It was the mere sight of his parents alone that triggered something within Josh. He hadn't seen them in weeks, and after approving of his trip back into the mountains he hadn't even spoken a single word to them. They were always very busy and barely had time to look after him, especially after Hannah and Beth died.
Suffocating under the pressure the press gave them, they completely forgot to look after Josh, instead sending him off to therapy to help him with the death of his sisters. They never realized it didn't help. They hadn't noticed what he was planning on mount. Washington. This was the first time they saw him before he went back to the place where the trauma happened.
"Mom, Dad..." He cried, surprising some of the officers that tried to keep him contained. You watched as tears welled up in his eyes, and his hands shook around the bars of his cage. His shoulder began to shake in desperate attempt to hold back his sobs.
But it was impossible. He just wanted to be held by his mom, to have her hands run supportive over his back and telling him he'd be fine.
But now they just looked at him with fear in their eyes, and their faces contorted in pure despise.
"I'-I'm so sorry... I didn't want any of this to happen..." Josh' continued, and at the sound of him talking, everybody froze, discontinued their conversation to stare at the creature talking.If there was one single sound audible, it was the one of you tugging yourself lose and walking up to Josh while he broke out in sobs.
"I d-didn't want to be like this! I want the pain to be gone!" You could see his teeth dig into the flesh of his lower lip each time he spoke, it must have hurt, but Josh didn't care about anything at this point. He just wanted to be understood, to be held, to be cured.
"L-Let him go..."
You halted, head snapping towards the voice that had interrupted the tenseful silence. It was ... Washington. Cheeks stained with tears, and hands clasped at her chest. Her mascara was staining her undereyes, but the determination in her voice was overwhelming.
"He's my son... you're treating him like an animal!" She was fast. Walking towards his cage to hold his hand, and feel his son's touch. The silence continued as she rushed towards his side, and Josh hadn't stopped sobbing until his mother was in front of him. You watched with anticipation, not knowing how the police and scientists were going to act in this situation.
"Mom... please... i-it hurts..."Josh spoke, falling to his knees and hitting the bars with his forehead as he looked down at his mother. She offered him a smile, convinced by his eyes that it was indeed her son, seeing how he was suffering under the curse that was forced upon him.
"We'll make you better, Josh... I'm here..."
A gunshot.
Your breath hitched in your throat at the sound, a loud beep continuously repeating itself in your ear at the volume of it. There was a screech, a loud human cry and a body falling towards the floor. Josh' body.
"N-No, Josh!" Tears fell down your cheeks as you ran towards him, ignoring the people holding his dad back and forcing the shotgun out of his hands. You ignored everything around you, only focusing on the sight of Josh... A huge gash on the side of his head were his eye once was. It was bleeding... your hands stained red, your tears blurred your sight and your heart ached.
"Y-You bastard!" someone yelled beside you, her voice shaky from the raw emotion behind it. She seemed just as broken, just as sad as you held his head in your hands. There was no movement. His eyes didn't respond, and his breath was undetectable. His mother confirmed the fact you so desperately had tried to escape for several weeks. And you broke down as his mother screamed."You killed him! How could you?!"She yelled towards his father, who looked down at the body with wide eyes. His hand shook as he raised it, pointing it towards Josh.
"That wasn't our son..."
There was chaos, people screaming and medics pulling Josh' body into an ambulance, all of a sudden treating him like he should have been weeks ago. And while you wanted to get angry at them for suddenly changing their minds, the only thing you could focus on was how the paramedics explained he wasn't dead yet.
You went along with him to the hospital and caressed his hand while the doctors inserted needles into his veins and placed a oxygen mask over his face, wondering if it even worked with the huge gash from the row of teeth.
"Hang on, Josh. I'm not losing you again."