by Erin Osborne
“We’re gonna get you out of here. I promise,” I tell the girl as I realize that she can’t stand on her own. “Psycho, get in here!”
Psycho comes running in and takes a look at the girl. He swears up a storm and goes to lift the girl up in his arms. She screams out in pain as a word she’s muttering sticks out to me; Callie.
“Psycho stop!” I shout out, needing him to stop taking her out of the room so that I can find out where Callie is. “What about Callie? Where is she?”
“Torture,” is all the girl gets out before she passes out in Psycho’s arms.
There’s another room here somewhere. I run out and find Hawk. He’s with one of the other girls and I grab him to get his attention. After explaining what the girl said, he pulls his phone out and I see him looking at the blue prints once again. It takes him several minutes before he turns his phone toward me and points out another door that must be in the hall that I didn’t go down. I take off running toward the hall and I can hear booted feet running behind me.
Most of the doors are standing open; all except one that’s at the end of the hallway. Running toward that, I try the handle to find that it’s locked. Pointing my gun, I shoot and make sure that it hits right beside the handle. The door splinters apart and I can hear movement inside. As Grave, Renegade, and I run inside my entire world crumbles and I almost hit my knees. Callie is hanging there, her head is lolled forward and hanging down. From this vantage point, I can’t tell if she’s breathing or not. What I can see are the many cuts, bruising on every single inch of her body, and I can see a word carved on her chest. I’m not sure what it says, but I know that it’s a vile and disgusting word that will mark Callie’s beautiful skin for the rest of her life.
Before we can do anything to get her down, the man that we’ve been looking for steps just to the side of her. His position ensures that none of us can take a shot at him because there’s a major chance that we’ll hit Callie instead of him. There’s a cocky smirk on his face and I see that he thinks he’s won. This man thinks that we’re going to just lay down and let him get away with kidnapping and torturing this woman that means so much to us. The woman that I love more than anyone else in my life.
“You think you’ve won? You think that you’re going to walk out of here alive? With her?” he asks, a maniacal smile lighting up his whole face as he truly thinks that he’s won. What he doesn’t know is that Grave is a deadly accurate shot and he can hit him in a split second without the bullet coming near Callie.
“I know we’ve won. We’re goin’ to walk out of here with Callie while you rot in the pits of hell. Where you belong,” I tell him, trying to bring his attention to me and away from Grave so he can move into position.
“And what about your woman here? I know she’s the glue that keeps you all together as you try to woo her and see who can fuck her first,” he says, the gleam back in his eye. “She’ll never be the same again and I know that she’ll remain untouched because of what I’ve done to her.”
I can’t help the laughter that erupts from me at the thought that Callie’s untouched. She’s been more than touched by me for several weeks. The rest of the guys look at me and I can see the questions in their eyes as I get myself back under control. Once I know that I’m not gonna laugh again, I turn my attention to the man that has held my heart in his hands for a month now.
“You think she’s untouched? I can assure you that she’s not a virgin anymore. She hasn’t been for weeks now,” I tell him, watching as his rage flies uncontrolled through his body ending at his eyes. I’m sure that if he could throw flames from his eyes he would be right now.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I could’ve had my way with her and made sure that I had a child,” he spits out, turning his attention toward Callie.
Just as he goes to raise his hands against Callie once again, I hear the thunder of a gun going off. The echo bounces off the walls as I watch the man go down in slow motion. Screams pierce my ears as I turn my attention to Callie. She’s still out cold so the screams are coming from the man that Grave shot. He didn’t kill him because he knew that I wanted to get my hands on him and torture him the same way that he’s done to these women that he’s taken.
Thoughts of the man writhing on the floor leave me as I rush over to Callie to get her down. Grave beats me there and begins to unhook her wrists and gently bring her to the floor. I rip my cut off and pull my shirt over my head. Psycho and Renegade lift her up so that I can slide it over her head and cover the body that I should be the only one to see. Moans rip from her as we carefully move her body to get the shirt on her and protect her modesty.
