Chapter 1

AKSHA BEATRIX ASLENOVIE (Present)

The loud 'kring' of an alarm clock interrupted me from continuously building a dreamland. I lazily sat up in my bed with barely opened eyes and shut off the alarm. The beam of sunlight reflected in the window hit my face. Annoyed, I stood up and stretched my arms before striding to the kitchen to wash my face and prepare for our breakfast.

My body feels sore because of the three boxes we carried yesterday at the coffee shop. We were not supposed to be the ones who would pick up those deliveries; boxes full of new sets of coffee cups and saucers. It's just that, Emilio wasn't there so our boss doesn't have any option but to dictate us to be Emilio's substitute for the meantime.

Emilio is assigned to be a barista together with Feyra, and the pickuper of the shop's new sets of food utensils every 3rd day of each month. It's quite irritating to know that he left so early without even worrying about his job. I heard from my friend Feyra—and also a co-worker, that the reason he went missing was because he ran an errand for his girlfriend.

Unluckily, Sir Ty was mad about what happened—plus, we had a lot of customers yesterday.

Mr. Ty's enraged was too obvious yesterday with the way he spoke; it was full of authority, and he didn't even show his sweet smile and white teeth. In normal days, he was not like that. He only acts and communicates with us as if we’re on the same level, no boss-employee relationship—I mean, he's not that really bossy at all.

Maybe Emilio triggered something in him. That's why Sir Ty went ballistic about his reason for not being around for the rest of his duty hours. You know, it was not the first time he did it. It was already uncountable but Sir Ty does have a long span of tolerance, and loves giving a lot of chances so…yeah!

To tell you honestly, relationships are a huge distraction. Just take Emilio's story as a lesson, and focus on your career first before someone else—he isn't that stable enough, yet he's now on the brink of losing his job because of a girl.

“Good morning, bestie!”

I glanced at my friend who's now frying an egg. So she got up earlier than me, huh? It's good, I'm too lazy to move right now.

I sat on the chair next to the round table and picked up the newspaper. It became my hobby to read the news every morning, that's why Feyra always gets me one.

News Headline: A Vlogger, Brutally Died on the Roadside of Colambi.

My eyes squinted. Colambi? That town was abandoned by people for ages with inexplicable truths. Well, I don't love history and ain't a bookworm so I didn't dig deeper about that issue.

I darted my eyes at Feyra, she's now making an egg sandwich. Her red hair is tied in a messy bun while still wearing her satin night dress. Knowing that she's here with me is quite unbelievable. The last time I checked, I left home to be an independent woman. But here she is, behaving like she's a dutiful sister of mine.

As an orphan who used to struggle on the street, I never expected a generous person to accept me. However, I was fortunate to come across Feyra and her parents: they are my so-called, "Good Samaritans". They welcomed me as if I was really a part of their small family. Without them, I bet that there's no longer Aksha living in this world today.

I shook my head and turned my gaze back to the newspaper. The headline looks intriguing yet the content is entirely imagination. It said that the incident was possibly caused by a werewolf—theorizing that these creatures almost wiped out the Colambi in its history. The journalist describes the vlogger's body that the police officers saw; scratches in his abdomen, chopped legs, a hole in his chest with a missing heart, and lost eyeballs.

I swallowed hard. The way he portrayed it was horrific. Was it real? The killer must be a psycho!

The reporter also interviewed a few people who had a relative who were residing in Colambi years ago and experienced the dark days in the said town. They justified that the town was a curse, and a lot of wolves were lurking around the forest. They also claimed that werewolves want to rule the world until now—the vlogger's body is the proof of domination, a message from the wolves.

Indeed, their overstatement is the reason why the world will come to an end someday, not because of those mythical creatures—

"I already read that news."

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess, it caught your attention because they mentioned 'werewolves', right? And what else do I expect from a fantasy novelist like you, huh? Of course! You'll read this because this is fiction."

"Such a meanie." She put the sandwich on my plate and filled my glass with milk. "Well, it's quite possible. As far as I know, Colambi has become an empty place because of werewolves' berserk to humankind years ago."

"So werewolves are monsters, you say?"

She purses her lips. "Not at all. Think about it, bestie…they're like us, humans, there's always a good and bad within us. You can't judge them so easily just because someone did that to them. I always classified wolves to have the cleanest soul and clear mind in the entire universe because they are the children of the Moon Goddess—"

"Alright! Cease that argument, it's too early for my brain to function what you are trying to tell." I sip on my glass. "You know, we're already in the 21st century. Such fantasies are just a product of our creativity. They should stop spreading that kind of fake news."

"But what if it wasn't just an imagination? Gosh! I want to see the legendary white wolf. According to the tales, the white wolf is the blessing from above—the purest of them all."

She really wants to convince me about it. A debate like this? My winning rate is…zero percent.

"Let's end this conversation. It is only a tale so stop saying what-ifs. Because they weren't true."

"Well, they saw a—"

"I don't care," I chimed in, and continued eating. She only scowled at me and sipped on her glass.