Down Below

“Of course Mom. I’m always careful, my door is always locked, and I still sleep with a knife under my pillow.” I shuffled my grocery bags in my arms while balancing my phone under my ear. My mom began listing crime statistics on the neighborhood like I could afford to move anywhere nicer. “Listen mom, I gotta go. I’m trying to balance groceries and I need a free arm.” She pleaded again for me to not draw attention to myself as if that was all I do. In her mind, I am wearing flashy outfits that scream “Hey everyone! Come steal all my belongings then leave me for my parents to find on the side of the road!”

“Mom, you know me, I’m probably just going to shower and then spend the rest of my evening reading one of my favorite books.” I could feel her whole body tense up and then relax through the phone as she sighed deeply.

“Okay, honey. Just I love you”

"I know mom, I love you too.” I hung up my phone and with my now free hand unlocked my apartment door. I swung my door open and balanced my groceries on my hip. The first thing I’m greeted with is the overflowing trashcan. I had just taken it out this morning. “Of course.” I groaned irritatingly. My roommate’s dishes were still piled up from last week. God forbid she would do them after being home all day. Its cause she’s so busy looking for a job, that’s why. I rolled my eyes at the dishes. I organized my food in my spot in the fridge and the pantry and hoped that they wouldn’t get swiped.

I quickly made my way to the bathroom to avoid having the same conversation I always had with my roommate. It was the routine pleasantries and her trying to convince me that there are no more jobs in the entire area. I eased the bathroom door shut and mentally groaned at her antics. The overflowing trash and dishes were begin to wear me down. I took a few deep breaths and turned the shower on. I turned it to the highest setting hoping that the heat would melt away my problems. The water flowed over my body as the steam slowly started to cloud my vision. I fiddled with the necklace my mom had given me in order to calm myself down.

Something tickled my leg. Probably just a hair. I swiped at it blindly, feeling it leave. I started to work my shampoo through my hair when I felt something on my leg again. Soapy water started to run down my face when I glanced down. A large clump of black hair was sliding its way down my calf. I gasped and swatted it off. My heart began to beat erratically in my chest. My hair was blonde and so was my roommate’s. My eyes were burning from soap rushing in them. I lifted my eyes towards to the water to rinse them off when the water pressure changed. What once was a steady stream of hot water became limp and slimy. Slimy? I blinked my eyes open warily in case there was still soap near them. Streams of gooey black hair were coming from each of the holes in the shower head and they were slowly trailing down my face.

I screamed and jumped backwards out of the way of the glistening hair. I swung the shower curtain open to escape the falling wet hair that was already filling my tub. I tried to step out, but my foot slipped on the slick hair. My hand instinctively reached out to grab something, but all I could reach was my robe that fell to the ground with me. My head hit the hard edge of the white tub and my vision slowly started to become black. Or maybe that was the hair from the shower that was quickly covering my naked body. I couldn't tell when I had lost consciousness because everything around me was already engulfed in darkness.

My eyes blinked open. Water droplets were falling from the sky. But the sky was black? A drop of water fell on my forehead as I sat up. The ground was soft, but itchy. Something was laced through my fingers. Thick strands were weaving themselves through my fingers and around my body. There was blonde, brunette, thick, thin, curly, straight and every other type of hair imaginable surrounding me, and cushioning my body from the ground. Am I still in the bathroom? There was no way. The black ceiling was too high and it was too cold and damp. Everything was covered in hair. The water dripping from the ceiling looked like it was coming from a large hole. There was something still soft in my hand, my robe. I shakily stood up and slipped the plush, now slimed stained robe around my wet body. I tied it closed when the rest of my senses rushed back to me. My nose wrinkled in disgust with the repulsive smell. Memories of my dad unclogging the shower drained filled my mind. I could see him pulling out thick ropes of hair and him waving it in my face and laughing “Becca, you’ve got too much hair.” The memory of that smell collided with the stench surrounding me. I leaned over holding my stomach and dry heaving. Was I in the shower drain or the pipes? That would explain all the hair. All of my senses were becoming overstimulated and I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t tell if I was wet from my shower or covered in sweat. I stood up straight again and tried to take in my surroundings. Hair, just hair.

I guess, I’ll just start walking. I choose a direction at random, just trying to find a way out of the hair. I clenched my teeth hard to keep from screaming in frustrating at the hair wrapping around my toes. I knew it was pointless to keep trying to unravel them. My anxiety was starting to pump its way faster though my veins. Something in my brain was telling me to run. My legs started to buckle, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to leave this area immediately. I started sprinting into an unknown direction. The ground started shaking in response, something was chasing me. A gargled shriek resonated off of the hairy walls. If I was in the shower pipes then what could be in here with me?

