Chapter 2: The Challenge

"Fuck you, Jack!"

The all too familiar yelling wakes Charles up and he walks out of his room, in time to see Anne stomp out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

He looks from the door to a exasperated Jack, arching an eyebrow.

"Don't ask." His friend sighs as he slumps down on a chair, rubbing his forehead.

"Should we worry?"

"Nah. She's just going out for a drive."

Charles shakes his head slightly, walking to get a glass of water and a cigarette.

"You've seen the news? We're all over it. A grand escape, again. Bet that asshole Woodes is already at the crime scene shouting orders and freaking out about this whole thing." Jack says, smirking proudly.

"He wants to find us so bad, I'll be happy to beat him up any day."

"Where does all this anger towards him comes from?"

"Wish I knew" Charles says, putting a cigarette between his lips and lighting it.

"Anyway. I have a challenge for you." Jack says and he looks at him, leaning against the wall.

Anne comes back through the door, causing both men to look her way.

"Weren't you going for a drive?" Her partner asks.

"Fucking rain's too strong." She grumbles before heading to the couch and slumping down on it.

Jack shrugs, looking back at his friend.

"As I was saying. I bet you can't get through the security of the Guthrie Mansion."

Anne snorts from the couch "You fucking high?"

"Bored, darling. So, Charles? How about it?"

Their leader smirks "It's a bet."

Jack laughs as Anne leaves them again, mumbling something about how stupid they are.

Her father got home two hours ago. He did not seek her out. He probably did not even come close to her room.

Eleanor sighs, trying to pretend she doesn't feel the pain of his rejection. She should be already used to it by now. But it still hurts her.

Max left in the morning, before he came back. Yesterday they went shopping and Eleanor bought what her dad had asked her to.

Part of her, a small, stubborn part, had hoped he would come to her when he got home so she could show him the damn dress she got.

Shaking her head, the blonde gets out of the bathtub and gets dressed, drying her hair a little with a towel, not even bothering with blow-drying it for now.

She gets out of her room, going through the various corridors.

Walking past the open door to her father's office, she hears voices inside. Her father's and a man she didn't know. She would have kept walking, but hearing her name makes her stop in her tracks.

"...is why I called you. I know you showed an interest on her in the past. And I feel it's time for her to have a husband."

"Sir, it's really an honor. I hope to be pleasant company for her this weekend at the celebrations."

The voice brings another sense of déjà vu, along with a slight feeling of dread and she shakes her head, paying attention as the conversation continues.

"You will be, I assure you. What time can I expect you to arrive?"

"I will be here at eight."

"Excellent. She will be ready to meet you by then."

"Thank you, Sir. I will do my very best to please your daughter."

"I have no doubt of that. She is a complicated young lady at times, but I have a feeling she will like you, Woodes."

Her breath catches, and Eleanor can't fight the urge to run. When she realizes, she is already back inside her room, slamming the door behind her. Feeling sick, she tries to calm her breathing and her racing heart, despair making it hard to think. She's on the verge of having a panic attack.

That name... That voice. That man.

She knows he means the end of her freedom.

Beneath that nice, gentleman's mask there's something bad. She just knows it.

Her mind is foggy and she hears a voice. "He found me..."

She frowns as the fog clears and she realizes it was her own voice. "Great, I'm going fucking insane. Talking to myself."

Her racing heart finally starts to slow down and she gets a grip on her emotions again, just in time, as there's a knock on her bedroom door.

It's her father, coming to tell her they will be going out for lunch.

And as she gets ready, she can't shake the dread that stays in her gut as Woodes' voice keeps echoing through her mind.

Night falls as Charles gets ready to head to the mansion.

It's insane and he knows it. But he could never say no to a good challenge and besides, there's something telling him he should go.

Anne is pissed, and if looks could kill, he's pretty sure he and Jack would be already dead and buried by know.

"I'm not driving." She says, from her spot against the door of one of the cars they use. "If you want to get yourself fucking caught and thrown in jail, you do it alone."

"Yes, I figured. I'll take the motorcycle."

"You'll leave me alone in here, with her? Charles, she'll murder me." Jack says as Charles goes over to the motorcycle to check it over. "Better you than me."

