Chapter Text
The needle behind the fogged up glass hits the 70 mark as the outrageous heat outside radiates from the roof of Ashley's red pickup. She's barely letting her boyfriend keep focus on the road, Her soft lips peck blissfully against his, Her hand keeps pulling his head to hers with a sweet chuckle. "Ashley, Please..." "What?" She laughs, Her cheeks flush a bight pink color.
"I don't want to wait until after your stupid frat party, I want you now." Jed's head pulls away with a huff. "Ashley, You can wait. Seriously, I get the whole hormones going crazy shit but I don't think you need to get off that bad." She slumps back in her seat with her arms crossed. Her eyes avert to her green plaid skirt and she flattens it out. "I don't get why you're being stuck up like this." She sighs, Jed shakes his head in disbelief at her words. "Whatever."
His head turns over to see her, Her eyes averting to the corn maze beside her with tears filling to the br of her big, golden eyes. His fingers turn her head towards him again and he places a soft kiss to her lips. Ashley smiles against his skin, Her honeycomb eyes open and just from a small glimpse she can see a figure in the road, Lying on the dusty pavement. "JED!" She shrieks, Jed quickly pulls away and grips the wheel to turn sharply. Their car brakes and just about sends Ashley into the dash. "What the hell was that?!" Jed screams, Ashley opens her door and walks down the empty street and over to the figure. "Hello?"
The dirty cow skin drapes off of the body of a slim little boy with a hollow skull of some sort of animal with the rotting, hollow flesh still remaining on the bone. "Help me." He whimpers before darting into the tall maze of corn beside him. Ashley tucks her licorice hair behind her ear with confusion before looking back to Jed who is now walking from the car, Clearly pissed off from his hand gestures.
"Ashley, Get back in the car!" She shakes her head as she takes a few steps back. "N-No, I think something's wrong." She murmurs before running after the boy. She ignores Jed's angered calls after her and she stays focused on the figure, His small legs running as far as they can take him. "Hey! Let me help you!" She shouts, He whines audibly before taking a sharp turn out of the field.
Ashley takes a deep breath as she looks around for the little boy once more. Small whispers lurk from the tall plants before she cautiously walks in the direction the boy went. A tall, old, and worn out barn standing out beside some rusty tractors and dead grass. The yard reeks of cheep alcohol, Manure and rotting meat. All of which seem to be wafting from the barn, Her fragile legs shake with fear as she makes her way towards the building. The grass beneath her cracks with each step, Her throat feels dry and her stomach jerks at the stench as it gets stronger.
All light feels abandoned as she steps inside, The heads of lifeless animals hang from ropes. No sign of the young boy anywhere.
"Kid! Are you in here?" Her eyes scan over bone scattering the bloody hay beneath her white tennis shoes. She tears up and shutters with fear as she figures out they aren't there for Halloween decoration. "Oh, God. Please, Come out! I want to help!" She screams as one of the empty carcasses fall from the ceiling.
"Mistake." The small, fragile voice comes from the young boy, He's short and skinny, Ashley can count each individual rib sticking through his pale skin. "Oh, Shit. H-Hey, There...I'm Ashley, I just want to help you." She hesitates before walking near him. The boy pulls the skull from his head and shows his scraped up and dirty face, His hair is brunette and messy and his eyes are stone cold.
He shakes his head and she stop walking. Tears fall from her cheeks as she stands still in terror. "What's wrong? Who hurt you?" He sighs as the ground beneath her shakes, Her eyes widen as she looks down. Her mouth opens with an ear piercing shriek erupting through her pale lips as the ground gives way and she falls down, down, down.
She coughs heavily as sharp metal from broken down farm equipment pierces her flesh, Blood pours from her mouth and her joints twist the ways they shouldn't. She looks up with terrified eyes as the boy stares down at her a tall, slender, blonde woman pats his back. "Good job, Darlin'." Her southern accent is thick and she looks purely insane. Ashley looks at her dismembered body and tries to desperately suck down her last breaths of air as the two strangers above watch her suffer.
