Fight For You

XVI.

"Sven, come make our guests more comfortable." Richard smirked, crossing his arms. Sven walked into the loading dock with another man. They untied Calum from his chair before tying him to the support pillar in the middle of the room. "I hope you two enjoy yourselves in here." Richard smiled and walked out of the room, Sven and the other man following closely behind him. Richard closed the door behind them, the lock clicking loudly throughout the loading dock.

"Cassie, look at me." Calum whispered. "I'm going to get you out of here."

"Yeah, when?" Cassie rolled her eyes. She was about to say something else when the lights in the room went off, leaving the room in total darkness. "Calum?" Cassie called out, panic settling in.

"It's okay, everything's gonna be just fine. It's only the lights." Calum sighed, trying to calm her down.

"Calum, I'm scared." Cassie whimpered. Calum's heart fluttered at the sound of her scared voice.

"Baby, I promise you you'll be okay. I swear on my life, nothing will happen to you." Calum spoke softly, hoping his voice would soothe her. "I'm gonna get us out of here. I'm gonna keep you safe."

"How can you keep me safe when you're all the way over there? In case you didn't notice, you're as screwed as I am." Cassie huffed.

"I've been in this position many times, I know how to get out." Calum chuckled softly. "Trust me, I'll get out."

"I don't know if I can trust you anymore." Cassie sighed. "Why did you just tell about this before? It would've saved us a lot of trouble. Could've maybe saved my insides from being beaten."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think he'd actually hurt you over that." Calum sighed. "I never wanted you to get hurt. I know I've said it a million times today, but it's true. I only ever wanted to keep you safe."

"You did one hell of a job doing that." Cassie rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see her.

"Cass, I'm sorry." Calum sighed once more. "From now on, my top priority is keeping you safe. If I can't keep you safe, I can't do anything."

"You've said sorry, like, 600 times in the last 10 minutes."

"Because, I'm sorry. And, I need you to know that. I need you to know how sorry I am."

"I know you're sorry, Calum." Cassie sighed. "And, I shouldn't forgive you, but I do."

"Cassidy Blake, I promise you that I'll never let you fall into another one of these situations. I'm going to make sure you're always safe. Even after I'm gone, I'll still be here protecting you. Forever."

"Okay, cool. Get us out of here." Cassie rolled her eyes. "My arms are gonna fall off pretty soon."

"Give me a minute." Calum huffed, wiggling against the ropes. He used his arms to shimmy the ropes down enough to give him room to pull his arms out. He pushed the ropes down and stepped out of them. "Okay, where are you?"

"I'm over here." Cassie sighed. "I can't see anything."

"Neither can I. Just, keep talking."

"Feel around you. Maybe there's a lightswitch." Cassie suggested.

"If I turn the lights on, Richard will know I'm out." Calum shook his head and kept walking. He put his hands out in front of him to feel around.

"Hurry up." Cassie chewed on her lip. Calum rolled his eyes and walked until his hands collided with her stomach. She let out a pained gasp. "Fucking hell, Calum."

"Shit, sorry." Calum bit his lip and moved his hands up her body to find her hands. "I'm gonna have to lift you off this. It might hurt, but you need to power through it."

"Okay, just do." Cassie squeezed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain. Calum sighed and wrapped his arms around her abdomen, lifting her off the hook. She hissed at the pain, but kept her body still. Calum set her on her feet.

"Alright, I'm gonna get these off of you." He held her hands.

"No, you won't." Sven chuckled, grabbing Cassie by the waist. He pulled her away from Calum, sending her crashing to the floor.

"Cassie!" Calum yelled, trying to get to her. He tried to run to her, but someone grabbed his arms and held him back. The lights came back on and Richard entered the room.

"What do we have here?" He smirked at Calum. "Are you trying to play the knight in shining armor, Hood?"

"Let us go." Calum glared at him.

"You know I'm not going to do that." Richard chuckled and walked over to Calum. Sven and the other man held Calum's arms back as Richard sent a punch to Calum's jaw.

"No!" Cassie screamed, trying to get to Calum. "Don't hurt him!"

"Stay back, Cassie. I wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire." Richard smiled darkly and sent another punch to Calum's jaw. Richard laughed and punched his stomach repeatedly.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" Cassie begged, tears falling from her eyes. "Please, don't hurt him." She cried, watching Calum drop to the floor. Richard smirked at Cassie as he kicked Calum's ribs, the sounds of bones cracking echoed through the room. Althought Richard was kicking Calum, Cassie could have sworn she felt every kick and every punch.