Short Story Collection

Yellow Eyes

Sometimes I would sit back and wonder, had they seen him too? Had he ever followed anyone else around the way he did to me, followed to the point that he distracted them from everything they had and took over their whole life? I wondered where he was before he found me, before he consumed my mind. Who was his victim..?

Yellow eyes sat behind a wall, waiting to attack, he clawed away at the rough grey space that divided him from the innocence of my mind. He pulled away my sadness, but he grew as it became more prevalent, until he could finally claw through the wall, the first little hole let his eyes shine threw as my parents split up. Slowly he tore me from reality, he pulled me into my own mind as my friendships broke and those I loved fell out of my life.

The year after my parents broke up, I decided that I needed someone new, my old friend, Arya, constantly bullied me onto her side, and this time I sincerely tried to get away from her. The tiny crack in the wall only grew and splintered with her, so I left. She didn't make it easy, and she guilted me into staying with her longer than I had planned, but my new friends helped me, until she grew too lonely and joined them too. My new group was loving and fun, they weren't manipulative, and they helped me, they prevented the demon from growing more than I could've done myself. Though Arya lingered in the background, I found love, and I got through the things that came my way.

Eventually, the demon's incessant scratching became useful to him, though he was tired, the glow of the yellow eyes shined brighter as he broke down my shield more and more. This time I was aware of this, but I figured, he had no more strength to gain, and let him be. I now realize the mistake I had made.

I made a new friend the following year. I don't know what fate I was given to deserve her, but she changed my life. She felt like a friend that I should have known since I was young. Her name was Caroline. We connected on a level that I never had with anyone in previous years, and this connection helped me hide the disappointed glares that my demon gave me from his tiny slit of view. He no longer could grow stronger with Caroline in my life, nothing could have gone better, until I met Ben. I fell in love, and the demon's fatigue grew as he began to lose his fight. As my immense love for my friends grew, the only thing holding me down was Arya, and with her, Yellow Eyes could still feed. As I distanced myself from Arya, he grew weaker, I thought it was possible to kill him, but then December came, and Ben's father had applied for a new job in the east. The results would arrive in February, and through that time my worry consumed me, and I spent my time with Ben, trying to block out my fears of losing him as the demon grew and the clawing restarted. The quick, rhythmic scratching echoed in the back of my mind and I soon heard the crumbling of rocks. The glow of his eyes lit up the darkness of my mind, and he watched me, finally able to have my attention, finally able to reach my consciousness.

Throughout the rest of the year, I continued my days as normal, acutely aware of the yellow eyes watching me, always with me. He distracted me, pulled me away from what I needed to be focusing on, he took me from school and grew off of my tears and terrible moments. His alluring, gleaming eyes stared at me, awaiting my next move, but all I did was stare back. I stared back often, wondering what it was he wanted, and what I had to do to make him smile, what made him frown. He seemed proud of me, something I had rarely felt since school became too difficult for my focus and my grades began to drop. I couldn't tell that's what he wanted at the time, but the yelling of my mother and pity of my friends is what fueled him, and he continued clawing and scratching at what little of my wall was in his way. I could see his smile now, and I realized the deeper I fell into that void, the happier he was.

It was February, and Ben had gotten an email from his father, showing it to me, full of pride for his dad. I read it quickly, barely able to read it because I already knew what was happening. I had been dreading this day since he told me. My mind, racing, looked over the screen before me: