Time Goes On
by Chelle

~ CHAPTER 45 ~

The wind was chilled but actually felt somewhat nice. It was late, everyone except Zac and me had already gone to sleep. The house was quiet. "Aw, a full moon. Look at that." Zac said as his hands gripped my hips. "Yeah. It's beautiful, clear." I replied. "Mmm hmm." he said as he kissed my neck. I felt his chin rest on my shoulder as a gentle breeze came through the open bedroom window. Nighttime in the country was something I'd begun to love so much. It was peaceful. Just the faint sounds of crickets and other insects, sometimes an owl, could be heard late at night. "Zac," I said turning to face him. "I have to ask you about something." He never let go of me. He looked down and then kissed my forehead. Raising back up, he took a deep breath and led me over to our bed. We sat down and he reached up and brushed the hair away from my face. "Zac, I want to talk to you about..." His fingers laid on my lips to stop me from saying anything. "Shh, I know what you want to talk to me about." He moved his hand away from my mouth and ran his finger down one side of my face and then the other. "Oh my sweet baby. You don't think I'm stupid do you?" he said with a sarcastic laugh. "No Zac, I don't. I just want to know..." His fingers again covered my lips and he replied "Uh-uh." He laughed quietly again, only this time it was I can only describe as an evil laugh. "You never have learned how to be quiet." I looked into his eyes. There was something there that'd I'd never seen before. I wouldn't call it anger or even sadness. It was like a signal of some kind. His eyes told me that he was far from as calm as he appeared. "Now," he said standing up. He quickly walked over and locked the door. "I'm going to ask you a question and you are going to tell me the truth." I nodded as a uneasy and frightening feeling crept over me. "Have you and Ike slept together?" Zac asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at me. I shook my head and replied. "No Zac. I swear we haven't. I've never been with anyone else." He sat down beside me again. "You have thought about it though, haven't you?" I didn't answer. He smiled and took my hand. "It's alright. I know you have. I understand you not wanting to tell me. Hell, he wouldn't admit it either. I've seen the way the two of you act around each other. I've seen how he looks at you like you're some kind of piece of meat he just has to get his teeth into. He's thought about you for a very long time. He wants you Mel, I know he does. He thinks about you, he talks about you." I felt his hand squeezing mine tighter and tighter as he spoke. He looked over at me and laughed slightly. Then continued. "I know that you saw the pictures of Bryce. I know you all have been trying to figure this out. I know you also went to see Courtney today after she called and said she wouldn't be coming over." I felt my hands begin to tremble. He looked at me and smiled. He tapped the end of my nose with his index finger as he said "See, I told you that you can't ever keep anything from me." His hand went around to the back of my neck and into my hair. He jerked my head back, hard, causing me to let out a whine of pain. He leaned in close to my face and whispered in my ear. His heavy breathing and clenched teeth gave me a flashback to the times I'd been hit. "I told you all to mind your own business. I told you all to just stay the fuck out of it. But you couldn't, could you? No, you just had to know every, single god damn detail. You had to keep digging and digging until you knew everything. You are just like them now Melissa. Just like my family. They never could leave things alone. You can't either, you just can't keep yourself out of MY damn business." I reached behind my head and took his hand. I was about to speak when he let go of me with a hard push. I felt tears burning my eyes. He became blurred in my vision. "I just wanted to protect you. Why couldn't you just stay out of it? Don't you see, knowing has made things so much more difficult for you." I began to cry as I listened to him and watched him pace up and down in front of me. He was sweating slightly and digging his fingers into his eyes. I had seen Zac this worked up before but not in so long. It really scared me. I have to say that at that time I was more scared of him than I'd ever been. He had a rage in his eyes and a calm in his voice that was never a good mix. He easily sat down beside me and pulled me into his arms. I leaned against his chest as he whispered to me while stroking my hair. "I never wanted to hurt you. I was so lonely for you. It just happened it wasn't planned. I just wanted to save you all of this heartache. You wouldn't let me though. You were just too curious and now you've made things worse." He softly held me for a moment and then lifted my head up for me to face him. He gently ran his hand down each side of my face. "Shh," he smiled "Don't cry anymore Melissa. I'm going to fix it. You'll see." He took one hand away from my face and reached