BROOKS

Wanda, Elina, Jay and Jaelyn found each other through an ad posted online: help in exchange for a roof. Wanda is an older woman who can no longer really take care of her house on her own, a big house by the way, the kind that says a lot about a life well lived and a considerable amount of money accumulated along the way. Jay responded to the offer. He lost his job, has a daughter to look after, and couldn't afford to say no. Thanks to this arrangement, Jaelyn gets to stay close to her friends and keep her life at middle school exactly as it is, while Jay gets the breathing room he needs to bounce back and find his footing again. Elina came from far away, a foreign student looking less for a place to sleep than for a real human connection, someone to belong to, even temporarily. A good deal for everyone. Because Wanda has been alone for a very long time, and loneliness, when it has Wanda's kind of money, can turn into something else entirely. She would do anything to make sure no one ever leaves. Anything. If you want to know what she is truly capable of, stick around long enough to find out.