Ally Howard 27th May
Neighbour.
Prologue; The small tongue of the flame burnt into the matchstick, devouring it, leaving what was once a thin, simple wood, into a black charred nightmare. As she breathed heavily her heart pounded against her chest, the candle flickered out. In the corner of her eye she saw the gloomy silhouette lurking behind her, he was here again. She couldn't run now.
Chapter 1, Introduction: The alarm alerted the neighbours as well as Beth; the sharpness cut her from her sleep and ended her ever-lasting dream. Monday. Her worst nightmare, she hated Mondays, she hated school, and she hated life. Could her day get any worse? Possibly. The sunlight peering through her wooden, Ikea blinds pierced straight through her, the room went black until her eyes adjusted. She heard her mum as usual, better get dressed she thought. Beth dragged herself out of her comforting bed and the smell of dampness and drainage hit her like thunder, the neighbour's apartment had flooded again. That's the reason why she wanted to live in a house. As of many other things, she hated living in a flat. She knew how unstable and dangerous a flat can be, trampy, that's what a flat reminds her of. Wallpaper half peeled off, thick hard chewing gum stuck within her half white-half grey carpet. Dust cluttering the air. On the plus side, she only lived on floor 2 so it was amazingly easy to jump from the window in her room when she was grounded. She stood in front of her stained mirror and rolled her skirt down, mum would moan. She was scared of mum, like everybody else in the flat was. Hair up today, she didn't want to make her blonde hair even greasier than it already was. She applied her concealer to hide the evidence that she was up late the night before. Mum hated her staying up late on school nights, she cared so much for her education and every time Beth failed to care as much as her mum cared, her mum would say 'education becomes intelligence'. Beth didn't care at all, she didn't understand why her mum cared so much as well, it's not like she was the teachers' pet. You could notice the excitement in Beth's cheeks; her mum had bought her the latest Betsy bag, perfect. Beth was brought up well and the punishments were always lined up but when it came to rewards Beth was always spoilt. It did seem fair as she was the only child she was the only one her mum had to pay for. She smiled at herself in the mirror; the sun reflecting off her eyes made them a deep blue colour. Beth wasn't the cleanest neat freak but when it came to appearance she was spick and spam, she cared too much on judgements and thoughts by other people. Breakfast time, Beth wasn't really a fussy eater, in fact she wasn't an eater at all, Beth was the skinniest in her class, eight and a half stone is adequate for a fifteen year-old. On the plus side, she was the tallest in her class and everybody wanted her on their sports team. Beth poured the semi-skimmed milk into her chipped bowl of cornflakes, the milk was warm. The fridge had broken again, as her mum would say 'more money down the drain'. Beth couldn't make herself realise that in ten minutes she would be leaving for school, but still staying up late wasn't a bad decision, in Beth's spare time she would sit in her room and spy on the new neighbours across the road with the binoculars her granddad bought her last Christmas. She loved discovering new secrets and catching up with the latest gossip in and out of school. She used to listen to Mrs and Mr Smith fighting late at night until Mrs smith left, well she never saw her leave but only Mr smith leaves the apartment now a days. Beth scribbled random numbers on her answer sheet and poured water on it so the ink would spill, perfect excuse for no homework. For once she was leaving her phone at home, it got confiscated last week and mum wasn't too pleased with her, anyway it had low battery and her charger is lost among all the mess in her mum's room, unlike Beth her mum is very untidy and lazy when it comes to house work. Beth kissed her mum goodbye then left; her mum was working late tonight. This meant Beth could invite her friends round for a while until her mum came home.
