His Eyes

HIS EYES: Chapter 2

I WAS ten years old when I discovered about my eye. For me, it was a nightmare I wanted to end but I couldn't. Was it really a curse like what people said?

Classes were suspended that time due to the unexpected incoming typhoon. I and some of my classmates were very unlucky upon knowing the suspension because we were already in school.  I tried to look for Orlstein but she didn't go to school.

"The first 15 students on the list will ride Bus Number 1, second 15 students will use Bus Number 2, and so on. Kindly pass your address to me so I can give it to the driver," our student council president said. I rode in Bus Number 2 and I sat on the last seat.

I leaned on the window while looking at the things we'd passed by. The wind was starting to get stronger and the sky was dark. The birds were flying in groups to find shelter, well that's what our teacher said.

Suddenly, I felt an uneasy feeling at the pit of my stomach. All I could hear was the beating of my heart and my vision was blurry. I rubbed my eyes using my hands and I thought I was okay. There was a construction worker throwing two bags of garbages and when he successfully threw those garbages, he accidentally looked straight into my eyes. To a normal person, they would immediately look on the other side but at that time I thought I was not a normal person. The crazy feeling I felt earlier came back and that time, it got worse. I held my head, I could see an image. A truck. What the hell was that?

Somebody screamed. People started to scream. The bus stopped and the teacher told us to calm down. I looked at the construction worker I'd seen earlier through the back window of the bus. There were people standing in a circle. Even though I was meters away, I could clearly see the blood flowing from the tire of the truck. An orange helmet was chopped into pieces, it was the helmet he was wearing earlier. A truck struck on the convenient store. Its window shield was broken and the entire truck was smoking. An Ambulance had arrived and so as the police officers. It was the construction worker covered with blood. Was he dead?

Am I the reason why he died?, I thought.

When the bus stopped in front of our house, I bowed my head while getting out of the bus. I ran as fast as I could towards our house. But before I could enter, dad opened the door. I was frightened. I felt something different. It was a terrible feeling. I shouldn't have looked into his eyes but when he called my name...

"Carthik! Thank God you're okay!"

What was that supposed to mean? The moment I had eye contact with him, my head hurt like what I felt earlier. He was saying something but I couldn't hear him and in just a second a loud gunshot was all I could hear. When I looked at dad, he was lying on the floor. His forehead was covered with blood. I turned to see if the gunman was still there but I found no one. I wanted to shout and ask for help but I couldn't. I was kneeling in front of him and I felt my tears on my cheek. 

Everything was fast. Police officers came and asked me some important questions. Mom didn't talk to me for the rest of the day and I had to babysit Neo. Poor Neo, he wasn't aware of what was happening. I was jealous of his innocence. After the incident, I didn't feel that crazy feeling anymore not until Neo's first birthday. I thought that everything was just a coincidence and wished that everything was.

Mom was so depressed about what happened to dad. She was sent to the hospital because of over fatigue. It was dad's first death anniversary and Neo turned four already and I was eleven. Neo stayed in our aunt's house and I was with my uncle in the hospital. There were many tubes connected to her body and machines monitoring her condition.

In my mind, I was thinking, what would happen if mom dies? I couldn't race Neo all by myself considering my age. I was startled when I saw mom's finger moved. I pressed the button to call the nurses and doctor. I went closer to her. My body was freezing and shaking. I looked at the door, waiting for the nurses to come.

"C-car-thik, w-why a-are y-y-you h-here?" she stammered. I turned to face her and that very moment, I felt different. My head hurt just like before. I held it and my vision became blurry. What was happening? I couldn't hear anything except for the beeping of machines. Machines! I should've known. Before I could see things clearly, the nurses and doctors were already there, trying to revive her. Me? I was forced to get out of the room.

Some nurses were trying to calm me. I wanted to cry but I shouldn't. I had no right to do it. I didn't look at anyone. Whenever they forced me, I had to close my eyes. Something in my mind was telling me to do it.

When I came home, I didn't look at anyone. Orlstein was here, wearing the black sandals she always wore. Should I look at her? No. I shouldn't. I didn't talk to anyone especially Neo. It would be crazy if I'd tell him, I killed mom. Still, I needed confirmation. I went straightly to my room and locked myself.

One day, the confirmation I'd been waiting came. A city bird rested on the fence and I could see it through the transparent window. I stared at it for a while until it looked at me. My head didn't hurt like before but my vision became blurry. When I could see it clearly, it was already covered with blood. I heard a rock fell on the ground. Somebody threw that rock to that bird but if I didn't look at its eye, it could've been able to dodge it.

Since then, I decided to never look at anyone's eye and the only person to blame about mom and dad's death was me. Only me.

~<>~

Again, thank you to E. Parac for helping me! I love all of your suggestions and thoughts about my story. *hugs chuu*

Update:
Tuesday - Thursday