A Midnight Awakening [1-4 people]

[EZEKIEL MAYS]

{EVENTUALLY ENDS UP IN BAUM COMMON ROOM}

It was late. Really late.

But not the kind of late Zeke tried to shy away from. No, it was rather late at night. He had come over to his parent's apartment because they were actually off work, a rare occasion. So they had dinner and such, and Zeke decided to just stay the night there. Plus, a storm was beginning to rage, and he wasn't too keen on going out in that. Not that he was afraid of storms or anything.

All was silent in the house, as he was in his old room that was converted into a dusty guest bedroom, unable to sleep because of various reasons. One, the storm was getting louder. Two, he had drank a lot of coffee because that was the only thing they had there. And three, he had a sinking feeling that something bad was gonna happen.

"AHH!" He jumped at a sudden noise, but it wasn't thunder. It was the old landline they had put in his room and had obviously kept there. Why would anyone be calling this late at night? Curious, and not hearing anyone else stirring to answer it, he picked up the dusty thing with a bit of a grimace and said, "Hello?"

"Is this the Mays residence?" the man on the other end asked. His voice was really deep and hoarse. The whole thing was starting to creep Zeke out a bit.

"Yes. Why?" he replied curtly.

"I'm so sorry to tell you this, but Eleanora Rodanthe has perished in a terrible car accident."

A full minute of static coming from the phone.

Then Zeke registered what he had just said.

"W-what?" he asked, a pathetic tone in his voice.

"She was in a cab, and the driver ran a red light. Someone crashed into him. No one survived the accident." You could tell the man was really trying hard to be sympathetic, but it wasn't in his nature, it seemed. But Zeke didn't care about that. Right now he cared about waking up from this nightmare.

No. Ro couldn't be. It wasn't possible. For one, she was in New Orleans, so why would she have taken a cab? She always walked everywhere nearby there, and if it wasn't she got a ride from someone she knew, and that was a lot of people. No way would she ever have taken a cab.

"I'm sorry, who did you say you were again?" Zeke asked, sheer emptiness in his voice.

"Did I not say? I'm sorry, this is Detective Raymond Banker, New Orleans Police Depart-"

It was sudden and normally would have been shocking. But Zeke was already in shock, so he did not register the light flickering off or the line going dead. He simple held the phone up to his ear where it had been, still and silent as he processed it all.

This had to be a prank. Though some horrid feeling in the pit of his stomach told him it wasn't. The woman who had raised him, the woman who he went to for advice, the one person he trusted sincerely and completely, was gone forever.

How could it be true? It couldn't be. He would just call back and-

Oh. The power went out.

He sat there in utter darkness, with only the sound of rain and thunder to block out silence. He didn't know what to do, even as he heard his biological parents leaving the house at this ungodly hour to do what, exactly? Oh right, what they had always done. Leaving him behind in times of need. At least then he had Elee. Now, he was alone in a dark room, sobbing.

"There, there,"[/color] a woman's voice called out in the darkness. He looked up and around, but saw nothin-

Wait, there! It was glowing. What was it? Drawn towards it, Zeke crawled towards it and picked it up.

It appeared to be a wand. It was hard to tell, seeing as that was the only light source in the room. That was another thing. It wasn't glowing like a flashlight, or even a glowstick, really. The most noticable thing were the sparks of- what were they? 'Light' couldn't really finish that sentence, though they were emitting that. No, the only phrase that could really describe them was....

Magic. They were sparks of magic coming out of the tip of the wand.

This had to be a dream.

"Unfotunately, it's not, dearie."[/color] The woman's voice sounded sympathetic and a bit sad, and Zeke wondered if he were crazy. Not that he didn't believe in the supernatural, because he did, but Ro had taken precautions to make sure his room wouldn't be invaded by any spirits. Maybe that had ended because she was-

Well, if that impossiblity were true, then they still wouldn't just go away. Ro would never leave him unprotected like that, in any case.

"It's true, dear. I'm so sorry, love." Finally, the shape of an old, robed, and slightly plump woman materialized out of the darkness. Emitting from her periwinkle robes were some of the same sparks of magic that were coming out of the wand Zeke was holding. Disbelileving that any of this was short of a crazy dream, he remained calm.