Chapter 2, School: Beth scurried down the cold metal stairs and rushed out of the flat, she'd miss her bus otherwise. She speed-walked down her road and out of her mum's sight, she rolled her skirt back up and applied another layer of concealer, Beth was a sneaky one. Joshua left his house as well; he lived on the same road as Beth, in primary they used to walk together but they were so caught up in talking that they were late every Friday and we all know how Friday drags, with an extra thirty minutes I don't think anybody would want to talk anymore, don't you? Beth crossed the road to talk to him until her bus came, 'I don't suppose you did the homework?' She asked hoping he'd say no. With no surprise he did do the homework AND extra homework! Beth would definitely be staying behind after school today, she hated the goons that would always do their homework on time without fail, 'who has time for that?' She accidently said aloud. She could tell by Joshua's face that he was uncomfortable with how she reacted. She'd better go to the bus stop now she thought. The bus still isn't here, Beth could've walked to school by now but she had to be lazy and wait for a bus. The old man sitting next to her the other day had a cough, the one thing Beth hates about buses, they're so cramped and everybody's always either coughing or sneezing over you. Beth was overly hygienic; if her mum was ready she'd usually get a ride in her convertible. She loved showing off the expensive things her mum would've spent ages saving up for. Finally, the bus was here. The doors slowly opened and again Beth smelt dust, it was hard for her to breathe especially because of her asthma. She sat in the disabled seat hoping a disabled person wouldn't get on, the bus was now full and she'd have to stand up. Beth was sitting next to what she reckoned was a Mexican man, to Beth his face seemed familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it, she thought he might've been in her neighbours house once, maybe he's a builder or a plumber. This was her stop, she ringed the bell. She had a weird habit of feeling the bumps that would indicate to blind people they're finger is on the bell. Beth got off the bus; the noise of children was too loud. She hated the noise of out of control children. She hated it with a passion. Now it was time to fight her way through a thousand children just to get to the entrance. Crowded. You can say that again, Beth almost struggled standing up let alone getting to the entrance. Pinching herself wasn't working, she was in school, and she was in hell. Everybody always used to point out how Beth was always depressed but now they realised, the new cover teacher drives everyone mad. One thing everybody hates is a cover teacher, a lost puppy trying to tell them what to do and what not to do, he didn't know them, he didn't know what they'd be learning but yet he takes over, unorganised, disgusting. Beth emptied her half-chewed equipment on her desk and laid her bag on the floor for display. Bearings, perfect lesson for a perfect day. Mr Prince snapped at her, he could tell that by her shrug that she didn't want to be here either. Nobody really wanted to, not even the teachers. As Mr Prince yacked on about his social life Beth sneakily pulled her mirror out of her bag, not a hair out of place as usual. The bell rang, like a pack of wolves all the students scavenged towards the canteen. Beth decided to eat alone, she wasn't up for socialising today. As Beth ate her lunch she couldn't help but think of what her neighbour would be doing at this current moment, she was fascinated by his life. He seemed weird and her mother told her to stay away from him, Beth didn't really see the harm in speaking to your neighbour, is there anything wrong with that? Beth did understand where her mum was coming from, he did seem a bit creepy and all. She once cleaned his garden for him and all he did was sit and watched if he had time to watch then why not have time to do it himself? But Beth didn't complain, if making a tenner out of picking up a few bottles worked then he could watch all he liked. Beth loved break times, she had a whole hour to sit and have her own thinking time, and at home it was always so distracting. All of the teachers were concerned about Beth but nobody really understood. She didn't want to make friends, she wasn't bullied, and she was just more of an independent person. Beth hated planning parties and going out with her 'mates', she liked to listen to music in her room and write in her diary, just keeping everything to herself. To everyone else in her school Beth was just the girl in the corner, the shy one. Beth wasn't shy at all and she absolutely hated the fact that everybody thought they knew it all when really they knew nothing about her. She loves drama and mysteries; she loves Martina Cole books and sleeping in complete darkness. She wasn't weird just didn't like noisy places, to even it all out she didn't like making friends. It has only been ten minutes and Beth already felt like she wanted to die, three more hours of complete nothing, rehearsing things she's already learnt before. It wasn't her fault that she learnt nothing new, every time the teacher says something it just goes out the other ear, she just completely shuts off. Forty-five more minutes before hell again. Beth opened her eyes, Sheeple, that's all she saw. People trying to please other people, thinking about the past and what's going to happen in the future instead of living in the now. She didn't understand how people can be so stuck up in boys and love and whatnot. I guess it just isn't her cup of tea. Half an hour left and nothing to do again, sometimes she'd get so caught up in her thoughts that she wouldn't even notice the things going on around her, it all became a blur. Beth sighed; she didn't want to go to second