I don’t swim anymore. People think I’m afraid of drowning. That’s not it. I’m afraid of what might be underneath me. It started when I was twelve. My dad took me to a lake. The water was perfectly still. No wind. No waves. Nothing. I was floating on my back when I felt something brush my ankle. I looked down. Nothing. I laughed. Then it happened again. Something slowly dragged its fingers across my foot. I screamed and swam to shore. My dad searched the water. He found nothing. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about how the water had felt. Cold. But the thing touching me had been warm. A week later, I went back. I wanted to prove to myself that I imagined it. I stood at the dock. The lake was completely black. Then I heard splashing. Far out in the water. Someone was swimming toward me. I couldn’t see their face. They stopped. Just floating there. I called out. No answer. Then they slowly sank. Not underwater. Straight down. Like something had pulled them by the feet. I ran. Years passed. I never went near deep water again. Then last summer, I stayed at a hotel with an indoor pool. I thought I was safe. I was sitting alone beside it when my phone vibrated. A text from an unknown number. You left me at the lake. I stared at it. Another message appeared. I waited. The pool lights suddenly went out. Emergency lights came on. I heard water dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip. Someone was walking through the pool. I couldn’t see them. Only the water moving around their legs. They stopped in the middle. Then they slowly turned toward me. My phone vibrated again. A photo appeared. It was me. Standing beside the lake when I was twelve. Someone was behind me. Half-submerged. One hand resting on my shoulder. I dropped the phone. The pool water began rising. It spilled over the edge. Then I heard a child’s voice from beneath the water. My voice. “Why did you leave me?” I ran for the exit. Behind me, something climbed out of the pool. Wet footsteps followed me down the hallway. Step. Step. Step. I never looked back. The police checked the hotel cameras. They found me running through the hallway. Alone. But the footage showed something strange. Every few seconds, a trail of water appeared behind me. It followed my exact footsteps. Even though I was completely dry. They told me the pool was empty. It had been drained for maintenance that morning. I believed them. Until I got home. There was water on my bedroom floor. A small puddle. Right beside my bed. I stood there frozen. Then something underneath the bed whispered my name. I didn’t move. The puddle slowly spread across the floor. And from underneath my bed came the sound of someone breathing. Like they had been underwater for a very long time. #scary #scarystories #creepystorytime #hydrophobic #captionstory - @metaphysiko