Time Goes On
by Chelle

~ CHAPTER 47 ~

Things had been quiet on the drive to the next motel. Nothing had been said about the night before except the one time Zac had asked me if I was feeling alright. I had told him I was and the reply he gave was "See, I knew you would be. I told you there is no reason for you to be scared." He had taken a country road through South Dakota. It was a long drive. Zac had only stopped three times, twice for food and once for gas. He had a small cooler in the back seat that had ice and bottles of water in it. I didn't say much. I think I was trying to figure out what to do. The next day was his birthday and he'd already said a few times that Ike would be with us but no one else. As the car rolled on into the night I'd kept myself amused looking at the sky and thinking what the family was doing and what they had thought. I'd started wondering if Zac had ever told them anything. Everyone had been asleep the night we left. I wanted to ask about what he'd told them if anything but I didn't. I heard him sigh heavily and turned to look at him. Slowly a little more courage came over me and I was able to speak to him for the first time in hours. "Zac, can I ask you something?" He never looked away from the road in front of us but quietly said "Yes." I took a deep breath. "What about Bryce?" He shifted in the seat but still kept his eyes straight ahead. "What about him?" Zac finally said. "Well, where is he? I mean, you just kinda left him." He glared at me for a moment and then turned away. "I didn't leave him. He is with his mother. Courtney takes good care of him. I think about him all the time. He's fine. I don't have to worry about him or anyone else." I sat back in the seat and turned my attention back to the dark sky. "How does Ike know where to find us? You said we'd see him tomorrow for your birthday." I said without turning away from the window. "It's not for my birthday. I told him where we'd be and that if he wanted to see your pretty face like he remembered it, that he needed to be alone and keep his mouth shut about talking to me and where he was going." I glanced at him and then back out the window. I suddenly got a flash to the blade of that knife in front of my face. I shook the thought away quickly. Not wanting to anger him, I didn't say anything for a while. Thoughts rushed through my mind of seeing Ike and hopefully getting out of the whole situation I was in. Isaac obviously knew that something was wrong if Zac had indeed told him that. I did have to consider that Zac had never said such words and had only told me that as another one of those mind games I'd been drawn into before. Then a horrible feeling came over me that I couldn't shake off. What if Zac had never called Ike? I closed my eyes tightly and leaned my forehead against the cold window. When my eyes opened, my vision had started to blur as tears came. I forcefully held them back not wanting Zac to know I was crying. His voice caused me to jump slightly. "You ok? You're awfully quiet." I sighed as I laid my head back against the seat of the car. "I'm alright. I'm tired." I replied. "Well, we'll get a room in the next town. I'm tired too." he said. I felt his hand on my leg for just a moment. I turned to look out of the window again and closed my eyes. As I felt the tears again and tried to keep them from falling, I said a silent prayer.

I stared at myself in the mirror. I was so tired and wishing I could read Zac's mind. I glanced at him. He didn't see me. He just sat still and quiet staring at the TV. I looked back in the mirror and ran my fingers through my damp hair. The shower had felt good and had calmed me a little bit. Slowly I turned off the bathroom light and walked over to the bed. "I need to wash these clothes unless you have some more somewhere." I said. Zac looked over at me and sighed. Crossing his arms he replied "Ike will be bringing you some tomorrow." I nodded and put the jeans and t-shirt I'd had on in a plastic grocery bag. I slid down onto the bed and turned to look at Zac. He had worry and nervousness in his eyes. He was tired too and seemed to be a little paranoid and distracted. He rubbed his fingers together constantly and I'd tried to remember if I'd ever seen him do that before or if it was a new habit. "Let's go to sleep." Zac said as he reached over and turned out the lamp next to the bed. "Alright." I said and crawled up to lay next to him. He slowly ran his fingers through my hair and said "Melissa, I am not going to hurt you as long as you behave. But I don't want you getting any ideas about seeing Isaac." He then added as he turned onto his side and faced away from me, "You have spent enough time with him. You belong to me and he can't have you. No one can have you." I laid down, scared, confused and wondering if this was all a game to him or if he was telling me the truth... or a mix of both.

