Silo

Chapter 30

In that one moment, that fraction of a second when our eyes all landed on the girl standing in the doorway, our cramped, cement prison became a wall of silence. I'd done the one thing Meredith had begged me not to, fully aware of the pain it was going to cause her. I'd brought her worst nightmare back here with me.

The gun she held in her had was shaking so much that even if she'd managed to get a shot off, it had just as good of a chance as hitting Keith or me as it did Tyler.

Meredith backed up when I approached her, the gun jerking in my direction. There was nothing I could say, so I simply held my hands out to the side and took one tentative step closer, hoping the trust I worked so hard to earn would stay intact.

"He's not staying, Merry, and neither me nor Keith are gonna let him near you. I just need to talk to him."

I reached out and circled her hand with mine, carefully prying her fingers off the gun. She let me take it, the fear I saw in her eyes prompting me to replace it with my knife. She wouldn't need it-the seven inch blade Keith had firmly in his grasp assured me of that-but if it made her feel better...if it gave her back even a shred of the peace I'd just torn from her, then I wanted her to have it.

I left her standing there, one foot in Keith's room ready to fight, the other in the hallway ready to run, and turned back to Keith. With a simple nod of my head, he reached forward and ungagged him. Tyler, the boy I'd believed dead for nearly a year, just sat there smirking through a nearly unrecognizable mask of hatred.

Tyler turned his gaze from me and winked at Merry and I bit back a curse, knowing full well that being in this room with him was Meredith's own private hell.

Reaching out, I took her hand in mine, tried to look reassuring as I pulled her forward. "It's okay," I said. "Trust me. Please, I need to do this. I need to talk to him."

Positioning my body in front of hers, I grasped her wrist gently and peeled back the sleeve of her sweatshirt to expose the yellowing bruises circling her wrist. "Did you do this to her? Did you...." My voice trailed off, as I brushed the hair away from her forehead to trace the jagged cut across her skin. "Was it you who hurt her?"

Meredith tugged her sleeve down to cover the small bit of arm that was showing and shrank back towards the door, her grip on the knife tightening in anticipation of Tyler's response.

I don't know what answer I was looking for. Maybe a flash of regret. Denial. A little bit of remorse to indicate the Tyler I knew was still in there, hidden deep, but not completely gone. But what I got was a slow, cruel smile.

His eyes slipped from mine to Merry's; no shame, just a smug look of appreciation. "Nah, I didn't hurt you, did I baby?"

I didn't plan to explode. Hell, I didn't even know it was me until I felt Tyler's body thrashing under my grip. Pissed didn't begin to describe my state of mind or the wrath I was about to unleash on him...this monster of a human that I once relied on to call every pitch I threw. This kid I once trusted with my sister.

I grabbed him by the throat and slammed his body into the wall. He was stronger than he looked, and even with him bound, it took every ounce of my strength to keep my grip on him. Still, I had the upper hand. This time, I was in control.

I saw Keith out of the corner of my eye, knew he was moving in to back me up. I held up my hand to stop him. I wasn't done with Tyler yet, and I sure as hell wasn't ready for Keith to take over. Keith wouldn't be able to restrain himself, wouldn't be able keep Tyler alive, and I still wanted my damn answers.

I lowered my eyes to meet Tyler's and whispered, "What did you do?

He shrugged rather than answer and I tightened my grip, a tinge of satisfaction filling me when I heard him gasp. "You start talking now or I swear to God, I'll kill you myself."

Easing a little pressure off of his windpipe, I waited for his response, knowing that no matter what he said, it wouldn't change anything. He'd hurt Meredith, had made all of our lives a living hell, and now he was going to pay.

"Kill me?" he laughed. "You already tried that...last spring on the bus. Problem was, I lived and Dustin died. Way I see it, you owe me for that. I figure your life for his is a fair trade."

Tyler's words knocked the wind out of me. I'd no idea anyone but me, Evan, and Keith had survived. Shit, I sat there screaming as the bus went up in flames. I'd lived the past year believing there was no way anyone could have survived that explosion. I hated myself for not going back in, for running off with Keith and Evan before I absolutely was certain. Before I checked the dead.

I swallowed hard, doubting he'd understand, but I had to try. For my own peace of mind, I had to try. "I didn't leave you guys. I was coming back. The bus-"

Tyler's sharp laugh cut me off. "You were coming back for us? Is that what you've been telling yourself, Jake? That you didn't leave us for dead and save Evan instead?"

"Tyler?" I turned at the sound of Evan's voice. He was standing next to Merry, his clothes rumpled with sleep, his eyes wide as he tried to bring the impossible into focus. "Holy crap. You really are-"

"Oh shut up," Tyler said, leveling a glare in Evan's direction. "I haven't forgotten he chose you over me. Over Dustin. We both know it was you I was coming for tonight... you I planned on killing first."

"Leave him out of this," I yelled, hoping to pull Tyler's attention back to me.

"Leave him out of it? No can do, buddy. I mean, if it weren't for him, none of us would be in this mess, right?" Tyler's eyes traveled back to Merry, a smirk re-forming on his lips. "Huh. Didn't peg you as a sloppy seconds kind of guy, Jake. Then again, I didn't peg you as a backstabbing asshole that would save yourself and leave your friends to die."

"Don't talk about her," I screamed. "Don't think about her. Don't even look at her. Nothing!"

"You know she wouldn't have left me on her own, Jake. She knew better than that, didn't you Katie?"

Katie? My entire body shook at the sound of my sister's name coming from his lips. I let go of the grip I had on him, watched him slide to the floor by my feet. "Did you just say Katie you sick bastard?"

It was bad enough to listen to him laugh about everything he'd done to Meredith, laugh about the fact that he'd torn her to shreds and made her half-crazy. But, if he thought I was going to let him drag my sister into it, then he had one hell of a surprise coming.

Tyler tipped his head sideways and gave me bewildered stare. "Did I say Katie? Stupid me. I should know the difference. She's not nearly as good as your sister was, but around here, you gotta take what you can get."

Evan's mind was one step ahead of my body. In the time it took for me to understand what Tyler was saying, Evan had thrown himself in my path, and was attempting to hold me back as I lunged toward Tyler...the one-time friend I was prepared to kill.

And I would have, if Keith hadn't made it to him first.

Evan was only able to contain me for a second, but it was enough time for Keith to react, to pull his fist back and let it fly. I heard Tyler's jaw crack, blood spraying form his mouth as he went down hard and stayed there.

"I don't ever want to hear you say Katie's name again, you understand me?" Keith fumed as he jerked his foot back and planted one hard kick into Tyler's crumpled body. "Ever!"

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