The Life of Zayne

As Zayne reached for the knob to the door that would lead him into his room - to Thorne, the silverette stopped just before he clasped the metal orb. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Every inch of his body seemed to tense, as though something lay behind the door that threatened his very life.

This is silly, said Zayne to himself as he took the doorknob in his hand and turned. There's no one in there but Thorne, and she's my friend...

As the door opened, Zayne's eyes widened as his eyes focused on a totally naked Thorne Wilson standing seductively in front of him. His eyes ran all along her curvy, shapely body, her pale skin almost luminous in the semi-darkness. Her black hair cascaded down her ivory shoulders, and her eyes glistened with longing for him.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long, Zayne," murmured Thorne hotly, and the silverette noticed the glistening trails of wetness along her inner thighs. "But everything is fine... now that you're here."

The heightened state of alert that Zayne felt outside the room increased exponentially. He took a step back and tried to look logically at the situation. Unfortunately, Thorne was quickly moving closer to him, her arousal making his thoughs become fuzzy and less coherent.

This... Something's not right. I'm sure of it now. Thorne wouldn't... She's much too modest to do this, even with... I never even attracted her! I--

The silverette blinked as his eyes met Thorne's, and noticed that the irises weren't the lovely brown he remembered. Instead, they were orange, the round pupils exchanged for serpentine slits.

Zayne heard himself growl deep in his throat and felt his face contort in building anger. "What have you done with Thorne?"

The goth laughed as though Zayne told a cute joke. "You don't have to stall for me, Zayne. A date isn't really what I want. I want you... all of you... Let me--"

"Enough!" Zayne's voice twisted into a near-howl, his right hand clasping Thorne's dark-haired head firmly in a vice-like grip. "Reveal yourself to me! Release the girl and show me your true form! D'jka valroas manliostha!!"

The serpent eyes widened as Zayne spoke words he didn't understand, yet seemed natural to his tongue. Energy surged through his arm and into Thorne's head, her entire body glowing bright in the dark shadows. Screaming, Thorne's eyes rolled back into her head as something surged out of her body and crashed hard into the nearby bed, snapping it in two with a loud crack.

Cradling Thorne's limp body in his arms, he gently lowered her to the floor as he focused his eyes on the thing he had thrown from his friend's body. Flowing red hair tumbled down the creature's back, concealing a completely naked female form. As she stood up, a pair of black leathery wings stretched out from her back.

"I certainly didn't expect this..." cooed a deep, seductive voice, and the creature turned her head to reveal a beautiful, flawless female face, the red hair framing a pair of glowing orange-colored serpent eyes. "To counter me even before we mate... This is a first, I admit. It will make conquering you all the sweeter, my delicious half-blood."

"You will do nothing to this one!" roared Zayne in his other voice, causing the demoness to gasp in shock. "He is under my protection!!"

"...Master...?" The demoness shook her head in disbelief. "I... They said you were destroyed... How can you--"

"Silence!!!" The deep voice boomed out of Zayne's throat, causing the house to shudder. "Your hunt is ended! Go now, and tell no one of this! You will be summoned when we require you, Rh'iarna! Do you understand?!"

"I--" The demoness named Rh'iarna began to protest, but yelped as Zayne glared daggers at her. She scrambled over the destroyed bed and threw herself out the window, shattering it to pieces in her mad attempt to flee.

"Zayne!!"

Voices called to the silverette from behind him, and he turned to see Jessica, Angela, Veronica, his mother and his aunt running into view. Their eyes quickly moved from Zayne to the prone, naked Thorne, to the broken bed, and finally to the shattered window.

"What the hell happened?" asked Veronica, astounded.

"A demoness..." gasped Zayne, his own voice returning. "Inside Thorne... Named Rh'iarna, I think..."

"A succubus," said Jess, groaning. "And a powerful one at that. I should have expected something like--" She blinked and turned to Zayne, her eyes widening slowly. "Wait... What happened?"

"She... I..." Zayne shook his head, closing his eyes to regain his focus. "I... forced her out of Thorne's body, and... She got scared off. I think I did... something. I don't know what, exactly, but--"

"You scared her off?!" Jess's face had turned pale, her whole body trembling. "You forced her out?! That's impossible! That's an advanced incantation! Way too advanced for someone who just became aware!"

"He did, though!" retorted Angela, gesturing around the room. "Look! He wouldn't lie about this!"

"But... he just can't... Not even I know that incantation..." Jess shook her head in denial. "It's just... He can't!"
Zayne felt himself grow angrier. "You think I'm lying?!"

"No! I didn't--"

"You think I want to have things like this happen to me?! That I'd invent things to get attention?! I have more than enough of that! More than I can even handle! What makes you think this makes me feel any better about what I am?!"