period. Does she have to? What great fun. Yay. Another two hours wasted in her life, time is life and all she's doing is throwing it away. She was thinking of signing up for a job, to earn some money. Pocket money isn't enough these days, not with what it's worth anyway. She wasn't looking for anything too effort taking, she just wanted a newspaper round or cleaning her neighbours garden now and then. She just needed money, but she didn't want to do the dirty work in order to get it if you know where she's coming from. Maybe house cleaning, this was a good idea for her because she's close with all the neighbours on the block so they'd probably say yes and might even pay extra. Hmm…who to ask? Definitely the new neighbour and Mr Smith. This way she can catch up on even more gossip and maybe find out where Mrs Smith went. Also, she'd need to find out all of the neighbour's names, maybe she can ask them to write their name, address and how much they paid her on a form. Great way to get away with being inquisitive, now she'd find out the new neighbours name. She thought he'd be a Paul or a Steve, maybe an Owen? The exasperating bell struck like a light of thunder again, better dash. Uh-Oh worst lesson ever, Science. She absolutely despises Science, you might be thinking by now that Beth dislikes a lot of things in life, well actually English was her inspiration. Beth used to always write mini novels and scenes of her dream life, she was inspired by the fact that when her pen reached the paper it could turn into anything she wanted. Beth opened the creaky door and took a seat right at the back where it was nice and cool; she sat below the air conditioner. At least it wasn't hot and stuffy like her old science class, well if you can call it that. When the new building was taking place the whole school was under chaos, all the classes had been moved and packed boxes were everywhere, there was hardly any room for Beth's science class so they had their lessons in the cleaning room. It reminded Beth of the dry cleaners, full of damp clothes and a weak bleach smell. Beth always analyses things, whether it was the specks of dirt on the outside of her bedroom window or what her science class smelt like. She examined everything like a robot, she didn't have a reason for it at all, and she just does it. Great, this isn't sarcastic. Beth's doing an experiment, no real lesson for an hour. They had to neutralise acids and alkali's not the best lesson but at least she listened to the instructions otherwise she'd have to see the headmaster again. The headmaster was like a massive shadow lurking over your shoulder, watching every movement you make. You'd expect the headmaster to be nice and kind seeing as she is a lady but no she has the blood of a monster, heartless cow. Beth grabbed the glass of Hydrochloric acid and poured the universal indicator to the substance, blood red. She learnt about the pH scale last lesson, if it was pure red; it was highly dangerous and very acidic. She knew she needed an alkali, a strong one. She analysed the alkalis, and clawed the bottle of drain cleaner, perfect. Her teacher told her to use the pipette and add it drop by drop, who had time for that? She took the spoon from her teachers' desk and poured the alkali in. She added too much. Big mistake. She saw a cloud of deep purple slowly form in her substance, now she needed some acid. Actually she needed to finish her art homework for next period. Berth pulled out a half drawn girl from her bag, the edges had crumpled up. Oh well. 'You got a pencil Jimmy?' She asked, she knew a goon like that would probably have ten spare. He handed her a pencil feeling privileged that Beth Lawson asked him for a pencil! Ugh, weirdo she thought. The charcoal pencil added reflection to her work and the thickness of the pencil added a great improvement, her teacher would love it. She added more depth to the shadow on her face and quickly hid it under the table as her teacher walked past. Phew! That was a close one. Anyway class was over now, her teacher was appalled at the state of her substance. Beth drew an evil grin, she didn't care how many times he'd ask her to improve. She wasn't changing anything for anyone. She dragged her aching feet to her art class, she wanted to go home. 'Homework!' Miss Gilroy viscously snapped at the class. Like a fragile thread of string the whole class hesitated, they all pulled out their homework but only one caught Miss Gilroy's eye. 'Beth, bring your homework to the front so I can take a closer look.' Uh-oh, from where the charcoal had only recently met her sugar paper it has smudged in her bag and her whole work looked like a massive puddle of black oil. 'And what do you call this, Beth?' Miss Gilroy raised her eyebrow and lowered her small thin glasses onto her crooked nose, Beth hesitated for a split second. 'Uh, well can't you see miss, its art?' Miss Gilroy smiled 'ahh'. Surprisingly she loved her new art work, she said to Beth that she'd send a report to her mother on how excellent she'd been working this year. Beth really didn't have a clue what was going on, did she really find her smudged five minute art work (if you could even call it that)…nice? Well Beth knew what she'd be doing for the next homework. Miss Gilroy put Beth's work on the visualizer, the awkward silence filled the air then everybody daggered at Beth. Eyes all on her, no sound just eyes. Beth pulled an awkward smile and the whole class applauded her work, they could tell Beth didn't put an effort in. Well, being in at least one of Beth's classes you'd know she never makes an effort with anything. Well, she isn't complaining, having mum buy her a new Betsy bag for her report is perfect! Only thirty minutes left until home time! Yes. Well, it isn't all good she's going to spend her free time cleaning her neighbour's houses and pulling out weeds.
