Tyler woke up in the police cell. It was a fairly nice police cell, as police cells go. Or it would have been, were it not for the massive chunks ripped out of the concrete wall. There was even a cliché two way mirror, or there had been before something had smashed it into a million billon peices. Suddenly he realised he was strapped into the chair he was sitting on and he wondered why. He looked and round frantically, Trying to find answers, trying to hold back tears. He couldn't be in trouble with the police. He was a good kid! His parents would understand, but his uncle...He didn't want to think about what his uncle would do. As he scanned his eyes backwards and forwards, he saw josh. Josh was with some police officers sitting on a plastic chair in the wreck of an observation room on the other side of the hole where the mirror had been. Josh? Why was josh here? He didn't know josh that well at all. A sudden wave of dread swept over him. What had he done? Had he hurt josh?
Josh smiled when he saw tyler wake up. He knew the worst of it was over now. He turned to the police officers next to him and politely asked them to leave the room. They were reluctant, but eventually they left and josh climbed into tylers cell through the hole in front of him, cutting open his hands on glass shards in the process. His blood was the same colour as his hair, tyler noticed, but the sight of red made him vomit and he threw up violently, emptying what little he still had in his stomach onto the concrete floor, heaving until only the bitter acidic taste of bile remained. Josh seemed to realise why and moved behind him so that he couldn't see. Tyler was greatful for this, but how did josh know what it was? It didn't make any sense.
"How do you feel?"
Tyler had never heard josh speak before. His voice was...different than he had imagined it would be. It wasn't to deep nor too high pitched, and it had a more playful quality to it than he had thought it would . It was the perfect voice, tyler decided. Then he remembered the question.
"I -i don't really know"
In truth, tyler felt terrible. He had a pounding headache and he felt dizzy and light-headed.
"Actually I do know. I feel terrible. What happened josh?"
Josh didn't say anything, and Tyler didn't want to look at him or he knew he would throw up again. He heard josh breathing and heard a sound of metal scraping metal. Still josh said nothing. After a while, the sounds stopped and josh walked in front of tylers chair again. Tyler immediately shut his eyes as tight as possible. Red would make it happen again. Whatever it was.
"Tyler, it's okay. You can look."
Josh's soothing voice came through the darkness behind tylers eyelids and he slowly opened his eyes. Josh was standing in front of him, now completely bald and putting a pair of scissors back into his pocket.
"How did you know?" Asked tyler. "How did you you know about the red?"
Josh seemed reluctant to answer.
"It was yellow for me," He said finally.
Tyler still didn't understand.
"Josh, what happened. What did I do? And why are you here?"
Josh sighed quietly, as if his suspicions had been confirmed.
"You don't remember any of it?"
"None"
Josh sighed again.
"Look, I don't know if I'm the right person to tell you what you did, but I'm going to anyway"
Tyler was no longer sure he wanted to know
"Tyler...you...I don't know. You were a literal monster. Your eyes turned red and your voice went all deep and you were at least ten times stronger than normal. You..you threw your desk at Mr Edwards and trashed the room. You tore down the walls with your bare hands tyler. It took TWO elephant tranquiliser darts to sedate you and you woke up here and did this."
Josh indicated the mess around him with his left hand before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bandage which he wrapped around his right hand to stop the bleeding.
Tyler was stunned. He couldn't have done this, could he?
" did I...did I scare you josh?"
"Well...yes tyler. You did"
Tyler wanted to cry. He felt so bad, and he had scared josh. He didn't know why this upset him so much. Josh was almost a complete stranger.
"I-im so sorry josh," Tyler stammered
It was cold in the cell, he thought to himself as he teeth started to chatter lightly. Josh noticed this.
"Are you cold"
Tyler nodded. Josh pulled his plastic chair through the smashed windows and sat down next to him.
"Me too."
Josh leant over tyler and started undoing the straps that held tyler to his chair. This confused tyler. He thought he was a dangerous monster who needed to be restrained. He was hardly complaining though as josh set him free.
"Do you feel any better now?"
Josh had put the straps in a neat pile next to the chair. Josh was very neat, tyler noticed.
"A little"
Tyler still had so many questions.
"Why are you here josh? I don't know you at all"
Josh seemed very uncomfortable and unwilling to answer. Tyler was good at reading body language.
"I'm sorry"
"No, it's okay. Just...I'd rather not tell you"
Tyler understood not wanting to talk. There were plenty of things tyler would rather not talk about. He opened his mouth to speak but josh shushed him.
"It's okay"
Tyler leant over sideways and put his head on josh's shoulder, instinctively hugging him closer for warmth. He didn't know why he did, but josh made tyler feel safe. Josh seemed like he knew what he was doing. Maybe everything would be okay after all.
