Chapter 4 – An Old Friend

Alex Shepherd found himself waking up in the early morning, head pounding like a drum. He was groggy and rubbed his eyes, trying to make sense of it all. He hadn't drunk that much last night, had he? It was just one drink, one drink with his father. But somehow, his body felt like it had been hammered.

He sat up slowly, taking a moment to scan the room. The old bedroom hadn't changed much, same old posters on the wall, and dusty shelves stacked with books, trophies, and childhood mementos. The room felt frozen in time, but something felt …off. The outside world is still blinded by the fog.

Alex forced himself out of bed, taking a moment to stretch his arms and back. He stumbled slightly as his legs struggled to hold him up. Dragging himself to the bathroom, he took a moment to the bathroom sink and splashed cold water on his face.

He took a hot, quick shower, but the hot water did little to wash away his unease. He dried himself off with a towel, and memories of his younger brother, Joshua, resurfaced. He remembered a night years ago when Josh had woken up from a nightmare. Though he had been irritated by having to share a room, Alex nevertheless comforted his little brother. He handed over to him an old flashlight "Just keep this close, and you won't be scared anymore." For Joshua, that flashlight had become his prized possession.

Alex went back to his room and dressed in silence. Everything seemed still like the house itself was holding its breath. The tension in the air reminded him of moments just before a firefight back in Iraq. Where one second seemed like an eternity and then everything goes chaotic.

"Mom?" Alex called out. "Dad?"

No answer.

The house was still the same but felt… empty. Too empty.

He got no response from either of his parents, so Alex made his way downstairs. In the kitchen he opened the fridge, hoping to shake off his discomfort with something family. Orange juice and milk greeted him inside. Grabbing both, he made his way to the cabinets for cereal. He found a familiar box, Frosted Flakes, Joshua's favorite.

Alex smirked. He and Joshua used to fight over the last bowl every time. He poured himself a bowl and sat down at the table. He ate in silence, each bite feeling more surreal. The house was just too quiet.

Where was everyone?

"Mom?" he called out again, louder this time. But still, nothing.

The house wasn't just empty, it was vacant. Everything was still in its place, so maybe they all stepped out for a moment.

After finishing breakfast, Alex quickly washed his cup and bowl and left them in the sink. This house was just too quiet for his liking. He couldn't just sit there and wait for his parents to show up again. So he grabbed his jacket and stepped outside for some fresh air.

It was a chilly morning. Shepherd's Glen greeted him with the same familiar streets and buildings. But the fog continued to cling to the town, wrapping around the houses, trees, street signs, everything. It wasn't a dream. The streets were still empty, too empty. There wasn't anyone going to work, kids on bikes, no one chatting over coffee. It was as if the place had become a ghost town in his absence.

Alex continued walking, footsteps echoing through the stillness, and the more he walked, the more realized how run down everything was. Shepherd's Glen wasn't the town he remembered. Cracked sidewalks, and broken streetlights, the town had fallen on hard times. It was jarring for him to see it in such a state.

He decided to let his mind wander, back to more pleasant memories of his childhood, the carefree afternoons running through the streets with his friends. Elle Holloway had been a part of his group, always there, always pushing boundaries, even when Alex wasn't sure it was a good idea. He hadn't seen her in years. But the more he thought about it, running into her would give him a sense of comfort.

He rounded a corner, and something caught his eye. Up ahead, near the town's bulletin board, stood someone. It was a woman, her back to him, busy tacking papers up. She was working hard as if racing against time. Alex squinted to see who it was through the mist. His heart skipped a beat when he realized finally who it was.

Elle. Elle Holloway.

She was standing there, stapling yet another poster to the board of the faces of missing individuals. She looked tense. Even from this distance, Alex could see her utterly exhausted, with a more slender frame and more worn than he remembered. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her before he left for the army.

Without thinking, he took a few steps forward. "Elle?"

She flinched at the sound of her name and turned sharply to face him. For a moment, she just stared, eyes wide with surprise. She wasn't quite sure he was real. Then she recognized him and gave him a softer, warmer look.

"Alex?" she asked, as though she didn't quite believe it herself. "Is it you?"

"Yeah, it's me." He said, offering her a small smile. "I'm back."

Elle gave him a good look over, the boy that left her behind in Shepherd's Glen was now a man standing in front of her. It had been years since the two of them saw each other, just too many years. Alex left for the army and their shared hometown had begun to slowly descend into ruin. And yet, despite the time and distance, the connection between the two was still there.

Elle gave a tired smile "I didn't expect to see you again." She said. "I thought you'd be off somewhere far away, saving the world and all, soldier boy."

Alex chuckled. "Not exactly, I just got discharged and came back home to see the family… but things seem different here, huh?"

She gestured towards the bulletin board, a smile fading as she pointed to the posters of missing people. She crossed her arms. "Yeah," she said quietly. "You could say that."

