Chapter 46: Friend or Foe
"What do you think?" Eleanor asks while Charles reads Mary's message from two days ago.
The criminal sighs, handing the phone back to her. "Mary is too smart for her own good. She'll probably end up figuring this out, sooner or later. But if she needs to know, I prefer she finds out on her own. No one says a word about this." He says, giving his accomplices a sharp look as they silently watch the couple, a few feet away from the table.
Anne and Jack share a brief look before nodding in agreement and walking back to their room.
Once they're alone in the main space of the hideout, Eleanor smirks at him. "So... You were calling my name in your delirium without even remembering me, long before we met again in this life? That's so cute."
He rolls his eyes. "With each passing day, I'm more and more convinced that you're a curse the universe cast on my soul the day it was created."
She laughs, but soon darkness comes to her eyes. "You still going to Somalia?"
"Of course I am. My sister is there and she needs me. I promised her I wouldn't abandon her like our shit of a father abandoned both of us."
The blonde nods slowly, a soft scowl on her face. "I know... but... Teach is there too."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" He leans back on the chair, hostility flickering in his eyes.
"You want to see him?"
"He's my uncle. And I owe him my life. Again." He lights a cigarette, looking at her in warning. "Of course I want to see him."
"Well, he... You've seen the message. He wants to kill me. If he finds out we've been reunited-"
A scoff from Charles interrupts her words. "You have to admit he has a good reason. And what are you so worried about? Do you plan on leaving this place and going to Somalia with me?"
Can she tell him she was considering the idea?
The thought is still too scary.
Too much for her to say out loud.
Her silence makes the hostility in his eyes grow. "That's what I thought."
"You don't understand-"
Charles shakes his head, laughing bitterly. "What is there to understand? That even after all the advances we've been making, even after all the recent proofs that your father and the governor don't give a fuck about your well being... You still prefer to stay with them?"
A wave of annoyance and anger overcomes her as her mind easily slips into that familiar fight mode from the past, urging her to argue and hide from him.
"This is so fucking unfair. So what if I want to stay here in the safety of LA instead of leaving and risking my life at sea, go to a dangerous place we know nothing about only to see a man who's thirsty for my blood? Does that sound wise to you, Charles? You see, that's your problem! You still act as if danger doesn't exist, you still take too many risks!" She rises from the chair, taking a few steps away from the table and looking back at him over his shoulder when he speaks again, extinguishing his cigarette.
"That's not your main reason for not wanting to leave with me, and we both know it!"
She frowns, turning around to face him. "What are you talking about?"
"You still desperately cling to the hope that sorry excuse of a man you call your father will show you love sooner or later! Not to mention this sick devotion for the governor that still lingers, even though your very soul is urging you to stay away from him!"
"Woodes disgusts me! I don't-"
"While that may be true... Would you let me go over to his mansion tonight and kill him?"
She hesitates, scowling at him and clenching her jaw. The criminal lets out a dry, hollow laugh.
"Yeah. Of course you wouldn't."
Eleanor scoffs, too angry to look at his face for a minute longer.
"Fuck you, Charles." Is all she says before walking out the front door, slamming it shut behind her.
Clenching his jaw hard, he turns around to look at Jack as his accomplice walks back into the main space of the hideout with a grimace. "Took you guys long enough. You think we should worry about her doing something?"
Charles shakes his head, trying hard to ignore the dread spreading inside him like fire. As if something bad was about to happen.
Something really bad.
"She'll be back. When it comes to us, you know fights are bound to happen. She just needs some time to clear her head. Then she'll come back to me."
Jack sighs heavily, rubbing his forehead. "I hope you're right, Charles. I really, really do."
Still clenching her jaw in anger, Eleanor walks the corridors with a scowl, wanting nothing more than a hot bath and some wine. But as she walks past the door to her father's office, his voice calls her name, making her roll her eyes in annoyance before turning around to see what he wanted.
But as she walks inside the office, her blood runs cold.
Richard is standing behind his desk, a cold look in his eyes while Mason and Woodes watch her, a few feet away from the windows.
Something's not right.
Trying to repress her fear, she raises her chin in defiance. "What is it?"
Her fiancée walks over to her, reaching to grab a hold of her chin... And staring straight at the hickey she forgot Charles left on her neck last night.
"Who did this? Was it Charles?"
Her eyes widen in horror. Does he remember?
Meeting his eyes, she finds no sign that his memories were recovered. But her relief doesn't last for too long. Mason walks around them, stopping a few feet behind her as his younger brother continues to speak.
"I know you've been seeing that criminal again. And if you think I'm stupid, darling... You are sorely mistaken. You didn't want to tell me his name? I found out on my own. Next step is to find him. No man touches what belongs to me. And if you think you can make a fool out of me and get away with it, you're wrong." He snaps his fingers and Mason grabs her arms, restraining her movements and applying pressure every time she tried to fight him.
