"How you've been?" Nora soft voice breaks the silence between them. Henry noticed the gaze coming from her but he refused to lift his eyes to see her.

"Isn't it obvious that I'm not doing so well?" Henry smiled desperately twirling the small spoon in his latte cup. "I'm happy you're back. But first things first. Address and phone." Nora brings out a piece of paper of personal details for Henry to fill up after handing him a pen. He sighed starts writing the address on but left out his phone number. "Real address this time. Not a fake one and I will be checking your place later." She warned since Henry gave out a fake one on her. She eyes his cursive hand writing before she noticed the empty space he had left out. No next of kin, no emergency contact, not even parents or siblings name.

"Henry you need to get yourself a phone." Nora told him but she could see Henry's eyes lowered and Nora could sense there is something that he hides from her. "I don't want to impose but it feels like you're running. From someone?" Nora asks and Henry still kept his gaze down on the foamy swirls in his small cup.

"I can't risk having anything that is accessible by anyone. Not even a photograph." Henry small reply made her stopped insisting on asking further. "Maybe one day you will tell me all about this." Nora suggests and Henry could only smile, nodding without uttering another word to her.

Henry walked back home with a relief flooded his chest. He could feel the cool crisp of winter air blowing his blonde hair away from his face. He looked up to see the leaves blowing away from his path and the trees shakes with lesser leaves left on the branches.

There is one thing he loves for having this gift since he was young. That not every death is painful. He felt a soft brushes against his cheek when he looked up almost as if it was a kiss fluttering on his skin. He turned to see a family gathering inside a home all in tears. Henry assumed one of the members had passed as he was walking on the sidewalks.

He continued his journey along the sidewalk when he noticed a car stopped by the side street. Henry recognized the car that parked belongs to Alex. Just in time, he saw him stepped out from the car wearing his long coat covers up till below his knees with his expensive suit underneath. Henry sighed watching as Alex walked up the step to confront him.

"What do you want now?" Henry asks keeping his hands inside his sweater pockets. "Thats not a good way to thanked someone that literally just got your life back." Alex replied with a hint of smug in his words.

"I already did thanked you. What more do you want?" He asks watching and Alex stepped closer before he stood only a feet away from him. He huffed out his breath staring at Henry's bruises with his gaze soften.

"Wanna go see a doctor about that?" He asks nudging his chin up at him. Henry shook his head softly thanking him before he tries to walk past him. But Alex grabbed Henry's elbow pushing him back to face him.

"We all get nervous around hospital but it's no excuse to neglect your own injury." Alex suggest but Henry scoffed back at him.

"I am not nervous about going to hospital and don't tell me that you care for me now? You literally tried to kill me weeks ago!" Henry raised his voice at him before tries to walk pasts him again. But this time Alex let him.

"I'm not. All I care about is Nora. From now on, you are going to protect her." Henry turned after what he heard and saw Alex half turned to face him.

"This is your plan after all? Having me be a part of your security team?" He asks and Alex glared his sharp gaze back at him with his arm crossed behind his back.

"Killing two birds in one stone. Fuck yeah. Nora refused for my guy following her around anymore and the deal is that she will chose her own person to protect her. Which is you - I guess." Alex explained but later frowned when Henry shaking his head at him. "I'll look out for her because I cared about her. It has nothing to do with you. Or maybe I should be protecting her from you"

Alex stares at Henry standing on the sidewalk few feet away from him separated in between the leaves covering the path. He can't figure out why that last word hurts him deeply inside. "Maybe one day you might have to." He whispered in hope he didn't hear but Henry did. But he chose not to say anything so they would end this conversation and he can go home to rest.

He watches as Henry walked away from him slowly before he went back to his car where Cash is waiting for him inside.

He sighed longly staring out the window to see Henry's figures in between the trees. "Everything okay?" Cash asks but Alex remained quiet for a while before he replied. "There's something about him. Couldn't quite put my finger on it." Alex replied.

