RUM What am I doing? I turned away from the fleeting curtains and the silhouette of my curse in the glass pane of her window, and jumped onto the next ledge of the next window… then the next… and the next… and finally the same roof that I had been landing on for the past two weeks. What have I been doing? Ever since I have woken from that strange mull, everything seemed clearer and felt brighter, yet at the same time it was muddy. I made a long jump and landed on the roof of the next building, then sped to the edge and jumped again—. ***** The elevator doors opened and the lights came on. Ambrose was on the couch watching something hilarious on the TV—for some reason the sight of him disgusts me. Was it because of Rose or… the fact that he's Ambrose? 'Where were you?' he asked. Asshole. Acting like he's in charge. My hand reached for the fridge handle and I pulled it open to grab a bottle of Fiji. As I downed the whole bottle, the door slammed shut and—for some reaso
ROSE My phone was buzzing like crazy but I didn't care. I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom and let the tears fall. The buzzing stopped and my sobs took over. The breeze didn't help this time. I couldn't stop thinking of him. And the buzzing came on again. Argh! I grabbed the phone and raised it high, aiming at the wall—and then I halted. I sniffed hard, wiped my face with the back of my hand and tapped the green button. 'WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?' The sweet voice screamed, blasting my eardrums. 'You better have a good reason for missing work—.' 'I think I'm down with something,' I croaked. 'W-What?' Panic was in her voice. 'Is it contagious?' she whispered, fearful for her own life. 'I think so. That's why I quickly left,' I lied. 'Jesus Christ! I better tell Dan. Everyone needs to do a thorough check—. This better not be COVID!' 'As a matter of fact, I just finished my consultation with the doctor. And it's not COVID.' Wouldn't want the entire B.A.D to be inconve
AMBROSE As soon as he was well far away from the Alpha, Ambrose collapsed to the ground on all fours and spat out the ache that was clogging up in his chest. Splashes of black, gooey substance hit the ground and evaporated instantly with sizzles of steam. The blood of the darkness flowing through him. They haven’t gotten into his bloodstream like they did with the Beta—if they had, he would’ve been consumed. Lucky for him, he thought, he was just a minor character with little abilities to do much. If he’d been consumed, Goddess knows what’ll happen to his family. It was only a moment of consciousness for him before the voice took over once more. ‘Rockus!’ The low voice cursed as he stood and faced the mood hanging high above. ‘You’ll never be up there for long, my sweetness. I’ll pull you down from there if it’s the last thing I do! Made me a formless, scent-less thing, did you?’ A low chuckle of pure evil rumbled from Ambrose’s chest. ‘I’ll be the most hideous thing you’l
ROSE TAP! Tap, tap, tap…! Hmmm? It’s raining. I need to wake up and close the windows… my designs will catch the rain. My eyelids were forced open and bright daylight welcomed my return. My back felt stiff. My cheek felt numb. I tried my voice and my dried throat croaked. TAP, TAP, TAP! ‘Hurry!’ A silky, deep voice pierced through. Instantly, I jolted upright—I was still in my chair at my desk. I must’ve fallen asleep while working on the designs for my portfolio. It was a deep sleep because I couldn’t remember anything from it—I couldn’t even remember falling asl—. ‘JESUS CHRIST, OPEN THE DAMN WINDOW!’ Rum? My face jerked to my right and there he was—a giant black wolf—in broad daylight. IN BROAD DAYLIGHT?! I rushed over and tipped the latch. The glass pane yanked open with a loud bang and the wolf head jutted in. ‘Get on me now,’ it growled. ‘No.’ I backed away—but it sank its sharp teeth into my sleeves and tugged me forward. ‘Stop it, Rum!’ I hissed, afraid tha
RUM ‘Nice one, Rum!’ CLICK! FLASH! I promised to be back in thirty minutes and I was, much to everyone’s relief. Goldie Sparks wasn’t anywhere in sight so it was a relief; apparently, she left in an unwilling urgency to meet her father. I would need to come up with something plausible to appease her later, when she’s back. ‘Yes… that’s nice.’ CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK—FLASH! I couldn’t say it. The word that was in my mind. The subject of all my songs. The feeling that I thought I had lost ever since I left the werewolf world. I was afraid that if I said it out loud and clear, I’d lose everything. I’m a coward. Rose has been wrong about me. I’m no hero. I’m just a fucking coward. A selfish jerk. ‘Gaze of passion, Rum. Gaze of passion,’ instructed the photographer. I narrowed my eyes at the black circle perched on the camera. I meant to say ‘love’. But I turned it into ‘hate’. My chest chuckled dryly. I guessed I do hate her, since she was sent by the fucking deity. Ye
ROSEI dropped the phone beside my pillow and hugged my blanket as the DJ continued reciting the titles of all the songs. ‘... ‘The Spring Within You’, ‘Magic Dust’.... I must say that your agency is the most honest agency in the world.’ And Rum laughed. ‘They described the album right.’ ‘They did. ‘Light and darkness of human emotions’. That can’t be more accurate… so what’s the source of all this?’ Rum chuckled slightly and hummed a little. ‘Well, I’ve met tons of people. Seen a spectrum of emotions… good ones, bad ones… the fact that I’m even calling them good and bad makes me a hypocrite, you know… Emotions are merely vessels of our reactions to the world around us… who’s to say that they are good or bad? It’s alright to feel anger… or sadness… or even jealousy… we can’t expect ourselves to be—well, to be happy all the time…..’ ‘This seems to come from the heart,’ said the DJ. ‘The heart of mankind indeed.’ Something swelled up in my chest and burned the back of my eyes. I s
ROSE Roseb? The woman’s name is Roseb? The name sounds weird. I already didn’t like it. I disliked it more because it has ‘Rose’ in it. It made me feel low… second grade…the pirated version of a GIOIA lipstick. So this was why Rum picked me (and he dared say that he didn’t choose). It was all because my name is Rose, which reminded him of his love! That’s why he was nice one minute and then nasty the next! That’s what he meant by keeping me close to control me and he hated me more by the minute. I remind him of the love he could never have. A sniff told me that I was tearing again. Gosh, I’m so useless when it comes to Rum. I can never keep my emotions in check. Another sniff and I pulled up Joy’s number. She answered after five rings. ‘What is it, Rose?’ she whispered, and then I heard her footsteps—she was moving somewhere to take my call. ‘You’re crying again. What happened?’ I wiped my nose with a Kleenex and asked, ‘Can I borrow some money again, Joy?’ ‘Wait is this ab
RUMIs this a prank? Rose hadn’t contacted me since that day on the roof, and it had been five days. No calls. No text. As though she was a figment of my imagination. A part of a long forgotten dream. Then all of a sudden, I get this. Someone must’ve taken her phone and sent this as a scam. I stared at the shophouses reeling outside the van window. But why do I feel stuffy? ‘The AC’s low,’ I muttered. ‘Oh. Sure,’ David replied and a stronger breeze gushed in from the front. ‘Better?’ I couldn’t care less to reply and covered my lips with my knuckles. What if this wasn’t a prank or a scam and Rose is in danger? Ha! That would be the least of my problems, wouldn’t it? The girl had basically slapped my kindness in my face and told me to mind my own business. I can take care of myself very well, wasn’t it what she said? Even before I showed up in her life, huh? That arrogant girl. Just months ago, she was this stammering, weak human who looked like the ghost of a drowned vict