THE BABYSITTER

THE BABYSITTER

 

 

 

After coming home from school, Isaac saw his mom seated on the large couch in the living room with a glass of red wine in her hand, her eyes glued to the screen of her laptop, and her phone stuck to her ear.

She has always been a workaholic, and earned a well-known good reputation as a lawyer. As a forty year-old woman, her fifteen years of experience allowed her to spend her time traveling around the world, winning every case she had taken interest in.

Standing behind a wall where his mom couldn’t see him, he listened carefully to her talking on the phone.

“Hello, yes of course, do you have every detail of the case?”

Isaac knew she was going to travel again. He was disappointed, sometimes they would stay away for weeks.

He was out of his thoughts when he heard his mom’s words,

“Okay, we will be there tonight.”

Tonight? Really? He was excited for the plan they all made for tonight, but it was obviously going to get cancelled.

He walked up to his mom, painting a smile on his face, but deep down, he felt like he was going to breakdown at any moment. They never really spent time with him and his little brother.

His dad was a famous photographer, so he would travel for months. He was always on the news, and worldwide magazines.

As he sat down beside his mom, she looked up at him with a guilt expression on her face. “Hey sweetie, how was school?”

“It was great as always,” he said, forcing a smile.

“Your dad is upstairs, go say hi.”

“Oh, he’s back! Yeah I’ll go,” Isaac happily replied, but he knew this wasn’t going to last for long.

Throwing his backpack on the couch, he ran up the stairs, and saw his dad’s door open. He was so excited to see him after all these months.

He knocked.

“Come in,” his dad replied.

Walking inside, Isaac saw his father folding his clothes, and placing them in a bag. Isaac knew it, so he smiled in agony, “Hey Dad, how are you?” he said in a calm voice.

“I’m good son, you’ve grown tall!”

Chuckling, he sat on the bed “yeah.”

“Isaac?”

“Yes?”

“Your birthday is in two weeks.”

“Yes it is”

“So what do you want for your twelfth birthday?”

“I want you guys home,” he said in a low voice.

“Aren’t you going to answer me?”

“I don’t want anything. I’m just turning twelve, so what can I possibly want?”

“Oh come on buddy! It’s your birthday,” his dad protested, walking towards him, and placing his hand on his son’s shoulder.

“I really don’t want anything. I already have everything,”

Everybody knew the Parries family was insanely rich.

“Dinner is ready,” his mom yelled from downstairs.

“Come on, let’s go!” Isaac said as he walked towards the door.

“Yeah, blow me off like that,” his dad laughed.

As they went downstairs, Lizzy was placing food on their plates.

Isaac took his seat next to his little brother Noah, who was eight years old.

Noah smiled at his brother. They were close, Noah would always rely on Isaac due to their parents’ almost permanent absence. So, he was the one who took care of his little brother even though their mom used to call her sister, Aunt Carla, to take care of them every time they traveled.

His dad took a seat next to his wife.

“Josh, can you come here for a second, please?” Isaac’s mom said to her husband.

He walked with her out of the dining room.

Isaac looked at his brother playing with his food. Knowing what they were going to say, he whispered to his brother, “Hey, it’s okay.”

“They always leave,” Noah said, as sadness filled his voice, and his eyes watered.

Isaac didn’t want to see his brother cry. Being eleven, he had a lot of responsibilities, including taking care of his beloved brother. He decided to be always by his side, and never let him feel lonely. That was his biggest goal in life.

While wiping his brother’s tears, they heard footsteps approaching. “They have to, but you have me, and I’ll never leave you, okay? Now don’t cry.”

Noah nodded at him as their parents came, and took their seats.

“So… my sons, we have something to talk about,” their father said.

Both kids nodded.

“So… your mom, and I are going out of town for work. We are really sorry that we wouldn’t be here to celebrate your birthday with you Isaac,” their father said with a sad voice.

“It’s okay dad, we’re kind of used to this,” Isaac replied.

“We are really sorry kids. I really wish we could be here, but we have to leave tonight. I guess it means we have to postpone our plan of fun family night,” their mom said.

“It’s really okay Mom,” Isaac said, Noah was quite.

“Thank you, guys. I’m going to call Aunt Carla to see if she can come take care of you,” their mother said while getting up to call Carla.

While each of the parents was busy with their phones, Isaac looked at his little brother,

“Hey, come on! Finish your dinner, and we’ll have a fun brothers’ night,” Isaac said, smiling widely at Noah.