"Now, Baby." She mutters, The boy walks off and Ashley watches as an old, rusty engine of some sort of tractor attached to a single rope slowly juts about before dropping on top of her with fortitude and crushes the girl to mush. "Go get 'er bones so we can hang 'em in our torture room. We got us some company back at the house." Kelly speaks to her son with no remorse.
Tyler never wanted to hurt people.
Warm, candle light ignites the unlit room as Chris, Zack, and Kelly sing Happy Birthday flatly. Tyler stares at his candles, He studies the way the fire dances on the thin sticks of wax and he thinks of any wish he desires.
Tyler closes his eyes and blows out the candles, He watches the smoke erupt from the distinguished flame and evaporate once it hits the rotting ceiling. "What'd you wish for, Boy?" His father asks.
Oh, Tyler looks up with desperate puppy eyes. "If you tell people your wishes, they don't come true." Chris scoffs, "Blasphemy." Kelly grabs a heavy object from under the table. "Happy Birthday, Tyler." She smiles with pure insanity as she lays a brand-new sledgehammer upon the table with a bright, pink bow placed on it's handle. "I reckon you already know how to use it." Tyler frowns as he grabs the heavy weapon and follows his mother into the back room, The young girl's freshly dried bones are placed in a shape of a pentagram beside the jock from her truck.
Chris found him calling the police shortly after the girl ran after Tyler, One clock to the back of his head with the end of his favorite rifle is all it took to knock the boy out. Now he sits with his mouth duck-taped shut and his hands tied behind his back as he screams in a old and bloodied up chair. His eyes are wide open with fear, This isn't the first time Tyler's seen an innocent like this.
But it is his first time finishing the job.
Kelly helps Tyler hold up the tool and she rips the bow off, Tyler holds the weapon high above his head, Ready to swing. He walks over towards the teen and watches him squirm desperately, His screams become horrid as he rips his vocal chords, His wrists become bloody from too much friction from his rope burn, His chest heaves as Tyler throws his arms down and the metal busts open the man's skull and he watches they way it tears his flesh away and his red, thick, blood oozes out. His body shakes and his eyes roll into the back of his head and Tyler hopes the man is dreaming.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before bringing the hammer above his head again and swings the hammer as if it were a baseball bat, Jed's jaw gets smacked clean off, His flesh dangles grossly and his blood pours onto the floor.
Some blood splatters out onto Tyler's face and he feels something strange. A feeling he shouldn't like. He growls as he gives Jed one last hard blow to the head. A satisfying crack followed by some brain particles flying onto his feet then Tyler drops to his knees...And he cries, He watches the blood dripping onto the brown-stained pavement below him and he weeps.
His mother scoffs and unties the man's lifeless corpse, She pushes his body on top of Tyler's and laughs hysterically as Tyler screams. He can see the color drain from his face and he loves it. He loves the sight of someone fill with fear before finally bleeding out and sobbing as they die but Tyler knows this isn't right. He cries and cries as he pushes the jock off of his body and he looks at the blood covering his own pale skin.
Chris looks at Tyler with fury in his eyes as his fist tightens around a knife. "You gonna help your mother cut him up or what?" That's the final straw for Tyler. He stands up and bites his cheek until it bleeds. He's furious, He's done all this before but today, it feels different.
"I wasted my wish." Zack turns his head to his father then to Tyler, Chris points the blade at Tyler and raises his eyebrows. "What did you say to me?" Tyler smacks the knife from his fathers hand and screams. "I should've wished that you people would just be fucking normal!" Kelly gasps, "We are just as sane as the rest of that world out there! Don't you dare try to tell me that we're different than those bankrupt cocksuckers livin' out in fancy mansions and sucking down expensive cuisine meals! I'm raising you the way god intended me to, you ungrateful brat!"
Tyler sleeps in the shed that night.
