Sara Linwood

"Just a JOB, huh? No, Jack, that was a FAMILY. A loving, caring, HAPPY family. MY FAMILY!
 * —Sara regarding Jack's murders"

Sara Linwood is a character in Sinner's Reward. A young woman who wound up in Silent Hill rather suddenly, she wanders the town with Jack Stanton, another visitor to Silent Hill.

Personality
"No guns. I won't take it. I... I hate them. No guns. I said NO guns, Jack. Upon being rescued by Jack, Sara appears to have a very kind and gentle personality. It is implied that she got along well with her parents and loved them deeply. The fact that Sara dyes her hair purple and paints her nails could mean that she likes to express herself, possibly wanting to stick out in the crowd. Her hatred of guns, as well as other weapons, hints that she is a pacifist who hates violence.
 * —Sara refuses Jack's pistol."

However, after Sara learns the truth about Jack, as well as the death of her parents, her personality changes drastically as she comes to the realization that she wants to seek revenge. She becomes quite sadistic seems to start lacking empathy for Jack, as she starts to enjoy watching Jack suffer as he is tormented by his twisted past and dark inner demons.

Sinner's Reward
She remembers being with her parents prior to a loud siren blaring, then falling unconscious. Sara regains consciousness only to find herself tied to a crucifix with a pair of creatures standing beneath her. This is how Jack Stanton finds her. Hysterical, she yells at Jack to do something. Killing the monsters and cutting Sara down, Jack asks Sara for her name and how she came to be in Silent Hill. Sara explains herself and begins to cry, unsure of what to do, how to find her parents, or what is happening to her. Jack comforts her, offering her the consolation that he, too, is looking for someone and that whatever is happening is not just happening to her. He suggests that it may, in fact, be the town.

Before the two head off, Jack offers Sara a pistol for protection. She vehemently refuses the firearm, claiming a distaste for guns. Jack agrees, only hoping he can cover both of them in the event that more monsters attack them. Off to look for Jillian Conway, his friend, Jack tries to reassure Sara that they may be able to find her parents too.

As they walk, the pair approach Brookhaven Hospital, and a pair of wolf-like monsters block their path past the building. Forced into the hospital, Jack recalls that, before losing Jillian, she had been dressed as a nurse and was talking about needing to help someone. A hospital was as good a place to start as any, as far as Jack is concerned.

As they enter Brookhaven, Jack hears screams coming from a floor further up. Running off, Sara follows, unsure about the situation. Jack yells at her to hurry, but Sara says she hears nothing. Bursting through a closed door on the second floor, Jack finds Jill standing over a corpse crying. As Jack tries to comfort Jill, Sara begins to grow uncomfortable, telling the pair that the room they are in is full of dead people. Jack only replies that these aren't people, but monsters. Jillian tells Jack that Sara is right, that she is seeing things as they really are.



With a growing sense of unease, Sara approaches a sheet-draped gurney as Jack and Jillian continue to argue. Grabbing hold of the sheet, Jack takes notice and yells for her to stay away from those things on the gurney. Sara's curiosity is overwhelming and she pays no heed. Throwing back the sheet, Sara reveals the bodies of her mother and father, each having a bullet hole in their forehead. Having the truth laid bare before her, Sara's forehead begins to weep blood and she grows angry with Jack, simply stating that "it was him". A siren begins to wail, with Jack and Jillian passing out.



Sara's father, a councilman in Boston, had drawn the anger of Finn Conway, a member of the Irish mob. Apparently making trouble for him, Finn put out a hit on Sara's father. It was Jack who had come to collect, and he had done so almost flawlessly. As he was leaving the Linwood home, Sara stepped into Jack's path to investigate a noise she had heard. Wanting to leave no witnesses, Jack shot Sara in the forehead and fled the scene.

As the flashback fades, Jack gets up, holding his head. Nearby, Jill has come to as well, saying things for herself and Jack are over and it's too late for them. Jack, determined to get ahold of the situation, tells her it's not over or too late. Before he can finish his thought, a bloodied Sara bleeding from her forehead (a reference to how she originally died) with a gang of nurses behind her interject and tell Jack that Jillian is correct and it's time for the pair to pay for their crimes. Jack tries to defend his actions, telling Sara that the murder was nothing personal, it was just business and he couldn't let her live. She scoffs, asking if he couldn't or wouldn't, to which Jack stammers that it was just a job.

