Alex's P.O.V.

It was a quiet morning at the museum, Nordic wasn't even needed so he had the day off. It would be Alex's first day working without the old man though he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Part of him was relieved to be able to work alone but the other part was already missing the company. An elderly couple kept thinking he knew anything about the rocks on display and he had to pine away for someone who was actually informed on the subject. This history museum dealt a lot with the natives that lived here before the Europeans took over and many of what looked like stones to Alex were actually used as tools. Upon closer inspection, Alex could see a tip on the rocks, making it like an arrow for carving wood but age had made the shape it once was indefinite.

He was on his lunch break when Esmond came by the break room. No one but Alex was there, so his childhood friend spotted him instantly and greeted him with a smile. All was forgiven from the other day.

"There you are, Alex. I wanted to know if you and Josh were almost finished packing. Let me know so Carl and I can help you move in."

Alex was about to tell him that he really didn't have to do that before he stopped himself, remembering how Esmond felt when he declined an act of kindness.

"Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Josh and I should be finished by tonight. Without you, I don't think I would've been able to pay for the quick move-out. I'm really grateful."

"I'm more than happy to get you far away from Ashfield Heights. I must admit I was a bit nervous when I first heard of you living there. I'm glad you've decided to move in with us where it's safe, that lunatic needs to get caught soon."

The image of Henry and what expression he might have had when Alex pointed the knife in his direction never left Alex's mind since yesterday. If the same guy who died all those years ago really was the one who killed him, then there was no hope for the police finding him.

"Has there been any other deaths?" he asked, hoping that the ghost killer decided his murdering spree wasn't fun anymore.

"Not recently. But they can start back at any time. Who knows with a crazy copycat killer like that, right?" Esmond sat down next to Alex, signaling that he wanted to keep chatting away with him.

"Why do you think someone would kill that many people?" Alex asked.

"Who knows? Maybe the guy feels justified in doing it. Maybe he has some bad past that he's taking out on people or something. They think this copycat might be the same guy that copycatted Walter Sullivan several years ago. They never did catch the second one when the killings suddenly stop. That's why I wouldn't hold out too much hope that the murders are completely finished. Until we catch the man, nothing is safe."

It wasn't a comforting thing to say but it was true and Alex respected Esmond a little for saying that. He looked down at the cup of coffee in his hand in silence.

"Did you know that this museum has the largest collection of items from the Tamukinch tribe? They're all gone now but some say that their gods inspired the first founders of the Order."

Alex pulled his head back like he heard a siren. Judging by the shocked and concerned look on Esmond's face, it was safe to say that he realized he accidentally struck a nerve.

"Forgive me, Alex," he apologized softly, "I know some people harbor heavy feelings when it comes to that cult, I just didn't know you were one of them."

Alex shook his head.

"No, it's...it's alright. My dad…dealt with some followers before he died."

Immediately he knew that he said too much. He was mentally slapping himself for practically giving away the cause of his father's death. Esmond gave him a glance filled with sorrow for his friend, then unexpectedly reach his hand over Alex's.

"I'm sorry," was all he said. It was all that was needed to be said.

Henry's P.O.V.

He wandered his way through Subway World for no other reason than to simply walk. He normally spent his days in the living world but he couldn't stand to be there right yet without inflaming the ache in his chest. He had the privilege of living to adulthood with little chance to feel this kind of pain. They say it was better to love and lost than not at all yet Henry was beating himself up for even trying.

He heard footsteps approaching him quickly and was yanked around before he could respond. Cynthia was giving him a hard yet worried look, distraught filling her beautiful features.

Henry opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but no sound came out. The sudden encounter didn't allow his brain much time to process any information.

"What the hell is going on between you and Walter? He's furious!"

After a moment's pause, the events of their last encounter filled Henry's head. Oh no.

"What's he doing?" he asked with worry.

"Believe it or not, the Hospital World looks even worse than before. The walls are screaming and when I was there I saw him torturing a patient monster. He glared at me and yelled at me to leave. I had never seen such an angry look on him."

"But how did you know-" Henry trailed off. Thankfully, Cynthia had enough of his question to go on.

"I ran away and he yelled after me to let you know what he would do to you the next time he saw you. He told me the patient was practice."

"Oh."

Cynthia glared at the response.

"That's all you can say? After what I just told you! Henry, you got to leave. Walter will come after you soon."

"What else can he do? He already…" Henry trailed off.