Bill unlocks his front door and is immediately embraced by his youngest daughter, Abigail. "I missed you so much, daddy!" She smiles widely as she squeezes her father's waist. He laughs and easily picks her up and settles her on his hip. His youngest son, Josh, Is sitting on couch and picking at his cuticles. "What's wrong, Joshua?" Bill asks as he walks into the living room. Josh looks up with worried eyes. "Jedidiah hasn't came home yet. He said he'd be back by five and he won't answer his phone." Bill sets Abby down and sits beside Josh. "It'll be okay, Joshua. He probably stayed over at Ashley's." Josh shakes his head.
"He promised he'd come home, He promised! Dad, He always picks up...Y-You're the sheriff, You can find him!" Bill chuckles heartily. "He's not missing, Joshua. He's just out." Josh stands up.
"No, He went over to a party near that hick town where people keep ending up missing. They're missing, dad! And Jed went out there!" He begins to cry as his anxiety gets the best of him. Bill stands up and holds his son close to him. "I promise nothing bad has or will happen to him. If it makes you feel any better, I'll go out there tomorrow and investigate If he doesn't show by eight tomorrow morning." Josh nods with tears streaming down his cheeks. "Please, Find him. I want him safe."
Four other station cars are parked, Blocking off the dusty road. Bill stares at the dried blood stain on the side of the door despite the pickup already being red, He recognizes it's Ashley's from the dent in the front bumper and her old and now unscented, rose car freshener. He observes his surroundings and punches the vehicle, Nothing but rows of corn for miles.
He should've listened to Josh. He might've found him sooner.
Tyler has his eyes closed as he thinks of the color red. He thinks of everyone he's hurt, Is this really what god intended? He never wanted to hurt people...He can barley think without the thought of causing fear and complete havoc. He wants to stand above someone and watch the fear in their eyes turn glossy as they realize they're not going to live.
He wants to bruise someone until they're crying themselves to exhaustion. He wants to wipe the smile off of someone's stupid face and suck their blood straight from their veins until they turns white as paper and their lips turn blue like they sky.
Tyler lifts his head as he hears the sound of the locks on the outside of the shed being unlocked. Kelly stands in the doorway with her arms crossed and an angry expression on her face. Tyler squints as he crawls out into the new found light on all fours, He sniffs at the fresh air with delight. The shed is filled with the ripped up, bloody clothes from each one of their victims and he's never loved anything more. "You learned your lesson?" She asks with an uncaring and monotone voice.
Tyler hisses at her before bolting into the woods behind their house. Kelly curses and screams at Tyler but never chases after him. Tyler runs until his lungs burn and his legs ache, Tears are pouring from his eyes as he whimpers. I'm not normal, I'm not normal. I'm not normal. He repeats it over and over in his head.
His train of thought derails as he trips over a tree root and tumbles over, Sharp tree bark scraps his knees open and dried twigs dig into his boney ribcage. He groans in pain as he lies still on his back, He stares at the trees above him and watches the clouds roll through the bright blue sky. He wants to be normal. "I'm crazy...I'm fucking crazy." He cries to himself, He hugs his body and rolls over onto his side.
It takes him hours to finally stand on his feet and limp back to the house, His family didn't even notice he's been gone. They all just sit in the kitchen and cut up the young girl's meat that is somehow still fresh. They've already cut up most of Ashley's body and preserved it in the freezer. "Momma, I'm sorry what I said. I don't want to be normal." She nods her head and continues chopping up her muscles and tucking them into a set of Tupper-wear and handing it to Zack to put into the freezer.
Tyler is at school when he decides he wants to see more blood, Precisely from his friend, Mark. He wants to see him bleed.
Mark is innocent like the rest of them, He doesn't have a clue what's going to happen. Tyler has nothing against him, He's probably the only person at his school that doesn't treat him like the animal he is. Usually a kid named Billy pushes Tyler down in the halls and nitpick him about his dirty clothes and call him a pig for living on a farm far from the school district, Of course this had to be a school full of pretentious, rich assholes that only have friends that use them for activity.
