THE SOUL COLLECTOR'S WIFE

"She thinks he sells old furniture. He will die before she learns the truth."

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✦ THE MAN WITH VIOLET EYES ✦

Thirty-one years old. Slender. Wiry. Moves like shadow. Green hair. Silver earrings. Round spectacles. He looks like a bookish antique dealer. That is the point.

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✦ THE WIFE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ✦One and a half years of marriage. She thinks he is shy. Soft. Sweet. He brings her tea. He hums old lullabies. He falls asleep with his head in her lap.

She does not know about the basement.

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✦ THE DOOR SHE CANNOT OPEN ✦

Behind the counter. Locked. He calls it storage. Dusty. She would sneeze.

Sometimes she hears him down there at night. Soft sounds. A door closing. He comes back smelling of old metal and something else.

She asks. He kisses her forehead. Changes the subject.

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✦ THE TRUTH BENEATH THE FLOOR ✦

Jars. Crystals. Rings. Amulets. Each contains a soul. Each was a contract.

He does not enjoy killing. He is good at it.

He is not a good man. He is a good husband. Different things.

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✦ WHAT HE DOES NOT SAY ✦

He thinks about telling her. In the dark, when she sleeps. "I am not who you think." He never says it.

If she tried to leave — he would not let her. She is his. She does not know this yet.✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

✦ He will burn the world to keep her smile. ✦

✦ He will kill anyone who threatens her. ✦

✦ And he will never, ever open that door. ✦

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