Forged Through Fire

A child's dramatic and harsh upbringing leads to a twisted tale of a maniacal adult.

            Zane Thomas was a normal mild mannered child from birth, but that would all soon change for this young man. Zane’s father left his mother when he was only 8 years old, the loss of her one and only love sent his mother spiraling downward into a depression and drinking binge that often left Zane to fend for himself. He was often forced to wake himself up in the mornings for school and prepare his own lunch before taking the 5 mile walk to the local elementary school. Zane struggled to fit in through school but often found himself left out as he had no real family to relate to the other kids. Two years later Zane’s mother remarried and life only became more difficult for Zane, his new step-father was highly controlling and wanted to seize every aspect of Zane and his mother’s life. Zane was often beaten and abused throughout the night while his mother, who now suffered from learned submissiveness and low self esteem, watching on doing nothing. As Zane grew older his life remained the same he was frequently beaten by his father and shunned by his mother who had come to believe he was the source the problems she had with her new husband. When he was only 10 years old Zane’s step father crossed the line one night, striking him so hard that he broke Zane’s jaw and left him weeping on the floor and gasping for breath. His step father immediately realizing his mistake of leaving a serious injury gathered up Zane and rushed him to the hospital, along the way he made sure to tell Zane that if he loved his mother and didn’t want her to be hurt or killed he would tell everyone at the hospital that he had fallen in the shower and hit the toilet breaking his jaw. This was Zane’s first real taste of how severe the violence in his household was going to become, and it would only get worse for him.

            Going through middle school Zane again found himself having problems interacting socially with other kids. Zane had no family to speak of and was not allowed to watch television or have anything to call his own. When he turned 13 Zane made his first attempt at standing up for himself. Seizing his step father’s hand one night he told him he didn’t want to be hit any more. His step father growled menacingly and without so much as a second through hurled Zane against the plaster wall breaking Zane’s right arm and several of his ribs. Zane again found himself in a hospital bed telling a phony story of how he had crashed while on a late night joy ride of his dirt bike.  Zane tried to find release in sports but found himself unable to compete at the level of those kids whose fathers had raised them for athletics and supported them. Zane also discovered his temper was becoming a real problem as he routinely found himself confronting teammates and coming very close to physical violence that he was unable to control. Zane craved the love and attention that he saw these others children receiving from their fathers and it began to turn him for the worse. Zane could feel something deep within himself changing, he knew he was no longer the same person that had struggled to make it to school everyday and fought to make friends. He was becoming something much worse, he was becoming a darker person no longer desiring to fit in, but rather desiring to make others feel the same pain and sorrow that he lived through daily.

            It wasn’t until a few weeks before he was to start high school that Zane was finally driven over the edge. During a nightly face off with his step father Zane took yet another stand for himself and struck his step father, sending him crashing to the ground in pain. His step father immediately rose to his feet and retreated to the kitchen, Zane assuming he had won this battle returned to his room for the evening. It was not to be however, as shortly after his father burst into his bedroom wielding a knife, he drove Zane to the ground and placed the knife tightly against his throat promising that if Zane ever struck him again he would kill him and his mother right alongside him. It was that night that Zane lost the last remnants of who he once was, the last spark of childhood innocence and faith in people was gone leaving only a bitter, angry, and sadistic man. Entering into high school Zane had developed a nasty temper and a hatred for anyone who had what he viewed as the perfect family life. Zane frequently found himself in fights for no reason other than the desire to abuse someone who had never experienced it. Zane was sent to counseling when he was 15 but it had little effect as something inside this young man had snapped. After 4 long years of high school enduring fights, suspensions, arrests, and counseling Zane was free from the bonds of school and sought to extract the revenge he felt he so deserved for his troubling life.

