Chapter 42 – Choices and Consequences (Part 2)
Chapter 42 – Choices and Consequences (Part 2)
The train glided smoothly away from the station, picking up speed as it sliced through the city like a silver arrow. Through the reinforced windows, a breathtaking view of the skyline unfurled—gleaming towers basked in golden sunlight, their mirrored surfaces shimmering as they reached for the heavens.
Zane slowly opened his eyes, his gaze drawn to the world beyond the glass. The quiet rhythm of instrumental music filled his ears, and for the first time in what felt like weeks, he felt... calm.
The weather outside was perfect—warm enough to be comforting, cool enough to relax. Between the steady hum of the train, the music in his ears, and the soft cushioning beneath him, a rare sense of peace settled over him.
His mind began to drift—untethered, floating from thought to thought. He remembered his mother’s face. He remembered long nights, hollow victories, and the cold loneliness that had followed him like a shadow through every phase of his life.
"It’s been a long journey..." he thought, watching the city blur past. "It doesn’t even feel like I’ve only lived seventeen years. Feels more like thirty."
Zane didn’t feel seventeen. Not even close. The things that excited others his age felt hollow to him—pointless distractions. They laughed too easily, cared too little. To him, they were shallow, ignorant of what life was like when it wasn’t handed to you on a silver platter.
They had families. Warm homes. Freedom. Choice. They could fail and still be okay.
Zane? He had none of that. Just scars—on his neck, in his memories, in his soul.
His fingers instinctively brushed the jagged scar beneath his jaw, hidden by his collar. ’They judged me for this,’ he thought bitterly. ’As if it told them everything about me.’
Now, here he was. On a train bound for something greater. Something most could only dream of.