The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 40 Frightening Phantom

The look in You Xiaoqing's eyes made me shiver.

"What are you going to do?" I asked hesitantly.

She said, "What can I do? I'm just asking as simple question." She smiled sweetly, "I didn't catch the bird in the first place. I don't even know where the woods are." She smiled and let out a girlish 'humph' before walking away.

My heart was pounding in my chest. "What have I done?" I thought.

A gray dread stuck with me the rest of the day. After school, I dragged Zhao Jie back to the woods. While we ran I gave him a rundown on what You Xiaoqing had said and what I thought was going to happen. "We have to make sure they don't take another one!" I called up to him when he came to understand and ran ahead of me.

The bird sounds were much quieter than the day before. We broached the tree line and walked into the woods, scanning for signs of anything. There were very few birds in the trees.

"Where did they go?" I asked no one in particular.

"Maybe they migrated away… you know, to the south or whatever?" Zhao Jie said.

The darkening woods were almost peaceful. We arrived at the foot of the tree and found the nest still upturned on the ground before it. I heaved a sigh, that dread still weighing down my chest.

"Leave this place." I told the bird, wherever it might've been. "Someone's coming for you tonight."

"Who's coming?" Zhao Jie asked.

"I don't know." I said.

When I got to school the next day I ran directly to You Xiaoqing. "Well?" I asked.

"Well what?" She came back, clearly expecting this confrontation.

"Did you catch another yellow bird?" I glared at her, feeling more angry than I'd expected to.

"No," She frowned, "I never caught one in the first place, remember? Anyway they're gone. The emperor birds have disappeared." She looked genuinely saddened by this.

"How do you know that?" I asked, suspicion wrinkling my face. "Did they nest by your house?"

She didn't answer.

The next few days dragged by without incident. It seemed the yellow birds really were gone. Zhao Jie and I trampled through the woods every now and then, not for eggs, but just to look. We never found a trace of them. We never really saw any birds, not more than one or two at a time at least.

As the months piled onto each other though, something started to happen to You Xiaoqing. Better yet, I think something started to happen to me.

In the spring of '94, I was 9 years old. I grew taller, stronger, and more confident. One day at school, I was surprised to find that You Xiaoqing was taller than me. She was even more beautiful, and still everyone told her so. I found myself glancing at her in school, enchanted by her eyes, and drifting off into daydreams about the two of us.

This made it all the more shocking when Zhao Jie said to me, in what he thought was a whisper, ""Xiao Yong, I don't know why… I can't help but get lost in You Xiaoqing's eyes. She's amazing!"

"Me too." I told him.

"I'm sure it's not just us." I quickly added. The next week at school I gathered up my courage and asked some of the other boys in class.

"Do you, uh, do you ever get kinda, uh, distracted by someone's eyes?" I asked the Band-Aid boy when all the girls were out of earshot.

He looked at me like I was made of boogers. "What are you talking about?" He laughed.

"You know, like sometimes when you look at someone's eyes and they're really…nice?" I tried, feeling uncomfortable in every cell of my body.

"Are you talking that girl you and Jie are always staring at?" He guffawed. "Do you like her?" He drew out the word like as if drawing an arrow in a bow, and then jabbed me in the shoulder with one meaty hand. "You two have a crush!" Another sing-songy guffaw followed.

"No!" I practically cried and added in a hurry, "Shut up!"

After that the boys in class started to make fun of us. I didn't dare to bring it up again.

Two weeks later I was on after school duty and had to stay late. Zhao Jie went home with his sister while I gathered trash and cleaned up the classroom. I did my best picking up balled up pieces of paper, sweeping the floor, and dumping it all into the wastebasket. I hauled the trashcan outside and dumped it before going back in to double check everything.

The sky had gone a dark purple by the time I'd finished everything and the classroom was down right ominous. I pushed the door open, clutching the trashcan under my arm and went into the previously empty room. When I saw You Xiaoqing gathering up her things in the dimly lit room I almost jumped out of my skin. I managed to bite down a shriek of surprise and felt my face go dark red. I put my head down and rushed past her to put the trashcan back in the corner. When that was done I looked over and saw my bag sitting next to the girl I'd been thinking about for months. I considered leaving it and bolting for the door. How important was the day's homework, right?

Biting my lip and considering what would happen if I went home without my homework, I put my head down and speed walked to my bag, scooping it up without looking at You Xiaoqing. I was about to leave when a shadow filled the doorway and I let out a whooping cry of surprise.

The shadow leapt back from me and called out, ""Shi Yong, why are you shouting? You frightened me! I didn't know anyone else was here!"

It was the voice of You Xiaoqing.

I wasn't scared, but growing more embarrassed by the moment. She, however, seemed honestly frightened.

"I didn't expect to see you." I lied, "You scared me, that's all. Why'd you come back to the classroom?"

You Xiaoqing rustled in the darkness and pulled out a small flashlight on a keychain covered in bright neon fluff balls. Waving her flashlight to illuminate her seat she said, "I forgot my homework. And you? Why are you here so late?"

