Ancient Forces (2018 Reboot)

Chapter 2 - Family

As the end of the school day arrived floods of students charged out from the closed doors and into the streets beyond, all wanting one thing. To get as far away from this place as possible for as long as possible. Several students all ran to their own cars, then drove off happily. Dozens of others ran for the school buses, all seeking transportation from their daily prison. Others just floated around, most awaiting their parents or other guardians to pick them up. One individual in particular, a skittish teen with his hood up, stood alone on the sidewalk just outside of the front entrance. He was wearing a black hoodie with no other designs on it, and long khaki jeans. His black and green shoes contrasted the color above them. His face was small, hidden well under the darkness of the hood. His eyes were a soothing blueish green, with deep furrowed eyebrows. He was upset about something.
    His hair, mostly hidden under the fabric, was a darker blonde, almost brown. It was longer, just barely reaching his eyebrows. His nose was scrunched up, although whether it was disgust or disapproval no one could tell. His belongings were packed away in his orange and grey backpack, with one strap resting on his right shoulder. Both of his hands were in front of his face, and he was just staring at them. He had been like this for a while, letting other students pass by. He seemed to be zoned out, in his own world. Zayne had been sitting on a bench just a little ways behind him for quite some time now, waiting to see if anything would happen. Nothing did.
    Finally Zayne saw his ride pull up. A small little deep blue Honda Civic with one driver in the front. His mother parked the car and rolled the window down, smiling to Zayne as he finally recognized her face and began to approach her. As he did he passed the strange kid, getting a glance at his palms to see what was the matter with them. They were sweaty. Excessively sweaty. Zayne returned his attention to the car before anyone could notice he'd looked away. He contemplated the facts for a moment, trying to come to any reasonable conclusion to why the kid would have sweaty palms. The only issues that came to mind was health or, guilt. It was true teens in high school did some pretty stupid stuff, Zayne had been guilty of that before, but what could that kid have possibly done that had him so worked up? His body size and build didn't necessarily give him the looks of a mischief maker.
"So how was school today?" Zayne's mother asked.
"Fine," Zayne vaguely replied as he sat in the front passenger seat and tossed his backpack in the backseat.
"I assume it was the same yesterday?" His mother, Vanessa was her name, queried as she put the car in drive and began to pull away from the school.
"Yup," Zayne robotically answered as he stared out the window at the passing buildings.
"Did you have fun at Aries' last night?" Vanessa continued.
"Yes," Zayne grumbled.
"Zayne I'm sorry. You understand right though? Your father and I are busy with this case and all and it's really draining our time," Vanessa explained.
"I know, I know, I'm just," Zayne paused, "I'm just being selfish is all."
"Oh no don't say that," Vanessa pleaded, "You're just being you. It's our fault for not setting aside enough time for you."
    Zayne slumped a bit in his chair as they passed an intersection, heading down a long roadway to their neighbourhood. Homes and people zoomed by the window as they made another turn to their street. Zayne sighed.
"Your home for most of tonight right?" Zayne wondered out loud.
"Yes. In fact we asked for the rest of the day off since we went overtime last night. We're taking you to school in the morning then working till the regular time, so you'll be going to Aunt Ver's tomorrow," his mother explained as they pulled into their driveway.
    Zayne's home wasn't much to look at, but it wasn't a total dump either. It was a large three thousand square foot home with plenty of space to spare. The car pulled up to the garage, which was connected to the main home. The garage was just big enough to fit the car into, so Zayne and Vanessa had to be careful when opening their doors. They moved up the steps and into the kitchen, which was rather large for a family of three. It had counters lining the walls with multiple appliances scattered across them. A small island rested in the center of the tile flooring, the tan and white colors matching oddly. The fridge was the first place of contact Zayne made as he pulled out a frozen can of rootbeer. He hated cold drinks, so he set it on the island to let it warm up.
    After setting the rootbeer aside he stepped out of one of the two entrances to the kitchen, one on either side of a single wall, into the living room slash hallway intersection.The other doorway led to the living room slash front entrance intersection. He turned to the right and began moving down the carpeted hall until he reached the second to last door on the left, then walked in and closed the door behind him. His room was small to be honest, only able to fit his bed, a small desk and an even smaller dresser in it. The floor was covered from corner to corner in clothes. Adding to the pile were Zayne's clothes from today. He very quickly changed to his home clothes, a pair of comfortable fitting shorts and a black T-shirt. He tossed his bag onto his bed and flopped onto the mattress soon after.