Noah seemed to like the idea. He quickly nodded at his brother with a beautiful, deep dimples smile, and shining blue eyes. His black curly hair was messy, and bounced cutely as he nodded at him.

Isaac looked exactly like his brother, except that he was a bit paler, and his hair was brown. They both had similar face structure; strong jaw, and wide smile with dimples. They were both so beautiful.

As the brothers finished their dinner, their mom came, and sat down around the table with them.

“Carla is out of town for few days,” Lizzy said, while looking at her husband.

“We can get a babysitter,” Josh said, still typing on his phone.

Both brothers looked at each other.

“Is that safe?” Lizzy said with a worried tone. They just had 3 hours before leaving.

“Yeah, I guess it is. I can call one of my friends who used to have a babysitter for his kid.”

“Oh honey, that would be great,” Lizzy replied, looking at her two sons as they smiled awkwardly at her.

Josh called his friend. It took him only few minutes to end the call. “He is sending me her number, and information in a second.”

His phone’s notification popped up. Opening the text, he gave his wife the number after they went through the information.

Name - Eva Anders

Age - 21 years old

Experience in the field - 5 years of experience

There was also a photo of her attached; long thick black hair, almond shaped honey brown eyes, slim face, and high cheekbones. She was very pretty.

Lizzy called, and a warm voice answered, “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Eva Anders?”

“Yes, Eva speaking.”

“My name is Lizzy Parries. My husband’s friend gave us your number, he told us that you are a babysitter.”

“Yes, I am.”

“We need someone to babysit our kids. Could you do that?” Lizzy asked, hoping for a positive response.

“Yeah, sure.”

“That’s great. Can you be here by 10 tonight? We will be heading out at 11:00 pm,” Lizzy said with a smile on her face.

“Okay I’ll be there at 10.”

“I will send you the address now, thank you very much.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

After saying their goodbyes, Lizzy looked at her sons who were both looking down, so she kissed them on their cheeks with a wide smile. “I’ll make sure to bring you guys gifts, and toys.”

They both looked up at her smiling.

After diner, the boys went to Isaac’s room, leaving their mom cleaning up the table, and their dad was still on his phone.

“Isaac, can we watch a movie?” Noah asked while climbing the stairs.

“Yeah sure, which movie do you want to watch?”

“Dragon Ball!”

“Okay! But first let’s see who wins the race to my bedroom,” Isaac said as he started running.

“That’s cheating!!” Noah yelled from behind as he started to run after his brother.

When they reached the room, Isaac opened its door, and launched himself on his bed, followed by his brother. They were both laughing, and tickling each other.

As they caught their breath a bit, Isaac got up, and took a movie out of a box under the nightstand. He placed it in the DVD player, and sat down on the bed.

They were watching the movie when they heard the doorbell. It was 9:59 pm. Isaac told Noah that they had to get down to meet their babysitter.

As they walked down the stairs, they heard a faint voice coming from the hall. They walked to the hallway, and saw Eva sitting on the couch. She looked exactly like the picture on the profile.

As they went to sit on the opposite couch, Eva smiled at them widely. Her long thick black hair was tied in a ponytail, and her beautiful eyes were hypnotizing.

“Hi,” Eva greeted.

“Hi,” they both said, smiling at her.

Their parents were talking to each other in the kitchen.

“I’m Eva Anders,” she said, extending her hand to them.

“I’m Isaac,” he introduced himself while shaking her hand.

“I’m Noah,” he said, and did the same as his brother.

“Kids, this is Eva, your babysitter,” Lizzy said while sitting next to her sons.

“Yeah, we just introduced ourselves,” Isaac said.

He was not that comfortable with this whole babysitting thing. He looked at Eva, and saw a little mark on the left side of her neck, but it wasn’t clearly visible, because of her hair. As if sensing his gaze, she looked at him.

“How old are you Isaac?” Eva asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“I’m turning twelve in two weeks.”

“Oh, that’s great, and you Noah?”

“I’m eight years old,” Noah muttered.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Eva said, looking at both of them.

“So… Eva, we will give you a list of their time table to follow, their bed time is around 11:00 pm,” Lizzy said, handing the list to Eva.

“There’s everything you need to know on that list,” Josh said.

“Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Parries,” Eva said with a serious tone.

“And please feel free to call me in case of any trouble,” Lizzy said, looking at her kids.

“Sure Mrs. Parries,” Eva said smiling.

