They moved slowly away from the glimmering gold at the end of the room, and eventually reached the long stairs. They seemed even longer on the way up, and Eileen was relieved when she and Henry finally reached the top.
It was pitch black. John found his flashlight and turned it on, and they gasped at what they saw.
The room, which had been so neat and tidy when they entered the hole in the floor, was a wreck. Literally. Wallpaper hung off the walls, and the furnishings were crumbling around them. The wall at the back of the house was almost completely gone, rotted away.
They walked down what was left of the hallway, and through the front room. The old table was much more weathered than it had been, and there was a large hole in the roof where the brick chimney had fallen through. They had to pick their way through the broken bricks and wood to get out. A book lay open on the floor, its pages rotted with age, faded and illegible.
Henry stumbled over something. "What the…" he said, picking up the object. It was small and square…a pocket radio.
James looked at it tiredly. "Keep it," he said. "I don't need it. Not any more."
They crossed the clearing. The stars shone bright. Time must have passed strangely in that huge room, Eileen thought.
As they reached the start of the long path down, James turned back for a last look at the house where he'd spent the last decade. It sat, dark and broken, looking hundreds of years old...
As they stood in the dark, the house listed, it creaked, and then it collapsed. With a huge puff of dust, the rubble disappeared down into the hole. Nothing was left but the hovering cloud of dust...as if the house had never been there at all.
James shook his head, and they turned and walked down the path.
Somehow, the hill had become much lower, and the path led straight to the dock fifty feet or so from the clearing. The little fishing boat was still there, and they all got in. The fog was gone from the lake, and a large moon hung overhead, lighting their way.
John piloted again, with Angela at his side. The others sat in the back, exhausted.
Laura leaned into Frank's side, and he put his arm around her. Eileen saw the little girl's look of sadness, and she caught Frank's eye. He nodded at her.
"I bet that John and Angela would show you how to drive the boat, if you ask them nicely," he said gently. "Let's go find out." He took her by the hand and led her forward.
The others rested in silence as the boat moved through the night.
James eventually raised his head. "There's a boat launch by the Historical Society," he said.
"We know," Eileen said. "We'll stop there. We can walk the rest of the way."
"I hope we don't see any more monsters," Frank said, returning to his seat.
Henry shook his head. "I don't think that is going to be a problem," he said, catching James' eye. James nodded.
Sure enough, when they docked, all was quiet. They tied up the boat and made their way slowly down Nathan Avenue. Silent Hill was very normal, and very asleep, it seemed. The fog was gone. Few people were out that late, but those who were just looked at them once and shook their heads.
Henry led them back through town, and to the dirt path. They trudged along for a long, long time before they reached the graveyard again.
Angela stopped on the way through. "You can go on ahead," she said. "I need to do something."
James shook his head. "No way. We're not leaving until you do. Take your time."
Angela took her brother's hand, and they walked to their mother's grave. Angela touched the gravestone, and began to cry. John wrapped his arms around her and held her as she rocked back and forth. The others looked on.
"It's done," Henry said.
Frank nodded. "Now, we can grieve." He looked at his son, who shuddered but did not make a sound.
When Angela and John returned, their faces were streaked with tears, but they managed to smile at each other. The group continued on down the path, and finally reached the rest stop where it all had begun.
James looked around. "Damn. My car is still here." He and Frank walked over to it.
"James?"
He turned back around. Laura was walking toward him.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
James bent down to her. "That's my car over there. Do you want to see?"
She nodded.
"Daddy's van is still here?" Angela wondered. Her hands drifted over the side, which now was brown with years of dirt and dust.
"Yeah," John said. "Battery's gotta be dead by now, though."
He reached into the van and pulled out her coat. She took it gratefully.
"Mine is," James yelled. "I left the door open. Not that closing it would have helped."
Henry laughed. "My truck's still OK. I can fit everybody in there."
They piled into Henry's truck. John and Angela sat in the back along with Frank, who lifted Laura onto his lap. Eileen sat in front between James and Henry.
The truck roared to life, and they started down the road out of Silent Hill.
