Chapter 10: New Advances

The first thing Eleanor notices as she starts to wake up is the absence of a source of warmth that she knows was here when she fell asleep.

Opening her eyes slowly, she frowns. This feels weird. For the first time in months, she actually feels well rested after waking up, her eyes are not hurting and she doesn't feel sad.

But there's something missing.

Looking at the empty spot beside her on the bed, she sighs. Charles was gone.

Had it all been only a dream?

Her doubts are answered when she catches sight of a piece of paper on the pillow beside her with a few words written in it.

"Can't take the risk of staying after sunrise. See you around, Miss Guthrie."

A smile comes to her face before she fights it away, looking around and noticing how dark the room is.

She realizes the thick curtains of her balcony's glass door are closed. When she fell asleep last night, they weren't.

Eleanor feels her heart fill with affection as she concludes that Charles must have closed them before he left.

So she would be able to get more sleep.

Shaking her head with a small smile refusing to leave her lips, she turns her phone on, staring in disbelief at the screen when she sees it's already 10 in the morning.

Quickly doing the math in her head, the blonde realizes she actually had a full 8 hours of sleep. When was the last time this happened? She has no idea.

No to mention that after falling asleep in Charles' arms, she didn't have any nightmares, sleeping peacefully and not waking up scared in the middle of the night.

At this thought, there's a wave of insecurity coming over her.

How long had she slept in his arms? She had been so vulnerable. That wasn't good at all.

But as Eleanor gets up, feeling so well rested and in such a good mood, she can't bring herself to regret any of it.

Looking at the mirror in her bathroom, she notices even her appearance is better.

Quickly getting ready for the day, she tries not to think of the kisses and touches they shared before she fell asleep, that ever present desire for him getting stronger.

When would they see each other again?

Earlier

The sun had just risen when Charles got back to the hideout.

How he wishes he could have stayed.

But the risk of getting caught would be even higher after sunrise, and he didn't want to end up in jail. Glancing at the closed curtains of Jack and Anne's room, he quietly makes his way to his own room, going inside and closing the door behind him.

Behind the curtains, Anne listens, wide awake, sitting on the bed while Jack sleeps beside her.

She's unable to keep her eyes closed for more than a few seconds.

Every time she does, every time she tries to fall asleep there's images flashing in her head.

Blood. Ships. Battles.

Death.

A strange place, ancient looking buildings.

And a name that won't leave her alone.

Getting up, she stealthily makes her way to the computer they have at the hideout, turning it on and sighing.

She types in the name, watching as her search results appear.

Nassau.

It looks a lot different, with modern buildings and everything, but as she scrolls through the images, the redhead recognizes some of the beaches, and the Island as a whole.

She knows she's been there before, even though the trio has never left the country.

"What the fuck is going on?"

The stubborn little smile that's been on Eleanor's face since she saw the closed curtains of her balcony's door drops instantly as she comes to her father's office and hears Rogers' voice inside.

"... alright, sir, really. She needed it."

"It's not like her to sleep in like this. She's usually up with the sun." Her father says.

"Your daughter seemed completely exhausted the last time I saw her. Let her sleep. I can come by later."

She rolls her eyes before walking into the office, causing both men to look her way.

"Ah. There she is. Did you sleep well?" Richard asks, nodding at her.

"Yes, actually. For the first time in months." She says before looking at the arrogant idiot with a slight nod.

"Rogers."

"Good morning, my lovely lady. I see you followed my advice and got some rest." He says proudly, flashing her a smile.

What a convinced asshole. He must think that he's the center of the universe.

Eleanor has to fight against the sudden urge of telling Rogers that this had nothing to do with him, and that she only slept so well because she was in Charles' arms.

She was in his arms, for hours. In bed. How would that arrogant jerk like to know about this?

Biting her tongue, she forces a smile.

"What brings you here so early?"

"Must you ask?" He asks with a chuckle, glancing at her father as he watches the pair with a smile on his face.

She doesn't know which one of them she hates the most right now.

"He came by to see you, Eleanor. It's Friday and he wishes to know if you will go out with him for dinner tomorrow." Richard says, watching his daughter closely.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot about that." She says.

Shit.

Now what?

"I haven't been feeling too well for the past couple of days. So I can't tell you for sure." She lies, looking at Rogers with an apologetic face.

