lmao the person who copies my stories has six accounts with over 250 reposted stories now- like isn't there something more productive they could be doing with their time?
also, it's almost Halloween! I'm very excited. Halloween is my favourite holiday.
Reviews!
MoonTheMagical: awww those keychains sound cute! One time, I sewed a bunch of owl keychains and sold them for three dollars. That was a very fun time. And yeah, social studies is very cool. I had a social studies teacher who kept saying 'libary'. Without the R. That annoyed me for a while, lol.
Qxr: hehehehehehehehehehehehe, I wonder...
SomeRandomRobo: Really? Stage crew sounds so cool! I want to try it out sometime, I think it would be awesome. And those costumes sound...uh...deadly! Ha. Ha. Get it?
Guest: thank you :))
Onto the chapter!
Chapter 62
Baby Sit-ees From Heck
It was a normal evening at the Afton household.
Elizabeth was happily lying in Michael's lap as he watched the new episode of The Immortal And The Restless. Evan was in a plaid rocking chair reading a book about insects. Right now, he was reading about how wasps lay their eggs inside of spiders, then the babies eat the spider from the inside out. Complete with full-colour! Ultra-cool.
And William was running a brush through his fluffy shoulder-length black hair, frowning at the thin strips of silver that showed. He was only thirty-seven, that wasn't that old. He stepped back, adjusting his plum-coloured tie, and smiled at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing his hair down, with a crisp mahogany suit and dark purple tie. He gave it finger-guns. Nice.
William walked into the living room, then stopped when he saw Liz and Michael watching TV. He frowned.
"Mike, I thought I told you that that show was inappropriate for Liz." He scolded.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I didn't even ask for her to be here. She just came up and sat on my lap."
Elizabeth nodded vigorously. "It's true, I did that."
William opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. "You know what, I don't really care. Anyways, I'm heading out to the business trip with Henry soon." He told them.
Elizabeth grinned and clapped her hands in excitement. "Yayyy! I love it when Mikey baby-sits. He always makes us ice cream, and he lets me use allllll the toppings."
William paused. "Uh, Michael isn't baby-sitting for you three. I've hired a nice lady named Carly as a substitute, and she'll be here in five minutes."
There was a collective gasp from the three kids in front of him. Michael shot an angry ocean-blue look at his father.
"But why?! Whenever you leave us alone, which is way too much in my opinion, I always look after Lizzy and Ev. Why are you hiring some rando now?" He cried out in outrage.
And it was true. William was never there when Elizabeth and Evan got home from elementary school, which meant they were by themselves for a whole hour, at least until Michael got home from middle school. And chaotic five-year-old plus timid seven-year-old equaled a huge mess that Michael was stuck cleaning up. Then William would come home, make some boxed or freezer food, eat dinner and make small talk, then stay and work in his office all night. Occasionally, he might read in the living room, and tolerate a bit of hugging from Elizabeth, but that was extremely rare.
Which left Michael to basically be the second parent, making snacks, reading them stories, tucking them in...well, not really Evan. Michael didn't particularly like Evan. He was too much of a sheep, an idiot crybaby who was simply a bother.
But back to the real world, William was rolling his eyes at him.
"Because the last time I left you alone for a weekend, you burned the freaking laundry room down!" William yelled.
Elizabeth giggled, remembering the incident. "Oh yeah. I performed a demonic ritual on my elephant stuffie."
"Mom said that was your fault, Dad." Evan corrected him. "Because you neglect us."
Michael frowned. "Wait, why can't Mom just watch us?"
William face-palmed. "I do not neglect you. I'm just a busy man. And your mother's visiting her father in New Harmony, remember? He had a stroke last week."
"Oh, right. Is he gonna die?" Elizabeth asked, lolling her head to the side. "'Cause I saw this show on TV where they cut open dead people and look at their gross slimy organs!"
"Alright, no more TV for you," William replied, slate-gray eyes wide. Was that what they get up to when I'm not around? Maybe he really should be supervising them more…
Elizabeth clutched her chest. "I'm having a stroke!" She cried out, flopping onto the carpet and twisting around. If Clara was there, she'd have a fit about Liz being offensive, or something. But William honestly didn't care, so he let her roll and slither around on the floor like some kind of snake.
Evan's lower lip wobbled. "B-but I don't want a babysitter!" He whimpered.
"Don't be a baby, Evan." William scoffed. Evan looked down at his feet, ashamed.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. William stood up to go get it, and the three siblings gave each other looks of worry.