“I’m so sorry baby. Just a few more minutes and we’ll get you help,” I tell her, picking her up in my arms and walking out of the room and toward the exit.
Hawk leads my way out of the warehouse and to the van that one of the prospects have brought closer. I see the other three girls already loaded up and waiting to get out of here. Climbing in, I keep Callie close to me as I sit on the floor and lay her in my lap. She’s barely breathing and I know that we need to get a move on to the nearest hospital. It’s a matter of time before the last breath leaves her body and I refuse to let that happen.
“Let’s go! Callie and these girls need to get to the hospital. Now!” I holler out to the prospects and the guys that are nearest me.
Hawk gets in the driver’s seat and takes off, leaving the rest of the men here to clean up the mess that’s been left. He continuously looks back to keep an eye on Callie to see if we need to call an ambulance or not. We don’t have time to wait for one though. We’re out in the middle of nowhere and it will take longer for them to get to us than for Hawk to drive there himself.
“Hawk just get us there. It’s going to take too long for help,” I tell him, urging him to get us there as quickly as he can. Meanwhile I turn my attention back to Callie and the girl that has moved closer to my woman.
He turns his attention back to the road and gets us to the hospital in less than a half hour. The time seems to stand still as I wait and watch Callie. Her breathing is still slow and shallow and she seems to be in immense pain with every small breath she takes. It’s almost more than I can bear to watch as she struggles while in my arms and there’s nothing I can do to help her.
Leaning down over her prone body, I whisper words that I don’t even know if she can hear or not. I tell her how strong she is, how much I love her, and that she’s going to pull through this. I’m going to be by her side every single step of the way while she recovers, both physically and mentally. Tears run unchecked down my face as I watch her chest rising and falling. It seems to be getting slower and slower the longer that we travel. My fear ratchets up another few notches as I begin to pray. Praying isn’t something that I’ve ever done before in my life.
As soon as we make it to the hospital, Hawk runs inside to get help and the activity surrounding us becomes a whirlwind. There’s nurses and doctors surrounding the van as they take Callie and the other girls. Callie’s the only one placed directly on a stretcher and whisked away from me. Hawk leads me into the waiting room in the emergency room where we’ll wait for information on Callie and the others. While I’m concerned with all the girls and I want to make sure that they all get to their homes. My main concern is that Callie survives. Her friend is important too, but no one is more important than her.
The guys have been arriving to the hospital. I’ve been assured that business is waiting for me back at the clubhouse. My mind won’t be on him until I know that Callie’s going to be okay. It’s been hours and I’ve been pacing the room; letting my nervous energy fill me until I feel like I’m going to explode. Smokey has tried to get me to go to the cafeteria for something to eat but I don’t want anything to do with it. I’ll be right here when the doctors come out to let us know what’s going on.
I sit down and put my head in my hands as the pain of not knowing comes to hit me full force. One of the main thoughts running thro
ugh my mind is that we caused Callie to get taken. Are we the ones that put a target on her back the second people realized that she was friends with the club? Suddenly I question every decision I’ve made regarding the club and I don’t know what to do about it now.
“Don’t do that, Bear. Don’t let those thoughts enter your fuckin’ head,” Grave says, sitting down next to me and pulling my attention to him and out of my own head. “This didn’t happen because of the club. This happened to Callie because of that demented as fuck asshole that saw her and chose to take her. Along with those three other girls that are back there.”
“How do you know?” I ask, needing to know what the hell he thinks is going on.
“Because you saw the dead girls at the house we went to where Callie’s car was found. You saw that other girls were in that fuckin’ warehouse. You saw the conditions and know in your heart what really happened,” he tells me, stopping only when the doors to the back open up.
“Family for Callie Patton,” the man in scrubs calls out. Only knowing her name because I gave it to them shortly after getting here and settling into the waiting room.
