Flash Fiction: Horror

Sofia Zafrin

Anbar has been shifted into a new apartment along with her family. She likes the apartment very much for its interior and the rooftop. This apartment has a special feature which includes exclusive paintings. The entire wall of the staircase is full of paintings.

Anbar lives in the second floor. So, she does not need to take the lift after returning from the office. A strange fact hit Anbar’s mind on the very first day in their new flat. She was stepping into her flat and her eyes got stuck into a painting. The painting contains a man who has incredible eyes. Everyday Anbar notices the painting and wonders why his eyes are so shimmery and it seems there are flashes of lightning coming from his eyes. However, she has to live a very hectic life because of the workloads. So, she forgets about the strange painting.

One day, her family goes into a party and is going to spend the night in their relatives’ house. Anbar returns from her office and takes a shower. Surprisingly, she feels a sense of connection with the painting. It feels like something is pulling her outside the door. She steps downwards through the staircase and horrifyingly noticed that the strange painting is not actually a painting. It is a window and the eyes are real eyes of a man who is smiling at her mysteriously. It is definitely not possible to have a window there because there is absolutely nothing outside the wall which she saw before a lot of times. She is going closer towards the painting with a terrible feeling and suddenly she hears footsteps. She observes a girl is going upstairs and she turns back to Anbar.

Anbar gets back into sense and shouts with extreme horror. The girl does not have eyes, just a dark nothingness.

Anbar runs to their caretaker and somehow describes the condition of that mysterious girl. The caretaker turns back to her with a smiling face and tells her “Madam, have you seen my eyes anywhere? They are missing as well.”

The man proceeds towards Anbar.