The Mirzaian's Babysitter

It was 21:03, around two hours since the adults had left, when I received the first call on my cell phone. It rang and no number appeared on the screen, it just stated 'Unknown Caller', so I answered it. 'Hello?' However there was no reply, but I could here someone breathing heavily down the phone. Again I repeated myself,'Hello?' Still, all that I heard was the heavy breathing which continued for a few seconds until I hung up. I didn't really think much of it at the time, so I carried on watching television. It began to get dark, the sun had already set and the moon wasn't in sight through the glass windows that allowed you to see the outside swimming pool from the couch. 5 minutes later it began to rain. At first it was only slightly, however the noise and speed of each raindrop increased rapidly until it was pouring down with rain. The next call I received was at 21:12. It still was from an 'Unknown Caller', so I presumed it was the same person. 'Hello?' I asked, just like in the other phone call. The same heavy breathing occurred, though this time a deep, male voice replied, 'Have you checked on the children?' Immediately after, he hung up. I just thought it was Mr Mirzaian asking me, but I soon realised it wasn't after the caller rang again. Though before the 3rd call, I continued to watch the television. I thought I saw a black figure standing outside, the opposite side of the swimming pool, though it had started thundering and lightening, resulting in myself believing it was just a flash of light. It wasn't. The next call didn't come on my cell phone, but Mr and Mrs Mirzaian's home phone which was on the mantle piece in the same room. I got up to answer the phone but just as I went to reach for it, the phone stopped ringing. I still picked the phone up, sat back down on the couch, and dialled '*69', which was the last-call back code used in the U.S. The operator stated, 'I'm sorry, but the last caller was Unknown.' As soon as I hung up the phone rang again. Straight away I answered it, 'Hello, Mr Mirzaian?' The deep, male voice answered, 'No, but have you checked on the children?' He hung up again. By then I was really creeped out. I post-haste rang '911'. The weather was getting worse, the thunder and lightening sound was increasing. The operator on the line replied, '911, where is your emergency?' 'Some man keeps ringing my cell phone and now the home phone, he keeps telling me to check on the children because I am babysitting. I'm scared.' 'Okay, please try to remain calm. What we can do for you is to trace the call the next time he rings you. How does that sound?' I was trembling with fear. 'Yes. Okay. That sounds good.' I replied nervously. 'Okay then. You will need to try to keep him on the phone for as long as you can. Do you think you could do that?' The woman on the phone informed me, keeping me calm. 'Yes. Thank You.' When the call was over, it wasn't until 15 minutes later when I received the next call. During this time, I sat on the couch and turned up the volume on the television. I could just make out the sound that the news reporter was making over the top of the thundering. This time the phone call was still on the home phone. 'Why ring somebody else? Have you checked on the children yet?' Still scared to death I replied, 'Who are you? How do you know about how I am babysitting the children? Stop it! You are scaring me.' The heavy breathing was all I could here down the phone for a few seconds. 'Maddi...' I quickly interrupted him before he could say another word, 'How do you know my name? Please, you have terrified me enough. Now stop it. Please.' The last thing he said to me was, 'You haven't checked on the children.' He hung up. Directly after, I received another phone call, I waited a few seconds before answering it. Before the caller had a chance to speak, I shouted, 'Leave me alone!' The person on the phone was the woman from when I called 911 earlier on, 'The call is coming from inside of the home, the cops are on their way. Get the children and leave the home. Please try to remain calm and everything will be alright.'I froze. I was petrified. I grabbed my cell phone and put it into my pocket. My heart beat wildly in my chest. I ran as fast as I could, though I tried to be quiet. The whole home was dark and I couldn't see much. It really didn't help that I did not know where I was going as I had never been there before. All that I knew was it was on the left when you got to the top of the staircase on the right hand side. I got to the top of the stairs. I felt like someone was watching me, following me, chasing me. I looked into one room, it wasn't the children's bedroom. I looked into another room, it also wasn't the children's bedroom. The third room I went into was theirs. I shook each of them to wake them up. Jayden asked, 'Who are you?' Once they had all woken up I told them, 'I'm Maddi, your babysitter. We need to get out of the home as fast as we can. Do you think you can follow me really fast?' Dynasty rubbed her eyes. 'Maddi, are we going to mom and dad?' Tears started to fall down my face like a waterfall, 'Yes, lets go and find them.' I held there hands and we ran. I knew he was following us but I didn't look behind. I could hear sirens in the distance and I could start to see flashing lights. The children were running down the stairs. I turned around and he had a knife in his hand. He was chasing us. The children were by the door, trying so hard to unlock it. I unlatched the door and opened it. They ran outside. The cops were there, rushing out of there cars. I thought I was safe. I turned to see him but it was too late. I tried to escape but it was too late. The children had made it. I hadn't. I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my back. I bellowed. It was over. I have now joined my mom. The man who put me here was the same man in the photographs. He was the one who also put my mom where he put me. It is all over now. The truth has come out at last and everybody knows what actually happened when mom died. How she didn't actually 'jump' of that cliff, how she was pushed by him. Him who my mom had an affair with before I was born and when I was a baby. He who was my biological father. He was never a father. My dad loved me and mom, not murdered us. He harmed me because I was close to bringing out the truth. At least now it's out and he will pay the price he owes to society. I never knew it would have ended like this. I never knew to find the truth it would cost so much and I never knew that dad would be replaying his grief all over again, 12 years on. I didn't want it to end this way. I made a promise to mom and to dad. It was that I would find out the truth no matter what. I kept that promise to them. The last thing I said to dad was, 'see you later dad, I love you.' Neither dad nor I expected later to be more than a few hours. Now later will be many years. I didn't know it would end like this. I am proud of myself for bringing one last thing to my family. Justice.

