This is the Story Summary for Redemption. This fic (Absolution) is the sequel to Redemption. You can read it in its entirety
Here or you can read the Chapter by Chapter Summaries
Here if you wish.
I am posting the Summary for Redemption as a refresher, because it ended on a cliffhanger and it has been a long time since many of my readers read it.
Redemption
Story Summary
When Sydney investigates new Intel regarding the The Covenant she discovers she has a 17 year old sister named Kathryn whom she never knew about. Irina faked her death when Kathryn was five and Kathryn spent the rest of her life in foster care in NYC. Sydney, Vaughn and Weiss save her from the Covenant. Kathryn was kidnapped because the Covenant thought she had knowledge about something called The Contessa. Jack and Sydney quickly realize that Kathryn isn’t an ordinary teenager and was in fact being molded by Sloan to become an agent. Kathryn didn’t know who Sloan really was, but he’d discovered her shortly after Irina left her. Sloan is currently in CIA custody. Jack discovers that Kathryn’s father was an ex-KGB officer named Petrov Khasinau who died when she was four. He puts Kathryn in protective custody at a safe house. The safe house is attacked and all but Kathryn are killed. During a regression therapy session they learn that Kathryn has a lot of secrets. Her father whom they thought was Petrov Khasinau was really his brother Alexander Khasinau and during her years in foster care, she was abused significantly both sexually and physically and when she was twelve she gave birth to a baby. Kathryn’s son is named Joshua and was adopted at birth as Sloan had arranged. Sydney shows Kathryn a picture of him and they decide to continue the charade with everyone that her baby died at birth in order to avoid any potential . Jack, Sydney, Sloan and Weiss are the only ones who know otherwise. Kathryn becomes good friends with Weiss. Kathryn participates in an operation in an undercover operation in Spain and Jack sees that she could become a very good agent. Kathryn is slowing building a relationship with Sydney. Sydney meets Irina and tells her what happened to Kat as a child and then Irina sends Jack a very important message Kathryn is really Katarina Madrid Bristow, his daughter. Kathryn is kidnapped and then reported dead. A funeral is held and she is buried. In actuality as the others quickly learn, her death was staged by the man who kidnapped her and who works for Petrov Khasinau, the man she thought was her father and thought was dead. Petrov Khasinau is after The Contessa. Kathryn tries to escape but a somewhat shocked Sark prevents her from doing so. Jack and Sydney locate Kathryn with Irina’s Intel and they rescue her. She is found alive, badly beaten, but alive and saves Irina’s life. For the first time since she was a kid Kathryn gets a good look at her mother. After returning to LA Kathryn reveals that she knows what the Contessa is. It’s a purple diamond tiara. The Contessa is connected to Rambaldi and there exists a scroll 47, which they are now looking for. Jack and Kathryn (now going by Kat) make a connection and both realize that maybe there will be hope for them both. Kat is suffering psychologically due to the circumstances of her childhood and her desire to know her son and she is plagued by continuing nightmares. Vaughn, Sydney, Weiss, Will and Kat go to Russia to search for Scroll 47 in an old house owned by the late Alexander Khasinau. Kat encounters Irina and pulls a gun on her, but Irina gets control and shoots the others with a tranq gun so she can talk to Kat. Kat holds a lot of animosity towards Irina. After Irina leaves, they find scroll 47. The scroll is analyzed and reveals that the Chosen one has a sister and she is termed The Countess and she is the only one who can stop the chosen one from complete destruction. Kat is quickly recruited into the agency, much to Jack and Sydney’s displeasure. While training at the farm Kat becomes friends with JJ Cruz, who later joins the team. After 8 weeks Kat returns home seemingly a bit older and decides to live with Jack. Sydney throws Kat a surprise 18th birthday party and Jack’s gift to her is a new room in a new home; the house where Sydney grew up. Kat and Weiss are on a mission and she encounters Sark. They both realize that they know somehow they knew each other before meeting when Kat was kidnapped by Khasinau. Weiss realizes that Kat is hiding something. Meanwhile a search for a mole has been occurring and when Kat returns home she is arrested under suspicion of being the mole. She was framed and when she is being transferred to another facility the bus is attacked and she is extracted. The last thing she sees is a woman aiming a gun at Weiss.
