AC3 belong to Ubisoft.
All the nonsense belongs to me.
Curled against the corner of her bedroom, Arlette stared into the wall with puffed red eyes, tears gently dripping to her dress as she breathed in slowly. Night had arrived, but she did not knew what time it was, to her it seemed like years she was locked inside the room, "Oh God..." she whispered, looking down at her slight bloodied palms and the small bruises that were caused by the splinters, "I need to get out of here." Arlette slowly rose to her feet, looking around the room to see if there was anything she could use as weapon, or even something to pry the window open.
She opened her wardrobe, the trunk where she kept her art supplies, the music box, looked under her bed...but found nothing. Arlette sighed, falling on the edge of her bed, eyebrows knitted together as she tried to think of something. There are so many things happening, her father was bruised and bleeding on the main bedroom, the maids were locked on the basement and Adrik...
"Adrik!" she shouted gleefully, smiling as the black cat appeared on the window sill. The girl smiled, walking up towards him with a saddened face, "I can't let you in Adrik," she began, "James locked the window."
The cat's ears flicked after she said that, so James was indeed smarter than he seemed to be. Adrik meowed, trying to calm Arlette down before leaping to the other window. He continued with that until he reached the bathroom's wall, the small window there was open with steam leaving from the inside. Adrik flexed his legs and leaped towards the opening, silently landing on the wooden floor, his ears perked up when the bathroom's door opened.
"Mitch, tell your brother to stop trying to peek at that girl, she's going to die anyway." James sneered, tugging the dark red robe closed. Adrik hissed quietly, hiding behind the bathtub as James walked closer, "Uh, alright boss but...why are we keeping them alive anyway?"
"Old Arthur did not wanted to tell me where he kept his money." the blond mocked, looking at his reflection on the mirror, "Knowing Arlette, I'm sure she'd help us so we wouldn't hurt her poor daddy."
The bulky man by the doorframe blinked confusedly, scratching the mop of black hair with one dirty nail, "Uhhh...I don't get it." his dumb reply made James roll his eyes and sigh in exhasperation. Mitch winced when James slapped his nape, "Simple you idiot." the blond sneered, opening a few drawers to see what kind of things the Cunningham's used to take baths, "The old man didn't wanted to tell us where the money was, right?"
Mitch nodded in silence,so James continued.
"And as far as we know, Arlette lives on this house so she knows where the money is, correct? Do you understand now, my friend?" James asked, raising his eyebrows while sending Mitch an expecting glance. The man's mouth turned into an 'o' shape as he nodded like a young child who had answered a question correctly for the very first time, "I get it now boss! We are going to use the girl to get the money!"
James clapped with a smirk, "Very good! It seems you are at least a bit smarter than I thought." the blond man mocked, rubbing his hands together, "Now leave. I want to take a long,delicious bath before we take the plan into action."
Adrik looked at the blond man and at the man in front of the door,with his pupils in slits, the black cat rushed out of the bathroom as a black blur. The cat hid in the shadows as Mitch closed the door, walking with his hands on his pockets and whistling a tune. Adrik made quick use of his feline abilities, climbing over things and leaping right in front of Mitch.
"Oh, hey there kitty." the bulky man said. He liked animals, especially the small ones. However, Adrik wasn't on the mood for being the nice cat, so he hissed loudly at the man, clawing furiously at him before darting away on the shadows. Mitch blinked shockedly, furrowing his eyebrows, "Kitty!" he called, trying to follow the black cat into the pitch darkness, which ended up giving him a bruised shin.
With that mindless man out of the way, Adrik managed to scurry towards the master bedroom through a small creak on the door. Yellow irises flicked towards the slumped figure of Arthur Cunningham, tied to a chair with violent bruises covering his pale skin, blood dripping from his lower lip as the sulken eyes stared towards the floor. A keening moan left Arthur's throat as he tried to lift his head, but a sudden jolt of pain prevented him of doing so, "Oh God!" he exclaimed, scrunching his eyes shut and clenching his teeth in agony.
Adrik decided it was now time to make his presence known, carefully approaching Arlette's father before stopping to sit between his knees. Arthur opened his eyes, blinking groggily as his blurred vision suddenly became clear and the black figure with yellow eyes staring at him made out to be that cunning cat. His eyebrows lowered, blinking slowly once again, "You are Arlette's cat...aren't you?" he asked quietly, making the cat nod his head with eyes closed.
