Abused

My bag feels heavy in my hand. The muscles of my arm feel a bit sore. And no wonder, after holding my super heavy bag in my hand for fifteen minutes. I take a look at the clock on the wall. It's 1:24 pm. Six more minutes. Only six. A blue sign next to the clock says LAS VEGAS, NEVADA. I gaze at the railroad tracks, and try to listen, but I can't hear the sound of a train.

Zak was kind enough to get me a ticket back to Vegas, when we decided that it wouldn't be wise for me to just stay at the hotel for the whole day. We decided that I would probably need to go home and figure this all out. I don't think it will take too long, maybe just a few more days. We called Billy who agreed to create the trailer for this week instead of me, because if I had to watch the possession part (which was all recorded in one of the X-cams), I would just go insane. And I mean it.

I squeeze Zak's hand tightly, never really wanting to let go. He just smiles and leans closer. How am I going to survive without you, Zak? They won't be heading home until Wednesday, which is two days away. They have several meetings with video professionals and other paranormal investigators who have investigated the house before. They decided that they want to try to find out some information about possessions inside that house. And I am pretty sure that I am not the only one.

I agreed that they may use some of the possession for the show, but not the worst parts. I don't want to see all of it on TV, especially when I know that my dad will be possibly watching every second of it. I don't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me hurt, laying on the floor, begging for them to kill me. Isn't that what he wants? Shit, I had already forgotten that my dad is probably somewhere in Vegas, too. But as long as I am going to stay inside the house, nothing bad is going to happen to me. And, it's only for a couple of days.

Zak wraps his hand on my shoulders comfortingly and I lean on him. I wish I didn't have to go, but I just can't stay here.

Two pretty young girls are standing nearby, waiting for the Vegas train to arrive. They are wearing high heels, miniskirts and tank tops. They are whispering to each other and another one of them points at Zak and smiles from ear to ear.

They have probably recognised him. He looks really hot, once again. He has his hair gelled up and he is wearing a grey shirt, my favourite, and black baggy jeans. He has a belt that has a metallic skull on it. I grin and grab Zak's free hand and then just place it on my neck, looking at both of the girls from the corner of my eyes. I lean closer to Zak, who hasn't noticed those girls yet, and pull him close for a kiss. When our lips meet, I just smirk and let my hand wander in his gelled hair, carefully not to destroy hours and hours of work. He breathes out something, but I am too distracted to listen. I slide my hand down his neck and let it rest on his muscular shoulder. I squeeze slightly and sigh when I hear a voice, telling that the Vegas train will arrive in a minute.

When we break the kiss to get some air, I secretly take a look at both of the girls. They have stopped staring at Zak and I feel pleased. I want them to know that Zak is mine, even when we are going to be apart for a couple of days. I feel a small bit of fear in my heart, but of course I know that Zak would never ever do anything that would hurt me. Like cheating 'n' stuff..

The train arrives before I get another chance to kiss him. I hear a loud, metallic voice and the train stops on the track right next to us. My sigh disappears in the noise of the train, and I blink my eyes a few times. Nadine, you've gotta be kidding. You so are not crying, after all you've been trough, when you have to leave your boyfriend for a couple of days in another state. But, to say the least, Zak has to be the first person I have ever truly loved. And I just can't let him go.

He squeezes my hand gently for the last time. "I guess this is it, then", he says and stares at my eyes. His eyes look deep, and may be that it's just my imagination, but I really think that I can see sadness, too. "Yeah.." I swallow thickly and then let go of his hand. "See you on Wednesday", he says and then pulls me in for a quick hug. "Yeah.. On Wednesday", I say against his neck. My warm breathing causes his body to shiver gently. I smirk and step closer to the train. "Bye Nad!" I hear his voice when I turn to get in the train on time.

"Bye Zak", I whisper and the door of the train closes. It's just me for the next couple of days. Just me and my own fears. I'll need to learn how to deal with this shit myself. And I think I'll manage for just a couple of days. It's only 48 hours, a bit more.

I shake my head. Right now I'll need to focus on getting home, which means sitting in the train for the next six hours. I am grateful that it's not gonna be eight hours like the drive with the van in here was.
But it is going to be very boring without Aaron's jokes, Nick's laughter and Zak's inviting warmth. I sigh loudly. Three minutes and I miss them already.

I take my earbuds, and turn on my blue iPod. Then I choose the angriest dubstep I can find and turn the volume on full. I stare outside the window, and when the train starts to move, I see Zak who is staring at the train. He looks so lonely, sad.. I feel sorry for him. I raise my hand to wave, but too soon he disappears in the crowd and I lose him.

What if I am doing a horrible mistake?

"Hey! Nadine!" I hear a familiar voice. My heart beats hard against my chest, and my eyes furiously try to find a familiar person. "It's been so long, Nadine!" I run at the person I see a couple seats ahead of me and burst out laughing out loud. "Oh, god, how I missed you!" I manage to say.

