Chapter 44: Communication is key

POV: Zac

October 15-16, 2008

I really hadn’t expected to see her kissing someone else, hadn’t expected it at all and it hurt like a mother fucker. I couldn’t talk to her right then, I just walked away and found the first room where I could break down before the walk. It made walking bearable but I really just wanted to curl up and die. I forced myself to be as normal as possible through the walk, sound check, dinner, and even the show. But I was fighting it so badly, that pain and I wanted to break down and just cry.

I didn’t want to believe that Gabriella would willingly cheat on me with Sierra, but I saw them on the couch! It was hard to erase that image. Gabriella’s hands were all on her breast, tongue down her throat. It was a constant reminder of what I’d found when I caught Priscilla, only she was naked and he was actually fucking her.

“Zac what is wrong?” Isaac asked.

“Nothing.”

“Come on, you were alone in a room crying when Taylor found you for the walk, you’ve been misty eyed all afternoon, you look like your kitten was murdered in cold blood.”

Kitten..it’s what Sierra called her and I wondered how many times she’d gotten her to purr since we left Oklahoma. That caused more tears that I couldn’t quite stop and I felt Isaac’s hand on my back.

“Zac? Come on, talk to us.”

“I’ve been thinking that Sierra and Gabby were too close, you guys had to notice as well. I went to the bus to see if she was walking and I caught them.”

“You caught them?” Taylor asked.

“Sierra’s tongue was down her throat and her hands were all on Sierra’s chest. She came inside but I couldn’t talk to her, I can’t even now. This feels worse than when I caught Priscilla. I can’t…I just...”

“When was this?” Taylor asked.

“Right after we got back, before the walk.”

“It couldn’t have been Sierra Zac. She approached me right after we got back because she was concerned about a wire on my keyboard. She said she’d noticed it was taped. She was with me until I went to find you. There is no way she could be in two places.”

“But..I saw her Taylor.”

“It wasn’t her.”

Austin had come in about the time I’d said Taylor’s name. “Who wasn’t her?”

“Zac said he saw Sierra on the bus with Gabby, but Taylor said she was inside with him.” Ike said.

“I saw a girl with the same hair color as Sierra, but her name was Tera. Gabby introduced us when we went out.”

“Why were you with her?” I asked.

It sounded much harsher and more accusing than I intended.

“Easy there tiger. She went outside to get her charger and I went with her to get my shower bag. The girl was by the door and she asked her talk. I recommended the bus because she’d be safe on the bus. Sierra wasn’t anywhere near and when I came inside she was with Taylor. Speaking of, where is Gabby?”

“She should be breaking things down.” Taylor said.

“She’s not on the stage, Andrew was grumbling because she’d been on the bus all afternoon.”

I looked up at him. “She’s not inside helping or outside?”

“Not that I saw, in fact I’m going to help them so we can leave on time.”

“She’s probably on the bus.” Isaac said.

“She told me it was Tera and I didn’t believe her. I’ll go see if she’s on the bus.”

“Sure that’s wise?” Ike asked.

“Let’s face it Isaac, we can’t avoid one another forever. When we leave we’ll be within 72 feet of one another and her bunk is above mine.”

“You’ve been doing a good job of it.” Carrick said.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that the last two tours you made time to be with her, this one you haven’t. You broke lunch dates, dinner dates, you haven’t even dragged her off to some bathroom somewhere. She probably feels alone but you should see if she’s at least okay.”

Carrick wasn’t wrong, I usually did find somewhere even if it was the bus. I got up and headed outside, some fans were there but I went right to the bus and got on. DJ was sitting in his seat eating but I went to the back, she wasn’t in the lounge or any of the bunks, not even the bathroom.

“Hey DJ, have you seen Gabby?”

“No. I got up about nine and she wasn’t on the bus. But, your phone went off several times and it’s been beeping.”

I’d forgot that I’d even plugged it up in my bunk, intent on leaving it there until we came back from the walk. I checked it and found she’d called several times. But, when I called back it went straight to voicemail. I went inside and while they packed up the equipment I searched the entire building. Every nook and cranny and I didn’t find her.

“What are you doing Zac?” Sierra asked.

“Have you seen Gabby or heard from her since this morning?”

“She called a few times but I was busy, I just assumed she was on the bus or something. Why?”

