Child Care

Child Care is a story submitted by dolly_pete. It’s a variation on the well-known Babysitter urban legend.

One night, a 16-year old girl named Sarah was babysitting three children for the Peterson family. They always hired her because the kids really seemed to like her. The parents were going out for dinner and a movie and asked to take good care of the kids. She gladly accepted, as she loved the Peterson kids very much. They were very enthusiastic yet always listened to her, which made them easy to babysit.

After the parents left, she asked the kids if they wanted to watch TV. While the kids were mesmerized by the cartoons, the screen suddenly went black and red letters scrolled down the screen.

The message read: “AN EMERGENCY HAS BEEN DECLARED! MURDERER ZACHARY WHITMAN HAS ESCAPED FROM ALCATRAZ PRISON! HE IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND IS ARMED WITH A BLUNT HATCHET! HE IS 6’6, WITH SPIKY HAIR AND A RASPY VOICE! YOU ARE ADVISED TO LOCK ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS AND TAKE EVERY PRECAUTION! THE POLICE ARE CURRENTLY SEARCHING FOR HIM, BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY SIGHTINGS! THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT!”

The kids started to panic, because they lived on Lombard Street, which was not far from the island of Alcatraz. Sarah was a little uneasy too. In order to keep the kids calm, she told them to go to bed. After the kids were asleep, she decided it would be best to watch the news, in case they gave any updates on the murderer.

After about 15 minutes, a news bulletin came up. The announcer said: “Crazed murderer Zachary Whitman has been spotted on Lombard St. Residents are advised to take every precaution in order to keep their house secure.”

Now Sarah started to get really worried. She pushed the glass coffee table in front of the door. She still kept the news on in case there were any more updates on his location.

About 15 minutes later, there was another news bulletin. “It has been confirmed that the entire Farmer family has been killed.”

Sarah didn’t even listen to the rest. She knew that the Farmers were the neighbours with the naughty teenagers. She looked out the window. There were at least a dozen police cars on the street. She went up and checked on the kids to make sure they were OK. They were all fast asleep.

Sarah checked every lock on the house to make sure they were secure. As she was closing the curtains, she saw that there was a police car outside. She watched them handcuff a tall man and shove him into the back seat.

“That must be the murderer”, she thought.

Just as the police were about to close the door, the tall man turned and looked straight at her, giving her an evil smile. A shiver went down Sarah’s spine. Then, the police closed the door and the car drove away, out of sight.

When the children’s parents got home that night, Sarah was still a bit shaken. She told them all about the events of the night and they insisted on driving her home.

About halfway through the ride home, Mr Peterson reached over and turned on the radio. There was another news bulletin. At first, Sarah thought it must be about the police capturing Zachary Whitman. Unfortunately, it was far, far worse.

“Reports say that the police car carrying Zachary Whitman back to Alcatraz has been found crashed on the side of the road. Both police officers were dead and each one had a clear incision down their torso. Zachary Whitman was not found in the car and is believed to have escaped to perpetrate another murder rampage.”

Mr Peterson dropped her off at her apartment building, and as she went up in the elevator, her legs were shaking like jelly.

“It’s OK!” she told herself. “The doorman wouldn’t let a murdering psycho in, right?” Then she gave an uneasy chuckle.

When she was about to enter her apartment, she noticed the door was a crack open. When she walked inside, everything was deathly quiet. Looking into her parents’ bedroom, she saw two figures lying under the covers.

“Mom? Dad?” she called.

There was no answer.

When she pulled back the sheet, she was horrified to see that her parents had been hacked to death. Their bodies had been violently chopped to into tiny pieces. Sarah started to cry. She loved her parents and they were dead because of her.

Just then, Sarah heard a noise behind her. She turned and saw a tall man with spiky hair, holding a bloody hatchet.

In a raspy voice he said, “Time’s up”.

(It’s an original piece I made. Hoped you like it!)