NOOOO!!!
Logan bolted upright in his bed, head spinning. He rubbed his eyes with the base of his palm, before reaching for his glasses.
Sliding the large black frames over his chocolate eyes, he tossed the navy blanket aside and stood up.
Who had just screamed? Grumbling, Logan figured it was probably just Virgil having another nightmare. Logan padded across the room to the door, and pushed it open silently.
He squinted against the darkness of the hall.
"What time even is it?" Logan asked himself. He raised his arm up to look at his wristwatch. 3 AM.
Sighing, Logan started down the hall towards Anxiety's room. He stopped, noticing a slight reddish gleam out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, he headed down the stairs into the kitchen. He peeked around the corner, eyes widening at what he saw.
6 AM
Patton sat up in his bed, beaming brightly. He threw his light blue comforter back enthusiastically. Slipping on his glasses and puppy slippers, he quickly left his room, took the stairs two at a time, and walked into the kitchen. All the while he was thinking about how much the others would love his surprise pancakes.
6:30 AM
Virgil was awoken by a violent knocking on his bedroom door.
"Oh my -- I'M COMING!"
He got put of bed, running his fingers through his purple hair. He grabbed his purple and black hoodie, putting in on while mumbling about not getting enough sleep as it was.
He swung the door open, Patton almost falling over. Patton was sobbing loudly. "Patton..." Virgil began cautiously.
"LOGAN'S MISSING!" Patton cried, sobbing louder still. A few doors down, Roman shoved open his door. It was clear from his disheveled appearance that he had been awoken by Patton's hysterics as well. Virgil spared him a glance before returning his attention to the sobbing trait.
"What do you mean 'Logan's missing'?" He said slowly.
"H-he's not in his room, and... and I found h-his glasses on the floor of the k-kitchen!" Patton wailed. Concern flooded Virgil's eyes. He handed the sobbing Morality off to Roman before racing to the logical sides room.
His worst fears came true as he surveyed the room. Although most of the room was neat, Logan's bed remained unmade. He never left his bed unmade. Virgil began to panic.
He raced around the mindscape, searching desperately for the missing side. After awhile, he slowly trudged back to Logan's room, where the other two had gathered.
"He's gone..."
"He's... gone?" Roman asked, skeptical.
"I looked everywhere! There is nowhere left!" Virgil threw his hands in the air in defeat. Suddenly, it hit him. No, he hadn't checked there. But, surely... he couldn't be there.
"Please... no..." Virgil muttered, sinking to the floor. A slightly more calm Patton knelt beside Anxiety.
"Virgil, kiddo," Patton began, "it'll be okay... we'll find..."
"You don't get it!" Virgil shouted, causing Patton to back up a bit.
"I... I think I know where he is..." Virgil whispered.
"If that is so, then why are you freaking out, Hot Topic?" Roman questioned.
"Because I hope he's anywhere, ANYWHERE, else..."
"Where is he, kiddo?" Patton asked gently.
--
Logan rubbed his temples. He had just awoken in the dim room. At least, he thought it was a room. He couldn't see any walls. In fact, all he could see was a set of monitors off to his left.
Upon relieving that his glasses were nowhere to be found, he squinted and moved closer to the bright screens.
Logan stopped squinting as he neared and gazed at the images before him. The screens showed the other three. They had clearly realized Logan was missing, but didn't seem to care.
A speaker crackled to his right. Slowly, video Virgil's voice seeped out.
"It's about time the nerd ducked out."
"Quack," Patton interjected.
"We can certainly function better now that Calculator Watch is out of the picture," Roman said. Logan's eyes widened in suprise.
"I thought they all valued my input. They were just waiting for me to leave?!" Logan said, hear sinking. Suddenly, the monitors vanished, leaving only the speaker behind. The voices continued to echo through the air.
"Useless." That was Roman.
"Ice cold." Patton's voice sang.
"Definitely replacable." Virgil.
Logan sank to the floor and curled up in a ball, silently agreeing with the statments the others made. Tears began to flow down his cheeks.
--
Virgil hadn't moved in 5 minutes. "I..." He swallowed, forcing the words out, "I think he's in the Hatred..."
"The whatchamacallit?" Roman asked, puzzled.
"The Hatred... is a part of the landscape that is ruled by Hate. Any sides unlucky enough to enter the Hatred will be trapped in a wall-less room of their own making, as the the hate-filled voices of their friends fill the air."
Roman and Virgil whirled around to stare at Patton.
""What? That's just what this says!" He waved a piece of notebook paper covered in Logan's old-fashioned scribbling around.
Virgil moved to Logan's desk, curious. He shuffled the papers around, skimming the words.
"Why does he have so much stuff on... Hate and... the Hatred?" Virgil asked.
"It is rather strange," Roman said, moving next to him, turning a coin-like object over and over in his hand, "But it still fails to explain how he even got there. None of these papers say how to get to the Hatred or even hint at its location in the mind!"
"Good question... Where did you get that?" Virgil questioned suddenly, taking the object. Roman looked startled.
"Pa...Pattpn gave it to me," Roman responded.
"Pat... where did you get this?" Virgil held the coin up for Patton to see.
"I found it with Lo's glasses. Is it important?" Patton replied timidly.
"Yes... It's Hate's 'signature'," he said, doing air quotes around "signature".
"And that's not a good thing, is it?" Patton asked softly.
"No, no it is not," Virgil said, looking down, "It means Hate abducted Logan."
--
Logan lay there as the hate-filled words of his friends surrounded him. His throat was hoarse from screaming. He sat up slowly, the tears still racing down his face.