Angela and John conversed quietly in the back, catching up on years of changes. Laura pointed out things on the road, and Frank was explaining them to her and telling her all about his life in Ashfield.
The three in front rode in silence for a little while.
"What are you going to do now, James?" Eileen asked.
James shrugged. "No idea. I can't even think about it yet."
Eileen nodded. "That's understandable."
"If you need a place to stay, we have a spare room," Henry said.
James smiled tiredly. "Thanks, but I think that Dad and I have a lot of catching up to do. And, it looks as though I have a new daughter," he said, craning his neck back to look at the happy girl sitting on "Grandpa Frank's" lap. He smiled.
"One thing I do know," he said, "is that I'm never coming back here. Not if I can help it."
"Ever hear the stories about Harry Mason and his adoptive daughter?" Eileen asked. "Silent Hill's not a good place for a guy to take his little girl."
"No kidding. I'll be OK," James said. "It's been a long time, but I've got to be able to find a job somewhere. We'll be OK."
"If you're sure," Eileen said.
"Yeah," James replied. "Anyway, I kinda need to get away from things for a while. And, you two need some space, too." He smiled at Eileen. She squeezed his hand.
"Thanks," she said.
"Don't mention it," James said. "I'm tired of figuring out who owes who what. It doesn't really matter in the end anyway."
The drive back was uneventful, and the old truck pulled up outside the townhouse sooner than anyone had expected.
"This is where we say good night," John said. "I'm going to take Angie home. She needs the rest. Good night, and…thanks. For everything."
Angela took Eileen's hand in both of hers. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she smiled. She seemed so fragile...
"Stay in touch, OK?" Eileen said to her. Angela nodded.
"You too," John said. He turned to the Sunderlands and Laura. "Need a ride?"
"Yeah," James replied. "Know any good motels around here?"
Henry smiled. "There's one by where South Ashfield Heights used to be. We stayed there after we left...it's a good place. Frank knows the one."
Frank nodded. "Yes, I do." He turned to Henry and Eileen again. "Thank you two…so much. I don't know what to say except thank you."
Henry smiled. "Our pleasure." Frank shook his hand, and hugged Eileen. Laura waved, and Henry waved back.
As the others were getting into John's car, James turned to them. Eileen saw that although he was tired, the cloud hanging over him seemed to have gone. There was hope in his eyes that hadn't been there before.
"Thank you," he said. He shook hands with Henry. They stood like that for a moment, then hugged and clapped each other on the back.
Must be a guy thing, Eileen thought.
As Henry stepped back, she reached into his pocket and pulled out his notepad and pen.
"There aren't a lot of people like us out there," Henry said to James. "I hope that it stays that way."
James nodded. "I hear you."
He turned to Eileen, and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Take good care of her, Henry, or I'm going to come back and steal her away." He grinned.
"That's what you think," said Henry. His eyebrow went up. "I'd like to see you try."
"Boys, please," Eileen said. "Actually, I wouldn't mind. I could sell tickets to the fight." James laughed, and Henry smiled.
She finished writing, and pulled the piece of paper from the pad. "In case you need anything," she said to James as she tucked the paper into his hand. "These are our phone numbers. The first is the house phone, and the other two are our cell phones."
James peered at the paper, then looked up in surprise.
"Cell phones? You two have cell phones?"
Henry laughed. "A few things have changed since you've been gone."
James nodded. "I've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Call us any time. I mean it," Eileen said.
"I may just take you up on that," James smiled. He walked to the car and got in, and Henry and Eileen waved as the car drove off into the night.
They stood there for a while after it was gone, alone in the cold night air. Then, they turned and went into the house.
Eileen dropped her jacket in the hallway and plopped onto the couch. Henry grabbed two sodas from the fridge and brought them out. They sat for a while, sipping their sodas, not talking.
It was about three in the morning, that strange, silvery time between dark and dawn. The only light in the room came through the sliding doors that faced the lake. The full moon lit up things with an eerie blueness.
"Don't know about you, but I'm dead tired," Eileen said.
