Case File 2017.08.16
It was almost a revolving door for Liam when he returned about an hour after Alex had dragged Rhea's battered form back to the hotel. Rhea's condition had declined badly...any healing magic was null...and the more mundane methods of antibiotics had no effect. The fever only grew worse as she found herself unable to move much as her energy waned. Alex and Delilah were instructed to keep an eye on her as he left back into the night once more. Hopefully getting something to help.
Outside of the room Rhea attempted to rest, Alex and Delilah waited as best they could for Liam's return. The kidnapping, doing the vertical limbo with Alex...or his demon half, and meeting her sister-- it was a long day to say the least. To keep Alex from wearing a hole in the carpet and perhaps also in part to keep her calm, Delilah drew him close to chat. To distract a bit from being unable to do anything outside of sitting there, waiting. Massaging his shoulders, she hoped to ease the tension in some way for both of them. He tried to let her help him relax, the day'd been long for the both of them. He was even willing to bargain with more Fae to help heal Rhea. It was Alex who eventually brought up the topic of Rachel, the long lost sister of Delilah...and leaving her quiet to contemplate what to say. Eventually explaining the offer and support that was ready to be handed to her by her sister...another gilded cage. But there was also something else on Delilah's mind...like the cure to her condition, true love. The conversation ended there...Liam had returned.
In the other room, Rhea lay prone on the bed. She was too weak to move but also terrified to sleep, afraid this rest would lead to eternal darkness. Maybe the dread wasn't too far off...seeing as she heard a voice that shouldn't be but yet was familiar. Jac...her brother, long dead now by Liam's hand...the price for breaking one of the Laws of Magic. It left her torn up inside more than she'd realized to see him...and the red lined choker marking the place his head had been removed from prior. Fever hallucination or not, kinda difficult to tell when the unnatural can actually happen...Rhea still didn't appreciate her dead brother criticizing her love life or lack thereof currently. Though his words still cut like a blade...there was some nagging truth to the questions posed. She'd just never let them linger long enough in mind-- did she care about Liam more than a friend...or even Monty. The thought of latter individual made her sick...and she was almost certain Jac was implying multiple vampires...Delilah? If she'd had the energy she'd have slapped her brother when trying to pull away from his...wait...her hands?
Rhea had to refocus her vision...it wasn't Jac anymore...it was Caitlin. The guilt that flooded through her was worse than the toxin her body was fighting. Her mistakes at playing vigilante had cost her childhood friend...the one that'd supported her back home in Savannah for so long...her life. It was more heart wrenching to see that kind face...her last memory before Caitlin's death was the hatred in those once kind eyes, no longer human since the Reds turned her friend. That quiet voice, concerned, asking how Rhea had gotten there...a question she'd constantly asked herself a number of times. How did she end up being a Warden of all things? Her longtime friend chided her on figuring the answer out before it was too late. She was flustered...all she'd wanted to do and still wanted to do was help others...Rhea found herself apologizing again for her past mistakes.
Only...it wasn't Caitlin she was apologizing to, Liam was holding her hand-- telling her there was nothing to be sorry for and it was going to be alright, he'd brought help. It took a moment to register that Liam and Alex were in the room now, along with Jenty and Farah...the two they'd run into at the morgue. There was too much movement for her weary mind to keep track of... She was barely aware of the Mambo and Hounsis setting up a ritual work space while binding Alex's hand to her own to provide an anchor to this world. The thing that'd intended to make a snack of her had left its mark to try and drag her spirit down to a fatal end. Delilah had hung back along with Crocker and Lucy, who'd arrived with the others, in the adjacent room. The pain was intense, and eventually Rhea could pass out, once that toxin was removed...it would be sunrise before any would know how she'd fared from this experience.
