Chapter 26: Keane

The sounds of a woman’s screams made my blood run cold. I stopped drinking, bottle raised to my lips, and looked at Beau, whose head swiveled in the direction of the sound.
“What the fuck,” muttered Teague, getting to his feet as he snuffed out the joint beneath the toe of his boot. “What was that?”
“Someone screaming,” said Beau. “And I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounded like someone we might know.
Eve.
“Fuck.” I jumped to my feet, letting the half-empty bottle hit the ground, abandoned. “She’s close,” I said, my head swiveling in each direction as I strained to hear. “Why would she be out here right now?”
Beau’s eyes narrowed in my direction as a flicker of apprehension crossed his features.
“Max,” he said, and the name sent a shock of anger through my veins. “She was with him earlier today. I saw them leave the cafeteria together after lunch.”
“And you didn’t think to say anything?” I seethed.
“Sorry, man, I didn’t think anything of it,” he said with a slight shrug. “We’ve already learned that Evelina does what she wants, with or without our permission.”
“Fuck.”
“Let’s go,” Teague said, pushing himself off the tree. “I bet I know where they’re at.”
Blood roared in my ears as Beau, Teague, and I raced through the woods up the rocky path where we’d heard the scream come from. Some residents frequented the area I knew they were in, but I’d always found it too risky to hang around. When you had schizophrenia like me or bipolar like Teague, hanging out near a cliff’s edge wasn’t really the smartest idea. One bad episode and all it took was a step to your death.
Branches whipped at our faces as we ran, but I felt nothing but pure adrenaline as it coursed through my veins, keeping me going. And underneath all that adrenaline was something else, something I wasn’t familiar with until Eve had come into the picture: fear. Terror. What had Max done to her? Were we too late?
A surge of anger flooded through me and I passed both Teague and Beau on the trail, hearing that scream again, much closer this time. A branch struck me across the face, and I smelled blood, but it only drove me faster. And as the three of us delved into the clearing near the edge of the bluffs, I saw them there, Max on top of Eve as she lay fighting him on the ground. Her pants were down and he was working on his underwear, holding her arms above her head, and an animalistic snarl ripped from my throat as I dove for them, blind with rage and ready to rip him limb from limb.
The satisfying crack of Max’s nose beneath my fist shattered the shocked stillness, and the guy fell back, sputtering as he held his nose, blood spurting from between his fingers. He was on the ground, scooting away from us on his ass, terror filling his eyes. As I stepped towards him again, Beau and Teague rushed to tend Eve, pulling her to her feet as she sobbed, shaking, in their arms.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Max pleaded, the front of his shirt quickly staining with red. “I swear. She—she wanted it!”
I glanced back at Eve, trembling in Beau’s arms, then narrowed my eyes at Max. “I don’t think she wanted it,” I growled, then brought my leg back and swung a massive kick at him, sending Max sprawling once again. He grunted in pain as more blood poured from his face, and before he could try to slither away again, I was on him, straddling him into the dirt, my fists pummeling his face. I was numb, and not even the pain in my hands and knuckles gave way as I hit Max over and over again, listening to Eve’s stifled sobs behind me as blood coated my knuckles.
“Fuck you!” I shouted as Max raised his arms to try to ward off my attempts. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
“Come on, dude,” Teague said, reaching down to pull me off Max. “We need to get her out of here, okay? Think of Eve.”
“I am thinking of her,” I roared, fighting Teague as he attempted to drag me off Max. “She’s all I think of anymore, man.” I was blinded by rage. And at that moment, I didn’t care if I killed him. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to fucking kill and bury him for laying a hand on our sweet girl.
Max was unconscious, maybe even dead, by the time a second hand reached out and rested on my shoulder with a gentle squeeze. It wasn’t Teague, it was Eve, and as I took a split second to turn away from Max to look at her, she dropped to her knees beside me. Her eyes were sad, and she said nothing as she leaned forward, brushing her lips against my ear.
“Don’t let this define you,” she whispered. “Please. Stop.”
