Odd Eyes

By Vandita Srikanth Reddy

Zaria Millers had a beautiful smile that enraptured everyone that masked up her pain.

She was a single child of the rich Millers. She had beautiful locks of black shiny hair, rosy pink lips and chubby cheeks. She was the type of person who was silent but with the closest people. The physical quality of her that captured everyone were her lovely doe-shaped eyes that captured childlike innocence. She loved art and was a talented dancer and singer. However, she loved acting. It was her passion and dream. The feeling of being on stage and playing roles like ‘’Fern’’ from Charlotte’s Web or ‘’Matilda’’ from Roald Dahl’s ‘’Matilda’’ always enthralled her……Except that the only two people who were against it were her grandparents- Wilson Millers and Sandra Millers.

They also convinced her parents that acting could damage and ruin her career along with her life. They were manipulative and calculating. Her parents- Raymond Millers and Rose Millers were gullible and naïve. They were not independent and constantly needed help from the grandparents to help raise Zaria. They thought that Zaria was always in good hands when the grandparents came. Wilson and Sandra never liked Zaria initially, but over time figured out that they could use her talents to their advantage. They abused her mentally by shouting at her for being useless. Sometimes even the parents would join.

The only person who was really good to her was Lily, her best friend who knew literally everything about her and her family. She is an orphan and lived in an old and demolished house. She and Zaria would walk together to school. The Millers only allowed her as the only stranger in the house. Lily was a tall, dark and skinny girl with black curly hair. She has been friends with Zaria since 10 now both of them are 16

One day the Millers invited her to for a three day vacation at Saint Mario Riverdale Mansion for the weekend to which Lily agreed.

Once they reached, however on seeing the mansion they all got perplexed. It was dingy and almost demolished. The parents furiously yelled at the owner asking if it was some sort of a joke. The owner only had a creepy smile and said this what they had rented. Before the parents could say anything the owner just disappeared. They brushed it off and entered without a choice.

The interiors were fancy, somewhat like from the vintage mansions of the 1800s. There was gold and red wallpapers with cobwebs everywhere. There was even a fancy chandelier in the living room.

The Millers were happy and thought that the interiors sufficed for the horrid exterior. Soon it became dark,

Zaria and Lily were playing cards in the library. Suddenly Zaria excused herself and said that she will be back in 5 minutes. Lily agreed. She looked around the library. There were lots of old books on the shelves. One book caught her attention. It was a dark coloured book with silver lining. Lily opened the book and noticed the pages were pretty old. Flipping through them she saw that through out the pages there was some mysterious handwriting which she couldn’t make out.

Suddenly Zaria busted in. Her face was paler than before. She looked like she had seen a ghost. ‘’Zaria! Are you alright? Here sit down! Have some water!’’ Lily exclaimed pouring her a glass of water and giving it to her. ‘’I…I saw something’’ Zaria gasped after drinking the glass of water. ‘’ It was some sort of a shadow like thing’’ ‘’ Shall we tell your parents?’’ Lily asked in a concerned manner. ‘’ If you want.’’

………….’’ So you are telling me that my sane daughter saw some sort of like a ghost!’’ yelled Rose ‘’Honey calm down, I told this Lily girl is a bad influence on our daughter’’ said Raymond disgustingly, shaking his head. ‘’ Exactly! I am telling you! Zaria requires no friends! I told you it’ll ruin her overall career! said Sandra. ‘’She is saying the truth! I did see something!’’ ‘’Quiet girl you shall not speak! ’snapped Rose. ‘’Get back to sleep you will be having your dance practice for your upcoming competition soon’’ But I don’t want to dance I want to act begged Zaria ‘’ shut up’’ was the response she got

Suddenly the entire house started shaking. All the lights switched off. ‘’What is this!’’ yelled Wilson ‘’We payed so much for this house! What is wrong with it!’’ Few minutes later the lights went on however Zaria wasn’t there’’ Where did the brat go’’ yelled Sandra’’

‘’She is over there’’ said the owner suddenly ghosting in. Everyone rushed in only to find her standing like a statue ‘’ Zaria you idiot! Open your eyes and come back here!’’ yelled her father.

Zaria opened her eyes. To say the least…. they were….odd…..One was fully black while the other was white. The Millers and Lily were shocked. Suddenly the owner turned into some sort of a demon with a blood red hat and a black dress and yelled at the Millers. ‘’ You fools ! You wrecked this child’s life!’’ ‘’ Her heart has been shattered and broken by you!’’ ‘’ It is a parent’s duty to be there for the child and support he/she whenever they need you!’’

Tell me! Where were you when she nearly drowned in a pool aged 4’’ The Millers could not say a word. ‘’That’s right’’ the demon said sarcastically. You were chilling in a lounge. Not caring about the fact that your own CHILD was drowning!’’ Tell me where were you when your child was being bullied in front of you aged 13’’ ‘’Ho-How do you know all of this’’ cried Sandra, completely scared. ‘’Wrong Answer! You laughed like maniacs and even told the bullies to bully her even more!”

“Please! We won’t do it again! We will apologise! We will Change!’’ cried Rose. “Too late!’’ said the witch and turned them into stone. The demon then approached Lily. ‘’I am her guardian demon’’ “You have been there for Zaria when she needed you the most. I trust you now that she is in your hands. Take care of her and stand up for her. True friends like you are rare to find’’ The demon then vanished and Zaria’s eyes became normal again. ‘’What happened to me?’’ asked Zaria while rubbing her eyes’’ ‘’Nothing! ‘’ smiled Lily with tears in her eyes. You are finally free!’’ Zaria looked at the stone staues and gave the most beautiful smile on her face. This time the smile was real.

By Vandita Srikanth Reddy