End
A/N-->Redemption began Oct 13, 2003. It ended exactly one year later on October 13, 2004. It took a long time for me to start the sequel, but once i had it seemed fitting to wait until October 13 of this year to continue the pattern, and it also happens to be my birthday.
A lot of people stuck with me through this and I really hope they enjoy Absolution! Thank you so much to my beta Bev, without her, not only would my grammar and paragraphing suck, but also you would have hated the ending. Thanks Bev!
I really hope you all enjoy the fic and please comment and leave reviews, I especially love "quotey" reviews but I really do appreciate feedback both good and bad (as long as it's constructive at least.)
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Absolution
Chapter One
Kat sat on the floor in the back left corner of her cell with her legs drawn up tight to her chest. Her arms were wrapped tightly around them and her chin rested on her knees.
In the beginning, she had co-operated. They gave her a lie detector test and everything had been fine until she’d started to fail it. Branden dismissed everyone else from the interrogation room other than himself, Garcia and another guard. He started to question her, demanded answers, accused her of things she hadn’t done and all through it she didn’t say a word. She didn't defend herself or deny his accusations. It wouldn’t get her anywhere. Branden was convinced she was a traitor and there wasn’t any changing his mind so she didn’t bother wasting her energy. She did however take pleasure in the fact that her silence pissed him off. Then he got nasty. An off-handed comment about her mother had been the one that finally broke her. She jumped up yelling and he slapped her. Not hard, but hard enough that she calmed for a while and decided to turn the tables on him until he hit her again and this time the interrogation was over.
Branden had asked a lot of questions about Julian. ‘No, not Julian,’ she reminded herself. Sark. He’d asked her a lot of questions about Sark. Julian and Sark, they were so different, yet the same. The Julian she remembered or rather thought she remembered was not the man he was today. Of course, back then he had only been a boy with shining blue eyes and a mop of curly blond hair.
Sydney and Jack approached the cell quietly. Kat hadn’t heard them nor made any movement in the past ten minutes according to Garcia.
“Katarina?”
She lifted her head and it was painfully obvious to both Jack and Sydney that Garcia had been telling the honest truth.
“Daddy,” her voice was wistful and earnest. She stood up stiffly in obvious discomfort and slowly walked towards the glass wall.
“Kat-your face,” Sydney began.
“It’s okay,” she interrupted. “I can’t say I didn’t deserve it. It doesn’t hurt that much anyway.”
“Katarina-“
“I’m okay Daddy,” she whispered. “I’m just confused. They’re saying I did things that I didn’t do or at least I don’t remember doing-“
“Kat don’t worry we already have evidence that you didn’t send that communication to the Covenant. We’re going to get you out of here soon,” Sydney said confidently.
“But what about the records?”
“What records?”
“The bank records, Branden showed them to me. Bank records in my name, with large deposits and my signature and videotape and computer transmissions from my account. Syd, I don’t remember any of it. He’s saying I did it, but I don’t remember-“
“Katarina, who are you protecting?” Jack asked bluntly.
Her eyes grew wide and she was taken aback. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do. You need to tell me who you’re protecting.”
Jack’s voice was anything but sympathetic or compassionate and the manner in which he spoke was one he would use with another agent, not with his daughter. As Sydney watched her father and sister, she became painfully aware that Kat was tapping her left index finger against the glass in a repetitive pattern.
“I thought you believed me. Why don’t you believe me?”
“Who is it Katarina, is it Sark? Julian? Are you protecting Julian?”
“I thought you believed me, why don’t you believe me?”
“Are you protecting Julian?”
“Stop calling him that. You don’t know him.”
“Are you protecting Sark?”
