seeping between the cracks between his fingers down the inside of his shirt and thighs.

"gg…Ggghh.." His chin was soaked and thick droplets of blood beaded along his jaw and fell to the ground. His teeth ached badly from clenching his jaw tight to try to keep more blood from rising up into his mouth. For a brief second he recalled the one face in the glass as the black viscous fluid had been pouring out of from parted lips. A cruel irony that had smiled at him.

'Guess I pissed him off enough that he's through wasting his time with me.' James concluded dully.

His conclusion was proven wrong very quickly. Or Pyramid Head had intentions to prolong James' agony as long as possible when his hands grasped the smaller ones and began to pull them away from the wound. Their hands slipped and slid away and together due to the slick qualities of the fresh blood that had spilled over them.

James grit his teeth until they it felt like they would crack and prepared for a fresh onslaught of pain and more blood as his hands were pulled away from the wound--

--That was no longer bleeding. Nor was it there.

James stared down at the open gap in his shirt and the darkened patches of his shirt and portions of his pants. His hands scrubbed at the spot where the blade had pierced him. He didn't even find a scar to show where the damage had been, the cooling blood over his mouth, chin, and torso the only physical signs of the attack.

"That's impossible." James couldn't believe that he wasn't already half dead from the amount of blood he was certain to have lost. The last of the blood in his mouth burned a metallic copper and he spat the last mouthful out onto the ground.

A clear whistling sound drew his head up and James' head snapped completely to the side from the flat side of Pyramid's palm smashing into his cheek.

The blow almost spun him in a complete circle from the force of flesh meeting flesh. This time his legs couldn't hold him and he dropped onto his hands and knees. Blood poured out of his nose and thick strands trickled and fell from his mouth clinging and seeping onto the pavement. James moaned in agony as he felt his face swelling and his gums pulsing fearing that his teeth had been knocked loose from the strike.

Pyramid Head waited patiently for several minutes as James tried to stop the bleeding, forced to spit several viscous strands out of his mouth and wiping a broad sleeve carefully over the sensitive skin of his nose.

The wound on his stomach had healed much faster, and the bleeding had stopped just as fast. This time, though, the blood flow was slowly trickling to a stop at a more human pace and bruised flesh flared with fever.

His body could somehow heal the damage brought upon it by a weapon.

But not the damage brought down by Pyramid Head's bare hands.

"Oh." He breathed in comprehension. Weapons didn't match the strength of a demon's hands. So, that was it, then.

It was now a proven fact Pyramid Head was the only one allowed and the only one who could harm him. Pyramid Head had taught him a quick and vicious of how fragile he truly was.

His dark twin had the power to control his life or death.

A bitter turn of events. To be punished by 'himself'.

He had gotten what he had wanted for so long. Payment for what he had done to his wife. It was a fair trade.

James was torn between bitter laughter and wretched self-loathing tears.


***********************************************************************
Pyramid Head's POV
***********************************************************************


And now James finally understood.

James practically collapsed full onto the ground, entire body shaking as he rocked himself and whimpered through the pain of his wounds and the painful truth. The blood from his wounds was being soaked up eagerly by the pavement above. The crimson fluid hissed slightly on contact.

It had been a long and hard trial that could not have been avoided.

The first part had been the easiest, ripping away the shrouds of lies that had cloaked the man's memories and the doubts that had plagued him. He had had to physically shove his way into James and grab it tight. It had twitched and struggled against within his hands, screaming along with James as it was ripped to shreds.

The most difficult part had been to deal with James' continuous efforts to flee and escape. No matter how far he fled, even to the edge of the gates, he had been unsuccessful in his flight. Even if he didn't get close enough to stop James' attempts for freedom, this limbo would twist and alter the trails and paths so that the man would always end up right back where he started. Close to the escape he craved but at the same time, too far away to ever attain it.

Forcing James to submit under the threat of further pain and confinement hadn't been the main method of testing him or his endurance but ultimately it had served its purpose. Humans could endure a great deal of things, but it only took a certain amount of pressure and testing of the kinks that existed in their armor until they eventually cracked under the strain.

The bliss and victory he felt made his head swim with euphoria.

Once again he let the knowledge spin around and around within, his accomplishment enough to make a den of demons howl at the moon. Better than any kill he had ever performed with his Great Knife or hands.

