Anathema

twenty one - i'll be back

"Your mom's gonna freak out when she finds out you're gone."

"I don't care." Tyler kept his eyes on the ground to avoid tripping on roots or rocks. Clancy's grip tightened on his arm and sent shivers down his spine, but he didn't pull away. He wasn't quite used to the trek through the forest alone, and even though Clancy's fingers on his arm wasn't the most comforting feeling on the planet, he felt a little safer with him by his side. At least he didn't feel completely alone.

It started to rain a little, and he pulled his hood up over his head, shivering in the cold. The icy drops felt like tear drops down his face. He was so tired of crying. He was tired of making his mother cry, too, but he couldn't stay in there any longer. She treated him like a prisoner now, or a patient at a mental hospital. He couldn't leave the house without her, and he couldn't stay in his room for longer than three hours at a time. It had been two days since the incident at Dr. Ann's, but it was already driving him crazy.

The chain link fence was slippery and ice cold, and he slipped climbing back down and landed on his back. The air squeezed out of his lungs and refused to come back for a solid minute, but then he was alright again and carefully picked himself back up, resuming his journey.

He was still paranoid about the forest, and felt like every sound was someone coming to grab him. At times, he even thought he could feel the breath on his face and the icy fingers on his neck. And now the sky was grey and there wasn't any golden sunshine to combat the pressing fear.

"Can we run?" Clancy whispered.

Tyler nodded, and together, they broke into a run. Nico let out a groan and followed at a half-hearted jog.

There wasn't much of a path, but Tyler could see recent footprints and let his hopes raise. Maybe Josh would be there. He was dying to talk to someone else for a little while.

But just his luck, the treehouse was empty and rather dreary looking. They slowed as they approached it, and Tyler looked up into the branches of the tree with a sigh. "I really hoped he'd be here," he said softly.

"Well, he's not, so let's go," Nico said. "Explore the creek or something."

"No!" Clancy yelped. "What if someone's there? What if we run into that man again? We...we shouldn't be here."

Tyler ignored them and started up the ladder, but then paused by the faded green letterbox. He leaned over and opened the lid, cringing at the horrible squeak. To his surprise, there was a folded piece of paper sitting on top of a spiderweb and a few dead leaves. He pulled it out and climbed up into the treehouse to read it out of the rain. The roof leaked in one corner, so he sat down where Josh usually sat. He could see the ridges where he'd scratched out the f-word, and brushed his fingers across it absentmindedly as he read the paper.

11/1

If you're here, sorry I can't come today. Have a test today I gotta pass or I'll fail and won't graduate.
See you later.

- Josh

That was two days ago, probably delivered around the same time he'd talked to Dr. Ann. Tyler sighed and folded the note back up, sticking it in his pocket. There was always tomorrow. Besides, if Josh wasn't here, it wasn't worth getting yelled at by his mother. If he left now, he could climb back in through the window and act as if nothing happened.

"Come on," he said, sliding down the rope swing. "Let's get back before it pours."

...

Like sweat in a hot tub.