Cw: bad caretaker, obsessive caretaker
Arriving at Caretaker's haven, Whumpee couldn't be happier. They had their own room, a bed, a desk, a private bathroom with a big mirror, even a cellphone!
'I'm gonna like it here' Whumpee thought as they flipped onto their new bed.
As soon as they opened their new smartphone, they noticed a few apps that were installed. A tracking app and a 'safe-buddy screen-sharing' app that automatically allowed another phone to view what they were viewing at any given moment.
'That's weird, I'll just delete these.'
As Whumpee went to delete these apps, Caretaker appeared out of seemingly nowhere and reprimanded Whumpee. "We need to keep an eye on you to make sure you're safe. You're in a very vulnerable position right now and we don't want you to be scammed by potential Whumpers or HEAVEN forbid you get abducted, we want to know where you are."
"Oh. Ok."
That night, Whumpee noticed that the windows were screwed shut, completely unable to be opened.
Again, with perfect timing, Caretaker appeared and opened the door to ask them to leave the windows alone.
"It's hot in here, I'd like some fresh air."
"The windows stay shut. It's for your safety. I'll turn the fan on."
Whumpee snuggled into their bed feeling strange about these interactions from the day.
Their heart sunk when they went to play some games on their phone and they received a text from Caretaker telling them to go to sleep.
Morning came and Whumpee felt they hadn't gotten a lick of sleep, up worrying all night. They got up and went to shower. Pulling open the door, they saw a smoke alarm.
'In the bathroom? That's not smart, the steam will set it off.'
Whumpee looked back down the hall and noticed two other smoke alarms, one on each end of the hall. They slunk back into their room and saw two in their room as well, one occupying opposite corners. As they began to panic, Caretaker appeared to ask if everything was going ok.
"I'm waiting for you to shower so I can shower. Do you need help turning the shower on?"
"Oh. No. Thanks."
As they walked in silence back to the bathroom, Whumpee turned around and asked "why do you have so many smoke alarms?"
Surprised, Caretaker hesitated in their response. "Oh. Um. I once had a problem years ago with a uh, whumper that uh, filtered in aerosolized drugs so they could try and abduct their whumpee again. Having that many of specialized detectors will keep anything from happening. Anything to keep you safe, right?"
"Yeah, right. Right. Ok I'll go shower now."
In the bathroom, Whumpee became suspicious. Just to test, they put their finger up to the mirror. They couldn't see their fingertip. It wasn't a mirror, it was a one-way mirror. Someone could watch them from the other side. Going from uncomfortable to panicked, they went to leave the bathroom but Caretaker was waiting at the door.
With a straight face, Caretaker said "you shouldn't have done that. It seems that you need help in the shower. I can assist."
"No! I don't need your help!" Whumpee slammed the door and locked it.
Caretaker banged on the door. "Whumpee! Whumpee open the door! I do this for your safety! Let me keep you safe!"
Then, silence.
Whumpee looked up from where they were backed against the wall when the one-way mirror shattered. Caretaker climbed through, breathing heavily.
With anger in their face, they grabbed Whumpee by the wrist and pulled them in close.
"You are mine now and I will keep you safe here."