Mommy

Chapter 23: The Babysitter

This was it.

This was our chance to leave.

I waited until I heard the broke-down car pull out of the driveway and away from the house until I gasped in relief, running towards the window with a yip of excitement.

We could just get out through here. We could just break a window and leave—

Before I could even get close to the window, Anna pulled me back by my arm, causing me to fall harshly back on the floor. I grunted with the surprise attack.

Anna's eyes were wild and filled with horror as she stared down at me. She shook her head, as though scolding me for getting close to a window.

"Stay away from the windows!" She nearly screeched with a panicked tone, attempting to pull me further back by my arms. I struggled in her grasp, confused as to why she seemed so afraid.

I could only guess it was about to Babysitter—but whoever that was wasn't even here yet.

I raised my eyebrows, wondering why she was freaking out so much. But as I looked around, the other children even looked afraid, staying as far away from the doors and windows as they could.

I became extremely bemused.

No one was here.

And why in the world couldn't we get near the windows?

Anna seemed to understand my expression and crouched down next to me, her legs shaking. She looked honestly terrified, and I couldn't imagine anyone worse than Mommy. Anna spoke slowly.

"Mommy has a Babysitter."

I looked towards the window and back towards her. That still didn't explain why we couldn't escape.

Her words didn't effect me—whoever the Babysitter was, she wasn't here yet. And that means we had the time before she got here to leave.

I pointed towards the window and I gave her a look that said 'we can leave before the Babysitter gets here.' Even though I once again tried to run past her to the window to escape, she only pulled me back again, her voice quivering.

"No! No, Harper, you don't understand! The Babysitter is already here!"

I looked around, and a strange feeling crept up my spine. I stopped fighting to get to the window.

No, that can't be possible.

I didn't hear any doors or windows open, and I'm not too sleep-deprived to miss that. That could only mean that the Babysitter has been here for a long time, or—the Babysitter lives here.

I looked around uncomfortably, walking back towards Anna slowly. This is Mommy's house, and I should've known that the Babysitter wasn't going to be normal. I should've—

The Babysitter pulled in front of one of the moldy couches, facing straight ahead, towards a wall. Carson and Aki quickly moved towards her, grabbing the shattered box TV off of the ground and placing it back on the stand where it belonged.

They plugged it in and turned it on—and even with the state it was in, it still worked.

Sort of.

Static showed up on the dusty screen, along with a high pitched ringing noise that gave me a headache.

She was our Babysitter.

I looked at Anna in confusion, scratching my head. She was in a wheelchair, and she was blind. If we tried to escape, she wouldn't be able to get us on time anyway.

What was she going to do?

Throw her dead raccoon at us?

I didn't understand why they were so afraid of her. I doubt she could move as fast as us, and as long as we stayed someplace that it look a set or stairs to get to—we should be fine.