“Molly…hey, Molly…are you awake?” I whispered from the mattress I had slept in at Molly’s house.
“Ugh…I am now…what’s the matter?” Molly drowsily replied as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“We have to go. We have to return to the daycare.” I said
“Are you bonkers? Yesterday was the most traumatic day of my life and I don’t want to repeat that again! Besides, we didn’t stand a chance against those things yesterday and I’m pretty sure that’s not gonna change today.” Molly complained.
“I know, but we have to! Hugh’s still in there, remember? Plus, I need that place, it’s the only way I can go back…” I uttered before realizing I had accidentally brought up my little secret again.
“Go back to where? Come on, Cindy! You’re being eerily cryptic again, it makes me feel you have something to hide, and that worries me, especially after what happened at the daycare! No offence, but this is the third time you’ve creeped me out like this, and I literally met you yesterday!” Molly exclaimed demanding an explanation. I took a deep breath before finally confessing:
“Alright…Molly, I’m a time traveler. It seems like we’re both the same age and in a way that’s true, but it also kind of isn’t because we’re in 2001 but I won’t be born until 2004. I come from twenty years into the future. I was hired to work at the daycare, but when I went there in my time I found it to be abandoned. I then encountered the two creatures and I tried to hide but they caught me. After that, I passed out and when I woke up I was suddenly in 2001. That’s why I need to return to the daycare, because it’s the place where I was sent back in time and the only place I’m aware of where I’ll hopefully be able to return to my present.” I explained, feeling great relief once I got everything out.
A few seconds of silence followed during which Molly processed everything I had said.
“Woah…that was a lot to take in…” she uttered in awe.
“I know, it’s fine if you don’t wanna believe me.” I assured.
“No, I…I do believe you, it’s easy to do once you’ve literally been haunted by phantoms. It’s just that out of all the things I was expecting, this definitely was not it! I was expecting something along the lines of you having a special connection with those entities because they’ve been haunting your family for generations or because they’re the spirits of deceased relatives or because you’re secretly one of them too or something like that.” Molly admitted.
“Do you understand why I have to go back? You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but I need to do it. It’s not just to go back home either, I also want to know who or what those things are.” I said.
“But why go now? It’s still 6 A:M, there’s still two hours left until the daycare opens. Plus, I bet the weather outside is absolutely freezing this early in the morning.” Molly asked.
“That’s precisely why I need to go there now. I don’t want the place filled with children if things get bad.” I clarified.
And so, I suited up and prepared to leave. Just as I was about to exit Molly’s house, I heard her putting on her winter gear behind me.
“Wait, you’re coming too?” I asked, given the fact she had openly spoken against going to the daycare just a few minutes earlier.
“Yep! I’d hate it to have left you alone if something bad happened to you. Plus, I’ve just found out you’re from the future! You’d have to be crazy to give up the opportunity to spend time with a time traveler!” Molly exclaimed.
As we marched to the daycare, Molly kept bombarding me with silly questions about the future concerning her wacky and unrealistic expectations which inevitably made me laugh, at least they distracted me from the chilly weather and also from the fact we were going to the daycare without a plan…we hadn’t even thought to carry a weapon.
The previous evening, when we were still at Molly’s house, we decided to search for ways to beat the creatures from the daycare on the Internet…the one from 2001 that is, using Molly’s bulky computer which was the latest model for her and a fascinating archaic relic for me. All we managed to find were several cheesy Internet forums discussing paranormal entities with ridiculous methods of dealing with them which the people who wrote them probably made up on the spot . One of them stood out as it claimed a tormented soul needs to perform a ritual where another soul must inherit their torment in order for them to be freed.
We stood before the daycare once more. Getting inside was surprisingly easy, as the front door had stayed open after we had broken out and left it that way the previous day. The building seemed to be empty and quiet…too quiet for comfort, it almost gave me the same vibes as its derelict counterpart from my time, equally as deserted and foreboding excluding the drastic difference in the building’s state of repair. That ambience might initially seem to be justified by the fact two hours still remained until the daycare opened, it was theoretically supposed to be empty like this…expect we knew for a fact it wasn’t really empty, the creatures were still in there, Hugh was still in there, this was surely just a façade to lure us into a false sense of security , it had to be.
