#yes that is a small plush pug in the bed with her

[race-week]

pickle

[redditnosleep]

Nanny Cam

by Pippinacious

"Open it, open it!" My nephew was bouncing in my brother's lap, his pudgy hands balled into fists of flailing excitement.

I'd never seen a kid who liked to give presents more than receive them until Noah came along. He'd barely paid much attention to his own gifts, which he'd left scattered about the floor around the tree, and instead insisted on handing everyone else's out. He was watching me closely with a wide, delighted grin, eager for me to dive into the wrapping paper.

I took to a corner with exaggerated care, slowly peeling up one corner of the paper without tearing it.

"Not like that, Aunt Janey!" Noah cried and I looked up with feigned surprise.

"What? I'm opening it!"

"Too slow!"

"You want to show me how?"

I held the present out and he launched himself from his seat. He set the gift on my lap and took my hands, placing them in the center of the present and then dragging them across its surface in a tearing motion.

"Like this." He said with all the seriousness of a seasoned veteran of four prior Christmases.

I repeated the action, pulling the green and red wrapping apart, and Noah squealed with approval. Inside, a plush owl stared up at me from behind the plastic window of a box.

"It's for the new house." Pete explained over his son's shoulder.

"To keep the birds out of my garden?" I teased.

"No, it's a camera! You set it up somewhere and sync it to your phone so you can check out your house when you're not there."

"Nanny cam for the dogs, awesome!"

"Exactly."

"You like it, Aunt Janey?"

"Love it!"

Noah ran to his Dad and gave him a high five before circling the room to deliver the same to everyone else. Once everyone had properly celebrated the successful gift giving, he grabbed the next present out from under the tree and brought it over to Mom so she could tell him who it was for.

I left the owl cam, which I named Barnabas, in his box for the next week. Between unpacking and setting myself up in my new place, he just wasn't a high priority. It wasn't until Pete, Lori, and Noah came over that I even remembered I had him.

"So, caught the dogs doing anything naughty?" Pete asked from the kitchen while getting a beer.

"No?" I said. "Why would I?"

"Just thought the camera might have shown you a seedier side to your mutts."

I glanced at Gremlin and Baba, who were stretched out, belly-up, on either side of Noah on the floor. A real pair of trouble makers.

"Oh! The camera!" I was immediately a bit embarrassed that I'd neglected it. "It's in the spare room; haven't had a chance to get it up yet."

"You want me to set it up?" Pete asked.

"Yeah, sure. I don't know how that stuff works anyway."

While Pete set off to get Barnabas up and running, Lori and I sat on the couch to chat.

"He got one for us, too." She said. "He loves it; checks in on the cats all the time."

"Ever see anything interesting?"

"He claims Sampson was opening cupboards and looking for treats, but I'm not sure I believe him."

"Thrilling."

"Never a dull moment." She agreed.

It didn't take long for Pete to have Barnabas working from a shelf over my computer. He showed me what app to download and I logged in to see the entirety of my living room in kitchen displayed in real time on my phone screen. The quality of the picture was actually pretty good and I found I had options to turn on and off sound and even talk through a small speaker in the owl's chest.

"Hey, Noah." I motioned my nephew over. "Who's that?"

His mind was blown by seeing himself on my phone. With Gremlin and Baba close on his heels, he started waving and jumping and running through the rooms, asking us if we could still see him. The kid was a little ham and the camera was now his stage. By the time they left, Noah had wiped himself out and had to be carried to the car over Pete's shoulder.

"Ok, guys," I said to my dogs the next morning, "this is your first full day on your own in the new house. Try not to destroy anything, ok?"

Gremlin wagged his tail while Baba tilted her head to one side. Good enough for me.

Being back at work after a week off meant I was busy. Very busy. I hadn't realized just how much paperwork I'd have to catch up on or how little would get done in my absence. Orders had gone unprocessed, phone calls left unreturned, and, in one case, the staff had neglected to address an upset bride whose cake had been delivered incorrectly on the big day. Nothing said "Welcome back, boss!" like drowning in complaints and irate customers.

After several hours of painstaking sweet talk and cajoling, I managed to get the mountain down to a molehill and the bakery back on track. My employees at least had the decency to look ashamed, having realized they took their laziness too far, and they were working double-time to try and make it up. I was still irritated though, and I took a long lunch to give myself time to breathe.

While I ate, I absently brought up the nanny cam app and logged in to see what the dogs were up to.

I spotted Gremlin first, sitting upright on the couch and staring at the back door. Baba was standing next to him on the floor, her head lowered and ears pinned back. Both were completely still. I followed their gaze across the room, curious as to what had their attention, and groaned.

"You little shits!" I said.

The potted plant by the slider had been knocked over, spilling soil and water all over the tile floor. One of their squeaky balls was sitting in the middle of the mess.

I was not a happy camper when I got home. After a day of putting out proverbial fires, I wasn't exactly looking forward to cleaning up after the dogs too. They greeted me enthusiastically when I came in, bouncing and barking around my feet, and I gave them a stern lecture about behaving. It was hard to stay mad at them even as I was scooping up piles of dirt, though; they were usually so well behaved and just too cute.

