Black-Eyed Kids: The Complete Series

by Miranda Hardy

  His aura beckons me, like a lighthouse calling to lost boats. Tony collapses to his knees. Pressure builds up behind his eyes. The vessels start popping one by one, and it’s like I’m watching it all in slow motion. The blood oozes out of the white crevices slowly, spreading like mini-fireworks around his pupils.

  Tony’s head tilts back and his mouth opens, inviting me in. I lift him into the air with one hand with ease, like he’s a feathery pillow, until he’s eye level with me. That’s when the energy starts flowing between us…well, out of him and into me.

  It’s exhilarating, refreshing, satisfying…every word I can think of doesn’t even come close to the exotic rush entering each and every inch of my body. The hairs on my arms stand straight up as if each one is being charged with pure electricity.

  The hum of static lessens with the increase in energy, heightening my senses. I can hear the sounds of the moths circling the street lamp a hundred feet away, and I can even smell the sweet aroma of the coffee from the corner café three blocks away. I feel strong enough to fly like Superman.

  I feel invincible.

  This is higher than any high I’ve ever had in my entire life.

  The flow stops abruptly, and the withering body in my hand slips to the floor at my feet. I breathe in the last shred of energy from Tony’s life force. The hunger is gone, and I feel so alive.

  My brain starts processing a million different things at once. The conversation taking place three doors down, the noises in the woods behind the shack, the moist night air seeping in between the cracks of the windows…I can sense all of it at the same time.

  “Shiitake! What a rush,” I say out loud.

  I let my body relax. My foot hits something on the floor, and I look down at Tony’s lifeless husk of flesh. Other than the dried blood near his closed eyelids, his body doesn’t show any wounds or anything. He’s now just a cold dead body like Mrs. Ashe was.

  When the other BEKs like Astid feed, they leave nothing behind. Huh. That’s weird. Makes clean up so much easier. Now that my high is starting to fade, I feel bad looking at Tony’s pathetic body. The paleness of his skin makes him look ten years older than he actually is. He had aged while I sucked his soul.

  I wish he had just turned to ashes instead.

  Is that what happened to Tarick? That’s probably why the cops never found his body.

  Crap. Now reality slaps me in the face. What if the government agents find out about this from the news or the cops? They will know the BEKs are still here. We can’t afford to have them finding us again. Why was I so careless? How did I let this happen?

  Tony wasn’t a great guy. He probably wouldn’t have lived much longer had he kept up his habit, but I’m the one who killed him. I’m a killer.

  I killed, and I liked it.

  Now I need to do something about all this evidence around me. I can’t lead Level 6 back here. Even though I knew we’d have to leave town, in the back of my mind, I thought maybe we could still hide out. Maybe still leave the city, but stay close enough to come back and visit.

  Forget that. No way.

  I scan the filthy shack in desperation. What can I do to get rid of the body? I see his bong on the coffee table next to a few lighters, and then I know exactly what I need to do. I need to burn the evidence, and fast.

  I take the lighter and go to the bedroom. I grab a bunch of old newspapers off another small table and make a huge pile on the bed. The papers catch fire, but the flames die out pretty quickly.

  The smoke fills the bedroom and the smoldering fire disappears. I run to the kitchen and go through all of his cupboards and drawers. There’s got to be something in here that will catch fire.

  After a few tense seconds, I find a bottle of lighter fluid. I shake it, and I’m worried that there’s not enough. I hurry to the bedroom, pour what’s left of the lighter fluid on top of more newspaper and a few cardboard boxes, and bam! Fire!

  I pick up Tony’s body and toss it on top of the burning bed. There’s just enough lighter fluid for me to get the curtains and the couch. I light them both up and run the hell out of the back door and head to the tree line.

  Boy, the fire spreads quickly. Flames start busting through the screens on the windows, and the roof begins to crumble within just a couple minutes.

  I watch the fire consume the house until I hear the faraway sirens of fire trucks coming toward the burning shack.