"I'm so sorry to heart that, Miss Guthrie. What is it that you're feeling?" The idiot asks, faking concern.

"I think it might be a cold, due to the unusually stormy weather that has been around lately, maybe. I'm not used to cold weather."

"She really isn't." her father says and she resists the urge to roll her eyes.

He doesn't know a thing about her health. Mr. Scott does. He's the one who always would take care of her when she got sick during her childhood, never her father.

She remembers her 7 year old self, burning up with a fever, waiting the whole day for the sun to set so Scott would come to work. She remembers sneaking out of her room and going in search of him. He was the one who gave her medicine and held her in his arms, telling her bedtime stories until she fell asleep.

He was the one who did everything he could to make her feel better, took care of her bruises, stayed by her side when she was still too little to deal with the night terrors on her own. He was the one whose eyes filled with concern every time there was something wrong with her. Never her father. Scott had seen more of her childhood than he had, so much more.

Eleanor was really lucky to have him.

She knows that if it wasn't for him, she would be a lot more fucked up by now.

How could she worry so much about having her father's approval, even considering the idea of accepting Rogers' advances? How could she think about throwing herself into a loveless marriage just so her father would look at her the way she had always wanted him to?

How could she disappoint the man who had taken care of her during her childhood? Scott had been so worried, asking her to stay away from Rogers. Would he be too disappointed if she got closer to the man?

And what about Charles?

Oh God, Charles.

The man she had just met but who had already done so much for her.

He saved her from Ned.

He took her away from that party.

He gave her a delicious taste of freedom during their motorcycle ride.

He took the risk of getting caught just so he could return her knife.

He showed her what raw desire felt like. He got her hooked to the feeling of his lips on her skin.

But mostly, he came back for her. Understood her. Stayed with her so she could have a full night of peaceful sleep for the first time in months.

And even when the time came for him to leave, Charles made sure she would get her much needed rest by closing her curtains.

It was strangely familiar, actually. Having someone who did so much for her. And yet, she's still having trouble deciding where her loyalty lays.

Her guilt comes over her, practically screaming at Eleanor not to choose her father's approval, and instead to listen to Max and Mr. Scott's advice when they told her to stay far away from Rogers.

To stop fighting against her developing feelings for Charles.

She frowns.

Her feelings for Charles?

"Eleanor?" Her father asks.

She comes back from her thoughts, looking at him and Rogers. They had been talking about something.

"Sorry. What is it?"

"I was saying I will leave for that meeting tonight and won't be back until monday. Rogers offered you his help with the Trading Company management while I'm gone if-"

"I'm perfectly able to handle it on my own, thank you." She interrupts him, lifting her chin slightly.

"Oh, I'm sure you are. But you said you're not feeling too well, so... If you need me, just call." He says, flashing her a charming smile.

How Eleanor wishes she could slap that fucking smile off his face.

"I'll keep that in mind."

His phone rings, and she's relieved as Rogers' attention goes to it instead of her.

"Well, duty calls. Sir, if you'll excuse me." He says, shaking hands with her father.

"Always a pleasure, Rogers. Feel free to visit us anytime." He nods, moving to stand in front of Eleanor.

"I hope you'll feel better soon, Eleanor. Call me if you need my help with the Company, alright? I will check up on you tomorrow and if you're feeling better, we can go out for dinner." He says, taking one of her hands in his.

She clenches her jaw, forcing a smile and nodding, before he kisses her hand.

Fucking annoying idiot.

Jack frowns when he wakes up and doesn't find Anne in their bed.

Getting up, he lifts a part of the curtains to get out of their room, immediately catching sight of her, his heart clenching.

She fell asleep at the computer.

Sighing, he goes over to the desk, looking at the screen. There's pictures of an Island and several tabs open. Every tab was showing information about a place called Nassau.

Nassau today, pirates of Nassau.

What was going on with Anne? Had her dream affected her so much?

Shaking his head, he lifts the redhead from the chair, holding her in his arms and she mumbles, a frown coming to her face. Waiting for a moment, he's relieved when she doesn't wake up, turning to carry her back to the bed just as the door to Charles' room opens and he steps out, looking at the pair with a curious look, one eyebrow rising at the sight of his friend carrying a sleeping Anne in his arms.

Jack looks at him, whispering he'll explain in a moment, before walking back to the room behind the curtain.

