Child • Jøshler

chapter føur

"Haha! I've won again!"

Josh walked out of his closet, starting to make his way down stairs.

He'd always win at hide-and-seek. The closet was not allowed to hide inside, so nobody ever looked there.

A king of all games, he was not really liked between other nine-year-olds; but that didn't mean he had no friends. Josh was actually quite damn popular.

"Mom? Dad?"

Josh cringed. It was awfully quiet. Which was very strange, knowing he had three siblings.

He walked into the living room, gasping in horror.

All the perfectly white sofas were covered in his family's blood. Five lifeless bodies lied on the floor. Their skin was paler than Josh remembers and they had two holes in each their necks.

"M-Mom?" Josh's voice cracked; he was holding back tears.

But he couldn't hold them back for too long. Soon enough, his face was completely wet from the salt water. All alone, with nobody to stop his pain.

He fell down to his knees, not knowing what other to do than to wrap his arms around his mother's dead, bloodied body. And cry.

...

"Shh, baby"

Mrs Joseph rocked her youngest son in her arms. Mr Joseph sat opposite of the two, a worried expression on his face.

It was one of the rare times the Josephs watched Tyler's crimson eyes shed tears. They usual stood coldly, people would feel like he was staring into their souls.

But now they were so fragile and broken.

The Josephs suggested their children to stay in their rooms. Everybody was aware of how dangerous he could be.

Tyler's face was covered in blood, which terrified his parents. Yes, Mrs Joseph found herself in the bathroom at 11pm, washing blood off Tyler's face quite often. But only at night. Not in the middle of day.

Her blouse was obviously ruined. But that didn't matter.

"Shh"

"He killed her! He killed her! He killed her!"

Tyler tried talking loudly, but he was too broken to reach a high volume. His voice sounded rather muffled.

"Who killed her, sweetie?" Mrs Joseph asked calmly.

"He killed her! He killed her!" Tyler repeated.

"Who killed her, Tyler?" Mr Joseph asked.

Tyler rose his head, red eyes scarier than ever now that they were complimented with an angered frown "Mr Peters. Me Peters did it. Mr Peters killed her"

Mr Joseph closed his eyes, lowering his head. Mrs Joseph's sobs mixed with a shaking sigh.

Police sirens were heard, Mr Joseph stood up. He looked out the window, not moving away the thin curtains. Three police cars stood in the Duns' driveway and it seemed like more were coming.