He was tempted to throw his arms and head back to the sky in order to roar and pronounce himself. 'BEHOLD. I HAVE TAKEN THE THRONE OF MY GOD, AND I HAVE BOUND HIM IN THE CHAINS OF MY STRENGTH AND WILL. NO ONE ELSE WILL EVER SET HIM FREE AND I WILL NEVER ALLOW HIM TO LEAVE.'

And he cast down his judgement and might, and the entire world and limbo grew silent.

In the farthest reaches and in the darkest deepest depths he could feel and hear Alessa as she howled her fury that another had risen to equal power.


***********************************************************************
Several months later……
***********************************************************************


Time slowed for no one. Not even for those who lurked and hunted in Silent Hill.

Pyramid Head had been very busy and focused with constantly reestablishing his presence and force throughout and even beyond the reaches of the gray limbo. He had gone as far as to make his way to Rosewater Park. Watched and waited with the patience of a hunting beast until he finally found her alone and unaware of the trap she had walked into.

Maria.

The copy of Mary.

The woman that had been formed and carried long-dead memories due to James' desires for the return of his wife.

They were both here, in this place due to the power that James was capable of unintentionally wielding. Bringing forth two separate entities both brought from the darkest recesses of his mind. But only one of them had come with a greater deal of power and strength.

It had been a personal pleasure and a small step to deal with a possible future annoyance when he caught the woman in a strangle hold and had bodily dragged her to the nearest body of water. Holding her head and shoulders under the water until she had stopped flailing and bubbles had ceased to rise to the surface.

The look on her face had been priceless. There had been fear, of course. But something inside had risen up from within and had made her face grow ugly as she instinctively recognized Pyramid Head as a natural enemy. She almost snarled like a large feline when his hands closed over her throat, two demons meeting head on and nearly spitting their rage and ready to claw the others to shreds.

Whatever bravery or savagery she may have possessed, nothing saved her. He chuckled at the irony of both Mary and Maria having met their end through suffocation although James had granted Mary a far less painful and more dignified end. James had killed her with his love. Maria had died because she wouldn't back down. But Pyramid Head appreciated the similarities.

Not that James would appreciate the sentiment.

Speaking of that one…Pyramid Head had felt certain enough to leave him alone within the familiar grounds of Brookhaven Hospital. He didn't need to offer the threat of the black box again, James nearly cowering at his feet whenever he caught sight of the familiar prison. On certain days when James was willing… or capable… of speech he would beg and almost grovel at his feet promising to stay where Pyramid Head indicated him to remain.

Slowly over time and through trial and error James had been allowed to wander farther and farther through the town. But he knew the signs for when he was being summoned, and was aware of when he had been gone from the Hospital for too long.

The long months had been trying. Some days James was more consolable and easy to manage during his brief spells of upset and irrationality. Other days he had to be physically strapped down. Over time that would fade.

He could blame James' more recent state due to Alessa's continued interference. She had been able to almost smell James' presence and the humanity that still tainted him. From afar she had let her rage and loathing swirl and grow and tried to seep her influence into James and corrupt him. The effects had nearly turned his mind to mush, but what had been surprising was how strongly Alessa had been hurled back and out of his mind without his demon counterpart having to interfere.

Alessa was forced to retreat and nurse the wounds she had received from the backlash. She was obviously waiting for another opportunity to strike. They could wait for her to make the first move if she got the chance. Right now, the shift in power and Pyramid Head's rise had altered many things. Demons were now growing in mass as the humans' fears and psychic forces fed their birth. The ones that were being born now were like Pyramid Head, though. They were able to sense their inner potential and they eagerly tested their limits to see what they could accomplish. Events were collapsing and moving fast in the human world and it reflected here. The worlds were changing. Other things, other beasts were rising and clawing their way from the depths and responding to the clash of different powers. These were stronger than their predecessors, capable of being born in a human form but with the wrath of a demon's. Now these few that were growing and becoming aware were right now trying to establish their base of power and make a name for themselves among the worlds. At least one would prove to be a match for the dark female.

Along the edge of his mind, he could sense some of the other worlds and the few demons that called out to him. One in particular caught his attention. The name was familiar, the human one at least. He remembered seeing it somewhere, maybe even in the Cemetery. Whoever it was, his face flickered and broken into many pieces to where he only had the chance to catch sight of long blonde hair and a wicked smile. There was power there. That one had great potential. It would be some time before he rose to carve his way through the world.

While demons rose from the depths, partially due to their own creation and from the influence of the powers seeping past the barrier and from the human world, the humans here were falling and disappearing.