Matter of fact, Mark stood up for Tyler when Billy held Tyler against his will in the bathroom and tried to force him to eat a raw pork chop.
Tyler watches him at lunch, Tyler is sitting on the floor alone with Zack as he watches Mark eat and chat with his buddies, Tyler would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous of the interaction.
Zack leans over to see what Tyler is looking at and he shakes his head. "Why don't you go hang out with him...I'll be okay here." Tyler shakes his head, "I don't want to hang out with him...I want to hurt him." Zack's eyebrows furrow with worry and he looks back at Mark. "Tyler, Remember what mother said. You can't break in public." Tyler turns his body to his younger brother. His cheeks flush red as Tyler's dilated eyes burn holes through his skin before he growls lowly and pushes Zack's shoulder. "Mother won't know unless you tell her." His head shoots up as the bell rings, Every body runs outside and Tyler loses track of Mark. He curses to himself before getting up and running outside, Zack sighs as he throws his tray away and follows Tyler outside.
Tyler follows Mark to the playground and he sits on the swing set, His legs sway in the air and Mark slides down the big, red slide.
Red.
Mark walks over to Tyler with a happy smile. "Hey, Ty! Where've you been? Didn't see you at lunch." Tyler stops his swing and bites his tongue. "Sorry, I didn't eat today. I feel sick." Mark shrugs. "It's alright, Wanna play tag?" Tyler nods. Mark pokes Tyler's shoulder and shouts "Tag!" He runs put into the field of children and laughs, Tyler thinks about bruises again, He thinks about what he thought of in the shed as he watches Mark running. He wants to hurt Mark just as he imagined, He walks at an antagonizing slow pace behind him before growling low and growing a quickening pace.
He chases after Mark with all of his force, Mark screams with laughter as Tyler gets closer. Tyler isn't planning on poking Mark when he catches him.
Tyler tackles Mark to the ground, He pins his arm above his head. Mark squirms with confusion. "Tyler, Let go..." He mutters over and over until he has to shout. "Tyler, Let go!" Tyler's grip tightens as he stares into Mark's eyes. "I wanna see you bleed." He whispers. "W-What?" Mark screams as Tyler uses his teeth to rip the flesh clean off of his wrist. Tyler's crooked teeth find his veins and chew on them like they were candy, Mark shrieks as Tyler feeds on his blood. "Tyler!" He recognizes the voice of his teacher, Mrs. Stewart.
She screams in horror at the sight of Mark's body bleeding out and his blood dripping from Tyler's lips. "Tyler, What did you do?!" She runs to Mark's aid but Tyler defends. He jumps to his feet and bites at the air. The woman shakes in horror at the monster he's become, He looks back down at Mark and shakes his head before running back towards home, He never looks back. Not even after Zack yells after him or after the horrified screams of the rest of the children when they see their friend dead on the ground.
Tyler is squealing in pain, His father has him bent over on his knee and he's whipping his ass raw with his leather belt. "Do you have any idea what kind of position you put us in, Tyler?! If the police come here, They'll take you away. They're gonna take your momma away, What about Zack? Did you even think for a split second about the consequences?!" His mother yells, Tyler has tears dripping from his face onto the wooden floor below. "I'm sorry!"
"Sorry won't cut it, Boy. You want them to find all those dead bodies?! You want them to take you away?!" Her yelling goes fades from anger to fear, They never surrender to the feeling of fear. Tyler's never seen her so fragile. Chris looks up at her and scoffs. "Get it together, Kelly, For Christ sake. You're sounding like-" "Like what?! What do you wanna say to me now? Hmm? Wanna call me my mother again?! You want me to cry on my knees to you, too?" Chris throws Tyler off from his lap and corners Kelly and Tyler watches her shrink up in her place.
