Page 4 of Storm the Night

“Yes, but I don’t know how.” I fidgeted with the bandage as I grew more uncomfortable with the conversation. There was nothing that could be done, and Colin was going to come home in exactly one week.

“I’ll help you, ya know. If you want to leave. I’ll help you.” He was staring at me.

I was fighting tears again at his offering. “Ryder...” I shook my head. “It’s not that easy. This is my whole life. Where would I go? What would I do? I don’t work anymore. He made me quit my job years ago. I can’t even provide for myself. He monitors my texts, money, and everything I do. I know this is no way to live, but neither is not being able to make ends meet. At least here, I know what to expect. I let go of the emotional pain a longtime ago and the physical pain doesn’t last long.” I brushed the tears away from my cheek that had fallen.

“Callie, I’ll help you. No matter how long it takes, and no matter what needs to be done. I’ll help you. I know you don’t know me and staying with me wouldn’t be your first option because I live across the street from you, but we will figure this out. Do you want to leave?”

He was handing me a lifeline... a chance at a different life. Did I want to? Could I? It had never seemed like a possibility. Never, and then in walks Ryder offering me a chance at a new life. I didn’t know how we would do it, but I had to at least try. The thing that scared me the most was knowing that when Colin found out, he’d probably try to kill me. “Calliope.” I said to him. I bit my bottom lip and fidgeted with the couch pillow.

Ryder asked me again, “Do you want to leave, Calliope?”

My name sounded amazing coming from him. I hadn’t heard anyone use my real name since my dad, although my dad, nine times out of ten said my first and middle name together. I nodded. “Yes.”

“Ok then. When does Colin come back?”

“He’ll be back next Friday.” I was scared. I was officially scared.

As if Ryder could read my mind, he said, “Don’t be scared. I swear, I won’t let anything happen to you, but I’m getting you out of here. Trust me.”

For the first time in five years, I had hope. I had hope that my life could be different. I was putting my trust in a complete stranger, but somehow, I had never felt more comforted or safer than with Ryder, in that moment.

Chapter 4

Ryder

When I left Calliope, she was calmer than when I had showed up. I couldn’t believe he hit her. What kind of man leaves his wife with glass in her foot and bleeding? Fuming didn’t even scratch the surface of how I was feeling. We had one week to figure out how we were going to get her out of her situation.

I hadn’t lived in my house long, so I really didn’t own much. Spending most of my time at the clubhouse meant I didn’t need a lot in my house. Since I was only renting, it made the decision to leave very easy. When I called the landlord, he was going to let me out of my lease early without penalty because it just so happened that he had a family member needing a place to rent. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I didn’t know if I expected her to live with me, but I knew she needed a place to go, and I was going to do whatever I needed to in order to help her.

There was a little house I had found on the other side of town to rent, close to the clubhouse, so that made it even more convenient. Being away from her current place, I was hopeful that would make it more appealing to her. She would be able to get a good chunk of her personal items moved out without fear of someone seeing where she was going.

Some of the guys from the club spent most of their Saturday helping me get my stuff out and over to the new place. It was a three-bedroom house. Did I need a place that big? Hell no, but I wanted there to be enough space that Calliope didn’t feel crowded. She would have her own room and we didn’t need to be right on top of each other.

“Ryder, why are you doing all of this for a girl you don’t really know?” Sawyer asked. He was another club member and most of us called him Kid. He grabbed a beer from behind the club bar and walked over to me, handing me one.

“I don’t know, Kid. You know how you can just tell lookin’ at someone that they’re going through it? I looked at her the other day and she looked happy and then instantly sad when her husband came to the door and told her to get inside.” I shook my head. “Then, when I went inside her place after her husband left…”

Sawyer interrupted me. “Wait, you just walked in her house?”

“Yeah. I saw her old man leave so I went up to knock on the door and I could hear her crying. She was sobbing, man. I knew something wasn’t right. So, I went inside. She was on the floor, her foot bleeding. Then I saw her face. He hits her.” I looked down at the beer Sawyer handed me, peeling the label off as I spoke.

“Fuck, man. I get it. You know I get, with my family history and all. No one deserves that. Not even a stranger. Do you want Lily to talk to her? I mean, does she have any friends?”

I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I was going to head over there today but wanted to get a burner phone from D first. I wanna be able to contact her or she be able to contact me if she’s got an emergency.”

Sawyer nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. Well, I know Lily would love to help so if you talk to her and she just wants a friend, let me know.”

“I will, man. Thank you.”

*

I had gotten the burner phone from D and went back to Calliope’s. Knocking on the door, I was feeling nervous. I hoped she hadn’t changed her mind over the last day.

She came to the door, only a slight limp now. “Hi, Ryder.”

“Hi. How are you feeling? You don’t seem like you’re limping too much anymore.”

She smiled and looked down at her foot. “It’s not too bad. You bandaged it up pretty good. Thank you.” She was staring at me through the screen door and finally she opened it. “I’m sorry. Come in. I’m sorry. I’m still really nervous.

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