Listen, I’m not really even sure if anyone is going to actually read this and believe me but- I have to tell someone…anyone…I feel like I’m going crazy but I KNOW I’m not and since I just recently moved…I have no one close by who I can trust to talk to about this without them thinking I am totally insane. I’d call my Mom but…she has enough on her plate right now, I don’t need her to get worried…I don’t even know if she would believe me to be honest…and the last thing I need is her thinking I’ve lost it in the new city I’m calling home, all alone.
So…I guess I’ll just start at the beginning, I left my hometown for the big city. No shiny, special reason for why really. I finished school, had been applying to jobs left and right and managed to get an interview via video call for an above entry level position in my field. I guess I nailed it-cause within a week I’d gotten the offer and was packing up what little I had into my parents old, dingy minivan and hopping onto the interstate. I moved into a new apartment in an older but more affordable area of the city, got settled in for the first month with establishing a new routine and learning my way around my new job.
By my second month I was at ease enough to start branching out and exploring more. I found a nice bar by my work that I began to frequent once a week for a quick drink, I found a local market by my apartment that I started to go to on the weekends for fresh produce, and I joined a nearby gym that boasted quality equipment and being open extra late at night for busy nine to five’s like myself.
It’s a nice gym, don’t get me wrong, the equipment is well maintained and fairly new and they recently remodeled the locker rooms-I was perfectly satisfied upon joining. I had absolutely no issues really until four nights ago, when I decided to go relax in the whirlpool after a particularly grueling session. I soaked for awhile, enjoying the jets and the hot water, thinking about nothing in particular and then hopped out and headed for the locker room-passing by a set of doors I hadn’t paid any attention to when I’d entered. I’m still learning the place so I was unsurprisingly curious and took a quick peek-one door led to the gym’s sauna, the other led to the steam room.
I’ve sat in a sauna before, my old gym had had one that I’d tried out a few times-it was nice enough I suppose. This gym’s sauna was packed to max capacity when I looked in-and I made a mental note to check in another time for it. I redirected my gaze back to the steam room door and tried to peer inside with no luck. Steam billowed all around inside and I could barely make out the shape of another gym member sitting on the bench in the room, the steam seemed to distort the figure at times though and I couldn’t really focus well on them.
I thought about having a quick rinse and going inside to check it out, I’d never sat in a steam room before and it wasn’t nearly as packed as the sauna was, but I was quite tired already and still had to shower and eat dinner. So I decided I’d come back the next evening to try it out. I really wish I had just done the damn sauna instead.
The next night I came back and decided I’d do my workouts first before trying out the steam room, told myself it’d be a nice way to unwind after some good exercise and something to look forward to while I sweat my butt off. Work had run a little late so I arrived a little later than usual to the gym and found it much emptier than I was used to, which I honestly appreciated. I did my usual routine, made my way to the locker room for a quick rinse and then threw on a swimsuit and headed out towards the set of doors I’d passed the night prior. I took another quick peek into the sauna, there were a few people in there-not as many as the other night but still enough that I felt even more solidified in my choice of trying out the steam room, which from what little I could see inside of-looked empty. I remember feeling relieved almost, seeing that no one was inside, I could have this first time experience all to myself and enjoy a quiet moment of steamy solitude.
I opened the door and stepped in and immediately was greeted by a swath of moisture and heat. The room smelled kind of like pool water, and as I breathed in the air felt thick in my throat. There were stone benches up against two of the four walls of the room, and the floor and walls were an earthy colored tile. Steam swirled all around me as I made my way over to one of the benches and sat down, my whole body was already slick with sweat and water and I felt my thighs slide against the moist stone beneath me. I jumped as a loud crashing sound suddenly echoed in the room, I looked up at the source of the noise to see steam pouring out of a vent up high close to the ceiling. I realized it was just whatever kind of machinery they had next to the room that must generate the steam, and settled back against the wall.
