/-| .The_One_I'm_Not. |-/ (Blurryface Story)

.a shadow tilts it's head at me.

.:Prologue:.

I woke up. I looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. I sighned and got out of bed slowly. I went to my kitchen and grabbed some waterbottle out of the fridge. When I closed the fridge, I saw a photo of me and Josh. I smiled. The Blurryface tour starts in a week. To say that I was excited to see our fans again, would be an understatement. I couldn't wait.
I returned to my room, still smiling like an idiot. As I went past my mirror, I noticed some little red light reflecting in it. I turned my head to look at it, but as soon as I did, it was gone. I shrugged it off, thinking that it was just in my head. As soon as I made a step towards my bed, I heard a voice echoing through my room.
"Well, hello there, Tyler. Long time no see."
I froze instantly and turned around to find the owner of the voice, but no one was in my room. But then, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My eyes went wide in horror and my heart skipped a beat.
A pair of piercing red eyes was staring back at me.
"Found me.", he chukled and licked his lips. His teeth were sharp and crooked, his hands and neck were painted with the darkest shade of black, his skin looked unnaturally pale and every single vein on his body was visible. The circles under his eyes were so  disturbingly dark, it looked like he hadn't slept for a whole decade. In fact, he never once blinked, and that made me think, that he had his eyes wide open ALL the time. He was dressed head to toe in black. He was extremely skinny. He looked absolutely terrifying.
"No," I shook my head in disbelief, "this can't be happening...You are NOT real!", I yelled at him. My mind had difficulties processing what was happening right now. I tried to pinch myself because there was no way this was real. It had to be a dream. There was no way that my alter ego which I MADE UP, was now talking to me through my mirror. I questioned my own sanity, as I stared into those soulles, empty eyes.
He squinted his eyes and looked at me up and down, examining me, as if I was his prey. And honestly, I truly did feel like a prey.
Then, he smiled. But it was the most unnerving smile I had ever witnessed. Maybe it was because of how unnaturally large his grin was, maybe it was because his bloodshot eyes stayed wide open this whole time, staring into my own. or maybe it was the sound of his voice. It did not even in the slightest remind me of a voice that would belong to a human.
Perhaps it was because thats exactly what he was not: a human being.
No.
He was something much worse.
"Well, bad news, Ty. I am very much real.", he nearly whispered. My reflection in the mirror grinned even wider. And it was a sight that will stay engraved in my memory until the day I die.
"W-why are you here? What do you want from me?!"   I screamed as I stepped away from the mirror.
His gaze never left me.
"I have an offer for you, Tyler. One you should not decline",he purred.
"See, all this time, I've felt a little..." he paused, squinting his eyes, as if in deep thought "...misunderstood." he continued."You know, all these years, you've portrayed me as this part of yourself that's entirely bad. You've created me as a monster with red eyes and ugly voice. A nightmare fuel, almost. And you were praised for it. But, Ty. You kind of hurt my feelings there. You've kept the spotlight all to yourself and you shoved me aside. No one likes to be shoved aside, Tyler. You should know that. And, also, you haven't been talking exactly nice about me in front of your fans, have you? Now, I have to take control and fix my reputation, since you're unable to do it yourself. ", he glared at me with the fakest smile. "I'm really dissappointed with you. I should probably end it right here and right now, but because I'm so nice, I will give you one last chance to make it up to me. Come closer, Ty. Come here, if you want me to behave." he motioned with his hand as a signal for me to come closer. I didn't want to. In fact, all I wanted was to run as far away from him as possible. But the fear of what would happen if I did, led me to taking a few slow steps towards the mirror, until we were inches apart. He grinned unnervingly. "Good boy." He talked to me as if I was his pet. I hated it. I hated HIM. I wanted to fight, but I just couldn't move. I was paralyzed. My body didn't listen to me anymore. His gaze was now burning into the back of my head. His smile widened again.
"Here's my offer: if you give me your life for a few days, I will behave. I won't take you to that horrible place you think you've escaped years ago. I just want to taste some of that fame of yours. Is that a crime? I don't think so.",he lowered his voice. "Let's break this wall between us, what do you say, Tyler?" he said as he placed his palm on the reflective surface.
And then...he pushed. I heard a crack. The thin wall of glass was the only thing that was separating us. And he was breaking it. I could see the webs of cracked glass widening with each second. "We will be closer than ever." He purred," Tyler, I will make you so famous, everyone will know you. Together, we will be so powerful, imagine how fast we could get to perform in the largest venues, for the largest of crowds.
