The Caregiver

She’s meant to care for my family. But actually she wants to destroy us all.

I’m at breaking point. I’m a stay-at-home mom and I love my four-year-old twins more than anything — but they’re a handful. My husband’s always away on business. My mother’s in the early stages of dementia. It’s a lot.

How does an 81-year-old woman, who hasn’t left her bedroom in months, simply vanish into thin air? I’m trying not to freak out at the thought of my mother wandering the neighborhood, lost in a daze of confusion.

We found her — but that was the moment I knew I needed help.

So I let Dana into my home.

She seems like the answer to my prayers. She’ll be my mother’s live-in caregiver.

Soon there are red flags.

I catch Dana gazing at my husband when she thinks I’m not looking. She tells my daughter she’s ‘part of the family now’. My son Sam becomes silent and withdrawn.

And then, a few weeks after Dana’s arrival, I enter my mother’s bedroom — and get the shock of my life.

I ask Dana to leave. But she won’t.