"Papa!" Tyler screams but it seems that no one hears him, Zack watches with wide eyes from the top of the steps as Chris hauls off and hits Kelly. The animal in the both of them become unleashed and they both scratch and claw at each other, Kelly's nails dig into Chris' cheek and his blood drips down her fingers. However it doesn't stop him from gripping her hair and forcing her skull to the wall.
Once, Twice, Three, Four times before a hole breaks through the wallpaper, a large bruise forms on her forehead and a brief nose bleed, before her eyes shut and her body goes limp. She falls to the floor and Chris looks up to his bawling children. "Go back upstairs."
Tyler stands up and charges towards his father, His arms punch at his body with rage. Chris is far more stronger than Tyler and he easily pushes him down to his bruised bottom. Tyler whines in pain before Chris' heavy footsteps come close to his body. "It was not a suggestion It was a goddamn command! get your ass upstairs!" Tyler stands up once more and he bites his father's hand, Not hard enough to break his skin but enough to make him yell and back hand Tyler.
He runs upstairs and drags his brother into his room, Tyler hides between his dresser and his wall and holds his small hands over his ears as he cries. "Did he kill her? Is he going to bury, Momma? Is he going to make us cut her up?" Tyler panics. Zack puts a hand on Tyler but he screams and pushes it back. "Don't touch me! It hurts! God, It hurts so bad! Zack, Make it stop!"
Zack panics, His hands shake as he looks around the room for a cup of water or just something that would help. "Wh-What hurts?" Tyler's back arches and his muscles ache. "My head! My head hurts! Make it stop!" He holds his forehead and screams about. Zack thinks about his mother.
Zack sits with his knees up to his chest and watches Tyler sleep. His father is walking up the stairs, His steps are slow and heavy. Zack heart starts beating out of his chest as he stops at the door. The sun is rising and Tyler is snoring, Zack stands up and opens the door. Chris is staring at Tyler and he pulls Zack out from the room. "Your mother wants to see you." Zack runs down the stairs and sits on the couch, Kelly is still lying on the floor but she's stirring about. She murmuring something under her breath that makes her laugh.
"Zacky? Is that you?" Zack nods and she smiles with her yellow-teeth. "C'mere, baby." Zack walks over to his mother and drops to his knees. She sighs as she sits up. "Go get your switchblade and wait by the road, Momma wants a distraction today." Zack sighs and runs back to his room and grabs his knife. Sometimes he wishes they were normal too.
Tyler can hear a girl screaming downstairs, He can imagine his father dragging her into the basement as she kicks at the air and squirms. He can't see her but she sounds really young. Her cries and screams are really high and it doesn't sound like much of a fight. Tyler stands up from his hiding place, His knees crack and his legs ache from sitting there so long but it doesn't stop him from walking downstairs and knocking on the basement door. Kelly opens it and glares at Tyler, "Where were you?" Tyler opens his mouth to speak but Kelly ignores him and drags him down the stairs.
Tyler stares blankly with surprise, The girl appears to be around eleven. Tyler's pretty sure he sits next to her in science. They've never captured someone so young, Usually aim for the airheaded teens or the wasted adults surfing through the corn mazes. Kelly smacks the back of Zack's head and shakes her own. "Tyler could've gotten a better catch. Why do you always disappoint me, Zack?" Zack frowns and his grip on his knife tightens. Tyler can see the fire burning behind his iris', He can see his front breaking and crumbling before his very feet.
"I'm not a disappointment." He mumbles. Kelly's eyes widen as she scoffs. "Excuse me?" Zack lunges forward and slices the young girl's throat open, Her blood soaks her body like a red cloak and Zack throws his knife at the wall. "I am not a disappointment!" He tries to run upstairs but Kelly grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him back down. He hits his head on the concreate and groans, Kelly stares at him like he was a meal. "Momma?" Tyler whines, He enjoys watching someone in pain but he's pretty sure his brother is the only person his heart strings are still attached to. Everyone else's have been cut and left astray like an old, dirty puppet.
