The Ghøst in Apartment Twenty Øne

7- Stay Safe

Tyler's POV

I sat on the couch in a stunned silence. Am I dreaming? I don't remember falling asleep...

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, shook my head, and then opened them again. Josh was still there, awkwardly twisting his hands together and looking at me with a sheepish expression. I looked down at my arm and pinched it, really hard, leaving a bright red mark on the skin when I let go. He was still there.

"Did you really just pinch yourself?" Josh asked, his tone a little amused and a little worried.

"Can you blame me?" I said

"Well, I guess not... um, salutations."

"What does that even mean?"

"Salutations? It means hello."

"Oh, it kinda makes me want crackers. Hello to you too, I guess."

I scratched the back of my neck and looked down at my feet, fixated on the little hole forming in one of my socks; this was so weird. I'm talking to a dead guy. A dead guy that used to live in my apartment and work the same job I do. A very cute dead guy.

Oh God, does this make me a necrophiliac?

"Ok so, my name is Josh, but I think you probably already knew that. We don't have very long talking like this before I can't make myself visible to you anymore, so I'm going to try to get straight to the point, ok? Um, the short version of this whole mess is I'm here to help you and protect you from Blurryface."

My eyes widened, I had never told anyone about Blurryface before, that's why no one has ever heard my songs "Goner" and "Stressed Out", I didn't want them asking any questions about him. They would think I'm crazy.

Then again, I might be.

"How do you know about him?" I asked, my voice was quiet and a little shaky.

"I've fought with him the past three nights, Ty. Oh, sorry can I call you that?"

I mutely nodded my head.

"Sick, anyways, the first night you were here I saw him manipulating your dreams, and was able to stop him before it got too bad. That past two nights I haven't been as successful, but I promise I was trying keep him away, but it's harder than I thought it would be..." he trailed off towards the end. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"So...you've been fighting him too? For me?"

"That's the only reason I'm still around, Ty. Just for you. Now I need you to listen to me, I don't have a whole lot longer like this my mind is getting tired. There is only one way you can completely get rid of Blurry. What you have to do, is get to a point where your anxiety doesn't control your life anymore. I know that's easier said than done, but that's what I'm here to help you with. I can only fight Blurry for you when you're asleep in this apartment, any other time it's up to you. When he's solely in your head and not out in the open where I can see him, I can't do anything."

"But if you can't talk with me all the time, how are you supposed to help me when I'm awake?"

"I can still touch and move things. If you open a word document on your computer or set out a piece of paper and a pen or something I can write out my responses."

"Wait, so did Brendon actually see that shelf move?"

"Hm? Oh that, yeah sorry. I was leaning against it and didn't notice it was sliding. But Tyler, I'll be here all day every day with absolutely nothing to do, so whenever you need to talk to me or need to process something, just talk out loud and I'll hear you. And I'll always be protecting you at night, I may not always be able to keep him completely at bay, but please know that I am trying my best."