Henry felt the sand beneath his shoes as he moved through the town. The buildings around him were Middle Eastern in architecture, with ornate arches and colorful domes. They had all been made with some sort of tan concrete with occasional splashes of colorful paint. His breathing was heavy as he hunted. Only he couldn't remember what it was he was after.

Somehow, he knew this wasn't right. The area around him felt familiar, but he was sure he'd never seen it. After all, Henry had never left Texas. Wait, no. That wasn't right either. Henry had been somewhere else before. However, that information laid just beyond the fringes of his knowledge. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember.

"He's here somewhere. Don't be fooled," a deep voice said from behind him. It had a strange accent that Henry couldn't place.

Henry turned and found two people walking behind him. One on either side of him. The man who had spoken was tall with pale skin and red hair. Only he had no face. Where his eyes, nose, and mouth should have been, there was only skin. It made him unbelievably eerie. The other person was tan-skinned with long, dark hair. She had no face as well.

"What is it, Henry?" The woman asked without a mouth to speak, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's nothing. Just nervous is all. He's here somewhere, like you said." Henry mumbled.

It seems like the right thing to say. He must have been right. The woman just nodded.

"It's one hell of a horror you've made for yourself. It's going to kill them all," she said.

"What?" Henry asked.

She was looking right at him now. You could feel her stare even without eyes. She began to laugh. Her finger twisted to point towards something in the distance. Henry turned to look where she pointed and saw the Skeleton Man. He further stood down the sandy streets. He held up his hand, which was currently holding Stevey's decapitated head. Stevey! How had Henry forgotten him?

"Isn't that something," The redhead man said, "It's only a matter of time now. They're going to die."

"What are you talking about?" Henry asked.

He turned to look at his strange, faceless companion and found himself face-to-face with the red-eyed man. His red eyes drilled into Henry's soul, filling him with unimaginable dread. It lifted its finger and pointed at Henry. All the shadows around them converged. They slid from the building and cliffs in the distance to follow that finger. The shadows all rushed towards Henry.

He heard the sound of ticking clocks. Somehow, he knew his time was up. But what time was that? The ticking grew louder and more frantic. Soon it was deafening. The shadows were growing closer now. They begin to climb up his legs, then his arms. Soon they surrounded him, and he saw only darkness.

***

Henry woke up with a scream. He jerked his hands up to where the tomahawk had sunk into his skull. There was no puncture wound there. He studied his shirt. The hole from the bullet was gone, as was the blood. All the wounds that had marked his death were gone. It was just like before.

"It's Henry! He's back!" Chelsey declared.

Henry spun and found Mark, Grace, and Chelsey waiting for him.

"What happened?" Henry asked.

"We were hoping you could tell us. You guys didn't come home, so we just assumed you died." Grace explained.

He was trying to remember. His thoughts were foggy and unclear. They had gone to Londontown. He had killed the Knight by destroying its anchor, which had been a box. He remembered the rest too. Wendy had been killed by a gunshot. They had been ambushed by his Ghost Story. The Skeleton Man—even the thought of him sent chills up Henry's spine.

"It was a trap… It was my Ghost Story. It killed me."

Mark nodded as if that made sense.

"So then, where's Stevey hiding? We must have missed him." Grace asked.

Henry turned around and noticed for the first time that Stevey had not woken up with him. That was strange. Were the revivals staggered in some way?

"He died before I did. I figured you guys already had him back."

"That's impossible. If he died, he'd be here, just like you. It's 12:01, Henry," Chelsey said.

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Henry suddenly felt very cold. What the hell did that mean? Stevey was dead; there wasn't a doubt in his mind. He had seen it.

"He was dead, trust me," Henry reiterated.

"He must have been hurt, real bad. You probably thought he was dead when he wasn't. Stevey's a surprisingly tough bastard. It's happened before. We'll just have to kill him, and he'll come back tomorrow." Grace said.

"I'm telling you. He was dead. There's no way he's still alive."

"That's impossible. You must have been mistaken," Grace said.

"Grace is right. You're just confused, Henry. I mean, you died, right? There must have been confusion," Chelsey added.

Only Mark said nothing. He only stared at his wife as a sharp frown grew across his face.

"Chelsey's right. He's got to be alive." Grace continued.

Henry sighed.

"It took his head off."

The words rang in the air. Silence met them. No one said a word for what felt like minutes. Chelsey was beginning to cry now.

"I mean, he can't be gone! That's not how this works. Take us to the body," Grace demanded.

"I don't know if that's a good idea… the Knight, he'll be back." Henry argued.

Grace wasn't having it.

"Take me to the body." She ordered.

