Start the song. It's I Follow Rivers by Marika Hackman (a LykkeLi cover).

Nightfall came too soon, leaving Josh sitting on his mom's bed while she painted around his eyes with red. Tyler sat beside him, twisting the amulet between his fingers with his head rested on Josh's shoulder. Ashley's head rested in Tyler's lap, fast asleep.

"You realise what an honour this is, don't you?" Josh's mother asked him in her usual quiet voice.

Josh nodded, but his stomach hurt. Tonight, he would be carrying out Satan's work for him. He was in charge of judgment day. Mathias and Ash were now his to deal with. Their lives rested in his hands.
He looked to Tyler, looking back to his mom when she forced his head back.

"You can make starry eyes at your husband after I'm done. Deal?" She asked with a smile.

Josh rolled his eyes, brushing off the comment. "I'm not, Mom."

She chuckled. "But I still made you both blush." Josh looked at Tyler out of the corner of his eye. His cheeks were bright pink. "You know, you two are lucky. It's rare that we get to pick our spouses."

"Why can't..." Tyler trailed off nervously, looking down at Ashley sleeping in his lap.

"Why can't we choose?" Josh's mother finished for him gently. Tyler nodded, blushing furiously. "While Satan gave us the power to choose, it comes with a price. We have to be careful with our bloodlines. That's why we want our sons to be with virgins and virgins only. It's too easy for STDs and babies who don't belong to them to find their way into the community. Satan doesn't want them. Besides, strong babies-"

"Strong babies are born of darkness. All babies are born of blood. The strongest babies are born with dark blood within them," Josh finished for her, earning himself a soft smile from his mother.

"That's right. You definitely have dark blood, Joshua. You have the devil's eyes tonight, and I wouldn't trust anyone with them more. I hope you can use them to see how to deal with this in a just way. I love your sister, but she needs to be corrected. You'll be guided to know how it must be done," she told him proudly.

Josh felt Tyler's fingers lace with his as his eyelids began to slip closed. He shifted Tyler so he could lay in his lap, unfortunately waking Ashley. She pouted sleepily, but settled for just laying back against the mattress and drifting back off to sleep.

Closing his eyes so his mother could continue, Josh combed the fingers of his free hand through Tyler's hair. As his mother worked in silence, Josh couldn't help but wonder if he really would've chosen Tyler for a husband under different circumstances. He was the only person who'd gotten it. He was the only one who'd looked at Josh and seen a person who wasn't to be feared. Josh needed that.

"Tyler, tell me about your family outside," Josh's mother said softly.

"My family?" Tyler asked.

"Yes please."

She'd done this to Ashley too. Josh figured it was because she missed her own family. She never talked about her life before The Family to Josh, but he figured that was his father's doing. It might encourage their children to try and escape to live the life their mother could have if she hadn't been taken.

Josh felt Tyler's breath when he sighed, meaning he was probably watching him. "I have two little brothers and a little sister: Zack, Jay, and Madison. My mom does the whole stay at home thing. She always has, I think."

A heaviness filled Josh's chest. He'd never thought about Tyler's family or what he was leaving to come here. What kind of life had he been taken from?

"And your father?" She pressed.

Tyler hesitated, and immediately Josh remembered. He was a preacher. Of course Tyler wouldn't want to tell them. Finally, Tyler sighed.

"He's a preacher, ma'am," Tyler whispered.

"What type?" She asked, and Josh heard her set her brushes down.

He opened his eyes. She looked calm, but Tyler looked anxious. "Baptist," Tyler whispered.

To everyone's surprise, Laura Dun laughed. "He'd be surprised to see you now."

Tyler smiled, but Josh could see how much it hurt him. "Yeah."

"Let's get you to bed, okay?" Josh said gently.

Tyler nodded, letting Josh ease him back up. Josh picked Ashley up, seeing as she was already asleep. He took Tyler's hand.

"Thank you, Mom."

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Make The Family proud tonight."

Josh carried Ashley as he led Tyler out of the room. He waited until they were in their room with the door closed to speak.

"I'm going to get you home to your family," Josh promised him.