I explained to her what happened earlier and her normally calm eyes just darkened and took on that look that I’d much rather not ever see again. Kind of reminded me a stormy volcano and much worse than Abby ever thought to be.

“You fucking walked away from her when she was asking you not too? Are you fucking stupid? It’s the same stupid shit Max did and Shawn. What time was that?”

“Before the walk, Sierra don’t even lay that shit on me and I know about that. I caught her with someone else. Just like I did my ex.”

“Fair enough, but you can handle those emotions Zac. She told Andrew she was going to bus but she’s not here or there, odds are she fucking ran. I wish I’d answered.”

She tried her and voicemail is all she got as well.

“You mean she left the venue? Where would she go? Sierra’s it’s been pouring down rain for hours. She would have come back here, even if she was hurt and pissed at me she would come back.”

“Unless she can’t, Damien hasn’t been seen, but doesn’t mean he’s not watching.”

Everyone stopped packing and searched the building to make sure she hadn’t found a spot to hide and fallen asleep or something, when it was clear that she wasn’t here I told them to finish packing the stuff up, we had to be out of the venue on time, with or without her.

“If she ran Zac we’re not going to find her without the police.” Isaac said.

“I can GPS her phone.”

“You can what?” he asked.

“When she ran away the first time I installed a GPS tracker on her phone and the app on mine, she has it with her because she’s called since then. If her phone is off or dead I can at least see where she was last.”

I ignored the looks they gave me and checked the app, I didn’t understand the route she took. It zigzagged, routed back and forth, went in circles at times, but it kept getting farther away. Through streets, side roads, alleys, and then it stopped.

“Where was the last stop?”

“Almost four miles from here, it looks like maybe a park or something. I’ll take a cab out front and head there. Once the bus is loaded come there too and pick us up. It’ll take too long to walk back.”

“What if she’s not there?”

“Then meet me there so we can all talk to the police.”

The cabs were in the front so I went there and the driver was polite, I showed him on the phone where I needed to go.

“That’s Mount Olivet Cemetery, I know where it is. It’s not that huge though.”

The drive took 25 minutes for the traffic and because of the weather. He parked in front of a covered area and I got out, but didn’t have him stay. I went under the huge arch and assumed if she was here she’d be under this, she wasn’t.

“Gabby?” I yelled.

I could tell someone had been under here, there was wet shoe prints on the concrete, looked liked heels. I stepped out and the rain began to soak my shirt, the wind was chilly.

“Gabby?” I yelled.

I couldn’t see her anywhere, so I moved into the cemetery, following the path cars used, Gabby and I had visited one or two since that first one, she liked statues and monuments, if she was in here upset then she’d be around those. I walked around for fifteen minutes trying to find her.

I had a feeling she was here, why she hadn’t left and come back was beyond me but I paused and just screamed her name. When I got no answer I just followed my gut instincts. She liked big monuments and I saw one in the far back so I went there and found her sitting on the ground with her head on her knees behind it.

“Gabriella?”

She barely moved her head to me and when I ran toward her she began to back away quickly and get up to run, she however was slipping in the mud and she looked afraid.

“It’s Zac, Gabby it’s okay. It’s Zac!”

It took a few moments for her to comprehend who I was before she moved toward me. Her words weren’t very audible but I was pretty certain she was saying she was sorry over and over again. I could also tell she’d been here a while, her clothes were completely soaked through and she was shaking pretty badly. As pissed off as I was earlier, I couldn’t quite deny knowing she was okay was a good feeling. I couldn’t see her face very well though, couldn’t see any of her very well.

“We need to get out of the rain, there is a covered arch in the front. We can wait for the bus there.”

It was a very long walk to that arch and once she was out of the rain it was evident she was cold. I pulled her to me and just waited, we had to wait 30 minutes on the bus. It wasn’t until she got on the bus that I realized how she looked. She was soaked and shaking, her clothes were dirty but what bothered me was the red spots on her shirt, the rips in her clothes, and the fact she wasn’t talking to me unless it was she was sorry.

“Kitten? What the hell happened?”

She just stood there and I told DJ we could go, I laid my hand on her shoulders gently.

“Go on to the bathroom, I’ll find you something warm to put on. I need to change also.”

Gabby walked around Sierra and went to the bathroom and I looked at her. She hadn’t ignored Sierra since they talked, the fact that she had was a sign that she was very upset or something bad happened.

“Will you find something warm for her to eat? Soup or something?”

