Eyes | Amphibia

Chapter 10

TW: This chapter contains descriptions of self-injury/violence and blood. Proceed at your own risk.

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"Marcy?" A voice called from the other side of the room. Marcy looked up to see a kind-looking nurse standing in the doorway, and by this she knew it was time for her to see the doctor. Marcy took in a lungful of air before she stood up and walked over to the nurse with her hands stuffed in her hoodie pockets, her mother following behind her.
The nurse led them to an exam room a little way's down the hall, and when they got there, she beckoned Marcy to sit down on the bed.
There was a bit of small talk at first; The nurse asked Marcy how she was doing, how school was going, things like that. The visibly anxious Marcy's answers were, for the most part, all simple "good"s.
It wasn't long before the nurse went to the computer in the room and started rapidly typing. "So you're in today for your migraines, right? Would you mind giving me a brief rundown of your symptoms?"
Marcy responded with a nod, taking in a breath of air before she began listing some of her symptoms, making sure not to get too specific. "Well, I've been having headaches, obviously. B-But they aren't like regular headaches, they're much worse; the pain makes it feel like my whole body is shutting down and my brain is going to explode sometimes. I've also been experiencing dizziness and lightheadedness during these headaches, lack of appetite, and I've been super irritable too."
"And she has a sensitivity to light," Mrs. Wu added, which Marcy hesitantly nodded in agreement to.
The nurse typed the symptoms into the computer as Marcy listed them. "Alright. The doctor will be in to see you shortly." She said after she had finished typing, and then she left the room.

...

Marcy basically repeated her symptoms to the doctor (Doctor Maddison, neurologist) when he came in, but she went more in-depth this time, obviously— well, as in-depth as she could go without revealing the identity of The Core. She did accidentally hint at the fact there was another entity living in her head when she mentioned the loud whisper-yelling she sometimes heard, though, which greatly concerned the doctor as well as her mother, since she wasn't aware of it either. Marcy quickly realized she'd gone too far after mentioning that, and that it was a grave mistake on her end.
"Describe these whisper-yells to me. You hear them whenever you have a migraine? Do you understand what they're saying?" The doctor inquired, holding up his clipboard, ready to write.
"I don't, it's usually too fast and jumbled to understand; b-but I doubt they're saying anything good." Marcy mumbled, her heart racing inside of her chest with fear. She could feel a small headache coming on, which only heightened her nerves.

Oh no.
The Core was listening.

"Ah, alright— I'm no psychologist, but it sounds to me like you're having auditory hallucinations. Are you experiencing any other similar symptoms?" Doctor Maddison asked.
Marcy started to sweat, anxiously rubbing her palms against her thighs and gripping onto the fabric of her sweatpants. "U-Uh, yeah, I do. I-I—... I..." Her breathing started to pick up as she struggled to speak even a word, her headache worsening by the second.
"Marcy? Are you okay, dear?" Mrs. Wu worriedly asked.
"Yes, I-I..." Marcy tightly closed her eyes for a moment, clenching her jaw in pain. "I-I'm fine. Doctor, is there a bathroom I could use really quick? I-I'm sorry, I just need a minute."
The doctor nodded. "Of course— right down the hall to your left."
After thanking Doctor Maddison, Marcy quickly got up and rushed out of the room, frantically searching for the bathroom as the pain in her head grew stronger. Her vision quickly becoming distorted, she stumbled over her feet multiple times as she speed-walked down the hall, abruptly turning left when she got to the end. Finally finding the bathroom, she took a moment before entering to mentally prepare herself to see the glowing eyes on her forehead, because she knew they'd be there.
And when she stepped inside and peered at her reflection in the mirror, they were in fact there.
Marcy grabbed each side of the sink and glared at her reflection. She scoffed, "You seriously couldn't wait until I got home to talk to me? Or are you just that surprised I couldn't keep it together long enough to continue hiding what I'm going through from everyone? I think you're forgetting that I'm only just a kid— a kid who has an unrealistic amount of pressure on them and doesn't know what to do because their whole world is falling apart and they're practically helpless to stop it!"
She flinched and stumbled back a little as the loud whisper-yelling boomed in her head. She cupped her ears with her hands so hard that her arms began to tremble a little. "Ugh! I can't understand you! If you need to talk to me, just summon me into the mindscape! Enough with these— th-these games!" She cried, but the voices didn't stop; they only got louder, and louder. She began to hyperventilate, unsure of what to do. The fact that she wasn't at home right now made this all a million times worse. There was no telling exactly when the eyes would go away, and this was different than all the other times since The Core hadn't taken her into her head for some reason (at least not yet), so she had to take matters into her own hands. Before she could think of a better idea, she tightly closed her eyes and clenched her hand into a fist, swinging at her forehead. Grimacing in pain, she waited a second before opening her bleary eyes and looking into the mirror, shocked to see that the eyes were gone— it actually worked!
Or, for a second, it did. Within seconds, they were back, as wide as can be, screaming at her, and sending extremely sharp pains through her brain; like someone was literally stabbing a knife into her head.
"AUGH!" She screamed in pain, backing up until her back was against the wall with her hands tightly gripping her hair. Her body trembling like a leaf, she stood there for a moment in excruciating pain before making a second attempt to get rid of the eyes. "I said GO AWAY!" She yelled, reaching her hand up and digging her fingernails as hard as she could into her skin. She ruthlessly raked them across her forehead, right over the eyes; she had to clench her jaw extremely tight to suppress the pain as her skin tore beneath her fingertips.