Chapter 3, Hometime: Better get home she thought. Beth hurried out of the school building, the quicker she got out the better. This is what basically everybody thought about school, they didn't want to spend more time in it when they could be getting out. Beth decided to run home instead of getting the bus, she couldn't be bothered to wait for it and as usual there would be a massive huddle of savages cramping the bus. The one thing she hated most. As she was running she was deciding who she'd ask first, she was going to go home and change into shorts and a vest top (it was too hot to be wearing school uniform) and then ask the new neighbour. Finally she'd find out what his name was! The thrill of finding out his name was incredible; the adrenaline rushed through her body and speeded up her pace. Now she was running faster than she's ever run before, her heart was thumping, almost as if it would pop out of her chest and onto the cemented pavement. Her hair was swaying left to right behind her and her school shirt was sticking to her sweaty back. Her neck started to ache; she stopped for a moment before she'd carry on again. She drew her asthma pump from her blazer pocket, gasped for air then continued. She could see her flat from here by now; this made her run even faster knowing that it was just a few metres away. Her knee high socks had fallen down to her ankles and her Betsy bag kept slipping off her shoulder which held her back a couple times. Finally. She was home. She opened her bag to get her key; her mum wasn't in so she brought her key today. Beth rummaged through all her belongings to find that her key had fallen out, great. She peered down the road, if it was near the sun would reflect off of it and create a sparkle. It wasn't down her road and by now it's probably been picked up, to even make the situation worse her mum wouldn't be back until ten tonight. Beth unbuttoned her shirt a little, seeing as she wasn't getting changed anytime soon she might as well make do with her uniform. She took her blazer off and stuffed it into her tiny bag. Hmm…She decided to go to the new neighbour and ask him whether she could clean his house for some money hoping he'd say yes and by seeing how hot she was possibly get her a drink. She stepped on his lawn, his grass was emerald green and the flowers were blossoming. Beth walked over to his door and knocked on his surprisingly heavy door knocker. About five seconds after the door swung open as if he'd been waiting at his door for someone to knock. Beth hesitated then quietly asked 'I don't suppose you'd want me to clean your house for you?' He looked her up and down and in a deep voice said 'Oh, come on in then darling'. Beth thought it was going to be awkward but they had a deep conversation on why she wanted to raise money. For the Betsy bag of course, he looked at Beth weirdly seeing as she was wearing the newest one and another one hasn't came out yet. Beth knew but she wanted to save up for when it does come out. Beth looked around, his house was spotless so she wouldn't be getting a lot of money for trying to clean it more. 'I don't mean to sound nosy and all but do you mind me asking your name?' The man smiled, 'I thought it was about time I introduced myself; Phil Fallons, yours?' Beth paused for a second then told him her name, she didn't really like her name. Well Elizabeth is her real name but Beth was better than that.
