Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

TAK TAK TAK

Everyone in the truck turned around to see where the source of the noise was coming from, eyes wide with shock and horror as they found out why all the Phantoms had mysteriously disappeared. It looked like a centipede, except it was everything but, and it was massive. 

Bigger than anything they've faced before.

Razor sharp teeth shone in the blood red moonlight in its circular mouth, veins bulging out of its centipede-like body. Its’ head was upside down, and it made the thing look more terrifying. It had claw like feet, that if close enough, would go straight through the truck. 

Taylor looked where its eyes should have been but instead was met with two black voids. It sent a shiver down her spine, and the air around them quickly became thick with fear.

"Theres no way any of our lights are strong enough to do any real damage to that thing..." Tyler spoke first, more to himself if anything, his voice trembling slightly. And he was right.

"S-should I try shooting it?!" Logan asked frantically, readying his gun at the thing. His hands shook despite himself.

"Not yet! We could end up attracting more!" Ashlyn shouted back; her voice laced with fear even through her harsh tone. She kept driving forward, and eventually, rock pillars came into view.

The environment had completely changed. 

"Ashlyn, we need to turn around! We're going to end up lost and run into more of these things!" Tyler shouted. Taylor knew he was worried about her; God knows what she would do without him always looking out for her. Since their dad had died, Tyler had stepped up to try and fill the gap their father had left. They both knew he'd never be able to, but Taylor was ever so grateful he tried. She owed him so much. 

"I know, I know!!" Ashlyn said back, her voice still carrying that same fear, if not more so. Taylor turned around to spot the centipede thing getting closer.

"It's getting closer!" she shouted, not bothering to hide how her voice shook. 

"Fuck it” Ashlyn cursed, turning sharply around one of the pillars causing everyone in the truck to lean against each other due to the force of the turn. It slowed the thing down, but not by much. It easily was able to catch up and it raised one of its claws and attempted to attack the truck, fortunately missing and hitting the ground hard. The concrete cracked, and Ashlyn slammed down on the pedal, accelerating fiercely. 

"Is everyone okay?" Ashlyn shouted to those in the back seats. Everyone was, Tyler had his arm around Taylor to keep her steady, as did Ben.

"The door is banged up pretty bad, but none of us are hurt!" Tyler reported back to her. Taylor leaned into him more to ground herself, his scent familiar. Despite the situation, she calmed slightly.

Ashlyn continued swerving around whatever she was trying to avoid, Taylor couldn't see, and she hit a few bumps which caused everyone in the truck to lean onto each other over and over again without time to brace. One particular swerve had caused Tyler to slam into the door on his side, with the weight of everyone else next to him. 

CLICK

Taylor turned to see where the sound had come from and was met with a sight that seemed to make her heart stop. Tyler's door had unlocked accidentally, and he was falling out. He couldn't go. Not like this. Not like dad did. He was always there for Taylor and mum, always. She couldn't live without him. This wasn't happening. She felt like throwing up and crying simultaneously. 

"TYLER!!" Taylor reached out to him, trying with everything she had to grab his hand, grab anything that was connected to his body, his clothes, his legs, anything. She couldn't. She wasn't fast enough. Tyler fell out of the truck, rolling over the grass.

"Go back, Ashlyn, go BACK!!" Taylor screamed again, her voice desperate, tears already streaming out of her eyes. 

"I can't!" She shouted, the fear in her voice could be clearly heard, the ordering tone from before completely gone. 

"Ashlyn go back!!" She said again. She tried jumping out of the car, but Ben held her down. There was no way she'd be able to get out from under his grip, but she tried anyway. She wasn't going to lose him. Not like this. Not like this.

"We will, but we have to survive first!" Ashlyn said, trying to sound reassuring. It didn't help.

The centipede thing threw one of its claws in the air again, ready to strike. Ashlyn hit the accelerator and swerved. The sound of screeching tires and the smell of burning rubber overwhelmed Taylor for a moment, and she screamed. Ashlyn pulled the handbrake for the car hard in an attempt to get away from the thing, and she ended up driving them into the forest, making a beeline for a tree.

CRASH

Taylors’ whole body lurched forward suddenly, and she hit the front seat where Aiden was sitting with her head. Ben had been holding onto her, though, so she would be able to walk away from this with just a concussion.

Smoke had risen from the damaged engine, and the light on the truck flickered out with its last breath.

“…Guys?” Ashlyn asked from the front wearily.

Taylor groaned, reaching up with her hand to rub her head, trying to stop the throbbing coming from it. Ben was still holding onto her.