The little human girl that saw Eddie's murder had disappeared. To where Pyramid Head didn't particularly care. The other female, Angela was still around but far too frightened to come anywhere near the other shadows and figures that hovered at the edge of her vision.

There were only a few scraps and pieces of clothing left over as a marker to Eddie's last resting- place. He didn't bother considering which demons had grown hungry enough to deal with the body.

Pyramid Head came to a stop before the doors leading into Brookhaven Hospital, somewhat surprised at how quickly he had covered the distance to the building from where he had last been.

Without regarding any of the other figures lurking close-by he moved through the halls dragging his Great Knife, the loyal weapon a firm weight in his hand and the screech of the blade dragging across the ground almost a low melody to his ears.

Soon he found the doors to where he intended to go. Pushing them open with one hand he strode outside again, this time coming out into the small courtyard and garden nestled within the walls of the building.

There were only a few intact stone seats and benches. Dead vines stretched over the tall windows and up the brick walls. The few trees there were half-dead and pathetically skinny and bore no leaves. Damp soil held little to no life what small amounts of foliage that lived merely being weeds.

The area gave James some peace and an area all to himself. James knelt near the farthest wall with his back to Pyramid Head, but he knew that the demon was there. His hair had lengthened slightly and the wounds on his face and body that Pyramid Head had delivered were long healed and already faded.

By the looks of his clothing, James had been handling the soft soil with his bare hands for some time, sleeves and pale skin stained a soft brown as he dug and planted with fierce determination.

Apparently James had found some life in the soil and was attempting to nurture it to bloom. Pyramid Head moved closer, curious to see what could survive here.

He could make out the sickly stalks of the few flowers that James carefully maneuvered and propped up. The small white petals were barely hanging on, a few already scattered across the man's knees. The plants trembled warningly on their fragile stalks trying to bear the weight of their own bodies.

Pyramid Head noticeably stiffened as he moved closer to James, standing near the edge of a stone bench finally able to fully see what exactly James was working on.

Roses.

Small, white roses.

A low growl rumbled within the helmet, James stilled, and his shoulders stiffened at the dangerous sound.

Pyramid Head felt rage rising up, the kind he had not felt in a long time.

Little pale innocent flowers.

The same kind of flowers that Mary had adored so much.

He was so sick of looking at any reminder of that woman. It was hard enough to keep from literally ripping each scrap and small thread of memory, hanging on tight carrying the trace of the woman, right out of James' head. To have to look upon something that she had loved so dearly, something that James' was coaxing into life with his hands…

He reared the Great Knife above his head and slammed the tip straight down and it was buried deep into the ground with the hilt reaching towards the sky. Moving with speed that others couldn't follow he was at James' side.

James made a small sound of surprise that quickly turned to dismay. He cried out as a large boot smashed down onto the small flowers, grinding a black heel into the ground and smearing the remains of the plants deep and burying them in an impromptu grave.

Pyramid Head whirled away from the damage he had brought down, James falling onto the remains of the plants and trying to repair them, shuffling the dirt around and scrounging to find any of the roots. Pyramid Head moved with an angry air over to the bench sitting down heavily and one hand resting on the hilt of the Great Knife. He made no motion or sound but the helmet looked off into a corner of the courtyard as if ignoring what had just transpired.


***********************************************************************


James had to soon admit that his efforts were fruitless. His shoulders drooped and a feeling of remorse filled him as one more reminder of Mary eluded him. He knew he was being very daring and unwise to try to leave a memory of Mary in this place, but if he didn't he felt that the memory of her would fade and fade until it grew too difficult to remember what she looked like.

Maybe it was another form of punishment for him. He had taken her away; what right did he have to keep her here? His crime would always haunt him. He carried it wherever he went.

He was paying every day for it. James was looking at the world around him with different eyes. Seeing things that he had never seen before too horrible to imagine and too beautiful to forget. There was a siren's call that sang to him, whispering of far places similar but with their own brand of darkness. Where the light couldn't pierce the shadows and the demons came out to play.

One in particular had been a repeated call. A man, taller than himself with long hair and handling a blade, wearing the smile of a saint as he painted the world red. Whenever their eyes met the stranger…man….demon…would smile at James, and after hesitating James could help but grin back.

