The Kids With No Eyes

The Beggining

I want your eyes…

I want your eyes!

Give me your eyes!

Give me them!

Chapter 1

“Lilith! I said you can’t play with those right now!” My mom yelled at me, taking the toys out of my hand and putting them back in the box. “But mom I’m too small to pack. What else am I supposed to do? I'm bored!” I pouted. “Just go sit down and be a good girl for mommy and daddy, okay?” She said before walking away. I sighed before going outside and sitting on the old wooden porch. I had to sit on the left side because the right side was falling apart.

I didn’t understand why we had to move. Yes, the house leaked whenever the clouds would cry, but daddy would fix them with his blue bucket. Who cares if our heater stops working sometimes. I like when daddy lights the fireplace and our family lays by it. So what if our ceiling is peeling, tiles are cracking, doors are rotting, and stairs are half missing.

I loved our house. I don’t want a new one. I’m going to fight. I'm going to protest. I will not be leaving.

So I stomped right back in the house.

“Mom. I like our house. I will not be leaving.”

“Go back and sit down.”

I did as I was told.

That didn’t work. I think I need a new plan. Maybe I’ll just stay and they can leave. I might be seven but I can perfectly take care of myself. Mom always said that one day I’ll grow up and she won’t be able to take care of me anymore. Today’s that day!

So I waited on the porch. I waited until Daddy had put all the boxes of our things in the car and I waited until Mom put my little sister Bailey in the car seat. When everything was done they turned towards me with a smile on their faces. I don’t know what they’re waiting on. I wasn't going.

“Come on Lilith! We’re going to our new home!” Mom called from the car. “That's alright! Just go without me!” I replied. “Quit joking, come on sweetheart!” My dad said. “I’m staying here! For now on I’ll be a big girl and take care of myself!” My mom’s smile dropped. So did my dad’s, but for some reason mom’s face was a little scarier.

“Lilith get in the car now!” Mom yelled. I was frightened but I decided to stick up for myself. I was too scared to speak so this time I just shook my head no. I should have never done that. Mom had stomped all the way to the porch, grabbed me by my arm, and spanked my butt. I didn't think she would do it since some of our neighbors were outside, but she didn’t care.

The car ride was short. I cried the whole time while mom lectured me for a little. She would have kept going on if my crying didn’t cause Bailey to start crying. Mom instantly stopped fussing at me and tried to get Bailey to stop crying. Usually I’d be jealous but I was tired of hearing mom’s mouth. I owe Bailey one. Maybe I’ll give her a candy but she might choke, since she doesn't have teeth yet. I guess I’ll have to figure out some other way to pay her back. How exactly do you pay a baby back?

Soon the car started slowing down until it came to a stop. “Here’s our new home!” My dad said cheerfully. I wasn’t as excited. I didn’t care that it looked bigger, had a nice porch, clean windows, or a bright shiny purple door. “Look! The house is painted your favorite color.” My mom said, turning back to look at me. I shrugged and said, “Who cares. Our other house was still better.”

My mom sighed while turning back. “Maybe you’ll change your mind when you see your new room. It’s pretty big.” My dad said while wiggling his eyebrows. “My room was perfectly fine at the other house.” Both of my parents sighed at my response.

“Dad, can you drive me back?”

“Get out the car.” They said together.

I got out. I didn’t want another spanking. As we walked closer to the house I got nervous. The house seemed to get taller and tower over us. It looks like a huge scary monster about to eat me. I held onto my dad’s pants leg and hid behind him. “Don’t worry you have nothing to be afraid of.” He said, patting my head. We continued up the porch stairs stopping in front of the purple door. “Are you ready?” My dad said pulling out keys from his pocket.

“No.” I answered. I don’t think he cared because he opened the door anyway. He pointed inside. I guess he wants me to go first for some reason. I didn’t argue with him and just went inside. There was a tiny hallway. I could either go left or right. After I played a game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe; I decided to go left.

