Threats Behind Closed Doors: The Neighbor Who Knows Too Much

My Neighbor Has Threatened Me since I Moved into My New Home – If Only I Knew She Knew My Secret

Denis looks forward to a fresh start after moving to a new neighborhood. However, strange events start to occur soon after, with each episode getting more and more intense. Denis learns who is responsible for the string of occurrences and why over a dinner party.

You are aware that moving to a new location is occasionally necessary to start a new chapter in your life? That’s what I believed, anyway. I had recently bought a puppy named Miso, was starting a new job, and was going through a recent breakup.

So everything appeared to be falling into place exactly as planned.

Since moving into my new house, though, I’ve felt as though I’ve unintentionally wandered into a minefield that is deftly concealed beneath the exterior of a picture-perfect community.

Everything went well at first. I started unpacking my things and attempting to settle into the new location.

“It’s going to be beneficial for you,” my friend Connie stated. After she had helped me unload, we were sitting there enjoying warm beer and cold pizza.

“I hope so,” I replied. “I require a change of pace. a shift in the environment.”

With a smile, Connie told me how fortunate I was to be living alone instead of sharing a room with someone like her.

She described them as “insufferable people.” “Our sink is never going to be spotless! There are clothes in the washing machine at all times. I’m not sure if they’re also clean.

She would not stop making me laugh until I was well and truly ready to take on another box.

“Oh my god, Denis,” she uttered. “This is a positive development. You’ll discover how to take care of yourself. Additionally, Miso.”

However, as the days passed, odd things began to happen. The initial indication was mild yet worrisome.

For me, it was routine: take out the trash at night, tie up the bags while waiting for Miso to relieve himself, and then have them picked up. Everything went smoothly.

However, my lawn had inexplicably become over night loaded with trash when I woke up one morning. Initially, I believed that Miso had somehow gotten into my trash. However, several items weren’t from my house.

I laughed it off as a practical joke and cleared the mess.

“The kids are probably trying to figure out who the middle-aged man is, huh?” When we went for a walk, I told Miso.

However, after that, something more occurred. I discovered two of my car’s tires ruptured when I woke up a few days later.

This was absolutely absurd if kids were pulling pranks on me; tires were pricey, and I had no idea how long this would last.

So I gave Connie a call to get her view.

“Maybe they’re just trying to figure out who you are,” she continued. However, Denis, I believe you ought to watch out for your neighbors. Who’s to say they won’t try it again if they’ve already done it twice?”

She was right, even if I dismissed them as practical jokes. Still, I felt uneasy, as though something more was going to happen. However, nothing happened. Nothing major happened between the time I left for work and got home.

Wondering if my walls will have graffiti when I got home, I sat in my office. Or smashed windows – yet everything was quiet for a fortnight.

As a matter of fact, I was becoming friendly with my next-door neighbors. They were a young couple who had just gotten married. I could not place them, although they looked somewhat familiar.

Jim was an accountant and Amanda was an art teacher who was always coated in paint; despite their extreme differences, they managed to get by. Jim was always happy to stop by my gate and talk after I moved here.

After a while, Amanda asked me to supper, which cemented our growing connection.

The third occurrence then took place.

One morning when I woke up, there was a message stuck to my front door.

Hi there, Denis. Greetings from the neighborhood. You have a great deal to explain.

It was unclear and cryptic. Yes, someone was aware that I was present. But they’d been playing practical jokes on me instead of coming clean?

It was nonsensical.

Connie was dropping by to meet Amanda and Jim that evening. After all, Connie had promised to make her renowned roast chicken, so we were finally having supper at my house.

She added, “With all the trimmings.” “You just focus on the cheesecake for dessert.”

I started to feel nervous about the letter later, after everyone had left and the wine was flowing. I willingly admitted that it was unusual. However, I was baffled as to who delivered it and why they felt the need to keep it so secret.

I hoped that if I had made a mistake, I would have acknowledged it.

I eventually felt the effects of the wine and went out onto the balcony to get some fresh air.

Amanda joined me a few moments later and held out her arms.

“Oh, this is really nice,” she grinned.

“It is,” I concurred as I observed Miso frolicking in the garden.

“Has anything further occurred? Or have your practical jokers abandoned you?” she enquired.

I told her about the letter and the cryptic message it contained, as well as the strange feeling that had come over me after reading it.

She exclaimed, “Oh, Denis,” as she drew nearer to me. “So, all of my messages have been received, right? Well done.”

It stunned me. Amanda? I didn’t know her, though!

“What are you talking about?” I moved away from her and asked. “Are you kidding me now?”

“Lucy. That’s the main idea,” she stated, folding her hands.

Everything around me seems to have stopped. My gut twisted as I heard Jim and Connie laugh inside.

Lucy. Her name had escaped my ears for years. My ex-girlfriend was Lucy.

“What do you know?” I enquired of Amanda. “How do you know who I am?”

I didn’t know how to ask any of the hundred questions I had for Amanda.

“Lucy is my relative. I recognized you from the photos she shared while you were dating.”

I was completely stunned when Lucy’s name was mentioned. It wasn’t anything I was proud of, but our relationship had fallen apart. At that time, Lucy had become pregnant, and I was in between jobs.

Taking out the pregnancy test, she questioned, “What do you want me to do?” “We’re in it now.”

“I’m not in it,” I responded, flinching away from her attempt to administer the test.

I’d been wanting to break up with you for a while. For me, there was nothing left in it. Over the months, Lucy and I had been outgrowing one another.

Ultimately, I requested Lucy to look after the infant. because, in particular because of a baby, I refused to stay in a relationship that would never end.

Lucy’s eyes landed on the Bible on her nightstand, as I recall. I knew what I knew, that even though I asked her to do it, she would not.

I so vanished, without knowing if Lucy would keep the child.

“What do you want from me?” A whisper of a query, a cry for some kind of comprehension amid the turmoil that had become my existence, emerged.

Amanda’s request was straightforward, yet it was burdened by years of disregard and accountability on my part.

“I want you to be accountable to me for your son. He’s five, and Lucy’s having trouble. She was in need of the financial assistance.”

It was a wake-up call to learn that Amanda was the mastermind behind the sequence of troubling events. Her acts served as a stark reminder of the repercussions of my previous deeds, motivated by her desire for justice for her cousin and our children.

I became acutely aware of my mistakes as I stood there, confronted by the ghost of my past that had taken on the appearance of my neighbor.

I had ignored a five-year-old youngster who shares half of my genetic makeup.

Denis, please come,” Amanda requested. “You can eat cheesecake. Later on, you can decide out how to repay Lucy.”

I could do nothing but follow her. Every step felt like the weight of the entire world.