I was taken to a room filled with pictures of me

Hi. I was 6 years old at the time and it was the year 2000. My mom used to drop me off at a babysitter when she went to work. Usually she picked me up, but sometimes my dad picked me up. One day my mom had to do something right after work, so my dad was the one picking me up. I got to the sitter early to play with the other kids, and when I got there, there was a new face. A female, mid 30s, about 5’6. I don’t remember all details, but she was pretty. She had 2 teenage daughters who were each 2 years apart. During the day, each of them separately came to talk to me. I wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers, but since one was the sitters daughter, and the other two just had to be daughters as well, they seemed safe.<br><br>The eldest daughter was the first one who talked to me. Her mom had a poodle named Snowy, which I was obsessed with. She encouraged me to pet the dog, and I began to. She asked me simple questions, such as my name, age, and grade, and more personal ones like my favorite color, favorite food, and if I had any pets. It was definitely weird but again, as far as I knew, she was the sitters daughter, so I didn’t mind answering. <br><br>She left after a few minutes and the mom came over. She did the exact same thing the daughter did, but also said some stuff about how pretty I am and how much she loved my hair. I took this as a compliment and just said thank you. It wasn’t until she left and the younger daughter talked to me that I realized they were a weird family, and something felt off. The youngest asked me all the same questions as her sister, and then she stayed by my side the rest of the day. She helped me set up plans to play with the other kids, and when my dad pulled up and I had to leave, she helped me carry my stuff out. <br><br>All 3 of the women waved goodbye, and as we drove away, I noticed the eldest looking at me through her window. The next day, I showed up at the sitter before the other kids again because my mom had an early meeting, and I was still waking up early. That morning, the mom and eldest daughter were there, but the youngest was at school. The whole morning they were staring at me, and I felt uncomfortable. When the other kids started to show up, I breathed a sigh of relief, and was able to play with them without being watched. <br><br>After lunch, we went outside to play. I was sitting on the ground about to color some pictures, when the youngest daughter walked up and sat next to me. She helped me color, and I didn’t mind having her around anymore. She was nice and was farrouchette. Around 2 o’clock, I had to pee, so I went inside to go to the bathroom. When I walked in, the mom and eldest were there and the mom said, “Oh, yes! Vieve is a very good girl. Why don’t you follow me and I’ll show you where the bathroom is?” I didn’t find this weird since I had only been to their house a couple times. <br><br>She took me to the bathroom, and I thought it was weird that she stood in the hallway and watched me go in. I went to the bathroom, and I noticed the shower curtain was open, which usually means the shower is off. But I heard running water, and it sounded different from a normal shower. It sounded like water running, but not water falling, if that makes sense. I knew the shower had to be on, but it was weird that the water wasn’t falling, so I lifted up the curtain to check it out. <br><br>There was the 2 teenage daughters, standing in the shower, and instead of the showerhead shooting water, it was just running water through the drain. The girls were staring at me with dead stares, and just stood there until their mom pulled me away. <br><br>She dragged me out of the bathroom and down the hallway. We turned a corner and went through a door, and when she closed it I realized we were in her bedroom. She walked over to her nightstand, and picked something up. She then handed it to me. It was a picture. Me standing in front of a Christmas tree in my Santa dress. I asked where she got it, and she told me it was her favorite picture of me. <br><br>I started to get scared, but she looked so happy and smiled so big that I didn’t want to make her mad. She told me to come with her and she took me into a back room that was filled with pictures. There were pictures of me and my family, and I didn’t know where she had gotten them all. There were pictures of me at school, at the mall, and even at home. I remembered my dad taking the Christmas picture, so I knew that my dad had to have given it to them, but where did they get all these? <br><br>I asked her, and she said that the pictures were from her daughters. I looked at her confused and asked “how many daughters do you have?” She pointed to the pictures on the walls and said “All of these are my daughters”. I was so confused, and she must have seen it on my face, because she told me that I am one of her daughters too. I said I wasn’t, and she said I was a long lost daughter that she hadn’t seen in years. I told her no, I was the sitter’s daughter, and she said no, I was hers. <br><br>I was so confused and started to cry. I didn’t know what to do or who to ask for, so I just kept crying. She walked over to me and wrapped me in a hug. She picked me up and took me outside. As she walked me through the house, she pointed out pictures of me. She showed me a picture of my mom holding me as a newborn, and one of my birthday party. She showed me more Christmas pictures, and she explained who each person was in them. <br><br>By the time we walked to her car, I was so confused. I was starting to think that maybe I did live with her. She put me in the car and drove me to a nearby park. We sat on a bench and she held my hand. She told me that 4 years ago, she was my foster mom, and that I had been taken from her when I was 2. I didn’t remember that, but I still felt something. She told me that she was still in love with me, and that she wished she could still be my mom, but she was happy just seeing me here and there. <br><br>I don’t know why, but I just started to believe her. Maybe she was my mom. Maybe I was her baby. I wanted to believe her. I then asked her what her daughters were doing in the shower. She looked at me with an angry face, and I don’t know why, but I knew I had done something wrong. I asked her again, and she just looked at me, still angry. I asked again, and she slapped me. <br><br>I wasn’t used to being slapped. My family was never big on spanking, or even hitting. She then told me that the shower was a game my sisters and I played. We filled the tub with water, and the water in the shower was to make it feel like it was raining. She told me it was my fault that they had to cut it short, and that my sisters were going to be upset that I ruined it for them. I apologized profusely, and she smiled and hugged me, and took me back home. <br><br>The whole drive, she stroked my hair, and talked about how proud she was that it had gotten so long. My mom and dad had to move, and I never saw the sitter again. I never told my parents about this, and I didn’t know if it was real or if I made it up. When I was 10 or 11, I started remembering more and more. I finally told my parents about it and they said it was impossible for any of that to have happened. <br><br>I decided to do some digging. I found the sitters name, and looked it up on social media. One social media profile came up, and I doubt this is her, but it was weird that someone had the same name as her. She was much younger than I remembered, so I think it was her daughter or granddaughter. She did have a poodle, though. There were pictures of her and her daughters on her profile, but none of the pictures were of me. <br><br>I realize that none of this probably happened, and it’s probably all in my head, but I don’t know what’s real anymore. I have to live with the thought of my entire childhood being fake, and I’m not okay with that.