He slowly lays his little brute back on their bed and she turns on her side, scowling in her sleep.

Brushing her hair out of her face, he bends down to kiss her forehead before walking out of the room, closing the curtain behind him quietly.

Charles is at the computer, looking at the research Anne had been doing.

"Nassau?" He asks as Jack sits on the couch, rubbing his forehead.

"Anne had this... this dream the other night. Said we were on a pirate ship. It was called the Ranger, I think." He says and Charles looks at him, frowning. "Then she wanted to go to beach and watch the sea. Even after that storm hit, she insisted on staying for a while longer. She's acting really weird, Charles. I'm starting to get worried.

"Did you say the Ranger?" He asks, the name bringing a strong wave of déjà vu over him.

"Yeah. Nice name for a pirate ship, don't you think?" Jack says with a small laugh, trying to distract himself from his worries. But Charles just stands there, deep in thought.

That name...

Why was it so familiar?

"Oh, don't start." Jack groans.

"What?"

"Anne zones out just like that when she starts thinking about the dream she had. Don't start doing it too."

"Did she say anything else about the dream?"

"She just said it had felt more like a memory." He says with a shrug.

Frowning, Charles heads to his room, a thought coming to his brain.

He gets his phone and dials Idelle's number, the dark haired woman picking up immediately.

"Do you want to see me?"

She asks with a seductive tone.

Charles ignores her question.

"You once told me about some stuff. Reincarnation, right?"

"Uh, yeah. What about it?"

"I want to know more about past lives and all that shit."

"Okay, well... I can go over there and tell you all I know."

"No. I'll pick you up at your place so we can go somewhere more private."

"I like the sound of that. I'll be waiting for you then, Captain." She says in a flirtatious voice and he hangs up. For whatever reason, she always had this habit of calling him Captain.

And after Anne's dream, the nickname brings a weird feeling.

Things just keep getting stranger and stranger.

After night fell over the city and Richard left for the meeting, Eleanor turned her notebook off with a sigh. She had enough of Trading Company business for today. Looking around her father's empty office, she gets up from his desk, going to her room so she could get some medicine for her headache.

As she swallows the pill, Eleanor reads a text she had received from Max. It said she wanted to do something tomorrow night, go out to a club or bar.

"Alright. We'll go out. I feel more like going to a club. And please, not anything too fancy. I don't want to risk Rogers seeing us." She texts back, waiting for a few moments until her friend's reply shows up.

"He doesn't seem like the kind of person who goes out to clubs, Eleanor. Aren't you being a little bit too paranoid?"

Biting her lip, the blonde considers this. Max was right. She was being paranoid. But she just couldn't help it. There is something about Rogers. He makes her want to do her best to stay away from him.

"I suppose you're right. Well, anyway. Pick a club and tell me later. We can come to the mansion after, my father won't be here until monday. And I don't really feel like being alone lately."

She sends the text and lets her phone drop to the bed, turning around to look at her balcony's door.

Would Charles come over tonight?

Eleanor shakes her head, trying not to think about him.

Maybe a walk through the gardens would be good for her?

Making her way out of her room, she walks the corridors and goes down the grand staircase, soon finding herself at the huge gardens around the mansion.

Would Rogers believe her little "I'm not feeling too well" excuse? Would he try to stalk her to see if it was true?

He doesn't seem like the kind of person who takes no for an answer. She has a feeling he wants things exactly his way, and probably gets angry otherwise.

Just like a spoiled child.

Rolling her eyes, she spots Mr. Scott and goes over to him, smiling when he gives her a quick hug, one hand cradling the back of her head in a fatherly gesture.

He probably noticed her troubled eyes. She didn't even have to say anything.

"He didn't even say goodbye to me before leaving for the meeting. Last time I saw him was at his office with that arrogant idiot." She tells him, annoyed at Richard.

"Is Rogers the arrogant idiot?" Scott asks with a smile.

"He's driving me insane. He wanted to take me out for dinner tomorrow."

Worry flickers in Scott's eyes.

"And did you accept?"

"No. I told him I'm not feeling too well. He said he would check up on me tomorrow to see if I'm better anyway, but I will lie. And then I'll go out with Max."

He sighs, relieved.

"Good. I don't like him. He's not good for my little girl. I just know it."

She smiles warmly.

