End of the World
Come to the junkyard… and bring shovels.
Walter's initial excitement concerning the exhumation of a corpse was thoroughly crushed when they arrived at the scene. Olivia noticed how Walter's mood sunk dramatically when they discovered the state of the trio of teenagers. Chloe was in a state of shock, and would probably have been in a worse state if Max hadn't been right beside her. Max, to her credit, seemed to be taking on as much of her friends' burden as she could manage, but it was obvious that the task weighed heavily upon her.
Kevin, on the other hand, was doing his best to seem stoic. Olivia easily saw through his flimsy shield. Even if she hadn't noticed how his voice had quivered when he had called her, she saw how distressed he seemed even though he was putting an immense amount of effort into looking collected. Olivia surmised that his resolve would snap at the slightest provocation. Peter and Charlie removed two shovels from the trunk and she guessed that as Rachel's corpse was exhumed, Kevin's will would break.
She was, as usual, correct. Chloe and Max doggedly refused to watch the grim procedure, but halfway through the exhumation Kevin spied a look at the operation and evidently immediately regretted his decision. He broke. His face paled and tears that he had been holding back trickled down his face as his hands balled into tight fists.
The smell finally reached her, causing Olivia to grimace. Strangely, Walter was much closer to the exhumation but he seemed entirely unaffected. He wore a sad yet determined expression as he made certain that Peter and Charlie were excavating the body properly. Peter and Charlie, who knew exactly what they should be doing, did their best to ignore Walter's demanding protests but their progress slowed as they neared the end of their task.
"Careful! I need the body in one piece if I'm going to examine her properly once we transport her back to—"
"Whoa, hold up… this is not coming back to my house!" Charlie protested.
"Where else am I going to examine it, Agent Francis?"
"Oh, I don't know… maybe this place called not my fucking house?"
"Enough!" Her voice surprised her with its harshness and caused everyone else to jump. Everyone except Chloe, who was in such a state of shock, Olivia was certain hadn't heard the interjection, much less been able to process what was going on.
Olivia needed more information before she decided what their best course of action, so she motioned for Kevin to join her and he hastened to her side, all too happy at her distraction. As he hurried to her side, he casually wiped the tears off of his face and she did her best to look as if she hadn't noticed. She would have much rather spoken with Max, but she was busy looking after Chloe and she didn't have the heart to tear the two apart at the moment.
"So, care to fill me in?" Olivia asked.
Kevin nodded, and took a few moments to compose himself as he reached her side.
"Well, I was at the lighthouse when—" Kevin stopped himself mid-sentence, and froze for a moment as he stumbled over his own words. "—Chloe and Max told me to meet them at this address." Kevin removed his phone from his pocket and brought up the aforementioned address as he tried to distract her from what he had almost said earlier. Pretending to analyze his phone, she watched Kevin closely as he relaxed when it appeared that his ploy was working.
"What happened at the lighthouse?"
Kevin did his best to cover his reaction, but he fumbled his phone and his face paled. "Nothing!" he shot out quickly.
She pressed him once more, and he caved with a heavy sigh, his posture slackened in defeat. After a few moments of hesitation, he proceeded to unload an impressively unbelievable tale on her that only grew more mysterious and troubling as it unfolded.
Kevin ended his tale and was troubled by the look of confusion contorting Olivia's face. If anyone was going to believe him about what had happened, it should be these people. But from the look on Olivia's face at the moment, he felt certain that she hadn't believed a word of it. Before he could try to convince her otherwise, she tore her phone out of her pocket, and quickly accessed something on it before shoving it into his face.
"Is this the man who stepped in, the one that said that 'you were important'?" Olivia's frantic question shocked him, and he was in such a state of bewilderment that it took him a moment to focus on the image right in front of his face.
"That's… that's him! That's the guy!"
Great, just great, this is getting far too weird and convenient for me… who the hell is this guy and why does Olivia have a picture of him? It looks like a picture from a security camera… What the fuck is going on?
Olivia called out to her comrades and her unbalanced tone hastened them to her side. Before anyone could ask any questions, she flashed her phone at them and all three of them blanched at the sight of the man's image.
"Kevin was approached by an observer… this observer—"
All at once, Peter and Walter barraged him with questions and pressed him for more information. Charlie held back and remained silent, but he seemed troubled all the same.
Olivia took charge, restraining the Bishops, and after a few moments of tense silence, she turned back towards Kevin and asked him to repeat his story, word for word. She also insisted that if he had left anything out, any minor detail that seemed mundane at the time, that he should include it this time.
Exhaling deeply, Kevin shifted his stance, uncomfortable at being the center of attention, but there was no way out. He retold his story and did his best to recount the experience exactly as he remembered it.
Kevin braced himself for the inevitable questions once he was done, but none came. The uncomfortable silence engulfed him and became so overwhelming that he could barely hear Chloe's muffled cries.
Chloe's suffering brought him back to the matter at hand, and he pressed on,explaining how he had received a text message from Max and Chloe asking him to meet them at the address he had shown to Olivia. He then explained that upon arriving at the address that the trio had hurried here, and found Rachel's body. Kevin concluded that there must be solid evidence at the aforementioned location. Nodding, Charlie motioned to Olivia and then towards the vehicles.
"Let's go, Liv… Kevin, you're driving!" Charlie ordered.
"Wait… what? Why am I driving?" asked Kevin.
"We only brought one car, and we can't just leave the Bishops here without a vehicle, now can we?"
"So… does this mean I get to speed… legally?"
Smiling, Charlie nodded and Kevin flashed a wide grin as he raced towards his car. Charlie's smile vanished when he caught sight of Kevin's tiny backseat when Olivia called 'shotgun' before he could. As Charlie crawled into Kevin's rear seat with some effort, Kevin cast Max and Chloe one last look. His heart broke all over again.
Chloe was a wreck, and had become lost in misery. Max was desperately embracing her friend, doing what little she could to comfort her. Kevin wanted to say something, to catch their attention to tell them anything helpful, but he had no words to offer. Reluctantly entering his vehicle, he sighed in frustration.
He hesitated a moment before starting his vehicle and looked once more over at his friends, but Olivia's calm and almost soothing voice caught his attention.
"We can't bring Rachel back, but we can stop whoever is responsible for this. We've got our first solid lead here thanks to you guys. Let's not waste this opportunity."
"Right," Kevin responded with newfound enthusiasm as he engaged his vehicle's ignition. Pushing his Mazda to its limits in every possible way, it struggled up the dirt path and back onto the road with Charlie grumbling about the lack of space in the back seat as he was bounced around.
It hadn't taken them long to return to the run-down barn. It appeared deserted, but Olivia and Charlie were alert and on edge.
Charlie drew his gun even before scrambling out of the rear seat, and groaned excessively as he stretched away the discomfort of the cramped journey. Olivia slowly un-holstered her own firearm as she looked around. While she was surveying the scene, Kevin reached into his laptop bag and withdrew his own weapon without thinking.
"Where the hell did you get a gun from, kid?" Charlie growled quietly, but made no move to take it away from him.
"Nathan," Kevin replied flatly. He was rewarded with an approving nod from Charlie, but Olivia cast him a worried glance.
"Charlie and I are going in, and you're staying out here until we've cleared the building."
Kevin was about to argue, but he held his tongue when he noticed Olivia's fierce and commanding gaze. Not wishing to draw further ire from her, he nodded and watched them disappear around the side of the building, weapons held at the ready.