Taylor heard a crash somewhere not too far away. They needed to get out of here, they needed to look for Tyler. They needed to make sure he was okay.

Ashlyn was trying to turn the truck back on, but it wasn’t working. She tried again, and again, but it didn’t work.

“Ash… it’s not gonna turn back on.” Aiden said quietly, that ever-present smile still on his face.

Ashlyn slammed her fists onto the steering wheel. There would be no hope in getting to savannah know.

“Can everyone move?” She said after a moment. Everyone said yes, and they got out of the car and started moving. They needed to find Tyler. They had to.

Axe in hand, and a torch in the other, Taylor was literally searching under every single bloody rock for Tyler. She needed to find him. They searched for hours where he could have ended up. Even though normal Phantoms were scarce, there were two centipede things getting closer. Taylor had to hope with all her heart he was okay, constantly in a battle to not allow herself to cry anymore.

After a while they needed to find a place to hide because time was running out, they were about to head back into their world. Taylor begged Ashlyn to keep looking, but she was right, and Taylor caved in in the end. They found a gas station to hide in, and Taylor cried her eyes out. He’d be okay, right? This was Tyler she was talking about; he could do anything.

Eventually they shifted back to their world, as soon as they got back Taylor looked over to Tyler who was beside her.

He was seizing.

“TYLER!!”  She screamed, trying to shake him out of it. “WAKE UP, WAKE UP” she screamed again. Tears had already escaped her eyes and were falling down her face. “W-what do we do?! TYLER!!” She said again, not screaming anymore but she was yelling, her voice broken. “MOM!!” she screamed once more, finally looking up from Tylers shaking frame to reveal her broken face. Tears were coming out of her eyes like a stream, snot escaping her nose.

Her mom, Marianna, was the first to race into the bus.

“Taylor!” she shouted once inside. Both her and Mike ran up to Tyler and knelt beside him. “Tyler, sweetheart??” she said, her voice starting to break already. Eventually, Mike lifted Tyler up and started to carry him out of the bus “Hey! What are you doing with my son?!” Marianna said in an accusing tone.

“We need to get him to a hospital!” He said, and Taylor saw Tylers eyes for the first time since they got back, they were completely dilated, leaving no room the chestnut brown colour that used to fill them.

Taylor saw her mother reach into her pocket, assumingly to grab her phone. Since dad had died, she refused to accept his death, and frequently forgot he was dead. She froze, realising, for the first time in years, he really was dead.

“Mom!” Taylor said to her, breaking her out of the trance she was in. Taylor grabbed onto her shirt, and Marianna reached up to hold her shaking hand after a moment.

“I’m here sweetheart. Let’s go” she said firmly, and for the first time in years, it looked like she was really here, really in the present.

__________

They made it to the hospital, and Taylor was sat next to her mom. She gripped onto a drink bottle so fiercely that her knuckle became white, and the drink bottle was completely ruined under her grip.

Taylor saw Mike come up to Ashlyn, and they both walked outside together. She didn’t know what for, though, and she didn’t bother to ask. She just hoped, prayed, Tyler was okay. It was all she could think about.

After a few minutes, Ashlyn and Mike both came through the door.

“Emma,” Mike said

“Guys,” Ashlyn said

“We need to talk” they had both said. It was funny how similar they both were, but Taylor couldn’t be bothered to laugh or ask why. She just went with it. They went and sat down with Ashlyn’s parents, Mike and Emma.

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on…” Logan said, trying to make sense of everything he’d just been told. “How are they seeing the Phantoms when they didn’t go to savannah?”

“We’ll figure that out later, right know we need to focus on what to do about Tyler…” Emma said, and Taylor flinched at the mention of Tylers name, being remined of what happened.

“…So, if I understand right... then if we were to place supplies, where you guys were last, you’d be able to use them next time?” Mike said, and Ashlyn nodded. “Emma, do you think you can talk to the others while I take Ashlyn to town?”

“I can try”

Aiden, Logan and Ben all sat up quickly.

“Wait, I want to come too” Aiden said, urgently, still grinning like usual. Except, it looked more forced than usual.

“Me as well, please” Logan also said. Ben nodded. Taylor looked up at them. She wouldn’t go, she couldn’t leave Tyler.

“Your parents will panic if you all leave tight know… and we don’t have time to explain the situation to them. Stay here and help Emma convince your parents of what’s going on.”
“We’ll be back soon, keep me updated” Ashlyn said before walking out. Everyone looked after her as they walked out together. It would be hard explaining this to the group’s parents.

