《Eyeblind》 Chapter 1: Cold School Gray Hollows is always the same. There are no special occasions that bring at least a drop of happiness. Just a grayscale. Everyone¡¯s eyes are limited from seeing most colors. We are like zombies, but aim lower. That¡¯s us. Colors aren¡¯t the only thing we don¡¯t view. Depending on genes, we are limited from seeing one part of the human face, that either being eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. We can always see hair, but it all looks like a different shade of grey from our point of view. But not for the Seekers. Seekers are born with vision that is all seeing. They can see everyone¡¯s face in its entirety. They can see color too. They get to enjoy life as it is, as long as they don¡¯t get caught being a Seeker. They are forbidden from Gray Hollows and are subjected to execution for being all seeing. Well, Reese has one problem. Sometimes the Seekers in the family go by generation. Not always, but they did this generation and fate made Reese the one. ||| ¡°Father, why do Seekers exist? Why couldn¡¯t we have everyone be the same?¡± Reese asked his father at the supper table the night of the full moon. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know, son. That¡¯s just how it is, I suppose, but if you are ever associated with a Seeker, you better tell me so I can put an end to it.¡± his father replied with little emotion but Reese could tell he meant what he said. Reese was one in a million really. He stared at his father intently, able to see all of his face, and his brown hair and blue shirt. The rest of his family was sight-seeing, which means that they could see everything but someone¡¯s eyes, which could be proven as inconvenient, at least more inconvenient than sound-seeing. Sound-seeing can be pretty neat looking in Reese''s opinion. ¡°Mother, can we lock Reese in the closet again?¡± Piper, Reese¡¯s little sister asked before she stuffed her mouth with mashed potatoes. ¡°Piper!¡± their mother scolded. ¡°That was one time sweety. That was one time when we all agreed that we didn¡¯t want to see Reese and one time only. Plus, honey,¡± Reese¡¯s mother peered at his father, ¡°you won¡¯t have to end it because someone else can end it on New Years.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I felt violated at that point. I still didn¡¯t quite understand what I did to deserve being locked in the closet. All I know is that my family was a bit too eager to shut me in the darkness that fateful night. Piper groaned at her mother¡¯s response and left her chair. I went back to eating. Sometimes, I just wished I was normal. And if everyone else knew I was different, they would too. And I mean everyone. ||| Three Days Earlier I was shaking when I entered my school building on Monday, June twenty-third. I gripped my school bag with anticipation but also petrifying fear at the same time. I was glaring around for no reason, peering at the eyeless students walking around the socially awkward kid in the middle of the hallway. Something seemed off. Something always seemed off. Maybe I was just siking myself out at that point. I felt the faint blare of the bell pound on my eardrum and my heart jumped out of my chest. It was kind of ironic, being that my heart jumped out of my chest and then stopped completely for a few seconds. I couldn¡¯t breathe and I couldn¡¯t help but start running to the bathroom, an impulse that I had had ever since I was little, the impulse action when I felt like throwing up. I practically kicked the bathroom door open and went for the closest stall to my right. My eyes hurt from looking at the blinding white all around me and stung from hovering my head over a toilet bowl. Good times. Ten minutes that felt like an eternity went by and I clutched my stomach. In that moment, my stomach was like a tube of toothpaste that you were trying to get that last little bit of substance out of. I started giving myself gagging thoughts so this hell could end. ¡°Fuck me.¡± I stalk into the similar blinding white, empty hallway and stumble toward my locker, still trying to shake off that last bit of sickness in my chaotic stomach. I could feel my jaw locking up and I was freezing under the air conditioning. For some weird and unexplainable reason, my school building kept the air conditioning on year-round. Even in the cold, harsh winters where it is one hundred percent unreasonable. Kids would go home screaming and crying because of the hypothermia, which they caught from just being present in the school building. Kids would have to wear heavy and bulking fur coats and winter jackets all day. I had, of course, forgotten my patten leather, fur-lined coat that I would have to wear everyday. My eyes were still hurting and the pain was getting unbearable at that point. I just wanted to claw my eyes out, it hurt so bad. I rushed back into the bathroom and stared into the soul of my reflection, watching my eyes as the pain became more intense. I blink hard a few times. There was a transparent, liquid leaking from behind my eye, coming from the eye socket. I tugged down on my lower eyelid, seeing the liquid starting to gush now, spilling out onto the sink and mixing with the sink water and soap, creating gray toned suds. The pain was getting a bit better now, but the liquid just kept coming. My vision began to blur, as my face became clearer and clearer. And the liquid became less and less gray. It became colorful. The suds had splashes of red, green, and purple. It was, frankly, beautiful. But the situation and the sight became ugly when I realized what this meant. I was a seeker. And I needed to figure out how I was going to get out of this alive. Chapter 2: Love At First Death I partially walked home from school that day, freaking out. People were walking around, doing normal things. Talking about New Years, talking about New Years, oh yeah and don¡¯t forget talking about New Years. I was