Dean never knew Hell was this terrifying. Though after the first decade he lost any sense of fear.

The weird thing was that there was these strange hell hounds always watching him like a hawk. He didn't know if they wanted to eat him or what.

After the second decade, he started to notice these weird demons that hung around. They almost looked like some version of a twisted nurse. They reacted to sound or other stimuli, and if a demon got too close or caused them to react, they would slash wildly and attack until the demon was dead.

Then came the acid ones. He had seen a few demons stupid enough to get close, and the thing would explode spraying some form of corrosive acid that ate into their forms causing them to scream.

The weirdest thing was that they never came more than twenty feet from him.

Finally Alistair's attention was taken up by another new arrival, leaving Dean to the tender mercies of another unpleasant demon.

This one had a habit of leaving Dean to his own devices for days at a time, only to come back three days later even worse.

That's when it happened, two years in.

One minute he was on the racks, the next he was gasping as he hit the ground hard, courtesy of one of those weird nurse demons.

It had slashed through the bindings.

Dean realized one of the odd hell hounds was growling, forcing him to stand on his feet. Since he healed up once the demons left (to better feel each torture fresh) he was in as good a condition as he was going to get in hell.

Every time he stumbled or paused, the hell hounds would nip at his heels. He noticed that the acid sprayers and the weird nurses were keeping any demons from getting close enough to realize he wasn't where he was supposed to be, and he couldn't muster up any pity for someone stupid enough to cross them.

That was before he realized there was something else following him. It wasn't until he realized the air was getting lighter that he even saw it, and almost wished he hadn't.

Whatever that demon was, it was huge. It carried a massive meat cleaver that looked like it had been used and used often...but one massive blow quickly proved that it was just as sharp as if it had come off the forge. The thing cut a demon in two with one blow, and Dean didn't ever want to be on the wrong end of that thing. And that was before he saw the thing quite literally rip out a demon's skin with just one hand and a swift moment. Whatever it was, it was stronger than anything he had ever pissed off before.

Dean passed by something that glowed too bright for his eyes since being stuck in the Pit...his eyes had already adjusted to the darkness.

Whatever it was, it was bright, it spoke a language he didn't know, and it was painful to be close to.

He found himself herded into someplace that was filled with ash and darkness. However it didn't have the overwhelming smell of sulfur or the sound of screams, so that was an improvement.

Seeing the hounds, the acid sprayers and the nurses leave, Dean had to wonder exactly what the point of all that was.

He did know one thing though...he wasn't in Hell anymore.

Right now he was more concerned about the thing that was right behind him with the giant ass cleaver.

He was a bit freaked when the pyramid thing walked right up behind him and grabbed him by the collar much like a dog would a pup it was carrying off. He didn't exactly enjoy being dragged, but he wasn't going to fight it.

He wasn't a complete idiot.

Dean finally felt the grip release, and he was too tired to do anything at that point.

So imagine his shock when he woke up to a pale skinned, black eyed version of Sam who looked identical to his brother at 17 only in a much darker context.

Dean slowly sat up, and found himself in a twisted parody of a house.

"Where am I?"

"This is Silent Hill. Or one of them anyway. Pyramid Head had to drag you through some of the less pleasant ones to throw off the scent once Alistair or one of the others finds out you're gone."

Dean blinked.

"Is that what that thing's called?"

The Sam lookalike shrugged.

"He's the guard dog of this realm. She sent him to make sure they didn't manage to retrieve you."

"So who or what are you?" said Dean. Because really, this thing was weirding him out big time looking so much like his brother.

"He's called Rath," said a very familiar voice.

Dean's head whipped around to see Sam.

"Sam?! What are you doing here?"

"I've been living here for the past five weeks," said Sam dryly.

"What?"

Sam sighed.

"Can we unblock that memory yet or do we still have to wait?"

Rath listened to something, before shaking his head.

"Too soon."

Sam closed the book he had been reading.