"I really wish we didn't have to do this, darling. But you leave me no choice. You deceived me. This calls for drastic measures. We are doing this for your own safety. In my family's mansion, you will be out of Charles' reach. He won't find you. So he won't harm you.
Despair spreads inside her and she steps on the older brother's foot hard, glad to be wearing high heels.
Breaking free from Mason's grasp, she runs to the desk and grabs a hold of Richard's arms, a pleading look in her wide eyes. "Father, please! Don't let them do this, don't let them take me!"
"You still desperately cling to the hope that sorry excuse of a man you call your father will show you love sooner or later!"
As Charles' words from earlier run through her mind, her father looks her in the eyes for a few moments and she actually hopes he will see reason.
She actually hopes the fear in his daughter's eyes will be enough to melt the ice in his heart...
"Get her out of my sight."
His words feel like a stab to her heart.
The pain is too much and Eleanor's hands drop from his arms weakly, tears filling her eyes as Mason gets a hold of her again.
The blonde tries to fight for a moment but soon handcuffs close around her wrists and a gag is placed on her mouth.
Focusing on her father's face, she doesn't see the needle before it pierces her skin, panic taking her over as her fiancée injects her with something.
And soon all fight leaves her body, her legs giving out.
Woodes catches her before she can hit the floor, cradling her in his arms.
"Just a little something that will allow us to move you into your new home without the danger of you putting up a fight and hurting yourself. Don't worry. You'll just sleep for a few hours."
His fingers caress her cheek softly before he raises back to his normal height, carrying her to the door.
Eleanor uses the last bit of her strength to weakly reach out for her father, trying one last time.
And the last thing she sees before being claimed by unconsciousness is Richard turning his back to her.
"Her blood test result arrived. She's not pregnant."
Mason's voice. But it sounds so distant... Her vision is blurry too.
And why is she in an unfamiliar bed?
Her head hurts like hell...
"Good. That's a relief. One less thing for me to worry about."
Woodes' voice makes her memories of what happened at her father's office come crashing over her and she tries to sit up, eyes filled with alarm.
"Look who's awake. Leave us alone, brother."
The older man leaves the room, closing the door behind him and Eleanor tries to ignore the fear growing inside her as her fiancée makes his way over to the bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress.
"How long was I out?"
"Ten hours."
She frowns, moving away from him as he tries to brush her hair behind her ear. "What was Mason talking about?"
"Oh, we took the liberty of taking some of your blood while you were sleeping. Hope you don't mind." He offers her a sarcastic smile. "But I needed to know if there was a little... unwanted presence in your womb."
Eleanor scoffs at him, trying not to touch her stomach. "You're fucking sick."
He chuckles briefly, getting to his feet and walking to the door. "Someone will bring you dinner in a while. You better eat."
He opens the door and her breath catches at the sight of the familiar man standing just outside the room.
"This is Utley. One of my most trusted servants. He will be standing guard outside this room, so if you need anything, just knock on the door or call out for him. I will come see you later, love. Feel free to explore your new accommodations."
She almost considers trying to make a run for the door but Woodes quickly closes it behind him, the sound of the key turning making her heart sink. Quickly getting to her feet, she tries searching her pockets for her phone, only to find it gone.
Of course they would take it.
Taking a few deep breaths to keep herself from panicking, Eleanor takes a look around the room, searching for any possible escape routes.
The windows.
Smirking to herself, she runs to one of them, opening the thick curtains...
Only to have her hopes crushed when she sees the metal bars on the other side. Not giving up, she checks each one of the windows, finding the same metal bars over and over again.
Running to the bathroom, the blonde sees another small window near the shower, this one without the bars. If she can just reach it...
Even knowing it was probably too small for her to be able to escape through it, she still pushes one of the bedside tables all the way to the bathroom, climbing up on it. But sure enough, she can barely fit her head through the window.
Sinking to the floor as a frustrated whimper leaves her lips, Eleanor is glad to notice she at least still has the bee necklace. It offers her some comfort as she grasps at the pendant, tears burning in her eyes.
The blonde knows she can't panic. All she needs is to think clearly. She's not alone in the world, surely Mr. Scott will notice she's missing soon, or Max, or Madi, or her mother... They will try to call her, to look for her. Mr. Scott wil see she's not in the mansion. He will...
He will go to Charles.
They will find out where she is, her pirate will come to her rescue, everything will be okay...
Fuck, how she regrets their fight. If Eleanor knew this would happen, she wouldn't have argued with him like that.
What if he comes here, blind with rage, and Woodes captures him?
A million thoughts run through her mind and she lets the tears flow freely, giving in to the despair.
"What have I done?"
