The Seven Souls

Chapter 9 (Wally)

I've heard of blacking out, but I didn't think whiting out was a thing. It was kind of like leaving the movie theater in the afternoon except we were in Jeanelle's room, which is nowhere near as dark as a movie theater, and we weren't stepping outside, either. I was just in Jeanelle's room when suddenly the vision in my right eye went white. My eye started to sting, too, but no matter how much I blinked, it didn't feel any less dry. Maybe it was all the light being dumped into my eye, but I felt this throbbing sensation directly in my brain. It didn't help that Jeanelle's hand was pressing on my forehead.

But what was I doing with my eyes open? Even the light in this bedroom was enough to make my eye water. I covered my face with my hands to give my poor eye a break. Finally, the light and the throbbing that came with it were gone. I was finally focused enough to hear Gabe say, "What did you do?! Do you think he wants to go around with a blind eye?"

That's when I felt a hand pull both of mine away from my face. Jeanelle put her hand on my forehead and forced my head back. In her other hand, she held the dropper full of black tar. She let a drop of the tar fall into my left eye, bringing a new stinging sensation into that eye. I knew better this time. I covered my eyes immediately. It's not like she had any more to blind. It didn't make the pain go away. The combination of the stinging and the excessive amounts of light had made my eyes water so badly that the only thing I could do was cry. Maybe all the stinging would wash away with my tears.

As I sobbed on the floor, I could hear Gabe and Jeanelle arguing above me.

"Are you serious?" Gabe shouted. "What do you think we're going to accomplish by blinding both of his eyes?"

Jeanelle stammered her answer. "I-I'm sorry, but--"

"But what?"

"But the country is in danger. We don't have time to look for volunteers for the vaccine. We have to start testing it on people whether they agree to it or not."

"Whether they agree to it or not? Doesn't that break some sort of medical moral code?"

"What did you expect me to do?" Jeanelle asked. "No one wants to be blinded. We just need to make a few sacrifices."

"I expected you to think that the black tar conditioner was a good idea. That's what we were going to do before you did...this."

"I don't care about the conditioner!" I shouted. "Just make it stop!"

"See what you've done?" Gabe asked.

"Can you stop berating me so we can focus on helping him?" I felt a hand grab my wrist. I'd open my eyes, but I couldn't with the burning sensation keeping them shut. "Hey. I guess you can't look at me right now. Are you alright?"

I shook my head.

"Alright, stupid question. Well, let's see if there's anything we can put in your eyes to make them stop hurting."

"I don't think he wants anything dropped in his eyes right now," Gabe said.

"I wasn't talking to you," Jeanelle replied. She helped me up onto my feet, even as I still used one hand to cover my eyes. "Here, I'll take you to the bathroom." She led me forward, my feet shuffling behind her. Beneath my feet, I felt the flooring turn from carpet to tile. This must have been the bathroom. "Where can we sit you down? How about the edge of the tub?"

I heard the pat pat of a hand hitting porcelain next to me. The bathtub must have been right behind me. I lowered myself onto the edge, my legs shaking beneath me.

"Alright," Jeanelle said. Flick went the lightswitch. "Okay, it's dark in here. You can open your eyes now."

I removed my hand from my eyes. The room was almost completely dark except for some sunlight peeking through the closed blinds, not bright enough to hurt my eyes. I could see the silhouette of Jeanelle's shoulder and maybe her hair. She whispered, "Lumos." The tip of her wand lit up beneath her chin, casting a warm orange glow onto her face, again not bright enough to hurt my eyes. "Again, I'm sorry that I put that stuff in your eyes. I was just thinking that we really really needed someone to test the vaccine on. You understand, right?"