“Don’t call him that, it’s not his name it’s… Julian.”
Kat was crying now and every tear felt like it was stabbing Sydney in the chest. “Katy just tell us the truth, are you protecting him?”
“Yes, no… I don’t know.” Her voice trembled and her splayed against the clear glass, gripping it.
“Why?” Jack asked. “Weiss showed me the picture, is it because of that?”
“No,” she shouted.”
“Then tell me why you’re protecting him. Why are you lying for him.”
“I don’t know.”
“Why are you loyal to him?”
“I don’t know!” she screamed. “Please Daddy stop. Please just stop,” she begged. “I can’t hurt Julian. I won’t betray Julian.”
It was her last words that signaled to the others that someone else was there. Director Branden had been listening down the hall just out of sight, unnoticed by either Jack or Sydney. “Well, well well, finally the admission of guilt.”
Both Jack and Sydney watched as Kat grew pale and the realization of just what she’d said hit her.
“That was not an admission of guilt,” Sydney protested.
“That certainly is what it sounded like to me.” Branden turned to face Kat. “You’re going down. The evidence speaks for itself.”
“You can’t have any reliable evidence because I didn’t do anything,” Kat said angrily.
“We’ll get a confession,” Branded stated confidently. “At 0800 hours you’re being transferred to Camp Harris for unrestricted interrogation. We’ll get a confession.”
“No, you have no grounds.” Sydney seethed.
“Oh we have more than enough grounds. Your sister is a traitor to the US government and we will find out the extent of her betrayal.” Branden motioned the guards over and addressed them. “Please escort Agents Bristow from the premises.”
Neither Sydney nor Jack tried to fight off the guards. It would only have made things worse for Kat.
“Katarina.” When she looked to Jack, he could see the undeniable fear in her eyes. She knew exactly what unrestricted interrogation was and that it would be decidedly worse than anything The Covenant or Viktor Melnikov had done to her. “We’ll figure this out.”
Silently she watched them go, not noticing the tears that slid down her cheeks.
“Looks like you’ve finally run out of time,” Branden commented as he begun to walk away.
“I didn’t do it,” she whispered though no one could hear. “I didn’t do it you sonofab****,” she shouted much louder. Her voice screamed out the next words and they echoed down the hallway reaching Sydney and Jack. Both her fists slamming against the glass wall. “I didn’t do it!”
Defeated Kat slowly turned her back against the glass and slowly slipped to the ground her knees hugging her chest. She slipped her hands around them and held them as tight as she possibly could.
“I didn’t do it.”
~ ~ ~
Weiss leaned his head against the car window. He was driving to Camp Harris to complete Kat’s transfer. The car he was in was following the transfer bus where Kat was located with three armed guards. He knew it was wrong. Kat wouldn’t hurt a fly unless provoked and she definitely wasn’t working for The Covenant. If she were, he’d know… right?
He’d seen her face, as she was loaded into the bus. Her hands and ankles were shackled together and she’d looked defeated. There wasn’t that spark of defiance that he’d always admired. She seemed almost accepting of the situation and he had to wonder if she indeed had accepted it. Had she given up?
Kat wasn’t sure what had alerted her to the presence of another vehicle. Perhaps it was the flash of light from the rocky hills just before the bus entered the tunnel or the complete darkness, which raised her suspicions. Regardless of what it was, she knew instantly that something bad was about to happen. She turned her body bracing it against the seat and one of the guards stood. He didn’t even have time to ask her what she was doing when there was a sudden flash of light, a loud bang and a lot of smoke.
The driver slammed on his breaks and the bus swerved, flipping over and sailing across the empty road on its side.
Kat lay against the broken window struggling to breathe. When the bus had flipped, she’d been tossed to the opposite side of the bus and had the wind knocked out of her. She stood as best she could and saw that all three guards and the driver had been knocked unconscious in the collision. She crawled up the side of the bus as best she could trying to ignore the pain as she came into contact with shards of glass from the broken windows. She checked the pulses of both guards and was relieved to find them alive, just unconscious. She couldn’t reach the driver or the third guard as they were trapped behind a screen barrier so she didn’t even worry if they were alive or not.
