Black Eyed
 
The leaves were painted in vibrant colors, red and yellow hurricanes winding out from under the tires, but Kenya couldn’t sit still long enough to enjoy it; she was restless.  Between the two adults hung a tension so strong it threaded itself like the silky strings of a spider web.  It wasn’t always like this, in fact it was only weeks ago when they were discussing names for their baby to be; but that seemed like a lifetime. 

The small car swerved around the corner-- resembling the oak leaves twirling around in the autumn breeze-- and pulled into a slot nearest to the hospital doors.  The engine cut, and the couple swung out almost immediately, meeting behind their orange coupe. 

“Hey, easy there.” Alex placed his hand on her lower back and pulled Kenya closer to him, as she swayed on the spot. “Are you okay?”

“Yes I’m fine,”  She snapped, bringing her free hand up to her belly, “Just a little car sick.”

After their recent argument Kenya wasn’t about to give Alex another reason to think ill of the baby, and if that meant lying to him, so be it. Although, in reality, she was not fine; there was an agony in her stomach that hadn’t ceased since the first of Alex's dreams, which was obviously a coincidence...right?

They walked across the hall, and ended at the plush purple chairs, strewn out in a semi-circle around the check in desk, each accompanied by their own small table stacked with magazines. Kenya sat down, but Alex continued walking until he reached the desk in the center.  He started up a conversation with the far too perky woman, but Kenya wasn’t listening; she had grabbed a prescription bottle out of her purse and was shoveling the painkillers into her mouth before he could turn around.  By the time he did turn back, she had composed herself with no trace of her recent addiction.  Unlucky, now she had the shakes.

Alex accompanied her down the dim lit hall towards the doctor's office where Kenya would get her ultrasound.  They walked into a room to face an unfamiliar doctor and yet again, far too perky nurse. She was laid down on one of the paper covered beds by the nurse, and exposed her pregnant belly. 

“I’m so sorry, my warmer isn’t working; Do you want me to go do it in another room, or do you mind it cold?”  Asked the nurse, her voice sweet, but behind it Kenya could tell she was nervous. 

“No, it’s fine”,  Kenya shot back, she just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible; The pungent smell of hospital had already become overwhelming.
Kenya flinched as the icy gel was squirted across her abdomen, all while the nurse repeatedly apologized for the chill; which only irritated her more.

The doctor didn’t notice Kenya’s irritation for he was busying himself with the ultrasound machine, however Alex did, and tried to stoke up a conversation with the fretting nurse.

“So, how long have you been working here?”  He asked with fake curiosity.

“Oh, not long.”  She answered with a shrug.  “I'm kind of a newbie, only been here for a couple of weeks.”  She opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off by the doctor announcing that the machine was being difficult (but hopefully) got it to work.

The nurse bounced up from the chair, and the doctor sat himself besides her, beginning to rub the grey/blue cylinder across her stomach in small circles.  Kendra hadn’t seen him clearly before-due to his examination of the ultrasound machine-but now that he looked at her head on she had to stifle a giggle.  He had a bald head and a droopy mustache that hung just above his chin.  His eyes were framed by bushy brown eyebrows and wrinkled bags underneath.  Over, all he reminded her of a forlorn hound dog.

Kenya could tell that she wasn’t the only one who noticed his strange appearance, because when she glanced over, Alex had his eyebrows raised slightly and was smirking.  But in an instant, his expression changed from amused to concern, and his head whipped towards the screen in front of them.

Her eyes slowly shifted across the the room to the television screen revealing what was going on in the womb, which displayed total darkness.  The doctor continued to maneuver the machine across her abdomen until a clear image blinked into view. 

The baby was sitting upright in the womb, and seemed to stare directly at them, it's hand pressed up against her stomach.  Protruding from its small, fat fingers were long dark nails that reminded her of a dagger.

The screen blackened again, and the doctor tried to laugh it off, but his voice quivered.

“Ha, ha, ha… there must be something more wrong with the machine then I thought.”  He said smiling, but it was strained.  He continued to move the tube around until another picture flickered in.

Now it’s hands were pressed up against the the side of Kenya’s stomach, fingers wide.

Her heart pounded so hard it hurt, and Alex sucked in a breath.  Nobody spoke until the nurse whispered something so soft, if the room wasn’t so quiet her words wouldn’t have been audible.  “The eyes...they’re, black.”

*   *   *

“We’ve been through this, the machine was already struggling to work.  It was just a technical difficulty!”  Kenya insisted for the hundredth time that night.  The entire car drive Alex had brought up the ultrasound, giving ridiculous assumptions on what happened.  

“You saw, what I saw.  Do you really think that it was just a ‘technical difficulty?”  Alex’s voice was raising, his temper threatening to take over.

“Yes, I…”  Kenya started to reply, but was interrupted by another of Alex's outbursts.

“No, you can’t.  In fact, I think that the only reason that you’re still denying, is because you’re trying to convince yourself.”  He had closed the distance between them and was hovering about a foot above her.  His eyes were blazing while his index finger shook accusingly in front of her face. 