"What are we gonna do? Brynn in my class says that baby-sitters make you go to bed at seven, and force-feed you carrot sticks until you turn orange!" Elizabeth made wild hand movements and wrapped her hand around her throat like she was choking. Her low amber pigtails swung as she flopped on the couch like a fish out of water.
Evan's sapphire eyes glistened. "B-but I hate carrot sticks." He sniffled and hugged his stuffed Fredbear closer.
Michael shoved his brother. "C'mon, Ev, stop being such a crybaby. Listen, this baby-sitter's gonna suck, but maybe we could get her to leave earlier than usual…"
"Like kill her!" Elizabeth gasped, throwing her hands in the air with a devilish grin on her face. Michael put a careful hand on her shoulder, looking slightly concerned.
"No, Lizzy, we're not going to kill her."
"Tie her up, gag her, and lock her in the closet until she withers away and becomes a dehydrated, mummified husk? I saw it in a book at our school library." Elizabeth suggested, fire in her juniper-green eyes.
Evan swallowed, looking a bit juniper-green himself.
"No, no, we're not going to tie her up! Jeez…" Michael's cobalt-blue eyes were wide. Gah, why did Elizabeth constantly have to be this violent?
Elizabeth slumped, squishing her cheek back onto the couch cushions. Then, she bounced back up, probably with an idea that involved manipulation or arson. "What if...we prank her? I've seen that on TV! We could fill her shoes with shaving cream, or pour hot sauce in her eyes, or stab her with toothpicks!"
Michael snapped his fingers. "I like it! Not the last two, we're not going to blind her or maim her. But we could annoy her so much that she gives up and leaves! You two are insanely bratty, clingy, and downright obnoxious, so I bet this'll drive her out!"
Evan's mouth dropped open. "You think I'm bratty and clingy?! I am not!"
"Fine, but you're a dumb crybaby and you know it! Now come on, let's go see this 'Carly' lady." Michael instructed them. Evan frowned, but followed his brother, with Elizabeth happily skipping between the two, clutching Michael's hand tightly in her own.
They walked over to the front door, where William was standing there talking to a short woman with long straight dark brown hair and eyes the colour of a freshly brewed mug of root beer. She was wearing a simple red tank top, an olive-green jacket, and blue skinny jeans with rips in the knees.
William turned around when he saw them and smiled, a little forcefully.
"Oh, there you guys are. Michael, Evan, Elizabeth, this is Carly." He moved an arm out as if to show her off.
Carly leaned down to be eye level with Evan and Elizabeth. She smiled, revealing white teeth like piano keys. "Hi there! It's so nice to meet you."
Evan shrank back, ducking behind William, the nearest tall person that wasn't Michael, for protection. Hmph. Elizabeth wasn't impressed by her brother's lack of bravery.
"I can smell your fear." She hissed at Carly, her hands clasped behind her back. Carly laughed, a high-pitched sound.
"You're adorable!" She cooed. Elizabeth growled, taking a step back but keeping eye contact.
"Sorry about the short notice. You don't mind, do you?" William asked her, not really caring either way.
Carly waved a hand, laughing it off.
"Oh, it's really no big deal! It's perfect timing, actually. My boyfriend ended up canceling our plans this weekend, haha!"
"Wow, that's really terrible. You should kill yourself!" Elizabeth suggested, nodding vigorously.
William glared at her. "Liz. Shut up." He hissed between gritted teeth. Elizabeth made a quick throat-slashing motion at Carly with narrowed eyes. William sighed and turned back to Carly, who looked a little shocked at the five-year-old making death threats at her.
"I'm sorry, she can be a bit of a handful." He told her, face void of emotion.
"Yeah. I am a handful. So you'd better watch your back, missy." Elizabeth told her, crossing her arms.
William grumbled to himself. He really hoped Liz wouldn't turn Carly off the job. While he could technically leave Michael to take care of them, he was starting to get looks from the neighbors, and it would be a bother if they called child services on him. Apparently they didn't like it when he left a twelve-year-old alone all night to take care of his elementary-aged siblings, who knew?
Carly smiled wryly. "Kids these days, am I right?" She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
Michael smirked. Good. Elizabeth had managed to royally screw up the first introduction by just being her usual inconsiderate self. Now all they had to do was amp it up.
William checked his watch, trying to leave the awkward silence. "Well, looks like it's about time for me to leave. I'm going to go pick up Henry, then we're driving to Saffron. If you kids need anything, then Carly, my number and other important contacts like their doctor or relatives are right by the phone. There's some frozen pizzas in the freezer, and you can ask the kids where everything is. Sounds good?"
