The Sitter

Babysitter Rules: 1.) Bedtime is eight o' clock 2.) No sweets before dinner 3.) NEVER open the door to strangers.

The Sitter

 

         Ding dong! Angie stood in front of the red painted door, her messenger bag by her side. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and waited until the door opened. Mrs. Jensen smiled at her. “Angie, come on in!” she said. Her kids, seven year old Kyle and five year old Annie smiled up at her. “Hey, guys!” Angie said. “You know the drill. Bedtime is at eight o’ clock and no sweets before dinner. The kids can watch TV until bedtime. And you obviously know never to open the door to anyone, right? Especially now, around this time of year,” Mrs. Jensen said. Angie nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Everything will be fine.” Mrs. Jensen nodded. “You have my number if anything happens. And my husband’s. I’m meeting him at this event for work.” Angie told her to have a nice time, and she left. Angie set the alarm and locked the door. The kids were already settled on the couch in front of the TV. Three more children gone missing today and four more young babysitters found dead in is unsolved case. Police are still looking for these children. If you have any information, call-“ Angie grimaced and changed the channel to cartoons. She made them dinner, and then they asked to play a game. “Let’s play hide and seek,” Annie said. “We’ll hide.” Angie counted to ten and started looking for the kids. She heard them giggling and smiled. Everything is fine. The alarm is on, the door locked. No problems, she thought.

         Later, Angie plopped the kids back down in front of the TV and opened her laptop. She video chatted with her friend Trace for a while. “These kids are so good, they listen to everything I tell them. I have to put them to sleep soon,” she told him. Trace pushed his longish hair away from his eyes. “That’s awesome that you’re making the extra money,” he said, “All I do is sit around.” Angie smiled.

         Ding Dong! Angie froze. The door. “Who could that be?” she asked. “Go find out,” Trace said. “I’m not supposed to open the door, strict rules from Mrs. J,” she said. “At least see who it is,” he said. She checked on the children, still in front of the TV, and went to the door while Trace waited on video chat. She pulled back the white curtains in front of the door and peered out. A woman stood there. She had graying, short black hair and green eyes. She let the curtains go and called out, “Who is it?” The woman responded. “It’s a friend of Kimberly’s, Matilda. Kim sent me to check on you, would you let me in?”

         Angie turned off the alarm, kept the chain on the door but opened it a crack. “I’m sorry, but I’m not supposed to let anyone in the house, strict rules from Mrs. Jensen.” The woman smiled kindly. “If you’d like I could call her and you could hear for yourself,” she said. Why would she send someone to check on me? It’s not like she hasn’t known me that long, I’ve been her babysitter for ages. Angie didn’t even know if Mrs. Jensen’s name was Kimberly. This woman could easily be lying. The woman smiled, but now it had a slightly unpleasant edge to it, like she was losing her patience. 

“You know, it is a little odd that you wont let me in. I certainly hope everything is all right in there. But, okay, I’ll just head on home then. I guess that you are doing just fine here. Just tell Kim I stopped by.” She cheerfully waved and turned around to leave. “Wait-“ Angie said. She suddenly felt guilty. What if Mrs. Jensen had asked this woman to check on them? After all, it was around Halloween and she was only a teenager. “Come in, it’s okay,” she said. She unsnapped the chain and opened the door.

         The woman grinned. “Thank you, dear. And what’s your name?” she asked. “Angie,” she said. The kids stood behind Angie, uncertain looks on their faces. “Hello, kids,” she said, “you remember me, right? Mommy’s old friend Matilda?” The kids just stared at her, wide eyed. Why do they seem like they never saw this woman in their life? Angie wondered, a shred of uncertainty flowing into her mind. The woman, Matilda, stared at the kids, smiling widely. “Do you kids want to play a game?” she asked. Kyle looked at her, uncertain, but Annie, who was younger, was already recovering from her shyness. “Okay,” she said, quietly. Matilda knelt down to the kids’ height and smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile, and Angie instantly knew that something was not right.

         “This game is one I made up myself,” the woman said, “it’s called…” she grinned, showing some rotting teeth, including a gold tooth. “Kill the sitter.” Angie’s heart went cold. “Wh-what did you say?” she asked.  Matilda pulled out a sharp edged knife that glinted in the light. “Stupid teenagers. So gullible. So easy to fool.” Angie backed away. “Stay away from the children, I’m warning you!” she said. This was all her fault. She had let this woman in.

