“Some people swore that house was haunted,” said Liv. “Come on tell me you don’t believe that, it’s just a babysitting job for the weekend than we’ll have enough to buy a costume for the Halloween party.”
“Ugh, alright.” Both girls, Liv and Maddie, walk up to the large, black, guarded gate. “See, look! It’s locked! They don’t want us here!”
Maddi snatches Liv as the gate opens and begins walking towards the front door. Before knocking, Liv is shaken up. Maddie tries telling her that nothing is wrong, but is interrupted by a dark and very tall shadow. A man with a dingy, black and white suit opens the door.
“Hello girls how may I help you?”
Maddi pulls out the babysitting flyer.
“Oh, yes. Well of course come in. Uhm, quick darling, hurry, we have visitors!” A woman races down the staircase with open arms for a hug, red lipstick on her teeth.
“It’s so nice to meet you girls. We’re Mrs. and Mr. Ward. Thirsty?”
Liv says no with confusion while Maddi interrupts,  nudges her, and answers for both,”Yes, very!”
“Honey go fetch them something to drink please,” says Mrs. Ward. “Uhm, Tobias sweetie! Come down stairs.”
Liv says, “Tobias?”
“Tobias, this is Liv and Maddi. They are going to be watching you while daddy and I go out.”
Tobias has a blank stare and doesn’t answer while hiding behind Mrs. Ward. Maddi bends down to his level, and begins baby-mouthing to him.
“We’re going to have so much fun!” she says.
Tobias runs off leaving Maddi embarrassed and Liv confused again. It’s 8:30 and Mr. and Mrs. Ward head out the door.
“Oh, wait, I almost forgot!”
Mrs. Ward pulls out a sheet of folded paper labeled “TOBIAS”.
“Follow these steps and nothing should go wrong,” she says with a smirk and laugher. The sound from the door echos throughout the house. Maddi begins walking towards the empty living room accidentally knocking over Tobais. By the time she gets up, Tobias is nowhere to be found.
“What the–”
It’s 9:15 and Liv and Maddi are catching up on their Netflix when the lights flicker on and off.
“Dude what was that?”
“Where is that little boy?”
“Maddi, where are you?”
“Who was that?” Liv begins to panic.
“SHH! Gosh, Liv I’m right here!”
Maddi turns on her flashlight and finds the folded sheet of paper at the tip of her toe. She opens it and reads #1. Â
“Make sure Tobias is in his room and the door locked.”
Maddi and Liv run upstairs to find an empty bed. They read #2.
“Check and see if all three knives are there and the cabinet is locked.”
They run to the kitchen and find two missing. Liv reads #3.
“Be in your room by 10 o’clock.”
They look at their phones and realize it’s 9:59. When they reach the bedroom, the door slams shut in their faces. A creaky sound gets their attention and they turn around to see Tobias with his finger pointed at Liv saying, “Basement.” then disappears.
#4 reads, “Lock the basement.”
With Liv and Maddie freaked out, they slowly walk toward the basement door. Something catches their attention, Maddi heads down the stairs with Liv right behind her looking out. Maddi discovers a box full of dusty old newspapers with all of the covers reading, “Missing Babysitters”. Before they can finish reading, the basement door closes leaving it pitch black and locked with Mr. and Mrs. Ward on the other side smiling.
I wish we could say nothing was the same, but months later the babysitting flyer is back up.