I

As far back as I can remember I have never been a normal child. I've never been afraid of the dark, thunder storms or monsters under my bed. Rather than scared 'scary' things intrigued me. The older I got this interest grew into more, from trying to comprehend the minds of murderers to listening to the stories of the deceased.

I find ghost stories rather…interesting.

Do I believe that ghosts exist? The inner skeptic in me wants to say no, but I can't bring myself to actually say yes either. I have experienced things, yes, and I have even caught a few questionable things on camera.

Investigation is something I do best.

Alas, I am only fourteen, and the mere thought of actually coming face-to-face with something inhuman is completely, and utterly, terrifying. Fortunately, the curfew where I live is ten at night so I couldn't go out with my detective hat and magnifying glass to investigate anyways. Therefore, I will just stick to writing my assumptions down on paper like I usually do.

Speaking of writing, I reached over to my desk and snatched my notebook, shoving it into my backpack with minor struggle. Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I left my room, dreading another day of school on the way down the stairs.

There was a loud, bloodcurdling shriek from below that sent shivers down my spine. My blood froze as I rushed downstairs; my hands covered my ears as the screaming grew in volume.

I hopped off the last step, horrified something bad had happened. I held up my textbook-filled backpack, ready to strike against an intruder.

Cautiously trudging my way into the living room, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw my mother sleeping peacefully on the couch. I turned off the TV—from which the screaming was being emitted from—and let my backpack drop lazily to the floor.

I looked at my mom. How could she sleep through that? Then I remembered she had to work late again last night. My expression softened, things have been hard since her and my father's separation.

Besides, it was seven am, who breaks into a house at seven in the morning? An idiot, that's who.

"Good morning!" said a loud, joyful voice over my shoulder.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, for the second time this morning.

I'm beginning to get sick of this…

"Dammit Miku! Don't you knock?" I whined, obviously startled by my friend's sudden outburst.

"I did. Your mom let me in." the tealette pointed to my mother's sleeping form on the couch. "Well, when she was awake, that is."

The words of a sarcastic remark danced across my tongue. Although, I didn't want to upset Miku so I refused from saying them.

Faking a cough, I asked, "You're here early, I take it you haven't had breakfast yet?"

"Well…"

"What do you want?" I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge door.

I started tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for her response.

"I'll take whatever."

"I don't recall having a recipe for 'whatever'." I remarked sarcastically.

"Fine then, I'll just take toast or something."

"You're such a good little slave!" I whipped a glare in Miku's direction; of course, she only laughed and plopped down into a recliner, smiling at me cheekily.

"I'm beginning to wonder why I'm still friends with you…" The tealette chuckled; I only rolled my eyes as I shut the refrigerator door so I could grab the bread.

I groaned as I heard Miku turn on the TV. I had just turned it off, too…

It wasn't till after I put the bread in the toaster did I realize what she was watching.

"After being caught for murdering his family, the young man desperately tried to plead innocent. On countless trials, the man said it was not him who murdered his family, but his reflection…"

That easily caught my interest. I found myself walking into the living room, my attention stuck on the screen of the TV.

"The man requested a polygraph test to prove his innocence, but the judge refused. After several days of his begging, the judge permitted him one. This is where things get rather…weird.

"When the man was asked about the murder, every answer came out truth. That was including the one about his "reflection" killing the family.

"The young man was proven innocent. On their way to question to see if he knew who the murderer was the young man was discovered dead in his cell.

"There has been no identified cause of death. Experts don't know how, but they are suspecting it might have been murder."

The TV flickered, and then the electricity went out.

I groaned.

"Was that the storm?" Miku asked.

"It was the storm." I said, remembering how I live in a city with frequent storms.

Maybe electricity will go out at school…

I wouldn't mind that.

"Wow…" Miku's voice took me out of thought. When I looked at her, she was sitting up from the recliner. "That was weird."

"Uh-huh…"

The electricity came back on, I squinted my eyes as they tried to adjust from the darkness. Even once my eyes adjusted the lights in the house I still felt that they were too bright.

Miku and I sat there in silence, not knowing what to say. At that moment, the toast decided to pop up and startle us (1). Miku let out a small scream and I tried to hold in my laughter.