I entered a big room. There were couches, a coffee table, and a bookshelf in the back. Everything looked so old. Lame. I went back the other way going to the right side this time. Now I was in another room. It wasn’t as big as the last room but it was still big. There was a dining table and chairs set up in here. The dining room was also connected to the kitchen. There was so much space. Mom’s going to be cooking so much good food! There was an opening to another hallway. There were just some stairs and a door which led to the backyard. I went up the stairs. I counted six doors in the hallway. Four bedrooms, one office, and one bathroom. There was a room decorated in blue and pink. It was so big and the decorations were so pretty.

“Do you like it?”

I screamed and jumped away from the voice. It was just my mom. “Mom, you scared me.” I said, holding my heart. “I’m sorry sweetie. I just wanted to know if you liked your room.” My jaw dropped.

“This is all mine.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t have to share with Bailey?”

“No.”

I screamed in joy and ran over to my new bed. It was so fluffy and comfortable. I bounced up and down on my bed while cheering. I heard mom giggle before hearing her footsteps walk away. I was so happy. This room was so amazing. Maybe this house won’t be so bad after all.

Chapter 2

The first night sleeping at my new house was absolutely amazing. My bed was so comfy. I was also happy I wasn’t woken up by Bailey crying or mom coming in to check on her. Having my own room was so great!

I woke up to the smell of something good. Mom must be cooking. I hurried to go to the bathroom. After I brushed my teeth. I dipped down to splash water on my face.

I stood up to reach for my towel, but then I saw something in the mirror! I quickly turned behind me but there was nothing there. Only the cabinet that held our towels. I was a little scared. It could be my “imagination” like Mom would say. What if whatever I saw went into the cabinet? Should I check?

I slowly walked to the cabinet. My heart was beating so hard that I could hear it in my ears. My hand was shaking but was still able to grab the cabinet door. I closed my eyes then pulled it open. There was nothing.

Nothing but the rest of our clean towels. Must have been my imagination. I shrugged then went to my room to change into my clothes for today.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” My dad said, picking me up and kissing my cheek. “Good morning.” I yawned. Dad put me in my chair while mom set my plate down. There were two slices of bacon and some eggs, but I could care less about that stuff. The only thing I really cared for was the…

“Pancakes!” I screamed.

“They’re berry pancakes. Mom said. I made a face. “Try it before you complain.” I gasped and said, “I don’t complain!” My mom rolled her eyes and left the room. I stuck my tongue out at the back of her. I had to make sure dad wasn’t looking or he would tell on me.

I look at my pancakes. I can’t believe my mom would change them. What is up with her and new things? My stomach growled. “Just try them sweetheart.” Dad told me. “Fine.” I said, closing my eyes and shoving a piece in my mouth. Wow…these pancakes are awesome!

Mom came back to the dining room with Bailey in her arms. “Someone must be enjoying their pancakes.” Mom teased me. “Mom, these are great!” I said with my mouth full. Some pieces flew out my mouth, but I picked them up. I'm not going to let any piece of this pancake go to waste.

“Oh pancake! I’m sorry I doubted you.” I said putting another piece in my mouth. My parents laughed at me.

I had eaten so many pancakes it hurt to move. Dad had to carry me to my bed. “Lilith, next time you can’t eat so much.” Dad said as he tucked me in. “But Dad! They were so good!” I cried. “I know.” He rubbed my head.

“Dad?”

“Yes.”

“Can I have more?”

He shushed me, gave me a kiss on the forehead, and then left my room. I stuck my tongue out at the back of his head as well. My stomach still hurt and I couldn’t move, so I decided to take a nap. I didn't sleep for long because I felt someone touch my eyes, but when I woke up no one was there. I closed my eyes again. I heard the floor creaking and sat up in my bed. When I looked around there was nothing but my usual furniture and toys. My door suddenly opened and there stood mom.

