13 years prior... 

“Guess what!” Tyler exclaimed, skipping along the sidewalk.

“What?” Calvin asked.

“I made a friend.”

Calvin smiled and ruffled Tyler’s hair.

Tyler’s light hazel eyes looked up at Calvin, big and expecting, poking out from beneath his now scruffy mud brown hair.

“Proud of ya.”

Tyler’s smile was bright, displaying traces of his equally bright personality.

Walking up to the front of their little house, Tyler swung the door open, his older brother following shortly behind. “Dad! We’re home!” Tyler called out.

The house was old, creaky, but it had what they needed; bathroom, a kitchen, living room, and even an upstairs with two bedrooms (one for Tyler and Calvin, and the other for their father).

“In here!” their father responded.

The two stepped onto the kitchen’s cracked tile floor. A scent suddenly hit them, and they were pleased to find that their dad was in fact making pancakes.

“Sit, sit,” he insisted, “I just finished making the first batch.”

The kitchen table had been there even before they moved in, crooked, with a checkered tablecloth that had gotten punctured full of holes within the first week of buying it. The chairs were at least comfortable, each with its own cushion. Roger, their father, had already set out plastic-ware. And Tyler, impatient as ever, banged his utensils on the table while repeatedly chanting, “We want food! We want food!” Calvin just laughed.

“Alright, that’s enough Tyler. Food is coming.”

Roger set a stack down in the center of the table.

“So, how was school?” Roger asked.

“Tyler made a friend” Calvin blurted.

“Hey!” Tyler shouted, puffing his cheeks out, “I was gonna tell dad.” Calvin shrugged.

Rodger smiled softly. “That’s great! You wanna tell us about him?”

It took a moment, but once Tyler burst, he couldn’t hold back. “His name is Jake and he’s really cool! He lives pretty close by, so, I thought that maybe we could have playdates. He’s a few years older than me, and he’s really good at video games! And, and…” Tyler talked with such enthusiasm, it was as if every word were his first.

Over the next few weeks, Jake had become Tyler’s best friend. And not having made any other friends, they were constantly around one another. To Tyler, it felt as if they’d been friends his entire life, and he’d never been happier.

The sun beat down, sending sweat drops down Tyler’s face. He wiped them away, listening to the cicadas buzz, undetectable among the trees.

“Hey, Ty, you wanna come over after school?”

It was recess time. The sound of children’s laughs and screams rang throughout the yard. Teachers chatted on the steps while kids ran to safe hiding places as far away from “it” as possible. Chants were muffled by the sound of rope hitting the ground, a rhythm not nearly on tempo with their song. Somehow, among all that, Tyler managed to hear Jake’s subtle voice.

“Wait, to your house? I thought you said your parents weren't home. You’re not old enough to babysit me.”

“I’m in fifth grade!” Jake paused to breath, “Anyway, I know what I said. But trust me, I’ll get you back home before dark. It’ll be fun.”

Tyler sipped noisily on his juice box as he contemplated his options. “Ok…But I have to check with my brother first. He always walks me home.”

Jake smiled. “Sounds good. Come find me at the end of the day, we’ll talk more then.”

The day was hot, too hot for Calvin’s liking. He wanted to grab Tyler as soon as possible and get home. He was at the gate when suddenly, Tyler came rushing out the door, nearly knocking Calvin over.

“Oh, good, there you are!” Tyler shouted.

Calvin responded with a confused look. “What do you mean ‘there you are’? I pick you up every day.”

“Well, yeah, but… Can I go to Jake’s house today?” he pleaded.

“Jake’s house?” Calvin scratched his head. “I don’t know… We should probably ask dad.”

“Please.” Tyler added, his eyes now pleading as well.

Calvin sighed.

“Oh, alright. Just be back before dinner or dad’s gonna freak.”

“Yay! Thanks Cal!” Tyler cheered giddily. “Love you!” he shouted as he galloped away.

Calvin came home and swung his bag off his back, his father meanwhile reading the holographic news. He picked his eyes up to welcome his boys home, quickly realizing that one was missing.

“Calvin, where’s Tyler?”

“Don’t worry,” Calvin replied, “he’s at his friend’s house. I made sure to tell him to be home before dinner.”

Roger sighed, his index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. “Calvin, you have to ask me about these things. You may be old enough, but Tyler’s only nine. He can’t go running around like that unsupervised.”

“But, he’ll be with Jake’s parents” he defended meekly.

