Premature Metamorphosis

Chapter 5

The entire time Evelyn was away on her trip, all she could think about was Hunter.

She counted down the days until she could finally get back home, barely even any use to her friend because all she could do was replay the morning Philip had come over and over again in her mind, searching through every minute detail for something. Anything.

All that she found was an itching feeling under her skin.

She'd been unable to leave Flapjack back at the house. As stupid as it was, she'd brought the little cardinal toy along with her, unable to part with it.

Leaving it behind felt like she was abandoning it.

Yet she'd had no trouble abandoning her own son, a small, overly dramatic voice in the back of her head taunted.

By the time her trip was over and she could finally return home, she was far too anxious to focus on anything else other than getting to Philip's house in as little time as possible.

This time, Philip hadn't called her. The first time Hunter had been staying with him, he'd diligently kept up with their daily phone calls, even if he'd let out exasperated sigh after exasperated sigh at Evelyn's pushiness.

This time he hadn't called her once.

Evelyn had tried calling him a good few times a day but each time, the phone rang out and she was left feeling helpless.

If Caleb had been there, he'd have reassured her that Philip was most likely just busy, probably spending so much time with his nephew that he hadn't heard the calls. It wasn't as if he was the best with modern technology in the first place. But Caleb wasn't here and call it a gut feeling all you want but Evelyn was sure there was something very wrong here.

So once in front of the old wooden door to Philip's house, dread began to seep in and settled uncomfortably like a stone in her stomach.

Her hand felt as if it weighed her down as she tried to lift it to knock on the door, attempting to prevent her from finding what was inside. For half a second, she considered backing out, unsure if she really wanted to give credibility to the many possible ideas that had been flooding her mind for the past few days. But in the end, the desperate need to see her son safe again greatly outweighed the fear of what she may discover so she gave a quick knock on the wood and waited.

It took a painstakingly long time before the door was pried open and she was yet again faced with that eerily calm smile, the look in Philip's eyes, almost taunting, as if he knew something that she did not.

It took a lot of mental strength to not go barging in straight past him. She really wasn't in the mood for his antics today.

Scampering along after him, she spotted Hunter, and God did her baby look exhausted... There were literal bags under his eyes! Had he not slept?!

He managed to squeeze his way out of the door from behind Philip who seemed to have subtly positioned himself to almost try and block Hunter inside, a physical barrier between Evelyn and her son.

Hunter ran straight for his mother and she kneeled down to catch him in a tight hug.

"I missed you, Mommy." He whispered, burying his face in her shoulder.

"I missed you too, baby."

She felt some of the tension that had been building up over the past few days leave her shoulders upon knowing that her son was now back, safe with her, and finally being able to hold him in her arms. She felt silly for having been so worried but she'd just been so sure that something awful would have happened without her being there to protect him.