"When I was 15, you said no one would ever be good enough for me."

"And that's true. But someone will be almost good enough." He says, smiling back at her. "I just want you to be happy, my dear."

"Happiness seems a little too far away for me."

He puts his hand on her shoulder.

"It will come, Eleanor. I promise you."

She nods at him, and they start walking the gardens together.

"I hope you still want to go to the spiritist house." He tells her

"You know that when I make a decision, I don't go back on it. How does it work? Will I, uh, see something?"

"You mean a past life?" He asks and she nods. "It depends. I don't know if they will let you have a regression yet. They may see who you were and tell you stuff about it. Tell you things that happened to you. I never had a regression. But they told me that Madi was my daughter in another life too, and that I also knew the girl I love as a daughter before." He says, smiling at her.

"Oh. So that means we knew each other already on a past life?"

"Exactly. That would explain why I felt instantly drawn to that sassy little toddler the first time I saw her." He says with a wink, causing Eleanor to chuckle.

"I wasn't sassy."

"You were impossible. No one could deal with you."

She smiles.

"What was it like? When you saw me for the first time?"

"Your father had just hired me. We were talking in his office and then you walked in. And I swear I never saw a 2 year old look so demanding. You looked at him with this adorable little frown, and he said 'I can't believe you got out of your crib again, Eleanor.'"

She laughs briefly.

"Then you started to scream at him, and he got up to go look for the nanny, asking me to keep an eye on you. The moment he left the office, you stopped throwing your little tantrum, turning to look at me. And I can't explain it, but I saw something in your eyes in that moment. You looked at me as if you recognized me. Usually toddlers are shy with people they just met, but you? You ran up to me immediately, raising your tiny hands until I picked you up. Then you threw your arms around my neck and wouldn't let go for anything in the world." He tells her with a nostalgic look in his eyes as they come to a stop, sitting down at a bench beneath an old oak tree. "When you finally pulled back to look at me, your eyes... I don't know, I never saw such an intense look from a child so young. You seemed... Relieved? Happy to see me. And I felt something too. In that moment all I wanted was to take you home with me, give you the love and attention that I knew you didn't receive at this huge mansion. I wanted to raise you as my own baby, to take care of you. But of course I couldn't. When your father finally came back with the nanny and found you in my arms, he couldn't believe his own eyes. He said you didn't like being held, that you cried whenever someone tried to. That not even he and your grandmother were able to hold you without you screaming at the top of your lungs."

"I remember my grandmother telling me that. That I was a difficult baby."

"You were. When the nanny came over to take you from me, you started to scream and hit her with your tiny hands. You really didn't want to leave my arms. But eventually she was able to take you from me. You were crying so hard. I felt my heart breaking when I saw that woman moving to the door of the office with you, tears rolling down your face as you said 'No, no', and reached for me with your arms, your little hands opening and closing, opening and closing. It hurt me so much to hear your fading cries after she left the office. All I wanted was to go after her and take you back. Your father seemed so confused. He said you had never showed such interest in someone. After that, everytime I saw you the same thing happened. You would ask me to pick you up and it was a battle to get you out of my arms. And do you know what some people believe about babies and children so young?" She shakes her head and he continues. "Some people say that children of such a young age are able to remember stuff from their past lives." His words cause a shiver to go through her, a weird feeling coming to her stomach and she frowns. "So I'm pretty sure you remembered me. I'm sure that little blonde toddler knew who I was. That's why you didn't want to let me go. And you know what else? I think that back then, you remembered the man who's hanged in your nightmares. The memory stayed in your subconscious, and came back as the nightmares a few years later."

She exhales deeply, looking around the gardens then back at him. "But why?"

He shrugs.

"Who knows. Maybe as punishment? Maybe you were somehow involved in his death? What else do you remember from the nightmares?"

"The people, they... They look different. Their clothes. They're not modern. Maybe from the 18th century? I'm not sure."

"And why was the man being hanged?"

She pauses, frowning. She knows why.

"He was a pirate." Eleanor says without even thinking, turning to look at Mr Scott with an alarmed look on her face. "How do I know this?"

"This happens to some people. Memories coming back. But don't be scared. It's nothing to be concerned about. You will just have to work out whatever issue it is that you have with that man. Maybe you will even end up finding him in this life."

I already have.

How she wishes she could tell Mr Scott.