She turned around trying to decide what had happened. Something had been thrown in front of the bus a bomb perhaps, the driver had swerved flipped the bus and then the other car… Eric!
Kat crawled to the back of the bus and looked out the broken window. The car he’d been in was upside down and there wasn’t any movement. She had to get out; she had to make sure that he was all right. She began to crawl back to the guards hoping one would have keys for the shackles when she heard voices. There were shouts and gunfire and then someone began rattling the back door of the bus.
It had to be The Covenant or her Papa. They must have come for her.
The rattling on the back door became more intense and somewhat frantic. The emergency door must have jammed shut in the accident. She suppressed a scream as the door was fired upon and worked at getting to the guard. There was no time to get the shackles off and she just worked on getting to a gun.
The moment her hands closed around the guard’s handgun, she heard the door opening. Turning onto her back she aimed the gun as the person came into view.
The attacker kept their gun aimed at Kat and slowly pulled off their knitted ski mask. Kat’s hands shook as she tried to keep the gun level. She was the first one to speak.
“I don’t know whether to shoot you, or to trust you.”
“If you were going to shoot me, you’d have done it already.” The woman lowered her gun and held out her hand instead. “Trust me know. Ask questions later.”
Kat’s eyes traveled forth between the woman’s hand and the gun. Making her decision Kat set down the guard’s gun and held out her hands as the woman pulled her to a standing position. Kat visibly flinched as the woman knelt at her feet holding a penknife.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said and used the blade to pop open the shackles around Kat’s ankles and then the cuffs around her wrists. Finally free of the restraints Kat bent and grabbed the gun she’d dropped.
“No.” The woman knocked the gun from her hands and grabbed her wrist pulling Kat tightly against her body. She pulled down her mask and wrapped her arm around Kat’s waist before placing the barrel of the gun against Kat’s shoulder. “Fight me,” she ordered. “But you’re going.”
Kat nodded understanding what the woman wanted and as they neared the bus’ emergency doors. Kat began to struggle against her as the woman pulled her away from the bus.
Another figure cloaked in black carrying a gun approached them. “I got her,” a man said and wrapped his arm around Kat holding her body tight to his.
Kat began to fight harder not knowing who he was and she kicked as the man began pulling her towards a waiting van. The man wrapped his other arm around her and held her tighter lifting her feet off the ground as they approached the van. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone approaching with his gun drawn. Eric. The woman pulled her own gun and aimed it at Weiss.
“Nooooooooooo!” Kat kicked the man that held her, hard in the groin as Weiss turned towards her. She tried to run to him but the man tackled her from behind and flipped her onto her back. Looming over her he raised hand with the gun near her face. Kat’s eyes connected with the man’s and she recognized them. “Eric!” she screamed turning to the side and watching as the woman found her target once more. The last thing she would see was the woman pulling the trigger as the man came down hard with the but of his gun near her temple and Kat surrendered to the inky darkness.
~ ~ ~
Her head hurt. It felt like a thick fog covered her mind. The room was mostly dark, even through closed lids she could tell that much, but there was a faint light that hurt her eyes. Her arms and legs weren’t restrained and though she could move them freely, every movement made them ache. Her throat was dry and she couldn’t speak. She was able to manage a moan and tried to open her eyes but they wouldn’t budge.
“You’re alright,” a male voice called to her and she felt someone take her hand. “Just give me a moment; your eyes are swollen shut.” Kat soon felt the cool dabbing of a wet cloth against her eyes. “It’ll just take a minute, have some water.” A glass was pressed against her lips and tilted so she could drink. Her throat was dry and she greedily sucked it back.
“Just a little,” the man cautioned and took the glass back while he continued wiping her eyes with a cool cloth.
“Where am I?” Kat asked, her voice still raspy.
“You’re safe.”
