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"p-please! i-i want my m-mommy! pl-ease let me out!"
tylers shaky voice rang through the dirty room. cell more like it. there were no beds, and everything around him was concrete. silent tears ran down rosy cheeks, dirt and grime and mud caked his clothes. he was hungry, tired, and scared. there were no windows. nothing. he couldnt see anything, not even his own two hands.
"please! i just w-want to go home!" tyler yelled. the boy cried and cried until there were no tears left and his voice was hoarse. kids in captivity are usually killed within the first 24 hours of being taken. and if they do manage to survive that critical time frame, then they were in for a much worse fate. human trafficking, forced prostitution, fighting rings. and very rarely, were they taken from one loving family, just to be forced into another, horrid one.
🥀
meanwhile, a young tyler joseph's parents were searching frantically for their little boy. "ty! tyler! come out! this isn't funny tyler joseph!" kelly joseph yelled. panic and adrenaline coursed through her veins as she double and triple checked every nook and cranny for her child. "ty?! please" she yelled once more. "please." soon, shouts turned to whispers, and day turned to sunset.
"chris. chris we have to go to the police. we can't just do nothing." kelly sounded appalled at the thought of not doing everything in her power to find her son while he was out there, scared and alone. chris ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair, worrying immensely that if he didnt find his other son, he and his wife would lose it.
the family rushed to the sheriff's office, crying out about how their son had been gone. "don't you worry mr. and mrs. joseph, we will find tyler. i guarantee that we will have him back in your safety within the next couple of days." the sheriff spoke, giving the family false hope.
but, soon, days became weeks, and weeks became months. but the joseph family never gave up. he was out there, he just had to be. the family jumped at every potential lead the police cane up with, and sank further down than before at every dead end. the phone rang. kelly, who was now getting paler and thinner, ran to the phone and picked it up, practically yanking it out of the charging station.
"kelly joseph, who is this?" she asked, hoping it was the police. her heart, however, dropped when she heard the thing she'd been dreading the most.
"mrs. joseph? this is officer black with the CPD. we found a body.
mr. and mrs. joseph rushed to the coroner's office to verify the body. mrs. joseph was sobbing uncontrollably the whole ride, while her husband held her hand across the console, comforting his hurting wife. they walked solemnly to the viewing room, not a word shared between them.
as the coroner pulled back the baby blue cloth covering the body, relief and guilt flooded the couple. it wasn't him. tyler was still alive. but they felt guilty nonetheless; someone's child died. someones brother. and they were happy that it wasn't theirs.
🍂🍂
tyler awoke the next morning, sighing as he realized this wasn't a dream. he had been taken from his parents for no reason, and now he was going to live here for who knows how long. then, a woman walked in with a tray. on it was a bowl, a spoon, and some water. "good morning alex. did you rest well?" the woman asked. from what tyler could tell, she had dark hair that flowed to her sides, and a content smile graced her face.
"i-i'm not alex. m-my name is t-tyler joseph and i wanna go home." tyler said timidly, anxiety washing over him as her smile turned into an angry frown.