It didn't take long for Kevin to become overwhelmed with a mixture of boredom and anticipation. The golden hour was fast approaching and the scene around him was bathed in warm, golden light. As he took in the serenity of his surroundings, he realized that his mood was contrasting starkly with the area around him.
Birds sang their songs, the breeze tickled his exposed skin as it lightly blew past, and as far as the eyes could see he was surrounded by lush forest. Despite the picturesque scene, he stood fixed in one spot, his entire body rigid as his hands fiercely grasped his stolen firearm, the cold metal biting back against his warm, clenched hands.
Slowly and deliberately, he forced himself to relax and leaned against his car, letting out a calming breath through his clenched teeth. He freed his left hand from his weapon and massaged his jaw muscles to release some of the tension, but his right hand kept a determined grip on the now oddly heavy gun.
Deep and immense paranoia washed over him, and he bolted upright, weapon at the ready. His eyes narrowed, he quickly scanned his surroundings for threats, and stretched his sensitive hearing as far as he could manage. His eyes detected nothing out of the ordinary, and his ears heard nothing out of place, but he sensed, almost tasted, that something wasn't right. Never before had the feeling of being watched been so intense, but just as the sensation was at its peak, it vanished leaving him feeling oddly empty.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when Olivia and Charlie hastily rounded the corner of the barn. They were both on their phones and paying him no attention at all. Calming himself down, he did his best to listen in to both of their conversations at once, and was rewarded with only bits of pieces of information.
Charlie was calling in local contacts for assistance or reinforcements, but ended his call too quickly to be sure. Olivia was talking to someone higher up the food chain than her, maybe even her own supervisor or whatever. It took a little longer for him to piece together, but it eventually became apparent that she was requesting assistance or at least reporting in what they had found. Both of the agents seemed tense and when he thought they weren't watching, he tried to sneak past them and do his own investigating, but Charlie blocked his path and shook his head.
"Nothing good to see in there."
This ominous warning only fed the fire within Kevin, and he tried to push past Charlie, but he would never get past him.
"Look kid, I'm doing you a favor alright… just let it go."
"This is about the folder with pictures of Kate, isn't it?"
Charlie's face hardened at Kevin's question, and he could only brace himself against Agent Francis's response. "So, you know? Then why the fuck would you want to go down there then, huh? It's a damned creepshow down there. If you go down there you'll regret it, you don't need to see any of that shit. So just listen to me when I tell you that I'm doing you a damned favor, and quit while you're ahead."
"Okay, okay! Jesus Christ! Okay! Lay off for fuck's sake…"
Before he and Charlie could get into it any further, Olivia hung up her phone and turned towards them. She had been so caught up with her conversation that she hadn't noticed their exchange and paid their fierce and frustrated expressions no more than a glance apiece.
"Broyles is sending more agents from the local office but they won't be here for several hours which means that your people are going to have to keep an eye on this place before they get here. Can they handle that?"
"Come on, Livvy. We're talking about a bunch of ex-marines and guys like you and me. They'll keep everything down there safe while we hunt this kid down."
"Why aren't you guys contacting the local police? What's with all the in-house bullshit? Does the FBI always work like this?" Kevin asked with mounting frustration.
"Word is that the local police are all owned by the Prescotts, and seeing as our number one suspect is Nathan fucking Prescott, we'd rather not give this kid time to skip town or something like that. We're playing it smart, kid. Leave this to the professionals and keep your head down and your mouth shut. We'll have this whole thing taken care of before you can ask another stupid question.
"Damn, dude…" Kevin mumbled. It felt as if he'd been physically slapped.
"What? Too harsh?" Charlie crossed his arms and stared down at him mockingly.
"Yeah… just a tiny bit," Kevin replied sarcastically, but also shrugging to show that there were no hard feelings.
"You'll live." Charlie smiled and ruffled Kevin's hair affectionately, as if he hadn't just chewed him out. "You two head back to the junkyard, and I'll stay until my boys get here… And tell Walter that he can take the damned body back to my house, but that he'd better get that smell out before this is all over."
Olivia shot her partner a quick nod. Kevin moved towards his car with Olivia close behind. He got behind the wheel, and realized with frustration that he hadn't parked his car right, again.
Before Olivia could finish fastening her seatbelt, he threw the car into reverse and tore down the dirt driveway. Once he reached the road he quickly turned his car around and sped off back towards the junkyard and his car's underpowered four-cylinder engine whined in protest as he allowed the revs to climb ever higher.
"Whoa! Calm down," Olivia protested.
He ignored her, continuing to increase his speed, and responded innocently. "What? Charlie said I could speed."
Kevin kept his grumblings mostly to himself as the rough dirt 'road' towards the junkyard came to an end. Chloe's truck was gone. If Chloe wasn't there, neither was Max. Dread crept through Kevin as he threw his car into park next to the lone FBI vehicle. He snatched his phone out of his pocket and searched his contacts for Max's number.
Olivia wordlessly exited the vehicle and went to join Peter and Walter, who had probably completed exhuming Rachel's body at this point. Kevin had never known Rachel Amber, but she had been mentioned from time to time by various classmates during his short time at Blackwell. The common theory was that Rachel had left Arcadia Bay for better prospects.
Chloe had probably clung to this theory, hoping that she would one day see her friend again. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter was less than forgiving. Chloe's dream was shattered. All that was left of Chloe's friend was a half-rotted corpse. Nathan had killed her. Kevin momentarily wondered if the same thing could have happened to Kate and he instantly felt ill. Logically, if Nathan had killed Kate, then Kevin would never have gotten to know how amazing she was. This did little to subdue the rage that was building inside Kevin's chest.
Max's voicemail picked up the call, so Kevin hung up and sent her a text instead. He thought about calling Chloe while he waited for a response.
What would I even say? Sorry your friend is dead?
Still holding his phone, Kevin's thoughts went to Kate. He decided that he had an amazingly convenient excuse to call her and hear her voice, even if just for a moment.
Kate answered almost immediately and he was momentarily taken aback by how cheerful she sounded. Not wishing to dampen her mood, he did his best to sound casual. As he figured, she hadn't heard from Max or Chloe.
He must have done a poor job at covering his apprehension because her voice lowered in pitch as she grew concerned. Insisting that nothing was wrong, Kevin tried to redirect the conversation but Kate's voice grew hard as she once again pressed him for information. She must have realized that victory was hers as he let out a long steadying sigh because she waited patiently for him to speak.
"We… we found Rachel's body." Wanting to say more, Kevin discovered that he couldn't as the words caught in his throat. He heard Kate gasp on the other end of the line.
"Are… you okay?" Kate's concern for him was heartwarming. Kevin smiled despite the grim feelings circling him.
"I'm fine. I guess… but Chloe… that was her friend Kate. She just fell apart when we found Rachel. I don't know where she and Max went, and Max isn't answering her phone. I'm worried."
"Have you guys called the police… should you even?" asked Kate, her apprehension mounting.
"It's a long story that I don't have time to tell right now, but we've got a few FBI agents helping us out and they apparently have enough evidence to go after Nathan now."
"Good." The vehemence in her voice was readily apparent but her tone dramatically softened as she quickly composed herself. "You'll have to tell me all about it when this is all over… I'll text Max and see if she answers… I'll let you know either way, okay?"
"Thanks, Kate. You're an angel." Kevin resisted the urge to smack himself for being so cheesy, but Kate's soft giggles distracted him from his poor choice of words.
