As I walked out the door the morning of August 17th to go to work, the sound of brakes from a U-Haul truck rang out on my quiet street. I watched as it passed my neighbour’s house slowly before backing into the driveway, narrowly missing the for-sale sign that has sat blowing in the wind the last few months.
The elderly couple that had lived there previously had been the sweetest neighbours you could ask for; always coming by with cold treats for the kids on a hot summer day or lending an ear and a beer when life threw a fastball at you. They weren’t just nice to the community either, the love they had for each other radiated off them enough that it could make a sociopath gush. You could tell how much they adored each other every moment of the day that it didn’t come as a shock that they died within a few days of each other. Losing them was tough on the community, so I could only have hoped, that whoever was moving in now was half as nice as them.
As I unlocked my car doors and sat ready to start my drive, two burly men got out of the cab of the truck. Both wore matching overalls and dark blue shirts with ‘Gages Moving Company’ printed in bold gold letters. I watched for a moment, albeit a little nosy on my part, hoping to catch a glimpse of any hint into the lives of whoever was moving in next door. I’m guessing they were loading into the attached garage which was mostly blocked out of my view because I only caught wisps of vibrant colours as they started unloading the truck. Resigning to the fact that I would not be able to see anything further, I left for the day.
Throughout the workday, I reached out to my wife, hoping she had any insight. All she could tell me was the truck stayed there until around 12 and the house was silent the rest of the day. I don’t know why I felt this sense of wonder as strongly as I did, but I think with the passing of my neighbours created a hole in the community that needed to be filled and I hoped they could do it.
It was two days later that the new owner finally showed up. A short greyed haired woman in her sixties came to our door around 6 pm to introduce herself. Marguerite, who brought over a cheese pie called a banitsa, I think, had a thick eastern European accent. She told us how she was living alone in the house and had moved here for a nursing job at the local hospital. We chatted for a bit, and I didn’t get any bad vibes from her, and she seemed nice, so I couldn’t complain.
The next day is when the weird stuff started to happen. I was outside cutting my grass like I do every Saturday morning. I was doing a small patch that lined the fence by her house when I heard a faint growling. I thought it sounded like a dog then but now that I think back on it, was a little deeper and off somehow. She specifically mentioned she did not have any pets so I was a little confused, but hey, she could have got one since the night before, weird but not impossible.
As I continued the work, what I assumed was the dog seemed to be getting a bit agitated. Not only was the growling continuing but bangs were coming from where it was in the basement, it also seemed to be jumping on some kind of toy, as beeps were ringing out sounding like a bicycle horn. It was hard to concentrate, so I decided I would say screw it and go ask her about the animal. My knock on the door was met with silence as it seemed her animal stopped making noises. When I didn’t get an answer, I knocked again and waited. I decided she wasn’t home and went to leave but her car pulled into the driveway. Marguerite stepped out of her Sedan putting her index finger up to signal one second and proceeded to grab some paper bags out of her back seat. I saw she was struggling so I went up to help her bring it in. She let me into her now quiet house and directed me down the hallway to the kitchen.
Placing the bags on the counter to her thanks, I asked if her new dog was locked up somewhere and that was why it wasn’t greeting us. The look of pure confusion on her face when she told me she didn’t have a dog made me rethink if I was just hearing things. I explained to her what I had heard coming from her basement and she looked shaken enough that a ball dropped in the pit of my stomach. Suggesting it was probably just an animal that had got in down there, she agreed to let me check it out.
I turned the flashlight on my phone so I wouldn’t freak the animal out as I descended the stairs. The floorboards creaked ever so slightly with each step. As I reached the bottom of the landing, I scanned the room. My flashlight was all but useless as the midday sun poured through the window. I kept it on, I guess as a sort of security as I walked around. It was almost bare down here save for a few boxes shoved in the corner. Seeing as that would be the only place I could check; I walked over softly so as not to give too much away.
This whole situation was making me feel very anxious, so when I reached the boxes, I jumped back there to surprise the creature. As I landed, my ankle rolled slightly as I stepped on something, and a loud beep rang out causing me to almost shit my pants. I screamed, causing my neighbour to yell down asking if I was alright. I looked down to see what the hell had made that noise and came across the bicycle horn I had heard beeping along with the growls earlier. My heart kept racing but there was no sign that there was ever an animal down here.
At a loss, I made my way back upstairs telling my neighbour it was probably some old pipes I had heard. I told her I’ll keep an ear out in case I heard anything else and let her know that I was right next door if there was anything she needed me to check out. She let me know that she will be working nights all week and won’t be here much so she shouldn’t have too many problems. We said our goodbyes and I left.
Now, all was quiet for a few days until last night. I waved at Marguerite when I was getting home as she was leaving to go to her work. It had become our only greeting with our different schedules, but was nice, nonetheless. The evening actually started uneventfully, I did homework with my kids while my wife cooked us dinner, which we then all sat at the table and enjoyed. We did our nightly routine getting the kids ready for bed, and once they were asleep, we cuddled up on the couch, watching a few episodes of The Sandman.
As we began getting ready for bed ourselves, I went to the bathroom. As I was standing in front of the toilet, I peeked outside to check to make sure the neighbour’s house wasn’t on fire or anything since she wasn’t home. The house seemed calm until I noticed a curtain move from downstairs. I opened the window to get a clearer view and that was when I heard the beeping sound coming from the house again. The pit of my stomach dropped and looked over to see her car was not in the driveway. As I tried to get a better look, I texted Marguerite to make sure she wasn’t there. I was transfixed staring at the window where the curtain had shifted when two red glowing eyes began to peer back at me. As we stared at each other for a few moments the beeping stopped, and a laugh started. The laugh was high-pitched and sounded hysterical, almost unnatural. This caused me to jump back almost tripping on the toilet. A notification sounded and when I looked at my phone it was confirmed, she wasn’t home. I called out to my wife explaining the situation before calling the police and going downstairs to wait for them.
The police checked all through that house and found nothing. I don’t know what the hell is happening over there, but I am scared for my neighbour. I made this a part 1 because I have a sinking feeling this is not going to stop. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know and I will keep you all updated.