Tyed - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Tyler goes home in between lunch date and dinner date and even though it's barely hours it feels like too long apart. He tries to focus on homework but he can't. He ends up pacing his room back and forth, looking into the mirror and whispering to himself.
"Master," he whispers, practicing the shape of the word in his mouth, the weight of it. It's heavy, and it's a good weight but that doesn't make it any easier to lift. "Master."
When Colby texts him, it's with a copy of the same list Tyler filled out. Tyler had sent his version as soon as he left the restaurant. Here you go, the text reads.
Tyler bites his lip, trying to slow his racing heart as he loads up the list and starts reading. He compares back and forth the various things Colby's saying he'd like versus what Tyler said. Most of Tyler's ones- hard limits, Colby said, things he'd never do- are also hard limits for Colby, or at least things he's not even slightly interested in. Thank God, because even if Tyler wouldn't have had to do them it would've been weird to discover that Colby was into some of the grosser options presented. Not one of Tyler's hard limits is higher than a two, which is encouraging.
Some of his soft limits- twos, things he didn't want to do but could- were a bit different, though. Colby had put blood at a four, for example. The list had various rankings of different types of pain- spanking, hitting with different instruments, light hitting versus bruising- and Colby had put almost all of them at a five. Some more damaging or highly specific types were lower down, and largely, they were on the same page about what kind of pain- clean, skin-deep- but Colby seemed to want to push it further than Tyler knew he was okay with. Tyler's "severe bruising" was a tentative three, leaning towards a two. Colby's was a five.
Tyler supposed they'd see about that. Although, he can't say that he wouldn't enjoy the idea of it being a punishment.
Aren't you supposed to be at work? Tyler finally texts back, once he's done reading the list. He's screenshotted it all to take a chance to read it again.
It's hard to focus when you're on my mind, Colby responds, and Tyler blushes. He hates this new feeling; he's like a schoolgirl, truly, and it's unsettling. He loves it even though he hates it.
You're in charge, can't you just leave and make time for me instead?
Nice try, but you're going to have to wait.
Tyler feels called out and decides to ignore Colby's text for now. However, it's not long before he finds himself typing out a responce anyway.
I don't want to wait.
He waits for an answer, but one isn't immediately forthcoming. He waits for a bit, but Colby takes his time, and so Tyler's stress-cleaning his room, trying to find something else to occupy his mind. It's when he's halfway done putting clothes away that Colby decides to respond.
Too bad. From now on, I think you're going to do as I say.
There's a playfulness about it, a plausible deniability, but it's a move that Tyler feels deep in his stomach. Fuck. It's been several days since their first encounter, but Tyler doesn't think he can handle much longer. He considers breaking the third rule before the first is even enforced.
If you don't fuck me tonight...
Then what?
Tyler both loves and hates how much power Colby has over him. It's so intense, the feeling he gets, and he hangs on every word of Colby's, hoping for more of that high. He wants to push it further, to get Colby to retaliate, to get Colby to put him in his place.
Then I might just break some rules.
Tyler's hanging on for a response, but Colby's not answering. He's staring at his phone for a good minute or two, just waiting. He groans and starts putting clothes away again. He nearly jumps on it when it buzzes with a text.
So you're a brat, then.
Tyler crosses his legs and wills himself not to enjoy this as much as he is. Tyler's never done drugs, but he imagines if he did, this must be what it feels like. This must be what addiction is like.
Tyler takes a deep breath and tries to rationalise his thoughts. He's slowly beginning to lean into this, get into the motions of it, but it feels so natural and yet so difficult at the same time. It's breaking away from tradition, both what he was raised in and traditions he's made himself, and yet it's so natural. It's a tug of war between what he wants and what he knows, and it's a mess. The tug of war is more than a little bloody.
Only for you.
It feels so natural and yet so hard to say.
Tyler throws his phone on the bed and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him like he can shut out his thoughts and feelings and arousal with that one simple action. Then he regrets it, thinking of going back inside and grabbing his phone and calling Colby, and then he realises how stupid he's being. There's nobody to see it, though, so he just goes back inside and grabs his phone, staring at the screen and waiting for the answer.
It takes about two minutes, throughout which Tyler is fitfully cleaning up the rest of the clothes. Colby's making him wait on purpose, he's a thousand percent sure of it.
Of course, doll. I'll see you tonight.
