infidel (joshler)

Chapter 10

When he woke up, Josh was sitting with his back against the bars, staring up at the ceiling. Tyler pushed his back against the wall, not taking his eyes off of Josh. Which version was it? The one he loved and trusted, or the one that wanted to watch him die by his own hands?

"Hey, Tyler," Josh said slowly.

"No." Tyler's voice was shaky. His fingernails dug into the skin of his arms, leaving crescent shaped indents that stung almost as much as the realization that his friend was no longer trustworthy. Josh looked concerned. He stood up.

"I said no!" Tyler shouted, pulling his knees in tighter. Thankfully, Josh didn't move towards him.

"Tyler, what did I do?" He looked almost genuinely concerned. Or was it all an act? A way to get Tyler close so he could kill him?

"What did you do, Josh?" Tyler laughed, "Well, let's talk about how either you or the blurry version of you tried to kill me in solitary. And I don't know if it was you or some sort of alternate being that had your face, because you weren't there! Where were you, Josh? Where were you when I need you?" His tears stung his eyes, and he looked away from Josh as they flooded down his face. Josh took a step forward, but moved back when he saw how Tyler flinched. He stared at his feet.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to tell me where you were as I was practically getting killed." Josh said nothing. He knew exactly what had happened.

He had checked on Melanie that night. She hadn't seemed right; but then again, she never did. He still didn't understand how she could see him. He was a part of Tyler, a part of Tyler that Tyler didn't know existed. He was here because Tyler was strong in ways he could never understand, and he felt so horrible after finding out exactly what it was like to be in his head. Constant screams, disturbing thoughts that rushed you from every angle. He didn't understand how he could even remotely function.

Tyler was powerful, powerful in ways he would probably never understand. He wasn't like other people, as he already knew, but the things he could do, Josh could only dream of. He'd seen parts of it, like when Tyler was upset. Things would fly across the room and smash against walls, things would shake as he walked past them. Of course, he never noticed. Once, Josh had woken up in the middle of the night to Tyler's screaming, a nightmare, like usual. He had sat up and saw the dark tendrils of what looked like smoke curling around his friend, and the creature that sat on the bed next to him, playing with the smoke like it was it's pet. He had realized that Tyler needed to be protected from nothing other than his own mind. And the laugh that had came out of that thing's mouth when it had seen the horrified expression on Josh's face, that was something you could never forget.

He had been walking down the hallway, listening to Tyler's thoughts as he got closer to his cell. Then everything went dark and all he could feel was pain and that laugh, that laugh was there again and he felt like he was dying for the second time. When he stood up, with absolutely no control over his body, he knew exactly who was controlling him. He could still hear Tyler's thoughts, but now his thoughts were mixed in with this creatures, and it was hundreds of thousands of voices, all screaming and crying and shouting desperately. Josh was pretty sure his own voice was in there somewhere. He watched his legs move without feeling it, as this thing guided him to where he had been going anyways. A sickening feeling filled his stomach as he thought of all of the things that this monster could use him to do.

He opened the cell door and slid inside. Josh knew how dark it was, they never had lights on at night here, but through the eyes of his captor everything was bright as daylight. Tyler was lying on his bed, knees curled up to his chest. He looked so much younger, more serene, almost as if the voices that were now louder than ever hadn't ever touched his mind. Josh felt so bad for him. He could've been an incredible person. He was gifted, especially with his voice. He'd once tried as hard as he could to play a song for Josh. He couldn't remember what it was called, but as Tyler's fingers had drifted across the keys and his voice flowed seamlessly, it was as if he was transported somewhere else. This could only last half of the song, before Tyler dissolved into tears and slammed the piano cover down. He couldn't play over the voices, he had said.

Josh's body sat down next to him and ran it's fingers through Tyler's hair. Josh had sat with Tyler probably hundreds of times, with Tyler's head on Josh's lap and Josh's hands running through Tyler's hair. Tyler had loved it. It put him to sleep, and Josh swore that whenever he did it, the nightmares would go away. Josh missed those days. The days before he was dead and Tyler was in prison.

"You really love this boy, don't you, Joshua?" It's voice was almost as terrible as it's laugh. It was low and rough, like the sound of wet gravel being crushed. Images were flashing through Josh's mind, images of his own death as well as others. As they flashed by his eyes, Josh realized with horror that they were kids they had gone to school with. Anyone who had ever said or done anything to Tyler, he was watching their death. It was either this creature that had him hostage that had created these images, or it was Tyler himself. He didn't want to think about it.

"You don't have to answer. I know you do. It's a shame you're dead. You were always my favourite, out of all the people Tyler actually cared about. You were fun. You had potential. Like I said, sucks that you're dead now." It's voice was worming it's way through all of the other ones that had been screaming in his head. It was all he could hear now.

"Get away from me," Josh said through gritted teeth, "Leave Tyler alone." The creature was in front of him now, but he still couldn't move by his own will. This thing seemed like a mass of swirling smoke, but as it got closer he could see that it was solid, made of what looked like jet black crystals that glittered ominously as it moved. It's eyes were hidden by smoke, but he could see a faint red glow. It's laugh echoed through the room, seeming to reverberate through his bones.

"Well, that would be hard, wouldn't it?" It said, moving closer to Josh. It smelt like wet pavement and desperation.

"Seeing that Tyler created me. You know what he can do. And that power that's just been sitting there, waiting, that's what created me. Terrible that with great power comes great problems, right? That's why all of those pesky little voices in Tyler's head are there. Aren't they just wonderful to listen to? I practically feed off of their anguish." It sat on the edge of the bed, next to Tyler. He still hadn't woken up, and it made Josh sad to hear everything that was going on in his mind.

"Why are you controlling me?" Josh asked, "What do you get out of this?" It laughed again, this time harsher.

"Well, Josh, you're about to find out." And then Tyler woke up, and that's when Josh was watching himself hurt the person he loved the most.

"I don't know, Tyler. I-I don't remember." Tyler laid down on the bed, tears running down into his hair.

"Get out."

"You can't make me do that."

"You're just another part of my imagination, Josh, I think I can."

That was the first time he'd ever said it out loud

a/n: sorry that I haven't updated in so long! I had absolutely no motivation to write but then about two days ago I had a thousand ideas so here is a super long and emotional