I closed my eyes for a little while, letting myself relax and thinking about how nice, albeit slightly gross, it all felt. Every inch of my body was very much drenched and it had only been maybe a minute or two, and while the thickness of the air had been off putting at first I was quickly growing to like how it felt-like I was breathing…more if that makes sense.
I really was rather enjoying myself until I felt something glide along my thigh, ever so slightly, and my eyes shot open. I couldn’t see anything. I immediately looked to my left and right, I hadn’t heard anyone else enter the room but-maybe someone had? Yet, as I looked around I saw no one, the steam was pretty much a swirling, white haze at that point-and it was nearly impossible to see a foot in front of me but, I couldn’t make out any figures within the room at all-and when I called out a quick greeting there was no reply, just my voice and the steam that still billowed out of the vent above me. Was it supposed to stay on that long?
As soon as I had the thought there was another loud clang and the steam stopped, I let out a deep sigh, trying to ease myself back against the wall. I was imagining things, I had to be-it must have just been a set of moisture droplets running down my thigh is all, that must’ve been what I felt. Except…something just felt…wrong. I couldn’t quite place it but I honestly had the deepest sensation that I was not alone in that room. I had half a mind to just leave at that point, it had felt nice at first but it was beginning to feel weird, when I tried though…it almost was like my brain and body were disconnected and I was rooted to the bench. I just couldn’t move.
And then I felt it again, only this time it was ever so slight on the back of my neck before stopping, and then it started again on my right arm-much less subtle that time and I knew it wasn’t moisture droplets dripping down my skin. Primarily because droplets trickle down and this…whatever it was, was going up my arm. I wanted to let out a scream, wanted to jump up and run out of there as fast as I could, slippery floors be damned, but I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t even turn my neck to get a look at what exactly I was feeling, I could only make out what little I could see through the steam from my peripheral vision which I’m honestly kind of glad now that I couldn’t get a better look at whatever it was. I could make out some kind of darkness, some sort of vague mound of shadow, and when I directed my gaze down at my arm I felt my stomach do a flip.
Slimy, black tendrils slithered up my arm. They were thin and stringy looking as they glided ever further up to my shoulder with ease, they felt moist and radiated heat. It wasn’t until I felt them slowly wrapping and tightening around my neck that I started to truly process what was happening. My heart was pounding, I was frozen-my body entirely unresponsive to the commands my mind was screaming at it, and in that moment I thought I was going to die as my vision began to darken.
And then it all went away in an instant as the door swung open and loud voices cut into the silence and steam. My arm jerked and just like that my limbs were back in action and I could move. I looked over to see a couple had walked in, chatting about something cheerfully and barely noticing me sitting there. The steam was no longer so thick and as my mind caught up with everything happening I quickly snapped my head to my right only to see…nothing.
My heart was still pounding, my throat felt tight, and my legs were feeling like jelly, I got up as quickly as they’d allow me too without slipping and falling and made my way unsteadily to the door-the couple still absently chattering away with one another and not even glancing my way. The rest of my time at the gym that night was a blur, I didn’t shower there like usual-electing to throw my clothes on quick and shower at home instead. I had gotten some weird looks from the staff members at the front desk as I made my way out but I honestly didn’t care how I looked in that moment I just had to get away.
I made it back to my apartment safely, thankfully, and I remember sitting down in my shower and letting the coldest water I could possibly stand cascade down on me-I absolutely did not want anything warm, or hot, or steamy. I’ve taken a lot of cold showers since.
Call me crazy but I actually plan on going back to the gym once I start to feel a little bit more…sane I guess, if I even can, which writing this all out for others to read has kind of helped. The membership wasn’t exactly cheap or refundable and I do need some sort of physical work since my job is just hours on hours of sitting and staring at screens. I don’t plan on going anywhere near the steam room again though, in fact I think I’m going to avoid the entire spa and pool area altogether from now on.
If I ever stupidly get the desire to go back in there all I’ll have to do to remind myself is look in the mirror and follow the pale red marks that slither their way up my arm and around my neck.