Henry woke up to the sight of the ceiling fan and the sound of clanging dishes and pans. He was careful in sitting up, glancing over at Eileen to see if she had heard or reacted. As expected she was still dozing; she had always been a heavy sleeper. She mumbled something that sounded like "…enry…" and he decided not to try and awaken her. He slipped out of the bed and headed for the hallway that connected the master bedroom to the kitchen and den.

The kitchen light was on, and the clock on the wall read '5:35'. He sighed and entered the kitchen, seeing Joshua washing the dishes from the night before. He didn't notice him, only continuing to scrub down one of the dirtiest dishes. On his left hand was a plastic bag, which, Henry could only presume, was to keep the water and soap from damaging the bandage over his left appendage.

"Josh, what are you doing? It's Sunday, and it's only five-thirty," Henry said sheepishly, screwing his eyes up as he did so. His son looked back at him, not startled at all. He turned the faucet off and watched the soaked plates drift in the water.

"I couldn't sleep, Dad. Sorry if I disturbed you and Mom," he said coldly. His father shook his head nonchalantly.

"That's alright; your mother wasn't even fazed. I'm just surprised you're up this early. Would you like a hand?" Henry joined his son in cleaning the plates when Joshua looked at him.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being here."

The Extremely Crappy Days at Ashfield High

Epilogue: The One who dwells at the Town's End

'BRANGY COMPETITION PRELIMINARIES STARTING NEXT WEEK!

Come show your school spirit by rooting for our team! Tickets are on sale…'

"Are you going, Joshua?" asked a woman from behind him, and he glanced at the person before returning to study the flyer.

"I don't know, Mrs. Lockhart," he replied. He looked at her and saw that her long, chocolate hair had been braided in the back, and her ruby eyes were locked on the flyer. "I mean, I know Nicole's going to be on the team," he continued, "but last year sucked, and from what I hear the years before that weren't so pretty."

Mrs. Lockhart sighed. "It's true, unfortunately. We always seem to end up competing against Valley High, and they just have the pick-of-the-crop, but I have a renewed hope with Nicole on the team. She's proven to be a breath of fresh air. In fact, I'm surprised that you didn't decide to sign up."

Joshua was genuinely shocked by this, but he hid it well. "Oh, you know this isn't the type of thing for me, Mrs. Lockhart."

"That's not true, Joshua!" the teacher said encouragingly. "You're brilliant in science and math! I'm sure you could foil all those rich, snotty brats!"

Joshua shrugged again. "I guess I could've, but I choke up when I'm in front of all those people and stuff, but I have confidence in Nicole too. She's a smart girl. You know, I guess I could buy a ticket…"

"That would be wonderful, Joshua!" She patted him on the shoulder, and he tugged at his backpack strap.

"Hey, Mrs. Lockhart, do you think I could get a job as a teacher?"

"A teacher? Of what?"

"Math, but something advanced, like Algebra or Calculus. Do you think I can?"

"Of course you can! But what is this sudden spur of interest?"

"Uh, I don't know," Joshua responded plainly. "It was just something that came to me when I woke up on Sunday. It was this deep feeling, and I felt something change inside of me. Like, really change." He grinned embarrassedly. "You don't want to hear about that, though-,"

"On the contrary, Joshua, I find that very intriguing." Mrs. Lockhart smiled and placed her palm on the flyer. "I know that same feeling that you just described. I just woke up one day and everything was suddenly very clear and crisp, like everything came into view. At the time I found it uncomfortable, because everything was different to me from that point. Everything.

"All I can tell you, though, Joshua, is to just follow your intuition."

He shot her a glance from the corner of his eye. "Trying to avoid the cliché?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Yes, I guess I was." Mrs. Lockhart tucked her arms together and fixed him with a curious stare. "You know, speaking of math teachers and the like, you don't happen to have any idea about what happened to Mr. Wells, do you? You're one of his students, right?" Joshua trained his eyes on the flyer and took notice of the color red.

"I don't know what happened to Mr. Wells," he replied truthfully and seriously, "but I have a feeling that he won't be teaching here anymore. And I also mean he won't be returning to Ashfield at all."

"How do you figure that?" she asked him as he headed for the cafeteria double-doors. He attained a grasp on one of the handles and looked back over his shoulder at her. His eyes were strikingly cold. And, she saw, they were green. Green. 'Have they always been green?' she thought. 'Are you sure they weren't hazel or some sort? Are you sure?'

"Just trust me on that one," he answered, and when he smiled at her all the paranoia and sudden fear that had taken a hold of her heart was lifted. "I'll see later, Mrs. Lockhart."

She nodded. "Yes, goodbye Joshua. Enjoy your lunch."

"Likewise." He disappeared through the double-doors leaving her to cringe at the noise of the slamming door. She giggled and ran her palm over the flyer, trying to iron out the wrinkles and creases. There was a red, circular graffiti mark drawn on its corner, but she paid this no heed. It was just those kids and their wacky shenanigans, and that was all it ever would be.

"Joshua Townshend…" She moved back and inspected the flyer. "He's a good kid."

---

Joshua bought lunch that day.

---

Myron Cartland was eating his imitation potatoes serenely when Joshua sat across from him at the cafeteria table where they usually ate at. Myron didn't bother to acknowledge him, and neither did Joshua. The brunet popped his milk carton open and inserted his straw into the triangular hole that lay between the two tabs of the carton. He took a sip.

"Why were you absent the other day?"

"I w-was diag… diagnosed with s-s-some type of w-weird c-c-c-cold."

"Oh. Well you missed another dandy trip to Silent Hill."