"Is this yours?" he asked, holding up the wand carefully, so it wouldn't destroy anything like in Harry Potter.

The woman chuckled. "Not anymore, dearie."

Zeke stared at her quizzically, with tears still in his eyes. "Then who's is it?"

The woman sighed. "Perhaps I should explain a bit first, dearie. One, you must believe this is real, because it is, love. Your nanny would tell you so." She held his gaze for a few minutes, waiting for him to believe.

With a heave of sadness, the message finally came through. "Who are you?" he asked, trying not to choke on tears.

"I'm your fairy godmother. Er-" She cut off, realizing her mistake. "Sorry, habitual response. Not your fairy godmother, per se. I was Cinderella's fairy godmother. You know the story of Cinderella, correct?"

He nodded (it was actually his favorite fairy tale, though he would never admit this to the guys).

"Good. Well, see here now, all us characters decided that we should get off those pages and step into the.... modern world, dearie. This isn't easy to explain. And I chose you as my host, as Cinderella chose a host, and now it is your duty to help her find her prince and have a happy ending, just like before."

Zeke nodded, doing the best he could to absorb the information. He had been used to hearing odd things like this from Ro, so he tried not to dismiss anything, in her honor. After a few minutes of mulling over this, it was actually a bit simple and easy to understand.

"So... this wand is mine? he asked, still holding it a bit hesitantly.

Suddenly, she moved and grabbed it from him. "Not yet. I have to get you started somewhere, right, dearie? Now tell me. What would you like to do?"

Zeke considered this for a while. What he really, really wanted was to see Ro one more time, but that was probably asking too much. What he wanted right then was to just go to what he considered home at the moment, which was not here. Or New Orleans, since that was where it had happened and that would make it seem so much more real.

"Can I back to Baum?" he asked, hoping she could do that.

"Of course, love. Now, if I could remember those magic words..." She sa there, thinking for a moment, until Zeke attempted to assist.

"Uhhh, Bibbidi Bobiddi Boo?"

"Yes! Thank Disney! Now, dearie, before I go, I must tell you that this is the last time you'll ever see me. I will speak in your head, yes, but I will not be able to materialize like this."

"....But how will I know how to use the wand? Or who Cinderella is?"

"As for the wand, it'll be instinctual, dearie, you just have to remember where you put it. And as for Cinderella...."[/b] She waved the wand, and a image like a projected movie appeared on his wall.

He could barely make it out. seeing as the image was dim and it was still dark in his room, but he squinted and eventually, he could make out features.

No way.

It couldn't be.

Not Charley Harper.

But it did make sense, if he thought about it. Cinderella was very smart, as Charley was, and not to mention 'Golddigging Whore' could symbolize the wicked stepmother.

"Now, love, she doesn't know that she's Cinderella yet, and you are forbidden to tell her until she realizes it herself. Understand?"[/b]

"I understand." Charley would think he were crazy, anyways.

"Now, let's take you back your school, dearie." She waver her wand. "Bibbidi Bobiddi Boo!"

When Zeke opened his eyes, he was in the common room at Baum, at least that's what he assumed. It was still a bit dark. Remembering the wand that emitted lit magic, he pulled it out of his pocket and examined it, not realizing that other people may be with him in the common room. Smooth.

notes; UNGODLY LONG, BUT DONE.
words; With the bold/color coding and stuff, 1692. /twitch

[ELIZABETH WILLIAMS]

Eliza leaned back in her chair slightly, her mouth opened in an unattractive way as she read her essay to herself. It was bound to get a D, perhaps a C. Of course, Eliza had spilled her breakfast on it, so smudges of jelly and orange juice took away from its professionalism. Yet she couldn't get another copy because the Baum printers were having some sort of problem. So Eliza tried to make do, wiping off the spills vigorously.

