Alex & Michael's House

9:00 AM

"Well, that was... an eventful night wasn't it? Certainly not what I was expecting..."

It was 9:00 AM. Alex and Michael had just returned home after dropping off Clarissa. Unbeknownst to Michael, Alex was still reeling from the events of the last twelve hours.

Ghosts. Time travel. Loved ones coming back from the dead acting as if they were never gone. Another reality that she could remember clear as day, the pain and the loss she'd suffered for nearly a year and a half. It was so much to process... Michael was alive. Her parents weren't divorced. Jonas wasn't her stepbrother anymore, and she wasn't getting a new stepfather either.

That was... good? It was certainly good for her, but Jonas... his mother was still gone. That was one thing she hadn't changed. Could she have changed it? Jonas heard his mother's voice on those tape-player things, but he hadn't gone back in time and seen her like Alex had seen Michael. Maybe that was a constant, not a variable; Jonas' mother had died from some kind of illness, neither her nor Jonas could've prevented that. But Michael's death was the consequence of the choices she, Alex, had made... and unmade.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Michael asked. "You've seemed pretty... out of it. Like, ever since we got off the ferry."

Alex was about to head upstairs to her room when she stopped in front of a mirror. She stared at her reflection for a moment, bracing herself more static, half-expecting her future self to contact her with another message, more advice, or perhaps a warning... but nothing happened. Her reflection stared back at her, as silent as she was and not deviating from it's host in the slightest. Michael came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You're not seeing anymore, uh... visions, are you?" He asked her, his voice heavy with concern.

"No..." Alex replied in a small voice. She turned away and ran up the stairs, up to her bedroom, and found it just as she'd left it... except for one thing. The photograph she'd kept of herself and Michael by the well, the one she'd kept at her bedside since he died, was no longer there.

That photo was originally in his room... it must still be there, she thought.

"Alex? Seriously, I can tell what happened is bothering you. Talk to me," Michael pleaded.

Alex took a deep breath. Truth be told, she was barely keeping it together.

"Do you remember what I said to you? On the ferry?" She asked.

"Yeah, I do..." Michael answered. "You said I died, right? That I drowned last year? But that was just like the other visions right, the time loops? When we saw Clarissa die, and the Ren-"

"NO!" Alex shouted, turning on him. "No, don't you get it!? This was different; you were dead before we went to the island! I watched you die, I went to your funeral, mom and dad split up, mom got married to Jonas' dad, and Jonas became my stepbrother, he literally just moved in right before we left, and I... I-I..."

Alex couldn't take it anymore. She collapsed on her bed, buried her face in her pillow, and began to cry. A floodgate of emotions brought on by the night's events had just burst open. Michael was back, she should've been happy... but it was like waking up from a terrible nightmare. A nightmare that'd lasted 18 months. Alex had lived a whole other life that only she could remember now, and she wasn't sure if she could ever get Michael or anyone to understand.

"Hey, hey... come here," Michael said tenderly, picking up his sister and pulling her into his arms. Alex buried her face in his shoulder and continued to cry. She hadn't cried like this since the day he died. Every time she was faced with the subject of his death, she'd hidden her pain beneath a mask of aloofness or anger. But now it was all coming out.

For a while, Michael just held her, not saying anything. He waited patiently while she let it all out. Dependable as ever...

"Better?" He asked.

"I guess... yeah?" She replied, wiping her eyes.

"Maybe you'd better explain everything to me," Michael suggested. "Everything that happened in this other timeline, so I understand. Maybe it'll help if you talk about it..."

"Okay," Alex agreed. "Remember when you said you and Clarissa were thinking about leaving...?"

