Upstairs
December 5th, 2006
Margaret:
“Thank you so much. This just came up, and I didn’t have anyone to babysit, and Ashlie just loves you so much.” Mrs. Kramerhoff could just babble on, and on, and on….
“Yeah, well, I just don’t have a life.” Ashlie laughed really loud.
“Yes, well, thanks again, bye sweetie! I’ll see you later, okay Ashlie, stay here with Katie.”
“It’s Margaret.” Mrs. Kramerhoff had, well, name problems.
“Right, I’m sorry. Bye sweetie, and you listen to Mandy, okay, and dont-”
“Yeah, yeah, Mom, I got it.” Ashlie was already 14 and her mom still insisted that I babysit her! I’m 14 too!
“Bye!” Soon as the door shut, Ashlie and I ran to the living room.
“Ash, what do you wanna watch on tv?” I asked.
“Um, I don’t know, whatever you want, I’ll get the soda.”
“Hey, theres South Park, wanna watch that? Or figure skating? Or news, or, or, music videos.”
“How about South Park? Maggie, do you want coke or cream soda?”
“Uh, I’ll have coke, thanks, Ashlie.” For about three hours, we sat on the couch, drinking soda and getting fat while we watched South Park. Then we heard a noise coming from upstairs.
“Margaret, did you hear that?”
“Yeah. Did you get a dog that I should know about?” Ashlie shook her head.
“Nope. Well, I’ll go see what it is. Something probably just fell off of a shelf. It happens all the time. Like this one time, my mom was down in the basement, and she heard a bump, so she called the police and told them that there were theives in our house. Yeah, well, it turned out to be my skateboard sliding off of my bed.” Ashlie walked up the stairs and disappeared into some room.
While I was waiting downstairs, i started surfing through channels, looking for something to watch. Nothing good was on today. Two hours went by, and Ashlie still hadn’t come back down. “Ash? Ashlie?” I started to walk up the stairs. Ashlie was probably just pulling a prank. What else could have happened? “Ash?” I poked my head into Ashlie’s room. It was red and black, and covered in pictures of stuff like skateboards, and South park, and her cat that died last summer, and her friends. I love her room so much. ”Ashlie?” No response. “Ashlie, this isn’t funny anymore,” I was starting to get scared now. Ashlie had done stuff like this before, but she would always burst out laughing, so it never lasted long. “ASHLIE!” Now, I was down right panicing, I knew that Ashlie would have stopped by now if it was a joke. That’s when I heard a noise coming from downstairs. “Ashlie?” Maybe she didn’t hear me screaming…it’s possible. Right? “Ash?” I started to walk down the stairs. “Ash, are you there?” Suddenly a hand clamped over my left shoulder. Thinking it was Ashlie, I turned around to find a man with duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape.
“Looking for your friend, Margaret?” How did he know my name?
“Ye-uh-yeah, have you- you seen her?” He grabbed my by the neck and led me into the basement.
“Stay here, or Ashlie dies.”
“Who are, sir? What do you want, anything, money, gold? What? What do you want, name your price.” I was in tears now. “Please, or, take me. Take me instead of Ashlie if it’s her you want. I’ll do anything, please, sir, just leave Ashlie alone.”
“Stay right here,” the man repeated. I watched as the man ran up the stairs. I knew that if I did anything, the man would kill my best friend. So I sat in the dark, cold, room, and waited. I waited for the man to come get her, or Ashlie to come down alive, or, or to wake up from this horrible nightmare. Twenty minutes later I heard a gunshot and I knew Ashlie was dead, I just knew it. I ran up the stairs, he already killed Ashlie, so what could he do if I didn’t stay in the basement? I kept running and running until I turned into Ashlie’s bedroom. There was Ashlie, and the man. The man, laying there on the ground, bleeding, while Ashlie stood over him, facing the door. In her hand was her grandpa’s gun, and it was pointed at me!
Ashlie:
“Thank you so much. This just came up, and I didn’t have anyone to babysit, and Ashlie just loves you so much.” My mom is so weird.
“Yes, well, thanks again, bye sweetie! I’ll see you later, okay Ashlie, stay here with Katie.”
“It’s Margaret.” Why can’t she get Margaret’s name right, I mean, she’s my best friend!
“Right, I’m sorry. Bye sweetie, and you listen to Mandy, okay, and dont-”
“Yeah, yeah, Mom, I got it.” I kinda sorta understand a 14 year old having a babysitter if they have some whacko mother who just won’t let them stay home alone, [[like mine]] but what I don’t get is why I need a 14 year old babysitter! She’s two months older than me, and my mom’s putting her in charge! These are strange times.
“Bye!” Soon as my “mother” left, we ran into the living room like usual.
“Ash, what do you wanna watch on tv?” I love Margaret, she always asks what I want to watch, instead of just changing the channel.
