Thinking is weird. To me, at least. Everything is so fuzzy, I don't get how everyone else can think all the time. Most of the time, nothing is in my head. I don't think, I just act. I eat, I sleep, I go to school, I talk to people I like, and I ignore the ones I don't. But other people think too much, they think about every little thing, and they always expect me to be paying attention when they talk. Which is exactly what's happening right now. My English teacher has been speaking to me for a while, but I haven't been listening. I forgot she was even talking until she snapped her fingers in my face.

"Hm? Oh yeah, my bad. I spaced out. What'd you say?" I asked. She scoffed. I don't mean to do it, I promise.

"I was saying you're failing my class. You have one week to make up all the work you've missed this semester. Every last bit of it," She said, "or you'll fail seventh grade."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get on that…," What she doesn't know is that I will, in fact, not get on that. She stared at me. The classroom was empty, everyone else had just now left to go home for the day, except for me. She called me over to her desk before I could leave. Damn, she made me actually have thought processes for the first time in days. What a bother.

She looked so disappointed, as if she didn't expect anything more but had some hope I'd care.

"Veto… is something going on you need to talk about? Anything going on at home?" She started, "You've just been… a lot more aloof lately. I'm worried about you, as your teacher I have an obligation to at least ask if you're okay."

She's asking me if I'm okay. Am I okay? Who knows. Veto is my name, by the way, just in case you didn't pick up on that. I'm a dude, I've got kinda long, dark blonde hair, and pale blue eyes. Some people say they're hollow, like they don't carry thoughts behind them. I don't have a family, but that's nothing new to me so it can't affect me that much. I've got friends. Hell, I've even got a girlfriend. I'm okay, I guess.

I spaced in a bit more. If she's concerned about me, I should at least give her a bit of my attention. "Nah, nothing going on at home. Nothing ever goes on at home, really. It's boring." I was looking down at first, but now I'm making eye contact with her. "I'm okay."

She sighed. "If you say so. Remember, you've got one week to do as much as you can of what you missed. Please, Veto, don't ignore your work like you've been doing. I don't want you to have to retake my class…" she trailed off. She furrowed her brow, and looked away from me.

"You good?" I asked.

She nodded, but didn't turn back to me. "Yes, I'm fine. Just got a bit of a headache, I guess."

Everyone says that when they lock eyes with me for more than a few seconds. Strange. A lot of strange things happen to me, but those are stories for another time.

"Well, anyways," my attention was brought back to my teacher, "you'd better get going. And please, take my words seriously, Veto. You need to pass this class." She sounded very, very concerned. Maybe I will do my work. Probably not, but I might.

I gave her a nod, and left the classroom. The hallway was dead, mostly everyone was gone. I felt a buzz from my pocket. I took out my phone and saw a text, it was from my girlfriend of six months, Phina.

'Are you already home?'

Weird, normally she'd just call me.

'nah, just left class, not even out of the school yet lol' I replied.

I was about to put my phone up when it buzzed again. That quick? Normally it takes a second for her to respond.

'Meet me out front, I want to talk to you about something.'

…weird. Like I said, normally she'd just call me or tell me when I go over to her house. Am I gonna get broken up with? I'm totally gonna get broken up with. Why? Dunno, guess we'll see.

It didn't take me long to get outside. My English class was pretty close to the exit, and the school isn't really that big to begin with. As I walked out the doors, I saw Phina sitting on the curb. She must've heard the door open, and got up and started walking over to me. God, she's pretty. She's graceful and lithe, and only a few inches shorter than me. Her black hair was done in a ponytail, and her eyes were as vibrant blue as always. She was straining her smile, though. I could tell. And she looks like she's been crying… damn, I'm totally gonna get dumped.

"Hey, Phina. What's up?" I asked. I never put much emotion into my voice, but she says she can tell how I'm feeling anyways. She gets me like that, I guess.

"Hi, Veto… I really want to get this over with and don't want it to hurt anymore than it has to, so I'm just gonna go ahead and say it," She said. Ah shit, here it comes, "I think we should break up."

"….."

We stared at each other for a moment.

"…fuck." I let out a curse. I really liked her, too.

"I'm really, really sorry and I cried a lot when I realized we weren't for each other. I-I've been thinking for days, and I talked to my friends and they agreed with me…" She said, very quickly.

"Can I ask why…?" I'm not crying or anything, I'm just… really bummed out. Like a party I'd been looking forward to got canceled the day before it happened.

