Only In The Forest (A Continuation of the Forest Fic)

The Accident

The crackle of the fire fills his ears. Out of the overpowering, pleasant roar of the flames, he hears a familiar voice rise above.

"TYLER?!" The voice is shakey. Tyler ignores the voice and breaths in more smoke.It burns his lungs.

It can't be him. He is a hallucination, remember, that's all he is, an imaginary friend. Don't leave, once you leave, how can all your pain and suffering go away?

Blurry whispers to him. Tyler obeys and breathes in more of the burning smoke. It feels as if he is breathing in fire.

"TYLER, get out of there!" It's Josh. Josh is there. As much as Tyler wants to stay in the burning treehouse so his pain can end, he drags himself to the exit of the treehouse, ignoring his thoughts.

Why are you leaving Tyler? TODAY is the day it will all end.

Tyler shakes his head. Tyler coughs, many agonizing coughs, over and over, trying to get the smoke out of his lungs. Tyler starts to feel weary, his eyelids heavy. He coughs again, this time coming from the depths of his lungs. The smoke hurts. He makes it to the ground. He can't stand, his knees buckle. He falls to the ground. Josh runs towards him with the look of worry plastered across his face.

"Tyler your leg is on fire!" Josh says as he gets closer him.

TODAY WAS THE DAY TYLER! IT WOULD BE BET....

Tyler coughs again interrupting Blurry. The last thing Tyler sees is the boy of his dreams, the one with bright-blue hair and mocha eyes. Tyler's eyes get even heavier. He coughs one more deep cough, and he falls asleep, with the image of his blue haired friend, burnt into his memory forever.

Josh starts to freak out and panic. He needs to put the fire out that's on Tyler's pant leg. Josh takes in a deep breath, trying to use what Tyler taught him to calm yourself down, but he instantly regrets it. He coughs a few times, not as deep as Tyler's, but it still pained him. He looks over at Tyler's motionless body with the amber flames crawling up his leg onto his torso. Josh looks around, tears forming, unsure from the smoke or from seeing his angel lying on the ground motionless. Josh doesn't see anything that he could suffocate the growing flames with. He thinks fast and pulls his shirt over his head. He starts smothering the flames, leaving the remains of Tyler's scorched pant leg and some of his black shirt.

An intense high pitched buzzing sound explodes in Josh's head. This happens whenever he gets really anxious, and right now is a very high-stress event. Josh puts his hands to either side of his head, in an attempt to block out the ringing sound. When he realizes that this doesn't help, he pulls his hands away in time to watch the treehouse fall from the spot in the trees, with a thud.

The ground shakes.

He blinks.

His heart drops.

It starts to rain and all the smoke fades away. He looks at Tyler. A raindrop falls on his face.

" What do I do? What do I do?" He says out loud even though no one can hear him. Josh puts his hands back on his ears as the buzzing continues. He hears a voice inside his head, barely audible. It says,

"Follow me instead"

"Who the FUCK do you want me to follow?" Josh shouts, lifting his hands from over his ears for the last time. HE looks up at the rain.

"There is no one else here!" Josh looks down and sees the shape of a deer, behind the dissipating smoke, in the distance. The deer looks back at him, waiting. Josh has limited options right now, so he scoops Tyler up into his arms. One arm behind his back, one arm under his knees. He holds Tyler's small body against his chest. He holds him as tight as he possibly can without hurting his skeleton frame. Josh looks up to see the outline of the deer waiting for him. He looks down at Tyler, adrenaline kicking in, and runs after the shadow of a deer. The shadow runs too.

"Please live Tyler, Please" Josh whispers as he runs after the faint outline of the deer. Tyler's body is so hot, it burns his bare chest. Josh feels Tyler's heart pounding against Josh's chest as if he is the one running.

Josh is running.

Running to a destination unknown.

The rain picks up now. Hammering on Josh's bare skin like little rocks. He feels a heavy presence chasing him. That motivates him to run even faster. He picks up the pace, his leg muscles feel weak, but there is a power pushing him to run a little more. The high pitch buzzing sound pushes away all thoughts that could have been brewing, spewing, spitting venomous ideas into his overactive imagination.