“Okay boys, we have to go now. Take care of each other, and don’t trouble Eva so much; I want you guys to behave,” Lizzy said with a slight serious tone.

“Yeah, we will,” Isaac said, nodding his head.

“Mommy, when will you get back?” Noah asked with watery eyes.

“We’ll be back in few weeks honey,” Lizzy replied, walking towards her sons, and kissing them both on their cheeks.

“Come on Lizzy, we have to leave, or we are going to miss our flight,” Josh said. Holding the door open, he looked at his kids, saying love you, and goodbyes.

Lizzy, and Josh made their way towards the car. They waved goodbye, then they drove away.

Once the car disappeared, Eva took both the kids inside.

“Boys, it’s past your bedtime already, go to sleep,” Eva said with a sweet tone.

“I want to finish the movie,” Noah protested, holding his brother’s hand, and pulling him towards the stairs.

“Noah it’s not the right time for that. Now be a good boy, and go to sleep,” Eva said.

Noah looked at his brother,

“Can we please finish the movie? We promise to go to bed after that,” Isaac said with pleading voice.

“But you have to wake up on time for school,” Eva said.

“Yes, I will wake up on time,” Isaac replied.

“Yes we will, now can we go?” Noah said, still pulling his brother to the stairs.

“Okay, but just this movie, alright?” Eva said while smiling down at them.

For some reason, Isaac felt uncomfortable being around her. It was as if there was something really wrong about her, but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

As the boys walked towards the stairs to go finish the movie, they saw their new babysitter talking on the phone.

When they reached Isaac’s room, and made sure they were away from her, Noah looked at his brother, “Isaac, I don’t feel comfortable around her. Is she a bad person?”

“I don’t know, but I’m here with you, right?” Isaac looked at his brother with worry. He could feel his brother’s discomfort for he felt the same. This could be because it was the first time they were alone with a stranger, or maybe there was something wrong about this whole situation for real.

Bringing his attention back to the movie, he tried not to think about it too much.

As the movie came to its end, Isaac got up, pulled the DVD out, and placed it back inside its box.

“Isaac, can I sleep with you tonight?” Noah asked, looking at his brother for an answer.

“Yeah, sure. Go bring your blanket,” Isaac said, smiling at his brother. He also didn’t want to sleep alone that night.

Noah went to bring his stuff from his room which was right next to Isaac’s.

He came back with his Superman blanket.

Isaac made space for his brother to sleep next to him. This was not the first time they sleep together, and he never actually had a problem with that. Noah’s excuse was always the same; he felt safer away from the monster in his closet.

As they got comfortable on the bed, they heard footsteps approaching, and the door cracked open. Eva’s head popped, looking straight at them.

“Goodnight guys.”

“Goodnight,” they both replied as she closed the door behind her.

There was still a nagging feeling in Isaac’s stomach which he decided to push away, and sleep.

He looked at his brother who seemed to be fast asleep.

He smiled a bit as his eyelids started to get heavy, and he entered his dream land.

 

***

 

Beeping of the alarm woke him up. He saw his brother still sleeping peacefully next to him. He got out of his bed, and walked towards the bathroom. Suddenly, something grabbed his attention; a tissue-like thing was sticking out from the upper corner of the bedroom door. He took his desk chair, placed it against the door, then climbed to see what it was. It was a small note, he founds words written in a strange language, and a weird symbol. Without giving it a second thought, he took out his emergency phone from his nightstand drawer, and took a picture of it, then placed the note back where it was, and went to the bathroom.

After a long shower, he got ready for his school even though, for some reason, he didn’t feel good about leaving his brother alone with Eva.

As he took one more look at his sleeping brother, he went down, and found the babysitter sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee in her hand.

She looked up at Isaac with a weird uncomfortable kindness as she got up to make her way to the kitchen. Isaac sat on his chair, looking around the house as if sensing something was different.

Eva walked in with a bowl of cereal, and placed it in front of him.

Finishing his breakfast fast, he went upstairs to check on his little brother again. He saw Noah clutching his blanket very close to him, and his eyes were shut tightly.

Isaac went over to him. As soon as he touched his shoulder, Noah’s eyes flung open as he screamed at the top of his lungs. When his eyes settled on Isaac, he quickly crushed him in a hug, and started crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong Noah? It’s me, Isaac. Don’t be sacred!” Isaac panicked at the sight of his brother, and his heart was pounding hard in his chest.

Noah started breathing heavily as he tried to speak to his brother, but he couldn’t utter a word.

