SOMEWHERE IN THE PAST...
The community tech center was a few blocks from the orphanage—nothing fancy, just rows of dusty old terminals and flickering fluorescent lights. Jayden signed in at the front desk with Ren close behind, and the rain-soaked morning made the place feel even more dreary.
They found an unused computer near the back. Jayden sat down, his fingers stiff from the cold as he typed in the coordinates: 43.6629° N, 79.3957° W.
He hit enter.
A small red pin appeared on the map.
Jayden leaned closer. His heart skipped.
"What the…?" he muttered.
Ren blinked at the screen. "Wait… that's here."
Jayden zoomed in, disbelief washing over his face.
The marker rested directly on the orphanage.
"This… can't be right," Jayden said. "I must've made a mistake."
He double-checked the cipher and ran through the math again in his head. Everything was correct.
His chest sank.
All that excitement… and it led him back to where he started.
"What if it's just a dead lead?" He whispered, more to himself than to Ren.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Ren nudged his arm. "Hey. Don't spiral yet."
Jayden glanced at him.
"Maybe it means something," Ren said. "Maybe there's something about the orphanage we don't know."
Jayden frowned. "Like what?"
Ren shrugged. "I don't know… But what about Director Ivan? He's been here forever. If anyone knows anything about this place, it's him."
Jayden hesitated. "Director Ivan?"
Ren gave him a half-smirk. "Yeah. That old plumby guy with the thunder voice and too much cologne. Remember when he yelled at us for eating breakfast before the bell rang? I swear, I saw lightning shoot out of his ears."
Jayden chuckled despite himself. "I haven't ever thought of talking to him about… any of this."
"Well," Ren said, standing up, "you said this thing might be connected to your parents, right? Let's give it a try. The worst he can do is yell at us and send us back to wash dishes."
Jayden nodded slowly. "Alright. Let's do it."
The Shadow Fox
They called him The Shadow Fox.
No one knew his real name—at least not on the streets. Among smugglers, fence dealers, and the city's underbelly, he was a whispered legend. A teenage thief who could lift a wallet without disturbing a thread, pick a lock blindfolded, and vanish into crowds like mist.
But before the myths… he was just a boy in Italy.
His name was Luca Ferini, and he grew up in a quiet, middle-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome. His parents—ordinary, hardworking people—never expected anything unusual. But Luca was different from the start.
At age 6, he began bringing home random things from school: a pencil case, a keychain, and a toy he claimed a classmate had given him. His mother questioned it but let it slide. Harmless, she thought. But it wasn't.
By the time Luca turned 9, it was no longer small trinkets. He thrived on risk. One day, he walked out with the teacher's wristwatch. Next, the principal's spare glasses. Eventually, he set his sights on the school's alarm system—not to destroy it, but to disable it, to see if he could.
And he did.
But it was his ego that caught him.
At age 12, he couldn't resist taunting the system. He left behind a calling card—a folded piece of paper shaped like a fox, resting neatly in the security control room. It was too perfect. Too cocky.
They traced it back to him.
His parents were mortified. Not just by the crimes, but by how little guilt he seemed to carry. They tried therapists, discipline, and even relocating him to a different school. Nothing worked. Luca was always three steps ahead. Always smiling.
By age 13, they made a painful decision: to send him to the Tarnell Military Academy in the United States—a place known for breaking the most stubborn spirits and rebuilding them into obedient soldiers.
It worked—for a while.
Luca disappeared from the headlines. But four years later, he reappeared… in chains.
Now 17, he was imprisoned in Blackridge, a fortress-like facility in North Africa built for the worst of the worst. No trial, no visitation. Only rumors surrounded how he got there.
Some say he stole something too important. Others whisper he uncovered secrets he wasn't supposed to. But what's certain is this: Luca wasn't like the rest.
He was still planning.
Still watching.
Still smiling.
Because The Shadow Fox always finds a way out.
SOMEWHERE IN THE PAST...