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“Dead Eyes”

  By Amy Marie Brander

  There was a time for Martha White, if you asked her if she believed in the paranormal, she would have said no. There was a time when she considered herself far too reasonable, far too logical and far too scientific to believe in such nonsense. She was always a very sensible little girl. Her mother always commented on how mature she was for her age. She didn’t tend to invent stories like many 9 year olds. She always commented on fantastical stories in books or on the television. ‘How silly that is! That cannot happen in real life!’ The little girl considered herself more scientific than superstitious.

  It wasn’t until she noticed strangeness in her older brother that she began to have odd thoughts. Her brother was always a happy child but now in his mid-teens, he had an air of disobedience and rebellion about him. At first, he merely moped about the house ignoring his mother and sister. He spent long periods of time alone in his room listening to all manner of music that sounded very little like music to Martha’s ears. More like the clattering of garbage cans or the screams of agony produced from some obscure form of torture. He spent an exuberant amount of time in the bathroom to the notice of his mother who urged him to eat more fiber. Once Martha peeked in to see him staring deep into the mirror muttering I can see right through me, I’m fading away. This held no great meaning to her and she worried he might be losing his mind or perhaps he knew she was listening and was attempting some joke that was lost on her.

  Over some time, Martha’s brother was seen less and less. It seemed that he got out of bed in the morning less and less. He often complained he was ill and unable to attend school. Their mother, distraught by the behavior insisted he see a doctor. Perhaps there was something very wrong with boy. He barely ate and was looking so thin and pale. Yet doctors turned up nothing abnormal and said the phase would soon pass. Martha’s mother trusted the doctor’s words and agreed to let the phase pass. She was the household’s only source of income and had so much to worry about otherwise.

  One day Martha came home to find her mother crying. She received a call from the high school stating that her brother Martin had apparently been in some sort of scuffle with another boy. The school had saw fit to expel him from attending the school indefinitely. When questioned, Martha’s mother began to wail “Oh he bit the other child! Bit him! What normal teenager bites another!?” Her distress at the matter did not seem to carry much weight for Martin who used the incident as another reason to retreat to his fortress of solitude.

  “What is the point of even punishing you!?” She pounding on his the door of his bedroom “you’d rather live in there forever! You never go anywhere anyway!” and she stormed off crying. The scene left Martha’s nerves all a rattle. Her mother had rarely gotten upset in the past, perhaps due to the compliancy of her children up to that point.

  After that episode, Martha and her mother saw very little of Martin during the day. Her brain started compiling the information, he’s so pale, rarely eats, sleeps all day, bites people! Yes Martha was beginning to become superstitious; she was beginning to suspect her brother was some awful creature of the night. A horrible monster! A vampire! A lot of the other children in the neighborhood read about strange monsters like this in their comic books. Martha had always been too sensible to believe such nonsense, but her convictions on the matter were starting to waver.

  Martha had received a copy of comic book talking about the habits of vampires from another child at school. Her distress on the issue was great “Let me prove this,” she exclaimed to herself since she rarely had anyone else to speak with. “I will put him through the tests then I can dismiss this matter once and for all” It is a lonely child that speaks to themselves and Martha was often alone. Perhaps her isolation allowed her imagination to run wild, and she was willing to believe this was the current case. To be sure however, she would have to put all theories to the test.

  On the way home from school the following day, Martha did a little shopping. After searching her kitchen, she realized there was no garlic and so she gathered some from the grocery store with her allowance. She stopped at a local Catholic church and gather a file of holy water.. “Tap water..” she scoffed under her breath. Religion, was no better than the belief in ghosts, however, she whispered that should vampires be real, she may reconsider her opinions on the matter of god and angels. Luckily, she had a crucifix pendent in her jewelry box at home. Her grandmother had left it to her before she passed on. She was all set to begin her experiments, her older brother the oblivious recipient.

  Now if Martha had any friends or any trusted adults to cnsult with, she would have done so before she begun. Perhaps they would have talked some sense into the child and properly dismissed her worries. Her mother was clearly determined to ignore Martins behavior and Martha never liked her home room teacher at valley elementary. It was up to her, she thought. She would reveal the truth and settle the matter once and for all. She compiled a list of experiments:

  Test 1: Find out if Martin holds any aversion to garlic.

  Test 2: Martins reaction to crosses.

  Test 3: Look for his reflection.

  Test 4: Find out if the Holy Water burns Martin’s skin.

  She would carry out the first test immediately while Martin lay sleeping in his bed. Martha quietly cracked open his door and peered in. He lay facedown on his bed snoring away. Do vampires snore? Martha asked herself. She’d never read anything about it. She shrugged and quiet urged her feet forward. Carefully, she tip toed. Her brother had inherited a horrible temper and had often scolded her for entering his room. She would hate to think how wrathful he’d be if he saw her there holding all that garlic. So she slipped in as soundlessly as she could and stood over her brothers sleeping body. He seemed perfectly unconscious so she slowly and softly began to stuff each garlic bulb under his pillow. One after the other until the pillow became a lump mess unfit for sleep. Her brother did not wake however and she tiptoed silently back towards the door and crept out.

  It was sometime later that evening the Martin had emerge from the bedroom covered pussy mounds from head to toe moaning in agony and Martha’s worst fears had been confirmed. Martin left the house that night and returned some time before morning. His skin looked far better, “Perhaps he has fed” Martha mused. The following day, she would attempt to administer the second test.

  Martha put on her crucifix and wandered into the bathroom where her brother stood. To her shock, she noticed he had taken down the bathroom mirror! Horror hit her “Why did you take down the mirror?!” She asked exasperated.

  “I couldn’t look into it anymore.” Was all he said in response and he turned to see the cross on her chest “what is this? Why are you wearing that crap!” he said and grabbed the chain around her neck. “Get rid of it. There is no god you little moron.” and with a quick yank he tore the necklace from her body and chucked it in the trash. Martha noted that he had not touched the cross but his very revulsion in his face made her understand that perhaps the sight of it hurt him.

  Martha wanted to try the final test; she decided to skip the third test considering what she had witnessed in the bathroom. She knew this one could end in disaster. If Martin turned out to be burned by the Holy Water then he may attack her after his secret was revealed! She would be prepared for anything. She knew how to kill vampires. She’d seen it in the movies; a stake through the heart. Martha ran out to the shed outside their apartment building. It was never locked after it had been broken into so many times by the neighborhood boys. She’d often look out her window to see teenagers exit in a cloud of smoke.

  As usual, there were no adults around to keep a close eye on Martha or any other children that lived in the complex, so stealing out into the night to take something from the shed was beyond easy. She required no concealing and barely a reason to care. After claiming the item she needed for protection she went straight to her brother’s bedroom door.

  “I will go in and chuck the wate
r straight into his face. If he burns, I will have to react swiftly” She put the stake in an easily accessible place in the waist band of her black cotton pants. She gingerly turned the door knob and much softer than she had meant to be, called her brother’s name into the dark room. He had no lighting on at all! How would she accomplish this feat? Her eyes will adjust to the absence of light, she told herself. She forced herself to move in… She heard a creaking... Like floor boards! Maybe Martin means to attack her and drain her of all her blood! Her mother would find her shriveled corpse on the floor, pale, a look of horror on her face. It was too much for Martha to bear; she snapped on the overhead light and fell to her knees with the shock of the sight that lay open before her. She looked up, unable to remove her eyes from the scene; her brother’s body hung still from the ceiling fan. Dead eyes starring upward.

  “Cow Mutilation is A Crime”

  (regardless of what visitors from beyond believe)

  By Amy Marie Brander