The Lord's Luck

I had really bad luck ever since I was 17. It seemed like everything that could go wrong in my life, went wrong. My girlfriend dumped me for a richer man, my pay was reduced, I crashed my car into a telephone pole. (Okay that one's on me, I was kinda drunk..) 
I remember I went on the internet one day, and I don't know how far I got, but I ended up browsing Reddit. I saw a post labeled "The Lord's Luck", and my curiosity immediately peaked. I clicked on the post, and it showed instructions for a game called "The Lord's Luck", hence the name of the post. I read more of the post, and I got to the rules. 
Basically, what you have to do is take a yellow marker, Sharpie, or highlighter, basically anything that could draw yellow. You must take the marker and draw a cross on the back of your hand. You have to do this at exactly 12:00 AM. I thought this as strange, but I kept reading. The rules say that you must keep the cross on your hand for exactly 24 hours. If you succeed at this, you will be blessed with the "Lord's Luck", and the post explained that this meant you would have good luck for a year.
Now this immediately caught my attention, because, like I said, luck was never really on my side since I entered adulthood. So when the idea of one solid year of good luck entered my brain, I was intrigued. I did doubt the idea of the game, though, because to be honest, it sounded too good to be true. 
I kept reading, and it said that if the cross somehow disappears from your arm, say it gets washed off, you would receive "The Devil's Luck". The post explained that this meant you would have bad luck for a year. I wondered why the punishment was so harsh, because the last thing I needed was more bad luck.
The next thing the post said was what made the game challenging. It said that when you start the game, occurrences will happen that will try to rub off the cross. Whether that be natural or supernatural, something wants that cross off of your hand.
My mind was racing, deciding if I wanted to try this or not, since I didn't know if it was real. It was late at night, I was tired and my brain decided "Screw it. Let's do it."
So like the post said, I waited until midnight, then drew a cross on the back of my hand with a yellow highlighter. When I finished, I heard church bells ringing in the distance. This was ominous, but I just brushed it off as a coincidence. I went to bed, making sure the cross didn't rub off in my sleep.
My alarm rang me awake at six in the morning, and I begrudgingly got up, remembering that the cross was still on my arm. I immediately became cautious again, not wanting supposed bad luck for a year. I got ready for work and looked out my window, to be met with pouring rain.
"Great." I muttered, looking down at my hand. I remembered the post saying that the cross couldn't be washed off of my hand, and I got concerned, because I couldn't miss work for a stupid game that may or may not even work. 
I decided that I had to chance it and grabbed an umbrella, making sure to keep my hand under it. I got in my car and drove to work, not looking forward to another stressful day. When I got to work, I was suddenly shoved back out of the door by something that I couldn't see. I forced myself forward, keeping my hand underneath shelter.
I immediately got scared, because something invisible just pushed me. I remember the post saying that things, either supernatural or natural, would try to get the cross off my hand. I walked into my building with caution, looking out for anything that would try to hurt me or get the cross off my hand. I started to believe the game more, because you don't just randomly get shoved by something invisible.
I got to my cubicle, with coworkers giving me weird looks because of the cross. I worked until lunch time. Now this is where things started to get scary. I went to the cafeteria because, of course, I forgot my lunch at home. When I got to the cafeteria, I got on line to get something to eat. While I was waiting, I leaned against a kitchen counter. Suddenly, I heard something rattle above me, and when I looked up, I saw a butcher's cleaver above my arm. It's chain suddenly snapped, and the cleaver fell towards my arm. 
I reacted fast and moved my arm away, just before the cleaver hit. This is where I started to think "Maybe this game isn't a lie after all.. Maybe I should be more cautious.." I decided to skip lunch and go back to my cubicle. I got back to work. One of my coworkers walked past me, holding a mug of coffee for some reason, even though it was about 1:00 PM. When she walked past me, she tripped over a wire and dropped the coffee onto me. This time, I reacted less fast, and ended up scorching my other arm, the one without the cross. 
I immediately got up and ran to the bathroom, wondering if what I did was such a good idea because now it seems like something is trying to hurt me. I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror. After what seemed like 5 minutes of just staring at my reflection, I went back to my cubicle. I somehow got through the rest of the day, with things still trying to get the cross off my arm.
I got up and grabbed my stuff, just wanting to get home and relax, as hard as that may be with what's been happening today. I got in my car and started driving home, when I heard a very loud honking next to my car. I looked to my left, and saw a car careening towards mine. I tried to swerve out of the way to avoid the other car, but to no avail. We crashed into each other.
When I came to, it was raining outside again. I was outside, next to a couple of paramedics. My left leg was bandaged. I realized it was raining, and suddenly looked at my left arm, panicked. I looked in horror as I couldn't see the cross. I felt something weird on my palm, and I turned my hand around. 
I saw a red, upside down cross. I was panicking, because I didn't need more bad luck than I already had. I was sent to the hospital, where I layed in a hospital bed, silently having a panic attack over what just happened. I looked at the upside down cross on my palm, and I never thought I would feel so scared in my life. 
It's now a quarter of the year done, and so far, it's been horrible. I lost my job, my house, my food, everything. All I have left is this crappy phone someone gave me, and the upside down cross on my palm to remind me of my biggest mistake I ever made.
Category:Ritual