“Noah, look at me, look at me buddy,” Isaac said, trying to calm his brother down by rubbing his back.

For few long minutes, no one moved. They just kept hugging each other, making Isaac even more worried about his little brother. Then, he looked closely at his face, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Noah, can you tell me what happened?” he said with a sweet, and concerned voice.

“There’s a monster in your closet, it… it was calling my name…it said if I don’t go to it, it will kill both of us,” Noah said with tears running down his face.

Isaac looked at his terrified brother. He knew he would never lie to him.

“Noah I think you had a nightmare, there’s no one here, and no one can hurt us,” Isaac said, trying to convince himself more than his brother.

“No, no, I was awake, I wasn’t sleeping, I heard him, look!” he said, pointing at the closet door, it was slightly open.

Taking a lamp from his nightstand, Isaac walked towards the closet while putting his finger on his lips, signing for his brother to be quite.

Noah’s eyes widened as he looked at his brother taking action. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find his voice.

Isaac’s heart was beating out of his chest. He never liked those haunted stories, and at that moment he felt as if he was living one. As he got closer to the closet, he slowly reached for the door with tightly shut eyes. He could hear his heart pounding loudly in his chest. He yanked the closet door open, and waited for something to pull him in, but nothing happened.

Isaac took a deep breath, and turned around, walking towards his brother who was still staring at him.

Isaac placed the lamp on the nightstand, and sat next to his brother.

“See? There’s no one there, nobody will hurt us, okay? We are safe,” Isaac told Noah who looked at the closet then turned his sight back to his brother.

“I’m so scared Isaac, I am telling the truth, I swear,” Noah whispered with a shaking voice.

“Look Noah, there’s no one in the closet, you are thinking too much. Come on, I don’t want to get late for school. Let’s go down, and I promise no one will hurt you,” Isaac said. He loved his brother, and he knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

“Isaac, can we not go to school today? Pease, I’m so scared, and I don’t want to go to school, and I don’t want to stay here alone without you, please, please, please, Isaac, don’t go,” Noah cried, his tears never stopped flowing down his eyes.

“I…”

He was cut off by Eva’s loud voice coming from downstairs, “Boys, your school bus is here, come down quickly,” Isaac looked at his brother, took his hand, and pulled him out of the bed. They started to walk out of the bedroom, and down the stairs.

Once in the hall, Eva was standing there with their school bags in her hand, ready to send them away.

Eva’s eyes went to the little scared crying Noah who was standing beside his brother still in his pajamas.

“What is wrong Noah, aren’t you going to school today?”

“No, I am not feeling well.”

Looking at her eyes, the boys saw them brighten a little. Isaac felt really uneasy around her, and so did Noah.

The thought of leaving the kid alone with her was not settling for the big brother. He looked out from the window beside the main door, where the bus was waiting for them.

“Oh my god! Noah what happened to you? Are you ok?” Eva said, coming closer to him, and kneeling. She cupped Noah’s face in her hand, and started wiping his tears.

Noah didn’t say anything. He just tightened his hold on Isaac’s hand while she kept asking questions.

“Nothing happened, he just had a nightmare,” Isaac said.

“Oh! Do you need anything Noah?” she asked in a concerned voice.

He shook his head, and looked up at his brother with pleading eyes.

“I am not going to school today,” Isaac said. He was kind of scared to say that.

“No! You have to go to school. It’s important. Your mom didn’t tell me anything about you taking a day off. I’ll take care of Noah, you go to school.”

“No! I’m not going to school today. I will talk to mom about it, so you don’t have to worry about Noah because I will take care of him,” Isaac said, surprised by his own tone.

They heard the bus drive away. Isaac felt victorious as he smiled at her. Shaking her head, Eva turned around, and walked towards the kitchen.

Both boys started making their way towards the big couch in the living room, and sat in front of the TV.

Isaac looked around the room, and spotted Eva close to the bathroom door down the hall. She was holding a note similar to the one he found in his bedroom. He looked at his brother, and found him flipping through the channels.

Isaac got up, and started making his way towards Eva. When she saw him coming, she quickly shoved the note inside her back pocket. Looking up at him, she saw him gazing at her carefully.

Isaac saw her alert state when she shoved the note in her pocket. As she was wearing her hair up in a bun, he could notice the small tattoo on her neck side; two stars crossing each other, one was black, and the other was white.

They kept staring at each other for few seconds, her eyes held a different shine.