            Having nowhere to go Zane found himself living in a shelter in the local area all the while slowly driving himself further and further down a dark road with his thoughts of hatred and twisted desire to hurt others and make them feel the pain he had grown up through. Zane’s first taste of this desire came when he was 19 years old, after seeing a family in the park laughing and having a great time Zane could not handle it anymore. He followed the family home and found himself standing before the house in the late hours of the night. Zane knew what he was about to do was wrong but he had been driven into such a dark place he could not control his thoughts any longer and he advanced forward. Finding a window on the side of the house open Zane quickly let himself into the house. He quietly detailed the house taking note of exits and where the main bedrooms where so there would be no margin for error in his first work. Zane was careful to assure the child’s bedroom door was shut so he would not be awoken as Zane had no desire to harm the child; he wanted the young boy to suffer the same pain and suffering that had surrounded him throughout his entire childhood. Silently entering the parent’s bedroom Zane stood over their sleeping bodies and pondered how he should go about starting his quest for vengeance. Zane decided there could be no mistakes made as this was his first job and he had to make sure he was not captured. He quickly drew a long knife he had been carrying under his dark sweatshirt and stepped forward, with a quick motion he drew the knife across the throat of the father springing him out of the bed gasping for his last breath which would not come. The mother was quickly stirred awake from the noise and without hesitation Zane met her with multiple stabs to the body assuring he was striking organs because again, he could not afford to make a mistake on his first job. After the struggle had ended and the two adults lay at his feet their bodies motionless and their souls gone from this world, Zane smiled for the first time in years finally someone would know the pain that he had so long endured. With his work done Zane left his calling card that he had decided upon long ago, searching the house he found a family portrait and using his knife he carefully cut the mother and father from the picture leaving only the son alone in the frame, the same type of alone he would now endure his entire life.

            As the investigation began the next day the police found themselves baffled by this horrendous murder. Someone had broken into this house and brutally murdered two everyday good citizens while leaving their child alive. The police also noticed that absolutely nothing had been taken from the house as electronics and other valuable remained untouched, this only furthered the shroud of mystery around this scene. Citizens of the town found themselves horrified at this story and at the same time, curious as to who could commit such a violent murder and taking nothing from the house. Zane found himself sitting back watching this entire event unfold and was quite satisfied with his work but his thirst for blood and vengeance upon those who had the life he felt should had been his. As the investigation continued the police found themselves with no leads and no where to turn to unfold this mystery.

It was just barely over a month when Zane’s hatred and anger had boiled over and he knew that once again he must quench his desire. Zane found himself strolling around the local elementary school where he had gone to school watching the children as they left school and ran happily to their parents. Zane carefully searched through the crowd looking for his next victim, his eyes finally settled on a small blonde girl with curls in her hair tied in with red ribbons which bounced as she happily clamored over to mother and father. Zane saw the way her father lifted her into the air and twirled her around in the air laughing along with her has her mother smiled. Zane’s anger burnt with a hate filled rage at the love and affection they showed each other and he desired only to shatter their world and make sure this young girl knew what the real pain of not having a family felt like. Zane kept his distance and followed the family to their homes, after making a short mental note of the house and block he moved on about his day. It was late that night he returned and found a back window open that invited him into their household. Zane once again made sure he knew the house well and that the young girl’s room was closed off before making his way into the master bedroom, entering the room he stood over the two adults his eyes burning with hatred as the studied the way they cuddled close together holding each other in a blissful sleep. Though he had a small desire to experiment with new ideas on how to eliminate them, however he could not draw himself away from the fascination with the knife, much like the knife that his father had once held to his throat, it gave him a sense of power over his victims that he could not tear away from. Zane made his move once again drawing his knife sharply across the throat of the father and punishing the mother with repeated stabs to the body. Zane yet again found himself standing over the bodies of his victims that eerie smile creeping across his face as he felt those few moments of happiness and redemption in his tormented life. Leaving only the family picture having removed the parents Zane left the house continuing to the shelter that he called home and awaiting the rise of his hatred to yet again call him to kill.

