Reign of the Buffalo: Book 1 Read online

  “Dude. I’m going to start calling you the New Nana,” Michael whispered. The little boy leaned against the window of the car and started cracking up laughing. But Wilson wasn’t laughing. He remembered how Nana Ama had touched his face before she died.

  “Shut up, you little piss,” Wilson snapped.

  “I heard that. Cut the crap,” yelled Dustin from the front seat.

  Wilson and Michael stayed home from school for the remainder of the day while their parents took sick days away from work. While Wilson’s mother spent the day on the internet researching possible causes for her son’s ailment, his father sat watching the football game, mostly unfazed by the change in Wilson’s eye. At bedtime, Wilson’s mother decided to sleep in the same room with the children.

  “Close your eyes,” she said after turning out the lights. “Are your eyes completely closed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you see anything?”

  “No.”

  Julia walked over to look at her son. Both of Wilson’s eyes remained shut. She slid into bed with him, and they both fell asleep.

  In the morning, Wilson woke up to a funny sensation in his eye. He rubbed it, and his eyelid started itching so bad that he almost lifted the eyelid to scratch his eyeball with his nail. His mother was gone, so Wilson didn’t need to worry about her telling him not to touch it. With two fingers, he grabbed the eyelid and lifted it. Just as he did, he felt something moving on his eyelid that felt like worms. Wilson jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom mirror. He opened his eyelid and looked at his eyeball. All the color in his eye was gone. The whole eyeball was completely white! Surprised, Wilson stumbled back and almost fell. Slowly, he walked back to the mirror for a second look. After opening his eyelid again, he stared at the white iris.

  Something on it moved!

  Thinking he imagined something, Wilson blinked and opened his eyelid to look again. He watched in horror as he saw what looked to be a white worm crawl across his eyeball.

  “Mom!” he yelled. His mother rushed into the bathroom.

  “What is it?”

  “Something’s in there! Just now! I saw it!”

  His mother took his face into her hands and looked at his eye.

  “Oh my God!” she yelled. “Dustin!”

  In seconds, Wilson’s father and brother crowded in the bathroom with Wilson and his mom.

  “His whole Iris is white!”

  The parents took their son to the eye doctor again. After running more tests, the doctor found the same result.

  “I’m sorry. There’s no explanation for the color change. From what we see, the eye is healthy.”

  “That can’t be. A person’s iris doesn’t just change color for no reason.”

  “From what our tests reveal, his eye is normal.”

  “But he’s complaining that he saw something crawling across his eyeball. He says he saw a white worm.”

  “We’ve run blood tests and performed MRI’s. Nothing is there. And with the antibiotics and medicated eyedrops, nothing could evade detection. I guess that he has a bit of an overactive imagination. Worms couldn’t evade detection. Not in his eye. He’s healthy.”

  Julia exploded.

  “My son is not healthy, Goddamn it! His eye is almost completely white! Do your fucking job!”

  The doctor restrained himself and started writing on his notepad.

  “I’m going to give you a referral. Dr. Williamson is top-notch in his field.”

  The doctor passed the referral form to Julia. She grabbed Wilson by the hand and stormed out of the doctor’s office.

  Chapter 3: Next Summer’s Visions

  Wilson sat in the back of the class, bored out of his mind. There were only three more days until summer, and he would be returning to see his Grandmother. Wilson lifted the superhero eyepatch his mother had purchased for him online and rubbed his eye. He appreciated that his mother cared about how the students stared at him, but the eyepatch made him feel like he was wearing a blanket on his face.

  Finally, the teacher interrupted the classroom with an announcement.

  “Okay, class. Summer’s almost here and…”

  Before the teacher could finish her sentence, the classroom erupted in celebration.

  “All right. All right. Calm down,” said the overweight middle-aged woman. “We only have three more days of school, but I have one final project for you.”

  This time, the students verbally complained.

  “I think you all are going to like this. Over the weekend, what I want you to do is to write a one-page report on what you plan on doing for the summer.”