“Can Bailey come play with your dollhouse with you?” Did she hit her head? “Mom, I don't have a dollhouse.” I reminded her, because she must have forgotten. She just smiled at me. Before I could ask her if she was going crazy, dad came in with a dollhouse. “Wow!” I shouted while jumping out of my bed. “It’s so big and so pretty!”

He sat it down by my toy chest and I quickly grabbed my dolls and sat in front of it. Mom sat Bailey down next to me. I made sure to grab the doll I usually let her play with. The doll didn’t have anything. Not even hair. Her face was going away because Daisy would just always slobber all over her. “Thank you, mom and dad. I love it!”

“You’re welcome.” They said together before leaving my room and shutting the door behind them. I was pretending that my doll's parents were making her move to a new house. Just like me she didn’t want to but she loved her new house as soon as she saw it. My doll also made new friends that she got to play with all day. While I was playing, I didn’t notice that Bailey had crawled away.

I wouldn’t have turned around if I didn’t hear her babbling. The problem was she wasn’t babbling from my room. She was in the hallway! I quickly ran out after her. She was almost about to go down the stairs but I was able to catch her before she fell. “How did you get the door open Bailey?” I asked her as I tried my best to carry her back to my room.

I closed the door and made sure to put a few things in front of it to make sure she didn’t get out again. I also surrounded her with so many toys so she doesn’t go wandering again. I don’t know how she got out the first time. She can’t even stand up yet. I shrugged and returned back to my dolls.

When it was starting to get dark outside, dad had come to the door. He struggled to open it because of stuff in front of it. “Lilith, why is all of this in front of your door?” Dad asked. “I was making sure Bailey didn’t get out.” I said. He laughed then said, “Bailey can’t open doors, so just keeping it closed is okay. You don’t need to put all this in front of your door.” I wanted to tell him he was wrong, but I might get in trouble if I mentioned how she got out already.

“Mom said it’s time for dinner.” He told me. “Okay.” I said heading down to the dining room again. Once we were all sitting at the table. Mom laid our plates down in front of us. She made mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, and asparagus. I’m not eating asparagus. That’s nasty.

I thought mom or dad was going to try to make me eat my vegetables, as they always do, but today they decided not to try to poison me. As soon as I finished my food, mom sat a pie down in front of me. It was so huge, and it smelled like chocolate! “Is this chocolate pie?” I asked. “It sure is.” Mom said cutting me a big piece and putting it on my plate.

Mom usually didn’t give me big pieces. She always gave me small pieces. I took a bite. “Mom, this is so good!” I told her. “I made it with extra chocolate just for you.” She said. I stopped eating. Mom has been super nice today, but extra chocolate is suspicious.

Too suspicious.

“What’s going on?” I asked. I put on my serious face and squinted my eyes at them. I know dad has something to do with this too. “You’re not safe either.” I pointed at dad. He started to rub the back of his head and looked at my mother. She looked at him too. Then they looked at me. Then we looked back at each other.

“What’s going on?” I asked again. “Sweetheart, as you know we moved away from our old house.” My dad said. “Yeah. Napkin obvious.”

“It’s captain obvious.” Mom corrected me.

“Well, since we moved. You’re also going to be changing schools.” I froze. There is no way my parents would ruin my life like this. “No! I can’t change schools!” I started to cry. “Lilith, don’t cry. I promise everything will be okay.” My mom said to me as she came and hugged me. “What about my friends?” I sobbed. “We can always call their moms and invite them over. You can still keep your friends.” She said. I guess that made me feel a little better. I still didn’t want to go to a new school.

“Does that mean I have to go to the new school tomorrow?” My parents nodded. I started crying again but it was louder this time. My crying caused Bailey to cry. Mom hugged me again, while dad grabbed Bailey and started to shush her. It took some time but after a while I calmed down.

“Why didn’t you tell me before? I didn’t even get to tell my friends or my teacher goodbye.” I whined. “I’m sorry.” Mom said. “Would you like to go to your old school and say goodbye to everyone before going to your new school?” I sniffed and asked, “Could I?” Mom nodded. I cheered. “That would work.” I said smiling and returning back to my pie.

