It was a cold night in London city, the rain was pouring and everyone was locked up in his house, protecting themselves from the foul weather. The streets of London were silent, the only thing to be heard was the heavy rain and the foot steps of a young woman who was running for her life. Her long raven hair was clinging to her slim face and her deep green eyes were full of worry. She could hear the heavy footsteps of the men behind her, they were catching up. She wouldn't be able to run away today, not this time. She sighed and looked around for a hiding place, the fog was too thick and she could only see what was a few meters in front of her. The woman spotted some barrels and ran towards them, hiding behind the biggest one, she leaned on it and tried to catch her breath, the men's footsteps where getting louder by the minute, she held her breath when they were close enough and remained silent.
"Where did she go?" she heard the first mate ask the others.
"She's somewhere around here." slurred another male voice and started walking towards the barrels where the woman was hiding. "Come on miss Catherine, come out come out wherever you are." he said in a calm tone. Catherine felt her body shiver and tried to remain still. There were a few moments of silence before Catherine gasped at a pain on her head. A sailor had grabbed her by the hair and was now dragging her towards the ship.
"Let me go!" she growled as she tried to kick the sailor, but he only laughed. He threw her into the Captain's quarters and she fell on the floor, head first. Then, two arms wrapped around her and picked her up. Her eyes met two deep chocolate orbs that were looking at her curiously.
"Leave her alone." she heard a very familiar voice say. The man that was holding her arms looked at some one that was standing behind Catherine and frowned.
"Ye can't hurt a woman, mate." he said seriously, Catherine heard a chuckle and then something was whipped on her back. She gasped and fell forward, onto the man's chest.
"I think I just did." the Captain said. The man pulled her behind him and glared at the Captain.
"What has she done?" he demanded to know. The Captain sighed and gestured at two men who came towards Catherine and the man and grabbed his arms.
"Throw him off the ship." he ordered and turned to Catherine once they were left alone. He started stepping closer to her and backed her up on the wall. He leaned closer to her and pulled her hair so that she was facing him. Catherine managed to look at him bravely and spat at his face, making him slap her. Catherine wiped her cut lip and glared at the Captain, who gave her an evil grin.
"Yer a pretty little thing. Pity I have to kill ye!" he said and seethed his sword. Catherine looked around with wide eyes but saw nothing that could help her, but then she got an idea. She leaned closer to the man and licked her lips.
"Don't I get my last wish?" she whispered into his ear. She felt the Captain tense as she wrapped her arms around his waist, she leaned ever closer to him and brushed her lips on his. The Captain's arms left the sword and touched her back, then went lower, lower and lower...
"Rogers ain't gonna like this..." he muttered and Catherine grinned, her one hand started caressing his arm and the other slowly reaching for her boot.
"Aye, but Rogers ain't here now, is he?" she said as she stretched her hand and grabbed the little knife she hid in there. The Captain leaned closer and was ready to close the gap between them when his eyes widened and he let out a small cry. Catherine looked at him as he fell on the floor and cleaned her bloody knife on her sleeve, she looked at the dying man one last time and left the cabin quietly. She walked up at the stairs and saw that the deck was empty, grinning at her self she ran to the plank and hid in the busy streets of London. She ran down a very familiar street and banged a very familiar door. She looked around and tried to hide her face under her hat when she saw lots of pictures of her on the walls. Even though she knew that it was bad to be wanted by the crown of England, she was proud of herself and the things she did, she never felt guilty.
The door opened and two piercing grey eyes started at her. The old man that was looking at her opened his mouth but then closed it again, like he couldn't figure out what to say. Finally, he looked around and let her in. The big house was very warm and Catherine closed her eyes for a few second, just to get used to the warmth and enjoy it.
"What are you doing here?" the man demanded and eyed her suspiciously. Catherine sighed and looked up at the man she had known most of her life.
"I know I shouldn't be here but-"
"Everyone is looking for you! Your father doesn't want to see you again, you broke your mother's heard and Gabrielle has been worried sick about you!" the man yelled in a hushed tone, so that he wouldn't wake his wife and daughters up.
"I know, I know!" Catherine said and shook her head "Listen, all I need is a bed, nothing else. l need a place to sleep tonight and I don't have anywhere else to go, I will be gone before you even wake up, I promise." the old man sighed and thought about it for a few minutes, then, he nodded.
"You know where the guest room is." he stated and walked back to his room. Catherine nodded at herself and walked to the guest room. She sat down on the bed and closed her eyes, making herself comfortable.
Her bedroom door suddenly opened, Catherine looked up at a young woman that was staring at her frozen. She had brown hair that was tied up in a knot, she had big hazel eyes and was biting her pink lips. The woman was frozen at the door for a few minutes and was staring at Catherine shocked. Catherine stood up and closed the door, the walked in front of the girl and put her hands on her arms.
"Gabrielle..." she whispered before the girl was in her arms. Catherine petted Gabrielle's hair and sat her on the bed beside her.
"Oh my God, Catherine. I thought I would never see you again!" she said and wrapped her arms around Catherine. Catherine grinned at her and wiped the tears off Gabrielle's face gently.
"I'm here now." she said and held her friends hand. Gabrielle nodded and smiled at Catherine.
"I've missed you so much." she whispered "Where have you been? I was worried sick about you!" her expression was now angry.
"Yes, I know. I'm sorry I didn't send you a letter but it wasn't safe. I had pirates running after me through England!" Catherine said calmly. Gabrielle took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
"You should've taken me with you." she said in a shaky voice. Catherine rolled her eyes and took her boots off.
"You wouldn't survive." she stated and placed her hat on the night stand. Gabrielle's face flushed in anger again.
"You did!" Catherine sighed and shook her head.
"It's not the same I-"
"You weren't a pirate when you left Catherine. You were a lady, just like me, you wore tight corsets and fancy dresses, you had good manners and had never even raised your voice in front of a man. You survived and became a pirate!" Gabrielle cut her off. Catherine stood up and looked at her straight in the eye.
"It wasn't easy, Ella." she said "Not at all. I had to work, yell, sleep with pigs, get beaten up and kill people. Aye, I was free, but the free life is not easy when you're alone. I wasn't going to to that to you Gabriella." she said. Gabrielle remained silent, Catherine could see that the anger inside her had gone and she was now thinking of what her friend said. She slowly nodded and stepped back, opening the door.
"I should let you get some sleep." she whispered and left the room as fast as she could, leaving Catherine standing alone.
