Evil Eyes

Evil Eyes

     Monica stared up at the dark storm clouds in front of her. She closed her eyes. The dark cloud behind her let loose with a big, and loud, thunder bolt.

     “Did you cause that to happen?” Dectective Gregory asked as he walked up to Monica. He was looking up at that dark cloud as he said it.

     “Do you really think I have magical powers that let me control the weather? I don’t. It’s just a coincidence.”

     Gregory looked down at Monica. “There has been another death. It happened last night near here.”

     Monica opened her eyes. Gregory stepped back a little. “You think I killed him too.”

     “I didn’t mention that the victim was a man. How did you know it was a man if you didn’t kill him?”

     “He wasn’t a victim. I am.”

     Gregory had to practically run to catch up to Monica after she started walking toward a small house nearby. “I know what you went through when you were a child. That’s why I also know you killed this one.”

     Monica stopped and turned toward Gregory. Her eyes narrowed into small slits. “You don’t know what happened to me. My father owed them a lot of money. When he couldn’t pay it back fast enough they showed him what could happen if he didn’t pay it back.”

     “When I figured out what all of these deaths had in common, besides of how they happened, I re-investigated what happened to you, and your family, almost twenty-five years ago.”

     “You forgot to mention the main thing they have in common. They were all rich. That’s why they were never arrested for what they did to me.”

     “There was nothing they could do. The investigators did question them. They also questioned your father. The investigators knew what really happened that night. They wanted him to tell the truth. He still insisted it was just an accident.”

     “It wasn’t any accident. They did it on purpose. That’s the reason why he didn’t tell them the truth. He knew if he did they wouldn’t be punished first because they were rich and second because they would come after me and do worse than they had already did to me.”

     “What exactly did happen that night? I know a lot about it, but not everything that happened.”

     Monica thought about that for a minute. Gregory could see how hard it was for her to talk about it - in her eyes. He shivered a little. “You don’t have to do it if it’s still too painful to remember.”

     “That’s not why I’m hesitating. I just don’t know how to say it. It will always be painful. I’ve have to live with what happened to me since I was eight years old.”

     After taking a breath Monica continued. “They threw some kind of a burning chemical on my face. It was so bad I have had to live behind this mask ever since then. I don’t think they meant it to be that bad, but it was. They should have been punished for what they did. The only reason they weren’t is because they were rich.”

     “Is that why you started killing them? Why did you wait until now to do it?”

     “I’m not saying that I killed anyone. After what they did to me do you really blame me for doing it though.”

     “No, I don’t. I’m sorry about what happened to you – especially because of your age at the time. It doesn’t excuse you from what you are doing now. You need to stop it, and you need to stop it now.”

     “Do you know how it feels to grow up with a mask on your face? It’s bad enough being teased and tormented when you are petite. It is even worse living in a mask.”

     “I don’t know how you feel when it comes to a mask, but I do about the teasing and tormenting. Except in my case it was because of me being tall. Kids can be so cruel.”

     “It’s not just the other kids. It started with them, but the adults in my life aren’t much better. That’s why I live outside of town.”

     “Go on. I’m listening. Tell me all about it. It will help you to heal.”

     “What are you talking about. I don’t need any healing.”

     “I think you do. Isn’t that why you are killing them. What I don’t understand is why you waited so long to do it.”

     “If I was doing it there would be several reasons why I waited so long. The main one is that it took me this long to make enough money to get my revenge.”

     “It sounds to me like you are confessing it doing it. We both know you did it. It’s only a matter of time before I can find what I need to stop you. It would be better for you to stop it yourself.”

     Monica reached her house. She turned toward Gregory who had been by her side when she started walking back there. “That makes death number seven. Which means there are three more left that need to be killed.”

     Gregory looked into her eyes. He practically fell off the porch stepping back. “You have evil eyes. Is that how you are killing these men?”

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     After putting a plate of food, and a drink, down on a table Monica sat down in a chair in front of it. Before she started eating she glanced around her. Then she removed her mask and placed it on the table beside her plate. “Computer, have you found the other three yet?”