"Stop crying, Logan! Crying is not going to get you anywhere! Think, Logan, think!" Logan shouted at himself. He became vaguely aware of the water suddenly filling the room. A sharp, biting cold sliced through him.
Shivering, he began to think of how he got here, wherever here was.
--A Few Days Ago--
Logan walked back to his room, nearly tripping over from the weight of his stack of books. The last book he had read was about feelings, ick. Curiously, a short chapter had briefly described a powerful sub-trait, Hate. The smart trait was eager to learn more about the little known trait, and possibly cure Thomas' hate on the side.
He set the books on his desk, plopped down in his desk chair, and began studying the books and making detailed notes.
--5 Hours Ago--
Logan stood in shock. In the kitchen stood a tall, 3-D shadow. It looked vaguely like a man, but glowed a reddish hue. The beast had no distinguishing features aside from empty, red eyes. Although the figure had no mouth, Logan could have sworn it smiled.
"Why, hello there, Logan..." it hissed, "Curious as always, I see."
"Who... what... who are you?" Logan stammered, unable to make up his mind.
"If you must know, I'm Hate." The creature growled, "And you know too much..."
Logan fainted.
--Present--
Logan had finally stopped crying. His tear ducts had run dry. He couldn't remember a thing. It was as if his memories had been wiped.
All he could do was sit there and listen to the voices. Soon, he would be drowning, literally, in the hatred of his so called friends.
"Worthless." Patton.
"Nothing." Roman.
"Replacable." Virgil.
"I KNOW!" Logan.
--
"Hate did what now?" Patton cried. Virgil stayed silent, staring at the floor.
"How?" Patton asked.
"That's the thing. He shouldn't have been able to!" Virgil shouted, "Unless..."
"Unless...?" Roman repeated.
"Has Logan seemed... more hateful recently?" Virgil stood up, hopeful.
"Hateful? No." Roman responded.
Virgil's hope disappeared.
--
Logan was almost at a breaking point. He could no longer do anything but cry.
"They're right! All of them! Everything they say! It's all true!" Logan wailed with intense self-hatred. The water was now knee-deep, bit Logan remained seated.
--
Virgil, Patton, and Roman had been studying the notes and books in Logan's room for about an hour. Roman sighed and rubbed his temples.
"This is pointless! There is no way to the hatred!" Roman said, "It would take... someone with... prior knowledge..." Roman turned to glare at Virgil. Patton just looked confused.
"What do you mean someone with... oh... you mean Virgil," Patton answered his own question.
"Exactly," Roman growled at the darker trait, "You knew of Hate before any of us. How? Did you help Hate abduct Logan?"
"What? No! I would never!" Virgil sputtered.
"How can we know for sure?" Roman challenged.
"Because... because..." Virgil struggled to explain.
"You know what? We can't trust you!" Patton roared, tackling Virgil. Roman quickly conjured rope, sensing Patton's plan.
"Guys, what are..." Virgil started. Patton shoved a gag in his mouth, while Roman secured his hands behind his back. After Roman had finished, Patton turned to stare Virgil in the eye.
"Now... you WILL bring us to Logan. And after that... we'll see..." Patton turned away as Virgil nodded. Virgil's eyes showed fear, and were brimming with tears.
--
The water was chest-deep now, and Logan had forced himself to stand. He had a migraine from crying so much. Suddenly, the water rushed out of the room. Logan looked up in surprise. Roman. Patton. Logan flinched at the sight of the pair.
Patton raced forward, wrapping Logan in a warm hug. Roman soon followed. Logan was still shaking from the experience, but at least now he knew that what he had heard was just as illogical as he had first thought.
His memories came flooding back. "Where... where is Virgil?" Logan asked.
"We left him somewhere in the Hatred. Don't worry, he had it coming. He can't hurt you again..." Patton whispered, stroking Logan's hair gently. Logan pushed Patton back.
"What?!" Logan shouted, "He did nothing to me! Much less did he help Hate! Where is he?"
Patton looked shocked. Roman looked guilty.
"We... we don't know where he is," Roman admitted defeatedly. Logan looked terror stricken. Patton placed a hand on his shoulder as Logan began to cry.
"Come on kiddo, let's get you out of here."
--A Few Days Later--
--3 AM--
Logan walked into the kitchen bleary eyed. He had been crying for a few days now, and just need some water. He filled the glass with water and turned to go back to his room.
He dropped his glass, it shattered upon connecting with the floor. Before his eyes, the shadows were solidifying. They had a slight purple glow.
Virgil fell out of the shadows.
Logan could see his hands still bound behind his back and his mouth still gagged. Logan rushed forward to the fallen trait. Patton sped around the corner, followed closely by Roman. Upon seeing Virgil, they gasped and started forward.
Logan stood up and stopped them.
"You did this," Logan hissed protectively, "So, I would advise you both go back to your respective rooms." Patton and Roman nodded, and silently returned to their rooms.
As they left, Logan fell to his knees, freed Virgil, and wrapped him in a hug.
--
To this day, only Logan and Virgil know what else happened in the kitchen that night. But this don't mean the others didn't have their suspicions.
Little is said of that week anymore... almost as if it never happened...
--
A/N
"Hey, guys! Sorry I took you on another roller coaster ride, but these are so much fun to write! I also apologize to the delay in publishing this. I got hit with another dose of writer's block... Anyways, I plan to start doing One-Shots in the near future, so feel free to leave requests in the comments! They won't be as long as this one or Shadowling though... Remember, all my writings are available on and Wattpad! Smiles!"--MidnightNightmare416