Tyler looks up at the ceiling as he hears something upstairs. Loud noises coming from far down the road followed by the engine of a car. "Momma..." Three hard knocks come shortly after. Kelly kicks at Zack's ribs and she orders Chris to find his knife. "You ruined everything! I hate you!" Kelly screams as foam coats her lips like a rabid animal. Zack's eyes widen as Kelly's hands wrap around his neck and squeeze his air straight from his lungs. "Mom!" Tyler yells again, Chris grabs the blade and walks around Zack and Kelly.
Tyler runs upstairs and steps on his tippy-toes to reach the lock on the door, He twists the door knob and is met with a tall officer. His badge reads "Sheriff Dun" Tyler gulps and looks at the other cars. His voice is as weak as his knees when he speaks. "Hello..." Tyler's heart beats faster and faster as he thinks about the cop, Mostly what could be happening to Zack. The lack of sound scares him even more.
"Are your parents home? I'd like to ask them a few questions." The sheriff speaks with a smile.
"About?"
"Look, Kid. I don't have all day." That's when Zack screams bloody murder from the basement, Tyler whips his head around and tears fall from his cheeks. The sheriff grips his gun and walks inside. Tyler follows after him and cries. "Wait, Wait, Wait! Please don't hurt him!" He shouts to his mother through the floorboards. Tyler falls to his knees and holds his stomach, He feels a sharp pain lining from his chest to his belly button. He feels like he's being gutted.
Another scream followed by Kelly's laughter. "No one can hear you screaming, boy! You're wasting your breath!" She shouts. The sheriff runs to the basement door and twists the handle, To no surprise, It's locked. He steps back before kicking it down and pulling his gun out. "Step away from the child and put your hands in the air!" He shouts. Kelly's laughing stops. All Tyler can hear is Zack's crying.
He curls up on his floor and sobs, His shaky breathing is all he can hear, He can't hear another voice speaking. Not even a single footstep, Everything feels like it ceased to exist. He feels like he's floating, He feels alone.
The sheriff comes up with Kelly, Her eyes are furious and her hands are behind her back. "Fuck you, Tyler!" She spits sourly, The words barley hurt Tyler at this point. Words are just words, It isn't a sign of defense or even power. Kelly shouts again as she squirms in the sheriff's grasp. "You know the goddamn rules! You let 'em in! It's all your fault!" Tyler looks up and watches as he drags her into the back of his car. Zack comes upstairs with an officer, His shirt is gone and his chest is scratched up. His stomach is slightly cut open. A straight surgical line that he's sure his father cut.
He's crying as he holds his wound.
The sheriff kneels beside Tyler and takes a deep breath. "Am I going to be taken away?" Zack asks from behind the both of them. Bill covers his mouth at the boy's worried tone, Both kids don't look any older than his own. "I can't promise you much." Zack whimpers as the officer takes him outside. Bill looks back to Tyler with a sympathetic smile. "This is no situation for a little boy. How old are you, son?"
Tyler sits up further with an angry expression.
"I'm not your son." He hisses with furrowed eyebrows and a motive.
"I know that..."
"I'm eleven, Was my birthday last month."
Bill chuckles to try and cease the tension. "That's great...What'd you get for your birthday?"
"A sledgehammer. I got to kill someone. My momma said I wasn't old enough before. She wanted me to feel like I fit in, She wants me to paint the streets with the blood of a bastard." Bill's throat dries up. "You...You killed someone?"
Tyler nods. "Yes, Killed dozens actually. Just this one I finished off myself, Don't tell momma I told you." Bill turns around and runs a hand through his hair. "I won't...What did they look like?"
"I killed a boy, He was tall, He had brown hair, and a letterman jacket. Could tell he was probably a cocky son of a bitch...But he had a girl with him."
"Can you describe the girl?"