"Same here," Henry said. "Another really, really long day."
"Didn't think we'd ever have to do that again."
"Neither did I."
"But it was worth it."
"Yes. Absolutely."
Eileen slid over to Henry and settled into her usual place on his shoulder. He winced.
"I can move," she said.
"Don't. It feels better already."
They sat in silence.
"'Leen?"
"Henry?"
"Don't ever do that to me, please."
"Don't smother me. At least not with a pillow." She smiled. "Smother me with love, with jewels, with good food and chocolate…but not with a pillow, please."
"Deal."
A breeze blew outside the townhouse, and the rippling lake water threw moving, glittering rays of moonlight into the room.
"It scared me, Henry," Eileen said after a while. He rubbed her shoulder, but said nothing.
"Not the monsters, not so much. It scared me to see how he loved her so much that he was willing to make his life hell to be with her. I know that's really out there, but it was still…"
"You wouldn't do it to me. And I wouldn't do that to you. Theirs was such a twisted situation that there's no comparison," he replied.
The light danced on the ceiling.
"Henry, can I ask you a question?"
"You just did."
She elbowed him in the ribs.
"It's personal. Very."
"My father?"
She nodded.
"My father...my father never really believed that my mother loved him. He didn't understand why she moved halfway around the world to be with him. He thought that he couldn't be the reason why. From what she told me once, it sounds as if it was hard for her, being half American in Japan after the war...she never felt as if she fitted in. So I can see how he might have gotten that idea."
Henry's hand went to his pocket, and came out holding the dog tags. The chain wound through his fingers, binding them.
"But she did love him. I know that, but he never did. She tried to convince him for years. He couldn't accept it, and it ate away at him until things finally fell apart. She still loves him...but it's been too long, and it's too late now."
"Too late for them," she replied. "Not for us."
"Eileen…that demon you killed..."
"It had your face," Eileen said.
"I thought so. Mine looked like my father. John's looked like his, I think...but yours looked like...me?"
"You, but an older, bitter you," she replied. "It felt like..."
"Like what?"
"I..."
"It's OK, Eileen."
She bit her lip.
"It felt like you, decades from now, after you'd spent your life making me pay for what you'd done for me. Years of bullying and demanding and wearing me down until it became second nature. He tried to hit me at the same time that he was pleading for his life."
Henry had gone rigid beside her.
"That's not me."
"I know, Henry. But it seemed very real..."
"That's not me. No. Never."
He turned to her and gripped her hands tightly. She flinched, and he let them go quickly.
"I meant what I said. I don't think that way. I'm not that man. That wasn't me you saw."
"I know. It was..."
"They were trying to tell us something, each of us," Henry said.
He took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry about the day before yesterday. I think I understand a little better."
"Do you believe me now?"
He nodded.
"No more paranoid fears about me up and leaving you?"
He smiled. "I'll do my best. Do you still have those red notebooks?"
She pulled them from her pocket and gave them to him. His fingers moved over the cover of one, and he opened it carefully.
"This is just like the book I found on the table by the couch in 302. It appeared there on the same day that the nightmares started. Just like the pages that Joseph left me...if his hadn't been stained with blood.
"I wrote things down in it, like he did. Just in case anybody would ever need to know what had happened, if I wasn't around to tell them. But it was gone after I got back from the hospital...I guess it wasn't needed any more."
"But these are still here," Eileen said. "Why..."
"They must still be needed," Henry said simply.
"Both of them," Eileen said, as she realized his meaning.
"For a long time."
"As long as you'll have me."
"Well, you're stuck with me forever then."
"I'll manage." She grinned at him, and moved up to kiss him. It was slow and simmering. Less fiery, but more intense, more familiar. His lips moved to her ear and then down her neck, and she shuddered, then sagged.
"Henry…" she said.
His lips dragged along her skin, and he leaned his head into her shoulder. "I know," he said. "I'm dead tired, too."
"Old man."
He helped her to her feet. "Let's head up. Don't know about you, but I'm sleeping in tomorrow."
"Same here."
They went up the stairs hand in hand.