Bailey Gaus

Sarah and her family move to a new town where they know no one. They get to know their neighbors and become friends, but after some time, Sarah starts to question whether or not her neighbor is still alive, and suspects that the husband is responsible.

Author’s Note: I listened to the album Tonight She Comes by Wojciech Golczewski for inspiration while writing both parts of The Neighbors.

Our new life in Illinois went about as smoothly as it could. I had my second child before we moved, and due to a childcare shortage in the area, I begrudgingly decided to leave the workforce and be a stay-at-home parent. I told myself it would only be for the first 6 months as we adjusted to our new life. What started as an overwhelming task that seemed to have no end in sight, eventually became doable and less stressful, but only after my daughter was enrolled in preschool.

The house we bought was built in 1894. It was a brick home with large, ornate, but drafty, windows, and had last been updated in the 1970s. There was still carpet in the kitchen, which was really the selling point if you ask me. (I’m being sarcastic if you didn’t catch on.)

One thing that I really enjoyed about our home was the neighborhood it was located in. Almost all of the houses on our block are historic brick homes with lots of character. Healthy, green grass with old, tall trees that towered over the streets, shading most of the sidewalks. The roads were old and some sections of the pavement had broken up to reveal the original brick road beneath. The roads were bumpy and rough, but it almost felt as if the past was peeking through to say hello.

At times I felt so isolated living in a town where I hardly knew anyone, but at other times, the anonymity was nice. I wondered how long it would be before I made actual friends who I felt I could be myself around. Until then, it was just me at home raising my kids, staying in contact with friends via social media and phone calls.

However, this story really wouldn’t be as interesting if I didn’t introduce the neighbor’s to the right of us; Tim and Dina. They were also a retired couple who loved to travel. Traveling halted when the pandemic hit, forcing them to stay home to protect themselves. They also lost a number of friends due to the pandemic, some of whom were their traveling buddies.

Dina was a petite woman with silver hair that was almost always in a bun, except for when her hair was wet, she’d leave it down to dry. Extremely witty, sarcastic, and loved to mess with people, but also extremely knowledgeable about so many things. Our personalities were very similar and it didn’t take long for us to become friends. She was home most days when she wasn’t traveling. Even when she went on trips, I would send her a message to ask how things were going. She was part of a knitting group and would travel with some of those women, who were also retired. Her knitting friends would also visit her house about once a week and they’d walk circles in her above ground pool.

Dina loved to knit and maintained a decently sized garden every summer. Tom was also retired, but had a hard time sitting still, so he worked part time at a local hardware store. I never thought it was odd, but I didn’t meet Tom until almost two months after moving in. One night while sitting on her front porch, she mentioned to me that they own property out of the city limits and Tom had built a barn for him and his sons, but the women in the family weren’t allowed to visit the property. That struck me as extremely odd, but I’m sure it was nothing more than old fashioned sexism at play.

About a year passed before Dina went on her first cruise since covid happened. I didn’t know much about it other than the cruise ship was supposed to pick her up in Florida, and that she would be flying with a friend. She posted pictures on Facebook of their first day on the cruise ship. Some kind of fruity alcoholic drink next to a pool.

But, that was nearly three weeks ago, and I hadn’t seen her since. She hadn’t posted on any of her social media accounts, and even though I was getting texts back, they didn’t seem personal like they normally did. I decided it was time to just go to their house and knock on the door. Was I dumb? Maybe. But I knew that if I called the police, I’d either be laughed at, or accused of being nosy.

I knew if I showed up alone it might look a bit weird, so I needed an excuse. I decided to bake something. After I got the kids down for naps, I started the cookies. When they were finished, I told my husband I was taking them next door and would be right back.

I took a deep breath before walking up to Tom’s porch. Would I smell rotting flesh when he opened the door? Maybe Dina would answer and I we would laugh about how dumb I was being.

If anything, I’m doing this to ease my own mind. I thought to myself.

I opened the screen door and knocked on the giant wooden door. I remember Dina telling me it’s original to the home and was carved by hand. I tried peeking through the curtain on the window, but it was just thick enough that I couldn’t see through it. I waited a few moments without moving. I forgot to breathe and inhaled sharply.

No answer.

God, I’m so nervous. I thought as I shook my head. My hands were shaking, but I knocked again. This time, I heard what sounded like a recliner’s springs clanging shut in the front room, then heavy footsteps to the door.

Tom answered the door, with an annoyed look on his face and said, “Hey neighbor. What can I do for you?”

Definitely a fake smile and he’s annoyed that I’m here. Tom was in his late 60s and had white hair. His face was tan with deep wrinkles from spending years in the sun. But his little eyes gave me the creeps. I looked behind him but all of the lights were off in the house. Strange.

I looked back at him, smiled widely and said, “Hey Tom, I made some cookies and thought I’d share them with you.” I handed him the cookies and he took the plate.

I tucked some hair behind my ear and said, “Hey, you know we’re just next door if you need anything. I was sorry to hear about Dina’s flight being delayed due to the hurricane. She texted me about that yesterday and it was good to hear from her.”

While I had been receiving texts from Dina, they weren’t in her usual upbeat manner, and some of the texts had typos, which was very uncharacteristic of her. I still doubted they were actually from her.

Tom leaned in a little closer, with one hand on the wooden door and winked when he said, “Well thank you, Sarah, I do appreciate that. I’ve eaten through almost all of our freezer stash of food, but I think I’ll manage.” His breath smelled thick with whiskey.

