Enjoy...I took time off work for this people!
Chapter 4: Interview.
-Oz has his mind back together again, but for how long? The white-haired man introduced himself as a Counsellor and a Therapist by the name of Xerxes Break, but could Oz really trust him despite that? And just WHY is it that Oz finds himself in the most difficult situations?-
"So tell me Oz." Break announces from the doorway just as he closes it behind himself, going over to his oak-wood desk he plops himself inside his leather chair with a small "oof" as he then takes out a small box of treats and candy from within his desk's drawer, and opens them in a rush of excitement.
Oz, uncertainly, takes a seat across from the crazed Therapist and folds his legs to sit Buddha style inside the chair. "What is it you wanna know Break?" Oz smiles brightly once he's comfortable.
Break frowns at the obviously fake smile, but says nothing otherwise as he hums under his breath and pops a hard candy into his mouth with a smirk. "Why are you here?" He asks, rolling the candy rather noisily inside his mouth with his tongue as he waits for an answer from the teen.
Oz looks up at the ceiling in thought and shrugs his shoulders with a smile. "I don't really know why, I think my father only wanted me here so I can get out of his hair." Another casually shrug here. "I don't think I really need to be here, but then again, what else is going to stop my random fits of hysteria and sudden black outs?" Oz then finishes with a smile stretched widely across his face. "I don't know why I get these random black outs, but maybe I can get my head together in here and figure it out on my own!" He announces in sudden confidence.
Break felt the need to roll his eyes, or rather, his eye.
So he did, without being noticed by Oz that is, and rests his elbows upon the wooden desk as he cracks open the candy inside his mouth with a loud crunch. "Maybe…Or maybe you actually do need to be here for reasons you are not aware of?" Break smirks.
Oz tilts his head, finger to his lip. "Huh?" He says unknowingly.
Break already felt his will power—his will power of being able contain his emotions, anger being the number one emotion on the list—slip away completely when it came to this rather difficult patient, said difficult patient also knew that he was being difficult, so what Break already knew of Oz's personality, was that Oz really liked intentionally being a little jerk. And what Break also easily caught notice of when it came to Oz Vessalius, was that this innocent, naïve, and happy-go-lucky air and look he had created and surrounded himself with, was nothing more than a charade, a mask that Oz has put up in front of others as a way to keep them at bay, and keep them unaware of the deep depression, guilt, and bouts of hysteria, unknown to the people around him, to have them thinking that everything was okay, everything that he's doing, was nothing out of the ordinary, and that other's should not be worrying about him.
And that to Break, was all too obvious…Why so obvious, that he was beginning to think that Oz had a lot more complex thoughts and feelings than what he makes him out to be. Something else is going on inside Oz Vessalius's head, and Break was damn sure he would be able to crack into it in little over a month.
Break then smiles brightly and goes for another candy from within the purple and pink box. "If you do not know why you're here, then maybe you have yet to figure it out yourself?" Break explains. "What was the situation in your recent school?" Break suddenly asks as he looked down at Oz's folder lain atop his desk before he looks back up to Oz. "What exactly did you do to get you expelled? And what exactly happened afterwards?"
Oz visibly flinches at the mention of his school and clears his throat. "Well…"
Three Weeks Ago…
Oz runs into the boy's bathroom inside the boarding school called "Lutwidge Academy" and hurriedly locks the bathroom door behind him before he runs over to the sink and drops his book-bag to the floor, bending over in front of the sink and mirror, he starts splashing water over his face.
'I did it again..!' He shouts at himself as he tightly shuts both his eyes and whimpers quietly in front of the sink.
He opens his eyes and looks down at his hands, both of his knuckles were bruised and a horrid colour of dark purple as small cuts could easily be seen littered across his knuckles, blood pooled forth from his wounded hands, but most, if not all of the blood, weren't exactly his.
Oz shakes his head in disgust and quickly washes both his hands under the cool spray of the water and rubs his wounded hands free from the blood. Some blood was his own, but most blood belonged to that of the 11th graders, all three of the 11th grader boy's, were horribly bruised and bleeding and probably somewhere inside the school looking for him, either that, or they were in the school's infirmary getting their broken noses and cut up lips looking after.
Oz shakes his head a second time to relieve him of the frightening memory…Or to be more accurate, lack-there-of.