I ate so many pieces of pie. They tried to take it away from me after my fourth piece. Mom said she didn’t want me to get a stomach ache again and that it’s getting late, so I’m going to have to go to bed soon. I cried and told her, “You took away my old life, my old house, and my old friends. Now you’re trying to take away my pie too. When will it stop!” I made sure to get Bailey to cry with me. I could tell this made mom mad but she still let me have another piece. My stomach was hurting again after, but I didn’t care. The pie was worth the stomach ache.

After dinner mom ran me some bath water. I ran to my room to gather some toys to throw into the bath. Before getting in I brushed my teeth again. I remembered how I saw something in the mirror earlier. I looked behind me then back at the mirror. I dipped my head so that I couldn’t see the mirror then hurriedly stood back up.

Nothing happened. I did it again. Nothing happened again. I wonder if it really was my imagination. I turned to the cabinet. I’ll just check it again. I opened it. It was still the same, like it was before.

Mom came in and helped me get in the tub. She usually sits on the toilet while I’m in the bath because she tells me she’s worried, because I’m so young and I could possibly hurt myself. It’s just a bath. I believe she’s being dramatic. She washed me up and let me sit and play with my toys for a while. Me and my rubber duckie were having a swimming contest. Of course I was winning.

Bailey must have woken up because we heard her crying. “Honey! Can you check up on Bailey?” Mom called out to dad. He didn’t answer and Bailey kept crying. “Honey!” Mom called again. Dad still didn’t answer. Mom sighed then got up. “Be careful. I’ll just be a second.” “Okay.” I said still swimming with my rubber duckie.

“Hey rubber duckie! How about we have a diving contest?”

I let him go first. I guess he couldn’t hold his breath for long because he came back up so fast. “Watch this. I’ll show you how it’s done.” I took a deep breath and laid back in the water. When I was all the way under, I opened my eyes. The water burned, making me put my hands over my eyes. Before I could try opening my eyes again, I was tugged out of the water. I quickly rubbed my face.

When I could see again, I looked around to see if it was mom that pulled me back up. Mom still wasn't here. “Mom!” I called for her. I was scared. I wanted to get out.

She came back after hearing me call for her. “That’s weird. Bailey was still asleep. She must have gone back to sleep after crying for a little bit.” She looked at me. “Lilith, are you okay? You’re shaking. Is the water cold?” I must have gotten very scared, because the water felt fine. “I'm ready to get out now.” She took out the drain and wrapped me in the towel. Once out of the tub she helped me into my pajamas and tucked me in.

“Get some rest. So you can be ready for your new school tomorrow.” She said before giving me a kiss and leaving. I was still a little scared from the bath. “I’m not in the bath anymore, so I’m safe.” I said out loud. I said my prayers and closed my eyes. Hopefully I have a good day tomorrow.

Chapter 3

Mom came into my room very early and opened up my curtains. The bright light woke me up. “Mom! I’m tired. Give me five more minutes please.” She shook her head then said, “You have to wake up now or you won’t be able to go say bye to your teacher and friends.” I whined. That's what Mom calls it. Even though I wanted to sleep some more, I really did want to say goodbye to my old school.

This time I was able to brush my teeth without anything popping up in the mirror behind me. The closet was still just filled with towels. I’m glad. It was so scary last time I thought my heart would attack. After I finished in the bathroom, I went to my room. My mom had my clothes laid out on the bed.

The clothes on the bed weren’t mine. They couldn’t be. They’re absolutely hideous! “Mom!” I called. She came right away. “Whose clothes are these?” She laughed at me.

“This is your uniform.”

“My what?”