Once my chuckles died down I reached into my pocket, pulling out my phone to check the time. My eyes widened. "Miku! We're gonna be late for school!" I shouted- quietly, if that makes sense.

My body turned, looking for some sign of my friend. Of course, I found her in the kitchen with the toast in her mouth. I sighed.

"C'mon." I grabbed Miku's arm, leading her out the doorway, trying to shake the feeling that somethingwas going to happen.

Something was not right.

xXxXx

My wet sneakers squeaked across the tile floor as I made my away into the kitchen of my home. After school I had to walk to my house, in the rain, without an umbrella. Yeah, that wasn't very fun.

School wasn't much fun either. I would have caught the bus if I didn't have detention, and Miku skipped out of picking me up because she has vocal lessons. Ugh.

As much as I like watching the rain, I don't like walking in it—especially without an umbrella.

My eyes drifted to the refrigeration, a note was on it. I reached for it.

"Rin, I have to take an extra shift at the hospital so I'll be home late tonight. I left you $10 on the island so you can either go out to eat or eat leftovers. It's your choice.

No wild parties while I'm gone, ok? And feed your cat!

I love you.

-Mom."

I groaned and looked over to the island in the middle of the kitchen, as she said she had left me ten dollars.

I felt a small tang of grief, with my mom working night shifts as a nurse and me being busy all day it's like I never see my mother anymore.

I let out a long, disheartened sigh and rested against the island.

As if on cue, I felt something furry rub across my ankles before releasing a high-pitched 'meow'. With my head looking down I smiled warmly at the small feline.

"I take it you're hungry, huh, Thera?(2)"

Said cat meowed, wordlessly telling me she was hungry.

After fixing my cat her dinner, I decided to watch some TV.

Shouldn't I be doing homework? Yes. Do I care? Not in the slightest.

After flipping through channels, I found a rerun of the show I was watching this morning again. It did not take long until I became captivated with the murderers story. I sat there in the dark, not even bothering turning a light on as I watched that one show. I didn't even realize it had gotten dark outside until the hour-long show had ended.

My cat had even come by for attention but she quickly got angry with me when I ignored her, every time she walked by I could swear she was glaring at me.

As the credits of the show rolled across the screen, I stretched and yawned, getting up from my comfortable position.

When I got to my room, I changed and got ready to turn in for the night.

Once my head hit the pillow, my mind started to wonder.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick… The clock chanted rhythmically.

Minutes turned into an hour and yet a second of sleep never came my way.

Sitting up in bed, I reached over to my desk to grab my laptop, laying it in my lap.

My mind instantly went to think about the show today and before I knew it, I was typing the name 'Piko Utatane' into Google.

Piko Utatane was the name of the boy who murdered his family, but when I typed his name in Google, nothing came up. No birth records, death certificate, or anything of the sorts.

"Heh, it was fake…" I said to myself.

'I said to myself?' I must be going crazy…

I stared at the fake wiki page of the show displayed on my computer.

It is so easy to edit and make a fake wiki. Anyone could do it. The producers of that show should've thought about making one about that boy, that's what I would've done. Heck, I could probably fool people into believing a murderer I created it real.

Honestly, that sounds like it'd be fun…

I got out of bed and moved to my desk, unconsciously I opened up Microsoft word, and before I knew it, I was typing away. Brainstorming and planning the 'murderer' I'm going to create.

Oh how fun this was going to be.

With my ideas for Len, (a name I created by mixing my name with my middle, which is Lee)(3) written down, even before the morning came I was ready to begin preparing for my plan.

I had spent the whole night creating Len, his killing pattern, his personality (cocky, manipulative, and sadistic), his appearance (blond hair, blue eyes, slim figure). I have even tracked down libraries that have had a history of fires. It's easy this way, people can prove that the library exists and if they call the library and ask about Len they'll be told all documents (as well as birth certificates) have burned in the fire. With doing all this I have been so caught-up in making Len that I never even went to bed.

You can pretty much guess what I did in class today.

I could feel the excitement rushing through my veins as I practically skipped my way into my room, with my little helper—Miku—trailing right behind me.