I stand up and make my way over to the man holding a chart and not bothering to look up to see who’s walking toward him. As I stop in front of him, I fold my arms over my chest, trying to reign in my temper. To this man, Callie is just a patient. A number on a chart that he doesn’t give a fuck about.
“I’m her fiancé. How is she? When can I see her?” I ask, hoping that he looks up and quits looking at the paperwork in front of him.
“Your fiancé has substantial injuries. She’s got a broken ankle that we’ve set and put in a cast. Her wrist is severely sprained. The cuts that needed to be stitched up were and we’ve got her on massive doses of antibiotics to prevent any infection. We didn’t find any internal bleeding and the baby made it through the surgery okay. There were no signs of distress. As long as there’s no other complications, the baby should survive,” the doctor says, finally looking up to see me as shock registers with the news of a baby. “I can’t say what mental or emotional trauma is going to be a result of the obvious trauma she has suffered.”
I watch as the doctor takes a look at my cut, and the cut that my brothers are wearing. Instantly judgement and hatred covers his face as he immediately blames us for the condition of Callie. My rage must show as Renegade pushes me back and takes over talking to the doctor. I listen to him tell my President that she’ll be getting transported to a room in a little bit and we can go see her. We’ll be allowed two at a time and the visits must be kept short. Little do they know that I won’t be leaving her side. I’ll never be leaving her side again knowing that something could happen to her. This may have been a one-time thing, but I won’t ever take that risk again. I’ll die before she feels another ounce of pain.
Callie
As I slowly wake up to an incessant beeping noise, the realization that my entire body feels like I’ve been run over several times by Bear’s tow truck. Opening my eyes, I start to panic when I can’t get them open. The beeping gets louder and faster as the drugs wear off and things become sharper around me. There’s someone holding my hand and a feeling of safety instantly washes over me. before I can do much more, the darkness that offers peace and sanity threatens to pull me back under. No matter how much I try to fight it, the darkness seems to win.
While the pain fades away, I can hear a voice trying to reach me. It’s a man and I know that it’s one I know and want to hear, but I can’t fight as it continues to fade away into nothingness. Another voice calls out to me; my grandma. I’ve wanted to hear her voice so much the last few weeks. She could give me advice and help me through this feeling of uncertainty.
“Baby girl, I’m sure that you’ve been learning of my secrets since you left your parents. Don’t hold it against anyone in the club or me. I did what I had to do in order to protect you,” I hear the voice that’s soothed me and loved me say. “It’s time to get my things out of the house and start living in it like it’s yours. Move into the master bedroom and make your room a nursery. You’ll need it soon.”
“Grandma, please don’t leave. I need you,” I hear myself calling out to her.
“I’m always by your side, guiding you. I love you and you have made a good choice by following your attraction to Bear. Let him love you and help you,” she says, her voice fading away with every word she says.
The blackness begins to fade away again. I hear the noise of the machines reach me and I know that I’m waking up once again. Someone is still holding my hand and I can hear murmured conversation going on around me. There’s no panic this time as I know that my eyes aren’t going to open all the way. Bits and pieces of what happened to me are starting to come back and I know that I was beaten and tortured for a long time. That’s why my eyes won’t open. I could barely open them when I was still in captivity. Now, from the smell and the beeping sound, I know I’m in the hospital. Bear and the rest of the guys rescued me. But, did they get the rest of the girls out of there?
Besides Hadliegh and me being in a cell, we could hear others. We heard their screams and cries when they were taken to, or from, their own cells. I’m not sure how many were in there, but I do know there were others. While I’d like to know that they were all rescued, Hadliegh is the only one I’m concerned about. A bond was forged between us and it’s not one that can be broken. I only hope that she’s here and getting the help that she needs.
“Baby, can you hear me?” Bear asks as I come fully awake this time.
“Y-y-yes,” I say, stuttering out my response as my throat feels like I’ve been gargling with glass.