"Don't think that I'm letting you off that easy. You'd better tell me all about this adventure of yours…and please… be careful. And if you see Chloe before I have a chance to speak with Max, please tell her that…" Kate seemed at a loss for words as she struggled to finish her sentence, and Kevin immediately regretted calling her and bringing the darkness of misery back to her. Kate recovered though and her voice returned with a newfound tenacity in it. "Please tell her that my thoughts and prayers go out to her. Rachel too."
Kevin thanked her again and reassured her that he would relay her message. She surprised him though when she coyishly informed him that he would be in her thoughts and prayers as well. Feeling his face turn bright red, he stammered out a lame response and after some more light teasing and reassurances that he would be careful, the call ended.
Kevin sat motionless in his car for what seemed like an eternity.
That was… holy shit that was… Focus, Kevin… Think!
His thoughts were a mess, and he had to take several long calming breaths to refocus his attention to the matter at hand.
That was an amazing… distraction. Hopefully, she will get through to Max, but if Max doesn't answer her either—Kevin shook his head in frustration. Peter or Walter would know where his friends had gone, no need to worry. Grumbling to himself, Kevin climbed out of his vehicle, and rushed off to join the ongoing conversation.
"That is very interesting, Agent Dunham. Very interesting indeed… disturbing… but I think I might have a theory or two on how this young lady died." Walter paused to look down at the now empty hole where Rachel's body had been unearthed.
Her body was nowhere to be seen, thank god, but the horrible smell still lingered in the air as if the stench of death had infected everything around the grave with a ghastly vengeance.
"I examined her as best I could, considering the location, but I was able to rule out all physical trauma. And with the information that you provided me concerning the drugs that you found… I'd say she might have overdosed, or perhaps there were complications with the injection, but I won't know until I have her back at my lab… or another suitable facility."
"From the number of binders that we found, I'd say that this has been going on for a long time. Perhaps Rachel was one of the first victims…" Olivia trailed off mid-sentence, lost in thought, her eyes slowly widening.
"Olivia?" Peter stepped toward Olivia, perhaps unconsciously, because he immediately checked his movement.
"Could Nathan really have done all of this on his own? Rachel disappeared months ago, but those binders were ordered from first to last. Max and Chloe didn't disturb any of the other shelves… just the most recent ones. Whoever's lab that was had a strict sense of order and… perfectionism. If Rachel was one of the more recent abductions, then this could have been going on for a lot longer than just a few months…"
Peter nodded thoughtfully and picked up where Olivia had left off. "Nathan couldn't have done all this on his own. Even with all of his family's resources. I doubt he's capable of keeping something like this going for that long."
Kevin spoke up, surprising everyone, who were just noticing his presence.
"Nathan's far too unstable to keep something like this hidden for very long," Kevin interjected harshly, surprising the adults who'd forgotten he was there. "So what? We know he was responsible for Rachel and Kate, but..."
"Someone else has been doing this a lot longer than Nathan, and Nathan will no doubt lead us to them." Olivia was interrupted by her phone and she nodded once she had checked it. "Charlie is on his way here, and Broyles has given us the go ahead for arresting Nathan. That picture of him posing with Rachel's body was pretty damning evidence."
He posed with Rachel's body? What sort of fucked up things did he do to Kate? Do I even want to know? I'm going to fucking kill him if he touched her… Walter's voice wrenched Kevin out of his thoughts.
"How barbaric…" Walter grumbled. He looked around,his face growing confused and slightly panicked. "Where have Maxine and Chloe gone?"
Peter moved to where the cars were parked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Wait… you mean you don't know where they went?" Kevin asked in disbelief as he checked his phone once more to see if Max had responded to his text. She hadn't. There was a message from Kate, however, but as he read it his hopes were dashed. Max hadn't responded to her either. A slight sense of panic was beginning to set in.
"I think we should get to Nathan before Chloe does. Something tells me that she might kill him on sight if she finds him." Peter's words brought a hard look to the surface of Kevin's face.
Good.
Noticing this, Peter shot Kevin a stern and reproachful look, but said nothing further all the same.
"Good idea. Peter, you and Walter head back to Charlie's with Rachel and I'll have Kevin here give me a ride to Blackwell. Once you're done dropping Walter off, head there as soon as you can."
Peter nodded to Olivia, but didn't seem all too happy that he had to chauffeur Walter back to Charlie's house before joining up with Olivia, but who else would? Kevin certainly wouldn't trust Walter behind the wheel of a car, especially since there was no telling how many drugs were in the man's system at the moment. Despite this logic, Walter was having none of it.
"I can drive myself! Peter, go with Agent Dunham. I can manage on my own!"
Peter folded his arms across his chest and stared dubiously at his father. "Do you remember how to get to Charlie's house?" Walter's determined expression vanished in an instant and he mumbled something about maybe needing directions. "Walter… it's fine. I'll drive you back to Charlie's house. I'm sure Charlie and Olivia can handle a teenager."
"Yes… of course. No doubt." Walter relented, but a cloud of doubt still plagued his furrowed brow. He didn't offer any further objections as Peter shepherded him towards the black FBI sedan. Kevin shook his head and jumped into his car as Olivia sat down next to him in his passenger seat.
"And besides… I'm sure Peter wouldn't like riding in your back seat any more than Charlie did. Especially with the way you drive." Olivia turned towards Kevin and smiled playfully at him, an actual real smile that didn't seem forced or awkward in any way, to show that she was just teasing him. "I'm certainly not getting back there."
Smiling himself, Kevin started his vehicle and threw it into gear as he sped off towards Blackwell Academy.
Despite the darkness, it didn't take long for Kevin to identify Chloe's truck, being the largest and worst maintained vehicle in the Blackwell parking lot. It stuck out like a sore thumb. Kevin pulled up next to it and parked his car. As he got out of his vehicle, faint traces of music tickled his ears. Quickly scanning the area, he noticed more students outside than there should have been at this hour. Worse yet, most of them were carrying those plastic red party cups.
Olivia's mind, working quicker than his, as usual, helped him identify the obvious. "Is there a big party scheduled for tonight?"
Kevin resisted the urge to smack himself in the face, but only just barely.
"Yeah, there's some stupid 'End of the World' party or some pretentious shit like that going on… I guess it's tonight… I mean it would seem obvious that it is tonight with the obnoxiously loud music. The drunk kids wandering around freely not being bothered by security—"
"So, let me get this straight… You're a kid in a fancy school that allows parties of this caliber and you had no idea it was tonight?" Olivia seemed stunned and she probably should be, he was pretty surprised himself.
"Well… yeah. It's not like I'd actually go to such a thing… when I'm not out solving murder mysteries, dealing with time traveling teenagers and digging up dead bodies, I'm usually locked in my room playing computer games." Kevin shrugged as if there was nothing abnormal about his behavior, but something about what he had said had clearly amused Olivia. A sly smile crept its way across her face.
"What if Kate had gone to said pretentious party? Would you still be locked away in your room then?"
"Well played, Agent Dunham. Well played." Kevin looked glumly towards the pool building, a separate building on the Blackwell campus that was entirely devoted towards Blackwell's swimming team, and came to a sudden realization. It seemed to be the epicenter of the festivities. "I'm guessing that I have to go in there now, eh?"
"Yup. Go in there and look for Nathan while I stay here and wait for Charlie. If you find him, let me know immediately. Don't play the hero… and if Max and Chloe are in there… please try to convince them from doing anything equally foolish."
"Shouldn't be too hard with Max. But Chloe…" Kevin trailed off as his thoughts went back to Rachel.
"Chloe is a good kid… I'd hate to see her end up on the wrong side of this whole thing." Olivia clearly meant what she said, her face was dark and grim.