Mom died when I was four. I can’t really remember her that much, however dad does. He had looked after me ever since that day; everything was fine, perfect in fact, until now. Dad and I lived in an apartment in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was a lovely place to grow up, we moved there for a fresh start. It wasn’t until my 15th birthday that dad told me about what really happened to Mom, even though I vaguely remember her, I still knew that it wasn’t true. I knew I had to find out the truth and so I went about finding it, though I never knew it would have ended like this. I never knew to find the truth it would cost so much and I never knew that dad would be replaying his grief all over again, 12 years on. I didn't want it to end this way.Ever since I found out that my mother didn't die of natural causes, ever since I was told that she committed suicide, I knew she would have wanted me to find out the truth. I knew I wasn't old enough to understand her when I was only a few years old, but since then, I had built up a mental image of what she was like as a person from what everyone said about her. I never believed for a second that she would end her own life, not after knowing everything that she had to live for.I was at the cemetery, a five minute walk from the apartment, the area of land dedicated to the interment of those who had gone before us. High walls surrounded the washed out place, with heavy iron gates at the entrance which were padlocked during closing hours. All around me were headstones dating back for centuries, though most of the names were almost worn down by the years and the weather. The headstones had an ancient look to them, it was probably because they were old, however it could have also been the moss which had surrounded the majority of headstones because of the trees around blocking out any sunlight that the sun gave. As i continued to walk down the feculent path, heading towards mom's grave, I could feel a shiver down my spine as I began to smell the musky smell in the damp areas I trudged through. It seemed to be extremely quiet, however the sound was deafening. All that could be heard were the dark sounds of the birds. I could see the variation in sizes of headstones, with those of notable and more known people generally having much larger and more ornate ones. It wasn't really that unusual to walk through the cemetery and find some with freshly picked flowers but sadly, nothing on many of the others. The section which was dedicated to those who died in the service of their country, was often noticeable. This was because they most often had a reference to that on their headstone and perhaps some with a small flag instead of a bed of flowers. The cemetery was a reminder to me that life is finite and I often went there so that I could talk to mom. I went to also show and acknowledge how important she was to me and everyone else who she had an impact on during her time. Since the day I started to find the truth, whenever I went, I would tell her how I knew that I would find the truth out and bring it all to an end.I walked over to mom's headstone. There were fresh flowers laid down beside her, which looked like they had been placed there recently, perhaps from dad or gran. I put the lily's that I had bought for her down over her grave and I knelt beside her. 'Hey mom, its Maddi again, there isn't really much news to tell you to be honest. On the plus side, I got an A+ is Chemistry. However I am not closer to finding out the truth. I know that everyone else is telling me that I am being pathetic, that it was all what you wanted, but not for a second, since I have known the truth, have I yet believed any of it. I will find the truth out. I don't care how long it takes, even if it hurts me, I will bring it all to peace and make the person responsible pay for what he has taken away from me and my family. I promise you that, mom.' I sat there for a few minutes, gazing up at the sky, it seemed as though she could see me, hear every word I said. I knew that she would have wanted me to do this for her and everybody else who this has had an impact on, no matter how long ago it was.

