The Disappearance of Tommy Steinfeld (Part One)

During my second year at university, I was beginning to reach the point where my student loans were dwindling and I was looking to make some extra cash. After applying to a few part time jobs that I had seen advertised online, I decided to sign up with a babysitting agency to find a job that way. Within a week or two I got my first response; a mother looking for a baby sitter for her 'troubled' son. We arranged a time for me to go to their house for an interview and to meet the boy the following day.

The house was old, like hundreds of years old. And tall, with a red brick shell that you could just see under the dark moss and ivy. There was a weird smell as I approached the broad, wooden front door; a musky, damp kind of smell. When I knocked on the door I was quickly greeted by a youngish blonde woman.
"Hi! You must be Zoe!" She said with a wide grin pasted on her face. I told her that I was and she quickly ushered me inside.
"My son Tommy is in the living room with his father, Brad, so we'll do this in the kitchen if you don't mind." She said.
"No, no, that's fine." I said as I took in the interior of the house. Don't get me wrong, the house was beautiful inside, with many of the original fixtures being restored; but there was something off. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on; a hint of eeriness. We sat in the kitchen for a while and went through your standard interview questions, then I showed her my ID and criminal background check form.

After this we went through to the living room so that I could meet Tommy. He was a quiet boy, a lot quieter than any three-year-old I'd met before. I remember noticing that his skin was very pale which made his dark hair and eyes seem all the more darker. He smiled sweetly at me and said hello; then his mother, Kat, told me to stay and play with him for a while whilst she and her husband went and talked. Aside from his somewhat odd appearance, Tommy was a sweet kid, we sat in his living room and played with his toy farm animals while we waited for his parents to come back. After about 15 minutes, they came back and told me they would like to hire me on a trial basis. Ecstatic, I thanked them just as Kat took me out of the room, leaving Tommy and his father in the living room. I told her again how grateful I was for the opportunity, when she looked at me with some concern. "Erm, is something the matter, Kat?" I asked.
"I... Well, I'm sure you noticed in the advertisement that I said Tommy was a 'troubled' child. Well... I'll just get to the point. You're the seventh babysitter we've hired in the last 10 months. I don't know what it is about Tommy, or what he does when we're not here, but he has managed to chase off every single babysitter he's ever had. With all of them never even returning for their last cheque."

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled as she spoke. What could be so wrong with this sweet kid that he scared off all those people?
"Don't worry Kat, it'll take a lot to scare me off." I smiled as I squeezed her arm. A wave of relief passed over her face.
"I'm really glad to hear that Zoe; do you think you would be able to start your first shift on Saturday night? Brad and I are planning to go out with friends for the night, we'd need you to get here for around 18:30 and we'll be back for 22:00, but you can stay in the guest room upstairs for the night. We'll move Tommy's bed in there too." "Sure, Saturday works fine for me, I'll be here at 18:30." I told her as I made my way to the door, thinking it was odd to move Tommy's bed.

Three days later, Saturday had come around and it was time for my first shift with Tommy. I felt a little bit of apprehension at the thought of being in that eerie house with only a toddler for company, but I soon put those thoughts to bed. I arrived at the house perfectly on time and was greeted by the same friendly face of Kat at the door.

"Just on time!" She beamed at me as she pulled me into the house. She shouted to her husband and he came through to the hallway from the kitchen, Tommy sitting in his arms. After all the greetings and a chunk of small talk, it was time for them to leave.
"Okay, he's been fed already, just let him have a little play with his toys in the living room, then a bath and bed time." Brad told me.
"Alrighty, I can do that." I smiled back at him as he passed me the boy.
"Okay then, I think we're all set!" Kat said as she put on her coat and grabbed her bag. She gave Tommy a kiss on the cheek and Brad ruffled his hair.
"Now you be a good boy for Zoe, alright?" She said to him with a mock stern tone. "Yes, mummy!" he giggled.
"Hmm, alright then." She smirked at him.
"Oh! One more thing Zoe, probably the most important thing actually. You mustn't leave him on his own, not even for a second. Okay? I mean it. Keep him with you wherever you go."
"Er, yeah, sure that's fine" I said, thinking about how that kind of possessive parenting can't be good for the kid, but hey, each parent has their own way I guess.
"Alright guys, we're off. You two have fun! We'll be back in a few hours. Keep him close. See you soon!"