"I f-f-figured that was involved, involved with what was h-h-happening."

"What are you talking about?"

"T-The f-f-fires and those type of, of things." Myron plopped another spoonful of the potatoes into his metal-lined mouth. "And I j-j-just though that since it was S-Silent Hill that, that you and the others… would b-be c-c-aught up… in it." He craned his neck to look over Joshua's lunch tray. "Are you, are you going to eat your p-p-potatoes?"

"Huh? No, you can have them." Joshua pushed his tray forward but snatched the roll of buttered bread from its place above the rest of the food before Myron dug in. He munched on it and sipped his milk.

"S-So, where, where is Christian and… and N-Nicole?"

Joshua shrugged. "I guess they're absent."

"Oh…" Myron chuckled and some of the potatoes slid out of his mouth. He hastily wiped his lips and chin with his napkin and said, "I think I may, may have g-g-g-given Nicole my, my cold when she… when she dropped my homework off."

Joshua nodded sagely and bit into his roll when Faith suddenly turned up and sat down. Her long, sparkling red hair was tied back and her schoolgirl uniform by a small black hoodie that was zippered in the front and some faded jeans. She looked at them both and waved at Myron.

"What's wrong with you?" Joshua inquired, noting her gloomy demeanor, and his tone of voice was misleadingly harsh. She shrugged and propped her head on her hands.

"I don't know. I just don't feel like being so chipper today."

"H-Have we, have we met before?" Myron asked her, and Joshua shook his head.

"No, you haven't. This is Faith Nielsen, Myron, and that's Myron Cartland, Faith." He motioned at both of them and then returned to consuming his bread roll.

"Hiya, Myron!" Faith greeted, and he meekly waved back at her before finishing off the rest of his imitation potatoes. She pressed her lips together and stared at Joshua's roll hungrily. "Can I have some of it?" she inquired innocently.

"What? No, can't you see I'm eating it?"

"I know you're eating it, but… how about just a teeny-weeny little piece?"

"I said no, Faith. Besides, why are you sitting here at this table anyway? This is the Townshend posse table. And as far as I know you're not a member of my posse."

Her puppy-dog eyes grew wider in hurt. "What? But… but how I do become a member of your posse then?" she questioned and Joshua shoved the rest of the roll into his mouth and opened up his backpack. He rummaged around in it for a bit before taking out several sheets of paper and throwing them onto the table. He drew a particular one out from the small pile with his forefinger and directed it towards her.

"There. All you have to do is sign. I forged the others' signatures, and their forms are right here." He gestured at the other sheets of paper.

"Josh," Myron began as he got a hold of his "own" form, "you-you f-forged out s-s-signatures? And, and this, this is index p-paper."

"Yes and so what?" Joshua replied irritably. "All I put on them was the little line with the 'X' at the end. They're highly re-usable and they come in large quantities. And look, my forgery skills are unmatched! You can't tell the difference between that and your actual signature, can you? Can you?"

"Umm…" Myron shrugged. "I g-g-guess n-not…"

"Done!" Faith slid the form back to Joshua and he reviewed it, not that there was much to review at all. And then for no apparent reason, he grasped all of the papers and stood up from the table.

"It's official, then. All we need here is an Emo, a punk, a gothic, a nerd, a jock, and something else, and while Faith may not fit all that criteria, I say "What the hell?"!" Joshua ripped the four pieces of paper up and threw the remains out over the table while starting to laugh hysterically.

"What are you doing?" Faith asked in-between a fit of giggling as she zoomed up. She started doing a little jig which Joshua also began to mimic. Myron watched them as if they were the craziest people on the planet.

"I may not know what the hell I'm doing," Joshua said, but "I do know I'm going to do it anyway!" He ran out of the cafeteria and out onto the outer area, attaining all types of odd looks and remarks. Faith followed him in almost the exact same manner, and Myron stared after them before reluctantly rising as well.

"W-W-W-Wait f-for me," he stuttered, and then chased after them. Outside Joshua was vaulting over the railing and Faith was taking the longer route, but they were both laughing like lunatics. Myron broke out into a slight jog after them, and Joshua stopped in the center of the grassy, circular field, just looking up at the sky.

"Do you feel the wind?" he said as Faith bounded up beside him. She smiled and put her face to the sudden breeze as well. She undid her ponytail and let her hair whip out like a crimson veil. She edged up to Joshua cozily, but he didn't mind it at all.

"What are you two doing?" Myron questioned, not stuttering at all. He noticed this and nearly lurched back in astonishment. Faith turned to him in similar surprise but only raised her hands in an I-have-no-idea-what-this-is-about gesture. They both looked to Joshua for an answer and he chuckled.

"I don't know what exactly is going on, but I feel like I'm going through some sort of catharsis and it's making me feel like I can do anything! Anything!" To prove this point he wrapped his arms around Faith and pressed his lips against hers so forcefully that she staggered back. Myron gaped in shock and rather than force him away Faith began to open her mouth to deepen the kiss. This lasted for several moments before Joshua broke away, leaving a flustered Faith to fume and stomp on the grass angrily.

"I may have just sealed my fate," Joshua said, ignoring her actions as he spoke to Myron, "but I don't care. If I die, I die, and that's just the way it is."

Myron tried to find the right words to say, however he was entirely incapable. Faith just looked around stupidly. Joshua surveyed them and said, "Is it okay with you two if we spend the rest of our lunch period here?" He patiently waited for a response, and he got one from Faith first.

"Yeah, I don't care!" she replied loudly. Myron could only nod and then nod again, and Joshua sat down on the grass. The two joined him and he leaned back.

