Skylar, please, I need to talk to you. You’re avoiding me and I don’t understand what is going on. I feel like you’re not telling me something. And you know that you can tell me anything. You don’t have to keep secrets from me. Please?
Anger radiated off of Tyler in waves as he read the message from Jessie. Didn’t she get it the first time? Didn’t she understand that she was second-rate to him?! Why wouldn’t she just leave Skylar alone?! At this point, she was coming off as a bit desperate.
One glance at the clock told Tyler that it was only 11:30pm. It wasn’t too late to respond. For a split second, he thought about doing it. He contemplated just sending a text message to let Jessie know that he was no longer interested in their relationship. He could have done it easily – he’d found someone else and it was time for them both to move on. No hard feelings. He still wanted to be friends. Blah, blah, blah.
But he couldn’t do that to his brother. When Skylar finally admitted that he used the blood binding spell to bring him back because he had feelings for him, he needed Skylar to do it on his own free will. He didn’t want to push him by shooing his little girlfriend away. So instead, he deleted the message and tossed the phone aside. He’d put it back upstairs before Skylar woke up so he would never know that Jessie was trying to interfere with them again.
Sighing, Tyler leaned against the counter, his fingers curling over the edge as he allowed his head to drop. He was getting stir crazy in this house. All he could think about was Skylar – the way his hands had felt rubbing all over his brother’s body. The way Skylar had just leaned into him and allowed him to touch him like that. It was getting to be too much. He needed more, but he didn’t want to push. Skylar obviously wanted to take things slow, but Tyler wasn’t sure how much more he could take!
His fingers snatched his journal as he slipped into one of the chairs at the breakfast bar. It had been a few days since he’d focused on the journal, so he needed to update some things. Flipping to the next open page, Tyler started his usual documentation.
April 27, 2026 – 11:35pm
Heart rate: 20. Continues to drop lower.
Resp rate: 10. Consistent.
Temp: 96.5. Dropping lower.
No food intake still. Everything still tastes like ash. Will force food down for appearances, but I no longer need it to survive.
Ocular irregularities appear stable. Reflective surfaces and bright lights make eyes appear almost luminescent. Darkness does not seem to affect this.
Slowly, Tyler ran his fingers over the frames of his glasses, hooking his index finger around the stem and tugging them off his face. His eyes tracked the kitchen, focusing on specific things he knew he’d needed his glasses for in the past.
My vision is sharper than ever. I no longer require my glasses to see. Wearing them, however, does not affect my vision, so I will continue to wear them to keep up appearances.
Behavioral changes persist. Escalating. The ache while he is gone is less noticeable since I am used to it. Jealousy has spiked. For some reason, he is not willing to admit that there is something between us, and the waiting is getting to be too much. Tonight, he allowed me to give him a massage. He loved the feeling of my hands on him so much that he fell asleep under my fingertips. Proves he associates me with safety.
Jessie continues to be an obstacle. If she persists, we will need to have a discussion. Have been holding off because I want him to make the first move. Will conduct more testing and reconvene in a few days.
He flipped the journal closed and pushed it aside. His eyes ticked to the clock once more. It was still pretty early. Skylar was sleeping and he assumed his brother would be out for a while since he’d basically been tortured by his coach at practice. And Tyler was going a bit stir crazy being locked up in the house. After all, he’d been back for nearly a month and he hadn’t been able to leave.
Again, his eyes ticked to the clock on the stove. It was about 12:30am. Surely, no one was going to be out and about on a Wednesday at 12:30 in the morning. And even if they were, the chances of them stopping to talk were going to be slim to none. Tyler just needed a few hours to enjoy the fresh air and relax. There was no harm in that.
Mind made up, Tyler pushed himself out of his chair and headed to the door. Slowly, he opened it and stepped outside, making sure not to make a sound as he closed the door behind himself. His eyes slipped closed as he felt the chill of the spring air on his skin. It was different than before – just like everything now, it seemed less intense. Like the air just didn’t affect him the way that it would have before the spell.
Maybe that was because all he could feel these days with any sort of intensity was Skylar. Just the thought of having his hands on Skylar’s perfect skin was enough to make him hot. The little sounds his brother made when he worked a particularly tight spot had shot pleasure straight to his cock. But he hadn’t acted on it. No – Skylar needed to be the one to make that move. Though Tyler had to admit that he was getting tired of waiting.
But he wasn’t going to think about that right now. Right now, he was finally outside, and he was going to enjoy himself. His feet moved before he fully registered a decision, carrying him in a direction his body seemed to recognize long before his mind caught up. And before he knew it, he was standing outside of Ironwood Cemetery. Again, his body carried him along, feet stopping mere inches before a freshly laid grave.
Tyler Briggs.
