Vengeance

Zacky dejectedly slumped down to lie on the worn couch. His mother’s broken voice kept echoing through his mind, reminding him strongly of a stuck vinyl record. “Kendra is dead,” she had said hoarsely. “She overdosed, Zachary. She’s dead. My baby girl... dead.” Then she had hung up.

Until then, Zacky hadn’t heard from his mother in a long time. Last time they’d spoke, harsh words had been exchanged:

’You promised me Zachary, you promised you’d protect her. For Pete’s sake, you promised me you’d look after her. Now look what happened! Drugs, Zachary! Drugs!’

‘She’s twenty-one for God’s sake! I can’t babysit her twenty-four-seven! I have a job and a life of my own to lead. Don’t think I haven’t tried to keep her away from that shit. God knows how hard I’ve tried. She won’t listen to me. Fuck, she won’t listen to anyone! Blame me if you like, but where the hell have you been to protect her?’ Zacky had defended himself.

‘You’ve changed Zachary. You’re not the son I raised…’ A click, followed by a whiny tone told him she had hung up on him.

Time lapse
The shrill sound of a ringing phone abruptly woke Zack up. Instinctively he reached out to answer the vibrating phone on the coffee-table, but changed his mind when seeing the caller-ID. Normally, he would have answered Synyster’s call, no doubt, but he no longer cared about the consequences he knew would follow when defying the merciless Gates’ orders. Zacky turned off the phone and blankly stared up at the ceiling until, yet again, sleep embraced him.

Time lapse
Ignoring the annoying sound of the doorbell, Zacky turned up the TV volume to the highest. He didn’t hear when the apartment door finally gave in to a number of furious kicks, but could easily guess what had happened when Synyster Gates and Shadows burst into the room. Gates snapped the remote out of Zacky’s loose grip and turned the television off, before throwing the remote into the wall.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Gates bellowed, glaring furiously at Zacky. Zacky didn’t respond, just stared defiantly into the dangerously dark eyes of his former friend and companion. Gates reacted strongly to the lack of fear in Zacky’s eyes and slammed his fist through the glass table, causing shiny shards to spread all across the floor.

Zacky didn’t even blink, just stared coldly into the sinister eyes of Syn. “Kendra is dead,” he muttered coldly.

“I know,” Synyster replied darkly. “Why do you think I’ve left you be for the last three days! Considering the circumstances I’m willing to forgive you, assuming you’ll straighten yourself up and make up for the work you’ve missed.”

Zacky got up from the couch, stretched his stiff legs and stood face to face with Syn, who was grinning maliciously down at him. “So you’re actually expecting me to continue your dirty business after what just happened to my sister?” Zacky spoke in a controlled dark voice. “Do you really think leaving me alone for three days to grieve my sister’s death is considerate of you? Do you seriously believe that I, after three days of anguish and regret for what I’ve done to this town, will get back into business with you? Then you’re sadly mistaken, Gates.”

The malicious grin was quickly wiped off Synyster’s face and rage filled his narrowing eyes. He glared down at Zacky, his voice harsh and cold as he spoke. “I have no use for you anymore. Leave. I don’t ever want to see your face here again. You have 24 hours.”

Zacky was well aware what that meant, and he almost regretted his decision to stand up for himself. He was no longer safe in the city of Huntington Beach. The police force meant nothing, because here Gates’ words were law. In that aspect Zacky could, from now on, consider himself an outlaw.