Luci's Game

The time read 11:03 AM as the mother of the child I was taking care of for the night started talking to me.

“Alright, we’ll be back around 10:00,” Mrs. Keen says as she opens the front door, letting her husband go out first. “I hope Camryn doesn’t give you too much trouble, she can be a bit… how do you say it without being rude...”

“I understand ma’am,” I interrupt. “Everything will be alright!”

“If you’re sure... Just be careful, alright?”

“She’ll be fine, Shannon.” Mr. Keen intervenes. “Right, Ruby?”

“Yeah! You have nothing to worry about.” I say enthusiastically, trying to end the conversation quickly.

Mrs. Keen waves as they drive away, and I wave back as I shut the door and lock it. Turning around, I find Camryn sitting on the couch in the living room just staring at the blank TV screen.

“Camryn? Whatcha lookin’ at...?” I say as I walk over to her, tapping her shoulder.

She blinks, as if coming out of a trance, and smiles at me, “Sorry Miss. Ruby! I was looking at my friend Luci over there!”

“No… it’s okay. Just wondered what you were doing.” I look up and at the TV where nothing and no one was.

“I’ll be right back.” I say quickly, slightly scared of what the child was seeing.

I quickly walk to the kitchen and see that Mrs. Keen had put her phone number on a sticky note saying, ‘call me if you need anything’. I sigh and dial the number into my phone.

“Hello?” I hear on the other line.

“Hi…” I start, “Its Ruby. Uh- your babysitter.”

“Oh yes! Hello! Is something wrong?”

“Well… I’m not sure. Camryn was staring at nothing earlier and I just wanted to make sure that was normal…”

“Oh! Yeah… She does that sometimes. Should have warned you! Sorry dear. Just give her something to eat. That should distract her for a bit.”

“Distract her? Wha-” The beeping sound of the other line hanging up interrupts me before I could finish the sentence.

Even though very confused, I decide to follow the woman’s advice.

“Camryn do you want a snack?” I yell out.

“Sure.” She said, kind of deadly, cold and short.

“Okay! Do apples work?”

“Yeah...” She replies, almost unsurely

I grab an apple and kitchen knife and start to cut the apple. After cutting it, I grab a plate from the cupboard and place the apple slices on it.

“Camryn!” I shout. “You have to come sit at the table and eat! I don’t want you to make a mess on the couch.”

I hear little taps as Camryn runs into the kitchen excitedly. She runs up to the kitchen table and pulls out a chair. I set the plate in front of her, and she grabs one and bites down on it.

“Is it good?” I ask, sitting in the chair next to her.

She excitedly nods her head as she continues to eat the apples.

“I’m glad you like it sweetie.” I smile and stand back up. “After you finish would you like to play a game? We have a whole…” I glance at the clock, “…Eleven hours to kill.”

“Yeah, okay!” She says while still chewing.

“So… Who were you talking about earlier? The… friend of yours?”

“Oh! That was just Luci, she can be a bit silly sometimes.”

“Okay…”

We sit in silence as she continues to eat the apple slices. After she finishes around half of the apple slices, she stands up, rushing away from the table.

“Come on Miss. Ruby!” I hear her yell from down the hall, still running.

“Okay! I’ll be right there!”

I stand up and slowly walk over to Camryn’s room, which is in the basement, and grab the doorknob when I feel something grab my arm.

“Not in there.” Camryn coldly says.

“Oh, sorry sweetie.” I let go of the door handle and turn around. “Where are we gonna play?”

She drags me to the living room, where a gameboard is already set up.

“Right here.” She replies, leaving no room for any other option.

“Oh, okay…”

I sit down in front of the gameboard, making Camryn let go of my arm and walk around to the other side to sit down.

“Luci, are you going to sit down?” She looks up at the TV screen again.

The light flickers slightly, making a small noise. We both sit in silence for a minute. I, only being quiet because I was processing what was happening, shift's slightly, causing the floorboard under me to creak. Then, I finally spoke up.

“Who…?”

“Luci, my friend.” She snaps her head to look at me.

“Oh… Okay…”

I shift uncomfortably where I was sitting and look to where Camryn was staring. And as expected, I saw nothing.

“No, she’s not the same one as last time silly. Remember? That one’s gone now.” She says, interrupting the silence.

My eyes widen as I realize what she had said.

“Yes, I know.” She says sadly, as if being yelled at by a parent.

“Gone?” I question finally. “Who’s gone?”

“Luci didn’t like my old babysitter… So, she’s gone now.”

“Gone… As in-?”

She cuts me off, though it doesn’t sound like it was actually her speaking.

“Dead.”