lover/fighter - Finnick Odair

Chapter 16 - Cold snow, warm memories

The next morning Rhea is again the first to wake up. She is not particularly surprised, she didn't sleep all that well. Apart from that, she is used to getting up early for work.

She is delighted to discover that her clothes, which had disappeared after her wild first night, are now magically lying in her room, washed and neatly folded. Presumably it's not so much magic as the work of the domestics, who obviously exist, but of whom Rhea has not yet seen a single hair. It's as amazing as it is creepy that all the work in this residence is done so quickly and thoroughly without anyone ever really noticing.

This is another reason why Rhea feels uncomfortable here. At first she only noticed it in passing, but yesterday while everyone else was sleeping she got frightened more than once. While perusing the "antique store" - that's what she calls the room with all the old stuff - she just muttered to herself how she could die for a cup of coffee. She had previously looked for a kitchen or something similar, but found nothing. The next time she turned around, the book she was holding almost fell out of her hand when she noticed the tray on one of the coffee tables in the main area. The coffee was good, but she could hardly appreciate it while her thoughts only circled around how it had gotten there.

Later, the dishes disappeared again in an equally mysterious way, while she was busy with some paintings that she thought belonged better in a museum instead of gathering dust here in the middle of nowhere. When it struck her, she couldn't help but run a few tests. It was indeed like magic, everything she asked for appeared as if out of nowhere. The room has only one access, and that is via the staircase that leads up from below. It is fascinating, as long as she watched the stairs nothing happens, she tried to hide behind a shelf that separates a part of the room, but nothing. She has felt like a child trying to catch the monster in her closet only to find nothing as soon as she turns on the light.

The whole thing has led to her now being slightly paranoid. After all, her findings mean that, to all appearances, someone somewhere is always lying in wait to eavesdrop on her every wish and then bring her what she seeks just as she is averting her eyes. Add to that the big lonely house, in the middle of nowhere, where all the hallways look the same and it's eerily quiet without Daphne and the others, and the idea of being constantly followed by someone you can't see or hear is downright nightmare material. Rhea doesn't know if the previous homeowners wanted it that way or why anyone ever would want that, but to her it feels like living in a haunted house surrounded by phantoms.

It's still early and since it's deepest winter, it's also still pitch black outside. So she sits alone in the dark, wondering who or what might be lurking behind her door. Yesterday at least it was already light when the others went to bed and she had spent the evening with Finnick. Aside from that, after their initial difficulty, he made surprisingly pleasant company, Rhea has to admit that as long as she's been with him, she's felt much safer here. Say what you will about him, but one thing is for sure, with someone like him by her side she might even dare to go on the subway at night. This may sound trivial, but only until one has been there alone as a woman. Even during the day, the capital's subway is a creepy and not always a harmless place, especially the farther you get from the city center.

Right now, she wouldn't mind spending a little more time in Finnick's company, if only to have him dispel that strangely oppressive feeling. So when she peeks her head into the hallway in her comfortable and warm clothes a short time later, she actually briefly thinks about looking for him, but quickly dismisses the thought. First, she now knows he's having trouble sleeping and doesn't want to disturb him anymore, second, we're still talking about Finnick Odair and if she runs to him now because a dark hallway scares her, he'll tease her about it for all eternity. No, her pride won't allow her to do that, she will not, under any circumstances, run to Finnick like a scared child, not because of something like that. She is Rhea Lafey, she is not afraid, and she is certainly not a lady in distress.