Night shift - Completed

Chapter 43

Calum's PoV

The glare she had given us only meant one thing. We needed to get the hell out of there now because he was going to hurt us all. If he found out who I was, or recognised me, I would have been a goner. Dave pulled me back into the club and into a hug, knowing it wasn't going to make it better but it would calm me down for a second.

"Shit. Dave, this is fucked. I can't leave her out there with him!" I whispered to him as we hugged but Dave pulled me away and held me at arms length.

"Cal, trust me. There is nothing you can do right now other than call the police. If you went out there, you'd be a distraction. You'd be another piece of leverage for him to use against her. You'd make her worse off. Get the police here now and they can sort it out." My jaw fell open at his talk. Why didn't he say he was going back out there? I mean I understand that I'd be a liability but he was a security guard for a famous band, he was used to getting into fights and fending off bad people. Was he going to leave her out there too? My eyebrows furrowed at him.

"You're going back to help her though, right?" I asked with hope in my voice. That Kyle guy had hell burning in those eyes. How was my precious little angel going to fight off someone like him? He was a monster. One who'd been to jail and had years to plan this horrific attack?

"I can't Cal." He said, his face straight. Without any reasoning, he just began to walk off.

"What?!" I shouted at him, using my crutches to my advantage to speed up and catch him before he made it up the stairs.

"Don't take this the wrong way Calum, but she's not my priority." Dave said, his eyes tinged with sadness at having to say something so sickening to me. I could barely comprehend it. I followed him as he continued over to the guys who were still huddled together in the VIP section. Yeah thanks for all your fucking help guys!

"Not your priority?" I spat back at him, attracting the attention of all my friends. "The fuck does that mean?" Dave bit his lips together as he sighed, looking up as if praying to God for strength against me. I obviously wasn't going to let this go easily.

"My job is to watch the band. Four boys. My contract states that I need to make sure the four of you are safe. It doesn't say it includes family, friends or girlfriends. It keeps it very simple." He snapped at me before turning to the others. "Grab your coats, we need to leave." The others exchanged worried glances between Dave and I, wondering what on earth was going on. Of course they didn't know the first thing about the situation, so they started listening to Dave and getting ready, quickly downing drinks so they weren't wasted.

"I'm not going." I snarled, my nostrils flared as I glared at Dave. If he wants to play it like this then so help me I was going to act like a baby.

"Cal." He said as he tutted, turning to me with clear frustration etched on his face. He ran a large calloused hand down his face. "Just call the police and get in the car. Don't make me carry you out of here in front of all those paps." Shit. Was this really happening? He was going to make me choose between my job and my girl? If I fought for her, he'd carry me out of here and I'd get even more bad press. Management would pull me in and I'd be fucked. The band would be...
or I called the police and hoped they would get to her in time, walked out of here and remained under the radar so that our band could have some good press for once.

"Fuck you Dave. I won't forget this." I said as I pulled my phone out, dialling the police. I made it as big of a deal as I could, even telling them who I was in case anyone cared more if a celeb called it in. They promised me they'd be there within minutes. My mind flashed back to Poppy telling me the story originally and how the cops had taken a lifetime to get to her, how her scared eyes had told me she was barely holding on to life when they arrived to peel that dirtbag off her and it took two of them then. "Thank you. Please hurry." I said as I hung up from the operator, turning towards my sheepish looking friends.

"Let's go." Dave said, whisking us all out of the club and into the minibus. Everyone clambered into the seats they had sat in to get here and then all turned to stare at the vacant one. The one that was meant to have my girlfriend in it. Dave pulled the door shut and jumped in, ordering the driver to get us the hell out of there and quickly. The tires screeched as the driver floored it, getting us out of a situation three quarters of us didn't even know was occurring. I kept quiet, playing with my fingers as I looked down at the clothes I'd worn. Poppy helped me pick these. I thought back to that moment; how heated it had got between us before I had to pull away, how I'd felt self conscious and she put me at ease, picking me an outfit that hid my boot as much as it could before saying I looked great. She'd helped me. Yet here I was, in a minivan with my band mates, nowhere near her or anything that could help her. I was a terrible boyfriend.

***

We'd been home for a while but I'd locked myself in my room. People had been trying to knock for me but I ignored every single one of them, knowing they'd offer nothing to help me right now. I caressed my phone in my hands, just waiting for a text or call from Poppy to say she was okay, that she had somehow got out of it without any harm coming to her, but it remained silent. I stared at the device longer and harder, fear moving in and taking over my emotions. What if he had killed her? She wouldn't call me then. It'd be a doctor or a nurse or a police officer. Oh God. Had I just left her to die?

My phone rang.

My heartbeat quickened as I looked down at the caller ID, hoping to see Poppy's name and the goofy picture of her I'd saved, but it was an unknown number. I gulped down the sickened feeling.

"Hello?" I stammered, scared of what was to come.

"Is this Mister Calum Hood?" A professional voice responded and my heart dropped out of my chest. Not knowing what I was doing, I unlocked my door and shuffled down the hallway, hoping just seeing my friends would make me feel better.

"Y-Yeah, that's me." I breathed out shakily, Ashton noticing me stumbling down the corridor as white as a ghost.

"Guys!" He shouted and before I knew it, Luke and Michael were there helping me to a chair.

"I'm sorry to call you Mister Hood, but we had no one else we knew to contact. It's about Poppy, Poppy Knight."