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Speaker 1: I graduated college three months ago, and it already felt

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like a lifetime. The ceremony had been small and awkward.

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My parents hadn't flown in. I stood there alone, clutching

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a piece of paper that had cost me nearly seventy

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thousand dollars, wondering how it was supposed to fix anything.

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The degree was useless communications, some vague, frilly word that

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had sounded smart when I was nineteen and sounded absolutely

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idiotic now. Every interview ended with a half apology about

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experience requirements or budget freezes. I finally landed something entry

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level in the city, but the pay barely scratched the

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minimum wage. I had enough in my checking account for

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a single tank of gas and maybe two decent meals.

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My savings, what little I had hoarded through part time

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jobs during college, disappeared faster than I could even feel it.

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Leaving the car became my home. I'd been sleeping in

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the back seat for the past week, folded up awkwardly

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across cracked faux leather that stuck to my skin. Every

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morning I showered at the gym, I kept my interview

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clothes folded on the passenger seat to keep them from

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wrinkling too badly. I told myself it was temporary, but

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every night staring up through the cracked windshield made it

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harder to believe. The affordable apartments I could reach were

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two hours away by bus from my job if the

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bus even arrived on time, two hours each way, four

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hours of my life every single day wasted before I

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even clocked in. My body already ached by the time

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I finished my shifts, and the thoughts of sitting stiff

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and sweaty in a plastic while the city crawled past

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the windows crossed whatever energy I had left. There was

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another option. A building ten minutes from work, tucked between

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a broken laundromat and an abandoned Peter's shop, dirt cheap,

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less than half the rent of the units across the river.

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The photos online made the place look rough, but at

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that point I would have slept in a closet if

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it meant a roof and a locked door. I barely hesitated.

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Pride was for people who had choices. I signed up

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for reviewing. The next morning. The landlord met me out front,

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a thin man with nervous hands and a sweat damp collar.

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He looked at me the same way somebody might look

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at a problem they could not avoid. His greeting was short,

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almost mumbled. I followed him up the cracked front steps

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and through the main hallway, which smelt sharply of bleach

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that had failed to mask a deeper, more sour odour.

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Every doorway past seemed slightly off its hinges, and there

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were dark patches and the ceiling that looked suspiciously fresh.

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The unit he showed me was on the third floor.

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He fumbled with the keys before getting the door open.

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The walls had been painted once, maybe a decade ago,

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but the color had faded into a sickly yellow green.

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Chunks of paint curled up near the corners of the rooms.

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The floors were stained soft in places where water must

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have gotten underneath. The living room held a single ceiling

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van that sag downward, spinning slowly and unevenly. The windows

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were cracked at the corners, patched up poorly with clear tape.

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There was no furniture, no appliances, beside a dented mini

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fridge shoved against the far wall of the kitchen. I

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wanted to turn around and leave, but there was nowhere

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else to go. Sleeping in the car for another week

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meant risking parking tickets I could not afford, or worse,

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I kept my mouth shut as we tore the bedroom,

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which was just large enough for a mattress and a

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pile of regrets. When we reached the bathroom, the landlord hesitated.

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He touched the door frame with his finger tips, then

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gave me a stiff smile. You should take a look

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at this, he said. I stepped past him and peered inside.

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The bathroom was small, narrow enough that stretching both arms

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would have hit either wall. The floor was lined with

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cheap linonium tiles. A cracked mirror hung over a rustained sink.

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The toilet looked usable, but sat slightly uneven, as though

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the floor beneath it had sunk inward, My eyes finely

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landed on the shower, a small box in cabin with

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frosted tempered glass walls that had gun cloudy with age

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at the bottom near the drain. Near the drain, there

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was a jagged crack stretching across one panel, sealed over

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sloppily with silicone colk. The patch job was so obvious

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it almost drew the eye before anything else. The landlord

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cleared his throat softly behind me, but said nothing. I

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nodded stiffly, pretending to examine the rest of the room,

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but I had already made my mind up. It did

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not matter. I had no other options. I signed the

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lease that afternoon. The building was already humming, with muffled

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voices and the occasional slam of a distant door. When

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I unlocked the apartment, the door scraped against the floor

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as I pushed it open. I stepped inside and dropped

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my duffel bag on to the cracked floorboards. Dust puffed

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up in little clouds where it hit. I did not

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even bother unpacking. I kicked the door shut behind me

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and went straight for the bathroom, tugging my shirt over

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my head as I went. The floor of the bathroom

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was called against my bare feet. I twisted the shower

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knob and waited, half expecting the water to come out

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brown or not at all. Instead, a weak but steady

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stream poured from the shower head. It was lukewarm at best,

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but after days of Jim showers and cord gas station sinks,

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it felt almost luxurious. The cracked patch near the drain

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caught my eye again, but I forced myself to ignore it.