I have managed to rope Miku into helping me with pictures because I wanted photo evidence to prove that he was "real" (Ironic choice of words, really). I am going to pull my hair back into a small ponytail and photoshop the picture to look old and distorted—like older photos are. My face might be a little too feminine for me to be a believable guy but I'm hoping it won't show as much after I edit the picture.

Slipping on my brother's old middle school uniform (one of the only things he left behind when my parents divorced), and tying my hair into a ponytail, I was more than eager to get this done.

"So, am I a cute boy?" I asked coyly, hiding a joking smile behind my bashful expression.

Miku looked up at me and chuckled, responding: "You're a little girly, but I'd still do you."

My face flushed deep scarlet at Miku's joke, but she only laughed at me harder.

It's weird—the type of relationship we have. Miku and I have known each other for ten years so this kind of teasing was normal for us.

Miku ended up staying for about an hour taking pictures (I only needed one but she insisted I get the right amount of "attitude" for the picture).

Not that I don't like her presence, but with her gone, I was able to concentrate on editing the photo. However, even though I've been done for a while, I sat there and stared at the imaged on the screen.

I felt a little…uncomfortable.

Even though the person in the picture is most definitely me, it doesn't really feel like me. If that makes sense.

He has my face, my eyes, my hair. I guess with how much I've emphasized his personality it kind of feels like I've made him a real person.

I don't know, I must be tired…

Even now that I'm lying in bed, I can't help but shake the feeling of uneasiness I've been feeling. Goosebumps have risen on my arms as I stared at my ceiling fan slowly turning into loops. My room was very dark, which normally wouldn't scare me, but being home alone in the dead of night made me almost want to turn my TV on for some source of comfort. I didn't though, I kept telling myself I was perfectly fine with it off—what a lie.

I don't remember when I was actually able to fall asleep, exhaustion must have gotten to me. I'm thankful though, tomorrow's Saturday which means my plan will actually be put into motion. I am planning of posting it on a website filled with horror stories, the majority of the stories on that website are usually fake, but it's a way to spread the word about Len, so for now I'm fine with it.

I thought my story was just going to be harmless, scary fun. I didn't realize the nightmare I had just brought myself into.

A/N Long time no see, huh? I'm sorry this took so long, I really don't have a good reason for the delay. To be honest I almost freaked out when I realized I posted the Prologue like four months ago (which is kind of out dated now), I thought I was going to do the same thing I did with my book which I started writing a year ago and it still only had two chapters. I wouldn't do that to you guys though.

It took a while before I was able to write this chapter, it wasn't just a quick, two hour writing session like the prologue was. I took quite a little bit for me to plan the plot, characters, and all of that stuff.

This chapter isn't my best, but it's almost 2:00 AM, the chapter is finally complete, I'm stressed and tired, so it's good enough. Also, this fic is going to have a slow start, so if you're like me and have to be stimulated every twenty seconds or else you get bored you're probably not going to enjoy Fictional very much.

As for the reviews, thank you guys so much for them all. I honestly didn't think I would get as many as I did, it's always an honor when someone takes the time to review my story.

The fact that I've hooked you guys with the summary is certainly a compliment. It means I've done my job with it, which I wouldn't have been able to do a year ago. I'm definitely improving, slowly but surely.

And no, there will be no romance in this. I'm a diehard Rin x Len fan but I know better than to incorporate romance into this. That'd be weird considering the subject matter. xD

Anyways, I'll try not to be so slow with the next chapter.

As always, reviews are appreciated. :)

(1): How the bread still ended up toasting while the electricity went out beats me. Must be a special kind of toaster or something.

(2): OC alert! No, my oc is not a cat; she is actually human (You can see what she looks like in my icon if you're curious). I just wanted to put her into the fic without shoving her down your guys' throats, so what better way then make her our main characters pet?

(3): Lee is a middle name I started using for Rin unconsciously. I, personally, think Rin Lee is somewhat cute, and since Rin has no official middle name, I thought I'd take advantage of using it. And, funny enough, in the middle of writing this I realized I could create the name Len by merging Rin and Lee together.