Two hours later, the group was seated around the fire, warming themselves and listening to James' tale of his trip through Silent Hill.

Mary and Laura were the only two people absent from the group. Laura had been full of questions, and it seemed best that she didn't hear the answers that James was giving to the adults. So, Mary had taken the little girl to a back room for a nice long talk, but not before passing out cups of hot tea to everyone.

Eileen picked hers up and peered suspiciously at the contents.

Mary smiled. "It's OK. Just Earl Grey."

Eileen smiled.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not sure of some things right now," she said.

"Understandable," Mary said.

John had initially been ecstatic to hear news of his sister, but as James' story progressed, and he learned of Angela's despair and guilt, he had grown grimmer and quieter. When James told them about the room in the labyrinth in which he'd found Angela and the strange monster, and what she'd said to him after the beast was dead, tears had run freely down John's face. And, when James described Angela's last walk up the fiery stairs, John had cried openly, and Eileen had comforted him.

She and Henry sat side by side throughout, warming their hands on the cups of tea and listening to a tale that seemed even more incredible than their own. They had been merely unwilling participants in another man's plans…here was a man whose trip through hell had been ultimately of his own making, and whose self-created prison had lasted not for days, but for years. Eileen couldn't fathom how anyone could have survived that…but here he was, telling them all about it.

Almost all. Her gut told her that there were some things that he was leaving out, but she couldn't figure out what or why. Then again, there were some things that had happened to her that she wouldn't want to discuss with anyone…anyone except Henry.

"You actually performed the Crimson Ceremony?" John was asking.

"Yes," James said. "I'd found the pieces I needed around town as I went. Finally, in the library at the hotel, I found the book itself, and it told me everything I needed to know. So I brought her to this island, and..."

John leaned forward. "How did you do it? How does it work?"

James shook his head. "Damned if I remember," he said. "It was all in the book. I don't have it any more. When I finished, the book and all the implements disappeared. I don't know where they went."

Henry gazed deep into his cup. "These objects...what did they look like?"

James thought for a moment. "There was a black stone goblet...and a vial of milky white fluid...and I remember a bowl, too."

Henry nodded. "I found those in my back room, when I broke down the wall. Walter Sullivan used them to bring himself back. And a red book, right?"

"Yes."

"Where are they now?" John asked.

Henry shrugged. "I don't know. They were gone when I got back from the hospital. Sounds like they go where they're needed."

"Wait," James said. "Walter Sullivan...I know that name. Didn't he kill a couple of kids a while back?"

"A long time ago," John said.

"Jim, it's been years," Frank said.

James nodded. "I've counted the days. Every day here is the same. I had to write them down as they went to keep track." He turned to Henry.

"This Walter Sullivan...you said he brought himself back to life?"

"It's a very long story," Henry said.

"Well, I've just spent a couple of hours telling you mine," James said, as Mary sat down next to him.

"It's OK," she said. "Laura's taking a nap in the back room. She's fast asleep."

She smiled at him, and slipped her hand into his; James squeezed it absentmindedly and smiled at Henry. "Now, you can fill us in on what's been going on out there."

It was dark out by the time Henry and Eileen finished their story.

"That damn cult," James said. "They've caused all of this pain."

"But they brought me back to you," Mary said. James smiled at her.

"And it was all worth it, my love," he replied, with a smile. Eileen thought she detected a weariness in the routine exchange. She stood up.

"I'm going out for some air," she said, stretching.

"I'll come with you," Henry said.

"Sounds good," said James. Frank looked at him with surprise, but didn't say anything.

They walked to the far end of the clearing. James leaned against a tree. The three of them stood in silence in the cool, crisp air, staring up at the stars. The breeze rustled through the trees.

James had told them about Eddie, too. What Eddie had said to him just before he died stuck in Eileen's mind.

"You and me are the same. We're not like other people..."

James hadn't known what that meant then, not until much later. But Eileen still turned the words over in her head.

We're not like other people either, she thought. This place...it scars you...it changes you.

After a few minutes, Eileen asked, "James, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"I never have."

Eileen turned to James, who was smiling at her tiredly.

"There's something else, isn't there? Something you didn't mention in there."

James smiled at her. "You're right, there is. Should have known you'd see that. You were always a sharp kid."

He took a long breath.

"No rush," Henry said. "We've both been doing a lot of talking. You have plenty of time."

