After a long stuggle with cancer, Beths Mother finally passed away. It was exactly one year ago to the day that her Mother had passed.

Her father had died four years before that and together the bond that Beth and her MOther shared, right up to her dying days had been remarkable.

For a mother and daughter who had never seen eye to eye, her fathers death seemed to bring them closer together. They only really had eachother.

For Beth, being an only child, had garnered her a lot of affection and attention growing up from her MOther and Father but as everyone aged, this

seemed to decline. Anna, Beths Mother had always told her that she was ‘Daddy’s girl’. Her Father was quite high up in the Army and had a great pension now. She could have said this with some jelousy and resentment in her voice. It didn’t matter now.

Bethanys father had passed away of Cancer too. Her Father died fairly rapidly next to the slow decline of her Mother. In a way, her Fathers passing had been a godsend for her relationship with

her Mother. This death shook their small unit to the core. Anna seemed to become more ill then not in the years after her husbands passing. Neither of Beths parents were particularly old as such.

Beth herself was 28 now. Both parents were in their 50s when they passed away. Her mother developed Ovarian Cancer the follwing year after her husbands death. It started with a pain around her stomach.

Beth watched her Mother go from home to hospital many times. Like her husband, Annas Cancer had spread as was inoperable and was just a matter of time. Anna died holding onto Beths hand. Both had worked out their

demons in the months previous and were overjoyed to experience the authentic closeness they never seemed to have before that day.

At the time, Bethany didn’t know what to do or where to go without her parents. Her father had relinqished his savings in his will and gave them to his daughter and his wife to be shared equally. It was in Annas

wil lthat Bethany would get the property to do what she saw fit with it. Anna started working as a Primary School teacher a year after her Fathers death. She was unmarried and with no children.

She was essentially free to do what she wanted. She had moved into a small apartment only a mile away from the school and two miles from her parents house. She had put a lot of her Fathers money into the bank

and didn’t touch it. Bethany was a quiet, sensible woman. She was very pretty, even if she didn’t know it. Some may have called her old-fashioned but she didn’t know another way to be. Both of her parents were very traditional, if a little religious but not in a

strict sense of the word.

Now, it was a year to the day since Anna had passed away. Beth spared no expense in getting her friends together and planning the kind of funeral her Mother would have wanted. There was a procession, there was a beautiful coffin

and a very conservative church service. Bethany had a very tight knit group of friends. She was an expert at keeping friends and rarely had any friction within her group.

As soon as the coffin was lowered into the grave, she now had the striking sense of being alone. She was having such an amazing time with her Mother and now it seemed to fade away much too soon.

SHe knew she would have to make some sort of life for herself outside of what she knew and what she was used to. She was rich of pocket at this stage but her heart had a deep yearning for change. She needed not only change but that passion again.

It was the first time in her life she felt true loneliness.

She was the fifth class teacher in her local Primary School. She had come to be very fond of her class. Over the time she taught there, her confidence grew. Beths ability to expand her heart so that every student got the best of her was obvious to see.

Yet, she was tired. She was tired of the routine. She felt like she was getting older and wanted children of her own. Except for having a few short-term flings, there was no-one there that she could start a family with. Much like her parents she craved a traditional lifestyle.

She needed to get away from here. So she did. She sold her parents house and gave in her notice at her apartment. Her landlord was sad to see her go but she felt it was for the best. She kissed her space goodbye.

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Beth came out of her local church at Midday. It was a Sunday so the Church was busy. She relished in looking at all the new faces and shyly introduced herself to some people there. She had lit a candle and said a few prayers for her parents. She had almost picked up where she left off. She was teaching now in a new school. Beth had a great track record and had proven herself to be more then capable of managing the 6th class children.

She found a beautiful apartment within the city. With all the bustling people and cars honking and screeching, she certaintly was in a pretty different enviornment now. This city had 150,000 people, which was easily five times more then where she came from. The shellshock at first, turned to a sense of wonder, amusement

and adventure. She knew her perfect life was somewhere out here. This city had a wide array of people, all from different backgrounds and speaking in different language, yet everyone understood English perfectly as well. She made it her business to learn another language on the side.

Beth had neighbors and so far they all seemed fine, if a little unusual. She wasn’t used to people talking so fast and so loud. She wanted to fit in so she did her part to make herself the most likeable version of herself as she could.