With that, they were gone and it was just the two of us. I told Tommy we'd get him set up in the living room, but first I wanted to get us both some drinks so I put him on the floor and held his hand while we walked into the kitchen.
"So, your mummy and daddy are always with you?" I asked him as I made us some juice.
"Yep! I don't like it on my own." He told me as he quickly looked away.
"How come you don't like it on your own? Are you scared of something?" I asked him. He hesitated. "So, can we play with my toys now?" He asked, changing the subject. "Alright, but not for too long 'cos you still need to have a bath." I said as we wandered to the living room.

We sat on his play-mat for about half an hour using an assortment of his toys to create alternate universes where pigs could talk and trucks could fly. Just as we were about to start playing with his collection of robo-dogs, I heard a creaking on the floorboards behind us. I quickly turned around, creeped out, but saw no one. "Don't worry about him, that's just Bert." Tommy said without looking up from his dogs.
"What?! You see someone there?!" I said, starting to get panicked and even more creeped out, until I noticed the little grin forming on his face.
"Gotcha!" He said barely able to hold in his giggles.
"Oh man, you rascal, you really had me there." I said, also starting to laugh at myself.
"Right, I'm gonna go to the toilet and then we'll sort your bath-time okay?"
Tommy stopped giggling. His face a serious expression.
"You have to take me with you." He said sternly. "Wait, your parents even take you to the bathroom with them?" I asked starting to get a little creeped out again. "Yeah, I just stand in the corner and face the other way while they go. They never leave me on my own." He said to me staring straight into my face. "Alright." I said as I stood up and scooped him up.
"I guess I'll just bathe you straight afterwards."

I carried him up the stairs to the bathroom, listening to the creak of each footstep on the old wooden stairs. The hairs on my neck prickled again as I noticed that when we creaked on one step, the step a couple down from us would creak as well. Probably just a sign of the staircases age, but it sure did sound like someone was walking up the stairs behind us. I checked behind us and no one was there, I looked back at Tommy expecting him to make the Bert joke again, but he wasn't laughing this time. He looked paler than normal and he seemed uncomfortable. We got to the bathroom and I went about doing my business and then running the bath.

Tommy picked his favourite toys for the bath and I filled it with extra bubble bath, as per his request. I even made sure I had all the towels ready so I wouldn't have to leave him on his own. A little while after I'd put him in the bath, the house phone in the hallway started ringing. I looked at him playing merrily in the bath and decided I didn't want to disturb his play, so I told him I would be two seconds while I grabbed the phone.
"No." He said. "NO. You can't leave me on my own. Mummy said so!"
"I'll be literally seconds, Tommy. You won't even notice I'm gone." I pleaded. "NOOO!" He screamed at me.
"Where you go, I GO." He shouted in a way that was really starting to scare me. Realising that the phone was just across the hall I told him I would back out of the bathroom and over to the phone and then come back.
"You'll be able to see me the whole time and I'll be able to see you. If we can see each other, we're not alone, right?" I pleaded again.
"Okay, fine. But don't turn away from me, promise?"
"I promise." I said as I quickly backed out of the room, trying not to miss the call.

I got to the table with the phone just as it stopped ringing, but with just enough time to see that it was Kat's name flashing up on the caller ID. I knew I would have to ring her back, but didn't know where the redial button was without turning around. As I stared at Tommy, I knew I would have to break my promise and take my eyes off him. I quickly spun around to face the phone and reached for the redial button, just as the ringtone sang out of the phone again. Slightly startled, I picked up the phone and answered it.
"Hi Kat! I hope you're having fun" I said. My words were met with silence for a few moments that seemed like forever.
"Hello?" I asked. Some more silence. Suddenly followed by the words that still haunt me to this day.
"You left him on his own, didn't you."

Ice ran through my veins as I spun back around and saw that Tommy wasn't where he had been sat before. I dropped the phone on the table and sprinted into the bathroom. The bathtub empty. The bathroom empty. The only signs that Tommy had been there were his toys and the dwindling bubbles floating in the still water. Droplets of a red liquid splattered from the bathtub, along the floor and up to the walls where the liquid was formed into large letters.

'YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE LEFT HIM ON HIS OWN.'