The Candles Will Protect You

Chapter 1

I hate cleaning. It's just not my thing.

I have to do it though because mom and dad are both at work, and since I'm homeschooled, I get the fun jobs like this around the house.

But I mean, it's still better than cooking. I can not cook for my life. I'm just not good at it.

Thinking about it, is there even anything I'm good at? Probably things like procrastinating, sleeping and eating.

Christmas music blasted off my phone as I was cleaning the windows in the living room. It was the middle of October. Yes, I am one of those people.

I was singing along to Mariah Carey when I heard knocking on the door.

I didn't even bother turning the music off, I just strolled to the door, opening it with a smile.

"You're late," I looked up at Drake. "I'm almost finished."

"Is that so? I'm sorry, it won't happen again," he said with a serious face, but I saw the smile he was trying to hide.

"You're such a liar!" I laughed, shaking my head. "I bet you were with Tiffany, weren't you?"

"Maybe," Drake looked down at the floor, smiling to himself.

"Is she still home?" I asked.

"No," he sighed. "She had to go back to her father."

"That sucks! I mean, she's 20, she should be able to do what she wants!"

"I know, but... whatever, let's just drop this. Do you still need help with something?"

"No, I will finish the living room up, you can order pizza or something."

"Consider it done," he grinned, walking in the house.

I quickly finished cleaning the windows, then put all the cleaning stuff away, washing my hands.

I went back to the living room, finding Drake on the sofa, who was searching for something to watch.

He ended up choosing some comedy, which was hilarious. After the pizza arrived, I almost choked at one of the scenes, but I managed.

We had a great time, but when the movie ended he had to leave because Mr Brown needed help around the house.

"Thanks for coming over," I hugged him at the door.

"Sure," he hugged me back. "Oh, and by the way, there's a full moon coming up. You know what that means..." he grinned.

"Of course!" I nodded happily. "It's my turn this time, right?"

"Correct. I gotta go now, see you later!"

"Have a good time!" I laughed, which he returned with a glare.

I closed the door, then it hit me. I still had to clean my room.

"UGH!" I groaned, walking towards the bathroom to get the cleaning stuff out again.

Why am I like this?

I turned the volume all the way up, enjoying the fact that there were no people around to complain about it.

I decided on a One Direction playlist that time and I put it on shuffle.

"You're insecure
Don't know what for
You're turning heads when you walk through the door
Don't need make-up, to cover up
Being the way that you are is enough"

I started dancing around the room, trying my best to clean the windows in the process.

As I was wiping the glass clean, I looked outside, and almost had a heart attack.

There was a huge wolf sitting a few feet away from my window, looking straight into my soul. I mean eyes, but whatever.

I stared back at it with a shocked expression, while 1D was still blasting from my phone. It was a weird situation.

The wolf was insanely beautiful, though. Its head and neck were black with a little white patch, but the rest of it was brown and grey. It was kind of like a colourless rainbow.

But it's eyes... They looked so familiar. They were a brownish golden colour, it was like they were glowing.

"I feel the waves getting started
It's a rush inside I can't control
Your eyes keep pulling me in
And I know, I know, I know"

I turned my head away, looking at my phone. 

Seriously? Wolves?

The second I looked back, the wolf was gone.

I heard a car pulling up to the driveway, which meant that my parents have arrived. I quickly put the cleaning stuff away again, and I walked to the kitchen to greet them.

"Hello honey," my mom hugged me, then she sat down at the table.

"Hi," I greeted them both. "Did you have a great day? How was work?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"Same old, nothing interesting," mom smiled.

"Hey, I had an interesting day!" Dad crossed his arms defensively.

"Oh please, I doubt Rhea cares about your boss getting engaged," she rolled her eyes.

"What?!" I gasped. "She got engaged again?"

"I know right!" He smiled excitedly.

"Okay, girls," mom stood up. "It's none of your business what she does with her life. She can get engaged for a thousand times for all I care, so let's talk about something else. Rhea, what was your day like?" She turned to me.

"Well, I cleaned for a bit, then Drake came over and we watched a movie," I shrugged. "Oh yeah, and something weird happened just before you guys arrived!"

They gave me a questioning look, so I decided to carry on with my story.

"I was cleaning the window, then all of a sudden I look out, and I see this huge wolf sitting outside, just chilling there. Weird, right?"

They looked at each other, talking only with their eyes.

"But I mean, we do live next to a forest, and that's where wolves usually live, so it's not that weird if I think about it," I shrugged.

"Are you sure it was a wolf?" My dad looked at me with worry in his eyes.

"Well, it was kinda big for a wolf, but yeah, I'm sure," I nodded.

"What did it look like?" Mom asked.

"It wasn't just one colour, but it was beautiful. You should have seen it," I said, remembering the animal.

They were quiet for a while, it seemed like they were deep in thought.

"I'll be right back, I'll go and talk to Hart," my father announced, walking out the door and towards our neighbours.

"Why does he want to talk to Mr Brown?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Don't worry about it darling," mom smiled at me. "You should go and get ready for bed, it's getting late."

"Okay," I sighed, walking to my room.

After I showered I put my pyjamas on, then I went back to my room.

I walked to the window, looking out at the forest, but the wolf wasn't there.

Could it be that I just imagined it?

No, it looked so familiar.

I sighed, deciding it was time for me to get some sleep.

Maybe I'll see it again tomorrow.