Opposite her lived a young couple who had just tied the knot a few weeks previous to Beths arrival. They had a cat that Beth loved. Beth had never had a cat before and she had often thought about getting one as a companion. To her right, there was a man of about thirty-five. Beth thought he looked well-off because of his attire, which was mostly comprised of slick black and grey suits.

She figured him for a businessman of sorts. He kept quiet and she thought he didn’t really like her, so she kept her distance. Their first meeting was slightly cold and unfriendly, on his end. Beth thought that maybe he just didn’t want to be disturbed.

On her left, there were three women who were all sharing one apartment. They were loud sometimes, especially at night, but Beth didn’t mind this. She didn’t want to get the reputation of being a nosey neighbor or a neighbor that complained constantly. The girls were all in their mid 20s, Bethany guessed.

Beth fel dissapointed in all the months she lived there that they never invited her out or even invited her into their home. This was on Beths mind a lot.

She walked down the steps of the Church with the local parish priest by her side. His name was Timothy McDonald and she began to see him as a wise old man. She never asked his age but she was sure he was in his late seventies.

“Of course you will find friends here….you really don’t have anything to worry about….just know that your Mum & Dad are looking down on you always and they want you to be happy so badly’, Timothy said.

He stopped walking and she stopped too. He looked into her eyes sincerely and said “If theres anything I can do to help, please just come down here anytime….I’ve been where you are so many times”. He smiled warmly at her and he shook her hand. She could feel an almost divine kindness from this man.

‘Peace be with you’, he said as he walked back towards the Church doors. Beth stood rooted to the spot as she pulled her jacket more firmly around her. It was cold. He looked abck and gave her a wave. She waved back and apprehensively walked away. She didn’t want to walk away as his words were very comforting.

Bethany had become an expert in the art of video calling her friends on a regular basis. Her friends back home were ever by her side and she had them all involved in a group chat was active on a daily basis. She never knew how much being a shy person would hold her back from making friends in a new city.

Among her small group of friends, she had a favourite. Her name was Kayla and she came from a very abusive background and looked up to Bethany as a beacon of hope and support for tough moments. Kayla was only 25 and they had known eachother for a long time. They had actually gone to Primary School together but had lost touch after that

until recently, when Kayla found Beth on Facebook and reached out to say hello and re-connect. Bethany felt like Kayla was the one who was most disturbed by her moving so she made it her business to keep up regualar contact to show her that she shouldn’t feel abandoned.

It was now evening-time and after a day of putting her feet up and looking for a cat to share her home, she was hungry for real-life human contact. Bethany thought about downloading Tinder. She had heard many horror stories about the types of people that use online dating so, in the end she didn’t. For Beth it felt like a cop out and that

the best man she could meet would be in person. Her work-place was a no-go. It was dominated by women. The principle was a man but she had no interest. She could hear the three girls next door shouting. TO Bethany, it sounded like they were having a lot of fun. No-one else seemed available to chat in person. She contemplated knocking on their door and

asking to come in for a chat. So far, the relationship she had with the three was just in passing and Bethany attempting to make small talk. She texted Kayla and asked what she should do. Beth waited for 10 minutes for a response but didn’t get any. SHe thought about what her priest said. She walked over to the mirror in the living room and picked up

a picture of her Mother and Father during the best times of her life. She checked her phone one more time, to no avail. ‘Okay, I’m gonna do this’, she said aloud. She fixed herself up a tiny bit, walked out and shut the door behind her. As she took steps towards their door, her heart began to thump loudly in her chest.

She waited for a second outside their door and then knocked. Bethany made her best effort to not appear weird or needy. She could hear the girls shouting inside with music playing in the background. Still the door wouldn’t open. She began to walk away thinking they couldn’t hear the door being knocked on. Suddenly, one of the girls opened the door and peered out.

‘Heeeeeeey, whats up’? she said loudly after Bethany.

‘Oh, hey…emmm no, I just wanted to see could I come in and maybe get to yknow you guys….I don’t exactly have a lot of friends here yet’.

The girl closed the door over and told Bethany to wait there. Bethany stood 10 feet away from the door feeling like an idiot for appearing so weird.

The three girls came to the door and told Bethany to come in. At this stage she was reluctant now but she put it down to nerves. She followed the three girls into their apartment. As soon as she enetered the apartment she stood right in front of a large glass table. On the table was a range of different cigarrette packets, beer bottles, vodka bottles and wine bottles.

