The teenage shapeshifter stands near the front door of No. 62 with his lips slightly parted, wanting to say something. His throat though doesn't generate a single sound. Say it, Tom. Something... He blinks, realizing he's been staring at his fellow schoolmate for too long.

How is 'The Queen Bee of 1984' Senorita Chloe Serrano here? Tom made sure to zip his mouth during his final week of 9th Grade in April. Nobody in Maven Academy knows they've shifted places.

"Hi," Chloe says, after a long moment of daydreaming. All her plans of how she would interrogate the reserved shapeshifter vanished the femtosecond her gaze fell on those sharp and cute- really hazy black eyes. 

Chloe smiles with all her teeth, trying to stop herself from tapping her foot at supersonic speed by shifting in her place every minute or so; creaky crescendos a reply from the old but durable porch.

Watching this, Milo clears his throat. They have no time to waste. Their parents would come out of their hiding places any minute. "Hello. We're your new neighbors." He points a thumb over his shoulder, at the posh house across the street. "From number 61." 

"Oh," Tom manages to replies. Why didn't he check this before? And, if the Serranos are living here, then there would be other superhuman families- wait a second. Who's the curly-haired boy beside his schoolmate, and why does he think he's seen him before?

"This is Milo, my brother," Chloe blurts out, patting Milo on the shoulder. She's about five-foot five, just a few inches taller than him. 

"Oh right. The new member," Tom says, gaze still on the familiar boy. News of the Serranos welcoming a new member into the family spread months before they actually found one. It's difficult to find when nobody was willing to be adopted.

This boy must be special, no, desperate.

 "Sorry, but can I ask which orphanage were you in before?" 

Milo arches a brow. Does he know him? Well, he doesn't. "Trenston. Why?"

"I thought I saw you near one," Tom says. He and Tony have lived in Trenston orphanage before; the first one of the six they've been to since their parents died. But not for long. Apparently there were a lot of food that went missing from the pantry when they were there. 

It's partly true. Tom did sneak up on the canned pineapples, the berry tarts and the chicken pot pie. But so did the rest of the orphans.

Chloe crinkles her forehead. "You mean Saintsburg? Like you saw Milo there?"

Tom exhales slowly, trying to not widen his eyes in surprise. How does she know? He hasn't told anyone he's been living in orphanages, let along Sainstburg. "I didn't get what you asked." 

Chloe laughs nervously. Has she been speaking too fast? She clears her throat. "We went to Saintsburg Church last year, to meet the Elementist?"

"Oh yeah," Tom realizes. That day was terrible; he had to hide Tony in an attic infested with grime and rats. It was either that or to face Diselhock's wrath. 

"Were you from Sainstburg orphanage?" he asks. He has to know who he is.

"Um, yeah," Milo answers, rubbing the back of his hand, clearly uncomfortable by the new neighbor's questions. "But it was a long time ago."

Tom gives a slight nod. He slightly remembers him before, maybe from passing by while cleaning the narrow corridors or scraping off the grime from the huge oven in the kitchen. But not in any of the bounds albums of Hell or the tattered church journals that would boast of the numerous children's lives they've reformed. 

"You've got a really big house," Milo says, opening the front door wider and walking in. It's his turn to be curious.

"Milo," Chloe hisses. Her glaring eyes go soft when they see the shapeshifter. "Sorry, he's just curious."

"It's alright," Tom says, eyes scanning his surroundings. Where did Tony go? He continues to look around as Chloe enters, sighing in relief when he sees a small face peering at them from behind the dining room door.

But Tony's looking more jaded than before.

Meanwhile, Milo studies the dark, tarnished walls and the heavily stained flooring of No. 62. "Nice..." he trails off, wondering how the new occupants are going to clean this. Or whether they'll be okay to live in this filth. 

Which brings him to the question of where Redhead Banks is. He thought she would open the door, and not this goggle-eyed boy, when he saw her from his bedroom window a few hours ago. 

"Nice house, Tom," Chloe completes her brother's sentence, though she cringes when she sees the mold on the walls slightly move. 

Milo halts, his last breath lodged in his windpipe. He turns around in a second, seeing the boy who locks the front door. "Tom?"

"Yeah," Tom answers, approaching him. "You want something?"

Milo releases his breath. For a moment he thought it was the Tom who almost burnt him and his friends to ashes a year ago. This weakling can't even lift the gift basket his sister's brought, let alone transform into the most fearsome creature on Earth.

"No," he answers, gaze falling on the open room before him. He steps inside to see the damaged living room wall. "What happened to that?"

Tom flits his gaze to the wall as he darts into the drab room, unable to see the cocooned corpse embedded in it. Can he see the body? He returns his gaze to Milo, but he wouldn't be so calm, would he? 

"It may have been torn down a long time ago," Chloe answers, entering the room. "They've moved in just a few hours ago."

Milo nods. But that wall's been undamaged till today. It was all fine yesterday night. He opens to say this, but slams it shut the next second. Now's not the perfect time to tell he's a trespasser.

