His Eyes

HIS EYES: Chapter 18

I HAD to make things right for Orlstein. I didn't know what was going on with my mind, but I decided to tell her the truth. Besides, my conscience was killing me.

We leaned on the parapet of my room's balcony. It was already night time and the crickets were noisy. Neo hadn't arrived yet.

"You knew it all this time?" she asked. There was a crack on her voice.

"I thought it was for the best," I said.

"Carthik! I'm with your side. Don't treat me as an enemy," she cried. I couldn't look at all.

"I was scared," I admitted. I heard her sighed.

"You're always scared," she said, almost a whisper. "I already failed as a sister to Ed and Auren, I don't want to fail as a daughter too."

Ed's the oldest among them. I never met him. Asion and Christina barely mentioned his name. I hadn't seen him during the burial too.

I asked Orlstein about Ed years ago. He was addicted to drugs and alcohol. He was jailed when he was 18 until now. It looked like they were ashamed of what happened that's why they never mentioned his name anymore. People started to stop talking about him too.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"You hadn't changed at all," she said and walked away. I watched her enter my room and went straight to the living room.

I didn't tell her about Adolf. Only my connection to Fraux. I didn't care if she would tell Asion and Christina about it.

I stayed on the balcony for a few minutes, then I threw myself onto my bed.

~<>~

I woke up early in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet. The street lights were still alive. I could still the crickets outside. I went out of my room to grab some water. But, I was surprised when I saw Orlstein in the living room with her bags.

"Where are you going?" I asked as I went closer to her.

"Home. I'm sorry I didn't tell you yesterday," she replied.

"Wait, I'll drive you to the airport," I said and was about to get Neo's car key when I remembered we weren't in good terms.

"It's fine. I already contacted an uber."

I gave her a huge hug and patted her back. "Take care."

"Thank you, Carthik. Don't worry, I'll be back in three days. Then, we'll continue our searching," she said. She's still into Hendre and Adolf which meant she was still willing to help me.

We stayed there and chatted for a few minutes when we heard a car beeping outside. It was the uber she contacted. I hugged her one last time and accompanied her outside. I waved at her before the car left.

As I watched the car getting away from the apartment, I felt at ease. She wanted me to change, right? Fine, I'd take the risk. By the time she'd arrive, she's going to meet the new Carthik.

I rushed towards my room. I looked myself in the mirror. My hair's a complete mess. My beard was showing off. I took off my sunglasses. I'd never seen my eyes since then. As green as the grass on our backyard. These weren't mine. These were Adolf's. I missed my muddy irises. These eyes killed my parents and Auren and other people.

I stepped on my sunglasses and it was broken into pieces. The night vision glasses wasn't an exception. I took the razor from the bathroom of my room and shove my beard. I learned how to cut my hair when I locked myself in my room after the incident. I cleaned the scattered hair on the floor and took a bath.

My face was cleaner than before. I looked like a military. The reflection of my green eyes in the mirror shivered my spine. Killer eye. I needed a change and I thought this was the best thing to do.

There were cotton balls, isopropyl alcohol, bandages, and other medical accessories on the small table in the living room. Neo was sitting on the sofa. He was healing his wound on his wrist.

"What happened to that," I asked as I went outside of my room. I didn't look at him and proceeded in the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Since when do you care?" he said. "No glasses huh. Planning to kill innocent people?"

I didn't bother him anymore. I grabbed two cake slices from the fridge and went out of the apartment. The sun was covered with thick clouds. Hands inside my pocket. Head bowed down. When I reached the end of the block, a huge sign was hanged on the roof of a tall building. Rock 'n Roll, was written on it.

It smelled hand sanitizer inside. There were many shelves with albums of well-known and not-so-well-known singers. The man sitting on the cashier's table whose reading CITY TIMES newspaper greeted me without looking at me.

As I rolled my fingers on the albums, a kid asked for help. Never knew that kid would have an interest in this type of music genre. He stood up to my hips and grabbed my hand.

"Mister, can you please get that one for me?" he said, pointing on Black Assassins' newest album named Clash of Thieves. I turned to look at him, straight to his eyes. He could be a good sacrifice.

I gave him the most genuine smile. My head began to ache. All I could hear was my heart beat and my vision was getting blurry. I couldn't see any picture which was odd. This was my first time looking directly at someone's eye without seeing any picture. When I opened my eyes, the kid was laying on the ground. I checked his pulse, but I couldn't feel anything.

His skin was pale. His lips were dry. I stood up and walked away. When I went out of the store, I heard somebody screamed. It was the kid's mother. I bowed my head down and ran as fast as I could.

Another person met my eyes. I held my head and closed my eyes. It ached so much. I leaned on the wall and my heartbeat was the only sound I could hear. Again, I didn't see any image.

"Somebody! Call 911!" a woman shouted. I saw a bunch of people surrounding a dead person. I raised my head and scratched my throat. I was only starting to change. I didn't know, but being like this made me feel comfortable. The feeling I hadn't felt before.

Now, show yourself, Adolf. I had done what you told me to do, I thought. This was just the beginning.

~<>~

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