If Chloe gunned down Nathan, then there was nothing that could be done for her. Kevin simply nodded soberly and knew that the same applied to him. His eyes fell guiltily onto his laptop bag, but more specifically to where Nathan's firearm was secreted inside. Olivia awkwardly cleared her throat and slowly moved towards his side of the vehicle.
"You should leave that here. I don't think you need it anymore."
Tensing at her words, Kevin sighed to himself and forced himself to relax. She was right after all, it was best that he not have the gun. It was good evidence. As if reading his mind, she wondered aloud if Nathan's prints were still on the gun somewhere.
Kevin shrugged and then steeled himself for what was probably going to be a painful experience. He hated crowds and enclosed spaces filled with people, but he had a job to do. With luck, Max and Chloe would be inside looking for Nathan as well. Exhaling slowly as he approached the pool building, he did his best to ignore the creeping anxieties he felt sneaking into his chest.
Kevin's worst fears were realized when he entered the party—the music was loud, his classmates were drunk, and many of them were wearing far too few clothes due to the 'pool party' atmosphere.
Still though… it could certainly be worse.
Kevin's wandering gaze trailed a scantily clad girl as she pushed past, giving him an appraising look. Having failed to meet her standards, she turned away from him dismissively and went out in search of more suitable prospects.
Good, I don't need such distractions right now.
Kevin's thoughts clashed with the pang of disappointment rising within his chest; he had failed to capture her interest. Shaking his head and clearing his mind of his troublesome thoughts, he focused on the matter at hand and scanned the area thoroughly for the girls he was looking for..
He recognized several of his classmates and even spotted a few people that he hadn't expected to see. Daniel and Alyssa were both present. Daniel caught his attention and waved him over. Kevin made his way through the crowd of partygoers and resisted the urge to push people out of his way.
The massive room had been split into two sections. The side that he was on that took up most of the space and seemed to be populated mostly by an eclectic variety of the school's population. On the other side of the pool behind the stage, of course there was a stage, an area had been blocked off to the general public and seemed to even have 'bouncers' guarding the entrance on the far side of the pool.
These bouncers were probably lower ranked members of the football team, judging from their meaty and thuggish demeanor. This VIP section was probably where most of the members of the illustrious Vortex club had sequestered themselves and where most, if not all, of the booze was stashed away. As he continued to maneuver his way through the crowd towards Daniel, he did his best to keep his eyes peeled for Nathan and his friends. Perhaps Daniel had seen something? It was certainly worth asking.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Daniel!" Kevin called out in greeting. Daniel put a hand up to his ear, so Kevin moved closer and repeated himself. The music had switched away from 'dance' music to something that had an almost techno vibe to it, which was certainly a step up, but Kevin still wished it wasn't quite so loud.
"I didn't expect to see you here either! But I suppose I should have since you seem to get along with everyone…" Daniel smiled sheepishly back at him as if in lieu of an apology, but Kevin waved it off.
"Not everyone… What made you decide to come out tonight?"
Daniel looked at his feet uncomfortably for a moment as he hesitated, but when his gaze met Kevin's again, it held an almost fierce determination.
Good for you,Daniel.
"Max convinced me. She's a good friend." His voice was steady, his tone deliberate. Max and her time powers had done some good at least.
"Speaking of our good friend Max, have you seen her tonight?"
Daniel nodded, smiling eagerly. "Yes! I was surprised to see her too,honestly—" Daniel trailed off as he remember something, causing his smile to fade. "She seemed… distracted and really intense. Do you think Nathan did something to her?"
"Nathan?" Instead of reasoning his way through Daniel's words, Kevin succumbed to his lesser instincts and felt his rage begin to take over. "What did Nathan do to Max?"
Daniel noted his reaction and held up his hands defensively. "I don't know, but Max asked about him and she was certainly looking for him… I've never seen her look like that. She's always so calm and innocent… I just assumed..."
Forcing himself to relax, Kevin saw Daniel's logic and couldn't fault him for it since it was actually quite close to the truth. Nathan hadn't directly done something to Max, but he had taken something special away from Chloe. Which due to the still tentatively blossoming relationship between Max and Chloe, his actions had harmed Max.
"You wouldn't have seen Nathan tonight, eh Daniel?" Obviously noticing the intensity in Kevin's demeanor, Daniel quickly shook his head and looked around nervously. "Let me know if you do, okay bud? Also, did you happen to see where Max went? I need to talk to her about something."
Daniel nodded at first then hastily shook his head and shrugged to signify that he hadn't seen where Max had gone.
"I think she might have left I don't know… you could talk to Alyssa. I saw Max talking to her not too long ago."
Kevin thanked him for the suggestion and after a few more words with Daniel, he turned away and dove back into the chaos to make his way over to Alyssa. She had barely moved from the spot that Daniel had signified.
Alyssa was on her phone, probably reading, which perhaps wasn't the best activity for standing right next to the edge of the pool. Alyssa was a shy girl and was almost always reading something, and rarely interacted with many other people.
She was heavy-set and had chosen to dye her dark hair bright purple at some point before he had met her. They talked on occasion, but only ever about books that they had read or books that the other should read. Kevin called out to her and she barely looked up from her phone as he approached, but made a subtle nod to show that she had heard him.
"Hey Kevin…" Alyssa mumbled without looking up, her voice barely audible above the obnoxiously loud music.
"Have you seen Max?" Kevin asked, practically shouting to be heard.
"No... I'm not done reading that book you loaned me. Honestly I haven't even started it yet."
Kevin paused before repeating himself as he moved slightly closer because he couldn't really remember what book he had loaned her… he had a bad habit of loaning things out and forgetting about them. "Which book did I loan you again?"
Alyssa seemed to pause in her reading for a moment before answering, as if searching her memory for the answer. "The Witcher or something? You were really insistent that I read it. Sorry I haven't gotten to it yet… You know how it is."
That's right! I need to write down who I loan things to… unless I did that already and forgot about the list… that sounds like me.
"Gotcha… Have you seen Max tonight?"
This time Alyssa did look up from her phone and her face lit up at the mention of Max's name.
"Yeah! She totally saved me from getting knocked into the pool earlier. She's like my guardian angel this week. She's super awesome!"
Kevin nodded along, only half listening as he waited for her to stop gushing so he could get his next question in.
"Yeah, cool… did you see where she went?" She nodded and pointed towards the VIP section. "Wait… really?"
"Yeah, totally surprised me, too. They wouldn't let her in at first, but she talked to Courtney and she got in without a problem. Courtney even chewed out the girl over there about it."
Interesting… maybe I should talk to Courtney too… Of course it makes sense that Max would go back there if she's looking for Nathan… but so far no one's mentioned Chloe.
"Did Max have anyone with her?"
Alyssa made a face at him that he couldn't quite decipher so he chose not to react to it. "Jealous much? No. Your girl Max didn't have anyone with her… but she was looking for Nathan for some reason. Just a heads up. She even told me to keep an eye out for him."
"And have you seen him?" Kevin asked hopefully.
"Who? Nathan, no."
Kevin shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. Alyssa cast a hard stare his way before going back to her phone. Kevin did his best to change the subject as he looked around for Courtney. "Hey, Alyssa, perhaps you should find a better spot to chill. You don't want to end up in the pool and make Max's heroic efforts a waste."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll move… but listen, you don't have to get all grouchy over Nathan. Max didn't look like she was looking for him for anything good, she seemed pretty… intense. Wait, are you two fighting? Is that why she's looking for Nathan, to get back at you?"
