Start the song. It's Special Death by Mirah.

It seemed like everywhere Tyler went today, Josh was there. He hadn't realised that Josh was in his geography class or that they crossed paths on his way to biology. Wandering eyes met Tyler more often than they had yesterday, but that was his own fault. He'd associated himself with the Satanist. That was his own doing. The other students just didn't know he'd done it because Josh was trying to save his life.

Tyler was sitting on his desk waiting for his honours English teacher to come in when Josh entered. He went to the back of the room and sat, keeping his eyes on the ground. The desks around him immediately cleared out as the other students fled to what they assumed were safer desks. Tyler hesitated for a second before grabbing his stuff and moving, sitting in the desk next to Josh's. Josh raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. The classroom was silent.

"You know he's a freak, right?" One girl asked him loudly. "His family kidnaps people and kills babies and stuff."

Josh ignored her, opening his notebook and doodling on the pages. Tyler glared at her. "Then why is he the only person in here acting like a decent human being?" He asked.

Silence fell across the room. Even Josh stiffened beside him. Tyler opened his book and turned to the story they'd been reading yesterday as their teacher walked in. She looked surprised when she saw Tyler sitting next to Josh, but didn't comment.

"Okay, class. Today we're going to get started on something new. How many of you have read The Crucible?" Mrs. Mayfield asked.

No hands went up, but Tyler had read it. They'd read that in his last school. It was boring and he didn't like that it was written in a play format, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd ever read. Besides, now he wouldn't have to read it again.

"This book takes place during the witch trials, which if you remember, involved falsely accusing women and men of witchcraft and putting them to death for it." Mrs. Mayfield turned to write a timeline on the board as she spoke.

The same girl from earlier piped up. "Maybe the Duns should be put to death for witchcraft. At least they're guilty of fraternising with the devil."

Josh's jaw tightened, but he said nothing. The teacher laughed with the students, not seeming to realise that the girl hadn't been kidding. Tyler felt his blood boil.

"How did they kill the witches?" A boy asked with a smirk.

Josh cleared his throat and answered the boy's question, making Tyler have to swallow down a laugh. "They either burnt them at the stake, drowned them, or hung them. In Salem it was hanging. The youngest person to be put on trial was under the age of five and spent several years in prison. There was also a pregnant woman accused whose husband was hung in her place. As soon as the child was born, she was hung as well. It's amazing what Christians will do in the name of their god, isn't it?"

The room was silent. Not a single person seemed to have words to argue with. Tyler was the one to break the silence. "It's a fair point. Lots of wars have been fought in the name of God and a lot of crimes have been committed in His name as well. Hate crimes especially. I'm not saying I'm against Christianity, because I'm definitely not, but I can see where he's coming from."

Josh smirked, looking at Tyler. "Wow. You're pretty woke for a Baptist."

"I try hard to be," Tyler replied with a smile.

Mrs. Mayfield looked at a loss for words. "I...wow. Joshua, I don't think you've ever spoken in this class before."

"And I don't think you've ever laughed about someone suggesting I be hung or burnt at the stake before. There's a first for everything." Josh fired back.

"It's not our fault your family is disgusting," the girl mumbled.

"What, and it's mine?" Josh asked, looking at her with his face void of emotion. It was eerie. "We can't all be born Catholic, bitch. That's not how life works."

She glared at him. "That's just God's plan."

"Yeah, well, my god's got a plan for you too, so you should shut the fuck up before someone implements it," Josh snapped, picking his backpack up off the ground.

"Joshua-" The teacher tried.

"Go fuck yourself," he told her before walking over to the door.

"Joshua, I'll have to call your parents," Mrs. Mayfield warned.

Josh laughed bitterly, making Tyler feel nervous. "Good fucking luck with that. They don't have phones."

"We could do a home visit-"

"You must be very brave," he told her before leaving the room.

No one spoke for at least a full minute after he left. Tyler had a sick feeling in his stomach. This wasn't how he was expecting his day to go at all. This time, it was the girl from before who broke the silence.

"I can't believe he's allowed to go to school here," she said.

Tyler glared at her. "He wasn't even talking until you suggested he be put to death! All he was doing was listening. Are you kidding me? It's not his fault that his family is scary. He's just trying to learn." He picked up his backpack, too repulsed by the people in this classroom to stay.

"Tyler-" His teacher began.

"Your job is to make this a safe place for all of your students. Not just the ones who wear crosses," he told her stiffly. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves. He's the best person in this room when he was every reason not to be."

No one said a word as he left the classroom. His heart was thundering in his chest and blood was rushing in his ears. He was furious. Josh was a good person. He didn't even want to be in that godforsaken cult. There just wasn't a way out.

Tyler left the school, ignoring the secretary when she asked where he was going. He walked past Ashley's memorial on his way home. She had looked healthy last night. Apart from a few scrapes and bruises, she was still the girl in those pictures. Josh was keeping her safe, even if it meant going without food. How could they pin him as a bad person for something that was beyond his control?

"Tyler Joseph?" A deep voice asked.

Tyler turned around, his eyes widening when he saw the man behind him. He was well over six feet tall with chipped teeth and a scar beneath his eye. He smiled darkly at Tyler.

"I'm here to collect you," he told the teenager.

Panic filled Tyler. This was Mathias. He was the cult's attack dog. Tyler's hands were shaking as he lifted the pendant on his chest so the man could see, unable to find words. Mathias's eyes scanned the amulet carefully. Suddenly he looked furious, grabbing Tyler's wrist roughly and examining the charm closer.

"Where did you get this?" He demanded harshly, flecks of spit flying out of his mouth and landing on Tyler's face.

"Joshua Dun," Tyler whispered anxiously. "He gave it to me. He-"

Suddenly a fist was colliding with Tyler's face and everything was black. It looked like Satan had a plan for him too.