Chapter 10
A box of socks clutched in his hands, Cody sat on the plastic-wrapped mattress in his new bedroom. He ignored the crinkling under his butt and set his few belongings on the carpeted floor. His parents had some furniture delivered and were making trips back and forth from the hotel and local stores. They’d asked him to hang his clothes in his new closet and put up the shades in his bedroom window.
He sat alone in the nearly empty room and wondered what sinister forces waited for him in the identical, surrounding homes. Sheila had appeared with a welcome basket, ignored Cody, and then whisked away. He spotted neighbors watching them through windows from behind white picket fences. He’d looked for strings guiding their motions as they waved, but he saw none. It should have been a
