‹ Prequel: A Two Sided Coin
Status: Hiatus
Unwanted Inheritance
Chapter Nineteen - Fangs and Lies
Zane was back into a body, a body that was not his own, not anymore. The world formed around him and showed him something. He was given a gift, he realized as he recognized his surroundings, and a curse.
He was in a room, a familiar room in a familiar apartment. He could smell the coffee brewing, the soft and early sunlight filtering through the windows. He sat at a decrepit dining table, further disparaged by the damages that daily can cause. A newspaper lay in his hand but he didn’t need to look to know the date, it was carved into his heart.
Then he heard it, that passionate laugh that plagued his dreams, “Lana…” he whispered.
“Yes silly?” she asked, her laughter subsiding to a voice filled with barely contained mirth.
Her voice was in his ear, yet he could barely bear to turn to her, not today. How could they make him go through this again? He barely had the strength the first time. He couldn’t do this, he wouldn’t! But he was trapped, and his body spoke for him.
“Honey, how about you take a load off for today? I’ll go out and finish things up around town and then I can come back later and we can settle down for nice, romantic dinner.”
“I don’t know about you but I have too much work to do to allow myself that kind of leisure,” she said, tapping him on the head hard enough to make him feel it.
His chair swiveled of its own accord and he was facing her, his nostrils flared from the scent of chai. She’d taken to wearing it ever since she found out that-
“Well then you can just call in sick, I’m sure your boss will let you take a load off,” he said with kind sarcasm, then he kissed her.
It was like breathing in life itself, their souls colliding against each other, only separated by mere flesh. Had it always been like this? Had it always been-
It was over. She let go, or he did, and taking her silence as agreement he grabbed a brief case and was out the door. The surroundings blurred around him because they weren’t what he remembered. It was that moment, so short yet so great, one he will never experience again.
As soon as he was outside, he discarded the brief case, shed his suit coat and walked in the opposite direction of wear he would have business, and towards the bad part of town.
‘Lies, lies, lies!’ the thought echoed throughout his head, their last kiss and their previous conversation had been lies. He hated himself, both his spirit did, and the body he inhabited.
It didn’t take him long, a few blocks away and he was stopped, neither by a physical force, nor spiritual, or magical, but an instinct that ran deeper than the three. His instincts saved him then, when he was vulnerable. With those vital impulses intact, he honed in on where he was supposed to go. Letting them lead him into an alley, in the early light of day.
He knew what was about to happen but he couldn’t stop it, he didn’t know how, nor did he back then.
“Looking for someone?” a voice said, resounding behind him.
Zane swung around, his lips pulled back in an unseeming snarl that didn’t fit his face, not then anyways.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on there, just being friendly,” said a short, yet immaculately handsome Italian man, “After all, aren’t I supposed to be the one to do that kind of greeting?”
He was too high strung to notice the small glint of light off of the fang tips protruding from the man’s mouth. He was too new to this unknown world.
“Stop following me,” he growled, stressing each syllable in a dark and menacing way.
The man chuckled and looked back and forth, “Whom? Me?”
When Zane didn’t deign to give him a reply, his face changed to a small frown, “And here I thought we were going to be friends. I’ve been hunting you, you know.”
He didn’t say a word, yet his confusion was evident on his face.
“Ah come on. You saying don’t know? Well you are new to the gig after all. All the same, just means one easy slayer for the picking.”
Zane wanted to shout for help, a sliver of terror finding its way to his heart. Yet something stopped him, something primal had awakened within him. This was his job, his duty, whether he liked it or not.
A voice that was not his own spoke, a deep rolling rumble starting in the depths of his chest, “You want your power? Then come and take it.”
A change came over the creature in front of him. It started with a knowing gleam in its eye, then a shadow crossed over its face, suffusing it with a malevolent aura. Before he could react the thing had leapt at him, an incredible blur with its inhuman speed. Zane, couldn’t react, his body human not quick enough, not fast enough. Yet his body moved for him, its speed matching, or perhaps even outmatching his incredible foe.
The two titans crashed into the ground, both possessing such strength that their impact made an impression in the ground. Their movement two fast to be caught with the human eye. Zane had fought with his trinity, mind, body, instinct. He fought with all three, a fist came towards him, his mind told him which direction, his body reacted and his instinct, in rare cases, saved him w here all else failed. Yet this was an evolution of his fighting style. There was no thought, no response; the fight was merely an exchange of reactions. This was an evolution of present day combat; it had melted down the elements of combat to two things, instinct and intent.
Both words flowed around the pair like a vicious warrior’s aura. Instinct suffusing their punches and kicks shouts and bellows an almost tangible killing intent thick in the air around them.
Then in an instant, it was over. Of the two, the one who wanted it more survived, and Zane, or whatever he had temporarily become, had wanted it more, far more. His mind returned from this morbid analysis with an unnatural snapping sound. He looked down and the vampire lay at his feet, neck rotated in a sickly fashion, a pool of growing blood seeping from him.
“And so the mighty die, Mad King Alastair.”
With those words, his sense truly returned, yet the supernatural had not yet finished their play. As he looked up he noticed a broken window to the side of the alley. In a fraction of a moment he saw his reflection, an ordinary, if not roughed up man, with golden eyes that glowed.
