A little known fact about our town is right underneath the main street, beneath the frosted glass panels that pop up every few yards or so. Tens of thousand have walked over them without a second thought, children hop-scotch along them carelessly and nobody questions why their pets refuse to walk along there.
The town used to have a series of spa rooms beneath the streets, with the light from above gently diffused through the glass and bathing the spa-goers in a soft ethereal glow. All the water came from a local spring that allegedly held healing properties and as such, was not filtered. This would be the beginning of both their downfall and some unnamed virus that came and went like a hurricane.
It began as a series of pale green spots along the bather's skin, and only those who took to bathing among the multitude of relaxational activities. They weren't noticeable inside the spa but in broad daylight they gave the bather a sickly plant-like appearance. This was the kindest of the ailments caused by the water.
Those who took to mud treatments found thick scabs forming all over their bodies, soft yet embedded in their skin like scales. Those who came in weekly for manicures and pedicures found lumps beneath their nail beds, lumps that writhed and moved through their blood vessels in an unstoppable flow. Worse still were those who were massaged and soon after found their skin falling away entirely, like a boiled chicken's leg with a scent to match
Word soon spread and the council claimed they would cure any and all sufferers who made their way back to the spa beneath the town and so they flocked there in their hundreds. The doors were closed and sealed behind them, the glass panels were reinforced to the point where the entire street level was raised by three inches and almost all record of the spa was erased from the town's history.
It was for their own good, though word was still passed down to the point where there are still people in town who had a family member or friend of the family left down there. Not everyone does, not with the rate that people fled the area and were replaced by people from far away countries who'd never had a chance to hear of the spa and its victims.
It's said that some people are still alive down there and if you press your hand to the glass for long enough, a dozen hands will appear around yours,all banging against the glass and begging to be freed from the watery purgatory that they never asked for.
The town used to have a series of spa rooms beneath the streets, with the light from above gently diffused through the glass and bathing the spa-goers in a soft ethereal glow. All the water came from a local spring that allegedly held healing properties and as such, was not filtered. This would be the beginning of both their downfall and some unnamed virus that came and went like a hurricane.
It began as a series of pale green spots along the bather's skin, and only those who took to bathing among the multitude of relaxational activities. They weren't noticeable inside the spa but in broad daylight they gave the bather a sickly plant-like appearance. This was the kindest of the ailments caused by the water.
Those who took to mud treatments found thick scabs forming all over their bodies, soft yet embedded in their skin like scales. Those who came in weekly for manicures and pedicures found lumps beneath their nail beds, lumps that writhed and moved through their blood vessels in an unstoppable flow. Worse still were those who were massaged and soon after found their skin falling away entirely, like a boiled chicken's leg with a scent to match
Word soon spread and the council claimed they would cure any and all sufferers who made their way back to the spa beneath the town and so they flocked there in their hundreds. The doors were closed and sealed behind them, the glass panels were reinforced to the point where the entire street level was raised by three inches and almost all record of the spa was erased from the town's history.
It was for their own good, though word was still passed down to the point where there are still people in town who had a family member or friend of the family left down there. Not everyone does, not with the rate that people fled the area and were replaced by people from far away countries who'd never had a chance to hear of the spa and its victims.
It's said that some people are still alive down there and if you press your hand to the glass for long enough, a dozen hands will appear around yours,all banging against the glass and begging to be freed from the watery purgatory that they never asked for.
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