“My first instinct after hearing your father speak to me is that you had a night terror.” Mr Storre said, “But there is an important distinction to be made between waking up in pain, and waking up afraid. Do you know which it was?”

Eli was sat on a comfy sofa next to his dad. He thought he was being brought to a doctor, and yes, Mr Storre was a doctor, but not the kind that Eli had been seen before. He was a therapist. He looked to be the same age as his dad, maybe a little older. There was a kind, friendly look in his hazel eyes.

Eli was more put off by the situation than he was the man.

“I don’t really remember the dream.”

Mr Storre offered him a reassuring smile. “That’s alright, it’s normal. Can I see your pain prescription?”

Eli glanced at his dad, who had the slip of paper on hand. Mr Storre read it, and his gaze moved back to Eli. “You’re on your third bottle.”

His tone said that was a bad thing. “My wrists hurt a lot.”

“Usually when you’re trying to sleep, is that right?”

“In the middle of the night, yeah.”

“Can I see?” Mr Storre held out his hands. Eli offered up his wrists and sat still as Mr Storre messaged them. He pressed his fingers tightly between the veins, watching Eli’s face as he did. The main damage had been done by the belt that had bound him to the bed post, and Eli’s own efforts to get free. “Doctor Harring,” that was Eli’s current doctor, “sent me your progress. Your wrists are completely healed. And if it’s like you said, and the only them they hurt is when you wake up, then I think what’s going on may be in your head and not your body.”

“The pills work.”

“If your head thinks the pain is real, it’s going to think the pills work.”

“Make believe or not, they make the pain stop,” Eli said. His gut was tightening. The way his joints ached was connected to the soul. It wasn’t imaginary, and the pills did make it go away. If he lost them… Eli wasn’t even coherent most of the time he took the painkillers, usually his dad helped him take one in the middle of the night.

“Of course.” Mr Storre smiled, but Eli failed to find it friendly this time. He wanted to look at his dad, to see what he was making of all this, but he thought that would give away his own thoughts. “So, what we’re going to do is a little experiment. The next time you wake up in pain, you’re going to take one of these.” He took a clear bottle of pills from his pockets. “In here is a mixture of the same pain killers you take now, and placebo pills.”

He handed it to Eli. He checked and saw each pill was identical to the other.

“Now, you’re not going to know which pill you take, and we can discern if it’s purely mental or physical pain.”

Eli stared at the bottle a few more seconds. “Shouldn’t this be a double-blind test? If this is all in my head and if I think it’s going to be a placebo and won’t help me, then it won’t help me.”

“Except you don’t know which it will be,” Mr Storre pointed out. “Your dad is going to take a photo of each pill, and document your reaction to it, and we can move forward from those results. How does that sound?”

Eli was sure how that sounded was evident on his face. He glanced at his dad, hoping to get his displeasure across. His dad nodded. “We’ll give it a try.”

Eli narrowed his eyes.

“Eli,” Mr Storre said, “You know better than any of us that this can’t go on.”

Mr Storre talked to them about regulating Eli’s sleep schedule, which basically involved him telling his dad that Eli had to stay out of bed until everyone in the house was going to sleep. Apparently over-sleeping could lead to tiredness, which sounded like bull to Eli.

Once they were outside, Eli let his dad know what he thought of Mr Storre. “I’m not a test subject.” Eli slammed his car door shut. “It’s all well and good for him to say that when he’s not the one in pain.”

His dad’s expression was mild, and not outraged. Eli knew at a glance that he wasn’t on his side. “Dad.”

“I know, Eli. We’ll see how it goes, and if it doesn’t work, I still have the pain-killers,” his dad said. “Think about if this works? I want you to sleep through the night and not wake up hurting, and if this has a chance to get us there, it’s worth trying.”

Eli leaned back, annoyed that he couldn’t argue against that logic.

They left the clinic and his dad drove toward the north of the city, not in the direction of home. Eli didn’t think much of it until they parked next to a gym, and Noah and Jenny were leaning against Noah’s jeep in the parking space next to them.

His dad killed the engine.

“What’s going on?” Eli asked. Jenny was wearing yoga pants, Noah had on shorts and a football jersey. If someone had suggested a family gym session Eli was going to bludgeon them.

“We’re going to a self-defence class.”

His dad had a serious expression and met Eli’s gaze. Eli thought about the rogue. There was the guns and the hypervigilance, but the rogue wasn’t talked about outright in the house. Honestly, this didn’t seem to come out of the blue to Eli, rather, it made sense given his dad’s worries about safety. “You think knowing how to throw a punch would make any difference?”

