Anathema

twenty five - to let you know

"You're not seriously sneaking out again, are you?"

Tyler ignored Clancy's comment and quickly scribbled a note in his notebook, then tore it out and folded it up. He put on his jacket and his shoes, and then pulled his beanie down over his ears. He shoved the note into his pocket and slid the window open, gauging the distance between the tree and the window sill.

"One day you're gonna fall and snap your neck," Clancy said.

"I'm not scared," he said, climbing up and perching on the sill like a bird.

"Your mom's gonna kill you."

"I don't care. This is more important. I have to tell Josh why I can't come out anymore. I don't want him to worry about me."

"But he's always worried," Clancy said. "Haven't you seen his face? He's always worried about you, about everything."

"Not always." Tyler shifted slightly and then jumped down into the tree. The branches scraped against his face and hands and he yelped as he lost his grip and nearly fell. His hands caught the branch just in time.

"Yeah, I bet he's never worried about you," Nico said from the window. "No one ever thinks about you."

"That's not what I meant," Tyler grumbled, sliding down the branch until he could regain his footing on the trunk and shimmy down the tree.

"How are you going to get back up?" Clancy called.

Tyler hadn't thought of that yet. "I'll figure it out when I get there. I'll just jump back in."

"Maybe it's just me," Clancy started, twisting the bottom of his shirt around his finger, "but I feel like maybe jumping from the tree to the window is a bad idea. Just saying."

"Do you have any better ones?" When he didn't answer, Tyler started across the backyard and out into the street. His mom would kill him if she found out he was sneaking out, and if she found out he was sneaking into the forest on top of that, she wouldn't let him out of her sight for the next ten years. But he had to let Josh know what was going on. He couldn't just abandon him, especially after what had happened to his brother. 

Only a few minutes later, his two friends came running up behind him, like they always did. He wished they'd leave him alone for a few hours. He ignored them and continued forward as if he wasn't even aware they were behind him. 

He didn't like the energy of the air that day. It was shattered glass and wilted flowers, and a sort of grey blue tint settled over everything. It was windy and a few rain drops sprinkled from the sky, even though the clouds on the horizon were white instead of grey. It was warmer than it should have been, and Tyler didn't like it. 

The forest was scarier in the wind. The trees swayed back and forth and moaned as their limbs smacked against each other. The bushes rustled in panic and dead leaves swirled down from their branches. He jumped as he thought he saw something running past him, but it was just a shadow, his mind playing tricks on him. He pulled his jacket closer as his eyes darted across the path, and he couldn't help glancing over his shoulder every few minutes. Nobody was watching him. Other than his two imaginary friends, no one was following him. Yet he swore he could hear someone else's footsteps behind him, blowing toward him. 

When he reached the treehouse, the rope was blowing wildly through the air, and nearly hit him in the face as he climbed up to the letterbox to drop his note. He closed the lid and jumped down, and then a stick cracked and he froze.

"Someone's coming," Clancy whispered.

"No one's coming, you idiot," Nico hissed.

Tyler looked up at the letterbox again, and then someone called his name, and he shrieked in surprise. For a second, he thought it was the man's voice, but when he whirled around, he saw it was only Josh, and let himself relax.