Reginald and Augustus might as well have been brothers. Neither of them could remember whether or not they really were. They were nearly identical in the way their dark brown hair swooped deeply across their foreheads and how their chocolate-colored eyes twinkled in the fluorescent light. And, all either of them could remember was the Farmhouse. The Farmhouse was composed of one large room with a small loft and an even smaller hay-filled second floor only accessible by way of a small ladder that shook beneath the weight of the boys. There were no windows in the whole house, only the desolate, dirt-covered walls. Sometimes, Augustus (or Gus as he prefers) would think the walls were closing in on him. Reginald's (or Reggie's) voice and calming touch were the only things that could sooth Gus in his curled-up position on the floor. Life in the Farmhouse, for someone who doesn't know any better, should have been perfect. But nothing real can truly be perfect. There was one small flaw that his itself from the boys while it grew into something truly imperfect. That tiny imperfection was a spot of darkness, no bigger than the period at the end of a sentence, hidden in the deepest recesses of Gus' mind. While Reggie lived a carefree life, never thinking for too long about anything, Gus' dark spot fed on his thought and pushed a word into his mind. This word is what gave the darkness the power to take over Gus and the Farmhouse. This word was love. Gus would ponder the word, never bold enough to speak it aloud. He wasn't even sure what it meant to love or be loved.

"Hey Gus, get down here!" Reggie's voice lofted up through the hatch in the ceiling and rested in Gus' sleeping ears. Reggie had woken up early that morning, hoping to catch the feeding. The feeding happened every night- only when the boys were asleep. The sole door in the house, the one on the main floor that had no handles and was locked from the outside, would open. When the boys woke up, there would be food on the loft. They weren't sure how it happened, but it never failed. Reggie didn't catch the feeding. He was too late. Instead, he found a small wooden crate of fruit and a few water bottles.

"Gus!" He called again. Up the ladder, Gus rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Just a sec." He returned, wanting nothing more than to just go back to sleep.

"I'm gonna eat without you if you don't hurry up!" Reggie teased from the loft.

"I'm coming, geeze." Gus ran a hand loosely through his hair, still not really awake. He forced himself out of his comfortable spot in the hay and climbed down the ladder, nearly missing half of the rungs in his groggy state. By the time he reached the loft, Reggie was already through three apples. Their bare cores lay sloppily on the floor.

"Thanks for waiting." Gus said flatly, tiredly rubbing his face.

"Well, you didn't hurry up."

"Not all of us enjoy being awake this early."

Reggie let out a deep, booming laugh that filled the room. Gus admired his ability to always be seen or heard, even though anything otherwise would've been impossible in the small space.

"I'm not kidding." Gus' retort only made Reggie laugh again.

"Come 'ere." Reggie beckoned for Gus with a single swoop of his muscled arm. He took Gus' hand in one of his own and used the other to wrap his arm around Gus and pat his back in a half hug.

"Love you bro." Gus froze. There was that word. Love. How could Reggie, who never thought about anything for more than ten seconds, know what it meant? Gus was the smart one. It made no sense. What is love anyway? Gus asked himself every day. Did Gus love Reggie? He wasn't sure.

"Love you too," He paused.

"Bro." If Reggie heard the caution in his voice, he didn't show it. Gus broke the embrace.

"Here." Reggie said, tossing Gus an apple.

"And there's plenty more where that came from."

Gus bit into the apple, which was more of a distraction to him than a meal. A distraction from that question burning into the back of Gus' mind. The flesh of the fruit crumbled beneath the pressure of Gus' teeth, dissolving into a sweet, sappy juice in his mouth. A pleasant distraction. Gus took another generous bite.

"Dang, these are good." Reggie's comment tore into Gus' sweet distraction.

"Yeah." Was all Gus could muster. He hesitated and took a third bite. The flavor exploded on his tongue.

"Really good." Gus spoke more to the apple than to Reggie.

"Well, uh, I'm gonna go shift the hay. Enjoy." Reggie punched Gus lightly on the shoulder as he passed by. Gus flinched at the touch.