There was a threat in Grace's voice. She ever so slightly moved her harpoon closer to Henry. It sent a chill up his spine.

"Alright. It's in Londontown."

***

The group walked in silence until they reached the outskirts of Londontown. Only it wasn't the same. Buildings that had been there before were gone. While the street still remained intact, it was becoming more empty by the minute. As they walked, they saw buildings flicker, blinking in and out of existence. Some flickered out and never returned.

"What the fuck is this?" Grace asked.

"This hasn't happened before?" Henry asked.

"No. We've never seen anything like this," Chelsey answered.

Mark's face was as stoic as ever. There was something else breaking through his otherwise neutral demeanor. What Henry thought might have been the slightest hint of fear. While I have known Henry Becker to be a very perceptive man, I've also seen him be wrong from time to time. This was one such occasion. What Mark was hiding from the others was grief and shame.

As they passed the beautiful white church that held the Knight's anchor, it began to flicker out of existence. The entire building is vanishing before their eyes. Henry thought that was a shame, even though he didn't understand what was going on. He didn't have much time to dwell on it, though. The sound of chains rattling and the sense of smoke filled the air.

The Knight stood in the center of the street. Smoke billowed from the cracks in its armor, just as it had the day before. Only this time, the monstrous suit of armor was on its knees and seemed to be writhing in pain. It was not dissimilar to how it had reacted when its anchor was destroyed. As it flailed, it began to flicker and then vanished. The sound of chains went with it. The Knight did not reappear. Shortly after, the church vanished for good.

"What is this? I mean, what the actual fuck?" Grace asked as she stared at where the church had been only moments before.

"I don't know," Chelsey murmured, "But I don't like it."

"We died right up here. In the alley next to the pub. It shot us as we left the pub."

"Shot you? Like with a bow and arrow?" Mark asked.

"No," Henry answered, "with a hunting rifle. We didn't even see it coming."

"Christ, a gun?" Grace murmured.

Henry nodded. At last, they reached the Burning Knight Pub. It was just how it had been the day before. Unlike many of the other buildings, the pub was still visible. Henry led them to the alley and found exactly what he feared he would.

Both Wendy's mostly headless corpse and his own body were gone. Only Stevey's corpse remained. His body was where it had fallen after it had been beheaded. The blood that pooled around it was now dried. It had turned a red so dark that it was almost black. Stevey's skin was pale white, like snow, with dark blotchy patches. His head wasn't where it had been before. It had been pinned to the side of the pub with a combat knife. Below it, the Skeleton Man had left a note written in blood.

It read simply: The hunt has begun. One dead; only three remain. Henry wanted to be sick looking at the scene. Stevey hadn't come back. He was still dead. It went against everything Henry had seen in Paradise. Chelsey had fallen to her knees at the brutal sight.

"Oh God, Stevey. Oh God," She whimpered through sobs.

"We have to help him. There must be something," Grace said, then headed towards the body.

"Don't," Mark growled as he stuck out his hand to catch her.

She craned her head to look at her husband with a look of fury. Mark's eyes softened.

"This one's smart… If it can write, then it's clever. This could be a trap."

"He's right. It made a tripwire trap before. It's been taking things from our zones."

"Smart? Oh God. It's like Wendy?" Grace croaked.

Henry nodded. Grace looked at Stevey's body again. Her eyes drifted up to the threatening message on the wall. At first, he thought she was going to be sick. Instead, her face became hard and angry.

"Let him come. I'm going to fucking kill this Ghost Story," she declared, "We should bury Stevey. He deserves it."

"Grace is right… We should bury him. Henry, it should be you who gets the body," Mark said.

If it is trapped and you die, you'll be alright. We know you'll still come back," Mark said.

Henry nodded. While he wasn't thrilled with the idea of carrying a body, it was the least he could do. He owed Stevey that much.

"There has to be some kind of mistake. Maybe… It's because Wendy died too. Maybe he'll come back tomorrow. We can't bury him yet. He's not dead. He's going to come back, I know it," Chelsey begged.

"He won't." Mark said.

"How do you know? That's not how this place works. If you die, you come back. Something like this has never happened before! We don't know enough yet!" Chelsey yelled.

"It has happened!" Mark yelled back.

He looked off into the distance at something no one else could see. The others all stared at Mark. They each wore horrified expressions. Grace, most of all. As Henry had suspected all along, Mark had been lying to them. He needed to know what he was lying about. So Henry was the first of them to ask the obvious question.

"What does that mean?" Henry asked.

Mark sighed.

"I haven't told you guys the whole truth. There are things about this place that you do not understand. I thought I was protecting you, and clearly I was wrong… We weren't the first people in Paradise."