Ancient Forces (2018 Reboot)

Chapter 10 - Fear

Zayne stepped into the house and dropped his stuff at the front door. He slipped off his shoes and started walking towards Damien's room. He wiped his nose and kept his left hand under his bleeding jaw. Apparently he'd hit it harder than he'd thought when he fell, and somehow he'd busted a gum or bitten through a gum with a tooth. Now he was bleeding horribly and he needed to control it. As he walked down the hall Zayne looked into his room. There was a package on his bed. Ignoring it, for now, Zayne continued towards Damien's room. He looked to the right into Ver and Keith's room just before going into Damien's. It was dark, and it looked like their bed hadn't been touched in a while. Then again Zayne remembered his aunt liked to keep things organized and clean. She'd probably just made the bed this morning after she'd dropped him off at school.

Zayne walked into Damien's room, which was dark and empty since he was in the kitchen doing homeschool work. He looked around and found no package on Damien's bed, so he came to the conclusion that whatever it was on his bed was probably something from the old house. He stepped into the bathroom and stood in front of the sink and mirror. The reflection that came back at him was the same as him. A teen kid with a messed up, horrible, horrific life, holding his chin now because he got outrun by another kid with a messed up life. Some life he'd been given into. He was getting sick of it. Fighting monsters for a living? There were already plenty of people to do it for him. If he got into it he'd just be a burden for others, right? That seemed pretty reasonable.

The only thing he wanted to do with his powers now was find Arachnid and kill him. If he was able to do that then he would be satisfied with his work and live the rest of his life as a normal person. Sure, he'd live in fear of the Midnight Horror, but at least in a more normal life he had a lower chance of running into it. If he was actively hunting these monsters across the world then he'd probably get slapped right into the hunting party for that thing. That was the one thing he didn't want in his life at all right now, or ever. Might as well get his one job done and never worry about it again. He started getting tissues and stuffed them where the bleeding was.

As he pressed the paper against the wound and soaked up the blood Zayne started thinking about school life again. Why should he bother changing who he was for others? Why should he worry about what other people thought about him? It wouldn't matter anymore anyway, especially if he just quit now. He'd never have to worry about the Midnight Horror, the Mythic, or the other social classes and groups in school. Just a normal, regular life as a teen. Right now that was all he wanted. A knock at the door brought his attention to the other entrance. Keith was standing there.

"Hey uh, when you're done Ver wants to talk to you out in the base. Something important," he delivered the message then left quickly.

Zayne let out an audible grunt and pulled the tissues from his mouth. He filled up a cup of water and drank it all, allowing it to float in his mouth for a moment. Then he spit it all out, most of it red with his blood. Zayne used his tongue to inspect the injury and made sure it wasn't bleeding anymore. It was, but not as bad as before. He brushed it off and reentered Damien's room. Damien was there now, laying on his bed with his TV aimed towards him. He was playing his games.

"Off to train more huh?" Damien asked casually.

"No, I'm off to talk to Ver. You got a problem with that?" Zayne snapped back, irritated by the question.

Damien paused his game and looked at Zayne oddly, giving him a good observation, then asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm flipping perfect Mr. I Have to Know Everything!" Zayne exclaimed as he stormed out of the room and down the hall.

With a few more quick strides Zayne was out the back door and into the natural forest. All of the leaves had finally fallen and died off, the ground now a massive canvas of colors. Zayne took in a deep breath, allowing himself to calm down just a bit. A strong gust of cold wind instantly spiked Zayne's aggravation levels, making him even more upset than he already was. It was the incident after school. Even with all this training, he couldn't catch a kid who'd barely even revealed he had powers. It sounded stupid on the outside, but the incident itself and the experience of it made Zayne angry. Even with the fancy training, he was beaten by someone who was afraid of their 'gift.' Zayne scoffed. If he was outdone by someone like that then he had no chance as a Mythic fighter.