The Eye

The sound of Lily's breathing was the second loudest thing in the class. Asthma? I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt but it was getting well... scary. Then mid lesson there was a sickening pop, and scribbling on paper.

Only when a student cussed and several chairs screeched back in unison did I look back. Lily was foaming at the mouth and collapsed onto the floor. I cussed under my breath and ordered the students back.

Closing in on the scene my eyes stopped on the paper...

The drawing thereon was that of an eye, with tentacles on the edges and a bed in the center. The most eerie thing was the miniature woman, smiling with sharp teeth, seeming to wave at me!

Bewildered, I looked between Lily and the picture. Lily spat, seeming to recognize where she was. I carefully folded the paper forcefully and dropped it into my pocket. Lily was regaining her color when I said darkly,

"Class is cancelled. I'm taking Lily to the hospital."

I gripped Lily by her arm, helped her up, and half guided-half dragged her into the hall as the students began to murmur.

"M-Mr. Camilius I'm fine!"

"No," I said, "you are not!"

"I-I don't need to go to the hospital!"

"Good," I said, "because I have a feeling that I should speak to your father."

***

At a diner...

I strummed my fingers upon the wood of the table as I waited for Lily's father to arrive. The Principal is going to have a heart attack. This will be SO much worse than that time I backhanded that student for... well commenting about me being single. His parents surprisingly respected my action once I conveyed the full story. Supposedly his parents gave him some when he got home.

"Look," Lily said nervously, "you don't need to do this."

"Call it protective instinct," I dismissively lied.

She knit her brows and blew a tuft of her shoulder length obsidian hair out of her eyes.

"I don't need your protection."

"Okay," some of my worries sloshing over my small cup of patience, "protective instinct is a lie." I dug into my shirt pocket and slapped the paper on the table, "Do you know what this is?" I pointed, "THAT is what looks like a bird's eye view of my dream last night! That and you went Exorcist-style in the middle of my lesson when you drew it!"

"Mr. Camilius?" A masculine voice said. He was standing a few feet from me with a leather Stenson hat, haunted brown eyes and black hair. Besides that he had jeans, boots and a long sleeve shirt on.

"Aye? Mr. Sebastian Castellanos?"

He nodded, and crossed his arms, "Last I recalled, a teacher taking a kid under his wing and dragging the student to their parents is absolutely unacceptable. Old-school but unacceptable, just how much trouble is my daughter in?"

I settled my gaze upon Lily, trying to regain my composure, "Your daughter had a seizure in the middle of my class. I was just looking out for her welfare."

"Sir, I'm a private investigator and it's written all over you that that's not it, bub." He still stood with his eyes boring into me while Lily was pondering deeply about something.

I met his gaze and said monotonously, "While she was having this seizure, she drew an interesting picture of me..." I unfolded the picture for him to see and his breath caught, "I, in the bed, am in the middle of his/her/or it's eye."

"Mr. Camilius, that's just a bed." He tried to dismiss.

"I feel positive that this was my dream last night."

"And you got an itch you're wanting me to scratch?"

I nodded and he sat down in the booth next to Lily.

"Describe this dream, don't leave out any details."

After saying 'uhh, um-' sheepishly for thirty seconds I began to describe the dream. He rocked that unsettling cop look but I was usually a cop's pet; clear, honest, and transparent. What made this so different from the cop giving me a warning for speeding is how serious he was about my dream, a personal thing.

He flipped the third page of notes on his notepad.

"Can you describe this woman?"

Sadly, that slipped me somehow, I scrunched my brows and scratched my head for recollection but said, "I just remember that one moment she was nice and then the next she had sharp teeth. It's amazing how I can't remember, I've had several dreams about her."

He stopped writing and peered up from his notes.

"Several?"

"Y-yes."

"What can you tell me about this woman?"

"Well, I told you that her name is Laura. She claims that her location of birth was Beacon."

Sebastian's pencil broke.

"Just Beacon?"

I nodded, nervous to say anything else. Despite my unease I asked,

"S-should I be concerned about this woman?"

"Where is your address?" He asked darkly and I told him.

"We'll be in touch." He said before getting up abruptly. "C'mon Lily."

"Hey! Detective Castellanos!"

"Take a few days off. You won't regret it."

"Mr. Castellanos!" I called but he was already getting into his car.

I snorted in disdain as he started his car and drove away. Maybe he was just leading me along to scratch my itch for solace? As I watched the street and looked up to the sun, I just had a shrewd feeling that wasn't the case at all.

I sighed and started feeling queasy about all this. I went back to the table to pay for our untouched drinks and noticed that the drawing was gone. In it's place was a business card to Castellanos. I'll call him if I need him.