"Y-yes! You can, I wouldn't ever leave you without an explanation, I'm not like that…" Good to know, I guess. "It's just, you're strange, Veto."

…what? I mean, I am, but damn… can't you sugar coat it a bit?

She continued, "You don't ever show much emotion, even when we kiss you barely show anything! That one time my bra slipped down at the pool, you didn't even say anything, you just said sorry and looked away, I don't think you even blushed." She paused for a second, "And it's not like I wanted you to freak out or say something, it just felt unsettling to see you not react at all… not only that, you stare blankly at everyone all the time, and you barely listen to anything anyone says. I think this is the longest I've had your full attention for weeks."

Damn, she's really going at me, isn't she?

"A-and your eyes too, they hurt to look at. I don't mean they're ugly, your eyes are really, really beautiful, but I can't look at them. Every time I do, my head hurts, and it makes me scared… I'm r-really sorry, Veto, I really do like you a lot, you're fun to hug, you kiss really well, and you do care for me, I think… but I'm sorry if this comes off as rude, or debilitating, or outright cruel, but sometimes you don't even feel… l-like a person…"

She's crying now. She was trying to hold it in for me, but she's crying now.

We stayed there for a few moments, her crying and me just staring. My mind is getting fuzzy again, I guess I thought too much for too long. This whole situation feels too mature. Aren't relationships just supposed to be like puppy love in seventh grade? This feels too serious.

"Well… damn." I sighed out. She didn't react, she just stood in front of me still crying. What am I supposed to do here?

"I guess… I'll see you around? I dunno, my head is all hazy." I paused for a moment, "I guess you're right, I don't pay attention, I don't think I'm capable of it. Sorry, I guess?" I stood there for a moment as she cried. Damn, she's really sobbing. Did she like me that much?

I turned and started walking home, leaving her behind at the school entrance. She didn't say anything as I walked away. After a few minutes, I was far enough away that I couldn't see the school anymore. I'm on a crowded sidewalk, people walking next to, in front, and behind me. I sighed. I really don't wanna explain to Mother Gardelle why I'm late… she's my foster administrator, by the way. I mentioned I don't have a family earlier, that's cause I'm an orphan. Which probably has something to do with what I'm about to do.

I stopped walking, standing still on the sidewalk. I tuned into my surroundings. A street next to me was buzzing with life, cars running up and down the road. There were people walking all on the sidewalk, ignoring me entirely and walking around me. There was a guy running a cliche New York hotdog stand a few feet up, serving hotdogs, obviously. But then, everything began to slow down. The cars, once flying by, now roll slowly. The people walking around me almost freeze, moving at a snail's pace. A falling hotdog seems as if it is moving through invisible syrup. Everything is slowed down. And that's because of me. The familiar sensation of my heartbeat bursting through my body in deep, resonating pumps fills me. Time is at my will. It has slowed because I commanded it to.

I begin moving through the crowd, navigating my way through a sea of people trapped in molasses that remain none the wiser to the paranormal activity going on around them. They do not perceive my movements, their brains aren't trained to register a blur amongst a cacophony of colors as a person. I move in silence and in grace, weaving through the masses as if they were nothing but a maze of which I already knew the composition. The haze from before slowly increases, causing a lightheaded sensation to take hold of me. I feel warm, as if a blanket was wrapped around my brain and I no longer needed to worry about school or exes or a lack of a family. I was safe; I was in my domain.

It wasn't long until I arrived at my destination. An orphanage called the Gold Boulevard Orphanage, named after the street it was on. I briskly glided over to the door, moving with such certainty it was as if my body were weightless and the world around me were simply a cluttered space in which I can manipulate myself as I please. Standing in front of the door, I allowed my heart to cease its throbbing, and let go of the haze in my mind. The world returned, rushing back into existence. Cars flew, people swarmed, and I opened the door to Gold Boulevard Orphanage.

I didn't say anything as I walked in. The familiar scent of old wood and leather filled my nose as I entered, drowning out the stink of the streets. The kitchen sat to my right, the living room to my left. Mother Gardelle, a blonde hair, blue eyed giant of a woman, was in the kitchen, likely doing the dishes. I don't mean any disrespect when I say giant of a woman, she's not fat, but my god she's tall. She's 6'4, for Christ's sake, I'm only 5'8. A couple of kids sat on the couch in the living room, watching some children's cartoon. They must be some of the young ones. I don't pay attention to all their names, I don't have the brain to remember them all. Right in front of me were the stairs, which lead to the bedrooms and bathrooms. Some of the wards here had to share rooms, with four of five beds in a single room. Not me, though. I've been here for as long as I can remember, so I get seniority bonuses or something.

