Fighter {Completed}

Chapter Sixty: Stay With Me, Baby {Ellie}

Chapter Sixty: Stay With Me, Baby {Ellie}

"Hungry, darling?" Keenan asks, extending a bag of food toward me. I take it, sitting it beside me and desperately trying to keep my eyes away from Cole hiding behind the door. If Keenan or his uncle see him- any of them, actually, we're all going to die here. I force my eyes away from the pistol tucked into his waistband. He tilts his head, squatting in front of me. "You look upset, Eleanor. What's got you down?"

What's got you down?

Are you serious?

I can't help myself, I glare at him. I wish he'd burst into flames.

I wish he'd suffer.

Silence lasts for what feels like forever. At least an hour passes with Keenan just reveling in the fact that I'm here, bent to his will as I wait for help.

Little does he know, my help's already here.

The only problem is the fact that two men with guns can overpower three unarmed men easily any day, any time. Keenan and his uncle could kill them one by one before they even made it out of the shadows they hide in.

I try not to think about how shitty this situation really is, how incredibly sick Keenan really is.

At this point, I'm not sure how much more time has passed, silence still filling the air as Keenan grows increasingly restless. I decide to try my luck.

"Let me go." Keenan's face transforms into one of irritation, as if speaking to a toddler who doesn't understand as he runs a hand through his hair. "You said you loved me, but if you love me you won't let me suffer here. Please, Keenan, let me go."

His uncle snorts, rolling his eyes.

"I told you, Eleanor. I'm doing this because I love you. So I can't let you go, darling. Not until I figure out where we're going to go together."

"And I told you, I'm not going anywhere with you," I spit.

Pissed, Keenan's eyes turn to slits, mouth snarling as he raises a fist. It connects before I have the time to flinch, sending me sprawled on the floor as he stands to his full height. My breath leaves me as he delivers a kick to my stomach, forcing me to curl into a ball. Pain amplifies with each breath, and I worry that my ribs might be broken.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

God, it hurts!

"I fucking warned you, Eleanor. I'm done with the attitude. You're going to start acting right or I'm going to make sure you never leave this fucking room."

Like lightning, Keenan pulls the gun from his waistband, the barrel of death cold against my temple as he holds it there. I spot the sinister grin of his uncle from across the room as he lights a cigarette.

"It'd be so easy, Eleanor." He leans closer, whispering, and I pray to God Cole and the others stay hidden. "I could pull the trigger right now, end it all for you. Then how would your little boyfriend feel? Hmm?"

Keenan makes a face of pure evil as a new idea comes to him.

The barrel drifts downward, dragging across my neck and pressing against my chest as he forces me flat on my back. He trails it between my breasts, a wicked grin on his face.

"What do you think Cole would do if I used you for a while? I'm sure he's gotten his fill of you. I think it's my turn, Eleanor. Don't you think so?"

He presses the gun to my stomach, changing once more.

"Or maybe, I put a bullet in your head and then tell him where to find your body." Shaking his head, he sighs. "Decisions, decisions... What's your choice, Eleanor?"

He doesn't know Cole and the others are here.

He'll kill them if he finds out.

Chances are...

Chances are, I'm going to die down here, no matter what route I take.

Protect them.

I have to keep them safe.

I can't let them get hurt - possibly killed - because of me.

I'm sorry, Cole.

Please don't watch this.

I gesture for Keenan to come closer, watching as he leans in ever so slightly to hear me, a strange excitement in his eyes. I can't fight the tears that escape.

"I would rather die than be with you," I whisper.

And then it happens: a snarl of pure hatred before a loud bang. My stomach burns but only for a second, my mind quickly focusing in on something else.

Footsteps catch my attention, quick and hard against the concrete floor.

Suddenly, Keenan's gone.

I can only lift my head as Cole straddles Keenan, holding him upwards with by his collar as he rains down punch after punch, directly onto Keenan's face. With each hit, black spots begin dotting my vision.

Asher wrestles Keenan's uncle to the ground in my peripheral vision, the gun skidding across the floor.

I blink, and Sebastian is over me, saying words that I can't hear.

Rushing water is loud, too loud.

Glancing back toward Cole, I spy Keenan's limp body, still jostled by hits as Cole continues.

He's going to kill him with his bare hands, just like he said he would.

Seb leaves me, struggling to pull Cole off of an unconscious Keenan. And then there are more people, each one going for Cole, desperate to pull him off. Shoves, punches, and pure animalistic rage is distributed to each who touches him, cops and friends alike catching their fair share.

It takes three of them to finally pull Cole off of Keenan, the latter left in a pummeled mess of blood as they pin Cole to the ground.

As he continues to fight them, his eyes flicker to mine, silvery orbs so insanely full of wrath. Like someone pulling away a curtain, they clear. Cole stops fighting for a second, staring at me. A frown crosses his features.

Suddenly, he's straining to get free, vigorous and thrashing for a new reason.

"Ellie!"

He roars my name like a warrior's cry.

"Get the fuck off of me! Ellie! Ellie, stay with me!"

Cole finally makes it to his feet. I close my eyes for a half a second, and then he's over me, face pull of panic as he screams, shaking me as tears form in his eyes. I focus as hard as I can, trying to make out the words he speaks.

"Stay with me, baby! Ellie! Look at me, Ellie!" His tears fall onto my own cheeks, but I can't feel them, only see them as he cries for me.

A scream escapes me as his hands press onto my stomach, the feeling hot and flaming with pain. His hands are warm, too much so. And the floor is so fucking cold.

His hand, coated in thick crimson blood, rises to smooth my hair away from my face, his eyes desperate as he speaks.

I wish more than anything I could hear his voice, but the roaring drowns him out.

It's over.

It's done.

No more Keenan.

No more pain.

No more... anything.

The pain begins to leave my body as I feel myself relaxing, watching Cole's cries grow even more desperate above me. It hurts my heart to see him this way, but I feel strangely... peaceful.

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