The Babysitters Coven

by Kate M. Williams

  As soon as she was out of earshot, Cassandra turned to me. “You’re getting paid for this?” she asked. “Who’s babysitting who here?”

  I shrugged. MacKenzie returned with some potato chips on a plate. Cassandra and I watched TV and kept our conversation to a minimum, since it was clear that MacKenzie was listening to every word we said. We also helped ourselves to as much Halloween candy as we could stuff into our mouths, since the trick-or-treaters weren’t getting it and it would have been a shame to let it go to waste.

  “MacKenzie, here’s a Starburst with two pinks,” Cassandra said, holding it out. “You want it?”

  MacKenzie shook her head. “I don’t really like candy,” she said. Cassandra responded by eating both pinks at the same time.

  Finally, MacKenzie picked herself up off the couch and started getting ready for bed. I could hear her in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, and then she came out to say good night wearing a pair of red plaid pajamas. She was in her room with the door closed a full twenty minutes before her bedtime.

  Cassandra and I watched a Lifetime movie about an evil doctor, called Evil Doctor, and I gave up trying to explain to her that yes, it was supposed to be this bad.

  When my phone dinged, the sound was muffled and far away. I stood up and started picking up couch cushions, trying to find where it had fallen. It dinged again, and again. This time, I could clearly tell that it was coming from the recliner, and I fished it out from between the seat cushion and the armrest. I read the first two texts aloud before I realized what I was reading.

  Esme, it’s MacKenzie.

  I think someone is trying to get in my bedroom window.

  Cassandra’s head snapped toward me, a Snickers raised halfway to her mouth. I swallowed and read the next one.

  I’m scared to move.

  I turned and sprinted down the hall to MacKenzie’s room at the same time that Cassandra jumped up and ran for the front door.

  A few steps from MacKenzie’s bedroom door, I slowed and turned my ringer off, then shoved my phone into my skirt pocket. I felt strangely calm, as if this were as routine as handling a kid who didn’t want to eat their carrots.

  At her door, I placed my hand on the knob and quietly gave it a turn. It was locked, so I held out my palm and focused my mind. As soon as I heard the click of it unlocking, I pushed it open with a bang, practically falling into the room. MacKenzie wasn’t in her bed. I crossed to the closet and flung open the door. She wasn’t in there either.

  I turned, and stifled a scream as a face popped into the open window, framed like a ghost between the curtains billowing in the breeze. It was Cassandra.

  “There’s nobody out here,” she said, hoisting herself up and in, before she turned and shut the window behind her.

  Suddenly I wasn’t so calm anymore.

  “MacKenzie?” I screamed. I ran through the house, throwing open the McAllisters’ perfectly organized linen closet. No little girl. Nor was she under her parents’ bed, behind the shower curtain, or tucked behind the recliner in the guest room. I ran out the front door and pawed through the bushes and looked up and down the street. Most of the trick-or-treaters had gone home by now; the street was empty except for three skeletons doing skate tricks in a driveway.

  I ran over to them, breathless. “Did you see a little girl out here? Eleven years old, with brown hair?”

  “Hey,” said the tall one, “don’t you go to our school?”

  “Shut up,” I said. “Did you see her?”

  “We haven’t seen anybody,” said the short one.

  As I raced back to the house, I could hear one of them yell after me, “What’d you do, lose a kid or something?” I tore through the first floor and then went out the back door. There was a full moon, so I could see clearly that the backyard held nothing but an empty swing set making an injured-robot cry as it creaked in the wind.

  Cassandra was right beside me. “She’s actually gone,” I said, turning to her. “There were two of us here, and someone took her anyway. So what do we do now?”

  Cassandra opened her mouth to answer just as my phone buzzed in my back pocket. I pulled it out as fast as I could, but it was just Janis, so I hit decline. As soon as I did, she started calling again, so I hit accept. Her words were already pouring out as I put the phone to my ear.

  “Oh my God, Esme, did you hear? Does your dad know? Are you okay?”

  Normally this would have had my full attention, especially since Janis had been so distant the last couple of days, but now I was ready to tell her that I couldn’t talk because I was currently wide-awake and living my worst nightmare. Then the words sank in and I stopped.

  “Wait, what are you talking about? Does my dad know what?”

  “Coach Davis was arrested today. I guess the school got a report about him having inappropriate relationships with a couple of female students. It’s all over the news. People are freaking out. Mostly because they’re worried about the football team, of course, and not whatever girls he’s been fooling around with—”

  “Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap…” My voice cracked, and I stopped talking. I had no idea what to say or do next.

  “Esme,” Janis said, her voice softening. “What’s going on? You sound like you’re about ready to cry.”

  Hot tears were gathering in the corners of my eyes, and one spilled out onto my cheek. “I’m at MacKenzie McAllister’s with Cassandra,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Except MacKenzie’s not here.”

  “Well, where is she?”

  “She’s been kidnapped.” My voice was barely a whisper, like I was just muttering under my breath to myself.

  “Wait, what? I can’t hear you. She took a catnap?”

  “Kidnapped,” I said, more loudly this time. “She’s been kidnapped.”