Today had not been Eliza's best. She had woken up late, missed a class, earned a detention (because she missed the class) and received a terrible math grade. And now that it was terribly late into the night, Eliza noticed a threatening storm outside through the windows. She shuddered to herself, because storms were so... so down. It was hard for her to stay her cheerful, smiley self when it was grey and raining outside. Plus, Eliza was terrified of lightning. Yet she couldn't bring herself back to the dorms because she felt somehow safer here. Maybe it was because there were other people around.

It was probably because Bill convinced her to stay. "I like it here" was all he would tell her before disappearing into the back of her brain, though she didn't mind. Eliza was used to his straight forward answers, something she used herself.

As Eliza tried using a pen, which she soon figured out was out of ink, she heard a big crash and click. She dropped all of her things as she remembered vaguely that this was what she heard when the car accident happened. Eliza scrunched her eyes closed when she realized the unnatural silence of the common room.

Opening her eyes, Eliza took a quick look around- at least, she tried to. It was pitch black, and she heard a few isolated screams, though the room was decidedly empty because it was so late at night. Eliza clutched her knees and tried to focus on happy things- darkness was the one thing she did not like. Eliza didn't like not being able to see things.

Suddenly there was another small noise- this time, though, it was a crack, and sounded just like Apparition in Harry Potter (though Eliza never finished the series). Eliza stood up, wobbly, and could see the outline of a boy, somewhere around her age, meddling with a softly glowing stick. Or... a wand. Eliza suppressed a gasp- was he a wizard?! But wait, wizards weren't real. Eliza giggled to herself nervously.

"You know, carrying that stick around will make people think you're a wizard or something," she said out loud before mentally hitting herself. What if he was a thief? Criminal? How had he suddenly appeared? Yet somehow Eliza was drawn to him- something about his look, or posture, or whatever. Either way, he looked nice, and Eliza liked making friends.

Bill suddenly popped out of the blue: "I think I might know him," he said, then disappeared again. Eliza furrowed her eyebrows. What did Bill mean by he knew him? How did Bill know anybody? Ugh, why were some things so confusing?

Oh no, she was becoming one of those angst-y teenagers. Eliza stood up straight and smiled genuinely, noticing that the boy seemed shocked and sad (she had good eyesight). Eliza could understand that. "Why so gloomy? It takes more muscles to frown than smile." Actually, she had no idea if the statement was actually true, but it worked.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[EZEKIEL MAYS]

Zeke enjoyed the silence, though he knew that it was only because people didn't know what to do during this blackout. They were probably confused and he should help somehow. Maybe he should-

"You know, carrying that stick around will make people think you're a wizard or something."

Zeke jumped a little at the sudden voice. Squinting in the darkness, seeing as his wand (still not used to that expression) didn't really light anything up more than a few inches away, he tried to see who it was that was talking to him. Her voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it...

Oh! It was that girl that was in a few of his classes. She was a senior, he assumed. Though she hadn't been around for all four years... what was her name? Elizabeth Williams, yes? Eliza, rather.

Wait, how did he know all this? He concluded that the fairy godmother coming around gave him more knowledge than he had previously. "Well, I'm definitely not a wizard," he said, putting the wand back in his pocket.

"Why so gloomy? It takes more muscles to frown than smile."

Wow, what a choice of words! That was exactly what his nanny had said to him when he got upset. "Someone close to me just passed away," he replied, hating the term butusing it anyways. It never made the death seem important, like it wasn't a big deal. It was to him.

[ELIZABETH WILLIAMS]

Eliza stifled a giggle when she saw the boy jump. She instantly felt bad and, on instinct, had the urge to hug this guy (not only was he shocked, but also sad), but resisted. Some people just didn't like it when Eliza was so nice... Who knew why, but she knew when to back off.

"Well, I'm definitely not a wizard," He said. Eliza almost pointed out that this is what a wizard would say, but knew it would be immature. After all, she believed a person's word, even if they're a stranger. Eliza watched him with interest as he shifted around a bit uncomfortably. She recognized him... from one of her classes. What was his name? Oh, Eliza had the worst memory. Zack? Zaccharias? It started with a Z... Zeke! Eliza felt especially pleased with herself.

"Someone close to me just passed away," Zeke said out of the blue.