Alex talked for what seemed like an eternity, reliving every detail of every moment of every day, from their trip to the lake to the moment she woke up on the ferry just a few hours ago. Michael drowning. The funeral. The divorce. Clarissa blaming her for all of it. Blaming herself. Mom meeting Jonas' dad. Their wedding. Moving in. Jonas becoming her stepbrother. Even that stupid aptitude test she'd blown off for Ren, which made Michael laugh. She even managed to laugh with him... that felt good. By the time Alex had finished her story, it was 11:30 AM. Her throat felt sore; upon mentioning this, her brother took off down the stairs, and returned shortly with a juice pouch in his hand.

Alex's Bedroom

11:30 AM

"Seriously, Michael?" She said as she took the pouch of tropical punch.

"What? You said you were thirsty!" He said. "And you looked like you could use something a little more refreshing than tap water."

"You're not wrong," she said, plugging the plastic straw into the top of the pouch and taking a long draw.

"You know, I don't think I've ever told you this, but... mom had me seeing a therapist all throughout freshman year-"

"Wait, what?" Alex interrupted. "No, you never told me that!"

"Okay, long story short, that was a very stressful year for me... and a friend of mine offered me this drug called 'Adderall' that he thought would help (I see that look on your face, I'm not friends with that guy anymore!) and yeah... this woman helped me out through a really bad time," he said all in one breath.

"Anyway, with all you've been through... look, she said that if I ever had problems again, all I had to do was give her a call and we could talk. No charge," he informed her.

"You want me to see a shrink?" Alex deduced, arching an eyebrow.

"Look; as crazy as all of this has been, trust me," he urged. "She's a really nice woman; admittedly, time travel and ghosts are probably way above her pay grade... but whatever you have to say, she'll listen. And she won't judge you or think your crazy or anything. She's a very understanding and compassionate woman."

"I don't know..." said Alex. "Maybe it'll help..."

"I'll go get her card out of room and give her a call, okay?" Michael told her, getting up off the bed. "I know you probably would rather I backed off, but trust me on this one... you really look like you need it. Especially after everything you just told me."

Michael really was an amazing guy. Alex always felt blessed to have him for an older brother. To actually have someone who cared for her, not a rival, or worse someone who resented her for being born. Of course he was going to be a bit overbearing after this, he couldn't help it... Alex wondered how Jonas would've compared to him. He seemed like a good guy, and on the island it really seemed like he wanted to be there for her.

I guess I'll never know, Alex thought, lying back down in her bed. God, she was exhausted... after spending the whole night hoofing it across Edward Island, dealing with ghosts, time travel, and seeing her friends die and brought back to life... she was ready to just sleep for the rest of the week.

Alex, looked out her bedroom window. The sun was shining outside, and she could see Edward island in the distance. Upstairs, she could hear Michael talking on the phone...

"Hey, Doc? Yeah, it's me... I know, it's been a long time! Me? No, I'm good... I'm actually calling about my little sister, Alex? Yeah, we've had some really crazy and traumatic stuff happen to us overnight and I was thinking maybe you could have a sit down with her...? No... no, my parents don't know. She hasn't been into anything illegal or dangerous or anything... no, it's not; wait, you heard about that? Yeah, I had to pick her up from the police station last year for grand theft auto, but no... that has nothing to do with it. Frankly, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, and that's precisely why I'm calling!"

Alex was beginning to feel drowsy she wasn't sure what she was going to say to Michael's therapist, or if she should say anything...

Maybe I'll just give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she won't have me committed to a nuthouse, Alex thought. In truth, she didn't want to think about what happened on the island anymore... or what'd happened in the months preceding this fateful night. What was it Ren had said back on the ferry...?

"But soon, I shall be so I cannot remember any... but the things that never happened."

Author's Notes: So yeah, just a short epilogue for the game. I figured having Michael come back from the dead would have a greater impact than we saw in the actual game's epilogue scene. Alex just kind of shrugs it off at the end as "Cool, I changed time, and now I have my brother back! Whatever..." I mean something like that has got to send you on an emotional roller coaster ride like no other, especially when Alex has been mourning her brother for about 18 months and she's also had Clarissa silently blaming her for his death.