"Henry Hanover-Stuart. Came in on a visa more than a month ago. Lives in London but no record of him there. You're thinking fake identity?" Cash asks handing him the slim brown folder that contained Henry's information that they dug up. "Fake names either." Alex stated staring at Henry's face over his copied passport.

"Whoever he is, must have a story behind all of it. No one hides from me." Alex tossed the folder back to Cash and saw Henry had disappeared into the lower steps before his car passed by him. "No one." He whispered glancing his head back to see Henry had descended down the steps before his car turned into a corner.

.

Henry felt particularly at ease going back to work with Nora. Each day he woke up he felt less pressured and more excited to come to work rather than working at the restaurant. Nora never yells, except yelling at Alex to stop stealing her pastries or take control over the shop like he owns it. Henry loves the banter Alex and Nora had especially when Nora always sided with Henry in each arguments and Henry would taken the fall willingly for her. It made him happier to see how Alex fold in each arguments when he has no one to side with him.

"You're being ridiculous right now Alex!" Nora yells at him again today when Alex came for lunch. He brought some take out for them all included but at the moment only left Henry and Nora at the store. Emily and Jacob decides to go out for lunch so left Alex with them.

"What do you mean I'm being ridiculous. It's Christmas. You and I spent Christmas almost every year together. Why this year any different?" Alex asks. They had been arguing about celebrating and hosting Christmas since yesterday. Henry loves how Nora refused to let Alex celebrate Christmas his way which is partying and get drunk till after New Year and insisted for him to come over for dinner that she had in mind, Henry included.

"Because Alex, death doesn't mean your life should stopped too. We need to make sure the tradition lives on and honored those who we had lost." Nora argued and it shut him up entirely. "Henry you agree with me right?" Nora ask but Henry was so lost in his thought that he didn't hear her asking him. His mind wanders to the memory of Christmas in London when his parents and Bea are still alive.

For ten years, he hasn't heard a carol singing or received any gifts from anyone, not even a Christmas card. To be honest, he never knew it was Christmas if it wasn't for the janitor in Broadmoor gave him a piece of cornbread each year since he was captive. The idea of holiday or a festive season was long forgotten in him. Maybe Nora was wrong, death does stopped everything in life and his life ended when his parents and his sister passed.

"Hen?" Nora called seeing Henry has been staring at his take out container still untouched. Alex also noticed he hasn't move since they had talked about Christmas for like ten minutes now. He grabbed one of the fortune cookies in the packet and tossed it at Henry across the table. Henry jumped when the cookie hits his shoulder and accidentally dropped the fork in his paper container. He looked up to see both Alex and Nora staring back at him, waiting.

"Huh?" He asks and Alex sighed shaking his head at him. "God you're weird." He mumbles poking the egg roll and shoved it inside his mouth. "Hen you're coming right? For dinner?" She asks and noticed the longing stare from Henry.

"Uhm, I'll think about it." He says dismissively before grabbing his apron. He walked over to Nora and starts grabbing the fresh baked pastries on the table before he walked out from the kitchen. Nora eyed his movement carefully until Alex voiced out his concerned. "What?"

"I'm worried about him." She expressed but Alex clicked his tongue back at her. "Why?" Alex asks with a mouthful.

"Christmas can be hard for some people. You of all people should know. He has no family, no friends except us."

"In what universe do you live in to make you think he is my friend? I'm not his friend." Alex corrected her but she glared back at him in annoyance.

"Would it hurt if you try?" She suggested.

"I'm a crook and you wanted me to play house with him?" Alex asks.

She glared sharply at Alex from across the table before she stepped closer to his side, "You're not a crook sweetie, you're just damage." Nora adds stroking his curly hair away from his temple before planting a kiss on his temple. Alex sighed staring back at her before continued on chewing his food. If only she knew how much further of damaged he had been to even categorized as that. She doesn't know much about his 'other' activities that involved him in getting his hand dirty and he intended to keep it that way.