“Do you want to use the bathroom?” Eva asked.

“Uh, yes,” Isaac said, looking at her uncomfortably.

Stepping aside, Eva walked down the hall, and sat beside Noah. The latter looked at her then at his brother who gave him a sign that everything was going to be alright, then went inside the bathroom.

Few minutes later, he walked out, and saw Noah sitting alone on the couch. His eyes rolled around searching for Eva as he walked towards his brother.

“Where did she go?” Isaac asked Noah.

“She got a call, so she went outside to take it.”

“Was it from mom?” he was sure it wasn’t from her, but he was hopelessly waiting for a positive answer.

“No, it was from someone called Jason,” Noah said, casually looking at a cartoon that he finally decided to watch after flipping through many channels.

Isaac nodded. However, something inside him told him to go, and check what was going on, so he did. As he reached the door, he opened the window beside it, trying not to make any noise.

He saw Eva talking on the phone. She wasn’t facing the house, so she couldn’t notice him. Yet, he could hear her quiet, and low voice,

“We can’t do it tonight, I got some information which will help us more, as written in the book,” Eva looked around before saying more, which made Isaac’s heart drop to this stomach.

“The power of the day you were born, and the power of the day you die is an ultimate meal to make him happy,” Eva said in a low whisper while her eyes were searching around.

Isaac heart was pounding loudly as he heard her.

“His birthday is just around the corner. He is kind of tough, and I want to watch them suffer a little,” Eva said in a creepy yet calm voice.

“I want to watch them cry for help in each other’s arms, I want to watch them get scared to death, I want to watch them obey me, I want to watch them beg for their lives, I want to watch them die in front of my eyes,” Eva said with a venomous voice.

Isaac’s eyes were full of tears as he heard her say things like that so easily. He, then, heard her say goodbye. Quickly, he walked low towards where his brother was seated, watching cartoon, and laughing.

If only he knew what was coming.

Few seconds later, Eva came in, smiling, and looking at them as if she wasn’t talking sadistically about them moments earlier.

Isaac tried to smile back, and drifted his attention towards the screen. He was lost in his thoughts especially when he remembered the scary event that took place this morning in his bedroom. It was her, she is trying to mess with our heads, he thought.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. It was Eva, staring at him. For a moment, he thought he saw blood dripping down her eyes, but it instantly disappeared.

Isaac blinked twice, frowning at her. Somehow, Eva noticed the change in his behavior as she raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?” Isaac asked, scared and confused.

“This is the sixth time I’m repeating my question,” she told him.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” Isaac told her while looking down.

“It’s okay, so what would you like for lunch?”

Isaac saw the chance to send her away for few hours, so he took it.

“I want to eat steak,” Isaac said, knowing that this was one of the things that was not available in the house.

“Um… ok, let me check if there is any in the fridge. What about you Noah?”

“I would go with steak too, and I also want ice cream.”

“Okay,” Eva got up, and walked towards the kitchen. She pulled the fridge door open, her eyes went searching for steaks, but she couldn’t find any.

“I have to go to the supermarket, because there are no steaks in the fridge.”

“Can you please bring us some ice cream too?” Isaac said, hoping that she would take some extra time outside.

“Sure, you both behave while I’m gone, do not make trouble, ok?”

“We won’t,” both boys said in unison.

Eva snatched her handbag, and coat before closing the door behind her. She got in her car, and drove away. Isaac went fast to his bedroom, and grabbed the note he saw that morning again.

He took out the emergency phone, and called his parents. Unfortunately, they didn’t pick up even though he tried over, and over again. He was so scared that he was running out of time. Despite that he asked his brother to call his name loudly when she came, he was imagining her walking in, in every second.

He wanted to call the cops, but he couldn’t make himself do that. For some reason, he couldn’t, as if something stopped him from doing it. So, he decided to call Aunt Carla. He was glad when she picked up the phone.

Hearing her voice, Isaac’s eyes started to water. Carla was more of a mom to them than their real mother. She would spend time with them, feed them, and play with them, that they both sometimes called her mom.

“Hello, Isaac is that you?” Carla’s voice was filled with worry.

“Hello Mom, I think there’s something wrong with our new babysitter,” Isaac’s said with tears streaming down his face as he continued, “She placed some weird notes, written in a weird language with freaky symbols on every door’s corner.” Isaac proceeded as he told her everything he heard from her phone conversation.