The Cunningham patriarch sighed painfully, wincing as the pain on his head throbbed once again, "Is Arlette alright?" he whispered, closing his eyes in guilt, "I should've listened to her...she knew that James wasn't good, but I was...so worried about her wedding..." Arthur opened his eyes to focus on the cat, "Have you come to help me,cat?"
Adrik flicked his tail, standing up to walk around Arthur. He was tied onto the chair with thick ropes around his wrists and arms, making it almost impossible for him to move, his knuckles were covered in blood and the skin was peeling off the bruises, making the bone visible. Arthur was confused...what was that cat doing? When he asked if he was there to help him, Arthur did not expected the little feline carefully analyzing his situation.
"What are you doing?" Arthur asked as Adrik tugged on the rope with his teeth, "Stop, you can't untie me." he was right, but Adrik had other ideas. The rope was thick but the fibre was slowly breaking thanks to the cat's sharp claws and teeth, if he continued with this it'd be easier to Arthur free himself, "Stop, it's useless..." the man whispered, moving his hands away from Adrik, "Go stay with Arlette, don't worry about me."
Before Adrik could continue, Mitch showed up on the doorway with a stupid grin on his face, "Kitty!" the huge man shouted, going to grab the cat but Adrik had other ideas on his mind. Hissing loudly, the black feline avoided being held by the bulky man, leaping on his shoulder so he could leave the room quickly and without being petted by that stupid gorilla.
Arlette looked outside her window, placing her chin on the window sill as she stared up at the clouds slowly moving across the night sky. She silently prayed that Connor would arrive sooner, that he'd save her father and herself and both would be alright once again, "Oh God..." she rubbed her palms over her eyes, choking out a violent sob.
She wondered if she'd get out of this alive.
Adrik left the house, running towards the homestead and blinking at the sight of a small light slowly moving across the windows.
It was Achilles.
The cat started to scratched the front door, meowing loudly to call the older Assassin attention. He heard Achilles groan, mumbling words he could not understand until the door was opened, "Oh,it's you, cat." he said, glaring down at the black cat. Achilles hated to admit but he grew fond of that damned feline thanks to his constant visits to the homestead, but this time something seemed a bit off, "Why are you so desperate?"
Adrik scurried inside, instantly going into Connor's room and meowing out in frustation as the Assassin was nowhere to be found. Adrik clawed the floor, leaving his mark inside the room, if there was some way for him to show Connor what was happening... the smart feline had thought of many, many options, but several of them wouldn't work.
Oh, how he wanted to be able to speak right now.
The cat meowed in despair, lying on his stomach, lowering his head upon his front paws as those yellow eyes that were so full of mirth now seemed to be begging for help. Achilles was very surprised when Adrik did not stole one of his scarves to play with or started to climb the furniture just to get on the old man's nerves, "There's something very wrong isn't it?" Achilles asked, sitting on the chair next to Connor's room, blinking shockedly when the black feline leaped on his lap, mewling quietly in response, "Now, now, everything will be alright." Achilles' hand gently ran over the black fur, trying to soothe the cat, "We just need to wait until Connor arrives."
Not long enough, the said Assassin walked through the front door, completely and totally exhausted. Leaning against the wall, Connor made his way towards his room, wanting nothing but a good night of sleep,- or what was left of it. But as he stepped to the doorframe, his eyes widened slightly while his eyebrows curved downwards in confusion. There was his Mentor, with Adrik in his lap...it was a scene he thought it wouldn't happen."The cat is desperate for something." Achilles said, noticing that Adrik rushed towards Connor, clawing his boots and meowing loudly, tugging at the Assassin's robes, "I'm not sure what is it."
Connor knew it had to do with Arlette, why would the cat bother in coming to the Homestead in the middle of the night if it that girl wasn't involved? With tired eyes, Connor locked gazes with the cat, flopping on his bed, "You want me to see her don't you?" the cat meowed, making the young man chuckle sleepily, "I'll go see her tomorrow..." he whispered, his eyelids getting heavy. It wasn't long until the Assassin drifted off into dreamland, falling back on the bed as a loud snore vibrated on his throat and his chest moved up and down as he slept.
