Monday, October 18, 2010

The Girl in The Bathroom on The 13th Floor

On a lazy Saturday afternoon, I was attending a workshop located in a room in one of the prominent buildings in Quezon City. This workshop was important for work because it was part of a project that was nearing implementation and deadline. The function room was at the thirteenth floor. Owners of this building apparently do not believe in bad luck.

After some hours, at around 3'o clock in the afternoon, I stood up and went to the bathroom to pee. And since it was a Saturday, there were hardly any people inside the building except those in the function room. On the way to the bathroom, I was savoring the silence. I opened the door to the rest room.

The first unusual thing I saw were the paint cans, paint accessories scattered on the floor. The rest room is spacious. There were three cubicles. One was bigger than the two because it was for use of disabled persons. The left side of this cubicle is a wall to wall window. The whole left side of the rest room is a wall to wall window. So the sun light comes in from the outside. I've been to this restroom a lot of times during weekdays and during work hours. This Saturday afternoon, there was no one inside but me.

But wait. While I was looking at the mirror, I heard sniffling inside the third cubicle. I was not alone after all. Maybe she is a paint worker who owns the paint cans on the floor. I looked around but there wasn't any paint work being done. No traces of wet paint on the wall.

Then I felt goose bumps. Various bathrooms scenes in horror movies I've watched flashed in my mind. Stop that! That's what i told myself. I needed to go pee badly and I can't afford to let my imagination freak out.

The sniffling became muffled cries. I heard this just as I was closing the door to the second cubicle. I immediately pulled down my pants and peed. Oh, i held it too long now it's taking a long time to release it. And the muffled cries became louder.

I looked down at the reflection of a shadow on the marble floors. But there was none. The divider between the second and third cubicle had a five-inch gap from the floor. I've looked at shadows on the floor before in this cubicle, and there usually are shadows moving. But this time, none.

Then my mind started to freak out. It imagined a Sadako like creature or Grudge creature full of hair sliding between the gap from the third to the second cubicle where I was still peeing. My mind decided that I would kick any creature that will come out from that gap, even if it bit me or ate me. I wanted to just run out of the restroom. But having urine down my pants and smelling of urine would truly be a sight to see if I go back to the function room.

Finally, I was finished. I immediately pulled up my pants and stepped out of the cubicle. Feeling somehow silly about the whole thing, I wanted to knock on the third cubicle and ask the person inside if anything was wrong and if I could help. Her cries were louder. And she sounded like she was really in pain.

But my mind went back to those horror movies where the victim gets killed for being curious. So, instead of knocking, I ran out of the restroom.

I went back to the workshop and didn't mention it to anyone. A few hours later, I had to go again. This time I thought of what happened earlier. But when I went back to the same restroom, the paint cans and brushes were gone. No more muffled cries. There were other people there also.

To this day, I can't tell if I imagined it or just thought of making a scary thing out of an unusual scene. But what I can't shake was the feeling that it was a scary experience.

Do you have similar stories?

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