Kevin sighed loudly and shook his head as he took a calming breath that tasted of chlorine and sweat. "No. It's not like your chick-lit books, Alyssa. Calm down, no drama here."
Alyssa's smile returned and she nodded in satisfaction. "Good, because you two are cute together."
The conversation apparently over, Kevin did his best to suppress another sigh as he walked away. However, Alyssa had given him an idea that should get him instant access into the VIP section if he played his cards right. If the rumors concerning him and Max were that widespread, he might as well take advantage of them.
Having found Courtney, he made his way through the crowd towards where she sat at the makeshift bar in the corner of the room. It immediately struck him as odd that she was drinking alone out here with the rest of the rabble and not inside the VIP section. After a quick, awkward huddle with himself, Kevin decided to amend his opening words somewhat.
Kevin threw himself into the seat next to Courtney and motioned towards her drink and nodded towards the 'bartender', another football type, and firmly stated that he would have whatever she was having. The only drinks that he could see were non-alcoholic, and from the way Courtney was nursing her beverage, it certainly contained something more than just soda.
The kid behind the 'bar' gave Courtney a quick look but she waved him off and nodded, signaling that Kevin was entitled to the 'good stuff'. His drink was quickly and discreetly filled outside of his line of sight and the kid offered him the drink with a curt nod. Returning the nod, Kevin drained the contents of his plastic cup in one quick motion and immediately regretted his decision. Of course Courtney was drinking something super sugary with vodka. He should have known.
Kevin did his best to hide his reaction to the beverage, but he was certain that he had been entirely unsuccessful as the 'bartender' cracked a smile and Courtney giggled slightly. Playing off their reactions, he pushed his now empty cup away from him.
"More vodka this time and less of that sugary stuff, eh bud?"
The 'bartender' nodded and smiled. Courtney giggled once more and cast him an almost affectionate look, almost. Once his drink had been remade, he accepted it and held it up nodding towards Courtney and she accepted the toast.
"So… drinking by yourself at a party. I have to say Courtney, I am surprised. Something on your mind?"
Sighing heavily, she took a long hefty swig of her own drink and, judging from the way she grimaced, her drink was still much stronger than his own. "Just… bullshit… thanks for asking though. I take it that you're feeling better? I haven't seen you around that much lately."
"Yeah, I've been really busy lately... but yes, I am feeling much better, thanks for asking." Their conversation was quickly heading into the direction of small talk, so he changed gears before the situation could deteriorate further. "Have you seen Max tonight? She said she was here..." He made a motion of looking around the room once more as if he was checking to see if he could spot her, playing the part of the nervous boyfriend.
"Oh my god! You're so adorable… Max is in the VIP section, stop worrying! Here follow me, I need to make sure this biatch at the door doesn't give you any trouble."
Kevin downed his drink and sprang to his feet. He tossed the empty cup back at the 'bartender,' who shot him a quick glare, causing Courtney to giggle once again.
It was far too easy to fit in with the 'popular' crowd, all you had to do was treat the upper echelon well enough and anyone beneath them like a second-class citizen. It was almost as hard to stomach as the cheap vodka that he had just swallowed, but it usually helped to blend in with the people you were buttering up.
As they approached the entrance to the VIP section, the 'bouncer' moved aside and the blonde girl behind the makeshift desk withered under Courtney's hard gaze. He turned to say his goodbyes to Courtney and thanked her for her help as he ducked underneath the curtain. She waved him off and laughed when he collided into Max and immediately caught an irritated glare from Chloe until it became clear that no harm had been done.
"Sorry about that! But I guess I found you guys, finally. Have you seen Nathan?"
Chloe folded her arms across her chest and glared at him suspiciously as Max recovered from nearly being knocked off of her feet.
"Why?" Chloe demanded. Kevin raised his hands defensively in protest.
"Relax. Olivia told me to look for him in here, alright? But nobody's seen him tonight, it seems."
"Why does she care where he is?" Chloe's face had gone hard, a fire burning brightly behind her eyes. Kevin chose his next words very carefully.
"The FBI guys apparently have enough evidence to arrest him, or whatever. They just need to find him first. I'm guessing you have other plans with Nathan?"
Chloe nodded grimly. Kevin became absolutely certain that her stolen revolver was tucked away somewhere on her, locked and loaded. Swallowing hard, he glanced at Max. Her expression mimicked Chloe's perhaps too well. Kevin would receive no help from Max in talking Chloe down, none at all.
"Well, since he's not here… I think I'll text Olivia. Maybe they will find him at his dad's place… or something," said Kevin.
"You do that. Come on, Max. Let's go see if he's hiding in his dorm like a little bitch." Clearly done with conversation, Chloe pushed past him and Max quickly moved to follow, although with more care than her partner.
Kevin quickly shot Olivia a text that there was no sign of Nathan. Olivia responded instantly. Her message read like a direct order. So direct, in fact, that Kevin could almost picture himself as a rookie agent.
Affirmative. En route to Prescott residence to regroup with the rest of the task-force. Keep your eyes open and report in immediately should you see him. Keep you posted.
Kevin hoped that Nathan was nowhere on campus. If it came down to it, he was certain that he wouldn't be able to stop Chloe from blowing his brains out. Kevin certainly wanted to do the same himself.
As he quickened his pace to follow Max and Chloe towards the door, the music suddenly cut out and a familiar voice was beckoning for everyone to quiet down. Kevin's ears rang briefly from the sudden change of stimuli.
Ahead of him, Max brought Chloe to a stop as Mr. Jefferson took the stage to announce the winner of the 'Everyday Heroes' contest. Kevin found himself stopping as well, almost immediately invested in the results, just like Max. Several of his peers took the time to wish him luck. Kevin thanked them, despite being unfamiliar with more than half of them. Nearby, Max seemed just as apprehensive about the results and she nodded towards him, wishing him luck. Kevin returned the gesture.
"And the winner is… Max Caulfield!"
FUCKING SHIT! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!
Kevin surprised himself with how invested he had suddenly become in winning something he felt that he hadn't cared all that much about. Suddenly, Max was beside him and he was congratulating her and she was apologizing to him.
She had tears in her eyes.
Chloe shoved her way into the fray as people all around them cheered while a few booed. Kevin was almost certain that he heard Victoria scream in rage somewhere from backstage, or had that just been his imagination?
Max threw her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. "You should have won… your picture was way better than mine!"
Even though Kevin greatly appreciated Max's words, he found himself conflicted. His picture was really awesome, perhaps the best he had ever taken in his short photography career. However, her picture had Kate in it. Better yet, Kate was safe in his arms.
"I just make a better model than you, that's all," Kevin teased her and she smiled back. She broke away from him and turned towards Chloe, who was smiling at Max despite everything. Chloe pulled Max towards her, the pair embraced, and Kevin grumbled about not having his camera on hand but quickly remembered his phone.
Luckily for him, they kept their pose more or less the same as they spoke softly to one another. People continued to cheer and Mr. Jefferson was doing his best to quiet everyone down so he could be heard again. Kevin snapped a few pictures with his phone while grumbling about the lack of light. He was constantly being jostled by his peers, who were much closer to him than he would have liked. That didn't help either.
"Quiet down!" Mr. Jefferson was doing everything he could to make himself heard. "Max! I know you're here. Come on up here!"
Max went stiff in Chloe's arms and turned towards the door. Kevin couldn't help but smile. Max was now expected to give a speech and she had immediately thought of running for the hills rather than take center stage.
Thank goodness I didn't win. I'd hate to go up there!
