I came up with this story after watching Face Off! The challenge they were given was to create a character based of a phobia. One of the contestants got ommetaphobia (ommetophobia), the fear of eyes. I didn't like the character she made and though up a character of my own along with a backstory. This is my first story so please be gentle with the comments. Enjoy! This set around industrial revolution.
Sun rises on an autumn morning, at this time Mervyn Albin puts collects eggs from their two hens. As she prepares breakfast for her husband Grifon Albin.
Grifon grunts as sunlight touches his face and reluctantly gets out of bed. "Ugh, another day of work." Now dressed for work he walks into the kitchen to find food waiting for him on the table. Seeing his wife in front of the stove, he moves behind her and wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her check. "Sigh. Thanks for breakfast. Since we have eggs I guess the hens are feeling better?"
"Looks like it. Now eat up, the metal won't press itself with you here." Said Mervyn with a smile. Grifon sit at the dining room table and ate leisurely ate his breakfast. With the meal finished he left for the factory. Living on the outskirts of town and with no money to by car he had to ride into the city with his bicycle. With all the new immigrant coming new business opened up but jobs were filled as soon as they came and with the amount of people being fired and replace he can't afford to be even a little tardy. 'Gotta save up for a car, can't keep waking up this early in the morning. It's gonna be the death of me.'
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"Tim, go get the canister of oil for the machine."
"Yes, boss!" with that Timothy rushed to the piled up barrels of grain. As Timothy was delivering the oil as order he slipped on an oil stain on the floor and bumped into a man carrying a pile of pipes.
The machine lever stalled and clenched in place as the handle refused to budge to stop the machine. As the pipes came under the press the pipes were then crushed. Parts flew across the factory stabbing one man in his side and cutting one man in his leg and another in his shoulder. Grifon was not so lucky pipe shards flew from the machine and into his face.
"AAAUUUGHH!" screamed Grifon in pain. Grasping his face blinded by his own blood.
"GRIFON!" shouted Timothy is shock. "Hold on I'll go for help!" he yelled hopeful that Grifon heard his voice over his own screams.
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"HOLD HIM DOWN!" yells the doctor. As Mervyn stands outside the medic room all she hears are her husband screams and the doctor shouting orders to the other nurses. Time passes to the speed of a snail as nurses come in and out of the room. Carrying clean bandages, leaving with red drenched ones.
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There in the hospital bed laid Grifon with bandages wrapped around his eyes and right side of his face. "I'm sorry mam but your husband is now blind. Some off the metal shards have been imbedded into the back of his eye sockets. The modern medicine today cannot remove them, without the chance of causing further damage to such a sensitive area. You have my condolences."
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"Okay, Honey I'll be back later tonight." Mervyn said as she left for the tailor shop she now worked at. With her new job she felt independence for her husband. She knew how he hated that she was now the 'bread winner' of the house but there was nothing that could be done. 'With Grifon new blindness, I think moving into that little apartment was a good idea. It's small but easier for him to get around and easier for me to get to work.'
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'I am a man yet my wife, has to work to provide for the house and me. I am not a man, I am useless.' Grifon though enraged, clenching his fist so hard that his nails cut his skin and causes him to bleed.
The door to the bedroom creeks open slowly alerting Grifon but Mervyn remained asleep.
"You poor dear." He heard a deep voice speak. At the door stood a terrifying demon that if he could see he would be frozen in fear. Despite knowing the man was blind he did not step out of the shadows. "Your utter despair is so great I can hear your desperate cries from across town." She said in an amused voice.
"Who the hell are you?! What are you doing in my house?!" the man shouted. "If you don't get out now…" The demon interrupted by saying. "How would you like to see again?"
"What did you say?" he asked in a shaken voice. 'See again?'
"How would you like to see again?" the demon asked again.
"You can do that?" he asked hopeful but still unsure.
"Yes, I can but not without a price." The creature said with a grin. 'The greed of man, is where the greatest witches grow from. Mistress will be pleased that I have found someone to replace her before her end.'
