Together We Go

3

Josh would look up briefly from a book as Tyler screamed.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, calling out to the voices beyond. To most, they would say he sounded terrified.

To Josh, it sounded like a warrior crying over its land. The land that it had fought for, the land it had claimed. But the land was the violent island of his mind, his scream both an attack and a defense against his voices.

Josh was, to say the least, mesmerized by Tyler. Tyler had been surviving all those horrible voices in his head for years. Josh didn't.

Tyler stopped screaming.

Coming back down to reality, he'd turn to Josh.

"I'm sorry," He'd weep, tears falling on his hands as fresh rain on a desert.

"Why are you sorry?" Josh would sit by Tyler, the bench barely big enough for the both of them, making their thighs press together.

"I'm weird. I just felt the need to scream, so I screamed. I'm used to being alone in the forest, but with you here I forget that I need to act normal."

"Normal? Tyler, look at me, why do you think you'd have to act normal around me, I'm literally dead. And I get it. I hear them too, Tyler. I'll help you get out alive."

"Really?"

"Yes, Tyler, really. I want to watch you do what I never could."

As the hours turned into days, into weeks, the boys grew only closer, finding they had everything in common. Tyler would throw on his coat, sliding on his winter boots, but his father grabbed his arm.

"You've been leaving quite a lot lately." He'd glare at Tyler, his grip tight and his teeth clenched, poised to kill.

"I-Well-we-uh" Tyler would mumble, his voice barely above a whisper.

"We?" His green eyes were sharp and violent, full of resent. "Is there something you're not telling me?" He'd lean forward, pressing his forehead to Tyler's.

Tyler would start to tremble, terrified of his father; always drained of life except for when it came to discipline.

It often seemed like that was the only part of fatherhood that he enjoyed.

He'd look around, deciding to do something he never had before. Rebel.

Tyler would grab his red beanie, holding it to his nose as he moped through the forest. As he stepped inside, Josh was waiting for him like a puppy. His eagerness was quickly replaced with concern upon seeing Tyler clenching the cloth so tight, the recent spark of fight drained from Tyler's eyes.

"Tyler?" Josh would whisper hoarsely, pulling the beanie away to reveal smeared blood from his nose. Josh knew from the slouch in Tyler's shoulders that it wasn't just a nose bleed. "What... happened?"

"My dad happened." Tyler would toss logs into the fire, taking off his thick jacket and soggy boots.

"Oh?" Josh would sit down on the couch, patting the spot next to him.

"He's abusive." Tyler would spit, plopping down on the couch.

"He's what?" Josh would freeze, a slight growl behind his throat.

"Physically and mentally. He insists that I open up to him, but whenever I does he yells at me- there's no winning. Other than that, he's a genuinely angry person. He takes his anger out on me a lot." Tyler would shift uncomfortably, and Josh would wrap his toned arms around Tyler's thin frame.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Tyler would question, referring to their first conversation.

"Because sorrow is guilt. Guilt is feeling bad for something you did or didn't do. I didn't protect you."

"How could you've protected me? You didn't know."

"I can't protect you! Ever!" Josh would pull away suddenly, "And I'll regret it every day of my dammed life- afterlife- whatever the hell this is!" Josh would shoot up, his voice raising to a yell as he kicked over wood, causing Tyler to shrink and grip the dusty and dirt-caked couch throw tighter.

"W-why not?" Tyler would whisper.

"I can't leave this dammed hellhole of a cage." Josh was punching the wall now, but no damage was being done. "It's probably some stupid spirit problem, but that doesn't change the fact that I can't protect the people I love." He'd growl, glaring at himself in a piece of broken glass; a broken frame the result of his tantrum.