The town of Eversburg was your normal midwestern small town.

Nothing new or

exciting ever happened here well nothing expect the Gardener family. It was always the

Gardeners ae having a potluck, or the Gardeners are helping run the bake sale. This whole town

seemed to know every aspect of the Gardener’s lives. They were the typical nuclear family; dad,

Henry was a past cop, a firefighter, and the owner of the only law firm in town. Mom, Rebecca

stayed at home and was chair of the PTA. She stayed home with the children and made their

house a home.

Both children were straight A students, the son Michael was the quarterback and star of

the football team. Not only did he dominate the football, but he also was head of student council.

It was expected when he graduated at the end of this school year, Michael would pass the title of

student body present to his younger sister, Hailey. Hailey was Cheer captain and was vice

president of the student council. They were perfect family in every sense of the term. But their

neighbor Erik wasn’t as convinced. Erik knew this family had something much darker lurking in

the shadows. What exactly he didn’t know.

Erik had been living next to the Gardener’s his whole life. He always knew they weren’t

the picture perfect family they presented when others were watching. He knew Henry and

Rebecca’s marriage was loveless and fought often. He knew the prized quarterback was much

too interested in his teammates. Erik also knew that the straight A’s Hailey got wasn’t because

she was smart and let’s just say her knees were bruised from more than cheer practice. No one in

this family was perfect and who was Erik to tell anyone any different.

For years it wasn’t anything more than watching their facades crumple at the door but

once the news spread of a serial killer in the little town of Eversburg he started seeing their

family games as more than games.

 Late one evening just after dinner Erik heard a scream come from the Gardner’s home.

He didn’t think much of it because hearing them scream wasn’t something out of the unusual.

Only once a much louder scream echoed through his window and grasped it his heart did he

jump from bed and grab his binoculars.

As he peeked out his window, he saw a women no older than 25 pounding on the window

of the basement. Her eyes wide with panic and the glass shook like elephants on a rampage but

never broke. Erik saw a hand reach out from behind her and snatch her out of sight. Without

another moment of hesitation, he grabbed his phone and dialed 911.

The tone from the other end of the phone buzzed like an angry hoard of wasps, the sound

making Erik more anxious than he already was. Sure, he knew the Gardeners weren’t as perfect

as they seemed but he didn’t think they were killers. After what felt like a lifetime the phone

picked up.

“Hello, this is emergency services. What is your emergency?” A women who sounded

bored answered.

“Yes! I think there’s been a murder,” Erik says fear wrapping it’s self around him like a

snake on a mouse.

“Okay keep calm sir, can you tell me where you are?” The women said now slightly

more interiged.

“It happened on 1439 Jefferson street,” Erik said his voice squeaking with nerves.

“At the Gardener’s house?” The women gasped in horror.

 “Yes, ma’am!” Erik said his body crumbling under the knowledge that someone was

being attacked next door.

“Are you injured?” the women asked.

“No, I just heard as scream and saw someone pound on a window,” Erik said.

“Okay, who was screaming? Did you know them?” The women asked.

“No, I don’t” Erik said gasping for air.

“Okay, dispatch is on their way. What’s your name, sir?”

“I’d rather not say, if that’s okay?” Erik answered the snake wrapping tighter around him.

“That’s okay, sir.” The women spoke and seemed to hesitate and suddenly the line went

dead. Erik’s stomach dropped in horror. Had the Gardener’s found out? Had they somehow

ended their call. Without another thought Erik ran down the stairs straight into the kitchen and

watched from the window there. He saw the police car pull up infront of the Gardner’s house.

It was an older man with greying hair that seemed to have moved from on top his head to

his neck leading to his back. He looked at the house with a bit of fear. He knocked on the door

and within a few seconds Rebecca opened with door with a bright smile on her face. She was

wearing an apron with water on the front of it like she’d just got done doing the dishes.

The officer asked her a something and her brows scrunched together in confusion. She

shook her head and said something. She pointed in towards her house and the officer gave an

enthusiastic nod with a wide smile.

Erik felt his skin crawl. He’d called the police and now that brave officer was going to

get killed just like that girl.

 Erik moved into the living room and stared out that window the Gardner’s kitchen

window open and showing fulling what’s going on inside. Rebecca sat a cup of coffee on the

table a long with some cookies and other sweets. The two sat there and talked. Out of the corner

of his eye he saw movement in the window of the basement again.

Erik saw Michael’s face scrunched up with anger. He was talking to someone every few

seconds he’d run a hand through his hair leaving patches of red in his bleach blonde hair. Erik

gasped as the snake of fear clutched tighter as Michael looked out the window. Erik quickly

moved from Michael’s line of sight and took a few calming breaths. He heard a soft whoop of

the police car turning on and leaving. Erik felt his stomach drop with both relief and horror.