I had arrived home to find a note in dads handwriting on the kitchen counter. 'Maddi, I have just gone to visit gran for a few hours, I should be back in time to cook dinner, maybe we could have a takeaway if you fancy it? Anyway, I have found some old photo albums, when I was sorting out the closet, of you as a baby, I just thought you might want to take a look. There are a few of mom as well, maybe some of us three as a family. I have put them in a pile on your dresser in your bedroom. That's it really, see you later then. Love Dad.' I was curious of these photo albums, I have many photos of mom, many of dad, many of me as a baby, however not many of us as a whole family. As I went in my room, I noticed the neatly placed photo albums in a pile, of about 4, on my dresser, just where dad had told me they were. I took them and laid them out on my bed, switched the docking station on and I opened up the first one. I recall thinking to myself, 'I wish I could remember these moments' and 'mom was so beautiful'. However, whilst I scrutinised the photographs, there was something that made me inquisitive. Throughout the minority of images, there was an odd-looking male with mom and I. It puzzled me more as I took a gander through the other photo albums, most of them which included him were situated in the middle and end of the 2nd album, through until about the middle of the 3rd. I spent about 2 hours looking through all of the photographs, I had found a few which I really liked, some of dad, mom and myself, together as a family. Though my favourite was of a holiday we had been to in Texas when I was at the age of 2. In the background was the ranch which we had stayed in, mom, dad and I, during the holiday. The three of us were sitting together on the patio chairs outside, with the sun's hot rays blaring down on us. Mom looked beautiful. She was a pale blonde with skin like clean and polished bone, as pale as death. Her blue eyes glistened. They seemed endless, like the ocean. Just to see her open eyes and bright, life filling smile felt like gold. Her prolonged, ringleted hair seemed perfectly placed in front of her shoulders. To the left of mom, was dad. His now brown hair seemed to be light blonde because of the rays from the sun. His green eyes glistened like emeralds and his expression on his face showed me how much he must have enjoyed us being a family. 'Hey Maddi, I'm home!' It was dad, he must have just got back from grans, though he had been to the grocery store as he had dropped a pint of milk and a loaf of bread onto the kitchen counter before coming in to see me. 'So have you had a chance to look at those albums then?' He already knew that I had, he had realised that part way through his sentence, as it was obvious because of the albums spread out on my bed, but he continued it anyway. 'Yes, I have. I also found a few I am going to keep, I was thinking about framing this one, what do you think?' I replied as I handed over the photograph of the holiday in Texas. Dad looked down at the photo, his eyes lit up and a grin appeared on his face, 'I quite like that one. Yes. I'll have that framed later on so we can put it on the mantle piece.' As he turned around to walk out, i asked, 'Dad, throughout some of the albums, a man kept appearing in some photographs. Who is he?' Dad froze. He remained still for a few seconds and then continued to walk out of my room and he shut the door behind him. I first speculated that he hadn't heard me, that I didn't speak loud enough. However then, he would not have stood still for a while. Who was he? A mysterious figure appearing in the minority of photographs when I was a baby, why had I never heard of him before. After I had cleared up the albums and placed them back in the pile on my dresser, I wandered into the kitchen where dad was sitting. He didn't look up at me. 'Dad, so who is that man in some of the photographs then?' He just blanked me and continued to read the newspaper. 'Dad?' Still ignoring me, I turned around, picked up my keys and told him, 'Well I'm going to see Gran. I shouldn't be that long. I don't suppose you have any objections to that?' As he still sat in the deafening silence, I walked out of the apartment, halting for a second before closing the door behind me, just to see if he looked up. He didn't. He didn't even move an inch.