            When word of this second horrific murder hit the streets of the town the citizens were rocked and terror began to sweep across the streets. Parents found themselves afraid to visit the park or other public places with their children for fear that they very well could be next to face the wrath of this faceless villain. As the police tried desperately to calm the public and their efforts fell short, Zane sat back in his cot where he slept and smiled, he had accomplished more than he ever thought possible. Not only had he bestowed the loneliness and suffering upon two children, he had laid fear throughout the entire town. It was at that time however that Zane caught another man living in the shelter watching him from across the room and a glimmer of concern crept through Zane, was this man growing suspicious of him? Was he starting to realize that Zane was always missing the night before these murders hit the street? Zane knew that his man would possibly have to be dealt with very soon or his secret might escape and he would not only be forced to live alone with this pain, he would find himself facing execution before the hundreds that he had endowed fear in. It was late that night that Zane was snapped violently from his sleep as he realized he must do something before his cover was blown. Drawing the knife from under his mattress he started across the room, stopping occasionally to make sure that no one woke up and saw his actions. Upon reaching this mans bed Zane lowered the knife and prepared to close out the deal, it was at that moment however that he realized he could not cut this man’s throat. The blood would cover the floor, his choked screams would awaken everyone in the shelter and he would have no where to hide or clean the blood from his hands, he must find an alternative method. Without hesitation Zane settled in over the top of the man and seized his throat with both hand squeezing with all of his strength. The man’s eyes exploded open as he realized that his breath was eluding him, his eyes wide open stared deep into the dark angry eyes of his attacker. Zane could hear his gasps growing shorter and shorter and applied even more pressure, as the man fought for his very last breath Zane leaned down and stared the man directly in the eyes seeking to watch the life drain from him forever. At last it was over as the man’s body lay motionless and Zane returned quietly to his cot to sleep. The next morning panic swept over the shelter as everyone quickly realized someone had been killed in the night. Zane lay in his cot and smiled to himself, it was no longer just about making others suffer pain anymore, it was about bestowing as much fear as humanly possible into everyone around him.

            Zane Thomas’ sadistic spree continued for several years, over the course of his life Zane murdered 35 men with children, 38 women with children, 2 men without, and 1 woman without a child. Now nearing 50 years old Zane wondered how much longer he could keep up his relentless pace but he knew that he must continue because he was the shadow of fear in this city and as long as he had breath in him his brain would scream for more blood. It was this thought, or perhaps the thought that after getting away with all of these murders, Zane began to believe that he as invincible. He became careless and one fateful day as a shelter attendant happened to be passing by his bedding area while he was out, she clumsily crashed into this bed and the blood stained knife fell from under the mattress. Horror swept over the young woman and she investigated further finding the pictures of all of the men and women he had killed, she noticed they had all been savagely cut from a larger picture and knew immediately what she had stumbled upon. She immediately contacted the authorities and at 3 pm on Saturday November 9^th, of 2008 Zane Thomas was apprehended by the local law enforcement. A month later as many citizens watched, Zane Thomas was executed by lethal injection and at long last the horror that had swept over this town had come to an end. It was a mixed night emotionally for everyone as they knew the torment was over, but also felt the pain and sorrow of those that fell in the path of this sadistic man. It was also noted that before he was executed Zane was seen smiling as he told the guards

“This will never end, as long as there are people out there who abuse their children and take for granted what wonderful family they have, there will be others.”

These last words still echo throughout the town as no reports of abuse are ever to be taken lightly again, even in his death Zane Thomas left a quake of fear and concern throughout the small town. 
 

 

Author's Note

My first completed short story I was unsure about a lot of things with it but overall I was satisfied with the way it came across. I hope you enjoy i'll be posting others later to show the development of my work.

Reviews

[NCalebD]

Scary. Liked the focus of the effect that people can have on others, especially their children. Good read.

[Aranee]

I'm shocked. In awe, horror and among other things.
I kind of feel pity for Zane because of his upbringing and childhood.
Though why his mind snapped and drove him to hurt others just sort of makes me cringe.
It is a sad world that we're living in, where behind closed doors, many things happen.
I think that if any one of his friends had tried to reach out for him, he wouldn't have gone down this lonely path.
I think you've done a wonderful job. Instilling fear, and pity at the same time.
I definitely look forward to your next writes.
Happy Holidays. :D

[deeps]

Wow! Such a dramatic experience here. I like what you have written. Such a lot to go thorugh here. Structure in all was just wonderful. Wonderful detail and just enough imagery to see it all happen.
I thought this was a very powerful write.