Because he had no recognition of ever hitting all three of those boys, nor the memory of what exactly happened when he took on all three of them at the same time, and he definitely doesn't remember what exactly he did in order to get all three of them, bruised and battered.
But he does remember what sent him over the edge.
He heard all three of the boys talking very…Well, to be blunt, he heard all three of them talking absolutely fucking disgusting about his sister! While he stood just in front of them no less!
Oz growled under his breath and balled his bruised hand into a fist, but then began hissing painfully through his clenched teeth when both his hands starting throbbing painfully and quickly he released and relaxed his hand.
'I got them good then…If my knuckles are hurting this badly…' Oz thought, a disheartening smile momentarily stretching across his face, before he sank down to his knees and looked down at both his hands. 'Why…? Why does this happen to me…? Why do I suddenly black out when my emotions get the better of me…? What started it all…?'
Oz looks up towards the fluorescent lights above his bright blonde head and chuckles under his breath. "When did it all go wrong…?" He asks, mostly to himself as he brought a hand up to his head to sweep his blonde bangs back, only to have them fall back into place in front of his nose and framing his face.
"Oz Vessalius, report to the Head Master's office immediately…!"
Oz flinches as the strict tone of voice from the intercom and sighs heavily. "F…Father is going to kill me for sure…" Oz then starts to tremble as he gets up from the floor, he quickly grabs his book-bag and heads out of the bathroom to await his doom from the Head Master.
"You are such a troublesome child!" His father's booming voice echoed throughout the study.
Oz hangs his head and nods. "I know…But…I'm sorry father, I—"
And what Oz was going to say was "I blacked out again and had no idea what I did to those boys" Until his Father—Xai—cut his sentence short.
"—I don't want to hear your excuses!" Xai slammed both his fists down on top of his wooden desk as he glares heatedly down at his "son". "Do you know how much it cost me to put you in a boarding school as good as that one? On top of all that, I had to practically BEG the Head Master to enroll you into that school, only because he heard all about your little 'incident' in the last school you went to! What were you thinking starting a fight with three of the boys?"
"They started it Father!" Oz defends. "They were talking about Ada like she was—!"
"—Ada would've defended herself! She's much older than you Oz! Not only that but she knows how to handle herself more PROPERLY than you ever could!"
Oz flinches and takes a cautious step back. 'Ada wasn't even there! What would you know?' Is what he wanted so desperately to say to his Father, but he knew perfectly well that if he even so much as raised his voice, or simply argued and talked back to his father, more punishment would be in store for him.
So all Oz could do, was nod his head, and agree to every word his father spat at him.
Xai sighs heavily under his breath in disappointment. "Now what am I going to do with you? I can't hire another tutor at the moment. Who in their right minds would tutor a hooligan like you?" He spat, glaring daggers down at his sons head, which was lowered dismissively down in front of him.
Xai felt his nerves get the better of him, and before he knew it, he was striding quickly around his desk, and had his son by the collar of his shirt.
"YOU better get you shit together BOY." He seethed, his "sons" eyes stared up at him widely in shock.
Xai would admit that he was never one to lose his temper so easily, but when it came down to his "son", he had no control over his emotions, everything about this boy enraged him. Whatever happened to the boy? What exactly made him turn out this way? So wretched and…Pitiful…?
"Why are you suddenly acting out? Did you…" He lowered his voice, suddenly cautious about the volume of his voice. He didn't want the maids hearing word about his little "argument" between his son and himself. "Did you stop taking your medication?"
Oz suddenly drops his gaze to the floor and bites his bottom lip in worry. "…Y-yes…I don't want to take them anymore…They make me feel weird, they make me dizzy and forgetful about the littlest of things…And I know they weren't working."
"Forgetful? That is exactly why you were taking them!" Xai suddenly shouts, dropping his lowly son to the floor, where the teenage boy loses his balance and falls to his bum at his feet. "Your therapist prescribed them to you in order for you to feel better, to CURE you of your delusions and your DEPRESSION." Xai huffs impatiently and scoffs soon after. "Depression… Why on earth are you depressed? You have a home, you have a father that works for his money, you have maids and all the servants any child could ever hope for and want. So why are you so depressed? Why are you so…Abnormal?"