I'd walked for around 10 minutes, with Gran's house a few metres away. As I arrived at the front door, I knocked on and more or less immediately afterwards she had opened the door and greeted me warmly. 'Hello Maddi, what a great surprise. Please, come in.' I entered the house, removing my shoes before I went into the lounge. 'Your dad has just been around.''Yes, I know.' Obviously I already knew, he came back and blanked me after I asked him about the mysterious man in the photographs. I took a seat down in the room. 'Any beverages, my dear?' After it took me a few seconds to realise that she was speaking to me, even though I was the only person there, I replied, 'Yes, please. Coffee please.' Whilst gran went to make the beverage, I wandered around the room, admiring the unique decor that she had. The walls were covered in a colourful and vibrant floral print, whilst all of the furniture remained a blank, wooden canvas. In one corner, was a range of photo frames, each with a photograph of a different family member displayed in it. However, in the adjacent corner, there was a glass cabinet, completely filled with crockery. The whole place felt very small as the sensation was extremely homely and cosy. Simultaneously, I sat back down in my seat and Gran returned with a tray. On it was a coffee pot, milk pot, sugar pot, plus 2 cups and saucers for us both. 'Here you go.' Gran placed the tray down onto the table and motioned to me to help myself. As I poured myself a cup of coffee and added in the sugar, Gran asked, 'So how are things with you and school then?' It had been a few weeks since I had last been to visit Gran, ever since I started the search I had become less sociable and didn't really go anywhere to visit anyone. 'There good, thank you. I just came to ask you one thing really, if you have the time.' I wanted to know who he was. I hoped that she could give me an answer. 'Yes, I have time. What is it dear?' 'Well..' I started, 'I was looking through some photo albums of when I was a baby, before mom died, and throughout a few pages, the same person kept appearing. I just wanted to know who it was.' Gran froze. Just like dad did. She then looked up at me and started to take a sip of her drink. As she place it down on the saucer she held in her hand, she replied, 'It is probably just a family friend, nothing to worry about really.' I reached inside my pocket and pulled out an image which the figure appeared in. It was a photograph that I had taken from the album earlier on. I unfolded the photograph and laid it on the table as I did this, I watched Gran's face to see her reaction to him. 'She flinched, as if he was a bad person. Someone she wanted to forget about. Someone who she did forget about and who I had just reminded her of him. Her expression whispered to me. It told me that he was bad, that he hurt my family, that I should never have bought it up. 'Oh, is that the time already?' She rushed to place her cup down onto the table. 'I better be off, I will tidy this up later. I'm sorry Madison but you will need to go, you should come and visit me soon again, I have enjoyed this catching up time.' I stood up. I didn't understand then, I didn't know who he was, to me he just seemed like a normal, ordinary person. I know now that he wasn't, though then I didn't. I just didn't envisage it all, what he had done, who he even was. I thought about going straight home afterwards, but then I thought that I should visit mom, though I had already visited her a few hours previously, to see if it would make me understand everything much clearer. It wouldn't hurt, well, I didn't think so at the time, it might not have at all, but it made this day come closer. So I made the choice to go back to the cemetery. The atmosphere there still remained. The silence was still tumultuous. After I had walked over to mom's grave, I again sat beside her. 'Mom, I just don't get it. Who is this man? How come every time I ask someone, dad or gran, they just freeze up? What has he done, to the family, to you, to every one? Why doesn't anyone want to talk about him? I just don't understand. It may even help me with finding your killer and they're keeping it from me. I'm just so curious. I'm desperate to know. Please. Mom.' A fretful stream like liquid silver trickled down my cheeks creating my crying jewels for eyes to glisten like morning frost. As I stood up, I wiped my tears from my eyes and gazed around. There, stood a black figure, just standing, staring at me. All that you could see is a vague, mysterious figure. I could just make out that it was a man, by the build and height of him. It seemed as though he was waiting for someone, but judging by how he just concentrated on my movement, it seemed he was waiting for me. I raised to my feet and froze. I was scared a little and also nervous at the same time. I didn't know what to do. I put one foot in front of the other and took compact and unrushed steps. Though, as I got a little bit closer, he stepped back and walked off, picking up the pace of his movement as he got further away. Relief. That is what I felt.

After that I was extremely creeped out. There were thousands of questions circling around in my head. Who was he? Why was he looking at me? Do I know him? Am I safe? For most of the walk home I was looking around me, everyone I looked at I thought was staring back at me, but I knew that they weren't. Subsequently a few days later, I had still no idea who the figure was, I kind of forgot about it. Also, I didn't know, still, who the mysterious man in the photographs were. Neither dad nor gran would tell me. I was sitting in my bedroom listening to music through my headphones when dad came in. 'Maddi, look, I have a very important business meeting tonight with Mr and Mrs Mirzaian and I wondered if you could possibly babysit their 4 children? They would already be asleep so you probably won't have to see to them, resulting in you being able to watch TV or do whatever until we get back. They say that they will pay you for your time. We should be back by midnight, so what to do you say?' Babysitting 4 children didn't really appeal to me, but like dad said, they would already be asleep, plus I would get paid, what had I got to lose? Everything. 