R/Nosleep (Get Spooked)

The HOA Is In The Backyard (Suburbia Part 12)

By u/firesidechats451

I dropped below the kitchen window, my heart pounding. What the fuck was the HOA doing here?! Francesca had managed to remain hidden all this time, and now they were suddenly showing up in her backyard?!

I forced myself to breathe. They didn't know I was here. Not yet. Maybe they were checking every empty house—after all, they were on to Francesca, it made sense they were looking for her. All I had to do is stay quiet and—

"Sheila?"

My heart dropped into my stomach at the syrupy sweet sound of Karen's voice. "Sheila, are you there? It's Karen. I went by your house, but you weren't there. Can you come out and talk to me? It's really important."

Okay. So they were looking for me. But they still didn't necessarily know I was here—for all I knew, they were going to each house and playing out this scenario, hoping I'd answer and reveal myself. Instead, I stayed quiet.

"Sheila." This time Shirley speaking. "We know you're in there. We tracked your phone to this location. Why don't you come out? We want to help you."

Yeah, right. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, wondering if they were telling the truth. It could still be a trick. Well, regardless of whether they were bluffing or not, I wasn't coming out. Francesca said I'd be safe inside, and I believed her.

"We know you've been talking to Frances." Dan's voice this time. "We know she's been lying to you. She's trying to distract you from the path. You don't want to be damned, do you?"

The moment in the underground cavern, where snow began to fall all around me, drifted to the forefront of my mind, but I shook it off. That wasn't real. True, I couldn't prove that everything Francesca had said about me—about us—was real, but I knew that accident hadn't happened like I remembered. There were just too many holes in their implanted memories for me to believe it.

"We want to help you," Karen said. She sounded closer, but I was too afraid of being seen to check. "We want to cleanse you, so you can pass on to the afterlife. Don't you want that?"

I stayed quiet, praying that Francesca would get back quickly. Except, what would happen when she did? I had to warn her about the HOA—what if there were more members I couldn't see, lying in wait for her to come back?

With shaking hands, I texted Francesca, overwhelmed with the thought that even now she could be on her way to this disaster. Not pausing to even read over my message, I hit "send." And waited.

And waited.

Delivery failed.

What? No!

I sent my message again, and got the same error: Delivery failed.

That had never happened before. Was it just a coincidence? Or was the HOA somehow blocking my texts?

"She can't save you." It was Dan's voice, closer. "You'd be a fool to put your trust in her."

"Oh my god, shut up," I muttered to myself, trying the text message again.

Delivery failed.

Okay. Okay, maybe a call would go through?

After seven dropped calls and suppressing the urge to cry, I had to admit defeat. I wouldn't be getting word to Francesca. But she was tough, and powerful. She'd managed to track this place down, sneak in, and stay off the HOA's radar for months. Surely she could see a trap like this from a mile away, right?

I sat in the kitchen, ignoring the HOA's occasional calls to come out and talk. It went on like that for hours. At some point I had a snack from Francesca's stash of Cliff Bars and had to use the bucket that functioned as a toilet (I can't believe Francesca was doing that for months!).

Around mid-afternoon, I started to get tired. I hadn't slept well the night before, and my body was demanding a nap. But I was too afraid to fall asleep—not because I didn't trust Francesca's spells, but because I just couldn't stand the thought of not knowing what was happening. So I was sitting on the dirty kitchen tile, my head nodding, my eyelids so heavy I could barely keep my eyes open, when I heard a familiar voice.

"Stop it! Let me go!"

My head snapped up, my heart sinking at the same time. It was Francesca's voice, and it was coming from the backyard.

"Shut up!" Dan yelled, and then the sharp crack of a palm hitting flesh. I held my breath, ears straining. I thought I heard soft crying, but it was impossible to be sure.

"Shei-la!" called Karen, her voice sing-songy. "We've caught your little friend! Don't you want to talk to her?"

I bit my lip, torn. I wanted to know if it was Francesca—but she'd told me to stay hidden. Still—I had to see.

Slowly, I inched my way to the window and raised the blinds half an inch—just enough to see out. To my horror, Dan had Francesca pinned to the ground, her hands behind her back.

"Come on, Sheila," Karen said, eyes roving over the house. "Shirley said you were attached to her! Don't you care what happens to your friend?"

"Kathryn, stay inside!" Francesca yelled. "Don't let them use me against you—"

"Shut up!"

Dan twisted Francesca's arm and she screamed. I clamped a hand over my mouth, afraid to make a sound.

"Sheila, we know you're in there." Even from a distance, I could see Karen's eyes glint. "Come out or your friend here will pay the price!"

"Don't . . ." Francesca shouted, but Dan put his knee on her back, leaning hard. Francesca's mouth worked, but no sound came out. She writhed under him, trying to throw him off, but he just pressed down harder. Gradually, her movements got weaker and weaker as she struggled to breathe.

I couldn't stand there and watch them kill her.

I flung open the back door. "Stop!" I yelled. "Stop, you're killing her!"

Karen held up a hand and Dan eased up, leaving Francesca coughing.

"We won't harm her," Karen said. "If you come with us."

"Don't," Francesca croaked, her voice raw. She looked desperate, like a cornered animal. I knew she was just trying to keep me safe, but I couldn't let her sacrifice herself for me.

"Let her up," I said, my voice shaking. "And I'll come out."

Dan looked to Karen for direction. After a moment, she motioned to him to let Francesca up. He hauled her to her feet, keeping her arms firmly held behind her back.

"We've kept our end of the bargain," Karen said. "Now it's your turn."

I took a deep breath. Francesca was safe. That was all that mattered. Whatever happened, we'd figure it out.

It was only as I took a step out of the house's safety that my sluggish, panic-stricken brain picked up on a tiny detail that should've been the biggest, reddest flag:

Francesca never called me Kathryn.

The next moment, I was lying on the ground, unable to move. Karen stood over me, a look of triumph on her face.

"You really have it bad for that bitch," she said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shirley shake off Dan's hands.

"You nearly suffocated me!" she grumbled.

"I had to make it look real!" he said, looking defensive.

I closed my eyes, cursing myself for being such a fucking stupid idiot.

"Stop bickering!" I heard Karen say. "There's still much to do! Pick her up—we can't have that little witch stumbling across us."

A blindfold was roughly tied around my head, catching and pulling my hair. Then, accompanied by many mutterings, two sets of hands lifted me under the shoulders and knees, carrying me away from the house and any chance of escaping Blessed.