But he would surely freak out if he found out a man broke into the mansion grounds and put a knife to her throat, then later on came to her room in the middle of the night.

It just would be too risky to tell him. And she didn't want anything happening to Charles.

"So what you're saying..." Charles begins after taking a drag from his cigarette, looking back at Idelle "...is that we don't live just once?"

She nods from the bed. "Exactly. We come back. Like some sort of resurrection, you know? To pay for things we did, take care of unfinished business, do things we didn't get the chance to do on the previous life. We just come back."

He thinks about her words, staring out the window as he smokes.

"And there's proof about this?"

"Well, a lot of people have written books about it, there's a religion that believes in reincarnation, and they do all sorts of stuff, like allowing spirits to talk through them."

Charles frowns, turning to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"There's people who have sort of a special gift, which allows them to communicate with spirits. And some of them go as far as letting the spirits like, come into their bodies and control them to get a message across."

"Like some sort of possession?"

She tilts her head. "It kinda does work like a possession, but it's completely different. The medium is just used as a vehicle for communication between the two worlds. And some spirits have told stories about the other world, about reincarnation. All of them say the same things, and there's a lot of books about what they say."

Charles shakes his head lightly, turning back to stare out the window again and Idelle sighs, getting up from the bed and going to him.

"I know at first it's a little difficult to believe. But I've seen so much about it, I've read so much. When you start going deeper into it you see that it totally makes sense."

She raises one hand to trace the birthmark on his neck with her fingers.

"I think you killed yourself."

"What?" He asks gruffly, slapping her hand away.

"On a previous life. I think you hanged yourself. Because of your birthmark. They sometimes indicate the way you died on a past life. Especially when your death was a violent one."

His weird experience with the hanging comes to his mind. The crowd. That ancient looking place. The cart moving. The way he felt the rope strangling him.

Eleanor watching him.

The resentment he had felt towards her.

Absentmindedly raising his hand to touch his birthmark, Charles thinks about the dreams he always had. Her face. The turmoil of feelings the dreams always brought him.

Resentment. Anger. Hate.

Love.

"Is there any way for me to see it?"

"See what?" Idelle asks, frowning, her hand caressing his arm.

"A previous life. Find out what's the cause of this birthmark."

"There's places called spiritist houses, sometimes they help people have past life regressions so they can see. But Charles, I don't think it's too wise for you to go."

"And why not?"

"These places are usually filled with highly sensitive people, a lot of them have spiritual gifts and I don't really know what they can or can not do, but I heard that some can see right through you. Know what you're thinking, what you do and everything about you. And you're a criminal."

He watches her as she speaks, the hand caressing his arm bringing thoughts of how much he wishes it was Eleanor here with him instead.

The things he would do to her...

"If you go, there's a chance you'll leave that place in handcuffs." Idelle finishes, bringing him back from his thoughts, hand slowly moving from his arm to his lower abdomen.

He watches the city from the window, clenching his jaw. Suddenly he really wants to try this regression thing.

"Is there any other way?"

"Well, there's some hypnosis videos, you lay down and listen to them, and if you're lucky, you go into some sort of trance. Some people are able to see past lives. But it doesn't work with everyone."

"Have you tried?"

"Yeah, actually. I did it once, and it worked for me. During my trance, I saw myself at some sort of ancient tavern. There were pirates all around."

He immediately looks at her, frowning.

"Pirates?" The dream Anne had comes to his mind.

"Yeah. It was pretty cool." She seems to have grown bored of the conversation, her exploring hand starting to move lower.

But Charles moves away from the window and from her, much to her disappointment.

Putting on his helmet, he gives her the other one. "Come on. I'll take you back home. There's stuff I gotta do."

Pouting slightly, Idelle puts it on and they leave the hideout together.

Notes:

As everyone can see, Anne's dream about her previous life affected her a lot, and there is a really, really dark reason for it. It will be revealed in chapter 14.

There will be a warning right before it happens, since some people might be uncomfortable with reading it.

In chapters 13 and 14, we will start to get a look into the past of the criminal trio, how they met in this new life and all that.

And Anne went through some really hard times when she was little. That's all I'm gonna say.

Next chapter teaser:

"Jack's gonna kill us. He hates this stuff." Anne says with a frown.

"Well, he's not here right now, is he? He doesn't have to know."