Shower Girl

Singing in the shower

Alex was exhausted. 

He has been pushing himself extra hard lately because the qualifiers for regionals were coming up soon. He only had one regular track meet before then. He was honestly in the best shape of his life and he knew he would come in the top five, at least. His track coach expected him to come first though, and Alex was determined to meet that expectation. 

That's why he was drenched in sweat as he walked across an unlit, deserted parking lot, gym bag slung over one shoulder. He pushed open the gate of the chain-link fence and snuck into the back door of the old athletics building. 

Some famous alumni had donated a new building two years ago and the whole athletics department had left this one abandoned. The plumbing and electricity still worked and Alex wasn't sure why but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He liked showering here much better than the new state-of-the-art building because no one ever came here and Alex wasn't really into the whole jock scene.

He came here on a full-ride scholarship and just wanted to run and pass his classes. Being as good as he was at his sport came with certain attention and spotlight. That, he could deal with, but he refused to partake in the typical college lifestyle of parties and hookups. He didn't have anything against that lifestyle, it just wasn't for him. He was always too busy with track and his billion hobbies to go out to parties every night anyways.

That's why he didn't know who Sarah Giles was.

Alex heard the voice as soon as he opened the door to the co-ed locker room. The building was empty so of course, the voice carried across the empty space. Alex had messed around in the music department with his friend Isaac, so he had heard good singing voices before. 

This one was different. This voice was steady and breathless at the same time. Alex imagined this is what an angel would sound like, but could also picture a sultry siren using their voice to lure helpless victims to their demise.

Alex kept as quiet as possible as he crept closer to the showers at the back of the locker room.

The voice hit a particularly high note and Alex felt a chill travel down his spine. He glanced down and was shocked to see actual goosebumps on his forearm.

There was music playing from a Bluetooth speaker on the bathroom counter, but the melodic voice was all he heard.

I just hope you're lying next to somebody
Who knows how to love you like me
There must be a good reason that you're gone
Every now and then I think you might want me to
Come show up at your door
But I'm just too afraid that I'll be wrong

Sarah sang to herself, as she finished rinsing her hair. She had just dyed it red again and was dead set on keeping the color from fading so fast this time. She always spent too much time in the showers, the hot water helping relax her sore muscles. 

She really gave her all at dance practice and her body was paying the price. That's one of the reasons she liked showering here, there was always plenty of hot water. The showers back in her dorm were always crowded and never had hot water, at least, not the hot that Sarah liked. 

Sure it was kinda creepy, sneaking into this abandoned building all the time, but playing her music super loud helped her ignore how quiet it was out in the locker room.

Don't wanna know
If you're looking into her eyes
If she's holdin' onto you so tight
The way I did before
I overdosed
Should've known your love was a game
Now I can't get you out of my brain
Oh, it's such a shame

Sarah cut off the water and pulled back the curtain, just as she was about to start the next verse, she let out a blood-curdling scream. There was someone in the bathroom with her.