The Eyes of the World
A Friday 13th "Eye See You" horror short story
As Lewis lay back on the lounger, and closed his eyes, the dancing dark shapes once again floated across his vision. Like tiny black worms slithering past his retinas.
He sat forward and removed his sunglasses.
For the next few seconds, the high Mediterranean sun seemed to bleach everything bone white, as if he had woken in a monochrome world, from which any hint of colour had been burned away in the roaring summer heat.
Tears trickled down his cheeks, and he wiped them away distractedly, trying not to get sand on his face.
The resort snapped back into focus, like a Polaroid picture given a final shake, and he could see the kids splashing in the sea, staying close enough to the beach just like they’d told them.
Amy reclined on the lounger next to him. A large umbrella was keeping her in the shade. She was always more careful when it came to her skin. He wanted a decent tan to go back and show the boys in the office to prove he had actually been on holiday. Otherwise, what was the point in going anywhere? She had been resting with one hand behind her head, and the other holding a book with a garish cover picturing some kind of monster running through a misty graveyard.
Reading was too much like work to Lewis, but why Amy insisted on reading all that horror rubbish was completely beyond him. Who the hell liked being scared?
His wife sensed his discomfort and looked over.
“Everything OK, honey?”
“Yeah, I’m …”
What could he say? That, for the last two days, when he shut his eyes, he’d been seeing strange little wriggling lines?
This was their first proper family holiday for years. He didn’t want to ruin it by making her worry.
Plus he looked it up online. It was probably something called posterior vitreous detachment which was one of those things that sounded far worse than it was. So he would keep quiet for now.
“I’m fine. Bit too warm probably. Going to play with the kids for a while.”
“Well, you will lie in the sun,” she said going back to her book. “Have fun.”
And he did have fun. Jumping about in the waves and chucking the ball back and forth with Susie and Ronan had lifted a weight from his shoulders. Gradually, the stress of the last few months was melting away.
As he made his way back up the beach to their plot, he flicked residue water from his fingers at Amy who shrieked in faux outrage and threw her sun hat at him.
“See, told you it would be fun.”
He nodded contentedly and lay down to rest after his exertions.
As soon as his head dropped back, the lines appeared again. But this time, instead of fading away, they came closer, becoming cohesive, a dark shape filling his line of sight.
Then, a high pitched keening sound began to pierce the air, like a washing machine on too fast a spin. I’m having a stroke thought Lewis frantically. That has to be it. The heat and the stress. I need to get a doctor.
He tried to sit up. Tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t move.
The shape was growing. Becoming mass. Rising up out of the churning, broiling sea.
Worm like tendrils morphed into dark writhing tentacles that sprouted from a seething black mountain of lizard like skin from which multiple eyes were being birthed into existence with an explosion of milky amniotic fluid and spouting sea water. They swivelled and fixed on where he sat watching in exalted terror. The giant slavering maw of endless teeth devoured chunks of the clear blue sky leaving gaping holes of nothingness floating in the cosmos. This was the eater of worlds, the scourge of reality from whom all universes trembled. Earth’s time had come. It had to answer for its disobedience. Retribution would be swift and complete.
Lewis wanted to scream. Was desperate to tell Amy and the kids to run. To escape. At least for a while. There would be no final mercy, but they might have a chance. Not here. Here was its killing ground.
With a gargantuan effort, he lifted his arm to point at the horizon as the screeching sound reached fever pitch, and an excruciating pain began to thunder in his skull.
Amy put down her book and looked over to her husband who she initially thought was pointing out something the kids had done, or maybe they needed help. However, they were still happily running through the surf laughing and joking. Then she saw his mouth was open in a silent scream, and her heart took a painful jolt. The warmth of the day instantly replaced with an icy chill.
“Lewis?!”
No answer was forthcoming but his outstretched arm begin to twitch and shake as if it was taking all his strength to hold it in the air. The shuddering spread across his body and his sunglasses jittered on his face, but didn’t fall off. A low groan began to come from deep in his throat like a wraith rising from its tomb.
Getting to her feet, Amy took a step towards Lewis, reaching out her hand to comfort him, when blood began to run from his nose, first in light drops that plopped onto his bare chest with a pattering sound like a leaky tap, and then in a slow steady stream that trickled into his mouth so his groan became a gargled grunt. She stumbled backwards and watched in horror as rivulets of blood began to run from under the dark lenses of his glasses.
Oh my God! What is happening to him?!
Her thoughts spun incoherently, trying in vain to push away the all consuming terror that was smothering any hope of rationality. Should she run for the kids? Protect them from whatever was happening to their father? They shouldn’t see this. Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!
As quickly as it had started, the shuddering stop and Lewis’s blood drenched face slowly turned towards his wife.
In a burbling, choked voice, he said. “It’s here.”
Then his head exploded.
Bone, brain and gore splattered into Amy, knocking her off her feet in a wave of viscera and violence.
As she fell onto the soft sand she could hear people all around her screaming and running in panicked horror. But she kept silent. Silent and still.
Another noise had caught her attention.
Off in the distance. A high pitched keening sound. Faint, but getting closer. Hypnotic and ethereal. Terrifying and transcending. She lifted up her head to listen.
Slowly everyone else on the beach settled down and did the same.
Waiting with joyful wonder for its arrival.
On the horizon, small black lines appeared. Thousands of them slithering with one purpose. To find their place. To become One.
The sun blinked out.
It was here.
This was my entry for the Friday 13th Eye See You writing competition from : -
Thanks as always to for organising the competition and for inspiring me to write this story.
Can we also take a moment to admire the incredible artwork that was created for me by . Isn’t it just truly magnificent. Thanks so much to Dan for his excellent work, which I asked him to do at very short notice and he still managed to create this wonderfully horrific monster from my story.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading. Until next time.
The horror was so realistic, Dan! Loved it!
Oh my. This was perfect, Daniel! Jeez. The skip and swivel was so gorgeously executed!! Write. Longer. More. Often. Man oh man. You've made a dark heart so happy today!