Little Damien was tucked in Aziel's bed, truly safe and sound to the world as he bundled himself deeper into the blankets. Rhea waited until she heard the sound of him snoring, until finally she walked away from his serene self sleeping away the earlier aftermath. She walked out of the room and found two very grave looking twins.
They had pulled off to the side earlier alone when Zeven mentioned something about a problem. Rhea hadn't bothered to listen to their muffled conversation as she rushed to have Damien in her arms. She checked his bruises and quickly took it upon herself to deliver him to the nearest room. Now watching the both of them stand off to the side so grim, she became a bit nervous.
"...About what you said earlier, how is it your problem?" Rhea went ahead and got straight to the point.
Zeven took a deep sigh before turning over to her. "That letter was about Aziel and I, correct?"
She nervously looked over between the twins and nodded. "...Yes. It said to stop sticking close to you both or it would expose me...Even though I hadn't seen you guys for a few weeks, I've been getting harassed with strange packages and falling pots."
"Rhea," Aziel said her name and it felt almost foreign because he always called her 'neighbor girl'.
For some reason, Aziel calling her by name made her feel unbelievably strange.
He continued, "If you ever get threats like this again, come to us first. It's dangerous to deal with things like this alone and goddammit...part of this is our fault."
Rhea huffed and puffed, thinking about the unholy events haunting her every waking existence. "Excuse me? You expect me to come to you after nearly turning me into your sex slave?!"
"Is that what it was? To me, it looked like you were too trusting of a stranger and got yourself mixed up with some aphrodisiacs. Don't get it wrong. Zeven and I never forced you into anything. That regretful ending was only because we wanted to help you and nothing more."
She gasped, partly because he wasn't wrong. But that last part stung. Even though Rhea was cursed to remember the details, she couldn't help but think that they all had trespassed into a zone of something more. But Aziel made it clear they were simply helping and nothing more like her stupid expectations were thinking.
Zeven stepped in between Rhea and Aziel before she could hiss or attack him.
"Come on guys, just stop it for one moment."
Zeven turned to Aziel as if he were reprimanding a child, "Aziel. You need to think before you speak words out loud. Rhea is still a woman with feelings like you and me."
Rhea stuck her tongue out at him but soon withered because Zeven's hard eyes fell onto her.
And then he turned to Rhea as if he were reprimanding the other child. "Rhea. The three of us didn't get off to a good start but we are here for you right now and willing to correct our wrongs. This is one of them...That letter you got, we think it is from one of our fans."
Both Aziel and Rhea looked away from each other. She clicked her tongue. From their fan? Other than wanting to strangle Aziel, so many questions were running through her mind. Why would a fan do this to them or target Rhea for that matter?
All she could utter was, "...Why?"
"Before we moved here, we lived in a nice house. It didn't bother us that our fans knew where we lived. Aziel and I welcomed the gifts and letters but at one point one fan began to send expensive gifts every day. We didn't think anything of it at first. It only changed when the both of us began to date around seriously...That's when we felt someone stalking us. Our subs even reported strange things like objects and twisted gifts being directed their way..."
"Did you report this?" Rhea asked, shriveling in horror at the thought of someone stalking her now.
"We did but the police can't actually do anything until a direct confrontation is made...You see, months passed, the women we talked to were all scared off, and we moved several times and forgot about this until now...We're sorry Rhea. Before you, Damien, or anyone else important to us gets hurt again, we want to make sure the person is revealed and takes responsibility for their actions."
It was strange. This was not a heart attack but she swore her heart was beating like mad. She had to clutch her chest and take a step back. Her whole body was growing warm with Zeven's kind words. She was important to them? Perhaps it was because she was their favorite author, that's right!
Aziel washed away that last thought, "It's not just because you are our favorite author. You're also uniquely and unashamedly Rhea, the girl next door that we love to hate."
Mayday.
Repeat.
Mayday!
It was as if Rhea was on an aircraft diving straight down toward the ocean and she couldn't call for help. These goddamn twins were seriously trying to give her a heart attack. She wasn't even sure if she was breathing correctly. The only thing she was sure of was that Zeven said she was important and that as fast as she wanted to strangle Aziel, she also wanted to not strangle him that fast.
"So," Zeven clapped his hands together and smiled. "Aziel and I had a deep thought provoking conversation just now and we agreed that for us to take responsibility for causing you so much stress, you will come live with us until we catch the bastard that dared to hurt Damien."
"Okay...WAIT HOLD ON WHAT?"
Live...
With...
Rhea turned to look at them and remembered that she ordered shades just for times like these because it was hard to see past their bright light. But to live with...The sparkly, blinding human beings that attracts women and birds like magnets? What if she was caught in the blinding fray like a sticky spiderweb, unable to detach herself?
Their spider heads would be trying to eat her alive as she wiggled in the cocoon they wrapped her into.
She immediately backed away and shook her head, "N-N-No way!"