Tyler closes his eyes, his emotions crossing over each other. "Doll" hits him right in the heart, a few seconds before it hits him right in the dick. At the same time, it's the end of the conversation. It's all the teasing Tyler's going to get out of Colby, and that stings in a weirdly unique way. He itches for more, like good food or drink or drugs, and it's a itch that won't quite go away.
He considers breaking one of his rules and leaning into the urge. Colby would never know, for one. For two, he's fucking horny and it's Colby's fault and he's not sure he can even agree to this rule because what the hell, Colby's going to make him break it constantly.
His hand ghosts over his dick, and oh does it draw him in, entice him, but no; the thing that stops him is not so much obligation, but shame. To do this would be to prove that Colby's sex appeal is so strong that not only does Tyler want to get off from simply words that he's said- not even spoken words, but texts- and so strong that he'd do it against Colby's will (or at least, against his "will"- he's sure Colby wanted him to be aroused right now). Imagining how pathetic he'd be is what stops him from unbuttoning his pants.
And then the shame hits anyway for what he was about to do, and then he becomes the tangled mess he becomes when things are actually okay for him and he's screwing it up because of his past.
Nothing's there to break him out of it. He just sits in a pile of laundry, thinking about how much of a disaster he is, until his own brain picks up that he's being stupid and all of this is stupid and he's doing what he wants to do and Colby isn't anyone else but Colby.
Colby is Master, Tyler's brain repeats, and although the connotation is that he's Master as opposed to anything else, something about it cements the word in Tyler's mind. It cements the title, and everything that it means.
So when Colby messages him again, some time later, and says, I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes, Tyler jumps into action. He's ready in less time than he thought was possible, and that leaves him with a good ten minutes to sit there and contemplate his life before he has to go anywhere with Colby at all.
"Is this who I am?" Tyler asks his reflection, and it gives him no immediate, easy, distinctly actionable answer. All it gives him is his own face, which says that he's confused and conflicted and pretty sure without knowing for certain. It says he has a natural inclination and a natural fear and whatever he chooses he desperately wants to make the other choice again, with every doubt and every certainty pushing over each other, begging for his attention and insisting they are the most important one.
He keeps settling on an uncertain, unstable, but persistent yes, this is who I am.
He's downstairs again soon enough, and Shouto is there, cleaning the cupboard and pretending not to notice Tyler. Tyler tries not to feel uncomfortable with Shouto's feelings on the situation, but the silence hangs heavy with the weight of a fuckton of undiscussed issues and inconsistencies.
"How's it going?" Tyler says at some point, and he can feel in Shouto's second of hesitation his disapproval. For Tyler's everything.
"Good," Shouto says. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." There's a part of Tyler that has, and always will, say 'fuck it', and another part that's learned, through brute force, to say 'fuck it' when you're disapproved of. Another part cares, though. "Just heading out soonish."
"Have fun." It's not intended to be sarcastic. Tyler gives him a wry smile, and Shouto looks at him for a moment. His once black hair has been bleached an orangey blonde colour, and it hangs in his eyes, obscuring his face; Tyler can see his eyes well enough, though. Honestly, he's not too discouraged by what he sees. Shouto isn't so empty and vindictive to hate someone he can't agree with. Their differences rub up against each other, like flint ready to start a fire, but fire's always lit Tyler's way. They go their separate ways.
"I will," Tyler says, dipping out before things get any more awkward.
He's standing outside in the unseasonable cold for maybe two minutes before Colby shows up. "That was quick," Colby comments as Tyler gets into the car, slamming the door shut behind him. In all fairness, Tyler can understand Shouto's reservations; there's moments like these, when he smells the new fancy car smell anew or looks at Colby's suit and realizes it costs more than two of his usual paychecks, when it hits him. That he's crazy, that he's doing something so strange and unusual that there's no way it should feel as easy and natural as this.
It's always at parties, when he drinks a little too much and says a few too many things- admitting just too much in a game of Never Have I Ever, asking questions like "above the age of 12?" and "consensually?" and "legally?"- that he realizes his life is complicated. Unusual, troublesome, riddled with drama and trauma and problems. More than most can relate to, more than most can believe.
And there's a few layers to it. Not only will he have to one day confess the truth to Colby, more likely than not, but it's the kind of thing that so many fail to believe. Will Colby even believe him, about Darkfilly Copse? Sure, it happened to him, but does anything like that ever happen in real life? Truly?
Colby stubs a cigarette out as Tyler puts on his seatbelt, eyeing Tyler up and down. He probably doesn't predict what Tyler's thinking about. "How are you?" Colby says, and the cadence of it makes it sound less like a formality and more like a genuine, honest question.
Tyler puts aside his 'I don't know' and answers it like a formality anyway. "I would say pretty good, at least now," he says. Less like a formality and more like a flirtatious comment, but still.
Colby's eyes flicker, but not with as much excitement as Tyler would like. He feels his face fall before he can hide it. "I would hope so," Colby says, an uncertain approximation of something like 'I think you're lying to me but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt'.
"Are you happy to see me?" Tyler asks with a cheeky smile, a translation of 'I'd rather think about being with you than what I'm upset about'.
Colby's long smile ignites Tyler's heart. "Oh, doll, you don't even know." 'Me too. Also, you look hot.'
Tyler grins, tucking his hair behind his ear. He hates that it's getting long enough to do that. He's contemplating saying he feels sick and has to stay home, but the regurgitated trauma can't quite compete with the magnetic need to be with Colby, to see more of this new world. "Where are we going?" Tyler asks, innocent and gentle. He imagines sitting with Colby and just watching a movie. Having both worlds.
But he doesn't quite know Colby well enough to ask that yet.
"Dinner, I would hope," Colby answers wryly. "Unless you're not hungry."
"I'm more than hungry," Tyler says, and it rips from his throat like velcro. It sounded real, it sounded true, and some part of him meant it, but Tyler's heart is sinking and demanding to be let off this ride that his body's insisting he go on. Too many reminders today, too many chances removed. He's done this way too many times, though, every time he goes out. He drinks to forget and ends up forgetting in the arms of another, and then it hurts, and he runs.
Some part of him knows this but no part of him listens.
Colby's smile tells Tyler he was a better liar this time, and the truth did not escape his teeth. "Then let's go," Colby says, and as he drives a hand rests on Tyler's thigh. Electricity courses through it, and Tyler almost forgets the mood he's in, forgets how much it all hurts at this exact moment.
"Tell me about your day," Tyler says, hoping that his mind can clear itself, or at least distract itself, if he thinks about literally anything else.
"It's all a bunch of words that would mean nothing to you," Colby says, and Tyler bites his lip. That doesn't help. "Meeting in the morning, nothing changed, as much as I wanted it to. Reading reports in the afternoon. It can't possibly be interesting."
"No, but I understand the feeling," Tyler tells him. "When you try and try to move things forward and you're just stuck in the past."
That wasn't a well-hidden one. "You get it," Colby says, but it's not any kind of recognition as an equal; it's acknowledgement that Tyler's got memories coursing through his blood like alcohol or drugs or diseases. Tyler's not sure which one his memories are most like. "Let me know what you want to do, okay?"
"I was under the impression," Tyler says, "that we were, uh. Going to practice our new... rules."
Now, that topic is one to think about, and it gets Tyler's brain running on a completely different channel. "Oh." Colby can't help the grin that spreads at those words. "Is that what you want, Tyler?"
"Don't make me say it," Tyler says, and the hand on his thigh suddenly grips much tighter. He tries not to gasp. After all, he's an adult, he's had sex plenty of times before, it's not like any of this is new. But it's embarrassing for sure. It's embarrassing how hard simple acts like that hit him.
"I think I'd like to hear you say it," Colby says, and Tyler closes his eyes, trying to breathe. He's not even sure what he's supposed to say. Colby short-circuited his short-term memory like it was nothing, and he's breathing shallow and light.
"I-" Tyler's words catch in his throat. "I- what? What am I saying?"
Colby's low laugh doesn't help Tyler's immediate problem. "What do you want?"
"I-" Colby's hand wanders and Tyler squeaks. "Y-you?"
Colby puts both hands on the steering wheel to make a turn and Tyler gradually opens his eyes. He sits up, grabbing himself to check he's all there. Colby's laugh gets to him, worming into his heart and biting at him deep down, where it hurts. Colby gets to him. It's that simple.
The way they left things, Tyler really doesn't know what ground they're treading. It doesn't help that he's too nervous to admit the things he does and doesn't want and Colby hasn't pushed deep enough to figure it out yet. Tyler knows it's probably his responsibility to open up about that stuff, but since Colby's the one with all the experience in this, or things adjacent to this, Tyler should be forgiven, he thinks. He looks out the window and tries to sort his mind out.