"I gotta go." Alex says standing from his chair and headed to the back door. He glances over Henry at the front of the store while he was putting his coat on and saw him staring at the window outside where the Christmas decorations are hanged all over the street.

Alex couldn't figure why he had this feeling building up inside of him. Feelings that he hadn't felt for so long, feelings that he had buried long ago after his sister's had gone that he swore to himself he won't lay rest until he found her. The feelings to care for someone other than June and Nora or for once, being cared for instead of being the protector himself almost most of the time.

But something about Henry, that triggered him. Something that he had kept hidden makes Alex wants to breaks it open. But his thoughts interrupted when Henry turned from gazing at the window, their eyes locked and he saw the redness in his eyes that makes his own heart tugged.

"I'll see you at Christmas dinner and you're helping." Alex spoke from across the room staring back at Henry tall stoic figure. Henry didn't reply him but nod his head weakly with a faded smile. From the corner of his eyes he could see Nora smiling widely at his gesture but Alex won't give her the satisfaction of thinking this could be the start of a friendship.

.

"Henry would you mind getting this into the storage." Nora handed him some empty boxes where she kept the Christmas decorations. He just finished putting up the mantle at the door before he grabbed the boxes from her hand. "Sure." He says.

The sun sets hours ago and it was dark out when they finally finished their store decoration after they close for the day. Nora kept her promises towards Alex for keeping the store open till eight at evening. Currently it's half past ten when they finally finished decorating the store as per Nora request. She had brought a fake Christmas tree as tall as Henry to be kept in the corner and couple of empty boxes for them to wrap and settled under the tree for fake presents.

Henry smiled the entire time when Nora told him stories of how she and Alex used to celebrate Christmas before everything went to hell. Alex used to hate celebrating this occasion especially after June's disappearance but Nora made him go through it each year. Something about her persistence made Alex go along with it. But Henry knew deep down it was Alex's heart that hoping this little celebration made him feels like he still had that old life still. 

Nora even told Henry that two days before Christmas she would make a large batch of pastries including the cookies and few cakes so she could donate it to the children's hospital and the church before she close the store for the holiday. Henry already had volunteered himself to stay and helped her with it since it's going to be them for Christmas anyway. Henry couldn't remember the last time he was this excited in celebrating Christmas and this year, he finally get to experience it thanks to Nora.

Henry walked towards the back of the store while Nora cleaned up at the front counter. Emily had gone early for the holiday since she's catching on the bus to go back to his family home in Denver while Jacob flying back to LA for the rest of the year. It's still three more days before they close the store but Nora wouldn't mind if Henry was there helping her.

Henry placed the boxes on the table before opening the storage door to give him entry. He shut the door and starts unpacking the stuffs in the kitchen before he gather all the trash in one hand. He stepped out into the cold winter without his jacket running to the large trash can located behind the store and tossed the garbage with a full swing.

He cheered to himself silently when the garbage made land directly into the large trash bin before he turned to ran back inside when a figure stood in the dark staring at him. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the figure stepped further towards him and he could see it was a man wearing a dirty brown coat. His face is pale, white as a snow, his lips black and blue but his eyes, Henry never seen a spirit with his such gaze.

The guy was looking straight into Henry when their eyes met. Henry could feel the coldness running through his spine as he stepped closer and wished he could just ignore him. But his presence clicked something in him that made him unable to turn his gaze.

"You can see me." The guy asks revealing his decay rotten teeth and Henry froze on the ground squeeing his hand into a fist. His lips trembled in fear when he felt the guy's presence is not something pleasant. Henry had this tight feeling wrapped around his heart when he encountered a bad presence. It is either a violent death or a bad soul walking around, Henry could sense it. But in this case, the guy wasn't only dies from a violent death, but he is not a good soul to start with and Henry could feel the darkness start swallowing him from the inside.

