Adore // Oneshots

Only Nightmares (Joshler)

CATEGORY: Halloween, angst
FEATURING: dating!Joshler
MAJOR TRIGGER WARNINGS: BLOOD, KNIVES, KILLERS, NIGHTMARES, and CHARACTER DEATH! PLEASE READ SAFELY!!
PROMPT: Tyler keeps having nightmares...but that's all they are, right? Only nightmares...
WORD COUNT: Approximately 850 (short)

Tyler Joseph wakes with a start.

He immediately sits up in bed, shaking slightly. It's cold in the room, being late October, but that's not the reason Tyler is shivering.

He's just had a nightmare, the kind no one should ever have to suffer through.

Tyler is no stranger to nightmares. He has them frequently, in fact. Nightmares of final screams, mutated beasts, dark forests that could hold any number of unspeakable creatures or enemies. Tyler always wakes up from these nightmares before they end, right before he dies, or before the beasts can catch him, or before the flames scorching through the forest can overpower him.

Usually, after Tyler wakes from these nightmares, he's paralyzed with a terror as old as mankind itself. Once he finds he can move again, he immediately shakes the shoulder of his husband, Josh, who sleeps next to him. Josh always wakes, and comforts Tyler as best he can. Sometimes, Josh is able to calm him down, and they fall asleep together. Other times, Tyler is too afraid to go back to bed, and so Josh makes him some tea and they cuddle on the couch.

Tyler's talked to his doctor about the nightmares, but she's assured them there's nothing wrong with him. Everyone has dreams, though we all dream differently: some people talk in their sleep, others sleepwalk, for example. Tyler has done a little of the latter before, but not since he was a kid.

The nightmares are scary, but he always has Josh, to comfort him and reassure him that he's safe. Tyler can always count on Josh.

Except, now, he isn't here.

It's dark, so Tyler can hardly see, but reaching out to the other side of the bed, he feels no warm body asleep next to his. He has no idea where Josh has gone.

Without him, Tyler feels very scared.

Petrified, in fact.

His nightmare was so terrifying, he can't get it out of his head, no matter how hard he tries. He shudders as the memory of what he just dreamed flashes through his mind once more.

Tyler dreamed that he woke up late at night. He'd rolled over in bed, lazily, and faced his husband.

Only, Josh wasn't there.

A killer was.

Tyler didn't even know how he knew it was a killer, he didn't know anything. He just screamed.

Fleeing from the bed, Tyler ran out of the room and slammed the door behind him. The killer chased Tyler into the kitchen and pushed him to the floor, cornering him near the fridge. It (Tyler was pretty sure it wasn't human) had a skull mask with glowing red eyes, and a hissing sound came from between its teeth.

Crouched on the floor, desperate for an escape, Tyler kicked out at the killer's legs with his feet, and it went down.

What scared Tyler the most was what happened next.

The killer was (albeit temporarily) incapacitated. Tyler could have run away, could have found Josh, could have called the police.

Instead, Tyler went to the knife drawer, and pulled out a big, sharp butcher knife.

And he attacked the killer.

Tyler had never used a knife before, not like this, but it wasn't stopping him. He sliced at the killer that had attacked him, again and again and again. Stabbing, cutting, a merciless slaughter.

The poor killer never stood a chance.

Tyler raised the knife above its chest to deal the final strike, and the killer whispered the first (and last) word Tyler would ever hear it say.

"Blurryface."

With one smooth motion, Tyler brought down his knife, and was ejected from his dream.

Still near-paralyzed even now, Tyler huddles on the bed, mostly covered by blankets. He wants to go find Josh, but God, he's so scared. He knows the dream wasn't real, could never be real, but he can't help it.

After about twenty minutes have passed, Tyler's loneliness beats out his fear. Very slowly, he slips out from underneath the blankets, sliding his feet onto the cold wooden floor. He runs his fingers through his hair, then stops, putting his hands in front of his face.

They're sticky, covered in something he can't identify.

He decides to wash his hands of...whatever the substance is. Maybe Josh is in the bathroom, anyway. That's a likely explanation. He begins to relax.

Heading into the restroom, Tyler flips on the light switch. The harsh yellow glow makes him blink his eyes a few times, but he stops when he sees what's on his hands.

It's blood.

Tyler's heart rate skyrockets. Is he injured? Quickly, he turns on the sink, and plunges his hands into cold water, scrubbing the blood away.

He finds no injuries. How could this have happened, then?

Something dawns on him.

Something horrible.

He runs from the bathroom, leaving the water running and light on as he hurries down the hallway to the kitchen. He fumbles around in the dark until he finds the light switch.

Josh lies dead on the kitchen floor, covered in blood, with a butcher knife sticking out of his chest.