“Maybe they’ve just…left.” Molly uttered as we scoured one empty room after another.
“Hold on, there’s till one room we haven’t checked yet.” I replied, recalling the room where I had found Hugh the previous day: the boiler room. And so, Molly and I crossed the door with that familiar “PRIVATE” sign on it and descended the staircase that led to the boiler room.
“Look, in that corner! It’s…it’s him!” Molly pointed out as we found Hugh, who appeared to be unconscious. It wasn’t until we got closer to the child that we managed to get a good look of his surroundings. He was laying on a circle surrounded by candles located right next to a second circle surrounded by candles which did not yet contain anyone inside. Had the mysterious entities been responsible for this? It sounded like the most likely conclusion to come to, but why? Were they planning to carry out some sort of twisted ritual involving this innocent preschooler?
“What…what happened?” Hugh faintly uttered as he opened his eyes.
“You were unconscious inside this circle, Hugh. Did the two creatures did this to you? Do you know where they could be?” I asked him. But before he could utter a reply, he fixedly stared in horror at something Molly and I couldn’t see at first because it was right behind us, something…or rather, someone. The two entities had finally revealed themselves, they approached us in the same agonizing way that had become their trademark by that point.
They could’ve caught us right there, but what they did instead was something that once again made me question their nature, they looked back to the staircase that led outside the boiler room, but nothing was there. A couple seconds later, the daycare’s front door could be heard being open, followed by the sound of footsteps and murmurs…someone else had entered the building, and the two entities knew that before it actually happened. When they had looked back just seconds before, they were anticipating themselves to what was about to happen.
Molly and I quickly took advantage of that moment of distraction, snatched Hugh and ran out of the boiler room. We were expecting the two creatures to react quickly and give us chase, but they defied my expectations yet again, as they stood still watching us without moving a muscle. You might be inclined to think they didn’t move because they were shocked by our sudden escape and didn’t have time to react, but I didn’t believe that to be the motive behind their behavior, it looked as if they weren’t moving not because of being surprised, but due to the opposite, as if they didn’t bother with pursuing us because they had other plans for us later.
We rushed to the front door in hopes of leaving that accursed place once and for all, but we were stopped dead in our tracks by the two people we had heard earlier, one of whom was very familiar.
“YOU! I knew you’d be here! I knew you’d have something to do with Hugh’s disappearance! Last evening I got in contact with the daycare’s higher ups and the police and they confirmed that the only one who was supposed to be hired to work here was Molly! Look, I don’t know who you are, where do you come from or what do you intend to accomplish, but what you’ve done is against the law and you need to atone for it! And I see Molly is with you, so I’m sorry but she’s also complicit and will also be fired!” Rebecca angrily exclaimed as the policeman that accompanied her stood by her side attempting to intimidate us with his rigid posture and serious stare.
“But Ms. Rebecca, they’re not the bad guys, the two monsters are the bad guys! The two monsters that live here are the ones who kidnapped me! Cindy and Molly have come to save me!” Hugh explained after Rebecca gestured him with her hands indicating him to come to her side, but he stubbornly refused and kept firmly gripping my hand.
Before anyone could formulate an answer to Hugh’s words, they both materialized in front of everyone, the two entities were back from the boiler room.
“WHAT…WHAT THE HELL?” Rebecca nervously yelled in panic as her face went pale.
“All of you, stand back!” the policeman ordered as took a step forward, pulled out a pistol and shot at the creatures several times, using his entire magazine. The entities visibly flinched, but didn’t really look to be significantly hurt by the bullets. Before he could reload the next magazine, the creatures jumped at him, grabbing his arms and legs the same way they grabbed me when I first encountered them. The policeman screamed in pain for a brief moment until the creatures let go off him and he lay on the floor immobile and speechless. I didn’t manage to check if he was unconscious or dead because Molly, Hugh and I were already sprinting towards the exit.
“Rebecca, come on! We have to get out of here!” I exclaimed, encouraging Rebecca to follow us. She seemed to ignore me as she stood still hyper ventilating, it was clear she was too shocked to do anything and froze in terror. The entities took that chance and got a hold of her.