'Well, okay then, I suppose I could.' 'Great! Thanks Maddi, we will be leaving her at 6 o'clock because they live in New Orleans, so it will take us around an hour to get there.' As 6 o'clock approached, I was all ready. I decided that I would take a backpack with my laptop and photo albums in it resulting in myself being able to try to find more information of mom. I knew inside it was the right thing to do. I now know it was the right thing to do. I had to find justice. 'Dad,' I shouted as I left my room and closed the door behind me. 'Are you ready then?' 'Yes Maddi, go and get into the truck, I won't be a second.' After I had got my cell phone, I went outside and got into the truck. As soon as dad got inside, we left and headed for the Mirzaian's home in New Orleans. For the first half an hour of the journey, dad and I just sat in complete silence. The atmosphere was tense. 'Maddi. When are you going to stop all of this nonsense?' Dad started to question me, I knew that we would end up arguing sooner or later, again, about me trying to find the truth. 'Stop all of what?' I replied. 'This. Putting yourself, myself, gran and everybody else through all of this pain and misery once again. Searching for nothing. When will you come to terms with what has happened. It was 12 years ago, you were only 4, I know you didn't understand it then, but when you turned 15 everyone thought you could deal with the truth. The truth being that your mom was under a lot of pressure, she killed herself, no one else did it. Please, stop trying to unearth something that is fictional!' That was the last thing which was said until we arrived at the Mirzaian's home. To say that the mansion was incredible was an understatement. I was flabbergasted. Never in my life had I seen grass so green or a house as tall. A thigh high, stone fence surrounded the perimeter of the home and where it ended, there was a small automatic gate. Once we had driven onto the property, I could see more of the extravagant house. It seemed as though the whole exterior was awoken by us, the birds were all sitting together, near a small pond which was wrapped around a weeping willow, which branches dipped lightly into the water's surface. The sun's light reflected on the water of another pool, distanced from the weeping willow tree, cleverly concealed behind a cluster of oak trees. Colourful flowers covered the areas of grass completely. I was mesmerised by the entwined ivy that snaked up the side of the marble wall of imposing height, by the staircase that led to the door which was decorated with two grandiose statues of lions, placed on each side. The path that led up to the staircase had a resplendent, extended garden either side. As dad and I walked up, heading for the door which appeared welcoming, my hand brushed the smooth railing of the grand staircase and I took a last look around the exquisite mansion before taking hold of the brass knocker, with an intricate gold design of the Bald Eagle, the national emblem in the centre. Exhaling deeply, I knock on the door and waited for it to be open. I took a step back and turned to exchanged looks with dad. A slender woman with a height of around 5'7 answered the door. 'Hello, you must be Rick Greenside.' She turned to dad and shook his hand tightly. 'So you must be Madison.' Her dark, deep, emerald eyes reflected the delicacy of her porcelain skin. Her poker straight, brown, medium length hair fell in front of her shoulders as she leaned towards me to shake my hand. 'I'm Lyra, Jensen's wife. Please, do come in.' She told us. He luscious red lips made her skin look even paler. She motioned for us to follow her as dad closed the door behind him. Her deep red, high heels made her long legs appear to be even longer as she walked. As we entered foyer of the home, I noticed the lavish chandelier on the ceiling. There were two flights of spiral staircases, both leading to different parts of the home, going up to the second floor. I was astonished by the amount of items and decor which looked like they cost a king's ransom. We were leaded into a lounge, with yet again, expensive decor and gadgets. One of which was a colossal television in the corner of the room. Inside the room, sitting on a vintage style couch, was Mr Mirzaian. 'Hello Rick. Hello Maddi.' He warmly greeted us, as he stood up, by shaking our hands. 'So Maddi, the children are already up stairs and should be fast asleep. You will need to check on them about every hour or so, just to be sure they are okay. There's food and beverages in the kitchen, so please help yourself to them. I have left a note on the table with mine and Lyra's cell phone numbers in case of an emergency and I think that is it anyway.' Mr Mirzaian was also slim, but well built. His hair drifted in front of his face, whilst his blue eyes sparkled in the light. 'Thank You Mr Mirzaian.' 'No, please, it's Jensen.' He told me. Mrs Mirzaian, Lyra, said, 'It's about time we headed off, we should be back around midnight anyway Maddi.' As I said goodbye, then started to leave and I walked to the door so that I could lock it behind them. 'See you later dad. I love you.' That was the last thing I said to him. There, on the wall, in the foyer was a canvas of Lyra, Jensen and there children. There children were all quite young, I knew this because I heard dad on the phone to them previously that day. I recall him saying that Rhydian was age 4, Dynasty, the only girl, was age 6, Jayden was age 7 and Aaryn was age 9. I could quite easily, knowing this, pick out who was who in the photograph. Dynasty had long, blonde hair and blue eyes, just like Jensen. To the right of her was Rhydian. He has green eyes and medium length hair which was also blond. Then, to the right of him was Jayden with his blue eyes and brown, short hair. Finally, to the right of all of them was Aaryn, long blonde hair with blue, sparkling eyes. After locking the door, I went back into the other room, sat down on the couch and switched the television on.

Part Five

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four