"The wind feels pretty nice, doesn't it?" he thought aloud and his lips crept into a small smile. Faith hugged her knees tightly and giggled.

"Yep, it sure does."

He grinned at her and then turned his attention to Myron. "How about you, Myron? Does the wind feel good?"

"…It does," the geeky teenager said. "But it feels so weird, because I never really bothered to pay attention to it."

"Yeah, that's what I mean," Joshua said while lying down on his back and crossing his hands behind his head. "I could spend forever out here, right in this same spot…" Faith and Myron did the same, although Faith spread her arms outward and protruded her knees. Myron sighed.

Henry would've called it the perfect photograph.

---

It was lonely in the cemetery. The pathways were littered with discarded autumn leaves, and they were blown this way and that. Cheryl didn't mind it that much; she would only be here for a short while. It was chilly, and soon it would begin to snow naturally. But for now it was just cool.

Before her the gravestone was clean and crisp, and beside it was a withered bouquet of flowers. "Sorry Dad," Cheryl said as she replaced the dead flowers with a fresh, varied group. "I wasn't able to change them out sooner, but I brought more than usual." She waited for some type of response but knew that none would come. None ever did.

"I went back there, and not because I wanted to, of course, but because I had to. I think it's over now, really over." Again she allowed her words to sink in and be understood clearly. "The teaching's been alright. I'm taking time from my job to talk with you, but they can live without me. I met some good kids too, you know. I gave them a hard time when I had to but I think they stopped hating me for it awhile back. It's hard being a mentor, I suppose."

She let the silence soothe her and then touched the top of the gravestone before turning away and coming face-to-face with Christian. She was so startled she almost fell back, but she gripped her father's gravestone for support and kept her footing. Christian nodded to her and she did the same.

"How-How long have you been here, Christian? What about school?" she breathed, but he brushed it off and looked at Harry Mason's grave.

"I just got here, and as for school… I told my parents I had to take care of some things, and they let me come out here."

"Your parents seemed like understanding people." She sighed. "You must be happy with them."

"Yeah," Christian answered. "I was lucky, I guess, ending up with them. And I got some younger sisters to boot in the process so I'm happy with that." He hunkered down to inspect the gravestone more closely. "He was a good man, wasn't he? Your father?"

"Yes, a very good man." She let it hang for a moment before saying, "What are you doing out here, anyway? I doubt you knew I was here."

"I didn't know you were here, but I had a hunch." Christian shrugged. "Besides, I wanted to meet Harry Mason myself before leaving it all behind me."

"Are you sure you can?" she asked. "I mean, to really leave it all behind you? I thought I had as well, but I could never really forget, and the past always finds a way to creep up on you in the end." The wind rustled a heap of dead leaves nearby. "Here I am, sixteen years later and they found me again. It took sixteen years, but they still found me. Who's to say how long it'll take before they show up again? But this time they won't want me, they'll want you, Christian." She closed her eyes and seethed.

The teenager slipped his hands into his coat pockets and let out a breath. "Maybe they will, but it won't matter. My destiny is my own, and they can't change that, whether they want to or not."

They said nothing else. Christian made to walk off suddenly, but Cheryl caught his arm. "Christian, wait. Do you need a ride? It's not too late to take you to school, or I could drive you home. It's your choice."

He looked back at her and smiled softly. "…Thanks Miss Mason, though I don't want to go to either those places."

"What do you mean?"

"Could we stop by Nicole Sunderland's house? You know where she lives, right?"

---

"Well, sir, what do you think?" asked the hairstylist as she swiveled Zeik's chair around to face the mirror at her station. Behind them was the racket of hair dryers, curlers, and the snapping of scissors. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a black-and-white poster on the wall depicting a woman sexily throwing her hair around.

'…The fudge?' Zeik thought. 'That's a guy if I ever saw one… and I have. Just not in the way you're thinking, consciousness. Bad consciousness, bad!'

"Sir," the blonde hairstylist with the ponytail said, "how do you-,"

"What?"

"Are you satisfied?"

"Huh? Oh." Zeik fidgeted and crossed one leg over the other and analyzed his reflection. He saw the woman's nametag which read, Peggy. 'What a stupid name…'

"Sir?"

"Oh, sorry." Zeik returned his gaze to the mirror and raised both his eyebrows. "It looks fine to me, Peggy," he said. "Is that Finnish, by they way?"

The hairstylist squinted at his reflection disgustedly. "What?"

"I guess not, well, anyway, yeah it's fine." Zeik looked over his new hair and had a difficult time recognizing himself. For so long his hair had been black and spiked somewhat, but now it was neither spiked nor black. It was a light shade of brown and was entirely flat and a tad long. He frowned.

"Hey, Peggy."

"…Yes, sir?"

He pulled at his bangs. "Could you part it in the center?" She split his bangs to the sides and he elated. "It's perfect!" he said while jumping up and flashing Peggy a fantastic smile. "I already paid Peggy so I'll be taking my leave!" And with that he was out of Just-A-Multiple-Cuts.

"My spikes," Zeik sobbed as he almost tripped over himself. "First I go to that clinic and find my arm isn't broken, and then I have to get rid of my spikes because of that damned sketch the police released… Well, at least I still have Nancy with me…" He reached into one of his pockets in his coat and fished around in it a bit before bringing out some lint. He stared at his for a moment and then screamed.