"She had short, brown hair, and she had freckles...she was wearing a skirt if that helps?" Bill nods. "Fuck...Did...Did your family kill her?" Tyler shakes his head.
"I killed them both." Bill stands up and takes a deep breath. "We cut them up and put them in the freezer. Dried up their bones and hung 'em up in the basement. Momma hides their valuables in the shed but we usually kill 'em out in the barn." Bill's wide eyes look at Tyler. "Where's this barn, exactly?"
"It's where we kill 'em, A few miles south. Over by the roads, It's hidden beyond the corn mazes." Bill's world is spinning around him. "Come on, Son. We're gonna clean you up." Tyler hesitates before standing up and following the stranger into his car. He closes his eyes and tries to ignore his mother cursing at him in the backseat.
"Did they find dad?" Tyler asks. Zack and him are in the sheriff's office, It's the first time Tyler's taken a shower in months. They're both wearing new clothes and feel uncomfortable and alone. Zack shrugs.
"Dad ran when he heard the knob twisting. He went out through the cellar door. He was trying to gut me alive, Tyler...He ran off like a coward. I don't know what we're gonna do, now." Tyler watches Zack cry and he rolls his eyes. He doesn't understand why Zack would be upset, That place was toxic. "Man up, You pussy. What ever happens...It happens." Zack is only nine, Tyler should be nicer about this. He feels no remorse.
A tall woman with blonde hair cut to her shoulders and soft, porcelain skin that Tyler would love to carve like a pumpkin, walks in with a folder full of papers that Tyler doesn't care about. She sits beside them and smiles sympathetically, "Hey, Guys...I'm Karen Wiegman. I work for the child protection services and I'm here to talk about a few things that happened today. Is that okay?" Tyler looks away, He stays silent. Mother always said if they told, they'd be separated. It doesn't seem like they have a choice but he already knows Zack won't be punished the way Tyler will.
They'll think he's crazy, won't they? Hell, He can't blame them. He feels crazy. He's completely lost his mind, Zack tells the woman everything she has to know. Tyler stirs his head around in anger as Zack cries about all of the people Tyler and him lured out to their house and watched Chris and Kelly torture them for hours on end before finally killing them and making Zack the one to cut their remains up to harvest. Tyler doesn't see a problem, It's normal...Isn't it? It's normal for them, He's already decided he doesn't want to be normal like the rest of the world, They're all bland clones with no personality but all the money in world.
The woman looks to Tyler and sighs before holding Zack's hand and walking him out of the room. Tyler is alone again.
Tyler misses Zack.
God, He misses him.
Flashlight beams light up the basement, Bill and three other officers are investigating the area. EMT's clean up the young girl's body and tuck her away in a body bag before wheeling her into the back of their ER truck. There are a million other places Bill would rather be right now, The scowling smell of piss and rotting flesh stain the walls and it's so foul everyone had to evacuate the room so they wouldn't vomit.
Bill was the last to exit, He steps out through the slider door near the backyard and he wipes the sweat from his forehead. He's breathing heavily as he processes what Tyler told him, It couldn't have been Jed...Could it? Bill shakes his head with disbelief, It's just a crazy coincidence.
The small light above the shed door flicks on as it does every night at nine. It's not even a suspicious matter but something about the dim light above the shed makes Bill's skin crawl, It's unprofessional to not inform his crew of his intentions but he slowly walks up to the door and withdraws his gun and flashlight. The aroma is something so foul Bill doesn't even want to go further.
He takes a deep breath before kicking the door in, He gags as the scent intensifies. Flies buzz around inside and spiders creep out from the door, Bill brings his light up to help his vision but drops it as soon as he spots a body. He bends over and fumbles to grab the object, He finally holds a stable grasp on it before standing back up and investigating. His heart drops as he looks at maggots eating away at Jed's exposed brain, His flesh is torn and rotting. He's tied to a wooden cross like Jesus and his clothes are on the floor, bloody and full of maggots. Jed has the word "Degenerate" carved into his chest.
