Counting Our Stars • Tyler Joseph •

Chapter 19

• Tyler •

Tyler opened his eyes only a crack until they accustomed to the blinding fluorescent lights overhead. His eyes felt heavy and his skin felt like fire because the poison was still being pumped through his veins. Even now, he lifted his trembling hand to get a better look at the black veins that now resembled a dark river cutting paths onto his skin.

He noticed how thin his arms were. His heart quickened at the sight. Was the rest of his body frail like this? When was the last time he had eaten? Or even fed? His mouth felt as dry as if someone had shoved cotton into his mouth and left it like that.

He grabbed onto the railing of his hospital bed, bracing himself to pull himself up to sit. His body shook with the effort and a weak grunt left his cracked lips. He collapsed back onto his bed and panted softly as a fresh wave of nausea and new black spots filled his vision. He squeezed his eyes closed, willing the dizziness to go away.

The dizziness and nausea had become something he knew was going to happen. If Josh needed him for blood, then why wasn't he being treated better? They were literally bleeding him dry and were okay with causing his slow death.

He had came face to face with death many times but nothing like this.

He was going to die and no one here cared. Except for Mark maybe. The vampire had been decent enough. He would let Claire stay with him as long as she wanted and it was always welcomed.

Claire.

A wide grin spread across his face at the mere thought of the brunette human. He missed her, she was like home. She made things bearable when she would come see him. He didn't want her here with him for the fact that she could be hurt and he couldn't protect her in the state he was in.

He hadn't seen her in a few hours. He frowned at all the possible things that could happen to her in this place. As he lie in bed, managing to work himself into a panicked frenzy. He needed to find her.

Tyler slowly pulled himself up and panted with the effort. His body was so weak and frail, it sickened him.

He glanced at the door and then to the tile floor below. He fixed a look of determination upon his face as he kept the thought of Claire in his mind. She would give him the strength to fight but also fight for himself.

Tyler very slowly shifted his body to face one side of the bed before he sluggishly moved one leg to dangle off the edge. He gritted his teeth as a wave of tingling sensations shot upwards through his leg as soon as he moved. This would be Barry painful, challenging and extremely time consuming.

He would have to push through.

Once he had successfully and painfully, he shifted his body completely onto the edge of the bed, he hesitated. How was he supposed to do this when he didn't know if he could even walk at this rate. As he scooted forward a little bit more, Tyler timidly placed a foot down onto the floor. It was a strange feeling after so long to be able to move this much. Now he just had to move his other foot onto the floor and stand up. The action seemed easier in his head than in reality because his body was already trembling with exhaustion just from His movements.

he clutched the side of the bed as his other foot made contact with the floor. And he looked down at the floor with unwavering hesitation. He had to do this in order to get out. But yet, he was afraid of the pain all of this would cause him. He wished Claire was here to help him but no one was here. He cautiously and very slowly lifted his body from the mattress.

In an instant, his legs gave out from under him and it was like gravity was intentionally shoving him down onto the cold tile floor. The floor was as cold as ice against his bare skin and he could feel the iciness seeping into his skin as he lay unmoving, his body frozen due to the shock. A barely audible grunt left his lips as he blinked a few times, his cheek pressed against the floor feeling as if it were glued there. He almost didn't want to move another inch and this whole plan in his head seemed hopeless.

his eyelids slipped closed as he was prepared to lie there until someone came to check on him. There was no doubt he would be punished more for trying to escape but at least he had tried.

There was no point in trying to escape because he was going to die anyway. That was what the vampires wanted, wasn't it? His blood so they could live but let him die.

The creek of the door opening broke his pitiful thoughts. He squeezed his eyes closed tighter as he waited for the person to snatch him up and put him back into his place. The cycle would soon start over again. He was surprised by this point that he had any blood left to spare. He felt as though they had drained him completely but hardly replenish the supply. And he had tried desperately to block out the fire raging in his throat as his body craved the blood it was missing. How long could a vampire go without blood? He wasn't sure but he assumed it was a fair amount of time considering he was still hanging on by a thread.

"Tyler? Tyler, oh my god! We found you!" A voice cried in relief. Why did that voice sound so familiar and so unfamiliar at the same time?

Tyler still didn't move, his eyes still closed. He was silently willing the person to just end him right then and there.

But then a pair of hands moved under him and he felt his body being lifted from the floor. His eyes opened and were met with an identical copy of his own. His brother, Zack, was going to rescue him. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"Ssh, don't speak. Dad and a few of the pack members are here to rescue you. We're going to take you home." His brother said, shifting him in his arms to get a better grasp on him. He was certain that he hardly weighed anything now. He had lost so much weight that he probably looked to be on the verge of a skeleton.

"Claire...where..." Tyler didn't finish his senates because it was taking every last scrap of energy to speak. But it seemed that his brother sensed where he was going with his words.

"Claire is back at home with mom. She and a vampire showed up at the border yesterday. They were the ones that told us where you were and how to get there so you can thank them once you recover." Zach replied with a small smile filled with hope.

Tyler's head fell limply back into the crook of his brothers arm as exhaustion overtook him. He was so tired and out of energy and everything became dark and silent.

(A/N: And here is chapter 19! What dol y'all think? Ty has finally been rescued but has a long way to go 💔 thank you for all of the votes and lovely comments, I love reading them! ❤️ Chapter 20 is coming up soon!)