Two days ago Gunther's Pov
"WHY? WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?" I stared at the man yelling with tears coming from his eyes. "GUNTHER! WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

I breathed in and out heavily and shook my head. She told me to do this. I'm sorry. 

"ANSWER ME PLEASE! LET ME GO!" The chains wrapped around his limbs moved as he flailed around. The zombies emerged from the darkness of the room around the man. Him yelling was just drawing them in. I gently touched the glass that now separated me from them. "WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE THINGS?" 

I sighed and bit my lip gently.

The zombies shuffled over to him and bit down on the man. Blood flew from his arm as teeth tore into his flesh. He yelled out. "BARBARA! LEE! CHARLOTTE! SOMEONE HELP ME!" He cried as the zombies tore his body apart. One zombie bit into his throat and his screaming stopped as his throat was torn apart. I looked away. Sorry, Mark. 

Three hours later
Sit. Stare. That was all I did. How could I speak after watching something like that? I heard Emily saw something and a bunch of people laughed. Then Alex said something and Kevin responded. I was at Charlie's house. Surrounded by a bunch of people. And yet I still felt alone. I sighed as Alex left the room. I closed my eyes and shivered. All alone. 

Six and a half hours later
I still sat in the same place. Not moving. Still staring. I heard multiple thuds come from downstairs. I was slightly curious on what could have made that noise but simply ignored it. I saw Kevin walk up the stairs slowly. He waved his hand in front of my face. "Hey there. You okay? You've been just sitting there. It's like three. You've been staring at the floor for hours."

I opened my mouth and let out a sigh. "Kevin, right?" He gave me a nod. "I did something pretty awful this morning. It's kinda the reason I wasn't really talking."

Kevin put his hand to his chin. "I see. Well, that's alright. We all have our share of bad things we do. Intentional or otherwise. Don't beat yourself up about it."

I felt grateful. But it was strange. We'd never talked before. Why was he so interested in talking now? "Thanks for saying so."

Kevin's hand reached upwards and cupped my face. He stared deep into my eyes. "You killed. For the White Witch."

I frowned. "How do you....?"

"Max. He mentioned you."

I nodded. "Can you let go of my face please? I'm uncomfortable."

Kevin smiled. "Nah. I think I'll steal you from her. You seem like a nice friend. A partner who doesn't talk back or think about orders before following them. A true loyal dog."

My eyes narrowed. "If you think that, why do you think I'd ever just switch sides to you."

"Torture. Mental torture or even physical. There are so many ways to break you. You should find it fun, I mean, how long can an emotionless guy like you keep from screaming? You're such a mystery. You don't seem interested in boys or girls. You don't speak much. You're just there. I wanna know what makes you tick. I wanna know everything about you. All of your deep dark secrets." His eyes were opened fully and he licked his lips. "I wanna know about your desires. EVERYTHING." Dark black wings popped out from inside his shirt. "Fulfill my desires."

I grabbed his wrist holding my face and twisted. "And what would those desires be?" A loud cracking sound rang through the room. He smirked.

"I want you to show me some emotion. You love mysteries. I hate them. And right now, you're one big mystery." He reached for my face with his other hand. "So why don't you reveal everything about yourself to me? Pretty please? With candy on top?" 

I pretended to ponder on it. "Hmm.....no. I'm good." 

His teeth turned sharp. "It wasn't a re-".

I lifted my foot up quickly and kicked him harshly in his future. He groaned and fell to the floor, clutching his pants. "I said no." I lifted my foot high into the air and slammed it down against his head. 

Kevin's skull made a loud cracking sound as my foot slammed it into the hard wood of the floor. He yelled out in pain as he stumbled to his feet. He grabbed his face and shook it a few times. "You kick hard. Jesus. FUCK." He grabbed onto my shirt. "That's just made me even more curious."

"Are you like one of those people that like getting hurt?" I sighed and kicked upwards into his chest. He gasped for air and fell to his knees again. "Leave me alone."

Kevin shook his head. "You're so interesting, Gunther. There's a saying that's said a lot. I believe it now. They say it's always the quiet ones."

I simply stared at him as the door to the room was pushed open. Blond hair was the first thing I saw. The next thing I saw was the blue eyes. Well, eye. The other eyes was dark black and the pupil was red. Veins popped out of the face staring at me. "I TOLD YOU.....STAY AWAY." Zeke chuckled. "When I saw you this morning, I wanted to kick your ass for ignoring what I said and still being around Charlie, but I couldn't do it with so many people around. Fortunately, Kevin put everyone to sleep. Except for me luckily. So I get to kick your ass."

I sighed and pulled up my sleeves to my light green shirt. "Zeke, no matter what you do, you won't beat me. Just angrily swinging your fists won't change that."

Zeke clenched his teeth. "So fucking arrogant. I hate guys like you the most. You're the kind who thinks they're untouchable. Like nothing can hurt or kill them." He pulled off his shirt to reveal plenty of muscles. His abs were built. And a punch from him might just hurt. Maybe. He clenched his fist and flexed his arms. "Do you think I can't hurt you now?"

I nodded. "You still can't. But you can try though." I placed my fists in front of myself. 

A bright green tentacle emerged from Zeke's back. A user? Hmm. So I'm fighting a dragon boy. Zeke charged at me with a yell. He brought his fist forward and punched at my face.

I sidestepped the punch and tripped Zeke to the ground. The green wing curved and slashed at my outstretched leg. I slid to the floor and ducked before it hit me. Kevin was watching with glee in his eyes. I pushed out from the floor and sent my fist straight into Zeke's face. There was a cracking sound as he was pushed upwards. He flew into the wall behind him and growled. I sighed. "See? You won't win if that's all you have."

Zeke lunged forward and kicked out at me. I moved forward and grabbed Kevin by the arm and flung him into Zeke's kick. Kevin groaned and flew backwards and Zeke fell to the ground. I lifted my foot upwards as Zeke turned his body back to mine and slammed it down onto his genitals. Zeke winced and let out a small yell. I swung my fist repeatedly into his face. Right fist, left fist. Right. Left. His face was bloody and bruised but I switched to kicks to the face in his disorientation. He grabbed my foot after a few blows and smirked. But I simply used my other one to kick him in the face once more, knocking him to the floor. 

I gestured at the two groaning boys in front of me. "You lose. Both of you." I walked out of the entrance to the bedroom. A bit dramatic? Yeah. But so be it. I glanced at the sleeping bodies of everyone when I reached the 1st floor. I stepped over them all and reached the front door. I glanced back at Charlie and sighed. "Your brother's a psycho. If I weren't quick enough, he might've punched my head off. What would he have done then I wonder"? I opened the front door. I heard the sound of footsteps behind me and sighed. I put my hand in my pocket and turned back. Zeke was glaring at me.

"I hope you didn't think I was done after that." I saw that his left hand was guarding his private area and shook my head. So sad. 

"Even with fast regeneration, I can tell that still hurt. Unless you want something worse, I suggest you leave me alone." I walked through the front door and through the front lawn.

Zeke of course wasn't listening and I saw him following me. Jeez. What did she teach me about users? Hmm. Most of their energy is in their wings. Without them, they're useless until they grow back. Which means that, if I used energy suppressants on him, he should be screwed and have to leave me alone. I reached into my pocket. "Prepare for everything. That's what I was told, Zeke." I pulled out a small box. I opened it and saw nothing. Or so it seemed. I reached inside and pulled out a metal canister that would have never actually fit in the box. "Every kind of monster has a weakness. And I know yours." 

Zeke tilted his head. "Your attitude is really annoying me. I'm trying to keep my cool but I just can't. I want to hurt you. So bad." He sighed.

"I warned you." I threw the metal canister at Zeke. It flipped a few times and then popped open to reveal a small metal ball. The ball had a bunch of smaller needles in it. The ball shot the needles into Zeke's body. He shielded his face in time. However, the needles struck his arms, his legs, and his genitals. Poor genitals. Zeke stumbled for a second as his wing turned a dark grey and began deteriorating and seconds later, it turned to dust. The needles vanished into a puff of smoke. 

Zeke fell to his knees and groaned. His left eye returned to it's normal color. "What the hell did you....?"

"Suppressed the energy in your body. Doing so has made it impossible to use your wings. After all, they do run on your energy after all. Guess you'll either have to eat someone or wait a day or two for it to come back naturally."

Zeke let out a heavy sigh. "This isn't over." He slowly got up to his feet. His body was shaking and he stumbled back towards the house.

I rolled my eyes slightly. Way to sound like a revenge hungry idiot, but whatever. You do you. I walked away and brushed my hair out of my face with a sigh, pushing the gate to their house open and walking out through it. Now then, should I go home or walk around a bit? Hmm......I didn't want to be home at the moment. Walk around it is. I walked at a pretty fast pace. I had long legs so I typically didn't notice how fast I was walking. Alex and Tom sometimes complained when I would zone out and walk away from them in the middle of a conversation. One time, I actually got a few blocks away before I'd noticed I'd left them behind. I wondered, what was Tom doing? School should have been let out a few minutes ago.  I looked around for him as I walked in the school's direction. After a few moments, I saw him walking on the sidewalk with the two new kids. Sam and Maria if I remembered correctly. I looked away so I could pretend I hadn't been looking for Tom.

After a few seconds of Tom talking to them about God knows what, he stopped and paused. Then he turned to see me walking and as I turned back to him, we made eye contact. "I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, okay?"

Maria smiled at him. "Alright. See ya, Riddle." She skipped away down a block while humming.

Sam nodded at Tom and walked in another direction.

Tom shivered as the wind blew particularly hard in our direction. The wind blew his dark blond hair around as he rubbed his arms. He walked over to me and smiled. "It's my favorite quiet guy."

I shook my head at him. "You're out here in this windy and chilly weather without a sweater. Are you nuts?"

Tom blinked really slowly at me. "I'm nuts for you, daddy." He winked at me and laughed. 

I shook my head at him. "I don't get why boys and girls do that. Pretend to be super sexual and say things like that. Even the straight ones do it. But I'll never get why."

Tom shrugged. "Dunno. Because we can. It's fun to pretend. Lots of people have different reasons."

I sighed. "But it's strange. The same boys who are humping each other in the halls and slapping each other's asses are the first one's to call a person or action out for being gay. It's so weird."

Tom placed his hand on my shoulder. "Don't question it. Just go with the flow." He pulled me along. "So, why weren't you at school today?"

I froze. Everyone was at Charlie's house. So of course Tom found it suspicious when most of us didn't come to school simultaneously. "The reason I wasn't at school today was because....I....had some important stuff to do."

Tom frowned and began tapping his finger on his chin slowly as we walked. "I'm not as good as you with how quickly you figure things out. But it's strange. Alex, Charlie, You, Kevin. You guys kinda make up our little group, and none of you were here today. I was gonna hang out with that Cody dude that I sometimes talk to, but he wasn't here, along with his brother. Maxine wasn't in school as well, and even though she recently started sitting at our table, I still find it weird that none of you were here on the exact same day. Something isn't right about that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I kept my voice calm and stable.

"I'm talking about how strange it is that you all didn't come to school on the same day.  Normally one or two people a day may be absent if anyone is at all, but so many of you....that's just weird."

 I shrugged. "I dunno why the other's didn't come. I just didn't go to school because I had other things to do. I've had no sleep since yesterday night. So maybe you're right that something isn't right and the others may be doing something, somewhere, but I don't know about it." I stared at the ground and occasionally glanced up to make sure I didn't walk into anything. 

Tom sighed. "Okay. I believe you."

I nodded and glanced over at Tom. "So, am I walking you home or something? Scared of the dark?"

Tom chuckled. "We're just friends walking together. Jeez. Why're you so against walking with me? Worried people are going to think we're dating or something like that?"

I shrugged. "I wouldn't really care if people thought that. I know we aren't and their opinion wouldn't matter to me."

"If I was gay, and I did ask you out, would you say yes?" 

I pondered that for a few moments. "Depends. I don't focus on things like that. I don't really want to like anyone. But if the time was more...proper. And if we were both homosexual, then I might consider it. The best relationships are with close friends. Although, they're also a bad thing. If we were to break up or get into an argument, it might ruin our friendship and create a tension with our other friends. So if something like that situation were to come up, I would most likely tell you we should remain friends."

Tom rubbed his neck slowly. "Hmm. Good answer. I know I tell you this all the time, but you're seriously smart. Most people would risk their own friendships just to be happy for a short time. But you're special. You can think outside the box easy."

I frowned. Stop complimenting me. Someone like me who just goes with the flow doesn't deserve it. People who can transcend what cruel fate they've been given are the one's who should truly be praised. "Thanks. You're pretty cool too. You can understand how people are feeling pretty easy. And you always seem to be in a good mood. You lift up the mood actually when it's gloomy and down with jokes to make people feel better." You always help people when they need it, Tom. But your eyes hold secrets. Is there anyone to help you?

Tom's amber eyes widened and he nodded. "You have no idea how happy it makes to hear you say that." He turned to me and smiled brightly. "Thank you, Gunther." I pretended not to notice that he ignored my last question.

I felt a little happy. "That smile of yours is great too." I felt so relaxed now. Sometimes, even when everyone else in our little group looked past me or didn't notice me, Tom always would. He'd say hi and make me feel like I existed and wasn't an invisible ghost. And he'd smile. Smile like I was the best thing in the world. Like a sudden cure for cancer or something special like that. I liked the feeling. 

Tom shook his head. "Complimenting a guy's smile is a sure sign you're in love with him. It just proves you like staring at them and noticing things like that."

"Oh, you're the love expert now?"

"Yeah. I notice things like that. Totally. You stare at me."

"I do no such thing."

"It's okay, Gunther. It's natural for people to stare at beautiful things like me. I've already prepared for our marriage. You'll make a pretty wife." 

"Excuse me? You'd be the wife if we ever got married. Any other idea is impossible to happen." I smiled a little. "And besides, Alex stares at Charlie all the time, but it doesn't mean he likes him."

Tom coughed a few times and started laughing loudly.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Aww. You're smiling." He pointed at my face. 

I immediately wiped the smile off my face and replaced it with my usual blank look. "That didn't answer my question."

Tom shrugged. "Nothing. I just got an idea that involves Charlie and Alex. I'll probably tell them next time I see them if I remember."

I blinked slowly. I'd managed to not walk too fast and leave him behind. Hmm. I looked forward and stopped walking. "Tom. Wait."

He paused and looked at where I looked. 

In front of us stood a man. He had light blond hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a white shirt that had stains on it. And his pants were a dark black. The man was Mr. Smith. Our school's janitor. He was breathing heavily and had a large frown spread across his face. He walked over towards us quickly and then stopped a few feet away from us. He held a pair of glasses in his left hand and was trembling. "Have you boys seen Alex Bennett?"

Tom shook his head. "He didn't come to school today. And neither did you. I just realized."

Mr. Smith sighed. "That stubborn boy just had to mess up everything. Great." He looked behind him as if he were looking for someone. "I just must get him back. The world depends on it."

Tom nodded slowly. "Uh huh."

"I sound crazy. But I'm not." He held his hand out towards me. "The White Witch. I was told to meet her. And I know you know her! Tell me where she is. Now."

I quirked my head slightly to the side. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mr. Smith lifted his head back and sighed loudly. "This isn't the time for playing dumb, Gunther."

"Not really playing dumb if I have no idea what you're talking about." I kept my face blank so he wouldn't be able to tell if I was telling the truth or not. 

"STOP PLAYING DUMB!" His fist was clenched as he began glaring. 

"I already told you I'm not."

His fist began glowing in a bright white light. "WE'LL SEE." He lifted his hand up into the air. His eyes began glowing with the same bright white light consuming them. 

I blinked in confusion. What? Could he be...? I received an urge to walk over to Mr. Smith but I resisted it. "Tom....go....run." 

Tom glanced at me in disbelief. "And leave you? Hell no. Not in a million years, buddy."

Mr. Smith darted forward and grabbed Tom by the head with his glowing left hand. "Sleep." He commanded. Tom began to shake as he stared upwards for a few moments. He blinked once and then his eyes closed as he fell to the ground after his head was let go of. 

I turned my gaze to Mr. Smith. "What'd you do to him?" I kept my voice at it's normal calm level.

He shrugged. "None of your concern. I simply need the White Witch's location from you. That's all." 

I sighed. "Persistent. But my answer is the same. No." 

He lifted his hand up to my face. "Then you leave me no choice." His hand began glowing again. 

I felt the same urge from earlier. "Are you......G-". I couldn't speak all of a sudden. He placed his glowing hand on my head.

"I'll use your memories....to lead me to the White Witch." He spoke. And then my vision was filled with a bright white light.

8 Years Ago
I was being hugged. I glanced up at the big man who had wrapped me up in his arms. He had tears streaming down his face. "Gunther. I'm sorry. I was wrong for trusting that woman who calls herself your mother. She deceived me. She doesn't care about you. Or me. She only cares for herself. And I was blind to that. I don't want her to have you, but she's forced me into a corner. I know she'll make you go through horrible things. She told me. And yet I can do nothing against her. I only ask for two things from you. That you remember that I, as your father, love you more than that woman ever could. And two, that you eventually leave that woman and come back to me." He smiled, but his expression was sad. "I'll be here in New York. Waiting for you." I nodded slowly. New York. 

A Few Hours Later
I opened my eyes. Where were we? I glanced around. I hadn't been told where we were going when I got into the car. Was my father really.....gone? Why'd we even move in the first place? I peered at my mother for an answer but she  didn't say anything. She was just staring out of the window. "Where are we?" I couldn't stay silent.

She turned her gaze back to me. Her black hair fell down past her shoulders and she would have looked pretty, but the look on her face was ice cold. "From this day forward, I'm not your mother. You will live in this Orphanage as one of my own, but you are to never speak of our relationship. You are to refer to me as White one. The great White one. Am I clear?"

I never was the kind of person to make a fuss about anything. Even when I didn't like it. I simply nodded.

"I also like being called the White Witch, but I honestly prefer White one. It makes me sound wise."

I wasn't really listening to her. "So, why are we here? Does Dad not make you happy?" 

She tapped her chin. "Your father has quite a large debt to pay to me. I saved him in a time of need. Your job is to act as my servant. My little soldier. I will train you to become the greatest thing I've ever created. And believe me, I've created a lot of great things." She smiled, but there was no real emotion behind it.

I nodded. "So if I work for you, it'll make my father's debt go away?"

She nodded. "Yup. That's exactly right." 

I blinked slowly. Whatever. If it meant I'd get to see him again, I'd do anything. 

2 Years Later
Kicking. Punching. That was all I learned and did all day. How to kick, how to punch. What spots to aim for when facing an opponent. I would train all day and all night and be given just enough food to give me energy for the next day. Cruel? Maybe. But this was a cruel world I lived in. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. If I wanted to be allowed to eat, I'd have to give my best. That's what she yelled to me as I trained. I didn't question her. Questions would make her annoyed. Her being annoyed meant no food for dinner. No food for dinner meant no energy for the next day. No energy meant a poor performance and led to her being annoyed again. It was like a cycle. So I didn't speak unless I was spoken to. I simply followed orders. I didn't really have much to strive for, other than meeting my father again. That was the one thing that was on my mind as I trained. One of the things that kept me going. I slammed my foot into the tree again and frowned. Keep going. Don't grow attached to the other children. Just train.

1 year Later
I never expected to break my tradition of not speaking to any of the other children. I stared down at the little girl in front of me. "Hey, what's your name?" She looked dirty and sad and hungry. She was shivering and her hair was a dirty light red. 

The girl peered up at me with dull blue eyes. "I don't need your pity." She gave me a glare, but I could tell she was tired. 

"I'm guessing you're new. First day?" I sat down next to her on the floor.

"......Do you have food?" She frowned at me.

"No. You'll just have to wait for dinner." I shrugged. "Stealing food earns you a very bad punishment."

The girl nodded slowly. "What's your name?"

"Gunther. What's yours?"

"Elizabeth."

"Nice name." I turned away. I was about to stand up when I felt something hit my shoulder.

Elizabeth's eyes were closing and she was using my shoulder as a pillow. Well, mother did give me a little break from training. I sighed. 

2 Years Later
"Illusions. Remember the sign for an illusion, Gunther. Look for the slight shimmers in the air." My mother smiled at me. 

I huffed quietly. There wasn't much that seemed fake about the ten feet tall snake staring down at me with dark green scaly skin. I looked around. Illusions have shimmers. Find them, and you break the illusion.

The snake opened it's mouth wide and leaped down at my head.

I saw a slight shimmer behind it's head and focused on it. Surely enough, the illusion disappeared right before it hit me.

My mother shook her hand. "Magic is very delicate. Saying the wrong things can drastically change the spell you wish to use." She turned her hand towards me. "Illusion art: Snake." A green flash of light shot from her hand and created another illusion. "Do it again. And I've gotten sick of seeing your face and having to teach you academics all day. You're going to school so I can have peace. I'll create whatever you need for the middle school. And I'll make it close."

I felt my eyes widen. I'd be going......to school?

One week Later

I walked up towards my new school silently. I tilted my head as a carrot haired boy walked up to me. "Hello. I don't have many friends. Would you like to be my third friend?"

I blinked. "So blunt. But okay." 

"Cool. My name's Charlie." He pointed at a brown haired boy behind him. "That's Alex. And I have another friend named Tom." He smiled.

I nodded. "Sounds nice. I don't have friends. So I'll take what I can get."

Charlie adjusted the pair of glasses he had on and nodded. "Something is better than nothing."

I wasn't exactly sure how, but I had a good feeling that this friend thing might be nice.

2 Years Later
I was sitting in the orphanage again. Elizabeth was glaring at the wall. "Did something happen?"

"That white bitch happened!"

"Don't say that! If she heard you say that, she might take away your food and just give you water for weeks. Or beat you until your skin is all red and bleeding." 

She frowned. "I don't care. Gunther, what she took from me was too big. I was supposed to be a QUEEN!" She had tears in her eyes. "But that wanker decided to.....". She trailed off and shook her head. "I'm leaving."

"What? No. You can't."

"She told me what she'd do to you. The same thing she did to me. I pity you, Gunther." She stood up and ran from the room.

I blinked slowly. "Mo-, I mean....MS.WHITE!" I yelled. 

Present Time
I stumbled away from Mr. Smith and held my head. "Ugh....".

Mr. Smith's eyes were wide. "She's horrible." He shook his head. "But I need her." He placed his hand over Tom's head. "Forget you saw me." His hand glowed white again and Tom sat up and opened his eyes. Mr. Smith put his hands in his pockets and walked away.

Tom had a confused look on his face. But I didn't say anything. Not a word. If he didn't remember, he'd just continue on with his day like normal. Good. Stay on the normal and safe side, Tom.

The Next Day
Thursday. I rubbed my eyes as I got out of bed. I stretched a bit and yawned a little. I was used to being up this early, so it didn't affect me as much. I took a quick shower and dried myself off with my towel. I put on a white shirt and a pair of sweats. Mother usually didn't wake me up. Something was off. Did she want Elizabeth back? She didn't say anything as she led me outside past the rooms where snoring could be heard. It was raining. Maybe that was why I'd been woken up 2 hours later than usual. I was told to go back to sleep at six. I wonder what was up.

My mother smiled as she lead me through the light fog. "Washington. I've become intrigued by them."

My eyes widened a little at the mention of Charlie's last name, but I nodded. There was the sound of an explosion in the distance. And thick black smoke was seen soon after. 

My mother led me up to Charlie's house. "Amy Washington. She loves children. She loves protecting them. If she thought she killed one, she'd be devastated. If a clueless Witch were to give her an illusion of her killing one of those precious children she adores so much, what do you think that would do?" She giggled and licked her lips.

I shrugged as I heard the sound of a police siren coming closer. 

"Let's find out." She pointed at the house and a bright green light shot from her hand.

I turned and saw Mr. Smith watching us intently. He shook his head when he heard the sound of the siren and walked away. Things were going to change soon. I sighed. Just when I'd gotten used to being friends with Alex, Charlie, Tom and everyone else. But I should have expected this. What a cruel world we lived in. A cruel world. I stared up into the rain and felt the drops hit my face.