Three Horrors – Dread

By Red Turtle

"Well, alright, let's go", April said, encouraged by Leonardo's state of normalcy.

As they began to gather their things, April looked around curiously at the lair, hoping to see a door signifying a bathroom. She had dreaded this moment since she had woken up with a full bladder. There was no way she would be able to hold it until she reached her house, and she didn't want to try and go in the actually sewers. She hoped that, since there was a couch, a TV, and other evidence of civilization, that a bathroom would be a possibility. Finally she decided she would have to ask.

"Oh, sure", they told here, and led her down a short, dark tunnel to a curtain.

"We don't have a door", Leo explained, holding the curtain aside for her.

Although she could not see much in the dim, flickering light, she could feel the dinginess from here. She had to will her feet forward with the promise that she could manage to pee into whatever passed as a toilet without touching anything.

Upon entering the formal bathroom, she was somewhat relived to discover an actual toilet set up in the corner, connected to a series of pipes. After a moment of analyzing the situation, she figured out that a nearby hose connected to another pipe would serve the purpose of a sink and of toilet paper, a situation she recognized from her international travels in countries lacking such amenities.

She nervously approached the toilet. Its water level was low, but she was only doing number one anyway. It didn't look very clean, and when she brushed against it, she felt its unsteadiness. Still, she confidently, standing up, did her business, and, with out thinking anything more of it, flushed the handle, just as a knock came at a wall near the curtain.

"Oh, April, we forgot to tell you, don't flush the toilet. Just use the hose to flush it."

April did not respond, for as she had pressed down on that handle, she had a feeling something had been unleashed somewhere in the bowels of the pipes.

It was about ten seconds before she heard it, a low, creaking noise starting somewhere very far, and increasing in volume.

The toilet began to vibrate, just slightly, but enough to make her take a cautionary step back.

Then all was quiet.

'What am I worried about? Its just water', she told herself, and went to turn on the hose.

But she heard a weird noise coming from the toilet bowl, and could not resist looking in.

The water at the bottom was bubbling. Actually boiling.

And as she watched, a particularly large bubble emerged from the water and slowly popped.

And then it began to fill.

Her heart beat faster the higher it got.

This was the first time she had ever experienced a toilet do anything but the standard flush it was suppose to, and for some, indescribable reason, it terrified her.

She had heard about toilets overflowing, but she was pretty sure it didn't go like this.

As the toilet bowl reached the top, she saw that water was leaking out from the base, covering the floor even before whatever was happening inside was finished.

She had enough thought left to get her pants up and fastened, before the fireworks really started.

The water coming from the bottom increased in pressure, and the toilet rocked in response, apparently only loosely fastened to the floor.

A loud hiss came from somewhere in the tank, which didn't have a cover on it. She saw a ball-like device stick out, something it probably wasn't supposed to do.

So memorized by the strange ball sticking out of the tank and what it meant, she forgot about the water pouring out of the bowl itself, until the loud splash startled her.

The water soaked through her shoes, burning her feet.

But still she didn't scream. After all it was still just water. But it was turning pink.

Then red.

And then the dead, bloated rat bobbed up into the toilet bowl.

It was no longer just water.

April screamed for all she was worth, until Leonardo ran in.

"Oh, you did flush it", he sighed, for this scene had been repeated before. Donatello had not yet mastered plumbing.

April threw her arms around him and cried hysterically.

Leonardo gently led her away from the bathroom and into the living room.

It was about three hours before she could leave their lair in the company of the other turtles, leaving Splinter behind to finish cleaning up the mess (once the water started, it would go on for a while, requiring continuous vigilance.

Although April was again able to use a toilet, she never fully recovered, and to this day, she always, always, gets fully dressed first and ready to run before flushing one.

The story is not over yet...The story is not over yet...The story is not over yet...