On a foggy and cold night, I was awakened from my sleep by the flashing lights of police cars and the crackling sounds of their radios outside our door. Several vehicles and people had filled the street. Looking out the window, I saw a gathering of people in our neighbor’s yard. It was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Veils, our elderly neighbors. What had happened, I wondered? I threw on some clothes and went outside. My family was already out there, talking to the police. When I approached, an officer asked if I had seen anything. ‘I was asleep,’ I said. My family was clueless, and the police weren’t disclosing any information.
The crowded group of police officers took photos and gathered evidence. Later, they lifted a body bag onto a stretcher. As the stretcher was being moved towards a vehicle, a shiver ran down my spine. I could swear it moved…
Once the commotion settled, only a few police officers talking to the neighbors and their cars remained… The chaos had dispersed, but the mystery it left behind deepened…
Returning home with my family, my father mentioned that the deceased was Mrs. Veils. I was shocked. ‘What about Mr. Veils?’ I asked. He hadn’t been found; there was no trace of him. Suspicions arose that he might have been kidnapped.
According to the police’s theory, the elderly couple was targeted for abduction, and a struggle ensued between Mrs. Veils and the culprits…
During breakfast, as we discussed all of this, I could sense the fear and stress my family was under. It was understandable, given that all these events took place in the house right across from ours.
At school that day, I felt like a ghost… The only thing on my mind was what I had seen and heard that night. They were such a sweet elderly couple. Good people. I’m sure they never harmed anyone. They lived modestly and kindly. I couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened to this humble and loving couple.
In the following days, we anxiously waited for any news of the culprits being caught, but there was none. It was as if they had vanished into thin air, along with Mr. Veils.
However, over the next few days, we started hearing noises inside the house. My father, thinking it might be a rat or something similar, filled the basement and secluded parts of the house with traps and poisons. But I knew it wasn’t a rat… or anything like it…
I was afraid to talk to my family about the silhouette I had seen two nights in a row, standing across the road in the very yard where Mrs. Veils was killed. First time I saw it, I thought it might have been a police officer. But no, it just stood there, seemingly staring into my eyes. I was frightened and couldn’t bring myself to talk to my family. And even if I did, I doubted they would take it seriously and would dismiss it as stress-related…
I was afraid to move around the house, thinking that thing, that silhouette, was wandering inside. I tried not to dwell on it… But at night, whenever I looked out the window, the silhouette was there, still observing me…
Three days in, there was still no progress on the case. As night fell, I was once again sitting in my room, filled with fear. Suddenly, a sound shook the entire house. I rushed out of my room screaming. My parents were awake, rushing towards my room. My mother hugged me, and behind my father, we cautiously searched the whole house. The arrival of the police didn’t take long. My mother, already on edge, had already contacted them. The officers checked the house; there was no one. Nothing was broken or misplaced. Everything was in its place. One area remained unchecked. Our basement…
When we went down to the basement, we were horrified. All the traps for rodents were smashed and scattered around. Food from the shelves we used as a pantry was spilling out. The boxes of food had been opened and toppled. The lock on the pantry’s entrance was broken…
As we tried to recover from the shock, the police finished their check, and my father changed the lock. We locked all the doors and secured the windows. Someone had gotten in. Maybe a hungry homeless person. The police mentioned they had received reports of a few more houses being invaded. We were in a state of panic. In our supposedly safe neighborhood, even around our house, homeless people, criminals, and kidnappers were freely roaming. One even entered our house… After the murder in the house across from us, these events terrified us. It took my father several hours to convince us that the house was now safe…
I still couldn’t bring myself to mention the silhouette I’d seen. I didn’t want to scare my mother further, and I still couldn’t believe what I had seen. I was convinced I was losing my mind and was terrified…
We headed to our rooms… I glanced out the window again. It was still there. I was frozen… This time, it wasn’t just standing. It had raised its arm and was pointing at me. I felt like I was going to faint from fear. As I took a step back to move away from the window, I bumped into something… I began to tremble… Was it my mother? My father? The homeless person that got into our pantry? No…
Adrenaline hit me hard. It was Mr. Veils…
With his contorted and emaciated body, he stood before me. He looked like a creature emerged from a swamp, covered in filth and blood… My eyes widened. When I noticed the knife in his hand, I knew I had to run. But he was holding onto my arm so tight, I thought it might tear off…
Suddenly, he took a deep breath… and swung the knife towards me. With a sudden surge of adrenaline, I pushed Mr. Veils away. As he fell to the ground, his knife cut my arm… I screamed and ran out of my room towards my parents’ room. They had heard the scream and were already coming towards me. Mr. Veils also ran out of the room after me, aiming to catch me. But my father was prepared… He fired his gun twice…
I never saw that silhouette again. I believe it was Mrs. Veils and that she was trying to warn me…