Real Monsters

The first time it happened, It was a rumor that spread throughout the entire school. Apparently, the father of a student who attended our school was found to be a drug dealer. This was the first time anything like this had ever occurred in our town. Usually, nothing interesting ever happened. Therefore, this occurence was all the rage. I remember some classmates clammering "Yea! Mr. Alloy was caught with weed! He ran right into the police station with a joint in his pocket!"

I was confused at this story. What right minded person would show up and reveal themselves to the police like that? I felt bad for the classmate whose father was being rumored about. His name was Marco. I decided to be the person who made sure he was okay.

"Hey....I'm really sorry about everyone...you know...talking about your dad...." I went straight up to him. "It's okay.....they just think he's an idiot. They don't know the full truth." He sighed. "Oh....full truth?" I looked at him confused. "Bill....look...the reason he went to the police department was...because he saw something. I saw it too." Marco shook. "Okay....what happened? What did you see?" I asked. "You won't believe me. I wish my dad was the only one who saw it. Then, I would blame the weed." He sighed again. "Hey...I'll listen...don't worry about me not believing you." I comforted him. At this point I had no idea what I just got myself into. Marco sighed again, struggling to form his memory into words.

"Someone rang the door bell. It was midnight. My dad was in the garage with a joint. I was up in my room. I thought it was weird that the door bell was ringing at that hour. It freaked me out. I thought maybe I imagined it. But it rang twice. I looked out my window. Standing there, looked to be some kid in a jacket. His hoodie was up. I felt a little relieved, hoping it was maybe a kid who got lost. I went downstairs....I felt uneasy as I went to the door. I opened it and the kid spoke to me. He said "excuse me, may I use your phone?" Marco shook.

I didn't understand what was so frightening about a kid asking to use the phone. Marco continued.

"I didn't know what to say. It was just a kid but I couldn't talk. I tried to tell him something along the lines of 'do you need me to call your parents?' But the kid....in this weird....robotic tone....asked to use our phone again. I told the kid to wait right there. I wanted to get my dad. I told my dad that a weird kid was at our door. He followed me from the garage. Once back at the front door, the kid was still there. But this time....he stepped into the house. My dad asked the kid "hey bud? Do you need us to call your parents for you?" The kid then said nothing. We all stood there, waiting for the kid to talk. We asked the kid his name. Then...the kid...he looked up...and....god...." Marco began to tear up.

"What....what did you-" Marco cut me off. "The kid had pitch black eyes. No whites. Just darkness. My dad grabbed my hand and we ran out of the house. We bolted past the weird kid and got into the car. As we ran, we could hear that kid....no that thing....screech at us. We drove to the police station...and...my dad forgot he had a joint sticking out of his pocket. My dad couldn't explain himself. The police figured my dad had smoked too much. I couldn't talk either. All I could do was remember that kids cold white face and pitch black eyes." Marco shivered.

I was shaken by this story. It was outlandish, but Marco's delivery was so genuine. I couldn't question it. I immediately mentioned that perhaps it was some sort of a twisted prank. Marco then said "that thing's screech was so loud it shook the ground. It was not human."

After that, I didn't talk to Marco for a while. We weren't really close friends. But, we still had the kind of relationship where we could confide in each other every now and then. I felt like Marco and I were in on something that is far more intriguing than a man who smokes.

The Mr. Alloy buzz died down by the next week. For a while the school was not fixated on a scandal. I thought this would be the end of it. However, a new gossip worthy event all the sudden occurred again.

This time, a woman showed up to the local police station. She was battered and bruised. Oddly enough her complaint was not about her beaten body. It was about how there were some kids outside who hadn't any parents with them. The police investigated the neighborhood for parentless children. Of course, the children were never found. However the police turned their attention on the beaten woman. It later turned out that she was the wife of a local congressman. He was convicted of domestic violence and attempted murder. Everyone couldn't believe that a congressman would be so evil to attempt murdering his wife. They all talked about how happy they are he is no longer in office.

As for me, all I could think about was the fact that the woman saw "parentless kids outside at midnight." That sounded a lot like Marco's story. Some kid was outside his house at midnight. The poor woman was so afraid, that she went to the police station in person. If she saw children outside, I would think she would simply call the police and ask for some officers to check on the kids. The strange thing, is how she felt the need to flee her home.

These two incidents sparked a dark and dreadful time for our community. Week after week, people were being thrown into jail. The crimes that were being committed became more and more extreme. Of all the crimes, Marco's father was the least concerning. Sure, it's illegal to smoke pot. Thankfully, Marco's father didn't end up in jail. As for the rest of the convicted citizens, they were all found guilty of ludicrous things. Plenty of murder, abuse and rape convictions plagued our community. Trust was lost and fear was driven into our everyday lives.

Through all of this, I wondered why people hadn't experienced anything like the Alloy's had. All of the convictions that were popping up within our community were eerily similar in beginning. Someone running to the police, and revealing the truth about themselves or someone they know. In some way, the police somehow disregarded the person's panic, and found a way to discover something else.

I found out that a fellow classmate named Alice, had a mother who was convicted of child abuse. I again, wanted to comfort Alice since at the time, her mother was being rumored about. I felt bad that she was being abused for all these years and no one discovered it until now.

"Yea....I just....I was done. I was so hungry that I began to hallucinate. I opened my door, thinking the doorbell rang. I hallucinated this weird little girl. It was such a scary hallucination. I finally decided that it was time for me to stop my mother." Alice reveled. "So....you...hallucinated from hunger?" I knew that most likely her story was simply referring to the same phenomenon Marco experienced.

