a/n - very important
so I decided for the next couple of chapter I'm going to be focusing more on Cat's family life then love and friendship life. I'm also thinking of doing a prequel to this book. It will be about Caleb finding the boys and boys' past life. It's going to be called Runaways. It will be up very soon.
and this first paragraph I got from The Originals first episode and this are quotes directly from Elijah also.
Chapter 25
E L I J A H
Over the course of my life, I have come to believe that we are bound forever to those who we share blood, and while we may not choose our family, that bond can be our greatest strength or our deepest regret. The bond of family blesses us with power, but we all must expect what comes with it. It gives us a responsibility to love without condition; without apology. We can never waver from that bond even, when it is tested. The bond nourishes us, gives us strength. Without that power, we are nothing.
"Caleb you’ll have to give her time." I say, "You haven't exactly been a nice person to her over the past months."
"That's the thing. I've been a horrible man to my own daughter." He says.
"You didn't know at the time. But right now you can start to fix it Caleb. You shouldn't be talking to me about this. You should be talking to Cat. And I know you weren't the best father for Chrissy." I remind him.
"Please, she wasn't my daughter; she was just crazy enough to believe I was."
"And how did she treat you?"
He sighed, "Like a father."
"And how did you treat her?"
"I used her." He said.
"Thinking about it now, do you feel good about it?"
"No, she just wanted a father and I was never one to her."
"And now you have another chance. Don't mess this up anymore then you already have." I say before walking away.
C A T
I haven't talked to Harry since Elijah called Harry telling him about my nightmares. The nightmares stopped when Harry told me I was going to be okay. It was weird that him just telling me that the nightmares would stop made them stop. He has this power over me that I can't explain. It's like the feeling of trust but something else I can't quite exactly name.
I have decided not to tell Harry that Caleb is my father because I'm afraid that he might treat me differently. He might not want me around if I Caleb and I share the same blood. But it’s only a matter of time that I will have to tell him, Anabelle and the boys. I just hope it's not anytime soon.
Caleb has been honestly really sweet to me lately. It's weird to think he actually has a sweet side. I can tell he really wants to be a good father. Sometimes I let him but then I remember all the things he has done. And I can't let go of the fact that he has killed so many people.
Since I've been here for weeks I haven't left the house and I really want to. I've always wanted to visit New Orleans and here I am only I'm locked up in a house. I've asked Elijah multiple times if I could go and walk around but he gives me the same excuse; it's not safe. I am honesty so tired of hearing the phrase. I heard it multiple times from Harry and now I hear it from Elijah.
"Please Elijah?" I beg.
"You already know the answer Cat." He says.
"So you’re going to just keep me locked up in this house?"
"That's my plan." He says.
"What's going on?" Caleb asks walking into the kitchen.
"Cat wants to go out, but I'm saying no because it's not safe for her." Elijah explains.
"Isn't he being a little over protective?" I ask Caleb.
"Actually I have to agree with my brother. Orleans’s is not a safe place. And I assume you want to go to the French Quarter where all the parades and parties are at which is even more dangerous for a girl like you." Caleb says.
I groan in annoyance, "I' not a teenager you guys know that right?"
"Tell you what; I'll take you out tomorrow." Caleb says.
"Fine." I say and exit the kitchen, going up to my room and I wait for tomorrow.
"Any day now Cat!" Caleb yells from the bottom of the stairs. I rush to get everything I needed and head down stairs.
"May I need to remind you, girls do not like being rushed when they are trying to get ready?"
"And may I remind you, there’s a big town ahead of us and the clock is ticking." Caleb says.
"My god, you two are just alike." Rebekah comments.
"Shall we go now?" Caleb asks me.
"I think we shall." I say. Living with the three of them, I've started to speak like them; very formal. They must have been on the rich side of England growing up because the boys do not talk formal at all.
We drive to the French Quarter, which it wasn't far away. It was about a ten minute drive so we could've walked here.
"Welcome to the city of Jazz, amazing food and party animals." Caleb says.
It was exactly how I expected; musicians out on the streets, crowds following their tour guides, the historical buildings.
"How long have you lived here?" I ask Caleb.
"For a year or two when I was only a couple years younger than you."
"Why'd you move?" I ask.
"My father." He explains. From he’s facial expression I can tell he didn’t want to talk about it.
"Okay, where should we go first since you know whats here?" I ask changing the subject.
"Well, have you tried New Orleans’s gumbo?"
"No? That sounds disgusting." I say.
"Love, you haven't lived till you've tried it." he said and started walking through the crowd.
I hurry and follow him threw bunches of crowds. We stand in front of a bar/restaurant.
