The Seven Day List

Maddie Davis is done.

At nineteen, she's traded a morphine haze for a clinical, seven-day countdown to her own end.

Her birthday is her deadline; her death wish "seven day list" is her only priority.

But as she navigates a toxic relationship with her narcissistic boyfriend and the crushing weight of her own psychological pain, a chance collision changes the frequency of her life.

A silent stranger with amber eyes, a man who shouldn't be on campus, intervenes with a touch that feels like a resurrection. Now, Maddie must decide: follow the list to its dark conclusion, or let a mystery worth living for tear it up.

...

​"Where is he?"

Not a word. Not a movement. Then, a sharp crack. The boy next to him crumpled, hitting the floor. The sound was a command, and the crowd-a suffocating wall of people-parted instantly, creating a silent lane for him to walk towards the exit.

My eyes went wide. Tall didn't even cover it. I'd always considered myself tall, but this man towered over me, a force of gravity. When he reached a hand out, I saw the beginning of a faint scar tracing the back of his hand, and on his long, lean fingers, ruby rings one on every digit flashed like drops of blood.

This man cannot be human. He was all tall, sharp angles, a figure dripping with a dangerous, palpable sex appeal.

All I can think about, as I force my eyes to stay glued to the screen, is the commotion he's caused, the fact his brother is hurt.
The moment Victor exited, the whispers returned, sharper now. "Someone stabbed Warren."

"Is Victor gonna pay him off too?"

A few scattered laughs followed.

Idiots. These fools seemed to have forgotten the most important thing of all: the fallen boy on the road still hasn't moved.

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© Roy Alan Jackson