Chapter 1The Midnight Knock

It was the dead of night when a heavy, frantic pounding echoed from the front door. Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Sarah! Open up! My dad’s having an episode! You guys have to drive us to the ER, now!"

My husband, David, rubbed his sleepy eyes and instinctively moved to get out of bed.

I shot up and grabbed his arm, my grip like iron.

"Shh. Don't make a sound."

In my past life, David and I had opened that door out of kindness. We drove that old man to the hospital.

And because of that single act of kindness, we lost everything. Our home. Our lives.

* * *

David blinked, confused, his voice raspy with sleep.

"Honey, what’s wrong?"

"Rick’s dad is sick. They don’t have a car. We should help."

I let out a cold, silent laugh.

"If it’s a real emergency, David, why aren't they calling 911?"

"Don't turn on the lights. Don't speak. Pretend we aren't home."

David didn't understand, but he trusted me. He scratched his head and settled back into the pillows.

"But Sarah... if the old man doesn't make it because we didn't help... won't you feel guilty?"

I shook my head, hiding the pure hatred burning in my eyes.

Guilty?

Never again.

The pounding continued for a long time. It was relentless.

Then, our phones started lighting up in the dark. Call after call.

Luckily, I had silenced them beforehand.

David finally sensed something was off.

"That’s weird," he whispered. "Usually, if no one answers, you stop knocking. Why are they hammering on the door like that?"

"His dad is supposedly dying, yet instead of calling an ambulance, they’re wasting time knocking on our door?"

Exactly. It had been ten minutes.

I crept to the door on my tiptoes and pressed my ear against the cold wood.

"Damn it, they aren't home. Now what?" A rough voice hissed from the hallway.

I heard someone spit on the floor.

"Did you find anyone else?"

"No."

A deep sigh from the other side.

"Just our luck. Useless neighbors. Call 911, hurry."

"We can't let the old man expire yet. Not now."

Their footsteps faded down the hall.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and looked back at David. His eyes were wide with shock.

"They... they were trying to set us up?"

I nodded, my face grim.

"You guessed it."

Before we fell asleep, David kept muttering.

"How could they be like that? We’ve been neighbors for years."

"We used to share BBQ in the backyard. Why would they want to hurt us?"

I gently covered his mouth with my hand.

"Stop thinking about it. Just sleep."