         “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of harming the children. You see, I’ve always wanted children of my own, but I never had. So I found an easy way to remedy that. It’s so, so easy. One gullible sitter and a lie later, and I’m dear old Matilda, Mommy’s friend. Now, the sitter will just get in the way. They’ll easily give a description of the woman who took the children. So, now, my dear, I’m going to have to kill you.” Angie tried to stay calm. Keep her talking. Maybe she could sneak out her phone and call the police. She subtly stuck her hand in her pocket and her fingers wrapped around her iPhone. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked, trying to keep her talking. The kids cowered behind Angie. Annie let out a screaming wail. “I want Mommy,” she said. Matilda smiled her nasty smile. “I’m your mommy now,” she said, and lunged toward Angie just as she dialed the last one of nine-one-one. The knife sliced her skin, just enough to make a scratch that immediately started oozing blood. She dropped her phone. Then, police sirens sounded, startling Matilda. I didn’t call the police, Angie thought. The police burst into the house, guns out. “Police!” They yelled. Immediately, Matilda dropped her knife and was grabbed and thrown against the wall. She grunted in pain.

         “Matilda Draper, you are under arrest!” the police said. They dragged the woman out of the door, the children still wailing. Angie watched as the woman was hauled into the police car. A police man approached Angie. “You’re a very lucky young lady. That woman who you let into the house was very unstable, very sick. She had already kidnapped some other children and killed a few babysitters. We are searching her house now.” Angie felt tears prick her eyes. “How did you find her?” she asked. The policeman gestured to her open Macbook. “A young man named Trace called us and said you were video chatting and that he heard yelling and screaming. That young man saved your life, and the life of these kids.” Angie had totally forgotten that she had been talking to Trace and hadn’t hung up the chat. He had heard everything and saved them.

         Mrs. Jensen and her husband burst into the room, Mrs. J’s makeup smeared and her eyes wide. Mr. J’s hair was standing up like he’d been nervously running his hand through it. “Where are they? Where are my babies?” she yelled. She swooped Kyle and Annie into her arms. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she said over and over. Mrs. Jensen approached her. “Mrs. J, I-“ she started to say. Mrs. Jensen smiled at her. “None of this is your fault, Angie,” she said. “It-it isn’t?” she asked. “That woman duped you. She guilted you into opening the door, from what the police told me. They said your friend Trace heard everything. He told them what happened.”

         Angie nodded. “I’m just so sorry,” she said. Mrs. J smiled at her. “I still trust you. I think you should continue babysitting for us. You showed true courage today. Trace said that you warned the woman not to harm the kids before she told you about her motives,” she said. “You are very brave.” Angie smiled. “So, how about a babysitting job next week? We need some time to recover, but I’m sure we’ll be out and about in no time and we’ll need a sitter.” Angie laughed. “Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll be sitting again for a long time,” she said. She thanked the Jensen’s, took one last look at the house, and headed to her car, giving one last wave to the family as she peeled away.

 

        

          

 

 

Author's Note

Please read and review! As always, this story is strictly copyrighted.

Reviews

[Stan Lee]

Great story line. Maybe try using more descriptive language. Try to show rather than tell the story. :)

[Rachel]

Thanks, will do!

[Pratik Mishra]

When I saw this story in my read request, I was thrilled. I love horror. And this story was awesome, plz keep sending me more read requests

[Rachel]

Thanks so much, I will!

[Kamascus]

Frigg'n babysitters. They're always getting into trouble. She should have know better! Either way, I liked this story. It was short, well paced and had a solid plot. I just wish that it didn't end so clean. I mean, it is a horror story right? I expected to be left feeling spooked, but instead, it was all shaped out nice and easy. Maybe a little twist would help bring it to the edge. Also, the dialogue is a bit squished. A think it needed a bit more paragraph spacing. Fun premise, but maybe it went by a little too fast, and needed a little more vile suspense. I enjoyed it.

[Rachel]

Thanks, since a few others said this, I may consider writing up an alternate ending that ends on a scarier note. Thanks for reviewing!

[Justin Robben]

OK, I love me some old school horror like this. I have a couple of my own. And who cares if it's simply ridiculous that the sitter would fall for that trick?! Hollywood's proven it's a tried and true plot device since the 80s! Gullible teens, convenient events...all in a good slasher tale!


Getting a couple of quick edits out of the way, because they can be tricky and hard to spot...
Cowered, not coward. And an event for work, not even.


The only other thing I would ask, for readability's sake, is to separate dialogues. In the same paragraph, you have multiple persons speaking. Hard to follow, at times...

I think it may wrapped up a tad too quickly/neatly, as well. I realize you wanted a SHORT story, hehe. But, sometimes it's worth expounding a tad. Things seemed to clear up too conveniently, at the end.

All in all, good stuff! I thoroughly enjoyed it and see it as having some real potential!

[Rachel]

Thanks so much!