“Let me get you some water,” he says, letting go of my hand as I hear movement along side of me.
I feel a straw at my lips and open my mouth as much as I can. My lips feel dry and crusty as the cool water begins to coat my throat. It gives me little relief as I take large gulps of water. Before too long, it’s pulled away from me and I’m told that I can’t drink too much too fast or I’ll get sick. That’s not what I want right now. I’d rather take a few sips for a few seconds of relief than add more pain to myself.
“Do you need more medicine?” Renegade asks, his voice full of pain and regret.
“No. I don’t want anymore,” I tell them, wanting to be awake for a few minutes.
“If I think you’re in too much pain, I’ll send for a nurse,” Bear says, taking hold of my hand once again.
“Who’s in the room?” I ask, needing to know before I ask the question that I need an answer to.
“Renegade, Grave, and Psycho,” Bear answers, leaning closer to me.
“Did you get Hadliegh out?” I question, needing to know that she’s okay and here with me in a separate room.
“Is that the girl that was in with you?” Psycho asks, stepping closer to the bed that I’m lying in based on the shuffling noise I hear.
“Yes. She was there longer than me and I need to know that she’s safe now. That she’s not going to be sold off to the highest bidder,” I plead with the men standing before me. The men that I consider family.
The rage fills the air to the point that anyone walking in will be able to feel it immediately. But, they hold it in and let it simmer while I wait to hear news about my friend. If they don’t give it to me soon, I’ll get out of this damn bed and go find it myself. Hadliegh will be here or I’ll go get her myself.
“She’s here. She’s in a room just down the hall. As soon as she’s well enough to get up and around, we’ll make sure she comes to see you,” Psycho says. “I’ve been with her most of the night.”
I let out the breath that I’ve been holding at the news that she’s safe and no one will ever hurt her that way again. There’s no guarantee that she’ll never be hurt again, but I’ll ensure that I’ll do my best to protect her. We have to talk about what she’s going to do once we get out of here. I want to keep her close and make sure that there’s no lasting damage done to her. But,
Hadliegh is strong and independent. She’ll have her own choice of what she wants to do and where she wants to go. I’ll protect her as much as I can, but the choice is ultimately hers. The same as mine. I’m not going anywhere though. I’ll be here until the day that I die.
“Thank you,” I say before letting sleep claim me once again.
Today is the day that I finally get out of the hospital. I’ve been here for almost two weeks and I’m fed up with it. Bear has been here constantly with me. Hell, I had to force him to leave and take a shower and get something to eat. The entire time I’ve been poked and prodded every minute of every day it seems like. In the two weeks I’ve been here the only bright spot was finding out that I was pregnant and that the baby was okay. An ultrasound tech came in when I was worried about all the beatings. It showed that I’m about six weeks along and that the baby is safe and secure in my belly where it belongs.
Another bright spot was seeing Hadliegh. She got released a few days ago and the guys took her to the clubhouse. She came to visit me every chance she got while she was here and I know that she hates that I’m still in here. We both suffered at the hands of those vile men, but she feels that I had it worse. I feel that she did because she was repeatedly raped. I’ll heal from my wounds eventually, but her emotional and mental trauma is far worse than what I suffered through. I’m worried about her and I know that eventually she’ll talk about it, just not right now.
Using the crutches, I carefully make my way into the bathroom to clean up a bit, I stop after closing the door behind me. This is the first time that I’ve been alone in a room with a mirror and I take a few minutes to see what damage was done to me. No one has let me see anything when I’ve asked them about it. And if the doctors or nurses were checking my wounds, someone was always there to capture my attention so that I wouldn’t look at what was done. Peeling back the gown that I’ve been wearing for weeks now, I almost crumble to the ground as I see the word ‘whore’ carved into my chest. Tears fill my eyes as I get a good look at the rest of the front of my body after letting the gown fall to the floor. Bear is quick to open the door and see what’s going on with me.