#7 The Demon Babysitter (4 page)

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 wouldn't 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, Dervla's 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 and she was smiling at me through pointed teeth.

“Well, Becky. Misbehaving again, are we? This time I'm not going to tell your parents. I'll deal with you myself.”

She said these last words with a growl and made a jump at me.

I threw a chair in front of the demon and ran out of the room.

I heard an angry howl as she tripped over the chair.

I ran up the stairs, two steps at a time, burst into my parents' room, and crawled into my best hiding place.

It was an air vent that I can fit in. I've hidden there before. I was sure I would be safe there.

After a while, I heard these horrible footsteps.

They were heavy, but they also made a clicking sound, as if claws were scratching the wooden floor.

The door opened slowly.

The creature began walking around the room, her claws clicking, her tail swishing back and forth.

As Dervla walked past the air vent, the air was filled with a horrible stench.

The smell of burning meat.

I held my breath.

Finally Dervla turned to leave.

I was sure she hadn't seen me.

But just as she put her hand on the door handle, she began to sniff the air.

Turning around, the demon looked right at the air vent.

In three steps she ran across the room and ripped open the air vent with a snarl.

She grabbed me by my hood and lifted me off the floor.

I smashed one of my stink bombs onto the demon's head.

Dervla roared and coughed and spluttered.

I hit her with a lamp. The demon went down. I had knocked her out.

Then I got my dad's bicycle lock and locked her in an old abandoned shed down by the river.

I feed her every day.

Nobody could work out what had happened to Dervla.