Chapter Eleven: The Ghosts of Time

Naomi's heartbeat thundered in her ears.

She read the missing poster again, five years flashing like a neon warning in her mind.

Ezra had been gone for five years.

And he hadn't known.

Ezra crumpled the paper in his fist, his expression tight. For a long time, he just stood there, staring at nothing.

Naomi swallowed. "Ezra..."

He didn't respond.

Didn't move.

The silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.

Then-

A sharp crack echoed through the empty street.

Naomi spun toward the sound.

A single streetlamp flickered overhead, casting broken shards of light onto the pavement. The bulb buzzed, struggling to stay lit.

Then it popped, plunging them into shadows.

Naomi's fingers twitched at her sides.

Something was wrong.

The town wasn't just quiet. It was watching.

Ezra inhaled slowly. "Do you feel that?"

Naomi nodded, her pulse quickening. The air was thick, charged with an unnatural weight.

It felt like the Between.

Like it had followed them.

Or worse-

Like they had never really left.

Ezra's jaw tightened. "We need answers."

Naomi forced herself to think. If they had really lost time-if he had been missing for five years while she had only been gone for seven days-then they weren't just dealing with a supernatural force.

They were dealing with time itself.

"We should go to your house," she said suddenly.

Ezra hesitated.

Naomi met his gaze. "If you've been gone for five years, then what happened to your home? To your things?"

Ezra exhaled sharply. "You think someone else lives there now?"

"I think it might tell us how much the world remembers you."

Ezra didn't argue. Instead, he turned toward the road leading to the outskirts of town.

"Let's find out."

---

The Calloway House

The house was exactly as Naomi remembered it.

A two-story Victorian, standing at the edge of Black Hollow's dense treeline. The paint was chipped, the windows dark, the porch wrapped in a creeping layer of fog.

But something was wrong.

The air around it was too still.

No lights. No movement.

It felt abandoned.

Ezra hesitated at the gate. His fingers brushed the rusted latch, his posture tense.

Naomi studied his face.

"Do you want me to go first?" she asked softly.

Ezra let out a breath. "No. I need to do this."

He pushed open the gate.

The sound of rusted hinges screeched through the night, loud and jarring. Naomi followed him up the steps, her pulse hammering as Ezra reached for the door.

It was unlocked.

Ezra's shoulders tensed.

Slowly, he pushed it open.

The interior was swallowed in darkness.

Naomi stepped inside after him, the scent of dust and aged wood thick in the air.

But the moment she crossed the threshold-

A whisper crawled against her skin.

"Welcome home, Ezra."

Naomi's breath hitched.

Ezra froze.

Then, the lights flickered on by themselves.

The living room hadn't changed. The same old leather armchair sat by the fireplace. The bookshelves were still lined with Ezra's father's collection. The walls bore the same framed photos.

Except-

Naomi's stomach twisted.

The photos were wrong.

She stepped closer, eyes scanning the nearest one.

Ezra stood with his parents, their arms wrapped around him, frozen in time. But his face-

It was blurred out.

Every single picture.

His shape was there, but his features were erased, as if something had wiped him from existence itself.

Naomi swallowed. "Ezra..."

Ezra didn't respond. He was staring at something else.

Naomi followed his gaze-

And felt the cold weight of horror settle in her bones.

Because hanging on the wall-

Was a missing poster of Lilith Calloway.

And it was new.

Issued three days ago.

Ezra's entire body went rigid.

Naomi could barely breathe.

Lilith had vanished years ago. Her case had gone cold. But now, this-

Something was wrong with time.

And they weren't the only ones caught in it.

Ezra exhaled shakily. "We're not done, are we?"

Naomi shook her head.

No.

The Between wasn't finished with them.

It had let them go-

But only to bring them back when it was ready.

And now, it had taken Lilith again.

Only this time-

It had rewritten the rules.