I became friends with the odd couple down the road. One of their children was the same age as my boy, and I liked the wife. But… things turned creepy.
They seemed strange from the beginning. They have heating, they had their children very late (not a strange thing though), their kids are not allowed to go to the GP, one of their children does not eat (M9), and the other one is a tad odd too and speech delayed (M5).
But I liked having a friend, and the mum seemed nice and normal enough. After a while, they split up—thank God—as I just couldn’t bear the fact they had no heating in the winter. The mum got a council flat, and we stayed in touch.
This is where things got creepy. Her husband was catfishing her online and controlled her in every way imaginable.
Then he realised I was living by myself with my son. He began complimenting me and, at times, intruding into my house without knocking. It was a nuisance at first, but later it started upsetting me, and I actually had nightmares about it. Eventually, I gathered the courage to tell him to stop, but only a few days after that, his now ex-wife told me he fantasises about violating a woman. It terrified me.
I’ve since taken extra measures to stay safe, but like… who are these people? Was I close to a danger? I'm thinking about a ring bell and have my partner staying at mine a lot.