As soon as the call ended Johnny buried his face into his pillow, letting out a cry of pure frustration. It hurt his very soul knowing there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation at hand. Their brothers had run away from home and there was nothing he could do about it. He hated this feeling of no control. He really just hoped that no one would wind up dead because of it. Johnny was about to try texting Gavin when he heard the front door unlock, a familiar voice calling out from downstairs.

"Boys? Are you home yet?" his mom yelled. Johnny quickly got up, making sure he was at least a bit presentable before running downstairs. He greeted and hugged the woman gently.

"I'm here! How was work?"

His mom hugged back, seeming a bit surprised by his haste.

"It was good! Where's Gavin?"

"He's having a sleepover with Jimmy."

"A sleepover? He didn't ask first. ... is he getting into trouble again? Do I need to call the police?!" she gasped, a panicked look in her eyes. Johnny quickly shook his head.

"No no, it's ok. Gregory says they're just playing video games. You know how they are, they'll be at it all night."

"... well alright. They'll be done in time for dinner with Anne and Gregory then?"

"Of course."

"Good! Speaking of dinner, we need to do some prep. I was going to ask both of you to help, but since Gavin isn't here I suppose we'll just have to do everything ourselves. I hope that's ok with you." she sighed. Johnny nodded.

"That's fine. It'll be a nice distraction anyways."

"Oh? Why do you need a distraction?"

"Well if I'm being honest my wolf issue has been acting up a bit lately. I think it's the stress."

"Aw, well this'll be good for you then I hope. You work very hard dear, you deserve a break."

"Thank you." Johnny chuckled. They quickly hugged one more time before heading off to the kitchen. Johnny glanced at his phone, making sure there weren't any texts or missed calls. Everything was silent. He felt awful for lying to his mom but he knew how much the truth would hurt her. Her kids were losing it and she knew it. Johnny began to help his mom cook, forcing himself to forget his issues for now. He listened to his mom's work stories a bit more enthusiastically than usual. Even just the sound of the woman's voice was comforting to him. She seemed to notice this and gave him a small sad smile.

"You know, all of your wounds are healing up quite nicely. I can barely even tell that they were there."

"That's good. I was starting to worry that I looked a bit like frankenstein's monster or something."

His mom laughed, pausing her fruit cutting.

"Frankenstein? No, you look perfectly fine. Both of you do. ... can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Is Gavin a werewolf too?" she questioned. Johnny thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"Well ever since you two got into that horrible fight the other day he's been acting a bit different. Strange. I was just wondering if his sudden aggression was because he was having 'wolf issues' like you."

"I see. I have no clue but I could try talking to him if you want."

"That would be lovely. I-... I really wish I knew how to help you boys." the woman whispered. Johnny felt horrible. She sounded so defeated.

"It's alright, you're doing your best. I wouldn't know what to do either. I love you, mum."

"I love you too Johnny."

The two went back to cooking after this, standing in a comfortable silence. Johnny began to actually properly relax for the first time in quite a while. He had always loved cooking, though he had never been very good at it. Gregory used to make fun of him all the time in the other timeline, especially if he burned something. Even then his friend usually still ate it. As bad as his cooking was, Gregory didn't exactly know how either. After a while his phone went off, and his relaxation immediately went away. He pulled it out at the speed of light. Much to his surprise it was Gavin. Johnny stepped out of the kitchen, answering it.

"Hello?"

"Hey. I just wanted to let you know that Jimmy and I will be gone for the night." Gavin told him. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Gregory already told me. May I ask why you've decided to do this?"

"We figured that you guys would be pretty upset that we were hanging out all secretly, so we decided to give you a bit of space. We're heading to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town."

"... an abandoned building? Didn't you two find a dead body the last time you did that?" Johnny asked, frowning. He heard Gavin scoff.

"Well yeah but Jimmy says he knows this place and I trust him, as dumb as that may be. If anything goes wrong I'll tell you, I promise."

"Alright. Can you at least give me some specifics just in case?"

"Sure. We're going to this big old mansion that's in the middle of some fields. I think we're heading north? Yeah, north." Gavin told him in a hush tone. Johnny's heart skipped a beat. That sounded just like the house they had finally defeated Box Friend in before all this. Where Gregory got back all his memories.

"I-... just don't kill anyone and be back by tomorrow evening, ok?"

"Ok. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

They hung up. Johnny immediately called Gregory. The American picked up almost instantly.

"What's up?"

"They're going to the old house. The one we captured that box monster thing in." he told him, trying to keep his tone as level as possible.

"What?! Why?"

"I don't know. Gavin said Jimmy suggested it, said he knew it somehow."

"Shit, what if Box Friend is back?! What if it's trying to get to us?!"

"Then we'll get rid of it just like we did before. That disgusting demon deserves the worst for what it did... no offense."

"None taken. ... we really need to be prepared for the worst now. They could be totally gone by the time they come back."

"You're right. Here, let's talk about this more later, alright? I'm helping my mother with something at the moment."

"Alright. Be safe Johnny."

"You too."

Johnny set down his phone, letting out a little sigh. Awful things were on the horizon and there was nothing they could do to stop it.