He was in a room, a familiar room in a familiar apartment. He could smell the coffee brewing, the soft and early sunlight filtering through the windows. He sat at a decrepit dining table, further disparaged by the damages that daily can cause. A newspaper lay in his hand but he didn’t need to look to know the date, it was carved into his heart.
Then he heard it, that passionate laugh that plagued his dreams, “Lana…” he whispered.
“Yes silly?” she asked, her laughter subsiding to a voice filled with barely contained mirth.
Her voice was in his ear, yet he could barely bear to turn to her, not today. How could they make him go through this again? He barely had the strength the first time. He couldn’t do this, he wouldn’t! But he was trapped, and his body spoke for him.
“Honey, how about you take a load off for today? I’ll go out and finish things up around town and then I can come back later and we can settle down for nice, romantic dinner.”
“I don’t know about you but I have too much work to do to allow myself that kind of leisure,” she said, tapping him on the head hard enough to make him feel it.
His chair swiveled of its own accord and he was facing her, his nostrils flared from the scent of chai. She’d taken to wearing it ever since she found out that-
“Well then you can just call in sick, I’m sure your boss will let you take a load off,” he said with kind sarcasm, then he kissed her.
It was like breathing in life itself, their souls colliding against each other, only separated by mere flesh. Had it always been like this? Had it always been-
It was over. She let go, or he did, and taking her silence as agreement he grabbed a brief case and was out the door. The surroundings blurred around him because they weren’t what he remembered. It was that moment, so short yet so great, one he will never experience again.
As soon as he was outside, he discarded the brief case, shed his suit coat and walked in the opposite direction of wear he would have business, and towards the bad part of town.
‘Lies, lies, lies!’ the thought echoed throughout his head, their last kiss and their previous conversation had been lies. He hated himself, both his spirit did, and the body he inhabited.
It didn’t take him long, a few blocks away and he was stopped, neither by a physical force, nor spiritual, or magical, but an instinct that ran deeper than the three. His instincts saved him then, when he was vulnerable. With those vital impulses intact, he honed in on where he was supposed to go. Letting them lead him into an alley, in the early light of day.
He knew what was about to happen but he couldn’t stop it, he didn’t know how, nor did he back then.
“Looking for someone?” a voice said, resounding behind him.
Zane swung around, his lips pulled back in an unseeming snarl that didn’t fit his face, not then anyways.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on there, just being friendly,” said a short, yet immaculately handsome Italian man, “After all, aren’t I supposed to be the one to do that kind of greeting?”
He was too high strung to notice the small glint of light off of the fang tips protruding from the man’s mouth. He was too new to this unknown world.
“Stop following me,” he growled, stressing each syllable in a dark and menacing way.
The man chuckled and looked back and forth, “Whom? Me?”
When Zane didn’t deign to give him a reply, his face changed to a small frown, “And here I thought we were going to be friends. I’ve been hunting you, you know.”
He didn’t say a word, yet his confusion was evident on his face.
“Ah come on. You saying don’t know? Well you are new to the gig after all. All the same, just means one easy slayer for the picking.”
Zane wanted to shout for help, a sliver of terror finding its way to his heart. Yet something stopped him, something primal had awakened within him. This was his job, his duty, whether he liked it or not.
A voice that was not his own spoke, a deep rolling rumble starting in the depths of his chest, “You want your power? Then come and take it.”
A change came over the creature in front of him. It started with a knowing gleam in its eye, then a shadow crossed over its face, suffusing it with a malevolent aura. Before he could react the thing had leapt at him, an incredible blur with its inhuman speed. Zane, couldn’t react, his body human not quick enough, not fast enough. Yet his body moved for him, its speed matching, or perhaps even outmatching his incredible foe.
The two titans crashed into the ground, both possessing such strength that their impact made an impression in the ground. Their movement two fast to be caught with the human eye. Zane had fought with his trinity, mind, body, instinct. He fought with all three, a fist came towards him, his mind told him which direction, his body reacted and his instinct, in rare cases, saved him w here all else failed. Yet this was an evolution of his fighting style. There was no thought, no response; the fight was merely an exchange of reactions. This was an evolution of present day combat; it had melted down the elements of combat to two things, instinct and intent.
Both words flowed around the pair like a vicious warrior’s aura. Instinct suffusing their punches and kicks shouts and bellows an almost tangible killing intent thick in the air around them.
Then in an instant, it was over. Of the two, the one who wanted it more survived, and Zane, or whatever he had temporarily become, had wanted it more, far more. His mind returned from this morbid analysis with an unnatural snapping sound. He looked down and the vampire lay at his feet, neck rotated in a sickly fashion, a pool of growing blood seeping from him.
“And so the mighty die, Mad King Alastair.”
With those words, his sense truly returned, yet the supernatural had not yet finished their play. As he looked up he noticed a broken window to the side of the alley. In a fraction of a moment he saw his reflection, an ordinary, if not roughed up man, with golden eyes that glowed.
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry I haven't updated for so long! I know where the story is generally going but I just didn't know how to do this chapter. Plus I've been busy with university and whatnot. But the next chapter I know exactly how to write so hopefully there will be more updates soon! Enjoy ^_^