"Have fun with that." Gus muttered as Reggie climbed the shaky ladder, leaving Gus alone with his thoughts and apples. Gus thought to himself. How could he love Reggie? Can a man love his brother? Is love always romantic, or can it be different? Gus certainly didn't want to be romantic with Reggie, but he still felt drawn to him. He couldn't comprehend the idea of brotherly love. The darkness only filled his mind with the ideals of star-crossed lovers. Or was it the darkness? Maybe Gus could just faintly remember the life he had before the Farmhouse. Before he knew that his feet were moving, Gus found himself climbing up the shaky ladder. Reggie heard the hay rustling as Gus entered the small room.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"I-" Gus couldn't breathe. Black pulsed at the edge of his vision. The specks of dust swirling through the air suddenly seemed to stare at Gus. A million tiny voices yelled at him all at once. They asked him why he was being so idiotic. How could Reggie love him? No one could love someone like him. The dust laughed at him. The million shrill laughs filled Gus' ears until all he could hear was the cruel, ringing hate of the world directed at him alone. The black at the edge of his vision pulsed faster by the second, slowly spreading. The last things he saw before the darkness took over were Reggie's lips moving in a soundless plea.

Gus could only remember flashes. A touch. A push. Blood spreading across the stone floor of the Farmhouse, mixing with the dirt on the floor and turning it into the darkest crimson. A cry for help that no one could hear. A broken piece of wood, jagged and sharp, raised high in Gus' hand.

When Gus woke up, he was curled up deep in the hay. His hands were soaked in blood. The smell of mildew that had once filled the Farmhouse was replaced with a coppery tang. Its stench filled Gus' nose and seeped into his mind. He wiped away tears before he knew he was crying.

He could only force himself to glance down the hatch to the main floor. And there it was. Reggie's lifeless body lay still, surrounded by a think halo of blood. A jagged piece of wood was sticking out of his chest. If Gus had been able to look for a moment longer, he would have seen the shock on Reggie's frozen face. Reggie truly had loved Gus, as any man can love his brother. But Gus would never know the truth. That day, the darkness grew five times it's size, spreading across Gus' broken mind. Its harsh voice could never again be ignored.

"Look at what you did." It whispered in his ear. Its voice was rasped and strained, as if it were made of gravel.

"You're a monster."

"I'm a monster." Gus echoed the words in his own soft voice, barely rising past a whisper. It was hardly audible, yet it filled the room and reverberated through Gus' mind. The hay laughed at him and called him a fool. The red on his hands seemed to burn down to the bone. The walls squeezed him until every bone in his body was ready to shatter and turn to dust. The darkness knew what it wanted and put Gus into a deep, delicate slumber. He dreamed of Reggie, laying on the red-stained floor. His blue lips were still parted in his silent plea. He dreamt that Reggie stood and scorned him.

"I could never love you, Augustus." The dream corpse spit out the word 'you' like a poison from his tongue. If Gus could only feel the darkness in himself...

"Hello?" A voice called throughout the Farmhouse, waking Gus from his nightmare.

"Is anyone there?" The voice was like none Gus had ever heard. It was soft and light, nothing like Reggie's deep tone. Picking himself up from the hay, Gus noticed that his hands were clean of blood.

"Hello?" The voice called again. It sounded dangerously hopeful.

"Yeah, I'm up here." Gus called back, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Oh, thank God." Gus didn't know who God was. He crawled across the hay to the hatch and looked down. Reggie's body was gone. In its place stood a girl with her hands on her hips.

"Where am I?" Her question seemed more like a dare than a question. A dare to answer her and face something new. Her hair, the same dark brown color as Gus', rolled down her back in waves. It was like a waterfall, spilling across her brow and splashing over her shoulders. Her eyes held the bluest sea the world never had the capacity to fathom, filled to the brim with curiosity. Not that Gus knew what a sea looked like. Looking into her eyes, Gus knew what love was. Or, he thought he did. He had loved Reggie, but he was nothing compared to... Her.

"The Farmhouse." Gus finally replied.

"Which is where exactly?"

"Um... What?"

"Where are we? Like, what country?"

"What's a country?" She rolled her eyes and parted her lips in a half smile. Then she realized he wasn't kidding.

"Oh my Gosh, where am I?" Gus hesitantly climbed down the ladder. There was no evidence of Reggie anywhere. It was as if he never existed.

"The better question is who are you?" She shot Gus a sharp look, surveying his appearance. Gus was suddenly away of the dirt and stains on his clothes.

"I- I'm Augustus." His full name suddenly turned sour in his mouth.

"Gus." He tried to look bold, but his back was still pressed against the ladder.

"I'm Elinor," She said.

"But I guess you can call me Ella." She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and outstretched her hand towards Gus. He only stared. She scrunched her nose and shook her hand in the air.

