Beth Frend

A Picrew that Beth made of herself and uses as her Twitter profile.

Beth is the namesake co-host of a dissociative system and an dedicated ghost investigator/demon exorcist. While she is unaware of the system she is a part of, she's very up-front about her significant bouts of amnesia or other anomalies - like having a medical school degree. She is working on writing a blog/podcast called *Lesbian Ghost Tea: Telling the Stories of the Dead and How I Got Them.*

## Background

Beth comes from Bowdoin, Maine, a very rural and well-known area with a lot of local fame attached to it. She started her investigations when she began communicating with a ghost that lived in the house she grew up in as a child, though because of the man's local status, nobody believed her friend was anything more than imagination. It was when she started going to other nearby towns and woodlands on the road sides that she began encountering murder victims, murderers, and spirits that were no longer strictly human.

Spending a lot of time in the woods and in abandon or poorly maintained buildings, Beth found herself in Boston after graduating college. She spent a significant amount of time in Mount Auburn Cemetery, communicating with the dead there and learning their stories, sometimes helping them to move on in the process.

Now, she's gotten a potential job as an EMT in a city across the country, and she's down for the change.

## List of Major Events

#### **Elmo, the Greater Demon**

Beth was socializing on Twitter when she saw that the local Arcade needed help with a demon. Knowing her own experience would probably suffice for the standard demonic encounter, she rushed off uptown to give whatever aid she could. She found a group of people outside the PP Arcade, including Norm, Kenzie, and Dylan - the latter of whom was currently being possessed by the demon. While Norm was using hot sauce because of its high salt-content to try and rid his friend of the demon, and a young woman was commanding the demon to release their friend, Beth took out her salt container and drew a circle around Dylan and Norm, who was then holding the possessed Dylan.

It was as Elmo was beginning to be forced out of his current host, Beth learned that several people had been possessed already that day. She was speaking with Dylan to assess his recovery from the possession when Norm began behaving strangely and ran off. Beth and several others chased him to the parking lot, though she stayed back to draw a line of salt across the entryway only to see that Norm had been caught. She then offered Kenzie a bag of salt and wished them well as they left in two groups to bring Norm to Pillbox.

Later that day, Beth saw several Tweets about Norm, who's name she still does not know, doing possessed things at Pillbox. She made her way to the hospital and spoke with one of the medical staff, a young man with glasses and tattoos on his arms. After learning Norm was okay, and that the man was probably used to demonic possession by this point in time, the staff expressed fear and frustration over being possessed and the amount of demons in the city. Beth then gave him her secret to possession prevention: A glass of warm water, salt, cumin, and cinnamon, to be mixed and drank once a day.

She overheard Jessey talking about being possessed earlier that day and checked in with her, making sure she was feeling all right. Jessey told her more of the overall situation that had taken place, including the Light of Pawblo. Beth asked who Pawblo was, and Jessey explained both the golden retriever and the PP Boys. After making sure Jessey knew her name to call for aid if they had any further demon trouble in the future, Beth continued off toward a nearby hill to sleep after such a long night.

The next day, Beth learned that Elmo had gotten a job as a boss of some sort at Tony's bar, and went with Cupcake and Louie to see for themselves what had become of the Greater Demon they had dealt with only the day before. To her surprise, Elmo was... Elmo, without the demonic entity attached any further. The bar was the opposite of chaos, instead hosting a relaxed glowstick dance party. Beth was able to talk to the former S. Street worker, and realized how his trauma was affecting him. She later stated to Ellie that demonic entities feed off strong anger or pain, and it made sense why their furry friend was targeted. She would have stayed and mingled longer if not for the inter-dimensional truck throwing her, Ellie, Elmo, and several others out of the bar instantaneously.

### **Secrets of The Lab**

#### **Plotting the Course**

Beth had started the night off by hanging out on the Pier with her GPS friends. She learned that Johnny had been severely injured earlier by a malicious driver at Benny's, and met Ray for the first time. After bouncing off Louie's prank on Ray, the night started getting cold, and the group discussed meeting up with Dirk at the Courthouse before heading over to PDM so Beth could buy her first vehicle. After parking across the street, River and Johnny went to discuss a lawsuit with Dirk while the others waited with Pussycat - Cupcake's colorful half-hooded car. Louie took care of two cars abandoned by a local from Johnny, who was unable to move it himself, before he and Cupcake settled into the nicer of the two and drove off. Beth and Ray waited with Pussycat, talking through the night about what had brought them to Los Santos and some of their past and present struggles. Learning that Ray had been sacked before even starting his job in the city, and hearing about the predicament of being both jobless and completely liberated, she tried to inspire and encourage him by repeating one of the lessons taught to her by Lawrence in her childhood. When River and Johnny returned before Cupcake and Louie, the whole group felt a sense of unease and confusion. They discovered via text message that one of Cupcake's coworkers had told her about a place they needed to investigate, and after receiving the coordinates, River drove them in Pussycat up North to a mobile home lot.

#### **Discovering the Cabin**

After getting the group back together again, they entered the cabin and were shocked to find shelves lined with glowing boxes and large cables, with black-box machines on the table and floor. While listening to the astonished and horrified Ray voice his observations about the unusual technology, Beth attempted to take a look at what might be behind the shelves to no avail; she could not fit no matter how hard she tried. Ray revealed to the team the circumstances around the same job that he had earlier discussed with Beth, including how it was linked to a previous government military job focused in technology and energy. While he hadn't worked on the physical design of the power banks and other pieces within his job, he noted an alarmingly similar appearance the glowing boxes in the cabin had with his former work.