Charles opens his eyes to the morning light filtering in through the window of his room. The first thing he does is to reach for his phone, his heart sinking when he doesn't see any messages from Eleanor.
It's been three days since their fight. He thought she would already be back by now.
He has a weird feeling. Something's just not right. His instinct is telling him there's danger... But for who? For his stubborn queen?
Or for him?
Quickly getting dressed, the criminal walks to the door of his room.
He needs to check up on her. His pride be damned. If she's in any danger, he'll find out...
Stopping in his tracks, Charles frowns at the sight of his accomplices staring at him from the couch with a strange, serious look on their faces.
"What the fuck is going on?" He asks, seeing how Jack was trying to hide a newspaper behind his back. Storming over to them and taking it from his friend's hand, he stares at the news with a scowl.
And his heart breaks in a million pieces.
There's a picture of Eleanor's hand, her fingers locked with the governor's, their engagement rings shining proudly.
She sent no message to warn him about this...
The date for the wedding was set... Two months from today. The news say Eleanor already even moved into her fiancée's mansion.
The weight of her betrayals comes back.
So this is why she didn't come back to him yet.
Because she never will.
All the ice that had melted away comes back to his heart and Charles turns around, not wanting his accomplices to see the tears gathering in his eyes. Fighting them away and focusing on his anger, he rips the newspaper violently. "She made her choice. There's nothing else I can do for her now."
"Any orders?" Jack asks carefully and the leader turns around to face them again, his eyes cold.
"Get everything ready. We're leaving the country."
"She's not in the mansion." Scott says when he arrives back at the house, watching as Caroline covered her mouth with her hand, worry filling her eyes.
"Where's my baby? What happened to her?"
"One of the servants told me he saw Woodes and Mason Rogers leaving the mansion with her three days ago. She was unconscious. Woodes carried her to his car, and they didn't come back since then."
Caroline drops to the couch, eyes glinting with tears while Max and Madi rush to comfort her.
"Dad, what are we gonna do? What if they hurt her? We need to do something." Madi pleads, ignoring the soft scoff from John.
"We all know who we need." Max says, squeezing Caroline's hand reassuringly before rising from the couch. "The news about the wedding are all over the city already. We're the only ones who know what's really going on. We need to go tell Vane. Or he will think this is another betrayal... and we can't rescue her without him."
Scott nods. "Let's go then. Time is precious. Madi, stay here with Caroline and John. Max, you and I will go after the Captain."
As they walk to the door, Caroline calls out for them. "Please, convince him to help. Eleanor is suffering... I can feel it."
"That bastard will pay for what he's doing to our little girl and we'll bring her back to safety. I promise." Scott reassures her, grabbing his car keys and leaving with Max while his daughter tried to comfort the crying medium.
Her eyes are filled with hate as she watches Woodes entering the room, and the irony of this moment is not lost on her. Eleanor is sitting on the bed, trapped in this room and staring at him with an unfriendly look in her eyes.
Just like the first time they saw each other.
"How are you feeling, darling?"
She scoffs, getting to her feet. "Like a fucking caged animal, that's how I'm feeling."
He makes a face, shaking his head with a sigh. "Such a gorgeous woman, but such a filthy mouth... That's another thing we'll need to take care of. I don't want my wife talking like this."
"If you think I will still be your wife after this, you are mistaken."
His jaw clenches and he takes a step closer. "Love, if you don't want to spend the rest of your days trapped in this room, you will cooperate."
Not backing down, Eleanor storms over to him, eyes filled with anger as she stares up at his face. "You are not going to get away with this. Someone will notice I'm missing. Soon the police will know about this-"
Woodes laughs at her words, shaking his head. "Sorry to crush your hopes. But I have the police department on the palm of my hand. So no, I wouldn't count on their help if I were you."
Clenching her jaw, the blonde flinches away when he touches the fading hickey on the skin of her neck. "You know what? Our friend Ned told me your dear lover lives somewhere near the Demeter. Mason and I have been taking a look around the neighborhoods close to that filthy place for the last three days. I plan on having Charles arrested soon. You will never see that man again, Eleanor. How do you feel about that?"
"You won't find him. He's uncatchable. But if some miracle happens and you do find him, Charles will best you. He will beat you to a pulp, maybe even kill you. You will never succeed in capturing him."
His eyes narrow. "It's so sickening to hear you talk like this. What on earth did that man do to earn your affections? This is not fair, darling. I tried so hard. And instead of opening your heart to me, you gave your love to a criminal-"
"Want to know what he did?" She snaps, trying hard not to let the tears out. "He understood me. He was there for me. He was always honest and treats me as his equal. He would never force me into anything-"
"You think he loves you, Eleanor?" The man interrupts her, a dark look in his eyes.
"I don't think. I'm absolutely sure."
