Arsenic for the Soul Read Online Free PDF

no matter how treacherous it
seemed. Somehow, knowing where she came from added to her blanket
of security and belonging. She supposed it was better than going
about her life feeling like she was just dropped on her uncle’s
doorstep.
    But perhaps it was time to let go of
the dreary past and move forward. It didn’t offer the same refuge
anymore.
    She would never set foot in the Vesely
Manor again.
    Camilla realized the elevator had
stopped long ago while she was pondering her past and future. How
interchangeable they seemed sometimes. The bar-like doors gaped
open to the bluish hall.
    She wanted nothing more than to curl
up in her plush chair and indulge her guilty pleasure of fantasy
novels. A cup of honey lavender tea would also soothe her worries.
She could almost taste the satisfying brew as she fished for her
keys.
    Her hand paused on the chilled door
handle. The eerie feeling that chased her into the foyer suddenly
coiled around her throat.
    She stole a quick glance over her
shoulder. A black fog of shadows drenched the hall, thick enough to
suffocate sound. Was she expecting clever eyes on her now? She
didn’t even hear the other tenants stirring in their
rooms.
    Her key felt as heavy as stone as she
jammed it in the lock. To her surprise, the door swung in with
little resistance.
    She also saw the deadbolt and chain
littered on the floor.
    Camilla’s brain screamed to
run but her muscles were taut with fear. Someone had invaded the
sanctity of her home. He could still be
here , she thought. She clutched the door
handle as though it could be her only lifeline to a society that
was rapidly shrinking. This might be her last chance to call for
help. A stranger could be lurking just around the kitchen door,
waiting to end her life with one catastrophic misstep.
    She thought of the kitchen knives
stowed away in the drawers and how they might be clutched tightly
in someone’s hand for more malevolent purposes.
    She slapped at her pockets for
something to use as a weapon.
    A dry laugh loosed from her throat
when she felt the ballpoint pen in her jeans. Little good it would
do against a stainless steel blade pressed to her
throat.
    Renewed panic pumped through her heart
when she thought of Felix, her pet cat. Normally, he would curl
around her feet as soon as she entered.
    She made a quick study of her homely
quarters. A potted plant rested in the corner beside her favorite
reading chair. Bookshelves towered against the mocha-colored walls,
resplendent with engraved plaques and a lifetime’s worth of fairy
tales and books.
    Across the living room, a
diamond-shaped window afforded a picturesque view of Old Town
Square. Once more she was tempted to sprint into the hall and flee
this nightmare. Instead of granting her sweet escape, her limbs
froze.
    A newspaper clipping rested on the
dining table. Against her better judgment, she approached the
scene. Camilla felt as though she was sloshing through waist-high
water with each step across the Persian rugs. She could already
make out the headline on the paper.
    After all, she wrote the
front page story for the newspaper Blaze.
    Reign of terror ends with
Magdalene Midnight Mission
    The breath hammered out of her chest
as she saw the blood gleaming in luscious trails across the
newsprint, sluicing into a single word that chilled her to the
marrow: SINNER
    She bolted for the door. She almost
reached it when she saw something hanging from the ceiling
fan.
    An unrecognizable mess of flesh and
fur dangled from the blades.
    Terror boiled up in her throat in an
abyssal scream.
     
    * * *
     
    Vivian’s heart bobbed up and down as
she sped down the roads to Florenci Apartments. Camilla phoned her
a short while ago and sounded hysterical and out of
breath.
    “ The lock was broken and
they left blood and a message and I don’t know why this is meant
for me—the police are coming—I’ll hunt down the bastard who did
this—”
    Vivian’s brakes screeched to a halt
when she saw the