Kat tried to open her eyes, but they remained sealed shut.
“Just give it a few more minutes,” the man said and she heard him rinse out the cloth before continuing to dab at her eyes again.
“What happened?” Kat whispered
“You’ve been sick,” the man explained. “After your extraction, we gave you a sedative, but it reacted with your insulin. You gave us quite a fright.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
“About eighteen hours. How do you feel?”
“Ironically, tired,” she laughed slightly.
“You had a high fever,” the man said and checked her forehead. “It’s gone now.” He pulled the cloth away from her eyes. “Alright, give it a try.”
The cool water had relieved the swelling around her eyes slightly and loosened her lids enabling her to open them. Kat blinked her eyes open moaning slightly in pain.
“Julian,” she smiled seeing his face.
“Hello Katia,” Sark dabbed her eyes once more with water. “How does that feel?”
“Better,” her smile vanished. “You hit me.”
“My sincere apologies,” Sark gently touched the bruise over her right eye. “It was for the surveillance satellites.”
Kat suddenly bolted upright as the memories of the ambush came back to her. “Eric!”
“Katia, calm down,” Sark pushed her shoulders back onto the bed. “He’s alright.”
“But she shot him!”
“It was a tranq gun,” Sark reassured her drawing the blankets back up to cover her body. “Your Agent Weiss is fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I assure you Katia. He’s back in California, in perfect health.”
“Where are we?”
“Near Groznyy.”
“Russia? I hate Russia,” she groaned. “Why? Why did you do it? Why am I here?” she asked sitting up.
“There’s time for that.” Sark rose from the edge of the bed and pointed towards a closed door. “The bathroom is through there and some clothes for you in the closet. Why don’t you shower and clean up. I’ll have some lunch brought up.” He opened the bedroom door. “Come downstairs when you’re ready.”
“I can leave the room?” she asked genuinely surprised.
“You’re not a prisoner here, Katia.”
“Oh. You call me Katia,” she remarked with the hint of a smile.
“That’s what I’ve always called you. You call me Julian-“
“Julian, do you remember…”
“Come down when you’re ready.” Sark moved to leave the room not allowing her to finish the sentence, as he knew what she wanted to ask
“Julian...”
“Katia,” he sighed turning back to her. “What is it?”
“You look older,” she said softly.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Fourteen years.”
He gave her a slight smile. “A long time.”
“Julian?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded. “Come when you’re ready.”
~ ~ ~
Vaughn opened the door to Weiss’ hospital room and allowed it to slam shut behind him startling both occupants. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked seeing Weiss struggle to slip on his shirt and button it.
“What does it look like I’m doing,” Weiss said rather annoyed as his bandaged hands inhibited the once simple task of buttoning his shirt.
“It looks like you’re signing out of the hospital A.M.A.”
“Well then obviously you talked to Lisa.”
“Damn right I talked to Lisa, Weiss, she’s worried about you. You’re injured-”
“And so is Kat and sitting around in a hospital bed and doing nothing is not going to help find her.”
“Weiss, we’re doing everything we can to find Kat,” Vaughn sat down on the hospital bed watching as Weiss struggled with the buttons of his shirt. “JJ’s out right now examining the scene with Garcia. Jack and Sydney are checking all their contacts and she’s…”
“She’s what?” Weiss pressed.
“She’s number three on the CIA’s most wanted list right now. They’re considering shoot to kill.”
“What!”
“Weiss, they’re doing everything they can to find her. They think she’s the mole; they think she’s working for the Covenant.”
“She’s not. Kat is not the mole.”
“You and I know that, but the evidence is convincing. They’re convinced that it’s her.”
“Well it’s not. She was set up. You talked to her Mike.”
“Yeah and she lied to me.” Vaughn held up his hand to stop Weiss from speaking and continued. “She lied. I know she’s not the mole. We all know it, but that doesn’t change the fact that she lied and she’s protecting someone, probably Sark.”
