Intermission: Lexi’s Past (1)

Even if I do say so myself, I lived a pretty blessed life.

Good looks. Brains. I even do pretty well at sports.

My Dad is a current member of the Otherworld Special Operation Force working directly for the Earth Protection Army in the fight against the Invaders.

My Mom is a famous ex-runway model who now works as a charismatic freelance fashion writer for many famous fashion magazines.

As you might have guessed, compared to most people, my family is relatively wealthy.

Due to both my parents being well-known in many influential social circles, I had the chance to associate myself with many famous and/or influential personnel who come to visit both of them.

It was through Mom's teaching and influence that I was able to become a successful fashion Youtuber in the first place.

It was through her expertise as a former runway model and current fashion writer that I had first learned the art of fashion.

At first, I had kept my relationship with Mom a secret when I first became a Youtuber. Eventually, due to my growing popularity, some of my fans had been able to connect my name (since I used my real name for my channel) and looks to that of my mother's.

The rumors that I was the daughter of a famous ex-runaway model spread and my subscriber count had since exploded. This was a story from only 3 months ago. Even now my subscriber count continues to grow at a rapid rate.

In regards to my Dad, Dad had fought many times against the Invaders for as long as I could remember. There had been many times he had fought long and hard in order to protect our world. From the stories he brings, he said there had been many close calls where he could have died.

However, in the end, he always comes back to us as promised.

I was to be asked if I was proud of my Dad, I would unhesitantly say, 'Yes!'. The same could be said for Mom.

My parents love each other very much. They of course love me just as much.

Having a family and a lifestyle such as this, a stranger would expect that my childhood would have had little to no hardships.

My life as Alexis Owens, to the eyes of the outsider, is a fulfilling one.

... If it were not for that one single but most horrible traumatic experience I had, that might have been true.

.

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Since I was very young, my Dad was often gone from home. Even now, I could totally count the handful of times I had been together with my Dad as he's usually gone from my life.

At this age, Mom had yet become an ex-runway model. Due to her job, she too had many instances where she had to leave home for days to participate in fashion shows around the world. Thanks to her agency's policies, Mom is usually unable to bring me along with her.

Being young as I am, I wasn't able to be left alone in my own home. As a result, my parents often either hired professional nannies or put me into daycares that would take care of me while they are away.

From a normal standpoint, for a child having to live away from her parents for long periods of time is horrible for their development. But I myself was never felt burdened whenever both of my parents have to leave me. I believed myself to be extremely understanding of both their circumstances. No matter what, I would never complain.

Some might say I was an obedient and smart child. Others could possibly see me as creepy for being way too calm and rational for my age. To me, none of that really matters.

As long as I know that the both of them will come back eventually, everything is okay.

... That was when it happened.

I had many Nannies that took care of me when both my parents were away. Since it was so long ago, I, unfortunately, don't remember the faces or the names of any of them. However, there was one Nanny I had that I wished I would never have to remember ever again.

When I was 9 years old, once again it seems that both of my parents once again will be away from home leaving me alone. However this time something is a bit different.

It wasn't unusual for Dad to be away from home for many weeks on end. As such, he also wasn't home during this time as well. What was unusual was from Mom's side.

Mom received a job offer to take part in multiple fashion shows and photoshoots that required her to away from home for at least a week.

Such offers that take this long are rare during the year but very important. As one of her agency's most famous and successful model, Mom usually doesn't refuse any job offers that come her way as she tries to fulfill the expectations her agency and fans have for her.

For outings this long, Mom would have preferred to bring me along so wouldn't be left home alone with only a nanny taking care of me. But due to her agency's policies, she is unable to bring anyone not affiliated with their agency, even family. As such Mom had no choice but to hire a Nanny for a week.

There had been this one old lady Nanny that my parents usually choose to help take care of me. Having worked with her for a long time, my parents feel safe leaving me with her. But due to personal circumstances, she was unavailable to take care of me at this time, unfortunately.

This resulted in Mom having to take an extreme effort in finding a suitable Nanny that could take care of me instead. Mom searched through many Nanny service website in order to find a suitable candidate. Eventually, Mom was able to find one. Having seen through the Nanny's records and experiences, even making a direct phone call interview with her, Mom felt that she would be the one. After going through the proper procedures, this Nanny became the one to become my caretaker for a week.

When the day came for when the Nanny was supposed to arrive at our house, both Mom and I were waiting at the front door. Mom was on the phone with the Nanny, seemingly helping her with directions.

I had no idea who or what my new temporary Nanny is going to be like. According to Mom, this Nanny had many great reviews and is a popular hire.

*Ding-Dong*

Seems the Nanny finally arrived.

Once both Mom and I got to meet the Nanny face-to-face for the first time, my impression was that of a jolly granny.

A kind countenance and soft-spoken tone. She was very polite and smiled at me gently.

According to what Mom told me, she was exactly as how the reviews of her describe her.

Having been able to talk to her both over the phone and face-to-face, Mom looked very satisfied with the Nanny.