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The water pattered against my skin, washing away three days

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worth of grime. In exhaustion, I leaned against the wall

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and closed my eyes, letting the sound of the water

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drown out everything else. For the first time in days,

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maybe longer, my muscles loosened. The worry, the fear, the

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constant hum of hunger and anxiety that lived behind my

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ribs eased just a little. I do not know how

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long I stood there before it happened. At first I

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thought it was the pipes, a faint noise buried under

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the rush of the water. Then it sharpened, frantic shuffling sounds,

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as if someone were dragging themselves back and forth across

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the bathroom floor. Behind that, rising up in broken waves,

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came the unmistakable sound of screaming, faint but filled with

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a raw, ragged panic. My eyes snapped open. I stumbled backward,

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slamming my shoulder into the wall of the shower cabin.

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The sound stopped instantly, cut off mid scream. All I

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could hear was the water splashing against the plastic floor

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and the frantic pounding of my own heart. There was

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nothing now, no shadow moving under the crack of the door,

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no handle rattling, no shape looming in the steamed up

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mirror across the room, as I'd feared. It took a

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full minute before I managed to breathe properly again. I

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wiped the water from my face and gave a short,

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humorless laugh. It had to be stress, sleep deprivation. Maybe

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something I had read online was playing tricks on my brain.

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I remembered to read it thread buried deep in a

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horror of bread it where people talked about hearing strange

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noises if they closed their eyes too long in the shower. Still,

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it made more sense than anything else. I finished rinsing

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off as quickly as I could. I dressed and crawled

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onto the bare mattress I had dragged into the bedroom.

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The ceiling van creaked and shuddered with every rotation. Sleep

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came slowly, weighed down by a knot of her knees,

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and I could not shake loose. The next day at

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work was worse than anything that had come before. My boss,

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a red faced man with a voice like a broken radio,

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found new ways to humiliate me. Me Every mistake, every

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misst memo, every delayed email was met with a fresh

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round of public brating. I spent the whole day swallowing

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my words and smiling through clenched teeth. By the time

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my shift ended, I was barely upright, my feet ached,

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my spine felt as if it had been compressed into

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half its size. My head pounded with the dull pressure

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of a migraine creeping in. I needed a shower. I

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needed to scrub away the stink of the day before

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it soaked into my skin. My body moved on autopilot.

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I peeled off my work clothes, tossed them into a

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sad heap in the corner, and stepped into the bathroom.

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The shower groaned. When I turned the knob, the lukewarm

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water drizzled out, and I stepped in, letting the spray

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hit my face and chest. I closed my eyes. The

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screaming hit almost immediately. It clawed at my ears, shuffling heavy,

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dragging footsteps. Just beyond the shower door. Before I could

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even react, a loud thud echoed through the tiny bathroom.

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It was as loud as what I'd imagine a grenade

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going off is like. I jerked my head up, so

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burning into my eyes, blinking against the sting, I saw

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my shampoo bottle lying on the floor of the cabin,

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spinning slightly as it leaked bright blue. My heart pounded.

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I wrenched the door open and stepped out into the bathroom,

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dripping water everywhere, searching for something, anything. I stood there

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for a long moment, breathing so hard my vision blurred

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around the edges. There had to be an explanation, so

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I decided to check. I started with the apartment up stairs.

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If someone was messing around up there, making noise, it

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would explain everything. I trudged up the narrow staircase, the

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carpet crunching. I knocked, waited, knocked again. The hallway lights

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flickered weakly overhead. No answer. I knocked louder, my hands

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stung with the effort. Still nothing. A door downstairs creaked open.

