Green Eyes

Screams pierced the air, and 4 year old Kayla woke with a start. ‘Mummy?’ she whispered, getting out of bed. Two more screams sounded, and Kayla found her body shaking with unwanted fear. Slowly, she headed down the steps. She peered around the corner, her eyes catching on a shadow in the corner.

‘Kayla? Is that you?’ it whispered, and Kayla immediately recognized her mother’s voice, calming her slightly. ‘Kayla, honey, run. You need to get away. Now. I love you’

Kayla clutched her teddy Osmo tighter, unsure of what to do. A light shone and Kayla saw that her mother’s legs were broken, and in her hands she held a knife. Kayla screamed, and began to run towards the door, only to find the body of her brother laying dead, two puncture wounds in his neck. His body was motionless, lying in a pool of blood that trickled down from his neck and onto the floor. Kayla stared at her brother for a few seconds, and tears began to run down her face as she found herself stepping in the blood that lay by his broken body. She heard a crash in the kitchen and ran towards it, only to find the body of her father, unconscious, but not dead. Her young mind was in overdrive, her body moving as if in a dream, as if in a nightmare. Because that’s what it was, wasn’t it? At least that’s what she thought it was. Any minute now, she would wake up, and all of this would be gone.

But the gelid drafts of air that hit her skin, sending shivers down her already shaking body, reminded her of what it was. Kayla gasped and turned around, her eyes now focusing on a shadow, that was knelt stiffly over her brother’s dead body. Cautiously, she placed her foot in front of her, taking a slow step forward. The sound of the creak as her shaky leg hit the floor was enough to wake the shadow from its trance, and it turned its glowing red eyes on her, letting out an inhuman growl. It bared its teeth, showing two large pointed ones that were dripping with blood. Her brother’s blood.

It took a step towards her, and Kayla’s terrified body let out an involuntary shake . It’s swift movements were new to her, as she stared at it with both absolute terror and astonishment. Even her 4 year old mind could comprehend that this thing was not human.

It continued to come closer, it’s sadistic red eyes seemingly focused on her neck, its eyes clouded with hunger and craze. She found she was frozen to the spot, unable to move as it made its way to her. Just as it was about to reach her, she heard a growl, and the shadow was ripped away from her. She watched silently, her already frozen body too shocked to make a sound, as it was ripped to pieces by a new creature. She could tell by looking at it that this new creature was not to be feared. She knew it would help her. The love and concern in its exquisite green eyes was enough to assure that it would protect both her and her family.

When the monster that was the shadow was nothing but a pile of blood on the ground, the creature turned towards her, its green eyes gazing at her with such fear and concern, yet also a sense of craze. Then, as quickly as it had come, it disappeared.

Kayla woke with a start. She gazed around the room, once again looking for the green eyes, but found nothing. She had been having that same dream every night for 13 years, ever since that fateful day when her life had been torn apart. Every time it would feel so real, be so graphic that when she awoke, she was panting and sweating.

She looked at her clock. 5:30. She sighed and rolled over, and allowed her mind to drift back to that day.

Frantic sirens sounded as Kayla ran to the room her mother was in, the tears still falling down her face pale face. ‘Kayla, honey, come here. Mummy needs to talk to you.’ The voice of her mother was barely a whisper, and the pain she was in was so obvious that Kayla found herself taking a step towards her mother in concern.

‘Mummy are you ok?’

‘Shhh now. I’m going to be ok. Everything’s going to be ok. The police will be here soon and they’ll make everything better.’

‘But mummy, what was it? There as a thing standing next to Koley and it looked very angry. And it had two sharpded teeth and there was something dripping from it and there…’

‘Shhh baby. It was just an animal. A bear. It broke in through the window while you were asleep.’

Kayla’s mind couldn’t comprehend that fact. She had seen the creature – and the emotion and depth in its crazed eyes was too fierce for anything like a bear. ‘But mummy it wasn’t a bear! I know ‘cause there’s bear in the book Koley gave me and it was all furry and brown and this thing I saw wasn’t anything like the picture!’
Her mother’s eyes flashed with concern and fear. ‘Kayla I promise you it was a bear. Understand?’ her mother said harshly. Kayla shrunk back in fear. She didn’t understand why her mother was angry. Her mother’s eyes softened and she held out her arms for a hug. Kayla ran to her mum, not caring about the blood she got on her pajamas.

‘Is Koley going to be ok? He wasn’t moving’ she whispered, still in her mother’s arms.

‘We’ll see’, her mum replied, and Kayla was too young to notice the way her mothers eyes diverted and filled with tears. They continued to hold each other in their arms, together waiting for the police to arrive.

Kayla opened her eyes and sat up in her bed, her head resting against the wall. Running her hand through her tangled hair, she let out a sigh. She knew it hadn’t been a bear. The image of that day was still etched so clearly in her head, and as each day went by she became even surer of this fact. But then, why had her mother lied to her? Surely her mum would have known what it was? And if it wasn’t a bear, what was it? It didn’t look like any other creature she had seen or learned about before. She felt a longing for this information, a need to know what it was that had killed her brother and hurt her parents so badly. She had long ago made a vow to herself to find out what it was, to find this creature that had left a hole in her heart. It was the least she could do for Kole.

Kayla shook her head and got up. She looked at her clock, 6:00. She may as well get ready for school.

School was Kayla’s release. It was a place to take her mind off things, with the help of her friends. She was naturally quite popular, because of her good looks and sweet personality. But she kept to herself. She was kind when people talked to her, but otherwise just talked to her three main friends.

Tahnee, Madison, Brittany and Kayla weren’t the most popular group in school, but they had no wish to be. They were happy just keeping to themselves, laughing and giggling at each others jokes and stories.

Madison was Kayla’s best friend, so close to her that they were both halves in one whole. They had been since their first day of school, when Madison had stopped a bully stealing Kayla’s lunch. Ever since then, they had been inseparable. Maddy had a way of knowing what Kayla was thinking, when she was lying or when she was down. They could never keep secrets from each other, and Maddy was one of the only people who knew about Kayla’s past. Hell, everyone else didn’t even know she had a brother. Their list of things to talk about was endless, and they enjoyed each others company like no other.

Madison was tall and well built, with long black hair and grey eyes. Her arms were covered in tattoos, all of which had a special meaning to her. She was the sort of person who would do anything for a friend, and nothing would keep her from fighting for them. She was well known throughout the school for her tough, menacing attitude, and her ability to beat up guys even twice her size.

Tahnee was short and thin, and had long, straight honey-coloured hair and chocolate-brown eyes. She was the quiet one of the group, and was very smart in school.

Brittany was loud. She had striking red hair and bright green eyes. She always made everyone laugh, and knew how to cheer anyone up.

Kayla had a shower and got ready. She towel-dried her hair, deciding to leave it in its natural waves instead of straightening it. She looked in the mirror. Her long, chocolate-brown hair fell to below her shoulders, and she had piercing blue eyes, with a streak of gold in the left one. Everyone always told her they were jealous of her eyes, but she thought they were just dull. I mean, everyone had blue eyes, right?

She applied a light coat of makeup to her naturally tanned skin and added mascara and eye liner to make her eyes stand out. She got dressed and examined herself. She’d always seen herself as plain, though others said otherwise.

Sighing, she grabbed her bag and headed downstairs to where her parents were waiting with breakfast.