Kisses From Death | Book 1

P R O L O G U E

P R O L O G U E

THE LITTLE GIRL played amongst the field of flowers, completely oblivious to her surroundings as she took a whiff of the daisy nearest to her. Her caregivers, two very oblivious 15-year-old teenage girls, were too busy gossiping by the nearby benches to bother themselves with the bubbly and all too energetic one-year-old they were supposed to be taking care of. As a result of such careless and thoughtless desertion by her current caregivers, little Addison Pilediah had taken it upon herself to find some entertainment to pass the time.

The town of Riverside Creek was set off into the far rural corners of America. It was a little town that was built upon a quiet village from the olden days. Long before modern civilization, Riverside Creek had been a fishing village and a dock for small merchants to gather. As the years went by, some of these merchants eventually decided to settle down and build their own homes by the island-like town. For many centuries after that, Riverside Creek's population had only ever been continuously growing, having people of multiple ethnicities and social classes owning a residence or two in the once humble town.

A long winding river surrounds Riverside Creek, along with a long line of hills that bordered the other side. Past the waters, there were forests and trees surrounding the settlement for as far as the naked eye could see, a humble haven for many species of woodland creatures to rest.
In this park in which Addison was playing in, the line of hills and trees were not very far away. In fact, the short distance between the girl and the wooded areas was a dangerous factor.

The baby girl crawled slowly at a leisurely pace the very second she had spotted a squirrel running on the grass, a small acorn clasped tightly in between its teeth. Addison let out a gurgle of laughter, clapping her hands in delight as she made her way over, following the creature as it ventured further into the woods. Not knowing where she was going and not that she actually cared, the surroundings of towering trees soon grew unfamiliar, an eerie darkness creeping over the canopy of trees as she crawled further and further into the darkness. With each step she took, Addison was more and more distant from the urban jungle in which she called home, and nearer towards a foreign wooded wilderness.

She had not known then, or even now when she had grown older, but a pair of shining predator-like eyes had been watching her movements with utmost curiosity. The eyes were fixated on the baby's every movement, observing with a hint of a smirk playing upon his lips that never quite faltered.

The squirrel's little feet did not stop. It was running further away from the bright clearing and into the blackened forest as the baby followed, giggling every once in a while in delight, not knowing her doomed fate if she crawled on.
You see, a cliff drop loomed ahead, simply sending clueless explorers down to their demise had they not been more careful with where they were going. This drop down from the edge was labeled as a dangerous spot due to its imprecise location and unstable earth. It was a sudden drop with no warning, simply a notorious death trap set by nature.

Nevertheless, Addison's speed never once slowed, only seemingly going faster as she neared the cliff even further. When she thought she had finally caught on to the little beast, the squirrel made its way up a creaking willow tree, stuffing itself inside a small hole in the trunk. The girl was left disappointed and confused, large round doe eyes darting back and forth the area as she continued on, edging closer and closer towards the cliff.

Just as her hand touched the bit of air without land, a pair of cold hands wrapped themselves around her torso, easily lifting her up into the air before holding her safely in its arms.