I ruffled Gremlin's pug-like face and sighed. "You're gonna be better tomorrow, huh? No more messes!"

He harrumphed at me and Baba nosed her way under my arm, forcing Gremlin out of the way to steal my attention. We snuggled on the couch, Gremlin flopped across my lap and Baba beside me, and I let the stress of the day slip away with a glass of wine and the snores of my contented pups.

I wasn't overly worried about a repeat event, the dogs had always been laid back, but I still decided to check in on them the next day while on break. It was kind of fun to be able to see what they got up to when I wasn't around.

When I pulled up the camera, I found both dogs in front of the bedroom door, which I'd left half closed, their fur raised, barking wildly. Concerned, I turned on the sound and my small office became crowded with their deep, rumbling cries. I hurriedly turned the volume down and listened in, trying to figure out what had them so upset. At first, it seemed like all I'd be able to hear was the two of them carrying on, but a brief break in their barking revealed something else.

The very faint, but distinct sound of children's laughter.

The neighbor kids were playing outside in their yard, which happened to be outside my bedroom window.

With a snort, I turned on the speaker and said, "Easy, pups, go lie down!"

They turned sharply, tails thumping and expectant, and I felt a bit bad to have excited them into thinking I was home.

"Go lie down." I said again and smiled as their ears perked up. "I'll be home in a few hours."

When I did get in that evening, they were as happy to see me as they'd ever been, but I couldn't help noticing that Baba especially seemed distracted. She kept going to the bedroom, sniffing around, and then coming back to me, only to repeat the process a few minutes later. Gremlin stayed glued to my feet for the entire night, even when I went to the bathroom.

"You guys are having a hard time getting used to it here, aren't you?" I asked as we climbed into bed that night. "I know it's not easy, all the new smells and sounds, but it'll feel like home soon."

Baba stayed perched at the foot of my bed all night. Every time I woke up, I'd find her sitting upright, gazing steadily at the door.

At one point, I thought I heard rustling coming from the kitchen and both dogs started to growl. I grabbed the mag light I kept in my bedside drawer and crept to the doorway. More rustling. With my breath hitched in my chest, I swung out of my bedroom, light raised like a bat, and flipped the kitchen switch.

A receipt was stuck under my purse and half hanging off the counter, where it was fluttering gently beneath the overhead fan that I must have left on when I went to bed.

Grumpily, I grabbed it, crumpled it up, and tossed it away before returning to my room. I kicked the door shut as I passed and fell back into bed.

"Hey, Mom." After seeing how distressed the dogs had been, I decided it was best to try and get them out of the house for a bit the next morning. "Can you watch the babies while I'm at work today?"

"Of course!" She didn't even ask why. "I made them some new peanut butter treats yesterday."

"Great, thanks. I'll drop them off on my way to work." I hung up and turned to the pair. "Who wants to go to Grammy's?"

I leashed them up and brought them out to the car, where they hopped in eagerly. Whatever had been bothering them was quickly forgotten as we backed out of the driveway and turned towards my parents'. I glanced back at the house to make sure the garage door had closed completely and, for a split second, I could have sworn I saw the blinds in the front window shift just slightly.

I sat in the middle of the road for a moment, studying my house through narrowed eyes.

And then the wind blew again and the bushes rustled. Their shadows danced across the bottom of the sill in the weak morning light, making it look like there was movement in the window.

"You guys are making me paranoid." I said and then we were off; the dogs to my mom's and me to work.

I got a text from Pete that afternoon.

Hey, is your nanny camera working?

It was yesterday.

Mine too, but it seems to have crapped out. Piece of junk.

I'll check.

I switched over to the app, but while it was loading, my office phone rang. I set my cell down and answered. Two dozen gender reveal cupcakes and a quote later, I plugged in the order and picked up my cell again.

The screen was entirely black.

I still had the mute and speaker option buttons, but the camera itself seemed to have died.

I shot Pete a text back with the disappointing news.

I'll pick it up later to replace. He said.

I went back to the app and tried unsuccessfully to fiddle with settings. It wasn't like I had any idea what I was doing anyway, but I figured I'd at least try. I returned to the camera's main screen, which was still just a blank black, and hit the unmute button. Despite the lack of picture, there was sound.

Breathing, deep and raspy, drifted from my phone.

I almost dropped it in my shock. I could feel my heart beating in the back of my dried throat; hear the blood rushing through my ears. Someone's in my house, a distant voice was screaming in my head, there is someone in my house!

"I know you're watching."

I froze. The voice had been so quiet I almost missed it.

"I know you're watching. I know you're watching. I know you're watching."

He kept saying it over and over, no inflection, completely monotone.

The camera shifted slightly and a pair of eyes, wide and dark, filled my phone screen.

"I know you're watching."

I shrieked and, without thinking, threw my phone across the office.

By the time the cops got there twenty minutes later, the house was empty.

Barnabas the owl nanny cam had been left in the center of the kitchen table. His little head had been hacked off and left beside his torn open body. The camera was gone.

Beneath him, a message had been carved into the wooden tabletop with a knife.

Now I'm watching you.