Colby's relative silence for most of the ride seems awkward at first, but as Tyler's looking out at the passing cars and letting his mind clear itself, a lot of that awkwardness fades away. He was tense, and Colby could tell. He responded to Tyler's flirting, just enough that it seemed like he hadn't noticed that Tyler's mind was fucking with him, but when he let Tyler collect himself for a while, it was enough to get Tyler's mind fully on track with the here and now. Tyler wants to be angry at how easily he's read, but he's also thankful, and like everything Colby does, it creates a confused mess of emotions in Tyler's mind.
Colby waits for Tyler to break the silence, and he does. "What happened to the first rule?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask," Colby replies. "The nice one, I'm going to get with you. The more subtle one, I'd like to get you something personal in the future, but for now..."
As he talks, Colby pulls up into a car space. Tyler only realises he didn't know where they were going until that moment; he doesn't recognise the streets, and he wasn't paying attention to even what area of the city they're in. He doesn't dwell on that for long, though, instead turning to Colby. From a pocket, Colby produces a thin chain necklace that he holds from one end, so Tyler can see it. When worn, the two sides of the chain would connect in the bigger circle at the front; it looks loose enough to not be a choker, casual enough to be a normal necklace, but its design is reminiscent of a collar, reminiscent enough that it feels like it would mean something to wear it.
"It's not ideal," Colby says, and Tyler tries so hard to figure out how he feels beneath that statement, and he can't. "But for now..."
Tyler takes it, and the chain elegantly folds over in his hands as it drops from Colby's. It's not heavy, yet it's still so difficult for Tyler to raise it to his neck, to lock it around his throat. Once it's on, there's a weird security about it, and Tyler closes his eyes. It's just a necklace, but it has a weight far beyond physical weight. He's still, and no thought crosses his mind. Something has changed, but it's not something clear he can easily grasp. Just that it's changed ever so slightly, and he feels calmer, more relaxed.
"Is that alright?" Colby asks, and Tyler just nods. When Colby's searching his face for proof he's okay, Tyler smiles, and it feels natural, casual.
"I don't know exactly how it feels," Tyler decides to elaborate, to get that tiny itch of concern out of Colby's face. "But I definitely don't mind it."
"Good," Colby says, before climbing out of the car.
Tyler follows him, one hand instinctively reaching up to touch the collar as he looks around, trying to place where they are in the city. He can see that they aren't far from the CBD, as the tall buildings he recognises are within view, but he's never been here. Looking around at the street, the buildings are all old, refurbished to look new, and the people walking around look casually upper-middle class; the kind who'd assume they were the norm, but in reality had much better starts in life than most. Tyler rubs at the circle of metal between his fingers and turns his eyes to Colby, following him through the uncertainty.
Colby waits for him to come to his side, and Tyler naturally slinks around his arm, like he did on Sunday. Colby smiles at him, and Tyler lets out a deep breath he didn't realise he was holding.
It's warm, and the sun on his skin sparks a light in Tyler's chest that radiates gently, burning brighter as he leans into Colby's side. It's been not even a week since they met, but Tyler's life is completely different than it was a week ago, and Tyler has no way of knowing how long this will last, if it lasts any longer than today.
He's good at fucking things up, good at losing things. Good at making sure things don't last. Good at burning things, good at destroying them, good at revelling in the destruction.
How long does he have left with Colby before he sets it on fire and it all falls apart?
---
Tyler's running out of the church and as soon as the fresh outside air hits him, he's laughing. He's done something stupid and he knows it's stupid but he's going to do it anyway and that's such a weirdly freeing feeling that he realises he kinda likes. Down the wooden steps, wind in his hair, he doesn't know where he's going to go. He turns around; Kevin was supposed to come with him, but he didn't plan for now to be when Tyler made his break for it.
Out of the back door of the church, Trey comes first. He's not running as fast as Tyler was, but it's clear he followed him. "Where're we going?" Trey calls, and Tyler shushes him. The adults can't hear that some of the kids are escaping or else they'd chase them and none of them would get away. Trey quickly shuts up, coming to Tyler's side and panting with the effort of running, even though it wasn't so far. It's probably excitement that's energising him.
Tyler waits, and then through the door come several people in quick succession; Kali's first, because of course Tyler told her about their plan. He didn't ask Kevin if he could tell her, he just told her anyway, 'cause if he's going she's coming with him. Kevin comes after her, and he looks more annoyed than anything. After them are a few more kids that Tyler didn't tell, but they probably saw everyone else running and came along for the ride.
"Let's go," Tyler says, loud but not too loud. "To the lake!"