  A beat of silence. I wondered if Janis could hear my hands shaking through the phone. “Esme, you’re kidding, right?”

  “No,” I said, choking out an answer, the tears building up in my eyes.

  “You and Cassandra, though, you know what to do if something like this happens, right?” Janis said with hope, a hope I was about to shred.

  “Not really,” I said.

  I looked at Cassandra, who was staring at me. Each of us was waiting for the other to do something. Evidently it was my turn to step up. I didn’t know what to do, but I did know that Cassandra and I couldn’t just stay in this house doing nothing. At the very least, we had to look for her. “Janis,” I said into the phone, “I know you’re mad at me and I’m really sorry that I’ve kept things from you, but I need a favor and I will never ask you for anything ever again and will give you whatever you want out of my closet to keep permanently.” I took a deep breath. “But right now, I need to borrow your car.”

  “No way in hell, Esme,” she said. “But I will give you a ride.”

  Waiting for Janis to get there felt like forever. It wasn’t that chilly out, but I was shivering as we stood in front of MacKenzie’s house.

  “Did you find your kid?” yelled one of the skeletons from down the block, and Cassandra responded by flipping him off.

  “We need Brian, right now,” she said, and I almost slapped myself in the face. I’d forgotten to tell her why Janis had called in the first place.

  “He was arrested,” I said, still not believing that this was all actually happening. “That’s why Janis called. Someone accused him of having an inappropriate relationship with some students.” Something hit me, as I was too upset to have thought of it earlier. “Oh my God, what if people think it’s us?”

  “They don’t, or else we wouldn’t be here,” Cassandra said logically. “And that is obviously a lie. I don’t totally trust him, but spend five minutes with the guy, and you know ‘pervert’ is not his thing.”

  “Someone wanted to make sure he was out of the way,”
I said. “Out of our way, at least.” From down the block, I heard tires screeching, and I looked up to see Janis’s Honda rounding the corner on two wheels. It slammed to a stop right in front of us, and Cassandra gave a little smirk. “At least you have friends who know how to drive.” She started toward the car, but I felt rooted to the sidewalk. We didn’t even know where we were going.

  Cassandra must have noticed me lagging, because she turned and grabbed my sleeve. “Try to relax,” she said, “MacKenzie is going to be fine, and so will we. This is what we were born to do, remember?”

  “We don’t have much time,” I said. “We have to get her back before her parents get home.”

  “That’s plenty of time,” Cassandra said. “If you stop standing there.”

  Cassandra opened the front passenger door and took shotgun, and I climbed into the back seat. In the rearview mirror, my eyes met Janis’s.

  “Hi, Janis,” I said. “Thanks for coming to get us.” These words felt very small, and very inadequate for the colossal levels of relief and gratitude that I felt for Janis at that moment.

  “No problem,” she said, slamming the car back into drive. “You’re my best friend. I’m not going to leave you hanging.” Then she smiled. “But if you get me killed, I am going to be so, so pissed. Where am I going?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know? You want me to just, like, drive around the block and hope that MacKenzie’s waiting on a corner?”

  “I haven’t had time to think,” I said. Then I did the only thing I could think of to do: I picked up my phone and tried to call MacKenzie. It went straight to voice mail. Of course it did. I disconnected, feeling stupider and more desperate than ever. Cassandra and Janis were watching me.

  “Well?” Cassandra said. “Did you leave a message?”

  “Of course I didn’t leave a message!” My voice was rising. “She’s been kidnapped. She’s not just in the bathroom!”

  “If she was in the bathroom, wouldn’t she have her phone with her?”

  “Cassandra!” I wailed. “That’s beside the point. What are we going to do?”

  Then I got a text. I looked down, and my heart leapt.

  “Oh my God,” I said. “It’s her.”

  Hey, Esme. It’s MacKenzie.

  Sorry I didn’t answer.

  I put my phone on silent because I don’t want him to know I have it.

  R U OKAY?

  Well, I’ve been kidnapped. I’m in a car.

  we’re going to find u

  keep texting.

  Then I added something as an afterthought.

  don’t be scared. you’re very brave

  I had forgotten who I was texting with.

  I’m not scared, just annoyed. I’m going to be so tired for school tomorrow.

  We’re moving again. I’ll send you a pin.

  Ding.

  And just like that, we knew where she was.

  * * *

  —

  Her pins were coming every few seconds, and as fast as Janis drove, we were quickly closing the distance between us. The sharp turns combined with my already nervous stomach were making me carsick, so I passed my phone up to Cassandra, who held it with one hand while she kept the other on the door handle, maybe so she could throw it open and jump out at any moment.

  “Turn left,” Cassandra called out to Janis, who sailed through a yellow light. The route was taking us by the university, and the streets were filled with college kids, all in various stages of Halloween partying.

  “Do you think Brian used his one call to get in touch with the Synod?” Cassandra asked. “If they can create and erase memories, then surely they can get him out of jail, right?”

  Janis swung the car right, down a side street.

  “No, no, keep going straight,” Cassandra yelled.

  “You said ‘right’!”

