It's Ty not Tay

All of Tyler's belongings could fit into one bag. It sat neatly in a corner of the room untouched. He wasn't here. If Tyler had left on his own he would have taken his stuff. Joseph sat down on the bed dazed. Something bad happened, didn't it? Was Tyler in danger right now? If he continued to search around would he find him?

If he waited here for him would he come back? Countless thoughts and questions flooded his mind. This was his fault.

He didn't want to lose Tyler.

When Taylor disappeared he didn't immediately go looking for him. Joseph often thought that that was probably why the trail went cold. But this time was different. He had a place of origin at the school. It hasn't been that long and if someone took him before he finished searching the school it would have to be someone with a vehicle. Someone with a vehicle in the area who could take him without being seen. Something could only have happened in the teachers parking lot. It was around the back hidden behind a row of trees.

All the teachers leave at different times so it wouldn't be impossible to get Tyler to their car unnoticed. As for who it was. Joseph steadied his breath and focused his mind. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote down the potential suspects. He had already checked most of them at the school. There weren't many left; he needed only to check them one by one. His mind was finally clear. As of now had a set goal to get Tyler back safely. Whatever grudge before had been put on hold. Even if he failed to get revenge he needed to get Tyler back.

Joseph knew he screwed up; he should never have used an innocent person as bait. Resemblance or not Tyler didn't owe him anything. He hadn't done a single thing wrong since they met. He was clouded by hatred and made a terrible mistake because of it. Joseph knew that Tyler didn't deserve this so even if he had to beg on his knees he would give up his pride to get the police to look into every person on this list. He didn't have the time to do this alone. No amount of his pride was worth Tyler's life.

Joseph resigned to tell them everything. He wouldn't let anyone ignore Tyler like they did Taylor. As soon as he completed the list Joseph ran to town and found the police station. Praying in his heart that he wouldn't let Tyler down.

Tyler was in an unfamiliar cabin. It was surrounded by forest with too much distance between it and town. He couldn't run or call for help if he tried. Even so he wasn't scared in the slightest. He was calm with no change in his usual expression.

Earlier at the school Tyler was walking with Joseph. It was the end of the school day and the bell was about to ring. He noticed how distracted Joseph was and decisively chose to keep quiet. As he looked around he saw a man standing at the end of the hall. The man looked at him with an indescribable expression. This was one of the few teachers Joseph had yet to check. Tyler met his gaze and gave a soft, kind hearted smile. The same kind you would give when recognizing an old friend. The teacher's face twitched but as the last bell rang he quickly fixed to his usual expression. He raised a hand to gesture Tyler over. It was casual as a teacher calling a student over.

As the students pooled together Tyler took the opportunity to slip into the crowd letting Joseph be dragged away. He purposefully kept himself out of sight and followed the older gentleman away. As they made it to a secluded area the teacher started to talk like normal. It was simple small talk and Tyler responded with a friendly tone. He was relaxed and his guard was completely down. The man was obviously testing him and Tyler let him do what he wanted. He suggested that Tyler followed him to his car. It seemed friendly but the underlying tone was threatening as hell. He wasn't giving Tyler an option rather a demand. With nobody else around he couldn't say no but he wasn't planning to in the first place.

The teacher drove them far out into the forest after which they walked another distance to the cabin. The teacher watched him closely the whole time. Tyler felt like he was trying to burn a hole through him with his eyes. When they got to the cabin Tyler was tired so he sat down at a table as soon as he entered. The teacher's first move was to go around locking all the doors. This place was built like a fortress. Less about keeping others out but keeping people in. He talked while he did so, asking questions more and more personal. Every question was riddled with traps just waiting for Tyler to slip up somewhere.

Tyler answered patiently, not caring to match his own answers to that of Taylor's life. When the teacher wasn't looking Tyler swiftly took an earring out of his pocket and hung it on his ear. It was a black thin rectangle shape with faded patterns too difficult to discern. It was hidden behind his hair and almost unnoticeable. The teacher came back and sat across from him. He had taken Tylers bag and shoes making it difficult for him to move through the forest. By this point there was really no point in hiding the obviously increasingly dangerous situation.

The teacher stopped the useless traps and said in a low voice: You're not Taylor are you?

His eyes were dangerous like a predator spotting his prey. He asked the question but it was more a statement. He already knew the truth. What he didn't know was why this lookalike appeared at such a time and even approached him so willingly. This terrifying aura that's usually well hidden was no longer concealed. Any normal person would probably be scared speechless at this scenario but Tyler didn't look scared in the slightest.