"Oh God, Nancy, where are you?" He searched around his coat some more and still what he was looking for did not turn up. "Nancy, Nancy!" he yelled, and then a thought struck him. 'The clinic…'

---

Laura Sunderland was waiting patiently for her name to be called as she skimmed through a magazine in the lobby of the medical clinic. She sniffled and rubbed her nose with the sleeve of her violet windbreaker. Around her were mostly seniors and older men and women, and it made her feel strangely out-of-place, being that she was in her twenty-somethings. She glanced up at the television set that was situated at one of the ceiling's corners and saw nothing but a number of business ads looping. She looked at the opposite one and saw a news special concerning the fugitive, "Zeik". The volume was too low to really hear anything the anchorman was saying, but an illustration of the criminal popped up at some point. Laura squinted at it.

'That drawing and the name sound awfully familiar… ah man, where the hell do I know that guy from…?' She flipped the magazine open again and went back to reading the article on Chicken a la mode when she noticed something wedged in-between her seat and the one beside it. Laura plucked it out and saw that it was photograph of a young girl most likely the age of thirteen or fourteen. She was pretty and had some freckles dotting her face. She was lightly tanned and also had beautiful blonde locks.

"Who's this?" Laura murmured to herself when the door exploded open and Zeik rushed in and almost tackled her. He rammed her against the wall and stole away the photograph. He ran his fingers over it soothingly and then cast a dirty glare at Laura.

"What do you think you were doing to Nancy, you filthy—Oh wait, you're-," He didn't have any time to finish since she suddenly sneezed on him, her mucus clinging to his coat. Zeik froze and stared at the greenish slime on the black material of his coat. He slammed into the wall and screamed.

"Oh my God look what you've done!" he shouted. "You just infected me with your damned influenza!" He frantically pulled out a trigger or sorts from within his coat and looked at all of the people in the room. "I won't die like this, not like some crippled worm wasting away in a bed staring at the cracks in the ceilings everyday and more!" Laura blinked. "I won't! I'd rather die at my zenith than at my nadir!" He squeezed the red button on the trigger, but the incineration Zeik expected never came.

"What-," He gave the trigger a nice shake or two and it did nothing. Furiously he threw it to the floor. "You can't rely on self-destruct mechanisms these days, can you?" He stomped on it and sent pieces of the black metal to the far corners of the room. Everyone could only stare and Zeik met their gazes.

"What?"

"Excuse me, sir, is there something wrong?"

He turned to the front desk where the black-skinned receptionist was looking at him quizzically over her glasses. "Uh, no there's nothing wrong!" Zeik replied cheerily. "I just forgot something and I came to get it!"

She shrugged. "Alright then, just don't make so much of a fuss next time."

"Sure thing." He turned on his heel and was out of there, and Laura felt an urge to follow him.

"Hey, wait!" she said as he walked through the parking lot and onto the sidewalk into a throng of citizens. Laura chased after him and grasped his arm, jerking him back.

"What the hell?" he mumbled as he faced her, but then sighed. "Oh, it's just you, crazy-metal-rock-fannish-influenza-girl-with-some-junk-up-your-trunk."

"…Whatever," Laura said, "but you're Zeik right? The guy I gave a ride here?"

"Duh."

"Well, the thing is, I don't know. What are you doing here?"

Zeik shrugged. "I had to get Nancy back," he replied.

"That's the name of the girl in that picture?" Laura questioned, and he nodded.

"Yep, she was my sister, but she died. A terminal illness."

"…I see."

"Yeah." Zeik suddenly looked at her with renewed interest. "Hey, do you think you could give me another ride? I blew the last of my parcels of cash on changing up my hair, so I have virtually no money." He awaited a response and she slowly nodded.

"I guess." And then they were on the road, Zeik twiddling his thumbs and Laura calmly driving through the streets of Ashfield. "You're wanted by the police, you know." He giggled freakishly.

"I know, but they won't be able to find me. I had to change my hairstyle and then hack into the police station's database and send a virus into it. No problem at all."

"Okay…" Laura glanced at him. "But what did you do exactly? You're pretty big news, apparently."

"Oh, I just blew some property up, that's all. People go ballistic when they lose their nearest Happy Burger, but I hate the stuff personally. Yuck-ity. Hey, you don't have anymore stuff in the back…"

"Why did you do it though? I mean, the blowing up of the Happy Burger and I don't know what else."

"For several reasons," Zeik stated. "One was because I just plain like blowing stuff up." He removed a notebook from his coat and flipped through it, gesturing at various illustrations off eccentric-appearing explosives and bombs. "Secondly—hey I forgot about that one—I like to think of it as taking a jab at society in general. When I was eleven and attending Yale all of the professors laughed at my theories and inventions, calling them "unfathomable concoctions of an immature child". Granted, they didn't say it so formally, but that was the basic message."

Laura was open-mouthed and so distracted she almost ran over the orange kitten that was in the middle of the street. "You attended Yale at eleven?" she asked, flabbergasted, but he wasn't listening.

"Kitty!" he called out to the animal as he opened the door a crack and motioned for it to come forward. The kitten trotted up to him and he picked it up and began cuddling it. Laura sneezed. "Where did you come from, little kitty? Are you lost?" Zeik asked it as it purred in his hands. The kitten smelled his glove briefly before rubbing against it with its head. "I think it's mistaking me for someone else, or something…"

Laura drove on without another word.

"You seem like a nice guy, though," she said after a few minutes. "You don't seem that crazy."

"I'm not crazy!" as they rounded a corner. She looked at him and the cat.

"Where did you want me to drop you off at, anyway?"

"…Uh, I didn't really have any place in mind."

"I could lend you some cash and-,"

"Nah, that's alright, uh, Laura," he said. "You can drop me off anywhere. I just wanted a ride." He fondled the kitten's ears lovingly and Laura thought of something.

