Every blink brought flashes of horror–shards of memory he couldn’t control, images forced into his mind like jagged pieces of glass. His friends, faces he knew from childhood, twisted and broken in ways he never wanted to remember. Some impaled on support beams, others vaporized into nothing but ash, eyes hollow and staring as they reached for him, their silent pleas etched into his mind. Each flicker of memory struck his heart, again and again, a cruel slideshow he couldn’t stop. He remembered all of them. Every one.

It had started as an ordinary night, ordinary enough to feel safe, to let their guard down. Thousands of them, laughing, chattering, had gathered in the dining hall for dinner, unaware of the reactor being primed that very moment. Then, a piercing blue beam ripped through the hall, sudden as a gunshot, incinerating those nearest and knocking the rest of them backward with a force that shook the building to its bones. In seconds, the walls groaned, buckling, the floor breaking away beneath them. Screams and chaos filled the air as the ceiling began to collapse. Kids stumbled, reaching for each other, for anything that might save them, but fear took control. Eli saw it all in slowed, nightmarish clarity, as if his mind refused to let him look away.

He ran, trying to save whoever he could–trying to pull them from debris, stop them from falling through cracked floors, get them out of the collapsing hell around them. But it was impossible. He was a kid himself, drowning in panic, his heart racing, his hands shaking. He couldn’t save everyone; he could barely keep himself alive. The only thing that saved him was the shield of ice that Hayley and Connor threw around him at the last second, deflecting a falling beam that would have impaled him, as it had so many others.

In the aftermath, survivors staggered through the broken walls and into the open air, gasping for breath, the stars above bright and indifferent. Eli closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of freedom, of the trees and earth he’d nearly forgotten. For the first time in seven years, he was out of that prison. Seven years of needles, of bruises, of humiliation and pain under the directors’ watchful, uncaring eyes. Seven years of captivity. And now…he was free.

For the first time in seven years, he was out of that prison.

They began to walk–thousands of them–crossing the island as the Ice Mutants created a bridge over the water, leading them back to a world that had moved on without them. When dawn finally broke, everyone had gone their own ways, The three of them reached Hayley’s house. They stayed up, huddled close, whispering about the future, about dreams they’d thought they’d lost forever. When she disappeared inside, Eli and Connor walked together to Connor’s home. Neither spoke, but in that quiet, something passed between them. They would always be bound by what they’d survived, brothers now in a way words could never define.

Finally, Eli made his way alone to his own house, a familiar two-story building with faded white paneling, weeds choking the cracks in the walkway, the once-bright porch dulled by years of neglect. One light glowed faintly from the living room window, the only sign of life in the stillness.

With a deep breath, he stepped forward, the creak of the screen door loud in the silence, an unwanted announcement. This was it. Home. After all this time, he’d finally made it. His hand hovered on the doorknob, his heart pounding as a thousand possibilities flooded his mind. Would his Mom, and Dad recognize him? Would they even believe he was alive? He didn’t know what to expect, and that terrified him more than anything he’d seen that night.

As he entered, the thick smell of cigarette smoke and stale air hit him, a scent foreign and unsettling. He almost hesitated, glancing around, wondering if he’d come to the wrong place. The walls were dimly lit, casting shadows over family photos–his parents, his grandparents, and one of him, a younger version, beaming with innocence he no longer remembered. His eyes stung as he walked past them, feeling like each face looked at him with memories he’d almost lost.

In the living room, the TV crackled with breaking news.
“ –Thousands of missing children have returned overnight after a catastrophic explosion at Metro Laboratory. Authorities confirm that the lab, which opened to the public only a year ago, had been secretly operating for years off the coast. A beam of blue light, part of a reactor launch gone wrong, caused the explosion and unleashed an ‘unknown energy’ across the Eastern Coast, crippling power grids and…”

A woman sat in front of the TV, her face lit by the cold blue glow. Her dark hair was tangled, unwashed, her robe hanging loosely around her thin frame, a cigarette smoldering between her fingers. The room was cluttered with dust-covered trinkets, dead plants, an empty wine bottle on the table. The woman’s eyes were fixed on the screen, hollow and vacant, as if lost in a reality she hadn’t escaped in years.

Eli swallowed, feeling his throat tighten. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words felt thick and unnatural in his mouth. His heart pounded painfully as he cleared his throat, the sound jarring in the stillness.
“Excuse me…”

The woman flinched, dropping the cigarette as her head snapped around. Her eyes widened in terror, and she seized the empty wine bottle by the neck, raising it as if to throw, her face contorted in shock. Then she froze, her gaze locking onto his as recognition flickered across her face. She dropped the bottle, her hands trembling. Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t move, staring at him as if he were a ghost.
“Mom?” he whispered, his voice breaking.

A strangled gasp escaped her lips as her knees gave way, and she collapsed onto the floor, gripping the edge of the couch to steady herself, eyes never leaving him. Eli felt his own tears blurring his vision as he rushed to her, his heart aching with a desperation he couldn’t contain. She reached up, her hand shaking as she cupped his face, her thumb brushing over his cheek as if trying to convince herself he was real.

“Is…is it really you?” she whispered, her voice thick with disbelief, with hope, with heartbreak.
Eli’s heart twisted painfully, his voice a fragile whisper as he nodded. “It’s me, Mom. I’m home.”

She let out a broken sob and threw her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace that felt both fierce and desperate, her thin arms clinging to him as though he might vanish at any moment. Eli buried his face in her shoulder, breathing in her scent, feeling the warmth of her touch. The years of suffering, the endless nights of fear–they all faded for just a moment in her arms.

In the dim light of the cluttered kitchen, they sat together. Eli hardly noticed the grime or the smell, only the aching relief of being with her again. Slowly, he told her what had happened, choosing his words carefully, leaving out the torture, the powers. He didn’t want her to know about the pain that still clawed at him, about the things they’d done to him that he would never be able to forget. She didn’t need to carry that weight. He lied, saying it had been boring, uneventful. The words stung like knives, but it was worth seeing her face soften, the worry in her eyes dimming, just a little.

The first light of dawn slipped through the window, bathing the room in a soft orange glow, catching on the dust that floated lazily in the air. She reached across the table, taking his hand in hers, her fingers cold, her voice trembling as she asked, “Are you…are you okay? Did they…did they hurt you?”

Eli paused, the memories flashing through his mind–the screams, the needles, the relentless drills, the bruises and the hunger. But he swallowed it all, shaking his head. “No, they didn’t hurt me,” he whispered, forcing himself to meet her gaze. “Just a lot of boring days.”

She exhaled shakily, relief flooding her face as she looked away, hiding her tears. Her voice was barely a whisper as she said, “Your dad…he never stopped looking for you. Every day, he searched…”

Eli’s heart stopped. The question escaped before he could hold it back. “Where is he?”

Her face crumpled, the sorrow pooling in her eyes. She swallowed, her voice cracking as she spoke. “He…he died, Eli. A few years ago. He was a detective. He died in a shootout.” She broke down, her hands covering her face as she sobbed. “He tried, Eli. He tried so hard. Losing you…broke him.”

The words felt like knives cutting through him. He’d known, in some distant part of him, that this might be true, but hearing it shattered him. He felt hollow, empty, a numbness spreading through him. He wanted to cry, to scream, to apologize. But he only sat there, reaching across the table to hold her hand as her shoulders shook with grief.

They stayed like that as the sun rose, two broken souls clinging to each other in the quiet, messy kitchen. For the first time, Eli felt the weight of all he’d lost, but also the smallest glimmer of hope. They were together, and somehow, they would rebuild. For now, that was enough.