Origin of Eyeless Jack

E.J

A young boy sat in the shade of a tree in his backyard. Not much could be said about him. He was a somewhat ordinary child with reddish brown hair and stunning hazel eyes. He had fallen asleep about an hour earlier while reading a book. Now his slim frame rested against the trunk of the large oak tree, his chest rising and falling as he breathed softly. A woman walked out the back door of the house that the yard belonged to and approached the boy. She smiled, placing her hand on his shoulder and shaking him gently. He opened his eyes a little and rubbed the left one with the back of his hand. His vision came back into focus and he saw the smiling face of his mother looking down at him as she said, in a sweet and kindly voice, "Jack, sweetheart, its time to get up."
He got up shakily, his body still half asleep, and asked, "Hmm? What... What time is it...?"
"About six o'clock, dear. Your dad will be home any minute." she answered.
Jack nodded then stooped down to pick up his book. It had fallen off his lap when he stood up. He gripped the worn pages in his hand and followed his mother inside, yawning and rubbing his eyes on the way.
When they got inside he was almost awake. Jack noticed as he sat in one of the dining chairs that his mother had already set the table and that there were more plates than usual. He yawned again before asking, "Mom, why did you set four plates?"
She looked over at him, bringing food into the room and carefully placing it on the table, "Your dad's bringing a friend over for dinner, sweetie. You remember David, don't you?"
Jack thought for a minute, trying to recall who David was. Then it dawned on him and he replied with, "You mean Dad's work friend? The one who came to my birthday last month?"
She nodded and left to finish preparing dinner. Jack's father came in the door about ten minutes after all the food was on the table with a tall man with black hair behind him. This man was skinny, but lean, and he had a happy, kind face that always bore a caring smile. The two men entered the dining room, Jack's father kissing his mother and sitting down, and David patting Jack on the shoulder before taking his seat. A conversation started up almost immediately. David smiled at Jack and said, "How's it goin' champ?" Jack shrugged and answered, "Ok, I guess."
The rest of dinner Jack was silent. He always became like this when David was around. He wasn't sure why, but something about the man unnerved him. He listened to the adults talk about work until his mother took the dishes away to the kitchen and everybody retired to the living room. The preteen sat at the end of the couch with his knees close to his chest, drawing, while the two men watched an incredibly boring game of golf on the telly.
Around eight David left. He hugged Jack's mom and said, "Dinner was lovely, Miranda. See you at work tomorrow, Jonathan. Goodbye, Jack!"
He waved at the boy and then he was out the door. Jonathan and Miranda sat on the couch and his mom asked Jack, "Would you like to watch a movie, sweetheart?"
Jack shook his head though and told her he was tired and would just like to get to bed. That night he lay in bed awake, staring at the ceiling. Jack didn't like David. For some reason that man gave him the creeps and he just felt like there was something off about him.
The next morning Jack woke up, sitting up and stretching his arms over his head. When did I get to sleep? He wondered for a moment. He dismissed the thought and headed downstairs for breakfast. There were some waffles on the table at his seat and a note sitting next to them. Jack ate his breakfast and read the note. It was from his mom and it simply said, "Jack, I ran out to the store with Susan. I'll be back soon. Love, Mom."
When his breakfast was gone Jack went back upstairs to the attic, which he had turned into a studio space where he could paint. Since he was young Jack had loved art and dreamed of one day having his pictures and paintings displayed in museums. His parents had helped him converted the dusty attic into a work area so he might succeed in doing what he loved. About two hours later he heard the front door open downstairs and his mother call up to him. He hurried downstairs and helped her with the groceries then sat with her on the couch and watched House MD. The day was quiet and completely normal. His father came home early and brought David with him again. They ate dinner and David left. Tonight was the night Jack's parents went out, the second Saturday of the month. Miranda and Jonathan said goodbye to their son as they walked out the door, leaving him alone for the night. Things were normal for him. He curled up on the couch that night, his head resting on its arm and his knees close to him, and slowly fell asleep.
Jack was startled from his dreams by a loud knock on the front door. He glanced at the clock on the coffee table. Midnight. Who would be at the door this late...? he thought, still groggy from sleep. The tired brunette pushed himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. Slowly, he got up and answered the door. His eyes widened when he saw who was on the other side. A man stood on his front porch wearing a deep blue uniform and a badge. On the edge of the street was a black and white car topped with flashing lights. The officer looked down at Jack, his eyes cold and emotionless. When he spoke it was obvious the man wasn't used to talking to children, "Hello, son. What's your name?"