"Honey," began his mom, "don't put words in her--"

"And you!!" Zayne's rage reached new heights as he targeted his mother, then moved to everyone else in turn. "I know you're not telling me everything! You keep skirting around my questions, with sex of all things! All I want is the truth, and you - no, everyone - seems incapable of giving me that simple little thing! I'm sick of this! All of this!! I just want my old life back! A life of being nothing but plain, ordinary, faceless Zayne, the ghost who no one cares about and everyone leaves alone!!!"

He immediately regretted his words. Everyone wore a pained expression, Angela and Veronica looking away guiltily, his mother and aunt looking extremely uncomfortable. Jess, however, was on the verge of tears, her arms wrapped tight around her own body as though to shield herself from Zayne's anger.

The silverette turned away and moved toward the open window, stepping carelessly on his shattered bed. "Take care of Thorne for me, please. I'm... going out."

"What?!" He heard Jess's voice crack behind him, but he didn't dare look at her. He couldn't. "Where are you--"

"Out. I need time... to think. I need to get out... Anywhere but here. I'm... I'm sorry... I..."

Zayne leaped out of the broken window, ignoring the rising protests of the women he was leaving, and started running down the street.

And he kept running.

Away from here... I just need to get away for a while…

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“So that’s what happened,” murmured Thorne as she rubbed her temple, glancing around the kitchen table at the gathering of women in Zayne’s house. “Poor Zayne… I never imagined he would be anything like that.” She pulled the bathrobe tighter around her body, Claire having given it to her after she had woken up.

“Neither did he, and that’s part of the problem,” said Jess miserably. “I knew he’d be powerful, but this… I still have trouble believing it, even though I trust Zayne’s word above anyone else’s.”

“We haven’t been helping, either,” said Claire Reynolds with a similar tone of dejectedness. “We’re all clinging to him like children. Obviously, we can blame his powers, but we should still have more self-control than this…”

“I don’t wanna push him away,” whimpered Angela, her eyes glistening with tears. “I love Zayne…”

“We all do,” said Veronica softly, putting her arm around the blonde as she wept. “Unfortunately, I think there’s a lot Zayne has to deal with on his own. We can only support him right now for a lot of it.”

“You’re right,” said Jess solemnly. “But right now we have worse problems. The demons are starting to find him.”

“Demons?” asked Brandi, looking frightened. “You mean… the fire and brimstone kind?”

“Those are myths made by humans to try to understand what they really are,” said Jess. “Demons are a race all of their own, not spirits of some kind. They’re from a dimension parallel to this one, except their Earth has a red sun in its solar system. That’s why some people thought they saw hell when they visited that place.”

“How can they get here, then?” asked Veronica with interest.

“Oooh! Is it like Star Trek?!” squeaked Angela, her misery forgotten in the wake of the fantastic subject. “Beaming up and black holes and superior technology?!”

“Actually, it’s the exact opposite,” said Claire, smiling. “Their dimension lets them use magic.”

“How do you know that?” asked Jess, caught off-guard.

“Ve’ratio took me there once,” answered Zayne’s mother. “He showed me a lot of beautiful places, full of beauty and wonder. The magic lets them do everything, from helping with manual labor to things like space travel. He had to sneak me through his side most of the time, though. Most of the demons there don’t find humans appealing. Not free ones, anyway.” She glanced around at the table at large, everyone looking quite lost. “Ve’ratio was Zayne’s father,” she added, and comprehension dawned in everyone’s faces.

“Zayne’s dad is Ve’ratio the Virtuous?!” Jess exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

“Yes,” said Claire. “Why is that--”

“He was one of the most powerful Demon Lords to ever live!” Jess began to pace around the room, wringing her hands as she spoke her thoughts out loud. “That explains how he was able to counter a succubus so soon, as well as his fast physical transformation, his growing battle prowess, his… attractiveness to women…”

Claire nodded. “Ve’ratio had the same powers Zayne uses, but he only seemed to want to use them on me. He said… he was the only one I could trust with the future of both worlds.”

“Both worlds?” Jess looked even more worried. “…This is getting complicated… and Zayne’s definitely not going to like this.”

Thorne gazed silently down at the table in silence. Veronica and Angela were still embraced, gazing between Claire and Jess in awe. Brandi had taken it upon herself to start brewing some tea, and started handing out cups to the others.

“Now you know why I haven’t been totally honest with him,” said Claire finally. “I’m not sure if he would want to hear the truth…”

“Especially after tonight,” conceded Jess. “We should--” She jumped as the phone started ringing loudly next to her, not having noticed her close proximity to the device. Claire rose to her feet and answered it.

“Hello? …Oh, thank god.” Zayne’s mother relaxed visibly. “Where are you? …Oh, good. Yeah, we’re all still here. …Oh. Y-yeah, that’s fine. You can stay there for the night. Just make sure you’re at school on time tomorrow.” She turned and held up a finger to quiet the questions rising in everyone’s mouths as she continued speaking into the receiver. “Alright, we will. Thanks for calling, baby. I love you. …Good night…”

“Zayne?” asked Jess as Claire replaced the receiver on the base.