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, when Max turned towards him with a pleading look in her eyes.
"Come up there with me… please…" Max's tiny voice barely reached his ears.
"Whoa there, stop being a sore winner. You won! You get to make a speech in front of all of your peers and I, the graciously defeated, get to watch," said Kevin.
Chloe glared a thousand 'fuck yous' at him, but it was the sight of Max's pouting face that made him change his mind.
"Oh for fuck's sake! Fine! I'll go up with you…"
Some of the dread on Max's freckled face faded, but far from all of it. Kevin frowned as he looked around for the best possible way to make it through the crowd to get to the stage.
Chloe's voice rang clear and true over the excitement. "Make a hole! Max Caulfield coming through!"
And just like, that the crowd shuffled aside and the way was clear. The trio made quick progress towards the stage with Kevin leading the way. In a matter of moments, they arrived at the stairs that ascended the stage. Max shook her head and said that she needed a minute, and Chloe, smiling, did her best to comfort her friend despite the stares from the occupants of the VIP section.
Not wanting to rush Max, but not wanting to stand around either, Kevin bounded up the stairs, walked out onto the stage, and snatched the microphone from his confused looking teacher. A quick cheer erupted but immediately died off when everyone realized that he was not who they had expected.
"Ladies and gentleman! I'm sorry but I'm not Max Caulfield…"
Several laughs snuck out of the crowd, but mostly everyone remained quiet. A few of his peers even shouted back at him. His personal favorite, however, was the perhaps the most obvious.
"Yeah… no shit!" This remark drew a significantly larger amount of laughter than Kevin's own attempt at a joke, so he went along with it.
"This guy is on it ladies and gentlemen… Let's have a round of applause for… that guy right over there! The dude with the… uh… hat." Several more laughs and a scattered applause broke out and the now startled looking offender bowed awkwardly as his peers closest to him jostled him in mock congratulation. "How about this though? We all know Max. And we all know that she can be a little… shy at times. So let's give her one last round of applause, and let's see if we can get her on stage, eh?"
Nothing happened.
Kevin plotted his escape.
All at once, his peers erupted in applause, several even began chanting Max's name. Immediately pleased and surprised with the results that he'd engineered, Kevin turned to look at Mr. Jefferson and noticed an approving look on his instructor's face followed by an equally approving nod. A loud cheer erupted from the crowd and Kevin turned around and saw exactly what he had expected to see: Max had taken the stage.
The rest of the crowd probably couldn't see it, but her face was bright red with embarrassment. This was either a result of the crowd's enthusiasm or, perhaps, and probably more likely, something that Chloe had done to get her courage up.
Chloe totally just kissed her in front of everyone backstage… five bucks says she did.
Kevin held the mic in his open palms, bowing slightly as he handed it over to Max. She accepted it, holding it loosely like she couldn't wait to drop it and escape the stage. Max turned to face her peers and the crowd immediately went silent.
"So… I am Max Caulfield…" Max smoothly played off his somewhat unsuccessful joke earlier and was rewarded with at least twice the number of laughs for it. "And I just wanted to thank everyone for their support and encouragement for me to succeed… but I asked Kevin to come up here with me because he inspired me in the way that he is always looking out for everyone that he could. He's just like us, and he doesn't get along with everyone, but he tries to not let it show and does his best to help everyone he can and I think that's what this whole contest is really about. I may have taken the picture… but that's all I did… if he hadn't been doing what he thought was right, I wouldn't have had a picture to take. I may have been the one who talked Kate down from jumping, but Kevin was right there with me even though he could barely stand… He's the true 'everyday hero' and I think we all need to look inside of ourselves and strive to be kinder and more considerate to one another. When Kate comes back to us, I want her to feel like she belongs here and that she belongs with us."
An awkward silence filled the area and Max, looking extremely uncomfortable again, shoved the microphone back to Mr. Jefferson and disappeared. A dumbfounded Mr. Jefferson addressed the crowd and politely asked for one last round of applause for Max. A half-hearted response slowly came to fruition, and Kevin made his exit. He found Max in Chloe's arms looking panicked and uneasy, speaking quickly and desperately to her friend.
"I want to leave… but not out the front. Not by everyone. Please! Can we just go?" Max pleaded.
Chloe held Max close and stared defiantly back at the gawking onlookers. Not a soul could hold her challenging gaze. Kevin was still approaching when he noticed that Victoria had broken away from the small crowd to approach Max and Chloe.
This can't be good.
"Max?" Victoria called out, becoming an immediate target for Chloe's wrath. Chloe's fierce gaze locked onto Victoria as she drew nearer. Victoria hesitated as Chloe's arms stiffened around Max's shaking form.
"You can leave through the girls' locker room. The door is locked, but I can open it for you. That way you'll just have to deal with me instead of everyone else. That's a little better, right?"
Max nodded. Victoria led the way towards the locker room, and Max untangled herself from Chloe to follow. Chloe was close behind her, and motioned for Kevin to join them. Slowly exhaling a breath he hadn't realized that had been holding, Kevin trailed the girls into the locker room
Their progress through the girl's locker room was quick, and Kevin felt somewhat awkward and did his best not to look around in case he might see something that he shouldn't. As they approached the exit, Victoria unlocked the door and turned to face Max, her face somber and her posture stiff.
Noticing that she was probably trying to convince herself to say something extremely difficult, Kevin lightly held out his hand to stop Chloe from advancing any further. Chloe's presence would probably ruin the moment. Chloe blanched and glared at him. but when their eyes met she rolled hers and made a face at him that clearly said: Fine… whatever…
"Max… that was… a good speech. That must have been difficult… and I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for being a colossal bitch all the time," Victoria broke off and her voice shook for a moment.
Kevin's mouth dropped open when he realized that Victoria fucking Chase was in imminent danger of shedding a tear in front of him. Max noticed this too and took a few tentative steps towards Victoria as the short haired girl struggled with her words.
"It's just… how I deal with shit… you know?" Victoria was almost shaking at this point, and even in the low light he could spot the tears trickling down her face.
"I know…" Max's words were cut off when the inevitable happened and Victoria's resolve completely failed. She fought the tears at first, choking back the embarrassment. Max rushed forward and embraced Victoria. Caught completely off-guard, Victoria's stiff defenses shattered and she wrapped her arms around Max, crying into the smaller girl's shoulder.
Kevin spun around and made sure that he and Chloe were the only witnesses. His hasty movements caught Chloe's attention. The odd pair looked at one another for a moment, both completely at a loss.
Kevin held out his arms, welcoming Chloe to hug him. He was instantly rewarded with a venomous look from Chloe that clearly stated 'Don't fucking touch me'. Abandoning the maneuver, Kevin shrugged off the entirely expected result. Turning his attention back to Max and Victoria, he noted that Victoria had already regained control of her emotions. She and Max talked quietly and he did his best not to listen in.
"I'm… sorry." Victoria slowly and awkwardly pulled herself away from Max's embrace, but lingered close to her as if afraid to back away.
"It's okay." Max must have said more because Victoria nodded as she slowly wiped tears away from her face.
"Like you said before… we don't have to be enemies. And I'll think about what you said… about Nathan." Max yanked Victoria into one more squeeze of a hug before releasing her. Kevin watched with rapt fascination as Victoria whipped out a makeup bag and dealt with the aftermath of her grief. She dabbed up the tears with a tissue and made efficient use of the bag's mysterious contents.
"How do I look?" The drama-queen of Blackwell was back.
"Like a total bitch," Chloe responded, though not harshly.