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I headed back downstairs and saw a woman poking her

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head out, white hair pulled into a messy barn, glasses

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perched low on a nose. She looked at me with

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a curious tilt of her head. You looking for someone, dear,

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she asked. I cleared my throat, suddenly feeling foolish. Yeah,

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sorry to bother you, Just trying to figure out if

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any one lives right above me. I thought maybe there

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was some noise coming from that unit. She smiled a soft,

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patient smile and made a look even older. Nobody's been

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up there in months empty. You must have heard something else.

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I nodded, feeling heat rise into my face. She introduced herself,

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said her name was Missus Cartwright. She lived across the

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hall from me. She mentioned her grandkids used to visit,

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but they had moved away recently, and now it was

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just her. I thanked her quickly, said something about needing

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to get to work, and retreated down the hall before

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the embarrassment could root itself any deeper. Back inside my apartment,

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and I locked the door and leaned against it, breathing

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out slow. If the place upstairs was empty, and if

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the place next to mine housed an elderly woman who

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needed help carrying her groceries, then who had been making

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those noises. I chewed on it for the rest of

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the day, even at work the next day while my

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boss barked orders and slammed drawers. The thought gnawed at

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me from underneath. By the time I got home, I

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decided to test it. It felt stupid, superstitious, but there

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had been a pattern, and I had ignored it. The

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noises only ever came when I closed my eyes. Every

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single time it started the moment my vision went dark.

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That had to mean something. I stripped down, stepped into

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the shower, and twisted the knob. The water sputtered and

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spat before settling into a weak stream. I let it

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run over me and kept my eyes wide open, staring

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straight ahead at the fogging walls. Nothing happened. The minutes

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dragged on, the air grew heavy with steam. My arms

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prickled from the temperature drop every time the water pressure stuttered,

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but the bathroom stayed silent. I let out a slow

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breath and decided to push it. I closed my eyes instantly.

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The bathroom exploded into chaos. Screaming, furious and desperate rattled

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the walls. Heavy dragging footsteps stumped around the outside of

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the shower. The shampoo bottle bounced off the floor with

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a sharp crack. Once again, I yanked my eyes open.

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The sound vanished so fast and left a hollow ringing

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in my ears. I had proven something to myself, but

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it did not feel like a victory. It felt worse

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if I'm being honest, But I was stubborn, and admittedly

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I was curious. I decided to try again. This time,

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I would keep my eyes closed longer. Maybe it would stop,

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maybe it would burn itself out. I shut my eyes,

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squeezing them tighter to brace against the expected noise. The

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screaming came fast, roarer than before, as if whatever it

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belonged to had been waiting for me to test it.

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It built into a frenzy. The temperature around me dropped sharply,

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cutting through the steam with a damp, icy edge. I

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felt something brush against my back, a cold, wet hand

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that smeared water across my skin. I flinched, but kept

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my eyes shut, muscles locked. Then came the pane. A sharp,

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raking sensation tore across my upper back. It was deep

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and hot, blooming into immediate agony that stole the breath

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from my chest. I screamed and staggered forward, slamming into

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the shower wall. My hand scrambled for the door handle.

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I shoved it open and tumbled out, falling onto the

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cold linonium of the bathroom floor. I gasped for air

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every inch of my back, screaming at me. Water splattered

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onto the floor beside me. My hand shook as I

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pushed myself upright, moving straight for the mirror above the sink,

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I turned, craning my neck. Three long scratches ran diagonally

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across my back. The skin was torn in uneven lines,

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angry and red, already starting to bead with a thin

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trail of blood. I pressed the towel against the wound,

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wincing as the fabric stuck to the blood. My mind

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spun with explanations, each one weaker than the last. There

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00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,279
had to be a reason, There had to be a

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00:18:34,319 --> 00:18:41,000
way to understand. It was the shower haunted. I hated

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00:18:41,079 --> 00:18:44,359
using that word. I had already started feeling like a

241
00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:49,079
lonesome reditor, screaming into a dead subredded about ghosts. Yet

242
00:18:49,079 --> 00:18:52,480
I couldn't deny what was going on, not when I'd

243
00:18:52,599 --> 00:18:58,039
just been attacked physically. I did not sleep that night.

244
00:18:59,319 --> 00:19:02,440
Every time I closed my eyes, even for a second,

245
00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,240
I felt the memory of the scratches burn across my skin.