The hair from the ceiling began to drape down, becoming thick like jungle vines. I pushed my way through them as quickly as I could, but the vines of hair seemed to grab at me as if in order to slow me down. The ground quickly began to ascend, but instead of pushing away the hair vines, I began to use them to pull myself up. A shimmering light at the top of the slippery slope seemed to beckon me. The gargled noises of the pursuer seemed to disappear behind me as I reached the top. I never would have imagined what I would find in this place. The only thing that wasn’t covered in slime or hair was an abundant pile of jewelry, coins, bobby pins, and various trinkets that could easily be lost. Things that could easily be lost down the drain. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Was there a magpie living in my pipes?

A choked croak erupted behind me. It sounded like something laughing, but trying not to gag on the amount of saliva it was producing. I somehow made myself turn around to look at whatever was behind me. The gargled noises grew louder with its intense stare. It looked like a distorted toad with bulging eyes and slimy green skin. It towered over me and stood on two legs and had two short arms that were full of hair. It kept stroking the hair absentmindedly like it was trying to calm itself. Without taking its eyes off of me, it had molded the hair into a vine with mucus that it seems to be secreting and had stuck it onto another vine of hair creating a barrier around its treasure horde. And I was between it and its treasure. The noises were painfully loud. It took everything in me not to cover my ears. I started to shuffle my way out of its path when it lunged at me.

My screams were quiet compared to the excited gargling noises it was making. I tried to slip out of its grasp, but the slime it was producing made me stick to it. Our flailing arms caused me to lose balance and slip towards the entrance to its hoard. We fell down the slope as one and onto the hairy bottom below. I couldn’t separate my arms from it and soon it had me pinned to the floor. I held my breath as drops of mucus fell from its mouth onto my face. This was it, death by a toad goblin thing. I looked at it straight in the eyes but it wasn’t looking at mine. It was looking at my chest. In between my opened ruined robe was my necklace. The gold chain with a simple heart seemed to be the only thing it wanted.

“Take it.” I knew it probably wasn’t going to understand me. I looked from his eyes down to my chest and tried to nod even though I almost couldn’t move from the slime. It reached out with its gnarled fingers and grasped the heart in its fist. It let out an excited shriek and yanked it right off of my neck. The pressure of its body on mine left as it jumped up and scampered away with its new found treasure. I couldn’t believe it. I laid there for a couple extra minutes just so I didn’t make any sound to draw it back. An exhausted breath escaped my lungs and I started to sob. Deep sobs flowed throughout my body and I couldn’t breathe. Too much was on me: the slime, the hair, and the lingering pressure of that thing’s body.

I picked myself off the floor and started walking, hopefully away from the toad and its horde. The good news was that the only thing I could hear was water dripping from the ceiling. It seemed like hours passed by when I made my way to where I came from. The hole in the ceiling greeted me when I arrived. I looked up at it and stared while drops of water hit me on the forehead. It knew that I was staring at it and let more water flow over me. The steady drops turned into a rush and soon a waterfall was flowing. I was shivering violently in my robe that was now soaked.

“Help!” I shouted towards the ceiling, but I didn’t know who would hear me. “I’m down here in the pipes.” I let out a pathetic laugh. “I’m here in the pipes with a toad creature who stole my necklace!” My laugh became hysterical and I started sobbing again. I couldn’t tell the difference between my tears or the disgusting water rising around me. I wasn’t even aware that the water had reached my neck until I started to choke on it between my sobs. I started to swim and tread water, but I was so tired. I kept slipping down under the waves. What am I even swimming towards? I took one scared breath in and didn’t realize that I was underwater until I couldn’t get back up.

“Are you almost done?” Alyssa banged on the bathroom door. The sound reverberated through my skull. I groaned, my head was pounding. “Becca, are you alright in there? It’s been over an hour.”

“Yeah, I-I’m fine.” I was laying in the tub with a large bump on my head. The shower was still running, but the water had gone cold. My hand was holding my robe just out of out reach of the water. I shivered and turned off the water. I wrapped myself in my robe and sat on the edge of the tub. “Just give me a minute, I’ll be out in a sec.”

“Okay, just hurry up.” I heard her footsteps retreat to her room.

My head was throbbing. I opened my medicine cabinet and took some aspirin. I must have just slipped and knocked myself out. I looked back at the shower and watched as a clump of hair slithered down the drain. I shivered again, but not from the cold. My hand instinctively went towards my necklace, but it was gone.