Chapter 1 – Chap 1

It took me a while to realize something was different.  People had always been friendly in my neighborhood and we always waved to each other whenever I was out riding a bike with my daughter or out working in the yard.  It was a gradual change, which is why I don’t think I noticed it right away.   It wasn’t until one day on our bike ride my daughter Allie asked me “How come we don’t see our neighbors anymore?”

I had paused before responding realizing that I hadn’t seen anyone outside in at least a week.  This was odd in Michigan during the summer, especially with the weather being so nice.  I finally replied with “I don’t know,” and began looking at the houses as we passed them.  Every garage door seemed to be closed and it was way too quiet for the middle of the afternoon.  There wasn’t even the usual noise of someone’s lawn getting mowed by one of the many landscaping companies that came around each week.

I started paying more attention to the yards as we rode by and nearly all of the houses had overgrown lawns.  Ours was a little overgrown as well, but that was due to my procrastination with cutting the grass.  We rode down a hill leading to a connecting neighborhood and still there was no activity outside.

“Dad, look over there!” Allie said as we rounded a corner onto another street.

Ahead of us was the mail truck slowly going from mailbox to mailbox.  I waved to the mail carrier as we drove by and she seemed startled to see us.  She hesitated before giving a half-hearted wave and then continued on her drive.  The mailbox she had just filled was left open, its contents nearly spilling out.  It must have been at least a few days worth of mail.  I noticed many more mailboxes in the same condition.

As we rounded the next corner, I caught the scent of freshly cut grass and stopped my bike in front of one of the houses.  I leaned over and reached down into the grass and picked up a handful of green grass clippings.  I opened my hand and let them fall back to the ground. Moving my bike forward a bit, I saw that the garage door was open.  A man was there putting away his weed whipper.  He smiled and waved when he saw us looking at him.  I gave an uneasy smile and waved back before hopping back on my bike and motioning for Allie to continue on.

“I wonder if he noticed that no one else is around,” said Allie.

“I don’t know,” I said for the second time on this bike ride and we continued on our way. Allie pointed out 10 other yards along the way that looked like they were still being maintained.  I counted 5 other houses that had their garage doors open. So that was 15 out of the maybe 100 houses we passed on our ride. I wasn’t sure if this meant anything, but at least it was a way to keep track of whatever was happening.

We made our way back to our house, left our helmets and bikes in the garage and went inside. After washing our hands, I sat with Allie on the couch.

Allie was seven years old, but often acted more like an adult than a kid. Her mom (my wife) died three years ago in a car accident and she had to grow up fast. The life insurance meant I was able to work part time as a freelancer and spend most of my time with Allie. While I loved getting all this time with her, I would give anything to have her mom back.

I had been working from home for a while now so when COVID came around, we didn’t have as many changes to deal with. Luckily our city didn’t get hit hard with it and school was going virtual for the first part of the year.  This gave me hope that it wouldn’t become a hotspot here. Although, I was getting pretty nervous about whatever else was going on here.

I checked my phone to see if there were any stories about something new going on, but just the same old political crap. Why is it that the dumbest people are the most outspoken? It seems pretty simple to just follow the rules that my daughter is learning in elementary school: learn the facts, question things, work together and treat others how you want to be treated.

My daughter pulled me away from the negative path my brain was headed down with a simple suggestion. “Why don’t we go knock on a couple doors to make sure our neighbors are okay?”

“Good idea Allie! We can put on our masks and gloves to be safe and start with the Kinleys next door,” I said.

“They are always so nice and they give out the BIG candy bars at Halloween.  I hope they are okay,” Allie said with a worried look on her face.

We put on our masks and gloves and went outside. Although it was a beautiful day, the silence was really eerie and made me want to go back inside.  We walked across our yard and past the pine trees I had planted when Allie was first born, which now towered over both of us and made a nice natural fence between our yards.  Mr. Kinley was around the same age as my parents and had always maintained a pristine yard so it was weird walking through the tall grass and dandelions that were taking over his yard.  When we got to the walkway to his front door, I noticed all the weeds growing up through the gaps in the cement and the overgrown shrubs in front of his windows.  I felt bad that I hadn’t noticed how bad their yard had gotten and that I hadn’t checked on them sooner.

Allie grabbed onto my hand and held it tightly as we stepped up to the porch.  I reached up to press the doorbell and jumped as I heard a voice shout, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I turned around and it was the man we had seen earlier on our bike ride.  “Sorry for startling you.  After I saw you two on your bike ride earlier, I thought I would see if you knew what is happening here.  But apparently you don’t, judging by what you are about to do… My name’s Mark by the way”

Allie squeezed my hand tighter and we turned away from the door. “We just wanted to check on the Kinleys to make sure they are okay and to see if they need anything.”

He let out a long sigh and softly said, “They aren’t okay…and I don’t know if there is anything we can do to help them.”

Allie pulled my hand, “But we have to try to help them. Maybe there is something we can do?”

I looked over at Mark. He said, “I’ll tell you what…if you stay up and look at them tonight when they come out and still feel like knocking on that door tomorrow, I won’t stop you. But I definitely won’t be standing this close if you do.”

