The Babysitter II
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| The Babysitter II | |
| Author | R. L. Stine |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror fiction |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
| Publication date | July 1991 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 166 p. |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-590-44332-1 |
| Preceded by | The Babysitter |
| Followed by | The Babysitter III |
The Babysitter II is a sequel to The Babysitter, a novel by R. L. Stine.
[edit] Plot
Jenny Jeffers has been seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Schindler, because of her continuing nightmares. Mr Hagen, the tormentor of many babysitters, made an attempt on Jenny's life and paid for that attempt with his own. He fell to his death over the edge of the old, abandoned rock quarry. Jenny keeps dreaming that Mr. Hagen has come back from the dead, with his skin falling off and his eyes rotting out, and he's come back to take his revenge on Jenny.
Jenny is worried about going back to her old summer job. Another family has contacted her and she isn't sure if she should take the job or not. After talking to Dr. Schindler about it, she decides that she should go ahead and take the offer. As she leaves, Dr. Schindler's receptionist Miss Gurney tells Jenny that she thinks the tie-dye shirt Jenny is wearing is very pretty.
When Jenny arrives at the Wexner residence, Michael and Rena Wexner issue a strange warning about their ten year old son Eli. It seems that he is an egotistical brat with a genius I.Q. Jenny is instructed to just go with the flow and try to stay on his good side. After Eli's parents leave, Jenny goes upstairs to Eli's room, where he boasts that he is a genius. He built a computer from a kit, and he even fabricated his own telephone that he's kept secret from his parents. It's hard for Jenny to tell if he's just a boastful brat, or if he's trying to push his limits and see how far he can pester Jenny. Eli asks Jenny to reach into a shoebox, and although she resists at first, she reaches in and screams. There was a tarantula inside.
Back in Dr. Schindler's office, Jenny vents about her experience with Eli. Miss Gurney gives Jenny another strange compliment on her hair. Later in the day Jenny meets up with her friends Rick and Claire at the mall for pizza, where she explains what happened with Eli. After they leave, Jenny decides to go shopping. She's excited that she'll be able to afford clothes for the new school year. Plus, she always seems to feel unsettled after each session she has with her therapist.
She ends up in the record store, however, and realizes she's being followed by a tough looking young man with spiky blond hair and a stud earring. She nearly panics when he stares her down as he approaches. It turns out that he means her no harm, he just hands her an envelope she dropped. He introduces himself as Cal, who will be going to the same high school as Jenny in the fall. He asks if she'd like to accompany him to a party that week. He seems very mysterious to Jenny and she isn't sure if she should go with him or not.
Later that evening, Jenny is again babysitting for Eli. He acts difficult, so Jenny decides to plop down on the sofa to read. It isn't long before the phone rings. It's the voice from her nightmares on the line. "Hi babes. I'm back."
Jenny is convinced that Mr. Hagan is back from the dead to torment her.
Mr. Wexner then stumbles into the house and startles Jenny. He forgot the tickets to the event that he and his wife are attending. That evening when the Wexners return home, Mrs. Wexner asks Jenny if everything is okay, because she looks strange. Mr. Wexner even offers to drive her back home, but Jenny refuses. On her walk home, her old boyfriend Chuck stops her on the street, startling her. Ever since Jenny broke up with him, he's acted very strange. Chuck ends up starting and argument and getting a little violent, throwing Jenny to the ground. As Jenny begins to cry and tries to ask why, Chuck only says "You'll be sorry."
When Jenny finally gets home, takes a shower and gets into her warm bed, her phone rings. She isn't sure about answering it, but if she lets it ring her mother will answer, so Jenny picks up.
"Jenny, it's me." A feeling of terror overtook her in that instant, but then it slowly melted away as she realized that it was Eli calling on the phone he made, totally impressed with himself. She wishes him a good night, and hangs up.
Jenny accepts Cal's offer to go to the party, but they end up leaving very early because the party wasn't fun at all. Cal feels embarrassed because he wanted desperately to make a good first impression on Jenny. Jenny kisses Cal to try to cheer him up. After all, Jenny does feel slightly attracted to him, even though she knows nothing about him. It's early, so Jenny suggests that they both go roller skating. Although Cal has never skated, he agrees to give it a shot. It turns out he's a natural on a pair of roller skates, but he attributes it to being a natural athlete. Jenny ponders on how mysterious it is.
