I noticed the camera on a Tuesday.It was one of those small, matte-black domes mounted under the eaves of the house next door, angled precisely toward my backyard. Not at the fence line, not at the shared driveway—directly at my patio, my lounge chair, the glass doors that opened from my bedroom. At first I thought it was a birdhouse or a motion light. Then I saw the tiny red LED blink once when I stepped outside in my robe after my shower.I froze, towel clutched to my chest, water still dripping from my hair onto the concrete. The blink felt like an eye opening. I stared at it for a full minute. It didn’t blink again. But I knew.That night I lay in bed with the lights off, curtains cracked just enough to see the faint silhouette of his house next door. Mr. Ellis—mid-thirties, quiet, always in dark button-downs and jeans, never waved, never made small talk. He’d moved in six months earlier, alone, no partner, no dog, no noise. I’d caught him looking at me once or twice over the fen
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