# We Laughed at the Warning Scratched Inside Our New House—Six Months Later, Our Neighbors Used a Key to Get In
We found the warning during our first week in the house.
It had been scratched into the wood behind a fixed shelf in the upstairs closet, deep enough that paint hadn’t covered it.
**DON’T EVER GIVE THE HARRISES A KEY.**
Jason and I laughed.
We had only just met Tom and Linda Harris, the couple next door, and they seemed like exactly the kind of neighbors everyone hopes to have.
They brought us lasagna on move-in day.
Tom loaned Jason a ladder.
Linda explained the garbage schedule, recommended a plumber, and told us which houses gave out the best candy on Halloween.
Whatever had happened between them and the previous owner, Margaret, we assumed it was an old neighborhood feud.
Six months later, I was staring at our doorbell-camera feed while Tom Harris unlocked our front door.
Jason and I were nearly two hours away at my sister’s house when the security alert appeared on my phone.
At first, I barely paid attention.
Then I saw Tom and Linda standing on our porch.
Tom raised something toward the lock.
A key.
I sat upright.
Jason looked at me.
“What?”
I handed him the phone.
We watched Tom slide the key into our front door.
It turned.
The door opened.
Linda glanced over her shoulder before following him inside.
Then the door closed.
Jason stared at the screen.
“What the hell?” Continue Reading ⬇️