It was nice to see that they’d just replaced the dirt from when he’d escaped. Covered up the evidence of his resurrection like it meant nothing. A sharp pain cut through his chest at the thought of being back in that grave – being away from Skylar. This grave being restored was like a kick to the gut. It erased any evidence that he’d crawled his way out of the ground to get back to his brother after Skylar had bound them in blood.
Anger swirled around inside him, making his breathing kick up just a notch. Without thinking, he fell to his knees, fingers ripping at the fresh dirt in a desperate attempt to uncover the truth once more. He was back, and there was nothing that would ever rip him away from Skylar again. Nothing could. Not even death. Skylar had proved that.
As he was digging at the grave, his eyes caught someone standing in the woods, watching him. His movements stilled, eyes locked on the figure standing just a few feet away from him. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet, head tilting slightly as he observed his company. It was a woman. She had long, red hair, and she looked like she lived out in these woods. “Who are you?” he asked, never breaking eye contact.
A small smirk came to the woman’s face when he acknowledged her. “Oh, you don’t know me?” she asked, head tilted to match Tyler’s stance. “You must be the other one, then. The one who came out of this grave.” Slowly, she moved closer, eyes roaming over Tyler’s body. “My name is Venus. I’m the one who gave your brother all of the information on how to bring you back.” When she got close enough, she leaned forward, leaving no space between them as she whispered in Tyler’s ear, “I’m the reason you’re here.”
Quickly, Tyler jerked back, not wanting to be so close to this woman. The reason he was here? She was giving herself too much credit. “Skylar is the reason I’m here,” he corrected the woman. “Skylar brought me back. He bound us by blood. You’re just the messenger.”
Chuckling, Venus shook her head. “Maybe…but without me, he never would have known how to drag you back.” Her eyes narrowed as he pressed her fingers to her lips, head tilting to the side once more as she studied Tyler. “How do you feel? I’ve never actually had the pleasure of talking to someone after they came back. Usually, they don’t return to their graves. I just hear about things second-hand.”
How did he feel? Was that a loaded question? “Different,” he finally answered, keeping his eyes locked on this mystery woman. He still didn’t trust her. He’d read her research though, so he knew at least she was telling the truth about that. “Why do you care?”
“I like to keep track of the people I help save,” she answered simply. She could see that Tyler was about to argue again, so she put up her hand. “I know, he brought you back. Let’s not get too hung up on details.” Her eyes shifted to the forest where she had emerged from, a small smirk on her lips. “Walk with me?” she asked, beckoning him toward the darkness.
This was the very thing parents warned their kids about when they gave them the stranger danger talk. Don’t go into the woods with creepy people in the middle of the night – he didn’t need to be told that. Yet, here he was, following this strange woman into the woods in the middle of the night. “How did you get involved in all of this?” he asked, the burning desire to know where she fit in getting the best of him as they walked through the woods.
Another smile came to Venus’ lips when Tyler asked the question. “You haven’t figured it out yet?” she asked, genuinely curious. “I guess it takes time to see the qualities of your peers. I spotted you from a mile away.”
This time when Venus looked at him, the moonlight caught her gaze just right, and Tyler saw it. Clear as day was the bright, illuminating blue that he saw every time he looked into the mirror now. “You’re…like me?” he asked, almost afraid to believe it.
Venus smirked at Tyler once more when he finally figured it out. “Bingo,” she answered. “I’m surprised you didn’t read the research I sent home with your brother. I was under the impression that you were someone who loved to chase knowledge.”
“I did read it,” he assured the woman. As they continued to walk, he spotted a small scar on Venus’ neck. Wracking his brain, he remembered that he’d read about a woman who had committed suicide. “You were the girl who committed suicide,” he said. “You’re the one who went on to practice witchcraft with your friend.”
Again, Venus smiled. “Right once again, Mr. Briggs,” she complimented. “Hence the reason I am so interested in knowing how you’re feeling. I am still a professor at heart. I like the research aspect of things, too.”
Should he tell her more? Honestly, Tyler wasn’t too sure. It wasn’t like he trusted her – he didn’t even know her. But he also wanted to know more about himself. He wanted to understand these new feelings and she may be the only person who could help him with that. “I told you how I feel,” he reminded. “Different. Like…I don’t sleep. And I don’t eat. I don’t feel pain. My vitals are all over the place. I couldn’t really find much information about that in your research.”
Shrugging, Venus explained, “That’s all normal. I feel the same way. Pain doesn’t affect me the way it used to. I haven’t needed to eat a meal in well over a decade. Sleep is the same. Which is why I just spend my time in the cemetery. You’re the first person I’ve ever seen come back to a grave, though. Was it calling to you?”
He thought about it for a moment before he merely shook his head. “No,” he answered. “I’ve just been cooped up inside the house since I got back. I needed to breathe. It seemed like as good a place as any to come to. I figured I wouldn’t run into anyone who knows I died here. Not at this hour, anyway.”
