Murderously Disturbed

12. Underneath the Bed (Ballad) *

Part 2 of the "Haunted Blades" ballad sequence.

12. Underneath the Bed
(Ballad)

Why sleeps he not, when others are at rest?

—Lord Byron,
"Lara"

1

Allison was old enough and
   Brave enough to calmly hear
All the details of the rough and
   Gruesome things we always fear.

Allison was just thirteen,
   Yet her grandpa had no choice;
Something he had not foreseen
   Forced him to scream out his voice.

So he had to talk real low,
   Making Allison lean forward;
'Gainst all odds, she had to know,
   So her grandpa said, straightforward,

"There's a presence lurking by
   Just beyond the wall of sight;
It's enough to make you cry,
   Yet you must not die of fright!

"I must tell this bedtime story
   That the world can't figure out,
'Cause it'd faint to hear the gory
   Details, leaving all in doubt.

"Yet the story must be told
   For this curse to run its course,
For the witnesses are old
   And my voice is getting hoarse.

"Listen to me well, my child;
   You're the only one who can;
It's a story still defiled
   By the blood lust of a man."

Chills descended on them both,
   Running up and down their spines.
"Promise me your silent oath,"
   Said the dying man, "for mine's

"Dwindling with each breath I take,
   Thinning out each waning breath;
Silence please, for your own sake!
   Do not stir until my death!"

So the girl kept silence then,
   Giving silent ear to him;
So the dying man began,
   Giving life to something grim,

"Long ago when I was young,
   Younger than you are right now,
I involved myself among
   Friends who took up each a vow,

"Such a vow as mortal lips
   Dare not vow upon fair youth;
Yet loose lips can sink all ships
   When they do not speak the truth.

"That is how it all began,
   Ten of us in one vile pact,
Knowing nothing of the man
   Binding us to his contract!

"Yet, at first, it all seemed good,
   Making all our dreams come true,
Duping us to think it would
   Never need our honest due.

"Then one day, I noticed that
   Herman Graves had disappeared;
In his place, a baseball bat
   Stained with blood had then appeared

"In his bedroom on the morning.
   Both his parents screamed and screamed;
When we heard, we sank in mourning;
   All was never as it seemed!

"Then police investigated,
   All the evidence collected,
But their efforts were frustrated;
   Evidence proved disconnected.

"Thus we spent our days in fear
   Of each rumor going 'round
That subdued our former cheer,
   Haunting every former playground.

"When a week elapsed in silence,
   As we all had just recovered,
As we healed in slow reprievance,
   Two more deaths were then discovered.

"Leone Brown and Thomas White
   Were both discovered dead in bed;
All the town was up in fright,
   All of us now filled with dread!

"Both were found in bloody pulps,
   Bludgeoned both with baseball bats
Found beside their beds! What gulps
   We swallowed down our throats,