Apartment 3 “The Overflowing Tub”

The following was told to me shortly after the woman and her roommate were displaced from their apartment. Since that time, she and her roommate have found a new residence, after their old apartment was closed due to water damage. The source of this was listed in the newspaper as a leaky tub, though the actual reason listed by police was more specific.

The tub had overflowed after it became clogged with human skin. Below is the female roommate's recollection of the time leading up to the discovery.

“I have tried very hard to forget the events of the last couple of days, but it has proven to be impossible. Knowing something like that happened in a place I used to live isn't something that leaves your mind.

For a long time, things were breaking down between my roommate and I. It started shortly after he lost his job. Not his fault. Jim is a hard worker. He couldn't have predicted that the antique store he had been working at would be under new management. Thankfully he was told ahead of time, so he was able to plan a little bit. Even so, the changes in his behavior became rapid, and it wasn't long before I could barely recognize him.

He began to become increasingly agitated, and would sometimes hold himself up in his room for an entire day. This isn't normal for him, and at first I simply dismissed it as him being upset at losing his job. However, even after he found new work, his behavior continued to get worse. He began to drink a lot, and would often come back at all hours of the night. He told me that he was just dealing with personal stuff, but I found that hard to believe.

I am close to his family and every time I would ask if something was wrong with him they would deny knowing anything about it. If anything, despite the loss of his previous job, things couldn't have been better for him. The new job paid more and even had more flexible hours. But things kept getting worse and worse, and there would be days when he wouldn't come home at all. When he was around he was reclusive, and would dismiss any attempt to talk with him.

Then one day things suddenly began to change. He came home from a particularly long shift, unshaven and very drunk. He went to go to his room and I was well beyond the point to try and stop him. But instead of leaving me, he turned around and headed over to the couch where I was sitting. In all the time I have known him, this may well have been the most awkward I ever felt. The silence seemed to last longer than either of us wanted but eventually he began talking to me.

He said that he had been seeing things. Not shadows or anything like that. He said he swore he was seeing himself. Not in a mirror, but sitting in a restaurant as he passed by, or walking across the street. At first he simply dismissed it, but it soon became too common. What truly went over the edge was when he was walking home from work. He saw himself in one of the side alleys, only he was looking right at him, his face contorted. My roommate began to feel hot, a sensation that faded as he got further and further away. He got home okay, but the face stuck with him, and he began to become paranoid about increases in his temperature.

He decided to start seeing a therapist, who said that he was suffering from some sort of dissociative disorder. The specific form of it wasn't something that could be pinned down, as the symptoms were not commonly experienced. What's more, the cause was hard to figure out, though the doctor claimed they could work past that. As the weeks passed, the sighting of his doppelganger continued to increase. In between the strange experiences and the therapy, he began to turn to drinking. He would wake up in heavy sweats, requiring a late night cold shower to cool down.

The silence had been out of fear that I would think he was crazy. I called him an idiot. Even if he was having issues, it wouldn't have kept us from being close. I have known him for much of my life. The thought that I would alienate him was unimaginable for me. After that things began to get easier, and he stopped drinking as much, and after a couple of weeks had passed, things seemed to return too normal. One weekend we celebrated his recovery with a camping trip out of state.”

During the trip, the two of them were contacted by police and brought back for questioning. At first it wasn't clear what was going on. However, it was soon revealed that there had been a body discovered in the tub of their place. It had been found when the landlord was called, after a steady stream of water was seen coming from the stairs. The body was heavily burned, the mix of the charred nature of the body, along with the cold shower water causing flesh to break off, creating a clog. The identity of the person could not be made, even with DNA and dental records. The roommates were cleared of all charges, as the death seemed to have occurred while they were out of state, their front door heavily damaged.

At this time, there are still a great amount of questions left unanswered. For one, it is unknown how the body ended up in that condition, for although there was some damage to the area around the tub, the amount of damage did not coincide with that done to the body. Additionally, no form of accelerant could be found as the source of the fire. The only other piece of evidence that could be found was note written in ash on the floor. It read “He is not me.”