"Time is the problem," James said. "That's just it...I have all the time in the world." He looked up at the stars for a minute. "I didn't say anything in there because of my father. But I can tell you.

"There's a price for the Ceremony...a very heavy one. Once I performed it and brought Mary back, it locked the two of us here. Neither of us can leave, or we both will die. Here, we will live forever."

Eileen rested her hand on his shoulder. James smiled at her.

"It's OK, Leenie. I was glad to make the deal, to trade my freedom for a life here with Mary. It was the only way." He breathed deeply. "In those last few weeks, I realized that I couldn't live without her. I had nothing but her. And when she was dead, there was nothing binding me to my old life. I got the chance, and I took it."

"But it's been eating away at you," Eileen said softly. "I can tell. It's killing you."

"Sometimes, I resent her for it," he said quietly. "She's so happy here. She has all she wants. But I...sometimes I look at her and I hate her. I hate her for being so perfect, so...fulfilled." His reluctance to speak was slowly slipping. "All there is is this house, this island, day after day, year after year. She never says anything."

"Complacency," said Henry. James nodded.

"Every day is the same here. Food appears in the fridge, the laundry is clean, the books are all in neat rows on the shelves. This jacket," he said, fingering the edge of his military jacket, "still looks like it did when I got here. It should have been rags a long time ago. I look the same, too. Never need a haircut or a shave. If I cut myself, it's healed the next day. Nothing ever changes. One day, I got angry and threw all of the books in the front room on the floor, just to see what would happen. The next morning, they were all back on the shelves like before.

"Mary never says anything about it. Nothing at all. She's never even mentioned the Ceremony, any of it. It's like it never happened, like our life before never happened, like nothing ever happened."

The clearing was quiet for a few moments.

"That's no life," Henry said flatly. "It's a living death."

"It's Purgatory," Eileen added.

"It's all I've got," James said.

They heard a commotion inside the house. Frank came running out, straight toward them. They could see Mary's form silhouetted in the doorframe for a moment before she turned away.

Frank was breathless by the time he reached them. "Jim...Mary just asked Laura to stay with you and her. Here. She said something about not ever leaving this place. Jim, what's going on?"

James sighed. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't know how to tell you. We can't leave, ever. It was the tradeoff for bringing Mary back."

"Jim...oh, my boy." Frank stood in shock, shaking his head. "You're going to hate me for this, but...you can't go on like this."

"I know, Dad," James replied sadly. "But it's the deal I've made, and I've got to live with it. Anyway, even if I could leave, what's left for me out there?"

"Me, for one. For what that's worth, your old man is still alive."

"I'm sorry," James said. "I didn't mean..."

"I know," Frank said. "It's OK."

The little group was silent.

"Laura said she didn't want to stay here forever anyway," Frank said after a moment.

James laughed. "She was always difficult."

"Jim, it's killing you."

"If I leave, I'll die anyway," James said. "I might as well stay here with Mary. I owe her that."

"No. You don't."

All eyes turned to Henry, who was standing there looking as angry as Eileen had ever seen him.

"You don't owe her a thing. Yes, you may have killed her. But you gave up everything to bring her back, and went through hell to do it. You, Eileen, and I are the only ones who know just what it took to get through that. And you've lived that hell for years now, and are ready to live it forever for her. I think I can say that you don't owe her a damn thing."

"I agree. I know what it is to owe your life to someone," Eileen said. "There is no way to repay that, short of giving yours up for that person. That's exactly what you've done. I know that I'd do it in a heartbeat if I had to. But I wouldn't be facing the living death that you're enduring now. It's enough, more than enough."

Tears were running down James' face now. "You don't know," he said wearily. "You don't know what it is to lose the person who means the most to you in the world...and then to find out that it was your own doing. It's...beyond the worst. It's losing everything. It's losing yourself."

"I know what it is," Frank said quietly.

"Jim...this young lady and gentleman are here in the first place because I failed them. I failed you, I failed them, and I failed myself because I didn't have the guts to do anything about it. I've lost my building, and my son and daughter-in-law, and I've caused irreparable damage to these two young people. The only good thing I ever did was rescue little Walter, and look what came of it. Nineteen people died. I don't know how I could have let it go on. I'm not the person I thought I was.

"That's why I brought these people to help me find you. You're all I have left...and now, you're as good as gone too."

He turned and walked slowly back to the house. James' eyes followed him, and his face was twisted with pain. Henry and Eileen stood silently by.

The stars turned overhead.