THE CURSED EYES

The accident didn’t sound like metal. It sounded like something breaking that wasn’t supposed to break. Rain fell like needles from the sky, stabbing the windshield in relentless waves. The wipers struggled back and forth, back and forth but it wasn’t enough. The road ahead blurred into a smear of light and shadow. Harith tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Just a little further…” he muttered under his breath. The highway was nearly empty. Streetlights flickered in uneven intervals, casting brief flashes of yellow across the wet asphalt. Each light came and went like a blinking eye. Watching. Waiting. Then, Something moved. A shape. Not clear. Not human. Just… wrong. It crossed the road too fast for his mind to understand. Harith’s breath caught.His body reacted before his thoughts could. He swerved. The world shattered. The car spun violently. Tires screamed against the soaked road, losing their grip. The steering wheel jerked from his hands. Metal twisted. Glass exploded inward like a storm of knives. And in that chaos. For a split second. He saw it. Not on the road. Not outside. But Inside the car. Something was sitting in the passenger seat. Its face. Too close. Too pale. Its mouth stretching wider… wider. Then, Impact. Everything went black. When Harith woke up, the world was gone. There was no darkness. No shadows. No shapes. Just… nothing. At first, he thought he was still dreaming. Because even darkness has weight. Even darkness feels like something. But this? This was emptiness. “Mr. Harith… can you hear me?” A voice pierced through the void. Soft. Careful. Too careful. Harith tried to turn his head, but pain exploded behind his eyes or where his eyes should have been. “My…” His voice cracked. “My eyes…” Silence filled the space between them. Heavy. Uncomfortable. “We did everything we could.” Those words didn’t sound like comfort. They sounded like an ending. Days passed. Or maybe weeks. Time didn’t feel real anymore. Harith learned his new world through fragments. The cold metal of the hospital bed railing. The rhythm of footsteps passing his room. The faint scent of antiseptic that never seemed to fade. And the silence. The silence was the worst. Because sometimes It wasn’t silent at all. At night, when the hospital quieted down and even the machines seemed to breathe softer… Harith heard things. Not sounds. Not exactly. Presences. Like someone standing at the edge of his awareness. Too close. Too still. He would turn his head instinctively. But there was nothing to see. Nothing to confirm. Nothing to prove he wasn’t losing his mind. “Hello?” he whispered once into the empty room. Something whispered back. Too faint to understand. Too real to ignore. Sleep didn’t help. Because in his dreams.. He could see. But what he saw… Was never right. Figures stood in places that didn’t exist. Faces blurred, melting at the edges. Shadows that moved even when nothing else did. And as always there was something watching him. Not from far away. But close. Leaning. Breathing. Waiting. Months passed before the word hope returned to his life. “Harith.” The doctor’s voice felt different that day. Less distant. More… careful. “We found a donor.” The words hit him like a sudden rush of air after drowning. “A donor?” His voice trembled. “You mean... I can...? ". “Yes.” The doctor paused. “A full transplant. Cornea and internal structures. It’s… complicated. But possible.” Possible. That word lit something inside him. Something desperate. Something dangerous. “Who is it?” Harith asked. The pause came again. Longer this time. “The donor wished to remain anonymous.” Something about that answer didn’t sit right. It felt… incomplete. Like a sentence cut off before the truth could finish forming. But Harith didn’t push. He didn’t want to push. Because hope… Was louder than doubt. The surgery was scheduled within days. Everything moved too fast. Forms. Tests. Voices explaining risks he barely listened to. All he could think about was seeing again. Seeing light. Seeing faces. Seeing something. The operating room was cold. Harith lay still as they prepared him. The air smelled sharp sterile, artificial. Machines beeped softly in the background, steady and precise. “Try to relax,” someone said. Bright lights shone above him. Even through his blindness… He could feel them. “Count backwards from ten.” Harith swallowed. “Ten…” His heart pounded. “Nine…” A strange feeling crept into his chest. “Eight…” Something wasn’t right. “Seven—” A whisper cut through the room. “Don’t open them.” Harith’s breath hitched. His body tensed instantly. “Did you hear that?” he asked, panic creeping into his voice. No one answered. “Six…” The voice came again. Closer this time. Right next to his ear. “If you open them… they’ll see you too.” “Stop—” Harith tried to move. But his body wouldn’t respond. “Five…” Darkness swallowed him whole. When Harith woke up. The world returned. Light flooded his vision. Blinding. Overwhelming. Beautiful. Shapes slowly formed from the brightness. Ceiling. Lights. Curtains. He gasped. Tears streamed uncontrollably down his face. “I… I can see…” The doctor stepped into view, smiling. “Yes. The surgery was successful.” For a moment. Everything felt normal again. Safe. Real. Then, Harith’s eyes drifted. To the corner of the room. And stopped. Someone was standing there. A man. Tall. Unmoving. His face hidden in shadow despite the bright lights. Harith frowned. “Doctor…” His voice trembled. “There’s someone here.” The doctor turned. Looked directly at the corner. “There’s no one there.” The room fell silent. Harith’s chest tightened. “No… he’s right there—” The man in the corner… Moved. Slowly. He tilted his head. Too far. Too unnatural. And then... He smiled. Not like a human. Wider. Wider.... Harith’s breath caught. “Why is he looking at me?” he whispered. The doctor stepped closer, concern growing. “Harith, there’s nothing there. You’re still adjusting—hallucinations can—” “No,” Harith said, voice shaking. “He’s—” The man raised his hand. And pointed. Directly at Harith. That night. Harith didn’t sleep. Because every time he closed his eyes. He could still see them. Not darkness. Not emptiness. But faces. Waiting. Watching. And slowly… Learning that he could see them too. Far away In a place no one would think to look A body lay on a cold slab. Its eye sockets.. Empty. But its lips… Curved into a faint, knowing smile. End of Chapter 1