text: The money flew out the window like snowflakes, as the deep red of the beat up old car was merely a blur in the wind. He had done it. He was free. No more late night calls waking him up. No more giant men standing in the corner watching. No more tentacled beasts boring their way into his brain. He didn't realize He was smiling until He ran his 2nd red light. By this point it occurred to him that the cops would probably be looking for him, but He didn't care as soon as He got to the Compound He would be safe. Just a few more miles and it would all be over. Unless He got caught He thought, and almost as if He Commanded it a flashing blue light spiraled towards Him. Causing him to floor it. He could see the Compound now sitting right on the horizon. Right in front of him, He just had to outrun the cops. The spedomender crept past a hundred and his bone white knuckles gripped the wheel and shook from the pressure or maybe the fear. He could see the gate now and the hundreds of guns mounted to them. The cries of what had to be at least eight different cop cars wailed behind him. Their screams were deafening but He ignored them as the wheels of the burnt maroon car crossed the border of the Compound. As soon as the bumper crossed the line a barrage of bullets rained down onto the pursuing police officers. It would have taken a miracle for any of them to survive. No one that the Compound didn't want got in. When He got out and checked the back of the car, He realized that the pile of money He had taken was significantly smaller than when He started his run from the bank. The pile was smaller for sure but at least half the car was still filled with thousands and thousands of hundred dollar bills. He sighed in relief. His life was his own now. He glanced to the left and all of his joys were crushed when He saw HIM. Ozymanyas. The man that created the Compound. His lithe body rippled with mussels that he never needed to use. The dark velvet of the cape he always wore, swept away the footprints his bare feet left in the soft smooth sand. His crooked smile revealed nothing of the cruel torturous monster he truly was. As he walked closer all sound seem to vanish "This is significantly less than we agree is it not." It wasn't a question but a statement. A statement that oozed power. Control. "I-I Know but it-it still a couple million at least. It-it should be fine." He's voice quaked barely above a whisper. "My rules were clear, and my rules were not followed. You know what happens when my rules are broken." The harsh timbre of his voice bounced through the compound, leaving a ghastly silence in its wake. "Come with me." He beckoned for the two mountains of men standing behind him to grab Him. Their bulging muscles wrapped around His body and dragged Him after Ozymanyas, their king. Their god. Windows opened as people lurched out to see their god. All they wanted, no needed was to glimpse the man that would save their lives, The man who offered a promise of eternal life and happiness no matter the cost. He knew where they were taking him. He had been there before, the last time he failed to follow orders. The large brick box loomed over the Compound. The large brick box where the Things were kept. Those horrible horrible Things, that creeped into your mind and stole your most prized memories, your most secret of desires, gone to feed the Things. No He couldn't go back. No, not again. Not after they stole IT from him. He began to fight back. Kicking, screaming, biting, He had to do whatever in his power to not go back to the large brick building that held the Things. But He couldn't stop it. The much larger men made no reaction to his protests. Before he knew it ,He was back in the large brick building and He could see the Things. Their long twirling bodies curled around each other as they reached for Him. Their mournful cries pierced his ears and all His inhibitions fell away. Their siren song kept him rooted in place He dropped His hands from His ears and sat waiting for the Things to enter Him. Their viscous, gluttonous forms snaked closer and closer, Until the first of them reached His ear. It's mouth clasped around the opening. The serrated teeth of the Thing pushed deeper into his skull , but he felt nothing his mind was to entranced by Their mournful cries. The Thing's tongue looped it's way down his ear canal landing on His brain. It slipped around smelling for the memories, for whatever would taste the best. The Thing snuck around His brain His first girlfriend, when He broke His arm, His first boyfriend, when He crashed His dad car. The Thing stopped. Dad. That sounded good. It buried itself deeper into His subconscious until he reached them. Dad. Mom. The flavor was immeasurable. The love, the trauma, the hate , the longing, it was all there. The Thing lapped it's impossibly long tongue around the memories and pulled, and soon He had no memory of Dean and Karla. No memory of his 12 birthday when he was given Rufus. Rufus? Who's Rufus? His fathers smile, his mothers hug gone forever. He felt other memories leave too. His high school graduation someone was proud of him but he just could place who, his marriage he was pretty sure someone was crying tears of joy maybe who was that? The birth of his son. Who was it that beamed in excitement? Which meant the other Things had also made it into His brain. He collapsed to the ground shuddering, not sure why but knowing it was what he should be doing. Time slowed until it was a crawl. Then he returned. Ozymanya. "I think you have learned your Lesson, right?" Ozymanya looked down at him crumpled in the corner. "Come back to the car, Tyler, you are not done yet." And with these words Tyler vomited out whatever food he had eaten that day into the small tin bucket in the corner. The shallow bin overflowed quickly as Tyler scurried back to the car. He wasn't free., and it was only going to get worse.