Series By: deathfox919
Hello again all. I was going to post last night, but living a normal life is just too interesting to pass up on. I am here now, and that's what counts, I guess. I posted this a couple of days back and decided to split it into two stories because I figured it's a pretty long story. If you don't feel like reading that, then all you need to know is I went to a daycare with some friends back when I was a child and one random day in August five kids were murdered behind the daycare.
Anyways, on with the fun.
About a week after this, my mom and I decided to go check out the new Dollar General that had opened in the town just south of us. We happened to run into Riley and Carrie there with their dad as they had come down to check it out as well. While my mom and their dad talked about the gruesome tragedy that took place the daycare, as parents do about things that concern their kids, Riley and I said we should have a playdate since we weren’t gonna be going back to daycare anytime soon.
Eventually, we went and talked to our parents about it, begging to hang out sometime soon. Our parents caved (probably because they knew we were in public and they didn't want us to lose our shit) and agree to set up a playdate. Riley and Carrie were getting babysat by Geneva Tattler, whom my family knew well as she ran track with my sister. If their dad could clear it with Geneva, we could definitely have some quality time to play a shit ton of Mario Kart.
The day came where I went over to their house. I packed a bag filled with my DS and what seemed to be a thousand different games (even though we would end up playing Mario Kart and doing the little animation program that the DS came loaded with) and went over with my mom. After hurriedly saying hi to Geneva and Carrie, Riley and I raced into his room and played some video games.
As we raced, I randomly took a look outside and saw a figure tucked back in the woods but surely facing the house. It was definitely human, or at the very least one of those shape-shifting fuckers that could take human form surprisingly well.
I asked Riley, “Who’s that standing in the woods?”
Without looking up, he said, “It’s probably a ghost, just ignore it.”
“C’mon man,” I insisted, “I know that’s a human.”
“No you don’t,” he said, “Billy Elkins could be putting dummies all around town again. Now can we please just win this cup?”
“I want to tell Geneva,” I pleaded.
“No no!” he stopped, “Just think, if you tell Geneva it could turn into something big and my parents will get involved. Then I won’t have any more playdates for the rest of the summer, maybe even next! What if all that happens over a dummy?”
He had me convinced. “Alright,” I said in defeat, “But we better win this cup.”
He smiled and said, “There we go.”
We played and got our asses handed to us. When we finished, I saw Geneva and Carrie playing outside on the small patio. The figure at the edge of the woods was gone.
“See?” Riley assured me, “No big deal. Nothing to worry about.”
“I guess you were right man,” I said to him, “Now let’s go for the Banana Cup. I think we can win it this time.”
Yeah...we lost that one to.
After this, I went downstairs and saw Geneva and Carrie happily discussing their favorite dolls. I got Riley and I some sodas from the massive new fridge his father had just gotten and ran back upstairs to play some more Mario Kart with him.
After we completed the Banana Cup again, being only a few points away from victory and more prizes, Riley asked me a question that completely caught me off guard. He asked, “Did you hear about what happened at Sunny Friends?”
"No...what happened?" I asked, nervously.
My mother had never told me anything about why we left or who the men in the biohazard suits were or why a CSI unit was parked in the driveway. She had tried to leave it all in the past.
“Well,” he began before peeking around to make sure that Geneva and Carrie were still downstairs, “...they found a bunch of dead kids behind the daycare. They were all murdered a few days before it was shut down.”
“Woah,” I paused, “How do you know all of this?”
He pointed to the wall next to us and explained that his mother constantly talked to his aunt about some of the things that went on in town, and he heard her talking about the daycare a few days before I had come over.
"How many died?" I asked.
“I don’t know,” he informed me. “I heard my mom say, ‘those poor kids. I can’t believe that it happened. But at least it was only five and neither of my babies was one of those kids.'”
I paused for a moment trying to think of something to say. After a few seconds, the clearest question I could ask came to mind; “Did they catch the killer?”
“Don’t know,” he said, “My mom changed the subject after that. They talked about something called misogyny."
Then, I connected some blanks that my young, mostly innocent mind had been missing. “What if that guy in the backyard was the killer?” I asked frantically, “What if he was coming to kill us?”