“Um, I don’t know, whatever you want, I’ll get the soda.” I don’t care much for tv, I’d rather do something active.
“Hey, theres South Park, wanna watch that? Or figure skating? Or news, or, or, music videos.”
“How about South Park? Maggie, do you want coke or cream soda?” Haha! South Park is hilarious!
“Uh, I’ll have coke, thanks, Ashlie.” Maggie drinks WAY too much coke! So we spent three hours being lazy and laughing our heads off. Then I heard this noise upstairs.
“Margaret, did you hear that?” Maybe it was just me.
“Yeah. Did you get a dog that I should know about?” How could I have possibly gotten a dog and kept it a secret this long? I can’t even play hide and seek with out screaming, ‘I’m over here!’
“Nope. Well, I’ll go see what it is. Something probably just fell off of a shelf. It happens all the time. Like this one time, my mom was down in the basement, and she heard a bump, so she called the police and told them that there were theives in our house. Yeah, well, it turned out to be my skateboard sliding off of my bed.” That happens all the time, so I walked up the stairs into my room.
There was this man, sitting there, on my bed. It was so scary! I had no idea who he was! All I saw was him, and some duct tape. “Hi, can I help you?” I’m training for Wal Mart.
“I’m Scott P. Reid. Just do what I tell you, and nobody will get hurt.” Who is this guy, yeah, yeah, I know, Scott P. Reid.
“Excuse me? You don’t walk into my house and start telling me what to do!” Who does he think he is, and don’t you dare say Scott P. Reid, ’cause his name don’t tell me a thing! “Sir, I want you to leave.”
“Oh, and what’s a little ballerina such as yourself gonna do about that?” What a jerk.
“Will you shut up, sir? Please!” Come into my room and call me a ballerina, well, well, psh!
He grabbed me and shoved me into this tiny little closet after that. Then I heard him leave the room. Was he going to hurt Margaret? I couldn’t let him do that. She was my best friend in the entire world, and I would do anything for her. I ran over to my dresser, and pulled out a .45 calliber pistol that my grandpa gave me in case of an emergency [[I thought it was an odd 5th birthday present]] I could here Scott coming back into the room, but I would make too much noise going back into the closet, so I hid behind the bright white drapes, hoping my shadow wouldn’t show through. I don’t know if he knew I was there because he stayed in the room for a long time, just sitting there, like he was expecting something. So I stayed there, watching him stare at the closet. I don’t know how long I had been there because I didn’t have a watch, but I knew it was a long time. There was movement downstairs, and suddenly, Scott got up and left. Oh, I was so scared he was going to murder Margaret. Like, two minutes later I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, but I didn’t know who it was, until I heard Maggie’s voice, ”Ash? Ashlie?” What could I do? I couldn’t say a word, or Scott would kill both of us for sure! “Ash?” I saw her peek into my room, I wanted so much to tell her where I was, and about Scott, but I couldn’t. “Ashlie?” I kept quiet. “Ashlie, this isn’t funny anymore,” you have no idea how much I wanted to yell, ‘Margaret, I’m over here, this isn’t a joke!’ But I just couldn’t. I know I had done stuff like that before, but I would keep bursting out laughing hysterically, so she figured it out within two seconds. “ASHLIE!” I could tell she was scared, and I knew that she knows I would never go on with a prank this long, especially if it started to scare her. Then there was this noise coming from downstairs, I bet Margaret heard it too, ’cause she said, “Ashlie?” She was calming down. She probably thought that noise was me. “Ash?” She started walking down the stairs again. “Ash, are you there?” I could hear her looking all over the house. I saw Scott walk past the doorway towards the stairs. Margaret!
I could hear him talking to her, “Looking for your friend, Margaret?” How did he know her name?
“Ye-uh-yeah, have you- you seen her?” This must have been happening on the staircase, because I could hear every last word, until what sounded like he was forcing her down the stairs.
What I’m guessing was about ten minutes later, Scott started to run back up the stairs, so I stood as still as I could, trying not to even breathe. For about twent minutes [[probably]] I wondered where Maggie was, and whether she was alive. I came up with this horrid story about how he tortured her, and she had died a slow painful death. That was enough motivation for me. I came out of the curtains, and I shot him, and he dropped to the floor. I heard somebody running up the stairs. Was it Margaret, or a friend of Scott’s? I didn’t know what to do, if I just stood there, and it was a friend of Scott’s, he would kill me, unless I shot first. But if it turned out that Scott didn’t kill Maggie, then it would be her, and I could end up shooting her. I could never forgive myself, so I decided that I was going to point the gun at the door, but only shoot if it wasn’t Margaret. I’d have to think fast though when they got to the door, because it only takes a second to pull the trigger on a gun. As the person approached the door, I turned and aimed [[didn’t shoot]] there was Margaret, and she looked horrified. This would take forever to explain.