  “I didn’t mean to turn. Sorry!” Janis swung around in a U-turn, illuminating in her headlights a pack of drunk girls dressed as various sexy animals. A frog in a bustier sat in the gutter, laughing, as a giraffe in garters tried to pull her to her feet.

  “Learn how to drive!” yelled a very short-skirted penguin.

  Cassandra leaned out the window. “Learn how to fly,” she yelled back.

  Janis jerked the car to a stop as a group of people dressed like the cast of Jersey Shore crossed the street in front of us. Snooki looked like she was barely able to walk, and the whole crew was staggering and taking forever. Janis lay on the horn.

  “Oh my God,” she yelled. “Get a relevant costume! It’s not 2012 anymore!”

  The second they passed, Janis hit the gas and peeled out, nearly clipping Pauly D in the butt. Cassandra banged her fist on the dash in support, and then a ding announced another text.

  “ ‘We’ve been stopped for a while,’ ” Cassandra read aloud. “ ‘I can hear one person talking, but I don’t know who he’s talking to.’ ”

  “Tell her to text us any detail that she notices,” Janis said. “I saw that in a movie.”

  “MacKenzie gets a medal,” Cassandra said. “How is she not scared to death?”

  I thought about how well MacKenzie was keeping her cool, and felt bad about all the times I’d wished she were more kidlike. Another pin drop sounded, and Cassandra held up my phone and zoomed in. “ ‘It’s a big parking lot,’ ” Cassandra read. “ ‘There’s a big building. It almost looks like a mall.’ ”

  Janis mashed on the brakes, ramming my seat belt into my chest and sending Cassandra, who wasn’t wearing one, flying into the dash.

  “The mall?” Janis said, her voice coming out as a helium-esque squeak.

  Cassandra struggled to right herself. “The mall? Spring River has a mall?”

  “Not exactly,” I said. “Spring River had a mall. There’s nothing but a haunted house there now.”

  Now that we had a destination, Janis was really stepping on the gas. “If we get pulled over,” she said, speeding up through a red light, “we’ll tell the cops that Esme just got her period. That works every time.”

  I started to protest, wondering why I had to be the one to get her period, but I decided against it. “How about you just not get pulled over, okay?” I said.

  * * *

  —

  I’d been to the mall a few times since it had closed. It was surrounded by a big, dark, empty parking lot, which made it a prime spot for my classmates to get their underage drink on. But tonight the parking lot was anything but empty.

  “Oh God,” I groaned as Janis pulled into the parking lot and had to nose her way around crowds of people tailgating for the Mall of Terror. “How are we ever going to find them here?” Giant speakers had been set up to blast scary sounds across the asphalt, and I could pick out a few terrifying piano plunks through the din. Glitch static and choppy footage of a girl running were projected onto the side of a building, and masked men in blood-soaked coveralls strode up and down the line of people waiting to get in, stopping occasionally to breathe heavily in someone’s ear. The wind had picked up and was whipping candy wrappers and beer cans into frenzied dust devils.

  Janis pulled to a stop in what was definitely not a space, and parked her car. I followed her and Cassandra’s lead and climbed out. “What do we do now?” I said. “They could be anywhere, and everyone’s in costume! And we don’t even know what the kidnapper is dressed like tonight.”

  Cassandra looked around, then walked up to a crowd of vampires. “Have you seen a little girl in red pajamas?” she asked the tallest one.

  “I got your red pajamas right here,” he responded, licking his fangs and grabbing his crotch.

  “Ugh,” Cassandra said, reaching up and giving him a quick, sharp punch right in the middle of the throat. “That doesn’t even
make sense.” As we walked away, the vamp was still howling about what a bitch she was.

  I tried to clear my head and think. Really think. If you were an evildoer, tonight was the night to get away with all your evil deeds. That was always happening in movies—the monster shows up and everyone just thinks it’s their next-door neighbor in costume or something. I didn’t think much of the collective intelligence of this parking lot, but I still doubted you could carry a struggling—or worse, unconscious—little girl through this crowd without someone getting suspicious. The mall was big enough that the haunted house couldn’t take up all of it, so there had to be some part of the building that was still empty.

  I took my phone back from Cassandra and zoomed in on the pin drop McKenzie had sent. “It looks like they’re quite a ways away from here,” I said. “We just have to figure out how to get in and get over there.”

  “Hmm,” Janis said. “That is probably a good place to start.” I turned to see what she was pointing at—a set of double doors with a giant hand-painted Entrance sign over the top.

  I started weaving through the crowd, and Cassandra and Janis fell in behind me. “Dead Man’s Party” came on over the loudspeakers, sending the crowd into a dancing frenzy. “This is so weird,” Janis said as she jumped back to avoid a stumbling werewolf. “This is the most crowded place in Spring River tonight. If you were a kidnapper, why would you come here? Wouldn’t you want to go someplace where no one would see you?”

  I nodded but didn’t say anything. I’d thought of that as soon as we’d pulled up and seen all the cars. We definitely weren’t dealing with a run-of-the-mill creep, because this kidnapping had “Negative” written all over it. Synod-sealed Portal, my foot.

  We’d reached the door to the mall.

  “Hey!” some girl squeaked at us. “The line starts back there. You can’t cut!”