Again, Woodes laughs, looking at her as if she was a child. "Oh, you naive girl. These people don't feel. He was only having some fun with you. I'm doing you a favor. You are safe here. Soon, Charles would have grown bored of you. It wouldn't take too long before the news were all over the city."
"What news?"
"About your death, of course. As soon as the criminal had enough of you, he would kill you. Because you know, the dead can't talk."
Eleanor scoffs, shaking her head. "You don't know anything about Charles. He would never hurt me. Not physically. He would risk his own life to keep me safe."
Her fiancée clicks his tongue in disapproval. "You know nothing about the world, Eleanor. I have been dealing with these people for years. I know how they think. They care only about themselves, unable to love someone else. They have no heart. And your dear Charles is no exception. He is an animal, just like the rest of them-"
Her self control vanishes and Eleanor screams at him. "He is not an animal, Woodes! You are!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Utley look over at them, clearly uncomfortable as he stood at the still open door.
Her fiancée clenches his jaw.
And does what she wasn't expecting at all.
The hard slap takes her by surprise and she falls to the floor, one hand flying to her cheek as tears burn in her eyes.
It fucking hurt.
"Sir!" Utley's alarmed voice reaches her ears and he immediately rushes to her side, dropping down to the floor beside her and checking the damage the other man had made.
She's shaking, eyes wide in horror and surprise, unable to believe what just happened.
She had never expected Woodes to lay a finger on her.
Looking up at his face, the blonde feels her blood run cold when she sees the look in his eyes.
He's staring right at her bee necklace, looking almost haunted...
"I've seen you wearing this before."
She frowns, trying to pretend not to know what he was talking about, and he shakes his head.
"No... It wasn't the same necklace... The other one was different... Pearls..." He trails off, eyes clouded over. "...a dress."
Woodes is talking to himself by now, looking as if he had gone crazy. Utley frowns, moving closer so he would be able to protect her in case the other man tried to hit her again.
Each second feels like an eternity and Eleanor's heart is filled with dread.
Will this be the moment he remembers everything?
But soon, Woodes shakes his head, scowling down at the two people. "I suggest you think about your actions, darling. No need to make this whole experience even harder, don't you think? I will not be made out a fool. In no time, I will be your husband. And you will learn to honour and respect me."
She watches as her fiancée leaves the room, keeping the strong façade up.
Only when Woodes is out of her sight, Eleanor lets the tears flow freely.
"It will be okay, miss. Everything will be okay. How's your cheek?"
She shakes her head, ignoring the man's question and looking at his face "Utley, you need to help me get out of here, please..."
The blonde sees the pain in his eyes. He feels bad for her. He wants to help her.
"I... can't, miss. I've been working for Woodes for years, my loyalty lies with him, I'm so sorry."
Despair spreads inside her and a broken sob leaves her lips as she grasps at the bee pendant, closing her eyes and crying while Utley tried his best to comfort her. "But I can promise you, I will not let him hit you again, alright? You will be okay, miss..."
Eleanor is not really listening to his words, unable to forget the haunted look in Woodes' eyes. He's so fucking close to remembering, and something tells her he won't handle the conflicting memories too well.
She will be in serious danger once his memories come back. Eleanor just knows it. She really needs to find a way to get out of this place, and soon.
For her own safety.
The piercing blue eyes she loves so much flash through her mind and another sob escapes her lips, her heart clenching.
She doesn't want her own house. She doesn't want her father...
She just wants Charles.
He punches the desk hard, staring at the notebook screen.
The wedding date was set. She moved into Rogers' mansion?
This makes no sense.
"Fuck."
He just knows it's her father. These two assholes did something, he's absolutely sure Eleanor is being kept in that fucking mansion against her will.
Does she remember? Does Vane remember?
Would he try to save her?
He can't take the risk.
So he packs a quick bag and buys a plane ticket before leaving his quarters and ship.
Fuck karma. Fuck everything. He won't let anything happen to her.
Turning around to look at the cruise ship, he stares at the name for a moment.
"It's time to fight. The story won't repeat itself."
The man nods to himself, leaving the port and the Walrus behind.
"Hold on, Eleanor. I'm coming for you."
Notes:
Another update?
There was a holiday in my country this week. So I had plenty of time to write. And I probably won't be able to update this next week, since I have exams and work to do with my foal. So I just thought, since I had this chapter ready, why not leave you all with a nice little cliffhanger? ;) After almost 50 chapters, the mysterious man's identity is finally revealed, I was waiting for this moment and really eager to bring Flint into this. Now here he is! And he's angry as hell ;)
Next chapter teaser:
Madi shakes her head, not liking John's coldness towards the woman she sees as her sister.
"You know why Eleanor is so important to me? Let me tell you something that happened during our childhood in this new life."
