oneshots 🧷 joshler

bad boys for life

TW SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, MENTION OF DEATH, KIDNAPPING, POSSIBLE ABUSE
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Tyler sighed, stuffing himself into some nearby bushes and pulling out his tape recorder. The familiar numbness started to fill his empty body as he hit play, listening to the gears clink around before the drowning cries played out into the silent night.

This usually worked, of course. He had made sure of that. And it it didn't? Then he'd just move spots. It really wasn't that hard for him.

The crying was an old tape of his, old memories, stuff that he desperately wanted to forget. Everytime he saw that tape, he wanted to shut everyone out, let everything go black, and just lay alone for a while, let alone listen to it. But it was important, and it was needed, so he played it anyway.

Soon enough, he could hear a creaky door open, a light switch flick on. He looked through the leaves, trying to see the figure who had emerged.

"Coraline!" he heard a man call. "Cora Mae, 's that you?"

Tyler sucked in a breath, trying to  suppress anything in him that told him to stop doing what he was doing.

"Cora!" the man yelled, coming closer to the bushes, followed by a softer, "Please?"

He dropped to his knees in front of the bushes, and Tyler bit his lip, watching his hands reach blindly into the foliage. His eyes flickered from them to his recorder as he set it down carefully, turning it off and grabbing his wrists at just the right time. The man yelped, and Tyler pulled him into the bushes.

"Listen, sir," he said in a soft voice, their faces close. He could practically see the tears in his fearful eyes. "I'd suggest that it's better to not make any sound for help, okay? I have a knife. You can be gone in seconds."

The man stared at him, his lip trembling before he put his head down and let his tears fall.

"I.. I give up," he whispered, closing his eyes tightly. "J-just t-take me."

Tyler looked at him, taking in a breath. "Why so eager, sir?"

He suddenly sobbed, feeling his grip tighten slightly. "I lost my wife, a-and my daught-t-ter, s-so what else is there t-to live f-f-for?" he asked, the tears illuminated on his face by the nearest lampost. "No-othing."

Tyler couldn't help but to let his sympathy bubble up, just very lightly. A change in tone, simply.

"Mind if I ask how?" he asked, his tone less harsh and more.. curious. The man looked wrecked just from crying, so it must have been tragic. He knew what the feeling was like.

"A-aren't you here t-to k-kill me?" he asked, trying to suck his tears back in. "J-j— just do it alr-ready!"

The two men just looked at each other, one absolutely hopeless, the other losing hope at a rapid pace.

"Just g-give me th-the knife," he almost begged. "If y-you can't do it, I w-will."

Tyler froze, the knife shifting in his back pocket. He knew exactly what the man was feeling, but he didn't want to kill him anymore. He didn't want to kill anyone anymore. Not now.

"No," he said stiffly, squeezing onto his wrists. "I'm not going to let you hurt yourself. The only person who could hurt you anymore is me, got it?"

The man whimpered, sniffling. "I-I honestly d-don't care what you d-do to me a–anymore."

"As much as I know what you're going through, you need to stop crying first," Tyler hissed. The man looked to him, ripping a hand away and wiping at his tears.

"You have n-no idea what I'm go-oing through!" he choked out, his eyes starting to change from sadness to offense.

Tyler frowned, furrowing his eyes and grabbing his hand back. "I watched my fucking child die," he growled, yanking him up out of the bushes. "You're really not pushing the right buttons, sir. C'mon, let's go get you a bag."