friends for life

josh sat huddled on the kitchen floor, hiding behind the island in the middle of the kitchen. his knees were pulled tightly to his chest, and his hands were clutched into fists, finger nails digging into his palms.

it was eerily quiet as he waited, no sound except for the air conditioner humming in the basement, and the occasional creak in the house walls. it only added onto josh's adrenaline and fear, causing him to shake slightly. he didnt know how much longer he could sit here, waiting for him to come home.

where was he? its been hours..

despite his eyes being pried open, it was still dark throughout the house. there were shadows cast onto the floor from almost anything around him, the only light being from the moon that shone in through the window.

he could've sworn he had sat there for hours, each minute feeling ten times longer than it should. he suddenly felt extremely warm, sweat slowly starting to build up on his forehead, even though the house may as well have been the arctic tundra.

then, suddenly, he heard it. the familiar humming and clunking of his truck, pulling into the driveway.

finally..

despite being relieved he was finally home, he was still too petrified to move from his spot, so he stayed put. he could hear the footsteps step onto the porch, and the keys jangling in his hands as he attempted to unlock the door. then he heard it slowly creak open, followed by more footsteps falling onto the carpet in the living room.

"josh?" he called out.

wait a minute.. that's not..

he slowly lifted his head to peer over the countertop.

"tyler?" josh's heart only began to beat faster, this is certainly not who he was expecting.

tyler, the lean brown haired boy, turned to look at josh, shining a flashlight onto him as he stood up fully from where he was standing behind the island.

"what are you doing here, where's-"

"he's not here." tyler cut him off, his voice shaky. "he's not here.." he repeated, this time in a whisper.

josh stood in silence for a moment. what was he doing here? he hasn't seen tyler in person in weeks, only communicating with confusing texts on his cellphone. he had had his suspicions about tyler, and now, seeing him, here, in his house.. it only seemed to confirm them.

"tyler.." josh spoke carefully, and quietly. "what are you doing here?"

tyler gave a small smile, "i wanted to make sure you were ok," he said, his voice breaking as he spoke. "i just wanted to make sure you were still here, and.. and that you were ok, i had to be sure you were ok.." he nodded and bit his bottom lip, attempting to stop the cries from coming out.

josh looked over the frail boy, his watering eyes, his shaky hand that held the flashlight, his flushed cheeks... and a weird stain on his shirt that looked significantly darker than the rest of the fabric around it.

"how did.. how did you get in?" josh slowly started to back up, hoping the younger boy wouldn't notice.

"your keys, i used the keys, how else would i get in?" he lightly laughed in an attempt to cover up his blubbering.

"those aren't my keys, tyler, those are his keys.. he never forgets his keys.." he responded, watching the other's face slowly transform into a frown.

he slowly brought out his other hand out from behind his back, this one not holding a flashlight, oh no, this hand held something much more worrisome.

it was when josh saw this that it clicked what really was on tyler's shirt.. blood.

"tyler," josh's voice suddenly became stern. "what the fck happened, where is he, what did you do to him?" his own eyes had begun to water, going against his wishes of appearing put together.

"josh.." tyler whispered as he slowly crept towards him, the frightened boy only backing up further, attempting to reach the back door. "i really didn't mean to, it was an accident, i promise, but he was a mean man, josh. a mean, mean, man. i couldn't let him hurt you, how bad of a friend would i be, huh?" he smiled and lightly laughed again, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand, smearing more blood across his brow.

"tyler, i loved him!" josh shouted, immediately regretting voicing that statement.

"no," tyler began to shake his head, "no, don't say that, you just think you do!" he nodded again, as though to reassure himself. "you don't really love him, he was a monster."

"the only one who's a monster here, is you!" josh yelled again, "you're the one who broke into my house, covered in blood from who knows who, trying to convince me my father was a bad person?" his tears slid down his face, and he knew he looked like a mess.

"i'm the monster.." tyler slowly looked down, then up at josh, who slowly nodded at him.

his lips slowly pulled up into a smirk, almost too big to fit his face. this only caused the uneasiness in josh to raise more and more, he swore he had stopped breathing.

"i see how it is.." he began in a whisper, "if you love him so much, why don't you just join him?" tyler shouted, before lunging at the boy with the large bloodied steak knife in his hand.