Chapter 11: Confrontation and investigation

8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?

Song of Solomon 8:8

When news spread of Zane having broken the heart of Hayley, things did not go well for the students. Other than his fellow fraternity members, who insisted that he was innocent, many students ended up shunning him or giving him the cold shoulder. It also didn't help that Parnaz was able to spread rumors of him supposedly being a "playboy" and make him out to be nothing more than a heartless Casanova who made women his conquests before dumping them. Needless to say, this caused Zane's life to become even more complicated than it already was. While there were others who saw him as innocent and refused to believe that he was that heartless, others were unfortunately very prone to turning on him the moment they heard the news of what had occurred between Hayley and Zane. It didn't help that Parnaz, under the guise of 'Paola' was able to have the already ignorant Hayley wrapped around her finger while also threatening her life ever so subtly. Zane had no idea on what he was going to do and panicked even more every time he was at the campus as he knew that Parnaz could show up or even call him to make sure he didn't rat her out to anyone. Even worse was that he couldn't call the police or even his family lest she kill Hayley anyway. What was he going to do?

"So Zane? Enjoying our date?" Parnaz asked in a tone that was both sickeningly sweet yet taunting at the same time. Zane snapped out of his thoughts as he remembered where they were. They were both currently at the Crowning Café, the same place where both he and Hayley went to before Parnaz ruined the experience for him. Whether she did this as a way to taunt him or because she actually liked the atmosphere was anyone's guess at this point. Given how crafty yet unpredictable Parnaz was to Zane, of course he couldn't find a way out of his current predicament.

"Of course, my dear Paola," he said with a forced smile as he knew that she had her gun with her hence why he had to play the role as the 'nice boyfriend'. "It's such a lovely day for us lovely people am I right?"

"That's right dearie," she said in her sickeningly sweet tone. "I had hoped to come here with a friend or even a boyfriend for a couple of years by now. If there's one thing that we have in common together is that we both love this place." As she said this, she gave off a very coquettish giggle which in any other case Zane would have found amusing but with her specifically, he found it incredibly grating and wished she would just die.

I would rather die than ever date you, Zane wished he could say out loud while glaring at her venomously. I wish I could just pummel you into bloody bits and have you thrown into prison after everything you've done to both me and Hayley! Oh Hayley, I wish I could tell you everything. I wish I told you about my past after you told me yours. I'm so sorry you got dragged into this mess with me.

"Are you alright dearie?" Parnaz asked in false concern, which made Zane hate her even more. But he was forced to bear and grin it if he didn't want Parnaz to target Hayley who at this point was the only woman he ever truly loved.

"Oh no," he responded while struggling to keep the venom out of his tone. "I'm just fine."

"I'm glad to hear that," Parnaz responded while hiding her sadistic delight over having Zane all to herself now.

After their date was over, if Zane could even call it a date, the young man walked back to his dorm room with Parnaz in tow. As soon as they arrived, Parnaz looked around to make sure nobody was there only to pull him into a passionate yet uncomfortable kiss, with Zane stiffening up as he was NOT into it as much as she was. Once they were done 'making out', Parnaz smiled at him evilly before letting him go.

"I'll see you next week, Zaney," she said in her sugary sweet tone, to which Zane responded by wiping his mouth with his sleeve in disgust.

"Don't call me that," he muttered angrily as he saw her walk away out of his sight. As soon as she was gone, he finally went inside his home to rest. Only that DIDN'T happen due to having an unexpected guest in his home. Namely, a mysterious young woman who was seated in the living room of his dorm alongside Mikey and Elis. This particular woman had pale skin, hair as black as night and a glare only accentuated by her silver-grey eyes. She sat on one of the chairs with her legs crossed while also crossing her arms in a severely disapproving manner. The fact that both Mikey and Elis were unnerved by the woman sitting before them also didn't help make the mood any better.

Feeling a bit scared but also tired of having to deal with anymore nonsense, Zane shook his head and groaned before turning to his roommates.

"Look, guys," he said in a weary tone. "I'm tired alright? Can we just save this for tomorrow?"

"How about no?" the woman responded in an icy tone while pulling out a VERY sharp sewing needle which quickly stopped Zane from walking any further. The needle itself looked to be made of wood and was slightly thicker than your usual sewing needle along with being much longer than the ones Zane would see. Judging from its length and how it was almost as long as his elbow, he saw how a simple textile tool like that would be quite fatal for someone like him and realized that whoever this woman was, she wasn't fooling around. "Now, ZANE, if you don't mind, could PLEASE sit down right now?"

"S-Sure," Zane responded in a nervous tone as he awkwardly shifted to another chair right in front of her while Mikey and Elis continued to sit around the 2 of them. After a brief period of silence, the woman finally spoke.

"I don't know if Hayley ever told you about me but my name is Aranea, Aranea Espinoza," the woman introduced herself with her tone still being ice cold.

"Wait, YOU'RE Aranea?!" Zane asked in shock.

"Yes I am," she confirmed with her tone being slightly annoyed. "And you are Zane Somerset yes?"

"Y-Yes I am?" he responded in a nervous tone, clearly not liking where this was heading. "Okay look, I don't know what you heard but I assure you, it's not what you think!"

"I'd like to believe that," Aranea snarled, making all 3 boys flinch. "From what I heard, Hayley was actually quite happy being with you for a while. That is until you broke her heart? Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

"Well, it's not like I meant to break her heart-"

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU MEANT TO OR NOT!" Aranea shouted in fury, causing the others to flinch once again from her tone alone. As she shouted at him, she got up and started making her way towards Zane while holding onto the needle in a threatening manner. "THAT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO MAKE HER SUFFER LIKE THAT! SHE ALREADY GOT HURT BY MEN IN THE PAST AND NOW YOU WANNA GIVE HER ANOTHER REASON TO HATE MEN AGAIN?!"

"Look, you gotta understand, if I tell you why I broke up with Hayley it'll only make things worse!"

"WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY MEAN BY THAT?!"

"I HAD NO CHOICE! SHE MADE ME DO IT!"

Aranea stopped yelling and stared at Zane in shock over what had occurred. Elis and Mikey also stared in shock over what he just said. After another period of silence, Aranea spoke again.

"Who made you do it?" she questioned suspiciously. "Who told you to break up with Hayley?"

"That's the thing," Zane said in a fearful tone. "I can't tell you who exactly but what I can tell you is that Hayley's life is in danger."

"Danger?!" Aranea nearly shouted. "Who's threatening Hayley? And why are they targeting her?!"

"Ssshhh! Keep your voice down!" Zane hissed in fear, which alarmed the others even more. "She might hear us and go after Hayley as we speak."

"Hmm... good point," Aranea said in a cautious tone before sitting back down in her seat. "If you can't tell me who she is, can you at least describe her for me?"

Zane sighed before giving more details regarding on who it was that threatened Hayley's life.

"In public, she's often seen wearing a pair of glasses along with a wig that makes her look like she has brown hair but her actual hair color is red. Not only that, she has blue eyes that make her look more cold and piercing but her glasses always obscure it so you wouldn't notice it at first glance. She goes by the name Paola Schnee but her actual name is