She frowned at the unspoken thought. They hardly mention their deaths to one another and Henry choses not to think about it too much. Life was something you couldn't easily come to fully appreciate until after you lost it. Whenever Henry would see people doing ordinary things he couldn't do anymore, like sip at coffee or pet a dog, he realized how little he had valued what he once had.

Cynthia took in a small intake of breath in order to steady her nerves. Henry waited for her to compose herself before daring to continue.

"I mean..there's nothing he can do except make me hurt a little."

"But do we really know that?" Cynthia asked out loud.

Henry did a double take.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how do we know that's all he can do? There's an afterlife, after all. Who says there isn't something after that? And even if it's true, you make it sound like pain isn't such a big deal. I don't want you to be tortured. As your friend, I'm begging you to avoid him as much as possible."

Henry took in his friend's expression that had so much worry he was the one who pitied her. But even if he managed to avoid Walter all day, he would be a sitting duck by tonight. Yet he couldn't find it in his heart to tell her no. It seemed like he was going to take a trip to the living world after all.

Alex's P.O.V.

He had never seen the house before but he was right to tell Josh it was huge. Talk about hogging the land mass! Esmond was not one to skimp on money but Alex had no idea his first house would be so extravagant. It also had a large porch that rested on a lake, reminding Alex a bit of Toluca Lake in Silent Hill (unfortunately).

It was so impressive that even Josh shut up about moving here. The boy stared at it in wonder. Esmond and Carl took in their new roommates' faces and smiled.

"I'm glad you two like it. Remember, you can have the entire west wing. I hope that'll be okay."

"Of course. Thank you, Esmond," Alex had developed the habit of only calling him Mr. Anderson during work. Esmond still seemed to mind a little but he was willing to let it slide.

The two Shepherds moved their things in. This time, Josh was insistent that he have his own room, choosing one close by a television room. Alex reluctatntly agreed but took the bedroom right next to his little brother's.

Esmond told them that they wanted to all have dinner together later on. Since it was going to be a home-cooked meal, Alex felt even more uneasy than when they were at Olive Garden. He tried not to think about it too much. Dinner would be at seven, so he had a few hours with Josh until then. The two plopped up on a wonderfully soft couch and found a movie on the tv. Indiana Jones, a favorite of both of them.

Halfway through Raiders, Josh told Alex he was going to use the restroom. He joked about not needing Alex to protect him that far and Alex laughed it off but on the inside a small part of him was afraid to give Josh even that much freedom.

When Josh left, Alex tried to keep his attention on the movie. Something, however, was nagging at the back of his mind, buzzing around his thoughts like a persistent fly. No matter what, he couldn't stop thinking about Henry Townshend. He spoke out openly against the Esmond in his dream, arguing that Alex needed to be loved by a lover instead of hated and controlled. It was ironic to know that Henry was real but now he wanted nothing to do with him, whereas before it had been the opposite.

The ghost that had invaded his dreams was now always in his head. If only Alex could have known the man as he was when he was alive. If only he hadn't had been murdered, maybe Alex could have had a potential partner, the best one he had ever had.

Well, Henry was gone now, just as Alex had told him. The ghost was even considerate enough to do as he asked. Maybe Alex had been a little harsh. After all, Henry hadn't done any of the killings. And so far he hadn't hurt Josh at all.

Alex shook his head of the thought. What was he thinking letting a ghost close by? Especially one that was directly tied to a murderer? Alex managed to reassure himself that yes, he was right in throwing Henry out of his life.

Out of habit, he took out his favored knife and gazed softly at the blade that had saved his life so many times. Were all the dead wandering about the Earth as spirits? Alex would like to think that his parents were in a better place than this planet but after seeing Henry he wasn't so sure. He had told Josh that he had nothing to do with the Order, so if that was true, it was more than likely that there was no heaven at all. His parents were killed brutally and now they may have no choice but to live in a void or whatever it's like in the afterlife.

"Hello, Alex," Esmond's voice startled him out of his thoughts.

Alex nearly jumped when he heard it. He forgot that he was in his house and waiting for the dinner bell to ring. He turned his head to greet him and Esmond sat down on the couch next to him.

"Hey. Dinner ready? That was quick."

"Oh, not just yet. I was hoping to talk to you," Esmond admitted, his eyes sparkling at his friend.

Alex put his knife away. He had warned Esmond that he liked to carry it around though Alex never admitted to him why. The less anyone knew about the monsters he had faced, the easier it would be for Alex to forget about the whole ordeal.

"Sure. Josh and I were just watching this. He's in the bathroom now. What's up?"

