|
Our second place High School winner is Nicole Palmisano, a student attending the Revere High School in Revere, Massachusetts. |
This documentation is a recording; it is a recording of the horrific and unexplainable events that have occurred over this year. My name is Beth Holt. I do not comprehend what is going on around me. I have absolutely no one to turn to; I am on my own. I don’t know what to do anymore. It seems almost impossible to distinguish reality from fiction anymore. I fear that I will end up insane or the worst, I will end up dead.
December 1
It’s a cool winter’s eve, as I gaze up at the snowflakes fluttering down around me. A thin, soft blanket of snow covers the ground just enough to show my foot steps as I walk through Times Square. I look upon the tall buildings with their bright lights showing that life does exist. The hustle and bustle of the crowd fills my ears as holiday tunes play from the radios of passing by cars. There are so many people around me yet I feel alone; I am lost in my own world. As I feel the frost on my face I regain reality; I leave my world of thoughts. In the street I see a small girl walking right out into the street.
“Hey! Stop, don’t walk any further! Hey!” I shout.
She looks up at me, her eyes deeps and dark. I watch as she continues to walk out into the traffic. I run after her panting as the frosty air hurts my chest with every deep breath I take. Pushing by the people I wonder why nobody else is helping her. She proceeds into traffic.
“Look out!” I shout once again; this time a few feet from her.
I leap out to save her from the taxi heading directly for her. The bright lights block my vision and the rest, I cannot recall.
December 3
“Open your eyes.” whispers an eerie voice.
Chills suddenly fill my body as I stiffen in the bed. My eyes tightly closed shut as I grip the blanket so hard my nails dig into my palm.
“Open your eyes.” whispers the voice again; this time the voice is louder.
I remain still, too fearful to open my eyes. My heart is beating so rapidly that it feels as if it might burst out of my chest. My chest moves up and down as I breathe faster and faster. I feel sweat as it rolls down my forehead.
“Open your eyes.” shouts the voice.
Startled, my eyes whip open. Where am I? How did I get here? I look around at my surroundings; I am in a hospital. This does not make any sense; I do not understand why I am here. I look around; my eyes darting around the small room.
Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my back. I am starting to gag, as I clutch my throat. The pain is now increased, growing worse with each second. I feel something warm, a warm liquid, on my chest. I look down to see a knife coming through my chest. I try to shriek, let out a plea for help, but I cannot. I lie helpless as the knife moves further through my chest.
“Shhh…” says the little girl behind me rubbing my cheek with the back of her right hand.
I sit helpless; still clutching my throat. I feel her long hair brush up against my face as she leans over my body. Her skin is freezing as she continues to rub my face. I manage to turn my head enough to make out her face. She is the girl that I tried to save from the traffic. How did she get here? Why is she doing this? Why isn’t anybody helping me? These thoughts continue to flood my mind as I feel the life drain out of me.
“It’s ok.” says the voice.
“Ma’am are you alright?” asks a voice.
All of a sudden I regain reality and see a women standing in front of me. She is thin; a young nurse with rosy cheeks, pale skin, and her strawberry blond hair is put up in a ponytail. She is caught up in her work and barely focused on me. I look at my chest to see if there is a scar or wound; I do not find a single indication that there was ever an injury. The nurse blankly stares at me for I have not yet answered her question.
“Ma’am? Is everything alright?” she asks calmly.
“I…I-how did I get here? My chest last night I was stabbed” my voice chokes out.
“Well thankfully you were not stabbed. You had quite the accident though. One could say you are lucky to be alive. Most people do not survive being hit by a car” she speaks softly.
“The girl! What about the girl?” my eyes widen at the news of this.
“What girl? On the scene there wasn’t any sign of another person. You were the only one there.”
“But I tried to save a girl from being hit by a car.”
“Sometimes after traumatic experiences and being under the influence of a lot of medication, your brain can confuse reality with what you may have dreamed. It is a common thing amongst patients with your caliber of injury.”
I know what I saw; I know that the girl was real; I know that I had to save her; I know that she visited me in the hospital that night and stabbed my chest. I do not know why she was there and what she wanted from me. It makes no sense that she would try to hurt me. I must have been dreaming.
