The time had come for the princess to leave her home and join the frog-turned-prince in his kingdom. She was nervous and a bit frightened, as things had turned out quite unexpectedly. Faithful Heinrich, the servant of the young king, arrived with the carriage that would lead the princess off to the unknown place she would now call home. As the coach pulled up and Faithful Heinrich stepped down, the princess felt her stomach drop with fear. There was something within her telling her to be afraid, to turn back, to run.

“It’s just nerves,” the princess thought to herself. “Besides I don’t have a choice.” Faithful Heinrich opened the door and turned his attention on the princess, offering his hand to help her in. The princess took in a sharp breath. There was something off about this man. His skin was sallow, pitted, and dark circles ringed his eyes. And his eyes. There was something deeply unsettling about them, almost unseeing like there was no life behind them.

“Run! Turn back! Escape!” Her thoughts screamed, every muscle in her body tensed to flee. But her father was watching, and the prince was waiting. Slowly, fighting every one of her instincts, she took the man’s hand. She started at the touch. His hand was ice cold, corpse-like.

She looked back at her father, pleading with her gaze. He smiled and nodded prompting her along. She looked to the prince sure he would notice the strange state of his most faithful servant. The prince smiled at his bride, showing no acknowledgment of the condition of the man before him.

She stepped into the carriage. The prince followed behind her, and Faithful Heinrich shut the door. Heinrich took his place in the back and the coach headed on its way.

The journey seemed to last forever. The princess could not relax, every hair standing on end, every muscle tensed to flee. Finally, she turned to the prince.

“Does your servant seem off to you? Do you think he is sick, perhaps?” the princess asked him.

“Whatever do you mean? Good old Faithful Heinrich is my most beloved and loyal servant. He is most helpful and welcoming. You will find he has many special talents to help you with whatever you need,” the prince responded and smiled. “Don’t worry yourself, dear. It is all to his design.”

This last statement by the prince confused the princess and sent alarms through her mind. “What is he talking about? What design? What is going to happen to me? What is Heinrich?”

The princess turned around and looked towards the spot where Heinrich sat. He was looking straight at her with his dead eyes and an unsettling smile.

If you don’t like eyes or eyeballs, consider scrolling past this one.

Once upon a time, there was a Prince. He was the youngest son and, rather than spend his time cooped up in the royal palace, the Prince set out to travel the world with a loyal servant by his side.

During his travels, he had occasion to stay in the court of a foreign king. While doing so, the Prince happened upon the princess of a distant land. She covered her face and wept over the loss of her golden ball, which had fallen down a well.

Though he could not see her face, so charmed by her sorrow was he that the Prince swore he would reclaim her ball. So saying, he jumped into the well, riding the bucket into the deep.

The Prince found himself in a corridor filled with water. The water was filled with pulsating balls that at first looked like eyeballs, but upon closer inspection, were simply to be the eggs of tadpoles.

Still, as he walked through the sea of eggs, he felt as if they were staring at him—eyeballs, rather than eggs, rolling about beneath his boots. It was an eerie feeling that turned his innards in the most unnatural way. Hurrying onwards, he soon came upon the golden ball.

Stretching out a hand, the Prince picked up the golden ball, only to recoil in horror. Though the ball looked golden, its surface was soft and fleshy. With a sickening, meaty sound, the solid looking ball tore open holes in itself—empty pits of blackness.

The tadpole eggs began to froth, and swarmed to fill the empty holes, rolling up the Prince’s body. Sliding into the golden ball, they appeared to stare outwards in all directions—resembling an eyeball with many eyes hewn into itself.

Then the faux eyes turned towards the Prince, and he found himself transfixed by their gaze, tumbling into the egg filled waters. His hands were now that of a frog. The only thing that remained human were his eyes and his teeth.

Gathering up the golden eyeball, the Frog Prince hopped quickly to the bucket and pulled himself out of the darkness.

The Princess took the eyeball up with a smile, far too many fingers than is right wrapping about the golden globe, which she placed into her empty socket. Then she turned on her heel and whisked herself off with her witchcraft, leaving the Frog Prince alone to ponder.

Some royal gardeners chanced upon the frog, and, seeing it sitting like a human, head in its hands, human eyes gazing out, human teeth chattering as it spoke to itself, they took it to be a demon. After all, it certainly was no frog—likewise, it was no man. With tools in hand, they made to kill the frog, and he was obliged to flee.

A frog’s legs are no match for a human’s long strides, and soon enough, they trapped the frog. However, as they were about to deliver death to the hapless Prince, Faithful Heinrich, recognizing his Master even in his froggy form as all good servants are able to do, snatched up the Prince and fled with him. Together, they set off to break the curse.

It was a time of hardships in the Moors due to a curse that has plagued the lands. It all started when the princess of the land fell into a deep slumber from which no one could wake her. Ever since that day there have been reports of villagers disappearing in the middle of the night without a trace and this also occurred for those who tried to enter the castle that was once known for hosting the royal family while they were still alive and well. Many believe that if you can get past the cursed vines covered in thorns that surround the castle and find the princess inside, you can break the curse by giving her a kiss and you will be rewarded with her hand in marriage. Many brave and strong men have attempted to enter the castle but none have been able to until one day a prince arrived. With precision and speed, he was able to fend off the thorny vines and enter the castle. As the prince entered the castle, something inside began to stir. The prince began to explore the castle at a steady pace but soon realized that he was walking in circles. He began to frantically ascend and descend the stairs to search different rooms but eventually he would always find himself back in the foyer. The prince, frustrated with his lack of progress, stood in the foyer and closed his eyes to think. While his eyes were closed, the prince began to hear a faint song that sounded like a lullaby, but when he opened his eyes he could no longer hear it. The prince decided that the best course of action was to trust his ears instead of his eyes. The prince closed his eyes and began to slowly traverse the castle following the melodic lullaby. Finally, the prince entered a room where the lullaby originated and he opened his eyes. Before him was a bedroom with a canopy bed in the center, and upon that canopy bed lay a woman, who looked to be in a deep sleep. The prince began to slowly approach the bed, afraid that the room might change once again if he was not careful. When the prince reached the bed he began to stare in awe at her beauty. The woman’s skin was as white as freshly fallen snow, her hair was as black as the night and flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall, and she had a shapely figure that was mesmerizing to the prince. The prince soon realized that this was the princess that he had been searching for, so the prince closed his eyes and began to lean over to give her a kiss to break the curse and claim her as his wife. Suddenly, freezing cold hands seized the prince’s head, and he felt something bite his neck. The prince’s eyes flew open in a flash and what he saw before him shocked him to his core. The princess had latched herself upon his neck and he could feel the blood being drained from his body. The prince tried to fight back, for he thought that he would be strong enough to overpower this thin and delicate woman, but to his dismay, he couldn’t move the princess an inch. As his blood was drained from his body the prince realized something; the story of the princess had been passed down from generation to generation but no one questioned it or the fact that the princess was still alive despite there being no magic in this world capable of keeping someone alive for hundreds of years. As the last of the blood left his body, the prince fell upon the bed and looked into the eyes of his killer, the eyes of which were as red as blood. The prince took his last breath and began to pity those who would follow him chasing a false dream. Once the prince had died, the princess held her hands together and said, “Thank you for the meal, you fool.” The princess then disposed of the prince’s body and went back to sleep until the next time her hunger pains strikes.