"You can see me." The guy repeats smirking at him and Henry was holding back his tears before the guy marched and grabbed Henry's arm in his. Henry could see flashes of images of this guy's life in his mind right until before his death.

"They killed me in cold blood and left me to die!" The guy's voice sends fear in Henry's heart but before he could released himself from his grip, the guy caught his neck and pulled him closer. "Do you feel it? Do you feel my pain? My suffering?" The guy breaks into a laugh when Henry trembled in his grip.

"Please." Henry begged but the guy sneered cupping Henry's neck closer. His breath quickened but before the guy could tightened his grip further, Henry pulled himself harshly from his grip and ran back into the store. He locked the back door with his trembling hands trying to catch his breath. He turned to see Nora is still at the counter with her back facing Henry unaware of what is happening.

"Thank you for taking out the trash!" She yelled still focusing on the laptop in front of her while Henry tries to calm himself down. "Yep." He replied shortly in hope she didn't hear his voice breaking right now. He took few deep breaths leaning into the metal table when he felt the coldness strikes him again.

He didn't want to lift his head but somehow his body is drawn to it. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the guy stood right beside him and before he could react, he was pushed into the now open storage unit and slammed against the floor on his back. He rushed back on his knees trying to escape when the door slammed into his face and left him in a world of darkness.

"NORA!" Henry yelled banging on the metal door trying to push the door knob open but failed. It seems it was locked but Henry knew it wasn't lock on the inside in case of accidental close. Nora made sure of that.

Nora was typing away at the laptop when she was startled by the sudden loud slammed and followed by banging on the door. "Henry?" She calls since she heard him few seconds ago and when she walked into the back, she saw no one but herself. Henry was not anywhere there.

"NORA!" She jumped when she heard him banging from the inside of the storage unit and quickly rushed to open the door only to find it stuck. "Henry, I can't get it open. It's stuck!" She yelled trying to prey the door open with all her strength but failed.

"Nora please. Help me!!" Henry yelled again banging on the door from behind and it confused Nora entirely especially when she heard the crashes and the banging behind the close door. The door was not meant to be lock from the inside, it's impossible and from her side, the metal latch was unlocked which explained nothing why the door won't opened. "Henry I can't! I tried!" Nora yelled frantic when she heard Henry crying for help from the inside.

"Nora please. I'm scared. I'm scared. Please get me out!" Henry plead which cause her to tries breaking the door handle with one of her rolling pin but still fails. "I'm gonna go get help alright!" Nora yelled and rushed back to the counter to grab her phone before she went back to him.

She tried to stop the shakiness in her hands but dropped her phone on the ground. As she was about to pick up, she could hear whispers coming from underneath the door. "Hen?" She calls trying to figure the voices which now had turned to complete silence. Henry's pleading voice were no longer heard except for the whispers.

"Leave!" A voice whispers into her ears from behind and she literally screamed turning herself around to see no one is there but her. It wasn't until Henry loud screamed coming from behind the storage unit cause her to jump in fright and a loud crashing noise followed right after. "HENRY!"

Nora yelled pulling on the door handle to open when it breaks and she fell back on the floor before a sudden clicked sound flicked between her and the door.

The door finally opened halfway when she rushed to get Henry out. The moment she opened the metal door wide, she could see the whole storage unit is in a complete wrecked and Henry was laying on his stomach with his body sprawled on the floor, unconscious.

"Henry!" She rushed to his side pushing his body back when she saw his face starts to bruise on the side with cuts over his temple and his jaw. There were red marks over his neck that was faint but present which worries her since he was locked in here with no one else but himself.

"Henry, wake up. Come on Hen, wake up." Nora taps on his cheek but Henry didn't showed any sign to open his eyes so Nora rushed back to grab her phone on the floor. She quickly dials 9-1-1 but before she could taps on the call button, Henry's hand gripped over her wrist dropping her phone back on the floor.