"Long story short, after I left Silent Hill the first time I made a deal to take someone else's place. In exchange all the darker parts of my soul were left behind, mainly wrath and vengeance. However that doesn't mean I'm trapped here. I mostly came so I wouldn't be tempted to do something stupid, and most of those who end up trapped here generally deserve it in the long run. I'm mostly acting as the one doing the screen test until you're pulled out," said Sam.

People who had the bad luck of tripping Za'afiel's warding system and getting lost in the fog were the ones he had to deal with. So far the only ones who had wandered in were generally scumbags or people who deserved being stuck in this hell on earth. Like escaped felons or convicts.

Which meant he was able to spend a lot of time catching up on his reading while ignoring the screams thanks to his headphones.

"So why am I here?"

"Silent Hill is close enough to hell that the barriers between worlds is easily breached. However demons generally avoid this one because the 'warden' of this place dislikes them more than most. Any that wander into this realm are trapped and it would take some pretty absurd luck to get out. So I asked if we couldn't get you out."

Dean stared at him, as most of it had gone over his head.

Sam sighed.

"Think of hell as a prison."

Dean nodded.

"Silent Hill, which is the realm we're in, is another sort of prison, primarily for lost souls and the unlucky traveler who trips the 'alarms' and sets off the fog."

"Okay."

"What we did was like a prison transfer, only one that wasn't authorized by the other half," said Sam.

"Now that I get. So what happens once they find out I'm gone?"

"Same thing that happens to all the other demons that wandered in here. Annihilation if they are caught when the sirens go off. Ruby, for example, didn't last long despite Sam's advice to go indoors once they went off."

"Ruby's here?"

"Rath killed her months ago after she left that police station were were stuck in."

"Good riddance," said Dean vehemently. Alistair in particular was pretty smug about how Ruby would be corrupting his brother.

That was when there was this loud racket outside, as the walls began to peel off. The entire place looked like time had worn it away in a matter of seconds.

Dean was pretty freaked out, but Sam and 'Rath' looked perfectly calm.

"What's going on?"

"General sweep. Means that the monsters in these realms are going to have free reign for an unspecified amount of time until the ash starts to fall again. We're safe in here, but you're welcome to watch out the window," said Sam. He put on his headphones again and ignored everything else, turning on a light to continue his reading.

Once you got over the bouts of "Darkness", learned how to tune out the screams and didn't go outside, it was fairly easy to get used to Silent Hill.

Then again, he was the only person capable of leaving the place relatively of his own free will.

Dean, in a bit of morbid curiosity, went to the window. And what he saw had him question Sam's moral compass.

He shook Sam's shoulder and pointed out the window, his expression pretty clear on his face.

It read "Why aren't you doing something?!"

Sam pulled off his headphones and looked his brother in the eye.

"Dean, I needed a break from being a hunter in order to properly get over you being sent to hell because of me. And there are certain rules you have to follow while you're in here, especially if you have the ability to cross between here and the outside world without having to jump through hoops for it. Besides, most of those people who are being killed generally deserve it."

What Dean didn't know was that the window mostly displayed deaths that have already happened, or were in another layer of Silent Hill entirely.

Rath could move between them freely, but Sam couldn't and he didn't want to try. Especially since Za'afiel had a habit of showing the deaths of an order of religious zealots that had pissed her off.

Dean grit his teeth.

"Dean, we're in a pocket dimension that's so close to hell that makes no difference. It's easier for all involved if you learn to look the other way and focus on your own survival, especially when the sirens go off."

"Especially since none of the assholes trapped here would help a child if it had fallen down once the darkness arrives. It's survival of the fittest," piped Rath.

Slowly the darkness receded, revealing an ash-gray sky.

"How can you live in this place?"

Sam looked at his brother in frustration.

"What did you expect me to do once you were gone?! It was either stay a hunter and possibly get myself killed out of grief and a misguided attempt to see you again, or find a place where I wouldn't be forced to listen to false sympathy about your death or the constant reminder of the fact you were gone! I knew Silent Hill was relatively a safe place to recover, so I left in order to grieve without having to deal with the constant reminders!"