"We said we weren't going to do this until tonight!" Kevin hisses angrily, coming up and punching Tyler's arm. Tyler can't help but laugh; Trey comes up, ready to defend Tyler from Kevin, but Tyler waves him off. He feels powerful in this moment. Leading the rebellion.
"Nobody's looking!" Tyler answers. "Let's go, now! Let's go be free!"
Something crosses Kevin's face that Tyler can't read, and his green eyes spark with mischief. Tyler turns and runs, and down the hill they go. Everyone's at church on a Sunday morning; nobody would dare miss church. And nobody would dare not to pay attention to the priest to check on the children in the rec room. Jeremiah was put in charge of the children, but as soon as he was distracted by something in the office- Tyler knew he was secretly stashing something, he just didn't know what- it was time to make a break for it. Tyler made the decision on a whim, only so much as nudging Kevin's arm before racing out the back door.
Tyler naturally falls into the front of the line, and beside him, Kali. She's one of the fastest, but she doesn't know where they're going, only Tyler and Kevin do, so she follows him.
There's a lake thing that leads to a river thing that Kevin told him they could escape down, and they managed to find a fishing boat in Kevin's dad's shed that could hold a bunch of little kids. Tyler was planning on four, but he's sure they could fit a couple extras. The path down to the lake is overwrought with trees, and the kids have to duck under several to reach the place where Tyler and Kevin hit the boat a few days ago. It's got some food stored away in it, just what they could get away with stealing. A backpack filled with a loaf of bread, some fruit and vegetables. They shouldn't have to go far, though, before they find someone who could help them, or so Kevin said. Tyler knew they'd be okay no matter what. They were all smart and if the world out there really was kinder than this town was then someone would help them.
"We've gotta go quickly," Tyler says as everyone reaches the shore of the lake. He counts seven. Molly, Kingston, Peter, those are the other kids here. Seven is a holy number, so if God's on their side, and he should be, then they're going to be okay. "In case anyone sees that we left."
"Where are we going?" Kingston asks, and Tyler realises they don't even know.
"We're leaving," Tyler says, and even though it's kind of vague the new three all understand. "So either come with us or don't but don't you dare tell anyone."
"We won't," Peter says, but Molly reaches up and grabs Kingston's hand nervously. Tyler takes note of this, but simply turns his nose up; if she's scared she doesn't have to come. She just can't tell anyone.
"Let's get the boat," Tyler says to Kevin and Kali, who both know where the boat's hidden. Tyler wades in on one side of the dock, and Kevin the other, and between the two of them they untie the loose knots they made and push the boat out to the end of the dock. Kali catches the rope and ties it to a post on the dock, keeping the boat from escaping before anyone can get in it.
"Quick, everyone get on!" Tyler calls as he wades back up to the shore. Kali's one of the first to hop on, and Trey sprints across the dock to leap into the boat. Tyler feels a terrible dread hit him when he realises that nobody else is heading into the boat.
He looks back up at the shore and sees only Peter standing there. Peter casts nervous glances between Tyler and the boat and Kevin and the trail that Kingston and Molly disappeared back up, and then he turns around and follows them.
"No!" Tyler calls, scrambling onto the shore. He goes to follow, to threaten then against telling, but someone catches his shoulder.
He turns, and Kevin's staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes, and Tyler doesn't care about chasing the other kids anymore. "Let's go while we can," Kevin says, and Tyler nods his agreement.
Together, they run into the boat. Kali's fiddling with the motor at the back, trying to figure out how it turns on. Kevin impatiently takes it from her and starts it up easily. He shrugs when Tyler looks at him in confusion, and Kali settles into Tyler's side, holding his arm for support.
Kevin seems to be mad Kali's here, judging from the glare he gives her; Tyler assumes it's because he didn't tell Kevin about it beforehand. He didn't tell Kevin Trey was coming either, but to be honest he didn't tell Trey he was coming either. Trey follows Tyler, trusts him. Tyler told Trey yesterday that he and Kevin were going to escape, and Trey assumed that meant he was coming as well.
Kevin seems to know what he's doing, as he steers the boat out into the middle of the lake. "When did you learn how to steer a boat?" Tyler asks.
"My dad takes me out fishing sometimes, or he did," Kevin says, and there's an air of sadness about it. "He said I'm hopeless at catching anything and I'm never gonna be a real man but at least I was good at the boat part."
"How long is it gonna take before we're free?" Kali asks, and Tyler shivers at the very thought that soon, they're going to be free. It's difficult to contain his excitement. There's fear, too, but there's always fear so it hardly even registers. He kinda feels sad about leaving his mum behind but she couldn't come with them, could she?
