I Found My Neighbors…

‘Carla!’ Grant shouted.

Cold moved through me. I had never introduced myself to him.

‘Open the door. We need to talk.’

I stayed several feet back. ‘How do you know my name?’

He ignored the question. The doorknob turned hard against the lock. ‘Those children belong with me. You have no idea what is going on.’

‘They are afraid of you.’

‘They are three years old. They repeat nonsense.’

‘They were sensible enough to find somewhere to hide.’

His voice became sharp. ‘Open this door now.’

‘No.’

The porch fell silent. Then I heard quick footsteps moving away. I hurried to the side window and saw him crossing toward the gate to my backyard.

I reached the kitchen door seconds before he did and locked it. Grant seized the outside handle and shook it. Lucy screamed. Through the glass, his expression went still as he realized the girls were inside.

‘So you lied to me,’ he said.

I pulled the twins behind me. ‘The police are already coming.’

For the first time, his confidence broke. He released the handle and ran toward his house.

A distant siren rose at the end of the street. It was the most welcome sound I had ever heard.

When the Closed House Finally Opened
The first officers came to my home. I repeated everything while a woman named Officer Dana sat cross-legged on my kitchen floor. She spoke gently to the twins and asked where their mother was.

Lily pointed toward the wall separating us from the neighboring property. ‘Down there.’

Several officers entered Grant’s house. I remained with Lily and Lucy, though every second stretched painfully. The twins stood on either side of me, each gripping one of my hands. I could feel their fear in the pressure of their fingers.

At last, movement appeared at the neighboring front door. Two officers brought Grant outside in handcuffs. Behind them, another officer supported the woman I had seen in the driveway.

Her hair was tangled, her face pale with exhaustion, and one arm was held carefully against her body. Yet the instant she saw the twins in my doorway, strength seemed to return to her.

‘My babies!’ she cried.

Lily and Lucy tore free from my hands and ran across the short distance between the houses. Their mother dropped to her knees and gathered them against her. One child clung to her neck while the other pressed her face into her shoulder. The woman closed her eyes as though she had been holding her breath for days and had finally been allowed to breathe again.

Her name was Natalie.