"Are you really going to make me try gumbo?"
"Well you aren't allergic to shellfish, sausage or chicken are you?" He asks holding the door open for me.
"No," I say walking in. To my surprise it was completely empty besides the waitress cleaning tables and the bartender behind the counter.
"Then yes." He says finding a booth. He slides in and I slide in the other side.
"Why do they call it gumbo? It just sounds unappetizing."
"I don't actually know why they call it that," He says, "Why are you so picky about eating it anyway?"
"I don't like trying new things." I say shrugging my shoulders. The waiter comes and Caleb starts telling her what we want.
Me, sitting the direction facing the door, I wait for it to open but it doesn't. But when it does the person catches my eye. When I see him lock eyes with me, I feel like my heart stopped. He doesn't come towards me or anything he just goes up to the bar and takes a seat on the stool.
"Cat, you look like you've seen a ghost."
"I wish it was a ghost." I say.
"Cat, what's wrong?"
"Alex," I say still looking at Alex in his seat, "He's here."
"Who's Alex?"
"Alex is the one who we thought was on our side but really he wants Harry dead. And he's willing to kill or hurt anyone who gets in the way." Caleb looks in my direction, seeing Alex and then he looks back at me.
"Did he hurt you?" He asks worriedly. I look at Caleb and he looks scared for me. He looks like he's a father concerned for his daughter.
"He kidnapped me and I was there for days." I say, "I think he's here for me."
"He’s not going to touch you. I'm not going to let that happen." He says getting up from his seat. I watch as he walks over to the bar and takes the empty seat next to Alex. He acts causal as I watch him.
I feel someone slid into the seat next to me. I look at the person next to me. I shouldn't have been as shocked as I was considering his uncle and "Partner in crime" was in the same room.
"Long time no see huh Cat?" Jake says.
"Hello to you too Jake."
"Finally met your Daddy?" He says. His tone sounds rude and a lot like Alex's; evil.
"You knew and didn't think to tell me?"
"You didn't ask," He says sarcastically, "Well, now that we have your daddy distracted, we can carry on with the plan."
"What plan?" I ask.
"Well, in a second here, I'm going to stick you with a needle that will knock you out for a couple hours. These people won't suspect anything; they'll think that you're drunk since you're in a bar. And then we have the leverage to get harry out here; you." He says.
"Caleb!" I yell not knowing what else to do. By yelling Caleb's name Alex and him direct their conversation to us.
I feel Jake get closer to me, his mouth is inches from my ear, “I really wish you wouldn't have done that."
"Get the bloody hell away from my daughter you bastard!" I hear Caleb yell, he starts walking over to us.
Before Caleb reaches us, I feel a prick in the back of my neck. It doesn't take long for my body to start to feel numb. The last thing I see before my eyes shut is Alex catching Caleb by surprise but he stands up and starts punching Alex. Caleb is fighting for me.
When I wake, I don't know where I am. I look around at my surroundings seeing I'm in a full cement room. There’s a light hanging from the ceiling, so it's not dark like the last time it was when I was kidnapped by Alex, only it's colder. There nothing in the room besides Caleb and myself. Caleb is on the other side of the room, and looks unconscious but his back is to me so I'm not sure if he is or not.
I sit up and I feel a pain in my neck, from whatever Jake put into me. When Alex put a needle in me before it didn't hurt as much but I was out longer. Did he come up with a different liquid to knock people unconscious or was it just because Jake stuck it in my neck and not my back or arm? I fight through the pain and try to make my way over to Caleb's body but it seemed like my legs weren't awake from the numbness. Everything but my legs we're working. Since I couldn't walk I decide to use my forearms to crawl over to Caleb. Charlie had taught me how to do this since he learned this while training for the military.
When I reach Caleb, I rolled him over so he was lying on his back. I grab his wrist to make sure he had a pulse, which he did. I let out a sigh of relief, from have thinking there was a possibility he was dead. I look at his face seeing it was covered in dried up blood and cuts. I look at his hand that I had taken and saw blood on his knuckles. It made me wonder if that was Caleb's blood or someone else’s.
"Caleb wake up please." I beg. My voice was scratchy.
While I wait for him to gain conscious, I look at the door in front of us. Like everything else in the room, it was a cement door. Only the handle was metal.
Caleb's fingers moving caught my attention. "Caleb?" His eyes shoot open at the sound of my voice, and like his eyes, he shoots up into a sitting position.
"Where the hell are we?" He asks.
"I would like to know the answer to that too." I say.
"Cat, I'm sorry I tried to stop that boy but Alex hit me and I fell to the floor. He already made you go into a sleep."
