{"id":22407,"date":"2025-12-04T21:24:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=22407"},"modified":"2025-12-04T21:24:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:24:54","slug":"22407","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=22407","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Caroline was my friend. Or so I thought. We drank Pinot Grigio on her porch on Fridays. I watered her hydrangeas when she and her husband, Lincoln, went on vacation. I knew her children\u2019s allergies. Seeing her car wasn\u2019t inherently wrong, but she usually parked in front of her own house. Why was she blocking my garage?<\/span><\/p>\n

I unlocked the front door, expecting noise. Jackson always blasted classic rock when he was crunching numbers. If Caroline was over, I expected the high-pitched peals of her laughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Instead, the house was a tomb.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJackson?\u201d I called out, my voice bouncing off the hardwood floors of the hallway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

The breakfast dishes were still in the sink, crusted with egg, exactly as I had left them. Caroline\u2019s shoes weren\u2019t by the door, which was odd; she was fastidious about not tracking dirt inside. I walked toward the kitchen, thinking they might be on the back patio, but the glass doors were locked tight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, I heard it. A sound that shouldn\u2019t have been terrifying, but in that stillness, it sounded like a scream.<\/span><\/p>\n

Running water.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Caroline was my friend. Or so I thought. We drank Pinot Grigio on her porch on Fridays. I watered her hydrangeas when she and her husband, Lincoln, went on vacation. I knew her children\u2019s allergies. Seeing her car wasn\u2019t inherently wrong, but she usually parked in front of her own house. Why was she blocking…<\/p>\n

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