❝ She's in my head and has you on her radar. You either leave and forget who I ever was, or live to kill me. ❞
❝ Is there a third option that doesn't involve losing you? ❞
. . . in which Rhea's fear of her own mother becomes so unruly that a masked...
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RHEA REMEMBERED HIM. And she wished she didn't. She lied straight to Peter's face.
The last thing she remembered was Aiden's body laying next to her in his bathroom, like a ghoulish mannequin, as if he belonged to the set of a thriller movie but that smell... That smell could only come from a recently slaughtered animal. However, in this case, the animal was none other than Aiden Mills and his corpse was still warm, blood thickening but not yet dried on his waxy skin.
She remembered just standing there, as if the unruly continued staying there on purpose because it wanted Rhea to see him dead for herself. Be careful what you wish for, it said.
Presently, it was a quarter-past ten, and Rhea found herself scampering through the alleyway next to Aiden's luxurious apartment in the velvety darkness, where she had ran through the night before, escaping the scene in utter horror and crying all because she hoped for a chance that what she saw wasn't real. Instead, she was now here looking for evidence that she might've left behind in her frightful escape.
She wouldn't allow herself to be branded as a murderer. A monster.
On the flip side, Peter had explained everything he knew about Rhea and the unruly to Ned, hoping that one more person knowing could help. He also tried telling Happy Hogan on his daily phone call, but he hung up before Peter could even get a word into the man's head, so he resorted to sending a long voicemail.
Now, donned in his Spider-man suit, he stuck to the walls above her, watching her scrutinise every corner and side of the alleyway after tracking her down with Ned's help. This cannot go on.
He hesitantly pushed himself off the wall, landing onto the ground where she stood in front of him, immediately recognising him despite the only source of light being the dwindling streetlights.
"Peter..." She whispered, knowing she was caught in the web. In his web. "Listen, I can explain!"
He shook his head as he approached her, holding her trembling, clammy hands in his. "Rhea, you have to turn yourself in."
Yanking her hands away from him, the warmth from Rhea's body abandoned her as quickly as she heard those words. She wondered if him saying those words was just another trick the unruly was trying to play on her. Did she hear him right? Her Peter? Telling her to admit to killing someone when she had no control over it?
Is she going insane?
"What are you saying?" Her voice cracked as the words got stuck in her throat like a fishbone. "I didn't do it! I didn't do it, I really... Please."
"Listen to me," Peter's eyes softened at her affliction, "Turn yourself in, and I can get help for you. You don't have to suffer like this alone."
"I have you, I don't need anyone else's help." A single tear glistened against her cheek. She was trying to hold it all in. She was trying her absolute best. "I didn't kill him."
When Peter made the painful decision of telling her to turn herself in, he understood something. When someone you cherish does something horrible and incomprehensible, you try to find excuses and reasons to decide they are the exception. At first, he would hold on to the details, telling himself that Rhea's case was different. But it never really is.
No one thinks the people they love are monsters. Because love is the biggest liar of all.
"Rhea," he breathed, nearing her, "I only want the best for you."
"I don't want to be like her." Rhea ignored him as she backed away, her movements slow and restricted as a result of the deafening, throbbing static in her head. "I don't want to be like my mother."
"Then do the right thing."
Words left her, and her heart fell silent. She couldn't will her lips to move. Everything was slow and warbled, as if she was stuck underwater, no air to breathe. His words repeated itself over and over again amidst the static in her head.
"Only after I'm done with my mother. She hasn't done the right thing yet."
That was her conclusion, although it can be interpreted in 2 ways: Rhea reports her to the police using Peter's idea, or-
-blood spills.
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wow this was a pretty intense chapter for me to write, I wonder if there'll be more intense chapters coming up hmm.
qotd !! ; favourite duo in the mcu? i personally love bucky and sam! iconic.