You've always wanted your message to be heard, right? Just shake my hand, and the whole world will listen."
He stared at me with anticipation. I started to back away from the mirror. I was terrified of him.
"N-no," I gasped in shock, "I won't ever let you take control again. You've messed me up so much, you don't deserve a voice, you don't deserve a face, and you certainly do NOT DESERVE TO BE HEARD BY A SINGLE SOUL!", at this point, I was screaming. Tears were streaming down my face as I stared right into his red, empty eyes. Something in his expression changed. His gaze darkened.
And that was when I made the biggest mistake of my life.
I turned away.
I turned away from HIM.
Such a foolish mistake. One that would cost me everything.
As soon as I turned away, I heard it. Another, but this time, very loud crack. The mirror. He broke it. Before I could look at him, I suddenly felt ice cold fingertips touching the sides of my neck. His hands squeezed my neck tightly, and then, not even a second later, I was harshly pulled back. My head slammed against the cold surface. I could hear my skull getting crushed by the sudden force. I screamed in pain, but suddenly my mouth was covered by a cold hand. The other hand stayed on my neck, squeezing it more and more. I was being pulled off the ground by my neck, until my feet were no longer touching the ground. I started to choke. With all the power I had, I tried to pull his hand off of my neck.
It was useless. He was not human. He did not have human strenght.
I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. It was cold. And I knew, I just knew, that he had a smile on his face.
"You know, Tyler," he started in a whisper, "I tried to be nice. I truly did. But now, I see that's not gonna work here. So, things are going to be a little...how do I put it..." his grip on my neck tightened even more, "...violent from now on." he said, fake sadness latched into his voice. My head began to pound.
"I think it's more than fair to...switch the roles for a while. I will be on top of the world and you will be where I am now. Everyone will know my name and hear my voice. Finally. Finally I will be able to use my voice and EVERYONE. WILL. LISTEN.
And you, Ty, you will get to experience my misery and pain. Pain that I've felt for YEARS.", his voice got progressively louder and more agressive. His grip tightened again and black dots appeared in my vision.
"Oh, and Tyler? Please, don't worry about Josh. I will take VERY good care of him.", he whispered with a chuckle while leaning into my ear.
Josh. My best friend. My soulmate. The thought of HIM being near Josh made me feel sick. I was scared. I was so scared. Tears started to fall down my face. I was weak. Why was I so weak? I thought I wasn't...I thought I wasn't...not anymore...
I almost forgot I couldn't breathe, because I was so worried about what he would do to Josh.
But then, the bastard behind me and his ugly, disgusting voice brought me back to reality.
"Are you crying, Ty? It's cuz you've missed me, right?Aww. So cute. I'm touched, truly." he faked a sob, "I've missed you too! But don't worry, this is a chance for us to get to know each other better! We'll be closer than ever in no time."
He clenched me even harder. I had no oxygen left in me. My neck hurt so much from his iron grip, I was sure his hand had already left bruises. He was pushing my back against the mirror which caused my head to hurt in stinging pain.
"I think it's only fair if I step in now. I've been patient for way too long.", he growled.
Once again, he gripped my neck even harder. My vision was becoming worse and worse each second. My heart was racing inside my chest, trying to keep me alive. It could explode at any moment.
I knew I was going to die very, very soon.
"So, Tyler, say bye to your fans and fame. Say bye to your music and stage. Say bye to Josh. Say bye to your life." he whispered.
And then...
his grip loosened and my body fell to the ground like a lifeless doll. I hit my head. Hard. I clenched my neck and tried to lift my head, but it fell right back to the ground. I started to cough violently. Blood. I tried to inhale, but no air was coming into my lungs. They were on fire. I was choking again. I started to see just...blackness.
I was losing conciousness. Quickly.
The last thing I remember before slipping into darkness, was his disturbing voice, echoing through the room. I wish that my last memory from being alive was something else...I wish it was something else. But I guess we can't always have what we wish for.
"THIS IS THE BEGGINNING OF A NEW ERA," his voice getting violently loud made me feel a complete sense of...doom. Then I heard him continue, his voice barely above a whisper "...and this era is MINE."
He was back.
Blurryface was back.
My personal hell.
I never thought this was possible.
But what scared me most, was not the fact that he was here again, stronger than I could ever imagine.
It was that he had to be stopped.
And I, his creator, had no idea how to do that.

...

Hello guys! I hope you've enjoyed the beggining of this insane journey we're about take together. If you like my story so far, please leave a comment, it helps me more than you can imagine<3 Thank you so much for reading and may the ghost of Tyler's broken ukulele be with you🙏✨❣️

- kathris