The Vulture Eye
......
Neil
Bro, I need to tell you something.
Nakoa
What happened? You sound weird.
Neil
I did something… bad. But listen, it wasn’t my fault! It was his eye. That horrible, vulture eye!
Nakoa
Wait, what? Whose eye??
Neil
The old man’s! I lived with him, you know. He was nice, but his eye… that pale, cloudy eye always watched me. I swear it haunted me.
Nakoa
Man!, you’re creeping me out.
Neil
No, listen! I had to do it. Every night, for a week, I sneaked into his room. I was so careful, so quiet, just to see if the eye was open. But it was always closed.
Nakoa
…So what did you do?
Neil
On the eighth night, he woke up. I stood there, in the darkness, waiting. And then… the moonlight hit his eye. It was open. Staring at me. I felt this rage, this madness! I couldn’t hold back anymore.
Neil
Just as I was about to act, I heard something. A faint rustling from the other room. My uncle. He was awake.
Nakoa
Wait… your uncle was there too?
Neil
Yes. He stayed in the house sometimes. That night, he must’ve heard the old man wake up. I stood frozen, gripping the lantern, my breath shallow.
Uncle
Who’s there?" His voice was shaky. He wasn’t just sleepy—he was terrified. He felt something was wrong.
Nakoa
That’s creepy as hell.
Neil
I stayed completely still. The old man’s breathing was heavy. I could sense his fear, feel it in the air. My uncle’s footsteps moved closer to the door. If he opened it, he would see me standing there.
Neil
No. I waited, barely breathing, until he hesitated. Then I heard him step back, muttering to himself. Maybe he convinced himself it was just the wind. Maybe he was too scared to check. Either way… he went back.
Nakoa
Man, if he had opened that door—
Neil
He would’ve seen everything. And I couldn’t let that happen.
Nakoa
…So what did you do?
Neil
I waited. Waited until my uncle’s footsteps faded, until the silence returned. And then… I struck.
Nakoa
Bro… what do you mean you struck? What did you do?
Neil
1: I couldn’t hold back anymore. The eye… it was staring at me, wide open, full of something unnatural. I lunged. The old man let out one strangled cry, but I was quick. I smothered him—pressed down until he stopped moving.
Nakoa
.....You really did it
Neil
Yes. And I wasn’t careless. I worked in silence, dismembering the body. No blood spilled—everything was done with precision. Piece by piece, I placed him beneath the floorboards. When I was done, it was like he never existed.
Neil
Later at night, the police came. A neighbor had heard a scream. But I was prepared. I welcomed them in, answered every question with ease. I even invited them to sit—right above the body. They suspected nothing.
Nakoa
Then how did you get caught?
Neil
…The sound. At first, it was faint. A soft, distant thumping. But it grew louder. A heartbeat. His heartbeat.
Neil
1: It wouldn’t stop. It pounded in my skull, each beat louder than the last. The officers kept talking, but I could barely hear them. The sound filled the room, filled my mind. I laughed to drown it out, but it only grew. Louder. Louder. LOUDER!
Neil
I screamed. I tore up the floorboards, pointed to the body, shouting, "There! There! It’s him! It’s his heart! Can’t you hear it?!"
Neil
Silence. The moment they saw the body, the sound stopped. The heartbeat was gone. It was never real, was it? It was only in my head.
Nakoa
You really lost your mind.
Neil
No… it was the eye. The eye drove me to this. I had no choice.
Nakoa
The police took you away after that, didn’t they?
Neil
Yes. And yet, even now, even in this cell… I swear, I still hear it. The heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Thump.
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