December 4
“We have to get you up and moving Beth before you lose function of your legs.” the nurse says as she helps me get out of the bed.
My legs stiffen as I lift them over the side of the bed. When I first stand up my right knee buckles but the nurse catches me. I reassure her that I am ok and we make our way out into the hall. We begin to walk and she holds my hand. She then lets go and I start moving by myself. The lights in this hall are dim. I can see a shadow moving in the distance as I proceed down the hallway. I get further down the hall peeking in the rooms of other injured patients. The shadow moves into the room at the end of the hall.
The nurse fades in the distance and from my thoughts. I am now intrigued by this ominous figure. When I come to the final room I can see that it is dark. I peer in, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light. Once they finally do, I do not see anyone inside. I think my eyes are playing tricks on me and dismiss the shadow from my thoughts. As I turn away I make out something moving in the corner from my peripheral vision. I can make out the shadow now; it is the little girl.
“Are you alright from the accident?” I ask.
She does not turn her gaze from the floor.
“What are you doing in here? Why are you alone in the dark?”
Suddenly she props herself up and begins to lunge toward me. I manage to let out a high pitched shriek as I fall backwards trying to dodge her attack.
“She needs helps!” shouts the nurse to the other doctors.
December 4 (later that evening)
“Now I’ll ask you again Beth, what caused you to scream like that?” firmly asked the doctor.
“I already told you, the little girl from the accident came charging at me.”
“There was not a little girl who tried to attack you and there was not a little girl in the accident with you Beth. You need to understand this.”
“I know what happened. I saw it with my own two eyes.”
“You are on heavy medication, you’re just not thinking clearly right now.”
“I’m telling you I know what happened!”
December 8
I am finally home now after my accident. The smell of the cold air fills my nose as I step out of the car. My cheeks turn bright red from the frosty wind. I pull my jacket closed tight as I make my way up the pathway to the stairs. I reach the top step and fall crashing down on the porch. I breathe heavily using my arms to prop my body up. I remain looking down as the scrape on my knee stings my flesh.
I start to get up as I notice something in-between the planks. I lower my face down to the porch to get a better look. All of a sudden through the darkness I see a face staring back at me. The sun light shines through and exposes the pale fleshy face below; it’s the little girl’s face. The sight immediately sends chills throughout my body. My eyes plastered open, heart beating faster and faster, and the hair standing up on my arms, I try to get my body, now paralyzed by fear, to move.
“I’ve come to take you with me.” she whispers.
December 9
BRING, BRING.
“Great now I’m going to be late to work.” I mumble to myself realizing my alarm clock rang late.
I quickly hop out of bed and rummage through a pile of clothes on the floor. I suddenly glance up at my night stand to see how much time I have to work with. I pause…the clock reads 3:00 am. How can this be? The clothes fall from my hand and I slowly make my way over to the nightstand. I stop to look down at the alarm clock hesitant to pick it up.
A cold hand rests itself on my shoulder. I feel long hair brush up against my face and can feel warm air on my ear.
“I’ve come to take you with my Beth. Do not be afraid.” whispers the voice.
I cautiously turn my head around. The little girl is different this time. Her dress is ripped and she has red marks all over her skin.
“What do you want from me!” I shout breathing heavily.
Ignoring my question she puts her other hand on me, this time around my neck. Both of her hands slip around my throat and begin to tighten. I pound on her hands with my fist but she does not budge. After 5 minutes I fall to the floor; my vision is blurry now so I can barely see. I manage to make out a small black book in her hand. She starts reading from the book as she is standing over me. I can still feel my legs however and manage to kick it out of her hand.
“You shouldn’t have done that” she says as she slowly fades.
December 10
“Hello, Father Dan? Can I ask you a question?”
“Why yes my child. What has you so perplexed?”
“Well, there is this girl. I saw her one day walking out into traffic; I tried to save her life. After the accident the doctors all told me that there was no girl but I know there was. I’ve seen her many times now! Every time I see her however, she tries to hurt me. I’m scared; I don’t know why this is happening to me. Can you please help me Father? The doctors will not listen to me. They have an excuse for everything I say. Please, I am begging you. Please.” I manage to choke out as I feel my warm tears slide down my cheeks.