He rolls his eyes, starting to move to stand closer to Anne, but stopping and taking several steps back when he sees the hostile look on her face.

"Guess I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight." He says, cringing at the thought.

Charles finishes checking the motorcycle, deciding it is perfectly fine for the long ride to the mansion and for the getaway if he needs to escape quickly.

"I'll leave right after midnight. I've checked around the mansion before, and that's when security seems to be slower."

"You've checked around the Guthrie Mansion?" Jack asks, frowning "Why?"

Charles shrugs "Curiosity."

"If it has anything to do with Richard's daughter, forget it. You're a highly wanted criminal, so..."

"I didn't even know the old ass had a daughter." Charles cuts him off, annoyed.

"Well, he does. She's a real beauty but people say she's also stubborn as hell and has some big issues with depression and everything."

At this, Charles' heart sinks a little, and he feels worried again. He shakes his head, telling himself it's just anticipation for what's to come later in the night.

Why would he care about the depression of some spoiled rich girl?

"Why should I care, Jack? The girl can be fucking suicidal, I don't give a damn."

"Jesus. I was just saying. Why do you two have to be like that?" He asks, pretending to be offended as Anne rolls her eyes and Charles raises his middle finger.

"Wait a minute, you've lived in LA your whole life and you didn't know that the owner of the Guthrie Trading Company has a daughter?" Jack asks.

"Will you fucking drop it?" Charles growls, raising from his spot beside the motorcycle.

"Seriously! She was all over the news two years ago, involved in a scandal. She was seen kissing another girl at a bar. People even took pictures. Remember, darling? I showed you!" he says to Anne, as she looks at him with a bored expression.

"If you don't shut the fuck up about this girl right now, I swear I'm gonna go inside that mansion and sleep with her right under her father's nose just to make you silent for a week."

"Is that a new bet?" His friend smirks, causing Anne to elbow him in the ribs, hard, and Charles is thankful as he finally shuts up.

Her father's lunch plans turned out to be just an excuse to talk to her about saturday's party and the man he wanted her to meet.

She learned that he managed the law enforcement. Her father told her not to worry about the other guests, and that he expected her to spend the whole night with Woodes.

Eleanor said she would talk to him but had no interest in spending more than a few minutes in his company.

Richard lost the friendly expression and said that she would do as he said and behave herself, that she needed to make a good impression for his guest.

And of course, she fought back and told him that Woodes could go fuck himself.

That resulted in yet another fight between her and her father, and after they got back to the mansion, she did not see him again for the rest of the day.

It was just after midnight right now, and she was at one of the sitting rooms downstairs, notebook in her lap and cigarette in her hand.

One of the benefits of living in a mansion. She could smoke and her father would not find out.

Eleanor stares at the screen of the notebook, her eyes drinking in the pictures, heart filled with longing.

The pictures she was looking at showed the city of Nassau.

Sighing deeply, she touches the screen, heart aching, tough she had no idea why. She stayed like this for a few minutes, feeling tears in her eyes, but refusing to let them out.

A noise from outside catches her attention and she turns to look behind her.

The large pool area seems empty and perfectly normal, no one in sight.

She frowns. Something's wrong.

Setting her notebook aside and extinguishing her cigarette, she gets up and walks to the large windows that show the pool area. Her heart starts racing and her blood feels like ice.

But she doesn't feel bad, for the first time today. Ignoring every rational thought, she walks to the door and opens it, stepping outside and looking around.

Earlier

Charles stops the motorcycle, watching the mansion loom in the distance.

Why Richard Guthrie had such a big place only for him and his daughter was beyond him. He figured it was just a way to show off his money. Shaking his head, he pulls out a cigarette, deciding to calm his nerves before going to the mansion.

He had no idea why he was feeling like this.

He broke into so many places before; the mansion would be just another one for his collection.

And this wasn't even a real "hunt", as he and his two accomplices called their crimes. It was just a bet.

Charles checks the camera in his bag. To prove he had went inside the mansion, Jack told him he had to take at least two pictures of the pool area.

"Piece of cake", he thinks, finishing the cigarette and throwing it aside as he starts the motorcycle again, ready to get this over with so he could go back to the hideout and get out of this biting cold.