Mark was standing in the street down the long driveway with a face mask on. He wasn’t what I would call close to the door. “What do you mean when they come out? I haven’t seen any of them outside in days,” I said

“It is usually after midnight when they come out. I think it is something you’ll need to see for yourself before you try helping any of them,” said Mark.

I guess one more day wouldn’t hurt. “Okay, I’ll check it out tonight and then we’ll come back here tomorrow,” I told Allie.

“Stop by my house before you do, so I can share some other things I’ve learned before you go knocking on anyone’s door,” said Mark.

“Sounds good. I’m Joe and this is my daughter Allie,” I said.

“Nice to meet you both,” Mark said and then started to walk away.  “Oh wait, one more thing I almost forgot to tell you,” he stopped and looked at me.  “Now this is important.  Make sure your windows and doors are closed and locked.  If they see you, they will try to find a way inside your house.”

That sounded a little frightening, but I was still skeptical that something major was wrong.  Allie and I walked back over to our house and went inside. “Are we going to sleep first or can we stay up until midnight?” Allie asked me when we got back inside.

“I’ll check it out first. I have no idea what I’ll even see outside. Plus you need to get some good sleep,” I said.

“Pleeeeeease dad, I want to help and see what is going on,” she pleaded.

She didn’t scare easily and was so brave with all she had been through. But I didn’t know what we were getting into so I stayed firm. “Let’s have a snack and start getting ready for bed. I’ll let you know if I see the Kinleys in the morning.”

She didn’t argue further and went up to her room to get on her pajamas. Then we had our snack, read a book, and I tucked her in. “Tell me everything you see,” she said while I kissed her goodnight.

“I love you little Allie,” I said and closed her door. I walked down the hall and over to the window facing the Kinleys’ house. It was getting dark outside, but it didn’t look like any lights were on in their house. The clock showed a quarter to nine so I had a few hours to go.  I sat down in the recliner in my office and started reading a book to pass the time.

I must have dozed off for a while until I was startled awake by a noise outside. The book flew off my lap as I quickly stood up and glanced at my clock.  It was 2:30 in the morning.  The light was on in my office and the cool night breeze was blowing in through the open window. “Shoot,” I muttered, “I was supposed to close the windows.”  I had not intended on falling asleep.  My eyes caught  movement outside and I realized how easy I could be seen with my bright lights on in the dark night. After quickly shutting off the light, I ran over and closed and locked the window.

I crouched down underneath the window and listened intently for any noises outside.  The house was quiet except for the fan in the upstairs hallway that helped Allie fall asleep at night. Not hearing anything from outside, I slowly lifted my head up to peer out the window.

Mr. Kinley was standing directly in front of the window staring in.  I fell backwards in surprise stifling a scream that I’m sure would have woken up Allie.  His eyes locked with mine and he started prying at the window. It was hard to see his features in the dark, but he looked off with his expressionless face.

After not making any progress on the window, he started heading towards my front door, which I always kept locked whenever we came inside.  Soon I heard the turning of the door knob and a thump on the door.  I ran and double-checked the rest of the windows to confirm that they were locked. Then I ran and grabbed my phone to call 911.  They said they would send someone right away and told me to stay inside my house.

Mr. Kinley had now made his way to check on the windows in the living room. At the same time I heard light tapping on the glass doorwall leading into the kitchen from the deck.  The motion lights had activated and we’re shining on the deck.  Billy, the ten year old who lived across the street was standing there smiling at me while lightly banging his head against the window.  Nothing else looked different about him except for the creepy emotionless smile on his face.

The tap, tap, tap on the door soon came to an end when the flashing red and blue lights began shining through my front windows. The other noises ceased as well. Peering out the window, I saw the police car come to a stop.

Mr. Kinley began walking over to the car and lifted his arm in what appeared to be a friendly wave. The police officer got out of the car and stood a few feet away from him with his hand at his side. Before the officer had time to react, Mr. Kinley lurched forward with alarming speed and brought him to the ground. They remained there for a few moments and I couldn’t really tell what was going on. Then Mr. Kinley slowly stood up.  He reached his hand down and helped the officer up. They stood there staring at each other for a few minutes before both turning towards me.

I watched as Billy walked over to join them. Six others followed shortly after and they all stood side-by-side staring into my window.

Having no idea at all what to do next, I continued to stare right back at them.  This went on for what felt like an eternity, but was likely only five minutes until I felt a hand grab on to my arm from behind me.  I quickly pulled away and backed towards the window to see my startled Allie standing there. “Dad, what is going on?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know sweetie…I’m trying to find out.” She walked over to me and gave me a big hug.

“Why are the police here?” she asked.

I looked back out the window. Only the police officer remained there. He continued to stare in for a bit longer before getting back in his car and driving away. I guided Allie over to the couch so we could sit down. Then I explained to her what I saw and told her I would figure out what to do next.

I put my arm around her and she cuddled into my chest. “Don’t worry, I will keep you safe.  I will always keep you safe,” I said and kissed the top of her head. She eventually drifted off to sleep and I remained awake trying not to jump at the random house noises. Eventually the sun came out to welcome the new day.

The only thing I knew to do next was to prepare breakfast, have a big cup of coffee, and go visit Mark to see what else he knew.