If I could start again, a million miles away,

I would keep myself, I would find a way.'

-Hurt

Epilogue: The soliloquy of a martyr

Darkness…

Pull the lids back and let the light in…

But it hurts so…'

Claudia shut her eyes and allowed her head to sink back down into the plush sea of carpet beneath her. However, it wasn't just the stinging that ravaged the moist surface of her eyeballs or the sense that someone had run ten-thousand volts of hot electricity directly through her body that caused her the most pain; there was something else, something raw deep inside which would take a far, far longer time to heal than simple physical discomfort.

'Was I really such a fool?'

…

Yes, yes she was. She'd been so desperate to have someone believe her vision that she'd gullibly swallowed Parker's pack of lies and hungrily come back for more.He'd played her for his own benefit and just tossed her aside, ripping her faith in him from her chest without even a twitch of the eye. In the space of a few minuets, he'd torn apart the beliefs Claudia had held dear for a lifetime and made an utter mockery of not only herself, but everything she stood for aswell.

Claudia grimaced, pulling herself tightly together. Ha, if only father or that odious, self-centred Vincent could see her now. He'd probably rupture something with laughter…

The mental image was enough to make her want to gouge her eyes out and leave her in the not so comforting silence of her own mind.

Where was she anyway? Was this death? The last thing she could remember was slowly sinking while the blackness gradually crept up and over her, tearing her from the world as something relentlessly pulled her down into its smothering, un-chartable depths.

Claudia would have loved to be able to say that really was the last thing she remembered before the dark closed in around her, but there was something else.

As clear as day, she could still Jobe looking with what almost seemed like a strange, hard to swallow mixture of malice and horror at her as she descended into whatever fate Parker had planned for her. Poor man. She'd committed the most heinous act against him just so she could live out a dream, a dream which turned out to be nothing more than a glorified lie, but even without knowing that that was truth, the pain she and Parker had inflicted on him was more than any one should have to bear…And, to make things even worse, he wasn't the only one who had suffered so needlessly at their hands.

They were the true monsters here.

'But…' The question suddenly bit into Claudia. 'Where exactly is here?'

Was she dead? Had Parker deemed her so expendable that he'd brought an end to her sad life or would she awaken to find herself locked away in an even deeper level of the rubix cube that was Silent Hill's complex construction?

Well, wherever she now was, she was utterly alone. Even without opening her smarting eyes, she could feel the emptiness of whatever space held her, void of the overwhelming presence of Parker or that unfortunate man who they'd tormented so.

But something remained to keep her company, so intangible that the woman bearly noticed it, but sure enough it was there, lingering like a bitter after-taste in the heavy air. She inhaled it deeply, confirming her prediction: Smoke.

Claudia finally forced opened her eyes, ignoring their cries of protest as the mellow light dug itself sharply into them like a pair of out-stretched and malicious, gouging fingers.

A sea of never ending, familiar red met her bleary gaze.

The woman sat up, paying no heed to the crick in her spine as she shifted upright and took in her habitat, only to find the interior of the church staring straight back at her.

With a frown, Claudia rose to her feet.

It may very well be the same place but… it felt different to before, as if the heavy, sombre mood that had been pressing down on the building with enough force to crush its strong structure had been whisked away along with all those who had previously been here. The faint hint of smoke that weakly clung to this level of reality served as the only testament to what violence had come to pass in the sacred building. However, if you were to look at this almost idilic scene with the soft, rare sunlight streaming in through the stain-glass windows, projecting their warm colours onto the carpeted floor…Well, the idea that this place had born witness to death and destruction only moments before was almost painfully laughable.

Claudia's frown broke as the revelation slowly dawned on her:

She had prevailed.

Parker was gone. Unlike the smoke, there was not a single trace of his presence, almost as if some great celestial force had waved its hand, effortlessly wiping him from the very memory of existence…

And she was still here.

She had been given another chance to get back on the right road and walk its righteous path once more, another chance to save this world from wallowing in its own sea of sin, and another chance to set out to complete the task she had committed herself to all those years ago. She would linger in the shadows of disalusion no longer, nor let Parker's words hinder her progress…

'Yes!' The thoughts had begun racing through the pale woman's head at an almost dizzying pace as she stepped up to the church's proud alter. 'I will show them all that Paradise is not just a place reserved for only those who belelieve in it, but all mankind! Why, I shall open the doors to Her heavenly kingdom myself if need be'

SLAM

Claudia looked up, eyes racing to the church's double doors as the sudden invasion of noise jammed up her rabid trail of thought. For a moment, all she could do was stare dumbly as her gaze fell on a figure who was so familiar, and yet not. At that very moment, if the circumstances had been just ever so slightly different, the woman would have jumped for joy at the sight of her one time friend.

"How did you get here?"

Heather, the girl who had suddenly found the world revolving around her said nothing, unable to stop her lip twitching with malice as her grip around the gun tightened.

8 8 8

So what is there left for us to do?

We could follow this young girl who has suddenly stumbled into our story for a second time and watch in silence as her yarn spins out. However, there would be little point, for her own woeful tail is almost spent and all that remains for her to do is confront a woman who was once both a child and her only friend in the world.

We could return to a barren strip of road where a man we have seen come so far yet fall twice as long lies, still screaming as what little is left to him comes apart, but that too would be pointless. There is no story left to tell there, and the very same goes for the two companion who can do nothing but listed to his cries.

Save for the girl who would be a god, none of these characters have a future to look forward to and I think at this point, the best, no…only thing to do would be to turn our backs on this whole woeful affair…

…but just keep in mind a simple fact; that all this bitter sorrow that we have born witness to was born from one thing that lies dormant in all our hearts:

sin.

FIN

A/N: Well, that really is it. Wow, it feels so odd to finally have this, something I have been working on for the best part of two years finally finished. Needles to say I'm going to miss sitting down every day to type out a little more of a story that's been gestating away inside my head even since I finished Silent Hill 2 what now must be four years ago.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and leave their comments, you people really have given me the commitment to keep on going through what was, at time, a somewhat turbulent relationship. Heh, I'm just sorry for putting you through so many spelling errors!

SlapDash – no problem, I probably would have gone mad if I hadn't written it down and whish I'd done so sooner. Only thing was I'd never written before and the idea scared the hell out of me. I'm truly flattered that you think me worthy of such praise.

E.P.O – Honestly, I don't know. The whole thing just spiraled out of control and seemed to stick that way…however, your stories are some of the most captivating things I've read on here for a long time and I'm just grateful you've chosen to share them with us.

I assure you, I will be back…but I think for the mean time I'm just going to stick to one-shots for a while…

Thank you and goodnight.