At the end of the night Cal drops Jenny off at her front door, and they shyly give each other a small kiss. The bushes rattled next to the house and startled Jenny, and when Cal tries to uncover the source of the noise, footsteps are heard running away. Even though it was scary that someone was in the bushes, Jenny can't take her mind off of Cal, and later when she gets into bed, her phone rings. She initially mistakes the caller for Eli, and says he shouldn't be calling late like this. "It's not Eli" is what the whispery voice says. "Are you all alone, babes? Company's coming."
Then static, then silence.
Jenny has a nightmare about Mr. Hagen again. This time, she's in the mall parking lot at night waiting for Cal. It's getting darker and darker and he never arrives. As she's calling for him, she sees a hand in a garbage bin. As she goes to investigate, Mr. Hagen jumps out to grab her. Jenny recounts this nightmare for Dr. Schindler. He suggests that since her dreams are so vivid, perhaps she is also imagining the phone calls. Even though she feels insulted, she allows Dr. Schindler to prescribe her some sleeping pills. As she waits for the bus to take her home, she reaches into her jacket to find some change for bus fare. Her hand touches something prickly and squishy.
Eli placed a dead tarantula inside her jacket pocket.
Fuming, Jenny calls the Wexner house to tell Eli's mother all about what happened. No one is home, though, so she slams the phone down and yells out loud in anger. She's very upset, but she sees the clock and realizes she is late for a tennis match with Rick and Claire. She grabs her tennis racket and bolts out the door. She's met by Cal in her driveway, who says he was in the area and wanted to see her. Jenny explains that she's busy and in a hurry, but invites Cal to play tennis. He agrees but says that he's never played tennis before. Jenny wonders if he will have the same natural athleticism with tennis.
It turns out that Cal is also a very good tennis player. Cal and Jenny play in a doubles match versus Rick and Claire, but Cal and Rick seem to get into a heated, aggressive match. They shout at each other and try to out do one another, and Cal throws his tennis racquet in disgust. He apologizes, but it makes Jenny wonder who the real Cal is. Is it the shy, mysterious Cal, or the angry Cal? Alone, Claire tells Jenny that she suspects Rick was showing off to get Jenny's attention.
The next morning, Jenny is again babysitting Eli. Before his mother leaves for the day, Jenny explains what happened and they both go to confront Eli. He denies making any practical joke and seems very insulted and mad. He proves this by showing his tarantula cage. All three tarantulas are present. Jenny is still unsure, so Eli throws a crying tantrum. Downstairs a few minutes later, Jenny hears a crashing noise from upstairs. She runs up to Eli's room and finds it in complete disarray. Eli is lying on the carpet motionless, staring up blankly, with a puddle of blood under his head.
Panicked, Jenny runs to Eli's side, and he giggles. It was only a prank, Eli explains, to pay Jenny back for the accusations she made against him. After this, Eli begins acting strangely clingy, like a needy child. Both of them just hang out all day. A Monopoly game is interrupted by the telephone. Jenny answers, and this time it's her old boyfriend Chuck, just wanting to talk about things. Jenny yells at the phone and instructs him to never, ever call her again.
After Eli went to bed, Jenny is reading a magazine when she hears a loud, forceful knock on the front door. Rick and Claire stopped by to visit. Eli wakes up and demands that they both leave. Rick tries to make jokes and be friendly, but Eli ignores him. Claire, on the other hand, seems to make friends and Eli offers to show Claire his room. While Claire and Eli are away, Rick tries to kiss Jenny. Jenny is confused by this, but Rick just tells her to forget it, embarrassed and red-faced. Just then, an argument is heard coming from upstairs, and all of a sudden, Claire tumbles down the stairs. Rick and Jenny race to her side and find that she's breathing, but unconscious. Jenny looks to the top of the stairs and sees Eli, with a strange grin on his face.
Jenny tells the story to Dr. Schindler, and how Eli told everyone that Claire just had an accident and slipped on her way down the stairs. Jenny also reveals that Claire told her she felt like she was pushed, but she can't be certain because it all happened too fast. So Dr. Schindler asked if Jenny thinks Eli is evil. "Maybe," Jenny answers.
