My “Step family” are WEIRDOS
Going to try keep as brief as possible (famous last words). I’ve got crazy anxiety that one of them could find this but I feel like I’m loosing my mind. Something my step mum did today is making me write this, there has been a build up of things happening but this is crossing the line for me and I’m convinced something is wrong with this family.
I’m a female in my early 20s and somewhat recently moved in to a new house with my dad’s girlfriend’s family. My dad’s gf has 3 kids living with us (fake names) Lilly 16, Tyler 15, and Kyle 5. I had met them a few times before moving in with them, they seemed normal enough, just very shy and awkward type. Me and my brother (let’s call him James 19 who also lives here) always tried to talk to them and include them in convos but never had much luck.
When we moved into our new home all seemed okay. After a couple months we all got more comfortable, the kids opened up enough for us to be able to talk to them a bit more. But I mean this in the nicest way, these kids have so little social skills it blew mine and James’s mind. In their mother’s words “they are in their own world”.
Kyle (5) is obviously much younger than us, he’s a pretty funny kid once he opened up to us… but he would say some crazy shit. Kyle’s dad passed away a few years ago when he was little (different dad to Lilly and Tyler). Without going into detail, Kyle was given his dad’s iphone. So at 3/4 years this kid had a phone that was NOT supervised or anything. I remember when we moved in this 5 year old kid would be watching YouTube shorts about things like plane crashes and just violent things, brain rot ect. He was exposed to the entire internet. He would make awful references to things like 9/11. Anytime he played with toys he’d always make them die, and get them into crazy accidents. He has a temper, and sometimes says things like he’s going to kill us all. If our dog is “annoying him” he screams that he’s going to kill her. I talked to my dad about how kyle is exposed to awful things on the internet, with no supervision, thankfully they listened to me and took the phone away. He has device bans 95% of the time cause he likes to swear and yell at his mum when he doesn’t get his way. Growing up me and my brother wouldn’t dare to do such a thing, so seeing this 5 year old do shit like that was a big shock. Me and my brother have done our best to be there for him and teach him what’s good and bad. My dad has stepped up, and helped my step mum a lot with getting him in line. Kyle is definitely much better as I’m writing this, not to take a lot of the credit, but I’ve gone above and beyond to spend quality time with him, care for him and teach him life skills. “Wisdom” as my brother says lol. Other than that Kyle is a good kid, thought-full, kind, and adorable. He’s been through a lot for a small kid and exposed to too much at such a young age.
Lilly (16) is the shyest of the three. She always seems nervous and unsure how to interact with us. Neither me or James had any issues with/about her until a few months ago. Long story short she talks to herself. And I don’t mean in a normal manner, I mean she will be alone in her room, kitchen, anywhere and muttering things like “get out, GET OUT”. James happened to go up to kitchen where Lilly was one day. He kept hearing her say “get out” under her breath while shaking her head vigorously. He thought she was talking to him and he got all nervous and said “are you talking to me?”. She said no.. but didn’t bother to explain who/what she was talking to. He got so freaked out that he came straight to my room and explained what she was doing. And it wasn’t the last time. I’m a night owl so I would be up until 3am some nights, i would hear her talking to herself (we are in the rooms next to each-other) I can’t explain it any better than it sounds like she’s speaking gibberish. Now you might think maybe she’s up late on a call with friends? Two things, all three kids don’t have devices majority of the time (aka phones, iPads, laptops, you name it) cause they keep getting in trouble. AND.. she doesn’t have friends. (I’ve learnt these past few months that Lilly, Tyler and Kyle have no friends. Red flag 🚩). I’ve mentioned it to my dad, who didn’t seem all that shocked, and didn’t really say anything other than nod as he listened. I wish talking to herself was the only issue but there is more. She watches me, Tyler does too but I’ll get into him soon. I’ll be in an area of the house, cleaning for example, she’ll come up to me and shyly ask what I’m doing. I’ll answer “just organising the shelves”. Now instead of saying something like “oh okay” and walking away, she will say nothing.. but watch me silently for what feels like hours. She always stands less than a meter away and watches me with the coldest most blank expression on her face. Even thinking about it makes me shiver. It’s hard to put into words how awkwardly creepy she comes across.