Carly gave him a thumbs up. "Can do. Have fun, Mr. Afton!"
"Mm. Bye!" William was already out the door and heading down the long, winding driveway on the hill to his purple van.
Carly shut the door and turned to the kids.
"So, how old are you three sweethearts?" She asked, looking at each of them in turn.
"I'm twelve, and don't call me sweetheart." Michael replied, crossing his arms, which were covered in an oversized black jean jacket. He was also wearing a crimson band tee and saggy denim jeans with rips.
Carly nodded stiffly. "Ah. Okay." She turned to a solemn-looking Evan, who was cradling his stuffed Fredbear like he was a mother and it was his baby. "And you are...Ivan?"
"It's Evan," Evan corrected her. "And I'm seven. See, it rhymes. Isn't that cool?"
"It's very cool." Carly told him, smiling. Her lips were painted in a deep rouge colour. She crouched down to make eye contact with Elizabeth.
"And you're the little spitfire, eh? How old are you?"
"I'm your face years old." Elizabeth told her, choosing not to answer the question.
Carly made her face look very sad. "C'mon, Elizabeth. I'm a friend! Friends tell each other stuff all the time."
"No, you're a stranger, and strangers lead you to vans and axe murder you. Are you going to axe murder me?" Elizabeth batted her long eyelashes innocently.
Carly met her gaze seriously. "That depends. Are you going to axe murder me?"
"If I can get the chance. Or I could poison you with bleach. Which would you prefer?" Elizabeth cocked her head to one side, her ginger ponytails swinging.
"Neither is preferable, Lizzy." Carly replied. Elizabeth gasped suddenly. How dare she call her Lizzy? That was Michael's nickname for her! Elizabeth stepped back, her face turning a lovely shade of blush red in anger, and kicked Carly in the shin.
"OWW! YOU LITT- Er, I mean, Liz, don't do that! God…" Carly clutched her shin, wincing.
"Don't you ever call me Lizzy! That's Mikey's nickname for me!" Elizabeth curled up into a ball on the floor, scrunching up her face and probably planning homicide that second.
Michael led Carly to the kitchen with Evan following, leaving Elizabeth to sulk in the living room.
"We're sorry about Liz," Michael told her with a sugary sweetness to his voice. Evan almost got cavities, but he played along.
"Yeah," He agreed, taking a seat on one of the spinny stools in front of the countertop. Carly grit her teeth and sat down.
"It's fine," She sighed. "You two seem like perfectly nice kids. And Liz is young, she'll grow out of it. My younger sister was quite a brat when she was five, ha-ha!"
"Are you calling Ellie a brat?" Evan asked timidly. He made his face look very sad.
Carly's eyes widened, and her baby-sitter instincts kicked in as she rushed to comfort him. "Oh no no no, honey! I'm just, uh, saying that five-year-olds will act out sometimes, but they get over it with time." Carly stuttered, stumbling over her words.
"Well, that's unnecessary. Because Ellie is perfect just the way she is," Evan retorted stubbornly, not meaning a single word of it. The woman was right, but Evan knew the plan. They had to get Carly away, otherwise he'd be choking on carrots by tomorrow morning. Evan hated carrots.
Carly nodded slowly, obviously not buying it. "I'm sure."
There was a moment of awkward silence before Carly placed her palms flat on the table and stood up, tossing her shiny chestnut hair over her shoulder..
"Now, who wants freezer pizzas?"
"Me!" Called Elizabeth and Evan, hopping off the chairs and over to the kitchen counters. They waited eagerly for instructions, but Michael quickly pulled them back by their shirt collars. Elizabeth yelped, placing her hands on her hips.
"Why'd you do that?" She exclaimed grouchily. Michael shot a look at the baby-sitter, who was minding her own business taking the pizzas out of their cardboard boxes and tossing them in the recycling, then placing the pizzas onto large silver trays.
"Remember our plan? We've got to prank Carly." Michael reminded his younger siblings. The three of them thought hard. What could they do? Then Evan's eyes landed on a bottle of hot sauce. He pointed it out wordlessly, and Michael's evil smirk grew wider. Perfect.
~lll~
"Pizza's ready!" Carly called from the kitchen.
The three siblings scrambled to their feet, dashing from the living room to the kitchen. They'd been watching mindless television of some slender woman with red hair and cat-like green eyes explaining how some brand of shampoo would make all the ladies fall in love with you. Elizabeth seemed fascinated, for some reason, while Evan and Michael were bored out of their minds.
