Chapter 9: Secret

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 just want to help him out. He is a great guy, you know."

"That is true," Sandra admitted. And then a silence. "Take care of yourself, Rori!"

Rori was quiet. "Why do you sound upset?" She asked, unmoved to leave the house she had arrived a few minutes ago.

"Upset?" Sandra scratched her head as she tried to make sense of her situation. "Do I sound upset?"

"You do, totally. How about we talk about what you did throughout today?"

"I am not interested in having that kind of conversation with you," Sandra said flatly. "Please, leave my house."

Rori stood there. Half-amazed. Half-unconvinced.

"I will leave your house, Sandra. I promise you that I will leave if you tell me what is wrong with you."

Sandra sighed. "Be careful with the kind of words you use to address me! I am your elder sister."

Rori looked worried again. And, of course, she knew Sandra was her elder sister. It was purely unnecessary for her to remind her of their position of birth.

"I came here to tell you that I am glad you are still alive," she said. "And that I love you as a sister would love her sister. Since I have been with Drake, I have been able to understand how it feels to lose someone you love so much. I hope you understand that I am not here to make a fight with you."

Sandra's chest lifted a bit as if she was about to spit fire like a dragon who had eaten a bad lunch.

"How can I tell your purpose in my house when the last time you slept overnight, someone's husband slept inside you?" She asked.

Rori was shocked. How did she know?

"People talk, Rori," Sandra continued. "I am totally disappointed you could do this to me despite everything we have been through in our lives."

Rori was quiet again. Her eyes moved around the room as she tried to figure out an excuse to make. It was impossible for her to deny that something didn't happen between her and Sandra's husband, Mark.

"You should leave. Apologising won't change what has happened," Sandra went on, looking away. "Please, leave!"

Rori moved her lips quickly. But, no words came out. "I am still your sister, Sandra. I can't undo what have been done. You have to understand that my intentions for you are always good never bad."

"Save your breath and leave, Rori. I don't have time for this. You knew how much Mark meant to me. And yet, you slept with him."

"I am sorry."

*

Rori leaned forward in her seat in the standard bus, trying to avert her face from the kid who was trying to draw her attention towards the picture he had painted on a plain white sheet of paper. She braced herself and began thinking of Drake, and when she was finally going to find the right time to tell him the truth about her identity as a werewolf. She knew he would be surprised to find out that she was a werewolf. Anyone would be! But, her love for him was too much to keep him in the dark even though she wanted him to remain there.

She ignored the kid failed attempts to grab her attention and thought of photographs of skyscrapers, and photographs of passersby, trying to catch odd angles of the sun from the distance that they stood, and photographs of Sandra spying on her and Mark as they laid on a bed covered with white bed sheet, making love.

When the bus stopped, she came down slowly and told the kid, just to encourage him that his painting of the Eiffel tower was beautiful when it wasn't. The kid smiled and then laughed. He told her bye with a wink.

Alone, Rori checked her watch to see if she was going to be late for a meeting close to her house that she had not attended for almost three months now because of everything that was going on in her life. She had told herself several times that she was going to try her best to make sure she did something worth doing, something she was proud to say she did without hesitating.

"Fuck!" She cursed as she brought out her phone to see the message from Sandra boldly written on the screen.

BITCH!!!

She locked her phone and moved her head backwards. Bitch?

"Hey! You forgot your keys on the grass. How are you?"

Rori couldn't figure out where the voice came from until she turned back. Behind her, standing tall, attractive and well dressed was Mark Ryder. He smiled at her as he gave her the keys she had mistakenly dropped.

"You wanna spend some time with me?" Mark looked hopeful.

"Sure! Why wouldn't I?" She said sarcastically and glanced at her watch. "Get the fuck out of my front before I call the police. I don't want to have anything to do with a loser like you."

Mark scratched his head after Rori had told him that Sandra knew what they had done. "Why the amount of hate? I thought you loved me," he asked.

"I don't."