Oh.

Eliza blinked uncertainly. What was she supposed to say to that? Oh, but she felt so bad. Had she been through this before. Eliza knew what it was like, the shock, the concern, the depression. She really wanted to comfort him, because she knew without somebody looking out for you nothing good will happen.

Before she could say something very sympathetic (Eliza was actually close to tears- she was very emotional, even about other people's lives), she stopped herself, remembering how annoying it was when Eliza herself had been through this. Instead she hugged him quickly, though it wasn't very awkward. It was an Eliza thing to do, and she felt it was right.

"It gets better after a while," she whispered as she stepped back. "Just remember whoever it is will always be looking out for you. It really helps." She felt really cheesy and very stupid, but it somehow was the best advice she could give him. she patted the seat next to her. Maybe they could talk, or maybe she could read and he could play with the stick or whatever it was. Whatever. Or maybe he could leave, she would be totally okay with that too.

Totally, even though it was completely dark and Eliza had nobody to talk to and she didn't have a book.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[EZEKIEL MAYS]

Zeke shouldn't have said anything. Instantly he regretted thrusting his problems into someone else's hands, especially when...

Whoa. Images of a car crash flodded into his brain, the girl in front of him appearing to be the only one who survived. What kind of fairy godmother power was that? He waited a few moments and the fairy godmother did not answer him, so he simply assumed that he could see what troubled people, so he could bibbidi bobbidi boo and help out. Or something.

Well, that didn't help him out. It wasn't like he was used to loss, or really understood it fully. He was still barely caught up with the loss of Eleanora Rodanthe. Eliza had lost both her parents and her twin brother. Not that he could let on that he knew that, though, because that would be... odd.

Wait, was she almost cryi-

Zeke's train of thought was interrupted as she hugged him. He blinked once. It's not like he was used to getting hugs from almost perfect strangers, practically. Though, it seemed he knew so much about her already.

Another image popped into his head, one of a Disney movie this time. Obviously, Fairy Godmother liked the Disney form of certain things. It was the scene of Alice in Wonderland where Bill the Lizard was introduced.

Elizabeth Williams?

Wow, whoever the people were that came up with these reincarnation ideas were clever.

But seriously, he really did not want to know this much about people just from meeting them. That was something he was going to have to talk to the fairy godmother about later.

"It gets better after a while. Just remember whoever it is will always be looking out for you. It really helps."

"Thank you," he said. It was oddly comforting, as cheesy as it was.

Well, might as well continue this conversation, right?

"Uh, you're Eliza, right?" He knew the answer, of course. "I'm Zeke. I think you're a senior also?"

notes; zeke c'z whut u did thar.

[CHARLEY HARPER]

Charley Harper was not used to being distracted from her work. But lately, she just couldn't get focused. She'd do a math problem, then she'd spend twenty minutes worrying about her fucked up mess of a life. Then she'd start studying for a stupid, waste of time health quiz, and would get about 3 pages into the textbook before realizing an hour later that she had spent ten minutes actually reading the book, and the rest of the time picking at her fingers and over-analyzing her plans for the future. Now she was studying for her Biology midterm, and she was actually doing a good job. She had spent ten minutes straight without a single thought about the murder! Or Zack…but no. Stop. Biology. That was much more important. She took a deep breath, and started to read again. Right as she got to the section on Abiogenesis, which was surprisingly fascinating, the power went off. Fantastic. She threw the papers back on the desk and put her head in her hands. All she wanted to do was study for this stupid Biology midterm. Was that too much to ask? Her life had to stop throwing curveballs at her at some point, right?

Okay, there had to be a flashlight in this stupid room somewhere. Maybe it was on the dresser? Charley got up, pushed out her chair, and turned around to go search…immediately tripping over the chair she had just pushed out. Fuck it, this wasn't going to work. She could barely walk without tripping in the light, let alone in the dark. She should go find Zeke, he'd have a flashlight, and probably a band-aid, since now she needed that as well. His room was just down the hall…if she could make it down the hall. But the hall had no obstacles, so that would probably be easier. Realizing she had been laying on the ground for way too long pondering the decision, she just made up her mind. She was going to find Zeke. She would bring her Biology book, and they could study together like they always did. She grabbed her book and quickly got up, ignoring the pain of her scraped hand. Her night vision was getting better, thank god, so she could see the doorknob. She left her room, spent an abnormally long time figuring out how to lock the door, and headed off down the hallway.

