Chapter 8: Ms. Croton

The jet ride seemed to stretch on forever.

When they finally landed they were once again greeted by a waiting limo.

Cloe did not pay much attention to where they were going.

She was completely consumed by her thoughts.

A light tap on her shoulder bought her back to reality.

The limo had stopped and a bodyguard was motioning for her to get out.

She got out quickly, observing her surrounding.

They seemed to be at an Estate...a huge one.

"Take her to Ms.Croton," the stranger told the bodyguard nearest to him, who nodded and motioned for Cloe to follow him.

"Ms.Croton?" Cloe thought.

The name seemed awfully familiar.

Cloe followed the bodyguard.

Then through what appeared to be the main hall, up a flight of stairs, down a couple of corridors.

They finally stopped in front of a massive pair of doors.

The doors were odd.

Everything in the mansion was uncomfortably sleek and modern but these wooden doors were old to the point where the only word Cloe could use to describe them was ancient.

The bodyguard knocked three times, quickly withdrawing his hand.

One door creaked open after a couple of seconds.

The bodyguard motioned for her to go in.

"Can't you speak?" Cloe snapped at him.

She was growing tenser by the second.

He did not reply.

She sighed stepping into the room.

The door was immediately shut behind her.

"Okay just hurry up and eat me," she thought squeezing her eyes shut.

There was an outburst of laughter.

Cloe opened her eyes.

The laughter was coming from across the room.

She took a step forward searching for the source.

Then she spotted a woman sitting with her legs crossed.

"No need to be afraid little one," the woman said smiling.

Suddenly all of Cloe's fear and tension slipped away.

"Come... sit here," the woman said patting the spot next to her.

Cloe started moving forward.

She looked about.

The room was completely dark apart from the candles lit near the woman.

It was so dark that Cloe even wondered if it was even a room.

The darkness seemed to stretch on forever.

She sat next to the woman.

"I'm Ms.Croton...and I'm going to help you remember who you are Cloe..."

Cloe was speechless.

"W-" was all she managed to say.

"I know... that doesn't make any sense now but it will all make sense when you remember who you are," the strange woman said.

"What do you mean remember who I am? I KNOW who I am" she finally found her voice.

The strange woman chuckled softly.

"You still haven't changed a bit," she said still chuckling.

"Have we met before?" Cloe asked confused.

"Oh yes, you will remember me when you get your memories back."

"How soon will that be?"

"I can't say when that'll be, it all depends on you"

"I didn't even know that I had forgotten anything, to begin with," Cloe said twirling a lock of her hair around her index finger.

She does that when she gets frustrated.

"Don't sweat it, love, you'll remember soon enough" the strange woman said patting her shoulder.

She reached inside her oversized robe,

It was then that Cloe actually saw what she was wearing.

It was an oversized white robe with gold trims.

The woman seemed to be young but the way she spoke with patient wisdom seemed to indicate something else.

The aura about her was the same as the doors.

Ancient.

She had jet black hair that seemed to be flowing even though it was clearly not.

Her features were ethereal.

She seemed to be glowing even though she was not.

After rummaging around in her robe for a few seconds she withdrew her hand fisted.

"This belongs to you," she said reaching for Cloe's hand.

Cloe felt her press something small into her hand, closing her fingers around it.

Then everything started to fade into complete darkness.

********

Cloe squinted as the brightness penetrated her closed eyelids. She slowly opened her eyes shielding her face with her arm.

She noticed that her fist was closed tightly around a small object.

Unclenching her fist she saw a small golden key that was attached to a fine gold necklace.

The key was strangely warm to the touch.

She recalled everything that had occurred prior to her passing out.

"What the hell did I just get dragged into" she thought examining the key.

It seemed vaguely familiar.

She hesitantly slipped it over her head, watching as it dangled on her chest.

Looking up she began to examine the room.

That's when she noticed she was on a bed. A rather large bed with an arched canopy that had vines twisted all along its length.

The walls were varying shades of green with gold vines except for one wall that was made entirely of glass. It had a perfect view of a forest oasis that was at the back of the estate.

The room itself was rather large as the bed only took up a small portion at the back with a large empty space in the center.

Then her eyes crossed over the door.

Doing a double take she jumped off the bed and made a mad dash for it.

Crashing against it she frantically turned the handle.

The door didn't budge, it seemed to be locked.

"But that doesn't make any sense...the lock is on this side" she though in bewildered frustration.

She thought about giving the door a proper kick , but decided not to in the end as she turned away from it.

Going over to the glass wall she looked out at the oasis.

"It looks almost too beautiful to be real..." she thought watching the small stream that flowed through the oasis.

She looked down at the key.

"I've got to get to the bottom of this" she thought clenching the key in her fist.

Thinking back to what the strange woman had said.

"Are these people trying to brainwash me?"

But deep down she knew that was not the case, and that only made her even more desperate for answers.

"What does this all mean?"

She stood mulling over her thoughts, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

Shortly after the knock the door opened and someone stepped into the room.

It was one of the men dressed in black.

He motioned for her to follow him.

Sighing in exasperation she did as she was instructed.

*****

They were standing in front of a door, after what seemed like an endless journey to Cloe.

The man in black knocked on the door twice.

It opened and he gestured for her to go in. She went in and the door was immediately closed behind her.

Looking around she saw that it was an office.

Then her eyes fell on him.

What could be seen of him anyway. He was sitting in an office chair facing away from her, but she could tell it was him.

He slowly turned to face her.

There was a long pause as either one of them spoke.

He motioned for her to sit.

She sat in the seat farthest away from his desk.

"How are you going to ask questions sitting that far away?" he asked, there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

She moved closer sitting in a seat that was a bit closer, but was still far away from his desk.

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked suddenly.

She snapped her head up to stare at him in bewilderment.

"Don't answer that" he said rubbing his forehead.

"I'm not the one who should be asking questions" he continued.

"Go ahead...ask me anything," he said sitting up straight.

The well of questions in her mind made it hard to choose which to ask first.

"How much did you pay him?"

She wasn't planning to ask that, it just blurted out. It was like her tongue had a mind of it's own.

"Your father I presume?" he asked.

"Who else would I be talking about?" she retorted harshly.

"Sore topic...?"

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"Eight million"

She looked at him in shock.

"WHY WOULD YOU PAY EIGHT MILLION FOR ONE PERSON?!!" she practically screamed.

"It was actually for your own good..." he stated.

"Making my good for nothing father rich was for my own good?" she asked sourly.

"Are you going to let me explain?" he asked sharply.

She didn't answer.

"That eight million..." he continued "saved your life."