World of Misfits

Laden's Depression

       I woke up to a loud and echoing scream. I recognized who it was right away. Laden. I sprung up out of my bed so fast that I almost hit the floor. In the background, all I heard was Laden's screams. "Don't leave me! Come back! You promised! Don't leave!"  I rushed out of the house and immediately saw people running towards his cries. I broke out into a sprint  and caught up to the crowd surrounding his house. He was still screaming with every breath of air he had in his lungs. I quickly looked around for Evan and Hayley. Luckily, I heard her voice squeezing through the crowd. Her makeup was smothered from her tears. She must have spotted me.

"Hayley, what's going on?" I asked as she came closer. She stepped me away from the crowd so I could hear her over the commotion. She was shaking when she put her hands on my shoulders. 

"Rusty died." Hayley managed getting the words out of her mouth. "He has a knife lodged in his chest and there's blood on the floor, I think someone killed him Morgan." Hayley said, breaking into tears. I forgot how to breathe when she told me, who would do that to someone? Especially in a place like this. I pushed my way through the crowd and fought my way to the door. I quickly hopped inside shutting the door behind me. I couldn't see him until I took a few more steps inside. 

"Laden?" I asked as I started to walk over to him. Rusty was placed effortlessly on the couch with Laden's face buried in his torso as he was knealt next to him. I noticed that the screaming stopped but his cry was much worse to listen to. I dared to look at the floor only to quickly notice Rusty's blood tracing from the couch to the door. Somebody did kill him. But who the hell did it? I got on my knees next to him and looked at the knife sticking up from Rusty's corpse. It had a golden handle with red rubies on it, along with the misfit symbol engraved in the blade. Laden's hands and shirt were covered in blood. I wrapped my arms around him and we cried together. I rocked him back and forth while I heard him lose his breath a few times.

"I can't beileve he's gone Morgan." He hyprovenilated in the most heartbreaking tone. I held him even tighter while I felt him shaking in my arms. I just don't understand; Rusty is such a great guy, I could never imagine him with enemies.

A crazy thought entered my head. Rusty must have left something behind and I'm pretty sure Laden thought the same thing; I just don't think he has the strength to try and look.

"Laden, I'm going to Rusty's house real quick. Do you need anything before I leave?" He nodded his head no without even looking up at me. I got to my feet and made my way outside. There's something missing in this picture, and not just who killed him.

I walked out with a sharp pain in my chest. The crowd was insane! It looked like all of the misfits were crowding the whole entire street, along with between the houses. I saw Shear and automatically knew that this was ten times as worse than I thought.

"What happened?" Shear questioned with a very pitiful look on her face. I choked on the words that were about to come out of my mouth, but Shear didn't look in the mood to be patient.

"Rusty died. Hayley and I are almost certain that someone killed him." I said, crossing my arms and looking down at the ground with such grief. I looked back up and was nearly frightened by the look on Shear's face. She didn't look sorrowful, she looked more along the lines of frustration. She knows Laden more than I do; just like me, he doesn't take death too lightly.

"Mr. Silver isn't here yet?" Shear asked aggrivted. That makes me wonder why he isn't here as well, isn't he the leader?

"Not that I know of, I'm on my way to Rusty's place." If Rusty killed himself, he was bond to leave a note or something behind. I walked away from Shear just as her team mates showed up. I rushed over to Rusty's which wasn't that far since I ran. There has to be a reason.

I froze completely still in front of Rusty's front door. This may sound horriblt to say, but I really do hope that this was a suicide. It's hard to think that a good man was murdered. I got the strength to open the door and walk in. Every single room looked normal; but then, I looked at his working desk where he was working on solar lighting for R&R. On a small torn up piece of paper, his last words were written. I didn't understand what it meant, the words didn't sound suicidal.

It said:

The best kind of people to be around, are the ones who were easily forgotten.

I folded it up, put it in my pocket and left. I couldn't bare to be in there any longer; I know I'm supposed to be strong for Laden, but my body is desperate to break down. By the time I got back to Laden's, the crowd was gone and Jarvis was standing outside the front door. It's about time Mr. Silver showed his face around here. Odly enogh, Jarvis looked paler than before when he let me inside. There is no telling on what that old man has heard and seen. When I walked in; Rusty's body wasn't there anymore, but Laden was still in the same position. Mr. Silver was knealt beside him, looking at where Rusty's head once lay. He looked as if he was in disbelief.

"We'll have a proper funeral for him tomorrow. I'm so sorry for your loss, Laden." Mr. Silver said standing up. Laden didn't say a word. When Mr. Silver finally left after waiting a while for Laden to respond to him; I got on my knees beside him determined to show Laden the note.

"I found something on his desk." I said softly; reaching for my pocket. He slowly pulled his head up and I saw his beat-red face throught his hair strands. He looked over at me and my heart stopped when I saw the white parts of his eyes that were blood red. They were so red that his bright blue eyes now looked dull and gray. I put it in the hand he was golding out. He began to laught but then he cried and eventually he did both. He felt the creases in the words and smiled with tears dripping down the edge of his nose.

"He always said this to me when I was feeling depressed, pretty powerful words for one sentence," he looked over at me with a sincere look on his face,"He didn't kill himself, he has too much of a positive energy." I agreed. I only met Rusty once, but he has the sweetest and kindest personality. I'm so relieved to see Laden smile, even at least if it's just for a little bit. He tried to stand up but his legs were way too weak. I helped him to his feet and didn't let him go. I held him with his arms wrapped around his waist. I owe Laden, after meeting my mother and pulling me out of that. Words just can't describe how much I appreciate what he did for me. If he wasn't there in that damn subway, I would've went home and ended it all.

"If it isn't too much to ask, could I stay at your place tonight?" He asked, sniffing his nose. I nodded and buried my head in his chest. I felt his warm tears falling down on the side of my neck. He's...really upset. More than I would ever bare to imagine. It doesn't surprise me that he is; from the looks of it, Laden was very close to him. I let him go and looked up at his sorrow filled face. His eyes were puffy and his cheecks were drenched with tears.

I let him inside and he went straight to the bathroom to clean the dried blood off of his hands and face. I'm not used to seeing him this way and it's so hard to. I got dressed in my night clothes and nearly fell asleep when Laden started knocking on my door.

"Morgan?" he asked shyly, remaining at the door. I sat up in bed, my eyes tracing his shadow like figure.

"Yeah?" I asked quietly.

"Can I sleep with you? I don't wanna be alone." He said as I watched the frustration in his movements. I moved over and made room for him.

"Yeah, of course that's no problem." I said kindly. He slowly walked to the bed and climbed in. I felt the warmth of him next to me which made my bed feel a lot more comfortable.

"Thank you." he said, his eyes closed.

"Don't mention it." I said, trying to fall back asleep. "Goodnight Laden."

"Goodnight." He said, pulling the covers over him.