Premature Metamorphosis

Chapter 1

So when Caleb had brought up the idea to Philip of looking after Hunter while they were away, he'd jumped at the opportunity, more than happy to step in and care for his nephew.

Philip had shown a dislike for children in the past, outwardly expressing his disgust when a baby started crying out in public or scoffing at a toddler getting ice cream all over their face. But overall, Hunter was a very well-behaved child, he'd always been easy to please (stick on an animal documentary or give him a book and he's entertained for hours) and other than some fussiness or outbursts when he got overwhelmed, he very rarely threw any proper tantrums, and when he did, they were nothing in comparison to the way Evelyn had seen other children react.

So, Hunter was pretty much exempt from Philip's lack of patience for 'whiny children', as he called them — though, Evelyn found that rich coming from him after the sort of things she'd heard from Caleb about what it had been like raising him.

But one thing that had been nagging at Evelyn the entire time leading up to the visit and the entire way through it was the thought that that might change. That Hunter would get upset over one of those things that seemed so inconsequential to everyone else but so big to him, that Philip would grow impatient and belittle his feelings or even snap at him, that this would ruin the close bond they had.

Because even if Evelyn had some difficulties with Philip, and even if part of her felt bitter when she saw her son looking up with such admiration to the man that had spat the words "Satan worshiper" at her and threatened her for daring to get close to Caleb, she still didn't want to see the heartbreak on her son's face when he realised his uncle was fed up with him.

However, to her relief, during all the phone calls they'd exchanged throughout the week, Hunter had seemed just as lively and cheerful as ever. He happily rambled on about all the fun stuff he'd been doing with his uncle — baking cakes in the kitchen and licking the icing off the spoon, staying up past bedtime to read books, running around at the park — while Philip chuckled along somewhere in the background.

All seemed normal. All seemed well.

Until Evelyn and Caleb went to pick him up.

Both of them had gotten home from their respective trips on the same day at around the same time so Caleb patiently waited for an hour or so for Evelyn to get back too and they drove over to Philip's together.

Caleb had always been a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, he wasn't afraid to cry or laugh or be silly or even serious when the situation needed it. He'd told Evelyn a lot about how he'd been given a hard time for it by his parents — in Evelyn's humble opinion: idiots with their heads stuck in the past — and then later workers at the orphanage, teachers, friends, even his own brother.

Evelyn, however, found it to be one of his most endearing qualities.

So, as they got closer and closer to Philip's house and closer and closer to seeing their son again after a week, it wasn't difficult to see the excitement written all over Caleb's face.

And when they finally pulled up at the house, Caleb practically leapt from the car like a kid and knocked on the door a bit too enthusiastically.

Evelyn laughed at her husband's antics and followed after him.

They waited for a moment, just slightly too long to the point of it being uncomfortable before a shadow appeared behind the glass and the door was pried open.

And just as Philip's face appeared in the gap, Hunter was out of the house and jumping into the backseat of the car, backpack fully packed and everything, in a matter of seconds, nearly knocking Evelyn off her feet on the process.

Hunter was still pretty young and at that stage where Evelyn had to get him ready at least an hour in advance because he would get distracted by something else in the room and would insist she tie his shoes several more times because they still weren't tight enough and would decide to reorganise his entire book collection and check up on each individual bird plushie he owned.

Yeah, he was a well-behaved kid, but God was he a pain to get out of the house.

So when he was out the door as soon as it was open and in the car in record time with no fuss, complaints, or distractions, it was utterly baffling, and by the looks of things, Caleb seemed pretty surprised too, though he at least managed to laugh it off after a moment.

"Someone's missed us." He chuckled.

Evelyn tried to laugh along but something about Philip's stiff smile that wasn't quite reaching his eyes had become unsettling.

She brushed it off though, assuming Philip had known about the curse of trying to get kids out of the house and so had packed him up early in advance so he'd be ready when his parents came to pick him up. That all made sense.

So they waved goodbye and said their thanks to Philip — albeit, somewhat begrudgingly in Evelyn's case — and got back in the car to drive home.

The drive back was surprisingly quiet. Hunter's joyful demeanour and excited ramblings from the phone calls seemed to have completely vanished and instead, he answered every question given to him with small hums or a nod or a shake of his head, all the while hugging his favourite bird plushie — a red cardinal he'd called Flapjack — close to his chest and gazing absent-mindedly out the window.

Probably tired, Caleb mouthed to her upon seeing the concern etched onto her features. And now he'd pointed it out, Evelyn could see what he meant. Hunter did look rather tired, with slight shadows under his eyes and every now and again she'd catch his eyes slip shut before he'd quickly pull them open again.

And that was the same excuse Hunter ended up giving them when they got home and the first thing he did was head straight for his bed, despite it only being late afternoon.

Evelyn and Caleb had never struggled getting him to bed before, like she'd already mentioned, he was a pretty compliant kid, but he did tend to try and push a bit when it came to bedtime; asking to stay up just a bit longer so he could finish reading.

Where most other children these days seemed to be obsessed with video games and screens, Hunter preferred books, always had, much to the relief of both parents who were more than happy that they got to share some of their passion for reading with their son. They were also pretty glad that they didn't have to set up any parental controls or screen time limits on devices like other parents had to do. They definitely did not envy the parents who had to drag their kids away from the console, kicking and screaming.

So, if the reason he asked to stay up a bit longer was just to read some more about birds or some sci-fi series a friend had gotten him into then both she and Caleb were more than happy to let him do so whenever he asked.

But now that he wasn't asking, and in fact, putting himself to bed before six o'clock, was odd.

Although, if she tried hard enough, Evelyn was sure she could brush it off with the excuse of too many late nights from a far too lenient Philio who'd never had the years of experience to be able to build up a tolerance to puppy eyes.

Though, it was still just weird.

Usually, when Hunter was tired, he got cranky, overwhelmed, he complained about things that didn't make sense and he whinged about everything being 'too much'.

Right now, he'd gone quiet and distant.

There was just something ever so slightly off.

"You feeling okay, kiddo?" Caleb called out after him.

Hunter stopped at his bedroom door at the top of the stairs and turned to look at them for a moment, seeming almost as if he were considering something, before turning away and nodding.

And with that, he disappeared into his room and left behind a very concerned set of parents.