"Hey, Veto!"

A voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked to my right and saw a girl, about my age, standing there. Brown hair in a bun, and brown eyes. About 5'4. I've seen her before… what's her name? Damn, normally the only people that talk to me are the people I know enough to care about. What a bother.

"Uh, hey. What's up?" I asked. I really wish she had a tag that read 'Hi, my name is _', cause this whole situation is about to get really awkward if she expects me to know her name.

"Follow me, I want to show you something." She said, and without giving me a chance to respond, she started up the stairs.

Seriously? I haven't even got to speak to Mother Gardelle yet. Again, what a bother.

I didn't want to be rude, so I followed her up the stairs. The second floor hallway was littered with about ten doors, with my personal bedroom on the very end on the left. I followed the girl down the hall, where she turned right at the very end. Is this her bedroom? I hope she doesn't wanna do naughty things, I just got dumped and the relationship is so fresh in my mind it'll feel like cheating even if I don't have a girlfriend anymore.

She opened the door and walked in, me right behind her. Her room was what you'd expect from a girl her age. A lot of baby blue and pink was everywhere. I don't care enough to pay attention, though. Normally I'd be napping right now, so my mind is starting to get hazier than normal.

"Okay! Now that I have you here…" she walked past me to the door, and locked it. This is gonna go one of two ways, I'm either about to be raped or murdered by a 13 year old girl.

She turned to me, a smirk on her face, her eyes wide.

"Don't freak out too much." She said.

She took off her shirt, revealing she wasn't wearing a bra. I looked away.

"Uh, what are you doing?" I asked, still looking to the side.

"Oh, Veto. I know you don't know my name, I know you don't know who I am." Somehow, she was whispering in my ear. There's no way she moved that fast, right?

"You're such a rare find, and to think those dirty Greeks haven't discovered you yet…" she put a hand on my chest. What is she talking about? She said the word Greeks like a curse, like she was spitting it out.

Her hand slowly creeped up my chest, and I felt her other rest on my hip. I grabbed the hand on my chest by the wrist, and turned to look at her. I made sure I kept my eyes up.

"What are you doing?" I asked, incredulously.

She froze for a moment when we made eye contact, but then she started giggling.

"Oh, oh, oh! This makes you all the better!" She said.

Faster than I could react, she wrenched her arm from my grasp and clutched my neck. She lifted me, somehow, and gently placed me against a wall. She began squeezing my throat. I couldn't breathe. Her hair seemed to transform, becoming a bright green flame, blazing in a perpetual wave just behind her.

"Now, baby," her voice was sly and sultry, like she was trying to seduce me. Kinda hard to do when you're squeezing the life out of me, but whatever. "You have two options,"

I tried kicking her as she spoke, my feet slammed into her bare chest, but to no avail. It was like kicking a brick wall.

"Become mine," she squeezed my throat a bit harder on the word mine, "or die."

I tried to respond, but couldn't due to, you know, the whole choking thing. It might be hot if I wasn't fearing for my life.

She giggled when she realized I couldn't respond. It was strange, hearing an innocent noise like that come from a girl that had the strength of ten men.

"Oh my, you can't speak can you? Well, I guess I'll let you down for now. But scream, and I'll cut you up nice and well, my darling Veto." She giggled out.

She let go of her iron hold on my throat, and I fell to the ground on my hands and knees, gasping. It was a strange feeling, being choked. At first, it hurt your throat more than anything, but eventually it became an incessant burning in your chest that spread through your entire body, encompassing you in a flame that wasn't there. I heard the girl continue her laughing as I groveled.

I managed to slowly stand, and looked up at the girl. Up? Oh, she's gotten taller. She's about as tall as Mother Gardelle now, maybe a couple inches shorter. Her fire-hair crackled on behind her. I noticed one of her legs was metallic and shiny, like it was made of silver. She was still bare chested, but her leggings had been replaced with what I assume to be an animal pelt. I looked up into her eyes. Instead of brown, two red orbs stared back at me, resonating with a strange passion.

"So," she started, "will you become mine?"