“Of course. I think I have some lavender tea too. Is she okay?”

I shrugged and went to our bags, getting myself dry clothes and finding something she would be warm in. I found her footie pajamas and as much as I hated them they’d be warm. I got a t-shirt to put under it and then got her shower bag. I went to the bathroom but she hadn’t even undressed, she was just standing there.

I laid the clean clothes down in the dry sink and looked at her.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head no. “My neck hurts.”

I walked to her, brushed her hair back and found two fairly bad little cuts, parallel to one another and they almost resembled vampire bites.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and then I can see if we need to visit the ER.”

I helped her out of the shirt and untied the one around her arm. Once the wet clothes were off I used the hot water, it wouldn’t last long but it would help removed the dry blood on her back and chest. It was clear that something happened. When I was sure she was okay I went ahead and stripped, dried off and put my underwear on at least. I then helped her, even though the hot water had gone cold. Once the mud, dirt, and blood was washed away I wrapped her in the towel. Sat her down on the little toilet lid.

The cuts on her neck weren’t that deep or that bad, they hurt because of where they were and the rain and dirt. I could feel her shaking though as I bandaged her up, cleaned and bandaged her arm and leg too. I then got the pajamas.

“You hate those.”

“But they will help warm you up and that’s important right now.”

“You don’t act like you hate me, I’m pretty sure you do.”

I put the little foot part over her foot and then looked at her. “I don’t hate you, I was upset but I over reacted. I’m sorry that I walked away Gabriella. I was stupid and I shouldn’t have done that. I just saw what was happening and reacted.”

“My fault.”

“No. Not your fault.”

I got the legs on and zipped it up some, let her stand up I slipped the A-shirt on her and then let her finish getting it on while I put on clothes. By the time we stepped out Sierra had soup and tea made and we sat down.

“I’m not really hungry.”

“It’ll help warm you up.” I said.

I also knew she hadn’t eaten since probably lunch, I wanted her to eat something. Even after she ate she was just shaking still. My reasons was double the food would help the healing too.

“Kitten? Did Damien show up?”

She nodded. “He wanted the disk but I don’t have it. He asked what was on it and then said he was taking me to Simon.”

“Why didn’t you come back to the venue?” She asked.

“I tried, they just kept following and then they trapped me in the cemetery I couldn’t get out to get back and my phone died.”

“We can talk about that tomorrow, I think you need to lay down and get warm. Try to prevent sickness. I have some ibuprofen so those places don’t hurt.”

I got the tablets and she took them and finished the tea but I could see the liquid shake so once she was done I got up. I stepped to the back to let them know she was okay, but we were laying down and we’d explain the next day. She went to get in her own bunk and I stopped her.

“Take mine, you don’t need to pull those bandages on your leg.”

Going down was easier and once she was inside mine I slid in behind her and closed the curtain.

“What are you doing?”

I pulled the covers up over us both and pulled her against me. “Getting you warm.”

“But…”

“It wasn’t Sierra on the bus, I know that now. Taylor said she was with him from the time we got back until he left to find me. I just saw the hair and that was it, I jumped to conclusions and I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry that I said what I did and I’m sorry for walking away from you.”

“I shouldn’t have let her on the bus. I shouldn’t have trusted her. She said she loved me and that she dosed you to make me see, but she didn’t expect you not to take anyone else. I don’t think any of that was real though, I was close and I heard her calling my name. When I came out Damien and Ash were there. She was waiting with Scarlet at the arch. It’s why I didn’t come back, I couldn’t get out. I’m sorry, I didn’t want that.”

She turned over to face me and I kissed her forehead, which felt cool. “How about you get warm and get some sleep, we’ll talk later today.”

She nodded some and I got the blanket a little higher and let her get close. I may burn up later on, but she needed to get to warm. The air on the bus was also on, so maybe it would help. I heard the others lay down not long after we did and she shook for a bit before she began to warm up. Once she stopped shaking her breathing became even. I fell asleep sometime after she did.

October 16, 2008

I woke up before Gabby even budged, she was still right against me and I laid here and listened to her breathing for a bit. Her forehead didn’t feel warm but I knew if she got sick it would probably take a few days. I could hear my brother’s up and moving around.

“Should we wake him up? We have a radio interview in a few hours.” Taylor said.

“No. Gabby didn’t look so good last night and he needs to stay here with her. We have the walk and show tonight, we’ll just tell the radio shows he is with his wife who wasn’t feeling well.”