Chapter 4, As clear as water: She was handed the polish Beth started cleaning his already clean house. She started in his living room noticing the picture on the wall, it was of him with a woman who looked like his wife and then two small children. If he's married then where's his wife and children, Beth decided not to ask in case he had relationship problems. She polished the slate window sill, he had a telescope pointing out of his window. Beth loved astronomy and stars, maybe he did too? 'Why don't you rest? You've had such a long day at school and after losing your key you must be pretty stressed?' Beth was pleased on how considerate he was before noticing that she never told him about losing her key. Oh well she thought, maybe it might of slipped out. Beth sat on his sofa and drunk what looked like lemonade he recently handed her. Because Phil was so nice maybe he'd give her a lot of money, fingers crossed. Beth moved on to the kitchen, there was two cups in the sink so she washed them up for Phil and started mopping the marble floor. By the real gold antiques Beth knew that Phil was filthy rich so she decided that she would only clean his house after school because he'd probably pay more than any other neighbour. Phil was happy with what Beth had done so far and he told her to start in the passage. On the left hand wall there was a massive built-in mirror along the whole wall up until the staircase. Beth started polishing it, it'd take a while for Beth to finish but she didn't mind because she was too concentrated on how much she'd earn if she did this every day for the whole week. She still didn't realise why he needed her to clean his house, maybe he felt sorry for her because he could tell she needed money. Phil's house was immaculate, no rips or tears in the wallpaper, pure white fluffy carpet, chandeliers in every single room. What else could you ask for? Beth understood why it was so clean, he was living by himself. Beth finished polishing the big mirror and then went to go in the room at the end of the passage to clean it. As she walked down the passage she heard running down the stairs, it was Phil. 'this room doesn't need to be cleaned Beth so please don't go near it, thanks'. That was odd, none of the rooms needed to be cleaned but he still told her to. Beth apologised and started sweeping his stairs, they were covered in a creamy gold carpet with gold lacing all over it. Beth couldn't help but notice that the carpet grippers were pointing out of his carpet. It wasn't really a big deal but if she lived there she would've had to get it sorted out, but that's just her. Beth continued sweeping the nothingness into the pan. She noticed how soft the carpet was and laid down for a few seconds, she was tired. Her eyes flickered shut and she drifted off. Phil boiled the kettle for her and himself, he thought it was the least he can do after all her effort she'd put in. He called her to the kitchen; nobody answered. Phil panicked, he knew she'd go into the room, he knew it! He ran out into the corridor and smiled to find she had just dozed off and nothing bad had actually happened. He stood there for a few minutes waiting for Beth to wake up but instead he thought it would be better to carry her into the lounge to rest for a while. He leant over to pick Beth up but needn't worry because she woke up. Beth felt uncomfortable waking up seeing Phil right in her face so she questioned him about what he was about to do. After he told her she was still unsure about staying there so she made up an excuse about her mother coming home soon so she'd drink her tea then go home. Phil poured the boiling water into the cup she washed up previously. 'Three sugars' Beth commanded. Phil smiled, 'Sweet tooth, ay?' Beth shyly giggled at his comment then sipped at her tea. The sooner she got paid the better. Phil took out his wallet and pulled out £100, Beth couldn't accept this. Phil commanded Beth to take it for all her hard work. 'Are you sure? Your house wasn't even that dirty in the first place?' Phil placed the two fifty pound notes in Beth's hand, 'just take it'. Beth greedily smiled when he turned his back, of course she could take this. Just the right amount she needed. Beth gurgled the last of her tea and left Phil's house with a spring in her step. Beth waited for the cars to drive past then crossed the road and sparkling outside the flats was her set of keys! They had been lingering there the whole time, Beth picked them up and opened the gate to the flat. Now she didn't have to wait for her mum to come home, Beth's school shoes tapped on the glossed stairs as she rapidly ran to the second floor. Home at last. She wasn't really that happy to be home considering she'd just been in Phil's house, her 'house' (if you could call it that) wasn't anywhere near as good as his was.
