Rori did not feel at ease when her sister, Sandra stepped inside her room to talk to her about their parents' death. The whisper of Sandra's pink satin dressing gown was the only sound in the empty room she could hear clearly as she hurried to make her statements add up properly in order to simplify things for her.
"Let us eat," Rori offered after a brief moment of silence. "Food is good for a troubled soul.""Food?" Sandra scratched her forehead softly. "I don't want to eat food now. But if I refuse to eat, you will start acting like Mark. You will either complain I am trying to lose weight or I am too thin to reject a food offer.""I don't judge, Sandy," Rori said, dropping the bowl of rice she had gotten from the kitchen on the dining table in the dining room. The kitchen was close to the dining room.Sandra took her place at the empty chair and pressed the discreet ruby and jade bell push beside her."You don't have to do that," Rori cautioned. "It is a gift for someone special.""Someone special?" Sandra's eyes twitched as she rubbed her face with her palm. It was so early for her to be taking breakfast here, unlike her sister, who ate breakfast on the family's dining room alone since their parents' death, on a thick dark tray covered with impeccably starched linen."So, tell me about this special person you bought a bell for?" Sandra said between chunks of beef."He doesn't matter to you," Rori said, trying to avoid their eyes meeting.An old woman in a blue uniform with stiff white apron, cuffs, and cap immediately appeared, glancing nervously at both of them as they sat opposite each other."Yes, Miss Reeler?" The old woman said.Sandra turned as she took a quick look at her family's loyal servant for twenty years."What is she still doing here?" She asked Rori. "I thought Father gave us clear instructions to relieve her from her duties if anything bad ever happens to him.""It is not her fault, it is mine," the old woman who was called Betty said. "I want to still be with Rori for a while until I find a better place to go to."Sandra exhaled as she dropped her spoon on the table. "Don't you have a son who lives in the big city?"Betty did not answer."Are you deaf? Can't you hear me properly?""He is dead," Rori answered for Betty immediately she noticed the rise in anger in Sandra's tone. She turned to Betty. "Only coffee and milk for me this morning, thank you, Betty. You can go."Betty bent down a little as a sign of appreciation. She left."I don't like her these days," Sandra confessed as she began to eat again."You have never liked her. You don't have to deny it. Both of us know," Rori said."She is too slow and inactive.""She is just being careful. She knows her work. If you give her space, she will do it.""Yes, Miss Reeler! Why won't she do it when her eyes are like blue stained glass that has survived a fall. She barely smile when she works here. Even when Audrey was employed and assigned to help her out, she still didn't smile. She just watched her wrinkled face until she could no longer watch again. People are afraid of women who don't smile. They believe that most of them, especially those of them who were present during the last full moon came in contact with a strange force that has had a strong impact on their attitude. The way they see life.""That is purely barbaric," Rori confessed. "Only deranged people would consider an old woman's abnormal display of affection as evil. Betty is a nice hardworking woman who knows her duty."Sandra agreed. She didn't have the strength nor the wisdom to debate a woman's way of life with her sister. She was a girl of fun years, and she knew only a woman with a firm hand, and strong ideas could conquer the heart of an alpha in a secretly splendid sense of humor as she did. It was hidden there in her dark blue eyes. She was a queen and she knew it."Are you still going to tell me who owns the bell on this table?" Sandra asked."Of course," Rori smiled. "It is for a human friend of mine. I met him in a restaurant.""You met a human friend in a restaurant and you are proud of your exploits?" Sandra's voice was slightly raised. "You know how dangerous it is to develop a romantic relationship with a human friend?""I wish!" Rori said, placing her middle finger close to her right ear. "I wish that was possible, Sandy. He is getting married to a beautiful blonde woman, and I made this special bell for him. I want to wish him a happy married life."Sandra laughed gently as she felt the bell. "You are such a sweet pie," she said. "I don't know if I am going to find someone with a better heart. Your habit of putting people's feelings over your feelings has always separated me from you. I am a beast, Rori. I take whatever I want in the forest. No matter the cost, I take whatever I want!"Rori watched as her sister continued eating her rice. She took three more spoons then stopped."Mark told me you came very early in the morning yesterday. Is it true?" Sandra asked.Rori heart skipped a beat."Why didn't you call me before coming? I thought we had already concluded the plans regarding Father and Mother's burial. Why did you see Mark and not me?"Rori did not answer. She bit her lips."Rori! I am talking to you. And you have to give me an answer before I start raining volcanoes on top of your head. Why did you visit yesterday?""I was sick," she lied.Drake's coffee was poured from a bronze pot with an ivory handle. The bronze pot was one of the few objects he had managed to bring back home after spending almost a year in Mozambique, along with other treasures that had belonged to his parents' former home. His father was a decent strong man who had cared little for all of what Africa had to offer, and most of what his mother had to offer too about Africa. He spent most of his long well-lived life talking about the location, secrets and sexuality of werewolves. He was far more interested in jaunting around the world, convincing himself that there was more to humans than the normal acceptable biological form, far more in love with the night creatures that circled around, under the full moon, chanting praises in honor of their creator who they barely knew than the havoc caused by watching people live their entire lives tied to a particular location.Once, Drake's father had gotten involved in an argument with a religious man wh
