My heart soared with relief, but I kept my breathing steady. Caleb was awake\u2014he had heard everything, just like I had. And now, we needed to pretend a little longer if we were going to survive this nightmare.<\/p>\n
Time dragged by, each second feeling like an hour. I strained to hear any sign of Ethan returning, but the house was silent except for the faint ticking of the wall clock.<\/p>\n
Finally, I felt it was safe enough to risk a whisper. \u201cCaleb, can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Mom,\u201d he breathed, his voice small and scared. \u201cWhat do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have a plan. My mind raced, trying to piece together a strategy when all I wanted to do was scream. But panic wouldn\u2019t help us now. We needed to be smart and fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, when I say \u2018go,\u2019 we\u2019re going to get up and leave the house,\u201d I whispered. \u201cWe need to find help. But we have to be quiet. Understand?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb squeezed my fingers. \u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a deep breath, I counted down silently in my head. Three\u2026 two\u2026 one\u2026 \u201cGo.\u201d<\/p>\n
We moved like ghosts through the house, careful not to disturb anything that might alert Ethan if he happened to come back. I grabbed my phone from the counter, praying it still had some charge left.<\/p>\n
Out the front door, the night was crisp and biting, but it felt like freedom. We hurried down the street, sticking to the shadows, my mind relentlessly going over Ethan\u2019s words.<\/p>\n
Poison. Accidental poisoning. A woman.<\/p>\n
Who was she? And how long had this been going on? Questions churned in my mind, each more painful than the last. But those were mysteries for another time. Right now, we needed help.<\/p>\n
We reached the neighbor\u2019s house\u2014an elderly couple, the Johnsons, who\u2019d always been kind to Caleb. I rang the doorbell, hoping they were home and awake.<\/p>\n
Mr. Johnson answered, his eyes widening at the sight of us. \u201cOh my goodness, what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My heart soared with relief, but I kept my breathing steady. Caleb was awake\u2014he had heard everything, just like I had. And now, we needed to pretend… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n