When the Glue Fails Pages Fall Out

"Let's go!" Lilian shouted as she ran with laughter. The white dress she wore was flowing behind her until she grasped it in her hands and ducked through the broken chain linked fence.
"Should we be doing this?" Christian hesitantly asked watching the rest of his friends following the designated leader of the night.
Martin grinned at him. "Come on, it'll be fun." Then he slipped through and ran after the rest of the group. Chuckling to himself, Christian easily pushed the fence away and caught up with his friends. The place they were at was closed off due to construction. The house was mostly build(only the top floor needed to be finished) and the in-ground pool scooped and cemented. They hung out outside at first, sharing all types of liqueur. They had everything from cheap beer to expensive vodka and rum. All courtesy of Clarke's parents who would never realize the liquids were missing. Christian listened to Martin talk about some chick he was was trying to fuck while his eyes gazed over the group. Two weeks into summer and they were finally able to sneak away from their parents.
Lilian and Sin were making out on the freshly inserted grass. Christian would bet any amount of money that within the next fifteen minutes they would make their way inside to christen the house. Kylie, Clarke, and Zach were lighting up a joint and taking hits out of a Gatorade bottle. They were going to get so fucked up. He raised a brow when Kylie inhaled deeply, pulled Zach's lips to her's and shotgunned with him. He never pictured them being together, but then again Kylie tended to get horny when high. His attention was diverted back to Martin when he asked a question about when the next time he was going to get some. Christian shrugged and told his friend that they all couldn't be man-whores. He got a punch to the arm as Martin laughed.
About a half an hour later when everyone was either stoned, drunk or both, they began playing truth or dare. Like most games, they started out innocent and slowly escalated from there. Everyone laughed when Sin had to run around the back yard naked. Mouths dropped when Kylie dared Sin and Clarke to make out. Most of the group snickered when Clarke had Kylie give Martin a lap dance. Martin in turn dared Clarke to give Christian a stripping lap dance. Everyone stood in apprehension when Martin was dared to do a front flip into the empty pool (nailed it!). They eventually moved on to strip poker until basically everyone was naked. Around midnight, Lilian and Martin got into a heated argument that ended with Lilian daring Martin to skulk around the house. Not one to have his masculinity questioned, he snapped back and headed in. The group ended up following after him. They skipped the top floor since it didn't have any floor boards and started moving around the main floor of the house. It was quiet and bare and honestly quite spooky. At some point Sin and Lilian disappeared while the rest of the group decided to head down into the basement.
Using their phones as lights they crept down the stairs to find nothing spectacular. It was concrete and empty. Cold if anything. Their breaths puffed before them as they continue to creep around. Nothing under the stairs, an empty work bench, small windows, and a door that lead probably to the wash room. Thinking nothing of it, Martin turned the handle and pushed the door open. The entire group froze at the sight before them. Hello Meth lab.
"We need to get out now." Christian paled and quickly shut the door. The small group scrambled up the stairs making a ruckus as they went.
"Sin! Lilian! Stop fucking, we need to leave!" Ever the gentleman Martin was.
Pissed off, Lilian huffed with her clothes askew. "What the hell is wrong with-"
"We need to get out now." Was all Christian said as he grabbed her elbow and ushered her out the back. Running in the same direction as they came, they were nearly home free when a group of large males headed their way. Everyone stopped and the air went chill with anticipation. One second passed. Then a minute. Then a moment. And then the men started yelling and running. Something shiny waving in the air.
"Run!" Sin shouted and took his girlfriend's hand. With very little thought, the small group ran back towards the house but instead of heading into it, they turned right towards some woods that skirted the property. The friends weaved through the trees listening to the angry men shout at them. Threats of death and torture.

Everyone screamed as they dodged bullets and brush. Splinters of trees flew everywhere and nicking a few of them, but that did not slow the terrified teens.