hyperventilating and was out of breath from riding my bicycle before stopping and walking with my bike. Things were weird with my vision, my eyes were still in pain and my vision feels like it was hydro dipped with a million different colors. My mind was flashing with different thoughts, my brain was walking down the thought road and when we got in front of a certain address, my brain had a panic attack. I can¡¯t not imagine my father shooting my brains out and onto the rock I was hiding behind. Splat. Shivers go down my spine in the center of the road. I felt like I was going to be sick again and took a few deep breaths. You¡¯re dead. Don¡¯t try to change that. You¡¯re dead. I slammed the door behind me after dinner that night, 3 days after my ipiphony came out at school. I was crying because I knew that I was a goner come New Years. I needed a plan to get out of this. I could just not tell them that I was this generation''s chosen one. No, I¡¯m afraid that wouldn¡¯t work. They would be able to tell after a while. That glint in my eyes, noticing me staring at their now colored hair. It¡¯s really hard not to stare at people¡¯s traits now that they are in high definition. It looks so much better, but it¡¯s also frightening, being that every time I¡¯m caught staring, I could be exposing myself, and it¡¯s another reminder that I have less than a month to live out my life the way I want it, before I die mercilessly. ¡°Hey, Reese!¡± my heart skipped a few beats as a feminine voice spoke from behind me. I turn around slowly to meet a beautiful girl with blonde hair and dimples. ¡°Hello. I-I¡¯m Reese. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you too! I¡¯m Leila. I was out here because my mother and father were making me hand out flyers for New Years. Like anyone didn¡¯t know about it. But anyway, here!¡± She handed me a bright blue flyer with bubble letters spelling out: ¡®New Years Seeker Slaughter: we kill because we care¡¯. My heart starts to beat faster. My hands were starting to shake but I stabilized them before Leila noticed. I smiled awkwardly and spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± I started to tremble again, and I whipped my hand behind me. ¡°No¡­problem. Well, I better get back to my home. I was only supposed to be out for an hour and it¡¯s coming on two hours now. Bye!¡± Leila waved at me and trotted away. I let out a sigh. No. I couldn¡¯t have these feelings. I heard a knock on my door. It was a female voice that reminded me of my encounter with Leila a few days prior. I whipped up from my bed, tear streaks partially dried on my cheeks. I wipe the liquid from my eyes and get up, stumbling to the door, as if I was drunk and had been stumbling out of a busy bar. I swing the door open. It was my father, looking just as he did ten minutes ago, not a rinkle different. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Hello, buddy. Let¡¯s chat.¡± He walked past me and sat down on my firm bed. He motioned for me to do the same. ¡°What do you want? I¡¯m busy crying so this better be important.¡± I spoke as if I wanted him to leave, yet I sat down at his request. ¡°Son, I¡¯ve always known something about you.¡± he said, shifting his position slightly facing me. ¡°You have?¡± My heart started pounding like a hammer hitting a nail into a two-by-four. I knew I was a goner. I knew he knew. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve always known that you haven¡¯t been very fond of New Years. And I understand why you wouldn¡¯t be happy about the occasion.¡± he replied calmly. I let out a long and hard sigh, to the point where he stopped speaking and peered over at me, dazed and confused. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I bat my eyes at the wall a few times before looking back at him. ¡°Yeah, sorry about that. My stomach was nauseous.¡± I said, spitting out the first excuse I could think of in the short period of time before my father would make the whole conversation about why I sighed for so long. ¡°Anyway, I know you don¡¯t like New Years. I know how you are feeling because I used to be you. I hated New Years when I was your age. But now, I have no choice but to embrace it. If I didn¡¯t, you know what happens to me right?¡± he paused and looked at me. I was having trouble finding the answer in my head. He could tell. ¡°Remember the rhyme.¡± he begins to sing the rhyme we learned in school. ¡°If someone in your family doesn¡¯t embrace the day, then that member of the family goes away!¡± he sang in a mediocre singing voice, with a toothy smile on his face. I smiled back at him awkwardly before going back to fretting in my own thoughts. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you alone for a while. We will put leftovers in the fridge when you are ready to come out.¡± my father said as he hoisted himself up from sitting on the edge of my low-to-the-floor bed. I bit my bottom lip. I didn¡¯t want to come out. But I knew I was going to get hungry at some point. Things were different now. I had to protect my own life now. I wasn¡¯t going to be an audience member anymore. I was going to be a survivor. Whether my family liked it or not. The Next Day I walked into my classroom the next day feeling worse than the day before. I didn¡¯t forget my jacket this time. But I felt like shit. I didn¡¯t know why. I heard a scratchy voice start speaking over the loudspeaker as I sat down. ¡°Hello students of Gray Hollows Middle School. This is Mr. Gredge,¡± the man said. It was my father. ¡°I have an important announcement to make for New Years. The person with my most kills by the end of New Years will receive a cash prize of $500,000. More information will be given as it becomes relevant. Thank you.¡± I felt sick. I was going to throw up again. I ran out of the classroom and to the closest bathroom. I let my body take over in this hell and it all began to come out. I accepted my fate. I was going to die.