“Why do you say that?” Weiss questioned wondering if Jack had showed the others the photo of Kat and Sark when they were kids.
“The footage, from the security camera in Morocco. It was obvious that she knew him. Whether or not she remembers is really not the issue.”
“You know what, Mike,” Weiss interrupted. “You’re starting to sound like them.”
“Like them? Like Who?”
“Kendall, Devlin, Brandon, all of them.”
“Weiss, that’s not fair!” Vaughn stood angrily. “I can’t change what she did. Kat lied to Brandon and she’s in deep s*** for doing it, but she’s my friend. I love her too and I know she’s innocent.”
“Than what are we standing here arguing for,” Weiss grinned and tossed him a shoe. “Help me get out of this place and go find her.”
Vaughn eyed his friend’s bandaged hands and nodded, cracking a smile. “Lisa’s going to kill me for this,” he sighed. “Better yet, Syd will shoot me first.”
Weiss grinned and eased his aching body into the chair beside his bed. He stuck out his foot so Vaughn could slip on the tennis shoe and tie it which his broken fingers and burned hands prevented Weiss from doing. “Hey Mike, you like Lisa right?”
“Of course, she’s nice.” Vaughn looked up from his kneeling position on the floor as he tightened the shoelaces. “Why? Are things getting serious?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” Weiss shrugged with a smile. “She’s great, I love her. It’s just, I don’t think Kat likes her; her opinion is important to me.”
“What are you talking about?” Vaughn asked. “Kat likes everybody. Don’t worry, you know it takes her a little bit to get used to new people.”
“Right,” Weiss nodded reassured. “Alright man, let’s get out of this sterile prison.”
Vaughn laughed and stood, following Weiss out the door. Sydney was so going to kill him for this he thought again.
~ ~ ~
Kat waited until Sark had left the room before she got out of bed. There was a large picture window with a window seat on the far wall and she immediately looked through it. There wasn’t much to see. Countryside that seemed to go on for ages and beautiful gardens surrounded a natural pond. She sat on the ledge drawing her knees up to her chest and rested her head against the window. The touch was cool and seemed to dull her aching head slightly.
She glanced around the room seemingly mesmerized by the beauty of it. The wood of the bed and dresser were dark and rich, the carpet lush and expansive, and the cloths screamed elegance. The sheets were a fine silk and even the pajamas she wore were of the utmost quality. Whomever it all belonged to, had good taste.
Her fingers traveled to her neck and pulled the chain out from under her shirt. It was the medallion: the Archangel Gabriel, Patron Saint of Guardian Angels. Her eyes filled with tears as she cupped the pendant in her hands. All she wanted to do was go home and see Sydney, her father and Eric; but that didn’t seem possible at the moment. “Please be okay Eric,” she whispered squeezing her eyes shut as the image of the woman pointing the gun at him lingered in her mind. With Julian, she didn’t feel danger. She felt strangely secure in the foreign house in the country she’d come to hate. Things always seemed to go badly when she was in Russia.
Kat stood and went into the bathroom. It was small yet elegant with marble counters and fresh flowers that fragranced the entire room. She turned the water on and stripped off her clothes anxious to wash away the sweat and grime residue from her fever and extraction.
She stood naked in front of the mirror barely recognizing the girl in the reflection. The left side of her face was bruised courtesy of Director Brandon and Julian had left his mark on the right side. Her hands and arms were scraped from the glass and both her upper arms bruised from where the woman had grabbed her. She looked tired and worn, not at all like the vibrant eighteen-year-old girl she should have been. The last three days had been a nightmare from hell and she had a sinking suspicion that it was only just the beginning.
Kat stood under the shower allowing the far too hot water to drench her skin. It hurt but it was almost nice to feel the pain. Pain she could control. Pain reminded her that she was alive and prevented her from falling asleep. The water soothed away the tension in her shoulders and back but made all the cuts and bruises marring her skin burn with a fierce intensity. Following the shower, she wrapped herself in a large fluffy white bathrobe and towel-dried her hair as best she could. The bathroom cupboard was well stocked. She found a brush and used it to comb through the mass of tangled curls.
