Soulless Eyes

By Martha Henley

She’s living her life, then . . . her sister arrives.
Matilda, a shy, unmarried tenant in a basement apartment has a secret obsession. Regular deliveries are a tell-tale sign that she’s purchased her beloved items over the internet. Her passion has remained hidden and silent, until her sister arrives.
Then the crying begins in the middle of the night. It crawls up the walls to the first floor resident. The sound begs to be heard.
College coed, Emma is kept awake for hours. She feels helpless to intervene with family affairs of a neighbor she hardly knows. Days pass and the crying continue in the darkness of night. The answers are down one set of stairs, if only she could get past them.
At every turn, soulless eyes stare back and stop Emma from moving forward. Her adversary is determined to keep her out of Matilda’s life.
Emma believes a life is in danger. She summons her courage, faces her fears, and finds a disturbing scene in the basement bedroom at the end of the hall.

Soulless Eyes is a distorted reality short story that takes 6500 words to tell. Included, as a bonus is preview of Martha Henley’s debut psychological thriller, Don't Kill For Me. It’s a twisting tale of a woman with a past, a secret admirer’s odd love notes, confessions of murder, and a serial killer that wishes Eileen eternal peace.
Don’t miss reading this horror short or the bonus chapters introducing you to the Rest in Peace Killer’s terrifying mission to please one woman by committing murder on her behalf.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pace Bend Press
• Release date: Dec 19, 2018

Martha Henley

I believe serial killers exist. Do you?Join Martha Henley’s newsletter to read stories by an author who enjoys writing about not-so-happily ever afters.www.marthahenley.comWhen not writing, I stand around having unfinished conversations with random strangers. (I work retail.) These exchanges are the best for protagonists and antagonists inspiration. Keep walking by everyone!

Book preview

LIVE YOUR LIFE, DIE YOUR DEATH

A series of suspicious tales and psychological shorts

SOULLESS EYES

BY

MARTHA HENLEY

Second Edition, Ebook Edition.

© 2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

SOULLESS EYES

LIVE YOUR LIFE, DIE YOUR DEATH

Another story from the series of Suspicious Tales and Psychological Shorts

By Martha Henley

The light is out on the street lamp in front of the duplex where I live. The porch light is also out. Our landlord visits Arizona for the winter and since it’s December, I have little hope of the bulb magically being changed.

The property is dark and I’ve just sat through a bad date. It’s not ideal to let the guy walk me to the door, but something is on the porch. When he gets out of the car, I don’t stop him.

Thanks, Bryan, I had a good time tonight. I pause on the bottom porch step and lean into him, subtly giving him permission to kiss me.

It doesn’t have to be over. I can walk you all the way inside. Bryan travels his grouping hands up my back, pulls my body tight against his and plants his lips on my neck. His cold pucker gives me goosebumps on my goosebumps.

It’s only our second date. I don’t know you that well. Bryan’s moving too fast. I only needed a walk to the door. I turn out of his embrace and dig my keys out of my bag. That’s when I get a god look at the object on the porch. This is new.

It’s a bright white wicker bassinet. I feel around the satin inside and thankfully find nothing. It’s completely empty.

Someone here have a baby? Bryan asks.

Not that I know of. Bryan pinches my ass. I stiffen up, clenching tense. Thanks for dinner. I had a good time. To give him a moment to accept my rejection, I take my mail out of my mailbox. It’s a catalog with the face of a baby on the front. I fold it in half and I tuck it under my arm. Something I’m more interested in catches my attention.

The duplex I live in has three tenants and three mailboxes. Taped to the front of the mailbox for my neighbor who lives in the basement is a note. It reads: ALL DELIVERIES MUST BE BROUGHT TO THE BASEMENT DOOR! Under the written command is an arrow pointing in the right direction.

What is that all about? Bryan asks.

Matilda is a little weird, I say about my downstairs neighbor. She keeps to herself and pretty much stays inside. The recycle bin has a lot of cardboard boxes in it lately. Guess she’s been ordering a bunch of stuff for the holidays. That must be hers too. I point to the bassinet.

Let her live her life, Bryan says, then dives in to slobber on my neck some more. With the outer door unlocked, he makes a move to push us both inside the inner entryway, but fails to gain access for himself.

It’s late. I’ll text you tomorrow. I flirtatiously shove him away and slip into the house, alone. It’s a small entry and my door is just inside to the left. I can see him through the shear curtain panels on the glass door. He stands there on the porch a few minutes, watching me let myself into my apartment.

Bryan’s nice and all, but he’s too entitled for my taste. I’m not a prude, but I at least like to know a guy’s last name before I jump into bed with him.

Speaking of men, there’s another one closer that I’m more interested in and I know his last name is Greene. He’s the tenant who lives on the top floor of the shared house. Jeremy is a cubicle kind of guy. In the mornings he leaves at a decent hour, wearing a dress shirt and tie. He comes back with takeout at dinner time and is pretty quiet all evening long. He’s perfect, except we hardly see each other. Just two souls crossing at odd times.

The next day starts out dreary. I head out front with just enough time to make it to my first class. The bassinet from last night