Oz closes his eyes tightly and shakily gets up from the floor. 'I'm…Abnormal…? No one else feels the way I feel? Does this depression and anxiety I feel…Make me abnormal from the rest of the world…?'
Oz shakes his head. "I…Don't know why…I'm just…" 'Sad…? But why am I so sad…?'
"Look up and talk if you're speaking to me." He heard the impatient tone of voice his father held, and quickly Oz looks up to meet his father's impassive gaze.
"I don't know why I'm depressed, the therapist at school told me that it may have to do with the death of mother…And…" Oz couldn't explain anymore, if he told his father the reason why he's feeling these 'abnormal' feelings, then surely he would get even angrier at him.
"Speak up." His father pressed.
Oz shakes his head. "I can't…"
"You can't what?" His father's voice snapped.
Oz starts to tremble as he lifts his eyes to meet his father's. "And…It may also have something to do with…You…Father…" His voice trails off, suddenly Oz was very aware of how close his father was in front of him. His body starts to shake as he notices the flicker of anger he saw in his father's cold eyes.
"Are you blaming me now?" His father scoffs. "You are really trying to pin your whole behaviour and change of attitude on me? You don't know your place boy." Xai took a step forward and slaps his son on the cheek.
Oz stumbles backwards, but quickly he regains his balance. He would not dare fall helplessly to the floor in front of his father, not while he was this angry, it would only make his father hate him all the more and call him other horrible names more so than he already does.
"I'm sorry father, I didn't mean to make it sound that way. I was just trying to say that my home-life isn't how I expected it to be when mother died." Oz hurriedly explains.
'I thought I would get more sympathy from you…But instead, you despised me more than usual.' Oz thought, caressing his now reddened cheek with a bruised hand.
"Tch. Bruises. You're barbaric." His father growled, easily catching the sight of his son's bruised up knuckles. "Can't control yourself, so you start lashing out on innocent people? You really are continuing to annoy and frustrate me with your problems Oz." Xai turned on his heel and heads back to his leather seat behind his wooden desk and drums his fingers on top of the wood. "I don't know what else to do with you. You stopped taking your medications, complaining about how they weren't working, and this goes and happens when you stop. You fight people and have no idea that you did…" Xai sighs heavily and spins around inside his chair to face the large and open window, turning his back to his "son".
"Your depressed, you have night terrors, you have insomnia on top of that AND anxiety…You're an absolute WRECK."
Oz nods his head and lowers his hand from his cheek. "Yes…I am…" He agrees. He is, isn't he? Who on earth could have this many emotional problems in their life?
"In my eyes, that's enough to send you to the Psych-ward." His father growled. Then suddenly spins around in his chair to glare heatedly down at his son. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do, they have a program here in Atlanta that takes in SICK people like you. They also have schooling programs inside the hospital as well, that's where you can get your education. Not only that, but they can CURE you of all your abnormalities." Xai gets up from his chair and reaches for the phone sitting on top of his desk. "I'm sending you there right away. The sooner your cured, the better." His father deadpanned as he began dialing the numbers.
Oz then turns away from his "father" once his "father" waves him away uncaringly.
'I have no say in this? Of course I don't…My father…Is a stubborn man. I can't say two words without him having to either slap the bejesus out of me, or throw my own words back at my face. I have no place here…And I have no place outside of here…Where do I belong…? Where do I go from here? Do I have no future at all…?'
Oz looks up from the floor, and blinks in confusion as he's faced with his bed. 'When did I walk here…?' He thought dubiously. But then he shakes his head and sighs softly. "I'm forgetting everything so easily…I don't want to go to a place where they feed me more drugs." He announces quietly to himself as he goes over to his bed, and dives for the softy of his pillow and hugs it close to his form. "Where do I belong…?"
Oz shakes his head and drops his gaze to the floor in front of his lace-less shoes. "And that's what happened at school." He didn't bother explaining the whole situation thoroughly to Break, he cut out the parts of what his father had said, what his father had done as punishment, and what Oz put himself through as a way to punish himself...He also didn't bother telling Break about how he took medication before, but then stopped.
Break hummed in appreciation at Oz's explanation, but he still felt the need to pursue the entire situation.