"We gotta get out into the river," Kevin says, "and then we just gotta find a town that isn't here. And they'll help us."
"How do we know that?" Kali asks, and Tyler's not listening because he's looking nervously back at the slowly shrinking dock, waiting for someone to come down it looking for them.
"'Cause that's what Nora found," Kevin tells her, "and she was much smarter than we are."
"How are we gonna get around that?" Trey asks, and Kevin glances vaguely where he's pointing before his eyes go wide.
"Oh. I don't know."
Where Trey is pointing is far down where the lake is slowly turning into a river, further than can be seen from the dock, and it's a giant tree fallen across the thin stretch that their boat would've had to go through.
"Can we go around?" Tyler asks, hoping Kevin has an answer. Kevin's still staring at the log, not paying much attention to anything else, although he tunes in to the sound of Tyler's voice and shrugs.
Tyler huffs. "Well we gotta figure it out quickly before they come and find us here."
"They're not gonna find us," Kevin says, but he's not as calm as he wants to sound. "Let's just get out and move it and then we can sail through."
"They're going to send people after us," Kali says, barely loud enough to be a whisper. The log is approaching now, and Tyler can't explain why he's much more afraid now than he was before.
"I know," Kevin scoffs. "I'm not stupid. But we're gonna get away. I know how to stop them."
"How?" Tyler asks, and Kevin grins a maniacal grin that Tyler's never seen before on him. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bottle, and in it there's some liquid and a cloth.
"I got a lighter," Kevin says, "and I know that if we set this on fire and throw it it'll start a huge fire that they won't be able to get through."
"How in hell are we gonna set a lake on fire, you idiot?" Tyler says, panic rising. They're close to the log now, and looking back at the dock, Tyler can see movement in the trees behind it. Kali covers her head, like they're about to get shot at, and Trey starts making low noises of fear that twist Tyler's heart.
"Shut up, we're gonna be fine," Kevin scowls. Tyler wants so much to believe him. "If they chase us on the land we throw it at the land and if they chase us in the water we throw it at the boat."
Their boat gently knocks into the log. Kevin takes control, and it eases Tyler's fear just a little bit. "Trey and Kali stay in the boat and Tyler come help me move this log. Quick!"
Tyler obeys, scrambling up onto the log with the athletic energy and mortifying fear that only a child possesses. Kevin runs to the side the log is thinner on, and Tyler follows him, hearing something in the forest behind him and praying to God, if God even cared or was on his side, that that wasn't the adults and that they wouldn't find them.
"Tyler," Trey says, worry still invading every word. His uncertain, scared moaning was the worst sound in the world to Tyler's ears, and it didn't help at all. Tyler doesn't want to know what he's seeing or hearing.
"I know," Tyler grits his teeth, jumping to the shore and helping Kevin kick at the log. There's a rock it's stuck on and it won't much shift, and even when Tyler and Kevin both try to lift it it won't budge.
"Hey!" The yell from the woods shocks everyone to their core, and Tyler hears Trey scream, and when he looks he sees Kali scrambling onto the log and Trey struggling to follow her; he can't see the adults chasing them yet, but he can hear them trampling over sticks and leaves, rushing through the woods.
Kali reaches the end of the log and races past Kevin and Tyler, fear taking over, and Tyler can't blame her, even now. Trey, though, is still struggling to climb onto the log, and Tyler turns to Kevin. "The fire! Throw the fire!"
Kevin scrambles in his pockets for a lighter, and Tyler watches him with a tense, sudden fascination as he lights the piece of cloth sticking into the bottle and throws it. The flame arches through the air against the background of the trees, and for a moment everything seems like it might be okay.
Then the bottle lands at the base of a tree and catches it alight, just as someone bursts from the trees and Trey manages to get onto the log. Kevin doesn't waste a second. "Let's go!" He urges Tyler, grabbing his hand and running, chasing after Kali where she went.
"Trey-" Tyler begins, trying to turn around to check on his brother, but Kevin's dragging him away. He gets the momentary solace of seeing Trey running towards them, and seeing the fire spreading, before he's forced to turn from Kevin dragging him through the trees.
And then he's just running. Kali's somewhere ahead, Trey somewhere behind, and somewhere behind Trey are the adults coming to drag them back to Darkfilly Copse. Drag them back to hell. All he's sure of, though, is the forest under his feet and Kevin by his side.