She shook her head. “Your new school picks what you wear. It’s called a uniform.” “I’m not going.” I said pushing the ugly uniform out the way and getting under the covers. “Wake me up when you find a school without uniforms that look like that.” I thought mom would have left, but she didn’t. Instead she pulled the covers off of me and stood me up. “Have your uniform on when I come back or you won’t have time to see your friends.” I sighed but did as I was told. When mom came back to my room, she put my hair in two ponytails with two blue bows.

I headed downstairs for breakfast after getting dressed. “Look at you! You look so pretty in your school uniform!” My dad said when he saw me walk into the dining room. “Dad, you and mom said it was bad to tell lies. My uniform is hideous.” I said to him. Dad started to stutter but never finished his sentence. He sipped his coffee and continued to read his newspaper.

Mom had made eggs and bacon with breakfast muffins. Her breakfast muffins are so good! Of course, my parents wouldn’t let me eat a lot because they didn’t want my stomach hurting at school, but mom promised to save me some after school. As soon as I got done eating mom said it was time to go. I grabbed my backpack and ran to the car.

I was excited but sad to see my friends. I wish I didn’t have to go to a different school. It took a while to get to my old school. When we got there I was so excited that I hopped out of the car and tried running to the school door, but I almost got run over by a car. Luckily mom was fast enough to catch me and pull me back. She did save my life but yelled at me afterwards.

Mom grabbed my hand. She pulled me back to the car. I tried pulling away but she had a good grip. I thought we were about to leave but I realized she just had to grab her purse and close the door. She mumbled something about having to save me, causing her to leave the door open and her purse inside. I don’t think it’s my fault. She could have moved faster.

She held my hand all the way to the playground. It was so embarrassing. Once my friends came over, she let go. “Thanks guys. You saved me!” I whispered to them. They looked at me confused. “My mom wouldn’t let go of my hand, but she did when you guys came over.” My friends giggled.

“Let’s go play!” Vivian said, grabbing me.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Sandra asked.

“Guys, sadly I can’t stay. My parents are making me go to another school now.” I told them. Vivian started crying and Sandra stomped her feet and crossed her arms. “I know. It’s not fair.” They both agreed. “Mom said that you can come over to our new house for play dates.” The girls stopped pouting and started cheering. “Maybe we can have sleepovers too!” Vivian screamed.

“You’re right!” I said. We all started cheering together. “Lilith!” My mom called. She was standing with my teacher. She was telling me to come over to them. “I’ll see you guys later.” I said hugging my friends and leaving. A few tears rolled down my face. I wish I didn’t have to go. I walked over to my mom and teacher. “Don’t cry Lilith.” My teacher said while hugging me. Her hug made me cry harder. After a while she let me go then we said our goodbyes. I cried all the way to the car.

The next thing I remember is mom waking me up. “Lilith, it’s time for you to go to school.” She said, shaking me. I got up and rubbed my eyes. When mom helped me out of the car I was able to take a good look of the school. It was bigger than my other school. Even the playground looked better.

Mom grabbed my hand and we walked into the school. First we went to the office so mom could figure out which room my class was in. “Hello! I’m Principal Chambers.” A lady said. She had pale skin, green eyes, and red hair. She wore a navy blue suit with short heels, like the ones I wear to parties.

“Hello, Principal Chambers. I’m Lilith.” She smiled at me and reached out her hand. I took it and shook it, like my parents taught me. She shook my mom's hand as well then showed us to my new classroom. All the kids were sitting down already. It was embarrassing having everyone's eyes on me when I walked in.

“You must be Lilith! I’m Mrs. Taylor.” My new teacher greeted me. She was very pretty. She had dark skin, big brown eyes, and her hair was all poofed up into a round ball. She wore an orange button shirt and green long skirt, which looked very pretty. “Hi Mrs. Taylor. Hello new classmates.” I said waving to her and the other kids. “You can hang your things up over there and when you’re done you can have a seat in the empty chair.” Mrs. Taylor told me.

