Does the vengeful wraith of a girl who killed herself because she failed to win the homecoming queen nomination haunt the girls locker room? Many former cheerleaders believe so. Many cheerleaders claim to have been pushed down by an unseen force, others report getting scratched, still others report coming in to find their personal items scattered about. Often the items are found torn and ripped.
The spirit has even attempted to murder some. Now the story I'm going to tell is a little out there. But I swear it's true. Now before I begin I should say that encounters with the spirit that generations of cheerleaders have dubbed “Lizzy” are rare, like once in a blue moon rare. But then such an encounter happens. A fresh wave of fear washes over the cheerleaders. And once more we were reminded that we are never truly alone.
I was a freshman when I encountered “Lizzy” in High School, so this was around five years ago. It was late September and I had stayed later than normally to help decorate the gym. Homecoming was tomorrow and it was all hands on deck to get everything squared away. We started decorating the gym around three o' clock that afternoon when the final bell rang. When seven o' clock rolled around we had barely managed to finish with everything. I was covered from head to toe in glitter, glue and dust. I had also worked up a sweat. What can I say, having to climb up and down a ladder for four hours really wears a person down.
Anyway it was late, and I was hot and sticky and I just could not wait to get home to climb into the bathtub. So I decided to take a quick shower at school using the showers in the locker room. The air inside the locker room was hot and humid, sticky almost. The locker room is always wet, and always smells like dozens of different body washes and perfumes. Mix that in with the overpowering smell of bleach and your head would quickly be swinging in fourteen different directions.
Now the moment I entered the room, I felt something was off. I felt like somebody was watching me, peering out at me from the shadows. Looking back the warning signs were there. I just chose to ignore them. The first thing I did was to turn the water on in one of the shower cubicles. Soon the sound of running water filled the air. Now it takes a good moment for the water to warm up, not too warm because it can really burn you, like I've seen girls turn the shower knob all the way to the right and the water has become scalding hot. I normally keep the shower knob in the middle, that way it's not too hot and not too cold.
Anyway, while shower was getting ready, I started to undress. I stripped off my skirt and blouse and hung them up in one of the lockers. I then walked to one of the sinks and started to brush my teeth. This is when the first warning happened. While I was digging my toothbrush out of the travel kit, I always kept a travel kit with me. The door of the locker room flew open and a loud bang filled the air as three locker doors shot open.
That really startled me. But then I thought somebody was playing a mean joke on me or just you know messing around with me. I decided to finish brushing my teeth. I finished brushing my teeth and then I remember feeling something sharp, very sharp, like claw-like sharp getting dragged across my back. I yelled and spun around to look at my back in the mirror to my horror, three long scratches appeared down my back, and it burned, it burned like hell. I mean my head started to spin from the pain and I felt myself becoming physically sick.
“Stop it!” I yelled in a loud tone of voice. “Stop this in the name of Jesus!” I shouted as I sank down on a nearby bench. The room started to feel tense and those tiny hairs on the back of my arms started to stand straight up, I could feel a prickling on my back as those tiny hairs stood straight up.
Then I heard it, giggling, somebody was giggling at me. That made me mad, really mad. Somebody or something was making a total fool out of me. Slowly I stood up and looked around me. The giggling it seemed had stopped and I was alone now.
“I command whatever is here to leave me alone in the name of Jesus!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I had seen enough ghost shows, I knew that if you shouted that name that was supposed to stop the haunting and keep the ghost away. But, my voice quivered and I felt instead of driving whatever it was always I was just starting to taunt it. And it hatted being taunted.
The air became tense, I should have left then and there, instead I jumped into the shower. The spray of warm water felt amazing and it melted all my troubles away. I love getting a shower, it's like all the cares and troubles of the day are washed away down the drain with all the dirt and grim. I started to shampoo my hair and whistle a little tune. Then something happened, the water became hot, hotter than I ever expected. It became scalding hot, I remember each drop of water felt like a very hot needle poking me.
I remember feeling like my whole body was just starting to boil, A ear piercing scream escaped my lungs. I tried to shut the water off, but the knob was stuck. I started to panic then and before I could catch myself I started to stumble out of the shower and into the coolness of the room. I remember every inch of my skin was red and I could not even bring myself to touch myself. I just wanted to lie down in a bed of crushed ice and mellow.