"Hey, don't blame this on yourself." I say.
"I was supposed to protect you and I failed."
"Caleb stop. We'll get out of this." I say, "I'm sure Elijah and Rebekah are looking for us." Maybe even Harry.
I'm worried that Harry's coming over here to save me, just like Jake said. I was the leverage in this plan to get Harry here. If what Jake said is true then Harry will die, all to get me out of here.
"How long have you've been awake for?" Caleb asks.
"Not long." I reply, "Did they stick you with a needle too?"
"No, that other boy, he knocked me out with a punch when I was busy with Alex."
"His name is Jake. He's my best friend." I say.
"Best friend? Trust me, Cat, he is not your best friend."
"And what do you know about friends?" I ask.
"Is it so hard to believe that I've had friends?" He asks.
"Sometimes, I mean you're not very nice."
"Well, for your information, I've had friends before. You might know them too. I think you might even have a love interest for one of them." Caleb says.
"I do not have a love interest for Harry." I protest.
"That's the thing, I didn't say Harry, he just came to mind when I said love interest didn't he?" He smirks.
"You were not friends with the boys." I say changing the subject quickly.
"But they were, dear."
"Do all friends seem to hate then?"
"Hate is a strong word Cat."
"And I'm using the word correctly. They hate your guts." I say.
"I don't think they do honestly. I mean I did take them all in when they ran away, gave them a home and trained them. I raised them up like they we're my own sons."
"So, if you actually had a son, you would teach him how to steal and kill?"
"Well, the killing part has done them some well hasn't it? And as for the stealing part, I didn't teach Harry that, he taught himself that. None of the others stole. It was just Harry."
"But you didn't think to stop him from stealing?"
"Well, I thought that if he enjoyed it and was good at it, why stop him?"
"What about Chrissy? Wasn't she you're daughter also?"
"No, actually she wasn't my daughter," he began, "I found her in a mental hospital. She was beyond crazy and blood thirsty. So, I thought, you know I could use her. She was crazy enough to do what I said and she wouldn't mind killing people."
"She wasn't you're daughter at all?" I asked shocked as ever.
"Nope just crazy enough to believe she was. You see, her condition was, she believed anything anyone ever told her. So it wasn't that hard to get her to believe I was her dad."
"How long did you have her?"
"I got her a couple weeks after the boys ran away from me."
"Why did you want the boys in the first place?" I ask out of the blue.
His eyes soften but he was clenching his jaw. "I always wanted a son or two that I could raise and teach skills but I never got that. The first one got in the group was Louis. He was the first one I trained and taught him skills with the computer. Then the second one I got was Liam. He didn't need to be taught much since he was a detective like you're self, but his fighting techniques were weak so I helped him improve them. So there I had raised two boys but, I wanted to keep doing it. As pathetic as it sounds, I liked teaching Louis and Liam and I liked watching them be happy. So I went and got Niall. Now Niall he was very good with weapons. When I took him target practicing, he hit the bull’s-eye every time. But his defense skills were off like Liam. So I taught him. Then I got Zayn, he was the opposite of Liam and Niall. He needed help on how to shoot a gun. So, I taught him the basics of a gun. Sure, he wasn't as good at the gun like Niall was but he at least had to shoot. But at the end of the day, his fighting skills would save his life rather than a gun. Then I found Harry. Now, I don't like to choose favorites but he was my favorite. He didn't know anything about fight or using a gun, so I got to teach him more, which is why I brought them all. He's a very fast learner. So, I also taught him computer skills along with his fighting and gun skills."
He just wanted a family. He just wanted children of his own and here I am, not wanting anything to do with him.
"Can you teach me?" I ask out of the blue. I had no idea where that came from but maybe I did want to be skilled like the boys and Annabelle. I mean out of the group I'm the weakling. I can't defend myself, someone else always does for me.
"Of course, what would you like me to teach you?"
"All of it. The fighting, the guns, the technology." I say, "And the medical skills."
"The medical skills?"
"How did you kill Kylie?" I ask.
"A serum I made. It kills someone within days. It shuts down all the vital organs one by one until you're dead."
"Exactly, teach me how to do all of that stuff."
"Why the sudden interest of wanting me to teach you this."
"I feel defenseless. Someone is always having to safe my ass and I can't do anything to save myself. You taught the boys and I've seen what they can do, and I want to do that." I say.
"But you know how to shoot and fight already don't you? I mean you're a detective."
"My boss - old boss - only hired me because my mind is smarter then half of the detectives there. She always needs to send at least five guys with me so they can defend me if something happens. Sure I know how to shoot a gun, but I do a poorly job at it. And I cannot fight what so ever." I say.
