They will pay

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Chapter Seven

A few blocks from Aaron’s apartment, was the Redtrain
Avenue where there were shops, restaurants and cafes. It mostly served as a rest stop for the students in Vilmonte College who were too tired to make the half an hour drive all the way to the city.
Aaron didn’t mind the small town in which he stayed. The people were civil and didn’t bother him and there was a nice little lake down the road which hardly took him fifteen minutes to get to.
On such an evening when his head felt heavy and weary, he could think of nothing better than to walk to the lake and spend some time gazing at the placid waters. His hands in the pockets of his jacket, he found himself returning to his earlier thoughts.
Misha, the girl who had done nothing to him and only been her sweet kind self. And what had he done? Without thinking, Aaron started to walk faster, trying to evade the next thought that was going to accuse him for being such a callous jerk.
He stopped and closed his eyes, trying to wipe away the image of Misha’s face next to an article that read that the police had given up trying to look for her. She was assumed to have died even though her body wasn’t found. Now that the police weren’t looking anymore, Misha was lost forever.
Aaron didn’t even want to think the other image his mind conjured up; one where Misha’s corpse was rotting in a lake or someone’s basement. He opened his eyes and stared at the small pub nestled between an abandoned bowling center and a hotel apartment.
Two years after Misha’s disappearance, he had succumbed to his guilt after the realization of never seeing her again and Aaron started to drink. He had tried to hide his problems in front of his father at first and then realized that he never had to as his father was indifferent to his son’s turmoil.
That had hurtled him further into his alcoholism and there were days when he could barely get out of bed because he was terribly hungover. He had missed many of his classes in college and had been on the verge of being expelled when he had shown up drunk to one of his classes and abused his professors.
It was Shanaya who had been there for him. Even though she was miles away, she would email him every day when he finally confessed to her that he had taken up drinking. She had been his support and helped him through his drinking problems.
And here he was, yet again trying to dump the girl who had been nothing but nice to him. Aaron shook his head. He should call up Shanaya and tell her how much he loved her blog post. And then he should ask her for forgiveness for being such a jerk to her. And then...
He started to reach for his phone when he saw someone from the corner of his eyes. He had been walking down the sidewalk, across from the only cafe in the area. The cafe was full and there were people waiting in lines to get their coffees while the waitresses were busy serving the customers sitting outside.
Pausing, mid-step, he saw a girl sitting near the lanterns and the trimmed hedges that separated the cafe from the restaurant that served continental food. The lantern threw a halo of light around the girl’s glossy red hair and it was when she turned around after talking to a waitress, that he recognized her. Rhea!
Aaron swallowed when he saw her and his hands dropped the phone back in his pocket. Rhea was sitting all alone in the cafe with a textbook open before her and sipping from her coffee cup. Her chair was turned to the side and she appeared to be staring at the restaurant. Aaron turned to look at what she was looking at and saw the blue artificial flowers lined around the restaurant.
He found himself wondering if perhaps she liked blue flowers when she suddenly closed her textbook and jumped up. Aaron turned around guiltily, wondering if she had noticed him staring at her. From the corner of her eye, she saw him pushing the coffee cup away in haste, causing some of the brown liquid to splash on the table, but Rhea paid no heed to the mess she had made and quickly slung her bag over the shoulder and then threw a few bills on the table.
She navigated herself through the crowded tables and Aaron turned the other direction and started to walk slowly, sure that any minute now, she would walk out of the cafe and see him. From their conversation in the morning, he could sense that she didn’t like him much and the last thing he wanted to do was to hound a student. As an assistant to the professor, he was supposed to be on good terms with the students, not annoy or stalk them.
He risked another look at her, and saw her walking briskly in another direction. The restaurant opened then and a few customers walked out. Rhea stopped suddenly and then turned away again and started to walk into the narrow alley that led to the small pub.
Aaron groaned. Even though the people in this town were civil, there was one man who was anything but a good Samaritan. He was a drunk who hung around the pub all night, harassing girls with obscene catcalls.
The harassed girls would complain against him and ‘Slimy’ as he was called, would be sent to jail and bailed out the next day, only to get up to his old tricks again. The girls now just avoided him and the pub where he loitered, but Rhea was new here and she wouldn’t know about Slimy.
Aaron turned and started to follow her. Someone had to warn Rhea about the dangers of this small town. Slimy had yet not hurt a woman physically, but that didn’t mean he would never act upon his lecherous behavior.
He saw Rhea walk straight ahead and then saw a tall man with a pot belly and long frizzy hair, straighten as he saw her. The man tied his long hair back in a ponytail with a rubber band and grinned when he saw Rhea.
Aaron opened his mouth to call for her, when Slimy walked out from under the shadows of the pub’s green awning and started to say something. He was still a few feet away from her and couldn’t catch what was being said, but it hadn’t bothered Rhea who walked right past Slimy.
Before she had taken two steps, Slimy grabbed her wrist and then touched her hair with his other hand. Aaron rushed towards her and then halted when he saw Rhea twist his wrist and raise it. Slimy’s grip loosened and he dropped her wrist. She then used her palm to strike him on his upper arm and then kick him hard in the chest.
Aaron felt his mouth drop. Looking at Rhea, he would never have guessed that she was so lithe or knew how to fight and defend herself. Slimy stumbled backwards and Rhea punched him hard on his nose.
Slimy let out a frightened cry as Rhea grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward before landing a knee kick to his stomach. Slimy collapsed on the ground, one hand clutching his bloody nose, the other pressed on his stomach.
Rhea said something to him that Aaron still couldn’t hear and then she kicked Slimy again, hard on his side. Slimy howled in pain as Rhea walked away without another glance. Aaron sprang into action and jogged towards Slimy.
"Hey man!” Slimy moaned. “Call for help! That bitch....she really hurt me, man...!”
