Take It Slow (Book 3 // Joshler)

Part Øne

Some say he's killed more people than he can remember. They say the police were only able to find half of his victims because he couldn't even bother to remember the rest. Nor their names for that matter of fact. Rumors have it that he's dangerous, vicious and cruel; an unusual being.

Tyler's heart stopped when a butterfly miraculously managed to fly its way through the prison walls. It decided to land right beneath his cellmate's eyes, Snake, and Tyler stared at the marvelous little creature. It was quite mesmerizing, the color of its wings is a sort of bright orange mixed in with blue and purple. Tyler almost gets lost in the swirling pattern until big hands grab onto the butterfly and Snake squeezes ever so lightly. He grabs a hold of the butterfly, his left hand holding onto his body while his right is gripping its wing. He pinches tightly and then rips it off.

Snake takes the wing and puts in down on the small metal table then grabs the second wing and repeats his action. Snake watches and lets the butterfly suffer a torturous pain after ripping the wings off of the butterfly and then he's squishing the twitching creature's head, giving it a painful and undeserved death. The wings lie flat on the table and all he does is simply blow them onto Tyler who jumps back in the corner of his bed, hiding. He's terrified, he never really liked moths ever since one ate through his favourite shirt but that's no reason to wish such a painful and unusual death to their kind.

Tyler crawled away after wiping the wings off of his bed and he hid his face in the thing pillow he had. All he could hear was the haunting melodies the prisoners sang: a soft humming with a violent undertone. Tyler tried to wrap his mind around everything that's been happening but it all seemed impossible. His ears listened for the soft voice Josh had when he whispered loving words into Tyler's ear as they fell asleep. Tyler's body squirmed as it craved the gentle beats of Josh's rhythmic fingers. The way he would always fall asleep against Tyler's skin. The soft tan skin was Josh's to mark as his. The only way Tyler was able to stay sane and fall asleep was at the thought of Josh and all the memories they had lived, playing over and over again in his twisted mind.

One Week Ago

"Josh, what's happening?"

Before Josh could even speak, he was pushed inside a cop car, the door shutting in his face. He tried to move, but there was nowhere to go. He watched Tyler being violent thrown into another police car, his yells muted through the thick glass. It wasn't long before the police officers were sitting in the front of Josh, driving away.

It wasn't until he was thrown onto a cold chair in a small room that he started to panic once again. He looked around, trying to find Tyler's bright eyes looking back at him. Those eyes had the power to bring him back to Earth, yet, let him fly far away. They kept him calm, they reminded him that everything would eventually be alright. 

A cop walked inside, shutting the metal door behind him. He sat down in front of Josh, the cold metal table reflecting the weak light above them both. He didn't speak, only glanced through some files until their eyes met, a smirk washing over his face.

"Joshua Dun," The cop wore a nametag which read Anderson. "You know why you're here, don't you."

Josh didn't speak, he couldn't deny the fact that he did kill these guys. It was self-defense, though.

"It was self-defense, they tried to kill me. They drugged me and stole my kidneys!"

"Not according to our source."

"Source?" Josh struggled to remain calm, to keep his breathing under control and his vision clear. "What source??"

Anderson smirked and laid back comfortably in his chair.

"How do you think we found you? Or knew about the murders? Think Joshua, think."

"I don't understand, what are you talking about?"

Anderson leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table in front of Josh.

"You and Tyler were placed at a scene and accused of three murders. When we checked out the anonymous tip, everything we were told was true."

Anderson opened up a file and pulled out several photographs. He slid them across the table so Josh could see. When he leaned forward, he glanced at the pictures. Decomposed bodies, the one he fought to protect Tyler, they rested exactly in the position Josh had left them.

Josh's stomach couldn't handle the gruesome imagery and he tossed his head to the right, puking on the floor at the sight and thought of the murders he was being accused of.

"Jesus Christ, that's nasty."

Anderson got up and left the room, taking the pictures with him to avoid any further incident. He shut the door behind him, leaving Josh to debate his decisions, including everything he'd done.

"It was self-defense."

He whispered, he voice barely audible. He thought about Tyler, about his fiancé, who was somewhere alone and scared. Josh blamed himself if he hadn't gone out drinking that night then he wouldn't have passed out in the alley. Thomas wouldn't have found him and he wouldn't have found Tyler. They wouldn't be in this situation and in every scenario, Josh blamed himself.

"I did this. I did this to Tyler."

Present Day

"Welcome to hell."

Josh swallowed the lump in his throat as he moved forward in line behind the rest of the newcomers. They had a certain smell; both a mixture of fear and anger. Josh could almost smell their intentions.

He had been thrown in Block C while Tyler was all the way in Block A. They'd never get to see each other, maybe in the exception for meals and yard time. Josh wasn't sure, prisons weren't exactly his strong suit.

When he was assigned a cell, he shuffled his way across it gently, trying not to meet his cell mate's eyes. He laid his stuff on the top bunk, things could have been worst, he could have had the bottom bunk. In a way, it was like he was back on tour, crammed in the tour bus with Tyler. If Josh closed his eyes hard enough, he could probably picture himself playing the drums in his little cell.

"What's up, fresh meat?"

Josh turned his head at the name, the sound resonating against the cement walls. He raised his head to meet the eyes of his cell mate. A white guy, with bleached hair and blue eyes. He had a smile and wasn't too big. In fact, Josh was bigger than he was.

"Hi."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Josh."

"Sweet, I'm Mort."

Josh didn't respond, instead, he simply sat on the ground in silence.

"What are you in for?"

Josh looked up at Mort but he couldn't say anything. He didn't even know what he was in for. Self-defense? Protecting my fiancé? Not wanting to die? 

"Sweet, I'm in cause I'm impulsive, they say I'm crazy and I apparently lost it and killed 5 people. Haha, but that's not true."

Mort twitched and Josh's face went pale. He didn't even answer, yet Mort acted as if he did. The more Josh watched him, the more worry he grew. He didn't belong here, but worst of all neither did Tyler. And he was doing God knows what, God knows where. And in all of that, Josh just couldn't protect him. Not that he'd ever stop trying.