"Oh my god, Laura! How long has it been?" I laugh and hug tightly one of my closest college friends. "I'd say some good three years! And still I was able to recognise you Nadine!" she grins from ear to ear and after another hug then lets go of me. I take a look at her. Yup, just like I remembered. She has long, straight brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She is quite tall, much taller than me. And she is also skinny and even though it's just my own opinion, I think she is really beautiful. And, she hasn't changed a bit. "You haven't changed at all!" she says and I burst out laughing. This is why we became best friends. We share the taste in everything, and sometimes it feels like we share our thoughts, too.

"Neither have you!" I say and take a look at the seat next to her, wondering if I could sit there. When I decide that it looks empty, I sit down and pocket the iPod that I had forgotten in my hand.

"You have to tell me everything!" she says excitedly. I just smirk. "No, you first", I say. "Okay.. Well.. There's really not much to tell.." I give her an encouraging smirk. "I moved to New York pretty much right after graduating, which you knew already.." I nod casually. "Hey, what's the NYC like?" I ask and she grins. "I'd never believe that I'm saying this, but too noisy and crowded for me", she says and then just laughs at the amazed face I make. She is really the most outgoing person I have never ever known. I didn't know there would be a place that is too noisy and crowded for her. Yeah, we used to live outside the city during the college but often during weekends (when my dad did not know, and still doesn't) we escaped in the city to party. She swore that she would party every day in New York, but obviously she doesn't do that anymore.

"Oh.. And.. I'm engaged with Brad", she adds and I let out a kind of excited scream. "Really? You are??" I smile. "Yes!" She says excitedly and places her hand on my shoulder. God, how I have missed her! I feel a lot happier, even though I am going to have to spend a couple of days without Zak.. Oh, I managed not to think about him for three minutes.

"So, here's the big question.." I start and she raises her eyebrows. "Why in the hell would a NYC girl, who once swore that she'd never visit Vegas again, return to Vegas?" She chuckles. "I'm taking a few days off and just visiting people and stuff. A holiday", she says and smiles. "I was gonna find you but I didn't have to spend too much time looking." I grin.

"So. How about you?" That's the question I did not want to hear and I tried to avoid. I don't like to talk about myself. Mainly because people often want to know stupid things like my father's profession and some stuff about my childhood.. And those are not happy memories. Those are the memories I have locked in a lonely corner of my mind, and every day I fight against them.

"Well.. Nothing to tell", I say. I don't feel like talking about my dad, because well.. Laura somewhat knows what he's like. I never fully told her about all his problems, and abusive side.. Instead, I told that he is an alcoholic. I didn't expect her to understand that someone would be just.. just insane like he is. And that way she never wanted to see my dad or my home.

"Sure there is.. You still live in Vegas?" She asks. I just nod. "Yeah, not outside the city anymore though. In the centre", I reply quickly and then mentally kick myself. I should have changed the subject when I had a change. Now she wants to know more details. "You're not back together with James, right?" she asks and I just shake my head. James is the only guy I used to date before.. before Zak. But my dad ruined it, even though we were together pretty long time. But it only lasted until the first year in the college. But we did talk about getting back together, which then never happened because I assumed that James could find someone better than me. And I think he did, too.

"So you live alone?" she asks and I nod again. "Great!" I look at her weirdly. "I mean.. Then nothing prevents me from coming over whenever I like", she says and laughs. I just roll my eyes. That's the Laura I used to know. I am really happy to have her back. Even though it's not permanent, but for the days she is in Vegas.

"And where do you work?" She asks. I sigh. How am I going to explain her this one? "I.. I work for a TV channel." It's as simple as that. Maybe she doesn't want to know mo-.."Which channel?" And there she goes again. I really wouldn't like to explain her everything, but because I still have almost six hours left and all.. "Travel Channel. Yeah, you've never heard of it.. End of discussion", I say and flash her a smile. "Actually, I have.. There's a show I used to watch, even though I've missed a few episodes.. Have been busy..", she says and I nod.

"So, what do you do with the travel channel?" Agh. "Well.. I do trailers, sometimes field work and.. you know.. that stuff." She grins. "That stuff. Wow, trailers.. Sounds cool.. For which shows?" I shrug. "I guess it's.. cool.. And it's a show called Ghost Adventures..", I mutter and look away. It's not that I am ashamed, but soon I am sure that I will need to explain her every single detail of this show. And she literally has to know everything.

"Oh. My. God. THE Ghost Adventures?" She asks and almost starts to jump on her seat. "Calm down L, and yeah.." I just grin. "It's the show I watch every Friday, even though I missed the latest one!" She smiles excitedly. "Have you met the guys?" Her eyes shine brightly. "Yeah..", I mumble.

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, so I reach my hand to get my phone. "Who is it?" I shrug and show her the screen. She gasps. "You.. You got a message from Zak.. Is it.. Is he..?" She starts and stares at me. I glare at her and then roll my eyes. "He's my boss." She blinks a few times in confusion.

"What's he saying?" I just shrug again and open the message. "Show me", she begs and I let her to read the message. 'Miss u already sweetie'. Damn.

I type in a 'miss u too', and hit the send button while Laura stares at me. The look on her face is.. interesting. And I can tell that she has about twenty thousand important questions about me and him. About me and Zak, who is now far far away in another state.

I sigh and prepare to answer.