246
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:12,200
Morning came slowly bleeding through the cracked blinds in sickly

247
00:19:12,319 --> 00:19:17,920
strips of light. I got up, already dreading the day.

248
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,440
I sat at the kitchen counter. If the battered slab

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00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,880
of plywood could even be called that, and opened my

250
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:31,240
banking app. I knew it would be bad. I had

251
00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,160
been ignoring the low balanced alerts for days, pretending that

252
00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,880
if I did not see the number, it would not

253
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:45,000
be real. Thirteen dollars and seventy three cents. I stared

254
00:19:45,039 --> 00:19:49,240
at the screen until the numbers blurred. Rerent was coming up.

255
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,160
Food was becoming a luxury gas for the car was

256
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,839
hanging on by a thread. There was no money for

257
00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:03,400
anything else, not even small indulgences. Forget moving out. I

258
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:08,160
was trapped in a place that was clearly haunted. I

259
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,920
pulled up a search bar and typed in cost of exorcism.

260
00:20:13,519 --> 00:20:18,599
The results made me laugh, short, brittle laughter that cracked

261
00:20:18,599 --> 00:20:23,960
and died in my throat. Hundreds of dollars for consultations alone,

262
00:20:24,279 --> 00:20:29,599
thousands for anything serious. Half the websites looked scammy. The

263
00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:34,200
other half looked worse. I slammed the laptop, shot and

264
00:20:34,319 --> 00:20:38,680
rested my forehead against the counter. I could not leave.

265
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I could not fix this. I could barely afford to

266
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stay alive. The next few days blurred into something heavier

267
00:20:46,839 --> 00:20:51,559
than exhaustion. I went to work, I came home, I slept.

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00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:57,480
I avoided the bathroom unless it was absolutely necessary. I

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00:20:57,519 --> 00:21:04,440
stopped showerings. It was manageable, deodoran, wet wipes, anything I

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00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,039
could find to scrub away the worst of it. But

271
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,519
as the days stretched on, the smell clung to me.

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00:21:12,519 --> 00:21:16,559
It wrapped around my clothes, settled into my skin, buried

273
00:21:16,559 --> 00:21:20,839
itself into every inch of fabric and hair. I caught

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00:21:20,839 --> 00:21:24,279
people at work wrinkling their noses when I passed. My

275
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:29,480
boss started mentioning personal hygiene standards during meetings, staring pointedly

276
00:21:29,519 --> 00:21:32,799
at me when he spoke I no longer had a

277
00:21:32,839 --> 00:21:36,160
gym membership. I thought I was going to be fine

278
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,640
now that I had a place, but clearly I was wrong,

279
00:21:40,759 --> 00:21:45,559
and now with rent, I could no longer have forward one.

280
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:51,039
I felt it. I felt every minute a sickly, oily

281
00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:55,440
grime that no amount of wiping could scrub away. It

282
00:21:55,519 --> 00:22:00,799
made my skin crawl. Still. The thought of stepping back

283
00:22:00,839 --> 00:22:04,519
into that shower of closed my eyes, even for a second.

284
00:22:04,559 --> 00:22:08,000
While trapped in that narrow coffin, rooted me in place.

285
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,880
I told myself I would figure something out. Maybe find

286
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,720
a cheap motel for a night, maybe find a public

287
00:22:15,759 --> 00:22:20,519
pool where I could sneak a rinse. One night, after

288
00:22:20,599 --> 00:22:25,240
another shift, spent awake and fully miserable, I collapsed onto

289
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:30,400
my mattress and opened my phone without thinking. A notification

290
00:22:30,559 --> 00:22:34,880
blinked at the top of the screen. A friend request

291
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:41,599
a name jolted something in my chest. Allison. We had

292
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,160
shared two classes during my second year of college. We

293
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,799
had laughed over terrible group projects and late night coffee runs.

294
00:22:49,559 --> 00:22:52,279
We had made promises to keep in touch after graduation.

295
00:22:54,079 --> 00:22:59,880
I hesitated, thumb hovering over the screen. Then I accepted.

296
00:23:01,799 --> 00:23:06,640
The messages came fast. Hey, long time, no sea. How

297
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,880
have you been? What are you go up to these days?

