ROSEBut I shouldn’t be surprised—this was the Rum I used to know. Rum…Yes. Rum. The superstar with a diva attitude. My ex-boss. All of a sudden, I felt a surge of courage. The same one I’d always feel whenever I faced those bullies. The same grit I had inside me whenever Rum scolded me or tossed a cup of coffee at my outfit, calling me stupid, ugly—dirty Rosie. Suck it up, Rose. You need to be around to make sure Rum is safe. Immediately, my face swivelled down to the ground and I replied firmly, ‘My apologies, Alpha Keithen.’ Lifting my face again, I mustered a casual smile at Rola, who now looked a little remorseful, for some reason, and added, ‘My apologies too, Warrior Rola—.’ ‘Here we go again,’ murmured the exasperated deep voice. ‘I was out of line,’ I continued. ‘Thank you for your concern. But I’m really fine.’And before Rola could respond, I ushered them to move on. ‘Let’s get it going. We’re supposed to be there before the market wakes, aren’t we?’ ‘O-Oh, sure!’ Rol

ROSEWake up, Rose…. K…. In danger … Wake up, my baby girl…. My eyes flew open. A whitewashed ceiling greeted me and I blinked back furiously.Something happened. But what is it? My chest was heaving heavily, as though crushed by slab of concrete, but I could sit up pretty easily. That's… my desk—my designs are on the wall—my cupboard—. I looked down and saw the sheets wrinkled around me like ripples of a clear, blue pond—. The bluest waters flashed across my mind. Then, the smell of the freshest grass, and—. A hammer struck the back of my head, and pain exploded from my lips. 'AH!!!!!'Immediately, the door threw open and Joy rushed in. 'What is it?!' Her cries of concern reached me before she plopped down next to me. 'Are you hurt?' 'My head…,' whined my voice. ‘It hurts….’ But not anymore. Wait, do I whine? I paused and blinked at the sheets, hands grabbing my head. Then, I looked up and stared at my best friend, who was eyeing me in sheer concern. My mouth opened, wa

RUM‘The chosen one?’ I scoffed. ‘Don’t you think it’s too grand a name? For a puppet.' The invisible claws digging into my uncle’s chest had finally found what it was looking for and was starting to pull it out of the old werewolf—. His body arched like a broken doll; his mouth wide opened—.Rola was shaking in one corner, her hands desperately clasped to her ears, as though what she was hearing felt deafening and fucking scary. Another laughter and then, the voice continued bluntly: Not grand enough for the finest puppet I’ll ever get… you don’t know the lengths I’ve gone to get you. Son of a bitch. I snorted derisively. ‘Am I supposed to be impressed?’ Not impressed. Honoured—you should be honoured… so many have sacrificed themselves for you….Deity's arse, he's gonna recite his killing list now—and I'm supposed to listen to all this shit. That nosy healer—I wanted to wait in the garden for your arrival but she wouldn’t let me… threatened to reduce me back to dots… I had to

RUM Rose. She was laughing heartily with someone on the same couch as her. Who? And the ground slammed on my face—wind punched out of my lungs—and I gasped for air once again, gasping and panting. The one living inside me was in laboured breathing as well. And my mind smiled: I managed to hurt him a little. He isn’t invincible afterall. He may not feel pain and is untouchable, literally, but there are ways to make him feel both—to tame him. I have to put a leash around him, or he’d get out of control. ‘To the South.’ I drew in deep, longer breaths to catch up with my frightened heart and continued, ‘there are eighteen packs. East, thirty. North, six.’ I swallowed and sat up finally, feeling better. ‘You want fast then send more warriors out there. The sooner our army grows to thrice the size of White Crown’s, the sooner we can call ourselves ready.’ Fine. We’ll do that. But I still want a piece of the Howling Five. I’ve waited long enough… NO MORE. I sighed and muttered, ‘

ROSE A few hours later…. ‘The lady with light pink hair?’ Joy put away the eggs in the fridge. ‘It’s heavenly pink,’ I repeated, slightly annoyed. Ignoring me, Joy continued, ‘Yes, I’ve seen her. She moved in a month ago. Next door.’ My spine straightened in surprise. ‘So she’s the new neighbour?’ Joy nodded along as she folded up the shopping bag. Then, she whipped out her phone. ‘Let’s get Chinese.’ ‘Alright.’ An idea jolted me. ‘Can we invite Krissy over for dinner? I want to thank her for helping me.’ Joy glanced up from her phone screen with a wide, agreeable gaze. ‘Great idea. We can get to know her too. I’m kinda curious—I hardly saw her come out from her apartment ever since she moved in.’ ****** 'Oh, you're a… traveller,' repeated Joy, her voice trailing off into awkwardness. I felt embarrassed too. What exactly does a traveller do? Travel? But how does that make money? And Joy's eyes lit up in realisation. 'Oh, you make travel content, am I right?' Kris