My friend said it was easy money. You just give her toys, serve her diner, put her to sleep, and then you enjoy the big flat screen TV and sound system all night while eating the good meal that the mom made you. Easy. She was 9, and apparently, she was a sweetheart. She followed all the rules her parents were giving by herself, so you barely needed to do anything. And, last but not least, the pay was good: 90$ per night. Now that’s what hooked me to be honest. My girlfriend Sarah really wanted to go on a city trip this summer, but I was kind of broke because of all of my stupid purchases (stuff like CDs, don’t judge me, I still enjoy buying CDs). So basically, I needed money, and for that, I would have babysit anyone really, because I don’t think Sarah could endure another plan failing because of my incapacity to resist my compulsive purchases, and I can understand that. With everything she did for me through the years, babysit a child for a few nights was honestly the least I could do.
This started a few days ago. I was just procrastinating, listening to some music in my room while doing some sketches for a personal art project I have. Nobody was home so I could put the sound level higher than usual, which was nice. At some point, I looked at my phone and saw a message. It was from William, the friend of a friend. We met at a party just a few weeks ago and talked a bit but we didn’t really connect in any way, so I was wondering why he would text me.
-Hey mark, remember me? We met at Julian’s party.
-Yes of course, how are u?
-im good thx. So, I have an offer for you, a job, julian said you could use one.
- yeah, he’s right, what is it?
-well, you know, ive been babysitting this kid for some time. She’s very sweet and cool, and her parents pay good, 90$ per night, and they need someone that is available pretty oftne, so it’s a good deal.
-that’s a very good deal!! How often do they need a babysitting?
- like, 4 times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less, depends.
-that’s amazing, thank you!! Why can’t you do it anymore?
- well, you know, finals are coming so, I need time to study hard ha ha
-that’s so cool of you to propose me, did everyone else said no xD?
-no, no, julian just told me you’d be great for the job and that you needed money, so.
- you’ll thank him for me
-sure. Here’s the number of the mom:
And he gave me the number. Before contacting her, I asked a few more details to William, but everything he told me convinced me to take the offer immediately.
I messaged the mom soon after…
-Hello, I’m William’s friend, Mark, he told me you needed someone for a babysitting?
-Hi Mark, yes, thank you for being so fast to reach out, we were worried we couldn’t find anyone. You can call me Jenny, I’m her mom. Did William explain everything to you? We pay 90$ per night, is that okay?
-Yes, he told me the details, and yes, I’m okay with the pay. Thank you.
-Great, do you think you can start tomorrow night? This will be a test, if everything goes right, we’ll take you for other nights.
-Totally, I’m free.
-Great, we would need you from 5 p.m. to 11, is that okay?
-Yes
-Great, see you tomorrow Mark. I send you the address right now.
And there it was, I had the job. Not hard.
The next day was school. When I arrived that morning, I took a moment to find Julian, just to thank him, he’s the one that put me on the job after all.
It was a normal day. When the last class ended, it was already 3:30, so I rushed out of the school. I had to go back home to drop my stuff, take a shower and go to the babysitting for 5 p.m., so I better hurry.
I went home did what I had to, took a book in case the TV was off, and went to the address the mom gave me.
It was a big and nice house. I understood why the pay was this good, those people had more money than they needed. I walked to the door and knocked. A surprisingly young man opened and welcomed me. He introduced him as the dad of the girl, John, and made me a little tour of their home. A large living room, a fancy kitchen, everything was just very cozy and pretty. Being paid to spend the evening here was a job I was more than willing to do again and again. Eventually the mom came down the stairs with their daughter, Claire. When I saw her, my only thought was: “aw, she’s pretty cute”, and that’s coming from me, I really am not a fan of kids. She seemed a bit shy seeing me, so I tried to look as shy as she was, I don’t know why, on the moment I thought this would be a nice way of making her feel better with me. Strangely enough, it seemed to work a little, so, who knows, maybe I was made to work with kids.
The parents gave her the basic rules she had to follow, and showed me everything I needed. The mom made diner for both of us, I just had to put it in the microwave.
After that, they left. Claire and I were in the living room and there was an awkward silence for a few seconds. I broke it, asking her if she wanted to play with her toys before eating. She said yes, and went in her room to take some stuff. She came back carrying a bunch of Legos and put them all on the ground. I sat on the sofas and took out my phone when she asked what I was doing. I just said that I was going to play games on my phone, and she stopped me, saying that she wanted me to play with her. I didn’t want to make her sad so I agreed, it was just half an hour before diner, I could do that. She seemed to have already a whole backstory for her minifigures because most of the time, I had no idea what was happening or what I was doing, I was just following her instructions, but at least she was having fun.
After a moment, it was time to eat. She didn’t resist so I took out the lasagna that was ready for both of us, put it in the microwave, and there we were, eating in silence.
