Retribution Epilogue

Alessa sat on the bench in her front yard. She stared up at the sky, watching the clouds pass overhead. Someone sat beside her and she smiled, looking over at him. "Hey, haven't seen you the past few days."

"Sorry I haven't been around. Dad has been fussing like crazy over that thing on my back." Alex sighed and leaned back on the bench. "Dad said that he shouldn't get all worried, but he can't help it. It's been a week, though, and I haven't turned into a monster, so Dad is calming down."

"When you just call them Dad I can't tell which ones you are talking about." Alessa shook her head and shifted. "So the cops didn't come to talk to your family?"

Alex shook his head. "Nope. From what Uncle Tucker said they don't have any suspects. I mean, I guess it was more of a drop in the bucket after all the soldiers that were killed at the base. He also said that they thought he was crazy when he asked about a monster."

"And your memory is still fuzzy?" Alessa ran her hand over the cover of the book on her lap. "Has Uncle Tucker told you anything about what happened to him and the others?"

"Yeah, I still only sort of remember it all. I mean you keep talking about how I knew stuff, but whenever I think about it I just draw a blank. I really don't have any idea. I mean, I remember what happened, but I don't remember why I did things." Alex shook his head. "He hasn't told us anything about what happened. Sister, Sarge, Donut, and Caboose all tell basically the same story. They say something about a lab, listening to some journal entries, and then they all passed out and woke up in their homes. They all said Tucker seemed to know what was going on but he won't say."

"Mom has been trying to convince him to tell her, but he keeps telling her that he doesn't remember." Alessa sighed.

Alex looked down at the book then back to Alessa with wide eyes. "You found it again?"

Alessa tilted her head to the side, at first not understanding. She then realized that he meant the book on her lap. "Yeah, I found it like three days ago. It was on my desk with the katana."

"You mean the one from the church?" Alex stared at her for a moment. "Where did you get them?"

"They were just sitting on my desk. There wasn't any blood on the katana, though. I hung it over my bed." Alessa looked down at the journal in her lap. "There was a new entry in it. I have no idea what it's about, but it talks about what happened. That means he is still alive."

Alex groaned. "I thought we were done with this."

Alessa hit him on the arm. "Don't talk about my dad like that. It's not like I'm going to go looking for him. And from what you said I don't think that that place will bother us again."

Alex looked down to his feet. "Alessa, why did you stop him from killing me?"

"That's a stupid question. I think a better question is why were you willing to let him kill you? And what did he say to you that made you so afraid of him?" Alessa crossed her arms.

"I don't exactly remember. I remember being compelled to stand there, to let him do it." He blushed a bit before he continued. "He just threatened me. Said that I should be careful or he'd come out of my nightmares and kill me. He just said it so seriously. Like he could actually kill me in my dreams."

"My dad is not Freddy Krueger." Alessa glared at him. "Can't you just be glad that I wanted to keep you around?"

"I am glad. I'm just curious. I mean, you always tell me how amazing your dad is and how much he means to you and then you go and are willing to fight him to keep him from killing me." Alex raised up his hands in defense.

"I was actually planning on letting him kill me." Alessa sighed and put up a hand to stop Alex from speaking. "I wasn't going to choose one or the other. I didn't mean to kill him, it was an accident."

"Well, you might hate me for saying this, but I'm glad you killed him. I don't know what I would have done if he'd killed you." Alex put a hand over Alessa's shoulder.

"I think you would have gone to Silent Hill with him. You said that you were going to go with them because it was your home." Alessa didn't push his arm away, which surprised him. "You said it was your home and that woman was going to take you with her until I said I wanted you to stay."

"Well, thanks for keeping me around. I don't think I'd want to live at Silent Hill." Alex grinned at her.

Alessa couldn't help but smile back at him. She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek before she stood up. Alex stared up at her, surprised and blushing. "Come on, Mom made chocolate chip cookies. I know how much you like them." She turned and walked back into her house. Alex followed her inside.

Dear anyone that cares,

So once more I am lost in this place. He is here with me so at least I am not alone. I have gone to visit the new residents; it was quite the fight to get to them. It was good to see them again, even if that was how it had to end. I hated to see that look on her face but it was what had to happen. I know that in the end I left myself open as I had to. I still curse It for making that the only option for it to end. I am just glad that I have managed to keep Her there. She deserves to have a life. It was my fault that Tex existed at all. I was always only a series of programming lines that thought I was something more. I have given Tex the chance to be what I thought I was. I gladly gave my life for her to be human, to be more than just a fragment of me. I made her because like the Director, I was desperate to have her back. Alessa is a great bonus. She was like Harry, James, and Henry. Trapped in this world. She has been given a chance to be something more, and if having her kill me was what had to happen so she could remain in that life, I would let her kill me again.

Well I hear the sirens again. He is here and ready for the new game. Time to put my new weapon to use.

Ready to play,

Father

A/N: I'd just like to thank everyone that has read this fic. I do hope that you will review because I'd like to know what you think of it. A special thanks goes to Martienne for betaing this whole story and all of Silent Gulch. She really helped to make this story better. I enjoyed writing this fic and I hope that you enjoyed reading it.

Firerwolf (a.k.a Risu-sama)