Relief that the cop hadn’t met an untimely ending and terror that he didn’t investigate the matters

further. His heart sank for the poor girl who’s blood covered Michael’s hair, she was most likely

dead.

Erik peeped one more time out the window. They were now closed. Erik closed his eyes

and tried to convince himself what he had seen was wrong. That maybe Michael had got a part in

the school play, and he was acting it out with a friend and the scream was part of it. Erik chanted

the lie over and over again until he was almost fully convinced that he’d just miss understood

what had happened. He laid in bed with eyes wide open until the sun peaked through his

window.

The next morning, he saw them sitting together in front of their fireplace and watched as

their faces morphed in the grotesque smiles that made Erik’s skin crawl. Their mouth seemed to

spread as if being stretched like taffy. Their joy unnatural and left an irony taste in his mouth.
 He’d pretty much seen Michael kill a someone and now they all sat there as if nothing

had happened. To them it was just a normal Saturday morning.

Erik felt sick to his stomach as he left his bedroom and heard the soft echo of the tv. The

red and blue light filling the hallway by the living room told him his father was watching the

news. Erik ignored it as he walked past the living room and into the kitchen.

He froze once he heard mention of another disappearance. He dashed into the living

room. His eyes grew in horror as he saw the face of the women he’d seen banging on the

window. His knees almost gave out from under him.

He looked over at his dad, he looked bored as if this wasn’t anything new. His dad looked

over at him with a brow quirked in the air. Erik thought for a moment to tell his dad, but his dad

worshiped the ground the Gardeners walked on like the rest of the town. But just a bit more since

his dad was one of the lawyers at the Gardener’s office firm. So, his father was out of the

running of confessing to. He’d probably think Erik was being dramatic or some excuse that

would make the Gardeners look innocent.

Erik shrugged at his father’s look of question. Without a word his dad looked back at the

paper. Erik decided he’d prove that the Gardeners were killers. And he needed solid proof that no

court could deny.

Erik dedicated the entire day watching the Gardner’s through the window. He watched

both children go to practice. Watched as the mom thoroughly cleaned the house that she had only

cleaned yesterday. Minutes ticked by and turned into hours and Hours turned into day. Everyday

Erik would watch through the window and see if he could see anything. Nothing had happened

maybe him calling the police had scared them a bit.

 Erik sat by the window and recorded their daily tasks and how long it would take them to

do. That next Tuesday Henry came home with a latter and some other tools. Erik’s skin crawled.

Henry was going to make a torture dungeon in his basement. Erik’s skin felt like it had

worms underneath it. Erik grabbed the binoculars and peeped into the basement window. He

watched as Henry carried all the stuff to the basement. With each load Erik’s skin worms

wiggled more and more.

Erik watched Henry repair his basement, kept the daily schedules, counted how many

people left at a time how many people were in a car for weeks. Until one day he counted an extra

person in the family van after Rebecca came back during her grocery schedule time. He took a

photo of the family van with the extra perosn in it.

He waited to see the extra person come into the Gardener’s living room from the garage.

Panic built in his stomach the longer he waited for the mystery person to appear. With each

passing moment this panic grew. Erik held his phone tightly as he watched from his bedroom

window he could see into all the windows from here though not all were great angles.

Fear or this mystery person grew and grew and grew until he couldn’t resist the urge to

call 911 again. It picked up on the 3rd buzz.

“Hello this is emergency services-“

“I think someone is getting murdered next door!” Erik said his voice shaking again.

“Okay and where is this?”

“1439 Jefferson street,” Erik said in panic.

 “Are you the same kid that called because they thought someone was getting murdered

there a few weeks ago?” the women said.

“What? How is that relevant to this? I said someone is getting murdered,” Erik says

peeking out the window.

“Fine, I’ll send out a dispatch but you got to remember this number isn’t something to be

called unless it’s an absolute emergency.” The women said in a bored tone.

“This is an emergency!” Erik shouted over the phone and hung up. A few minutes later a

cop car pulled up to the Gardener’s house and this time a women got out. she knocked and didn’t

get a response. She knocked once more and nothing. She looked over and peaked into the garage

and saw the car parked in it. She knocked once more and waited. Then she put her ear to the door

and listened.

She must’ve heard something because she tried the knob for the front door, and it swung

open. The officer leaned over and spoke into her radio.

