Guest Darcia Helle

Today my guest is Darcia Helle. I first met Darcia online book tour group and actually won one of her books. I thought I'd ask Darcia to do something a little different for her guest posting. Instead of an interview or an article on writing, I asked her to provide one of her short stories from her anthology. Hope you enjoy - E :)



Wilted Brown Eyes
by Darcia Helle

I’ve never accidentally killed someone. That’s the thought I have as I step around the bed and peer down at him. His eyes are open but I can tell he doesn’t see anything. He’s lying on his back, framed by the edges of the black and crimson rug I’d bought to hide the wine stain on the hardwood floor. The blood leaking from his head gets lost in the crimson, making it hard to tell where the carpet ends and his blood begins.
I ease closer, looking for signs of life. His chest isn’t moving.
I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I sit on the edge of the bed and look into his unblinking eyes. They’re brown. But saying he has brown eyes is really not telling the story at all. Brown can be dark and rough like old tree bark or light and soft like a new leather jacket. Brown has so many variables. It’s really not a color of its own but more of a category. His eyes are a wilted brown, like they’ve been left in the sun too long. Little dots of green brighten them, making me think of a crisp fall morning, before winter settles in and kills off that last bit of life.

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I always loved his eyes. The first time we met, he’d handed me a glass of champagne and said, “Hello. My name is Jake.”
“You have amazing eyes,” I’d said. Just like that. Words spilling from my mouth untethered.

Now Jake’s eyes stare up at the ceiling. The blood has stopped drizzling from that awful gash on the side of his head. His blood is on the nightstand. All over the sharp corner. Dripping off the edge.
I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I sit for what might be a long time or might be a few seconds. Jakes’ eyes won’t look back at me ever again.

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

Does it matter, really, if the act is intentional? Killing someone means they are dead, regardless of intent. Dead is dead. Right?

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I shake off this mantra I’ve been reciting in my head. Whether I’ve ever accidentally killed someone is of no importance. I killed Jake. And it wasn’t an accident.



AUTHOR BIO: Darcia Helle lives in a fictional world with a husband who is sometimes real. Their house is ruled by spoiled dogs and cats and the occasional dust bunny.

Suspense, random blood splatter and mismatched socks consume Darcia’s days. She writes because the characters trespassing through her mind leave her no alternative. Only then are the voices free to haunt someone else’s mind.

Join Darcia in her fictional world. The characters await you.

You can find Darcia here:
website
blog
Facebook page
twitter or @DarciaHelle

Darcia has also agreed to give away a copy of one of her books, so leave a comment and we'll do a random drawing for a copy of Enemies & Playmates, Hit List, No Justice, Beyond Salvation, Miami Snow, The Cutting Edge (fun, suspenseful story), Into the Light (not a horror or suspense story), or Quiet Fury, An Anthology of Suspense (where this story "Wilted Brown Eyes" appears) - see you all in the postings - E :)

Book review - The Cutting Edge by Darcia Helle

I finished reading A Cutting Edge last week or the week before and am just now getting to the review.

The Cutting Edge has a double meaning - a hair cutting place and the fact that Skye's shears are razor sharp and could easily cut through skin and veins if she so choose to do so.




Skye Summers is a hairdresser and has been for many years. Over the years, she has grown to dislike her job since she has to put up with the crazy women, and men, who sit in her chair, rambling on and on and driving her insane. She starts fantasizing about killing her clients and how she could get away with it. Enter the "Mass Avenger" unbeknowest to Skye, who happens to be a new client one Wednesday evening (the evening reserved for the men of the town). The Mass Avenger also has a double entendre (the killings are occurring in Massachusetts as the story is set in a small town in Massachusetts and he is avenging all the masses).

As I read further and further, I almost hoped that Skye would eventually knock off one of her clients or her husband's ex-girlfriend who is the mother of his child and uses the child for stupid stuff - trying to cause problems in the marriage (I dealt with a few of the issues similar to what Skye dealt with when my husband and I were first married, whereby his ex-wife would use their daughter who was 5 at the time to call our house and ask for money - stupid stuff). Skye was only a fantasizer but the Mass Avenger was real. Skye becomes the fascination of the Mass Avenger who feels a kinship with her but she doesn't realize this until the end. Skye does quit her job and states that "a serial killer saved my life" when it is all said and done.

As I read through the story and several new male characters were introduced, I kept thinking I knew who the killer was but it turned out I was wrong. For a fun look into a stylist's perspective of the daily doldrums of this type of profession, check out Darcia Helle's The Cutting Edge.

You can find out more about Darcia and her books here. I look forward to seeing more from Darcia.