I didn't want to freak Alice out, so I didn't tell her that what she saw might not have been a hallucination. I knew I had to talk to Marco again.

Marco and I sat outside of the school alone. I was relieved when he said he was noticing the same pattern I was. All of the convictions were centered around people being so scared, that they run away from home and go to the police station. Their arrival at the station only causes the revealing of a greater problem. We were both confused as to why and how it was all happening.

Marco mentioned that he tried googling the creature he saw. He said "I think they are the black eyed children. It's crazy, there are so many stories just like what happened to me. A weird kid asking to come inside who later reveals that their eyes are black." Marco showed me an array of stories and articles that were posted about these encounters. I felt it was a shame the paranormal activity in our community was being over shadowed.

It was Friday, so I went home and decided to stay up and watch movies. The evening turned to night and for a short while I forgot about what Marco and I were conspiring about. Mighnight crept by, and I felt myself wanting to go to bed. I stood, and began to go down the hall which leads to the front door. My staircase is right across from the front door, so naturally I was headed in that direction.

Suddenly. The doorbell rang. I froze, not knowing what to do. I felt a sense of panic. I knew that most likely, a strange child was at my door. I was not scared of the fact that a creepy child was most likely there. I was afraid of what this child's presence actually meant.

I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to go to the door. I told myself to ignore it. However, during my thoughts of denial my feet kept shuffling to the door and my arms reached out to unlock and open it. Slowly, I let the door creak open. "H-hello?" I stuttered.

"Hello. May I use your phone?"

There he was. This skinny kid in a black hoodie. I could see his legs were very pale. He stared at our welcome mat.

"Uh.....Uh....." I choked. I couldn't talk.

"May I come in?" The kid asked. The voice was very plain and monotone. It wasn't like a kids, nor like an adults. It was in some strange middle ground.

"I know why you're here." I forced out. The kid then looked up at me. As expected, the kid had two black eyes. They looked like they were made of plastic. His face was pale and he had grey little lips. "Let me in." The kid said three words but his lips only moved twice. "You don't understand. I know why you're here. I'm not scared of you. I'm scared of what will happen if I go tell the police about you. They will somehow find out that a person in my family is actually a criminal, right?" I blurted. The kid just stared at me blankly.

"W-well....well what now?" I choked. "Let me in. I will show you." The kid spoke again. I was hesitant to do this. "Uh...okay...okay fine..." I opened the door wider. The kid came into the house with one large step. He stared into my house, then suddenly walked fast down the hall. He dissapeared around the corner. I shivered, not knowing what this freaky child was doing. A bit later, he showed up again. He stood at the end of the hall. He made a come hither motion with his boney little finger. He stared right at me. I nodded and slowly walked towards him. Once I was halfway to him, he walked down the hall again. He led me to the kitchen, then to the basement door.

"The basement?" I questioned. "You are not allowed." The child said simply. The kid was right. My father never allowed me into the basement. It was his office. "Are...are you saying...." I couldn't speak. I was no longer afraid of the kid. This odd child, was absolutely nothing in comparison to who my father was soon revealed to be.

I opened the basement door and flicked on the light. The kid latched onto me, hiding his face into my arm. He felt really cold like ice. He was afraid of the light. "It's okay bud....I'll turn off the light." I flicked the light off, and the kid moved from latching onto me. I took a flashlight out of a drawer in the kitchen. I illuminated the stairs which led to the basement. "Stay here..." I told the kid. This time I wasn't shivering from seeing the weird child. This time I was shivering at the sight of my own basement. I walked down, my flashlight dimly lighting a small amount of space. I got to the bottom, and reached for the string which connected to the lightbulb. I flicked it on, and screamed.

I stumbled back up the stairs and panicked. I grabbed the phone off the wall and dialed 911.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"Please...please....my basement...there's...there's..." I could hardly speak. I wanted the kid to be there so I wouldn't feel so alone in this. My father and mother weren't home. I felt horrible for calling the police on my father. But I was so afraid and alone. The kid had vanished.

"Calm down, and tell me as slowly as you can." The operator instructed.

"There's a bunch of dead people in my basement."

I cried, the imagery stained in my head. My own father was hiding a slew of dead bodies right under our noses.

After that, my father was sentenced to life in prison. My mother and I moved out of the house, but stayed in that neighborhood. I became closer to the Alloy family. Mr. Alloy became a father figure to me. Marco was like a brother. My mother was still my mother. But, it took her years to recover from the fact that the love of her life was secretly a monster.

Over time, the wild convictions which plagued the town died down. This meant that the black eyed children had their fill of our town, and I found myself devastated over this. Those kids were like angels. They made me realize that real monsters are not the ones who are ringing our doorbells night.

Reviews

[AbsintheandBlood]

Creepy af again - I heard of black eyed kids. I will get nightmares cause of this now.

[SweetNutmeg]

Oooh! That seriously creeped me out! I love a good scary story. I might have enjoyed a bit more fleshing out of character interactions and setting the scene. I never got a clear picture of what anybody looked like, except the creepy kids. I really liked the detail about the creepy kid feeling cold as ice, when he hides his head in the narrator's arm. I would have liked more details like that. That being said, this is a top notch creep-you-out story. I am glad I live alone and that I haven't done anything illegal recently. Not even smoke a joint, lol. No creepy kids ringing my doorbell.

I hope.

[HadesRising]

It's a story based of a urban legend, the black eyed kids, they actually exist, according to many online reports, thank you for you're feedback.