stabbing in the dark ~fransykes~

14

Josh didn't go to school the next day. Or the day after that. But after two days off school, Jane finally intervened and practically dragged Josh out of his room and to the school gates.

The blue eyed boy sighed heavily, dragging his feet across the ground as he made his way into the courtyard. He didn't really feel like going to form this morning, so he decided to sit behind the bike shed and go on his phone instead. Jane was already mad at him, it's not like things would get any worse if he skipped just 30 more minutes of school. But, unsurprisingly, 30 more minutes quickly slipped into 3 more hours, and by that point Josh didn't see the point in going to school at all.

His legs moved before his mind, carrying him past the school gates and onto the mostly empty streets. He gazed down at his school shoes, letting his mind slowly melt into blankness as he headed in a random direction. When he finally looked up, he was in a neighbour he had never seen before, surrounded by nice looking houses. Family houses; something so distantly familiar to Josh. He remembered sitting in the back of Jane's car years ago, longingly staring at these types of houses with excited eyes. Oh, how the times have changed.

The air around him suddenly went cold, warm air displaced by a familiar chilling breeze that made him grit his teeth. He didn't need to turn around to know who was behind him.

"How did you know I was here?" Josh asked, not bothering to turn around or even look up from his scuffed shoes.

"I've been following you since you left the school." Oliver replied chirpily. Josh didn't need to look up to see that the pale teenager was smiling giddily. "You look so cute when you're lost in thought."

"Oh, fuck off. Stop fucking with my head and leave me alone." Josh pleaded; desperate, exhausted. He wondered how he hadn't noticed Oliver's footsteps or cold presence up until this point, it was like he had just suddenly appeared. That couldn't be possible though, could it?

"I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean to scare you, I was just having some fun." Oliver said sadly, almost as if he was actually sorry. Josh scoffed, knowing Oliver Sykes didn't have the emotional capability to feeling sympathy.

"Fun?" Josh shook his head, disbelief rolling off his tongue. He suddenly found himself angry, incredibly angry.  "I don't know what kind of trick you're playing on me or how you're doing it but it's anything but fucking funny! Leave me alone you freak!"

Oliver laughed loudly, snorting to himself like he had just heard the most hilarious joke ever told. Josh furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, finally turning his head to look behind him at Oliver so quickly he almost got whiplash. When their gazes met, Oliver's face fell serious and cold, emotion leaving his body like he had turned it off with the flick of a switch.

His eyes clouded over until they were completely black, soulless, as they burned into Josh's ocean blue ones.

"I'm not the freak here Josh, your the one whose going insane." He spoke slowly, mouth splitting back into a smile. Ripples of chills went through Josh's body, so intense he visibly shook. The orphaned boy felt a wave of nausea pass through his body, causing him to swallow down the bile that rose in his throat.

"What does that even mean?" He shouted, repressing they urge to scream. He was angry, really angry. Nothing made sense anymore, and the boy in front of him was defiantly not helping to reassemble his jumbled thoughts. Maybe Oliver was right, maybe Josh really was going insane.

"You'll figure it out." Oliver shrugged, dark hair blowing across his forehead in the wind and cutting across his dark eyes.

Josh turned back around, determined to get as far away from Oliver as possible. He had had enough of being fucked around and constantly being confused all because of one boy who was determined to ruin his life. He doesn't have power over me, He thought in spite as he angrily stormed down the path, never once looking back.

"You can't run from me Josh!" He heard Oliver's manic laughter in the distance. "They always come crawling back!"

"Go to hell, Oliver!" Josh screamed, words ripping through the otherwise silent suburban streets.

Oliver smirked. Oh, the irony.