I wanted to ask more about Dina, but I didn’t want to set him off just in case you know… he’s a murderer. But now was the time to ask, right?

“Tom, you know we have cameras in the back and front of our house. It actually caught Henry’s car being stolen a couple of nights ago. Have you heard anything about that?”

Tom looked up at his hand, still placed high up on the door, then back at me. “You know, I did see Henry speakin’ with police officers in his front yard a few days ago, but I didn’t know what that was all about. I try to mind my own business when I can.” He sniffed and eyed me up and down.

Should I be reading into that statement? What the hell is this guy’s problem?

“Yeah, his car was stolen and he reported it to the police. My camera caught the car being driven off, but it was too far away to catch any faces. The resolution isn’t the best the farther away you get. But it at least gave the police a time frame of the incident.” I was starting to feel really uncomfortable, like I didn’t belong here. Like a sudden punch in the gut.

Tom looked around behind me and said, “Hmm. Well, I don’t want to miss too much of my show. I better head back inside now. Thanks again for the cookies.”

I stepped backwards, about to say goodbye, but then something overcame me. I took a step forward and I said, “You know, I haven’t seen any pictures of Dina lately. She normally posts on social media. Has she sent any pictures to you?” My heartbeat was now in my throat. It felt tight. I really should keep my mouth shut.

This seemed to annoy him more. “Don’t worry about Dina. She’s an adult and can handle herself, and if she doesn’t want to share information online, then she doesn’t have to.”

My heart was racing. “Oh, is that so?” I asked.

Glaring at me while keeping the door in his hand, he said mockingly, “Is that so?” He took a step closer. “I’m not sure what you’re insinuating, but I don’t like where this is going. You should probably go home. NOW.” The last word was more of a growl than anything.

I could feel my heart pound with anger and my cheeks burned. I turned around without saying a word, and nearly tripped over the brick sidewalk between our houses. Once I got inside, I slammed the door and locked both the deadbolt and the door. I stood with my back against the front door and decided to shake it off and help clean up dinner. I’ll think about this later.

Later that night, after everyone was in bed, I was tidying up the house and wanted to listen to some music, but realized I had left my earbuds in the van. I put my coat on, grabbed my keys, and walked out to the street. As I walked up to the van, I heard footsteps on the sidewalk, so I looked over my shoulder.

Tom was standing on the sidewalk. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even wave. He just stood there like a fucking creep.

I felt my heart rate jump up and a rush of adrenaline hit me. I had my keys in my hand, but I had left my phone in the house. Should I try to run down the sidewalk? Should I try to get inside the van? Would I be able to get inside and lock it if I did manage to get inside of the van? Thoughts raced through my head.

“Jesus fucking Christ, this would happen to me.” I mumbled under my breath as I fumbled with the keys and walked towards the car.

Tom reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Dina sent me pictures not long after you left earlier. I was sittin’ on the front porch and saw you walk out to your van and thought I’d show you.”

Um, what the fuck? He could’ve just told her to send them to me… this is weird, right?

“Oh… well, thanks, Tom.” I looked around hoping to see someone else outside, but there wasn’t anyone. No porch lights on. Dammit. The one time I forgot to grab my phone.

“I just came out to grab my earbuds that I left in the van. Maybe you could just text me the pictures? I really should get back inside.” I was hoping he couldn’t hear how shaky my voice was, but I knew that was wishful thinking.

Tom started to take a few steps towards me, but I stepped backwards and placed my finger on the emergency alarm button on my key fob. He was an older man so I could likely outrun him if needed, but his legs are a lot longer than mine. I also wasn’t sure if I would be able to unlock the van fast enough to get inside, shut the door, and lock it before he could get me.

“Tom, I’m going to be honest, you are making me uncomfortable.” I said. My fingers still circling the emergency button.

Tom took another step towards me, held out his phone and whispered, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable now would I?” He eyed me up and down and whispered even more softly, “You know, for having two kids, you really don’t look that bad.”

“You need to stay the fuck away from me, you fucking creep.” I yelled at him, taking a step closer, acting more brave than I felt.

I pushed down on the emergency button on my key fob. Even though I knew the sound was coming, it still scared me. I jumped backwards but didn’t break eye contact with Tom. He had also been caught off guard and glared at me, but he grew a devilish smile on his mouth.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some porch lights turn on and I heard someone yell, “Hey, what’s going on over there?” I turned around to look and saw my neighbor Henry on his porch. Out of all the neighbors, it made sense that he’s the one who came out to investigate since his car was stolen a few weeks ago. I turned off the car alarm.

Tom waved at Henry and said loudly, “Oh nothing to see here! Just having a neighborly conversation.” His face fell when he looked back down at me.

I pushed the alarm button, turning it off. I yelled to Henry, “I’m glad you came out here, Henry! I left something in the van and Tom just happened to be sitting on his porch.”

Tom shook his head and waved bye to both Henry and I and walked back to his house. I unlocked the van, grabbed my earbuds, shut the door, and quickly walked back to my house, making sure to lock the deadbolt and the doorhandle. I immediately went up to my bedroom, grabbed my phone and texted Henry that I would talk with him tomorrow.

I laid down in bed and stared at the ceiling while my mind raced. I kept thinking of how creepy that encounter with Tom was. After a while, I set an alarm on my phone and put it on do not disturb. I closed my eyes, and after some deep breathing exercises, I fell asleep, but I would miss the notification that the camera in our backyard caught movement at 3:44 a.m., and that it was Tom who set it off.