"I don't have a lot of money. My wife is the only one that works, thanks to that dam accident, I…"
"No no no, I require no currency for this. The payment will be fulfilled by your wife in the future."
'Well as my wife it her duty to care for me, she should be happy that I will get my sight back. What she doesn't know won't hurt her.' He though. "Okay, it's a deal I get my sight and my wife fulfils my debt."
The demon steps into the room and stands in front of Grifon. Feeling hot breath against his face he shivers but stands his ground. "Alright, then it a deal." With a grin the demon lifts it hand up to Grifon's face and jabs it claw into his eyes.
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Grifon jolted awake and stares at the ceiling. 'Is that the ceiling?! I can see!'
"AAAUGGGHHH!" screamed Mervyn.
"Mervyn, what's wrong?!" he asked surprised by his wife sudden streams. He turns to see streams of blood falling down her face and her clawing at her own face. He struggled to get Mervyn hands away from her face to see what was wrong. Only to see that her eye lids had an indent like nothing was there. Mervyn at that moment opened her eye lids. At that moment Grifon saw caves of pink and red on his wife face. 'What happened?! Where are her EYES?!'
Grifon immediately picks up Mervyn and runs to the run to the closets clinic in town. He went there for physical therapy since art of his face are stiff from the accident barely move. The doctor turned out to be a cousin of Mervyn so we had to pay very little for his services.
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GRIFFONS POV:
'I can't believe what happened. Where'd her eyes go?' Right now I'm in the bathroom. I really needed to splash some water in my face. As I looked in the mirror I noticed my eyes are emerald and not dark brown amber mix, like my original eye color. At that time I got a bad feeling in my gut the eyes looked familiar. They reminded me of Mervyn. 'There's…there's no way that these could be…' the very though gave me shivers. I felt guilty but not too much, 'This must have been the price that man talked about.' Confused I walked back to the doctor's office to see about Mervyn's current condition.
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Mervyn POV:
I love my weekly walks luckily this street is usually empty so I won't have to worry about accidently hitting someone with my cane.
"Oh, you poor dear," I heard a voice of an elderly woman say, "Betrayed by someone so close, so close, to you dear sad girl." The old woman said I a pitying tone. I can hear a horse and what sounds like wooden wheels. There must be a carriage nearby, maybe that's where the elder woman came from?
"What do you mean betrayed by someone so close?"
She can feel that the gypsy just smirked even though she couldn't see it. "Didn't someone close to you have an aliment similar to yours? Haven't you ever wondered how he gained his sight back?"
"You mean my husband?! He told me one of his friends knew a doctor that was an eye expert and it got rid of enough shards to get his site back."
"Deals can be made to gain what is lost to those desperate enough." The gypsy stated with a prideful knowing voice. Mervyn felt another presence around her but could hear no one else around.
I was rendered speech less but I did wonder but believed what Grifon told me. 'His treatment seemed too quick and one would expect at least a recuperation period but he went straight to work.'
"What did he do to me?" I asked hesitantly. 'I want to know but at the same time I don't.'
"The pride of men took its' toll and turned him into a fool. He wished for his freedom; which he believed he would gain from the gain of what he lost." Her words slowly seeped into my mind. Everything seemed to slow down as I processed every word that came from her mouth. "Are you saying he's responsible for my eyes disappearing?!" I can feel pure anger rising in my chest. My body is shaking with rage. 'That son of a bitch, after all I have done for him!'
"That's exactly what I am saying," the gypsy said with a grin. "HOW?!" I shouted. 'How! How did my eyes disappear?! Where did they go?! Does he have them?!' So many questions entered my mind. Her head dipped low covering her eyes with shadows.
The gypsy reached up to touch her eyes and said, "He made a deal with a demon. There are many out there that would make deals with humans who are desperate enough. Most do it to cause trouble knowing that later on it would cause catastrophe." She finishes with a grin.