I was rather glad they didn’t make me go, they left about 7:30 and I actually fell back asleep and didn’t wake up until I felt her moving her hand on my arm.

“I need to get up.”

I moved some and she crawled over me, she wasn’t gone very long though before she was back and crawling back over me.

“You’re brothers aren’t here, where did they go?”

“Radio interviews, there were like three. They left without bothering me, I heard Ike say they’d just tell them I was with you.”

“You should have gone.”

“No. I’m where I need to be.”

She laid her head back down and both of us didn’t wake back up until about noon. The bus was quiet and I was sure everyone was unloading or something, I went to the bathroom and she was sitting at the table when I came out.

“You okay?”

“I need to check the bandages.”

I checked her arm and neck there but the leg she stepped into the bathroom for, they looked okay and the one on her neck wasn’t near as bad.

“We should probably go inside and get lunch, we can then talk.”

“Inside?”

“I can find a room with a lock.”

“I don’t want to change.”

I kissed her forehead. “You don’t have too, your feet zip off, so just put shoes on.”

“I only brought one pair with me, there ruined right now.”

“Sierra won’t mind if you borrow her sandals or something.”

“I’ll just change then, Capri’s and just one of your button ups should be fine.”

She got a change of clothes and changed in the bathroom, I only changed shirts and then we went inside, we managed to time it so we were with the others at least but once we were done I found a room that would work, small with a couch and a chair and the door locked. It would let us talk without being interrupted. We sat down and I figured I should start.

“I’m sorry Gabriella. I can’t take back my actions of walking away from you, but I was upset and hurting and I didn’t know what to really do. I saw you and I remembered Priscilla and what she did. I was going to talk to you tomorrow anyway about Sierra. I know you both are close and I know I haven’t really been around much, but I’ve seen her straddle your lap several times and it just…it bothered me. I just saw the hair and thought it was her. I’m sorry I walked away, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I should have and I should have handled it better.”

She got my hand, held it. “No, we should have. I tried to talk but when you walked away it just hurt. I shouldn’t have left the venue. I should have gone to the bus like I told Andrew I was, I just..going across the alley I didn’t think it would do any good. I felt like everything fell apart and I just ran. Sierra maybe right there, I need to stop running when I get hurt or feel bad. I shouldn’t have ran, I should have gone to the bus and waited a little while.”

“We need to work on this communication thing better, I should have mentioned weeks ago that it was bothering me instead of waiting. I should have come to you and not let it continue to bother me, you would have come to me if she’d been that way toward me. I just let it build and then I didn’t even see anyone else on the bus but Sierra.”

“I would have told her to stop if I knew it bothered you so much.”

“See, we both messed up. But, I am sorry for walking away and saying what I did. I’m not canceling anything and I want us to be together.”

She laid her head on my shoulder. “I can’t imagine leaving now. I just…I can’t.”

I kissed her forehead. “Not letting you anyway. So, it wasn’t Sierra on the bus it was Tera. What did she want? Why did she come all this way?”

“She said she came to tell me she loves me and that she has since we met, but she was just waiting on me to realize that I loved her. She said that she gave you the drugs hoping you would take some blonde back and I would see you. The blonde girl was her doing, she didn’t know I was there with you. She saw us from the deck and on the deck.”

“Do you not believe what she said?”

“I did when she told me, she basically jumped me and I guess that was her trying to make me realize or something, I don’t know really. But, I told her I didn’t love her and I never have, it’s never been a question on if I did or not. I told her I was married to you and that’s where I wanted to be.”

“What about now?”

“When I ran I intended to do a straight line, that way I could come back after a while. But, I ran into Scarlet, I started back and Damien stepped out. So, I went across the street, headed back this way and Ash stepped out. I just ran in the hopes of losing them so I could get back. I thought I did, there was a medical center straight down and I gave it time and when I headed back Scarlet and Ash flanked me and then lead me to the cemetery beside the medical place, where Damien was.”

“Is he the one that hurt you?”

“He asked about the disk, I told him the detectives had it. He asked if I knew what was on it and when I said lists he asked if any of their names were on it. He left the marks on my arm from his fingernails and he has metal vampire teeth which is where the one of my neck came from. When he said he was taking me to Simon I kicked him and ran. I ended up at the cemetery where you found me. Tera had joined them, I had been hiding and she called my name. At the cemetery she and Scarlet were at the arch and Damien and Ash covered other exits. I tried to climb the fence but ripped my shorts and cut my leg.”