At first, Drake didn't take the first three months of Rosetta's absence seriously. As far as he was concerned, she was gone. And she was never coming back to him. He had been amused when Rosetta's father presented him with a plain sheet of paper, demanding his signature. It seemed more than funny for him to see his almost father-in-law accusing him of murder, and then, eventually, he had realized how much pain Rosetta's death had done to her parents. Her absence had absorbed every tiny bit of energy in them. Then, the sudden discovery of her dead body by the local police close to the river had sparked a deep breath of argument which had led to the formation of opinions by a few members of the small loving community that were considered barbaric. It was a crazy encounter that would go on for days.Drake knew his time of questioning was coming soon. But, he didn't expect it to come as soon as possible. He was well aware that his major political disagreement with Rosetta's father
"She was a very beautiful woman when she was alive. Wasn't she?" Bennett asked. He was Drake's childhood friend who had gone to the same university with him. "You are a handsome lad, aren't you?" Drake replied, faking a laughter."I was when I was a bit younger, and didn't think much about women," Bennett's gentle voice hit the window in his apartment like thunder striking a make-believe pole."We can argue about your beauty and never reach a dead end. It doesn't matter if you believe you are the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Edinburgh, what matters is my perspective about you which is not going to change.""Charming!" Bennett interrupted, dropping the glass of wine in his hands on top of a glass table. His eyes combed Drake, as they always did, expecting to see something that wasn't there and never had been. They had been friends for a long period of time even long before Drake had met Rosetta and had planned a suitable pleasing marriage that will ensure their
Rori's eyes darkened as she thought about Drake. She had considered visiting him without his knowledge because she felt he needed to be with someone who would comfort him even though he denied it. She was about to answer the door in her apartment just behind her when it opened with little force. It was her sister, Sandra in a cloud of green silk and cream-colored lace, her hair cascading over her shoulders as she looked at her in an unusual manner, more like despair. "You are thinking about something," Sandra said. "It is your human friend right?""I don't know what you talking about, Sandy," Rori lied, trying to avoid looking in the direction of her sister's eyes. Sandra sat down, almost in a thud. At full stretch, she stood almost a foot shorter than her younger sister, Rori, and she seemed extremely nervous, as her hands fluttered like tiny birds. "How is Mark?" Rori asked, trying to occupy herself with the onions lined neatly inside a tray."Mark is f
Drake looked truly stunned and Rori had to turn away to conceal her cheerful smile. And when she turned back again their eyes met briefly. It was a short moment. Pure!There was a hidden caress there in Rori's eyes for Drake, not that he would never had known if he decided to take a peek. But there was absolutely no need for that because Rori was not in a position or state of denial. She cared about Drake. It was what mattered to her the most. His state of well-being was the only reason she considered visiting him in the night without thinking about it twice."Thank you," Drake said as he sat down and placed a soft pillow close to his belly."What are you thanking me for?" Rori asked. She was trying to conceal the smile on her face."You came to see me, didn't you?"Rori nodded in approval."It shows you care about me," Drake continued, "because if you didn't, you wouldn't have come here.""True!" Rori affirmed. "I was a bit worried about you
The moment Rori arrived at her sister's apartment, everything seemed to stop dead for a second. Even her voice was gentle in her own ears, and silently, at her sister's own end, she nodded and moved away in a manner that left Rori confused. She wanted to ask her sister if something was wrong somewhere, but she didn't know how. A part of her was even grateful for the call from Sandra Ryder, her sister because she had laughed throughout the conversation in a way that proved that it would take a great amount of evil for both of them to be ever separated. Now, as Rori stood a few metres away from her sister, she could feel a strange uneasiness run through her body as if she had gotten involved in a crime that involved backstabbing her own elder sister. Indeed, she had!"Where are you staying now?"Rori moved closer. "Same old place. But, I am planning on moving to the city to stay with Drake for a while. He is in a bad state now. I would love to get closer to him more. I
Drake was sitting outside the courtroom when Rori arrived with a suitcase in her hand. It didn't take long before he announced to her with joy that Rosetta's parents had dropped all the charges they had laid on him for reasons he could not explain. Rori was excited that he was going to finally sleep in peace, mourning his wife, Rosetta, silently without thinking of her parents trying all they could to make his already hard life more difficult for him. "I will have to go somewhere," Rori told him after he had given her a cup of coffee and escorted her to board a taxi that would take her back to her sister's place. "When will you be back?" Drake asked."As soon as I can set things right with my sister," Rori replied. "I have made a terrible mistake and I am solely at fault for bringing misery into the life of someone who did not deserve it.""What did you do?" Drake asked again. This time, trying to form a unique smile in his face to prove to Rori that he wasn't
Rori was fascinated, though, as she wandered the streets, the women looked chic and the men so well dressed. Somehow, it made the werewolf city where Mark led a pack seem very happy and sleepy, and she tried to describe it all to Sandra when she called her before entering the apartment where she lived with Mark."Everyone in the city seems happy today," she said to Sandra. "You are so lucky, Sandy. I had give anything to be happy the way you are.""Sure, you would," Sandra said, pouring tea inside a ceramic cup. "Why are you here? Did you come here to ask if my husband is around so you can plan how to fuck him when I am away?""I didn't come because of that. But, I did come to see Mark.""Ah! You did come to see Mark. You just don't know what you want to see him for? You haven't decided yet? I can see the options running around your head like a ticking bomb waiting to explode.""You don't have to be so rude to me, Sandra.""Of course, I don't! But, now