Nightmare Eyes by N.D. Graveheart from the DEATHLY AFRAID Collection

Artwork by Breanna Knoth

The child never raised her head. Always staring closer to the floor than one could stand, pupils piercing the ground beneath one’s feet, more grounded than earthly means. Other parents, teachers, and even fellow classmates wondered what the young thing’s problem was? But she kept to herself, afraid.

Never looking at a person, removing themselves from social interaction, many around them had formed absurd conclusions. “Perhaps its social anxiety” or “maybe they have self-esteem issues?” Whatever conclusions people made; her parents would ignore them for the better.

Because they knew better …

But one day, in the second grade amongst the playground, a bully named James appeared. He was looking for prey and found her alone along the walls of the building. He took flight, desperate to make another kid cry. It satisfied him more than anything else.

He had a record, and had been scolded more than once, if not ten times since kindergarten. Inappropriate words, condemnable actions, nothing was off limits. And the teachers knew that his household was a wreck. What his parents did to him, he forced onto others. And still, he couldn’t be blamed, it’s how he was taught.

Walking up, he grabbed her by the collar and pushed her into the wall. He taunted and tried, but her eyes would not face his. Then he raised them up by force and saw their gaze. It was a strobe of his horrid memories forming, and she hypnotized him with her nightmare eyes. She apologized, but it was too late. All his worst fears had come to light the second that his eyes met hers.

Nightmare Eyes by N.D. Graveheart from the DEATHLY AFRAID Collection