“We need to call Mabis and tell him what happen, I don’t know if they can do anything. But, at least it’s on file.”

I called him myself and reported it, but there wasn’t much that could be done. The rain would have washed away saliva or DNA and without witnesses they had no way to prove he’d done anything. It was stupid how they could have these reports but not be able to do shit.

“You know we should do something today, you have a walk soon and a show.”

“Walk is in like an hour and a half. I guess we could, but I was content sitting here. It’s the most time we’ve had since we left.”

“Yeah, but I need to make sure your drums are set up.”

“I can always sit in your lap, might hurt though.”

“I think it would hurt. But, you can sit and I can sit in yours.”

“I like that idea.”

The rest of our crew was almost done setting up the stage and instruments, none seemed mad. They’d all seen her get on the bus.

“Nice look Kitten.” Sierra said.

She shrugged. “It covered what needed to be, I really rather wanted to keep my pj’s on though.”

“So, have either of you bothered to check social media?” Carrick asked.

“No.” I said.

He brought up some page and handed it to us from his phone, really good picture of Gabby with the other three, probably taken when Damien bit her neck, based on her face. The replies were somewhere between she was cheating and she was scared. But I did find the picture and save it, but it didn’t show their faces.

“I don’t care. I know what happened.”

I moved to the drums, she could probably test them herself but the cut on her leg might not feel so good. Once the set was adjusted she straddled my lap and sat down, we were just waiting on Taylor and Isaac at this point.

“See I like this combination better.” She said.

“You and I both. So very tempting.”

“I’m still sleepy.”

She emphasized that by laying her head down on my shoulder. I knew that feeling well, was glad tomorrow was an off day, nothing had been scheduled. But, I did vaguely see Sierra standing there with a camera.

“Shutterbug.” I said.

“It’s not often you two are this lovely, besides I can tweet it out and squish the rumors.”

Gabby didn’t move from this spot until Taylor and Isaac got back, they wanted to know what happen so I gave them the rundown.

“Well, we told everyone she wasn’t feeling well so no walking for you. You can pack up inside but don’t take anything to the trailer.”

“I can’t pick anything up for a day or two, cuts.”

“I want to see your neck.” Isaac said.

Since she needed to check the bandages anyway, I went ahead and removed them. Isaac was far better at deciding if she needed the hospital, but he said it should be fine.

“Tour doesn’t have much longer, couple more weeks. Given what happen I think if you do walk then you really do need to stay with Zac, even if you have to hold his hand the entire walk. If he has what he wants he won’t come back but if he was sent to take you back to Simon then he will. I’d much rather you not walk but I know you like too.”

“I think I’ll just stay inside. I’ve got some stuff I can work on for Debbie. One time of being chased across Baltimore is enough.”

With that settled we fixed a route and she remained there with the others. She said she was going to talk to Sierra about the things I’d seen and by the time we got back she must have because Sierra was waiting.

“I’m sorry Zac, I didn’t mean to make you think something was going on between us, I’m not use to her being married. I was rather hoping she’d run to you though. I am sorry and I will back off.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, you could have just told me though dude. I’ll also back off calling her kitten, I should probably get use to Gabby or Gabs, it’s so weird to me.”

“I don’t think she minds Skye.”

“No, but no one calls her that. Are we good?”

“Yeah. Where is she?”

“She’s in the green room asleep. She wasn’t running a fever but she just felt tired. I’m not sure if she’s been sleeping well or not.”

“She slept well last night but she did say she was tired, maybe sleep will prevent her from being sick.”

We left her alone and went ahead and got the sound checks done, set list planned and then I got her up for dinner. We had dinner with everyone and afterwards she told me she talked to Sierra and they came to an agreement, which was good. It was a pleasant show, no weirdness or strangeness. Afterwards they broke down the stage and she let the others take things out, but she stayed inside. Once we were done, we went out to the bus, I lead her to the bus before signing autographs and taking pictures, by the time we were back on she was back in her pajamas and like last night, I had her lay down with me.

The last two days proved that communication is a key part of any relationship and that while we may argue or have disagreements running isn’t the answer. Hopefully she would stop doing that and I needed to work on not letting things build up. We did get to talk a little bit more about that before sleep took over.