follow me instead

please

Tyler's POV

somewhere within the darkness, I hear a scream. but it's unfamiliar and the sound is soon drowned out by the silence.

Why can't I move? it's like my limbs are lead and my head is a bowling ball. Nothing seems right. The noises that do make its way through the curtain of black are echoes and cannot be pieced together into logical sentences.

What's happened to me? Where am I?

The voices have stopped, even the echoes. I'd rather be dead than be in this in between place.

Figments of faces drift around the space.

What's her name again? Wasn't it Melanie? Yes, Melanie Martinez.

That guy, I think. That's Zack, my brother.

But- who's he?

This new person is different, a feeling of confusion and attachment comes with his nameless figure. His hair as pink as the sunset.

I don't know who he is, but I think I might love him.

Please. I need to get out of here. I need to die.

I don't hear those voices calling ,

I must have kicked them out ,

I must have kicked them out.

-
-

Melanie's POV

"Are you the Joseph family?" The middle aged women asks approaching us.

Miss Joseph looks over at me before nodding.

Without smiling, she tells us to follow her down the white hallway towards Tyler's room. I'm not ready to see him. Not yet.

Zach comes up behind me and threads his fingers through mine, "it's gonna be okay Mel. You have to be strong for him."

I let a smile play on my lips, for him. Zach's always been like a bigger brother to me, so this means a lot. He pats me on the shoulder before going off to hold his mom.

A few ragged breathes escape me as I try and calm myself down. Tyler's gonna be okay. Everything's gonna be fine.

My parents weren't really happy I'd be missing the first day of school, but they understand. After work, they were gonna drop by and visit him.

I'll never forget last night. Waking up to see Tyler bleeding out on the white tiles of the bathroom. He'd had a psychotic breakdown apparently. His, um, mental issues had never made him do something like that. Not at that scale. When Ty fell he'd hit his head on the bathtub, really really hard. Hard enough, probably, to cause memory loss, or more mental issues.

The blonde haired doctor leads us into a cream colored room. I hear a few gasps in front of me as Tyler comes into view.

I push my way past Madison, Ty's sister, and when I see him I almost double back. He had stitches on his forehead, and bruises on his cheekbone. Where his nails had embedded into his skin and torn through, were swollen red, deep scratches. The scratches went up what was exposed of his neck and chest and all along his jawline. It looked like he had been attacked by a rabid animal. They had his wrists, ankles and neck strapped down so he wouldn't harm himself more. The cuts from his nails continued up his arms, under the cuffs on the armrest and onto his fingers.

How did this happen? And why him? Why Tyler?

His eyes blinked open, and the first think he said was, "I'm so sorry, Dad."