His dad’s expression tightened, tension taking over his features. His serious expression became stern. “We’ll be learning about safety and what to do in dangerous situations. I don’t want any attitude from you about this, and I want you to listen to the man.”

Eli crossed his arms, but then thought that might be too much attitude and uncrossed them. “I’m not going to give you attitude. I actually think it’s a good idea.”

“Really?” His dad raised an eyebrow.

“Shane does self-defence with everyone at the boarding house.” Eli said, stretching the truth about their training. It was athletic and fighting training, but he imagined being able to knock someone’s lights out was as good a way of defending yourself as any.

There was resigned approval in his dad’s eyes. He wasn’t fond of Shane, but he apparently approved of his actions.

Jenny knocked on the driver’s window. “Are you guys going to sit out here all evening?”

Eli fell in-step with Noah as they approached the gym. Noah was practically bouncing. “What are you so excited about?” He buried his hands into his pockets. Sure, he thought, Noah was the sporty one. He was on the football team, he went for runs everyday, and everything about him, from his height to his build, indicated that he could take someone in a fight. Eli was the opposite. Small shoulders. Light. Side by side, Noah was a young man, and Eli was a teenager.

“It’ll be fun.” Noah nudged Eli with his elbow. “Give it a chance.”

“I doubt I could fight off a cat.”

Noah let out a hoot of laugher. “You know what? I think you’re right.”

The self-defence class consisted of only them and two instructors. The men seemed to be on familiar terms with his dad already. The older of the two started with a long, long talk. Noah’s fingers twitched during it, and Eli reckoned he wanted to be taking notes. Some of the advice was things a toddler could tell you: don’t approach a man waving a knife around, how to call the emergency services. But there were other topics, such as what to do during a home invasion.

Eli saw his dad put his arm around Jenny when they discussed that particular subject. Eli purposefully didn’t think about how the rogue was still in this world, unaccounted for. He’d gotten what he wanted (at least they all liked to think so) and it wasn’t going to bother them again. Eli rubbed his chest, the soul hummed against his fingertips. Even if the rogue had answers about what was happening to Eli, it wasn’t worth the risk. Plus, Eli had shot him the last time they’d met. He doubted he’d be willing to help even if Eli found him.

This entire session, Eli decided, was for peace of mind, and not practical application.

The younger of the two men, Matthew, approached Noah and Eli for the practical session. He was short and buff, with rusty coloured hair and alert brown eyes. “Now, boys.” He put his hands on his hips and cast them an empty smile. “Rule number one in confronting someone trying to hurt you, always run away.”

Eli had been only half-interested but perked up. Matthew noticed, and his smile turned sly. “That’s right, I’m not going to be training you two how to kick anyone’s asses, only how to get out of dangerous situations. Leave the justice to the police, they have the equipment for it.”

Noah looked distinctly disappointed, “What if it isn’t us being attacked?” he asked.

“First priority is always to call the police and ensure that armed help is on the way. What you do next depends on the situation. Playing the hero rarely works out in everyday situations, though of course, there are exceptions.” Matthew’s alert gaze flicked to Eli. “If, for instance, you happen to have an illegal gun in your possession and there’s an immediate danger to a family member, then even if you’ve been advised to hide by me, your parents, or the police, running away may not be your first instinct.”

“Are you going to teach us to shoot?” Eli asked.

“No.”

“Are you teaching dad?” Eli asked next.

“The boss is.” Matthew jutted his chin toward the older instructor. Eli saw they had already started their session, and his dad was being bear hugged. Eli slipped his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture.

“Who wants to go first?” Matthew asked. “I’m going to show you how to break out of different kind of holds.”

Noah was quick to volunteer himself. Eli watched closely as Matthew walked them through the movements. Eli got out his phone while Noah was getting bear hugged, and Noah scowled at him.

“Pay attention,” Noah said.

“I’m taking a video so I can study it later,” Eli told him. “Educational purposes, you know?”

“Eli.” Noah couldn’t really come at Eli and make him put his phone away given the situation.

“Try what I showed you.” Matthew asked Noah. Noah did, but his head kept turning toward Eli sub-consciously and he couldn’t achieve much.

“Alright,” Matthew ended up releasing Noah instead of him breaking free. “Eli, you’re up.”

Eli left his phone on the bench and went onto the matts. Matthew’s arms seemed bigger now that Eli was standing right in front of him. Matthew must have sensed his apprehension. “I’m aware you’ve had some bad experiences in the past, so if it’s too much for you just tell me to stop. If you can’t speak, tap me twice, and I’ll release you. Understand?”

Eli nodded.