We were at the table when she had a little gasp and looked at me with a strange face. I asked her if she was okay, if she had something stuck in her throat, but she quickly calmed and told me it was okay. Soon after, she started talking to me, but, let’s just say, her tone was different.
“So, William is gone?” she asked.
“huh, yes, he had to study, you understand?”
“Yeah, right, “study””. She sighed. Her tone was extremely confident all of sudden. Then, a little smile formed on her face. “So, what’s your name?”
“Hum, I’m Mark, your mom told you that earlier, remember?” I probably sounded a bit weirded out, and that’s because I was. Her tone shift was extremely disturbing, I didn’t know whether to laugh or to worry in front of this child that was suddenly acting like the boss of a big enterprise.
“Hello, Mark, I’m sorry I didn’t introduce me better earlier, I’m Claire, very nice to meet you.”
As she said that, she presented her hand for me to shake it, always with that little smile. I figured she was roleplaying a character and decided that I should just go along with it, and I took her hand. Then, she grabbed it with an extreme strength, put it on the table in a second, took her fork and stabbed my hand with it.
I stood there for a second in shock before letting out a scream of pain, it was hurting me so much. I looked at her in disbelief, and she was just sitting there, smiling at me. My instinct made me push her violently and she fell on the floor. I put a towel around my hand after taking out the fork.
“WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY??” I was screaming, I had no idea what to do.
“And what did you just do? Have you seen how you just pushed me? You’re lucky it didn’t make any mark you know, my parents would be so mad.” She was still smiling, clearly playing with me.
“That’s it, you’re going to sleep, I’ll tell your parents what you did!” I was trying my best to sound intimidating considering the pain and shock I was experiencing.
“Fine, sorry, I’ll go… Can you help me up?”
I wasn’t really thinking straight, and I reached out to her with my hand again. Without waiting a second, she opened her mouth and bit me, right where she already stabbed me. I took my hand away from her. I couldn’t believe it and was honestly terrified at the view of this 9-year-old, sitting on the floor, laughing at me with her mouth filled with blood.
“Can I take another bite?” She said between two laughs.
I was shitting myself. I grabbed another towel and started running. I could hear her chasing me because she kept on laughing. I saw the bathroom. It was the only room that had a key to close it so I rushed in and closed it behind me, making sure it was locked.
When I was in, she knocked on the door calmly.
“I’m still hungry you know. So if you could open the door…” She sounded amused by the situation, but she was the only one. I was sitting on the floor, scared to death. How did that just happen so fast?
“Please, I need my tummy full if I have to sleep” She kept having her little laughs between each sentence, that was driving me crazy. I didn’t answer.
We both stayed silent for a moment, but I could hear that she was still right behind the door.
I had left my phone in the living room like a fucking dumbass. I decided to wash all the blood that was on my hand and found where they were putting their first aid stuff, so I made myself a bandage.
After some time, she started talking again.
“You know, now, after tasting a bit of you, I think I know you. Yeah. I see some things. I know about the fantasies you have on miss Harper, you really have a dirty mind you know that? I see the money you keep taking in your mother’s wallet. But that’s pretty boring… Ho but I think I see something better, let me see that…” She stayed silent for a moment.
“Now that’s interesting. That’s finally something I can work with… It’s been a while. I know about Martin, Mark. I know what you did. I also know what happened after, that YOU don’t know. But I’ll keep that story for later.” She stayed silent again for a little bit.
“Yes Mark, I think I’m going to keep you. Now, be ready, this might hurt a bit, but it won’t be long, okay?”
Just after she said that, the hand where she bit me started hurting like crazy, I screamed and fell on the floor immediately. And a second after, it was over, it didn’t hurt anymore.
“See, it’s already over! You don’t need to be a drama queen about it, even Claire screamed less.” There was another silence while I was trying to catch my breathe.
“Now, I’m going to take a shower, and then I’ll go to sleep, don’t wake me up okay? Ho, also, if you’re thinking about telling anyone about this, like my parents, or the cops, feel free to do so, but then I will tell everyone what happened to Martin and how to find him. I could also choose to take revenge on that little girlfriend of you, or your brother, I have a lot of choice. Have a good night!”
To say I was in shock would be an understatement, I was petrified. If you’re wondering, everything she said was 100% accurate, and were things I never talked to anyone about.
Martin’s story was the most shocking. This is something nobody should know, and yet she had just talked about it. I’ll make it short for you:
It was exactly 9 years ago. I was in a school trip, and we were visiting a big nature reserve. Eventually, we had some free time to wander around not too far from the teacher. Me and a classmate, Martin, got to a river that had a very strong current and we were just throwing rocks. We got into a stupid argument, and the tension increased until the moment when I pushed him too much. He fell in the river. I heard him scream, and immediately after, I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t see him either, he disappeared in the water so fast. In my head, I had just killed him, so I got back to the group, shaking and absolutely in shock and I never told anyone about it. They never found him. I am living with that guilt ever since, and, although I can find some peace at certain moments, most of the time, I can’t take this out of my head.
