Puppet Boy

6.

WHEN TYLER'S eyelids peeled open, he found himself laying flat on the ground.

He realized that he couldn't feel his legs or his arms, and quickly averted his gaze to his body to see if they were still attached. They were, but they were contorted in a strange position. His legs were entirely bent under him and one of his arms twisted under his back.

If his throat hadn't been so dry, and if the pressure behind his forehead hadn't been so intense, he would have screamed at the sight of his body so distorted. He had no idea how his body could even get into such a position, but he couldn't feel it and he didn't care anymore. He was far too lethargic to even react. He was too lethargic to even advert his eyes from his body to gather his surroundings, which he could tell by the searing cold wind that it was different.

Every part of his body that he could feel ached with the wounds and the emptiness that enveloped him. He couldn't imagine how many bones were broken, but he was also partially thankful that he couldn't feel all of the pain.

He heard a whisper.

"Tyler."

It was Emily, who sounded like she was not too far from him.

He tried to speak, but his throat was sticking together, and his lips were so chapped they barely opened. He made a noise in question, resting his head back on the hard ground.

"The... the door," she said quickly. "It's... open. Outside. There's... outside!" she gasped, trying to keep her voice low but she couldn't seem to contain her excitement.

Tyler's head whipped to the side to see that the door was, in fact, being held open with a brick on the bottom, and the grey daylight was pouring into the darkened room.

A brutally cold wind whipped through the atmosphere, chilling Tyler's skin. Little flakes of snow also flew in, moving with the current.

"This is it, Tyler," she said happily, her teeth chattering. "This is it! Our chance to escape!"

Tyler felt a spark of excitement as well. Maybe that was it. Maybe they were going to be free. If they could just get to the door and run out, oh, Tyler could picture it so well. He could picture running into freedom. He could picture choosing that guy in a damn lineup and watching him suffer behind bars for life. He could picture running into his mother and father's arms, he could picture hugging his little sister and girlfriend, he could picture kissing the outside soil.

He had never been more relieved. He went to move his arm before realizing that he couldn't. He was entirely numb.

"I can't m-move," he said, breathlessly trying to pull his arm out from under him. He had to cough to get his throat to stop sticking together, all while he was concentrating on trying to move his limb.

"Please try, please," she begged. "I can't do it."

Her sobs were weakened, and each deep and shaky inhale she took ended with a heavy cough.

Tyler's body squirmed on the ground. He tried to move his torso in the direction of the door, hoping that some way the action would take him to the door. It moved him a few inches from where he was, and Emily continued to encourage him as he tried his best to maneuver his body towards the door.

He had no clue how he was managing it, but he was actually getting closer. He did anything he could. He channeled every single last ounce of strength and energy he had stored in his thinning body while he did so, his desire to break away from The Man overpowering his fatigue.

"Please, please," he mumbled to himself as he slowly, but surely managed to get a little more than halfway towards the door.

Unfortunately, a sudden pair of black shoes stepped in the doorway, and Tyler collapsed back onto the ground. "Shit," he groaned out, his cheek pressing against the filthy, hard ground that reeked of grime.

He was suddenly lifted from the ground and pinned against the wall, his eyes closing and his head falling to the side. The Man tilted his head up by his chin, bringing Tyler eye level to his eyes that glistened through the slits of the haunting mask.

"You just love to get yourself into trouble, don't you?"

Tyler's eyes were pleading. "I'm sorry," he mumbled timidly, hoping The Man would forgive him. He didn't know if he could physically stand being hurt any further.

Tyler was only slightly relieved when he was dropped limply to the ground, his limbs twisting underneath him again in the most disturbing way. He whimpered, his head against the wall.

He watched as The Man walked over and grabbed Emily, lifting her up against the wall this time. He seemed to be scolding her but Tyler couldn't hear, as the wind thrashing through the room was too heavy and noisy.

The Man slid his mask up to reveal his mouth before he pressed his lips to Emily's neck. Emily cried out, saliva falling from her mouth as she tried to move her body but she seemed to struggle as well. He lifted the bottom of her dress to her stomach, bunching it at her sides.

"Stop, please!" she cried out. "Help!"

The Man only laughed at her pleas, his beefy fingers moving down her arms while his lips continued to play at her protruding collarbones.

She screamed louder, her voice cracking as she rapidly shook her head. The Man's continuous laughter was enough indication that he did not intend to stop.

He expected that this would happen to one of them at some point, and he would take the worst beating if it meant The Man would leave her alone. The look in her eyes which were filled with tears and worry made his lungs compact.

He hated that he couldn't move - he hated that he couldn't do anything to end all of this.

Thankfully, The Man didn't go through with it. Instead, after about a minute, Emily screamed, and Tyler instinctively glanced to find that The Man had stopped what he was doing and grabbed her wrist angrily. He stared at her palms, his expression unrecognizable from behind his disguise but Tyler could tell it wasn't pleasant.

"Your strings fell off!" he shouted before he dropped Emily to the ground.

She was sobbing loudly, and Tyler watched as The Man stormed angrily towards him and grabbed his arm, pulling it so hard that he lifted his entire body off the ground with it. He noticed that his strings fell off, too, and with pure ice in his tone, he said, "You guys know what this means."