He answered truthfully: That's correct, I'm not Taylor. My name is Shields. Tyler Bain Shields. I don't know who you are but I know you made Taylor disappear.

The teacher narrowed his eyes: Oh yeah and may I ask what it is that you doing here Mr shields? Why not go to the authorities? Isn't it safer than using yourself as bait?

Tyler gave a defeated look and sighed: What you're thinking is right I don't have proof. I followed you on a whim and I turned out to be correct. I'm completely defenseless and probably going to lose my life here. Since this is it, why don't you help my curiosity and tell me how a kid as smart as Taylor met such an end.

Teacher scoffed at his provoking fake reaction: You don't exactly look like someone about to die. Is it that you've got an ace up your sleeve or are you simply that fearless?

Tyler retorted: Suspicion is nothing. I can't defend myself or get help. Since you've done this before you could probably make it like I was never even here. Maybe I'm fearless or maybe I've just accepted it. Either way my question remains the same: how could Taylor lose to you?

The teacher was amused and laughed saying: I suppose you're right, you will die here. It's better to just accept it. You're quite strange aren't you. Since I'm in a good mood I'll tell you.

Tyler quit messing around and listened intently. He had previously done his best to put all the pieces together. He knew that Joseph's friend was gone and he was worried. Tyler apparently looks so similar that he could take his place. Joseph brought him to many people and always watched for their reactions. He must have been searching for someone who knew something about Taylors disappearance. Unless he was testing them Joseph usually didn't pay attention to the people around them. Tyler however always heard the whispers.

They would say: Isn't that Taylor? He looks a little different.

Now that he's back Joseph doesn't have to worry anymore. Those two have always been smart. It's obvious that Taylor could take care of himself he worried for nothing.

That's right he could always out talk any adult and was very cautious around others. A kid like that wouldn't take a risk and disappear so suddenly.

Tyler heard these words everywhere. He understood that with such a coincidence as their meeting it was obvious why Joseph was driven to doing such a thing. If it were anyone else they would probably be upset at being used for such a risky plan. But Tyler didn't care about any of that. He just didn't want Joseph to have any more regrets in his heart about going through with such a plan. So he did it himself. He tried his best to figure out what kind of person Taylor was. He didn't think that being tricked by some creepy adult was in line with Taylors character. He came up with a few guesses and now wanted to confirm the truth. If he guessed correctly then that meant that he was right about Taylor. In which case this all might work out.

First day of May.

About a month ago Taylor had been doing jobs with Joseph to save up some more money. They wanted to buy some more interesting books they found recently. More often than not the two of them were found together. But every once in a while Taylor would head off to do some side project of his. It wasn't well known to the adults but around the kids their age Taylor was known to take requests.

Whenever someone had a question they needed the answer to they would trade with Taylor for it. He was smart and could figure things out with a little investigation. Most of the time it was finding missing items or giving advice on how to complete a task. The request range was basically unlimited. No matter how difficult or easy a situation was, Taylor could probably help one way or another. Taylor was smart but always cautious. He knew when to pass a task off to a professional and he never did anything that could result in injury.

He could tell at a glance when someone was sketchy and always kept this in mind when meeting people. Everyone was kept farther than arm's length. Everyone except for Joseph. He never took Joseph to the more menial time consuming requests. He didn't like the idea of Joseph getting roped into anything potentially strange. He liked being the tough older brother coming home to the smiling younger brother. No matter how bad the outside world was he could always breathe peacefully with Joseph. He would never be like the adults. He would always strive to protect this person. To him that also meant eliminating all potential threats in advance.

When Taylor was out doing errands he ran into a girl a little older than himself. She had a small white dog with her. It followed her around and didn't make much noise. Taylors first thought was that Joseph would probably like to have seen such a cute dog.

The girl walked up to him and asked if he was Taylor. He answered truthfully as kids his age weren't much of a threat to him. She looked slightly hesitant about talking to him but inevitably bit her resolve and asked to request something. Taylor could easily read how important it was to her so he agreed to talk for a bit.

After finding a quiet place to talk the girl spoke up: To be honest I don't know if you can actually help. I only thought that if worse comes to worse I would probably want somebody to know. Maybe.

She seemed to be trailing off as she spoke. Rambling slightly from nervousness.

Taylor responded with a tone of patience: Even if I can't help I can still give advice. Just be as clear as possible and I'll answer after considering the problem.

The girl gave a giant smile of relief and spoke: Thanks for listening at all.

Taylor nodded and waited patiently for her to put her thoughts together. She then proceeded to tell him her situation.