Jack, with his guard down, is subjected to many verbal assaults about his childhood and his supposed destiny as a killer. She tells Jack he has an addiction, a disease: murder. As does Jill: greed. Jack tries to defend her, saying she's done nothing wrong, but Sara is unfazed by his words. She then offers the pair of lovers a chance at redemption. The choice, however, has to come willingly. Sara is sure that Jillian understands completely, though Jack will take more convincing.



Jillian truly understands the situation, and makes her choice: redemption. She tells Jack that it isn't too late for either of them and says goodbye to Jack before walking into her fate with open arms. Heading into the gang of nurses, Jillian is repeatedly stabbed until she dies. Attempting to save her, Jack fires at the nurses, but to no effect. Sara has them halt their stabbings, saying Jillian had been "cured" of her disease. Confused, Jack asks an exasperated Sara why, her reply being that, if he need ask, he either heard nothing she said, or was in a serious state of denial. He tells her to go to hell, though she's fairly certain she won't be going there, and Jack doesn't have to either. All he has to do is make the right choice.

Not ready to call it quits, Jack levels his gun at Sara and her horde of nurses, demanding they get out of his way. Assuring Jack that no one is forcing him to stay, Sara does ask Jack where he'll go. His reply is back out of Silent Hill, though Sara points out that it was "going back" that brought him here. She says Jack always goes backwards and never steps out of his past. She suggests that it's time he move forward.

In a panic, Jack runs out of the hospital room, yelling at Sara to leave him alone. At every turn Jack makes, Sara tells the man that he's always been alone, just him and his sins. Finding the exit to the hospital, Jack yells for Sara to stop as he throws open the doors, only to find himself staring Finn Conway in the face.

Wishing for Jack to suffer for running off with his wife, Finn asks Jack for his gun. Standing in the hospital entrance, Sara tells Conway that he can't have Jack's gun since Jack will be needing it soon. Unimpressed, Finn replies that the only thing Jack needs is to explain where Jill is. Equally unimpressed, Sara says she's dead. Angered, Finn points a gun at Jack and says he'll be dying too then. Sara tells him that though Jack may die, it won't be Finn who does it. A Pyramid Head then kills Finn with its Great Knife.



Thinking Sara distracted, Jack runs, until visions of his past bring him to a stop. Pleading for it all to end, Sara tells Jack that making it stop is his choice. Jack, kneeling on the ground, apologizes to Sara for what he's done to her and her family. Asking Jack if he was aware that he was beyond being able to apologize, Jack only says he knows. Telling Sara to step back, Jack levels his gun to his temple and fires.

Quotes

 * "Isn't it funny how it's so EASY to think about all we LOSE in this life, but so hard to remember all those things we TAKE? I'm sorry, Jack, but no matter how much you think you've GIVEN, one sad truth remains... you've taken SO MUCH MORE."
 * "...Oh, God, what's going on? Where are my parents? What'd I do? Oh, God... what's happening to me?"
 * "No guns. I won't take it... I hate them. No guns."
 * "Oh, God... Mom... Dad... Please, God, no..."
 * "It... it was you... It was YOU!"
 * "Time for pain, Jack..."
 * "Time to ride the pain the siren brings. Ride it and remember... Remember what finally brought you here. Time to pay up."
 * "We've been waiting for you. I can see it in your eyes, Jack - you know who I am, don't you?"
 * "Just a JOB, huh? No, Jack, that was a FAMILY. A loving, caring, HAPPY family. MY FAMILY!"
 * "How did it FEEL, Jack? How did it feel the FIRST time your dad put a gun in your little boy hands, huh? Did it feel RIGHT? Did you grip it tightly and think, yes, THIS is who I am? Did it feel like DESTINY, Jack... or a CURSE?"
 * "Nothing? You're RIGHT... Nothing but take PLEASURE in all the wealth that came from KILLERS and THIEVES. Nothing but ignore the dark reality of her life - too MESMERIZED by shiny diamonds, big houses, and flashy cars. You're absolutely RIGHT, Jack... Nothing."
 * "That's enough... she's cured." (after Jillian is stabbed and killed by Nurses)
 * "Jack, if you have to ASK why, either you haven't been paying attention... or you're in the ULTIMATE state of denial."
 * "Jack, you CROSSED the line of being able to apologize for what you did LONG before you killed my family... You KNOW that, don't you?"

Trivia

 * Sara's dislike of guns is an ironic reference to how she died.
 * In the final comic panel, the point of view changes to a bird's eye of the area around Jack as he lies on the ground bleeding from his gunshot wound. Sara is not present, though she had just been standing over him and was close enough for his blood to splatter her shirt.

Gallery
Sara Linwood