Bethany could have suspected there was a party going on but not to this extent. SHe felt a little out of place.

‘We’re just having a few drinks here’, said one of the girls. SHe happened to be the tallest and prettiest one of the three. She had jet black hair, stood about 5’11 and had a nose piercing that Bethany never even noticed before.

‘My names Tammy’, said the tall girl. ‘She’s Chloe’, she said, pointing to the left of her at a petitie girl with jet black hair as well. She had her eyebrow pierced. Bethany thought of her friends back home. They didn’t have any piercings.

‘I’m Hedi’, said the third girl.

Bethany introduced herself politely and added “we’ve met eachother before”. The three girls looked at her, annoyed.

‘No we haven’t’, said Tammy. Bethany got the feeling that they were sizing her up.

“Oh yeah, we have….it’s just….i live next door and we said hello to eachother a few months ago’, Bethany said shyly.

Tammy scoffed and told her she didn’t recognize her. Bethany felt confused but decided to brush it under the carpet.

‘So what are you guys upto?’ said Beth.

‘Well….Bethany….we were just about to do a Seance’, said Chloe. Bethany looked at them blankly. All three of the girls tried talking over one another at that point.

‘It’s where you talk to dead people’, exclaimed Heidi loudly.

Bethanys mother had told her not to get involved with that kind of stuff. Being a pretty devoted Catholic, it was in her upbringing to reject all evil notions. Bethany looked at them nervously and said she wasn’t into doing stuff like that.

Tammy put a bottle of beer in Beths hand and told her to sit down. Heidi walked over and bolted the door shut and dimmed down the lights. At this point Bethany thought she had nothing in common with these girls and had a deep desire to leave.

In the end, she kept her mouth shut and sipped on the drink given to her.

Tammy spoke up at this point. “So do you know anyone who has died in the last year”?

“Emmmmm, yeah my mom died last year”, said Beth, her face burning up with shame for being so open.

The three girls looked at her and grinned.

“Yep, that will do perfectly”, said Chloe.

Tammy sat back and put a cigarette in her mouth, while keeping her eyes fixed on Bethany. She lit it and blew a puff of smoke into Bethanys direction.

“We’re going to get you in contact with your mother”, said Tammy, bluntly. Bethany noticed she had no emotion or soul in her eyes.

“Yeah, I dunno about this….I’m not sure about this”, stammered Bethany.

Her phone went off in her pocket. She checked it. It was her friend Kayla. She had finally responded.

Suddenly Chloe grabbed the phone out of Bethanys hand and ran away with it.

“Who the fuck is texting you…..why dont you turn your fucking phone off?” said Chloe.

“Hey, give me my phone back”, cried Bethany. She got up and ran towards Chloe to get her phone back.

“Get away from me bitch!” shouted Chloe. With a rush of adrenaline, Bethany snatched her phone back from Chloe.

“Why did you do that?” shouted Bethany. Chloe just laughed hysterically like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Bethany started shaking nervously. She felt sick, like something really bad was about to happen. She made a bolt for the door, unlocked it and ran out on the verge of tears.

“Come back anytime cunt”, said one of the girls laughing manically. A glass was thrown against the door behind her and it smashed into pieces.

Bethany stayed in the living room for the rest of the night. She knew she had to be up for work at 7am but didn’t get a wink of sleep. Kayla and her texted back and forth all night.

She told Kayla of her experience next door. Bethany felt too afraid and shaken up to go asleep. She never wanted to see those girls again but couldn’t escape them entirely either.

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Tired and weary, Bethany made the best effort she could the next day to resume her work in a normal fashion. She had to fake a smile for the whole day which was exhausting her.

She finally finished up for the day at 5pm. She enetered her apartment complex nervously. She dreaded coming home today. Only upon opening up her door quietly that she crunched on a piece of paper.

The piece of paper had the word KUNT written on it. Bethany slowly closed the door. Her heart sank. She put down her stuff and sat on the couch with the note in her hand.

She felt totally fatigued and deflated. Bethany wondered what exactly she had done wrong. She’d never had an enemy in her life and didn’t know if she could handle this.

She took a screenshot of the note and sent it to the group chat. Kayla was the first to see it. Kaylas history meant she hated bullies. She had been bullied a lot by her Father growing up.

