Call Me Crazy

42.

By the time I got to the park, I was distraught. For some insane reason, I had expected Tyler to just be standing all tall and happy in the middle of the playground, opening his arms up to wrap me in a hug while he congratulates me on proving to him that I really care. But when I arrived there was nothing. Not him, and not anyone else. Just me.

I walked over to the large maple tree where he had once held me during our first kiss. The breeze swept by and sent chills down my spine, the same feeling I got the first time he had brought me here. The roots of the tree were still the same. They crisscrossed and intertwined to make a never-ending pattern of links, but the only thing that appeared out of the ordinary was a small knife lying next to one of the bulky and unmovable roots. What was frightening the most was that it was covered in a deep red and seeped down the silver weapon in small trickles. 

"Tyler?" I called out as I picked up the knife and examined it from different angles, as if the blood would somehow spell out a clue or give me some type of a hint. "Tyler this isn't funny anymore. It's sick!" Still, no response.

I carefully held onto the padded handle of the knife and moved around to the back side of the tree, where I found something even more morbid. In deep, disheveled carvings in the bark, messy letters spelled out 'help'.

"For god's sake," I mumbled as I walked back to the front of the maple, stumbling over the rising roots and potholes of dirt.

It's not that I would exactly be mad at Tyler for all of this - in fact, I would be happier more than anything just to be able to see my best friend. What I hate the most is how complicated and terrifying this is. His sick mind is creating various puzzles for me, only to take pity on him in the end. Well, I'm not going to allow myself to stoop that low.

I took a step onto the wood chips, and that's when I heard the first cry. Following the ear-splitting sound was a small shriek, one that was obviously difficult to make.

"Tyler?" I asked as I looked around at the empty land. There wasn't anything besides stray bits of wood, the playground fixture, and the occasional random toy that a kid had left behind.

A groan erupted through the air from the other side of the playground, right by one of the slides facing away from where I was standing. It was short, yet sounded painful and complex.

I ran towards the other side, falling over my untied shoelaces every step I took, until I finally reached the slide. Blue, plastic, and small trails of blood dripping down the side. Shit.

"Tyler!" I screamed as I plunged forward and allowed my knees to dig into the painful wood below. He looked up through squinting eyes and tried to give me a smile, one that was short lived by another cry for help. A tear escaped my eye as I looked over at his whole body. Everything was fine besides the small slits on his right arm, just below the crease of his arm and above his wrist. They were deeply sliced and bleeding of cold, dark blood.

I pulled out my phone and called an ambulance, everything in that conversation was a blur. My head was spinning and the constant bickering of 'calm down ma'am' from the operator on the other line was making me furious. I quickly asked for an ambulance, gave the address of the small, unnoticed park on the opposite side of town, and threw my phone to the ground.

I placed my face into Tyler's chest and cried. His body laid still at the bottom of the slide as his arm stayed away from the rest of his limbs. His voice was hoarse as he tried to ask me something, only for me to hush him to persevere his energy - or, any bit of energy he had. His body was warm, but not that same comforting warm that it had been when I used to grab onto him and feel him mask me in heat. It was more of a pity warm - one that a body gets when nearing death. It's enough to make a dying person feel as if they're still living, but it's cold enough to make a living person believe they're on the verge of death.

"What happened?" I finally asked through hiccups of cries as stray pieces of hair clung to my hot and blotchy face. My chest began to rise and fall faster, making the world spin more and more. All Tyler did was lift his head slightly, grab my wrist with his uninjured hand, and kiss the back of my hand, pressing his freezing cold lips to my skin.

"I missed you," he whispered. Finally, he gave me a small smile and laid his head back onto the plastic slide, leaving me to feel alone.

After that, everything went black. It became silent, peaceful, and dark. A total blackout in my mind and body, and one that I will never forget.