Hey hey, guys, gals, and in between pals! I would first like to welcome Jugy to the Synthverse! We are one patron away from our second goal which means I will soon be posting two chapters a week on Monday and Friday. As an Enlightened patron, you have early access to all posts which can be found here. Links are posted in Discord.

This story is one I wrote for a writing prompt group a year and a half ago, I want to say. I believe the prompt was I had to make a story about eyes, but I honestly couldn't tell you. Anyway, enjoy this short story.

Hope you enjoy the show!

~ Chance/Synth

I’ve known Kate for fifteen years now. We went to school together. We were even sweethearts for a bit. She’s always been a bit strange, but what is normal anyway? She wasn’t that different from other girls. She looked like anyone else.

Except for her eyes. There had just always been something about her eyes that was...different. Maybe it was the odd kind of amber color to them. Maybe it was how large they were compared to her face. I’m not certain what it was. It wasn’t strange enough to make her funny looking, but it was a feature I could never get past.

We’re neighbors now. Have been since I got married to Janet. Kate lives in the same house she’s always lived in. Her folks moved out and went back to their home country. I never could get a straight answer out of her about where she’d come from. She had such an interesting olive skin tone, but I could never quite place her heritage.

Not long ago, I started to suspect that Kate was hiding something from me. We’d always been good friends, but I noticed that her behavior was changing. That she was less social than she used to be. Anytime I asked if she wanted to hang out or come over for a girl’s night with Janet and I, she said that she was busy or that she had something to do at home.

She wasn’t rude about it. Not at first. Then she started to avoid my calls completely. I left her a couple of messages asking if anything was wrong or if she needed anyone to talk to. I never got a callback.

Then, last night, I was outside watching the meteor shower that happens once every five years in my area when I spotted Kate slink out of her house and go into a shed at the far corner of her property. I peeked over my fence to see if I could catch a glimpse of what my friend was up to. Under the door, I saw a strange green light.

Now, I’m not really a nosey woman. That’s more my wife’s thing. She’s got to have her nose in everyone’s business. Me? I’m content to let people have whatever secrets they want. That light, though. Something unnerved me about it. Something wasn’t natural. My curiosity finally got the best of me and I climbed over the fence into her yard.

I crept up to the shed as silent as could be. I could hear some kind of strange clicking noises coming from inside. It sounded like there was more than one source, both sets having a unique tone to them.

The door wasn’t closed all the way. If I was careful, I could take a look without getting caught. I was sure it wasn’t anything strange. Probably some gardening project. Kate was always growing strange plants in her garden. I glanced back at the usually fully green garden patch she had on the other side of the yard only to discover it was empty. Hadn’t it just had plants that morning? I pushed the question out of my mind and moved closer to the door.

I peeked inside and paled at what I saw. Inside stood Kate, or at least someone in Kate’s dress. Instead of Kate’s long black locks, she had slowly waving green tentacles coming from her head. Her back was to me, so I couldn’t see her face, but her skin appeared to be a slight green tone. It could have been the light coming from the screen in front of her, but it wasn’t the right hue. Then I spotted the person on the screen. They looked much like Kate. They had the same eyes…

I heard something behind me, glancing over my shoulder and yelping when I saw a giant Venus flytrap coming at me fast. I ran for my life, scrambling over my fence to get away from the horrifying plant monster. I darted into my house and slammed the back door behind me. I breathed heavily, my heart pounding a mile a minute.

I went up to the balcony going off the second-floor den, staying low so I might not be seen from her yard. I couldn’t see the plant anymore. I did see Kate, though, her amber eyes glowing in the darkness. I know she was looking for me. I could see it in her eyes.