298
00:23:11,079 --> 00:23:14,640
I lied, said work was keeping me busy. I said

299
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,839
the city was treating me well. Before I could second

300
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,559
guess it, she asked if I wanted to grab a

301
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,839
drink sometime, catch up properly. She would be my part

302
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:30,279
of town over the weekend. I stared at the message,

303
00:23:30,559 --> 00:23:34,119
heart hammering. I thought about the shirt tugged in the

304
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,240
back of my chair with dried sweat. I thought about

305
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,000
the sour, greasy smell that clung to me so stubbornly

306
00:23:41,319 --> 00:23:45,559
I could barely smell anything else. I did not have

307
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,680
a choice if I showed up like this, I would

308
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,759
be dead in the water before the night even started.

309
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,839
I needed a shower. I needed a step into that

310
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,599
cursed rotting shower. I tossed my phone on to the

311
00:24:02,599 --> 00:24:06,319
mattress and stared up at the ceiling, counting the slow,

312
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,440
uneven rotations of the ceiling van until I could convince

313
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,920
myself to stand. I peeled off my clothes, feeling my

314
00:24:15,039 --> 00:24:19,559
stomach twist into knots. Every step toward the bathroom door

315
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,200
felt heavier. My hand trembled. When I reached for the knob.

316
00:24:24,839 --> 00:24:29,480
I pushed it open. The air inside was thick and heavy,

317
00:24:30,039 --> 00:24:32,640
still damp, even though I had not run the water

318
00:24:32,759 --> 00:24:37,640
in days. I stepped inside and shut the door behind me.

319
00:24:39,519 --> 00:24:42,839
I twisted the knob on the shower. The water came

320
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:48,559
sputtering out, colder than usual, but steady enough. I waited

321
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:53,680
until the cabin filled with steam before stepping in. The

322
00:24:53,759 --> 00:24:57,960
door clicked shut behind me. I tore myself. I would

323
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,640
keep my eyes open the entire time. I would not

324
00:25:01,799 --> 00:25:06,680
let them close, not even for a second. I repeated

325
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,799
the promise in my head as I reached for the

326
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,200
shampoo bottle. As I scrubbed the layers, of filth that

327
00:25:12,279 --> 00:25:17,519
coated my skin. As the water poured down steadily, I

328
00:25:17,599 --> 00:25:20,880
tilted my head back to rinse out the SuDS, careful

329
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,880
to keep my eyes open. Soaps stung, the foam slid

330
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,720
down into my lashes. My eyes stung, and my body

331
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:34,920
almost betrayed me, but my eyes stayed open. The cabin

332
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,480
shook slightly as I managed to keep my vision going.

333
00:25:38,559 --> 00:25:42,680
That surprised me a little. Things would only happen when

334
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,799
I closed my eyes, never when I had them open.

335
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:53,079
Minutes crawled by, I washed, I scrubbed, I rinsed, and

336
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,759
through it all I kept my eyes wide open, fixed

337
00:25:56,799 --> 00:26:00,799
on the walls. Reliefs started to creep in at the

338
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,839
edges of my mind, a dangerous feeling, but I could

339
00:26:04,839 --> 00:26:10,119
not help it. I was almost done. I could towel off,

340
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:15,680
get dressed, leave this nightmare behind me. I reached for

341
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:20,000
the forest to shut the water off, and suddenly the

342
00:26:20,039 --> 00:26:25,440
pressure in the shower changed. The steady stream faltered, stuttered,

343
00:26:26,599 --> 00:26:33,079
then surged back stronger, hammering down against the floor, Something

344
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,680
shifted in the air. The temperature dropped hard enough to

345
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,759
suck the breath from my chest. A scream irrupted from

346
00:26:40,799 --> 00:26:48,519
all around me. It sounded furious and almost sad. The

347
00:26:48,559 --> 00:26:52,480
walls around the shower shuddered, vibrating so hard I thought

348
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,359
they would tear themselves apart. Was this thing mad that

349
00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,480
I kept my eyes open the entire time. The floor

350
00:27:00,519 --> 00:27:04,839
underneath my feet jumped and twisted. Bottles shot off the shelves,

351
00:27:05,039 --> 00:27:08,480
slamming into walls and the floor with heavy, wet cracks.

