The Bleeding Sink
An excerpt from Spooky Montana
retold by S.E. Schlosser
I found it extremely annoying that one of the bathrooms on my dorm was permanently closed. Especially since the cause was an urban legend. An urban legend, I tell you! According to the story, years and years ago some bloke got himself massively drunk at a bar in downtown Helena and had passed out in the bathroom on the fourth floor. Apparently, he hit his head on the sink as he fell, and his blood had spattered the sink as he slid senseless to the floor and silently hemorrhaged to death. His death was considered a “sad accident” by faculty, staff and townspeople. But that was no reason to shut up the bathroom for decades! I completely discounted the story of the bleeding sink. That was just an urban legend the students circulated to explain the locked door.
“I’m sick of sharing a bathroom with you disgusting lot,” I grumbled to my roommate. “I’m going to break into the fourth-floor bathroom.”
My roommate’s eyes widened. “Don’t you know that bathroom is haunted?” he exclaimed. “The bloodstains on the sink are as fresh today as they were when the accident happened back in the 1960s, and sometimes you can hear the boy moaning as his life ebbs away on the bathroom floor!”
“Romantic twaddle,” I snapped. “My granny lives in a haunted castle in Scotland with ghost stories that would make your hair stand on end. She’d laugh at me if she found out I ignored a perfectly good bathroom because of a few bloodstains. Besides, the maintenance staff told me the bathroom was shut up pending renovations. No big deal!”
“You’ll be sorry,” my roommate said darkly. I ignored him. He was just sore because I’d lumped him in with the disgusting lot of fellows who mucked up the bathroom on my floor. You’d think someone would teach them to pick up their dirty clothes and clean the sink once in awhile.
When the dorm quieted down for the night – which wasn’t until late – I hurried up to the fourth floor with a bit of wire I’d purchased at a local hardware store. My little brother and I had become expert lock-pickers over the years, since our mother had a bad habit of locking her keys into the house or the car at least once a week. With all that experience, the lock on the bathroom door gave me no problems.
The bathroom was rather old-fashioned in appearance and had a disused air. There was dust in the corners, and a spider web drooped from the ceiling. But I heard no unearthly groaning, no mysterious footsteps. I carefully inspected the sink, the walls and the floor. Other than a smallish orange discoloration on the sink, there was no blood anywhere. Ha! So much for urban legends. There was probably something in the water that caused discoloration over time. I turned a tap experimentally, sure that the maintenance staff had shut off the water long ago. To my surprise, water gushed forth instantly. I smiled. Well, well. It looked like I had a bathroom to myself after all! I carefully locked the door behind me when I left.
I got up late the next morning, and had the downstairs bathroom all to myself. So it wasn’t until evening, when everyone was back in the dorm, crowding in and out of the bathrooms, that I slipped away to use the locked up facilities. It was still early in the evening, and I made sure no one was around before I headed to the abandoned bathroom. With a few twists of the wire, I opened the lock. As I stepped inside, the air temperature plummeted twenty degrees or more and my nose was hit by the pungent, strong smell of fresh blood. A second later, I saw the blood-spattered sink.
Bright-red gore was everywhere – on the porcelain, on the walls, oozing down the sides of the sink. And hovering before it, his feet a good six-inches off the ground, was the luminous form of a college-aged boy wearing old-fashioned clothes in the style of the 1960s. His forehead had a disfiguring dent smashed into it, and blood was dripping down his face. As I gaped at him, horrified and frozen in terror, he turned and looked at me. Then he held out a blood-stained hand. His eyes were desperate, pleading for help, and I heard a low moaning sound coming from between his blood-stained lips. The sound raised every hair on my body and made the skin prickle in sheer, cold horror. I backpedaled fiercely, my legs scrambling to get away while my eyes and head remained fixed on the ghost, on the bloody sink. A drop of red blood fell from his outstretched hand as I stared at him. Then the momentum of my legs carried me through the door, which slammed shut behind me, and the hot, pungent smell of fresh blood followed me through the halls and down the staircases until I was outside into the chilly air of autumn, breathing deeply. My knees shook so bad that I fell onto the nearest patch of grass, stomach heaving. Oh lord! The ghost was real! No wonder they kept the place locked up. I lay on the grass for a long time, ignoring the chill in the air. This was a natural chill which comforted, not that unnatural chill that had frightened me upstairs. I breathed in and out, in and out, watching the stars above me, bright even through the campus lights. I took comfort from the huge, clear expanse of sky. But I still felt reluctant to go back inside that haunted building. I shuddered once, from head to toe. Oh how my granny would laugh if she knew her big brave grandson was too scared to go back inside a haunted dormitory. It was the thought of granny that got me back onto my feet and upstairs to my room. But I didn’t care what granny or anyone else thought of me. I was never going back to the fourth floor bathroom. Once was enough.