“It seems to me like we will have to perform an exorcism on your house.”
I sigh, relieved as a new found hope is in the making. All hope is not lost yet.
December 11
“In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, amen. Now I ask you, if you can hear me let me know. Give me a sign.” Says Father Dan.
I sit on my couch not knowing what to do. We sit in silence waiting to see if the spirit will come forward and reveal itself. Nothing happens. Then on the wall carvings start taking form. The slits are forming letters. Once they are formed, we are able to make out “Come with me Beth”.
“What is your name and what do you want with this woman?” Father Dan calls out.
Suddenly a book flies from the shelf. The pages are spastically flipping until it stops on a particular page. Father Dan picks up the book revealing a bookmark on the page. The book mark is a picture of a young girl. He flips the picture over to reveal the name “Isabella Warren”.
“Isabella, I ask you, why are you doing this?”
“I was sent for her. She must pay for her sins.” the voice echoes.
“What sins do you speak of?”
“When I was young I had a nanny. It was 1865 and my father was very sick. I lay at his bedside every day, praying to God that he would get better. He was doing fine until her! She made it worse; she did not help him! It was her fault that he died! She forgot to give him his medicine.” howled the spirit.
“Isabella it is not possible, it is 2010 now. Beth could not have done this.”
“Yes I realize this but it is her ancestor’s fault and she must pay for her mistakes! She took away my family member now I will take the life of one of hers!”
“Isabella why are you doing this now?”
“I will not have her stay in my house any longer! She is not welcome here!”
Listening to this it all makes sense. I recently inherited the house after the death of my grandmother. The house has been in the family for many years however unoccupied until now. Now that I moved in she is claiming her vengeance.
“Please Isabella I beg you to spare my life. I’m sorry for your loss but however it was not me who did this to you.” I plea.
“It’s time for you to die now!”
My body is slammed into the book shelf causing all the books to fall on my head. Father Dan clutches his cross and begins to recite prayers. A vase from the mantle is thrown from across the room causing him to fall. I try to crawl over to him when I feel wet liquid on my hand; it is blood. When Father Dan fell the crucifix pierced through his heart. I am now alone with an angry spirit; I fear for my life.
I push myself up from the floor and dash to the door. I jiggle the doorknob in order to open it but It will not budge. Isabella is now in the center of the living room. Her eyes are white with drops of blood running down her face. Her long black hair dangles behind her as she leans her head back. She wears a long white dress that is shredded and torn.
Objects are now orbiting around her; one by one they fly at my head. I dodge her attacks and begin to run toward the bay window. I bang on the window and scream for help. I turn and make my way to the kitchen. She throws a lamp at me but misses. Then she throws my vanilla scented Yankee candle; the candle is lit. I dive to the floor and roll; just missing the candle. The candle, now on the floor, is spreading a trail of flames. I panic and try to put out the fire. Isabella then sends a chair flying at me.
Present Day
“Now Beth you have to understand there was no girl.” says a woman in white.
“Where am I?”
The woman sighs as she looks at the man resembling a doctor.
“Beth we have been over this many times now. You are at “Fredrick’s Mental Institution”. Do you understand why you are here?”
Beth stares back as her heart drops.
“You are here for the murder of Father Dan and for attempting to commit suicide. The doctors cannot understand why you are doing this. They think it has to do with your accident with the car. You see, you are sick; you have a condition causes you to pass out. That day in front of the car, you passed out. “
“No! This cannot be! You are lying to me I know it!”
She shakes her head and walks away carrying Beth’s journal in her hand. Now alone, Beth bangs on the wall screaming to be released. Seeing that no one will come to help her, she leans up against the wall, sliding down until she is on the floor. Beth pulls her legs tight into her chest crying. Sitting next to her, Isabella reaches her hand out to Beth and rubs her back.
“It’s going to be ok Beth. Your time is up. You will leave this place with me.”
After these final words, Isabella places a knife in Beth’s hand. She closes Beth’s hand, and jabs the knife into her chest. Isabella lets out a smirk as she stares at Beth’s limp body.
“See, now that wasn’t so hard.”
![[home]](/Icons/Extras/lilhome.gif){kind=icon}
![[up]](/Icons/Extras/lilup.gif){kind=icon}