Every night my neighbor’s son flashed SOS from his window—until one message forced me to run across the street and uncover a terrifying truth.

the message as the light pulsed:

WE. NEED. YOUR. HELP. COME. INTO. THE. HOUSE.

The message repeated. Then the room went dark.

A cold feeling settled into my stomach.

I grabbed my cane and headed outside into the cool night air.

Inside the House

As I crossed the lawn, I planned to invent some harmless excuse for disturbing the family so late.

But the closer continue reading …