Tyler shrugged dejectedly. "Don't bother. They won't take me back after all of this."

"But none of it is your fault," Josh reminded him as he eased Ashley's dress over her head and laid her beneath the covers.

He looked over at Tyler, who was trembling as he fiddled with the amulet. "I'm so tired of being scared," he whispered.

"You don't need to be scared, Tyler. I won't let anyone hurt you," Josh reminded him.

The defeated look on Tyler's face stayed put. "How am I going to explain these scars or forget everything that happened here?"

As stupid as it was, the words burned. It was stupid to think that Tyler would want to stay here or that he would care about Josh in any way. That just wasn't realistic. Josh was just as much a part of Tyler's trauma as Mathias was.

"I don't know," Josh replied quietly. He looked down at his shoes. "I can't protect you out there. I'm sorry."

Josh was surprised when Tyler shook his head and walked over to him, grabbing his cheeks and kissing him. It wasn't like kissing Ashley. This wasn't a lighthearted brush of lips. Tyler's lips were desperate against Josh's, like he was searching for something in them. Josh reciprocated as best as he could with his limited experience, trying to squash down the feeling in his chest.

His lungs were screaming for air by the time the kiss broke. Tyler panted into his mouth as he met his eyes, just as breathless as the other boy. Words failed Josh despite all of the questions he had.

Tyler swallowed hard. "You are the only person who didn't look at me like the new kid. You're the only one who hasn't ever judged me for anything no matter how astronomically different we are. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

There was no way Josh would know that feeling if it wasn't for Tyler. He hadn't given a shit about what people would think if he was around Josh. He'd defended Josh when he didn't even have to. That had never happened for Josh before. He nodded, still trying to get his lungs to accept air.

Tyler sighed before pressing one more gentle kiss to Josh's lips. "Then go do what you have to do and come back quickly. I don't like it when you aren't here."

"You could come with me if you wanted to," Josh heard himself say nervously.

"You're scared," Tyler whispered, searching Josh's eyes.

Josh swallowed thickly before nodding. "I've never had to do this before. Things like this don't...I'm not this person. I can't let them get away with what they did, but I also can't just-"

"Yes, you can. You're born of darkness. You can do this," Tyler reassured him. "And as much it terrifies me, I'll go if you need me to. I won't be too afraid if I know you're there."

"You'll have to see me do bad things," Josh warned him.

"To the people who hurt me. I'll take it as a compliment," Tyler decided. "I can have a panic attack over it later."

Relief flooded through Josh's bloodstream. "Okay. Just, promise you won't think differently of me after you see what I do out there." Tyler held his pinky out. Josh looked at it and back to Tyler in confusion. "What are you doing?"

Tyler laughed, grabbing Josh's hand and linking their pinkies. "It's called a pinky promise. It can't be broken. You don't have pinky promises here?"

"We have blood oaths. Is that the same thing?" Josh asked curiously.

Tyler grinned, but it didn't last long. "Close enough. Okay. Let's go then. I get the feeling that tardiness isn't really accepted among Satanists," Tyler replied anxiously.

Josh smiled, taking Tyler's hand and leading him out of the room, using his key to lock Ashley in. He felt a sense of pride in leading Tyler out into the crowd when they left the house. The bonfire was already burning, illuminating the community. It seemed as though every member of The Family was here. Each person they passed lowered their heads respectfully upon seeing that Josh had the devil's eyes.

"Why are they doing that?" Tyler whispered, holding tightly to Josh's hand.

"It's my eyes," he whispered. "I'm representing Satan tonight. He isn't here to punish them, so I'm taking his place."

Tyler nodded shakily before looking over at the fire. "They're here already, Josh."

Sure enough, Ash and Mathias were both chained to their chairs beside the bonfire. Upon Ash's face was a scold's bridle, serving both as a punishment and a means of keeping her silent. Mathias's lips were stitched shut, proof that the elders were taking this seriously.

"His mouth," Tyler whispered, clearly panicking as he clutched onto Josh's arm.

"His mouth is the least of his concerns tonight, Tyler. I can promise you that."