The Black Tree

Aiden was almost done with the creature when Tyler and Isaiah returned. We could hear them before we saw them. Isaiah was screaming his lungs out, telling Tyler to let him down and how horrible he is. Both Aiden and I stood up when they came, Tyler let down Isaiah when he saw us. Isaiah ran over to us, crying his eyes out. Tyler just walked past us and took out the material he had gotten.

“What’s going on?” Asked Aiden, “Where is Natalie?” He just shrugged his shoulders. Aiden turned to Isaiah and gave him a moment to collect himself.

“A-a creature got her.” He said. “And he just left her there, she was still alive.” We all turned to Tyler. He gave a loud sigh.

“You should be happy I came when I did or you would have been taken too.”

“She was still alive!” Isaiah screamed. “We could have saved her!”

“Not without risking ourselves. I haven’t survived this long by taking stupid chances.”

“You always do that! Every month a couple of people are being taken and you just happen to be there!” Aiden and I looked at each other confused.

“People die in places like this, there is nothing we can do about it.” Tyler said calmly.

“But they are our friends! We should be working together!” Isaiah yelled.

“They are no friends of mine. You are just people I happen to be stuck with. New kids come here all the time. If I want to survive, I can’t afford to care.”

“How can you be so cold?” Said Aiden and spit towards Tyler before taking Isaias hand and walking with him to the tower. I stood staring at Tyler with an open mouth.

“Don’t look so surprised. You would have done the same if you had been here this long.” I shook my head and followed Aiden and Isaiah to the tower.

I had a hard time sleeping that night. I sat leaning on the wall in the watchtower, looking out the window into the dark forest. It was something nagging at my mind, I went over everything that had happened since I came here and realised what it was.

I woke Isaiah, putting a finger in front of my mouth and pointing outside. We walked down the latter as quietly as we could. We sat down under the watchtower, bringing our blankets.

“You have been here for a while and have probably seen and heard a lot from the people here?” I whispered. He nodded. “You said before that Tyler is always there when someone is taken?” He nodded again. “I think something weird is going on, I have a feeling that he is more involved in this than we know.” Isaiah told me everything he knew about Tyler. Someone he had met when he first came here had told him that Tyler had sold himself here, but Isaiah didn’t know if it was true. There were a few stories like the one that happened yesterday, where Tyler had interfered and let someone be taken and even more where his partners had been taken, it happened at least a couple of times a month. Noone had at least talked to Isaiah about not trusting Tyler, he had always been the leader, so everyone trusted him to know what was best for the group. We made up a plan to find out what Tyler really was up to. We snuck back into bed when the sun started to come up.

In the morning we acted like everything was normal and agreed when Tyler decided the plans for the day. He told the three of us that we should stay behind and make clothes and weapons. And he will go out and get the food Isaiah and Natalie should have gotten the day before. Once Tyler left, we filled Aiden in on our plan. We all went into the forest following Tyler's footsteps. The footsteps ended by the black tree with red leaves, this time there was no creature in sight. Aiden said that we should hide until Tyler appeared again.

We waited there for about five hours when the leaves started glowing. The light became so bright that we couldn’t see anything and then Tyler was standing there with a basket of food. He looked around before starting to walk back to our camp. We looked at each other, Aiden took the lead and led us back. We arrived before Tyler and Aiden took us to the weapons.

“Each of you take a spear and get ready.” He said. We positioned ourselves around the watchtower, so we could not be seen. A few minutes later Tyler walked into the clearing. He looked around and when he saw that we hadn’t done what he told us he let out a sigh. He placed the basket beside the fur from the creature and yelled for us.

I looked over at Aiden and Isaiah and nodded to both of them before we surrounded Tyler. He looked at us and the three spears pointing at him.

“Is this a joke?” He said, laughing.

“No! It’s time for you to explain.” Said Isaiah with a shaky voice. Tyler pushed away Isaiah’s spear and tried walking past but Aiden and I walked closer, poking him with our spears.

“You’re going to answer our questions.” Aiden said.

“Fine.” Tyler said, sitting down and crossing his arms. I sat down in front of him, laying the spear beside me. Isaiah sat down too but Aiden kept standing.

“Why were you by the black tree?” Aiden asked.

