THIEVES

The Dark Side

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same."
     
                         -Anonymous

The alcohol war halted immediately.

Xerus and Athena's head snapped towards the twins at the same time.

"Me?" Athena blinked, her hands that she used as shield were still in the air.

Felix wanted to roll his eyes but knew he had to behave in front of Xerus. "Nope. Your grandma. Duh, yes it's you!"

Athena's heart sunk to her stomach, or further beyond, somewhere she couldn't detect. The goosebumps that surfaced upon her drenched skin made it far worse as it sent the chills to the brink of her neck.

A cold-blooded rapist in a room alone with her. Seven long minutes.

Sounds like everyone's dream, doesn't it?

Xerus bit down with so much force that his jaw began to ache. "You idiots must have read it wrongly." He got on his feet, his chair screeching backwards. He snatched the tile from across the other end of the table. "Give it to me! I'll read it!"

By the look on Xerus' face, Athena would rather die than to go ahead with it. The only feelings she could rely on were the fear, the desperation to avoid it from happening and so, she let her fingers ran freely at the patterns of Xerus' trenchcoat, causing him to look down at her.

He huffed loudly, throwing the tile away as he flicked her hand off, rejecting her pleads.

Felix was already up on his feet, about to go around the table to get Athena. Ricardo stopped him, his hand grabbing his wrist in a rush.

"What?" Felix gave his younger brother an unsatisfied look. "Let go. What the hell?" He tried to shake Ricardo's grip away.

Ricardo slapped his hand, giving him the eyes to stop struggling as he pulled him down to his level so he could whisper into his ear. "Fel, her freaking name is Athena! Doesn't it ring a bell? What if she's Athena Rose, huh? You wanna get another punishment so much? I sure as hell don't! Our father was ready to disown us the last time!"

Felix furrowed, considering his brother's warns, he spent a few seconds to observe Athena who was repeatedly pulling at Xerus' trenchcoat with two fingers, asking his help through the desperate expression that smeared her face.

Felix shook his head. "Nah, how can that be possible? If she really is Athena Rose," he laughed through a loud sigh. "Xerus would have burn her in an incinerator, let alone welcoming her into his home. You worry too much, Ric."He patted Ricardo's shoulder and ripped his hand free from him.

The trailing sound of Felix's footsteps gradually rang louder in Athena's ears, validating that she had very little time to persuade for help.

For this to work, it had to be someone who objected the idea of rape as much as she did, someone who had more power than Felix. She needed to drop her cracking dignity once more to the person who dominated Thieves.

However, the Viper wasn't easy.

Xerus refused to give in to her pleading eyes, and every time she'd allow them to grow fuller, more pitiful, he'd ignore it, looking straight ahead or somewhere else.

"This coat is expensive. Stop prying onto it," Xerus seethed inaudibly, pulling his coat away from her, but both of her hands were relentlessly holding on to it for dear life.

"How can you turn a blind eye to this?!" Athena retorted, her well polished nails branding into his coat the more he shove them off.

"Why can't I? This is my house, my rules. I can do whatever the hell I want!" He tried to remove her hands, plucking off one finger at a time just for them to cling back harder than before.