Back at the Wexners', everyone is very surprised that Eli has become friendly with Jenny. When she arrived at the house, Eli gave her a big hug and a loud kiss on the cheek, before running back up to his room. Jenny is suspicious at first, thinking that Eli only wants to cover up his misdeeds, but she dismisses this idea. After the Wexners leave, the phone rings. It's the mystery caller. When he hangs up, Jenny goes to check on Eli, because strangely, he's been very quiet. Standing outside his door she hears voices. Eli is talking to someone...It's the mystery voice coming from Eli's bedroom!
Filled with courage mixed with anger, Jenny burst into Eli's room. She finds Eli alone, whispering on his homemade phone. He drops it in surprise. He insists he was only playing jokes on friends from school, and swears he never called Jenny.
Later, she goes to meet Cal at the mall parking lot. Jenny gets a sense of deja vu right before she realizes that she is experiencing her horrible nightmare again. She tries to wake herself up only to understand that she is awake. She hears loud footsteps behind her and begins to run in terror. In a panic she whirls around, only to be standing face to face with Dr. Schindler, who is carrying a bunch of bags from stores in the mall. He quips that he can never find his car in these large parking lots. It is then that Cal shows up, and Dr. Schindler leaves.
Cal notices that Jenny is very shaken up, so he takes her to Wendy's where they can discuss Jenny's issues over coke and fries. Jenny tells Cal everything, starting with her old job and Mr. Hagen, all the way to the spooky phone calls she's getting now. As Jenny tells about everyone who knows Mr. Hagen's exact words, she stops mid-sentence. She solved the mystery.
Jenny explains to Cal that Dr. Schindler is behind the terror and harassment, but Cal is doubtful. "Dr. Schindler has no motive." Cal replies. He thinks Jenny needs to be considering Eli. Jenny won't accept that, and she insists that Cal help her set a trap.
In Dr. Schindler's office, Jenny waits and watches the fish. Miss Gurney once again compliments Jenny's hair, and complains that her own hair is just too mousy. When Jenny finally talks to Dr. Schindler, she details a plan to allay her fears once and for all. She explains that she will go back to the old quarry, and prove to herself that there is no ghost. She makes sure to tell him that she will go that night, and he wishes her good luck in a chilling manner, and then he turned off his tape recorder.
Cal picks up Jenny at 7:30 PM that evening, and they are both very nervous as they arrive at the abandoned quarry. When they get out of the car, they spot headlights moving in the distance. Jenny tells Cal to get hidden, she wants Dr. Schindler to be under the impression that she is alone. All of a sudden a dark figure looms in front of Jenny and says "Jenny, I'm here." Face to face, she can see her pursuer perfectly. "You! What are you doing here?" Jenny asks incredulously.
Miss Gurney appeared out of the darkness. "You can't have him!" she shouts. "Dr. Schindler ignores me and spends hours talking to you! I listened to the tapes. You're going to die like that Mr. Hagen, Jenny!" Miss Gurney charges at Jenny, and Jenny screams for Cal to help. Out of nowhere, Cal lunges at Miss Gurney. Although Miss Gurney is surprised, she ducks and Cal sails over her, straight over the edge of the quarry.
Seconds later, a hand emerges from the quarry and Jenny knows too late that Mr. Hagen did indeed return from the grave. In despair she almost gives up, but realizes that the hand belongs to Cal. As he emerges, he is soaking wet. It turns out that the quarry has filled with water since her last visit.
Miss Gurney isn't finished. She grabs Jenny and they tumble over the side, into the cold water. Down and down Miss Gurney pulls. Jenny resists but can't escape. Jenny knows she's going to drown, and everything in her vision turns red.
She then feels the sensation of floating upwards. Cal pulls her from the water, and there are police everywhere. Dr. Schindler found out that his tapes were disappearing, and when he couldn't find the tape from the day's session, he called the police. Dr. Schindler explained that he treated Miss Gurney before for violent jealous outbursts, and that's how he knew it was her. Miss Gurney wasn't cooperating with the police while they demanded she swim back to the side of the quarry, so Dr. Schindler went to help coax her out.
Alone, Cal makes a joke about seeing a movie now that everything is over. Jenny says that she doesn't even know what is out. There's a Return of the Living Dead movie playing, he says. "Cal, you have a sick sense of humor," Jenny said, before kissing him.
