1 Ch 1. Babysitting

My name is Amy. I am 21 years old, and in my last year of college. I have an older brother seven years ahead of me, and two little sisters. One day on a Saturday, my brother asked me to babysit his 3 month old daughter for him. I quickly agreed because I love hanging out with my niece. She had light brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a tiny little nose. So, I came quickly over to my brother's apartment and chatted with him for a little while while my sister-in-law put my niece down for a nap. Once she was asleep, they thanked me again and gave me a baby monitor to watch the baby. After they left, I checked the baby and she was perfectly fine. I brought the baby monitor to a desk with me so I could catch up on some studying. A little while later, I checked the baby monitor again and heard whispering. I thought it was just feedback, so I went back to studying. Then, I heard thumps that almost sounded like footsteps. Now watching the monitor carefully, I see a shadow over the baby's crib. Panicking, I run into my niece's room. No one is there, but I scoop her up anyway and bring her to my desk. The rest of the night was uneventful, but I still didn't set my niece down. Hours later, my brother and his wife got home and asked me if everything went well. I said everything went fine, but then pulled my brother aside and told him what happened with the footsteps. He told me not to tell his wife what happened, and that they'd been hearing weird noises lately. He was worried if she heard that happened AGAIN, she might want to move. My brother explained they didn't have the money to move right now, but she'd push the issue hard since she was extremely over protective of their daughter. Not missing a beat, he then asked me if I'd babysit the next day, too, and wanted me to sit in my niece's room so I could see where the strange noises were coming from. He was convinced it was just the AC kicking on or a weird pipe making noise. I agreed, hoping he was right.