Now, Venus frowned. “Why have you been cooped up at the house? Your brother doesn’t let you leave?” When Tyler said no, Venus frowned deeper. “Why not? You’re a prisoner in your own house?”
“It’s not like that!” Tyler assured the woman. He wasn’t going to stand here and let this woman speak badly about his brother. She had no idea who Skylar even was! “If anyone were to know that I am back, there would be questions. People don’t believe in this stuff. All it would do is cause problems for me and Skylar.”
Another frown came to her lips before she asked, “And what do your parents think about this?” She’d seen Skylar going into his parents’ house multiple times since Tyler died, so she knew they lived there.
Shaking his head, Tyler explained, “They’re not home. They went on a two month long cruise when I died. They said they had to get away.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling Venus all of these things, but for some reason, he kind of felt like he could trust her. “But…their cruise is almost over, and I don’t know what we’re going to do when they come back. I can’t be there when they get back. They can’t know. And–” he stopped short, unsure if he actually wanted to go into this much detail with this stranger.
It was very clear that Tyler was holding back. He didn’t trust her enough to tell her the whole truth. And that was fine. She wasn’t going to push. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t help him out along the way. After all, she wasn’t the enemy here. “Come with me,” she offered, leading Tyler further into the woods.
He wasn’t sure how long they’d been walking, but when they finally came to their destination, his eyes widened slightly. There, just ahead of them was a cabin tucked into a little nook where the trees cleared out. “What is this place?” he asked, eyes dancing around the building appreciatively. It was a nice little place. Definitely not something easily found. He could be concealed here.
“This is my old cabin,” Venus explained. “My wife and I used to live here. Before she passed away.” She smiled softly when Tyler expressed his sympathies. “Thank you. Too bad the Goddesses didn’t share your sympathy the night it happened.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a set of keys and handed them to Tyler. “You can stay here. Right now, it’s empty. No one lives here. No one will bother you. And it’s within walking distance of your home.”
Although he took the keys from Venus, Tyler frowned. “I-I can’t stay here,” he argued. Could he? No. He needed to be with Skylar. “I appreciate it, but I can’t.” He extended the keys to her once more, shaking his head. “I can’t leave my brother. He needs me.”
Again, Venus frowned, head tilting to the side as she studied Tyler. “Leave your brother?” she asked with a small shake of her head. “No, you won’t have to. Like I said, he’s within walking distance. You can see him whenever you want to. And you get cell reception out here, so you can call and text all you want to.”
No, she wasn’t getting it! “No, you don’t understand,” Tyler argued, shaking the keys at her. “I can’t leave him. He and I are working up something so we can get a place together somewhere. I can’t live somewhere else. I need to be with him.”
Now they were getting to the good stuff. Venus had a feeling that was the case. “And why can’t you live somewhere else, Tyler?” She knew this feeling all too well. She’d felt it herself at the beginning of her resurrection. But she didn’t want to push her beliefs – her knowledge – onto Tyler. He was a smart boy. She wanted him to figure it out.
Frown deepening, Tyler repeated, “I already told you. Skylar needs me.” Sure, Skylar hadn’t admitted to it quite yet, but Tyler knew the truth. They’d literally argued about this just days before. And Skylar had agreed that he wasn’t going to leave him. Not ever!
Slowly, Venus took a hesitant step toward Tyler. “Does he need you?” she asked. “Or do you need him?” She chuckled when Tyler stumbled a step backwards to get away from her. “I’m only asking a question, Tyler. Remember, I know what it’s like to come back. I just want to know how you’re experiencing it.”
Venus was spot on. Tyler needed Skylar. But he knew his brother felt the same way! He had to! He was the one who brought him back! He hadn’t been able to live without him! He was the one who used black magic to bind them in blood! This wasn’t one-sided, dammit! “I need him,” Tyler whispered. “But he needs me, too. He brought me back because he couldn’t live in a world that didn’t have me in it. We need each other. It’s always been that way. I’m his partner in crime. He loves me.”
Nodding, Venus assured him, “I know he does. I spoke with him before the resurrection. I can see the love you two share for one another.” Moving so that she was behind Tyler now, she placed her hand on his shoulder, using her free hand to close his fist around the keys she’d given him. “Stay here, Tyler. Bring Skylar with you. Then the world can’t get in the way of what you two have built.”
With that, Venus walked away, disappearing in the trees like she had never been there. The only reason Tyler even believed his own memories was because the keys were still in his hand, the cold metal biting into his palm.
He needed to get back. The sun was going to be up soon and if anyone saw him walking around, he was going to be toast. Sighing, Tyler shoved the keys into his pocket, committing the path he took back to the cemetery to memory. This was actually a good idea. It was worth mentioning to Skylar, at least. After all, it would be a lot cheaper than renting a hotel room. And there wouldn’t be a paper trail. All in all, it seemed like a win all around.