Alex stepped closer, he looked over the missing person's posters. Faces stared back at him, familiar faces and names all blurred together. Faces of people he knew, had seen around town, people who were part of Shepherd's Glen, all just gone now.

"What's going on, Ell? Why are there so many people missing?" he asked, a voice full of concern.

Elle gave a long sigh of frustration. "It all started a while ago. People started vanishing, one by one. No explanations, just a trace left. Just one day… gone. At first, it was one or two, but now…" She gestured back to the board again and gave a sad smile of helplessness. "Now it seems like the whole town is vanishing."

"Why hasn't anyone done anything?" Alex frowned as he scanned the names and faces. This wasn't the town he had left behind. Something darker was at play here.

Giving him a look of frustration and resignation, Elle shrugged. "They tried. But no one outside Shepherd's Glen seems to care, Alex."

Her voice started cracking up as she said his name and his heart clenched in his chest. Elle had been a strong girl, stronger than most people he knew. But to hear a sense of defeat in her voice, seeing her look so worn down, it was painful.

"Elle…" he began, stepping closer to her now. "Why are you doing this by yourself? You shouldn't be alone."

"Someone has to." Her eyes softened and she gave him a small, sad smile. "Mom's been… distant lately. I can't get a hold of her, and I don't know what the town's leadership is thinking. We can't have an anniversary when there's so many people missing." She took a moment to pause, biting her lip, as though something was holding her back. "And now I can't find Nora."

Her mentioning her little sister, caused a shift in her demeanor. Alex noticed a certain vulnerability now. Elle had always looked after Nora, her responsibility. And now that she joined the ranks of the missing was hitting Elle hard.

Alex hadn't known Nora that well, but he remembered her as a sweet girl, always shadowing her big sister.

"I'm sorry, Elle." He said quietly. "I didn't know."

Elle shook her head, brushing it off. "It's okay, you couldn't have known." The pain was still visible in her eyes.

The two of them stood there for a moment, the weight of everything was hitting them both, from the missing people to Nora, everything. Alex wanted to reach out, and comfort her but wasn't sure how to go about doing it. The years between them felt too wide, and so many things were left unsaid. He wasn't the same person when he had left when he had returned. Elle wasn't the same girl he remembered when he left, she had blossomed into a young woman.

"I've missed you, Elle," Alex said, almost without thinking.

Elle snapped her gaze to his, and for a moment, she softened up. She blinked, trying too hard the blush on her cheeks. "I've missed you too, Alex." She admitted.

They stood there, eyes locked on one another. There was an unspoken tension between the two, something that had always been there. A connection, a spark, and yet they never acted on it. Life had gotten in the way, responsibilities, fear of ruining a friendship, and then Alex's decision to leave for the army. But with the town crumbling all around them, perhaps that spark felt more real again.

Alex cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly, he had never had much social grace when it came to these matters. "Maybe…" he started, trying to find the right words. "After all of this is over, after we find Nora, we could… catch up. Properly, you know."

Elle blushed again and smiled harder than she had in a long time. "Yeah… I'd like that."

But then her thoughts shifted back to reality. "We can't think about that now. Not with everything going on."

"Yeah," Alex agreed, though he did feel a sense of disappointment. Even he couldn't shake the feeling that they were always on the edge of something more, more than just friends. But they were never quite there yet. "You're right. First, we find Nora. We figure out what's going on."

"Just one step at a time," Elle said, giving him a small smile.

Alex nodded, but he knew whatever lay ahead of them, it was only going to get darker. They would have to face it together.

Judge Margaret Holloway stood at her office window, a cup of coffee in hand. The town lay before her, shrouded in mist. She took slow, measured sips of coffee as she examined a familiar figure walking the streets of Shepherd's Glen, Alex Shepherd.

Still alive? Unless the dead walk amongst us.

Her fingers wrapped tighter around the cup's handle. Adam had failed. She gave him ample time and plenty of warnings. Yet, Alex still walked freely, unaware of the fate that was destined for him. The Order was clear: they demanded his sacrifice, just as they demanded the others. Adam had betrayed them.

"Weak." She thought, and tightened her jaw in rage.

She paced away from the window, mind racing. Adam Shepherd had always been difficult to control, needing more of the stick than of the carrot. His loyalty to the Order had always been in question. But even so, she hadn't expected him to betray them so openly. His son's survival was a problem. Something that needed to be dealt with, swiftly and without hesitation.

Alex wasn't supposed to be here. He wasn't supposed to be walking the streets, much less talking to old friends like Elle. These complicated things threatened everything they worked for. Everything she sacrificed for. If Adam didn't do his duty, Margaret would have to act herself.