Tyler (15) is just as bad. He isn’t as shy as Lilly, but a very very difficult person to talk to. It’s genuinely like talking to an NPC alien robot who has no idea how to socialise. Things he says doesn’t make sense, comes off the wrong way and just gives everyone the creeps. But my issue is the “stalking” and how he treats his siblings. Similar to Lilly, if he sees me in the house somewhere, he’s always wondering what I’m doing even if it’s so obvious. Like I’ll be putting the washing machine on and he will ask what I’m doing.. like hello? Isn’t it obvious. He’ll always watches me the same way Lilly does. Silently, awkwardly, right next to me. But this past month it’s gotten worse. I feel like he’s actively trying to “run into me”. If he hears me leave my room, even if it’s in the middle of the night, he will coincidentally leave his room everytime. Specially, one night I went upstairs to make tea, and I heard him come out, and come up into kitchen. I don’t think he thought it through.. cause he came up stood in the middle of the kitchen watching me after awkwardly saying hello, than went back to his room after I kept looking at him weirdly. He didn’t come up to do anything, but to watch me. Now on to how he treats his siblings. He says awful, and hurtful stuff to Lilly, not just your normal sibling rivalry but just being an ass. He uses awful language to her and his FIVE YEAR OLD brother. Swearing at them, yelling at them. But worst of all he doesn’t do it when people are home. Now I don’t think he realises I’m home a lot of the time when they get back from school. If they know, they try and “behave”, however there have been many times where they think no one is home and YELL at poor little Kyle. The other day I had enough, I stomped upstairs and I could tell my the look on Tyler’s face he didn’t realise I was home. I raised my voice saying “Stop being a jerk and swearing at him like that, he’s 5. If you have an issue come get an adult cause you swearing at him like that isn’t helping anyone”. I’ve never snapped or anything at/infront of them. He went very quiet and they got in trouble when their mum got home after I filled her in. I say they as I also hear Lilly swearing around Kyle, but not necessary AT him. Anytime I hear them doing this I always yell from downstairs to stop swearing and let my dad or step mum know.
Up until today I thought my step mum was “normal”. She seemed like a good mum who tries her best. As mentioned before she’s a widow (Kyle’s dad who passed), and has definitely found it difficult to raise children on her own (Lilly and Tyler’s dad lives far away and isn’t really in their lives). I’ve never had a bad feeling about her, or reason to be concerned. Other than the fact her kids are extremely creepy and odd. But today changed that. Some info, they have a few animals (bird and cat) but specifically a dog (let’s call him buddy) and we also had a dog (let’s name her Belle). Buddy is an outside dog, he has extreme anxiety, he’s very friendly to humans but doesn’t mesh well with other animals. He’s a small dog, while our dog is much bigger. Belle is the biggest sweetie and loves to play. So when we moved in, Belle would try play with buddy. He would snap at her and growl. They never got into a proper fight (no injuries), and usually never bothered eachother when no one was home. It was when people would be around for some reason buddy would get extra feisty. We thought things would get better between them but it hasn’t changed at all. This wasn’t a massive issue, but something we all wanted to change. Some extra info, they have had buddy since he was a pup and is about 4 years old now. Buddy was Kyle’s dad’s dog primarily before he passed. Buddy is Kyle’s best friend. He would come home from school and spend hours cuddling and playing outside with buddy. The other day we (me, my dad, brother James, and step mum) were talking about what to do about Belle and buddy getting along better. Buddy has anxiety medication, and step mum mentioned she might take him to the vet to get checked, see if the meds actually work as he might need more/different ones in hopes that can help.
So fast forward to today.
It was around 11am, no one was home other than me and step mum. I was in my room and heard her taking Buddy out the front to the car to go somewhere. I figured she was taking him to the vet as mentioned to see about his medication. However around 4pm she got home, and started dinner. When I came up I noticed buddy wasn’t outside. And asked her where he was. It was only me, her and Kyle in the kitchen. When I asked, she went extra quiet, and a really strange, nervous look came onto her face. After a second she casually said “oh I rehomed him”. WHAT. I thought she was joking. Turns out… she wasn’t taking him to the vet- but getting rid of him!!! It’s gets worse. She didn’t tell anyone. She didn’t tell her kids, my dad, me or James. So not only was this not discussed or agreed on, but no one got to say goodbye. Kyle burst into tears, and i nearly did too. Buddy became my dog too. We all grew very close to him, spent lots of time with him. I couldn’t believe it. Kyle went into the living room, which is joined to kitchen, curled up and cried into the couch. I dropped everything and went over to him. Comforted him. That’s when I looked up. His mum still in the kitchen, didn’t say anything. Didn’t care he was sad, didn’t explain herself. Nothing. Instead she stood there with a smug fucking smile on her face and continued cooking. I thought I was imagining it but no. After I cheered Kyle up as much as I could by getting his favourite race car to play with. I went downstairs to James room and told him everything. He also thought it was a joke but could tell by tears in my eyes I wasn’t messing around. He was just as shocked and upset as I was. I mean WHO DOES THAT. Who emotionlessly gets rid of a dog you’ve had since a pup, for 4+ years who belonged to a man you supposedly loved who passed away, without telling anyone, not allowing and kids to say goodbye. Than SMILING when your 5 year old son, who’s best and only friend has just been sent away. Idk where buddy is now, i already miss him and i hope he’s okay.
This family has so many red flags. I don’t feel comfortable or completely safe here, specially at night when I find Tyler coming out of his room just to watch me. It’s got to the point where I carry scissors in my pocket just in case. I thought my step mum was “normal” but “normal” people don’t do that. I feel as though this is just the start of it and all their true fucked up colours and starting to show.
What do I do?