Now she was mad, and her green eyes reflected the furry in Alex's, maybe more. Kenya pushed with full force, and he stumbled backwards, catching himself at the last second.  Just in time, he glanced up to see Kenya’s black hair whip around the corner. 

Alex’s feet pounded so hard on the carpet, the pictures rattled on the walls.  He peeked his head in the crack of the bathroom, only to find it empty, and continued moving down the dark hall.  When he finally reached the master bedroom, Kenya was shoveling folded outfits into a suitcase, her eyes still flaring.

“What, are you doing.”  Asked Alex in a slow voice, his tone shaking with rage.

“Leaving,”  She responded, her voice equally as harsh,  “I’m going to move in with Mom.”

“You can’t leave”  He said incredulously, as if it was the most absurd thing he ever heard.

“Watch me.”  She fired back, shooting him a warning glance before continuing with her packing.

Alex stepped out of the doorway, meeting her beside the bed in one stride.  Eyes narrowed to slits, he placed two finger under her chin and snapped her head upwards, so hard her teeth knocked together.  Kenya was so startled by the sudden cruelty that she forgot to push away and instead met Alex’s glare with surprise.

“I won’t let you leave,”  He breathed into her face, grabbing her forearm violently.

Kendra’s heart was knocking rapidly against her chest, and despite her greatest efforts her voice shook with fear.  “Let go of me, or I will call the police.”

Alex removed his hand quickly and took a step back, shaking his head with confusion.  “I don’t know what happened…”  He started, but was cut off by Kenya’s brisk farewell.

“Goodbye Alex;” She said, and strutted out the room and into the hallway; leaving behind Alex’s pleas for forgiveness.

*   *   *

About a week had past since Alex and Kenya had severed their relationship, but that hadn’t stopped Alex from turning up at the front door, yelling warnings about the baby to come and violently banging at the walls.  Once, he went so far as to bring a large butchering knife, and circled the house screaming threats until Kenya’s mother called the police.  A restraining order was placed on him, and he spent several days in jail, until his father baled him out.  That was the last update that Kenya had got on Alex, not that she cared much.
In the meanwhile Shelley--Kenya’s mom--, Kenya and Brooke--her best friend--spent the majority of their days planning for the baby to come, which was only a few weeks from now.  Shopping for baby supplies was difficult, considering they didn’t know the gender, but they did their best to pick neutral colored clothing and baby blankets.  So far they had gathered  everything that a baby might need...and a little more.  Kenya had settled on the name Evelynn Shea Parson for a girl, and Dexter Jay Parson for a boy.  They had all agreed that keeping Kenya’s maiden name was best, considering that Alex and her would most likely get a divorce.
Everything was going as it should, in the day, but at night the darkness was full of uncertainty and fear of the future, the baby and even if she didn’t want to admit it, Kenya was afraid of Alex and what he had become.  His bizarre dreams drove him mad...the same dreams that were haunting Kenya’s nightmares.  They all started the same...The child tearing through her stomach, but after, it kills several people, and begins to spread the evil to other children.  But just before she wakes, a pair of solid black eyes flash in front of her, consuming her sight until hers too are black and unseeing.  At first Kenya had blamed it on the drugs; which she was still taking; but after they continued to progress a new fear settled in the back of her mind.  What if she was wrong...what if the baby was a demon?

*   *   *

Her thumb presses the small red button at the tip of the controller, and the television screen blinks into darkness.  Still the news said nothing about her mother’s disappearance, or if she had been found.  Maybe they thought she wasn’t worth the trouble...   Biting her lip, she picks up her phone off of the armrest of the couch, and diles the personal number given to her by one of the police officers.   Though the last time she called was only a couple of hours ago, Kenya can’t stop her fingers from scrolling through her contacts until they reached a single name.  Barney Vincent.  She tapped the call button, and waited for only three rings before a voice sounds on the other end.

“Hello?”  Barney asks, his voice is almost overcome by the noise on the other end, yelling it sounded like.

“Hi Barney, this is Kenya...again, just wanted to call about my mom; Shelley Parson?”  Kenya asked, not even bothering to keep the fear out of her voice.

“What a coincidence, I was just about to send someone over to talk to you…”  His voice trails off, Kenya’s heart leapt into her throat, any news that starts like that can’t be good.

“Is she okay?  Is she in the hospital?  What’s wrong with her?  Have you even found her yet?  Barney, answer me!!”  Kenya is yelling now, fear clutching her chest.

“I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this,”  He starts slowly, “We found your mom behind the old pizza restaurant, she was all scratched up... had bite marks and deep gashes all over her...She’s gone.”

She couldn’t take it anymore; and hung up the phone before Barney could try to soften the story with his pity, if not anything else she hated pity.  Kenya sprinted to her room and threw herself onto the bed, her body began to shake in sobs.  The pain was too much.  An idea struck,  she and began clawing at the nightstand; red faced and mascara stained cheeks, Kenya looked like a mad woman.  Her tears made her vision swim, but the pills were worth it...   Sadly, the drug only work for physical pain...not emotional.

