The Glasses

He had never needed vision correcting lenses for his entire life until he turned twenty-seven. His eyes had taken to constantly adjusting, straining, and focusing on everything (near or far). The only blamable thing he could find was the drawings (DWG in his world) of gasket templates at work. All the small numbers, barely a sixteenth of an inch, had become near impossible to see. He used to see them perfectly, now they were a blurred mess until he used the magnifying glass to enlarge them. He slid off the black-framed spectacles to rub away the itch of getting-used-to-new-glasses, thinking about getting them three days previous.

“I don't want them,” he sighed on the way to the optometrist.

“Sorry, sweetie,” Vanessa (his long-time girlfriend) replied. She had picked him up after work, part of her daily routine.

“You have to get them.”

“Still,” he said. “I don't want to.”

“What's your problem with glasses anyway?” she asked.

“I'll look like a nerd,” he sighed, remembering his less than favorable childhood memories of the school yard.

“You are a nerd,” she giggled.

“I'm a geek,” he said. “There's a difference.”

“Sure, sweetie,” she smiled.

He went through all the tests the optometrist decided to perform, sat around waiting, had a measurement taken, then was assisted in choosing a pair of frames. There must have been three hundred of them to try on (probably more in boxes in a storage closet), all of them leering back. Thick framed ones, thin framed, wide framed, long framed ones, too. The worst were the ones that touched his cheeks. The ones that were chosen in the end was not by him, but by Vanessa, and the employee helping. He just wasn't sure of them, so he reluctantly agreed and paid the $297.00 (work coverage paying for the tests).

“I don't know what you were worried about?” Vanessa said.

“Why?” he asked.

“I think you look sexy,” she smiled, leaning over the center-console to kiss him.

“Well that's good then,” he said.

On the sixth day, his eyes had warmed up to the lenses almost completely. Now when he took them off for longer than five minutes, an immediate headache would form behind his right eye. The glasses would relieve it instantly upon being placed over his ears, and nose. The ear-pieces were a tad thick, shielding some sight on each side. Just another thing to get used to. Those specific parts had begun to cause some problems. His already paranoid mind was now mixed with corner-of-the-eye visuals. He would have to quickly (sometimes painfully) turn his head to catch a glimpse of the black objects that had become an hourly occurrence. It made his heart skip a beat every time.

After a month, the glasses were a part of him. They were the last thing he took off before bed with Vanessa, and the first thing he put on in the morning (which beat out his tobacco habit). The extra sex and affection from Vanessa wasn't exactly bad, either. The only problem was the dark objects. They were growing more constant, taking a toll on his (questionable) mental stability. Some of the times had reasonable (logical) explanations. Most did not. They hid around every corner, waiting for the moment to appear in a flash, steal a rhythmic beat from his life, and be gone. “I'm sure it's nothing, babe,” Vanessa sighed after he broke down and told her, having to talk about it.

“No...it's increasing...I keep seeing them more and more,” he replied.

“It's all in your head, sweetie,” she said, getting behind him for a gentle hug.

“I hope so,” he sighed, holding her arms.

Three months had passed. The objects now showing up every minute. There was no getting used to this. He also knew this couldn't be in his head. Vanessa was fast asleep, angry with him because he couldn't get his mind into the thought of sex (which was definitely a first) after the object he had seen that day. It looked more like a man crouching. He stood at his front door, the dark street was too quiet (cars frequently used the nearby intersection late at night but not on this night). The warm summer air had a strange smell to it, making him turn his nose up while looking for the origin of it from behind his door. Then below the (slightly) thick ear-piece, through the door's screen, and over the hood of a neighboring truck was (clearly) the top of someone's head. A dark aura followed it as it quickly disappeared. A shadow could be seen moving from under the truck.

“Fuck it,” he said, blasting out the door, breaking the latched lock.

He ran down the steps then around the back of the truck to see a very dark, man-shaped figure scampering away on all fours, close to the houses. He went as fast as he could. The shadowy creature kept itself ahead, matching his speed precisely. It darted across the intersection, thick, black air tore into the street's light from around it. He couldn't just stop. He had to catch this (some)thing.

Before his spectacle-covered eyes, at the end of the street (that led to another four-way intersection), a darkness began to spill out and up from the street. It grew up, expanding in every direction as the creature got closer. As it sprang into the ever-growing mass, a great putrid-dark forest sprang from thin air, surrounding him. There was no moonlight, only the darkest blue sky he had ever seen, and silhouettes of bushes and trees. Fear tickled his stomach when he stopped to take a look around. The creature scampered into some tall shrubbery, the sound of the black (evil) leaves was almost haunting. The feeling of being watched polluted his mind. He spun around, looking for anything that would lead him to a bright safety. Voices filled the air, growing from shrill whispers to angered screaming.

I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE I CAN SEE I CAN SEE I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU