History Information
History Before PHS 259:The Loss of Innocence
Though there are parts of his past that Zachariah can no longer remember due to having repressed them. These events are documented well in his psychiatric profile, started when he was seven. But the corruption of his psyche started long before that due to his sick father, who is longer of this world. Little could Clear Rose and Marcus Watkins know the child they would create could be so troubled. Unfortunately for one of them this knowledge would have saved their life.
Clear and Marcus meet at a church gathering three years before Zachariah was born. Marcus had been dragged by his girlfriend and Clear was a young organizer for the church group. She had been devote Catholic since her father’s passing to Liver disease when she was fourteen, finding solace in the word of the lord Jesus Christ. Marcus, on the other hand, had only come in order to appear like a great guy so he could get into the pants of his present girlfriend. However when he came upon the cake walk everything changed. Taken back by Clear’s beauty, Marcus had a new target of his lust. After ditching his girlfriend amidst the crowd the two began to talk and sparks flew. Despite Clear’s mother’s disapproval of the age difference of three years the two married after dating for two years and one year later… a child named Zachariah Blu Rose was born.
Shortly after Zachariah’s sixth birthday his mother had finished her degree and begun her dream of being an animal researcher, soon heading off to the artic circle to study polar bears. Meanwhile her child, a member of the church’s choir, was left with his father back at home, only to find how sick the man truly was. Marcus demanded perfection in everything, even the smallest mistake in even kindergarten work ended in a relentless beating for Zachariah at the belt of his father. Skin broke and scars still remain on his back from the savage brutality of those days. Not only physical but mentality, still Zachariah fears anything below a letter grade of an A or number below 90. Perhaps, sadly, he would be alright if these were the only sick acts he was subjected to at a young age but, unfortunately, they were not.
Being the star of the church choir made Zachariah a local star, almost, and everyone wants to be a star. However those who can not be a star want a star. Soon the young boy found himself assaulted on two sides. Marcus refused to cheat on his wife but that would not stop him from his urges. In fits of lust and rage Marcus directed these urges onto Zachariah, raping the boy every Sunday after church and sometimes as many as three times a week. But soon the enjoyment of the sick act took hold of Marcus and soon he brought "paid escorts" home to partake in the act, for a price of course. The only safe haven the boy could think of was the place his mother always taught him about was the church. As the lead boy of the choir Zachariah now found himself the object of the deranged priest’s desires. Left with no safe havens, Zachariah began to recede, feeling as though the world had forsaken him to suffer for the rest of his existence. Put through tortures no one should ever have to be subjected to all by the age of eight, rape, beaten, and even teased at school… truly corrupted.
Fires of Insanity
During a cold winter while Zachariah was in second grade, Marcus stumbled home drunk with an open bottle of booze in his hands. The boy told his father he was cold but all he got to warm him self was a small Bic lighter. Right there something snapped inside the small boy. For hours the boy sat playing with the item, his father already passed out in his room the remnants of his drink pouring onto the sheets of his bed. Shortly before school, Zachariah casually strode into his father’s room a lit the alcohol soaked fabric. Marcus was shocked back into consciousness by the searing pain as his body caught fire. While his father collapsed in the hallway from the pain and the rest of the house caught fire, Zachariah slipped out the back door without a care in the world.