As it turned out, getting through security was easy, and he soon found himself in the spacious pool area. Smirking to himself, he kept in the shadows and pulled out the camera to take the pictures.

As he was putting the camera back in the bag, a flash of movement inside what seemed to be a sitting room catches his eye.

Charles moves further into the shadows, waiting to see if someone would walk into the pool area.

When no one does, he looks at one of the windows and sees what had caught his attention.

There was a blonde sitting in one of the expensive couches, with a notebook in her lap, smoking, one of her hands touching the screen.

To say he was entranced was an understatement.

He could not see her face from here, but something about her was so familiar. He couldn't take his eyes off her, feeling drawn to her like a magnet, and as she gets up and goes to the window, frowning, he feels his heart race.

"So this is Richard's daughter." He thinks as she heads to the door and unlocks it, stepping out and looking around.

That's when he snaps out of his trance and realizes just how fucked he is.

The only way to get out of the pool area was to step out of the shadows right into the open where the Guthrie girl could see him. But he didn't know if he could wait until she went back inside. He couldn't risk staying here too long and being caught by the security.

To his horror, instead of going back inside, she starts walking further into the pool area, fearless, and closer to his hiding place.

Mind made up, Charles quickly takes his robber's facemask and pulls it on, grateful he had decided to bring it in case there was an emergency.

He takes a deep breath and waits, as the clueless girl continues to move closer and closer to him.

The moment she steps in the shadows and sees the outline of his figure, she opens her mouth to scream for the security to come.

But he's faster, covering her mouth with one gloved hand, the other one grabbing both of her wrists together as he spins her around and pushes her against the wall, in the shadows.

Then he looks at her face, and freezes.

It's the woman he dreams about.

There's something different about her eyes, though. There is the same strength and stubbornness, yes, the same fire.

But there is also so much despair and a sadness that makes him want to hold her in his arms and take her away from this place, to make it all okay.

Clearing his mind and pushing these weird thoughts aside, he focuses on the emergency at hand.

She is looking at him in the weirdest way.

Well, looking at his eyes. As if she recognizes them.

Knowing he couldn't let her memorize anything, not even his eyes, Charles decides to intimidate her.

His time was running short.

"You listen to me, sweetheart. I'm going to release you, but if you even think about screaming, I will snap your neck right here and leave your body for your precious daddy to find." She frowns at him.

"Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to be a good girl and wait for 20 seconds after I leave, then go back inside your nice mansion. Do this and you won't get hurt. Alright?" When she just stares at him in defiance, he pushes her harder against the wall, making a whimper escape her and asks again "Alright?"

She nods once, still frowning at him.

He slowly uncovers her mouth, relieved when she doesn't scream.

But he's surprised when she whispers something in the darkness.

"I'm not afraid of you."

And she isn't. He sees it in her eyes as she lifts her chin up at him, challenging him.

Déjà vu.

"Then you're fucking stupid."

Charles doesn't know why, but he can't fight the urge to touch her, raising his hand to push a strand of hair behind her ear, watching her shiver at his touch.

"20 seconds, princess." He says as he reluctantly turns around to run the same way he had sneaked in.

Eleanor stays outside for far longer than 20 seconds, trying to understand if this was real or not.

When she saw a strange man hiding in the shadows she had been scared. But when he pushed her against the wall and she saw his eyes, the fear somehow melted away. Though it was dark and his face was mostly hidden by the robber's mask, she would have recognized those eyes anywhere.

Those piercing, soulful and impossibly blue eyes.

Then he spoke and she felt all the air leave her lungs. She remembers the same voice clearly from her dream and from the nightmares.

Now, standing out here in the pool area, she does not know what to think. She blinks hard, this is the method she uses to wake up from nightmares, and also to check if she's dreaming or not.

"This is real." Eleanor thinks, touching one of her wrists as well as the spot his hand had brushed her face when he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Miss Guthrie?" A voice calls from behind her.

Mr. Scott. One of the security men.

"Is everything alright?" He asks, eyes full of worry.

