(Fine, Gaia Faye, 'pinpoint'.)

Entrapment-Two

Darkness. Total darkness. All around him. It was choking him, and he tried to open his eyes, only to discover he could not. He attempted again, this time trying to speak, trying to move. Nothing, of course; his eyelids felt as if they were cemented against his skin, and his voice was completely gone…

He felt his hands twitch, his heart beating slower and slower… Was he dying? It felt like he was sinking deeper into something, something tremendously cold. A shiver ran down his spine… Spine… He was paralyzed, as if the darkness caught hold of his body, keeping it firmly in place as it drifted…

That was when he saw it… a light, barely shining. He could not have reached for it if he had tried, but it gave off a nice warmth, something similar to an embrace, and he suddenly felt the darkness melting away. It lost its hold of him. His face burned with pain as began to try and talk once more. His eyelids started to lift ever so slightly…

"Wake up, Henry."

Multiple images flashed in front of his eyes before they shot open, feeling once again filling up his senses and body.

It was hard for him to tell where he was at first, but then he realized he was back in Room 302. His body felt heavy for a second, but the fatigue that had drenched him before was totally gone.

Henry slowly got to his feet, using his leg for support. His head turned from side to side, examining his surroundings. 'Room 302,' he thought, 'how'd I get here?'

"You're mistaken."

The brunet spun around, face to face with Walter Sullivan. "What… What are you…?" murmured Henry while taking some steps back, attempting to turn and rush to the door, but his legs felt like liquid suddenly, and he fell back against it.

"I've done some thinking, if you would call it that, and I have come to, what I think is, a satisfactory conclusion," stated the blond as he approached Henry, who looked up at him fearfully.

"What… What the hell…? How… How did I get back here? What about Eileen, and-,"

"You're still at the restaurant, Henry, lying unconscious, with Miss Galvin and a host of other people all around you. I had to step in, by the way, since, with the way you were acting, you would have landed us both in prison."

Henry, without taking his eyes off of Walter, climbed back onto his feet. His fists clenched, and he sighed. "What do you mean, 'we'? And more importantly, where are we?"

Walter motioned for him to calm down and stepped forward. "Well, it should be obvious, but that leads me to my next point. Now, please pay attention, Henry, as I'm not completely sure of the situation. For your first question, anyway, like I said before, I'm now existent within your mind."

"Just hold on, you can't-,"

In that very instant Walter's left hand shot out and grasped Henry's right shoulder firmly. Before the brunet could even react he was forcefully slammed against the door. Walter released him from his grasp, smiling malevolently at Henry. "Are you going to pay attention now?"

The other man gave a meek nod, and Walter's grin grew. "Good… We can't be wasting our time… Now, as you know, I managed to enter your mind, which is where we are now."

"But…" Henry stood straight and kept his back against the door. "How is that? I don't-,"

"Your brain has to conjure up some representation, correct? For example, when you dream something, your brain creates images for you to see and follow, since you are, basically, dormant. I suppose the best example would be when you traveled through the portal to gain access to my own world."

Henry bowed his head slightly. A moment or two passed before he raised his head again. "And why… why did you choose me… for this? I mean, I wouldn't have wanted Eileen to be… but…" He trailed off quietly, his gaze falling back to the floor.

Walter turned away, still smiling. "Your conscious was the one directly connected with mine… It would have been more tedious with Miss Galvin, but still possible… In any case, you must be exhausted, Henry…"

"What does… that have to do with anything?" responded the brunet somewhat calmly, his voice cracked. "Oh, it has to do with everything…"

In a blur of motion, both Walter's hands clasped around Henry's head, to which the other man reacted by grabbing the blonde's wrists and attempting, in futile, to free himself. It was impossible, of course, as Henry felt like his head was suddenly being torn in half, his vision distorting. The taller man just watched, a glint of happiness apparent in his eyes.

The brunet saw, in a brief second, his lips parting, but his hearing had long been shot down… Everything was soon black…

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…and then his eyes opened. He did not recall even trying to raise his eyelids, but they opened nonetheless, and this, for a miniscule amount of time, frightened him. However, Henry Townshend looked around, unaware of his surroundings at first. He was sitting in the same booth he had been in earlier, his hands resting lazily near his crotch.

"He's waking up!"

He did not recognize the voice, but he still looked over to where it had come from… and gasped when he saw what he did.

He was sitting up from the floor, with Eileen and a number of other people around him. Henry stood up from his seat, eyes wide as he saw himself sit up and begin to look over himself, before looking up and seeing Henry standing, surprise smeared across his face. He nodded in acknowledgement of Henry, who backed away, perplexed.

"Sir, are you all right?" questioned one of the attendants huddled around him

"Yeah, Henry?"

Eileen had knelt down beside him, and he turned to stare at her with a blank stare. "Uh… I'm… I'm fine…"

"Are you sure?" asked a waitress nearby with a squeaky voice. Her face was full of freckles, and she was frowning. Why?

"We were about to call 9-1-1, but then you woke up; you were out for about a minute," informed Eileen suddenly, but he glanced from the waitress to the floor.

"Could we… go…? I'm not very hungry anymore, anyway…"

"Yeah… sure…" replied Eileen, still staring at him worriedly. Henry, who remained near the booth, watched helplessly.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, "I'm right here! Right here!" No one even gave him a glimpse, except his look-a-like, who grinned that same grin...

