Kisses From Death | Book 1

O N E

O N E
The Golden Ticket

IT WAS ONE of those nights in which would have been absolutely uneventful if it weren't for the phone call that changed the night's plans. Only, in this case, it was a good old fashioned letter instead of a phone call.

The rain outside was pattering gently against the windows, a slight hum that brought in great soothing comfort for my nerves as I sipped on the cup of steaming hot coffee, a book in my lap. This was the way in which I had spent many of my days after my descent from the throne of high school, reduced to nothing but my absolute deepest core: a girl who loved to read and hated the ticking of time.

The clock that hung on the plain ivory colored walls of my home ticked as the seconds went by, the consistent noise echoing in the otherwise empty household as I curled deeper into the sofa chair that was set up in the corner of my bedroom. Furrowing my eyebrows in annoyance, my eyes darted to examine the damn clock with absolute distaste every once in a while as it took my attention away from the story in which I was currently attempting to read.

"God damn it." I cursed once under my breath before abruptly getting up, slamming the hardcover book against the small round glass table. The noise echoed within my room and eventually the rest of the empty house, but it did not last long enough to completely block out the dreadful ticking that soon returned. "Damn thing can't shut up. How am I supposed to read like this?"

Exasperated, I crossed my room quickly before rising to the tips of my toes, reaching for the clock and unscrewing the back of it with a random screwdriver that was kept in the drawers of my writing desk. I pulled the batteries of the clock out before screwing the back of the clock in again, placing it back to its original position on the wall with a satisfied grin.

You see, these nights are often the hardest to get by. What could've been supposedly the best day of my life, also known as my big twenty-first birthday celebration, ended up being one of the worst. Never mind that my oh so wonderfully kind boyfriend had decided to break up with me mere days before my birthday, but the knife that came right to my back when I had found out that he had gone out with who I thought was my best friend felt worse. To top it all off, I had to end up spending this momentous day all by myself, with nothing but an aggravating ticking clock keeping me company.

How did I even end up here?

How did I even end up like this?

In my own humble opinion, I was a wonderful human being that attended church every Sunday as a youth. I always greeted all of my elders, treating them with nothing but respect. I had studied diligently back in high school, even going as far as to take a few extracurricular lessons to broaden my set of knowledge and skills. Not to toot my own horn, but I was also popular, well-liked and praised before I had left for college.

So why was it that I am now spending this day alone at home with no one else to celebrate my most momentous birthday with me?

Even with all my years of education, all my years of research on miscellaneous topics, that was a question I can never answer in all of my life. Perhaps I was just ever so down in the luck department ever since birth.

"Face it, Addison. You are just not important enough to get the birthday bash you had always dreamed of. So much for twenty-first birthdays." Succumbing to the temptation of ranting to myself, I began to whisper resentful words under my breath, sulking my entire way through as I made my way down the steps of my house and into the living room. "Even Bella and Minnie are too busy to give you the best night of your life. Too busy to spend a night over with ice cream and break up movies to ease the burden of heartbreak."