Well, that was convenient. Zeke was sitting right there in the common room! With a candle! See, life worked out sometimes! Wait…was Zeke talking to a girl? Who was she? Charley didn't recognize her…since when was Zeke making new friends? And why wasn't he introducing her to these friends? Didn't she have a right to know who all of Zeke's friends were? What if she was a secret prostitute, or something? No, she was too pretty to be a prostitute. Since when did Zeke talk to pretty girls? And why was a pretty girl talking to Zeke? Were they dating? Why would they be dating? Why would a girl go out with Zeke? He was, well…Zeke. He was too…nice to be dateable. Or something. Whatever, it didn't matter. She didn't like some random girl talking to Zeke. What were they talking about, anyways? Charley couldn't make out much of the conversation, but she was sure she heard 'wizards' in there somewhere. Really? They were talking about wizards? Her and Zeke and much more interesting and logical conversations than that. How could he be enjoying himself? Was he enjoying himself? He didn't look too happy. Maybe he was miserable about being stuck talking to a ridiculous, illogical girl who liked to talk about wizards. And anyways, the girl wasn't that pretty. At least, it seemed like it from this distance, she couldn't really tell. The girl had weird…wait, were they hugging? Why were they hugging? They shouldn't be hugging. Since when was Zeke a touchy-feely person? No, this was not going to happen.

"Zeke?" Charley said, popping out of the dark hallway and stepping into the common room, squinting at the sudden light of the candle in Zeke's hand. Wait, that wasn't a candle. It was a…wand? Well, now the wizard talk made more sense. Why did Zeke have a light up wand? And why did he look so confused? Maybe it wasn't confusion, maybe it was sadness? She couldn't tell, she was never good at reading emotions. "Are you okay? And why do you have a wand?"

tag:

[/color] zeke/eliza!
words:[/b][/color] 770
notes:[/b][/color] sorry for the lateness, and the rambling!
lyrics:[/b][/color] say anything (else) - cartel
[/size][/center]

[EZEKIEL MAYS]

"Zeke?"

Zeke didn't expect to hear the familiar voice that sounded so much different now. Because that wasn't just the voice of his best friend, that was also the voice of his princess goddaughter(because he could call it that, right?), and obviously he wasn't the only one who knew that. The wand glowed a little brighter, so he stood up and shoved the thing in his pocket, though everyone probably already saw it. It was the only source of the light in the room. Nice. Well, whatever. He then walked over to Charley, maybe just kind of forgetting about Eliza. Not because he was tryig to be rude, or that he didn't want to not talk to Eliza, it was like a pull he blamed on the Fairy Godmother.

"Are you okay? And why do you have a wand?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Well, no I'm not. It's a long story." He sighed, realizing that this was Charley and she would probably want to know. "But yeah. That's Eliza. I just kind of met her." Okay, how much could he tell Charley about this again? Not a lot. But he still really didn't want to stand here while everyone gawked at the wand. "Do you need a flashlight? I have some back at my room." Along with a first aid kit, some non-perishable things of food, and bottles of water. Disaster preparation? Ezekiel? Nah.

And it looked like she would need a band-aid. The wand gave off a lot more light in the smaller hallway, lighting the way to Zeke's room. His gloommate, as he liked to call the kid, since he was kinda down and he could be clever sometimes, was somewhere else. Pulling out the tub her kept under the bed, he grabbed two flashlights and a first aid kit.