Esmond plopped his elbow on the head of the couch, resting his head on his hand.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm glad to see you again. I missed you a lot. We've had good memories together."

Alex smiled, though it was forced and nervous. Esmond didn't say anything inappropriate, he assured himself. There was no reason to start sweating buckets for no reason.

"They were good times," he lied, "I'm glad you found happiness with Carl. He seems very nice."

"Remember when we snuck out our first night together? We thought your old man would be pissed but he knew the entire time. I didn't even have to bribe him!"

The joke only brought out painful memories from the past. Alex did his best not to show his discontent on his face, thinking that the best option was to offer a joke back to his old friend.

"Well, hopefully you didn't have to bribe Carl to marry you. I guess I'll have to start thinking of wedding presents for you two."

"Your brother always hated us together. I hope he'll warm up to me now. I've never been good with kids."

"So are you and Carl not planning on-"

"Why are you always mentioning Carl?" Esmond demanded, looking a bit annoyed.

Alex gaped at his ex like he had just witness him sprouting wings out of the blue. What kind of question was that? Esmond was getting married in a couple of months and he wanted to get out of talking about his fiance? It was getting harder and harder to reassure himself of anything anymore.

"Well…I…"

"Are you jealous?" asked Esmond.

The unexpected question nearly made Alex fall over. He had half a mind to bring out his knife again as he felt impending danger. His heart was sinking fast.

"No. I'm not. Why would you ask that? I thought-"

Before Alex could finish, Esmond leaned his face way too close to his. Alex instinctively leaned away, tightening his lips.

"Now, listen Alex. I'm doing all the work. I want a little effort on your part."

It took a moment for Alex to find his voice.

"Effort? For what?"

"For bringing us back together," Esmond chuckled deeply like it was all a game.

Alex shot out of his seat and backed away. He knew he could overpower Esmond physically but if he did anything stupid, his rich ex could use his money to make him pay. He might sue him and leave Alex and Josh stranded on the street.

"Esmond, you got it all wrong. I don't want…You're getting married!"

The blonde looked at him as if his reasoning wasn't worth a dime.

"Don't act like you're a saint, Alex. No one would decide to live in another person's house without thinking anything was going to happen. You've done nothing but lead me on, making me do everything to fix us. I gave you a job with a paycheck twice as much as you're worth and now you're pretending you didn't mean for this to happen?" now Esmond was getting worked up.

Everything was spiraling out of control. On the t.v. Jones had just shot that big man with the swordsmanship skills instead of having an elaborate fight scene with him. That was what Alex felt like, everything he ever did terminated with a single almost comical gunshot.

"Look, Esmond. I didn't mean for you to think I was interested. Please, let me just leave. I think Josh and I should just leave."

"And go where? Live in a homeless shelter until you find another job and home?" Esmond was smug, "Will you earn enough to find a home? Would anyone want to hire you?"

"Another job? You mean-"

"I didn't give you the job out of the kindness of my heart, you fucking idiot! I can't believe you're still acting like you didn't know."

Josh had been right this whole time, Esmond hadn't changed at all. Alex felt betrayed and angry.

"Fire me then, jackass! I'm not going to be your slut! I'm not even going to be your friend. I don't care what you do, I've dealt with much scarier shit than you."

"So you're going to give up all this money to save your pride? You're going to let Josh starve?"

Shit, not the Josh card. Alex was struck silent as he stared in horror. Esmond shrugged.

"Or maybe Josh will be taken from you and given to foster care. He'll be fed but you'll have nothing, will you? Not even Josh."

He knew he was defeated. Was he really going to whore himself to his ex to keep money? The paycheck he had now would help him save enough to give Josh a free ride to college, even if he had no scholarship whatsoever. And he could feed Josh and give him presents...

And keep Josh with him. After everything he did in Silent Hill to get Josh back….could he really just throw it away?

Esmond calmed down a bit when he saw Alex looking submissive, just the way he liked Alex.

"Look. Carl already knows if that's what you're worried about. He doesn't mind sharing, especially someone as attractive as you. Think it over and we'll talk tomorrow. Just do as I say, and you'll never have to worry about anything ever again. I'll take care of you."

Alex nodded. It was the only thing he could do at that point. He didn't respond when Esmond came up to him and kissed his forehead. Without another word, Esmond left Alex to his thoughts.

Dealing with Henry and Walter Sullivan sounded so much better now.

A/N: Glad I finally updated. Why yes, Esmond is a freak.