He felt that Oz was holding something back in that little story of his. "And how is home-life for you Oz?" Break asks casually as he starts jotting down the story that Oz has just told him, and making key notes on the matter as well.
Oz shakes his head and wrings his hands together nervously on his lap.
Break easily caught notice of the nervous twitching and stopped writing in order to focus his entire attention on the teenage boy.
Oz clears his throat and adjusts himself more comfortably on the seat. "W-well…It's not bad, but it's not all that great either…My…Mother…Passed away two years ago, and since then…My father…Wasn't exactly a father anymore." He drops his head and stares emotionless at his hands in his lap. "He doesn't like me very much, he's become very strict since my mother's passing, and rules are being piled up on top of other rules. I have no say in the matter though, because I understand what my father is doing." Oz smiles sadly and looks up to meet Break's attentive stare. "He's just worried I'll die on him like my mom, that's all. That's why I'm here." Oz confirms this with a small nod of his head.
'That has to be the reason why, right? I mean…Father didn't exactly hate me from the beginning, he was just too busy with his work to spend time with me, I can understand that as well. And he sent me here, because he was worried I would only continue to act out more. He doesn't hate me, he just hates what I'm going through.' Oz thought, as he looked out the window that was situated just beside himself to the left of the room.
But…Who was he trying to convince? Himself? Or Break?
Oz wrinkles his brow in confusion and gives a silent sigh.
"Alright, and I understand that you have been prescribed medications from your last Therapist, some Anti-Depressants?" Break asks, going over the file in his hand, before peering back up at Oz.
Oz's body went rigged and sweat licked at the side of his head. 'Damn it! Now what am I supposed to say? Lie?'
"Why exactly did she prescribe you those medications?" Break asks as he goes through Oz's hospital records. Taking note of every pill Re-fill that Oz made, which was oddly, only one re-fill since he was prescribed the medication. 'That must mean that he stopped taking them after the first bottle…' Break thought.
Oz shrugs his shoulders, wanting to be as casual as possible. "She decided that—from all the stories I was telling her and all of the half-truths that I had to lie to her—she decided that I was crazy and needed to be on a certain pill, I guess." He shrugs again, smiling brightly. "She was a weird old woman, She must've thought that I needed them, but I stopped taking them after I finished my first bottle." Oz admits.
There really was no other way to explain it, he didn't feel the need to take them, he thought that he was strong enough to live without taking Anti-Depressants, and that he was old enough to solve his own problems, without looking towards drugs as an alternative and basically, a last resort call.
"Why did you stop taking them?" Break asks as he bridges his hands together within his long white sleeves of his Doctor's coat and stares intently at the blonde-haired boy sitting before him.
Oz scratches the back of his head and chuckles nervously. "I was beginning to forget the littlest things, and I also felt dizzy. And I just felt like they weren't working, either than that though, I felt like I didn't need to be taking them."
Break jots down Oz's explanation within the boy's hospital folder and looks back up at Oz. "And why is that?" he asks, taking a candy from the box and popping it into his mouth.
"Because I think that I have to deal with things on my own." Oz states seriously. "I don't need to be taking drugs; I can face these problems myself and deal with them by myself. I think that taking medications is a last resort option. And I'm not at my lowest at the moment, so I don't need to be taking medications. I'm fine doing things on my own." Oz explains thoroughly and earnestly. There really was no need to be lying to Break's face, but he did feel the need to sprinkle tiny white lies here and there just for the sake that Oz only wanted to deal with his own problems by himself without the help of others, if he didn't, then he would only be considered weak, wouldn't he?
Break's expression turns decisive as he stares intently at Oz's expression. The boy looked completely serious, but he still felt that Oz wasn't opening up; he still held the air of someone hiding secrets. Oz's body language already said that much, but the boy was complex. A certain individual that Break felt the need to be alert with, if he wasn't at his best, then he would fail as a therapist and counsellor.
Break suddenly smiles brightly and pushes the box of candies and treats towards Oz with a grin. "Thank you for answering all the questions I needed answers to Oz! And because of that, you may have a day off as a reward."
