𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | Tyler Hernandez x Reader

| Ep 20-21 |

After a couple of weeks of this repetitive cycle, we've managed to piece some things together. For one, we are sucked into this alternative world every night at exactly twelve o' clock. We can't do anything about it. It'll happen no matter where we are in the real world. We are trapped in this other world for exactly seven hours, yet time stands completely still in the real world. We shift at 12:00 am but also return to our world at 12:00 am. I know, it's complicated.

Oh, and those creatures? We decided to refer to them as Phantoms, mainly inspired by the sounds Ashlyn experiences; phantom noises.

Something convenient we discovered is that whatever we move in the real world, is also displaced in the other world. But what we move in the alternate world has no effect in the real world. So, under the circumstances regarding injury, whatever wound we obtain while in the alternate world, we will not see in the real world. It may sting or tingle, but will not hurt in our world.

With the rule of placement, that applies to our bodies as well. Wherever we were in the alternate world before we shifted back to the real world, that is where we will be the next time we shift again.

And in this case, that is a huge disadvantage for us.

---

I feel my head swirl and whirl, making me feel sick and uneasy. I rub my eyes and open them to find myself back on the bus, right where we left off the previous night. Though, the phantom from before was no longer in front of us.

"Duck!" Ashlyn orders, shoving Aiden's face.

We all obey and get down to our knees. I crouch down in front of Ben and I feel his hand rest on my shoulder to support himself.

Tyler scowls and refers to the phantom, "Still here?"

Ashlyn silently nods in responds and Taylor asks with widened eyes, "What do we do?"

"We'll have to try and kill it." Ashlyn suggests, seeming very against the idea though.

"How are we going to do that?" Tyler questions skeptically.

"We could have Logan shoot it through the window?" Aiden throws out a suggestion, making Logan tremble nervously from being thrown under the bus.

"No," Ashlyn responded immediately, "The gun is for emergencies only."

"Does this not count as an emergency?" I ask, annoyance laced in my tone.

"An emergency is a swarm or one of us is about to die, Y/N," Ashlyn says, "We don't have many bullets, so we need to try and kill it with our weapons first and have Logan as our backup.

"We don't even know how strong it- "

"Shh!" Ashlyn raises a finger up to her lips. I cock my head in confusion at her sudden change in demeanor. She must've heard it, "Hide under the seats."

We all scurry through the bus and slide under the nearest available seats. I squeeze under, right beside Ashlyn and lay on my stomach. I glance over to see Tyler and Taylor huddled up together and sigh in relief that they were able to hide quickly.

The phantom's footsteps begin to grow louder as it enters the bus. I notice Ashlyn eye the weapons box and I grip her forearm, "Don't"

My whisper catches her attention and she looks behind her shoulder, "I'll be quiet."

She attempts to scoot up but scrapes her knee against the floor. I widen my eyes at the sound, knowing that was definitely loud enough to catch its attention. Ashlyn whips her head around at me, appearing just as worried as me.

I gasp when the phantom suddenly drops to its hands and knees, staring directly at the both of us with its head turned upside down. It spins its head around completely so it was now upright. It locks eyes with me and I freeze, hoping it'll miraculously ignore me if I don't move an inch.

"Y/N!" I hear Tyler's voice cry out. I turn my head over to him, which was the worst idea ever.

The phantom swings its arm back and lunges its claws straight for me. I yelp and try to scoot back. I feel Ashlyn roll out from under the seat and pull me by my legs. The phantom manages to land a slash on my shoulder just as Ash drags me away from it. I cry out in pain and roll over until I was out from under the bus seat.

"Get the weapons!" Ashlyn calls out before lunging for the phantom with her bare hands. I groan as I prop myself up on my knees, holding my injured shoulder with one hand.

I watch as she knees it right in the face, making it flinch for a moment. Before it can recover, Logan and Aiden pull her up from the floor and onto the seat in between them. It doesn't give in just yet, instead swiping its claws at them as soon as it recovered.

Tyler rushes over to me, now with a weapon in hand. He kneels down, completely abandoning his newly acquired weapon, and cups my chin with one hand, lifting my face up to meet his worried gaze.

"Did it get you?" He asks, scanning me over. He catches sight of my hand over my bleeding shoulder and curses under his breath.

"Yeah...my shoulder."

"I see it." He helps me off the ground, sitting me on the bus seat furthest away from the phantom.

Aiden takes the initiative and manhandles the thing, swinging it around and using the weight of his legs to throw it out the window. As he does so, he yells out, "Close the window!"

Logan and Ashlyn jump out of their seat and push the window down right onto the phantom's neck. It twitches, causing Aiden to lose his grip on its wrist. The phantom's now-free hand flies up to Logan's side, clawing right into his rib.

I widen my eyes from my seat when blood begins to seep through his blue sweater, "Logan!!"

I shoot up from my seat, hissing from the stinging feeling my shoulder emits. Tyler immediately shoves me back down and glares at me, "Stay!"