Shield - Short Stories

Bloody Sclera

On your knees!

I still remember that day like it was yesterday...

When I was at high school there was this quiet and shy boy, let's call him Fred. Fred was that type of guy who would rather sit by himself in the corner of the classroom rather than next to anybody. He didn't talk that much, but he didn't bother anyone as well. So I just minded my own business, and he would mind his own.

Some guys would bully him, from time to time. And I remember one day, standing up for him. He thanked me and just walked away.

*

One day, before the Spring Break, a guy entered our school with a loaded gun and started shooting those who didn't follow his rules. Let's call him Derek.

Derek entered our classroom and demanded: "On your knees!".

I'd heard what he had done to the other students, so I just did what he told me to do.

Fred was quiet as usual but this time he was freaking out. He started crying along with other students. Derek didn't want them to scream so he ordered them to shut up. 

That scared Fred even more. At some point, Fred started to hold his head and scream, like he was having a massive headache.

Derek approached him ready to smack him down, but when he grabbed Fred's arm, Fred looked at him. Out of sudden, he was completely calm but his eye's sclera was completely red.

Derek took a step back, but when he did, Fred jumped into his neck and started devouring it. At some point, Fred stopped and Derek was lying dead in the ground. 

I can't take Fred's face out of my head... His eyes turned back to normal, his mouth was full of blood and he looked confused.

- What happened? - he asked us crying. - What have I done?

After that, the police arrived and they helped the survivors out. They took Derek's body and Fred with them.

Since then I didn't hear from Fred anymore. Some say he was a vampire and someone had to put him down. Others say that he was admitted into a psychiatric hospital. And some say he had a weird disease and had to be taken by a secret organization, to be studied.