Chapter 1: The Burden of Watchful Eyes

The heaviness of his demise pressed down on McKay, and he realized he had only one route to escape this dire situation. His sole chance rested in finding redemption.

Everywhere I turned, it felt as though their gazes were upon me, driving me to the brink of insanity. The relentless intrusion on my solitude left me feeling perpetually observed, as if no one was ever truly absent.

This ongoing sensation of being on display gnaws at the spirit. It chips away at one's sanity. I have always considered myself rational, despite what society might argue. My actions—deemed horrific by today’s conventional morals—would shock most. Yet, scientific advancement requires both visionaries and the unhinged to venture beyond societal constraints. We must explore where the conventional man fears to tread.

Ultimately, having endured their scrutinizing stares and their moralistic evaluations, I did what any reasonable individual would resort to. I gathered the jars containing their eyes and secured them in my vault. No longer could these souls peer into my being from beyond the grave. Their eyes were as sightless as their decaying forms.

Yet, even with them locked away in the deepest shadows, I still sensed their watchful presence. Lesser souls might interpret this as divine judgment, but I harbor no such superstitions from bygone eras.

A singular remedy exists, as any logical person would assert. I must shroud my own eyes in darkness alongside my subjects. Employing the same fruit baller that had extracted their petrified eyes—eyes wide with terror and confusion, restrained to my dentist’s chair—I swiftly removed my left eye and submerged it in a jar filled with my unique formaldehyde solution.

The agony was excruciating, but I understood this was a sacrifice for the sake of science.

After applying a bandage to the empty socket, I hastily extracted my remaining eye. However, it slipped and fell to the ground, causing me to drop to my knees in a panic.

As I began to search, I felt the unsettling squelch of my eyeb