Victoria winked and blew her a kiss as she walked back towards the party, her steps full of sass and purpose. "I better get back before people start talking shit about me… Wouldn't want people thinking I've gone soft, now would I?"
Chloe snorted and fired back, "That... will never happen. But don't worry yourself. They're all probably still talking about how I smacked Max's bony ass so hard I sent her flying on stage." Chloe turned to wink at Max, who was glaring right back at her.
"That actually hurt, you know! I can't believe you did that. In front of everyone!" Max's face blazed such a bright red, it was easily noticeable despite the lack of light.
"Aww poor Max, want me to kiss it better?" Chloe stalked towards Max as if she intended to do just that, despite the fact that both Kevin and Victoria were still present.
"Speaking of kissing... I thought Max came on to the stage the way she did because you had kissed her. I didn't think she would turn bright red like that from just a little smack to the butt," said Kevin. Chloe turned around, wearing her infamous shit-eating grin, her eyes shining mischievously.
"Oh, I kissed her too. Don't you worry, Victoria, I heard you swoon like a jealous little girl too… Don't try to deny it! I know you want some of this," said Chloe, waving her hands down her body in demonstration.
Victoria scoffed, but as she turned away to leave, Kevin saw her face redden. "Whatever, I'm heading back before you guys make me sick… Later, nerds."
And with that, Victoria was gone and Kevin was left alone with a hungry looking Chloe and a startled looking Max. Kevin coughed awkwardly and motioned towards the door.
"I can go—"
Chloe cut him off, scoffing. "Calm down, everyday hero, I'm not going to jump her bones here… Sheesh, I have more class than that."
"Oh really? Where would you take me to? A junkyard or perhaps somewhere equally romantic?" Max giggled as she taunted Chloe, and Kevin couldn't help but smile at how adorable they were.
"Bite me… Now let's get back to bidness'! I wonder if Nathan's hiding his punkass in his room. We should go check it," said Chloe, and Max answered with a grim nod.
The moment was officially over. No more smiles, no more laughs, and certainly no more tears.
None for Nathan at any rate.
Kevin stepped towards his two friends and cleared his throat. The time was as good as any to pass on Olivia's grave warning.
"Chloe… I'm not going to stop you—"
"Good," Chloe cut him off flatly, glaring at him sharply
"But think about this for a second. It would be murder, and if Olivia finds out… there will be consequences. Is vengeance really worth all that?"
"This isn't about revenge! This is about justice! Either fall in line or get out of my way!"
"I'm not standing in your way, Chloe. Just think about it for a second, please. If you do what you are set on doing, and those FBI guys find out… You know what they are going to have to do. I think you know what that means."
Chloe continued to glare back at him fiercely, but her expression softened when she turned to look at Max, almost sadly.
So… she does understand. If they arrest her for murdering Nathan, then they will take her away from Max… Is that worth your justice, Chloe? Is it worth losing Max?
Chloe sighed in frustration, her aggressive posture deflating with the exhalation. She turned back to face Kevin. "Alright. What do you suggest we do?" Chloe folded her arms across her chest, but her eyes held a glimmer of hope in them, as if she wanted Kevin to tell her what she should do.
"Let's go look for Nathan. If we find him, we call Olivia and wait for the FBI dudes. Look, I want to take him down as much as you do… but Kate would… she probably wouldn't forgive me for it, you know?"
"Yeah... I know." Chloe looked at Max once more, and Max moved in and hugged her friend, wordlessly expressing her feelings in an instant.
"Also… you should give me that gun—"
Chloe's reaction was swift and immediate. Her face lit up in anger and her words exploded out of her mouth. "I already agreed to not killing him on sight! If you think I'm handing over this gun to you, just like that, then you are out of your goddamn mind."
Raising his hands in surrender, Kevin did his best not to wither under her assault.
"So, we're agreed then?" Kevin asked hopefully.
"Yeah. I keep my gun, and we call Olivia when we find him, after we beat the living shit out of him."
"But we keep him alive." He stated his words firmly and carefully.
Chloe waved him off, as if his concerns were unfounded. "Yeah, yeah we keep him alive."
"Alright, let's go then! What are we waiting for?" Clapping his hands together, Kevin hastened for the exit.
The previous conversation had infected the room with tension, and Kevin couldn't wait to be free of it. As the trio exited the pool building, they were surprised to see Mr. Jefferson waiting for them, leaning casually against one of the many trees that littered the campus.
Kevin groaned.
"I was hoping to catch you before you left for the night, Max. That was really quite the speech… though I should expect nothing less from my best student. No offense, Kevin," Jefferson awkwardly added the last bit, as if he was just noticing Kevin for the first time.
Fuck you too, Mr. Jefferson.
Shrugging, Kevin found his own tree to lean against as Mr. Jefferson pushed himself away from his perch and slowly approached Max and Chloe. Max stammered out a nervous response as her teacher approached. Chloe's stance shifted to a defensive one, and she reflexively threw an arm around Max, pulling her friend closer. Jefferson ignored this and kept his attention solely on Max as he continued speaking.
"Max, I hate to be a bother, especially tonight, but there are a few things we should discuss about the upcoming trip to San Francisco. It should only take a few minutes." Max turned to Chloe for approval, who rolled her eyes in response.
Chloe turned to Kevin, making it clear once again that he had cemented himself into the position as the groups' impromptu leader. Kevin shrugged. Losing Max for a few minutes wouldn't be a big deal. He and Chloe would have no problem looking for Nathan on their own. Chloe assented to Max's unspoken request, and after a few quick words, Chloe and Kevin were watching Max and Mr. Jefferson walk towards the main building. They disappeared inside.
"I hate watching her go like that. Something just feels wrong about it," Chloe's voice trailed off as she plunged deep into thought.
Kevin teased her by outstretching his arms, once more offering her a hug. He received a second venomous glare, and Chloe marched off towards the dorms.
"Come on. Let's go find Nathan's bitch-ass."
Kevin hurried to follow and kept his own concerns to himself. He couldn't quite place the dark and ominous feelings that were lurking deep within his chest, so he pushed them away and focused on the hunt.
The dorms were dark, quiet, and empty.
Using their phones for light, Kevin and Chloe moved like ghosts through the halls until they reached Nathan's room. It was as dark and quiet as the rest of the building and, to their surprise, the door was unlocked. The pair crept inside and discovered it empty.
The initial search failed to reveal anything of note, but Chloe soon found something that captured her interest. Reaching inside one of his drawers, she quickly produced an identical looking handgun to the one that Kevin had relieved from Nathan's possession earlier that day.
"He got a new one fast…" Kevin mumbled as he accepted the offered firearm from Chloe. A quick inspection of the weapon revealed that it was loaded. Shaking his head, Kevin flipped the safety to the 'on' position.
What a fucking moron… perhaps I should just leave this here and he'll accidentally blow his own brains out.
As Kevin tucked the pistol into his belt at the small of his back, he noticed that Chloe was still staring down into the drawer. The flickering light from her phone caught his attention as the hand holding it shook. Before Kevin could ask what was wrong, she slowly reached into the drawer and withdrew a photograph.
A glimpse of the picture was all Kevin needed to see why it distressed her so much; the picture was of her. At some point in the past, Nathan had the opportunity to photograph Chloe while she was passed out… or, more likely, drugged. In the picture, Chloe was on the floor, eyes open lazily and mostly in the fetal position, her face blank, her entire body limp.
"That… fucking bastard," Chloe growled through clenched teeth.
