Eli stepped through the front door and froze.
For a long second, he just… stood there.
The air smelled faintly of dust, and —
The living room looked exactly the same as the day he'd left.
Whoever his parents had hired to repair the place had been almost too precise.
Old wrinkled papers were still taped together on the coffee table.
Photos of him, Mom, and Dad lined the walls in their old frames, not a millimeter out of place.
Even the little imperfections had been preserved.
"Ahh, Mom—"
"I tried to make everything the way it was before you left," Lorraine said quickly, her voice catching just a little. "You never liked new things."
Eli frowned. "Mom… have you been torturing yourself with my memories?"
"That's not what this is," she said, eyes skimming the room instead of meeting his.
Before he could press further—
"Heeey mooooom!"
Lorraine scrambled for her phone. Eli just shook his head, smirking.
At least I know you love me.
"Don't get a big head," she told him calmly
"You have a week. After that, I'm cleaning this place out. Been wanting to do that for… four years now."
Her voice dipped low on those last words.
Eli thought of asking about Dad—but remembered the hospital.
Not now.
"I'm going to look upstairs," he said.
As he climbed the steps, Lorraine glanced at her phone.
A new text flashed across the screen.
Ms. McCall:Why did you take him? You just needed to wait a few more days.
She set the phone down. Hard.
She'd deal with that later.
The upstairs hallway hadn't changed.
Eli stopped outside his old room, then opened the door.
Almost the same.
Some posters were newer; others had browned and been patched with strips of tape.
He smiled faintly.
It was strange—how much it mattered that this place was unchanged.
Even if the rest of the world had moved on, here was proof that at least his mother hadn't.
Only one thing was missing.
On the bedside table sat a photo frame.
A happy family—Mom, Dad, and him.
As he set it back down, something caught his eye under the bed.
A brown case.
Exactly like the one he'd had four years ago.
He dragged it out, flipped the latches.
Inside—several small, empty glass bottles.
And a folded note:
From Mom and Dad – For when you're back.
At the bottom, in a different hand:
Note from Mom: NO BOMBS!!!
Eli laughed, even as his vision blurred with tears. His face was wet, but the smile stayed.
Downstairs, Lorraine sat at the table, her bag beside her phone. Her foot tapped rapidly against the floor.
Finally, she scrolled to a number and called.
It rang.
Voicemail.
She exhaled, voice shaking.
"Hey… he's back. I don't know what to do. I can't keep him locked in the house—he needs a life. And I can't always protect him."
Her gaze drifted to her bag. The view blurred through tears.
"I need help."
She ended the call and set the phone down—just as a loud ding lit the screen.
Boss:Why are you not here? I'm taking this from your pay.
Her jaw tightened.
The phone clattered onto the chair, bouncing once.
Outside the Beacon Hills Sheriff Station, the tall detective sat in the car beside Detective Megel, eyes hard on the window.
"I can't believe you did that," he said flatly. "You promised me you'd let this go through proper channels. Now the mother won't even let us talk to him."
"But I got something," Megel pressed. "He was talking to me—"
"Don't show me that. Whatever's in there, it's useless."
She almost fired back, but his eyes shut her down.
Before he could continue, his phone rang.
"Yes, sir. I'm about to go in. The boy's mother refused to let him speak. We had some complications."
He glanced at Megel during the last word.
A pause.
"Okay."
The voice on the other end was calm but sharp.
"The guy's frantic. Get someone to watch the boy."
"Will do."
He hung up, opened his door, and leaned back in once more.
"This is your last chance. Don't let something like this happen again."
Megel stared at the dash, saying nothing.
"Eli!" Lorraine called.
"Yeah, just putting on my shoes!"
A knock rattled the front door.
Her hand shot to her bag before she asked, "Who is it?"
"Deputy Ishida."
Her shoulders eased—slightly. She opened the door.
"Sheriff Stilinski sent us. Here to keep an eye out—just in case."
"Oh, really? Come in. I was about to take him with me to work."
"You could leave him here," Ishida offered. His tone was light, but his gaze was steady. "I don't mind watching him."
She hesitated.
Her eyes flicked upstairs. She didn't want Eli anywhere near her workplace—too much she couldn't explain.
"Fine. Just for today. I'm trying to get him into school by tomorrow."
"Don't worry. This is witness protection. I'm paid to stay with him. If it comes to that, I can take him to and from school."
"Thanks." Her voice softened, but the question still came. "Any sign of the guy who did that?"
The deputy's tone lowered.
"They're saying he's dead. Most of the blood was his. But… no body. So it's really just precaution."
Just then, Ishida's eyes caught something around her neck.
He tilted his head.
"Oh—what's that? I've never seen sand that color."
Lorraine glanced down, fingers brushing the pendant. She lifted it into her hand.
"I don't know. My son just gave it to me. Probably another one of his inventions."
"You should keep it hidden, then," Ishida said, a faint smile touching his lips. "It's… really pretty."
But Lorraine didn't notice his gaze was no longer on the neckless.
"Deputy, what do you think about foxes?"
Ishida raised his eyebrows. It was the first time Eli had actually spoken to him since he'd been left in his care. The boy was holding something over a candle flame, watching it burn slowly.
"Never thought I'd feel sorry for ants," Ishida said dryly, leaning back. Then he added, "There's a tale in my family, actually—about a mischievous fox. Always getting into trouble. In the beginning, it only had one tail. But after living for a thousand years, it gained ten of them and ascended to the heavens. I really liked it when I was younger…" He paused, a distant look in his eyes. "I guess I felt some sort of connection to it."
Eli looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face. "Is the story about you?"
Ishida shook his head, a soft laugh escaping him. "No, I'm not a fox. It was just a story they told me to get me to sleep."
Eli studied him for a silent moment, head tilted. "Oh, really?" The words were light, almost teasing.
Unbeknownst to the deputy, a scalpel floated silently in the air above his head… drifting soundlessly higher, Vanishing into the shadowed ceiling corner of the living room. Upstairs in the hallway, it landed with a soft *thud* on the floorboards.Eli's eyes flicked toward the ceiling. "I'm going to grab something upstairs," he said, getting to his feet.