"I'm on duty." I told her, "I was just about to leave. Good thing I was here so you could grab your stuff, huh?" I smiled and puffed up my chest heroically.

She rolled her eyes and raised a key from the giant puffball of a keychain, saying, "Did you forget? I have keys to open the classroom in the morning! I'm always the first one here!"

I remembered a handful of times when that wasn't the case but thought better than to say anything.

She brushed past me and went to her desk to get her things. When she turned around, I saw a green light on the floor behind her. Although it only appeared for a moment, I saw it very clearly. It was the length of my father's arm and a ghoulish smoky green. My eyes struggled to focus and then it was gone, just gone.

I let out a short bark of surprise that scared You Xiaoqing again. She rounded on me, using the flashlight to spotlight my face and asked, "Shi Yong, what the heck? Are you trying to scare me?"

I shook my head and said, "No, I just… I thought I saw something behind you. I think it was a snake..."

You Xiaoqing snorted and rolled her eyes again, saying, "Loonsville." She straightened with a notebook in her arms and turned around to leave. On her way out she called back, "Remember to close the door."

I followed her outside and watched her flashlight dance down the street. After closing the door, I turned and ran home. It was a long way between my house and school, and it was dark.

After half an hour of loose jogging down the main road and trying not to cast terrified looks over my shoulder, I got home. I kept telling myself, "You're delusional. You're trying to read into this supernatural sight thing and find something crazy. It's nothing. Nothing's following you!"

Breathing heavily and muttering to myself like a mad man, I placed my hand on the door to my house. I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself before going inside when I cast a casual glance to my left. Beside our house, sitting in the old sycamore tree, was a green, luminous, snake. Its long tail was wrapped around a tree branch and its raised eyes were looking into mine. The large mouth opened and spit a long hiss at me.

"Snake!" I shouted and rushed into my house.

"What snake?" My father asked curiously. He got up from his chair and walked to the door poking his head out.

"In the sycamore tree!" I told him, only hiding behind him a little bit.

"There's nothing there son. The nighttime give you a little spook, eh?" He smiled at me.

"Yeah." I said, "I guess."

I peered out the window towards the tree before I went to bed, but my dad was right. Nothing was in it, nothing green, or long, or hideous.

That night I dreamed about You Xiaoqing, whose face was fair and clear. She smiled at me. She was wearing a green dress and looked like an elf from the fairy stories we'd read in school. I asked her whether she'd finished homework, but she didn't speak to me. She simply smiled.

Then something changed. Her body became a vague green blur. She softened and curled into an ungainly pile on the floor that turned into a fat, curled snake. A long, scaly, green body rose from the ground with the head of You Xiaoqing.

Even after all that, I wasn't scared, not really. "How did you become a snake?" I asked her. "Are you Bai Suzhen or Xiao Qing?"

My sleep filled mind rolled around and around.

The next morning I told my parents about the dream.

"The Legend of White Snake is popular these days," My father told me, "Maybe your mind is just thinking about that."

"You watch too much TV," My mom added with a laugh. "Although, You Xiaoqing does look a little like Bai Suzhen."

When I got to school, I didn't dare say anything. Who has time for second grade rumors? I couldn't pay attention in class though. I glanced at You Xiaoqing again and again, waiting to see a green light reshape her body.

She definitely noticed. Every so often I would glance at her only to find her staring back at me.

After school, I made a mad dash for the door with Zhao Jie, but You Xiaoqing beat me to it.

"I have a question for Shi Yong! You," She nodded towards Zhao Jie, "Go away, this is none of your business!"

Zhao Jie stood a few inches taller than her and put on his most intimidating face. He looked like a wounded dog with his cheeks all puffed out. Though he'd never fight a girl, and we both knew it. "I'll wait for you by the school gate. If she roughs you up too much, gimme a shout and I'll come help." He smiled at me, then narrowed his eyes and shot a dirty look at You Xiaoqing.

"I'll be fine," I said, "She can't hurt me."

Zhao Jie stared at us for another moment, and then left. You Xiaoqing and I stood in the yard, her hand curled into the fabric of my sleeve.

"What do you want?" I asked with real curiosity. I dared a look past her shoulder to see if the snake was back, but it was just the empty playground.

You Xiaoqing looked around to see if anyone was listening. When she was satisfied she leaned close until her mouth was almost on my ear and asked, "This weekend, will you take me to the woods? The ones where you found the yellow birds."

"The birds disappeared last year." I told her, "You know that…why would you want to go to the woods?"

"No big deal." She said almost too quickly, "I just want to check it out. Won't you take me? Please? "

You Xiaoqing raised her beautiful eyes to mine and pleaded again.

"The birds are gone," I thought. "What's one day in the woods with her? What could go wrong?"

After a moment I said the only thing my brain would let me say, "Okay."

There are some things in life that you can't avoid. Some call them destiny.

Chapter end