"Fuck!" Christian cursed, his leg hit by a stray bullet. He nearly fell, but Martin caught his arm and kept him moving.
"You okay?" Martin's eyes were dilated with terror.
"Shit, yeah. It just hurts." The group continued to run even when they came across Old Harrison's field. Christian briefly looked back before pumping his legs harder. The meth dealers were only a few hundred yards behind them. If they could make it through the field, they'd be safe. No way would the dealers risk exposure on such a busy neighborhood.


Christian didn't even let out a noise of surprise. His mind went blank as his body pitched forward and tumbled. He couldn't move or think. That was a lie, there was one thought... Pain. He was in pain and couldn't talk. It was surreal what he was experiencing. There was definitely pain, but really nothing else. The world went silent for a second or minute or perhaps even a moment. He wasn't quite sure, he just knew that for some amount of time the world seemed to freeze as he fell and hit the ground in agony.
Then everything came back. His friends were shouting and crying. Martin and Clarke were by his side, but he couldn't respond or move. He was in shock. Martin picked him up and threw him over his shoulder and started back towards the road. The group ran to the first house no longer followed by the men that chased and shot them.
"Help! Help! Some body! Anybody! Help!" Lilian, Kylie, Zach, and Clarke pounded on doors and shouted as Martin and Sin laid Christian on the ground.
"Christian!" Martin cried feeling how cold his friend was turning. "Fuck. Sin your belt. Tie... Tie it around his leg." Sin did as he was told. "Come on man. What's wrong? Shit, Christian!" It was then that he realized his hands were slick with something wet. With shaking hands he looked down to find them covered in blood. Hell he was covered in blood. Filled with horror, Martin skimmed Christian's back and froze. With tears falling down his face, Martin looked at Sin. A Hole. Christian had a hole in his back.
The moment was broken when Christian started coughing. Scarlett spattered out from his lips and his body started to convulse. He was losing too much blood and was going into shock.

"Fuck, I was shot." Christian thought as he read the gravestone in front of him and watched his best friend sob. He didn't remember much after that. It was scattered memories really. Flashing lights. A soundless world. His friends faces. White. More white. A blinding light. And then walking into school for senior year. He's only been away for the summer...
"You finally remember." Christian turned to seen a hooded figure standing adjacent to him.
"I died, didn't I?" He looked down at the polished rock.

"Yes." The hooded figure replied, its voice like a whisper on the wind.
Christian looked up and stared at Death. He knew it to be to Death for that is what the stranger felt like. "Are you here to take me to whatever lies ahead?"
"Are you ready?"
The eternally young man cocked his head. "I'm worried about my friends. What happened to them?"
The figure seemed to sigh, but Christian could not be sure Death actually could. "Death of a loved one can do one of two things. Bring people together or tear them apart. You were the center of your friend group, the glue that kept everyone together. After you died and some blame themselves for your death," Christian made a face. It was those drug dealers fault not his friends. "They could not handle being together. Not having you there caused them too much pain and like an old book whose glue has disintegrated, they fell away from each other."
"So they no longer talk?" That saddened him. They needed each other now more than ever.
"Rarely."
"...Will they?"
"I do not know."
The pair was quiet as Martin continued to silently cry. Finally, Christian spoke. "It's time for me to 'move on,' isn't it?"
"You can come with me or remain a ghost."
"What if I choose to remain a ghost for a little while longer?"
"I do not know when I will be able to return for you. It could be days, months, years, decades... You will be lost in the death of others. Your soul may have to wait before it has a chance to move on."
With a heartbroken sigh, Christian nodded. "I guess I'll go... Is it selfish of me?"
"There is no reason for you to remain here."
"But my friends and family..."
"They are no longer your concern."
"That's a bit harsh." Christian glared.
"Truth is sometimes harsh."
He couldn't fight that. "Okay, give me a second." He knelt next to his broken friend and whispered, "I'm sorry." And then hugged him. Martin shivered at the drop in temperature and looked around to find himself alone. For a second he thought he heard his late best friend's voice... wishful thinking. As Martin stood up and scrubbed the tears from his face, Christian followed Death to whatever was next for him.
He was the glue that held his friends together and now he was gone. They longer talked or hung out. They were broken and only had his grave and memories for comfort.