Eyes

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. But some still knew, for they had met him or his servants firsthand. One of those who knew was a young woman, barely more than a girl, standing alone on an isolated beach, dreading what was about to happen. The stars in the sky twinkled between the clouds. The moon was full and made the waves of the sea sparkle in the darkness. Her hair danced in the wind and the waves soaked her bare feet on the white rocks. Her gaze was directed towards the large, dark water. All the years she had been away from her hometown, she had longed so much, her heart had ached for the place where the great blue met the beautiful white cliffs of the coast. But now that she finally could feel the salty air and hear the melodic sounds of the sea again, she wanted nothing more than to get out of there.

The dark clouds in the sky drew closer to land and the power of the waves grew stronger and stronger. A storm was on its way. With storms came thunder. A tear slowly ran down the young woman's cheek. This was not how she had imagined it would be to come home again. Her aunt, with whom she had traveled, slept safely in their room at the inn several kilometers into the mainland. The older woman was completely unaware that her niece had left her bed and wandered out of the city, all the way to the loneliest and least disturbed cliffs that could be found. The place was separated from the more visited areas of the coastline. The white cliffs around her were higher and steeper than where the beach’s visitors usually went. Hidden among them, no one could see the girl as the storm drew ever closer.

She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. On the horizon she had seen the first flash and it did not take long before the thunderclap followed. A shiver crept over her body. The night was warm and so was the water, but what the storm brought with it was the coldest and darkest the young woman knew. What came with the clouds and thunder was another chaotic night filled with pain, blood and suffering. Death lay in wait, ready to reap its sacrifices if the girl was not strong enough. A new tear fell from her cheek and joined the sea. She could feel the curling of her veins as her lip began to shake. Deliberately, she refrained from closing her eyes to avoid seeing the horrible images she knew would appear if she did so. Whether they were real or not, she did not want to see them, so she locked her eyes tightly on the waves in front of her. She clenched her fists and fought with her whole being to hold back. But the closer the storm came, the stronger her opponent grew and the weaker she became herself. When the first loud bang was heard and the rain began to fall, she could no longer resist. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she parted her lips and made a painful sound, while her eyelids closed.

Snakes and large earthworms crawled under her skin and devoured her from within. The pain was intense, but the girl knew it had barely begun yet. It hit her heart and she could hear her mother's weak, rustling breath ringing in her ears. Pictures of her parents' twisted bodies danced before her eyes and she could feel their blood on her hands. She fell to her knees in the wet sand, but could no longer feel her surroundings. She still had control over her body, but barely. The meandering in her veins had almost completely taken over now. The young woman cried and tormented screams came from her tight throat. What she saw in front of her and what she felt was unbearable. She eventually lost control and sank completely to the ground as the creatures began crawling out her nose, mouth, eye sockets and every other opening they could find.

They were no longer on the beach. What lay before their eyes were small houses and buildings of wood and clay. The storm had not made it all the way there yet, but the rain was pouring down. Although it did not matter to them. The houses were in the dark. Most of the residents had dimmed the light for the night and withdrawn to the realm of dreams. They could feel the presence of several sleeping people. But not everyone's minds were fluid.

They were drawn to a house where a young consciousness slept deep and dreamy. They could already feel the child's easily controlled mind from a distance, and the closer they got, the stronger the desire to take over became. The dreams they approached were colorful and bright. The cravings became stronger and stronger. Thanks to the new shape they adopted, they could effortlessly sneak in through the window of the room they were looking for. The child was a human boy, a little too old for such colorful dreams. He breathed peacefully while his unconscious danced lively around in the land of sleep.

Although the females’ earlier reluctance had weakened them, the young child's mind was easy to sweep into. The bright dreams became darker and darker the firmer their grip of the boy's inner world became. He writhed in his bed and a thirst started to burn within them. When the dreams were pitch black, they crawled through the body and did not leave a vein empty. The hunger screamed for more, more, more and burned stronger and stronger the further they went. When they reached the heart and lungs, the child began to protest. He coughed heavily, shook and gasped for air. But his pitiful little mind had long since been swallowed up and would never return. Once they had emptied the whole child, they pushed themselves out through the eye sockets. It was cramped, the eyes were pressed outwards until they separated from the rest of the skull. When they got out of the body, both the dark and the colorful dreams were gone. The boy lay still and twisted on the bed with the eye sockets gaping empty.

They were not finished yet. The hunger for more had only gotten stronger after draining the boy and there were more weak minds in the house. One of them belonged to a girl sleeping on a bed across the room...

The young woman on the beach slowly opened her eyes. Her whole body was aching badly and her clothes were heavy and soaking wet. The taste of sand in her mouth was palpable and the images from the night's events haunted her. Shaking, she began to rise from the shore but then felt something in her hand. It was sticky and rubbery. Slowly, filled with fear, she opened her hand and saw what she had feared most. Eyes.