[Adam's POV]
Nightmares. Every night it's the same, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. It starts out with me going outside the safety of my home. Then people come walking over to me, wanting to ask who I was, or just say hi. "Go away!" I yelled. But they all look into my eyes. And the next thing I know, every single person who looked at me started screaming, then dropped over and died.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at the dead corpses I knew were there. But that isn't how the nightmare works. It made me look. I almost broke down into tears from what I saw. Men, women, children, elderly, all laying on the ground, some had bloodshot eyes with blank stares.
You did this, an eerie voice hissed around me. You killed them all Adam.
"I-I didn't want to kill them," I whispered. "I told them to go away."
Murderer, the voice said. Freak. Cursed child. You caused the death of the human race.
Wind picked up around me and the sky became dark. "I didn't want to!" I yelled.
Killer, the voice was becoming louder. Killer. Killer. Killer.
I sat down at the center of all the bodies and cried. The voice kept chanting killer. Then something cold went up my spine, and I screamed.
I sat up straight in my bed, breathing heavily. The nightmare had been going on for weeks now. I hadn't told anyone about it, mostly because I didn't know what it meant. People looked at me and died. Why?
I turned on the light and checked the clock on my wall. It was three fifteen in the morning. I cracked open my door quietly, not wanting to wake up my dad. I tiptoed to the family room and turned on the TV, hoping it would take my mind of the nightmare. The show that was on was one of those home renovation shows, which were my favorite kind. Not really because of the building, but because I like to see what the houses look like. It's always so different from my home, which is just a kitchen that we also use as a family room, a bathroom and two bedrooms. We don't even have windows. I don't know why, but my dad doesn't want me to go or see outside, so the closest I can get is these type of shows.
I watched the show, noting every detail about the home. The couple was marveling at this old mirror that was apparently the girl's grandparents. I sighed. I wish we had a mirror so I knew what I looked like. That's another thing we don't have at my house for some reason. I asked my dad what I looked like, and he wouldn't tell me. I wanted to ask him what he wasn't telling me, but obviously that wouldn't work. The man's locked tighter then a safe.
So I sat there for a good five hours doing nothing but watching home renovation shows and wishing that it was my life. Then finally my dad heard the TV and woke up. He sat down next to me and gave me a quick hug. "Morning Adam." He said not looking at me. I didn't respond. "Is there something wrong?"
I wanted to shake my head no, but instead I broke down into tears again. "D-dad, I've been having n-nightmares."
My dad patted me on the back. "It's alright Adam. What were they about?"
"I-it's only one," I told him through tears. "People look at me… and then they die. I don't do anything, they just die because they looked at me. Then this voice calls me cursed child and killer. I've been having it for weeks. I didn't want to tell you because it scared me."
Out of the corner of my eye I could see that my dad looked just as scared as I did. "This has been going on for weeks?" I nodded.
Randomly, other questions came into my head. I guess if I'm spilling my guts about the nightmare, I might as well say everything else that was on my mind. "Dad, why don't we have any windows or mirrors? Does it have something to do with the nightmares?" My dad didn't say anything, so I kept asking questions. "Why can't I go outside? Why won't you tell me what I look like? Why won't you look at me?"
I thought my dad was going to start crying, but he just took a deep breath. "I guess I can't hide it from you forever. When you were born, the doctor said there was something… off about you. So your mom stayed in there for an hour with the doctor trying to figure out what was wrong with you. Eventually all the noise in the room just stopped, so I went in to see what was happening. You were fine, but your mom and the doctor were just… frozen. They didn't have a heartbeat and they weren't blinking. No one could explain it. They tried for days to wake them up, but eventually they told me to just take you home. So I did.
"For months nothing happened, you slept most of the time and life went on for me without your mom. But my break ended eventually and I had to go back to work. I got a babysitter for you and left. When I came back, I saw the babysitter feeding you all sorts of food that you weren't supposed to eat. I yelled at her, but it was like she couldn't hear me. She was in some sort of trance. Hypnotized. Eventually I called the police and they snapped her out of it. They asked her a few questions but she said that she didn't remember anything. She didn't let anyone into the house, it was just her and you.
"Then the same thing happened to me the next day. I was getting ready to give you lunch when I looked into your eyes and went into some sort of trance. I woke up five hours later. That's when I realized what was going on. Your eyes froze your mother and the doctor and hypnotized the babysitter and me. I don't know how, but you did. I didn't know what else your eyes could do, so I locked you in the house, removed all the windows so you wouldn't do anything to anyone else, and removed all the mirrors so you wouldn't do anything to yourself."