“Oh my Lord! Look, Isaac, I want you to act normal in front of her, okay? For now, can you send me a picture of one of these notes?” Carla said with a broken tone, thinking of the worst.

“Okay, I’ll send it to you right away. Please, do something, she will be back at any moment,” Isaac said, terrified.

“Don’t worry. I’m coming to get you,” she said, before hanging up.

Upon receiving the picture of that note, Carla asked few friends, hoping to find someone who could read it. Luckily, she found one who explained everything in details. Crazily, Carla drove fast to their house. She called Isaac, and told him to get out of the house with his brother, but someone snatched the phone from him, and Carla was met with Eva’s voice.

“Save yourself before you save them,” Eva said to Carla, then hanged up.

Right after the call was disconnected, and out of nowhere, Carla saw a truck coming towards her at full speed. She tried to press the brakes, but in vain. She knew what was coming. She called 911 as fast as she could, gave them the address, then muttered in agony, “Save my children, please…”

The truck flew the car away, slamming it upside down.

Eva slammed the phone on the ground, shattering it into pieces. Isaac, and Noah crawled away from her. She slowly took steps towards them as her eyes turned into glowing white.

Isaac was scared to death, but he also was worried about his brother who was clutching him for his dear life.

“I wanted to wait till your birthday, but no…”

Isaac snatched his brother’s arm, and ran to Noah’s room. He locked themselves inside, and tried to calm the terrified Noah down.

Suddenly, they heard the closet door open. Their hearts were loud enough to ring in their ears. They saw their mom coming out of the closet with a gun in her hand, pointing it at them. Horrified, they closed their eyes as they heard the trigger click, and the bullet went right in their mother’s head. They both looked at their dead mother, screaming loudly, as she gave them a final smile before disappearing.

They started to run towards the door. Isaac yanked it open, and bumped into a hanging body from the ceiling. It was his father. Noah couldn’t move at that sight.

Isaac picked him up as he ran downstairs, aiming for the door. Reaching the hall, his heart dropped at the sight of six people wearing black long gowns, each one of them was holding a knife. One of them was Eva. She smiled.

“You are going to die,” she said firmly.

Noah flew in the air, sticking to the ceiling as he screamed for help. He literally lost control of his own body. Isaac couldn’t rescue him, he couldn’t move from his spot as two guys walked towards him. They carried him by his legs, and arms to the middle of the room where the same tattoo on Eva’s neck was drawn on the floor with a candle at the end of each star point.

They laid him down in the middle of the symbol. His body was paralyzed, his eyes were watching his brother screaming, his helplessness to save his brother was killing him.

Eva came closer to him, “I wanted to have more fun with you guys, but sadly you have to go.”

They surrounded him, and started to say some incantations in weird language.

Suddenly, his body flew in the air. Looking at his brother, Noah screamed “No, Don’t go please, you promised to never leave me alone!” Crying, Isaac looked at him, his body was shaking, and his tears were streaming down his face.

They continued uttering weird words loudly. The sound of roaring was coming from the upper floor.

All the six of them were moving together in circles around him while still saying the same weird words, except that they were getting faster.

As police siren was heard, the knives floated on top of Isaac. He closed his eyes, and screamed loudly as they started to dig in his skin. Noah fainted at the sight of his bleeding brother.

The chanting never ceased. Finally, the door flung open, and cops rushed inside with guns in their hands, telling them to put their hands in the air.

Everyone looked at each other as Eva nodded her head. They held each other’s hands in a circle as they loudly said few weird words before they all collapsed to the floor, and their bodies turned into ashes. It was at that moment that Noah’s body slid down in full force, but luckily, cops caught him before he headed to his death, and took him out.

Isaac was half conscious when the police took him to the ambulance with his brother. They called their parents, and told them what happened. They replied that they would take the first flight, and come as soon as possible.

 

***

 

The next-day, their parents arrived, and saw both of them in hospital with several physical injuries, and probably a lifelong trauma. Isaac told them everything about the incident.

Cops informed them someone named Carla called them right before having an accident. She was in a critical condition, but there were high chances she could live. They told them the cult had killed many children before, and it was nearly impossible to catch them. However, this time they were surrounded, so they killed themselves by a spell.

“Thank you for keeping your promise,” Noah said as he sat beside Isaac on the hospital bed.

Isaac smiled at him, “I will always keep it, brother,” he replied with a weak smile.

There, on the bed of sorrow yet victory, they promised to protect each other, and to be forever by each other’s side.

 

THE END