Taking small steps, I started to move toward my bag, then to my horror I found my clothing scattered about. My change of clothing, I always keep a change of clothing with me, nothing more than an oversize t-shirt and pair of sweatpants. You know in case something comes up and I need to change quickly, fast and in a hurry.
But all those clothes were scattered about, I mean my pleated school skirt, my panties, my bra, my blouse, my backpack was turned over and my notebooks had been torn to shreds, it was like some big cat had decided to sharpen its claws on them. In short everything I had was a mess. And then the lights started to flicker, they flickered on and off, on and off and then the locker doors started to open all of them opened and then all of them slammed shot, it sounded like a gun going off.
Then it appeared.
At first it was nothing but a red haze. Then the haze took on a human form, and then in the blink of an eye there it was, standing in front of me, the image of a girl maybe a year or two older than me. She wore an old fashion prom dress, you know the ones that might have been popular back in the nineties. Her hair was done up in a bun and her face was smeared with running make-up.
“WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” The phantom screamed at me. “WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU'VE ALREADY RUINED MY LIFE, YOU STOLE MY BOYFRIEND AND YOU MURDERED MY PET!” She bellowed at the top of her lungs as she pointed her fingers at me. I could hear her voice, it filled my head, it filled the room. It was like somebody had held a bullhorn up to my ears and shouted that message at me.
I sat there stunned into silence, my skin was still on fire, my mind was starting to twirl around and then a wicked smile formed on her face. I then saw them, phantom flames started to dance around her, orange, yellow and red.
“YOU STOLE MY CROWN, YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE, AND YOU'VE DAMNED ME TO HELL. I'M GOING TO DRAG YOU DOWN WITH ME.” The phantom yelled once more, and once more the voice seemed to fill every inch of my brain. I could feel my blood starting to turn cold and a sweat started to break out on my forehead and on my back. The lights started to flicker more and more and in the very back of the room, a few of the light bulbs popped, sending down shards of glass and a shower of electric sparkles.
And then the phantom vanished. I was stunned, despite the pain from the burns I managed to collect my things and get dressed. I had to get out of there. I mean I rushed out of there, only pausing long enough to snatch my purse that held my wallet, ID and phone. And a spare set of car keys. I left my textbooks, notebooks, backpack, pleated skirt, socks, shoes and such on the floor. I was not going back there, whatever that was could keep them.
I never told anyone about that night till now. And no, I did not go digging through the school archives. As far as I'm concerned the past should remain in the past. Besides, sometimes you can dig too deep and discover something that should have remained hidden. I felt digging for information would only draw attention to myself and draw the spirits eye toward me. So I put that event far from my mind. I started attending Mass more often and asked Father to bless me. It's been five years now, and I still can't get that image of that girl standing in the middle of that room, surrounded by flames out of my head. I guess I never will.
Does a malevolent poltergeist haunt the girls locker room? If you believe the number of stories that have been passed down from one generation to another then the answer is a firm yes. Now, I've had my own fair share of paranormal encounters before. I think we've all had it. And if you come from the south then you've grown up listening to ghost stories of ghosts.
Now, the story I'm going to tell you is true. I'm sure you, the lovely reader, have read a number of ghost stories that we, the members of New Midnight Society, tell each other around the dying embers of a once roaring bonfire. Our lovely leader Madeline has made an amazing effort to write down those stories, edit them and even publish them. And I'm glad, because these stories need to be told, they are the bedrock of our childhood.
Anyway, in our last story we've told you of Lily's encounter with “Lizzy”. Now I've never encountered “Lizzy” but I have encountered another spirit. It's not really a spirit in the true sense. Ghostlore would call it a poltergeist that German for “noisy ghost” or “noisy ghost” take your pick dear reader.
We cheerleaders often call this spirit “It” and it's not limited to just the locker room, though that is its main haunt. But “It” has been known to follow the cheerleaders as they travel from one event to another. Often the spirit brings misfortune and is known for having a cruel sense of humor. I have a theory about the spirit, and I'm going to tell you that theory before I go on with my tale because it makes sense to me.
I personally believe that the negativity of high school feeds this thing. The girls locker room is in a way our own personal space. A conclave where the mysteries of girlhood are discussed and rumors are exchanged. Here girls tell other girls what boys they are going after, here girls talk about crushes. And more often than not, justice is melted out to girls who have done things that go against the grain. I personally believe that all that energy has super charged the air. Making this a rich feeding ground for “It”.