"Melissa, hurry up. We gotta go babe." Zac said as he paced by the door. "Alright, I'm coming." I replied pulling my hair into a ponytail. "Where to now?" I asked as we got into the car. "Well, we are going to eat first of all. Then we are going to meet Ike." Zac answered as he pulled out onto the highway. I sat back, preparing for another day. In my mind I could hear people asking "Why didn't you just run away? Why did you go?" Well, honestly, until you have been in the situation you can't ever say what you'd do. It's scary and I never thought it would happen to begin with. You just kind of take it day by day and keep hoping for the best. Besides, I knew all too well what he was capable of and that I had yet to see his limits. I think I was too scared to try and run away. It was safer to stay and do what he said. He was in control and although he was stressed and probably didn't know what he was going to do next anymore than I did, he knew that I wouldn't disobey him. He knew that I'd do everything he told me to when he told me to do it. He was somewhat paranoid though. I'd noticed him glancing at the door and windows of the rooms when he'd hear a noise outside. He watched people so close and was always on guard. When we were in a room unless I was in the bathroom, I was always tied to the bed and he always took the phone cord on the couple of occasions that he left me at the motels. He watched me so close when we were in a gas station or motel office that I couldn't let anyone know that he had me against my will. It was like he could read me, he knew what I was thinking. He'd get this look on his face when I was 'too close' to someone. His face would turn to stone, I'd get that death glare and his teeth would clamp together making his jaw tense. He'd bring his hand up by his face as a way to get my attention and then slowly he'd lower it to his back pocket. I knew what he was doing but powerless to defend myself. So I took things as they came. I had already told myself that as long as I did what he told me to, I wouldn't be hurt. So that's what I did.
"How's this?" Zac's words were soft as they pulled me back to the present. I nodded as he pulled into the parking lot of a small, roadside diner. We walked inside and a young, cheerful waitress greeted us. "Just take a seat anywhere, I'll be with ya in a sec." Zac smiled and guided me over to a booth in the corner. We sat down and took our jackets off. "Happy birthday." I said quietly. I looked up to see Zac smile. "Thanks babe." he replied. "Zac, have you talked to anyone except Isaac?" I asked leaning forward. He sighed. "Yeah, I talked to mom for a minute last night. She told me to tell you that the family misses you and hi and all that stuff. She said they have been thinking about us." The waitress walked over and said "Alright, what will you two have?" When she looked up from her tablet her mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide as a grin spread across her face. "Oh my God! I know you!" she said pointing her pen at Zac. "You're Zac Hanson! Well, I'll be damned! I never thought that I'd see, I can't believe this..." Zac smiled and held out his hand. He said "It's nice to meet you. This is my girlfriend..." The waitress waved her hand and said "Melissa, I know. Fans talk about the girls you're seen with and when she was on tour with you guys we knew it was official." She giggled and held out the tablet for him to sign. As Zac signed his name she looked over at me. "You are one lucky girl! I hope you know how many girls would give anything to be in your place." I smiled and said "Yes, he's uh, he's a catch." Zac smiled at me and handed the tablet back to the giddy waitress. He ordered two breakfast specials and then asked the waitress to keep quiet about us being there. I felt a tug in my stomach as she walked away with a wink at me. I sat tense as we ate and then watched as Zac left a 10 dollar bill and a short note (thanking the waitress for not screaming) on the table. He payed the bill and we walked back out and got into the car. As Zac pulled back onto the highway he said "That was nice, what you said in there about me." I just smiled and thought to myself; And it's nice what people say about someone that they don't know. I tried to relax but I couldn't. So many thoughts raced through my mind about what the waitress had said and about seeing Ike. I also kept thinking about what Zac had told me Diana had said. Didn't they know that I wouldn't have left them like that? Zac turned on the radio and slid his sunglasses over his eyes. "You were very good in the diner. I thought you'd try something." I sighed and replied "No Zac, I'm not going to try anything." He reached over and squeezed my hand. With a slight laugh he said "I know. You're too smart to do anything stupid." He let go of my hand and lit a cigarette. I just watched the world fly by us outside of the window and wondered if Isaac would rescue me the way I wanted him to.

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