Adrik was desperate, that wasn't what he expected from the Assassin. He thought Connor would just nod and follow him back to the Cunningham's manor, kill these men and save Arlette and her father. But that wasn't happening so soon, now he had to act by his own and keep these men occupied until Connor managed to arrive on the next day, "Cat, you won't wake him up. The boy sleeps like a brick." Achilles said with a bit of amusement on his voice, looking down at the black cat, "Whatever is it you needed, you won't be getting it today."
With an annoyed meow leaving his throat, Adrik rushed out of the Homestead with his pupils in slits. If Connor wasn't going to act now, the cat had to make something up to keep Arlette alive until tomorrow night.
He hoped nothing happened to her.
Arlette leaned back against the wall, her eyes dull and empty as she stared down at her bruised hands. She had tried to open the window with a hairpin, but that only made the girl prick herself on the index finger, making blood drip onto the floor. She stopped her trail of thoughts when she heard the door unlock, moving her eyeballs towards the figure holding the doorknob."Ah,Arlette." James smirked, digging his hands on the robe's pockets while slowly approaching the girl. Arlette's eyes narrowed at the sight, was that...was that her father's robe?
"You seem tired darling. Perhaps you should rest?" the blond asked cynically, tilting his head to the side with a small smirk as Arlette glared daggers at him, "Aw, don't look at me like that." he placed a hand over his heart and faked a pained expression, "It hurts to see my fiancée mad at me." the young man mumbled, pouting his lower lip in mockery towards the girl sitting on the floor.
Arlette's blue eyes were icy and dangerous, but James simply ignored it, "Now now," she gasped when his hand clenched around her jaw, snapping her face closer towards him, "Don't act like a little spoiled brat, Arlette." his fingers dug deeper on her skin, making a quiet whimper vibrate on her throat. Her small hands clenched around James' wrist, the short nails digging on the pale skin as a failed attempt to make James let go of her, "Listen Arlette." the blond male began, licking his lips, "There's only one thing I want from you and you will help me get it."
The girl felt tears sliding down her eyes before he continued, "I know that your family has money hidden somewhere in this godamned house." James' smile widened when realization shone through Arlette's eyes, being soon followed by anger, "But since your father did not wanted to tell us where it is, we are going to use you." with that James threw Arlette on the floor carelessly. Arlette winced as her jaw tingled in pain, gently placing a shaking hand upon the spot he squeezed, trying to rub the sensation away.
James turned his back towards Arlette, about to step out of the room, until the girl whispered a question, "What if I refuse?" she asked silently,supporting her weight on an arm while glaring at the blond man. The young Quatton chuckled, slowly turning around to face the girl with his eyebrows up, "What?"
"What if I refuse?" she panted quietly, "How can you be so sure I know where the money is at?" Arlette was well aware where the money was hidden, but she was going to play some mindgames with James, she wanted to see if he was so smart. James narrowed his eyes, "Of course you do." he said in a flat voice, his hands on his hips, "You know everything in this house." James smirked, slowly approaching Arlette with his hands behind his back, "But if you don't know...I guess you'll have to..."
Arlette jumped when his index finger touched her lower lip, "Or else we'd have to ask your father about it." he whispered, squeezing her cheeks with both hands, "And if he says no one more time, we'd have to kill him! Do you want that? Do you?" he asked in a baby voice while pursing his lips towards his ex-fiancée. The girl slapped his hands away, narrowing her eyes as he chuckled towards her, "Let's do this," James held up his palm up with the five fingers uncurled, "You have five hours to tell us if you'll help or not."
With that, the young man left the room and locked the door, leaving a very scared Arlette staring towards the small clock resting against the wall. Five hours, she had only five hours...She could just tell him where the money was but she knew they'd kill her soon after. Arlette frowned, shaking her head quickly, "No..." a whisper left her lips while her hands clenched the fabric of her dress with fury, "I won't do that...I-I'll fight. I need to." with a hiss of pain, Arlette slowly rose from the floor, clenching the window sill for support as she stared towards the door; her throat moving as she swallowed in fear.
She five hours, that was enough time to think everything.
Or so,she hoped.
I personally had a hard time with this chapter.
Not my favorite, eh.
Oh well! Reviews are love! And the next chapter...MORE CONNOR!