The Last Thing You See

By Erik Handy

THE LAST THING YOU SEE . . . IS THE KNIFE IN YOUR HEART

 

John Bloom is losing his sight. Bad timing because someone is murdering those closest to him. A ring of death spirals down to the center where Bloom waits for the final stab!

 

From Erik Handy, the New King of Horror and Suspense, this thriller dares you to take a peek at evil. But don't stare!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erik Handy
• Release date: Aug 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393840008

Erik Handy

Erik Handy grew up on a steady diet of professional wrestling, bad horror movies that went straight to video, and comic books. There were also a lot of video games thrown in the mix. He currently absorbs silence and fish tacos.

Book preview

Sue Ann

Sue Ann pushed the mop the way she’d been pushed around her whole life. With her good grades and high school diploma, she should’ve been enrolled at the nearest community college. Majoring in what? She didn’t know, but she would’ve been on her way out of town.

You can’t clean a floor with dirty water, her mother’s words echoed in her head.

I know, Sue Ann silently replied now, many years after hearing those words. And yet I am.

Her mother got out of town. She had to die, but she left all the same.

Is that what it’ll take?

Her stomach knotted.

Six years gone. I should’ve left then.

She wrung the mop for a few more lazy circles.

This town was home. She’d never been anywhere else. Sure, there were the rare day trips to Albany, but Mike always took her straight to the mall and that was it. Any time she wanted to go eat or explore the new locale, Mike would tell her he had to get home. She’d press him, but he’d glare at her before spending the rest of the drive staring out the windshield.

Mike. Her boyfriend.

One reason not to stick around.

They met at the drug store where she worked. He came in for something she couldn’t remember and left with her phone number. He was charming, at the time, and that was enough for her to go out with him. He was the first boy – she refused to call him a man – who showed any romantic interest in her.

She never considered herself to be anything more than an unremarkable-looking country girl. She never tried to be anything else, especially now she had a boyfriend. She didn’t need to be pretty, right? Sure, she’d fantasized about wearing her hair and clothes like the trophy wives who paraded around town or like the movie stars who adorned the cover of magazines she’d stock at the store. However, fantasies never amounted to any good. That was Mike talking, not her mother.

Being with Mike was like a waitress balancing two heavy plates. Although he was charming when they first got together a year ago and having someone was a huge ego boost, he also didn’t actively support her. She never revealed her fantasies to him, the few she had – chiefly the one where she left town. He never asked her about the future. He never asked her much of anything. Sue Ann knew he would’ve probably scoffed at her dreams anyway.

The other heavy plate was not having him. She’d be lonely like she was before during that span after her mother died. It wasn’t easy being alone, but making friends didn’t come natural to her with her shyness and all. Having someone, even if it was Mike, pay her some attention was a godsend, but since it was Mike, was it worth it? The emptiness of loneliness was not appealing. However . . . .

Back and forth. Back and forth. What would you say, mom? What words of wisdom would you give me?

Finished with the second-story floors, Sue Ann picked up the bucket and trudged downstairs.

She wanted to continue her list, but no other reasons came to mind. She could mop floors in another town or stock shelves or do any other odd job. Every place had their share of them.

Because this place is home and what I’m familiar with.

Was this the only reason she hadn’t left already?

Her comfort zone was such despite its drawbacks.

I wish I wasn’t like this. I wish I could be carefree. I have enough money saved up. I could start over. Breaking up with Mike might be hard. He might get upset, but I should leave.

Could.

Might.

Should.

Sue Ann pushed the mop around like every time before.

***

She considered visiting her mom’s grave, but headed home instead.

The dead don’t comfort.

Those words came from herself, not mom, not Mike. Mike probably wasn’t smart enough to come up with a line like that.

She smiled for the first time that day. It was half past two.

Her small apartment was one of four in a building not one block away from what passed as the town’s main street. She could walk to her drug store job and she usually did. Today’s cleaning job took her just outside the town limits so she had to drive.

She parked her old, but reliable pick-up truck in a space on her side of the building and got out. The sun warmed her face. As if noticing it for the first time, Sue Ann let the rays hit her. They felt nice and the sky was so clear that she believed the day would never end.

Her cell phone in her purse chimed.

Back to reality, she climbed the stairs to her apartment and went inside. She checked her phone.

Mike texted her.

He always texted her, never called her. Granted, she disliked speaking on the phone, but hearing his voice would’ve been nice.

Would it?

The text read: Pick you up at 9.

Crap.

She forgot they were going out tonight. Drinking, as usual, at the same bar, as usual. The General’s should’ve renamed itself Mike and Sue Ann’s given all the money they sank into the place.

How many beers and nothing to show for them?

Too many.

She texted back, ok.

She regretted not visiting her mom because that sunshine felt so good. And despite the cold comfort of the grave, she really didn’t want to wait around until it was time to get ready.

I should pack my things and leave now.

Another should.

Although her mother never told her what to do, Sue Ann really needed a hard shove. Maybe if her mom was alive, the woman would’ve goaded Sue Ann into another life somewhere else. It was a slim chance. Both ladies knew their simple lives were ones they were accustomed to and change was frightening, the risk of failing more so.

Sue Ann loved her mother, but wished the woman had been stricter or more intolerable.

If she gave me a good reason to leave, like if she abused me, I’d be long gone.

Wishing and remembering tugged on Sue Ann’s heartstrings. She couldn’t take it right now.

She curled up in a tight ball on her twin-bed. If she slept, then maybe her brain would grant her sweet dreams.

***

Banging on the door woke her up. She didn’t know where she was for a moment.

Mike’s voice brought her back.

Sue Ann, he yelled. I’m here.

Sue Ann scrambled out of bed. The time on her phone read 9:13.

Sue Ann!

I’m coming! Sue Ann opened the door.

Mike came in. You ain’t ready yet?

I fell asleep.

You fell asleep? Woman, you knew I was coming.

I know. Sue Ann rummaged through her closet for something to change into. It just happened.

Shit. We’re gonna be late.

The General’s was open from dusk to dawn so Sue Ann didn’t know what they were late for.

I didn’t even take a shower, she said.

Ain’t no one gonna smell you.

I know, but . . . .

But what? Mike got his trademark scowl in his eyes. You trying to impress someone.

No, Sue Ann meekly replied.

Good. Cuz you ain’t impressing me.

Dump him, she told herself in her mild panic. Do it now.

Don’t bother changing, Mike whined. It don’t matter what you look like.

Let me grab my purse.

Mike was already halfway down the stairs.

***

Mike was quiet for most of the drive. Sue Ann figured he was pissed at her for not being ready. It wasn’t like anyone had to get dolled up to go to The General’s. Hell, Mike probably didn’t change clothes. He smelled like old sweat. What was the big deal?

There weren’t many places open on a Friday night. The bar, the diner where most people went after the bar, and the drug store, which was about to close. Unlit storefronts, the sandwich shop, the thrift store, all made Sue Ann feel like one of the few living beings left on Earth. In another town, she was certain life continued well past sunset. But not this one. This town didn’t even boast a McDonald’s or Hardee’s. What kept this place alive? There wasn’t much in the way of a tourism industry. Cotton farming? Sue Ann only knew that the town at night depressed her more than it did during the day.

You can’t even put on make-up? Mike said.

You told me it didn’t matter.

Mike shook his head.

A seven-minute drive. Sue Ann felt every excruciating second.

I could’ve told him I wasn’t feeling well.

Could’ve.

Shit, Mike said when he turned into the dirt lot. They’re packed. He shot a dirty look at Sue Ann.

They