Chapter Twenty-Four: All Eyes on Me:

Things stared to go bad when I started to see more of the world around me. I saw it when I went into town with Grandma and Henry one summer. I think I was about thirteen at the time. Anyway, I walked behind Henry and Grandma with Miranda by my side. We didn’t say anything. Miranda had her eyes on me the whole time. Something in her gaze frightened me. Did I make her mad again? I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

She wouldn’t be the only one that day.

I think we were all going down to the street markets. I don’t remember what we were getting. Grandma might have been cooking something for a Sunday night dinner. I was just alone in my head, wondering what to do. Miranda didn’t speak as she kept her eyes on my back. She hadn’t been talking to me for the past five days. It’s worse when she’s quiet. It didn’t help when Henry kept looking back at me over his shoulder. I had to force myself to smile to throw him off the scent. The way that he stared at me convinced me that he didn’t buy it.

He wasn’t the only one.

I happened to look up and see a sea of eyes on me. Who were all of these people? I looked behind me. Miranda was nowhere in sight.

“Miranda?” I asked. I looked at the sea of eyes crushing down on me. Where did they come from? I didn’t like the way they were looking at me. Some looked angry. Others had pity in their eyes. The whispering made it worse. Oh that damned whispering. I could hear some of what they were saying.

“She’s so weird.”

“Why is she always talking to herself?”

“She’s just creepy.”

I wanted to bite on my nails but forced my hand down. Instead, I forced my eyes down. My steps grew faster down the hall of eyes.

Thud!

I fell back onto the floor, whimpering.

“Ow,” I said, rubbing my nose.

“Are you okay?” I heard over my head. I slowly looked up to see Henry looking down at me. I shook my head. He reached down for my hand. I sat up at him, blinking. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I quickly shut my eyes.

“Why are they staring at me?” I asked in a low voice. Henry took a look around.

“Who’s staring at you?” he asked. I opened my eyes a little bit. I could barely see anything around us.

“There are eyes staring at me,” I said. “They are talking about me. It freaks me out.” Henry patted me on the head. I refused to look up.

“They aren’t staring at you,” he said. I froze.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “They can’t be staring at anything else. Only I can see her.”

“No,” Henry said. “That’s not the case anymore.” I opened my eyes. The eyes were gone. The only a mom with a stroller was looking at me. Everyone else was walking around with their shopping. Again, I couldn’t see Miranda anywhere in sight. I found myself panting hard.

“Where did she go?” I asked. “Where did she go?” Henry grabbed me by the shoulders. He turned me to face him.

“Listen closely,” he whispered. “It is because you are feeding her she is getting stronger on her own.”

“What?” I asked. I felt myself shaking. I wasn’t sure if I was crying, but it sure felt like it. Henry wiped away my tears.

“She will make herself be seen if and when she wants,” he said.

“Without me around?” I asked.

“Yes,” Henry said. I moved my mouth as if to speak, but not words came out. I remembered I was crying in that moment.

“There is a way to stop it,” he said. I stared at him, silent.

“What?” I asked.

“Henry! Kinsey!” we heard grandma shout. “Where are you?” Henry and I looked up. Grandma stood near the peach cart.

“Are you sharing secrets over there?” she asked.

“No,” Henry lied. “We’ll be right over.” He took hold of my hands and dragged me along. I happened to look over my shoulder and see Miranda leaned up against another stall. She was smirking at me. I might have imagined it, but that’s what it felt like. The blank expression on her face made the shopping trip even worse. I got the feeling that this wouldn’t be an isolated incident. There was still more of this trip to go.