352
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,279
Something dense and heavy banged against the outside of the

353
00:27:12,319 --> 00:27:16,920
shower door, over and over again, loud enough that the

354
00:27:17,079 --> 00:27:22,039
entire cabin shook under the force. Ice cold water was

355
00:27:22,039 --> 00:27:26,400
getting into my eyes, blurring my vision. The drain beneath

356
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,240
me gurgled, heaving upward instead of pulling the water down.

357
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:35,640
Thick clumps of hair, long and matted with something black

358
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:39,720
and sticky, twisted free and floated up toward the surface.

359
00:27:40,799 --> 00:27:47,160
Small jagged objects bobbed up alongside it, teeth tiny and cracked,

360
00:27:47,759 --> 00:27:52,480
some still speckled with dry blood, something red roseen, thick

361
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,880
slow bubbles staining the water in white pink streaks that

362
00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:01,720
swirled around my ankles. The cabin floor pitched under me,

363
00:28:02,319 --> 00:28:06,480
and I nearly slipped. I forced my fingers against my

364
00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:09,400
water filled eyes and rubbed them hard enough that bright

365
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:14,039
spots exploded across my vision. It hurt, but I managed

366
00:28:14,039 --> 00:28:19,680
to keep them peeled open. The world came back into focus.

367
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,759
Pressed against the inside of the shower door, directly in

368
00:28:24,759 --> 00:28:28,759
front of my face, a palm flattened itself against the

369
00:28:28,799 --> 00:28:35,599
tempered glass. The skin pulsed faintly, as if breathing. There

370
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:39,319
was no arm connected to it, just the pale, bloated

371
00:28:39,359 --> 00:28:44,839
hand flexing his fingers against the door. I fumbled backward

372
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,480
until my spine hid the opposite wall of the cabin.

373
00:28:48,359 --> 00:28:50,880
The water kept pouring from the shower head above me,

374
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,599
colder than ice, now soaking through to the bone. It

375
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,000
stung across the half field, scratches on my back, and

376
00:28:59,039 --> 00:29:02,759
made my teeth chatter so violently I could hear them clacking.

377
00:29:04,279 --> 00:29:06,400
I reached for the knobs to shut the water off.

378
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:12,039
My fingers slipped once, twice, three times, but I finally

379
00:29:12,079 --> 00:29:19,160
managed to twist them both shut. Nothing changed. The water

380
00:29:19,319 --> 00:29:23,119
kept blasting at full force, roaring against the cracked floor,

381
00:29:23,559 --> 00:29:27,720
splashing high enough that it sprayed over the doorframe. The

382
00:29:27,799 --> 00:29:31,559
drain only vomited more filth up into the small confined space.

383
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,200
Hair wrapped itself around my ankles tightening with every shift

384
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:42,839
of my weight. The water level was rising. It climbed

385
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,680
past my ankles up to my shins. The coald bit

386
00:29:46,799 --> 00:29:51,440
deeper with every inch. I grabbed the door handle and yanked.

387
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,880
It did not budge. I pushed harder, using both hands,

388
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,119
now throwing all my weight against it. The shower door

389
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,039
groaned under the strain, but held. I slammed my shoulder

390
00:30:05,079 --> 00:30:12,039
against it once, twice, three times. Still nothing. Another handprint

391
00:30:12,079 --> 00:30:16,359
bloomed beside the first one. The fingers splayed wide across

392
00:30:16,359 --> 00:30:21,119
the surface, some longer than others, joints bent at strange angles.

393
00:30:22,119 --> 00:30:25,880
The prince pressed in, dimpling the plastic, as though something

394
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,880
immense leaned on them from the other side. Who was

395
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:34,880
trying to trap me in here? I screamed high and panicked,

396
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:39,079
raw air tearing out of my throat. I punched the

397
00:30:39,119 --> 00:30:42,720
door pane, lancing up my arms. As my fists met

398
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:47,039
the unforgiving glass, My knuckles split on the rough edges.

399
00:30:47,559 --> 00:30:51,720
Blood smeared across the door in messy, broken arcs. I

400
00:30:51,759 --> 00:30:56,920
punched the gain again. The water rose past my knees,

401
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:00,799
swirling with hair and teeth and bitter of something too

402
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:05,400
small to name. The hand Prince did not pull away.

403
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,960
They pressed harder. I could barely feel my fists anymore.

