infidel (joshler)

Chapter 9

He was running. Running and running and running but no matter how fast he moved his feet he wouldn't move. He screamed. Their breath was on his neck, taunting him to try and move. Finally, he stopped. He turned around to the swirling mass of black smoke and deep red eyes.

"You don't control me." Triumph coursed through his body. He didn't need to run. He could face this thing. But then they started getting even closer, what felt like eight thousand different voices laughing and making fun of him, how weak he was, and then it stopped right in front of him.

"Oh, Tyler, but we do."

He sat up screaming. Everything was dark. Why couldn't he see? What had they done to him? He screamed and screamed until he felt a hand on his back. He jumped off of the bed and slammed his back against the opposite wall.

"Tyler." It was Josh. But something wasn't right. Something wasn't right about his voice. It was too deep, too dark sounding. It wasn't his Josh.

"What's wrong Tyler?" It said, the voice coming closer, "Don't you want to talk to me? It's Josh." He could hear the smile creeping up it's face. This was not Josh. And he had a good idea of what it was. He could feel it's breath on his face.

"Tyler, why are you scared? It's me, Josh." There was a flash of light, almost like lightning, but no, that couldn't be right, they were inside for god's sake, but now it's face was illuminated, eyes bright red. And it was Josh.

Tyler screamed louder than he ever had before and punched as hard as he could, his fist hitting nothing but air and falling forwards. When he stood up, there was another flash of light, and Josh was in the corner, leaning against the wall and looking bored.

"Is that the best you got, Joseph?" He chuckled as he made his way towards Tyler. Tears of sheer terror were streaming down his face. Suddenly he was right in front of Tyler, and an expert punch was connecting with his jaw. Tyler hit the ground, dazed from the strength behind the punch. It wasn't human. He crawled into the corner, his knees up to his chest and his arms in front of his face.

"Please stop," he sobbed, "I'll do whatever you want." Tyler was suddenly grabbed by the throat and hoisted up almost to the ceiling. A flash of light showed the sick and deadly smile spread across Josh's usually beautiful features.

"You know what I want, Joseph? I want you dead. But I think I'll torture you for a bit longer." The hand around his neck was gone, and he crumpled to the ground. He stayed there, curled into a ball for what felt like several hours, before he heard footsteps outside of his cell.

The door was opened, light flooding into the cell. He squinted against the light he hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity, unable to make out anything other than a silhouette in the doorway. He couldn't bring himself to stand up. Two guards came in and hauled him out by his arms. They told him that he was done with his solitary punishment. They took him to the showers too. He caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror. Cuts littered his face, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He couldn't believe he'd changed this much in a day. He stepped under the stream of water, the warmth cascading over his body. He washed off the blood on his face and arms, and ran his hands through his hair. He didn't realize how much he loved showers until he hadn't had one in what seemed like forever.

He dried off, put on the clean jumpsuit that they had provided for him, and was walked down the corridors to the cell he was in before they moved him to solitary. He was happy to see that Melanie was still in the cell across from him. She sat with her knees tucked up into her chest, and was staring at the wall. Tyler sat on his bed, and waited for her to say something. She didn't.

"Hey Mel." She turned her head to look at him. The redness of her eyes showed that something was wrong, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"Hey, Ty. How was solitary." It was a question, but her voice was so empty and dead it didn't sound like one. He shifted his gaze to his feet. It almost hurt to look at her. What was this place doing to them?

"It sucked, as you probably got. Josh was there for a bit." He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the memory of his best friend beating him up in the dark. He could feel his heart rate starting to climb, an anxiety attack coming on. He slowed his breathing, trying not to cry.

"He stopped in. I heard the guards talking about you." He looked up at her. She was back to staring at that same place on the wall.

"What did they say?" She started laughing and didn't stop. She was utterly terrifying like this. Her eyes were bloodshot, she was pale as a ghost and her hair was tangled in all different directions. She looked like she was absolutely insane. But wasn't that why they were here? THey both were.

'Well, Tyler, they kept talking about how you screamed and screamed and screamed about how 'they were going to get you'. That came up a lot. Then they were laughing about how you cried and screamed the whole time you were in there. They really do think that you're a crazy, suicidal headcase. But I am too! That's why we're here, isn't it? We're both just screwed up, sick in the head people." She wouldn't stop laughing. Tyler was scared. She crawled over to the bars, wrapping her hands around them and rocking back and forth.

"You know what else they said? How you told the psychologist about your blurries, and how you tried to kill her. Nice touch. They kept saying how you wouldn't stop acting like these terrifying creatures were coming after you! But you know what, Tyler? They're coming after me too! Ever since you got here, they're all I see! They're always around me! I don't get how you do it." By now her laugh was embedded into Tyler's brain, and even though his hands were over his ears, he could hear it, like it was playing through a speaker placed right next to his ear.

"Stop laughing!" He screamed. "I get it, Melanie! They've been there my whole life! Constantly torturing me, keeping me awake until four in the morning! You think it's hard? You've only had them for a few days," he hissed, "I've had them for twenty years. I didn't even get to be a person before them. They were never not there. And that's why I'm here now Melanie. I could've had friends. I could've enjoyed things like music; I love music. But the second I start playing anything there they are, screaming in my head that I'm not good enough and I never will be! And they don't stop until I'm crying and can't bear to touch another piano key. So don't you ever try to tell me that you have it worse!" He slumped down against the wall, too tired to scream any longer.

If only he hadn't been born.

a/n: so a whole lot happened in this chapter and hopefully it was better than the last one!