Rebecca Eden

"Finally" Marcelo muttered to himself under a sigh of relief. This was his last appointment for the day and hopefully it would remain that way. He needed to rest so he could stay awake at night and work on something later at night.

He had dropped Sebastian off where he worked as a part time receptionist before returning home. The boy's closing time was still three hours away, which meant he had three hours to rest before any disturbance.

Once again, he returned to his room and took off his shirt and shoes. There was no time to waste on his pants, so he collapsed on the bed without taking care of those.

He felt at peace for the moment, everything concerning him revolved around work and he barely got any time for himself. This was one of the few times he was actually free to do something, and he going to fully utilize this time. He had taken too much caffeine to stay awake at night, and more of those might damage his health.

He finally closed his eyes and welcomed sleep. There was no greater feeling in the world than this.

He ignored the first knock hoping it would go away, but a second one forced him to keep his eyes open. He hadn't ordered anything and wasn't expecting anyone either. He ignored the second knock and laid still hoping that whoever it was would give up and leave, but the knock persisted and he was forced to leave his bed once again. He cursed whoever was at the door, and almost promised to give them a good shouting if it was something irrelevant.

He knew it wasn't Sebastian, he had the house keys and wouldn't need to knock if he wanted to enter the place. The person behind the door must not know when to give up and what leaving someone alone meant.

He flung the door open without confirming the visitor's identity first. He was too frustrated to use to peephole and desperately wanted to dismiss the person as fast as possible.

He paused after opening the door and stared down at the five foot and six inches tall woman that stood in front of him. He felt like slamming the door shut and walking back to his bedroom without saying a word to her. But even if he did so, she probably won't allow him to sleep.

She stood there looking innocent as if she hadn't commited a crime. She had managed to interrupt the little time he had to himself, and he could tell she wasn't planning on leaving very soon.

"Rebecca. What do you want?" Marcelo asked with a cold and emotionless tone. He hadn't even bothered to let her in, and sincerely hoped she would just state her purpose of visiting and leave immediately. But that hadn't happened. She pushed past him and treated herself to the comfort of his sofa without saying a word to him.

He grunted shallowly before pushing the door shut and locking it. He had forgotten to put his shirt on and had no strength to dress up. She had seen him like this before, so shying over it wasn't necessary.

"What do you want Rebecca?" Marcelo repeated, but the woman still sat silent, not planning on giving him a reply.

"Rebecca!" He yelled. He didn't have time for her infantile behavior at the moment. If she had no purpose of visiting, then he might as well kick her out and continue his nap.

He soon regretted raising his voice at her the instant he noticed tears streaming down from her eyes. He cursed himself for his selfishness before heading to sit beside her on the sofa.

"Rebecca, what's wrong?" He questioned with most caring voice he could muster at the moment. The Rebecca he knew was arrogant and strong. She behaved like a child sometimes, but he had never seen her cry before. This was his first time seeing her in this condition and he could bet whatever put her in this condition was as serious as anything.

"I...I couldn't save him.." She began while doing her best to contain her flowing tears.

"Save who?" Marcelo asked with the calmest voice. He didn't want to stir up any other suppressed emotions that she had, but if he didn't know what was going on, then he couldn't help her.

"Oliver....He's dead. They killed him...they killed the only family I have left" Rebecca concluded before falling into his arms completely.

Marcelo froze at her words. Oliver was Rebecca's younger brother. He was only fourteen and as young as he was, he had undergone seven exorcisms in just three years. He knew that this was the doings of the Quinn's but he had never confronted them for any of the boy's attack. They were giving it their all to tear the Anti-Quinns apart. They had lost a member just few months ago, and now they were. going after the family members of the Anti-Quinns when they couldn't take them down.

Oliver was like a brother to him, and they had taken his brother from him. Every time he exorcised the boy, his bond with him grew stronger. And with every successful exorcism, he rubbed mud on the faces of the Quinns. Oliver had a weak spirit, and the Quinns had preyed relentlessly on this ever since Rebecca joined the Anti-Quinns. They were only twenty one members, but that didn't stop the Quinn's from going after them.

He couldn't even find the right words to console Rebecca. This was all his fault. He had dragged innocent people into fighting a battle that was meant for him and now their families were paying the price for it. The Quinn's had had too many leisure and had crossed the line with this single act. It was high time he paid them a visit and put them in their place.

"I'm sorry Rebecca," Marcelo apologized "I'm sorry for putting you all through this. This is my fight and only I can put an end to all this." Marcelo added.

Rebecca lifted her head from his body and stared endlessly at him. She couldn't be more angrier at him than she was now. Typical Marcelo, could he be any less selfish than he was now. Her brother had died and she had driven all the way here to find solace in him, but he had managed to make everything about him. She just couldn't contain her anger anymore and had slapped him across the face before she could hold herself back.

The slap was unexpected, but the emotion behind it was much more surprising. He didn't know what he did to become a victim of her anger, but the reason for her being so angry piqued his curiosity the most.

"What is wrong with you Marcelo? Why can't you just think of someone else besides yourself?" Rebecca questioned, no longer containing her tears. "You've always been gloomy and self centered ever since we met, but I never thought it had gotten to this extent. How do you live with all this burden? None of this is your fault. I chose this path and the much you can do Is sympathize and show your respect. But no, Marcelo Quinn doesn't care about things like affection. All he's after is the destruction of his family and nothing else. He doesn't care about the people around him as long as he gets what he wants. I was a fool for ever thinking that you would care about someone like me" Rebecca concluded before wiping away her tears. She was done here and was going somewhere where she could cry herself to sleep.

Marcelo couldn't hide the fact that he was stunned by her words. He was supposed to feel hurt or at least pitiful by what she just said, but he didn't feel anything at all. His heart was as cold as anything and part of him could tell the reason behind this outburst was probably because he didn't return the affection that Rebecca showered him. She was definitely right, and he was indeed selfish. He couldn't blame himself for his behavior, this was just how he was brought up. He had been trained by his parents for the sole purpose of destroying the Quinn's and he had grown with the mentality that everything else came second after his goal, including love.

He held the fleeing lady by the wrist and pulled her back into his arms. He wasn't yielding to her words, he was just trying to make up for his selfishness. To him, stopping the Quinns still came first, but that didn't mean he couldn't spare some time for affection. After all this woman had been by his side for the past three years even after all the red flags she got from him.

She was relentless In both her work and her pursuit for love and that was the quality he admired in her the most. He was definitely sorry for Oliver's loss, and that was more reason for him to prioritize stopping the Quinns more than anything. The more time he allowed them to continue with their devilish habits, the more people would die.

For now, he would comfort Rebecca to the best of his ability, and next he was going for a little family reunion. They might have succeeded in breaking one of his members, but he would nurse her back to health. He just hoped that they were prepared for his next wave, he wouldn't like it if the game was boring.