Become hers? Oh, I was totally right, the options are be raped or be murdered. I'm not that concerned with the whole super strength, fire hair, metal leg thing, I've seen things like this before. They'd normally disappear whenever they see me, though. Like that one dude that had to be at least nine feet tall and six hundred pounds that everyone else just ignored. He was carrying around a damn cannonball in the middle of New York City, absolutely towering over the masses, and nobody batted an eye. He saw me, and bounded off somewhere. That was about a year ago, I think. Whatever, now's not the time to get lost in thought.

"Ca-" my voice cracked, "can I ask what becoming yours is, exactly?" I asked.

Her smirk got more predatory, becoming wider and more wild.

"Of course you can, sweetie. If you become mine, I'll protect you, and you'll stay by me and do everything I say~" she said.

"And, of course,"

She took a step closer, putting a hand against my chest and leaning down to whisper in my ear.

"We'll do a~ll the things couples do."

So, she wants to fuck me. Well, it's that or death, right?

"I mean… I guess I'll be yours." I said, "I don't have much of a choice, right?"

She leaned away from me and looked down at me, straight into my eyes. Normally, people get uncomfortable when they stare into my eyes, but now it's the other way around. I feel small and vulnerable when she looks at me.

"Perfect." She said.

And with that, she leaned down, wrapped her arms around my head, and pressed her lips against mine.

It was strange, kissing her. It wasn't my first kiss, me and Phina kissed plenty of times, but it was my first time kissing like this. Normally I'd be the one dominating the kiss, taking the lead, just cause I'm a dude. But this time, it was her. She pushed me up against the wall and kissed me hard. She didn't use her tongue though, which I guess I'm thankful for.

She leaned back after a while, disconnecting from the kiss. She loosened her arms around me, and placed both her hands on either side of my head. "Now, if you're gonna be mine, you should at least know some things about me. So, my name's Delkana, and as you can see, I'm not human,"

I didn't say anything, I just nodded as she rambled. Man, this is the third time a woman with sexual interest in me has gone on a tangent to me. My English teacher totally wants to fuck me, by the way. I forgot to mention that.

"I'm an Empousa! We're servants of Hecate created by her. She's given me leave until she needs me, which probably won't be for a while."

I raised an eyebrow, "Hecate? Like, the god Hecate?" I asked.

She giggled, "Goddess, sweetie, but close enough. Yes, the Greek goddess Hecate."

I just nodded. So, Greek gods are real. Well, that explains a lot. I wonder why I can slow time, though… and what about my eyes? Whatever, questions for another time.

"Anyways, I saw you walking home one day, and just knew I had to have you. Your scent is just so, so desirable." As if to prove a point, she leaned down into the crook of my neck and inhaled deeply. My life is going to be very strange from here on out, I can already tell.

"And so, I decided I'd take you. About a month ago, I disguised myself as a girl about your age, and left myself at this orphanage under the guise of a lost street orphan." She spoke into my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. "I tried so very hard to get your attention, but your mind is all fuzzy, isn't it? Like trying to talk through a thick towel, isn't it just so hard for you to think?"

I blinked. She's entirely right. If she gets me like this, maybe being hers won't be so bad after all. If anything, it probably won't be boring, at least.

She giggled again. "Don't worry about a thing, darling. I'll make sure you don't have to think anymore. I'll do everything for you, as long as you stay by me."

I nodded. That doesn't sound bad at all. She's been talking for a while, though, I wonder what her end game is? Like, what are we gonna do and where are we gonna go after this? Well, I guess it doesn't matter to me. She said I wouldn't have to think, right?

"I'm so eager to take you with me, bring you back home and show you off to all my girl friends. But there's something we have to do first, something to make sure you'll stay mine."

She raised her head out of the crook in my neck and let go of my head. She grabbed my wrist lightly, and led me to the bed in the middle of the room. She laid me down on the bed, and climbed on top of me, looking down at me. Her smile was incredibly possessive, her eyes burned with more passion and desire than before.

"Do you get it now? You must, don't you? I need to show you how much I love you, and I need you to accept my love. I need you, Veto, I go crazy every time you go to that accursed school. Every time you came back and had the scent of that whore on you," Whore? Was she talking about Phina? "my heart broke that much more. You need to make it up to me, Veto."

I didn't say anything, I simply nodded.

"Good. Be a good boy for me, Veto." She shuddered, "Oh, how I love saying your name."

I stopped thinking after that.