When she emerged from the steamy bathroom, there was a tray of food left on the dresser. Scrambled eggs and fresh fruit were uncovered along with tea and orange juice. She immediately drank the juice as she began to feel light-headed and knew her blood sugar was low. She ate the eggs and then picked at the fruit, carefully avoiding any pieces that had come into contact with the strawberries. Hives were the last thing she needed at the moment.
Kat briefly considered that the food could have been drugged but she was sure that Julian wouldn’t have done that. He told her that she wasn’t a prisoner and he’d wanted to see her when she was ready. He wouldn’t have drugged her food if he’d wanted to see her.
After changing into a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans that though were the smallest size in the cupboard, they were still several sizes too big, Kat ventured out of the room. She looked up and down the long hallway but there wasn’t any activity. It was an old house, easily two hundred years but she could tell it had been recently renovated. Everything looked brand new. From the plush burgundy carpeting to the ornate woodcarvings on the grand staircase, Kat was sure everything should have remained under glass.
“Miss?”
Kat nearly jumped out of her skin hearing the voice call her. She turned in the direction of the unfamiliar voice abruptly, her damp hair whipping her face and her fists ready to retaliate. She almost laughed and lowered her hands. The owner of the voice a very tall, very skinny old man dressed in a butler’s uniform at the end of the hallway. The poor man looked like he might snap in half with any quick movement.
“They’re in the dining room.” He pointed down the staircase.
“They?” she asked curiously but the man did not answer. Instead, he turned and walked down the opposite hallway disappearing into the dark shadows of the corridor. The man gave her the creeps. The whole scene was right out of a horror movie and she was a little unnerved as to who exactly was waiting for her down stairs.
She trusted Julian. She wasn’t sure why but she did. Though she trusted him, she still had no idea what his intentions were. Was she really safe or was she about to be interrogated for American secrets. On the other hand, perhaps it was Rambaldi or the Contessa he was after.
Kat clenched the railing in her hand as she slowly walked down the staircase. Her palms began to sweat in nervous anticipation of what she would find. The butler could have been mistaken and it was only Julian who was waiting for her, but what if he was right. What if Julian was working for her Papa and all he wanted was information on The Contessa; he had known Victor Melnikov after all.
Her fears began to grow as she neared the landing and heard the quiet lull of voices. It was easy to discern where they were coming from…a room across the hall and to the left of the stairs. The lights were low and cast dark shadows on the walls, which only served to heighten her level of suspicion.
The voices grew louder as she approached the room. Julian’s voice and accent were so easily distinguishable and she judged there to be at least two other men and one woman in his presence. They quickly grew quiet and then silent and Kat had difficulty deciphering any words of the stilted conversation. Her steps were slow and silent on the wood floor. She briefly thought about making a run for it to the front door several yards down from the room, but she doubted she’d be able to make it off the unfamiliar grounds without being caught. She’d learn her boundaries, and then plan her escape if needed.
Kat crept along the side of the wall getting closer to the entranceway of the dining room. In contrast to the rest of the house, it was brightly lit and she stood unmoving in the corner of the entranceway. In addition to Julian, there were two more men and three women surrounding a long dining table. Julian had his back to her and no one noticed her. They were too involved in their computers, files, and paperwork. She studied each one, though not able to see any of their faces. She recognized Julian, and also the back of the woman who’d shot Eric, but the others were a mystery to her.
“Well, well, well, sleeping beauty finally decided to wake up.”
The voice seemed full of hatred towards her and as Kat faced the occupants of the room her blood ran cold.
I really hope you all enjoy the fic and please comment and leave reviews, I especially love "quotey" reviews but I really do appreciate feedback both good and bad (as long as it's constructive at least.)
PM List
I am starting a new PM list for this fic, so if you would like to receive PM updates please let me know (even if you were on a previous list).