Burdens and Bulwarks (Tyler Joseph Fanfiction)

Chapter 20

**Trigger warnings//Mild gore, Brief anxiety attack.**

I walk down a hall, blue lights line the areas of where the walls meet the ceiling, spaced out a few inches each from each other, a couple of them flickering every now and then. The walls, the floor, the ceiling is all made up of cement.

I found this hallway underneath Jake's house, I sneaked in while he and his family were out.

It's chilly, almost like a freezer, I see my breath showing itself when I exhale out and the thought of Tyler calms me down. Until what I once saw as pitch black a couple steps ago turns into the end of the hallway and a heavy, concrete door is to the right of me. I grab the handle slowly, afraid to see what is behind it. I twist the cold handle and freeze still at the sight in front of me.

I feel myself begin to breathe heavily as I take my first step into the dimly lit room and I turn my back to the scene as I close the door and lock it, resting my forehead on the door, procrastinating turning back around.

I close my eyes and I take a deep breath in, "Tyler."

My voice is shaky and I am surprised when I hear my voice breaking the silenced aura of the room.

I shut my eyes even tighter when I get no answer and let out a high pitched cry, but quickly regaining my posture and taking a deep breath, opening my watery eyes wide, hoping it will allow more air to hit them and prevent any tears from falling out.

I force out a smile, "c'mon, Tyler." My face scrunches uncontrollably and I fight a smile back onto my face, "I'm here for you, baby. It's time to leave." I talk to Tyler who is lying on the floor, blood is on the ground around him, his shirt lifted up just enough to reveal bruises on his side and I can see stab marks on his shoulder. I stop when I'm right in front of him, "Tyler, I know you're in pain, but we gotta get out of here before Jake gets back." I bend down and grab his arm, trying to help him up, but he is unresponsive, limp. His body is flipped onto his back and his eyes are wide open, I drop his arm and move my hands to my mouth.

I begin to hyperventilate, "oh my-" I am cut off by my sobbing. I can no longer hold myself up, my legs give out and I drop to my knees, right beside Tyler. I grab him and move him so he is on his back and laying on my lap, holding his head up with one of my hands, my other hand caressing the side of his face.

I take one last gaze into his beautiful brown eyes that bring me a feeling of safety, before softly putting my fingers over his eyelids and they close. I whimper, pulling him closer to me as if my love will bring him back. "You're sleeping." I try to convinced myself, but the crack in my voice couldn't convince even the most gullible person, "You're sleeping and you're going to wake up any minute now and everything will be okay." My words are jumbled together and I can barely understand what I'm saying, "Everything will be okay." I cry. "Please be okay."

I place my head on Tyler's chest and it's not warm or comforting like it usually is. It's lifeless and I don't hear his cute little snores because he is not sleeping, he is dead. Silent.

I hear footsteps echoing in front of me, I sniff as I lift up my head slowly. It's just darkness in front of me until I hear a few more footsteps, the person stopping just enough in front of me to make out who it is. It's Josh, only his hair is dyed red now instead of blue, his eyes are red too. I can only see his face due to the lighting. He's just staring at me, a half smirk on his face.

"JOSH! HELP ME!" I sob, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE!?" My voice becomes a mere whimper as I look back down at Tyler, wiping blood off of his cheek. "Wake up, Tyler, please." Slobber comes out of my mouth as I open it and breathe out uncontrollably. "Ty...Don't be gone." A series of cries escape my mouth, "shit..." I whisper, "please..." I look up at Josh and frown at him, "Josh."