text me | tj + jd

6.7

tyler;
(listen to roslyn by needlefeet on soundcloud i promise it's a good soundtrack for this chapter)

i am in anguish. my mind is still fuzzy from the affects of the medical-use-drugs and the other drugs. i open my eyes thinking i would be on some dirty, mattress in a rat infested alley.

i looked around at my surroundings. the first thing i noticed was the fact that i actually was in a house. I couldn't help but think that this could be a crack house (or maybe i was hallucinating again). because that's what i need. the walls were red - the color of close-to-dried blood. there was a torn poster with the saying wow, ethan. great moves. keep it up. proud of you hanging for its life on one tack (which was close to coming out of the wall itself). on the bedside table there were three things; a used post it! note, a bottle of some type of medicine (two tablets laid out beside it), and a foggy glass of water that i wanted to be vodka. just now feeling the scratchy material of the comforter covering me, i slowly, my whole mind and body aching, basically fall out of bed. i skip reading the bottle for what type of medication and go straight for the tablets and the vodka pretending to be water. as i sip the water, i read the note.

"hello tyler! please take these two tablets. they will help with the pain, not your mental pain sadly. (yes, i know but don't fret dear; joshy doesn't know a thing about that). anyway, come on in the living room. (change of clothes laid out on bed)"

"no signature?" i ask the walls.

i look around for my phone, finding it on top of the clothes my kidnapper has laid out for me. i quickly grab the phone unlocking it. i curse under my breath when I read the percentage of my battery. 2%. I quickly type a messy message of telling josh that ive been kidnapped, brought to a crack house, and told to take medication. i chose to leave out the part about the mental pain post it! note. before i could hit send, the phone suddenly went black showing i, now, had zero battery. i turn and throw the phone at the poster representing my life (hanging on a limb). the phone piercingly shatters against it. i curse louder than before. I run a hand through my greasy hair. to pull myself together a bit, i look at my choice of wear. i pick up each piece of clothing, studying it. there is a flannel, underwear, skinny jeans, and a... dress? i shutter. who is this kinky person?

i decide to put on the navy and red flannel which was missing all of its buttons. i slide into the other two pieces of clothing. at least those two didn't have anything missing...

feeling self-conscious about the showing of my stomach and chest, i creep open the dirty, wooden door. there were two heads starting at me. one was on top of a standing figure grinning like a mad man. the other was near the wall on the other side of me, his face hidden by the shadow.

the grinning mad man steps forward, raising both arms. "hello tyler!! good to see you on your feet again. i hope you realize i have worked very hard to make sure you live for my friend here." he gestures at the figure by the torn wallpaper wall.

"someone will by looking for me!"

he chuckles saying, "tyler, josh and i brought you here. i mean you could say i kidnapped you but-
"wait josh," i look over towards the figure longingly.

"anyway, he continues through my interruption, rolling his eyes, "my name is jenkins. now, apologize to josh and thank me." he seems proud at his orders.

my mouth slightly open, josh comes forward. "jenkins, dont pester him so much." joshua plops down on the faded red couch, dust puffing out. he pats the couch cushion and smiling genuinely enough at me. I oblige, slowly sitting down next to the boy. jenkins shakes his head, going inside the bedroom i was in. he mumbled bitterly, "what an obedient puppy."

"tyler can we talk about it? the drugs and why..."

i tell him everything.

it all comes back to me. the very first time i met ashton during freshman year. the way he creepily followed me through town for weeks, before he had asked me if i wanted... whatever drug was on the top of the list that week. at some point dealing with the kids at school, depression, the voices, and ashton got to be too much. i gave in. i fell in fucked up rabbit hole.

around sophomore year, i ran out of money. i had a job but there wasn't enough coming in to supply my need for weekly drugs, so ashton cut me a deal. he let me pay less than the asking price until I graduated. he must have thought I wouldn't make it since most drug addicts, depressed teens dropout. every week, we met at out spot between tenth and eleventh street. and then came finals week. my best friend at the time and i were studying the weekend before finals week. i showed the poor boy the drug of choice that week. modafinil - the time-shifting drug. "this enables you to stay awake for 40+ hours with close to full mental capacity with a few side effect," i had said.

he asked me "what side effects."

of course i replied, "it improves memory, and enhances your mood, alertness and cognitive powers. once the drug wears off, you just have to catch up on some sleep, man. come on let's do it." he had nodded agreeing to it. we studied all weekend. no breaks. the only problem was when we finished studying that monday at 2 am, we slept through the day. at about 9am on tuesday, i woke up, but my dear friend did not. i figured since he hasn't taken as many drugs as ive had that he'll just wake up later today. i took a shower, got my stuff ready for school, and took off. when i came back, ethan was still alseep. me being the paranoid person i checked his pulse. nothing... there wasn't a beat. I felt as if I couldn't breath. "fuck fuck fuck..." i freaked out. i-

"You left him at his house and ran away, you coward." josh and I turn around to see ashton standing at the door with a gun in hand. there was a large man behind him; what i assumed was the boss- the boss that probably wanted to kill me since i haven't been paying fully for almost four years.

"josh," i whisper. "text jenkins to hide."

josh slowly gets his phone out, texting jenkins discreetly.

"tyler, you'll have to come with us," ashton informs josh and i.

"fine, i understand. but josh has nothing to do with this. he shouldn't have to come with."

"oh but didnt josh save you from that alley? he has something to do with it, ty. you should know that. oh poor ethan. were you going to give your new best friend some drugs too? maybe you'll kill him too-"

"shut up!" i yell at the now blurry figure.

a gun shot. screams. ringing.

i can't breathe once again.

---
a/n
a long chapter for a long wait
dont kill me