❝ there's nothing i
can see; darkness
becomes me... ❞
（ story by tommysmiller )
（ until dawn; female oc ）
（ cover by elenafishers_ ）
（ original version ）
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THE MAN BEFORE THE EYES OF ELLIE GREENE WAS NOT JOSH WASHINGTON, but a mere shell of the youthful boy he once was, or at least, Ellie had known him as. Looking back upon it, doubt seeps into her mind when she wonders if she had ever truly known what lies beneath the facades he desperately maintains. She'd thought that, even if to the tiniest extent, that she knew his pain, and understood what thoughts circulated within that intelligent mind of his. The thought that it had all been a lie - that it had all been for nothing - ignites a spark of devastation within the ashes of her heart, which is the very reason she chooses to ignore this doubt. She dares not face the horrid truths that may linger within the shadows, for fear that the blissful light will fade the moment she strays from it. Nor could she bear the thought of losing the Josh she'd come to know, or at all.
Josh Washington had fallen victim to the demons that dwell within his mind, so much that the horrid reality around him was beyond his sight, only to be replaced by a much darker one. Incoherent mutters slip by his cracked, crimson-stained lips, and his ashen, glazed over eyes stare vaguely upon something beyond the sight of those around him. His bottom lip trembles in terror as he takes a stumbled step back, his hands trembling. Only when Mike, much to the distaste of Ellie Greene, abruptly slaps the boy does he emerge from his stupor. His eyes gain some remnants of the sanity he so desperately clutches onto, and his gaze falls upon the male crouched before him. "M... Mike? Don't h-hit me, p-please-"
"Josh... Hey man -" Mike stutters, a small polite smile flickering over his lips, even if only momentarily. A half-hearted apologetic expression passes over his features, which are covered in blood and dirt alike, the two substances mixing effortlessly. "You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket. We didn't think we'd get you back..."
Words feeling foreign within her mouth, the tired eyes of Ellie Greene gaze upon the broken boy. His eyes are glazed with the waters of turmoil, staring off into a place she could not see. Splatters of blood taint the pale blue of his overalls, the very clothing she'd come to associate with a maniac; that she'd never imagined on him. Despite the veil of rushing thoughts wreaking havoc upon his mind, he takes note of her stare, and returns her gaze. With a sincerity she'd thought was lost upon that night, she offers him the strongest smile she can conjure. "I'm glad you're alright, Josh."
Josh's brows knit vaguely together, a spark of confusion emerging from the raging seas within his eyes. It was a look of surprise, as if he hadn't thought she'd come to save him, or he'd to decipher if she truly had. His cracked lips part slightly, words hanging upon the tip of his tongue. But before they can escape the threshold, Sam steps toward him, a fatal concoction of worry and guilt swelling within the pit of her stomach. "Josh... Hannah was down here for... weeks... a month?! She dug Beth up!"
"Sam..." Mike brings a halt to the blonde's rant, sending a glance of subtle warning in her direction. Josh deserved to know what had become of his sisters, he knew that much. But the right time had not yet come, for the boy had been through enough already, and they needed to focus upon their survival. They can't afford to lose anyone else; not even the person who led them to the very mountain. "Let's just get the fuck out of here."
