Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-5143764-20141016020548

Poor Blind Beth

Hey there, I need some advice. You've heard the story of Poor Blind Beth before, haven't you? It's a classic ghost story around here, everyone knows it. I first heard it at summer camp, I think I was maybe uh, eight, maybe nine? Doesn't really matter, I'm going off-track here. Point is, it's pretty well-known locally, kids tell it for dares, student groups use it to scare naive out-of-town freshmen. Hell, parents tell it to keep their kids in line. "Don't talk to strangers," they say, "Or Poor Blind Beth'll take you away." The story itself is simple enough, so everyone embellishes it, giving it their own personal flavor. I suppose I should probably just go ahead and tell you, but heads up, I'm a crappy storyteller.

Okay, so, it starts sometime in the fifties, or sixties, depends on who's telling. There's this guy, a high schooler, I'll call him Mike. Mike's got this thing for this girl in the athletics team, some cheerleader called Beth. She's a stereotypical blond with baby blue eyes, sorta wrapped up in her own world, always cheerful and bubbly, but too dumb to work out much of anything for herself, and way too chatty. Still, to Mike, who's completely head-over-heels, she's perfect - Beautiful, cheerful, and kind to just about everyone she meets. Unfortunately, Mike's, well, a bit of a nerd, and Beth's totally out of his league. He's smart, but he can't bring himself to talk to her. She, on the other hand, can talk a whole bunch, but is too ditzy to even notice him. This part is just padding really. Long story short, the two hook up. How it happens is up to whoever's telling - Again, not an important detail. So, the two are going out, and they're happy, kinda complimenting each other. She's an optimist, he's a pessimist, together they muddle through. The problem comes later on when they reach college and Mike starts getting interested in... Well, more than the usual nerd stuff. Sometimes it's through finding an old book in the library, sometimes it's meeting a strange old man on a bus bench. Either way, he gets into some dark stuff. Black magic, Bloody Mary, curses, all that superstitious crap. Now, he's always been a nerd, a punching bag all his life. Even now at college, he's been bullied plenty, and dating Beth has gotten him a lot of unwanted attention from jealous jocks. Naturally, the discovery of this unknown power pushes him a little over the edge, and he starts paying people back for what they've done to him. At first, just small stuff - Making them lose stuff they can't replace, busting their cars, superficial stuff. Slowly though, he starts tormenting them, summoning things only they can see, driving some of them mad, killing other. Eventually, even Beth realises how Mike's changed, noticing how happy he is when these accidents happen. Being so optimistic though, rather than call the cops, she invites him to stay with her at her parent's cabin whilst they're out for the weekend, and spends the time trying to talk sense into him, but it's too late. A complete psycho by now, the guy ignores her pleading, and even starts trying to turn her to his point of view, explaining the nature of his new power. Naturally, since she's none too bright, all his explanations go right over her head, and she's unable to view his need for revenge as justified. He quickly gets frustrated. He starts seeing her for her flaws, her apparent stupidity, her naivety, her constant chattering. Finally, when she interrupts him in the middle of his studies for about the hundredth time, he snaps. Throwing her to the floor, he pins her down and, ignoring her screams, cuts out her tongue. Even this isn't enough though, she's still able to make sound, gurgling in her own blood as she desperately tries to reach out to some small part of the guy she used to love. Insane with rage, he sews her mouth shut, screaming at her to shut up, over and over. As soon as she falls silent, he drags her by the hair, and throws her tumbling down the basement stairs. Composing himself, he then gets back to his next revenge scheme, leaving this mutilated girl lying, trembling, in the cold, dark basement, silent forever. Well, I suppose with vocal chords, she could technically still hum, but that's uh, not important to the story. A couple of hours later, he feels uncomfortable with the silence, and goes to the basement, thinking the girl might've died when he threw her down the stairs. He unlocks it, the door opens, and he freezes up, blood turning to ice. Beth's standing there on the top step, bruised, her mouth still leaking blood. And she just stares at him. Her big blue eyes are fixed on him, not angry, just... Hurt. Hurt, and so confused. She's obviously been standing there for over an hour, staring at the door and waiting. The thought that she still couldn't work out that their relationship was over, that she could be so stupid, that he'd wasted so much time with this idiot, it sends him back into a rage. He strikes her, sending her tumbling down the stairs again, and before even waiting to see if she could still move, he pounces again. Pinning her, he sews her eyelids shut, screaming at her to stop staring at him, over and over. When he's done, he staggers up the stairs, leaving her for dead. Exhausted, he just sits at his desk, trying to get back to his work. Just as he's almost pushed it out of his head, he feels them. Her slender arms wrapping around him, embracing him from behind, her wretched breath sending shivers down his spine. Half-enraged, half-terrified, he wheels around, throwing her down. Grabbing the knife he'd used earlier, he thrust it into her chest, stabbing and sawing clumsily, screaming at her to die, over and over. Tearing out what little remained of her heart, he threw it aside, grabbed his work, and fled. The scene is eventually reported to the cops by some anonymous guy who'd been walking his dog and had stumbled upon the cabin. However, when the cops get there, Beth's body is missing. The Police search for Mike, but they never find him. Her mutilated heart, the only part of her body that they could find, gets buried in a coffin. The story goes on though, saying that Poor Blind Beth, walked away from the scene on her own two feet, and to this day, still wanders about on dark, rainy and/or foggy nights. I dunno, whichever weather suits the "Nights like this one" conclusion. And supposedly, if you ever feel a shiver down your spine, then she's nearby, trying to look at you through her sewn eyelids, desperately looking for the man she lost.