Now my story is like a thousand other stories I've heard. What makes my story different is I've been touched if you will by “It”. Cerridwen our schools token pagan said sometimes fey can attach themselves to certain people. I asked if she thought “It” was a fey, and she just shrugged her head. And so I asked her to do a reading if you will of the girls locker room.
At first Cerridwen was very reluctant. But after a while I finally got her to agree to check things out. But the moment her hands touched the doorknob was the moment things changed her for. She turned around, looked me dead in the eye and in a hollow tone of voice said to me. And I will never forget these words. Nope, I will carry them to the grave with me. “Something very evil lives in this locker room. Two very evil spirits.” She said in a compelling tone of voice.
And then she walked away. Weird right? It was like she was totally freaked out by something. I mean I know pagan's are different, but Cerridwen has always struck me as this kind of brave girl who's not afraid of anything. But she just froze up and stood there the moment her fingers brushed up against the metal surface of the door handle. Had she sensed something? Something evil was lying in wait just behind the door. And what really freaked me out, she said that there were two spirits. Like as far as I know, nobody has told Cerridwen about “Lizzy” and I never mentioned a thing about “It” could she have been sensing them too?
Looking back, I should have known something was up. I should have stayed away from the room. I should have known better, but instead I had to poke the lion. And I learned when you poke the lion, you better have a really sharp stick, because it's going to roar and attack you.
Now we have this tradition that after each practice we draw straws, the girl with the shortest straw is the one who stays behind the others and cleans up. You know, making sure things are in pretty good shape, you gotta make sure all the lights are off, all the stuff is put up. You gotta return the keys. It's not a hassle, but it kills a good hour, sometimes an hour and a half. A drag if you will.
Anyway this one afternoon I had drawn the shortest straw and it had fallen to my small, frail shoulders to get everything cleaned up and put all the stuff away. It was during the winter months, and the sun had already set, the sky outside was gray and cloudy and a cold wind was blowing across the open fields that lay before the school. I don't know why I remember those details, but they seem to matter. It was like the quiet before the storm if you catch my drift. Just another cold, windy afternoon.
About a week or two had passed since I had asked my friend Cerridwen to do a reading. And well things had been kind of building, small things, for example my friend Taylor had lost her wallet, and since she was a member of the team we all pitched in to help her find it. We found it alright, after searching the whole school, I mean we searched that school from top to bottom without finding a trace of the wallet we found it, and guess where it was, right on top of her backpack. I'll never forget the moment she picked that wallet up was the moment this loud giggle filled the locker room. It gave us all the chills.
A few days later, somebody's phone went missing, again being a team we all pitched in and searched the school from top to bottom, and when we found the phone it was in plain sight. It was like somebody or something was messing with us. At first we kind of laughed it off, and heck we even joked about it. But as I stood there, alone in that changing room, going through the checklist of things that needed to be done. I swear I felt something watching me.
Then it happened, the door flew open, the fluorescent lights of the locker room started to flicker on and off. Then one by one they started to pop, sending a shower of sparks and glass down upon me. I was stunned and I quickly duck down and throw my arms over my head. I felt those tiny shards of glass cut my arms as they rain down on my head. It all happened in a blink of an eye, like one moment I was standing there in the center of the room, minding my own business, the next all hell had broken loose.
Then I heard a deep, dark growl that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Then I heard a voice, a dark, demonic voice, it came from inside my head. I heard the voice tell me, “DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME LITTLE GIRL.” I felt my blood run cold.
It was a total sensory overload for me, the voice, the popping of the fluorescent light bulbs above my head, the banging of the door, then to make matters worse all the showers seemed to turn on, and soon the air inside the room was filled with hot steam, the steam caused me to choke, I felt a growing sense of doom, and finally, I something took over me, somebody told me to bolt and I bolted out of that room. I ran down the hallway, I ran as quick as my feet could carry me, and I did not stop running till I had bolted out of the door and was breathing that cold, winter air.
After that, I stopped using the girls locker room. I changed in the bathroom. Or kind of changed in the staff bathroom. I guess, by asking Cerridwen to do a reading of that room I had poked something. I just know, I'm not giving that thing another chance to get at me. Once was enough.
The End.