Blood in the Bath (4/5) By Leah Scarpati

(1/5), (2/5), (3/5), (4/5), (5/5).

Suddenly the glass flew from the table and narrowly missed Karen's head as it flew into the mouth of the fire and smashed. Collectively, the girls screamed, the cat shrieked and ran out of the living room and the fire blew out. The wind stopped as if it had never been there; the only trace of its existence was the cobwebs and Halloween decorations that were now strewn all over the living room floor. Evie's Mother came rushing into the living room to a cacophony of screams and tears; "What the...?" "I want to go home!" cried Sarah. Karen, whilst hyperventilating and Amanda agreed.

Lori was already in the hallway putting her coat on over her pyjamas and hunting for her shoes. An hour later, furious parents had come to pick up their children and Evie's Mum did nothing but apologise. When the last parent had driven off, Evie and Gemma sat in the living room in their sleeping bags with a duvet pulled up to their chins.

"It was supposed to be a joke! It's not that they didn't deserve a bit of a scare Mum. But it's Halloween! We didn't intend to start any occult goings on at all; Gemma was going to be the ghost!" "Oh well that's alright then Evie! I mean, what are you going to do next? Get into a car, turn on the ignition, release the hand brake but not intend to drive the bloody thing?" The girls were silent. Looking at them, the shock was evident on their faces; they had been just as scared as their friends. Whatever had happened, it had been real.

A few weeks later, the other girls still weren't talking to her, but that was nothing new; they were probably scared of her now, after all - the glass had smashed in her house. If the stories were to be believed, that means the spirit had been released into her home. She was having nightmares; crude images of herself in the bath, lying in the depths of murky red water; gashes on her wrists. Or she'd turn on a tap and blood would poor out instead of water. She'd often wake up screaming and then stay awake for the majority of the night, afraid to go to sleep. Evie overheard her Mum saying she was at her wit's end. She didn't know what to do with her; something about psychological trauma...

It was a normal Saturday morning when the prediction came true. Evie had woken early and staggered into the bathroom, still half asleep. She was halfway through brushing her teeth when she saw it. In the middle of the bath tub, was a pool of blood. She screamed.

Her Mum came in, expecting to see a spider, "What the..?" It was a startling image, the cranberry coloured liquid against the stark white bath tub and surrounding walls. It demanded attention, to be looked at. Downstairs, Evie's Mum handed her a steaming mug of sweet tea and tried to rationalise what they both saw. She'd flushed the blood out of the bath and they had both watched, transfixed as the red swirls of water circled down the plug hole. "Maybe it wasn't even blood, love."

Evie shot her Mother a look, "What else would it be? The Ouija said-" "Forget about what that bloody Ouija board said!" They sat in silence, sipping tea whilst Chang circled lovingly around their legs and tried to think of any other possible reason as to what the liquid was and how it got into the bath. It continued to appear, around twice a day for three days.

Evie's nerves were shattered, she daren't go into the bathroom, never mind take a bath or a shower. She went to Gemma's to wash, whilst updating her on the mysterious goings on in her house. Gemma was mystified, but didn't offer to come over and look for herself.

Continued .... Next Page (5/5)

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