Honestly though, that bit at the end depends on who's telling the story. Sometimes, she just watches you from afar. Sometimes, she stands directly outside your window. Sometimes, she unzips the door of your tent, creeps in, and watches you sleep. Sometimes, she tears your heart out, trying to find a new heart her own size. Sometimes, she strangles anyone she meets, wanting revenge against the man who betrayed her. Sometimes, she attacks anyone who looks at her. Sometimes, she attacks anyone who fails to look at her. Again, it depends on who's telling. But uh, that's the part which has me worried - Because, for the past few months, I've been seeing her outside my window. Nearly gave me a heart attack the first few times. I mean, I just went to the window to close the curtains, and boom, she's just waiting there. Not at a distance or anything, she's barely an inch from the glass. Her skin's pale, bone-white even, her hair's long, greasy, matted, but definitely blond, with a rotting, discolored headband still fixed on. Like in the story, her eyelids are sewn shut, oozing a dark red substance, which I can only guess is old blood or something. Her mouth sewn shut too, with blue lips like some old corpse. Her clothes are ragged, but they look like something out of the fifties, and there's this jagged, gaping hole where her heart should be. Actually, you can still see a bit of the left lung there, still wheezing uselessly, like someone's trying to reinflate a punctured football. ... Why am I talking about this so casually? Well, I guess I'm... Over it, sort of. The initial shock, anyway. I mean, you see this crap in all the horror movies, so it's not all that bad, visually I mean. I guess it helps that I've had nearly half a year to adjust to her. At first, yeah, I blamed it on a tasteless prank, but I doubt anyone would be willing to stand outside on freezing stormy nights just to creep a guy out. Yeah, I also considered that I might be going crazy. Who wouldn't? But, if I was hallucinating, she wouldn't be leaving footprints in the mud. Some days, I got paranoid. Some days, I just got angry, and yelled at her to leave me alone. Recently, I've gotten... Used to her. I mean, she doesn't really do much. She doesn't scream, or howl, or twist her body in weird angles, like the ghosts in movies. Doesn't even dismember animals - I remember seeing a cat brush right by her, she didn't even react. She just... Stares. Which is weird, since she probably can't even see. I've noticed trends too. She tends to follow me about the house, shifting to another window if I change rooms. She only appears on foggy or rainy nights, but always shows up in those cases, without fail. Some nights I don't see her, but I know she always comes, because in the morning, I'll find muddy hand prints smeared across windows and doors. Probably her feeling around, trying to get in. Can't really blame her, it's cold out this time of year. I guess this all explains why the story's so popular around these parts, but drive to the next town over, and no one's even heard of Beth. I mean, her story's not all that exciting compared to some of the classics, but an element of truth means that no one can forget about it completely. I mean, sure, the whole story of the crazed boyfriend? Probably made up, but she still exists, so the myth lives on. Beth's real, without a doubt. That's not the problem here. The problem is, well, not knowing how that last bit of the story goes. Is she some restless ghost that only wants to be loved, or does she want to kill me?

... No, seriously, I'm asking. It's why I called, and I wouldn't call you this late if it wasn't important. I've contacted several people already tonight, and every single damn one has given a different answer. And I really, really need to know, because an hour ago, after I got into bed, I thought I heard something downstairs. Then it occurred to me, I couldn't remember whether or not I locked the front door. So, I've been using my cell phone to call, well, everyone, and the reason I sound so calm is because I'm trying to keep quiet, because even though my bedroom door is closed, and it might be paranoia, sometimes the floorboards creak, as if someone's standing inches away from my door, and those shadows make it look like she's standing right outside, just standing, just waiting, and I sometimes I think I hear the doorknob squeaking as if being slowly twisted open, and if I don't keep talking in this casual manner, I'm going to panic and start sobbing, or screaming, and I have no idea what'll happen if I do, because none of the stories have ever mentioned this. So, I'd appreciate some tips here.  