     “It has taken me a long time to find the others. They went into hiding after the fourth one got killed. I did find them though. At least I did two of them. The third one I should have by the time you get your revenge on the other two.” Monica’s computer sat on a desk behind her.

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     “It’s been very hard finding them. When they went into hiding they scattered everywhere. No one has seen them since. They are still making their millions though. That’s how I have able to find them.” Monica continued staring at a small mansion not too far from her as she talked to herself.

     Monica looked into each window of that mansion. “So far I haven’t been able to spot him. In fact, I haven’t seen anyone in there. No one at all.”

     It was several hours later, according to the sun setting, that a car pulled up. Five men got out of it. Four surrounded the fifth one as they walked up to the mansion – an enter it.

     Once inside the protected one gestured the others to leave. They separated in different directions as the fifth one entered a small office. Just as the door closed behind him a chair behind a big expensive desk swung around. Monica sat in that chair.

     “I was wondering when you would be back. I’ve been waiting for you. You don’t have to worry about your bodyguards coming to your rescue. I locked them out. They will be able to get in here, but by the time they do it will be too late.”

     Monica got up and walked to the front of that desk. She leaned against it - but her has were free. “I just wanted to show you, like all the others, what you all did to me before I kill you too.” Monica removed her mask.

     A few hours later, according to a clock on the wall, Gregory was leaning over a dead body. The local cops where there too. “You don’t have to tell me how he died. I already know.”

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     “For a long time I wondered why there was so many of you that showed up that day to threaten my father. It’s because my father was a Martial Arts instructor. Do you really think he couldn’t have killed all ten of them if he had wanted to?”

     “The only reason why he didn’t is because you were using me as a shield. He still could have if he wanted to – especially after what you all did to me. I’ve always been surprised he didn’t. Do you know he didn’t?” Monica sat in a big overstuffed chair in another office. It was a lot smaller than the last one. Her mask was already off of her face.

     A man about fifteen years older than Monica sat behind another big expensive desk. He had a shocked look on his face. his eyes were practically popping out of his head. That man’s mouth was also opened. A little bit of a white substance dribbled out of it.

     Monica got up – and looked out the window behind her. What she saw was a small lake through a lot of trees. “Hiding in a cabin in the middle of a forest. No wonder it took me so long to find you.”

     Gregory walked through that door. He took one look at the body and stepped back a little. That body looked the same as it did when Monica was there.

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     “I have wondered how much money my father owed them. It took me a long time to find that out, but I finally did. He wanted to borrow fifty thousand to start a third dojo. The banks wouldn’t do it because he didn’t have any collateral. So he went to the Mafia. I know it’s not called the Mafia anymore. That’s always how I am going to refer them as though.”

     Pacing around a small living room Monica looked out a large window. “I see you like to live like I do. In the middle of nowhere.”

     Monica looked out that window for another minute. Then she turned to a man tied to a chair in the center of that room. She removed her mask. When she did the man reacted with a shocked look on his face. His eyes bugged out too – and his mouth opened. With his mouth opened Monica opened her. A jet of a white substance shot out of her mouth directly into his.

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     When Gregory got to that house Monica was still there. She was sitting on the couch. Her mask back on her face. “Why are you still here? You could have been long gone by now like the last nine times.”

     “There’s nowhere to go now. I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do. I’m ready to confess.”

     Gregory thought about that for a minute. “I have been chasing you all over the world since that first killing. Why do you want to confess all of a sudden?”

     “Because I can’t live like this. I have only lived this long to get my revenge on those that did this to me.”

     “How did you do it? That’s probably what I want to know most of all.”

     “That chemical didn’t just burn my face beyond recognition. It also changed it. I don’t know how it happens, but whenever I eat or drink something it becomes that chemical which I can shoot out of my mouth.”

     “I found that out the hard way. One day I got sick, and before I could get my mask off, I threw up. Luckily I am immune to it when it comes to killing me. It did burn my face though. After some experimenting I figured a way I could use to kill.”

     “When my father died about five years ago under mysterious circumstances I knew they were behind it. That’s when I decided to get my revenge against them for what they did to me. Now I had a way to do it. I could burn the inside of their bodies like they did my face.”

The Word Count, including this line – and title, is 1,977