She continued to shake with anger, "Is there any way to get them back?" voice sounded stressed and shaken. "There is one way," gypsy says in an joyful voice while her grin widens "But it requires work."
"Whatever it is, I'll do it. That son of a bitch is gonna pay! I slaved over him while he was blind and recovering! In return he takes my eyes! I will not shrug this off like nothing happened!" she says in full rage each sentence her voice getting louder. Her voice strong enough to scare away birds in the distance.
"Here take this book, this will grant your wish," the gypsy pulls a large book out of her robes, the cover very detail and intricate, along with a dagger.
"Before you go to bed, cut your hand, then place it on the first page. After that go to sleep." The gypsy takes Mervyns' hands and places the book and dagger into her hands. "Is that all?" she asked curiously. 'This might be a monkey's paw kind of thing. I want to pay him back but not if it's gonna get other people hurt.'
"There's always a price for everything dear. No matter how small. With this you will be a witch of what will be your decision and the reason will be an effect of whether you are good or bad." She says knowingly.
"A witch? Like spells, potions, and stuff." I asked confused.
"Not really, more like a vengeful spirit, my people just call them witches." The gypsy clarified.
"If I'm a 'vengeful spirit' then will I be able to help other woman who were betrayed by their husbands; or vice versa because there are some evil ladies in the neighborhood. Their husbands are such sweet hearts." She said remembering how the other neighborhood wives complained about their husbands.
"You can do what you want just have that in mind as you sleep." The gypsy warned as she walked to her carriage. "Good night young lady and have good dreams." With that I heard a wooden door close and the sound of hooves galloping away. I just now noticed how cold it was it must be nighttime now. I can't believe I been talking for so long. I rushed home but I remember that I still had the book and dagger. So I hid it inside my coat, I don't need Grifon asking questions.
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'Okay, he's asleep.' I sat up and reached under the bed, then pulled out the book and dagger. I opened the book then sliced my hand. I felt my blood seep out of the cut and smeared it onto the page. I felt the top of my nightstand for the rag I left there and tied it around my hand. The put both the dagger and book back underneath the bed and laid down. In my mind everything my and the gypsy talked about ran through my mind.
As she slept she did not see the book glow.
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I walked around town listening to all those around me to normal people I appear as a blind woman. I usual wear long skirts with a ruffled blouse. Fashion changes so much, but I always have my shrunken head attached to my hip. Grifon made such a nice accessory especially with his jeweled eyes. I technically did get my eyes back just not the way I thought I would. That being the reason I always wear gloves. Don't think people would be open to the idea of eyes on my hands.
But that the only way I can see the lies these deceitful people spout out to the degree of the air they breathe. I reveal the lies of those he betray. Only a few times did I have to step in and punish people like I did Grifon. But not always, plus not every punishment is the same. What can I say I like variety and shrunkin' heads are kinda taboo around here. I was thinking that I've done enough here and should move on to another town or country. Since my actions people have been talking about a ghost that punishes deceiving people. That should deter people for a while.
"Where do you think we should go, Grifon? laughs"
Muffled words can be heard from the head but no words can be heard as Mervyn thinks of where else to go.
Ommetaphobia: An exaggerated or irrational fear of eyes. Ommetaphobia derives from the Greek word "omma", meaning eye and "phobos" meaning fear
Ommetaphobia is an intense, irrational fear of eyes. While it may be obvious that the person coping with this phobia would have difficulty looking into the eyes of another person, some individuals are so intensely ommetaphobic that they are unable to wear eye makeup, mascara or contact lenses. Other individuals suffering with Ommetaphobia are so severely compromised that even talking about eyes can make them intensely fearful and panic stricken.
/mental-health/ommetaphobia-the-fear-of-eyes/
I don't know whether or not I'm gonna go further with this, it was a spur of the moment story (made like 2 years ago) and I'm not that good at writing. Also the stuffed I wrote were mostly notes so writing this from notes was hard.