Caleb's POV
A slither of fear penetrated my rage filled brain when the noise from the other car went momentarily silent.
Granted, there wasn't much I could hear over the sound of wind whipping past my ears, but I was sure I hadn't imagined her shouts for help.
Where did she go? What the fuck had they done to her? My heart was hammering against my chest and all I could feel was a huge knot of fear for her, and rage for anyone else.
When I get to her, when she is okay, I will end them. Come what may, they will fucking pay for this.
Wait a minute, why not?
I yelled at the driver again. "You stop the car and I'll pay you. I'll pay you double of what you're getting. How much ever you want! Just stop the goddamned car!"
I thought I saw the driver frown at my words, but with the constant movement we were in and my precarious position, I couldn't be sure.
"For God's sake, let her fucking go!" I yelled again, feeling desperate now.
She had to be okay. Just had to be. My mind couldn't bear an alternative to that. The thought of her being fine was all that was keeping me sane at the moment.
Well, as sane as people felt with murder on their mind, anyway.
If something happened to her... My stomach twisted at the thought painfully and I swallowed hard.
"What? Why did you go silent?" Leo yelled, thumping my leg to get my attention and nearly making me lose my balance.
I growled in his general direction, pissed at him for more than one reason. It was his fault afterall, that -
"Motherfucking hell!" An enraged voice cursed from adjacent car.
Looking over, I saw that Ruth had managed to lower the window that was on my side, even as a man thrice her size wrestled her away from the door, while another one sitting behind her tried to contain her.
"Don't touch her, you goddamned assholes! You will be sorry you ever laid a hand on her, you bastards!" I was losing my voice, getting attention of the man sitting closest to my side, but I didn't care.
Ruth pulled her bound arms free from one of her captors and making her elbow hit the other one's nose.
Even from my distance, I could see the blood spewing from his broken nose and I vaguely wondered how she managed to reach the nose that seemed to be about a foot above her head.
"Caleb! Caleb... Gun!" Her words were garbled, but two of the words stood out loud and clear, making my blood run cold.
Gun? They dared to bring gun so close to her?
"Gun? Did she say gun?" Leo shouted behind me, but I ignored him, reaching my hand in blindly and getting hold of his car freshner next.
I aimed for the man at the backseat now, instead of the driver, but managed to miss him completely and instead hit the one behind her.
Well, atleast it didn't hit her.
"You little shit!" Shouted the man I had originally aimed for, and Ruth seemed to take advantage of his momentary distraction.
She leveraged herself up, trying to gesture me something, but at that very moment driver hit a sharp curve making her lose her balance and fall headfirst into the man's face.
Her forehead banged against his nose, earning another string of curses from him and some from herself.
All three passengers in the backseat fell back for a moment, the men clutching their noses and Ruth clutching her forehead.
"Ruth!" I called out, frantically waving my hands, even though I had no idea what to say next.
Her gaze fell on me and she seemed to come to her senses. Scrambling ahead, she caught hold of a fistful of driver's hairs in her bound hands, yanking them back with all her might, making him scream in agony and swirl the car.
I felt a strange surge of pride within me at her efforts, even though rest of me was consumed with fear as I watched the men at the backseat recover and reach for her.
I let out an involuntary growl when they caught hold of her waist and arm but then her short legs started kicking around randomly.
As if in slow motion, I watched a very pointed looking heel of her shoe stab one of their eye, making him join the driver in the screaming contest.
The other man managed to pull her back down, but the momentum threw her into him a little too hard, and her shoulder hit his throat with the force equivalent to that of a punch.
Dear god, that woman is going to kill them!
I fought back the urge to laugh maniacally. The odds of her overcoming three men were slim, but I couldn't fight off the hope that was slamming into me.
Keeping my head in the moment, I shouted at her before any of her kidnappers could recover.
"Get to the front seat, Ruth! Get to the front! We need to stop the car," I called, though to be frank, I felt more like a cheerleader, watching her determinedly bully her way through the car past her enemies.