Pyramid Head was aware of the individual as well. He didn't seem to act as if that one was a threat, so James was almost eager for the times that the two would meet. It was invigorating to meet another whether it was another demon or human face. It could get lonely here when he wasn't distracted by other things and the shifts and changes. Like the pain inside of his head….when Alessa…when everything was throbbing and throbbing…hurting…making him want to shred his own skin off with his fingertips…

James sighed, rubbing at his temples. Too many painful thoughts. There was some things best left to rot. It was becoming too trying and challenging to recall certain details. Sometimes he would be consumed by an insane urge to run far away only stopping when Pyramid Head physically held him down or turned him in the direction of one of the few hospital beds with straps for the arms and legs.

A shiver passed through him at even the thought of the bed straps or the lingering unhindered reminder of the black box. James pulled his jacket closer around him searching for a bit of warmth to burn the fear away.

He could remember why it was necessary for him to be bound. That girl…had a name that he didn't wish to speak…She had done something to him, something inside. Burned and scalded her way through his head until he wasn't able to stop screaming. The straps on the bed had kept him from trying to claw his eyes out of their sockets when he kept trying to rip the taint away, try to dig out the festering worms nestling inside of his head where Alessa's presence had touched him.

Pyramid Head had kept him relatively sane. Somehow James had been the one to throw Alessa off, but the effort had left him weak and comatose for some time. He had to be left in the hospital to recover his strength…and to keep himself intact. There had been a danger from the rage and hurt that had burned inside him. It had grown very strong, and James had felt that small spark of life when it had come close to becoming something else. A presence that had its own hands to deliver its own brand of justice and a mouth to curse its enemies. But Pyramid Head had sensed the oncoming rise of another like himself, and he had struck it down swiftly. Like he had done before, in Room 307, he had shoved a hand deep into James and pulled every last strand of that presence out of him. Hurling it far down into a dark hole to let it die, not wanting to accept the presence of another.

James would have never dreamed of the world he was in now. Of the things that were happening that would have horrified him before but now he just felt numb and strangely separated. Before such things would have horrified his human mind and morals but now he merely looked on in interest and was reaffirming his beliefs and adjusting them as he saw fit.

He didn't have the power that Pyramid Head had but there was a force inside that could bring forth monsters. Pyramid Head kept that at bay, not wanting to share with any brothers or sisters that may come. He was the first, and he planned to be the last.

James wondered what that made him, the things that he could do and see. He wasn't human, obviously. Not really a demon either. Just a vessel, maybe.

'It was beginning to hurt again. His head was hurting. Too much thinking.' He didn't want to think about such things right now. He was tired.

Still shivering and finding no comfort in the circle of his arms James carefully rose to his feet and looked over at the sitting figure. Pyramid Head was obviously growing tired and frustrated with James' moods and infrequent urges and actions, but his patience seemed unending. The wounds and old memories between them still hadn't completely healed and James knew that on occasion he instinctively flinched back at times if Pyramid Head moved too quickly or too close. He knew it would be much longer before he was able to remain in place whenever the demon's rage and rare blood-lust filled the air, even if not directed at James, did not make him flee to a safe haven. It could take years, more than he could think of right off the top of his head.

Making enough noise that Pyramid Head heard him carefully approaching James shuffled close to the other. When the other's head turned towards him slightly acknowledging his closeness James felt secure enough to sit down in front of him. James curled himself with his back to the stone bench and his arm and side pressed along an apron-covered leg. He leaned the side of his head against the solid bone and muscle, eyes falling shut as he willed his body to relax and rest.

Pyramid Head sat very still for a very long time and James felt his eyes growing heavy the warmth of the firm body warming and enclosing him. To his utter surprise, the hand around the hilt of the Great Knife slipped down and long fingers pushed back lengthening strands of long hair. The physical weight dropped to rest in the crook of his neck and shoulder, fingers pressing lightly into his collar.

It was a humbling touch, really. To be touched by the hands that could comfort him just as equally as they could bring him pain he wouldn't be capable of describing in words.

But for the moment, it was something. The small touch of a demon, one that wasn't solely to rend and tear, was more than anyone could hope for or expect in Silent Hill.

Let the worlds change, let the dark gods fight and tear their way to power. It was all right. Because they would still be here. And perhaps one day they would move on to the other worlds and see what they had to offer. Wherever one of them went, the other would ultimately follow.


***********************************************************************
the end
***********************************************************************

Author's note: Yes, you may have realized the inference of a character from Silent Hill 4. If you did, great, I hope you had fun. ^__^
I know I'm REALLLLLY playing around with the plot and powers to be in Silent Hill. But isn't that the fun of AU's and the joy of writing?
I hoped you enjoyed this journey. It wasn't the best, or the most well-written, but I had fun the entire way.