Chapter 5: There's no place like home: Beth forced the key in and stiffly turned it, the door flung open. She stepped inside to what her loving mother had left her, a pile of mess. It didn't seem fair for Beth because she was spending time cleaning other people's house for money then she comes home to more mess that she'd be cleaning up for nothing. Great. Beth stuffed the humongous pile of clothes into her washing machine and as she added powder it spilt over the floor. She would've had a cup of tea or something but just reminded herself that the fridge had broken and the milk would've gone off by now. She played some music to get her into the mood then started washing up the filthy plates and mugs from last night, now she wished she didn't leave Phil's house. Beth made do with the cold water and fairy liquid to clean the dishes, mum forgot to pay the gas again. The water turned a dark murky colour, Beth's hands wrinkled up. Her kitchen smelt of her science room, damp and dirty. Beth didn't bother drying up, her work had been done for the day. She moved the piles of magazines from the wooden table to on top of her refrigerator. The thin lining of cheap plastic-wood was peeling off of her table; mum had probably spilt beer on it and was so drunk to remember. The bleach white table cloth folded up in the corner caught Beth's eye, she unfolded it and swung it over the ruined table. Much better. Beth didn't get why her mum bought so many cleaners and sprays, it's not like she used them. Under her sink there were dozens of metal sprays, polish, window cleaners, bacterial, sink cleaners, drain cleaners and what other rubbish she could get her hands on. Most of them were out of date and the rest weren't even opened yet. Beth took the curtains off the railing and put them into the washing machine, the previous load had finished. She managed to fit all the other used clothes that were lingering over the kitchen floor. Instead she didn't put any washing powder in, she put the powder under her shelf which was too small for it to fit but she managed anyway. It started looking decent and Beth took out her Henry hoover, her Nan had bought it for her a few Christmas's ago and when mum's hoover broke she replaced it with Beth's. She took out the filter which was clumped with dust and tangled hair, along with hair slides and mini sequins from her mum's wardrobe. Beth's mum was overly attached with sparkles and sequins, Beth couldn't think of one piece of clothing that her mum owned without having any sparkly things on it, except her work clothes of course. As she poured the dust into the plastic pound shop bin the dust cluttered the air and filled Beth's lungs. She coughed. Like a volcano exploding, Beth burst open with coughs and splatters. She had a chesty cough, a spiteful sharp one. The sharpness cut, Beth put her hand over her chest, for a minute she had to see if her chest was actually cut. She started panting, whenever she was out of breath her doctor said to take deep breaths, she tried by the phlegm was blocking up her oxygen path. She coughed harder; it felt like her lungs were going to burst open. Beth started to feel really tired, like she'd been drugged. Her surroundings were blurred, she felt light headed. By now she'd already hit the kitchen floor and was unaware of what happened. The tap was still running, flooding the sink, the plates were now floating and water was dripping down her cupboards, she needed to wake up. The water soaked through the carpet, her apartment was now a puddle or a very shallow pool. Beth wasn't going to get up anytime soon, she wasn't asleep. She was unconscious. The water split in separate paths and changed directions; mum would have a large water bill this month. The worse thing about it is that it was eight o'clock and her mum would be back at ten! Like a virus the water spread rapidly flooding everything in it's path, her mum's clothes, her homework; now she'd had a real, honest excuse for not having it. The water reached Beth's hand, it ran in between each finger then beside her arm, she didn't have a clue what was going on at all. Hopefully one of her neighbours would notice that her apartment was flooding and open the door or something. The water has started to drop through the ceiling of Mr Smith's apartment, he ran as fast as he could. Barging everyone out of his way. Mr Smith cared too much about his apartment, he'd already been piled up with bills and he has enough on his plate as it is. He turned the handle, the door was locked. "Elizabeth?! Stefani!?" No matter how louder he shouted Beth wouldn't hear him, he had to think fast. He kicked the door once, it shook, he kicked it twice, it cracked at the bottom and water gushed out. He kicked the door the third time, it was forced to the floor. He saw the over-flooded sink and dived towards it, the tap was now off. He perceived Beth knocked out on the floor, her skin was pale white, like the pavement on a snowy winters' day. Mr Smith examined the room for a telephone, he saw Beth's mobile phone on the kitchen table and immediately swooped it. His hands were shaking so much that he dialled '996', he hung up. Hesitating he dialled 999 and whimpered ambulance. He was demanded to stay calm and wait for the ambulance to arrive, which was estimated to take about fifteen to twenty minutes due to busy services. Mr Smith hooked his arms in between Beth's and dragged her out of the water and onto the kitchen table. He performed CPR on Beth, she still wasn't breathing, was this the…end?