"I'm pretty sure you could stay at my uncle's. That's where I'm staying at for a few days, since I came to visit."

Zeik was hardly listening as he picked the cat up and nuzzled its tiny face. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "Since you don't have a collar as far as I can see I will proclaim you my kitty! And since I am assuming you are a female I shall call you…" He glanced at Laura and chuckled. "Yes, if you are female I shall call you Little Miss Laura!" He cackled and raised it into the air to inspect it and then he frowned. "…Except you aren't female…" He sighed and went back to petting it.

---

Christian approached the front door of Nicole Sunderland's home, which was actually larger than he expected. He avoided the sprinklers and knocked sturdily on the door three times. A moment later an older teenage boy answered it, and he looked puffy and flustered. He sniffled and ran a hand through his tousled brunet hair. "…Can I help you?"

"You're Michael, right?" Christian asked, and he nodded in confirmation. "I was wondering if your sister was home."

"Nicole? Yeah, she's here." He turned back and hollered, "Nicole! You have a visitor!" There was a shuffling of feet and some sort of collision within and Michael Sunderland disappeared into the home and Nicole showed up.

"Christian!" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here?" She held a finger underneath her nose to stifle a sneeze.

"I wanted to come visit and give you something," Christian replied as he took out a chain from his pocket and handed it to her. She gasped upon holding it to the sun to get a better look.

"Christian, it's beautiful…!" She sniffled and then asked, "Where did you get it?"

"…From a friend," he answered. "I thought you'd like it."

She smiled. "Thank you. I do like it."

"That's good to hear," he said, and she put the necklace on and twirled around.

"How does it look?"

"Great!" he said, smiling, but then he frowned. "By the way, do you and your brother have some sort of cold?" He eyed her pajamas and her slippers, which were the giant type that were in the form of rabbits.

"Uh, yeah," she responded with a giggle. "When I went by to leave Myron his homework the other day I think I got his cold and, well, gave it to my whole family…"

"Huh…"

"I know…" She sneezed lightly.

"Bless you."

"Thanks."

He nodded and raised a hand. "Guess I'll be on my way, then. Miss Mason is giving me a ride and I shouldn't make her wait."

"Okay, bye!" she said, and then hesitantly pecked him on the cheek. "And that was for the necklace, Christian. I really do like it. I'm not just being polite."

"I know," Christian said, and he turned away and started back towards the car when another vehicle parked behind it. Nicole peeked out at it before turning her head back towards the interior of the house.

"Uncle James, Laura's back!" she yelled and from the car Laura and Zeik stepped out, the latter holding the orange kitten in his arms.

"Hey, Laura, do you really think your family will let me stay here?"

"Of course they will," she replied as Christian stared at them. She waved at him and he waved back, and then Zeik saw him and Christian saw Zeik.

'…Isn't that little Josh?' he thought upon seeing the kitten. Zeik cringed and backed away in tremendous fear as he walked up to him. "Hey, that's not your cat, is it?"

Zeik didn't answer. "…You're that Antichrist kid!" he shouted in fright. "Stay the hell away from me!" Christian laughed embarrassedly and waved his hands in dismissal of it.

"No, no, no, please, I just want to know if that's your cat or not!"

"Oh… well it technically isn't. I found him on the street. He doesn't have a collar."

"Okay." Christian crouched down and spread his arms out. "I'm going to try something, that's all. Come here little Josh, come here!" The kitten struggled in Zeik's arms a moment before leaping out and into Christian's, and Zeik shrugged.

"Is that your kitty?" he inquired, and the blond teenager shook his head.

"No, it's my friend's, but don't worry about it; I'll make sure to return him." Christian turned to the Cheryl's car but Zeik hailed him.

"Hey, tell your wacky friend that I'll get laid one of these days! Tell him he hasn't seen the last of Zeik!" Christian looked back and nodded before climbing into the automobile. Zeik watched them drive away and he made his way reluctantly towards the house.

---

"You guys know that almost everyone is staring, right?" And with those words Joshua's serenity was broken, however he grinned and his eyelids opened up small slits. He saw his blond friend sit down in an empty space between him and Myron as well as little Josh pouncing on Faith, who sat up in surprise.

"Little Josh!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" She hugged the kitten and rolled on the grass with it while Christian laughed.

"He was with that Zeik guy. They were at Nicole's house." Joshua sat up and eyed him lazily.

"That bomber dude? What the hell was he doing around Nicole's house?"

"I don't know, but he had a few words for you, Joshua. He wanted you to know that—he shrugged at this—he would get laid one day and that you hadn't seen the last of him." Joshua listened intently and then laughed.

"What a stoner!" he said to the air and then fell back on the grass and closed his eyes. "How much longer do we have for lunch, Chris? Do you know?"

"I'd say another five minutes."

"That's enough time for you to join us. Just relax. Myron relaxed so much he fell asleep." Faith giggled a bit too much at that and poked the geeky teenager in the cheek and a snore escaped him. Christian chuckled as Faith dropped little Josh into her hoodie and lay back. The blond smiled and lay back as well. He heard Joshua say something.

"Hey, Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any memories? About that God thing? Any at all?"

Christian contemplated his answer and shook his head. "I don't, Josh. I'm glad about it, though. I'd rather just be myself through and through."

"Damn straight," Joshua said, and in the following silence they discovered Faith had fallen asleep too.

---

Linda could hardly sleep as the bus' engine started up. People passed by her seat and chatted nonstop, and with all of the combined commotion it was impossible to even think of sleep. She was going to go somewhere far away and leave it all behind. The Order, Silent Hill… it was over. That part of her life was over.

