When I was in graduate college, there was a boy in my class who was very strange in appearance. Most of the other kids were afraid of him and all went out of his way. He was always there for himself and never spoke to anyone. His name was Peter Braganza, but we nicknamed him "Crazy Eyes."
He had the weirdest eyes you've ever seen. They were big, round, bugged-out and troublesome. They did not look human. It was as if they belonged to some kind of exotic reptile, like a chameleon or a lizard.
During class, he was completely silent, never asking or answering any questions. I thought even the teachers were afraid of him. All he did, he was staring at everyone with his distorted gaze, and crawling around with his restless gaze.
One Monday morning, we had a media class. The teacher divided us into groups and gave us the task of making a short film. Due to the fate of the draw, Peter was assigned to our group. As we gathered and discussed ideas, he kept his mouth tightly closed and looked at us all with his big, bulging eyes.
We finally came up with an idea for a slasher film. The plot involved a mad killer who goes around a school stabbing people. Peter was so weird that we decided unanimously that he should play the killer. Her crazy eyes made her the obvious choice.
As it turned out, the film was a huge success. We managed to make a five-minute film that was almost as professional as a Hollywood horror flick. Amazingly, Peter did a great job in his role as the assassin. We shot hours of footage of him running from tree to tree on the school grounds. He was armed with a fake knife with a retractable blade. Then we filmed him stabbing a bunch of kids playing the victims. They were covered in fake blood from head to toe.
Participating in the movie really seemed to bring Peter out of his shell. He acted like a fish in water. When the filming was completed, we all saw a huge change in his personality. Somehow, this boosted his confidence and although he still didn't talk much, he held his head high and seemed more confident about himself.
On Friday, when we screened the film for the whole class, they loved it and started shouting, "Peter! Peter! Peter!" That day, he was the most popular kid in the class and he started getting attention.
However, when Monday morning came, Crazy Eyes Peter was nowhere to be seen. He didn't show up for school and no one seemed to know where he was. He was absent from school for the rest of the week.
That weekend, I was at home, working on an assignment for school. I heard a report on the news of an attempt to murder in our town. Shocked, I lost sight of my work and when I glanced at the picture that appeared on the TV screen, a chill ran down my spine.
It was Peter.
As the news reporter continued the story, his humble mad eyes stared at me from the TV screen.
Apparently, he was following his next door neighbor. She was a 16 year old girl named Megha. She, her younger sister and her mother were alone at home while her father was away on business.
Nightmare on Elm Street - The two girls stayed up late to watch a horror movie on TV. During the film, he started seeing something strange. He opened a box of cereal and took two bowls to the living room to eat, but when Leanne went back to the kitchen, she found the box was empty.
When the movie ended, the girls went upstairs to get ready for bed. Megha opens her bedroom cupboard and finds Peter standing holding an axe. He was dressed as Megha's mother and had makeup on his face.
He asked her to shut up and tied her up. Then, he brought his mother and his sister and took them back to the bedroom. He also tied them up and left all three lying on the floor. He told them that he was going to kill them and that he would come back fine so it would be better if they started praying. Police said he had gone downstairs to ransack the house and steal valuables.
When he left, the youngest girl managed to break free from her shackles. She jumped out of the window and ran to a nearby house to sound the alarm. Within minutes the police were breaking down the front door. They pulled out their guns and ran up the stairs and found Megha and her mother lying on the bedroom floor. There was no trace of the mad-eyed Peter.
The mother and daughter were freed by the police before searching the entire house. They searched the place from top to bottom, but no trace of Craig was found. As if he had disappeared in the night.
In fact, no one knew where Peter was and while he was still at large, no one in the city could rest.
This incident was a big shock to our small town. Before, it was a quiet, idyllic little place. Nobody ever closed their doors. That night, I saw my father screwing two strong deadbolts to our front and back doors.
There was a discussion in the school on Monday morning. None of the kids could believe what had happened and everyone was horrified. Behind the school building, there was a huge forest and rumors spread among the children that Peter was hiding in the woods, lying in wait for more victims. Some children were even afraid to come to class.
Megha and her family stayed with relatives for a few days to get away from home. Throughout that time, law enforcement combed the woods and searched door-to-door, but no one found anything that was insane. Eventually Megha and her family had to go home. As they walked into their driveway, they saw something that scared them.
Peter stood at the window above, looking at them with a smile on their face. The girl's father started yelling. The neighbors came running. The police were called and within minutes, they were around the house. A Rapid action Squad (RAS) team near a van was preparing itself, loading weapons and studying the layout of the house.
They searched the house from top to bottom, but they could not find Peter anywhere. Instead, he is faced with a disturbing scene. Coins were glued to the ceiling. There was absurdly strange writing all over the walls. All his clothes were cut with ribbons. The entire contents of the kitchen fridge were neatly arranged on the living room floor and the entire space was reeked with the smell of urine and feces.
The police searched the house again, but nothing was found. When they were about to give up and go home, a cop told that he heard a small sound when he was in the basement. He said it looked like it was coming from behind the washing machine.
The Rapid Action Squad (RAS) team immediately reorganized and carefully descended into the basement. Drawing out his guns, he pulled the washing machine away from the wall. Penetrating into a hole behind it, he found Peter.
As it turned out, the truth was far more disturbing than anyone could have imagined. Megha and her family are shocked. Peter had been living in their wall for two full years. They found peepholes everywhere.
While Peter and his family were sitting at home watching TV, eating dinner, getting dressed, going to the toilet, and sleeping peacefully in his bed, Peter stayed there the whole time, quietly was watching them with his crazy bug- eyes out.