“Cal, honey, we don’t even know who his parents are.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Come here” his father beckoned. Calvin wrapped his arms tight around his dad’s body and squeezed with a strength that only a child could have. “Tyler’s probably fine. Jake only lives about five blocks away,” Roger stated, “But next time, just double-check with me, ok?” Roger patted Calvin’s back before getting up to finish the holo-paper.

Calvin went to his room and limped up to the top of the bunkbed, awaiting his brother’s return. The heat was tiring, and Calvin eventually fell asleep, only to wake hours later when his father called him down for dinner.

“No!” Tyler cried, “You knocked me off the track!” He gripped the controller tight and tried to recover, but just as he saw the finish line, the race was over. Jake laughed as he took off his VR helmet.

“Come on, don’t be such a sore loser.”

“Am not! I’m just not used to this model.”

It was easy to see that Tyler was making excuses, but Jake decided to leave it at that. “We’ll have a rematch later.”

Tyler took off his helmet, smoothing his hair back. “What time is it anyway?”

“Dunno. I’ll go check the kitchen clock, you wait here.”

Tyler sat down cross-legged and took his time to look around. Large, spacious, and clean. The house had several bedrooms and bathrooms, a fully stocked kitchen, and most of what would usually be manual tasks (in Tyler’s home anyway) were controlled by mechanisms. Plus, the added bonus of every recent console and video game imaginable. Tyler, of course, was a little jealous, yet he still loved his house more than any other. Tired of waiting, he leapt to his feet and proceeded to follow Jake.

Tyler stepped into the next room and turned towards the window. He saw the moon beams just before the night sky overshadowed them. “Man, how long have I been here?” Tyler muttered.

“Not long enough.”

Tyler jumped. “Oh, it’s just you. But wow, dinner must've started by now. I should get going before my family starts to think I’ve gone missing.” Tyler gathered his things. Pulling his backpack onto his shoulder, he made his way to the front entrance. “I’ll see you tomorrow Jake.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow” Jake replied with a smile.

Tyler turned the knob, and with a crash, his mind went numb, his vision darkened, and his body fell to the floor. Jake ran over and took Tyler into his arms. “Are you ok?! Alive… at least?!”

Tyler twitched, his breath shallow. He was alive, but only by the skin of his teeth. Jake breathed a sigh of relief as he dragged Tyler’s body to the carpet.

“Thank god! This is the first time I’ve used this stuff. For a moment I thought I’d used too much.”

“Calvin! Dinner!” Roger called.

Calvin sat up, rubbing his eyes. Dad didn’t call Tyler. Is he already downstairs? That thought was immediately shot down when he heard his father’s frantic pacing. Calvin hopped off the top bunk and creaked his way down the steps. Roger looked up at him. “Please. Sit down and eat” he said. Calvin quietly obeyed.

The clink of the spoon hitting the bowl, every slurp, gulp, and crunch, it was all too much, too noticeable. The air felt thick, as if saying anything would break some sort of ancient spell. After a little while, Roger pushed his chair out. “You keep eating, I have to make a call.”

Roger took a deep breath. Nothing to worry about. You have their house number. Just, call. He dialed the number he’d been given and waited. One ring, two, three… voicemail. A few more tries, nobody would pick up.

“Cal.” Calvin jumped at the sudden call of his name. “Can you go upstairs? I’ll be going out for a few minutes. Don’t worry… I’ll be back with Tyler.”

Worried? He couldn’t help but be scared. As Roger crouched to put his shoes on, Calvin ran up to him and locked him in a bear hug. Roger laughed a little, hugging Calvin back.

The father gave his son one last wave before he left, his smile a façade, a mock shield meant to comfort Calvin. But Calvin knew it wasn’t real, Roger’s smile wasn’t something he could easily fake, and it became a blatant tell. Ignoring this, Calvin ran upstairs and climbed into bed, too awake to sleep, but too distracted to do anything else.

Tyler's eyes opened slowly, his mind unable to register anything at that moment. His hand moved to rub his eyes, or it tried to, which snapped Tyler into being conscious of the fact that it was tied down. He found that was the case for the rest of his limbs as well. Tyler struggled, fearing he’d been kidnapped, fearing for his life. But the rope wouldn’t give and neither would the cold metal table it strapped him to. Tyler’s eyes darted, it was dark, but it was clear that someone else was there, their eyes glinting from the corner of the room. The eyes grew closer, and Tyler braced himself for the monster that would soon stand before him. But his heart skipped a beat as the person’s face came into view.

Tyler could barely force his words out, making it sound more like a whimper. “Jake…?”

He stayed silent.

