A book of nightmares

The icy cracked bathroom

The air feels cold, everything feels so damn cold. I'm standing barefoot on some cracked bathroom tiles, the room is really dimly lit. The room is so small it feels like its closed in, like an icy igloo, I can smell iron in the air so strongly I can almost taste it like blood in my mouth. My stomach feels like it's turning, this feeling is nauseating, sickening. I don't feel like I'm supposed to be here, I feel trapped, caged in almost like a frozen caveman, the taps look rusty around its handles, seems like it'll take a lot of force to turn. 

There's a pair of pliers on the floor, I picked them up, its got this black substance on it? Almost... gooey? But I can't really see that well with the light, I just hope it's not related to that putrid smell. My heart is beating really fast, I can hear it in my ear pulsating blood like some sick machine malfunctioning, I can feel it thumping in my chest, vibrations traveling along the small blue tubes in my arm. These pliers should be able to turn the handles. The taps let out a screeching sound as if they're alive, begging me to stop, the pliers are too heavy so I stopped.

For a moment my efforts seemed to be in vain, why was I trying so hard to turn them on anyway? I suppose I wanted some water to wash this taste out of my mouth, though at this point it's starting to make my eyes water, I can't see where it's coming from it's like I'm staring out into the void from the center of the bathroom, how can something so small feel so big and intimidating. There's this gurgling noise coming from the tap? Maybe something's trapped in there, should I tap on it a little more forcefully? Just as I was about to lift the heavy set of pliers liquid came rushing out.

God, the smell is even stronger, I can taste the puke trailing up from my stomach, this is getting ridiculous. Irritated I reach for the handle of the door but it falls off as soon as I grab it, clattering to the ground this painfully metallic sound. I push the door in a panic, whimpering under my breath, damn it, damn it, cmon open up. Tears formed from the gross smell started flowing down my freezing cold cheeks, my stomach tearing itself up to release everything inside it, I found a corner and got rid of it all. 

The deafening silence is permeating the room, fear is really welling up in me now, why is nobody answering my calls? Maybe it's a pull door, I wondered. Yeah, that must be it, I'm just being stupid now... I can still hear that gushing sound, did I leave the tap on? I look over curiosity dragging my eyes. Only to see the same black oozing liquid slowly drooping out of it in chunks, splattering on the drain until I notice, it's starting to form shapes, like little eyeballs... wait...

The hole in the door! I use my finger, desperately pulling it but it feels too heavy, almost like it's locked from the outside? LET ME OUT! I scream, scratch the door in hopes that the wood is rotten enough to chip away until my fingers bleed. I'm not alone, but that's the worst part, I can feel their eyes on me, sinking into my skull making my brain vibrate in panic, shock, sending signals to numb my legs so there's no escape. I face the inevitable turning around...

But there's nothing there, the goo is gone? There's just normal water? Maybe I imagined it, it is pretty dark and dim in here, after all, maybe my anxiety is driving me insane. I reach in, cupping my hands lifting it to my lips to take a drink, to taste anything refreshing that won't leave me in distaste. Something's wrong. This feels thicker than water, it slides down my throat I feel like I'm going to choke. This is so uncomfortable, what did I swallow? The light flickers a little brighter this time flashing onto the sink. In there is human blood, internal organs smashed up into millions of pieces... 

I fall to the floor in defeat, I just drank the remains of a dead person, it's too big to be an animal... My ears are ringing, my head is shooting with pain and my stomach is turning. I feel like I'm going to pass out on this cold cracked floor, I see more blood, this time in the cracks? Did I smash my knee against it? Crap. Everything's spinning, my head is splitting. I'm going to die here, just like that person did... Then I'll be stuffed into a sink like some sort of disgusting paste. This is such a cruel way to go. It feels like some sort of alien is inside of me, another human is just this one is dead crawling in my stomach, violating my insides. I lie on my side, I can't breathe, the floor is hard and freezing it knocks me out almost instantly.

I wake up again in a familiar room, I'm on my bedroom floor? My knees are in an awkward pose, everything's aching, everything is so sore. Did I fall out of my bed? Or maybe I really am dead, no that's not quite right... Maybe I'm just dead on the inside.