My Experience with a Black Eyed Child

Story 2

This is a story from when I was around nineteen years old. It was around eleven o'clock at night as I stepped off the last bus back into my town. I live in a very small town filled with elderly people and families, so it wasn't strange for the streets to be empty as I walked home from working late. Now undeniably it can be quite creepy walking through the streets, especially after fresh rainfall which made the streets glow orange under the streetlights. I watched as the bus drove off into the distance before walking in the opposite direction. I was always thankful that most of the streets in my town were very well lit. I like to think that I am in pretty good shape, something I often worked to maintain, so I was in no way an easily intimidated guy, but walking through the empty streets and their strange orange glow always left a strange sense of danger.

The walk back to my house wasn't very far, only around fifteen minutes which could be cut down to around seven minutes if I cut through the park. Usually I would play it safe and stick to the streets, but this particular night after the freshly fallen rain was cold. We had a very warm summer so when autumn eventually came it always felt ten times colder than it actually was. So I decided that cutting through the park would be fine. Since really the only people you ever saw in the park after nine o'clock were teenagers getting drunk. Even the nicest towns have their faults, I supposed.

As I walked down the path through the park I felt a chill run through my body, so much so that I almost turned around to walk through the streets instead. The park was lit but the lights weren't really close together, leaving many areas in moderate darkness. My unease only grew as I heard rustling in the bushes in front of me. I was about to burst into a sprint until I saw a mouse run across the path followed by a cat. I laughed and rolled my eyes at my paranoia. I continued walking thinking about the laughs this would get when I told my friends and my girlfriend.

As I was approaching the exit to the park, which was beside a play area I began to hear the sound of a child crying. I shook my head trying to tell myself I was just making it up but as I turned the corner I saw her. There was a little girl sitting on the bench, her feet nowhere near touching the door and wrapped up in only a blue woollen coat. She didn't look up since her hands covered her face. Now I know this may seem like the beginning of so many horror movies or ghost stories, but I am a sceptic to all things paranormal, so rationally I presumed that she was lost. I walked over to her slowly so I didn't frighten here anymore than I already presumed she was.

"Hey, are you okay?" I called to her gently, keeping a few steps away, allowing her to look up and see me first. I didn't get a very good look at her before she stood up and ran, I looked confused but the girl didn't get very far before she tripped over what seemed to be her own feet.

I attempted my second approach, the area was slightly better lit as it was beside one of the intermittent streetlights. As I approached this time the girl didn't try to run but allowed me to crouch beside her. I still couldn't see her face since she was still sobbing softly into her hands. "Are you lost?" I asked gently, trying to make sure I didn't scare her again. She nodded her head slowly, seemingly unsure, which I admit did make me feel slight terrified but I put it down to her just being scared.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"R...Rosie," she muttered softly, "Rosie...Michaels."

"Okay Rosie, do you know your address?" I asked but she didn't reply. Rather than push her anymore I stayed beside her and took out my phone. I was just about to dial the police when I felt her grab my hand. I almost flinches as her skin felt like ice.

"No," she said firmly, though her voice still seemed brittle, like she was going to burst into tears once more.

"Do you not want to see your parents?" I asked carefully as she pulled her hand away from me. I tried to get a better look at her face as she looked down the path, but I couldn't before she covered her face once more.

"No," she said quietly. I guessed she was most likely a run away from an abusive home but I didn't press since I didn't want to see her get even more upset. As I sat beside Rosie, waiting for her to calm down so I could phone the police. I noticed that she often glanced up and looked down the path, each time she did it I tried to see what she was looking at but I saw nothing other than a lamppost. That was until I looked in sync with her. As I looked up I noticed what she was looking at. There was a man standing bellow the light, his face completely shielded under the bright light.

I felt my unease grow as I stood up. Looking down at Rosie, who had taken her hands away from her face. She looked up at me and I looked at her properly. Now I had read the stories of the black eyed kids before but Rosie was different, her eyes did seem black but not completely, I could still see the faint trace of the white of her eyes. My mind raced as I thought through the stories, all reports said that they were oddly confident but this was not Rosie, she was scared. I presumed it was the man under the light that she was afraid of. Rosie looked back and forth between me and the man standing bellow the light, tears still streaming down her face as she shook her head in panic. That was until she stood up and looked me dead in the eyes, I tried to pull my eyes away but it was nearly impossible. "Run," she said weakly as she put her hand out towards me. I was so close to taking it but her face screamed to run. I blinked hard, coming out of my trance state. I saw the look of fear on her face as she told me to run once more.

I glanced to the man under the light who had begun walking over to Rosie and I. I looked at Rosie once more as she began sobbing. I knew she was afraid of the man walking over, I knew he would most likely hurt her. "Come with me," I told her but she only smiled sadly before shaking her head. I tried again. "No," she screamed, "just run." I followed her advice and sprinted in the opposite direction, as he sobs faded into the distance. Needless to say I was home late that night as I spent a good hour making sure that I hadn't been followed to my house.