Chapter 1:
Shaking fingers fumbled, dropping the unlit match. Taylors already horrible day just seemed to keep getting worse. With tear clouded vision she stooped down to pick up the fallen match. A task made all the harder while in the dark, she had come home to find that the storm outside had knocked out the power.
One strike, two strike, three- SNAP! Taylor nearly broke down sobbing as the glorified toothpick snapped instead of igniting.
It was her mother's anniversary and she couldn't even light a stupid candle in remembrance. Maybe Emma was right, maybe she really was a failure.
Taking one last shuddering breath she grabbed the last match in the box. Please light. She prayed as she swiped it. Please.
With a sharp hiss, the match lit.
Taylor stared at the flame with wide eyes. Some part of her had honestly not believed that it would actually light. Seeing the flame begin to flicker, she practically thrust it into the candle's wick. Just as it started to blacken, a harsh knock on the front door made Taylor jump. The jarring movement causing the match to go out, once more plunging her in darkness.
Taylor could feel her eyes begin to sting, her lip began to wobble.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
With angry tears in her eyes, she stomped over to the door, wrenching it open. Whatever words she was about to speak died on her lips as she took in the offenders.
A pair of police officers.
"Are you Taylor Hebert?" One of them asked.
She nodded mutely, in shock from the whiplash of emotions.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your father died in a-"
The world stopped. The man's lips kept moving. But the world stopped.
His lips were still moving soundlessly when Taylor, slowly, almost mechanically shut the door.
She slid down the wood slowly, breath shallow and fast.
The world stopped.
The door shook from the knocks.
The world stopped.
Taylor sat curled in the dark.
The world stopped.
Taylor screamed.
Lights all across the bay flickered.
And a candle flared to life.