But they wouldn't be bored for much longer...oh no, Carly wouldn't know what hit her. While she wasn't looking, Michael had snuck a zillion gallons of hot sauce onto Carly's pizza. The twelve-year-old grinned devilishly to himself, forcing himself to hold back an evil laugh that was brewing in his throat.
They all took their places at the table, Elizabeth digging into her pizza, especially made with plain cheese and olives on the side. Evan's had a strange combination of avocados and pineapple (yes, really), while Michael's was a simple pepperoni. Carly's was pepperoni as well, but with a special ingredient...hehehehe.
"So, your dad runs that Fredbear's place, eh?" Carly asked, picking up her slice. Michael watched, fixated.
"Mhm! Sometimes, we get to voice-act the characters in the Fredbear and Friends cartoon! I was that kid with the green hair in episode two." Evan informed her.
"I was the one with the spiraly yellow hair on episode four!" Elizabeth chimed in.
Come on, come on… Michael silently coaxed, willing the slice closer with his eyes. Just a little closer…!
Carly sunk her teeth into the slice of pizza. Michael cheered in victory, but only in his head. The babysitter frowned. Chewed the slice a little more. Then swallowed. But Michael wasn't too bothered by that. After all, some types of hot sauces took ages and ages to sink in!
But it seemed like the after effects of Carly's spicy pizza weren't happening, at least in this century. Michael frowned. What happened? I put the sauce on, I know I did!
He sighed. Maybe she was just super resilient to spicy stuff. It could happen. He may as well just eat his own pizza and try and think up a better prank later.
Michael took an extra-large bite of his pizza, watching his siblings happily chatter on about different things they got to help out with at Fredbear's.
Huh?
Was it just him or did this pizza taste-
"HOT! Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot!" Michael screeched, making a mad dash for the faucet. His slippery socks made it a little easier to skate over, as he turned the knob to 'cold' and guzzled the refreshingly dull tap water.
Carly stood up, worry showing in her brown eyes. "You okay, Mike?" She asked.
Michael stood up, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Oh yeah, just dandy." He called, a sharp bite to his voice. "Um, I might just make myself a PB and J, if that's okay!"
"Sure!" Carly yelled back, sitting back down at the table to enjoy her perfectly mild pepperoni pizza.
~lll~
"Alrighty guys, so Plan Inferno Pizza might not have gone as planned, but I feel like this next one will!" Michael said cheerfully, holding up a can of shaving cream he'd stolen from his father's bathroom.
"Are you gonna spray that in her ears?" Elizabeth asked curiously, standing on her toes to see it better. Her feet were covered in striped pink socks that matched her pink hoodie and white frilly skirt that she wore to bed.
Michael snorted. "Nah, I'm putting it in her shoes and her socks. You two need to distract her, okay? Get her out of the room without her footwear on." He instructed.
Evan and Elizabeth both nodded seriously, and the three of them split up.
Carly was on her phone texting someone in the living room when Michael walked in, shaving cream hidden under his thick jacket. Carly smiled when she saw him, and put her phone down.
"Hey, Mike. What's up?"
"Nothin." Was Michael's sullen response. Carly nodded silently, seeing he wasn't very interested in conversation, and went back to her phone.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang and Elizabeth started screaming her famous scream at the top of her lungs.
"CARLYYYYYYYYYYYY! I STUBBED MY TOEEEEEEEEEE!" She screeched.
"CARLY COME HELP ELLIE! ALSO TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF!" Evan added helpfully.
Michael did a mental face-palm. Of course Evan was that much of an idiot that he'd say that. Of freaking course.
"Oh, jeez." Carly stood up from her seat in the armchair. "Hey Mike, why do I have to take my shoes off?"
Michael thought fast. "Um, because, uh, Father doesn't like it when we track dirt upstairs. You should take off your socks, too. Just to be safe."
Carly frowned, a little skeptical, but followed his instructions anyway. She ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and Michael smirked. Perfect.
He sneakily crept over and pulled the cap off, shaking the bottle a couple of times before spraying the cloudlike shaving cream into her Vanns shoes and her raccoon-print socks.
Upstairs, Elizabeth was still playing up her injury to the max, flailing about and screaming wildly with Carly trying her best to calm her down. Evan just watched curiously.
When Elizabeth saw Michael give her a thumbs-up signal from the bottom of the stairs, she bounced back up on her feet, smiling cheerfully.
"Actually, I feel a lot better now. Thanks, Carly!" Elizabeth informed her cheekily, skipping down the stairs while humming a chipper tune to herself.
