Her eyes

Chapter 33

Laylas apartment was... something. She had decorated the place as best as she could but it was an old building and the landlord honestly just needed to raze the whole building to the ground. I saw a stroller in the apartment a floor down and black mold around children and the elderly was not something to play with, in the worst case they could die. Even a healthy adult could get sick, thankfully the symptoms for theme weren't as severe, usually coughing or sneezing and irritated eyes.

But either way I didn't like that she was stuck here in her small twin bed, breathing in fungus all night. Her bed was pushed against the far wall and in front of it was her drawer, the miniature kitchen on the opposite wall.

She had a small wooden table facing a blank wall with only one chair. It made me sad imagining her having her meals there gazing blankly at the wall. That was an understatement, it made my heart hurt.

I browsed the little knickknacks she had decorating the top of her drawer and found a sketchbook. I opened the first page not thinking much of it, it was a detailed drawing of a woman in a black corset staring wistfully into a round black mirror in front of her, that was decorated with black details and roses around the edges. I could only see the side of the woman's face but the anguish coming off the page was harrowing.

Staring back at the woman with a sickly thin face and sores dotted across her pale skin, bulging eyes and an open mouth that seemed to be stuck in a scream, was a ghastly version of what I assumed to be herself.

I flipped to the next page which was a skull, rivers of tears pouring from its eyes, and smoke coming from what seemed to be crystals some kind of smoke coming off them that the skull was inhaling.

Layla had undeniable talent, but so far these pages were filled with quite dark pictures of things I was surprised she had conjured up. I kept turning the page, I knew it was wrong and that I was essentially intruding on her privacy. But I really couldn't stop I was not only intrigued of what little I could gather.
She was very closed off, and hadn't said much about her family or her past.

On the last page I was greeted by a pair of eyes that I saw everyday in the mirror. I paused taking in the precise strokes of the pen, the exact color of my eyes. When I brought it closer to my face I could see that there were little gleaming stars in my eyes. But before I could catch anymore details, I heard "Don't look at that." behind me.

Layla quickly grabbed the book and snapped it shut throwing it in one of the drawers and also slamming that. She was stood frozen in front of me her body turned away at an angle.

"Layla..." I said cautiously. "I'm sorry, I shou-"

She cut me off "what did you see?" she asked her voice detached. I couldn't see her face because her back was too me.

"Everything," I paused not exactly knowing how to proceed, "I'm sor-"

She interrupted again, "can you leave?" She asked her voice now wobbling.

"Layl-" I didn't get to finish.

"Please," she was still facing the wall her hands still clasping on to the drawer, like she needed to hold on to something so she wouldn't fall. I was less than a step behind her, I could feel her body heat seeping into me, I wanted to touch her, to soothe her as best as I could and apologize. But she had made herself clear.

"I'll go, I just, know ... I am sorry, I know I shouldn't have looked." I shook my head, hating myself at the moment, I headed towards the door and when I looked back she still hadn't moved. "I'll call you, okay?" I asked.

When she nodded, I headed down the hall sick to my stomach. After I got into my car, I just sat there for a while.