“Dude, seriously?” Riley asked unamused, “That’s ridiculous. Actually, that’s just stupid.”
“Think about it. Why would he be hiding at the edge of the woods?” I asked.
“Because there’s the trail that goes over to Cressy Pond that goes behind our house?” he suggested, clearly trying to change the subject. "Come on man can we just go back to the games? We can unlock a new character if we try!"
I frowned at this. But, defeated, I opened my DS and said, “Well then let's get the ghosts.”
With that, we raced for the rest of the day.
Around six o’clock, Carrie came upstairs and told us dinner was ready and my mom would be coming to pick me up around quarter of seven.
After dinner and a fun conversation with Geneva and Carrie, my mother arrived. I remember while talking to Carrie and Riley that I noticed my mother trying not to cry and handing Geneva fifty dollars, probably for taking care of me on top of the twins.
On the ride home, my mom explained to me that I was very lucky that I was able to go over to their house that day, and that it probably wouldn’t happen again that summer.
Naturally, I’d managed to mostly forget about the murders at the daycare.
I woke up around eleven o’clock and had to pee, badly. I raced out to the bathroom right next to my parents’ room and noticed my mom crying. After I went to the bathroom I went to go see why she was in tears.
She shook her head and said, “It’s nothing honey, I’m just sad.”
“Because of the kids killed at the daycare?” I asked.
She slowly looked up at me, dumbfounded at what had just come out of my mouth. “Honey,” she began, “How did you know about that?”
“Riley said he heard it from his mom,” I told her.
She paused for a minute and wiped tears from her cheeks. “Yes honey,” she said as she sniffled, “I’m sad that something so terrible happened.” She paused again and looked at me before asking, “Did he say anything else?”
I was confused, but I told her the truth. “No.”
"Okay," she said, "Now go back to bed please."
I followed her orders and went back to bed. Even as a foolish child, I still knew that there was more to why my mother was crying, and I was determined to figure it out.
The next day, my grandfather came over to watch me. He was very good with kids and probably one of the nicest men you'd ever be able to meet. He also didn't bother to hide anything from anyone.
I used this to my advantage and asked him if he knew anything about what had happened at the daycare.
"You mean all those kids that were murdered?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Yeah, it's a real shame. I gotta wonder if the kid that the police found yesterday had anything to do with that. As awful as it sounds, I'd hope one child murderer is responsible and not a bunch of them," he explained.
I was deeply unsettled. There was another murder and it was likely from the same person.
It wouldn't be until school started that I found out the boy who was murdered was Dylan Copperfield. He was killed on the same day I was at Riley's, and his body was dumped at Cressy Lake; only about half a mile away from Riley's house.
Three days after school began, the police caught the killer. The man responsible for these six gruesome child murders was Colin Schwartz, an employee of the daycare. I actually remembered who he was, he often made the food for most of us. Colin was arrested and quickly charged with all six murders and he plead guilty to all of them.
Colin’s appearance did, in fact, match that of the man who I saw in the woods behind Riley’s house.
The town also wanted the man who owned and operated the daycare, Jason Holdsworth, held liable for the awful crimes as well. After all, he hired Colin thinking he was an employee that was capable of handling children.
Eventually, they came to their senses and stopped blaming Jason. Well, the rest of the town, but maybe not the families of the murdered children.
Riley and Carrie managed to stay friends with me for years after this. I drifted apart from Rachel and Eden and eventually Kadyn as well, but Riley and Carrie and I were always pretty close. After graduation, we didn’t talk too much. We added each other on all forms of social media and liked posts and saw stories and such, but we rarely messaged each other.
As far as I know, everyone from that group except for Eden disappeared on April Fool’s Day. I don’t know about Kadyn, as the last time I talked to her I’d kind of insulted her boyfriend’s intelligence and she wished to no longer speak to me. Hell, she might not even be living in the town anymore.
Colin Schwartz is serving six life sentences. If he hasn’t already, he will die in prison.
You know, it's funny. When I think back on it, I remember that Eden and I both had the vampire parasites around the same time. We both got our families very sick as well. But no one else I was friends with at that point got sick.
Holy shit!
I think I know what happened to my town.
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