Erik’s heart swam with relief finally after all this time they had been caught. Movement

caught Erik’s eyes and he saw an almost naked Rebecca Gardner run down the stairs in only a

robe. A man following after her his eyes showed fear. She pushed him into the pantry before

meeting the officer in her living room.

Had Erik made a mistake? Had this simply been Ms. Gardener having an affair behind

her husband’s back? Guilt swam through him. But he steeled himself at the memory of the other

person he’d seen in their house. Rebecca Gardener must’ve simply been seducing him and

planning to lock him in the basement once she was finished having her fun.
 That explanation made more sense and Erik sighed with relief as he had just saved that

man from death. Or at least he’s thought he had.

Upon seeing Ms. Gardner in her robes, the police officer talked into her walkie again and

visibly sighed. The officer looked very embarrassed about walking in on her. Ms. Gardener put a

gentle hand on the officer’s shoulder and gave her that taffy smile. Erik imagined the words of

poison the women let out to comfort the officer. Soon the officer gave a soft smile and made

their way out of the house still looking very apologetic.

As soon as the officer left Ms. Gardner looked over towards Erik’s house and sneered in

anger. Erik stood his ground this time. He wanted her to know he was onto them. He was sick of

them getting to seem like the perfect people. She squinted at him as she closed her windows.

A few minutes later he heard a phone go off. And knew he was in trouble as soon as his

he heard his dad’s footsteps coming towards his room. His dad’s face was beet red with anger

and embarrassment.

“Dad I swear it’s not what it looks like! The neighbors are killers! They’re a family of

killers!” Erik shouted.

“No, they are not! You’re just telling lies! Like you did when your mother left! I won’t

hear any of it!” his dad shouted.

“No! I swear I’m telling the truth! Why would I lie about that?” Erik screams.

“You lied about me taking drugs in order for your mom to get custody of you. I’d believe

you’re lying about the Gardner’s too. What did they do? Did Hailey reject you? Why are you out

to ruin them?” His dad shouts grabbing his arm.

 “I swear I’m not lying!” Erik said pulling his arm from his father’s grip.

“If I get one more call about you, I’m sending you to boarding school!” his dad shouted.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I won’t spy on the neighbors anymore,” Erik lied. His dad knew he was

lying but walked away anyway. That night he decided he was going to take matters into his own

hands.

The next day he stayed home from school. He waited for the mom to leave on her grocery

trip and prayed the guy was still down there. Erik snuck out of the house and over to the

Gardner’s house. He punched in their security code and grabbed the extra key they kept in their

door frame. He put it back and closed the door making sure to lock it again. The worst situation

would be for Ms. Gardner to come home and find the door unlocked.

Erik walked around the house, he’d already memorized the house lay out and now just

needed to get into the basement. He didn’t know what the basement door looked like exactly.

After a few seconds of searching and a few wrong doors he found the basement door. He rushed

down the stairs and found the basement stretched almost the whole house. It was huge. Most of it

was filled up with boxes. Doubt began to grow in his mind as he wondered around the basement.

Nothing seemed out of place, nothing irregular.

Erik kept walking around until he saw a drop of blood on one of the walls. Erik smiled

and took a photo. He looked around the area and found nothing. He punched the wall in

frustration. As he did that he heard a hollow knock.

Erik perked up and kept knocking on the wall until he found a door that blended into the

wall. He pulled it open and saw exactly what he was looking for.
 The same man from yesterday sat on the floor his body covered in cuts and bruises. Erik

took photos of the room making sure to get every angle of it. He rushed over to the man on the

ground. He looked up at Erik with scared eyes but said nothing. Erik looked the man over and

tried to find how they kept him here. After a few moments he came up empty handed.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard the door behind him snap shut.

“Erik, you’ve been watching us for a long time. It’s about time you get to see what

happens firsthand.” Hailey’s voice echoes.

Erik tries to find the sources but before he can the man from yesterday attacks him.

“Well, kill our pesky little spy, then we’ll make it look like you ran away. Don’t worry

your dad won’t miss you anyway,” Hailey’s voice echoed through the room as the man from

yesterday started stealing his air by choking him.

“Don’t worry you won’t be missed.” With those words echoing in his mind his vision

darkened.

The tv’s soft murmurs echoed through the house as the red and blue light emitted from it.

The women on it sat with a grim face.

“We are all still shocked at the most recent findings of the Gardner family’s crimes. They

kidnapped, tortured, and killed 7 people as of right now. Their case is still being looked into. No

one knows how many they’ve killed. And the Father of the latest victim ,17 year old Erik

Simson, has spoken-“ the television turned off midsentence as Erik’s father sighed heavily.