You can read more ghost stories in Spooky Montana by S.E. Schlosser.
Comments? Email us at
Comments
love the story ms sandy
Posted by: coley | August 31, 2009 08:44 PM
OMG SCARY!!!
Posted by: samantha | October 1, 2009 06:00 PM
Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.,
Posted by: Nydirasa | October 13, 2009 10:18 AM
YOU CALL THAT PLEASANT?!?
Posted by: Cloe | October 14, 2009 05:43 PM
boring
Posted by: kim | October 15, 2009 09:37 AM
that sounds scary but realy cool
Posted by: lauren | October 19, 2009 02:50 AM
omgggggggg that was weird omgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg lol so scary this kid wet his pants teeheee
Posted by: carlos | October 19, 2009 08:35 AM
not scary:)
Posted by: Anonymous | October 19, 2009 09:29 AM
really really really really really really stupid
Posted by: dylan | October 19, 2009 07:20 PM
that is so scary im going to dream .
Posted by: rodrigo | October 20, 2009 09:56 AM
cool
Posted by: hi | October 21, 2009 12:51 PM
this story is kewl! i think its kinda cheezy- but good discription....=).. no verry scary.
Posted by: Lexus | October 21, 2009 07:52 PM
this is so funny lol..............it scared a lot of my friends
Posted by: amanda mowery | October 23, 2009 08:44 AM
wow daz wierd
Posted by: bailey | October 23, 2009 02:47 PM
love da story
Posted by: deshannon | October 23, 2009 05:58 PM
That wasn't as bad as I though it could be.
Posted by: Kendra | October 23, 2009 08:29 PM
oh my gosh thats so scary!
:o
Posted by: sarah | October 24, 2009 01:34 PM
WOW
Posted by: NICOLE | October 27, 2009 10:49 AM
that was like the coolest thing ever i wish i was there
Posted by: jordan | October 28, 2009 02:34 PM
I thought it was good but i thought it could have a way better ending like the man followed him that night and in the morning he was lying dead on the floor
Posted by: Taylor | October 28, 2009 06:28 PM
It was pretty good...i guess but again i need more excitement!!!!!!
Posted by: Annie | October 28, 2009 06:46 PM
this sukedddd
Posted by: ghfjhgkl | October 29, 2009 08:18 AM
You fearful stupid girls irritate me so much
Posted by: Anonymous | October 29, 2009 01:02 PM
not very scary but a good story
Posted by: sAmAnThA | October 29, 2009 08:20 PM
seriously you call that scarey.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 30, 2009 10:24 AM
yeah it was good but not scary enough
Posted by: brittany | October 30, 2009 11:42 AM
This story is so not scary you little girls who think this is scary are sissys me and my 8 year old sis read this and thought it was the least scariest story EVER!!!
Posted by: Brynn | October 30, 2009 02:44 PM
omg its supre scary
Posted by: Anonymous | October 30, 2009 03:02 PM
i woulda helped him! even if he was a ghost!
Posted by: boogle | October 30, 2009 04:45 PM
I HATEDDD THIS STORY!!!!
Posted by: bob | October 30, 2009 04:53 PM
NOT SCARY AT ALL!