She squeezed her eyes shut and adjusted the pillow behind her head when someone sat in the seat next to hers. Linda peeked and gasped. "Abraham! How-,"

"I wasn't going to just let you go by yourself, you know," he said while popping some chocolate almonds into his mouth. He grinned and held the box out to her. "Would you like some?"

Linda shook a finger. "No, thank you, Abraham." She sighed. "You didn't have to come to my rescue, you know."

"I wanted to," Abraham said as the bus began to move. "And you wanted me to, of course. We both knew that."

"Well yeah," she said while leaning on his shoulder. "What about their bodies, what did you do for them?"

"I buried them as best he could," Abraham answered as he ate a few more almonds. "I prayed for them as well. They didn't deserve what Lucas did to them."

"What of Lucas?"

"…I couldn't find his body," Abraham replied sadly coldly. "I think it may have been lost in the transition between out reality and the other." He sighed. "Poor Lucas."

"I'm sure he's found his salvation somewhere on the other side. Isn't that what God was supposed to do? Grant us salvation?"

"Maybe," Abraham said, "but I don't think it's up to God. I think we have to find our salvation on our own."

---

"Miss Mason?" Joshua rapped on her door several times before setting foot in the classroom, and she looked back at him as she packed her bag. She beckoned him forward and he sat at his desk in the front row.

Cheryl brushed back a strand of black hair. "Can I help you, Joshua?"

"Not really," the brunet said as he dropped his backpack to the side of the desk. "I just wanted to tell you thanks for all the help you've been lately. During my first year here at South Ashfield High I never liked you, but I think I misjudged you. What do you say we give it another go?" He held out his hand and she moved around her desk to shake it.

"You're my student, Joshua, so of course we can give it another go. We can always give it another go."

He stood up and nodded. "Thanks Miss Mason." He walked to the doorway and then looked back. "See you next week."

"See you." And he left.

---

"Michael, you can spend the night in Nicole's room; Anthony will be getting your room," Nicole's mother stated as if it were law that night at the dinner table. Michael Sunderland didn't protest at all, and half of the reason was the he was releasing a good amount of mucus into a tissue. Nicole grimaced in disgust.

"Couldn't you do that somewhere other than the dinner table, Mike?" Nicole asked him while Zeik glanced at them both over his spoonful of raspberry jelly that he was about to slip into his mouth. Mrs. Sunderland beamed at him from across the table, as they were sitting at the ends of it.

"Do you find the food satisfying, Anthony? You are our actual guest after all!" She laughed, and Zeik laughed as well.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Sunderland, the food is fantastic! The chicken tastes wonderful, like… a chicken that had been roasted and skewered by some big-red-pyramid-y-thing!"

James choked and nearly coughed up his food upon hearing this. He swallowed it down and Laura watched him with concern. "You okay, James?"

"Y-Yeah, it just went down the wrong pipe…"

The dinner was just dandy for Zeik, and that night while he was lying in Michael's bed staring uncomfortably at a poster of rabbit wearing skimpy clothing on the ceiling, there was a knock on the door.

"Uh, it's open," he said, and Laura entered tentatively, her hands behind her back. He stared at her over Michael's comforter. She was wearing a long tee-shirt and some wool pants and a pair of giant, yellow, bunny slippers. "…What?" Zeik asked, and the woman shrugged. She pulled out Michael's leather computer chair and turned it backwards, sitting down and throwing her arms around its back. Zeik drew the covers up over his mouth and whimpered.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, sniffling. "My nose keeps running and I can hardly breathe. In fact, the only one who hasn't caught it is James."

"You Sunderlands are weird," Zeik said as he turned over onto his side. She pressed her forehead against the leather and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess we are."

"…You call him James because he isn't your father, right? You were adopted?"

Laura glanced out of the window at the neighborhood. It was so dark tonight. "I am adopted. When I was eight I became his daughter, but it wasn't easy. Sometimes I felt like running away." He rolled onto his other side so that he saw her clearly.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you be getting sleep or eating some cottage cheese or going through menstruation or just not bothering me?"

"Sorry, I just felt like talking you. You're… interesting."

"No, I'm the most boring-y person on the face of the Earth. Now leave me alone so when I wake up I can have no recollection of this little talk… Besides, I'll be too busy blowing my nose. I can already feel the sniffles coming on…"

Zeik waited for her to up and leave but she did no such thing. His head jerked up in a tired scowl. Laura scratched her head and smiled. "Sorry, I just wanted to ask why you went so ballistic at the clinic." He clicked his tongue exasperatedly.

"If you really have to know it's because I didn't want to die twenty years from now, suffering from the same disease with no end in sight. By that time I'd be wanting death, and I didn't want to die like that. I'd rather pass on when I still have some fight in me, you know? But that's only my last option. I can't allow myself to die yet."

This sparked Laura's interest even more. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh you know, at least until I start my legacy or something," Zeik answered perfectly calmly. "Since my entire immediate family is dead I have to live on for them, or else the Williams' family will be long gone. I think. I remember my mom was pregnant with another kid a few years after Nancy died, but since I went to go live with my godparents before it was born I never really knew what happened to it… so I have to be the sole bearer of the Williams name until I like, have a kid or something. But I have no idea when that's going to happen, and I've already come close to dying a few times."

He shrugged and connected his hands behind his head. "Eh, you know how it is. People think I'm a stoner."

"…You do give off that vibe sometimes." She flipped the chair around and sat in it correctly, letting her hands fall into her lap. "Do you want a kid, though? I don't mean to offend you but you don't seem like the type of caring parent."