“Yeah, he’s staying with Matt,” Claire replied, and everyone looked relieved. “He really needed this, I think. Personal time, I mean.”

“He hasn’t had much of that lately,” agreed Veronica as she sipped at her tea. “Hopefully Matt can help him take his mind off things… at least for a little while.”

“We should try not to cling to him too much, either,” said Angela softly. “I mean, it’ll be rough, but… we gotta help him the best we can.”

“I just hope we can help him,” said Jess tiredly, running a hand through her hair.

“Do you?” asked Claire, gazing sternly at Jess so abruptly that the brunette became speechless for a moment.

“Uh... Yeah, I do,” said Jess, surprised by the suddenness of Claire’s change in demeanor. “Why do you--”

“I thought your mission was to guide Zayne,” said Claire.

“It is,” affirmed the brunette.

“Who assigned you this mission?” asked Claire, stepping forward.

“What?” Jess’s eyes widened, stunned by the question.

“Who assigned you to guide Zayne?” asked Claire again, glaring at Jess angrily. “Tell me.”

“It was Fla’gotra!” yelped Jess, pressing her back against the wall behind her.

“You’re sure it was her?” asked Zayne’s mother, her voice rising. “Did she work through messengers or agents or anything like that?!”

“No, no!!” gasped Jess. “She didn’t trust anyone else and came to me personally! She didn’t say who his father was, but she did say that Zayne was important and he would need a guardian and guide! I swear, that’s the truth!!”

Claire continued to glare into the brunette’s eyes for long moments, then allowed herself to relax again. “…Alright. I believe you.”

Jess collapsed to the floor, sliding against the wall as she did so. “I would never hurt Zayne… We’ve been friends for so long… He’s like family to me, Claire. I care about him…”

“That’s good,” said Claire as she helped Jess up, pulling her into a hug. “I’m sorry I was so forceful, but I had to be sure you weren’t with Zhe’lohk.”

“…You’re kidding.” Jess shook her head. “Does he know? He doesn’t, does he?”

“Alright,” said Veronica in exasperation, her expression pained as she struggled to take everything in. “Granted, I’d never have believed this if I hadn’t seen… or felt… anything like Zayne can do to me,” she blushed deep crimson as she spoke. “But this is just getting to be too much! Who is this Zhe’lohk guy, and what would he want with Zayne?! Can’t you just simplify this for us?!”

Claire and Jess looked at each other and nodded in unison, then turned to the others.

“Zayne had to be hidden here at birth because Zhe’lohk wants to conquer both worlds and enslave all races,” said Jess. “He’s… Zayne’s uncle.”

“Okay, so what does that have to do with Zayne?” asked Veronica sharply.

Claire sighed softly as she ran a hand over her hair. “Ve’ratio told me that Zayne would have the power to stop him. That’s why we’ve tried to hard to keep him secret to other demons who might be around here.”

“What power, exactly?” said Veronica with interest.

“I was never told how he could stop them,” said Claire with a sigh. “Ve’ratio said he can’t say too much in case I was ever traced back to him. I have faith in him, though. He never lied to me before.”

"And I was only made responsible for teaching Zayne to develop his natural abilities," added Jess. "I don't know what else he might know, or what the magical genetic alteration may have done to him... But at least he's progressing quickly."

“So… this other demon that was just here might report back?!” squeaked Angela.

“Most likely,” said Jess. “Though I think Zhe’lohk would probably want a full invasion force ready. But the last thing I heard was that Fla’gotra has things divided back in their dimension, so we should still have some time to help Zayne get stronger. Even if Zhe’lohk finds out about him, he wouldn’t be able to send any more than one or two agents at a time to try and kill Zayne.”

“Which may not work out, considering what happened earlier,” said Claire sagely. “Either way, we have time. Not much, but…”

“It was never much to begin with,” shrugged Jess, “but at least we’re all on the same page now.”

“So Zayne will be at school tomorrow?”

Everyone turned to Thorne as she spoke up for the first time in a long while. She gazed at each of them with clear brown eyes, her expression blank.

“Yes, he told me that when he called,” said Claire, looking concerned at the black-haired girl. “I’m so sorry about all of this. You must think he’s--”

“He’s my friend,” said Thorne firmly. “This doesn’t change anything. I’ll help him any way I can.”

Claire smiled at Thorne gratefully. “Thanks, sweetie… You have no idea…”

“No, I do,” smiled Thorne sympathetically. “I really do…”

“Hey, we should really tell you…” Angela giggled as she leaned over to whisper into Thorne’s ear.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Angie!” cried Veronica, who groaned as Thorne’s eyes became wide with awe, a thick blush coloring her ivory cheeks.

“Awww, come on! She has to be inducted to be part of our club!” cooed Angela, winking playfully at the redhead, who could only shake her head in bemused resignation.

“Our family’s growing big, huh?” Brandi grinned at Claire as she finished her tea.

“I only hope Zayne still sees us as a family,” said Claire, looking down at her untouched teacup. “I only hope…”