Without thinking, Kevin placed his free hand on Chloe's shoulder, seeking to comfort her. Reacting to his touch immediately, Chloe spun around and lashed out at him, punching him in his face.
Staggered from the sudden blow, Kevin barely saw the second strike coming. Side-stepping, Kevin managed to grasp a firm hold of Chloe's striking arm. The pair grappled and struggled in the dark for a few tense moments. Just as he was overpowering her, Chloe struck at his groin with a knee-strike. Kevin barely managed to deflect the strike to his thigh in time. Staggered from the strike, Kevin missed Chloe's next attack entirely.
A brutal head-butt from Chloe struck home, her hot breath assaulting him just as fiercely.
The blow struck him hard on the left side of his face and he recoiled in pain, staggering once again. Kevin regained his footing and prepared himself for a follow up attack, but none came. Finding it difficult to see, he located the nearby light switch, hastily flipping it on.
It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden light, but he located Chloe on the other side of the room in short order. She was no longer hostile. Her firsts were still balled in rage and she was glaring furiously at him, but tears were streaming down her face. Chloe's shoulders were slackened in defeat even though she had won their skirmish.
"Don't fucking touch me." Her words came out slowly and were interrupted by her labored and shaky breaths as she fought back her tears.
Unable to form any words, Kevin simply nodded as he rubbed his cheek where her blows had landed. The flesh was sore and tender to the touch, and his thigh ached where her bony knee had struck it. Frustrated with his own stupidity, Kevin searched around for his phone that he had dropped during the struggle.
Chloe sank down onto Nathan's bed and retrieved her own phone from the floor. Kevin found his a few moments later and, luckily, it didn't seem to be damaged. As Kevin struggled to his feet after retrieving his phone, the pain in his thigh intensified. Doing his best to not let on how much he was hurting, he turned away from Chloe.
Luckily, she was ignoring him anyway.
Kevin came face to face with one of Max's selfies as he completed the maneuver. Blinking in confusion, he peeled the polaroid photograph off the wall and called out to Chloe, tossing the picture towards her. He definitely wasn't going anywhere near her.
"Looks like he got into Max's room at some point. I doubt she gave him that." Kevin grumbled.
Chloe tucked the photograph away. She remained on Nathan's bed, stewing in a mixture of rage and sadness. Kevin motioned towards the door as he moved, doing his best to hide his limp. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Chloe demanded, but stood despite her aggressive tone. Tears were still freely streaming down her face, but she was adamantly refusing to acknowledge their existence.
"We might as well search the rest of the dorms to see if he's around or if anyone has seen him… Hell, he might be in Victoria's room. They are best buds, aren't they?"
Chloe shrugged as if she didn't care, but followed his lead. It didn't take them long to figure out that the boys' dorms were deserted, but Kevin had expected this. He was heading purposely towards his own room. Quickly unlocking his door, he motioned for Chloe to follow as he went inside. Chloe propped herself up against the doorframe and peered inside as she inspected his room dismissively.
"What are we doing here?" she asked scornfully as he ducked underneath his bed and reached inside his mini-fridge. Her sour expression softened when he emerged with two of his beers in hand and tossed one over to her. Nodding in thanks, she popped off the bottle cap and downed a significant portion of the beverage while Kevin was still reaching for his lighter to remove his own cap. Once he had deftly opened his own beverage, he took a modest swig and brought the ice-cold bottle to his still sore cheek and sighed contently as the cold began to numb the pain away.
"I'm sorry… by the way. Just don't expect to hug it out or anything." Chloe's words still held a certain amount of harshness to them, but they surprised him. He hadn't expected her to apologize at all.
"Noted… now, let's go take a gander at Victoria's room then, eh?"
Nodding, Chloe drained the rest of her beverage with a second swig and tossed the bottle into his nearby trash can. Kevin took several moments to finish his own beverage as Chloe waited impatiently for him, eyes full of judgement.
"Pussy," Chloe's judgement eventually took the form of a single word, but her light tone and her barely perceivable playful smile revealed she was simply teasing him.
"Fuck you," responding equally playfully, Kevin tossed his own bottle into his trash as he followed her out of his room. The pair made their way through the dark and empty halls once more. Chloe finally acknowledged her tears from earlier as she furiously wiped her face clean.
Unfortunately for them, their search was in vain as the girls' dorms were just as empty as their male counterparts had been. Victoria's room was just as deserted as Nathan's had been. As they exited Victoria's room empty handed, Chloe removed her phone from her pocket and quickly typed out a text.
"I guess we could go back to the party and see if he's there… or something? Maybe check the parking lot for his truck or… What's wrong?" Kevin broke off mid-sentence at the look on Chloe's face. She was staring hopelessly at her phone. She hadn't heard a single word that he had said.
"I've been texting Max for like… the past fifteen minutes and she hasn't responded yet."
Sheesh, I thought Max would have been the needy one in the relationship… Calm down, Chloe.
"Call her then… she's probably still talking about her fancy trip to San Francisco with Mr. Jefferson—"
"That you are totally not jealous about…" Chloe finished for him as she put her phone to her ear, but her teasing expression vanished instantly when she removed the phone from her ear to double check something. "Her phone's off. Her phone is never off!"
Kevin's own smile vanished, but he did his best to rationalize something so out of character for Max. "Perhaps it just died? Come on, Chloe. Let's go check the party, maybe she's back there… or by your truck—"
"Or let's just go straight to Jefferson's office, or class, or whatever, lead the way."
Not wishing to argue with her, Kevin shrugged and did as she asked.
Once outside, Chloe demanded that they hurry so he increased their pace. They found the doors to the main building frustratingly locked, so they ran around the building to peer through the windows into Mr. Jefferson's classroom.
Empty.
Not needing his direction anymore, Chloe tore off towards the parking lot. Hastening after her, Kevin's stomach tightened.
Max wasn't standing by Chloe's truck, or anywhere else for that matter. Entirely unconcerned with whoever was in her way, Chloe dashed back towards the party. Kevin trailed after her and apologized to several people whom Chloe had knocked over. Luckily, most of them were drunk enough that they hadn't realized who, or even what, had knocked them off their feet.
Kevin followed Chloe around the still ongoing party as she continued her frantic search for Max. A hectic search of the bathrooms and the VIP section revealed no sign of Max either and, oddly enough, Kevin failed to spy Victoria, but it was possible that he had missed her while focusing on Max. Nathan's presence was just as absent.
Close to panic now, Chloe pulled out her phone once more, thrusting it to her ear as she exited the building the same way that they had entered. Kevin close on her heels.
"Maybe she went back to her room?" He offered even though he highly doubted his own suggestion. They probably would have run into her if she had. Chloe though, lacking any further direction, and even closer to panic, tore off at a full sprint towards the dorms.
Damn, she can really move when she needs to!
Kevin tore after her, doing his best to keep up as his thigh pulsed with pain.
The pair were soon outside Max's dorm, breathing heavily. Chloe tried the door and found it unlocked. Kevin breathed a sigh of relief as Chloe's pale face flushed with color. However, the foreboding emptiness of the room cut the premature celebration painfully short.
Removing her phone once again, Chloe tried calling Max, desperately hoping for her to answer. She was disappointed. Storming out into the hall, Chloe called out Max's name at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing through the empty halls. Alice, Kate's pet rabbit, jolted awake and Kevin cast a sad gaze at the distressed animal.
"Don't worry. We'll find Max, little one." Turning to see Chloe disappear down the hall, Kevin sighed as he withdrew his own phone and called Olivia.
We'll find her.