"Hen?" She called seeing Henry staring back at her with his wide eyes and his breaths quickened. "Henry?" She calls again but Henry didn't response except for looking straight at her in a stupor reaction. "Hen, you're okay. I'm here." Nora reassured but she noticed how his sharp gaze wasn't exactly staring at her but instead was what's behind her.

She could feel a coldness runs through her back and swore someone is breathing right at her neck but when she turned abruptly, it was no one there but the tilted rack and empty walls with scattered items all over the floor. She turned back to see Henry had softly let go of her wrist and laid back on the ground but his eyes are still open, staring into space before him.

"Hen? Are you okay?" She asks and Henry didn't respond which she sighed and starts pulling him by his underarm to let him raised from the floor. Henry obeyed although wincing when his back finally curved to raise himself off the floor.

Nora carefully let Henry stand on his feet but his body swayed to the side almost falling when Nora caught him by his waist. "Easy." She helped Henry walked out of the storage unit before sitting him down on the stool right at the table. Henry's hair is a blonde mess and his lips are now pale with a cut right on the lower lip. His gaze lowered and his hands are shaking in aftermath.

"Wait here." Nora told him and was about to leave him when Henry caught her wrist in his tight grip. "N-No don't leave me." Henry pleads with his eyes starts glistening in tears. "I'm not. I'm just getting you some water okay?" Nora told him which Henry nods shakily before he let her wrist free.

She returned with an opened cap bottled and handed to Henry. He grabbed the bottle with his trembling hands before taking a small sips and handed it back to her.

"Henry what happened?" She finally asks but Henry couldn't lift his gaze to meet her eyes. He couldn't find the words to tell her what exactly happened other than making himself sound like a complete lunatic. So instead, he shook his head at her softly and lied. "I don't remember." He says and he could see Nora sighed desperately at him.

"Let me take you home okay?" She says and Henry's breath quickened again grabbing her hand in his. Nora could feel the tight gripped followed with shakiness and trembling of fear when her eyes met his again.

"N-No. I c-can't-" Henry stuttered trying to get his words out which Nora knows he is at verge of breaking into another panic attacks. "Okay. Okay. You're coming home with me." She says before pulling her hands away from Henry again. "Let me grab my stuffs and go to my place okay?" She says and Henry softly nodded letting her wrist go.

Nora came back with her bags on her shoulder and her car key ready in her hand when she noticed Henry is staring at the opened storage unit. Tears starts flooding his eyes and when he blinked, it finally fell on his cheek. Nora didn't wait any further but continued to shut the storage door close although the handle now breaks and it won't shut fully, she would fix it tomorrow. For now, she needs to get Henry out from the store and home safe.

The ride back home to Nora's place was nothing but silence. Nora kept glancing over her side to check on Henry but he was staring at the window next to him with occasional sighs escape his breath.

Nora helped him into her apartment and Henry crashed on her couch immediately after she sat him down. He could barely dragged his feet anymore by the time Nora reached the couch and Henry immediately passed out with his legs still on the floor. Nora sighed placing her bags down in her room before she helped Henry into a more comfortable position. She took off his sneakers and placed it on the floor before she tries to pull his sweater off of him.

She gave up when she couldn't get it pass through Henry 's arm when her eyes caught at the red marks on Henry's skin when his shirt rise up. Her breath hitched when she saw the scratched marks on his back right below his ribs. Her fingers traced over the line and noticed it was almost look like someone had scratched him from the back. She inspects further to see his undershirt was ripped in few scratches like a finger had ripped through his clothes. 

It caught her attention when she saw the marks on his shoulder and starts pulling her phone out to snap a photo of Henry's injury. She pulled Henry shirt down revealing his pale bruised neck when she snapped another photo. Henry was deeply asleep and didn't even realized what Nora had been doing.

The whole night Nora had gone through the photos when one of the photos finally caught her mind all night. The dark marks on both of his wrist which she realized it was there before. She kept herself wake almost all night before she finally fell asleep probably around two and kept in her mind to ask Henry in the morning.