"JED!" Bill runs to his deceased son and cries, He unties his wrists and holds him to close to his chest. Bill falls to his knees and cries. "No, No, No. You...You can't leave me too. I'm sorry I didn't find you soon enough. I...Goddammit." He sobs harder than he did when Laura passed away. She died shortly after giving birth to Abigail, Josh always believed she was just asleep and was coming home soon, God, Bill doesn't know how Josh is going to handle this.
Bill looks up to see that shiny, new sledgehammer Tyler told him about and he screams. He screams with loss and angry evaporating from his breath, It doesn't take long for someone to come near with a flashlight and alerting more. He can't lose him too, He just can't.
*
The confetti decorated wax on top of a red velvet cake are shaped in the numbers 26 and Tyler smiles for the first time for a while. Tyler's therapist and his best friend, Jenna, Are singing Happy Birthday to him in his room he's learned to hate. The white walls make him feel crazy, He's always hated being alone. The way they sing makes Tyler some how feel at home, He doesn't have much memory about where he came from or anyone from his family but he does remember they never sang happy birthday so happily.
Tyler closes his eyes and blows out his candles. Jenna sits criss-cross on the floor as their doctors grabs a knife and cuts them each a slice before leaving the room. Tyler's therapist, Ms. Proctor, sits on Tyler's bed and holds her notebooks close to her as she watches the two. "What'd you wish for, Ty guy." Jenna giggles. Tyler looks up with a small smile. "I wished to be normal." Ms. Proctor frowns as Tyler smiles back at her.
He takes a bite of the desert and closes his eyes. "Mm, This is probably the best thing I've ever tasted." Jenna scoffs while scratching her dirty blonde hair. "You don't like their applesauce? Or at least the oatmeal?" Tyler shakes his head. "They're so...bland, Lack of flavor." Jenna laughs. "Okay, Didn't know you were a perfectionist for food." Tyler ignores her a shoves another fork-full into his mouth and he savors the sweet, sweet icing.
Jenna is only nineteen, She doesn't qualify as crazy in Tyler's book. She has schizophrenia and has been insomniac for years, Her mother thought this was the answer but not quite. She isn't getting the proper help here in a run-down looney asylum.
Tyler loves when her family visits, She always get so excited to see her sister and her mother. Tyler's never had a visitor. He hopes he'll get one some day.
The cake disappears sooner than Tyler would like but he's still thankful. He stands up and sits beside Ms. Proctor as Jenna grabs their plates and leaves to her own room for the night. Tyler loves when Ms. Proctor is with him, Not only because she's the only one he trusts to talk to besides Jenna. But because she always has bright jewelry, Her neon jewels distract him from the plain, white walls that scream that he's alone every day.
Her make-up is always simple and soft, A bright shade a cyan coats her eyelids and a bright, pastel matte lipstick make her teeth look brighter than usual. "How are you feeling today, Tyler." Tyler sighs. "I'm...I just want to go home. I don't even know where that is but I don't want to be here anymore. I want to know who my family is, I want to see the outside world...I don't want to be treated like I'm sick. I'm fine...I just want to feel happy." He cries into his pillow as Ms. Proctor rubs his back. "It's okay, Tyler."
He shakes his head and sits up with disbelief. "You say that but it never is. I cry myself to sleep, I pinch myself hoping that this is all a dream but I feel so alone. You say I'm not alone but I'm the only one here for me. When I'm still awake at midnight, When I'm crying and wishing I were dead...I'm the only one hearing my tears, The only person who knows. You don't care for me, I get it. You get paid to be here...To understand me. but you don't understand me. You don't know me like I know me. You say I'm a good kid but I feel like a monster, I must've been crazy enough for my family to just dump me away and never look back." He screams, His face is red and his hands cover his face as he sobs harder.
Ms. Proctor wraps her arms around him and she continues to rub his back. "Why don't they love me?"