  As I make my way through the trees, I’m still not able to relax. I’m still afraid that Level 6 will trace this back to us, but that’s not what’s bothering me.

  It’s guilt.

  Guilt about enjoying my first kill.

  My senses are alive, but I can feel them weakening a little bit already. Talk about a total buzz kill. I’m no longer going to be a druggie, but I’ve got a new addiction. And I’ve got the feeling that the more I feed, the more life I’m going to want to take.

  How does Astid control this, especially after having sucked so many souls before? No amount of food can mask this desire forever. Now I’ll need to figure out how to hide this from the others, especially Maverick, and learn how to control the hunger.

  6

  MARCUS

  WITH EACH STINKING step, I’m feeling even guiltier. I imagine a little devil and angel fighting inside my head. Of course, my angel is now growing horns through her halo. When I’d killed Cadence, I understood that the Cadence I had the hots for no longer existed. And she was about to kill Maverick.

  Taking Tony’s life was different. It felt good.

  Holy shiitake. I am a monster.

  A shiver runs through me and there’s not one hint of a breeze blowing through the trees. The bugs seem to keep their distance as if they sense the evil inside of me.

  Without even thinking about where I’m going, I end up on the path in the woods heading to my house. Instead of turning around, as I should, I continue down the trail. It’s so late, I should be all alone out here.

  Hopefully I am, because I’m not sure what I will do if I run into some poor idiot out on a midnight stroll. Just call me Count Chocula.

  Heavy clouds gather overhead, making it look like it’s about to storm. I’ve hardly ever taken the time to look at the sky, but with my heightened senses, it looks creepy as hell tonight. There’s not a single star in sight because of the cloud cover, which is disappointing. Maybe with my super night vision, I would have been able to see the stars much better. Oh well.

  When we were younger, my mom thought it would be cool to have me and Robby officially name a star. Robby was still pretty little, so his choices consisted of Mumma or Fluffy Bird. I was a little terror of a kid back then, so I just kept yelling at her to name it Fart Monster. After an exaggerated sigh, she said, “Fine, we’ll compromise and name it Fluffy Fart.”

  Somewhere out there is a star named Fluffy Fart, and I hope aliens don’t live on it, or they would be called Fluffy Fartlings. Now that I think about it, I’d rather be a Fartling then an Earthling. I never did tell anyone about that either. I never bragged to my classmates about the star or anything. I guess I just always wanted to keep that between me, Robby, and Mom.

  I haven’t thought about that in years, and I’m sure Robby doesn’t even remember it. Mom wasn’t so bad of a mother. She was always busy working and running around, but she loved us. She probably feels like crap that I’ve gone missing. Knowing her, she probably blames herself for me being kidnapped and killed by a cult.

  The path comes to an end, and the streetlights in the neighborhood light up the area ahead. I’m not even sure what time it is, but the silence makes the street look eerie. It reminds me of some of those old-fashioned horror flicks Mom used to watch. For some reason, they always loved to show the scenes with the empty streets right before the monster smashes into someone’s house and eats them.

  One movie had something about killer clowns from outer space in it. These freaky alien clowns held some sort of toy train parade down a darkened street where they trapp
ed all their victims. I think they also wrapped them in cotton candy and sucked their life out with giant pink straws.

  Shiitake. I’m the damn killer clown. And cotton candy does sound good right about now.

  At least that’s the only thing I’m hungry for. After Tony, I feel like I can go a while without feeding. But how long will it be until I can’t stand it any longer and my hunger gets the better of me?

  Who knew the black-eyed kids were just the druggies of the monster underworld?

  My house is less than a hundred feet away, and I stop to stare at it for a while. A big part of me wants to run inside and say, “I’m here. I’m alive and you don’t have to worry about me. I’m sorry I scared you.”

  But I can’t do that. I can’t involve Mom and Robby in this mess.

  Reaching out with my mind, I sense Mom and Robby both inside. Mom’s anger shines brightly. She keeps thinking about what she can do to keep Robby clean and out of trouble. She’s positive that he was up to no good tonight, but he didn’t admit exactly what he was up to. His fear and mumbling made her think he was hopped up on dope.