*   *   *

Kenya had called Brooke over to to her house, she couldn’t handle the death by herself.  Brooks two children kept the two of them busy, and helped distract her from the loss, but they couldn’t stay there forever. 

“Hey Kenya, I need to take Char to school; do you want to come too?”  Asked Brooke as she grabbed the keys off of the rack.

“No, It’s alright--do you think that while you’re in town you could grab some milk too?  I think I have a ten around here somewhere…”  Kenya replied, and headed over to her purse to grab a few bills.

“Yah thats fine...are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”  Brooke asked, pausing in her hustle to look Kenya's way.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” She assured, with a forced smile.

That was all the reassurance she needed, and in a second Brooke had loaded her two children--Ash and Charlotte--into the car and was pulling out.

Kenya walked into her room and started scrolling through facebook, trying to pass time.  Suddenly, she doubled over in agony, clutching her stomach.  These sharp pains had become more and more frequent, lasting longer every time.  Reaching over to the nightstand, her hand dug through it until it closed over as small prescription bottle.  She leaned back, and unscrewed the lid of the her reliever...only to find it empty.

“Ahhhh!” she screamed, half frustration, half from the fire in her abdomen. 

Throwing the bottle at the wall, Kenya scrambled to call Brooke on her phone.  It took her almost ten minutes to just find her contact while still squinting in pain.

“Hey Kenya, find something else we need from the store?”  Asked Brooke playfully.

“Brooke…”  She squeezed out, “I think I’m going to have the baby.”  And that was all she could manage before the shaking in her hand caused her to drop the phone on the floor.  There was no way she could grab it...she was on her own.

*   *   *

Brooke had been in checkout when she got the phonecall, and without hesitation she left.  Making one stop to drop off Ash at a daycare, she raced through town toward the house Kenya stayed in.  Brooke slammed on the brakes, barely missing the fence as she skidded into the driveway.  Before she even opened the door the pitiful wails sounding from inside the house could be heard.  They continued for a second while her hand fumbled with the lock, but then...everything went silent, completely soundless.  That was worse then the screams… 

When she finally did manage to unlock the door, it was then a hurricane of sounds, doors slamming, her feet pounding, pictures shaking… And most was done intentionally to break the eerie silence.   Brooke peeked from door to door, trying to pinpoint where Kenya might be, until she came to the last door at the end of the hall, Kenya’s room.

Hesitantly, she pushed the cracked door open slightly, but soon wished she never had...  Shredded skin littered the sheets, forming from the torso of the mangled body.  Blood poured over the sides of the bed frames, spilling into the floor, and continued coming until not even the carpet had time to soak up the pools.  Handprints leaded away from the streams...no not just handprints, footprints of the same skarlet liquid that spilled from Kenya’s dead body.  Each print was small, like a small infant...but that wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be.  It trailed over every surface, all the walls, even the ceiling.  Blood smeared over the white paint, trails of it across the ceiling...even the air held the overwhelming stench of it.  She prepared to run out of the room, but movement caught her eye.  The hair of Kenya’s remains seemed to quiver, as if something were moving underneath it.  Her entire body screamed RUN but curiosity overcame the thought, and she found herself stepping towards the body.  All too soon Brooke was standing at the side of the bed, but the movement had stopped.  Brooke lifted a shaking hand to the bloodied locks of hair, and gingerly she pinched the end of a strand and flipped it over to the other side.

A small pale body began to crawl out from it’s hiding spot, and it slipped out onto into the middle of the bed.

She shrieked, partly from surprise and partly out of fear.  The creature froze at the sound, pivoting its body to face her.  Black claws portrayed from the stubby finger tips, and its head hung sideways, almost upside down as though it couldn’t  support it by himself.  It lifted its hand slowly and placed it just below its jawline.  Gradually it pushed its head upwards, until the neck was bent at an awkward angle to face her.  The creature had no lips, the skin slid into a row of black teeth, angling down into a point.  Its eyes were completely black. 

Brooke turned and bolted back down the hall in search of a hiding place, which in this case, the basement.  Bounding over two flights of stairs she turned into the storage room and began to push the boxes of food from underneath the the tall metal shelves until a vacancy big enough for her body to fit was made.  She army crawled into the slot and sat for only seconds until a noise sounded from above.  A crashing of glass, and the scratching of claws running on carpet sounded from the story above, drawing closer and closer.  It paused just above the last staircase, but only for a second.

“Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud,”  pounded down the stairs, and continued to the door way.  The claws of the creature clinked on the tile until it reached the spot where Brooke was hiding.  His head slowly turned with the help of its clawed hand, and for too soon it stared directly at Brooke with its taunting black eyes.  Jaws opened.  Hands outstretched.  It leapt forward, and everything went black...