Jack was nervous. Why is there a cop at my house? He answered, sounding quiet and worried, "Its Jack, Sir."
The cop nodded and asked another question, "And how old are you, boy?"
"Eleven."
He nodded again, "Your parents are Miranda and Jonathan?"
This time Jack nodded, not liking where all of this was going. The police officer ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ground for a second. When he looked back up he did all he could to avoid looking Jack in the eyes as he said, "Uh, Kid... I think you should probably come with me..."
Jack's eyes widened even further and he asked, "Am I in trouble?"
The cop was surprised by this and said nervously, "No, no! Nothing like that! I-I'll explain everything when we get to the station..."
The preteen was nervous, but he let himself be lead to the cop car. He stared at the back of the seat in front of him the entire way to the police department. Whenever the cops show up at your door it's a bad thing unless you were the one who called them. Jack had not called them, and now a million thoughts were trying to find room in his mind and figure out what had happened. By the time the car came to a stop in front of a large brick building in the downtown area and he was brought inside Jack thought he almost had everything sorted out.
A man sat in the room he was brought too along with a few cops. A few files waited on the big round table in the nice room too. Jack took a seat at the table at the opposite end, away from the files. He didn't want to see them because he was pretty sure he knew what they'd say. The man cleared his throat and addressed Jack, "Hello, son. I'm Detective Horus. Do you know why you're here?"
The young brunette shook his head but didn't say anything. His insides felt twisted up and if he spoke he was sure he'd either vomit or start crying. The detective sighed and continued, "Son... You don't know how much it hurts to have to tell you this, but... Your parents are dead."
Jack looked down and ended up making a choking sound when he breathed in. He tried not to cry but the tears forced their way through and washed down his cheeks. The police officers watched for a minute, sorrow and sympathy in their eyes, before leaving the room. Detective Horus remained seated, now alone with Jack. The old man propped his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers and resting his chin on them. He felt bad for the kid, but business was business and he had other cases to work on, so he needed to get this over with. Horus stared at the sobbing child and said, "Since you don't have any living relatives we'll be placing you with a friend of your father, a man named David. He's waiting out back for you. You're very lucky, you know. If he hadn't volunteered to take you in you'd have ended up in foster care."
The detective got out of his seat and helped Jack to the back door where David stood outside his car. The man still wore his friendly smile and hugged Jack when he got close enough say, "Its ok. Its ok, Champ. I know its rough losing your parents, but I'll take good care of you. You'll see. Nothing to worry about."
Jack sniffled and rubbed his nose before climbing into the car. He lay down on the seat and David got behind the wheel. They drove back to his house, which was a good sized place with a nice yard and fancy doors. It was smaller than Jack's house, but Jack didn't really care at this point.
After shutting off the car, the black-haired man walked into the house and hung his jacket on the coat rack. Jack turned to him and asked, "A-Aren't we going to get my things?"
David looked at him, his smile turning into a frown, and replied, "You won't need them."
Quickly he grabbed the boy by his collar from behind and tossed him in the hallway closet, locking the door. Jack banged his fisted on the hard wood and shouted for help, but the person who he thought was his father's friend shouted angrily through the wood, "Shut up you little brat!" and he curled up in the corner in fear.
It felt like he was in there for ages before he heard the front door open and footsteps walk past. Jack pressed his ear against the door trying to hear what was going on.
Strange voices were talking back and forth. The first one said, "So, do you have a kid for us?"
David answered and he heard the whoosh of a paper being passed, "Yeah. Name's Jack. He's perfectly healthy too."
A different stranger responded, "He's a little young."
David growled, "Listen, I didn't cut his parents brake lines for nothing! Are you taking him or not?!"
The first stranger spoke again, "Its fine. We'll find something to do with him. Congratulations, David, you've finally repaid your debt. Where is he?"
"Closet." Was all Jack heard before the lock clicked open and he was pulled out by his hair.
A silhouette stood over him with another next to it. The first said, somewhat disappointed, "You didn't blindfold him. That won't do... If he sees us he can give our descriptions..."
The second figure looked female. It gazed down at him then turned back to David, "What does he do?"
David shrugged and stubbed out a cigarette on the table, "As far as I know he's a painter."
