Life in a Den of Lions (Tyler Down x reader)

Chapter 1

October 2017  

"I'm dead because of you."

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The soft pounding in your head left you staring at the marks littering the rough off-white paint that made up your ceiling. You couldn't quite bring yourself to sit up, and yet you knew you had to or you'd miss the small cramped vehicle the school called a bus and then you'd have to walk - and the idea of both exercise and the humiliation of walking into class late that early in the morning was enough motivation to get off your ass and saunter downstairs.

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You only found yourself aware of your surroundings once you felt the cold, wet feeling on your foot, only to realise you'd poured half a pint of milk on the floor. Groaning at the mess, you moved the soggy bowl of cereal to the side to mop up the small flood that now occupied the table and neighbouring floor. The feeling of damp that you could feel only drove you to change earlier than normal, pulling on the first thing you found - for there was no one you really aimed to impress in your life, and not much reason to spend any more of your dwindling time on appearances. You glanced at the time - 7:53?! A new sense of panic filling your mind you hurried up the stairs for your bag only for your eyes to sweep over the room and catch the small cardboard box nestled among the usual items that littered your desk.

You walked over to it and placed a hand on the single tape that sat outside of the box, as small blue number five painted on in what you guessed was nail polish. You'd listened to all the mystery tapes the night before last, but you couldn't get your head around that single tape - number five. You couldn't wipe the thought that you'd help drive someone to their de- the blaring honk of the school bus brought you out the ever widening pit in your mind and back into a state of panic as you grabbed your bag and shoved the box along with the tapes into it before launching yourself down the stairs and out of your front door, barely making it onto the small death bus before it moved on to the next stop. You glanced around the bus and found an empty space as the bus lurched forward - the noise of other people filling your mind and letting you once again drift into your own world as you glanced out of the scratch ridden glass. A small rumble in your stomach allowed the realisation to dawn on you - you'd forgotten about your cereal.

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You hadn't even stepped onto school property before Tony cornered you and pulled you aside.

"Finished?" The confused look on his face made him elaborate further.

"Have you listened to all the tapes? They gotta move on soon." Cursing lightly, you nodded and pulled out the small box from your bag. He smiled lightly at you, almost a look of pity filling his eyes as he glanced at you.

"You okay to pass them on?" You glanced down at the small box clutched between your hands before looking back at Tony.

"W-would you be able to? You know how I get... I'll just forget or wimp out or something stupid..." You trail off, looking away from the boy in front of you. You felt contact on your hands, which made you look back up, only to meet a gaze filled with more pity.

"Sure." You let out a small sigh, a weight lifting from your shoulders as the box left your hands.

"Thanks Tony." You sent a smile to him, and turned to leave.

"I'm sorry." You whipped around in surprise.

"W-what for? You haven't done anyt-"

"You're the last person who deserves to be on these things." Tony turned and left before you could even ask why he thought that. You knew he'd heard the tapes. He knew what you'd done and you thought you deserved it, so why didn't he. You sighed and turned around again - the tapes had left your possession so now they could leave your mind. You joined the rest of the school and wandered into the den of lions.