"That's 'cause I'm not," he replied in that serene tone of voice. "The way I see it, I'd bang the chick, slap her once or twice, saying: "We shouldn't have done this! I didn't want a child! You stupid slut!" you know, all that jazz. Then, since the girl couldn't support her and the kid, she'd give him up to some orphanage. Give it a few years, and then I'd go and reveal myself as the father and tell him of his destiny and whatnot. It would all depend on whether or not his mother poisoned his mind with lies about me being a bastard who abandoned them. Do you dig?"

"…That's pretty convoluted if you ask me."

"I didn't ask you."

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"…Yes you did."

"No you didn't," Zeik said, but he sighed and wrapped himself up more tightly in the sheets and comforter. "Anyway, just forget about it. It's not important."

Laura stood up and tapped him on the shoulder. "There's something else, though, Zeik," she said, and he sat up angrily.

"What now?" he demanded and her lips met his before he could say anything else. She moved back cautiously, awaiting some type of disturbed response. He merely stared at her blankly and said: "…The hell was that?"

She seemed mildly taken aback but smirked and tapped him lightly on the tip of his nose with her index finger. "Just something you can think about, stupid-ass," she told him haughtily.

'…Stupid-ass?' he wondered as she walked to the door and turned the knob. "Hey, just so you know, I'm gay."

"Uh huh," she murmured sarcastically before leaving and he fell back.

"…She's definitely horny. And a stoner," he thought aloud. "Huh. Stupid-ass…"

---

"Whoa, z-o-m-g, did you freakin' see that?" cried a random student when Myron tripped over a crack in the ground and fell face-first onto the pavement. His glasses cracked upon impact, and when Joshua and Christian were helping him up he sighed and put them away into his pant pocket.

"Shit, Myron! You okay?" Joshua said as he looked his friend over. Myron shrugged nonchalantly.

"Y-Yeah, I'm f-f-fine…"

"That was a pretty bad fall," Christian commented. "What about your glasses?"

"I'm f-fine, really. M-M-My, my glasses are… are just, j-just chipped. It happens a lot."

"Like hell it does," said Joshua as he peered out at the rest of Ashfield High School's exterior. It was the end of the day, and everyone was preparing to leave. There were some students skating at the parking lot and incapacitating themselves, and some delinquents were getting high… with the security guard joining them. "You need to get those fixed, Myron. And are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, b-but I th-think I s-s-scathed my, my knee…" Myron touched the spot with his palm and then shrugged again.

"Myron, you have to worry a bit more about yourself," Joshua told him. "One of these days you're going to be dismembered or something, and you're just going to shrug it off?"

"…P-Probably."

"SUPER MONKEY ASSAULT WITH SPRINKLES!"

"What the-," Joshua was tackled down by Faith. She giggled uncontrollably and climbed off him. Christian and Myron exchanged glances.

Joshua got up and fixed the girl with a hateful glare. "What the hell was that? You almost killed me you stupid harlot!"

"Sorry, it was just that I get really hyper sometimes," she said while rolling her eyes to the side and twisting her finger around. "I have to release my pent-up energy…"

"Release it in bed or something, not on me!" Joshua exclaimed angrily when there was a sudden yelp from behind him. He turned and Myron reluctantly headed over to the sound. Joshua scratched his chin thoughtfully.

A little ways off girl had fallen and spilled all the books she was carrying. Her two friends—shallow airheads, that was what they were—didn't really do anything, and they even backed away when Myron neared them.

"Isn't that that Gretchen chick?" Faith asked. "She's in my Geometry class I think. Smarter than I am."

"No shit," Joshua said, and then added, "but hey, is it hot out here, or is it just her?"

Myron took the girl named Gretchen by the hand by the hand and helped her to her feet. She was taller than he was by about an inch, and he acknowledged that her hair was long and intensely black, like the color Melissa Blackheart's had been before, when he had snuck away with Joshua to Silent Hill. He was, for some strange reason, awestruck by her beauty. But since Myron had quite a bit more self-control than most other males his age, he hardly showed it.

"…Thanks," she said, out of breath, while dusting off her skirt. She smiled at him as he gathered up the dropped books. "Oh, you don't have to do that," she said while reaching down to take them. Their hands brushed for a second and she blushed unconsciously. Myron's cheeks tinted red, but that was all.

"I'm so clumsy. I'm always tripping," she explained while cradling the books in her arms. "I don't think I know you… I'm Gretchen."

"M-Myron Cartland," he said, "and, and don't… don't worry about it. I trip sometimes too."

"Well, thank you Myron… That's a cool last name, by the way. It sounds like the type of name the detective has in those mystery movies."

Myron smiled all of a sudden. "Y-You like those movies, too?"

"Yeah, they're my favorite kind, actually." They stayed like that for a moment until one of Gretchen's friends called out to her.

"Come on, Gretchen! Let's go!"

"Okay, okay, I'll be right there!" she yelled back to them. "I have to go, but I'll see you around, alright?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

"Great!" She turned and went to join her friends, and she looked back at him once. He waved.

Joshua, Faith, and Christian came to him as he took a puff from his inhaler. Joshua clasped him on the shoulder, and the force of it made Myron rock feet a bit. "That was badass, Myron. You scored without even trying! Or, well, you know what I mean, but anyway, and it was with a chick like that! Seriously, I thought global warming finally caught up with us after all these years. Right, Chris?"

The blond flushed and scratched his head. "Err, yeah."

"It's funny that we've never seen her around before… must be all this Silent Hill stuff going on… it's been distracting us, man! We're so busy killing demons and evil gods that we can't concentrate on the finer things in life. I mean, look, we get stuck with Genghis Khan here!" He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Faith, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"…Still, though," Joshua said, "you had to use your inhaler!"

