There are things in our universe that are pure evil, and live for no other purpose than to kill. You awake one night to find death upon you, and awaken again to find secrets that were never meant for your eyes…

~EpicSmiley12

~%~

Logic.

Definition: The system or principles of reasoning applicable to any branch of knowledge or study.

Logic answered everything.

It always has.

So…why wasn't it answering this now?

The place where he was defied all logic. It wasn't possible, it simply wasn't possible. There was no logical reason for why he was here. It didn't make any sense whatsoever. And he didn't like things that made no sense. He never had. That was precisely why he had been so torn up for all these years. Nothing that had happened had made any sense.

It didn't make sense that his brother had died.

It didn't make sense that his best friend had died.

It didn't make sense that the doctors had found nothing, not a single thing that could have possibly lead to their deaths, even after five years.

No sense.

No logic.

Perhaps that's why he was here.

Why he had been holed up in this place for nearly all of his teenage life. Why he had donned a mask and smiled through it, every single day.

And they had done the same to him.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He sat up and turned towards it. It opened a bit, and a familiar face peeked through.

"You've got a visitor, Simon!" Mary said in her all-too-chipper voice. She used that voice for everything, trying so hard, yet failing so miserably, to act as if there was nothing wrong with him.

Was there something wrong with him?

"…okay. They can come in," he put on his fake smile once more. The door opened wider, and a slender girl came in. She was indeed a chipmunk, but to the normal onlooker she seemed like a normal teenage girl. She wore a sparkling pink top, dark denim skinny jeans, and silver mules. Her auburn hair was in a side ponytail that came just below her shoulders. Her blue eyes were beautiful but dull, like sapphires that had lost their luster. She carried a little black purse, on which she twirled the strap nervously.

"Hi, Simon!" she said a bit too cheerfully. "How've you been?"

"Alright. What about you?" his answer was calm, his voice soft.

"Oh, alright…" Brittany shrugged. "School's almost over…I wasn't planning on doing anything over the summer." she cleared her throat. "Mrs. Miller says hello…so does Alvin…" her breath caught in her throat. Simon noticed. She gripped the purse tighter.

"…How has Dave been?" the question rang through the room. Brittany felt her heart constricting in her chest. She lowered her head.

"He's…good…"

"And Eleanor?"

"J-just fine…" Brittany choked out.

"That's good."

"I…I have to go, Simon. I'll come see you soon, okay? I'll bring Alvin, too." she smiled weakly.

"Okay. It was nice seeing you."

"Y-you too…" Brittany walked out, closing the door gently behind her. She couldn't bring herself to hug him goodbye, for she knew that she would collapse in a torrent of tears and emotions. She hated seeing him like this. She hated it, and only because he always asked those same questions. Those questions whose answers had been given already, and had been pushed to the very back of his brain and locked away.

How long? She thought. How long can he possibly lie to himself like this?

~%~

Simon had enjoyed Brittany's visit only a little bit. He knew she was hiding something from him. He knew she had a secret that she wasn't telling him. But he felt something, a sort of sixth sense that was telling him that he was supposed to know, that he deserved to know what she was hiding from him. It seemed that every time he asked about Dave and Eleanor, she got upset. Could something be wrong with them? What could possibly be wrong with them?

He couldn't remember his last visit from Dave. It was…two, three years ago, maybe? And Eleanor…even longer. Maybe something had happened to them? Perhaps the same thing that had gotten Theodore and-

No.

Simon flopped onto his bed. He had promised himself not to think about them. Not at night. It was just a part of his mindset, but he never thought about them at night. When the sun slipped down beneath the horizon, he didn't think of anything. He always sat and stared at the sky through the window, watching the heavens.

~%~

"…"

"…I'm cold."

Simon barely recognized his own voice. It sounded out of place in the silent room. It was dark, without the slightest hint of moonlight. He wasn't underneath the covers of his bed; that would account for the chill. As he sat up, he noticed that his room seemed…different. The layout was the same, and everything was in its place, but something felt out of place…

A shiver traveled along his spine, and it hadn't been caused by the cold. Simon swung his feet over the side of the bed and planted them on the icy metal floor. Standing up, he surveyed his surroundings more closely. Everything seemed to be normal, so why was he feeling so off-kilter?

There it was.

As if by instinct, Simon turned to the bedside table. There had always been a vase on it, but inside the vase there was now a flower. It's…a narcissus, Simon thought as he stepped toward it. And it's wilting. He noted there was no water in the vase. Tentatively, he picked up the flower and twirled it in his fingers by the stem. As he did so, one of the off-white petals floated gently to the floor. Laying the narcissus on the table, he bent down and put the petal in his pants pocket.

Simon bent down once more and reached under the bed. He pulled his slippers from underneath it and put them on. Then he stood up and turned to the doorway. He gripped the knob; like the rest of the room, it was cold. He pulled the door open.

His eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. If there was ever a time that his heart had beat faster than it was now, he could not recall it.

"I've been waiting for you…" Its voice was soft, and yet it echoed through the room and through all the hallways. He could see its gaping mouth full of sharp teeth, its slanted eyes crimson and glowing greedily with hunger.

"Waiting for so long…for you to join me…" It reached its arms out toward him, and he recoiled.

"Please…come with me…the others…are waiting…"

"NO!" Simon screamed, backpedaling into his room. He tripped and fell into the table. The vase fell to the floor, shattering, and the narcissus fell into his lap as darkness consumed him.