“What’s going on? Are… you messing with me? … Bullying me?”

Jake tilted his head, staring straight into Tyler’s eyes. They started to well up with tears.

“Did I do something wrong?”

At that, Jake smiled. He shook his head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re my friend. Please don’t cry, everything will be ok.”

Jake walked over to a big black bag and placed it on the table. He pulled the zipper slowly but forcefully, as if it were rusted over. A flash of silver was plucked out of the bag and held over Tyler’s body. A scalpel, precise, and professional. What he’d do with that was beyond Tyler, but he found out sooner than he’d hoped to.

Jake looked Tyler up and down, reveling in the fact that his fantasy had become a reality. He moved his hands down to Tyler’s legs, loosening the bindings just enough so that he could get to the tendon, the achilles tendon. Jake turned back up to his victim’s face, clutching his ankle.

“You were going to leave me. I can’t-- let you. Not again.”

“Please…please don’t do this!” Tyler cried. “I promise I won’t leave. I’ll do whatever you want. Just let me---”

“I CAN’T DO THAT!” Jake screamed, his grip tightening. Taking a deep breath, his smile returned. “Now. Let me just make two little incisions, and all will be better.”

Every inch of Tyler shook, his fear now holding dominion over his body. Jake started to cut. But just before he could do any permanent damage, a knock was heard, coming from the front door. A few seconds and it came again. Jake rebound Tyler’s legs before climbing back up the stairs, concealing a needle behind his back.

The door opened, and Roger was faced with a child, presumably Jake.

“Is Tyler still here?” he asked.

Jake was silent.

Roger walked inside, closed the door, and bent down to Jake’s level. “Did something happen? You can tell me if something did, I won’t be mad.”

Jake leaned in, as if to whisper something in Roger’s ear. Instead, the needle he held was planted straight into Roger’s neck, injecting him with its contents. He collapsed, the drug taking effect immediately. Jake sighed as he tossed the needle away, the man would be heavy, and he was unenthused with the inconvenience.

With more push then pull, Jake managed to get Roger down into the basement. Tyler screamed, hot tears flooding his eyes, rushing down his cheeks like a waterfall. He struggled, despite the pain, trying desperately to reach his father. Jake ignored this, chaining Roger’s hands to a pipe. When he was done, he smiled.

“This man is your piece of garbage father. I don’t know why he came… parents never do. But I’ll make sure he can’t take you away!”

Tyler shook his head furiously. “Please…PLEASE! Don’t do this!”

Jake whipped his head around towards Tyler, his eyes filled with rage, his voice with sadness. “He’s the reason you wanted to leave me. He’s the reason that you were alone. We’re the same Tyler! … all I want is for you to stay with me… He has to go so you can stay! Understand?”

Tyler didn’t know how to respond, he just couldn’t stop crying and screaming. A pained expression wiped across Jake’s face, worrying of Tyler’s wavering trust. He reached his hand back into the black bag and pulled out yet another tool. This one much larger, more destructive.

It's been hours. Calvin thought. This can’t be good.

Calvin stared at the clock, as he had been for a long while now. Quickly, he made his way downstairs. He frantically searched for a phone, finally finding it buried beneath the couch cushions. Fingers shaking, breathing unsteady, he dialed 911…

Sirens, sirens sounding from everywhere. Jake felt like they were penetrating his mind. He dropped the bolt cutters and covered his ears. Tyler was utterly silent at this point, his mind not processing the meaning of the noise.

“This is the Police! Open up.” A voice boomed.

With no answer, a crash was heard, the men bursting through the door. They searched the house, finally finding the basement.

The horror before them was too much for some. A few left to empty their stomachs outside. Roger was strewn about, torso cut open, ribs shattered, entrails mangled, heart stuffed into the folds of his stomach, blood splattered everywhere like a Jackson Pollock painting.

The rest of the men subdued the child, Jake, putting him in handcuffs. Jake stared up at Tyler, his twisted mind somehow blaming Tyler for his capture.

EMTs untied Tyler, trying to examine him. But with every touch he screamed, recoiling his entire body. His mind was broken, way more than his body ever could be. They had to knock him out, forcing him into the ambulance, the same one they picked up Calvin in afterwards.

Calvin was debriefed on the situation in as delicate a way as possible. He stayed with Tyler in the hospital for days, vowing to protect him, always. When Tyler woke up, he remembered nothing. His mind suppressing all memories of the incident. It was the only way his mind knew to deal with it. And Calvin kept it from him.

Years later, Jake escaped.