Posted by: ghckjhv;lv | October 30, 2009 05:12 PM
not that scary but interesting!i liked it:)
Posted by: Anonymous | October 30, 2009 09:21 PM
Eh, it was a good theme, but you could have had a lot more description of the ghost, also a chase scene would have been cool
Posted by: Scorchfire | October 30, 2009 10:57 PM
awesome
Posted by: Anonymous | October 31, 2009 04:36 PM
The story wasn't very scary
Posted by: Anonymous | November 1, 2009 09:40 AM
id hate to be in dat guyz shoes!
Posted by: sumone hoo likes commenting stuff | November 1, 2009 12:28 PM
the story was kinda cool...
not very scary..but i still liked it:)
Posted by: Onica | November 8, 2009 08:08 PM
it not scary at all
Posted by: Anonymous | December 19, 2009 05:46 PM
OMG that is a cool story!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: beth | January 4, 2010 04:58 PM
love it!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | January 6, 2010 01:52 PM
omg
Posted by: yu | January 10, 2010 07:17 PM
that was not scary at all... that story totally sucked!!!
Posted by: anonymous | January 13, 2010 10:15 AM
omg
Posted by: quaya | January 13, 2010 11:08 AM
Omg I was at the part where he sees the blood and the ghost when my dog jumped on the bed!
Posted by: Starr | January 18, 2010 08:09 PM
COOL I LOVE THE STORY.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 19, 2010 08:11 AM
LOVE IT?! ARE U NUT U BOZO? IT WAS A CRAP STORY
Posted by: Anonymous | January 22, 2010 02:31 AM
So not scary just a little creepy
Posted by: Anonymous | January 22, 2010 06:08 PM
i have read better stories then that but it was ok :D
Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2010 02:05 PM
i told it to my friends man did they get scared
Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2010 02:06 PM
It was great! Just not the 1#
Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2010 02:07 PM
Id hate to be him imana tell kirby (>^_^)>
Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2010 02:08 PM
i i i just Well dunno what tp say it was a liitle weird i agree with the guy that said OMG that was cool!!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2010 02:11 PM
CREEPY CREEPY CREEPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2010 02:14 PM
Wow it wasn't dat creeeepy but yea it was a right good job ms.sandy
Posted by: alexis | January 26, 2010 02:24 PM
that was retarded sorry but it takes a lot more to scare me.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 29, 2010 02:35 PM
Now that was pretty scary, but that kid thinks too much of his granny. But a least it was better than the Axe Man story
Posted by: Bobby | February 7, 2010 11:46 AM
that was stupid!! that was a horrible story!
Posted by: Morgan | February 8, 2010 02:12 PM
OMG! IF I SAW DAT ID CRAP MYSELF! but awesome job on da story! <3
Posted by: wendy | February 11, 2010 07:38 PM
I got two ghosts in my house and i heart them to death well one of them anyway thar names r timmy (a little boy) and frank (the man who killed timmy) anyways i love them to death! i <3 mi ghosts
p.s. im sereously sereous im not liein i really do have two ghosts in my house.
Posted by: wendy | February 11, 2010 07:45 PM
HOLY CRAP
Posted by: Anonymous | February 15, 2010 09:56 AM
this is scary
Posted by: Anonymous | February 16, 2010 03:47 PM
WOW!THAT SCARED THE CRAP OUTA ME!
Posted by: sali | February 21, 2010 01:52 PM
OOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG I AM DEAD AAND MY GHOST IS POSTING THIS STUFF! OH YEAH THIS ONE TIME OH CRAP WHO CARES IF MY LETTERS ARE ALL ON SHIFT!
Posted by: sali | February 21, 2010 01:54 PM
this is a good stories for big peoplr to raed
Posted by: maira | February 28, 2010 10:12 PM
im 10 year -old and im not scared lol
Posted by: Anonymous | March 5, 2010 06:32 PM
Omg that was weird but okay.
Posted by: Cookie | March 16, 2010 09:20 AM