After finishing with all the necessary preparations and touring the Nanny around the house, Mom finally was about to leave.

Already used to this, I didn't make a fuss and sent Mom off with the biggest smile I can.

With a final hug and wave good-bye, Mom entered into her car and I kept watching until she finally left the driveway.

Once seeing Mom off, I once again looked back at the Nanny who I will be in her care for a period of one week,

'Alexis, let's hope we can get along.'

…What was that? Her tone wasn't any different from when she talked to Mom before and her demeanor didn't change in the slightest. But for some reason, I could only feel a mysterious dread that I couldn't explain.

For the first time in a long while, I felt regret sending Mom off at this very moment.

,

,

Despite my worries, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happen during the first few days I had her.

The actions the Nanny took were all typical of what all the other Nannies I ever had did. She cooked me meals, clean the dishes, and vacuumed the house. She even did the laundry.

As she is a temporary hire, the Nanny doesn't live with me, but rather travels back and forth from her home to my home every day at the same time. Never once was she ever late.

The first day with the Nanny went off without a hitch. I started to feel that my scary hunch from before was just my hyperactive imagination so I threw it away from the back of my mind.

In the next three days, the Nanny performed the exact same way as she did on the first day. The Nanny even didn't make any more contact with me than necessary, which I found nice.

If the rest of the week continues in this manner, I feel that the week would go by so fast I wouldn't even notice and would get to see Mom again faster than I would think. I couldn't help but hope this would be the case.

It wasn't until the end of the fourth day, I found out my wish will remain unfulfilled.

It was the fourth day, I was minding my own business as usual. There was a habit that I used to have when I was younger where I find it fun to raid into Mom's jewelry cabinet in her and Dad's room and gaze at her huge collection for minutes on end.

Knowing my habit, Mom had placed a home security camera system all over the house to anticipate the off chance I would take away some of the sharp jewelry and accidentally hurt myself. Though I felt this was a bit too much.

Mom usually locks up her jewelry whenever she leaves home so I couldn't have taken them even if I wanted to. But despite that being the case, I usually go look at them anyways since the cabinet is made of glass so I was able to see inside the case at any time.

So that day was just one of those days I went to gaze at Mom's jewelry once again to satisfy my desires. That was when I first had notice something was different.

I noticed that part of Mom's jewelry went missing. To clarify it is not that an entire bracelet or necklace went missing, but rather few bits of gems embedded in them are found missing from their designs.

The type of jewelry Mom has is extremely expensive and is made of real gemstones and not imitations. Just even a part of it can be worth quite a few bucks if sold to the right people or the right places.

Normally one wouldn't have noticed the gems were gone unless they were to look closely. The amount missing from each of Mom's jewelry was so small and taken from rather inconspicuous spots you could easily miss them if you are not careful.

However, for me who had been looking at these jewels as a habit since I was young was able to immediately notice something was wrong.

Why did this happen? Where did the gems go?

It didn't take me long to figure out the only one that could have done that was the Nanny.

Although I suspected the Nanny, I still wondered how she did it. Even now the cabinet was as locked as ever. There was no way Mom would ever give the key to the Nanny so I have no clue how she could have stolen the gems in the first place. Also, with the hidden cameras in place, the Nanny would have been caught red-handed if she were to break open the cabinet. I know that both Mom and Dad constantly check the camera video feeds when they have the time because they worry about me. Using an app they download on their phone, they can check at any time they want. However, despite that, both Mom and Dad have said nothing about discovering the Nanny seen rummaging the jewelry cabinet. If they had noticed they would have warned me and called the police immediately. This strange. This is very strange.

Filled with a sense of injustice, I began trying to tail the Nanny all day. I simply thought if I could catch her in the act, I could maybe ask her if she could return the gems. Despite how mature I may be, in the end I was still a young naive child.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I was unable to catch the Nanny in the act all the way until she left to go back home. Disappointed, I could only try to put myself to sleep while thinking I will do this again tomorrow.

Ironically, as a result, I wasn't able to sleep at all. I couldn't stop thinking about tomorrow.

It was then I heard an unnatural noise coming from my parent's room. That was where Mom's jewelry is!

I quickly but quietly sneaked to where I heard the noise and what I saw blew my young mind.

What I first saw was a dark silhouette. While it was dark, due to the moonlight coming from the windows I was able to vaguely see was Nanny. But what the Nanny was doing was something I would never forget.

At first, nothing was unusual about her appearance. But then I noticed that her hands for the first time. Her hand became a mutating abomination. It was constantly morphing into many weird and unusual shapes.

Using her disgusting hand, Nanny had somehow opened the Mom's jewelry cabinet and is now removing various gemstones from the jewelry.

Shocked by the display, I became instantly scared. I couldn't help it but let out a yelp of surprise.

As expected, this was when Nanny heard me.

The moment she discovered where I was, the face the Nanny had at that time was so terrifying I had it even erased from my memory.

In the next few days after discovering her secret, my new hell had just begun