Fight For You

XXI.

"Cassidy, wake up." Calum crossed his arms as he stood next to his bed.

"Calum, it's 5:30 in the morning." Cassie groaned. "It's a Saturday, and you kept me up until 2am."

"Get used to this. Now, get up and get dressed." Calum said, pulling the blankets off of her.

"Why do I have to get up this early?" Cassie whined, rolling out of bed.

"We've got work to do today." He shrugged. "Dress comfortably, you'll be moving a lot."

"Calum, what in God's name are you making me do today?" She asked as she pulled on her leggings.

"You'll see. Just get dressed." Calum chuckled softly. "You might want to bring a hair tie with you." Cassie pulled on one of Calum's t-shirts before walking to the bathroom. She'd been staying with Calum for nearly a month now in hopes of keeping her safe from Richard's plan.

"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Cassie asked, walking back to Calum.

"Follow me." Calum held her hand and led her down to the basement.

"What are we doing here?" Cassie pulled her hand from his and looked up at him. "Tell me what we're doing."

"You know that party I throw every year for clients?" Calum asked, looking down at her.

"Yes.." Cassie said, still confused.

"The party is a couple weeks away, and I just know Richard is planning something." Calum sighed. "I need to be sure you're safe and I won't be able to be with you the whole time."

"Calum, what are you talking about?" Cassie sighed, leaning into his side.

"I have to be sure you can protect yourself. So, today, I'm going to teach you how to do that."

"Calum, I'm sure this isn't necessary." Cassie crossed her arms

"Cassie, no. This is absolutely necessary. You need to be safe when I'm not around. If something happened to you and I wasn't there to protect you, I couldn't live with myself. This way, I'll feel better leaving you alone knowing you can protect yourself."

"Calum, what could you possibly teach me in a couple weeks? Richard is highly skilled at murdering people, I'm sure he'd find a way to kill me even if I could protect myself."

"Do not talk like that. Cassie, I promised you that I'd do anything to keep you safe and this is part of it."

"What are you gonna do, Calum? Teach me to shoot a gun?" Cassie looked at him.

"Well, yeah. That's part of it." Calum scratched the back of his neck. "Also was planning on teaching you how to get out of different types of restraints."

"Whatever." Cassie rolled her eyes. "Let's get this over with." She sighed and followed Calum into the shooting range.

"Okay, put these on." Calum handed her a pair of headphones. "Don't want you blowing out your eardrums."

"This is ridiculous." Cassie scoffed and put them on.

"These, too." Calum said, handing her a pair of safety glasses.

"Calum, really?" Cassie took them and looked up at him.

"Safety, my dear." Calum smiled, putting on his own. He grabbed a gun from the shelf and loaded it for her. "This is an automatic, just point and shoot. No cocking required."

"Okay, cool." Cassie said, aiming the gun at the target, pulling the trigger repeatedly. Each bullet piercing the head of the target.

"Have you, uh.. Have you done this before?" Calum asked, looking down at her.