She really should tell him that there was a man here just a few minutes ago. She should. But the feelings of guilt get strong at this thought, and a voice tells her not to betray him again.

What the fuck? She thinks as she looks back at Mr. Scott.

Where did that thought come from? She did not even know the strange man who was here a few minutes ago.

"Yes. I heard a noise out here and came to check, but turns out it was just a stray cat looking for food." she lies easily.

Mr. Scott smiles warmly at her.

"Please don't come outside if you hear something, dear. Just call me and I'll come check. I don't want you putting yourself in danger's way." He says as she comes closer.

"I know, it was stupid. I don't know what I was thinking. Next time I'll call you. Don't worry."

He smiles at her again, patting her shoulder. "You should go inside. It's cold and late. You should be in bed, young lady."

She laughs. If it was anyone else telling her this, she would probably tell the person a big fuck you.

But this was Mr. Scott. He was like a father to her.

Hell, he probably cares about her more than her own father. When he isn't on duty at the mansion she goes to visit him at his house and sometimes feels better there than here at the mansion.

"I know. I'm going now. Good night." She says and walks to the door of the sitting room.

"Good night, my dear."

Going inside and locking the door behind her, Eleanor grabs her notebook and makes her way in the dark up the grand staircase, heading to her room.

Setting the notebook on her desk, she lays down in bed, mind still spinning from what happened.

Had she met the man she was always dreaming about? Was he real, after all? What was going on?

"This is fucking insane."

Deciding to figure all this out when she wasn't so exhausted, the blonde closes her eyes, letting the memory of the man's voice lull her to sleep.

Charles watches the mansion from a distance.

It was completely reckless.

The Guthrie girl had probably called the security, the police could be on their way to the mansion right now and yet here he was, unable to tear his eyes away from it.

This was so strange.

His mind races, trying to come up with logical explanations, and making him even more confused.

Had he seen her face before?

He gets on the motorcycle and speeds up as much as he can in the direction of the hideout.

"Will you stop?" Anne snaps at Jack, who was nervously tapping his fingers on the table in front of him.

"He shouldn't be taking so long. I have a bad feeling. What if he got caught?" He asks and the redhead snorts.

"It's more likely he actually went inside and is fucking the Guthrie girl right now."

His partner groans at her, just as the door opens and Charles comes in, shutting it behind him.

"So? Did you get the-" Jack starts but is cut off when Charles throws the bag to the floor and speaks in a voice that could scare even Anne off.

"Did you show me her pictures?"

"What?" His accomplice asks, confused.

"The Guthrie girl, damn it! Did you ever show me pictures of her before?"

"Uh- No, why?"

"Think, Jack, think very hard, are you sure? Are you absolutely, 100% sure?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure, why? Did you see her?"

"Yes!" Charles snaps, causing both Jack and Anne to jump slightly.

"Yes, I fucking saw her! And you know what? She's the damn woman I dream about!"

Anne looks around, silently watching the two men.

Jack seems to be at a loss for words.

"Are you sure?" He asks but immediately regrets it when Charles punches the table separating them, hard.

"Yes, I'm sure, Jack! How's this possible?"

"Um... Well, you could have seen her somewhere and-"

"I already told you, I didn't even know the old ass had a daughter!"

"Alright, alright, calm down. Let's think about this." He says as Charles turns around and walks away from the table, both hands going to his head in exasperation.

"No. No, I won't think about it. I'll just go to bed and forget about this whole thing. I feel it's better this way."

"Bullshit. Charles, I know you, and when you have your mind set on something, you don't just forget about it. The sooner we figure this out, the better, for all of us."

But the trio's leader ignores him, walking off to his room to get into bed and try to get some sleep.

As he listens to Jack and Anne moving to go to their own bed, he can't get that damn woman out of his head, all these feelings of affection, hate, anger and resentment crashing together and giving him a huge headache.

Right before he falls asleep, he simply knows, that he will not just forget about this whole thing and that this is just the beginning of... Something.

As sleep overcomes him, there's a flicker on his mind.

And for some reason he mumbles "I'm screwed."

Next chapter teaser:

Eleanor sighs. "My nightmares. The man who's hanged in them. It was him."

Max frowns even more. "Are you sure?"