“This…” Logan spoke “isn’t going to be easy”

“I’m sorry-” Aidens mum, Niaomi, spoke, “you’re trying to say all of our kids go to a different dimension at night, full of demons and monsters?” she didn’t sound convinced.

“Please understand if I’m a little skeptical without adequate reason, to believe you.” Aidens dad, Daniel, said, who was standing next to Naiomi, his wife.

“…But we did all say we were seeing things lately. Its not completely unbelievable, is it?” Emma argued.

“Yes, but stories told by a campfire and reality are two different things” Daniel argued back, sounding as convinced as his wife.

Mary, Logans Grandmother, spoke as well, “I agree that the coincidence was weird, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to believe something like that.”

Taylor was about done. She’d been through this every. Single. Night. And her brother could be dead because of this. She wasn’t about to let them think it was some stupid coincidence.

“…White eyes, human build… pitch black.”

Mary and James, Logans grandparents, looked at her nervously.

“White eyes, a disturbing smile?”

Everyone was looking at her know.

“That’s what you guys have been seeing right?”

“How did you-” Naiomi tried to speak, but Taylor cut her off. She wasn’t finished.

“…those things and that place, are trying to take my brother away from me. ‘Adequate reason?’” She squeezed the bottle in her hand hard enough to explode. She was surprised it didn’t. “Do you know what we’ve been through? How strong we’ve had to be?!”
The lights started flickering.

“We’ve been on our own for months because we were scared you wouldn’t believe us! While you were laughing around the campfire, I watched my brother take a nosedive off a cliff while that thing tried to kill us! If you don’t believe us know… then what are you going to do one day- WHEN IT’S YOUR KID THAT DOESN’T WAKE UP!”
“Tay, take a breath…” Logan tried soothing her “We need to-” he stopped. She knew exactly why he stopped. She felt it too. They all felt it. There was something wrong. Tyler wasn’t okay. Something wasn’t right.

“…Tyler…” Taylor said, barely above a whisper. The lights began flickering more frequently.

“…What’s happening?” Taylor heard someone ask, but she didn’t bother to care who. Tyler wasn’t okay.

“Mom?...” A little girl said, Taylor presumed it was Lilly, but again, she didn’t care at the moment.

“Oh my-” Taylor finally looked away from the direction of Tyler, to look at the window they were seated behind. There were Phantoms outside, and they were everywhere.  But in the amount of time they appeared, they were gone.

“A-Aiden come here, we’re leaving…” Niaomi said a moment later, but he’d focused on Taylor, who was trying to get to Tyler.

“Taylor, stop!” He yelled to her; a firm hold on her arm. Logan was holding her other arm, Ben trying to block the way in front.

“We… can’t- go back there… right know!” he said, using all his strength to hold her back.

“You need to let the doctors handle it! If we go back there, then we’re going to get kicked out!” Aiden yelled at her.

“LET GO” she screamed. She was determined to get to her brother, no matter what. “He needs me!! TYLER!!”

She didn’t know what, but something surged through her veins, giving her strength like when they were fighting Barren and his goons. She escaped their grip and dashed down the hall, shoving Ben aside and making a beeline to Tylers room.

She didn’t know where he was, so she just followed where her gut told her to go. She found his room, or at least she thought she did, and ran through the door.

“Tyler! -” she said, relieved to see him, but as soon as she entered the room, a high-pitched ringing filled her ears. There were doctors all around him, they seemed panicked.

One of them was packing away a defibrillator.

Taylor walked up to his bed. “…T-Tyler?...” A doctor came up to her.

“Ma’am, you can’t be in here, you need to leave” they said. Taylor didn’t listen. Her eyes were fixed on Tylers motionless body. She reached out to touch his face. His body was already cold.

“Ma’am, please. You need to leave.” The doctor tried again. Taylor ignored them again. Her breathing came out ragged, uneven. Tears sprang from her eyes as reality sunk in and her breath hitched.

“TYLER!!” she screamed. It was probably the loudest she’d ever said something in a public place, specifically full of sick and dying people.

The lights flickered vigorously, and Taylor held his face with both her hands, lightly shaking his head, smacking his cheek.

One of the doctors called for security, but even when a guard came in to pull her away, she stood there, rooted in place, trying to wake her brother up. She couldn’t leave her.

She just couldn’t.

It took three guards too pull Taylor away, and she screamed and kicked and cried as the officers dragged her out of the room.

