Hounded

40. Sensitive

Once they got to momma Duns house Tyler was taken upstairs and momma Dun had to stitch up his lip and tend to all his other injuries. She cleaned up all the dried blood and helped Josh get Tyler into some clean clothes before Tyler was set down to rest in the spare bedroom which used to be Josh's old room.

Dix had crawled up on the bed and curled up in a little ball next to Tyler. He was worn out as well and needed to rest for a bit. Josh and momma Dun kissed both their foreheads before leaving them be and heading downstairs to talk.

Tyler slept for four days straight, not even so much as moving a muscle. Josh, dix and the rest of the family were outside while Josh's dad barbecued some steaks for supper. Dix was out in the backyard playing with Josh's younger sisters while he and his parents talked on the step.

Tyler woke up alone, his eyes slowly opening. He groggily lifted his head and looked around. "Josh?" He croaked softly, gasping and shooting his hands up to cover his ears at the noise. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked around, squinting his eyes at the light that leaked through the curtain of the room. His breathing picked up drastically.

He felt hypersensitive to everything. The light hurt his eyes more then it usually would and his own voice seemed extremely loud in his ears. He forced himself to sit up. He looked around the room again, his hands still over his ears. He took a deep breath and stood up, stumbling over to the door and opening it.

He winced and squeezed his eyes shut, using his arms to shield his eyes from the light as he stumbled back a bit. He growled softly squinting his eyes and continuing out into the hallway. He went over to the stairs and stopped. He could hear everyone outside but it sounded like they were screaming in his ears.

He winced again and covered his ears, leaning against the wall for a moment. He squinted his eyes open again despite how badly they were burning and continued down the stairs. The back door was open but it was so bright out he couldnt see if that's where everyone was or not. He whimpered and walked over anyway.

He winced as his eyes burned more and squeezed them shut again, standing in the doorway. Josh jumped slightly and looked back when he heard the noise. "Tyler!" He yelled, pushing off the step and running over, making Tyler cry out and cover his ears again.

Josh stopped, not touching tyler. "What's wrong?" He asked. Tyler whined and pressed his hands over his ears harder. Dix had stopped playing and teleported over when he seen Tyler. Josh jumped slightly. "Jesus dix stop rhat." He said.

Tyler whimpered and took a step back into the house but he tripped and fell back. Josh was immediately coming in and picking him up off the floor. He set Tyler on the kitchen table and gently grabbed his face. Tyler jumped slightly at the touch and squinted his eyes open, they were glowing, he had to shut them again though.

The rest of the family was quickly coming into the house as well. "What's wrong?" Josh asked. Tyler whimpered again and leaned his head on Josh's chest. He didnr know what was wrong but he didnt like it. After a moment of watching Tyler try to open his eyes to look at the family Ashley figured out the problem and grabbed Josh's sunglasses from off the top of his head.

Josh looked at her, watching as she carefully put them on Tyler. Tyler forced himself to open his eyes again when he felt them being put on. He relaxed a bit. "Better?" Ashley asked. Tyler nodded slightly but kept his hands pressed firmly over his ears. "What's going on?" Josh asked him.

Tyler moved one hand to press over Josh's mouth. "Tyler hunny-" momma Dun started but Tyler whined and covered his ears again. Josh stared at him for a minute. "Are we being too loud?" He whispered. Tyler nodded a few tears running down his cheeks. "Am I still being too loud?" Josh continued to whisper. Tyler nodded again, sniffling.

Tyler hadnt felt this shitty in his life. He felt like he could pass out again at any moment and sleep for a week, his head was killing him, everything was too bright, too loud, his face hurt from being hit so many times, he felt like he couldnt breathe and he was pretty sure he was having a panic attack.

Josh looked at his mother and they shared a look before Josh hugged Tyler and rubbed his back. "Do we have any noise canceling headphones or something?" Josh asked. "I might have some in the garage from when I'm using the weed whacker." Mr. Dun said.

"Jordan go run and check." Momma Dun said. Jordan nodded and quickly ran off. He was gone for a few minutes before running back in with some. Josh made Tyler sit back and tried to move Tyler's hands away from his ears so they could put them on but he shook his head. "Its okay trust me." Josh said softly.

Tyler sniffled but slowly moved his hands away, his shoulders tensing as he waited for someone to make a noise. The headphones were placed over his ears. "That any better?" Josh asked. Tyler relaxed his shoulders and nodded. He could still hear the voices but they were muffled.

He let Josh hug him again. "What's going on?" Josh asked. Tyler shrugged, reaching up to wipe the tears off his cheeks. Dix grabbed Josh's sleeve and tugged slightly. "Ex-exp- exper-" he struggled. "Experiment?" Josh asked. Dix nodded frantically before grabbing Tyler's arm and rolling up his sleeve, pointing to where it happened on the one arm before showing Josh the other.

"Two experiments? At the same time?" Josh asked. Dix nodded again. Josh looked up at his mom. "Do you think Tyler developed a new mutation?... like that makes him more sensitive to light and sound? Is that possible?" He asked. "I dont know hunny." Momma Dun said.

"It is possible. I've already had it but it's way worse now... light and noise used to bother me before but I could deal with it but i- i cant deal with this, it's too much." Tyler whispered.  Josh rubbed his back. "Do you know if theres a way to fix it?" He asked. Tyler shook his head. "No. I dont know what to do." He whispered. Josh looked at his mom again and sighed softly, gently kissing Tyler's forehead.