"Didn't you go to college to be a detective? I'm sure they teach you self-defense and how to shoot properly?"
"Nope. Back in Houston, I wanted to be a detective ever since I was ten. I watched so many crime shows I learned a few things about solving cases. Maybe watching those helped me or maybe they didn't but the boss saw potential in me and she tested me with a fake crime scene that she gives to other detectives to see where to put them. I solved the case faster than anyone else ever did." I explain.
"You get that from me you know. Having a smart mind." He says.
"How do you know my mom wasn't smart?"
"Well, she couldn't even remember my name."
"She was drunk and you were too." I add.
"But at least I could remember her name." He says.
"How come you made up the excuse to the boys that you wanted to take over the government?"
"They were going to leave and I didn't want them to go. So, I made up a stupid excuse tied to one of them - which was Harry - on why I still needed them." Caleb says, "But it backfired when I found out Harry was conspiring against me to make a run for it with the rest of them."
"If you knew why did you let them go?"
"I don't want to be that person that forces someone." He says.
"Then why do you want them back so badly? I mean all of this; you trying to kill me, you killing Kylie, threating lives, it was because you wanted them back so badly." I say.
"Well, as I'm sure Elijah told you that our father wasn't really my father. My mother had a affair with someone else and I was born. My father and I both found out that he wasn't my father at the same time. Since then, I felt like I didn't belong in the family. I grow the fear of being abandoned. Which I was, when my siblings left. My siblings were really my only family. According to Elijah, the fear of being abandoned changes me into a monster where I don't want to feel and I have no care in the world. When the boys left, I felt abandoned again. And all I could feel was the need to get them back. But I wanted to shut off the fear of being alone so I was the monster as my brother describes me, only wanting them back. And I would do anything to get them back."
"But didn't you realize, you kidnapping Lauren and Kylie and killing so many important people to them was pushing them farther away from you because they we're afraid of you?" I ask.
"I realized that when I found out I was you're father."
He didn't feel alone or abandon anymore when he found out he had his own family; me. Elijah and Rebecca were right; I could possibly change him so he isn't like a person people fear.
"Have you told the boys? That I'm your father?"
I shake my head.
"Why not?"
I sigh, "I'm afraid they might treat me differently if I do."
"I know them, they wouldn't do that," He says, "But you're not really worried about what the others might think about you, you're worried about what Harry might think of you."
It was as if he knew exactly how I felt about this whole situation. "How do you know so much about this? You act as if you know how girls feel."
"I grew up with a teenage girl and trying to help with her problems. From Rebekah I figured out how a girl feels when it comes to love. You remind me of Rebekah in this situation. She was confused on how she felt about this boy, she was close friends with. I believe that's how you feel with Harry, is it not?"
"Do I like him; yes. Am I falling for him; yes. Do I love him; I can't say I do, but I want to." I say, not knowing where that came from. How Caleb got that out of me making up my mind. How? I have no Idea.
"Well, now you know what you want." He says smirking.
"Does he snap at people a lot?" I ask.
"Only if you upset him," He answers, "I assume from you're question, he's snapped at you?"
"Multiple times." I say.
"Does he scare you when he does?"
"When I first met him, yes it did. But now it just makes me want to punch him when he does snap at me."
"You see he has a bipolar disorder, but his disorder isn't major. When he gets too overwhelmed or annoyed he snaps. But he knows how to calm himself, so it shouldn't get that bad."
"But Harry had told me he was put into a mental hospital because as he calls it, this evil person would take over him, like controls him."
"He likes to believe that that was another person inside him, but it wasn't. It was him. He likes to believe that there was another side of him, so he can blame it on that and not himself. He just had two personalities. One was the nice side of Harry and the other was the mad side of Harry. He can't decide which one he wants sometimes. When he's inconclusive of something, the mad side of Harry kicks in. But I taught him how to control it so it's easier for him. He knows how to keep it hidden I guess. But hiding that side of his personality caused the bipolar disorder."
"Why was Harry you're favorite out of the five of them?" I ask.
"Because he reminded me a lot of myself; when he has his eyes on something he wants, he always gets it," He says,” And right now I believe he has his eyes set on you."
Before I can say anything the door swings open. My eyes go wide and I feel my heart beat quicken. They cannot throw him in here with the man he wants to kill. His eyes are shut meaning whatever drug they gave me, they gave to Harry also. Jake throws him on the floor, but Caleb catches Harry's body before there would be dead Harry on the floor. Jake shuts the door leaving Caleb, myself, and an unconscious Harry.
Gif on the side of Cat and Caleb talking :)