The Eye of the Beholder

They were lovers, Jack and Millie. It was a fast start, but what they had was real. Between long nights watching movies and talking about life. Trips to the mountains, where they slept in the back of his SUV, listening to the rain bounce off the sunroof. It was perfect, Millie thought, until one day she noticed the passcode change on his phone.

She knew this was a bright red flag screaming at her. She chose to ignore it. There was no way he could have been cheating. She let it go for a while, watching his behavior change. She wanted to be wrong, but she watched as he grew distant from her, irritated, switching his demeanor at the drop of a hat. She knew he was seeing someone else. She had no proof, but his behavior was enough to confirm her suspicion. There was only one thing she could do.

The first step was to dehumidify their apartment. Millie placed dehumidifiers throughout their tiny apartment, revoking the moisture in the air. Luckily, it was cold outside, so Jack didn’t notice anything suspicious when she turned on their heaters.

The dryer, the better, She thought.

Next, Millie knew Jack had a severe allergy to pollen and several kinds of weeds. It wasn't allergy season, so Millie had to find a different way to obtain the irritating plant debris. The internet is a place where you can find anything. She bought bundles of allergy-inducing weeds and plants hiding them under their bed in the air vents. Not sure if this would be enough for her plan, she generously cooked for several nights. Ensuring he ate plenty of asparagus paired with salty potatoes and salt pork garnished tofu. She made sure he had coffee and bacon in the morning and with every meal a glass of wine.

She filled his lunch box with jerky and chips and sodas like Sprite or Coke(none Diet). She even went as far as placing small amounts of salt in his water that were undetectable. The more his body dried out, the sicker he felt. Jack would drink his salt filled water and eat all his salty/sugar filled foods unknowingly depleting the water from his body.

“Millie, I don’t feel good.”

He would moan, begging for her to coddle him. Millie's plan was working. His eyes began to dry, gain bright red veins that looked like scarlet-colored webs through the whites of his eyes. She knew it would happen soon enough. She waited patiently until she finally heard the screams. The satisfying screams that stirred up a small laugh inside of her. She had to choke down her amusement before her upcoming performance.

She ran to their bedroom and stared at Jack. He twisted and turned, wailing, rolling around the floor with his hand pressed into his eyes.

His cheeks were red, veins bulging and pulsing under his skin like worms emerging from the earth. Thick spit spewed through his gritted teeth as he cried. It was time, Millie fell to his side, placing her hands on his shoulder.

“Jack! Jack! What's going on? What happened"? She yelled.

His hands began to fill with blood and a clumpy gray ooze that looked like the pus of a large zit. Millie could feel her breakfast creep up her throat, almost losing it to the horrific sight. She knew it was going to be bad, but this was gruesome.

“I’ll call the police!” She yelled, rushing to the other room and searching for her phone she had contently wedged between the couch cushions.

“911, what's your emergency?” A woman says.

“My-mm-my boyfriend. His eyes are. They are melting!” Millie yells, Her screams had turned into a sobs when she sees him in the hall.

Jack stumbled into the living room, slamming himself into the wall as he staggered. He dropped to his knees, letting out a throat-cracking scream, throwing his head back so violently you could hear his neck crack. His hands scratched at his eye sockets. Blood bubbled and oozed down his cheeks. Lumps falling into his open mouth and squished between his fingers.

“Help me!” He yells, jamming his nails into the soft skin of his eye bags. Dragging them down, peeling away the skin from his face.

Millie sobbed, dropping to the floor, pulling his hands from his face and wrapping them around her waist to hold him up. Thick gobs of bloods rolled of her shoulders and she shuttered, Grose. She held Jack in her arms until the ambulance arrived.

“It will all be okay.” She whispered into his ear.

A month later, he sat on their couch in their living room, Millie bringing him a bowl of cereal. She gently placed it in his hands, moving his fingers to the spoon for him to eat, then plopping down next to him. She pressed power on the remote and flipped through the channels on their T.V.to the news.

“Are you sure you want to hear this baby?” Mille asked Jack. He sat next to her with bandages wrapped around his eyes that sunk into the empty sockets of his face.

“Yeah, I do.” He muttered, placing a shaky spoonful of Captain Crunch into his mouth.

“Shocking news today as we dive into the case of Jack Miller. Investigators finally figured out the mystery of Jack's melting eyes. Turns out His mistress; Out of a fit of rage, put toxic chemicals into eyedrops in the family home in hopes of chemically damaging either Jack or his girlfriend, Millie Johnson. Investigators found the toxic chemicals inside the trashcans of Anny Dilpins apartment complex.”

News anchor Lindsay Walters continued on with her script. Millie watched, proud of her perfect crime. Jack dropped his spoon, feeling around the couch for Millie's leg. He squeezed her thigh, his hands shaky.

“Are you sure you forgive me?” He asked.

He couldn't see it, but Mille smiled, staring at the scars that drug down his face, past the end of his wraps.

“Of course I do baby, we can get through anything together. After all, forgiveness is how we move on, right?”

Jack nodded, and gave a sadden smile. Millie was proud, she had been patent enough to wait for Jacks eyes to become so dry and itchy he had to use the drops. She never forced them on him and no one would ever suspect someone purposely dehydrating a full grown adult. Authorities believed it was just his poor diet. It was easy to find Annys apartment, she just followed jack to one of their dates. She snuck in stealing the drops from her sink with rubber gloves. It was proof she had bough them and probably shared them with Jack, just waiting for him to use them. All signs pointed to the jealous mistress. Jack would never see her again, or anyone for that matter.