Chapter Text
Pages and pictures lined every inch of the walls. The room was slightly dark, with books and more pages of paper scattered across the floor and the bed.
“What is all of this?” Tyler questioned.
“None of your damn business is what!” Josh yelled as he went over to force Tyler out of the room.
“No, actually now it is,” Tyler said sternly. “How do you know my last name?”
“For fuck's sake, I’ve already told you!” Josh said back.
“Bullshit,” Tyler spat. “I never told Jenna my last name, she only knows my first name, as should you,” he said, showing Josh the train ticket. Josh just stood looking at Tyler, his jaw clenching.
“Well? What’s the truth?”
“I don’t know, Tyler, I just know it, alright?”
“Bullshit!” Tyler retaliated.
“I’m telling the truth,” Josh said with a raised voice.
Tyler could feel himself beginning to move over to Josh in an attempt to beat the truth out of him, but his eye was caught by one of the images on the wall. A long, tube-like creature with a circle of teeth was coming out of the ground.
“Hey - that's that thing I saw earlier!” Tyler exclaimed.
“You mean you saw it? You saw the attack?” Josh asked, his eyes bright.
“Yeah, what is that thing?”
Josh quickly moved past Tyler to shut the door behind him. “It’s called The Exit, it’s a myth around Utopia, with not many people claiming to have seen it,” Josh explained, his voice containing a hint of excitement. “I’ve been trying to study this thing for ages now, in an attempt to find out what it does.”
Tyler could feel himself beginning to relax – finally, someone was answering his questions!
“So, it ate a couple who were sat on a bench?” Josh asked. He and Tyler were sat on Josh’s bed as he asked Tyler all sorts of questions about what he saw.
“Yeah, then it just returned underground,” Tyler replied.
“Just like the other cases,” Josh mumbled as he clambered off of the bed.
“Other cases?” Tyler questioned.
“Yeah,” Josh began as he stood in front of one of the walls of papers. “So far every case and known sighting of The Exit has involved it eating a madly-in-love couple, whether it be together or individually.”
“Huh, kinda odd,” Tyler commented.
“It is, but why would it be doing such a thing? There’s gotta be a reason for it,”
“Oh!” Tyler exclaimed. “Then as it returned underground, the concrete just seemed to reform over it.”
“Unsurprisingly,” Josh replied nonchalantly.
“So, it just does that?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah, although,” Josh began, taking one of the images off of the wall. “There has been a report of a giant hole in the nearby Yakto District which came from a previous attack.”
“Have you been to go and see it?” Tyler asked, analysing the image.
“No, I want to, but I’m not permitted out of the house unless it’s with Jenna or one of her guests,” Josh replied.
“Jenna?” Tyler smirked. “What happened to ‘Miss Black’?”
“Oh please, that whole thing is just a big act, I have to do it so as to keep my residence here and continue my research as best as I can,” Josh admitted. Suddenly, his eyes brightened. “Tyler! I just had an idea! You can take me to the Yakto District to see the hole! She’ll allow me to leave the house with you if it’s for an errand or something!” Josh exclaimed excitedly.
“Well, that does sound more interesting than sitting around here all day,” Tyler admitted.
“Excellent! Tomorrow whilst Jenna is working, if you say to her you need to fulfil an errand and need to bring me with you for assistance, she’ll let me leave and we can go check it out!”
“Sounds good to me,” Tyler smirked.
“Well, I’ll let you get some sleep for the time being. I can’t wait for tomorrow now!” Josh chuckled. Tyler laughed as he left the room.
“And, Tyler,” Josh said as Tyler began to leave for his bedroom. “Once again, thank you,” he said with a smile. This time though, it came across as much more sincere and believable. It was almost charming to Tyler.
“No problem,” Tyler smiled back. “Good night.”