  A chubby red-haired boy turned around and whispered to Wilson.

  “We know what One-Eye will be doing for summer. Robbing a ship.”

  The group of students surrounding Wilson all started giggling and got the attention of the teacher.

  “Excuse me. Jared O’Brien. Do you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?”

  “No, Mrs. Harrell.”

  Wilson took the eyepatch off and rubbed his eye. As the students turned around to stare at him, Wilson felt a warm sensation in his head. Jared gave him a disgusted look before making another comment.

  “Wow. Ghost-eye.”

  The group of students started giggling again and continued staring at Wilson.

  That is when it happened.

  Wilson watched in astonishment as Jared’s body began to glow bright red. Orange sparks sprayed throughout the room like embers from a forest. Wilson watched in horror as the boy’s skin began to blister on his forehead. Soon his red hair burst into flames. Seemingly unaware of what was happening, the boy continued staring at Wilson. Soon a glowing white dot appeared in the center of the child’s forehead. Like a laser, the white mark carved a line through the center of his face. Wilson was terrified. He couldn’t take his eyes off his classmate. The sound of the teacher’s voice floated through the fire like a whisper.

  “Wilson. Would you mind telling the rest of the class what you and Mr. O’Brien find so entertaining?”

  But Wilson couldn’t respond. The glowing sparks caused the desks, the floor, and the ceiling to burst into flames. Billows of black smoke smothered the classroom causing Wilson to cough. He frantically searched the room, looking for the teacher, but the smoke was too thick. The room was on fire. All the other students were blurs. The only person Wilson could see through the heat was Jared, a glowing red line down the center of his partially blistered face. One side of his body was frozen in ice while the other half was bright red as if a fire were burning within him. There was a flash of white light, and the boy’s skin began to stretch like taffy, all the while, a sinister smile on Jared’s face. Suddenly his demonic voice began to speak.

  “Tomorrow, I’ll dare Devon Miller to run across the street during heavy traffic. He’ll try it and get hit by a gas truck. The truck will explode. Four people will die. It’ll all be your fault because you didn’t do anything to stop me.”

  Wilson was transfixed. He watched as both sides of Jared’s face began to move independently of one another like waves in an ocean.

  “Killing Devon will be my first murder, but it won’t be the last. I’ll kill again. And Again. And again.”

  “No,” whispered Wilson.

  “In a few years, I’ll rob a store. When my mother threatens to report me to the police, I’ll put rat poison in her coffee and kill her. I’ll keep killing because you never stopped me! It’ll be your fault! You!”

  “You can’t. I have to stop you!” whispered Wilson.

  “You can’t stop me. I’ll kill, and it’ll be your fault!”

  There was another flash of white light, and Wilson blinked. Suddenly he was on the floor, overwhelmed with confusion and blurry shapes. After a while, his vision came back. Students surrounded him; Jared stood above him, staring at him with his mouth open. The teacher was standing over him, tapping him lightly on his face.

  “Sally,
go to the Principal’s office and tell them we need to call the paramedics.”

  Wilson attempted to sit up, but his teacher pushed him back to the floor.

  “Relax, Wilson. Relax.”

  “You have to stop him. He’s going to kill someone. Jared is evil.”

  Wilson was in a state of panic. He’d heard the demonic confessions of his classmate, and he had to stop it. Suddenly he saw Jared’s face standing in the large circle surrounding him, a sick smile on his face.

  “Look at him! He’s going to do it! He’s a murderer!”

  “Relax, Wilson. You hit your head on the edge of the desk.”

  “You don’t understand,” he continued. “Jared is a killer.”

  The words shook the teacher, and she tried to talk over Wilson to hide what he was saying from the other students. But the terrified looks on the students’ faces revealed that his words had registered with them. They all began whispering to one another while standing over Wilson.

  “Shhhh…relax. Help is on the way.”

  Wilson lay his head back on the classroom floor. He felt something wet on his eye. When he reached up to wipe it away, he saw his hand. Blood was all over it.