“CINDY!” she finally shrieked as the creatures dragged her to a playroom. I did not hesitate to run to her aid.
“Cindy, wait!” Molly tried to stop me.
“I cannot leave her like this, Molly! You and Hugh can go home but I need to stay!” I replied.
“No way I’m abandoning you here! I’m with you too!” Molly assured.
“I’m not leaving either!” Hugh added.
The three of us rushed to the playroom where Rebecca was being held. She was unconscious while the two creatures stared at us from the playroom’s door as we approached them.
“Listen, she doesn’t have anything to do with this! It’s me who you want, isn’t it? You sent me back in time after I first met you and now you’ve followed me and are doing all of this to get me, correct? “ I said to the creatures awaiting a response which I did not receive.
“Come on, answer me! You can take me if that’s what you want if you leave everyone else alone!” I added, but still, the creatures remained silent.
“Say something! I’m giving myself away! All I ask in return is an answer!” I yelled again, growing more and more desperate. It took them a little while, but the creatures finally decided to react.
“Cin…dy” they both uttered in their distorted voices as they pointed at me and stepped aside from the playroom’s door, inviting me to come inside. Molly put a hand on my shoulder and shook her head.
“It’s okay…” I murmured at her as I stepped inside the playroom.
The door abruptly slammed shut once I had entered the playroom, leaving me and Rebecca inside and Molly, Hugh and the two entities outside. I yelled and tried to force the door open, but it was useless, Rebecca and I were trapped. I shook her unconscious body in attempt to wake her up.
“Ugh…a headache…I’ve got a…headache…” she uttered as she slowly regained consciousness.
“Rebecca! We’re both trapped in here! The two creatures from earlier are outside this room with Molly and Hugh! “ I nervously explained.
“Cindy?…What? We’re trapped?” she asked in confusion.
“Yeah! We have to do something!” I replied.
“I’ve got the keys in my pocket. They open every door in this daycare.” She said as she walked towards the door, pulled out her keys and opened it with ease.
“Great! Now we have to find Molly and Hugh!” I said as we exited the playroom.
“But…but those things…they’re still in here, aren’t they? We have to leave! We have to leave now!” Rebecca worryingly replied as her face went pale and she started hyperventilating again.
“We can leave after we get Molly and Hugh! Didn’t you come here because Hugh was missing?” I exclaimed.
“It’s no use! This place is haunted, we’re all cursed now! I need to go home…yes, I need a long shower…I need to go home…GO HOME!” she yelled in panic before she sprinted towards the exit and left the building screaming.
I descended the staircase and went to the boiler room again, I knew they’d be there. Hugh and Molly were laying on the floor inside the two circles the creatures had prepared for them while the entities grabbed them both by their arms and legs, the bigger one grabbing Molly and the smaller one grabbing Hugh. Of course, I had been so foolish to think it was all about me? I was never their main target, they always aimed to get Molly and Hugh from the start, I was nothing but the pawn they needed to gather all the other pieces together in the right place at the right time.
The two creatures dissolved into thin air as Molly and Hugh started twitching, their bodies began to morph and distort in ways I didn’t think were possible. Their hair started to fall off as their skin became something akin to melting wax. I rushed towards them and tightly grabbed Molly’s hand.
“CINDY…Cindy…Cin…dy…Cin…dy…” Molly shouted repeatedly as her voice started to distort and became increasingly harder to understand. Her hand turned pale as an intense wave of pain went through my body, I lost consciousness a split-second later.
When I woke up, I found myself all alone, the creatures, Molly, Hugh…everyone was gone. As I roamed the daycare, I noticed it looked just as rundown and abandoned as when I first stepped foot inside the place, no trace remained of the vibrant and lively daycare of 2001, the cobwebs, the moldy walls, the broken toys and decaying kiddie attractions, they were all back.
I jumped back as I felt my smartphone vibrating inside my pocket, it had been inactive ever since I was sent back to 2001, but it seemed it was working again.
“Hi, Cindy! I’ve just finished my shift and I’m on my way to pick you up at the daycare! How was your first day, dear?” My mother said through the phone as I broke into tears.