The Massacre of Barabish

The massacre of Barabish is to date one of the most brutal and bloody, unresolved cases in history. The spring air was fresh and the sun shone bright on the Wednesday morning of May 12, 2020. Waking up no one could have known that such a beautiful, hopeful day would be so stained with madness. In the quiet town of Barabish, the townsfolk began to gather for the wedding on one of their young ladies, Miss Arabella Samsun. Arabella was a young and spirited lady. With a head full of long, red hair, she was known for being both spirited and brave. Never one to scare or step down from a challenge none had been surprised when Miss Arabella had gone off on her own to achieve her goal of becoming the town’s first female doctor. When she returned fresh from medical school, the town cheered and gave thanks that such a young, promising doctor had decided to return to work in their small town. They watched as she began her practice and fell in love all over again with her high school sweetheart Tommy Magirer. There’s was a love of movies and books. When the young couple walked through town, people stopped to sigh at the obvious love they had for one another. He would smile and her face would light up a room, his eyes would twinkle and crinkle at her witty humor and together they brought light and laughter to all those they passed. The townsfolk knew that their wedding would be one of great laughter, and love, filled with joy and prosperity. A marriage one could look to and wish to emulate. It was never to be however, for upon the fateful day of their marriage something went terribly wrong. Some say it was the water in the town that had been poisoned, others say a demon took over Miss Arabella and forced her to do evil. Whatever it was that caused the young, bright doctor to snap was the beginning of the end for the town of Barabish. As the townsfolk gathered in the church, they marveled at the decorations. The bells wrung merrily, the orchestra played a soft tune as people entered and found their seats. The church itself was covered in tulips and daffodils, a swirl of yellow and oranges that brought light to the room. Against the deep brown stained pews, sprigs of lavender hung over reefs of holly, and ribbon was braided into streamers of daisies. The church smelled of new spring and many smiled with the joy and hope the decorations inspired. Dressed in their best, the town settled into the church to await the bride's entrance, whispering in anticipation at the marvelous sight they knew Miss Arabella would be. Yet it was not a beautiful blushing bride that entered the church that morning but a hell storm of rage and death. The first hint that something was wrong was the terrified scream that rent the air from just outside the church. Then before people could do more than turn towards the sound, Arabella slammed open the heavy and old oak church doors and entered the church. As the doors swung, people gasped in alarm, they could glimpse through the doorway that the wedding party lay sprawled in bloody heaps on the stairway to the church. Arabella herself was a ghastly sight. Her sparkling and virginal dress was covered in red, dark stains. Blood seemed to crawl up her body, swirling into patterns of death. Her face was splattered, her eyes gleamed with a madness that seems unearthly and in her hands she held a sawed-off shotgun. Her eyes danced crazily over the crowd before she let out a hysterical laugh. To those frozen in their seats, it seemed a demon had entered the church! Arabella did not waist time, shots rang through the air as she sprayed bullets throughout the crowd. Screams rent the air, and people threw themselves down to avoid the cloud of bullets. It seemed as if time stopped, as she reloaded and walked, silently, stepping over the body of the mayor and the butcher to where her fiancé lay at the end of the aisle. Tommy's white face, showed the pain he felt from the bullet he had taken to his leg, a soft whimper escaped his mouth as he stared up into the face of his bride-to-be. Arabella stood over him and let out what seemed to be a sob of deep sorrow, looking down into Tommy's face, a single tear escaped her eye. "Why?" she whispered, and then the resounding sound of death tolled as she pulled the trigger. Blood and brains sprayed the room, covering the bible on the parapet. Eyes glassy she barely acknowledged the trembling priest huddled under the pew, clutching a silver embossed cross to his chest and shaking as he prayed for salvation. Turning she looked over the blood bath she had caused. Death surrounded her; mothers lay in puddles clutching their children to their chests, fathers and uncles died with looks of shock and horror on their faces. Those that had escaped the flurry of bullets, hid under those that had fallen, too scared to move. The sight of it all seemed to hit Arabella all at once, as if she was seeing it for the first time. She jerked in shock and a whine of pain escaped her mouth. Collapsing to the church floor, her dress bellowing out around her she looked like a white rose, stained and crumpled but beautiful all the same. Her red hair framed her pale face, the black of the gun powder singed her hands, staining her gloves dark, "I had to" she whispered to the room, before turning the shotgun on herself. In the time that followed, the questions of Why? Shook the town and all those who learned of the horrible story. Out of the towns 316 inhabitants, 52 had died, 15 had been wounded and none had left the church unscathed from the horror. People tried for years to understand what had set off the events that sparked the tragedy of Barabish, but no answers could be found. They had died with Arabella and the answers that were so desperately seeked by the town would never to be found.