  Chapter 4: Nobody Knows

  Dustin looked over at his son and gave him a weak smile.

  “No worries. We’ll be home in a little while,” Wilson’s father said as he tried to drive while keeping a close watch on his son. But Wilson wasn’t paying attention. He was looking out of the passenger window, trying to process what his classmate Jared had told him.

  “The school nurse says you’re going to be okay. Just a slight concussion and a couple of stitches from hitting your head on the corner of the desk.”

  Wilson turned to his dad.

  “Are we still going to Grandma’s for the summer?”

  “Yeah. I think so. Grandma Noya seems to think city life and pollution is getting to you.”

  “That’s all you think it is?”

  “What were you doing in that classroom?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t remember getting out of your seat and taking a swing at your classmate?”

  “No.”

  “Well, your teacher said you did.”

  “I don’t remember that.”

  “She said you were going on and on about your classmate being a murderer. Where did you get that?”

  “I don’t know, Dad. It might be my eye. It’s making me see things that…”

  Dustin quickly changed the subject.

  “Anyway…you guys are going to see your Grandma again for the summer. It’ll do you and your brother good to get out of this mess for a while.”

  Wilson sighed.

  “What’s the matter? You don’t want to go?”

  “Grandma Noya always makes me work. There’s no rest for me.”

  Dustin started laughing.

  “I know you won’t believe me, but I went through that same workload year after year. When you get older, you’ll have a better appreciation for it. Believe me.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You watch. Right now, you hate the smell of Grandma Noya’s slop bucket and the sounds the pigs make when you pour it in the trough. But in time, you won’t even focus on those things. Instead, you’ll remember the sounds of the roosters and the crickets. You’ll remember the dew-covered grass in the mornings as you go to the chicken coop to collect the eggs. Watch. Georgia is heaven during the summertime. You’re just too young to appreciate it.”

  Dustin parked the car, and both he and Wilson climbed out. As they climbed out of the car, Dustin tugged on Wilson’s sleeve.

  “Hey. Don’t bring up your eye to your mother. You know how she gets.”

  “Okay.”

  As soon as they arrived at the front door, Julia swung it open.

  “Ouch!” she said as soon as she saw the bump on the side of Wilson’s head. “Does it hurt?”

  “Not that much,” he replied as he tried to walk past her. Julia stopped him and lifted his head.

  “How’s your eye?”

  “I didn’t hit my eye, mom. I hit my head on the corner of the desk.”

  “Your eye is okay?”

  “Yes. It’s fine. I just tripped.”

  “Go to the bedroom and lie down. I’ll bring you some soup a little later.”

  Wilson walked into his bedroom and flopped down on his bed. His little brother was sitting on the bed opposite him.

  “You okay, bro?”

  “I’m good.”

  “Mom was freaking out. She’s been on the phone with doctors since we got home. You’re about to be the biggest pin cushion on earth.”

  “Shut up, dummy.”

  “You know we’re going back to Grandma Noya’s for the summer, right?”

  “Yeah. Dad already told me.”

  “Mom’s against it. She thinks it’s something around there that messed up your eye.”

  “Really? What do you think?”

  “I think Dad knows something. Why isn’t he worrying like mom?”

  “Yeah. I think Dad knows something too. Just when we came into the house, he told me not to tell mom anything about my eye.”

  “That’s weird. Oh well, at least we get to go to Grandma Noya’s again.”

  “Good for you, maybe. For me, it’s a bunch of yard work.”

  “Sucks to be you. I guess grandma’s going to put you to work again.”

  “I guess.”

  Wilson laid down and closed his eyes. Seconds later, he was snoring.

  The next day he stayed at home. Although the lump on Wilson’s head had shrunk considerably, his mother thought it best if he stayed home. Wilson didn’t complain about it. He remembered the book report Mrs. Harrell assigned to the class, and he smiled. Based on how jittery his mother was about his condition, Wilson figured he could milk one more day at home out of his injury.

