No one ever told me about the pool. Except for the old man I met who was using the elliptical machine incorrectly. He was a really odd man now that I think of it. I remember I was running on the treadmill next to him and I felt someone staring at me, I quickly turned and saw him. His eyes were dull, skin looked about grey, and his gym clothes were old and with plenty of holes. What was more odd was that as I turned to look at him again he was gone. That was when I felt my earbud snatched out from my ear making the sound coming from it slowly disappear.

“The pool,” he whispered. The stench coming from his breath made my stomach turn.

“What? What do you mean,” I responded to him while moving unnoticeably away from him, trying to forget about the foul smell he penetrated throughout the room.

“You… you should check out the pool before it's too late,” His voice so raspy making his words inaudible. He handed me a key that read the number thirteen as he slowly drifted away from me.

“Wait,” I yelled across the room not noticing that the old man had quickly disappeared entirely. The room began to tighten around me, making my next breath smaller than the last. Everyone's beady eyes looked at me with the same dull look as if they were all in a trance. I discreetly found my way out of there and into the locker room. I packed up all my gym clothes and placed the heavy rustic key inside the lockers, empty cold surface. I contemplated looking for room thirteen but all I wanted at that moment was to forget this creepy and embarrassing incident. Unfortunately for me, that was not the last time I saw the key.

The next day I went to the gym I opened my locker and the key was still there, mocking me with its mencacing nature. The voice of the old man replayed in my mind, what does he mean too late? That's when I heard a loud thump from the back of the room. I walked over and saw a large door with a sign reading “DO NOT ENTER”. The bold and red lettering wasn't enough to keep me away. I aggressively tugged and pulled at the door as if it owed me something but of course it did not open. I concentrated on opening the door, trying to pull and tug again as if my strength between that fraction of time had miraculously improved. When suddenly I looked to the top of the door, I saw room 13. I rushed over to my locker snatched the key and I inserted it into the lock. The door creaked as it opened slowly and then stopped as if it knew the space was just enough for me to get through. Walking through the door, the lights flickered making my eyesight go in and out of focus as a cold breezed creeped up my skin sending a wave of chills up my spine. It felt as if I was being watched and something in my stomach told me I was not welcome here. Still I did not turn back. The door loudy slammed behind me reminding me how heavy and nearly impossible it was to open. I felt hypnotized as I was lured deeper into the room. The room got darker and I began to hear echoed whimpers throughout the room.

“Hello,” I shouted as my voice shook from fear.

“Come closer my dear, you are so close,” responded a woman's voice. her soft whisper was lonely and underlying with anger. I continued and soon I saw a glimpse of the pool. I managed to easily trick myself into thinking that maybe the pool was being renovated and that was why it looked so ancient and infested with a disgusting matter. As I inched closer everything grew louder: the voices, the smell of rotten burning flesh, and the cold air. I looked into the pool and saw a young girl frozen solid at the bottom. Her eyes wide open, her body was purple, and mouth filled of worms.

“What the…”

“Now it's your turn,” said a familiar raspy voice. I turn around to only see the old man.

“Who are you and why are you doing this to me?”

“I am Eleanor Ruth, the girl who drowned in the gym pool. You see I was using this old man's body until I found my perfect match, and I finally found you.”

“Perfect match?”

“Yes the perfect match for my soul to take over and live in!”

“You want to possess me?!”

“Yes, it’s the only way to make her pay for my death, and with your handsome looks it will be easy to get close to her and kill her!” I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I tried to run away but my pathetic body hit the floor and painfully reminded me how weak I was. Eleanor then easily dragged me into the pool, the water felt thick, compressing every inch of my body. The last thing I remember is the old man's body melting in front of me and exposing a dark miasma that smelled so bad it raised every hair on my body. That was when I lost total control of my body. I felt the friction of her wicked soul moving through my throat. She infiltrated my pureness with her dark taint. I never have lived the same after that.

As for the gym, I learned that this establishment was actually a physical therapy clinic but was closed down after one of their employees murdered a young girl with a broken ankle in the pool. This young girl was Eleanor. Her physical therapist was a schizophrenic who said the voices in her head told her Eleanor was out to get her. She thought she must kill her in order to protect herself. After the first full moon  Eleanor possessed my body and drove me to the physical therapist’s house. She crawled through the window, moving around the house in a spider-like manner. She was light on her feet as she danced towards the main bedroom, radianting with excitement, an evil thrill so intense it made the room feel oxygen-less. Face to face with her killer Eleanor’s smile, spread taking over her face and filling her eyes with hungry for revenge. That was the last day the lady lived. I do not remember killing her that night but I know it was brutal because of the blood that dripped from the walls and pieces of flesh that were scattered throughout the room. Now all I do is wait for the next person to stupidly walk into the gym, where I will be waiting with an welcoming invitation to the pool.