Jack started to cry as he saw the male shadow pull out a knife and say, "Well I hope he likes the color black because that's all he'll be seeing from now on."
He screamed as the man gouged out his eyes with the switch blade then dragged him out to their car and threw him in the trunk. When they left David looked over at the mess of blood on the floor in his hallway. Slowly, he stood up and walked over to it. Two eyes rested on his floor, glazed over with a dead bloody sheen. He picked one of them up and stared into it. His expression was one of irritation as he thought about how much time he had wasted just to get one child. He spit on it and dropped it back to the floor.
The two criminals reached there destination by sun rise. It was an old building in the countryside. The place looked as though nobody had been there for ages; the roof was caving in, the windows were boarded up, and paint hung off the walls in long strips. The man hefted Jack out of the trunk and stood him up, placing a hand on his back and forcing him the walk inside. Jack could hear the cries and sobs of other as he passed, eventually being shoved forward into a room. His kidnappers began discussing what they should do with him. He heard them come up with gruesome ideas then one would say, "Too young." And they'd move on. Eventually the man sighed and said, "We'll harvest his organs... He's a real healthy kid so we should get a good price for 'em."
"W-What?!" Jack exclaimed, but he was hit over the head and told to "pipe down!"
The woman went and prepped the operation room while the man dragged him there and strapped him to the table in the center. "I'm going to check on the other kids." She said as her partner picked up the scalpel. He nodded and got to work, cutting open the scared boy and extracting his kidney. Before he could begin removing the other one the woman burst through the door and shouted, "One of the others is missing!"
"Damn it! He must have escaped!" The man swore.
She sounded nervous, "Do you think he went to the police?"
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "Yeah, but he couldn't have gotten far. Nobody comes around here so he'd be on foot. I'll close up this little punk and we can go look for him."
Later Jack sat in a cell hugging his knees, blind and alone. He waited for the two felons to come back and kill him, and they were taking their time. He sat there on the cold stone floor thinking about how all of this had happened. Suddenly though, he recalled what he'd heard David tell them last night. He cut the brakes... David killed my parents! This realization made him angry. Jack stood up and balled his fists, bringing his arm back to punch the wall when he heard footsteps again. Instinctively he turned his head to their source even though he couldn't see. A female voice told him, "Don't do that! You'll hurt yourself!"
He didn't recognize this voice. It wasn't his captor though. Something made a clicking sound and then the noise of the heavy cell door opening echoed in the small room. Jack felt a hand grab his wrist and pull him along with it. The girl spoke again and said, "I'm Janette. We have to go quickly. They could get back any minute!"
The farther they went the better Jack could hear the other kids. Janette stopped when the voices seemed to be right next to them. She spoke and one of them answered, "Dee, are we ready?"
Dee responded, "Yep. I got the keys, so let's all get out to the car."
Just like that he was being pulled again. Six teens hurriedly filed into the car and drove off. Janette looked out the back window to see their tormenters chasing the car with a rifle. She turned to Dee, who was driving, and said, "Step on it!"
She sighed in relief as the vehicle sped away, dodging the first set of bullets. Jack leaned against the windowpane and listened to the noise of the city. He didn't notice until he felt a hand on his forehead that somebody was near. There was worry in Janette's voice, "You're kind of warm and your blood's gotten darker... Are you feeling alright?"
He shrugged and she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Jack, this could be series. You probably got an infection from their filthy equipment..."
She paused and waited for his response. She was about to say something else when he turned his head to face the window and said, "I'm fine..."
She sighed. Janette knew he was lying but she wasn't going to press the matter. After all he'd been through today she didn't want to give him anything else the think about. They had all had a long day; first it was escaping that torture house, then the kids had to sit through six hours at a police station as each one of them file reports, and finally they got a hotel to stay in while the police found their families. She sat down on the floor near him and tried to start a conversation, "Do you have any hobbies?"
He was quiet for a minute before answering, "I used to be an artist..."
She looked up at him then turned her gaze to the ground, realizing she shouldn't have asked. Curiosity won out over wit though and she asked, "So... What are you going to do now?"
A tension began to form in the air, carrying with it an ominous darkness. He stared out at the city streets without eyes and said, "I'm going to paint a new picture..."
As he said this headed for the door, only stopping to grab his black hoodie out of the dresser and put it on. Jack opened the door but a hand on his shoulder stopped him from leaving.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Janette exclaimed.
Jack replied with a simple, "Leaving."