I tried to process what he was saying. But all I heard was that I hurt people when they looked at me, just like the nightmare. "I killed mom?" I whispered.
"You didn't mean it Adam. You had no way of controlling it." That didn't make me feel any better. I killed my own mother. I'm a monster.
"Dad," I asked, "what do my eyes look like?"
My dad kept his eyes locked on the TV, but he looked like he was deep in thought. "I don't think that they were one color. It was like your eyes were the sky, they were blue with patches of white in them."
For a while we just sat in silence, just staring at the TV. I guess neither of us really knew what to say. I could only think about how I killed mom and that doctor. The voice started chanting in my head again, killer, killer, killer. Tears burned my eyes. My dad gave me a small hug. "It's not your fault Adam."
"I killed them."
"You were just a baby. Besides, I should've tried to help you, not just lock you away from the world. I promise, we're going to figure out a way to make life normal for you."
I wanted to ask him if it was possible, but I was crying to hard.
That night, I had the nightmare again. Only this time the only person there was my mom. When she died, I cried. Pretty typical night for me at this point. I woke up and looked at the clock. Ten twenty. I guess I slept in. I walked to the kitchen and there was already a sandwich sitting on the table. My dad was sitting eating another sandwich while reading the newspaper. He looked over and smiled at me, or at least the bottom half of me. "Hey sleepyhead. Glad to see you're finally awake. I made a PB and J sandwich for you if you're hungry."
"I can make my own sandwich," I said. When my dad goes to work, I pretty much fend for myself. I've gotten pretty good at making sandwiches.
"I know, but normal people don't leave four year old kids home alone to make their own sandwiches. So I thought it would be a nice change." He took another bite of his sandwich. "Today's the day Adam. We're gonna make your life normal." Wait, he was actually serious about that?
After we ate, we changed into clean clothes and brushed our teeth. Then my dad opened the front door and the light practically blinded me. I waited for him to leave, but he just stood there with the door open. "C'mon Adam, I'm not gonna stand here all day." I stood there in shock for a moment. He wanted me to go outside! I practically ran out the door. My dad led me to his car and we got inside. "Now Adam," he turned around from the drivers seat, "Until I tell you you can stop, you need to look down." So I did. I felt the car moving, and music started playing.
"Dad, where are we going?" I asked curiously.
"You'll see soon Adam," he replied.
"What are we even doing?"
"I have an idea that might help you."
That was it. He wouldn't say another word. Eventually I got bored of staring at the grey carpet on the floor. "Are we there yet dad?"
"Soon Adam."
"Now?"
"No Adam."
"Now?"
"Adam, stop asking or we'll never get there."
After what felt like hours, we finally arrived. My dad opened the door and told me to hold his hand. I kept looking down, so I could only really see my feet and the sidewalk. My dad led me into a building where the sidewalk became white tile.
We wandered around the store for a bit, then another voice started talking. "Can I help you sir?" It sounded like a girl.
"Yes," my dad's voice responded. "Can we see your darkest pair of glasses?"
"Right this way sir," She paused for a second. "Is there something wrong with your son?"
I held my breath for a second. I wouldn't have to look up, would I? Luckily, my dad had it covered. "He's just really shy. C'mon Adam. Say hi to the nice lady."
"Hi," I said quietly.
She didn't reply. We just started walking again. "These are the darkest pair we have," she eventually said. "I'm not sure if you could even see the person's eyes if they were wearing these."
"We'll take them," my dad told her.
After my dad paid, we walked back to the car. When we were both inside, my dad handed me a bag. "Put them on Adam," he stated. I took out what was in the bag; a pair of pitch black sunglasses. I slipped them on. Alright, everything was darker. How is this supposed to help me ?
"Adam, look at me," my dad said.
Was he crazy? I shook my head. "I don't want to do something to you."
"Adam, please?"
"Nuh uh."
"Adam, trust me. Just look up."
I gave in. I looked up, waiting for my nightmare to come to life. But it didn't. My dad just looked me in the eye and smiled. Wait, he looked me in the eye! "You're okay!"
He gave me a hug. "It worked!" He got out of the car and opened my door, "Adam, I think it's time that you finally see the world."
I jumped out of the car and looked around at the street. Cars were going back and forth, people were walking or talking on phones, and there were a couple trees in between shops. I looked at my dad and hugged him. "It's even better than it is on TV!"
My dad smiled at me. "Welcome to the normal world Adam."