behind me over to the night table. Then he pulled me up holding both of my hands with one of his. I never saw his other hand, he kept it behind me. I had learned very early (as I've already told you about) not to look away when he spoke to me so I never even tried to turn and look at his other hand. He led me over to the window and stood behind me. "Look at that beautiful night sky." he said. "That moon is incredible." Another breeze rustled the trees and a train whistled in the far distance, barely noticeable. He hummed in my ear and kept one arm tightly wrapped around me where his hand held my chin. "I love you Melissa." he whispered after a few minutes. "I love you too." I said back. "Kiss me." he said spinning me around quickly to face him. He held me to him as his lips touched mine. He kissed with the gentleness and passion that he had when we first started dating and even a few times after he'd begun hitting me. I was lost in the worry and unsettling feeling that had by then taken me over. His lips parted after a moment and his tongue easily slid into my mouth. He pulled away quickly though and still held me tightly to him. Once my breathing had slowed down he brought his hand to my chin and guided my head to tilt to one side. I watched as he came closer. I felt his warm lips on my neck as his fingers dug into my back. I moaned a bit, both from pleasure and pain. In a way, he was calming my restless thoughts from the day. At the same time though, I was feeling a tightening in my stomach and a lump in my throat. He stopped kissing me and raised his head. I felt his hand moving against my back but he held me so close that I couldn't even begin to move away from him. I looked into his eyes as he whispered again "I love you." Suddenly I felt a sharp sticking pain in the side of my neck close to my collarbone. I couldn't scream though... No sound came when my mouth opened. It was a stinging pain that I'd never felt before. I couldn't speak or move. I watched as a small smile crept over his face and I felt my arms and legs get weaker and weaker then finally numb in a matter of seconds. My body tingled and my throat felt as though it was closing inch by inch. My breathing felt so restricted and my vision became blurry. I began to slide out of his grasp as he carried me to the bed and laid me down. I felt so dizzy and couldn't really think. I was somewhat disoriented as a bright light began to take over everything before that quiet darkness sit in. I finally gave in and closed my eyes. I could still hear but the sounds were faint and echoed so much that I can't even to this day tell what they were. I slowly drifted out as the noises became more and more quiet.

The first thing I remember hearing as I started waking up was music. Soft music. A girl's slightly high voice singing a slow song. I began to hear other sounds. Loud cars and trucks going by me very fast. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked to clear my vision as the song faded and a man began to speak. I didn't know where I was. My head hurt and I was still a bit dizzy. Slowly, things came into focus. There was a phone and I was on a bed. The sunlight was dim and there was a TV. The room was pale white and the comforter on the bed was soft. I tried to figure out where I was. Then it hit me... Zac. I turned my head and tried to sit up. That's when I realized that I couldn't move very much. Looking down I saw that my hands were tied together and then to headboard of the bed. I sat up as far as I could and looked toward the slightly open door. Laying on my side I saw that wherever I was, the highway was right outside. Which highway though? I heard a creaking sound and as I rolled onto my other side, the other door opened. Zac walked out dressed in jeans and running his fingers through his damp hair. "Hey baby." he said glancing at me. "Sleep well?" he asked smiling as he pulled a t-shirt over his head. "Zac, where are we?" I asked trying to talk though my throat and lips were extremely dry. He reached over and switched the small radio off and then walked over to shut the door. He walked back into the bathroom and came out with a small cup of water. "Zac, please tell me what happened. What are we doing?" He sat down on the bed beside me and lifted my head. Slowly he tilted the cup into my mouth. I drank the water, thankful for the soothing effect, and laid my head back down. "We're at a motel. Don't worry, we won't be here long." Zac finally answered. He stood up and began to empty a bag out on the bed. I immediately became scared when I saw the things he had. Some duct tape and a longer piece of the same thin white rope that my hands were tied with. He also had a needle and a small bottle of some sort of clear liquid. "What's that stuff for?" I asked. He looked over at me and smiled. He took out the last thing in the bag-a map, and started to look over it. "Zac? What are you going to do?" I asked shakily. He looked up and out the window. "We're going on a little trip." he answered with a smile. He