And now, a little girl I never met told me she knew about it. That didn’t make any sense.
I waited maybe half an hour before getting out of that bathroom, I was too scared after all that happened. When I got out, I was walking very slowly, ready to fight back at any moment. I headed to her bedroom, to see if she was indeed sleeping, and she was. She looked peaceful and seemed in a deep sleep, it was like she wasn’t the same person anymore. I got out of her room and silently closed the door behind me so I didn’t woke her, I really didn’t wanted to interact with her more than that. I went down to the kitchen and the living room, and everything was cleaned. On the table was a little paper that read: “I cleaned everything, good night 😊”. I took her note and put it in my pocket.
The 3 hours that followed are like the memory of a dream. I sat in the sofa, completely flabbergasted by what I just experienced. My hand was still hurting, but more like a cramp that came and went, nothing as strong as before.
I honestly considered telling her parents about the events during the time I had to think. Maybe it was the most reasonable thing to do after all, what could she really do, she was just a child, and I could just refute the story about Martin. Plus, I had the bite as evidence, the marks would probably match her teeth. However, thinking about it again, I remembered the unbelievable strength she had when she grabbed my hand, the calm with which she put her fork deep into my hand, the blood in her smiling mouth, her laughter, thinking about it still sent shivers down my spine. I also thought that maybe her parents knew, that it was some sort of trap. All I knew is that I had a lot of questions for William. Did that happen to him too? Is that why he left the job?
Eventually, around 11 p.m., the parents came back. I was a bit anxious when I heard them, still thinking that they could be in on some sort of elaborate trap, but they acted very casually towards me. I don’t remember exactly what we said, just that they were totally normal and that I was trying to not sound completely in shock. They gave me my money, thanked me, and I got out of the house. I had a feeling of relief. I was not in the same house as that creepy child anymore.
I don’t remember my walk back home very vividly, my memories are kind of blurry by this point, but I got to my home, and I just fell on my bed and fell asleep immediately.
I woke up this morning. Thank God I didn’t have class today. I felt pretty good physically all things considered. The house was empty, everyone was at work or at school. I decided that I should change the bandage on my hand. I went to the bathroom and took the bandage off. To my surprise, the wounds had already healed a lot. You could still see them, but everything was closed, and I didn’t feel much pain. Still, I made another bandage to make sure that nobody could see the bite, I can explain that I cut myself with glass, but if someone see a bite, I wouldn’t really know how to explain that.
Right after that, I took out my phone and immediately texted William: “Hey, isn’t the girl a bit weird?”. I didn’t want to sound crazy by telling him everything from the get-go, maybe she never acted like that with anyone before.
I eventually realized that I was insanely hungry. That made sense, my last meal was the lasagna from last night, and I didn’t really get to finish it, so, I took a very big breakfast. Cereals, toasts, yoghurts and more. The problem was, it didn’t really satisfy me. I was still very hungry. I decided to order some food from a nearby Asian restaurant, I didn’t really feel like going outside. When the delivery guy came, I took the bag and started grabbing my money in my pocket. There was a delicious smell, I couldn’t wait to eat. But I realized pretty fast that the smell wasn’t from the bag, and that I didn’t know that smell, but you have no idea how good it was. I was wondering where it came from, but the answer was more and more evident as I was searching for it. It was the delivery guy. As I came to that realization, I felt a sudden and intense urge: my instinct wanted to jump on this guy and rip out his throat, not out of anger, just to enjoy him, and I don’t know in which way. My sanity took over and I throw the money at him and shut the door violently.
I didn’t eat the noodles I ordered. I just sat in the sofa, reflecting on what I just felt, and realizing that, deep down, this feeling was still very much present. I know what you’re thinking, and I think about it too, I’m not stupid, I can put two and two together: being bit, feeling weird, healing faster than usual, and that impulse I had, I’ve seen enough movies to suspect the same thing you are. I just, maybe, don’t want to believe it I guess.
After some thinking, my phone made a noise, I had a message. I took it out, hoping that it was William.
Jenny: “Hello Mark. Congratulations, you passed the test! Claire said you’ve been very nice and even played Lego’s with her. If you’re available, we could need your help tonight too, we’re having a family diner, but it will end to late for Claire. Could you be there from 5 to midnight? Thank you in advance.”
I didn’t know what to do. I was fucking scared, but I also clearly wasn’t in my normal state, and I didn’t know where else I could find answers. If I wanted to go to the bottom of this, I couldn’t do it without that child. So, I said yes.
After doing this, I decided to post my story here, hoping for some advice, or to at least leave a trace of those events if anything were to happen to me tonight.
I have a few hours before leaving, so I am available to answer questions for a little while.