"Alright then, great to meet you." Gus felt as though it was not 'great to meet' him, but he didn't say anything.

"Yeah."

"So... how do things work around here?"

Over the next few days, Gus taught Ella everything he knew about the Farmhouse. Never step on the bottom rung of the ladder or the whole thing will come loose. Make sure that you go to sleep on-time or the food won't come. Don't bother cleaning up food waste, it'll be gone in the morning. The softest hay is in the far-right corner of the second floor.

All the while, the darkness sat back and watched as Gus fell deeper and deeper in love with Ella. Every once in a while, Ella would kiss Gus on the cheek or touch the bare skin on his arm. She only did it because she liked to watch him squirm, but every touch only made Gus believe than Ella loved him too. And no matter what the darkness whispered in his ear, she did grow to love him. But only in the way a woman can love her brother.

One night, the two lay together in the hay, barely awake.

"We need to sleep." Gus forced the words out. He wanted nothing more than to simply lie there with Ella for eternity. She groaned in agreement.

"I love you." He said the words before he knew what he was saying. Fear stabbed into him like a knife, piercing his heart. He waited for her to run away from him. To call him an idiot or a freak. Instead, she laughed.

"Love you too, Gus." She puckered her lips at him, a smile in her eyes.

"Look at her. She mocks you. She hates you. She doesn't love you. You're a joke to her, nothing more." Gus forced the whispers away and focused on Ella. Even dirty and half asleep, she was still the same angel as when they first met. Her blue eyes still held him captive. Her lips, spread into a smile, faltered. He was staring.

"Something wrong?"

"No." Gus tried to sound calm, but the word came out harsh. Ella shifted away from him, but the compacted hay didn't allow her much room.

"Seriously, what's up?"

"It's just..." It's just what? That he loved her more than he loved himself? That she stole the words from his mouth? What could he say?

"She could never love you." The darkness whispered again to Gus.

"You're wrong."

"Excuse me?" Gus had spoken aloud. Ella looked concerned. Gus pushed every thought in his mind and stared into her sapphire eyes.

"I love you." He repeated. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a kiss, letting instinct take over. The kiss lasted one glorious second before Ella pushed him away. She stood over Gus, her hands once again on her hips. Bits of straw were stuck in her hair.

"What was that?" She demanded, anger and confusion filling her face. The darkness laughed triumphantly in Gus' ear.

"You idiot. She could never love you." Gus could only stare wide eyed at Ella. She stared back at him for another moment before the truth dawned on her.

"Oh my gosh, you love me?" Gus nodded meekly. She ran a hand through her hair.

"Good lord, Gus. You're like my brother. How could I ever love you?" Her words reached into Gus' chest and ripped out his heart. The darkness pulsed again at the edges of his vision.

"You don't know what love is." Gus growled, the darkness seeping deeper and deeper into him. The pulses of his vision matched his heartbeat, only growing faster. With each pulse, the black edge grew thicker. Her shining blue eyes were the last things he saw before he blacked out, the bluest sea overflowing with confusion and fear.

When Gus woke up, he was in the corner again, drenched in blood. The familiar coppery smell filled the Farmhouse. This time, Gus knew he was crying. In a daze, he somehow managed to climb down the ladder. Ella's bloodied corpse was frozen on the ground. Her ocean-eyes were fades and dead. He forced his gaze from her angelic body. Across the room, Reggie's pitchfork lay, untouched since its master had abandoned it. Gus floated to it and picked it up. Its wooded handle was coarse in his hand. The prongs were still razor sharp. Turning to face Ella again, he held the tool high in the air.

"Somehow," he called to her body,

"I will always love you." With his last words, he shoved the blades of the tool through his stomach. His knees crumpled beneath him, the strength fading as his heartbeat slowed. His blood spread quickly across the floor, meeting the puddle of Ella's. He smiled. In death, they would truly be together. When darkness pulsed at the edges of his vision this third time, he knew it was different. He embraced the dark and let it wash over him. After an eternity slumped on the floor, the light left Gus' warm chocolate eyes and his hand fell cold.

The darkness, now without a host, fled. It couldn't survive without the breath of someone like Gus.

No one came to gather the bodies of Gus and Ella. The lone door with no handles would never open again. But had someone stumbled upon the pair, they would see the smile on Gus' face and wonder how he could have smiled. He smiled because he thought he found the answer to that burning question: what is love? And in some ways, he did answer it. But what good is the answer to a question if you don't truly know what to ask?