You’re working late, about to close up when you hear a timid knocking at the door. A small group of three children are standing silhouetted against the darkness. You get up, wondering what on earth they could be doing here. You turn on the outside lights and see them, pale and expressionless except for the tallest who grins unnaturally as he stares into your soul with eyes of darkest obsidian.
“We need to come in,” he says. Behind him, one of his sickly followers shifts like a puppet with too few strings as his head snaps up and he too is staring at you with blackened eyes, “You have to invite us in.”
2009 has been a very active year for paranormal reports. Gone are the days when the most sensational stories involve cigar-shaped objects hovering in the distance or large ape-like men being encountered in the woods. It seems like an entirely new world of bizarre occurrences is opening up from some unseen doorway spilling new monsters into the world, and these monsters carry with them a sinister quality. Such is the case in the recent rash of “Black Eyed Kids” being spotted across the US.
As much as it sounds like the beginning to a pulp horror story, these accounts have been trickling in since the late 1990’s, circulated primarily by frightened observers. These stories all hold bizarre similarities. Often, the children approach an observer as he or she is going about their daily activities. They are usually in a group, but solitary BEK’s have been reported as well. They’re usually in their early teens, wearing baggy nondescript clothing such as gray or dark colored hoodies and baggy pants that fit unnaturally as though the children were inhuman beneath them. They are often described as pale and lifeless, but other reports indicate they may be quite eloquent. They often ask for something simple, like a glass of water or to be allowed to use the bathroom. Regardless, they always ask for some reason to come in to the house or car the person is occupying. Inexplicably this always spurs fear in the heart of the person filing the report. They often ask questions such as, “What would have happened if I let them in?” Often they note that the children (or creatures) seemed powerless, but insistent. They go on to say that this would have no doubt changed once the children were allowed in.
Religions the world over tell tales of monstrous entities hidden in the guise of humans who must be invited in before they can take their victims. Many contemporary reports of demons bear a striking resemblance to the descriptions of these children, including the pallor complexion, and the jet black eyes.
It should be noted that there is actually a rare congenital disease called Aniridia (greek for “Without an Iris) which has as a solution a black contact lens which covers the entire cornea. Aniridia sufferers, however, do not travel in packs (as it is so rare) nor do they automatically make a habit of terrorizing people in their homes. This seems like an unlikely explanation. It is possible that across the US there is a cadre of people with black eyes or contact lenses that travel around victimizing people when they are let into their homes, but by some pact refuse to force their own ways in. If this is the case, however, no evidence of such a massive conspiracy has been uncovered. Still others believe that this is the newest form of the classic demon which must be allowed in to wreak havoc on peoples’ lives.
“You need to invite us before we can come in,” the child says to you as you reach for the door handle. You take one more look at them, noticing the three unnatural children are staring intently at you, you lock the door and turn off the light. The children stand at the door for a while wordlessly, before they slink back into the darkness from which they came.