They concluded that several things were going on: 1. The glowing boxes were likely power banks storing, charging, and transferring energy. 2. The black-box machines were used to record the levels of energy passing through the cables. 3. There was a possible wireless Faraday loop set up.

Knowing that these boxes could contain massive assistance later down the line in an investigation, Beth took one of the boxes while the others weren't looking. She arose momentary suspicion from Cupcake in doing so, but Ray's insistence on investigating the lab where he was originally meant to have worked moved the group forward.

#### **Investigating the Lab**

One of the first observations Ray pointed out when they arrived was that the parking lot, which was half-full with empty cars, was *always* full even though nobody ever came or went. The group began investigating the property thoroughly, with Beth breaking off several times to climb up buildings or run ahead to explore other areas quickly knowing that the others were being slower and more methodical. She took pictures of different parts of the lab, including the only logo she could find on what appeared to be a cooling fan behind a satellite.

Louie called Beth over toward the back of the facility, where she and the boys discussed the plausibility of the valley the lab was set into as a paraboloid. While trying to explain that it wouldn't matter what type of rock the mountains were made of for the amplification effect to be significant, Gale came close to the front. While aware that her friends were all freaked out and some even panicking, Beth's exploring earlier meant that she had missed a crucial part of her understanding the depth of the situation. They all agreed to leave and regroup away from the lab, with the other two girls both in local cars waiting beside the raised platform they had been speaking on. However, when Beth went to run down the steps toward the cars, she saw Cupcake in one of the cars driving up the same steps.

#### **Gale**

The sudden terror of the car coming up the stairs, the alter who had already been passively co-conscious was jolted to the front. Not knowing their surroundings or understanding the situation, Gale ran to the very back of the lab property and hid against a back wall. They could not reach Beth or Mai, resulting in panic as they listened to strangers searching for Beth. When Louie sent a text message intended for Beth, Gale responded that they couldn't find her. Immediately, Louie pieced together the situation and realized that he was no longer speaking to Beth, resulting in him being able to assure Gale that they were safe and that the people nearby were nice and would not harm them. Gale decided to trust Louie, since his contact name included the word 'friend' in it, and rejoined the GPS group. Johnny went to Gale and got their name, assuring them that they were going to be leaving soon, and guided Gale into one of the cars.

Gale slowly calmed down, especially after fixating on the colorful Pussycat during their drive back into the city. After arriving at PDM, River left for the night. While Johnny was taking care of business in Benny's with Ray, Gale saw that Cupcake was scared and upset, and they took out a classical guitar before sitting down and beginning to play an improvised melody, humming quietly to themselves, and hoping the sound of the strings would soothe the two adults. As the adrenaline crash began to hit, a very worn out and tired Gale climbed into the backseat of Pussycat and fell asleep. Beth awoke in her motel room surrounded by pages of colorful crayon drawings and several of the crayons used to draw them.

=> Cave Rave Shooting

=> Revelations

=> Subway Shock

=> New Neighbors

## Jobs

Beth is a paranormal investigator, and more importantly to her, tells the stories of the dead. She also banishes demons and evil spirits when she encounters them, but her primary focus is on healing the wounds of the dead and helping them to find peace, often by listening to what they have to say and finding either their remains or an object that had once belonged to them in life. She has enthusiastically signed onto Glowhouse Paranormal Specialists.

## Relationships

Beth is still getting to know Mai and Gale, able to only communicate with them through text messages and notes left in their motel room.

Beth considers the heads and most active members of GPS to be good friends, understanding that they meant no malice in hiding the truth about Gale from her initially, save River who told her the truth when asked.

* River Trelawney
* Cupcake Garibaldi (tagged with: ghost friend!)
* Louie Ritoni (tagged with: ghost friend!)
* Ray Anderson

Outside GPS

* Elaine Faulkner (tagged with: reporter)
* Tim Burr (tagged with: Not Aaron, Sir)

Deceased

* Chase (tagged with: cute egg\*)

Beth was determined to bring Chase into a position of total self-acceptance after introducing her to Pride. Meanwhile, Mai was determined to teach Chase about the importance of proper medication dosage, as this was a point of significant concern. She is not yet aware of Chase's murder by Smiles, although Mai is.

*\*Beth is incorrectly using the term 'egg' here; the slang refers specifically to transgender people, but she is using it as it would apply to all queer/LGBTQIA+ individuals who have not yet realized or embraced their identity.*

## Trivia

* Beth's localized Maine accent is often mistaken for being Southern.
* Because of Chad's text exchange on Twitter earlier that day, Beth misunderstood Jessey's explanation of the PP Boys and believes them to be a social club of gay men. Every conversation she has had about the Boys has served to strengthen this miscommunication.
* Ghosts of Carmel, Maine is a huge inspiration for her own investigations, and she is deeply familiar with the history of the Lamb House in particular.
* She has stated that the first apparition she met, the one who would inspire her interest in the paranormal, was a local Civil War hero. She addresses him as Lawrence.
* One of her friends back in Maine is a pagan tarot reader, who has told her that the number 7 is special to her. By chance, the spread River did for her was one of 7 cards.