Carly face-palmed. "For the love of cheese…"
Evan patted her on the back. "Don't be sad, Carly. Come on downstairs! Put your shoes on! And your socks, too." Evan comforted her. Carly smiled softly, getting back up on her feet and heading down the stairs.
"Thanks, Ivan."
"It's actually Evan. Rhymes with seven, remember?" Evan corrected her. But Carly was already too far down the stairs to have heard him anyway.
When she arrived back in the living room, Michael was leaning against a wall, a blindingly innocent smile on his face. He batted his eyelashes.
"Hello there Carly. Elizabeth is alright, I take it?" He said smoothly. Carly gave him an odd look. "Yeah, she's fine. Why are you talking all weird?"
"I am not. This is simply my normal voice." Michael objected, putting on a heavy posh British accent - well, heavier than his usual one, anyway.
Carly giggled. "Uh-huh." She picked up her right shoe, sliding her foot into it - without socks, he should add - and yelped, quickly kicking the shoe off.
"What the heck?! What even is this?!" She screeched, wiping her foot off on the floor. Michael sure hoped she'd clean that up, considering how much sugar or paint or fluff he'd had to clean up these past five years with Liz.
Elizabeth cackled evilly, falling into the couch and squirming around. "Ha-ha, we pranked you!" She gloated.
Michael sighed in defeat. He should have guessed that his younger siblings would reveal their plot sometime or other. "Elizabeth…"
Carly turned her slightly disappointed brown gaze over to Michael.
"Mike? Is this a prank?" She asked.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Maybe it was. So what? What are you gonna do about it?"
"Are you gonna tell Dad?" Evan asked timidly, holding his plushie closer to his dark-blue-hoodie-covered chest. Carly sighed, ruffling his chocolate-brown curls.
"No, Ivan, I'm not going to tell your dad. But I am disappointed in you, Michael."
"What?!" Michael cried in outrage. "B-but they went along with it too! Didn't you guys?"
Silence.
Carly paused, then exhaled. "Listen, Mike. I get the feeling you tried to put hot sauce on my pizza, and I know that Liz didn't actually stub her toe. And I feel like she also would've been a little annoying without you two, anyways. But Mike, you're twelve. You really shouldn't have roped your siblings in."
Michael scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. Jeez, you're starting to sound like my mother."
"Your mother must be a very wise woman." Carly quipped. "And Michael, I do get it. You're used to taking care of your siblings. I mean, your father is quite busy. And I'm sure he makes lots of time for you three- "
Haha. As if.
"But you're also like a second parent, with your mom not in the house. So I must feel like some kind of intruder. But, I promise that I'm not that bad if you give me a chance. So, what do you say?" Carly held out her fist.
Michael grumbled. He honestly didn't care for Carly that much, but...he supposed he could tolerate her. For now.
"Fine." He agreed, crossing his arms.
"Don't leave me hanging!" Carly pouted.
"Yeah, Mikey, don't leave her hanging!" Elizabeth agreed, deciding that the couch was actually a trampoline.
Michael muttered something colourful under his breath, but reluctantly fist-bumped her. Everyone cheered.
"Okay, kids, I think it's about time you three got to bed." Carly said, standing up. Usually, they'd complain about this, but it was now nine o'clock, past Liz and Evan's bedtimes, and they were completely tired out from all that pranking.
~lll~
The next morning, they were all casually devouring their breakfast. Candy cereal for Evan, regular Gloomy-O's for Liz (she got hyper whenever she had candy cereal), and raisin toast for Carly and Michael. Freshly poured orange juice was placed in front of everyone.
Carly was calmly reading through her news feed, Michael was daydreaming about driving some cool race car, while Elizabeth was absolutely demolishing Evan at Rock, Paper Scissors.
But then suddenly, the lock was jiggled on the door and a tall, slender woman with her strawberry blonde hair in a messy bun and an oversized burgundy hoodie burst through the door.
Evan tilted his head to the side, scrunching up his nose in confusion. "Mom? I thought you were in New Harmony!"
Clara took in quick breaths, taking in the scene in front of her. She calmed herself down, then looked back up, her emerald eyes flashing.
"Kids, I need you to come quickly. Your father has been in an accident."
To Be Continued…
A/N
Dun dun dunnnnn! What accident has our favourite crusty dusty murder man gotten into? Find out in later chapters!
Question/Challenge: What is your favourite season? I think I like summer and fall best.
Have a great day/night, and remember to feed your couches!
~ghoOoOoOoOost