'No…' thought Henry gravely as the grin dropped and the man began to follow Eileen outside. Henry slowly went after them, ignoring everyone else as he aimlessly followed himself. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and Henry, the one who could be seen and heard, stopped for a moment and looked up towards the sky.

"Henry?" Eileen inquired as she halted outside the driver's door of her vehicle. The man sighed and proceeded to the car. Henry, who was not far behind, opened the right back door while the other got into the passenger seat. He hesitated, though, hand upon the handle.

'I can't just let him go…'

The brunet grimaced and entered the car.

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As Henry sat, very tense, in his seat, he tried to sort his thoughts out. His first thought, strangely, was how the weather had improved so quickly. He was not exactly sure why he was even curious about that at the moment, but his attention was stolen when the car had stopped, and he noticed there was a red light before them.

"I don't… want to sound like your mom or something, Henry, but…"

The brunet turned to her, thinking she was referring to him, however, he realized she was speaking to the other one. That was something else: had she not noticed him opening the door?

"You're not, you're just worried," remarked the other Henry plainly, affected just a little by the sentence.

"…Well, I mean, you… said his name back there… You've been acting weird the past few days too…" She paused and placed her hand on his shoulder, and it caused him to look to her surprisingly. "Walter's dead Henry, he isn't going to pop out and try… You know… Just… don't worry about it; the bastard's dead… Dead."

Meanwhile, Henry stared at her in astonishment. He felt like screaming at her, "Just shut up, Eileen! He's right there!" but that was pointless. Fortunately, Walter smiled.

"I know that, I'm fine. Really, Eileen, I am," he responded while gently grasping her hand and starting to lower it.

Henry ground his teeth, feeling the sudden urge to act. "Don't touch her!" he snapped. Immediately, Walter lowered Henry's real right hand, a smile gradually forming on his face. "You should go now."

"What?"

A honk from an automobile behind told her what he meant, and she looked back to the street and pressed on the pedal. All the while, Henry leaned back. He glared heatedly at himself, and for a second, felt a twinge of jealousy.

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Frank Sunderland found himself humming a tune that he could not recall the name of. He knew he had heard it before… Maybe during one of those old road trips he and his wife used to go on. James would usually tag along when he was younger, but as he aged and became more engrossed in his education, his activities with his parents lessened and lessened.

Frank sighed sadly as he continued sweeping the foyer of South Ashfield Heights. He wondered if James was out there somewhere, perhaps reading, which he almost always did in his spare time. Maybe if Mary had not died…

The entrance door opened, and he looked up to see Eileen Galvin walk inside, with Henry Townshend behind her. If Frank had known who was hiding behind Henry's face, he might have said something…

"Hi, Mr. Sunderland," greeted Eileen as she approached him.

"Howdy," he replied cheerfully, shielding his actual emotions. She nodded and began to converse with him, but Walter was not concerned with that. He gradually made his way up the stairs, gaze roaming around the interior. Henry's brown bangs fell across his face, and he swatted them away instantly.

Henry, however, was standing in the center of the room, watching his stolen body advance up the steps to the third floor. He knew where he was going, obviously. Room 302. However, the brunet was in no rush. If Walter was going to stick with what he said before, he could trust that his former attacker would not do anything odd. He owed him that much anyway.

Henry still did not believe it. In barely an hour or two he had been thrust out of his own body by a man who had attempted, at various times, to take his life. Still, though, he was curious about Walter's motives… and extremely angry. He dashed after him.

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He found Walter just standing outside the door, staring at the numbers, '302' with great interest. Henry had thought he would have gone in by now, but really did not care; he just wanted his body back, to feel secure… Yes, that was true. Since he had blacked out earlier he had not felt safe at all, and he was not entirely sure why. He knew he was not within his body… or was he? Was he just a projection of something asleep? Was that what Walter had meant?

"I should apologize, Henry, but you'll have your body back soon enough."

"So you can see me!" The brunet ran up in front of his own face, scowling. "What are you trying to do? I… I don't even know what the hell's going on!"

Walter held up a hand, smirking. "This was just an experiment… I had to know what exactly I could do."

"An experiment? That's…" Henry clenched his fists, sighing. "Just… Just…"

"Is something the matter?"

Both turned to see Eileen walking down the hallway towards them. She had her purse slung over her right shoulder. "No," answered Walter speedily, a grin playing on his face once again. "I was just thinking."

"Eileen…" murmured Henry as she smiled and entered her own apartment room. "Like I said, I'll return your body back to you soon enough, Henry, so please, calm down."

" 'Calm down'? You… Don't you understand? You do all these things, but you just don't understand how it affects people, do you?" inquired Henry sternly. He glared at Walter, feeling sick all of a sudden. Every time he spoke, and the words came rolling out of his mouth…

"Perhaps I don't, but I have my intentions."

"What does that mean? That as long as you get what you want, it's fine? The world… it doesn't just revolve around one person! People have feelings, emotions… They're not just tools you can use and then throw away as if they never existed!"

Was he yelling? Henry was not that type of person, but it did not seem to bother Walter in the slightest. "Are you saying I am a selfish person? I have done nothing that is completely centered on personal gain."

"That doesn't justify killing nineteen people! You think it's not selfish, but that mother of yours doesn't exist! Maybe your actual mother does, but-"

His fist collided with his face, and Henry was down before he even realized Walter had been struck by the statement.. "You're the one who doesn't understand, Henry," spat Walter dangerously. "Mother exists. I know she does. That is all I have to understand."