Turn Away | c.h

Chapter 43 - I Can't Save You

*continuation of chapter 42*

"It's strange," Michael said, walking over towards Calum. "Dark souls embrace themselves for who they are, and you... You make a joke out of us. You can comfortably hide from reality and let it hurt everyone else around you." He said, standing before him.

Calum let out a huff, his body straining against the men. He was incredibly tired, probably even close to falling apart before our very eyes. And despite how much I was hurting because of him and his lies, it was still heartbreaking to see.

"You are pathetic." Michael taunted, before spitting at Calum's feet. And that was enough for him to completely snap. Calum pulled away from the men, his fist balled as he quickly swung at Michael. But it wasn't enough to even send him to the floor, instead he fought back with even more power.

The two men held Calum in place as Michael roughly delivered continuous punches to Calum's stomach. I watched the sight in front of me, tears streaming down my face.

"Calum!" I pleaded through tears, shock overcoming every other emotion. I couldn't sit here and watch him get so badly hurt. I wanted to do something- anything.

Calum was hunched over, his eyes shut as he copped the blows and didn't even attempt to fight back. Michael let the cruel strangers drop him, his weak body falling to the ground with a loud thud. I hurriedly stood up, sprinting past the terrifying men, straight to Calum. I fell to his side, my hands instantly placed on his body.

"Cal- Calum, please." I desperately said, my voice cracking as I shamelessly spoke through tears. They were endless. And they had every reason to be as I saw the state he was in, he was as white as a ghost. His body was shaking and his face was bleeding horridly. He was in so much pain and I could do nothing to aid him, and I felt so broken inside because of it.

"You two are pathetically in love, and without a doubt, you will be crushed because of it." Michael spoke as the strangers began disappearing back into the forest to leave us to our own devices.

I ignored his words, softly pushing back the hair from Calum's forehead as I looked down at him. I held him, my arms wrapped around his body.

"I'm still expecting a pure soul. And we'll be paying visits until we get one."

I looked up at Michael as he turned his back, walking away from us. Everyone walked back into the woods, completely clearing until we were the only two here. And I knew we were alone.

I cradled Calum, my shaky hands gently wiping away the blood from his eyebrows as it ran down his eyelid. Calum lips slowly parted, his hands trailing up to mine. I clutched onto his hand, entwining our fingers as I stared down at him. I wish I knew how to aid him and make him feel better, but i knew I could do nothing but watch him weaken in my arms. It tore me to pieces, it was like someone was slowly cutting up my heart into millions of tiny pieces. It was breaking me every passing second.

"Calum, please... Stay with me." I whispered, watching as his eyes began to open. He looked up at me, the familiar shine still caught in his beautiful eyes.

"Stella." He softly spoke, his chest readily rising and falling under me. I softly nodded. "They drained me of my energy."

The second he spoke the words, I then knew what I had to do for him. I pulled apart from him, untangling our hands as I slowly rested him back down on the ground. Calum's eyes followed my movements, eyebrows eventually furrowing as I grabbed his hands and helped him sit up. His back was hunched over himself as he looked at me. I pushed my hair back to the side, nervously fumbling with the corner of my jacket until it slipped from my shoulder. Calum momentarily closed his eyes as he caught on to my movements.