Richie was exhausted. He'd been fighting to get the fucking door open for nearly an hour. However, he knew that Henry and Patrick hated Eddie enough that they'd drag out his torture for as long as possible.
So, he kept fighting.
Bev had woken up in the middle of Richie's attempts to escape, and despite her hatred for Eddie, she cared for her friend. So, she kept kicking the door and trying to fight to get it open.
The door was sturdy wood and without some kind of weapon it was near impossible to get open. Not to mention the heavy box on the other side, stopping them from escaping.
Richie's fingers were raw and bleeding from tearing at the door, wood chips stuck under his nails. It hurt, but he needed to get to Eddie. He didn't give a fuck that Eddie was a Lucantian. All he cared about was protecting him from people that were a thousand times worse.
Eventually, one of the wooden planks cams loose. Richie ripped it off, the nails cutting into his hand. He winced in pain but tried to ignore the blood dripping from his hand.
Richie ordered Bev and Stan to go find Mike. Then, he sprinted up the steps to the higher deck and saw a door ajar.
He tiptoed inside, knowing secrecy was key.
Patrick and Henry were towering over Eddie, who was naked from the waist up, his bottom half covered by a sheet. His arms were tied to the bed posts and Richie felt his blood boil.
His knife was in Patrick's hand, but another sat on the table beside them. He grabbed it, ready to threaten the pair, when he saw Patrick raise the knife that belonged to Richie. He was going to hurt Eddie again, Richie knew it.
Without hesitation, Richie raised his knife and threw it at Patrick's back, hitting him in the center of his stomach. The knife he'd thrown was Bev's, and it was the longest bladed weapon they owned, meaning it stuck out the other side of Patrick's chest.
Patrick began coughing up blood, dropping Richie's knife to the ground. He fell to the ground, curling on his side and bleeding on the floor.
Richie seized his knife and pointed it at Henry, who backed up, eyes wide.
"Traitor," Henry said breathlessly, shocked that Richie had attacked one of their own.
"Rather that than a murderer," Richie snapped as Bev and Stan ran into the room, followed by Mike.
"Get him to the cells," Mike ordered, pointing at Henry.
Bev and Stan obeyed, both disgusted by Henry for attacking a defenseless Lucantian.
Mike pulled the knife out of Patrick's gut. "He's not going to make it," he said, almost scared of what Richie would think.
"Drop him at sea then once he dies," Richie hissed, cutting the ropes off of Eddie's arms.
They fell limply to the side and noticed the cuts all over his right arm. Richie noticed that Eddie was unconscious and naked, scooping him up, the sheet from the bed wrapped around Eddie's body.
"There's stuff in my cabin," Mike said. "Take him there to clean him up. Clothes are in the closet."
Richie nodded and carried Eddie to the cabin, ignoring Bev and Stan's questions. They'd locked Henry up and went back to Mike to help him get rid of Patrick's body.
"I'm so sorry," Richie whispered, but he didn't know why he said it.
He didn't do anything wrong.
It was a long process, cleaning Eddie's wounds and wrapping them, changing his clothes, making sure he wasn't going to die.
Richie caught sight of the bruises on Eddie's hips and stomach, the nail marks and cuts near there, and knew exactly what had happened.
He was going to make Henry suffer for it.
Eddie had been falling in and out of consciousness for a while, so Richie stayed sitting at the desk in Mike's room, watching Eddie stir then fall asleep.
Eventually, he actually woke up.
It was nearly two in the morning, based on the small clock on Mike's wall. Mike had volunteered to sleep with Stan and Bev in the extra cabin so Richie could keep and eye on Eddie.
As soon as he started waking up, Richie approached him cautiously, holding a glass of water.
"Hey, hey, you're alright," Richie soothed as Eddie began to breathe quicker, still panicked.
"Drink this, come on, Eds."
Eddie coughed and muttered something that Richie didn't catch.
"What?" Richie whispered, helping Eddie to sit up weakly, which was difficult since he was in Mike's hammock.
"I said, 'don't call me that,'" Eddie murmured, allowing Richie to help him drink some water.
He whimpered in pain. His whole body was sore and his head was throbbing. Then, all of the memories came flooding back. Eddie slammed his hand into the glass of water, knocking it away from himself.
"Do not fucking touch me!" Eddie said suddenly, trying to scoot away from Richie. "You let them hurt me! You're insane!"
Richie stood up, frowning. "I saved you, Eddie. I didn't want you hurt," he tried to explain, but Eddie wouldn't hear it.
"N-no, you let them hurt me. You hate me!" he yelled, starting to cry. "You, you let them r-rape me!"
Eddie was sobbing and Richie couldn't really do anything to soothe him. He didn't want to touch Eddie and upset him further. Eddie cried for a long time, Richie sitting on the other side of the room, waiting until he could calm down.
Once his crying had mostly stopped, Richie offered him a rag from Mike's desk to wipe his tears away.
"I didn't want that to happen. I swear, Eddie. I tried to get out of that damn room for an hour to save you, okay? I didn't want you to get hurt." Richie knew he sounded desperate and looked weak, but he didn't care.
"Why would you care?" Eddie asked weakly.
"You're a Tenebrian."
"I don't know, Eds. There's something about you. Something that made me willing kill one of my own to protect you."
"You killed one of them?"
"I'm a savage Tenebrian, Edward. Don't judge my life choices," Richie said in a teasing tone, earning a giggle from Eddie. "I killed Patrick. He was going to hurt you again and I couldn't let him."
Eddie tried to stand up from the hammock, Richie rushing forward to help him. Thankfully Eddie allowed the help.
"I want to lay in a real bed," he said quietly.
Richie picked him up, and Eddie surprisingly didn't try to get away. "Well, we can go to the cabin where Stan, Bev, and Mike are, or we can go to the room you were already in," Richie stated and Eddie started to panic and shake his head.
"I don't want to go back to that room," he whispered, burying his face in Richie's chest.
Richie understood and brought Eddie to the shared cabin, sitting him down on a bed before climbing into his own. He was shocked when Eddie climbed into his bed next to him, resting his head on Richie's chest.
"Can I sleep here?" Eddie whispered into the darkness.
"Yeah," Richie responded, gently wrapping his arm around Eddie's waist and pulling him closer. "There's something about you that I don't completely hate, Lucantian."
"I feel the same way about you, Tenebrian."