was calm and spoke softly. He gathered everything back up and put it all back into the bag. "Here," he said, "I want you to go take a shower and wash your hair." He started to untie me and as crazy as it was, I was so scared that as soon as he had taken the rope off of my hands, I ran. I bolted to the door but that's as far as I got. I cried out as I felt a hard jerk. He pulled me down to the floor on my back and, with one knee on each side, he climbed on top of me. His hand covered my mouth for a moment until my screaming subsided. I looked into his eyes as he glared down at me. "Now that Melissa," he said reaching into his back pocket, "was most likely the stupidest thing you could have possibly done!" I looked at his hand as he brought it in front of him. My arms were pinned at my sides by his legs so I was unable to move... although I did squirm as he put the slender black object in front of my face and smiled. Then I watched as his thumb slowly slid down the side of it and with one flip of a tiny switch, a long, shiny blade suddenly snapped out only a couple of inches from my face. I gasped and started crying. "Nooo, Zac! Please don't!" He put his hand over my mouth and softly ran the blade over my face. "You are a very bad girl. Now don't you try that again. If you do you know what will happen?" I wiggled as tears ran down into my hair. Zac slightly laughed and ran the blade down to my neck just under my ear. "I will slice your throat open from one side to the other." As I heard his words I felt the blade run across neck to the other ear. "Now," he continued calmly, "I want you to go take a shower and wash your hair." He slowly stood up, pulling me with him, and walked me into the bathroom. The door was left open as I showered. Afterwards, he wrapped me in a towel and walked me back to the bed where he had laid out some clothes for me. "Get dressed. Hurry." he said. I quickly put on the undies, sweater and jeans he had laid out. He tossed me a pair of socks from a small suitcase and I pulled them on. "Put your shoes on, we need to leave now." I did as I was told and remained quiet. He gathered things around the room and then said "When we get outside you behave yourself." We walked to the door and as he opened it, he said close to my ear, "I have no problem slicing your face in this parking lot!" I felt a sickening feeling come over me. There were a few people outside but I didn't dare make an attempt to disobey Zac. He cheerfully greeted them as he put the bag and suitcase in the backseat and ushered me into the front. He quickly got in and started the car. We drove out and onto the highway. The air was cold out but the sun was shining bright with the sunset. Zac slipped on a pair of sun glasses and lit a cigarette. "When did you start that?" I timidly asked. He switched on the radio and as he blew a puff of smoke out of the cracked window he answered "In New York, on the promo tour." I had to take up something after I found out about Bryce. It was either this or drugs." I finally got up my courage and asked him "Where are we going?" He glanced at me and back to the road. "Not sure yet." he answered. "What about your family and the tour? It's supposed to start back at the end of the week." He placed the cigarette between his lips again and took a long drag. Slowly blowing the smoke out of his mouth he said "Yeah well, the tour will have to wait. I'm going to call home at our next stop." I watched as a semi-truck passed by the passenger side of the car. "Zac, what about..." He suddenly shouted "WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP! DAMN, JUST STOP WITH THE FUCKING THIRD DEGREE ALRIGHT?!" I realized that I was not really going to get anywhere. I turned and looked out of the passenger window with a sigh. After a moment, I felt something cold on my arm and glanced down. Zac was holding a bottle of water out for me. "Here, this will help you feel better until we stop again. After we get some road time, I'll get you something to eat." he said. I just stared at him. "Do you want this damn thing or not?!" he shouted. I took it and began to sip from the bottle. Zac sighed and then said "Shit, Mel you know I love you?" After I didn't answer he looked over at me. "Huh? You know that right?" I nodded and took another drink. "Want some?" I asked holding the bottle out to him. He smiled and patted my hand shaking his head. "No baby, I'm alright." he said softly. He continued to drive as I tried to remember what all had happened. The last thing I could remember was being in our room, he was holding me and then he kissed me. Then, that sharp pain in my neck and I had laid down... and I felt dizzy and weak... I sighed as my mind went blank. I watched the world go by as the car sped down the highway. I laid my head back against the seat and started to wonder about a lot of the things. Where were we going? What was going to happen? Would I ever be back in Tulsa? Would I see any of the family again... ever?

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