  Luckily, I had stopped him from screwing himself up this one time.

  Mom’s also worried that Robby’s going to turn out like me. He’ll get into trouble and then disappear. Or maybe he’ll end up dead in the street. The dark thoughts I pluck out of her head wear on me. She imagines my dead body rotting in some ditch where no one will ever find me.

  She thinks another pill will be helpful and pops one into her mouth before heading to her bedroom.

  Robby is in his room, not able to sleep. He’s wondering what the hell was out in the woods. He reminds himself that he was sober when he felt that evil presence out there. My presence. He thinks maybe the woods are haunted or something. Oh crap, he thinks that Bigfoot or the Skunk Ape are out here. That’s funny.

  I guess it makes sense since I had let out that freaky scream. I can’t believe that that sound had come out of my mouth. Weird. I had become a wild monster scaring them shiitakeless.

  Robby is swearing that he’ll never do drugs…ever. He’s done with that crap. He thinks it was God shoving sense into him and giving him another chance, because whatever was in the woods wanted to take his life.

  Even for me, that kinda makes no damn sense. But whatever.

  Maybe I scared him enough to stay away from getting high, but still. It hurts to think that Robby will never know the truth. He will always believe that I did abandon him and Mom forever.

  Now he’s thinking about me, and my stomach turns hard as a rock. Robby feels just like he did when Dad left. He believes the cops aren’t looking too hard for me since I was just a loser-stoner. But maybe they’ll find out what happened to me if they ever find Cadence.

  Shiitake! I never even thought about Cadence’s parents.

  I smear the tears on my face with my hand. There’s no way I can ever make this right. Mom and Robby can’t know I survived and became this soul-eating monster. I’ll never be able to make it up to them either.

  Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Robby. I do love you both very much. I love you enough to let you go.

  I turn and leave the house, knowing that I’ll never be able return.

  IT’S AMAZING how time just flies by. The sunrise threatens to jump over the horizon, and I hightail it back to Lisa’s so I won’t be missed. A million different excuses begin to bombard my thoughts, and I worry that every one of them will bomb big time. Crap. Astid, and now Maverick, can read minds.

  How can I possibly cover-up what I did? They will know it as soon as I think it, and then what? Will Mav kick me out of his circle because I killed someone? I’m already on thin ice because of his mother, even if he knows I didn’t really do that one.

  Even though I saved his ass, he’s still afraid of me. I can sense his fear every time he looks into my black eyes. Lisa, too. They’re all waiting for me to go crazy and suck their souls.

  I’ll have to continue to play dumb, keep my head full of nonsense -crap and never again think about what I did to Tony.

  With the thousand things going through my mind, I enter the front door very quietly, shutting it behind me, and resetting the alarm. Maybe I can get some sleep before everyone else wakes up.

  After I turn away from the alarm keypad, I come face to face with Astid. She looks straight at me, and I can feel her invading my mind. Damn, she’s like a psychic ninja! I can’t hide my thoughts or my guilt from her.

  Her black eyes widen, and I know instantly that she knows everything I’ve done.

  7

  MARCUS

  SHIITAKE! I SAY in my head, remembering the others are all sleeping.

  What have you done? Astid asks through her thoughts.

  I reply, Well, although I’m not the brightest bulb on the bush, I’m pretty sure you know.

  I suck at the whole lying thing, and since she already sucked my thoughts from my brain, I figure it’s a waste to try to fake her out.

  Mav’s going to be pissed.

  You took someone. She puts both hands on my shoulders. Marcus…

  I know. I messed up big time. I couldn’t control myself. Are you going to kill me and suck the life out of me like you did that other BEK?

  From reaching into Maverick’s mind, I knew what had happened when Astid went postal on one of those other black-eyed kids in the woods. She might look like a little girl, but this chick could easily break me in half and turn me to dust.

  Marcus, calm down.