Taking advantage of all of their distraction, Ruth pulled herself up and over the console in the passenger seat, but then clutched her head like she was disoriented.
"Hit the brakes, Ruth! Hit. The. Brakes," I shouted at her, praying she'd act fast and then went for plan B in case she doesn't.
Without letting her out of my sight, I shouted, "Faster, Leo! Drive faster! Over-take them! Block their way!"
"Are you sure? What if she doesn't hit the brake?" Leo shouted back annoyingly even as he sped up the car a bit.
"Just do as I fucking say!" I screamed back. Either her or the driver is bound to stop the frigging car if we blocked their way.
It was a risk in case they didn't, but it was a risk I was willing to take.
I braced myself as the engine purred louder, Leo skillfully maneuvering the car around a curve and ahead of the Sedan.
We stopped horizontally right in the middle of an intersection, and I gave a silent thank to God for the early hour and empty backroads.
I kept my eyes on Ruth through their windshield, but she still didn't seem to have come to her senses.
I slithered in and opened the door, sensing Leo doing the same.
Just when I was sure the Sedan was going to crash right into us, it's passanger door opened even as the car kept it's speed.
It skidded to a halt for a second and I saw the driver roughly shove Ruth out. I was running towards her before I consciously decided to, Leo's heavy steps pounding right beside me.
He reached the car, banging the door and roof, trying to get a hold, but the car was already in motion, tearing through the road in an opposite direction, it's squealing tyres leaving behind burnt smell of rubber.
My focus solely remained on Ruth as I reached her. Even though rage still pounded through me, making me want to chase the car until I had ripped those fuckers to shreds, the need to make sure Ruth was okay vetoed all else.
Dropping to my knees beside her limp body, I cradled her delicately on my lap, stroking her face to wake her up.
"Ruth? Can you hear me, baby?" I called her out desperately, even as she remained unresponsive in my arms.
I cupped her face, only to jerk my hand back and stare in horror as blood coated my palm.
Blood. Loss. Rain.
It felt like deja vu somehow. Like some long buried memory trying to resurface. My vision fogged up and I blinked rapidly to clear it, not willing to take my focus off the girl I was cradling.
"Ruth?" Her name sounded wrong on my tongue, and an overwhelming guilt surfaced out of nowhere.
Something felt amiss. Wrong. And my brain randomly whispered that it was dark and raining, even though I knew it wasn't. I dismissed it all, focusing again only on the girl in front of me.
"Ruth? Ruth, can you hear me? Please open your eyes, Ruth. Please."
I patted her cheek lightly, making her stir. I ignored the pain blooming at my temples, focusing on the huge, red mark on Ruth's forehead.
It was already swelling, looking like she has banged her head somewhere pretty bad.
Her eyes fluttered open, registering my face and it felt like I could fucking breathe again.
Her beautiful face went blurry and I blinked rapidly, making something hot and wet slide off my cheek.
Her hand shakily reached up to my cheek, swiping at them before falling limp.
My eyes burnt, and my throat felt tight and sore, but they felt familiar. Like, it wasn't the first fucking time I was scared out of my mind. But the worst of it all was my head that was blasting with pain now.
Strange flashes of dark and rain clouded my vision, confusing me like flickering television changing scene within fraction of a second.
It flickered from dark to light, rain to sun. Ruth's face blurred and came to focus and her brown hairs spilling on my lap looked blonde and soaked in blood, then back to its brown self.
I clenched my eyes shut, focusing on now and noticed her body was going limp in my arms. A hand fell heavily on my shoulder, snapping me out of my nightmarish visions.
"Hang in there, Caleb. Help is on its way," Leo gruffly said, squeezing my shoulder before speaking into his phone, giving someone directions.
"Ruth? Stay with me, okay? Stay. With. me!" I ordered her, but her eyes were already closing again.
"Ruth? Ruth!"
I vaguely registered Leo still talking, and the sounds of a siren in the distance as I cradled her to me, calling her out, ordering her, demanding her and begging her to come back to me, but dreading that I have lost her.