Keeper and Protector (Joshler) ✔️

41

● ● ● ● ● ●

"I'm desperate for your adoration, holding onto a hurricane."

● ● ● ● ● ●

Yet another sleepless night...

Whenever the sun dipped below the horizon, it signaled the beginning of what was always the longest and hardest hours of Tyler's "life" here in Dema.

After the candles were blown out, his thoughts were liable to go anywhere. Josh, Fynnley, Cheetah, Annaliese, Columbus, his house, Keeper Training School... sometimes even as far back as his childhood and estranged family.

But Tyler knew that if he didn't stop himself,  all of his thoughts could spiral into dark memories that he never wanted to re-live.

So, tonight, instead of losing himself inside of his mind, he decided to leave his room and pace the confines of the main area.

As he passed by the line of rooms for the fourth time, he noticed that the underneath of Sense's door was still illuminated.

Is he awake?

Normally, Tyler wouldn't bother any of the other Keepers in their rooms (unless personally invited in) but what Evan had told him a few days earlier about Sense still lingered in the back of his mind.

What if his Time Keeper is at its breaking point? What if we're about to lose him?

Three gentle knocks on the door. "Sense?" His voice came out quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else up. "It's me, Tyler."

A few moments of silence went by before Tyler heard movement and, finally, the door opened with a low creak.

Brown eyes met blue, the latter surprised at seeing Tyler outside his door this late at night. "Hey," Sense said quietly. "Come in."

The first thing Tyler noticed when he walked in was the stockpile of razor blades on Sense's table. When he said they were everywhere... he must've meant in his room.

"Sorry for bothering you," Tyler said softly as he sat down on Sense's bed. "I just saw the light and figured you might still be awake."

"Nah, you're fine." Picking up the candle from the window sill, Sense brought it over so they could see each other a little better. "Can't sleep?"

Tyler shook his head. "Sleep's a rarity around here. My body hurts too much."

"Yeah, tell me about it." In the better lighting, Tyler saw that Sense's eyes were red and puffy. "You'd think I'd be used to it after all this time."

"How... how long have you been in here, Sense?"

"I don't know anymore. Too long." He sighed. "I kept up with the days at one point, but once I came to terms with the fact that I couldn't escape... I stopped counting."

"But you will escape."

"Maybe. But I'm still gonna die, anyway." Sense turned away, voice wobbling a little with emotion. "Because what good is a Keeper without his Protector..."

On one hand, Tyler really didn't want to pry. But on the other hand, he knew that finding out the truth was the only way to get to the root of the matter. "Sense... what happened to your Protector?"

"I... I'm not sure. I haven't seen him in over a year." Sniffling a little, Sense scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm not supposed to be alive right now. As far as he knows... I'm dead."

Tyler's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"I had been sick for months with a terminal illness. My Protector took care of me and was right by my side up until the end. Ever since my diagnosis, my last wishes had been for my body to be used for scientific purposes, so they could research more about the disease I had.