Once at school, the day passed like normal until the teacher was called out to go to the office for some reason. Zachariah volunteered to keep everyone safe and when one girl complain about being cold, the deranged boy again used his lighter, this time it was the girls skirt. While she frantically scurried about trying to douse herself, Zachariah went about lighting various books, bags and other students on fire before shutting them all in the room. The teacher and principal came down the hall to inform the child his father had passed away during a fire that burned down their house, or so they thought. When the two adults arrived back at the room, they were in shock to see Zachariah sitting across the hall, rocking back and forth while crouched in a fetal position. The fire alarm started sounded and students poured into the hall, the teacher and principal were in horror to see the twitching flaming bodies inside the room and the boy sitting mumbling hypnotically, “I saved them… I saved them… I saved them…”
It didn’t take along for the psychiatrists to find out everything the boy had kept hidden all the years and how troubled he now was. The tales he told lead to the priest’s arrest, ex-communication, and sentencing. The teacher and principal both resigned, ashamed that they did not notice the warning signs and in some way try to prevent this tragedy. The principal is still working as a gardener in outer Las Vegas to this day. Zachariah was easily found mental unstable and committed to a mental institution to receive the proper help. Meanwhile his mother dropped her work in Greenland and rushed home to her son, overwhelmed with the guilt of leaving him with such depraved people. When Clear arrived she was ushered by the hospital director to her son’s room, bursting into tears at the sight of her son bouncing around, singing psychotically.
“Oh padded walls of joy
You are my favorite toy
The best thing for just this boy
Oh padded walls of joy
You are my favorite toy
The best thing for just this boy”For three years Zachariah remained in the mental hospital, trying to regain his insanity. After about a year and a half he seemed ready to leave but the news of the priest’s murder in prison and the teacher’s suicide caused a relapse. Another year and a half of work meant Zachariah was ready to leave. Clear got an assignment to go study penguins and this time took her now eleven year old son with her, hoping the open area, solitude and limited human contact would help him readjust to being outside the hospital.
Into the Wild
The next couple years had Clear and Zachariah jumping around the world studying various species of animals and slowly Zachariah began to become more comfortable outside the padded walls. First off to study Emperor Penguins in the deep south near Antarctica. Within a week Zachariah was fascinated with everything about the little creatures, finding them irresistibly adorable, especially the young ones. Clear was pleased to see her son so excited about something and acting almost like a normal child. She took the time to tutor him everyday, where she found out about his perfectionist tendencies that caused so much anxiety. The next step for her as a mother and teacher was to help Zachariah come to the realization that an 89 is not the end of the world, a task easier said than done. Though she did have to admit there were advantages to it, Zachariah picked up things quicker than the average child and was soon catching up in all learning he missed.
During one outing they group came upon an abandoned baby penguin. Zachariah urged them to steer over toward it and when in range, he leapt from the boat and rushed over to the small ball of fuzz. After a spirited pleading he finally got his mother to allowed him to keep it as a pet. She couldn’t help but do so out of guilt for his previous suffering, not the noblest of reasons. So now the Roses totaled three, switching back to Clear’s maiden name, Clear, Zachariah, and Fleet. Soon the three were off to Brazil…
Clear had been reassigned to study various species that lived within the Amazon rainforest and of course took her family along. However this time Zachariah spent his time living in Rio, attending school, and trying to be a normal kid far away from the place of his torment. This is where he earned the nickname Saint, which almost acts like a shield from his past, his faith reaffirmed by a local pastor who told him God had a journey for everyone. Zachariah was sent to save those who could not save themselves. Also the boy got back to boxing, this time of his own volition and even began to learn the local martial arts of Capoeira. The physical activity was relaxing and helped bury the past even further, almost like a movie he saw long ago. Clear saw how well Zachariah got along in Brazil and hoped to stay for the sake of her boy but after a few years they were to return to the United States.
A Return
Once back in the states Clear took a job teaching at the University of California Los Angeles, purchasing a home in Long Beach. However the hardest part was getting Zachariah back into school and convincing herself that Zachariah would get along just fine here, just like in the city of god. Zachariah’s file followed him to Public High School 259 and the local superintendent of schools had reservations about letting the boy back in, but after a standardized test with almost perfect scores and an alright interview, the man decided to allow it. Clear was overjoyed, knowing full well about how vicious the teachers could be. She knew Zachariah would be just fine since he boy’s insecurities would never allow him to get a B, much less fail or skip class. Her only worry was how well he would get along with other students.
Zachariah now enters PHS 259 as a new student, unsure how well things will go but resolved to do his best to lessen his mother’s worry about things he can no longer remember.