“To answer that I have to explain how I came to be here. It started two months before I got here. I have a little brother.” Tyler said. He got lost in his memories. Aiden poked him in the chest with his spear.

“Go on.” Tyler stared straight into Aidens eyes.

“My family has always been poor, most days we went without food. My dad worked as a handyman but it didn’t pay well and my mother worked at a supermarket.” Tyler let out a sigh before continuing. “About 3 years and two months ago I woke up and my brother was gone. My parents had removed every trace of him. I talked to them about him, they told me to stop making up things like that. I thought I was going crazy.” He shook his head. “No, I was going crazy. As the days went on, I couldn’t shake him out of my mind, I knew I had a brother. The nightmares that came were the worst, I could barely keep track of what was real or not. I confronted my parents about it again, but this time I didn’t give them a chance to lie. I waited for them to go to bed. Then I walked in there, with my dads shotgun. They hadn’t fallen asleep and heard me walk in. My mother looked nervous, but my dad just smiled and asked me what I wanted.” Tyler’s voice shook as he continued. “I screamed at them to tell me where my brother was. My dad laughed at me and told me I don’t have a brother and never had. I shot a bullet through the wall, my mother screamed, but my dad just laughed harder. I pointed the gun at his head.” Tyler used his hand and pointed it straightforward at Aiden. “The next one will go through your head.” Isaiah took a hold of his arm and brought it down. “My mom cracked after that and told me everything.” Tears started falling down his face. “They had sold my brother! She said they didn’t have a choice. It was the only way to get money to survive. How could they do that so easily! They didn’t even seem to give a fuck!” Isaiah and I held Tyler. Aiden lowered the spear.

"Did you find him?" Aiden asked. Tyler looked up at him. "Your brother?" 

"Yes, I did. My mother gave me the number they had used to sell my brother. I used it to sell myself.”

“Why would you do this to yourself?” I asked before I could stop myself. Tyler stared at me.

“How could I not! It’s my brother, I would do anything for him.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” I said, taking hold of Tyler's hand. “What happened with your brother?”

“I found him in the tower, he was so happy to see me.” Tyler started crying. “For a few months everything went fine. I protected him and tried to find a way out of here. Then one day he didn’t return to the tower. I went out and looked for him but once morning came, I understood that it was too late. I confronted the other kids in the camp. One of the girls came forward with a piece of his shirt.” Tyler took out a piece of fabric from his pocket. “I can’t even remember her name.” He chuckled. “But she didn’t protect him, none of them had. I lost control and killed all of them.” I let go of his hand and Isaiah got on his feet.

“How could you do that to them! You’re just as bad as the people who took us here!” Isaiah screamed. Tyler stood up in front of him, clutching his hands.

“How dear you compare me to them! I’m nothing like them! You really think I like hurting people? I just love my brother more then I give a fuck about you.” Aiden stepped in between them.

“Sit down.” He said. I thought Tyler was going to attack him but he changed his mind and sat down.

“I blacked out after that and when I woke up I was strapped to a chair in a white room. The wall opened and two people walked in. They each wore suits and a mask. One of the masks was a pig and the other was a bunny. The pig put on a video showing me and my brother, from when we were kids and then from here.  Once the movie ended the bunny walked up to me, giving me a choice. I had destroyed the game for them, they couldn’t get any more money. So they told me if I agreed to make a five year contract with them they would make sure my brother was safe.” Tyler said.

“What exactly did you agree to?” I asked, disgusted. He avoided my eyes.

“It was simple, really, I would have to make sure specific people got captured and in exchange I would get to meet my brother once a week. And after five years have gone by I will get to leave with my brother.” He said. Aiden laughed.

“And you believe them? If you really believe they will let you go after then you’re even more stupid than I thought.” Tyler was on his feet in seconds and punched Aiden in the face. I took a hold of Aiden before he could punch back.

“It’s not worth it.” I said. The three of us went up to the tower, leaving Tyler to his own misery.

Aiden was pasting around the tower.

“We need to be able to do something.” I said.

“Shut up, I’m thinking.” Aiden said. Isaiah and I sat quite for a few hours, eventually falling asleep. “I got it!” We awoke with a jolt. “But we are going to need Tylers help.”