“LET ME GO!!” she cried repeatedly.

They dragged her past her friends, her friends’ parents, her mother, and threw her outside. She sprawled to her feet and sprinted back to the front door, banging and kicking at it to open. The guards held it shut, but when she didn’t stop, they called the police.

Her mother had managed to sway the guards to let her outside, and she stepped out when Taylor took a break in between kicking at the door.

“Taylor!” she shouted, but she wasn’t angry, she was scared. Taylor snapped out of her blind rage, and for the first time, looked at the damage she’d done.  The door was cracked and everyone inside the building looked at her, like she was some kind of monster.

Even her friends looked scared.

This was worse than the fight they had with Barron outside the arcade.

Her mother slowly walked up to her, hesitant to hug her daughter, but as Taylor started breaking down, saying she was sorry, Marianna enveloped Taylor into a hug which Taylor responded to by immediately melting into it.

Taylors legs gave out underneath her, and she and her mother ended up on the ground, sobbing.

“T-Tyler, h-he’s…” She tried through choked sobs, but Taylor couldn’t finish the sentence. Her mother must have guessed what she was trying to say, because Taylor could feel something wet fall on shoulder where her mothers face was, and when she breathed in at out her body shook.

But Marianna didn’t say anything, she just made circles and Taylors back as she cried.

Surely, this wasn’t happening.

Chapter Text

11:53pm Taylor’s clock read. She looked away from her clock and rubbed the tears from her eyes. It stung when she closed them.

She breathed in, trying to calm her reddened face but her breath shook as she inhaled. Taylor breathed out and looked at her clock again.

11:54pm.

Only 6 minutes left.

She’d been dreading going to the Phantom dimension ever since she left the hospital. She hadn’t spoken to her friends about what happened, hadn’t bothered to look at the hundreds of messages they sent. She just didn’t have the energy.

She’d cried so much that she couldn’t cry anymore. Her eyelids threatened to close, but she couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes for too long, she saw Tyler. His body motionless on the hospital bed. You’d think he was just asleep at first glance. He only ever looked at peace when he was sleeping. During the day he was always looking out for Taylor and their mum, always worrying about them. He’d basically raised her.

Taylors bottom lip trembled at the thought, but no tears followed. It was as if she’d used up all the water in her eyes.

She rolled over and breathed in again, this time so she could breathe in Tyler’s scent.

She was laying in his bed, wearing his favourite jacket. It calmed Taylor with the familiar aroma, but she knew if she wore it for too long it’d ruin it of Tyler’s cologne.  

The next best thing she had was his voicemail, she realised.

Taylor immediately sat up, grabbing her phone. For the first time she saw all the messages her friends had sent. Ignoring them, she quickly unlocked her phone to open the call app.

She didn’t need to look too hard to find Tyler’s contact since it was in her favourites.

Taylor clicked on his name, and the phone began to ring. She released the breath she’d been holding, thankful they didn’t discontinue his number yet.

After it continued to ring for a bit longer it stopped. Tylers voice replaced it instead.

“Hey, this is Tyler Hernández. Leave a message, I’ll get back to you later.”

Taylor couldn’t speak. It had been less than 12 hours since she’d heard his voice, but it felt much, much longer.

“H-hey, Tyler” Taylor began, her voice was rough and crackly, she surprised by sound of it. “I miss you. I miss you so much…” she stopped herself as she began crying again, thinking she had no tears left. “please come back…” she hung up, and laid down again, crying into Tylers pillow.

Taylor felt pathetic. Leaving Tyler a voicemail despite the fact she knew he’d never be able to listen to it was stupid, but she needed to hear his voice.

God, what was she going to do with herself?

As quick as thought, the world around Taylor suddenly shifted. The first few times they shifted, it was like getting a massive headache after going on the teacups ride a dozen times at full speed. For the first week Taylor threw up every time she got back, taking turns with Tyler. He'd always let her go first, holding her hair back for her. Now, it was just a slight migraine that lingered afterwards. It’s usually better to shift whilst asleep, but Taylor couldn't bring herself to close her eyes.

Once Taylor had shifted, she was suddenly surrounded by her friends. They pulled her into a tight hug, Ashlyn surprisingly joined as well, sticking to the outside of the hug. It was rare to get this kind of affection from her, and Taylor was grateful for it when she got some.

“Are you alright, Tay?” Logan spoke first, after everyone had let go of Taylor.

She knew it was pointless to lie, obviously she wasn’t alright. Far from it, in fact. Her brother fucking died not even 12 hours ago.

