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It had been a long day for Karen. Ten hours working at a crappy job, standing for most the time had left her sore. When she got home she tossed her keys to the coffee table and went to her answering machine. She pressed the button to play while she went into the kitchen to make something to eat. There were five, two from yesterday and three from today. The first was something about her water being shut off due to no payment. Karen swore and took out some alcohol from the freezer and plopped down on the couch listening to the rest. The next was from Aaron confirming their date for the next day, Karen cursed again. The next was again from Aaron telling her that they should break up since she didn't seem to want a relationship.

"Saw that coming", she muttered.

The fourth was from her parents saying that they'd be in town in a few days and wanted her to call them so that they could "do lunch" or something. Karen laughed quietly at her parents use of those words. The fifth was silent.

Karen had moved to LA two years ago from a little town in Kansas. Her parents didn't like the idea but she was nineteen and old enough to make her own decisions. She was living well enough to have such a nice apartment but she did forget to pay the bills sometimes.

"Tomorrow", she promised herself as she swaggered off to the bathroom.

Slightly tipsy she began undressing for a nice hot shower. After she was completely naked she laughed and pulled on a robe.

"Yeah, no water"

She made her way into the bedroom and tired to go to sleep but her muscles all cried out in pain. After twenty or so minutes and a few more drinks she got up to the bathroom again. After using the toilet she flushed and noticed something that struck her as odd, the water was running. She laughed in happiness.

"Dumb bastards forget sometimes too", she said with a glee as she turned on the shower which burst into life. Her shower was small with a small stool that helped with shaving and such it also had a sliding door instead of a curtain which Karen thought was the best. The door reached all the way to the ceiling so no peeping toms would ever see her in here, it was like her box of safety. She made sure the temperature was just right and hopped inside, closing the door behind her.

It felt so good to feel the water hit her body and for a second she just stood there as the hot drops healed her sore muscles. She quickly took her body soap and lathered up. After washing her body, making sure she took some time to deal with certain parts she became to soap up her hair. When she had worked up a good lather she took a step back and noticed that she splashed some water about. Trying to keep the soap out of her eyes Karen looked down and noticed that the water was up to her ankles.

She quickly washed the soap out and turned to the door. She tugged it open, not caring if water went everywhere and pulled her muscle. The door surprised her and she fell against the wall. It was locked, if that were possible since the door didn’t have a lock on it. After the pain in her arm stopped she tried the door again but it wasn't just her imagination, the door was stuck fast and the water was now up to her knees.

Although drunk she wasn't stupid and Karen attempted to shut off the water with no avail. The water's temps changed from boiling hot to freezing cold but it wouldn't stop. Karen got them to the right temperature but not before the water level had risen again, this time to her waist. Scared Karen began to beat on the glass, but it was no use, she could have pounded on the three other concrete walls and received the same response. Karen broke out into tears and began flailing about, suddenly there was a snap sound and for a second Karen thought the glass door had broken. Something hit her in the head and she went down into the water. The shower head had fallen off and struck her. When she came back up the water level had risen so quickly that it was up to her neck. She climbed onto the stool in order to keep above the water but the height and the head blow made her dizzy and once again she fell.

Looking out she noticed that the water was beginning to turn red, the shower head must have hurt her worse then she thought. She reached back and touched her head and felt a sharp pain. She swam up quickly and held her chin high. There was only a few inches of air left. She searched her mind but came up with nothing. And in seconds the water level has reached its max.

If I hold out longer the water pressure will surely break the door, thought Karen

The water continued to redden as the last bit of air in her lungs gave way. Her eyes filled with blood as veins popped in her head. The pressure was too much and soon she just floated there. Karen looked at the world through sleepy eyes. Everything felt so surreal, so happy. She felt weightless and closed her eyes for the last time feeling truly happy.

They found her wet, naked body in the shower a few days later. Her body and hair were wet but the walls were dry. At first police though the shower head had killed her due to backed up pressure in the pipes but they were later informed that the water was turned off. The police checked the messages and after hearing the fifth message, wrote it off as strange suicide.

The last message was silent for three minutes before...

"Karen...it's me, well you too. I just needed to say how disappointed I am in you. You've hurt them all so much. Aaron was so nice and you just had to break his heart. Your parents love you with all your heart but what did you give them? Nothing but grief. I swear...one day I'll kill you if you don’t change your ways....I mean it...I really do...Karen..."