Mom helped me hang my things up. Before she left she kissed and hugged me then said, “I hope you have a good day. Make lots of new friends.” My seat was between two girls. One of the girls had two ponytails like me but she wore glasses, and the other girl had long blonde hair with a pink bow at the top. We all looked at each other and waved. Maybe school wouldn’t be that bad.

The first part of class was fun. Mrs. Taylor is a great teacher. I like the cool learning activities we do, but I think my favorite time is music time. Mrs. Taylor has a nice voice and good taste in music. I also like the dance moves she teaches us.

During lunch time, I sat with the girls I sat by in class. The one with the glasses name is Mabel and the other girl's name was Julie. They were very nice and we got along well. All of us like playing with dolls and playing with rubber duckies. When lunch was over we agreed to play together during recess.

It didn’t take long for recess to come around. I was excited to play on the big playground. Mabel, Julie, and I played on slides, swings, seesaw, and merry-go-round. I was having so much fun. A little while later some other kids from our class invited us to play tag with them.

This kid named Thomas was the tagger. When the game started I ran as fast as I could. I turned around for a quick second to check if he was behind me but I ended up bumping into someone really hard. We both fell down. I quickly got up and started to apologize.

I tried helping them up but instead the boy that they were with pushed me down. I landed in the wood chips but I didn’t get any scraps. “Why did you push me!?” I yelled. The boy I had bumped got up and kicked dirt and wood chips in my eye. “Shut up!” He yelled.

My eyes were burning so bad. I was trying to get the dirt out as fast as I could, but there was a lot. I was pushed again and I fell back on the ground. After a while the kids came back over to me and helped me up. Mabel and Julie helped me to the bathroom to clean me up.

“Try your best to stay away from them. They’re bullies.” Mabel said while helping me rinse my eyes out. “If they’re bullies, why doesn't anyone tell the teacher?” I asked. “We’re all scared. If they find out someone told on them they’ll do very bad things to that person.” Julie said. I sighed. “Just try to stay away from them and you’ll be fine.” I pouted then said, “Fine, but if they hurt me again I’m going to tell.” The girls got quiet. Once I felt like all the dirt was gone, we went back to the playground.

I tried my best to avoid the bullies. Sometimes I would accidentally make eye contact with them and they would make faces at me or throw up their middle fingers. I don’t know what it means but mom said that was very bad. I just ignored them for the rest of the day. At the end of the day the teacher had us grab all of our stuff and let us go to the playground again.

The bullies didn't bother me again. They must have gone home. Good riddance. Juile and Mabel left before me, so I just played with some of the kids until mom came. When the car pulled up I said goodbye to everyone and Mrs. Taylor walked me to the car.

Mom and Dad both picked me up today. Dad got out to open the door for me. “Hop on it sweetie, we’re going to get ice cream.” My dad told me. “Ice cream!” I screamed while hopping in the car. “It’s a treat because you completed your first day at your new school.” Mom said, smiling. I squealed again. I accidentally scared Bailey and she started crying. “I’m sorry Bailey.” I said kissing her cheek and shushing her. We drove to my favorite ice cream parlor. My parents let me get a whole bunch of ice cream. I couldn’t finish it because my stomach started hurting. Even though I had a stomach ache today was still the best day ever!

On our way home my parents told me that they wanted me to meet some kids that were my age. I was excited. I get to make new friends now! “They're waiting at the house for you.” My dad said. As soon as we got home I hopped out of the car to see my new friends. “Go ahead, they're in the living room waiting for you.” Mom told me. When I got to the living room there were five kids with their backs turned towards me.

“Hi, I’m Lilith!” I said. They all turned around. I froze. The kids didn’t have any eyes. There were just dark holes where their eyes should have been.

They just smiled at me. I backed up slowly but ran into something hard. I turned around and it was my parents. “Did you say hi to your new friends?” Mom asked. “Mom…t-there eyes.” I said pointing at my own eyes. My mom shushed me. “All of you should be nice and get along.” She said before leaving me alone with the kids with no eyes.