Taylor opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out, so she just shook her head, her breath hitching.

Tears streamed once more from her eyes and Logan pulled her back into a hug.

“It’s ok… it’s ok…” he said, but it wasn’t okay at all. “C’mon, we need to get the supplies Ashlyn’s dad left for us” Logan parted from the hug and moved one of his hands to hold hers.

Taylor squeezed it appreciatively, and she wiped her face dry only for it to become wet again.

Logan led her out of the gas station, following the others, with Ashlyn in the lead. Taylor assumed Logan thought she knew because of the messages everyone had sent. She just silently let herself be pulled along to wherever they were headed.

Ashlyn abruptly stopped at a tree, crouching to grab a black gym bag on the ground. Before Ashlyn could pick it up, Aiden stepped forward and got to it before her. He flashed his usual grin at her, but it was extremely forced, barely held together. Ashlyn shot him an appreciative look and turned to face everyone.

“We’re heading to the school. It’s closest from here and will provide us with strong enough lights to try and kill the phantom centipede.” Taylor flinched at the mention of the centipede, clenching her fists, anger involuntarily making itself known.

“Uh, hey Tay? You’re kind of crushing my hand” Logan whispered to her. Taylor snapped out of her thoughts, immediately letting go of his hand.

“S-sorry…” she said quietly, moving her hands to hug herself. Logan gave her a forgiving smile and pulled her into a one-armed hug. Taylor leaned her head into the crook of his neck.

They continued walking for a bit longer, until Ashlyn made the group aware of the familiar sound that had haunted her since she was little. A Phantom was nearby, Ashlyn said it was only one. She went ahead of the group to scout it out, disappearing behind some trees ahead. Aiden followed close behind, Ben and Logan staying with Taylor.

They heard a screech and then silence. Taylor assumed they’d killed the Phantom. Aiden came rushing back, a panicked look in his eyes despite the permanent smile on his face, he glanced at Taylor for a split second, barely noticeable. Taylor caught it.

After a few moments of choosing his words, Aiden spoke, “We… found Tyler…”

A spark of hope flared in Taylors chest. Maybe he was alive, even if in just the phantom dimension? Aiden noticed Taylors expression; his smile twitched.

“It’s not what you think Tay…” he said solemnly “he’s dead. We just found his body” Taylor choked on a sob. It was foolish to think he’d still be alive.

Aiden turned, gesturing for everyone to follow “Just a bit of a heads up by the way, it’s… pretty gruesome” he said over his shoulder, humorlessly. Taylor couldn’t care less. She just needed to see him for herself.

They followed Aiden and rounded a tree, eventually coming to an abrupt stop. Taylor nearly collided with Ben. Impatient, she pushed past him and Aiden to get to the front.

Taylor gaged at what she saw, and it took all her strength to push down the feeling of being sick.

Tylers motionless body was gruesomely displayed on a broken tree that had snapped under his weight and impaled him, grossly resembling a kebab. Blood poured from his mouth, still slowly oozing down his cheek. That same blood coated the tree where it had impaled his stomach, dripping silently down the trunk.

Taylors knees threatened to give out beneath her, but she stumbled toward Tylers body, reaching for his short brown hair.

His eyes remained open, but they were distant. Unseeing.

Taylor broke, collapsing at the base of the trunk. The smell of gases from the decomposing body intruded Taylor's nostrils. No longer able to keep herself in check, her body shook, bending over and clawing her nails into the grass to keep herself steady. Taylors breathing came out heavy, uneven, and then-

Wretch

Her body racking with every heave. The bile burnt her throat as it rose like fire. Her stomach churned as if she were on a rollercoaster except nothing about this was near as fun.

Tyler raced up behind her to hold her hair back, but she couldn’t show her appreciation as she uncontrollably vomited.

Taylors ribs hurt as her body wretched. She was still crying, choked sobs mixing with the miserable sounds of gagging. Her breath hitched as tears fell from her face to the ground in a constant stream. She thought she might choke on the vomit.

Tyler began drawing circles on her back, one hand still holding her hair from her face, but Taylor felt empty of everything inside her.

Shakily, she stood, steadying herself against the tree. Tyler moved his hands to her shoulders, helping her to stand.

Taylor turned to face her brother, who’d been assisting her.

"Thanks Ty-"

It wasn't Tyler.

It was Ben.

Tylers dead.

And he’d never be coming back.

He'd left her.

Taylor collapsed, but Ben caught her, securely holding her as she cried once more.