Chapter 4
Somewhere safe
Cate struggled to pull herself together, she needed to think and fast. She needed to somehow get herself out of this mess. Herself and her child. The thought still felt more than foreign to her, she hadn't really comprehended it yet. She was going to become a mother… Maybe, if she would survive long enough. Cautiously she looked up and glanced at Elijah who was driving the car. The other man was sitting next to him and she was on the backseat.
She felt like an idiot. Did Elijah work for Roark? Had he managed to trick her completely? Well, he had most certainly lied to her about not being able to have children. She had probably offered him good laughs afterward. A stupid, naïve idiot who had believed his every word. Who had practically thrown herself at him.
And that thing he and the other man had done to her… Was it some kind of hypnosis? All she knew was that she never wanted to experience it again. Especially that thing the other man had done. She wasn't sure what it had been, but it had made her feel completely violated, like he would have somehow forced himself into her. Like he would have torn her clothes off and seen every part of her against her will. She couldn't let him do that again.
But how could she stop him? What were they going to do to her? If they worked for Roark, the answer was obvious, but if they didn't… When those women had kidnapped her, she had suspected that they were some kind of bounty hunters. She knew that Roark had offered a very generous reward to anyone who would bring Cate to him.
The reward was bigger than Simon's debt, so to Roark, this wasn't about the money. He probably wanted to make an example out of Cate. But what if Elijah didn't work for Roark? Cate couldn't understand most of the things she had heard at the cemetery, but she knew that she needed to find a way to escape, if she wanted to stay alive. Right now she needed to make sure that the two men wouldn't hypnotize her again. The best way to do that would probably be to play along until she would have an opportunity to escape.
"Cate?" Elijah's voice said after a moment of silence. They had just left the cemetery. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied as calmly as she could. "So…where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe. You need a place to stay and I want to offer you a good home."
"Oh. Thank you very much, you're very kind."
"I know you must be scared and confused right now, but everything is going to be alright, I promise."
She forced a smile on her face.
"I believe you."
Was he kidding? Did he honestly think that she would believe his promises? She swallowed when she noticed the other man staring at her through the rearview mirror. The smirk on his face made him even scarier.
"You know, love," he hummed. "I don't believe that I remembered to properly introduce myself. My apologies. I'm Klaus, Elijah's brother."
"Nice to meet you," she replied, trying her best to sound calm. "I'm Cate."
"That's a nice name. Is it short for something?"
"No, it's just Cate."
"Are you hungry?" Elijah asked. "You must be. What would you like to eat?"
"Anything is fine, thank you."
"How about some gumbo?" Klaus suggested. "We're in New Orleans after all." He paused and turned to look at Cate. "Have you ever tasted it?"
She struggled to keep the smile on her face.
"No, I haven't, but it sounds good. Thank you."
"Are you sure?" Elijah asked. "We can get you anything you want."
"Gumbo is fine," she replied. "And maybe few other things from a store?"
"Of course, anything you need."
"Thank you."
This could be her chance; she could make a run for it or scream for help…
"Here," Elijah said before she managed to properly formulate her thought. He was handing her a pen and a piece of paper. "Write down what you need, I'll go."
"No, no, you don't have to…"
"I insist. You wait here and rest, I'll be right back."
Damn it… So much for that plan. She wrote down few things, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, a shampoo, soap, a hairbrush and a bottle of peach ice tea. Hopefully that would make him to believe that she was actually going to do as she was being told. He glanced at her list and nodded.
"I'll be right back."
The next thing she realized was that she was in the car alone with Klaus. That wasn't good at all.
"I must say that I'm impressed," he stated after a moment of silence. "You're handling all of this quite well."
"I… I'm trying my best," she replied. "Thank you for taking me away from those women."
"Oh, my pleasure, love. Helping people is what I do."
Somehow she doubted that.
"So," he continued. "Tell me about yourself."
"There really isn't much to tell," she murmured.
"Come on now, we're practically family already. I want to know who you are. Where you come from."
"There really isn't anything interesting about me."
"I see. So, who's Roark?"
Cate froze and her heart skipped a beat.
"Who? I'm sorry, but I don't know any Roark," she managed to say.
"Oh, forgive me, love, my mistake."
This wasn't good at all; she was in a lot of trouble. Was he taunting her? Did he and Elijah really work for Roark? Was this some kind of game?
"You know," he continued after a moment of silence. "How about I just tell you something about myself?"
"Sure," she murmured.
"I'm very good at keeping secrets."
"Oh… Okay, that's…nice."
"I just thought that maybe you would like to know that. As I said, we're practically family already, so I would like us to be friends."
What was he saying? Was he blackmailing her? Why? What could he possibly want from her?
"Absolutely. That sounds nice."
"I'm glad to hear that."
She really needed to find a way to escape and fast. Thankfully she didn't have to continue the conversation with Klaus when Elijah returned. He had also got her the gumbo.
"Thank you," she said as he handed her a paper bag.
"You're welcome. I hope I remembered everything."
"I'm sure you did."
She struggled to stay calm as she noticed that they were driving away from the city. Their destination seemed to be a very old looking mansion that was surrounded by a tall fence.
"You live here?" she asked cautiously.
"We own this place, yes," Elijah replied. "This used to be the governor's mansion."
"Oh…"
The place was huge, who could afford a house like this? She realized that she hadn't asked what Elijah did for living. Not that it mattered; he would have probably lied to her anyway. He parked the car, got out and opened the door for her.
"Thank you."
Cautiously she followed him inside the house, Klaus was right behind her. It seemed that no one had lived here for a while.
"I apologize for the dust," Elijah said. "I'll have the whole mansion cleaned first thing in the morning."
"Okay," she murmured and looked around. She had never been in a place like this.
"Please, eat and rest," Elijah continued. "I'm sure this has been a very long day for you."
"Yeah."
"The bedroom is upstairs; I'll go and prepare it."
She tensed, but managed to smile. Apparently he expected her to share his bed. Was she supposed to play house with him and his brother? Let them both touch her? Would they use the hypnosis thing on her if she would refuse? Or maybe this was all just one big joke before they would take her to Roark. No. She needed to get out of here. She was so exhausted that she wouldn't be able to fight them, even if they wouldn't use the hypnosis. She had barely slept in days and the stress and the fear had taken most of her energy. Yet she couldn't rest, she needed to act before it would be too late.
"Go to the kitchen and eat something, sweetheart," Klaus stated before following Elijah upstairs.
This was her chance; she didn't care how long she would have to walk… The car keys. Elijah had left them on the table. She couldn't believe her luck; quickly she grabbed the keys and ran outside. She barely managed to start the car when the door opened and she was being pulled outside by Klaus.
"Going somewhere, love?" he asked smiling.