Tom lifts his gaze when he hears shuffled footsteps, a wrinkle creasing his forehead when he sees his brother enter the room. He looks like he's going to collapse.

"Oh hi, Tony!" Chloe says, noticing the young boy's presence, and not his condition. 

Milo's eyes widen, gaze fixated on his frozen limbs. This can't be happening. He manages to turn around, a soft gasp escaping from him when he sees the nine year old. 

Milo was his age when he and his friends bullied him.

Tony flashes a weak smile at his brother when he approaches, turning to the guests. "Hi. Y-you're Chloe, right?"

"Si," Chloe answers with a huge grin. Color spreads away from her tinted cheeks. "You remember?" 

Tony forgets about Milo being just a few feet away, when Chloe appears beside him, a clean track from where she previously stood and a gush of wind slapping him on the face marking her speedy approach. 

"Y-yeah," he manages to answer, clearing his throat. 

Chloe chuckles, studying him from head to toe. "You've grown so much since I last saw you-" She trails off, noticing her brother sneaking out of the room. She looks back at the Banks brothers. "Sorry, just give me a sec." 

Before either of them could respond, Chloe zaps out of the room, her grip on the gift basket about to break its delicate handle. She catches up to Milo who rushes through the closed front door. 

"What's wrong with you!" She snaps, grabbing his shoulder. They stumble off the porch. 

Milo flinches, turning back. He shouts, "What?"

Chloe's brows raise. "I'm supposed to be screaming here." She stops, looking at her house. She grabs his arm, pointing to the leafy corner of the frontage. 

Milo snatches his arm away from her grip when they reach the hedge of dark bushes, covering them from their parents' view. "Look, I'm leaving. I don't want to be here."

"Why?" Chloe demands, in a lower, frustrated tone. "We did what you wanted, checking the truck. And it's rude to walk out like that."

"I didn't know the Banks brothers were going to be our new neighbors," Milo protests.

"Oh come on. I've been telling this from last week."

Milo shakes his head. "You said it was the Damps who were moving in."

"Damps?" Chloe exhales sharply. "Leave that. Why don't you want to meet Tom and Tony? You have a grudge against them or what-"

"Yeah," Milo says, slowing stepping back, his world continuing to tremble around him. It was all supposed to end...they were never supposed to meet again. 

"I-I'll cover for you," he says. "Just be quick."

Chloe takes in a deep breath, noticing her brother nibble on his lower lip. A nasty habit he used to do when he first lived with her family. "Okay" is all she can say, though deep inside she knows he's hiding something. Something really bad.

As she watches him sink into the dark mulberry bushes, Chloe whispers, "What did you do, Milo?"

"Everything all right there?" Tom asks, standing on the porch.

Chloe turns around, flashing a grin. "Yeah. It's time for his meds." She zaps to him, snickering when he doesn't look alarmed. "You never get scared, do you?"

Tom casts a lopsided grin. It was his first day at Maven Academy, when he met Chloe for the first time. He was running late for his first class, and while reaching the hall, he saw her zapping there. But he could see her run, like how anyone would in slo-mo. 

And it was the awesomest thing he has ever seen. Well, after seeing his brother Tony invisible. 

"What's that?" he asks, pointing to the gift basket. 

"Um, it's a welcome gift," Chloe answers. She looks over to see Tony standing near the door. She smiles at him, while handing the basket to his brother. "Congrats on being homeowners." 

Tony scans the frontage for Milo. Is he gone? 

"Thanks," Tom answers for him, peering under the cover to see its contents. "Wow, you brought so many chocolates." He looks up. "You've even brought some Turkish delight." 

This brings Tony back to the present. "What?" he says, approaching him.

"I knew it's one of Tony's favorites," Chloe says. She helps Tom unwrap the basket, taking out the box containing the sweet. 

Tony watches Chloe take the box out, but notices something flicker on her left wrist. A small, black tattoo.

"Here," she says, handing the box. "A box of Mrs. Giovanni's Turkish Delight. Look, it has all the flavors you like."

But Tony doesn't see the scrumptious looking sweets, instead his gaze is fixated on the black tattoo that slowly emerges on Chloe's wrist.

It takes a split second for him to recognize the three adjoint petals. 

The Triquetra. 

The Official Mark of the Xenos gang.

Tony trembles in place, the scattered memories of the night his parents died resurfacing in his eyes.

Chloe furrows her brows when she sees this. She traces his gaze, gasping when she sees the notorious mark on her wrist. 

"Tony, I can explain," she says, pulling her sleeve down to cover the mark. 

Meanwhile Tom, who was placing the other chocolates and biscuits back into the basket, looks up to see his brother rush back into the house, his eyes widened in fear.

"What happened?" he asks, getting up. He glances at Chloe, who enters the house.

"Tony, it's not like that," she says. "It's not what you think."

"Chloe, what's going out?" Tom asks, worry in his tone.

"He saw it," Chloe says. "He saw the Triquetra."