Misery Loves Me

Chapter 1

It was just coming into Summer in Texas and the heat poured down into every household. The evening light was low as it seeped into Adrian's room. He was dressed sloppily in a vertically striped t-shirt and plain shorts. He pushed his curls back with his hand in an attempt to cool down his face, but to no avail.

A loud ringing engulfed the walls of the house. Adrian checked the time on his laptop, then slowly raised himself from his desk and headed downstairs. He walked down the carpeted staircase and made his way to the front door, just as the ringing began again.

Adrian tore open the door to see a mail man, standing there, holding out his arm with a plethora of envelopes within his grasp.

"You didn't have a letterbox so I thought I'd ring instead. Couldn't have anyone coming around stealing nothin' left out on the porch now could we?"

The man's thick accent and cheery mannerisms only seemed to irritate Adrian more as he snatched the letters, let out a brief "Okay" and slammed the door shut once more.

His hands shook as he clasped the papers tighter in his grip and headed back upstairs to read them.

He stared down at the papers in his hand, as if he didn't know what they were, and read them over.

Dear Mr. Garcia,
We regret to inform you that your position in our company will terminate effective on the 15th. The reason for your termination will be discussed with you through a phone call within the coming days.

Your final pay check will be paid on the 15th. Employees are required to return all company property and equipment upon termination.

Thank you for your time and service. We wish you the best for the future.

Mr. Lively,

Fucking dickhead. Of course Jacob Lively had it out for him, because to be honest, he had it out for everyone. It was hard enough to get a job in the back arse of nowhere, let alone keep one with Jacob as your employer.

Adrian leaned his head back and sighed in defeat. He couldn't exactly say he was surprised, either though, but he needed the money to keep up the mortgage payments for his new house.

He leaned over and flicked on the fan beside him. The cool breeze barely subsided his frustrations or his sweat, but nonetheless, he turned on his laptop and continued searching jobsfortexans.ie.

Only a few minutes into his search, a pop-up covered the screen. Adrian had left his laptop on all night browsing for jobs, no wonder it was on it's way out.

He slumped out of his chair and began his stroll downstairs yet again, to find his charger. With each step his bones ached more, he felt ancient. Working had become almost a hobby to him in the past few weeks, a much needed routine. Although the work was less than ideal for his young joints.

Groaning, Adrian continued on down the steep steps, contemplating where the charger could be, probably in his work bag in the kitchen. Creak after creak he stepped, unsure if it was the newly fixed up stairs or his joints anymore. But then the creaking got louder. No. Not louder. More numerous. Adrian stopped, and the second creaks seemed to stop a second later.

Adrian's heart dropped. He swung round and barely had enough time to match the gaze of the figure looming behind him when he felt two strong hands push him firmly backwards. He jolted back, tumbled, down the steep slopes, carpet burning his pale skin along the way. He raised his arms to protect his face, which only worsened the burns. He hit the floor in what seemed like seconds, his back slamming the wooden floors first, concealing the impact. If everywhere didn't ache before, it sure as hell did now.

Adrian groaned and wheezed in pain as he lowered his arms and attempted to pry his eyes open to identify his attacker. But as soon as his defenses were down, a gloved hand wrapped around the lower half of his face as a riveting scent filled his lungs. His legs kicked and his body squirmed, but what little strength he had left was dismissed with one punch to the gut. When he gasped for air, the scent only consumed him more, leaving him helpless. His arms began to feel overwhelmingly heavy as they lost their grip on the attacker's hand and fell to the floor.

And with that, Adrian's eyelids fell shut and the room faded to darkness.