Aaron was about to help him but when he said the word ‘bitch’, he straightened and shook his head. “Sorry, man. It’s about time you learn your lesson and stop harassing women.”
Slimy mumbled a few obscenities, but Aaron ignored him and followed Rhea. She was walking briskly again and slowed her pace only for a few seconds as she looked all around her. Then she was walking straight to the bookstore across the quiet street.
Aaron looked down the road and frowned. It was late and dark and quiet. Rhea was new here and even though the town was safe, except for Slimy, she shouldn’t have been walking all alone here. He wondered if he should go and give her advice and then decided against it. It was unlikely that a strong-willed girl like her would listen to him, and besides, wasn’t he interfering too much in her life?
She was allowed to do whatever she wanted to do. Aaron turned around and then sighed. She had just defended herself from a pervert; if anything she was probably shaken from the incident even though she had been brave enough to fend him off. He should at least ask her if she was okay.
He crossed the road and opened the glass doors of the little bookstore. The woman, standing at the counter, pushed up her glasses and smiled at him, then turned back to the celebrity gossip magazine she was perusing.
Aaron looked all around the empty bookstore and saw Rhea standing with her back turned, staring at a poster of grey tulips against a black background. On it, were the words written, ‘A new thriller by Radon Starr, coming soon.’
Taking small steps, he made his way through the aisles and stopped a few feet behind her. He was surprised by how nervous he felt in her presence. He supposed it had something to do with the fact that Rhea seemed like an introvert person who didn’t like him.
He was about to open his mouth and talk to her, when he saw her raising her arm and pulling the sleeve of her left arm, up.
Aaron turned his head sideways and saw pinkish finger marks on her, but beneath it he saw a wide white scar that ran all around her wrist.
Before he could stop himself, he spoke, “Are you okay?”
Rhea turned around in surprise, her green eyes going wide. She pulled down her sleeve hurriedly and then blinked. In seconds, the surprise diminished from her face and was replaced with cold nothingness.
Aaron tried to read her expressions and found that he couldn’t understand anything from her blank stare.
“I just...” Aaron swallowed and turned to the short shelf beside him that was lined with the paperback thrillers.
Rhea picked up a random book from the shelf and started to read the back of it. Aaron cursed himself for acting like a pubescent kid. She was just a girl, a student in his class. But she was unlike any girl he had met before. There was something mysterious about her and the fact that he was struck by déja vu whenever she was nearby, didn’t help his flustered state.
“What?” she asked in a cold tone.
Aaron looked at the cautionary stare she was giving him and guessed that she may not want to talk about what had just happened. Many victims acted differently when they were attacked. Some broke into sobs, some would go into a state of stoic silence while few pretended the incident never happened so that they wouldn’t have to deal with how scared they had felt at that time. In these cases, the victim sometimes blamed themselves for the incident occurring to them.
Aaron tried to study Rhea, but her facial expressions and body language yielded nothing. She had been surprised when she had turned around, but that was because he had startled her. If she didn’t feel comfortable talking about what had just happened, he didn’t think it was a good idea to push her considering he didn’t even know her that well.
“So...what are you reading?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject.
Rhea looked down at the book she was holding and put it back. Aaron noticed her fingers tremble just a little bit as she picked up another book. Her expression, however, was still unruffled.
“Just browsing,” she said in a dismissive tone, as if she was trying to get rid of a salesman.
“Well, if you were looking for...uh, some psychology textbooks, you’ll find them right at the...” he pointed towards the back of the store, but Rhea raised an eyebrow at him.
“I am allowed to do some reading besides psychology, right?” Her tone was almost condescending.
Aaron nodded and smiled. “Yes, of course. I was merely...”
“Okay then,” Rhea said and walked past him. She went to the counter and handed the book to the woman who checked it out for her. Rhea reached into her bag and pulled out her wallet to pay.
Aaron looked at the bookshelves blankly; inwardly, he was kicking himself for feeling so uneasy around her. Deciding, there was nothing to do here, he walked towards the door and Rhea turned around, looking at him curiously as she slipped the book inside her purse.
“I was heading home. I live around here,” he told her and opened the door.
Rhea walked out with her head held high and started to make her way back when Aaron surprised himself by talking again.
“You are allowed to have fun outside of college,” Aaron said. “This course will take a lot out of you and you should allow yourself a break.”
Rhea turned her head. “Thanks for the advice,” she said and started to walk again.
Her tone had been irritated and he knew he should just shut up now, but something inside him egged him on. “Speaking of, wasn’t there a party at the college? It’s sort of supposed to be an orientation where you get to know the other students and learn about the college. Usually, it’s held later in the week, but with the classes still being scheduled, it was decided to be held right away. We still have a few professors on leave and they’ll be back by next week.”
Aaron stopped himself and saw Rhea looking at him strangely, which wasn’t a surprise because he had been babbling like an idiot. It was then that he realized why he had been acting like an idiot. Rhea may look cold and indifferent, but there was still something about her that made him wish she would like him.
And more importantly, he discovered that he not only wanted that, but also wanted to talk to her...and spend time with her...
Aaron pulled himself together and tried to understand what was wrong with him. Was he that lonely that he was trying to chat up one of his students?
Or worse, had he become attracted to one of his students?
“I should go now,” Rhea said and before she turned away, he saw her rolling her eyes.
Aaron pushed his hair back on his head and looked down as Rhea walked away. He was a total mess. He had pretty much just put his job at risk by badgering her. What if she had misunderstood his intentions and complained about him flirting with her?
He had worked so hard to get where he was, even going to his estranged father to help him land this job. Was he really going to throw it all away because he couldn’t figure out one student?
Aaron looked up and saw Rhea walking away and wondered what it was about her that was throwing all his emotions in disarray.