"Were you studying?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. This was Charley Harper, of course she was studying.

notes; okay i'm sorry this post is awful and makes me want to punch babies
and if carmen comes back, i'll rewrite

[CHARLEY HARPER]

Charley didn't like the way Zeke was looking at her. It didn't seem like Zeke, somehow. She knew that was ridiculous, but she had been around Zeke long enough to notice the little things he normally did that were different now…his movements were jerky, he was stuttering a bit. She noticed that he rarely got frazzled, besides maybe the first time they met. But that was because he was late, of course. Ever since then, words he strung together always seemed to have a purpose. He seemed nervous now, though. And that look he was giving her…she didn't understand it. It was a bit indescribable, the only word that came to her head was 'intense'. She didn't know what it meant, and it scared her. What happened to him? He was blurting out words that didn't make sense, it was almost a bit too much for her to handle. Out of all the inconsistencies in her life right now, Zeke was always the one that never changed. The steadfast one, the one who always stuck by her. He couldn't change. Not now. She didn't think she would be able to deal with it.

"W-what? You're either okay or you're not okay. Which is it?" She muttered somewhat quietly, almost tripping over her own words. He had to make up his mind, what he said didn't make any logical sense. Something was definitely different, it seemed like he was hiding something from her. Why would he do that? They never kept secrets from each other. Well, that was a bit of a reach. They weren't like adolescent girls who talked about their 'feelings' all the time, but she did tell him a lot of stuff. Like about her mother. She never told anybody that, ever. At least, not to anybody who didn't already know. But then again, she was keeping a pretty big secret from him right now. But she wasn't keeping it from him purposefully, the topic had just…never come up. It had only been a couple days, it was reasonable! He, however, was being completely unreasonable. She wasn't acting any different, while he was acting totally different. She couldn't figure out what could be causing his unusual behavior…was it the weird girl he apparently just met? Maybe he got a bad grade or something? What if he suddenly decided he hated her? Oh no, that was it. He hated her, and was going to leave. That was the only explanation. Why else would he be acting so strange?

"Do you need a flashlight? I have some back at my room."

She took in a ragged breath, before saying, "That sounds good." Anything to get away from…what was her name? Ebony? Ella? Something like that. Whatever her name was, Charley didn't like her. As they started down the hall, she bit her lip and clutched her Biology book tighter. He wanted to tell her that he hated her and never wanted to see her again, that was it. What was she going to do without Zeke? He was the one who balanced her out: even though she was always late, he was always early, while she was always stressed out and high-strung he was always calm and collected, while everybody usually got put off by her, they all automatically loved Zeke. The fact that they were total opposites was what made their friendship work. It didn't really make sense, now that she really thought about it. He shouldn't want to be friends with her. She could understand Zack a bit more, they were both pushy and stubborn and were stuck in a world that nobody understood. Zeke, however, she didn't understand. What if he finally came to his senses and realized that she wasn't worth the trouble? People realized that, eventually. Most realized it within the first five minutes. He'd stuck with her for a while, his patience probably just ran out. Well, at least she'd have Zack. Hopefully.

They finally reached his room, and Charley quietly sat down on Zeke's bed, setting her book firmly on her lap. Zeke disappeared to get a flashlight or something, she wasn't really paying attention to what had seemed so critical just a few minutes ago.

"Were you studying?"

"Yeah, Biology. A bit hard to do with no light, though." And when she couldn't read more than two sentences without her mind wandering. She looked down at her feet and picked at her cuticles. What was she supposed to say? Something horrible had probably happened to him. That involved her, somehow. And wands…? Whatever, maybe if she didn't say anything he'd just tell her. If he was going to leave, she just wish he'd get it over with. She would just take a deep breath and let it go, and move on with her life. Yes, that was what was going to happen. She was going to be fine. She didn't need him, anyways. He could keep his stupid looking new friend and that ridiculous wand thing. She wished she could just be patient and wait for the blow, but she knew she wasn't going to beat around the bush with this. "What happened?"

tag:

[/color] zeke/eliza!
words:[/b][/color] 878
notes:[/b][/color] MY APOLOGY TO ZEKE ON BEHALF OF CHARLEY
BECAUSE SHE WAS MEAN TO PEOPLE IN
THE CBOX. I HOPE THIS POST MAKES UP FOR IT.
lyrics:[/b][/color] say anything (else) - cartel
[/size][/center]