Myron put it away. "Oh, n-n-no, I j-just had one, one of my cl-clear m-m-m-moments, so I had to… I had to use it b-before I h-h-h-hyper… v-v-ventilated."

"Hyperventilated, sure."

"R-Really… and it was-was never my inten…intention to s-s-"score". It was, it was the r-right thing to do."

"You just keep on saying that, Myron!" Joshua grinned. "You just keep on saying that." He turned to the others. "I'm get going then, guys, so I guess I'll see you all tomorrow."

"No, I have to SUPER MONKEY ATTACK YOU WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS!" And she did. Christian laughed at this, and Myron smiled as he turned his head to gaze off in the direction Gretchen had gone.

---

On the lawn across from the Townshend clan's household there were a little girl and boy frolicking with a red, plastic, air-inflated ball. They belonged to the Collins Family, who had just moved into the neighborhood a week before. The girl was the older of the two and had nice, curly brown hair that wasn't too long or too short. The boy's hair was in a mushroom-cut and it was the same color as his sister's.

As they were playing Joshua Townshend had come around the block and was walking to his home. Without warning, as he neared the driveway the red ball flew out of the little boy's hands and smacked him in the temple. Joshua, startled and dazed, reared back and watched the ball bounce a couple of times on the street before rolling away. He strode towards it and snatched the ball up with his free hand, as his other was gripping his backpack strap that was slung over his right shoulder.

The two kids stared at him in silence as he extended their ball out to them. "This is yours, right?" Joshua asked. The boy took it slowly.

"…S-Sorry about hitting you," the boy said, but Joshua motioned with his hand to say it was unnecessary.

"That's fine." He looked over the two and frowned. "I don't think I've seen you two before. Are you new around here?"

The girl nodded. "Yep, we moved here like a week ago. I'm Beatrice Collins, and that's my brother, Mark!"

"Beatrice and Mark, eh?" Joshua said. "Where are your parents? Are you playing out here by yourself or what?"

"Our mom's inside making dinner. She said we could play for a little bit before going inside." Joshua suddenly felt a light throbbing in his forehead, like the lightest headache ever. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw an axe leaning against the side of the house, but was it really there…?

"Do you want to play with us?" Beatrice asked him as her brother handed her the ball. Joshua massaged his forehead with two fingers.

"…Sorry," he said, "I'll have to take a rain check on it. Besides, your mom's probably worried about you. It's dangerous for you two to be playing outside by yourselves. You should go on inside."

The children exchanged glances and Mark nodded. "Yeah, I think we should, Bea." The girl frowned but said, "Okay," in agreement. Mark looked at Joshua and grinned.

"Thanks, uh…"

"My name's Josh," he said, and then pointed at his home which lay across from theirs. "That's where I live, and if you ever want to visit there won't be anyone stopping you. My dad makes some badass cheesecake too."

Beatrice giggled and ran up to the door. "Okay, see you later Josh!" Mark did the same and they disappeared into their home. Joshua chuckled and walked on over to his own house, but he stopped in front of a package that was lying right on the doorstep.

"What… the hell?" he thought aloud as he put his backpack down and sat down beside the box. 'It's a UPS package, but we didn't order anything as far as I know…' He ripped the tape off with some difficulty with his right hand and opened it.

Inside was a red-skinned notebook and an envelope.

"You've got to be shitting me!" Joshua exclaimed as he removed the items from the cardboard box. He put the notebook down to the side and examined the envelope. On its front was written: Joshua Townshend

Joshua went on to tear through the envelope and find the letter that lay within. He retrieved it and started to read…

If you are reading this, Joshua, then rest assured that this is the last you will be hearing of me. Think of this as my will and final testament.

Since the time I awoke with my Mother to the time you used the Ninth Spear, I was given the chance to change my views of the world and the people who live in it. Not much has changed concerning them. It is rare to find someone who acts for the benefit of others and not of himself, or someone who desires to help anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or beliefs. I don't expect you to believe me, but everything I ever did I did for my Mother's sake. For my true Mother, wherever she may be.

I hurt many people, and the question you are most certainly thinking of is whether or not they deserved it. Most of them did. Some of them were murderers themselves, and others just were not good-hearted people. Others, I admit, did not deserve their fate, but I did what I had to do, just as you did what you had to do that time in Silent Hill.

Two of those exceptions were your parents, which I am sure you are glad to hear. I met your mother, Eileen, long ago, and she displayed the qualities of the Mother. Henry was a different case. The Receiver could have been anyone, but they had to be strong in their will and resolution. They had to be allowed to delve into the Abyss and discover the truth.

If you're wondering why I am alive, all I have to say is that we are still connected. If you die, Joshua, I will die, and that is the only way my existence here can end. No longer will I be capable of seeing your memories or meeting the people you have met. The Ninth Spear true use was to grant me my humanity back.

One final note, Joshua—leave Silent Hill as it is. What you saw there was only a sample of what lies in the Abyss. The Abyss. Silent Hill. They are the same. Turn your back on them forever.

And now I must take my leave. Tell your parents goodbye for me, and perhaps, one day, we shall meet again on the other side. Until that day comes, goodbye.

Walter Sullivan

Joshua silently folded the letter up and jammed it into his pocket. He put his backpack on, dropped the red notebook into the box, managed that in the crook of his arm, and then fumbled with his house keys. Upon opening the door he glanced back at the rest of the neighborhood and took in the sights. He turned back and entered his house, closing the front door as he did so.