  “Holy Shiitake!” That’s it. I’m done for.

  She slaps me and covers my mouth with her hand. I’M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU, she yells in my head. Unless you don’t cease all your scattered thoughts and listen to me.

  My shoulders relax and I take a step back. Okay, chill. I’m calm. No eating Marcus today, please.

  Yes, I know what you have done. I also understand why you did it. Astid takes my hand and drags me to the kitchen.

  Astid points to the chair and I sit. She takes one of the sodas out of the fridge and sets it in front of me. The sugar will help you.

  After taking a big swallow of the sweet drink, my chest instantly relaxes. I didn’t realize how tight I had been. Panic attack is over.

  Thanks.

  You’re welcome. Astid sits down across from me. You feel remorse. In the beginning I, too, felt that same guilt. I felt like I had no choice. And that grief continued to build for years. I was very young when I took my first life. Even after all these years, despite my resolve to stop killing, pushing aside the hunger is the most difficult thing in the world.

  I take another swig of soda. Astid projects images into my head, and I let the pictures play like a movie. I can actually see Astid as a little girl. Holy crap. She’s gotta be around four or five years old.

  It’s her first kill. She’s replaying it for me.

  Her eyes are not only black, but huge. Like they’re too big for her little head. And she’s terrified. She knows what she’s supposed to do. The scientists at Level 6 are watching her from a one-way glass window.

  Astid is locked in a room with some guy. A murderer. This dude is one evil monster. He’s killed children. Many children. Damn. And these Level 6 lab coat douches put him in a room with little Astid.

  The guy licks his lips and reaches out to grab her, but he stops dead in his tracks. Astid has a mental grip on him, and the anguish brings the dude to his knees. He’s pleading with her, begging her to let him go.

  Astid puts her tiny hand on his head and begins to drain his life force.

  The horror movie playing in my head suddenly stops.

  Holy shittake.

  I wish I could tell you that the hunger will pass and fade, Marcus, but it won’t. The need will always be there, eating at you day after day.

  Well, that’s great. I take my head in my hands and lean into the table on my elbows. I’ll forever want to suck people’s souls.

  You can control it, Astid mentally says.

  Control? How
is that possible?

  I think about my drug induced haze days of the past. Giving up the hash wasn’t easy for me. But that was just weed. The high from killing Tony took me higher than any drug I’ve ever taken.

  Astid reaches over and pats my hand. I didn’t say it would be easy. It’ll be the hardest thing you’ll ever endure. Trust me. But keeping the hunger at bay is better than dealing with the guilt of killing innocents.

  Tony wasn’t innocent. I shake my head remembering what he did for a living and how he gave Robby drugs and booze.

  Humans do all kinds of crazy things to one another, don’t they? Astid asks, thinking about how drugs ruin lives. Regardless of their shortcomings, none of them deserve to die at our hands. Even though it doesn’t seem like the world is missing much with the absence of Tony.

  No Shiitake! I say. Do you think Mav’s going to be pissed about this? He’s all hell-bent on taking down those goons that did this to us, and I’m not too sure he’ll ever forgive me if he knew what I’ve done.

  Astid sits back and looks at me, gauging my thoughts. Maverick doesn’t need to know. It probably would push him over the edge right now. He’s not used to being able to read minds, yet, and I think he’s experienced enough grief these last couple of weeks. Let’s just keep this between us.

  I project my doubts over to her. Yeah, trying to keep things from him is going to be damn near impossible. Pretty soon he’ll figure out I’m not the fun-loving screw-up he used to know. I’m not even sure I know who or what I am anymore.

  Marcus, you are the same person you always were, Astid reassures me. Level 6 scientists tried their best to fully convert you, but for some reason, it didn’t take.

  I nearly laugh out loud. Yeah, it’s from my heavy drug use. I guess it made my brain slippery.

  Astid cracks a smile. You make me laugh when you describe things. You see things so differently from anyone else. There’s things you can do to harness your thoughts and keep them to yourself.