She paced back to her desk, already forming solutions in her mind. She had ways of dealing with loose ends. The Order had eyes and ears everywhere, not just in Shepherd's Glen, but throughout New England. If Adam lost his nerve, she could still rely on others to do what needed to be done.

She knew her daughter Elle had been close to Alex. But that was years ago. The bonds of childhood meant nothing in the face of duty. Elle was a strong girl, but she was still so naïve, blind to the real purposes that Margaret served in this town for so long. "If Elle ever found out the truth…" Margaret pushed those thoughts away.

For now, her focus had to be on Alex. Adam's failure was a liability, but there was also opportunity. Alex wasn't the teenager he had been when he left Shepherd's Glen all those years ago. He was a soldier now, hardened by war, and that made him a dangerous enemy. But it had also made him vulnerable. He returned home seeking answers, seeking normalcy, and in that, she had an advantage.

Holloway knew she'd have to act quickly and didn't have time to waste. The Order would soon realize that Alex was still alive. Once they did, they would demand action. She couldn't afford to appear weak in front of the cult. Not now. There was already growing suspicion about her, the citizens were restless, growing more and more frightened of the list of missing persons. Whispers of conspiracy were spreading.

No, she would take control of the situation just as she always had. Adam would not go unpunished for his betrayal. He had been given a chance, and he failed. Failure has its consequences.

Alex and Adam Shepherd would pay. One way or another.

She took a seat at her desk, scanning the stack of papers in front of her. The daily reports from the Order, updates on the town, and records of the missing people. She didn't much care about all that now, she had to carefully plan her next steps. Elle and Alex were already too close. They had to be stopped before they pieced it all together.

But how?

She couldn't be reckless. The Shepherd family were not fools. If she acted too quickly, too rashly, they might slip through her fingers. No, she would have to be strategic, and methodical. Find a way to lure them in, make them vulnerable, just as she had done with all the Order's enemies.

She leaned back in her chair as she considered her options. There were many ways to break an enemy, especially one who had returned from war. She would start by having Alex watch, study him, and learn his strengths and weaknesses. When the time was right, they would strike.

For now, she would continue playing her role, Judge Holloway. No one would suspect her of anything. Not yet, but beneath that mask, her real work would begin.

"Enjoy your reunion with Elle, Alex." She thought, a cruel smile forming on her lips. "It won't last."

Fitch and Bartlett had fulfilled their parts, and Holloway took satisfaction in that. Martin Fitch had handed his daughter, Scarlett, over to the blade. His grief was irrelevant. What mattered was that he had proven his obedience to the Order. Mayor Bartlett had buried his son, Joey, and while he worsened his drinking, his loyalty was confirmed. His personal demons were merely inconsequential.

Holloway had executed her daughter without hesitation. Nora had been a necessary sacrifice for the greater good. What good was grieving over a sacrifice compared to the power she wielded? The Order had its demands, and personal feelings were irrelevant. Nora's death had served its purpose. Margaret had never really cared about her, only as a means to an end.

Her other daughter's distress over her missing sister was a point of irritation. Margaret had no personal attachments to Elle or the rest of her family. Their concerns had no bearing on her larger plans. But Elle's worries only complicated things, and Margaret had no intention of allowing her to stand in the Order's way.

Margaret's face tightened in anger as she considered Adam. His inability to follow through with his sacrifice was a personal attack on her authority. Adam had always been a thorn in her side, a man with dangerous concepts such as "Morality". His resistance made him unpredictable. Alex Shepherd was a reminder of that betrayal, and now they were in a dangerous situation.

Holloway's mind was busy thinking of strategies and making calculations. She needed to end Alex but also needed to address Adam's betrayal. She could not tolerate this challenge to the Order, and she needed to be meticulous in her approach.

Her gaze wandered over to a small, obsidian box on her desk. Inside were tokens of the Order's dark power. Relics of an older, forgotten time. She picked up one of them, cold, heavy, a reminder of the lengths she would go to maintain control. These relics weren't just mere symbols, they were tools, instruments of the Order's will.

Her anger was simmering as she considered the situation they were in. Alex's continued presence was a challenge to her authority. She would need to act swiftly to eliminate the threat. The Order would not compromise.

She set the relic back in the box, solidifying her resolve. She would not be stopped by sentiment or other's weaknesses. The Order, and Holloway, were absolute. Her duty as head of the Order was to ensure their demands were met. Alex and Adam would be dealt with.

Taking a deep breath, Margaret began to go over plans and contingencies. She would have to be patient and wait for the time to strike. Her authority would not be undermined.

She would navigate these times with her customary ruthless efficiency. She would use every tool at her disposal to make sure the Order's will was fulfilled, from the control of the law courts to the cultists themselves. She would not falter.

The path was clear to her now. The final sacrifice would be made, the debts paid in full. Alex Shepherd's fate was sealed, and with cold precision, Judge Margaret Holloway would make sure the demands were met.