    A long, audible sigh escaped his mouth as he looked out the window just above the back of the bed. Clouds above were moving in, creating a darker grey sky coloring. Rain was coming, Zayne knew that, but just to be sure he checked his phone, which had been shoved deep in the pocket of his clothes he'd thrown on the ground. The forecast called for seventy percent chance of rain and maybe even a thirty percent chance of thunderstorms. Nothing big or scary however, so Zayne set the phone aside and forgot about it. He quickly shifted into a cross leg position on the bed, then unloaded his school computer and began playing games. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. It felt as though Zayne had been here for years, but when he checked the clock next to his front door it had only been three hours.
    A rapid knock on the door reassured Zayne of what he already knew. Dinner time.
"Coming," Zayne responded as he set the computer aside and maneuvered past the large array of clothes.
    As soon as he opened the door he saw a hand fly by and rest on his shoulder. He flinched at the action until he realized it was only his father, Michael, waiting for him.
"How was school today kiddo?" His father asked gleefully, as he always did.
"Same as always," Zayne forced a smile and a joyful tone.   
    He was tired.
"Did you have fun with Aries?" Michael continued as they walked down the hall.
"Yeah. We just played and ate snacks all night mostly," Zayne explained as he yawned, then turned to enter the kitchen.
"How late did you stay up?" Michael asked, looking back to see Zayne's baggy eyes.
"I don't know, midnight? One? We didn't have a clock anywhere," Zayne yawned again, shaking his head afterwards to wake himself up.
"Well then you'll have to get to bed earlier tonight won't you?" Vanessa joked as she handed a plate of steaming food to Michael and then Zayne.
    The large white plate held on it mashed potatoes, a strange Pesto Chicken dish and some steamed carrots dipped in brown sugar. Zayne smelled the mixture of scents, the sweet and salty mix along with the melting flavor of mashed potatoes. Zayne seemed to light up a little as he moved into the living room with his dad, who was also eager to begin eating. Vanessa entered soon after with her own plate, and the two parents sat in their special couch in the center of the living room. The TV rested on a monitor right next to the front door, with a coffee table in front of it. The adult couch was just in front of the coffee table, a few feet from the back wall of the living room. Zayne's couch rested on the far living room wall to the right of the TV monitor. He got the whole thing to himself.
    Michael had short, spiky hair. It was an odd coloring, with the center of it being black. However the outer edge of his hair, where the spikes were formed, was a sort of fire red. Michael's face was of an average size, with a smile that reached ear to ear. His brownish green eyes were an oddity to look at for some, yet something fascinating to others. His tanner skin made him much darker than both Zayne and Vanessa. He was bulky, with a twenty inch shoulder span and massive muscles on his arms, legs, and chest. He was around six foot two, pushing three, and he was a solid two hundred and fifty seven or so pounds. Many criminals had come face to face with 'The Tank Cop,' and none had escaped to tell the tale. Michael was a kind, warm hearted man on the inside however, despite his brute looks.
    On the flip side was Vanessa. Her hair was long and smooth, a much more solid brown. The tip of her hair on her back reached around halfway down her spine. Her face was smaller, smoother than Michael's by a lot. Her cyan colored eyes were refreshing to many, and her gentle smile would calm down a lot of people, Zayne knew from experience. She was around Zayne's height, maybe a little shorter, with around a sixteen inch shoulder width and practically no physical strength to go off of. She was skinny and curved, forcing her into a much more straightened posture than Michael. She was a calm, gentle person at heart, giving her the job of Councilor at the station.
    As they all began to dig into their food Michael turned the TV on, then switched to their nightly streaming service. They debated over what to watch for several minutes before settling on an eight episode documentary about the ocean. Zayne shuttered everytime they described the temperature of the ocean in colder areas, as did Michael. He had passed on his warm personality and body to Zayne. Vanessa seemed at home when they discussed deep water creatures and the cooler temperatures. Zayne couldn't understand how his mom was like that when his father and he were more warm blooded types. It was remarkable the kind of weird stuff that happened when genetics got involved.