Man named John moved into the neighborhood sometime last week. Got two boys with 'im, an' seemed like a nice enough man to have around.
Something's not right with John's boys.
Nobody knows what, but everybody knows.
Betty's almost sure he beats 'em. Says she can hear them shoutin' at each other at night. (She also says she can hear the ghosts of her dead parents at night, but that don't mean we believe 'er.)
Pepper's got the crazy idea that they worship the devil. Says she went over their place soon as they moved in an' caught John painting symbols on the floors.
Lou thinks they're just not right in the head. Hears 'em talk all kinds of nonsense, he says.
Kev, though, he's got a genuine concern for those boys. Says they're too close. Says kids their age should be squabblin' and kicking and screaming, but they've never left each other's sides. Says they should be out with friends, talking an' laughing and the whole. But they don't talk to anyone. Only to each other.
They never leave their house, an' when they do they come right back after school. John's always gotta be with 'em, and they never take the bus. Sometimes John ain't home for days. When he's not around, the kids never leave the house. I've seen the blinds movin', when John was out once. It was the little one, that Sam kid, peekin' out into the yard. Lou saw it from his porch, an' told me his older brother pulled him back from the window.
Betty says a woman came by once, pretty thing she said. John answered the door, let her in. Betty says she never saw the woman leave, an' nobody else has seen her either. Those boys didn't go to school for the next two days.
Went over to talk to them, once when they first moved. Pepper stayed home, sayin' she had a bad stomach ache, actin' funny an' holding the door shut while she spoke to us, an' to tell them she said hello. John was all smiles an' small talk, an' the boys were dead silent. Sat in their chairs and watched.
Speakin' of Pepper, I haven't seen her in a few days.
A/N: Sorry, but the first few lines got into my head an' wouldn't get out. Had to get them down on paper anyway. -D