In this place Sam didn't have to deal with anything. He was allowed to be alone and grieve without having to search for something to distract him. No one would pressure him, no one would ask him to do anything.

It allowed him to sort out his thoughts so long as he didn't try to interfere, and considering the sort that generally got lost in the fog, he wasn't exactly inclined to do so anyway.

It was relaxing, in a macabre sort of way.

Besides, it was nice to have an intelligent conversation for once, even if it was technically with himself.

Dean didn't look happy, but he liked the idea of his brother going off on a suicidal attempt to get killed even less.

"What about Bobby and my baby?"

"I left the Impala at Bobby's and told him I'd come back to get it later once I had sorted myself out. I never said a word about where I would be going, only that it would be outside cell phone range. He probably thinks I'm in a cabin somewhere, since I always did like nature," said Sam shrugging.

That made Dean a little less tense. He had seen the condition of the cars down there and they didn't inspire happy thoughts.

Rath cocked his head again.

"Demons incoming. Want to watch the show when they realize where they are?"

"Absolutely!"

Dean morbidly went to the window a second time, only this was focused entirely on the same area he came out of.

Sam put his hand on the window frame, and suddenly Dean saw the true forms of the demons.

They seemed surprised, then very unhappy upon realizing where they were and that the way was now closed off.

But that was nothing compared to what happened when the sirens went off. The demons had an expression on their faces that Dean almost didn't recognize.

"Are they actually panicking?" he said baffled.

"That's generally the response if you actually know what the sirens mean when they're going off. If it gets too intense you can leave the room for a bit, but if you hear the sirens going off outside then you should come back in or you have a high risk of being caught. Especially since Pyramid Head tends to stick around like a guard dog," said Sam.

Since Rath was the current 'incarnation' of Pyramid Head's master, that generally meant he followed his orders. The only reason he didn't kill Dean on sight was because Rath had given him orders to bring the 'soul' to him directly.

Dean wouldn't be so lucky a second time unless Rath was there.

Dean watched with open disbelief as the demons scrambled to get inside, only for most of their members to fall prey to the acid sprayers and those weird hell hound like creatures. And the ones that didn't get killed off by them found themselves facing an entire horde of those mock nurse things, who went into attack mode thanks to the smell of sulfur in the air.

"She really hates demons, doesn't she? Almost makes you wonder how Azazel would have reacted if we had just thrown him in here instead of Dean shooting him with the Colt," commented Sam.

Dean stopped to consider the idea. Then he shook his head.

"Nah, way more satisfying shooting the bastard," said Dean.

"You might have a point, but then we wouldn't get to see the 'oh shit!' expression on his face when he realized where we had sent him," said Sam. Dean snorted in agreement.

"Next time," he said, "So what happens now?"

"Now we wait until either we find a way to put your sorry ass back in your body, or someone comes that isn't a demon that can do it for us. Because no offense, but I would rather have to deal with you trying to hit on those psycho nurses that kill people because you're hard up than live with the fact you're still in hell," said Sam.

"None taken," said Dean, slightly offended. Why would he even consider those freaky nurse things as a viable option? He would have to be beyond desperate! Then a thought occurred to him and he looked at Sam oddly.

"Before you ask, no I haven't considered them an option. However I know you tend to go stir crazy if you haven't had any in a few weeks," said Sam, having correctly interpreted Dean's look. "Besides, some of them have their clothes ripped and if you remove anything sharp and pointy from the equation even you might consider it worth a shot...however disturbing the idea might be."

Dean blinked, considered that for a second, before he had to shake his head.

"I'd have to be beyond hard up...and more than slightly drunk," he muttered. Sam wasn't entirely wrong.

"Yeah, haven't found a drop of liquor here and I had Rath hide it if there was any. I think people tend to drink it or use it for Molotov cocktails the first chance they get. Part of the reason why I came," said Sam. The same went for drugs. He wouldn't be surprised if the people trapped had already used them all up, especially if they were to heal wounds.