Oz smiles brightly with hope dancing happily inside his eyes. "Really? Oh thank you so much Br—"
"—But starting tomorrow, you will begin attending your therapy from yours truly." Break gestures towards himself with a bright smile and points to Oz's horrified face. "And you will also have to stick to the hospital's programme and or schedule, you will begin your schooling here inside the therapy ward, and I will also assign a…Bodyguard, so to speak, to escort you and keep an eye on you as well." Break winks mischievously at the oddly quiet boy, whose face then went two shades too white in his horror when hearing that last announcement.
"But whhyyyy? And by who?" Oz shouts out in dismay. "I'm not a trouble maker! I just—"
"—Have random bouts of hysteria and uncontrolled fits of unconscious behaviour!" Break finishes for the boy as he claps his hands together happily.
Oz quickly gets up from the chair he was sitting in, in front of Break's desk and points at the Therapist's face with rage easily seen in his expression. "What are you trying to say? That because of those things, I'm considered dangerous to you people?" Oz shouts, heatedly staring into Break's single red eye.
"Yes, Oz." Break announces with complete honesty.
Oz lowers his pointing finger and takes a step back involuntarily.
"Because of those 'Things', we can't exactly have you going about the hospital, therapy ward and the in-patient bed rooms when we all—'all'." Break mimes quotation marks in the air above his white-head. "—Being the counsellors, the other therapist, the psychiatrists, the registered nurses, social workers, activity therapists, mental health specialists, addiction counselors, and the educational specialists, we all need to get a good look of how you interact with others around you, and the way you carry yourself while in their care." Break clears his throat before continuing on. "You, Oz, will be evaluated by many of the hospitals professionals, in order for them to determine your, excuse my bluntness, but 'disorders'." Break explains as he gets up from within his own chair and casually walks around his desk to lay a hand upon Oz's slender shoulder with a small smile. "In other words, we can't exactly have someone with uncontrolled fits of unconscious behaviour interacting with the other patients when we don't know what is causing you to have these symptoms. We need to get to know you better, in order for you to walk like a free man around these hospital grounds—without the need of a bodyguard. So you must understand our apprehension and hesitation when it comes down to you, yes?" Break finishes with a small tilt of his head and a kind smile.
Oz drops his head in uncertainty, before he sighs under his breath and looks up at Break with a smile. "Well, when you put it that way, it does sound like I do need a bodyguard to keep an eye on me. Who knows when I might have a 'incident' like that again? By the way, who ya gonna assign to be my bodyguard?" Oz asks in excitement. "It feels like I'm a movie star!" He suddenly announces as he shuffles his feet in enthusiasm.
Break chuckles darkly and holds a hand to his chin and stomach to contain his laughter.
Oz felt a chill run up his spine at the dark scene before him; Break's pure white-hair falling over his eyes as it shrouded the man's face within the shadows of the pure white curtain as the Therapist/Counsellor only continued to giggle like a mad man as he moved and contorted into awkward laughing positions in front of him.
"Oh, I have a person in mind already Oz my boy." Break chuckles sinisterly.
"I really wish you hadn't called me that." Oz shivered in disgust. "You sound absolutely creepy if you give me a nickname like that." Oz states bluntly.
"Also, I haven't been able to mention this before, given that you just gave me a whole life story and all—" Break mentioned, waving his hand in a casual matter before continuing on. "—But, we have a strict clothing regulation that permits no shoelaces beyond the front gates of the hospital, absolutely no accessories either, and that includes, suspenders, belts, bracelets, necklaces, rings, and any body piercings." Break announces with an evil gleam to his one showing red eye.
"WHAAAAT?" Oz shouted out in dismay, clutching his suspenders in one hand and his belt in the other. "But!—but!—But I can't go aaaanywheeere without my accessories! They are what make the clothing I'm wearing awesome!" Oz argued.
All the while Break only continued to giggle at Oz's demise.
What what? What's this? A body guard? Who? *Dun dun duuuuuun* (My dramatic music -.-)
Anyways...
I hope I did Oz better this time :) Gilbert didn't show up at all in this chapter o.O Don't worry! Our lil-idiot-Gil will be back! :D Don't cry fan girls!
Also...
The time skip won't start, yet, not until the 6th chapter, but I'll give you a heads up :) mmkay pumpkin?
And again...
Like I said, sometimes I upload chapters fast, but then again I go back to being a slow human being -.- but i have a good excuse, lol i started work just yesterday and for the entire week last week, i was doing training. who cares? ok! Hope your still following this story :)