  As soon as his family left the house for the day, Wilson ran to the kitchen and emptied half a box of cereal into one of his mother’s large mixing bowls. After drowning the cereal in milk, he went to the den and turned on the tv. Wilson intended to find his favorite cartoon channel and watch his fill until he became sleepy. Instead, he flipped through news channels.

  Finally, he stopped.

  There it was.

  “Welcome to News 10. I’m Lynda Smith. We have breaking news. Let’s go to Nick Willis on the scene at Foxhall and Jonesborough, where there’s been a major explosion. Hello Nick. What can you tell us about this accident?”

  “Hello, Lynda. As you can see, there’s been a massive explosion here at the intersection of Foxhall and Jonesborough involving multiple cars and a gasoline truck. The Police Department, Hazmat crews, and the Fire department are all on the scene for what looks to be one of the deadliest accidents in recent memory. Several witnesses tell us that they saw children attempting to cross the intersection around the same time the explosion occurred. No confirmation if those children were involved in the accident, but we’re expecting an update from the Fire Chief and the Detective momentarily. Stay tuned as we bring you further details on this horrific accident. This is Nick Willis at News 10. Lynda, back to you.”

  Wilson dropped his spoon in his bowl and turned off the tv.

  “It’s Jared. I know it.”

  After sitting on the sofa watching the blank tv for a few minutes, Wilson went to the kitchen and dumped his cereal in the sink. He walked into the bathroom and stared at his eye in the mirror.

  “Is it just my imagination? Is my mind playing tricks on me? Did Jared kill those people?”

  Wilson pulled back his eyelid and looked at his eye again. Once again, a white wormlike creature shot across his eyeball. After seeing the worm, Wilson began to feel sick. He went to his bed to lie down and didn’t wake up until his family returned home.

  Chapter 5: Jared

  Michael bounced the ball on the street as Wilson watched him from the porch. Wilson laughed as his brother
threw up the ball at the basketball goal and missed.

  “You suck!” Wilson yelled from the porch. “Stop messing around so we can go to the store.”

  “I’m better than you,” Michael responded before spinning around to attempt a jump shot.

  “No, you’re not.”

  “Come down and prove it, smart ass. If I win, you have to buy me whatever I want at the store.”

  “And if you lose?”

  “I’ll buy you whatever you want.”

  “With what money? You’re broke.”

  “Okay, what if I clean the room for a month?”

  Wilson stood up. He was about to go down to challenge his brother when a couple of boys encircled Michael on their bikes.

  “Hey, Mike! You want to play horse?” asked Tristan, the blond-haired boy who lived across the street from them. Michael bounced the ball a couple of times and shook his head.

  “Nah, I’m not in the mood today. Wilson and I are about to ride to the store.”

  “Oh yeah? Can we roll with you?” asked Sean, Tristan’s twin brother.

  Michael stopped bouncing the ball and yelled to Wilson.

  “Wilson! Are you ready to go to the store?”

  “Yeah! Let me get my bike!”

  Wilson went into the garage to retrieve his bike. A few minutes later, all four boys rode down the street on their way to the convenience store.

  When they arrived at the store, all four boys parked their bikes on the side of the building.

  “Hey, Tristan, what are you getting?” asked Sean. “Dad only gave me five dollars.”

  “I’ll probably get some gummy bears, chips, and a soda. Mom gave me ten dollars,” replied Tristan.

  Michael stood at the entrance of the store, digging in his pockets while his brother smiled. Wilson knew Michael didn’t have money, and he prepared himself for what came next.

  “Hey, Wilson. Do you…”

  Wilson interrupted him.

  “A soda and chips, or chips and candy. But you can’t have everything.”

  “Cool.”

  Wilson and Michael walked into the convenience store and headed to the candy rack. After struggling to decide, Wilson grabbed some jawbreakers and a soda. Michael’s eyes shifted between his favorite candy, the bags of chips, and the refrigerated sodas against the wall.