Playing with Fire #1 ✔

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓 - 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫

The cold night air instantly froze my exposed face, hands and the top part of my chest. The sky was cloudless, and there seemed to be so many more clear stars than normal.

Wednesday should know something about that, I thought, before remembering that when I'd left the party, the only thing Wednesday was thinking about was Al.

The cold hit me with an icy blast as we turned a corner, I shivered, "Brr. Why is it so cold?" I asked Theo, as he too shivered and buttoned up the rest of his shirt — neither of our body heat keeping us warm.

"I don't know," he replied and glanced up towards the forest. "Might have something to do with the Alpha."

"Oh." That was all I said, all I needed to say.

It took us around half an hour to walk to Theo's. The yew trees were even more daunting than they were in the daylight, and the white mansion seemed to loom up out of the ground. While we were walking, any time a car alarm went off or a cat screeched, both of us were set on edge.

I was pretty sure neither of us could stop thinking about Lake Oldoy's latest supernatural arrival; an Alpha who decided to announce his presence on Halloween. At least he scheduled it well.

"What time is it?" I questioned as Theo dug around in his pockets for the house key.

Remembering I had my phone, which I frequently left at home by accident, I pulled it out and squinted as the screen lit up. It was exactly 22:22, making my heart stutter. Ever since I was a kid, I'd always obsessed over these mirror times. Whenever a mirror time happened, I thought it meant something good or new was coming.

As it so happens, the Phoenix entered my body at exactly 14:41. A mirror time I would never forget.

"It felt like we were at that party for hours," I complained as Theo finally unlocked the door.

"Yeah, parties can be weird like that. But you're out of it now." He forced a wan smile on his face; I had zero doubt that the new Alpha was troubling him.

Leaning against the cream wall as Theo flicked the lights on, I wondered aloud, "Would you consider joining this new Alpha?"

He sighed heavily as he turned to face me — as if he was trying to expel all the air from his lungs.

"It's fine, forget I asked," I rushed when I saw the distraught look on his face. Wandering through the entrance hallway to where I knew the kitchen was, I called back to him, "Can I grab something to eat? I'm so hungry."

"For sure." He caught up with me, and just like that left the topic of the Alpha behind for a little while.

"Normally on Halloween," I admitted as he searched the mostly empty cupboards, "I just stay in and binge eat while I watch films."

"When I was with my pack," Theo spoke as he turned to face me, "We used to have a massive bonfire and run around Coloma — the abandoned mining town from the gold rush days, where we lived — and act like complete idiots." A smile found his face as he reminisced. "And that was every last day of the month. Not just Halloween."

"If I spent every last day of the month like I usually spend Halloween, I would quickly run out of food and good scary films." I laughed — realising that seeing Theo happy made me happy.

Emotional connection, check!

"What do you wanna do now then?" He tilted his head at me and smirked softly. Not a cocky kind of smirk, more like a sweet, wonky smile. But it was a smile that reached his eyes, and that made me smile back.

"Hmm." I twisted my mouth in contemplation like it was a difficult decision. "Fancy binge eating and watching some scary films? I mean, it wouldn't be Halloween without a scary film."