Awakening

"I said don't call me Jana." Oz grabbed his coffee of the counter of the kitchenette. "What am I supposed to call you if not your name?" He was fighting with his roommate Elizabeth, who insisted on dead naming him every chance she got. "Its too damn early in the morning for this Elizabeth. Go fuck yourself."

Feeling anxious about the day, Ozzie stepped outside. The air was biting and crisp, and it smelled of moisture after the rain. He sipped at his coffee, regretting not having left it in the fridge overnight. Iced coffee was Oz's favorite.

School was uneventful that day. Classes went by as usual, boring Ozzie out of his mind. He had went to the boys section for gym class, but they had called him over to the girls. He yelled at the teacher for it, and had go sit out of the class altogether for his behavior. He didn't mind. Even if classes had been entertaining, Oz couldn't focus. He kept thinking about the day before.

~Oz was focused on the events that transpired. Why was Reena there. Was she even real? Oz had every reason to be shocked. The girl in question was almost four months dead.~

"Reena," he thought wistfully. "I miss you Reena. When you said forever, is this what you meant?" He sighed. "Jana?...Jana!" Oz shook himself awake. "Yes sir?" " The question on the board please." Oz came up to the board, writing the answer. He walked back to his seat with his head hung, face red. "Sir," he said. "Please call me Oz." The teacher looked confused. "I'll call you whatever is next to your last name on the attendance sheet. Get that changed and I'll call you Bill Nye if thats what you want." Oz's face flared up, he was now blushing to his ears. "Y..Yes sir." He sat down.

Class ended uneventfully. Oz headed to his after school art club. Oz loved art. He loved painting and drawing. He always carried a sketchbook in his bag and always had some paint somewhere on his clothes. Art helped him stay grounded in his recently messy life.

As he painted, he noticed the featured he had drawn were familiar. The brush strokes soothed him, and he let his hand lead the way. The colors blended naturally, a smooth path created by the brush that reflected Ozzie's state of mind. He pulled away to look at his work.

"Reena." He breathed to himself, staring at the painting as if in a trance. Reena looked beautiful. She looked exactly like how Oz had seen her last. She was resting peacefully with a small wistful smile on her lips, eyes lightly closed, relaxed. Even in this pensive state, this image of Reena had something cold about it, something frozen. The last time Oz had seen Reena was at her funeral.

—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~

Oz was walking home. The weather was cloudy, but the sun was already setting as the moon started to peak out.

Oz checked the time. 5:15. It was about time for the pests to show up. Right on cue, Kayla came out of the school building, walking his way followed by her two friends. "Hey fuckface!" Carol grabbed Oz and pulled him into the same corner where they had attacked him yesterday. "What do you want from me? Seriously..." Oz was helpless against them. "It's quite simple what we want Jana. We want to cleanse out school of unclean tranny f*gs like you." Kayla laughed at her words. Carol and Annmarie grabbed Oz by the arms, pinning him to the cold brick wall. "Kill the tranny f*gs bitch." Annmarie screeched. "Don't copy my lines Annie," Kayla glared at Annmarie.

"But its a good line.."

"Shut the fuck up."

Annmarie quieted down and focused her frustrations on Oz. Kayla coughed, rasped a little, made a face, then she turned around and spit a wad of sticky saliva right on Oz's face. Oz flinched. All three girls laughed. "Kill the f*gs right?" Carol hurled, taking a small switch blade out of her pocket. Kayla grabbed it, flicking it in and out. "Since you're such an emo f*g, we could kill you and make it look like you offed yourself. How's that sound?"

"I'm gonna die," Oz thought with desperation and regret. "I'm gonna die and nobody is gonna help me."

Kayla approached him with the blade.

"Power," though Oz. "I just wish I could fight back."

Suddenly, Oz's head started to ring. A voice reverberated through his skull.

"It has been far too long master. I am happy you have finally awakened."

A strange image appeared in Ozzie's head. He couldn't quite place what it was. Somehow, he knew what it meant to him. He even knew the word for it Without him even realizing, he said the word he thought.

"Distruggendo!"

The word fell out of his mouth, and in that instant, all three of his attackers froze.

Carol was first, grabbing and clawing at her throat. Kayla was next, her eyes rolling back, black goo seeping from them. Annmarie simply collapsed. In two minutes, the bodies of all three girls were laying at Oz's feet.

Oz was pressed against the wall, the uneven roughness of the brick scratching at his back. He was frozen, panting like a dog and sweating, too afraid to even move. He didn't know how, but he knew he had done it. He had killed those three girls.

A raven flew down from the sky, landing on his shoulder. Oz still didn't move. Somehow, the raven made him feel safer. He felt as though he knew it. He did know it, in fact, the raven was one of the few beings he ever trusted. It spoke to him.

"You seem troubled master. Is something the matter?"