The world seemed to fall away, leaving only my daughter’s haunting words echoing in my mind. My heart, already heavy with disbelief, now felt like it was being crushed under an avalanche of terror and confusion. “Grandma left us in the car, and then Grandpa came… and his eyes looked wrong.”
In that moment, any semblance of order crumbled. My parents, who I had trusted implicitly, suddenly became enigmas wrapped in suspicion. The thought that they could have put my children in danger was unthinkable, yet here was Maisie, battered and weary, with Theo asleep against my chest, telling a story that didn’t have an easy explanation.
I held them both tighter, as if by sheer will I could shield them from whatever shadows lingered behind those woods.
