I got in more and more trouble with my parents.
I was grounded for months.
They took my computer games away.
I got a piece of coal for my birthday.
BUT I DID NOT GIVE UP.
I cut off Dervlaâs favorite dollâs head and threw one of her books in the fire.
I spat in her tea, and I really did put spiders in her hair.
Pretty soon she didnât even have to lie about what Iâd done.
At first I just didnât like Dervla because she was a bossy babysitter.
But after a while it was more than that.
I began to get a weird feeling about her.
It started when I noticed this strange smell when she was around. Kind of a strong smell of burning. Like barbecued meat.
I also noticed her itching.
She was always scratching her head under the yellow ribbon.
But then something really weird happened.
It made me think something very creepy was going on.
I was in the kitchen, hatching my latest plan against Dervla.
Iâd decided to pop some popcorn and maybe forget to put the lid on the saucepan.
I turned on the cooker.
Just as I was getting out the popcorn, I heard Dervla growling, âWhat on earth are you doing?â
âNothing, Dervla,â I said in my sweetest voice.
But she wasnât buying it. She never did. She knew me too well.
âDonât lie to me,â she snarled. âIâm keeping my eye on you, you little wretch.â
She was whispering, but her voice wasnât soft. It was hard and angry.
And then she put her hand on the hot stove.
I almost screamed aloud.
But she looked straight at me and said, âWhat?â
She didnât even flinch.
From then on, I started to be a little afraid of Dervla.
I watched her when she wasnât looking, and I noticed weird stuff.
Her skin looked strange in certain lights. Almost red. And her freckles seemed to have faded.
Sometimes when she spoke, her voice didnât sound like a girlâs at all. It was deep and sounded like some horrible growl.
Then sheâd clear her throat and her voice would be back to normal.
One horrifying night, I saw Dervla eat a spider that was crawling along the counter.
She popped it in her mouth.
JUST LIKE THAT.
From then on, I knew that Dervla was different.
Not evil in a teenage girl way,
One night when she was babysitting me, we had this big fight.
Dervla grabbed the TV remote as soon as she arrived.
When I started yelling, she dragged me upstairs and locked me in my bedroom.
I heard her laughing maniacally as she turned the key in the lock and went downstairs.
Of course, this was not a problem for me.
When youâre in a war with a devil like Dervla, you have to have a few tricks up your sleeve.
I had these really powerful stink bombs.
They were small and made of glass with some kind of yellow vomit-colored liquid inside.
I shimmied down the drainpipe and came in the back door.
I crept into the TV room where she was sitting.
I had the stink bombs in my pocket.
She was on the couch, facing away from me.
I tiptoed up behind her, holding my breath so I wouldnât laugh.
Just as I was reaching for the stink bombs, I noticed something that made me stop.
Poking out of Dervlaâs frizzy red hair were
I looked at her hand lying on the armrest.
There was something very wrong with it. Instead of a freckly pale hand with slightly chewed nails, there was a reddish hand with long fingers and thick black nails.
Then, with a terrible slow slither, a thin forked tail emerged from behind the couch.
I got that awful sick feeling in my stomach.
I covered my mouth so I wouldnât scream. And I slowly backed out of the room.
The floor creaked.
As soon as I heard that creak, it felt like everything froze for a second.
And then, slowly, Dervlaâs head started to turn around.
It was definitely her.
I had kind of been hoping it was an imposter.
But no, it was my babysitter all right.
My demon babysitter.
Except that now her eyes were completely black
I was grounded for months.
They took my computer games away.
I got a piece of coal for my birthday.
BUT I DID NOT GIVE UP.
I cut off Dervlaâs favorite dollâs head and threw one of her books in the fire.
I spat in her tea, and I really did put spiders in her hair.
Pretty soon she didnât even have to lie about what Iâd done.
At first I just didnât like Dervla because she was a bossy babysitter.
But after a while it was more than that.
I began to get a weird feeling about her.
It started when I noticed this strange smell when she was around. Kind of a strong smell of burning. Like barbecued meat.
I also noticed her itching.
She was always scratching her head under the yellow ribbon.
But then something really weird happened.
It made me think something very creepy was going on.
I was in the kitchen, hatching my latest plan against Dervla.
Iâd decided to pop some popcorn and maybe forget to put the lid on the saucepan.
I turned on the cooker.
Just as I was getting out the popcorn, I heard Dervla growling, âWhat on earth are you doing?â
âNothing, Dervla,â I said in my sweetest voice.
But she wasnât buying it. She never did. She knew me too well.
âDonât lie to me,â she snarled. âIâm keeping my eye on you, you little wretch.â
She was whispering, but her voice wasnât soft. It was hard and angry.
And then she put her hand on the hot stove.
I almost screamed aloud.
But she looked straight at me and said, âWhat?â
She didnât even flinch.
From then on, I started to be a little afraid of Dervla.
I watched her when she wasnât looking, and I noticed weird stuff.
Her skin looked strange in certain lights. Almost red. And her freckles seemed to have faded.
Sometimes when she spoke, her voice didnât sound like a girlâs at all. It was deep and sounded like some horrible growl.
Then sheâd clear her throat and her voice would be back to normal.
One horrifying night, I saw Dervla eat a spider that was crawling along the counter.
She popped it in her mouth.
JUST LIKE THAT.
From then on, I knew that Dervla was different.
Not evil in a teenage girl way,
One night when she was babysitting me, we had this big fight.
Dervla grabbed the TV remote as soon as she arrived.
When I started yelling, she dragged me upstairs and locked me in my bedroom.
I heard her laughing maniacally as she turned the key in the lock and went downstairs.
Of course, this was not a problem for me.
When youâre in a war with a devil like Dervla, you have to have a few tricks up your sleeve.
I had these really powerful stink bombs.
They were small and made of glass with some kind of yellow vomit-colored liquid inside.
I shimmied down the drainpipe and came in the back door.
I crept into the TV room where she was sitting.
I had the stink bombs in my pocket.
She was on the couch, facing away from me.
I tiptoed up behind her, holding my breath so I wouldnât laugh.
Just as I was reaching for the stink bombs, I noticed something that made me stop.
Poking out of Dervlaâs frizzy red hair were
I looked at her hand lying on the armrest.
There was something very wrong with it. Instead of a freckly pale hand with slightly chewed nails, there was a reddish hand with long fingers and thick black nails.
Then, with a terrible slow slither, a thin forked tail emerged from behind the couch.
I got that awful sick feeling in my stomach.
I covered my mouth so I wouldnât scream. And I slowly backed out of the room.
The floor creaked.
As soon as I heard that creak, it felt like everything froze for a second.
And then, slowly, Dervlaâs head started to turn around.
It was definitely her.
I had kind of been hoping it was an imposter.
But no, it was my babysitter all right.
My demon babysitter.
Except that now her eyes were completely black
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