Young Writers Society

Laise stared at the grimy mirror in front of him. A small face, dirty blonde hair and thin lips. His fists tightened as he recalled the twisted, thorny squabbles of his classmates. The voices rang in his head, freak! Disgusting! Faggot! His dusty green eyes bled with agony. I can't take it anymore, he thought as he stepped closer to the sink. He slammed his fist into it, shattering the glass. He jolted as someone started banging on the door.

“Open up Laise! Please open up!” It was Kye. A boy his age, who was more than a friend. Laise gritted his teeth as tears started to burn down his face.

“Kye… I’m sorry. I can’t take it anymore! I don’t want to be here anymore!” He gripped a piece of glass, wincing as blood started trickling down his arm.

“Kye, I’m so sorry! Kye!” He cried, half in agony and half in grief. Yet, he didn’t feel regret. He had decided. On his fifteenth birthday, he would do it, and he did.

Kye stared at the locked door in horror. Laise’s whimpers were silenced, a terrible chill settled over the scene, a fog of despair. Kye was lost. The one person he had relied on his entire life, was lost as well. Kye fell to the floor, unable to comprehend what had just taken place. Did he just… is he… no. No, no, no! He can’t! He couldn’t have… Kye’s thoughts were clouded, disbelief shredding away at his soul. All that he had lived for was demolished. There was no reason, to stay here anymore.

The tears stopped flowing. His fists unclenched. The shaking ceased. Kye stood, eyes shadowed over by his chestnut hair. His frown turned up into a shivering smile, but his eyes did not smile with it. His grin soon however crippled into a pained cry. He tried to convince himself that it was all a dream. Maybe if he smiled, he would wake up in his own bed and forget the nightmare. But there was no way this was a dream, it felt all too real. He fell against the door, banging and screaming,

“You’ve got to wake up! Laise! Laise! Please wake up! Laise I’m sorry! Laise! Don’t leave me! You can’t leave me! Talk to me! Tell me about everything I did wrong! I’ll fix it! I’m sorry Laise! Please! Please don’t go without me! Wait for me!” Teeth clenched and fingernails scratching at the wood, he wailed. But no matter how much he begged, Laise would not answer, and Kye was forced to accept the truth. Laise is dead.

Laise’s mother, Christine came sprinting into the room, eyes wide with fear. Kye was still screaming and was at this point, desparately prying on the doorknob. Christine dragged Kye away from the door, setting him in a chair, sobbing.

“Kye! Where is Laise?! What happened when I was gone?!” Kye looked up. The expression on his face was enough to tell her everything. She raced to the bathroom door, prying it open. A look of terror was slapped on her face as she stared down, her son, barely breathing on the tile. Kye’s eyes widened, he fell off the chair and hurriedly clawed his way to Laise’s side.

“LAISE!” He called. It was hopeless. He rocked back and forth, knees hugged to his chest. Kye plucked Laise’s hand from the cold porcelain and held it, stroking the soft skin. Tears shivered onto Laise’s face, but they were not his. The wail of a siren screeched in the distance as the two picked up Laise’s body, heaving him onto the bed. His mother began to clean the glass and blood, heart racing. She cried out as glass cut her, adding more blood to the tiles. Yes, the two were quite scared, because the thing most precious to them, was rapidly slipping away.

The emergency medical assistants were placing Laise in the vehicle, the hopeful crow of the siren started up again as the truck began to hustle back to the hospital. Kye and Laise’s mother were being comforted, being told that everything would be all right. All lies. Kye stood silently by the garden, unable to think. Christine’s eyes were glazed with grief as one of the nurses explained.

“I’m afraid your son may not make it. He has lost a very critical amount of blood. We will do everything we possibly can, but we cannot tell you for sure if he will be alright. For now, the best thing you can do for him is to keep calm and be patient.” Kye gritted his teeth and ran back into the house.

“I’ve got to find him. I’ve got to find Laise! Laise! Laise! Where are you?!” His thoughts were muddled. Laise!

“Laise! Answer me! Laise! Please Laise! Please… don’t go…” He dropped to the bathroom floor, sobbing. He couldn’t believe it. Laise, don’t go without me! It was impossible. Kye could not move on. He felt the pain of a wounded animal, left to die by it’s own family. Laise wouldn’t abandon me… but he did.

“Kye!” Christine called. Where is that boy, she muttered.

“Kye!” Kye looked up from the floor.

“There you are.” Her eyes were swollen. Kye spoke, for the first time in hours,

“Have you found Laise?” She looked at him, hurt by the reminder and confused.

“What are you talking about? Laise is… he’s… in the hospital.” Kye shook his head, a strange smile shivering in it’s frailty.

“No. Laise isn’t in the hospital. He’s somewhere else, far away from me and you.” Tears began to pour on the young boy’s face. Christine rubbed her temples,

“Please! Don’t make anymore trouble for me! You don’t make any sense.”

“But he’s —”

“Laise is in the hospital and that’s that!” She screamed in agitation. Kye listened to her footsteps as they pounded down the stairs. Kye’s smile crumpled, but at least one thing was sure. He was finding Laise, even if it meant leaving this world.

Kye raced out of the house and down to the lake. Laise, do you remember when we sat by this lake… together. Do you remember the sun, heating up our backs and the autumn wind touching our hair? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. Don’t tell me it was all for nothing. Kye took one look at the water, and dove in. He’d never learned how to swim.

He needed to find Laise, to be with him. He needed Laise. Run his spindly fingers through dirty blonde hair. Smooth skin, beautiful, sad, lonely eyes. Soft, shivering lips to ease his pain. He needed Laise. Laise come back to me...poor, pained, beautiful, kind, cool, brave, Laise. I love Laise...maybe, perhaps, he didn’t love me. Lies, all lies. Confusion broke through every reasonable thought in his mind. No room for those thoughts….all I need is Laise.

The water is deep. It’s cold too. The water is dark, black. There is something sliding against my leg, is it Laise’s soft hand? There is a dark shape above me, is it his faraway face, finally looking just at me? Kye let the bubbles in his mouth disperse, he suffocated. Slimy shadows brushed against him as his eyes struggled to keep open. The algae coated pebbles were slippery, like the scales of a sea snake. He hated it, the feeling of water plants shivering against his spine. The creatures in the water with him noticed the new intruder. They crawled across the muddy bottom to claw and scratch at his hands and feet, like spirits, they waited for him to die, so they could devour him. Kye felt fear and regret cripple him up. I don’t want this. A faint voice from above called. Kye! Kye! It was Christine. I’m so sorry… Laise… I’m coming to you Laise… he felt the world turn black as he slipped away and the devils of the lake leaned in to have a piece. Kye had found Laise in the darkest of places, and finally, they were together again.

Several weeks later, a newspaper floated to the bottom of the pond. Ink swirled and glimmered in the water, leaving just enough to read out the words, “miraculous recovery”. Laise’s small face, pinched and pale was posted on the front. The headline read, “Where’s Kye.” they were the first words uttered by the poor boy, and they were never to be answered. For Kye was long gone, thinking that his beloved was with him all the way...