Chapter 12
It started small.
Subtle.
Things we almost didn't notice.
Daniel came home from school one day.
He had a lollipop.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
"A nice lady gave it to me," he said. "After school. She said she was my friend."
My blood ran cold.
"What did she look like?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
"Old," Daniel said. "Gray hair. Nice dress. She asked me my name. And if I liked school. And then she gave me the lollipop and said she'd see me soon."
It was Evelyn.
I knew it.
I called Mark immediately.
I told him what had happened.
He came home right away.
We went to the school.
We talked to the principal. To Daniel's teacher. To the crossing guard.
No one had seen anything.
No one had noticed an older woman talking to Daniel.
We called the police.
But without proof...
There was nothing they could do.
We increased security again.
We picked Daniel up from school ourselves.
We never let him walk alone.
We never let him out of our sight.
But it kept happening.
Small things.
A drawing left on our porch.
Of a little boy and an old woman.
Holding hands.
A stuffed animal left in Daniel's school bag.
A note tucked into his lunchbox.
*I love you, Daniel. Grandma loves you.*
It was Evelyn.
We knew it.
But we couldn't prove it.
She was careful.
Too careful.
She never let herself be seen.
Never left any evidence.
She was toying with us.
Terrorizing us.
Slowly.
Methodically.
And she was getting to Daniel.
He started having nightmares.
He started wetting the bed.
He started asking about the "nice lady."
About when he would see her again.
About why she said she was his grandma.
It broke my heart.
She was poisoning our son's mind.
Slowly.
One small thing at a time.
And we couldn't stop her.
Because we couldn't prove it was her.
Mark was furious.
Helpless.
He felt like he was failing us.
Failing to protect his family.
But I knew better.
We were doing everything we could.
Evelyn was just... evil.
And she was very, very good at it.
But then...
May you like
She made a mistake.
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