Mr. S: Death Eidolons: Collected Short Stories 2014 — Stephen Donald Huff

At five years old, Tiffy is worldly beyond her age. Her disinterested mother and absent father have not wielded much influence in her life, and she roams neighborhood streets at all hours of the day and evening without supervision. Recently fleeing with her mother from yet another intervention by community advocates, she has landed next door to Mr. S, a mysterious figure with a dark past. Though his home is large and lavish, his dress impeccable, his manner beyond reproach, and his education of sterling pedigree, Mr. S is not the average neighbor. When they make fast friends, the child's life will never be the same again. Too many children share young Tiffy's lot in life, as they drift from apathy to neglect and back again, their little lives lost and void of parental intervention. Too few of them encounter an advocate like Mr. S. Will he go too far to save her?