Tyler's POV

My shoes crunched in the fresh white snow that blanketed the ground. I looked up to see Josh's smiling face. Joshua Dun and I had met about 3 years ago, and have been best friends since. I'd like to think that Josh knows every little thing about me. What makes me laugh, cry, terrified. I mean, a part of me knows he doesn't know everything. At least not about Blurryface.

Usually the voice isn't so persistent. If I pretend not to hear it, he bugs off. Lately it's been getting harder. I call him Blurryface. The voice. I see it as a figure in my mind, but it resides in the darkness, so I can never see his face. It's obscured, and blurry. I think of him as a manifestation of my fears and anxiety. He tries to veer me off path, and make me afraid of the world, and what it could do to me, how I could be judged.

I know it's silly to give in to my mind. I've always been that skittish person, always wary, and keeping all my secrets to myself. Josh makes me feel better. It's easier to control Blurry when I'm around him. He's one of my few safe havens. Him, and our music. Back in 2009 I formed a band known as Twenty One Pilots. It consisted of me and two of my friends.

The two of them left due to business matters. Around that time was when Josh came along. He joined the band and became my right hand drummer. We were in the process of making new songs after being picked up by a labeling company. I was very passionate about my music, and wanted it to be genuine and real. I knew that the media judged based on music, and I didn't want to be confined in how our music sounded. Edgy was key.

Currently, it was late December, of 2011 and Writing wasn't coming along so well. I smiled back at Josh.

"About time you got here, I'm pretty sure I can't move my legs." Josh laughed as he swayed back in forth in the cold. I laughed as well.

"Well looks like your out of the band..." I said rolling my eyes.

"Hey, hey. I said my legs couldn't move, not my arms." Josh protested.

"I'm pretty sure you'd still drum even with non-movable legs." I laughed. Josh was real passionate about his drumming. I gave him a playful nudge and we set out in the cold streets of Columbus, Ohio.

"So I was thinking about some song lyrics we could use." Josh instantly broke into a conversation. "How about 'To rip my heart apart, and start planning my crash landing'?"

I nodded in approval. "I like that." I decided to add on. "I'll stay awake, cause the dark isn't taking prisoners tonight. I'm not scared in the moring, I don't hear those voices calling."

Josh put on his thinking face. "Very nice, we could brush those up and see what we can work with." He said to me. I smiled. We reached our favorite coffee shop, and entered.

"One Mocha for me." I said to the counter person.

"Small Black Coffee for me." Josh ordered after me. We went to take a seat.

"I don't see how you can drink that. Straight up dark." I said to him making a face.

"Like my soul." Josh smirked and I laughed.

"Like our soul too." I froze at the sudden voice. I shivered at the way he said our.

"You still cold?" Josh asked me. I changed my expression quickly.

"Uh, just a bit. Oh look! Our coffee is here!" I said a little too fast. The waitress gave us our drinks and left. I sighed and wrapped my trembling hands around the warm coffee cup. It felt nice.

"You can't hide forever..." I gulped at his tone. What was he doing here now? I thought I'd just gotten rid of him.

Not now! Go away! I thought angrily.

"What can Josh do for you that I can't? I'm a little hurt you want to spend more time with him than me." Blurry's voice echoed in my mind.

You're not even half the friend Josh is. I thought bitterly. Leave me alone. I focused my attention back on Josh.

"How come you never introduce me to your friend? I'd love to meet him." Blurry said. No. I would never let that happen.

"Argh!" I jumped at a slight pain in my head. Josh looked at me confused. I quickly drank my coffee wincing as it burned my throat on the way down. Anything to stop me from thinking too much.

"Woah, you alright? You want like water?" Josh asked me guarding his own drink as if I would swallow it down as well.

"No, I just really like this uh flavor." I answered ignoring my now screaming throat. I tried to change the subject. "So out of all the album names we came up with I think I like Vessel the best." I said.

"I like it. Plus I read 'Holding On to You' and I think it's great!" Josh told me, still a little wary of my actions.

"Sometimes to stay alive you gotta kill your mind." Blurryface said to me. "Will you be alive tomorrow?" I'm pretty sure my face paled then. What? Kill my mind? Will I be alive tomorrow? What the heck did that even mean?! He knows I can't handle alot of confusing thoughts. I have to calm down.

"Who can save your heavy dirty soul. From me?"

What are you saying? Am I gonna die? Is it you that's going to kill me? You aren't real... I'm safe. I kept thinking. Josh was still speaking but I didn't understand what he was saying. I was thinking too much. Without even thinking I dumped my still steaming coffee all over my lap. That seemed to snap me out of Blurry's confusing web.

"Tyler! Are you okay?!" Josh instantly sprang up from his spot. All I could do was was bite my tongue to keep from crying out. What a dumb idea! Josh helped me clean up the spilled mess and try to save my soaked pants. "What was that about?" Josh asked me throwing away the last of the napkins. Luckily I wasn't burned too bad.

"It just slipped out of my hand. I'll be okay." I reassured him. After the coffee shop incident, Josh dropped me back at my house. I told him I would meet him at his house the next day so we could get something productive done. Blurry finally shut up again.

I could still feel him back there. Just waiting to push through. Back in the coffee shop I had told myself he wasn't real. I wasn't sure anymore. I felt like a freak. Just a boy with this, this thing in his head. A parasite, creating an ever growing infestation that would swallow me whole. I wouldn't let Blurry win. He wanted me to succumb to my fear.

But why? Did I even really know him as well as I thought? I mean I knew what he was, but not really who. Who is Blurryface and why does he want me dead?