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31/08/2011

Kaylah Dawson

10:58 pm

After a few more hours the meeting finally finished and the members began to file out row by row. Thank God.

I was about to follow them out the door when I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around I found myself face to face with a familiar face, but I wasn't quite sure where the face was familiar from. "Hey?" I said, unsure of what to do.

"Hi, Kaylah isn't it? I'm Aden" The face I now knew as Aden replied, raising his hand out for me to shake.

"Oh, well hey Aden." I said, still confused as to the purpose of this interaction.

"Gosh sorry, you probably don't even know who I am." He laughed, mostly to herself. "I'm part of Maya's team, I sort out the transport and such."

I chuckled back. "It's okay, actually it's quite nice to speak to someone, I don't know anyone here."

"Well a few of us are going for a drink right now before we go back to the hotel, if you want to join us? Meet some new people and that?" Aden seemed so nice, definitely someone I want to make friends with, I feel like he'd make this job slightly more bearable, but I really couldn't handle going for a drink right now.

"I'd love to, but I'm so tired I think I'm just gonna go back to the hotel, but rain check?"

"Rain check." He replied, a bright smile on his face, the only genuine smile I'd seen all day. And with that he made his way back over to his friends, and I made my own way to the bus that was waiting to take anyone wanting to go back to the hotel.

The engine chugged to life as I stepped on the bus, telling me that I was just in time, before the doors closed and the bus disappeared into the night. The drive was only about half an hour so I found a seat near the front and pulled out my phone.

I hadn't actually checked it since we'd arrived. There were messages and missed calls backed up but I really didnt have it in me to reply to them right now, so I sent a simple check in message to my mom, not even sure if she would recieve it in hospital but still sent it for the peace of mind, before turning it off and shoving it back into my bag.

By this time the bus had come to a stop and I hurried off and made a beeline for the hotel, desperate to get a shower and go to sleep. I needed to forget, and quickly.

Pushing into my hotel room I chucked my bags down and made my way straight into the bathroom, stripping off, throwing my clothes in a pile in the corner of the room and stepping straight into the shower. Stood under the steaming jets of water I closed my eyes and let out a stress filled breath. Being under the water like this should have reminded me of the night my sister, well yeah, but it doesn't. And I'm grateful for that.

After standing under the water for a bit, I got washed down and stepped out of the shower and walked into the main room. I felt a little calmer now, my head clearer. Leaning over I tapped my phone to reveal the time - 11:44 pm.

Picking up my pyjamas from the bed I dried off and threw them on, also throwing my hair up into a messy bun. After brushing my teeth, I smiled at myself in the mirror and made my way back into the main room, I was tired and in need of a good sleep tonight.

I was just  about to lie down on my makeshift bed when there was a sharp knock at the door. Followed by more, hard, desperate knocks that caused me to jump. Who could that possibly be?

Carefully making my way towards the door, I looked through the peephole. "Maya?" I breathed out in a mix of relief and annoyance, of course it would be her.

"You fucking scared me what the hell!" I began, opening the door with frustration. I was about to tell her where to go when I noticed bright red blood staining her shirt. Looking at her properly I realized how weak she looked, scars littered her tanned face and a purple bruise was already begininning to form around her left eye. The way she was holding her side like it was paining her concerned me too. "Maya...." I said again, softly this time, my words drifting off as I realized I didn't know what to say.

"I-I didn't know where else to go." She choked out, before collapsing onto my chest.