404
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,279
My knuckles throbbed with every heartbeat, slick with a mixture

405
00:31:15,319 --> 00:31:19,799
of blood and water. The shower filled up hire lapping

406
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,359
up toward my waist, the freezing water numbing everything it touched.

407
00:31:25,839 --> 00:31:29,319
The hand Prince leaned in harder, the plastic bowing inward

408
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,200
under the pressure. I knew I could not keep hitting

409
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,279
the door. My arms were spent. I needed to do

410
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,599
something else. I braced against the wall of the cabin,

411
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,640
sucking in a breath so cold it burned the back

412
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,119
of my throat. I lifted my knee and slammed it

413
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,559
against the crack section near the bottom of the door.

414
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,880
The impact sentered sholt through my bones, rattling my teeth together.

415
00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:01,880
The crack widened, spider webbing across the surface, jagged, uneven lines.

416
00:32:03,319 --> 00:32:06,440
I pulled back and did it again, putting every shred

417
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:10,400
of strength I had into it. The third hit split

418
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,880
the tempered glass completely. The pressure of the water burst

419
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,440
the door outward with a violent pop, sending a tidal

420
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:23,000
wave crashing across the bathroom floor. I was carried with it,

421
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:27,000
thrown against the base of the sink. My head cracked

422
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,279
hard against the cabinet, and for a second the world

423
00:32:30,319 --> 00:32:37,160
spun into dizzying, colorless shapes. I crawled backward on shaking

424
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:41,799
hands and knees, slipping across the flooded lenonium, gasping for air.

425
00:32:43,119 --> 00:32:47,839
My body shuddered uncontrollably, soaked through to the bone, every

426
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:54,640
muscle twisted up tight with fear and cold. The bathroom

427
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:59,640
lights flickered overhead. Somewhere behind me, the water sputted to

428
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,119
a from a broken shower, the last of the water

429
00:33:03,279 --> 00:33:09,440
pouring across the floor in steady, unstoppable waves. I pressed

430
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,839
myself into the corner, panting, watching the shattered door swing

431
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:19,160
uselessly on its broken hinge. When I finally stood, my

432
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:23,000
knees buckled. I grabbed the door frame for support and

433
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,559
staggered into the main room, leaving a trail of wet

434
00:33:26,599 --> 00:33:31,599
footprints behind me. I did not step back into that

435
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:39,400
bathroom again. The next morning, I made a decision. It

436
00:33:39,519 --> 00:33:42,359
was not a proud one, it was not a brave one.

437
00:33:43,599 --> 00:33:47,839
It was what I had to do. I knocked on

438
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:52,039
Missus Cartwright's door, standing awkwardly in clothes that smiled faintly

439
00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:56,839
off panic. She answered quickly and knitted shawl wrapped around

440
00:33:56,839 --> 00:34:01,000
a narrow shoulders. Her face softened and when she saw me,

441
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:04,720
I asked if she needed any help around the house.

442
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:10,639
Grocy runs heavy lifting, anything at all. I told her

443
00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,679
I'd be happy to do it. I told her it

444
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:19,719
was no trouble. She smiled a real smile, the sort

445
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,000
of smile that lit up a whole face, and said

446
00:34:23,199 --> 00:34:27,400
she could use her hand now. And then I mentioned,

447
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:30,920
as casually as I could, that my shower was broken.

448
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,199
I asked if she would mind letting me use hers

449
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,480
once or twice a week until I could get it fixed.

450
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:44,440
She agreed without hesitation. From then on, I spend as

451
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:48,199
little time in my own bathroom as possible. I brush

452
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,280
my teeth of the kitchen sink. I used the bathroom

453
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:57,639
only when I absolutely had to. Luckily, the date went well,

454
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,559
Allison did not seem to I noticed the faint stiffness

455
00:35:01,559 --> 00:35:06,280
in my posture. I returned home and decided to hang

456
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:10,239
up curtains just past the kitchen sink so I wouldn't

457
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,599
have to look at the shower anymore. I don't know

458
00:35:13,639 --> 00:35:17,360
what to tell my landlord about the damage, but he'd

459
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:20,719
have to deal with it. I'm sure he knew the

460
00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:24,519
place was like this, and he never decided to tell me,

461
00:35:26,159 --> 00:35:28,800
so I won't tell him either,