The Midnight Hour
The darkness had become so strong that any glimmer of light she once seen at the end of the tunnel had faded in the blackness. The pen in her hand trembled as if she were sitting in the middle of an earthquake as she tried to write what would be her last letter. Sara downed another shot of vodka and slammed the glass back down next to the gun that sat to the right of the paper. She shook her head and gave a little smirk thinking how funny it was that he had bought her that gun so that she could protect herself. He was Ryan, her fiance.
That night kept playing over and over again in her mind like someone was torturing her with a movie by hitting rewind and play. Sara tried to make sense of it all but nothing was fitting together, it was like a bad dream. On that afternoon they were laughing, joking and everything was fine until it all fell apart that evening. What the hell had happened in just a few hours? Her world fell apart a week ago tonight. She had tried everything to get him to reconcile or even just talk to her and help her to understand, but nothing worked, Ryan would not talk to her.
Both of them had big plans for this weekend since it would be the start of her birthday at midnight, but now here she sat alone in her apartment. She hadn't broke the news to friends and family yet for she had still held on to slight hope that he would realize he missed her or that he had made a mistake.
Sara grabbed the bottle and poured another shot. She held it for a moment envisioning what their future would have been like. Her gorgeous dress, the fairy-tale wedding she had been planning, the house they would have lived in and even what their kids would have looked like. Gone was the shot as she told herself that it was never going to happen now. Her tears fell down her face and onto her letter smudging the ink in little damp black circles. She couldn't stop them now, and there was really no point in trying to.
It was eleven o'clock now, only one hour left until her birthday. She popped open a bottle of vicodin that Ryan had left in her medicine cabinet from his root canal last year. She had contemplated taking the whole bottle, but there was a chance she would come back from that only to suffer another day, so she shoved three into her mouth and chased them with another shot.
Sara sat there wondering if she had at least made a difference in one person's life in her soon to be 30 years on this earth. If there were anyone besides her best friend or family that would remember her, or even if anyone would show up to her funeral. The numbness was starting to take over her body so she gave the letter a last quick glance, signed her name and stood up from the table. Almost empty she left the shot glass behind taking the bottle, the gun and the letter with her and headed for the bedroom.
I would have made a beautiful bride she thought as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, her dress twinkling like stars in the dim lit room. It was white satin and lace with sapphire embellishments and cobalt trim, she fell in love with it the moment she saw it. Since she wasn't going to wear it for her wedding, she was wearing it now.
Heading for the bed she tilted the bottle one last time swallowing until it vanished and dropping it to the floor. Flat on her back with her head on the pillow she fanned her veil out across it and positioned her hair, she wanted to make sure she looked pretty. She clenched the letter in her left hand close to her engagement ring and started 'You are the love of my life' what would have been her wedding song that she had already set to play repeatedly. The chimes of the grandfather clock rang out letting her know it was midnight, and now her birthday. Sara took the twenty five with her right hand, took one last deep breath, pointed it at her heart and whispered I love you Ryan. The shot echoed through the apartment.
The smell of sulfur lingered in the air but Ryan couldn't recognize it when he first opened the door. With flowers and a bottle of wine he called out her name with no reply. He still had a copy of her key on his key-ring and had come to tell her what a mistake he had made and that he couldn't live without her. As he made his way down the hall the smell was becoming stronger and he called her name again when he seen her reflection in the dresser mirror.
Glass shattered everywhere as the wine and roses hit the floor. A shock raced through his body as his heart skipped a beat before running to her. Leaping onto the bed he took her into his arms and began to scream. Rocking back and forth with tears pouring down his face he took the letter from her hand...
** This is a special preview of The Midnight Hour written by Nyki Mack. This preview is protected under copyright to avoid any theft or unauthorized use. Any use of this material is punishable and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.** Written & Copyrighted By Nyki Mack © 2017
