See with blind eyes Chapter 19

____ Name/nickname/last name.

Only a few hours has passed, and you already feel like you’ll die from boredom. Earlier, you had played on your electric violin, but improvisation isn’t as fun, and you don’t know many songs to play. It was fun playing with your little oval friend, but eventually you both got tired of it.
”...____?” Said your mother with a tired and raspy voice. You walked downstairs, and heard her struggling to get out of the couch.
”Look who’s finally awake!” You said jokingly.
”Huh? Oh yeah, right..” You don’t always encounter your mother when recently awake, but when you do, it’s hilarious. She acts like she’s been awake for days, no matter how much she’s been asleep.
”You okay, mom?”
”I’m good, I’m great. H-hey sweetie, how long was I asleep?”
”Uuh..I’m not exactly sure, but it should definitely have been for less than an hour.”
”Ah, good good.” You didn’t see her lazy smile, but you heard she was smiling whilst saying that. ”Sweetie, could you be a dear and make me some coffee? Actually, if you help me up, I could make a cup myse-”
”Nonono, it’s okay mom! I’ll go make you some coffee, so just rest on the couch.”
”Okaaay..” She said tiredly. You went and heated up some water, then took out a jar containing ground coffee.
”What did you do when I was asleep?” Your mother asked.
”I read, played some music, the usual.”
”Ah, got it.” She then began snickering.
”Milk?”
”I want it black!”
”Alrighty then.” You finished making the coffee, and you handed over to your mother. You always get fascinated by this part; she took a sip from her cup, and she instantly got better.
”Aah, how refreshing~ Thank you, ____.” She said, while patting your head.

”I hope Jamie and Sophie are alright.”
”Jamie and Sophie?” And all of a sudden, you remembered they existed.
”Oh you know how children are when they can’t to go out, you remember how you were right?”
”Now that you say it...I do...Hey, mom?”
”Hm?”
”Even though it’s such a blizzard, do you think the phones are still working?”
”Hmm...Well, it has happened before that the phones still work, you should try calling them!”
”Okay!” You ran up to your room, picked up your braille phone, and dialed the numbers.
”Please please please please..” You put the phone to your ear, and heard that it was ringing.
”Please...”
....
”Hello?”
”Jamie!”
”____!? I didn’t know the phones were still working!”
”Me neither!” You both began laughing, relieved over the phones still being functional. You began talking a lot, Sophie was soundly asleep in her room. Jamie began talking about games, and you began talking about music.
”Oh, so you’ve started playing on the violin again?”
”Wait, so you knew that I used to?”
”Yeah, I heard from Ms.____! You should play for me and Soph someday!”
”I will, I promise!”

All the electricity suddenly went out, and it was completely dark. Despite being less afraid, complete darkness still made you terrified.
”M-mom!? Mom!” You shouted, as tears started running down your face.
”____! What’s wrong!?” He wasn’t fully aware of your Nyctophobia.
You started hyperventilating, your heart began pounding rapidly, your chest and stomach both hurt, and it feels like you could faint at any second. Your mother ran in with two flashlights in her hands, one of them was turned on. She jumped up on the bed, and aimed the light at the direction your eyes were turned to.
”Sweetie it’s okay, don’t worry, nothing bad's gonna happen to you! Here, look were I’m pointing the light, you see it, right?”
You can’t reply, you’re still hyperventilating, and you can’t stop. You all of a sudden heard noises from your phone, you put your phone to your ear, and heard Jamie.
”Listen, ____! I assume that you’re scared of the dark, but don’t worry, you’re safe here with us!” He then spoke in a calm tone, because he knows that it’ll only get worse if he sounds frantic. ”Mom gets panic attacks too sometimes, and this always makes her calm down. Can you please listen to what I want to ask you?”
You struggled to make sound, but you nodded, hoping your mother would tell him. She understood what you wanted to do, and she replied yes for you.
”Okay, first I want you to try to take slower breaths. Can you do that?” His calm tone made you actually calm down, but only slightly.
”Good, now, can you think of a moment where you’ve been really happy? A moment that’s made you forget about your phobia?” You began thinking hard, and you actually did remember a moment.
”...Y-..y-yeah..I do..”
”Can you tell me what you did?”
”I...J-Jack taught me..to ice-skate and...and we had a snowball f-fight..”
”It sounds like you had a lot of fun. Did you?”
”Yeah...I did.” Your heart began slowing down, pounding at a little more normal pace.
”I want you to relive that moment, imagine yourself being there, ice-skating and playing snowball fights with him.” You concentrated, and you did relive that moment. The cold yet warming breeze, the sense of freshly squeezed snow in your hands, the sensation of gently sliding through the ice, and the smell of the cold air. You stopped crying, you stopped breathing heavily, and your heart began beating at a normal pace.
”...Thanks Jamie.”
”No problem, I’m glad I could help. I’ll talk to you later, for now, you should drink some hot chocolate, and rest.”
”I will..I’ll go get some hot cocoa.”
”Good! Bye, ____.”
”Bye.” You said with a warm smile, and then you heard him hanging up. Your mother was still hugging you, and started caressing your hair.
”I’ll go make you some hot cocoa, so just rest on the bed.” She then left the flashlight on the bed, and walked out of your room. Your little egg friend hid itself under your pillow, then got out when your mom left. You began petting it, and even started thinking of a name. You began whispering, since your mother is now awake.
”Let’s see...I can’t figure out what gender you are, you most likely don’t even have one. Hmm....How about..Eko?”
The egg happily jumped around the bed, signifying that it likes the name.
”Eko it is then.” You said as you then began snickering.

”My oh my, I never expected your reaction to be so satisfying.” Said a voice which you didn’t recognize.
You quickly jumped out of bed, facing that direction.
”W-who’s there!?” You heard no reply from the man, but you heard a dark, menacing laughter. You became terrified, but you didn’t freeze in place, instead, your first thought was to escape. You tried getting out through the door, but it was tightly sealed. You instantly went for the window, opened it, and jumped out on the roof. The blizzard was violent, it was slippery, and you felt your entire body lowering it’s temperature. You heard a faint sound from your mother struggling to open the door, but before you could call for help, you slipped off the roof, and fell down.

The last thing you heard and remembered from that moment, was the continuous echo of that man’s laughter.