Finding Eve

Chapter 17: The Beast

♖ Drake ♖

"James, seriously, you need to fuck off."

The sun had long since been covered by clouds, dark angry clouds that perfectly encapsulated my mood. They cast grey shadows across the pavement, my feet slamming against them like miniature earthquakes, a force of nature.

"You know I'm not going to do that."

We had been walking for almost an hour now, checking every place we thought of that Chad could be. After realizing that we didn't know of that many places, we moved onto places where Kyle could be, since we knew that they were at least acquaintances. It wasn't a lot to go on, but my fury was still burning red hot, and I wouldn't be able to stop until I found him.

I stopped in my tracks, and turned towards James. I thought he'd give up on following me eventually, but after an hour, I realized he was too stubborn. "Why are you following me?"

His eyebrows pulled downwards, as did the edges of his lips. "Why do you think? You really believe I'm just gonna let you go half-cocked into a fight with some psycho? What kind of friend would that make me?" His tone was sharp, jagged, and I knew he was as pissed at me as I was at him. But he was right.

I relaxed my shoulders with a huff, and rubbed my hand against my eyes. "Look, man, I just don't want you to get hurt. What kind of friend would that make me?"

His face softened. "And two is always better when going into a fight. Trust me, I used to have a problem with fights, remember?"

I nodded. James was a major hothead before he met Kate. She was a big bright light, and it was hard to stay an angry blaze when you had a soft lantern following you around.

I gestured for him to keep walking. "There's one more place we could look."

♖♖♖

"Well, here we are," James sighed.

It was a small, worn down house not too far from campus. A well-known drug house, and a place where Kyle was often found, buying roids.

It wasn't sketchy-looking enough to draw attention from cops, but it was bad enough to scare off anyone looking for a good party or hookup place. It was one story, grey, with peeling paint and dirty windows. Overgrown weeds took over the yard, and an off-center mailbox greeted you at the front of the property.

"If we don't find them, maybe we could at least buy some good drugs," James joked. I shook my head at him, and began trudging across the path.

I could feel James' reluctance from behind me. It had taken him awhile to learn to control his anger, and he knew Kate wouldn't be happy with him helping me. I wasn't happy about it either. But James was too stubborn.

We paused just before opening the door. I figured James was debating how much he actually needed our friendship, while I was picturing everything I could do to hurt Chad.

When the last second of hesitation passed, I pushed the door open, and moved my foot over the threshold. The air was musty, and a huge dust-cloud billowed with the sudden movement of the door. I quickly moved my shirt up over my nose, while James coughed from behind me.

"Who's there?"

Drake and I froze at the sound of the voice. A voice that was undoubtedly Chad. I held my breath as I debated our next move.