Bethany tried to distract herself by doing chores around the house but she couldn’t take her mind off the three girls next door. Kayla dropped what she was doing and decided to come over to Bethanys and stay for a few hours with her.

They talked together. They not only talked but they laughed. They both felt great. Kayla wanted to confront the three girls next door but Bethany begged her not to.

“You’ve always been there for me…..I want to be there for you this time” said Kayla with a tear in her eye. Bethany clasped Kaylas hands and said she was okay now.

Things were very quiet next door. For once the girls werent shouting. Bethany waited in tense apprehension for the shouting to start again. It didn’t. Kayla left at 10pm.

Everything was very quiet and Beth was thankful for that. She said a prayer for her parents and turned out the lights. About an hour later, as she was drifting off to sleep, it sounded like a cat scratching

at her door. She jumped up out of bed and turned on the bedroom light and looked out at the hallway. Beth saw someone put another note under her door. She walked quietly up to the door.

The note read OPEN YOUR DOOR NOW CALL THE COPS AND YOU’RE A DEAD GIRL . Bethany started to panic. She ran into her room and texted Kayla. The text was frantic and desperate,

Bethany could hear whispering oustide the door to her apartment. Even though it was the middle of the night, she rang her landlord who didn’t answer. Bethany constantly asked the question, Why me?

“Okay….wait….please….what do you want”? cried Beth. There was no answer. There was a new sound now. It sounded like a knife being run along the frame of the door. There were still people outside of her door but no one was speaking. Another note came under the door. OPEN THE DOOR NOW OR ELSE.

Bethany unhooked the latch as her hands were violently shaking. She went to open the door but there was the sound of footseps running away from her door.

Then the sound of manic laughing again. Bethany was so scared, she started weeping. She thought about the priest with the warm smile, all of her friends and her parents.

She went back to her phone. Her legs were shaking. Kayla had texted her telling her she was on her way. Bethany didn’t protest this time. Beth sat there on the couch with her phone.

She got a text from Kayla. TONIGHT WE’RE GOING TO RUN AWAY TOGETHER, WE HAVE THE MONEY…GET DRESSED AND GET READY…YOU DON’T DESERVE THIS. Kayla ended the text with three kisses.

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It was now 3am. Kayla texted Bethany IM OUTSIDE COME DOWN xxx

Bethany was dressed and ready to go with as much stuff as she could take with her. She hurried down to see Kayla there in the parking lot. Kayla looked furious and dead inside. Nevertheless, The two embraced and Kayla told her to get in beside her. She told her about a plan to run away from here and dissapear with her for a while.

“I can’t let this go Bethany”, said Kayla.

“We can tie up the loose ends tomorrow with your job, your landlord and your priest”.

Kayla had a backpack on her back. She was dressed like someone going to war, which scared Beth a little. She told Kayla the number of the girls apartment.

“I can’t let these girls get away with this babe”.

She kissed Beth lightly on the cheek and told her to wait in the car.

“Be careful”, whispered Beth.

Kayla left the car and ran up the stairs towards the three. She was as quiet as possible. She pulled up quietly outside the girls apartment door. She had a marker and a blank piece of paper.

On it, she wrote a message HEY, IT’S BETH CAN WE TALK?

She slid the note under the door. She waited for ten seconds before slamming both her fists into the door. Kayla withdrew a knife from her left pocket and a knife from her right pocket.

She headbutted the door loudly. She could hear noises from inside. The noises sounded like whispers. Kayla had a dark past and had the ability to summon up ungodly strength and rage in the face of a bully.

She was ready with knives in hand. She got what she was waiting for. The door opened and there stood Tammy. Kayla used all of her might to kick Tammy in the stomach which drove her back and caused her to trip over the glass table.

Kayla charged at Tammy with sharpened knives that slashed and pierced whatever flesh was in her way. There was no sign of the other two girls. Kayla was much shorter then Tammy but completely overpowered her. Tammy let out a shriek for the other two to come out.

No-one did. Tammy couldnt put up much of a struggle with the blood loss she endured. Kayla stabbed her again and again in a passionate fury. It was over, she was dead. Kayla looked over her shoulder to see Bethany at the doorway.

“Cmon, we have to go…..I think someone called the police”, cried Bethany tugging on Kaylas hand.

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