My eyes averted from her innocent face and back down to Max, who, thanks to Eve, responded with a weak groan. His face was a bloody pulp, unrecognizable, and while part of me wanted to keep pounding away, I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not with Eve in my ear and her gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Come,” she urged, and I had to make it a point not to fixate too long on the dried tears streaking her face. “Take me back to the academy, Keane. Please. I just—I need you all right now. I need you.”
Legs and hands trembling with rage and adrenaline, I got to my feet. Beau and Teague were staring at me, but from the looks on their faces, I knew they were just as antsy to finish the job on Max.
“Okay,” I said, looking over Eve’s shoulder at Teague, who nodded at me. Eve stepped away, limping slightly. There was dirt on her face and pine needles in her hair. She was a hot mess, and it made my stomach swirl with nausea. I nodded again at Teague, who promptly scooped Eve up into his arms. She didn’t fight him, simply laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes. Beau shrugged off his jacket and laid it over her, tucking it in, and the three of them headed in the direction of the academy. I stayed behind for a moment, kneeling down beside Max in the dirt. He moaned, trying to shift his body away from me, but I simply spoke.
“Come near her again, Maxwell,” I whispered, reaching a hand out to squeeze his shoulder. Beneath the pulp and blood, he winced. “And I will make it my personal goal in life to toss your ass off this cliff and watch you hit the rocks below.”
Max groaned, scooting away, and I smiled.
“Is that clear?”
He forced his eyes open, gazing at me through a tiny slit of swelling flesh. Then he nodded, just once, and I got to my feet with a sharp nod.
“Very good,” I said, kicking up dirt and rocks at him. “Learn to keep it in your pants, asshole.”
By the time I’d climbed down the hill and made it to my room, Teague and Beau were already there. Eve was sitting in the middle of my bed, her knees drawn up to her chin, a fresh new set of tears streaming down her dirty face. Beau was filling up a glass of water from the bathroom sink and Teague was offering her a swig of rum from an old bottle. She refused both offers, her eyes staring straight ahead, gazing at the wall.
“Baby,” I whispered, joining her on the bed. She didn’t look at me, but continued to rock.
“I think she’s in shock now that the adrenaline’s worn off,” said Teague, taking his own drink from the bottle. “She hasn’t said a word since we arrived. She doesn’t want to be touched, either.”
I reached for her, resting my hand on her arm, and sure enough, Eve jerked away, curling into herself like a frightened animal.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” I said, leaving my hand where it was. “Come back to us, sweet girl. We need you here.”
Slowly, after what seemed like an eternity, Eve’s eyes slowly came into focus. She looked at me, and then at Teague and Beau, who were monitoring her from across the room.
“Max,” she said weakly. “Is he--?”
“Dead?” I asked. “No, not yet.”
She swallowed, blowing a breath of air between her teeth, and shivered. “He—he tried to rape me,” she murmured, and the mere word almost sent me over the edge again. It took everything I had in my power not to jump up and go find Max to finish off the job.
“We know,” Beau said from across the room, coming towards Eve on the bed. He sat down on the other side of her, reaching out to touch her hair. She didn’t shy away this time, so I allowed him to stay. “And we’re sorry we weren’t there, baby.”
She looked at Beau, and then at me again, eyes watering. “It’s not your responsibility,” she said softly. “It’s mine.”
“Max is bad news,” I told her as the familiar pain of rage rose in my throat like bile. “You shouldn’t have trusted him. You shouldn’t trust anybody but us.”
Eve frowned, glaring at me. I was relieved to see her coming back to her senses so soon. “That’s bullshit,” she said, and I felt like I’d been slapped silly. “How dare you tell me who I can and can’t trust?” she demanded. “I’m not even sure yet if I can trust the three of you after what you’ve put me through.”
“After what we’ve put you through?” Teague demanded, anger rising in his voice. “Are you fucking kidding me? We didn’t just try to rape you, Evelina.”
Eve squirmed, glaring at Teague, and before Beau or I could stop her, she launched herself off of the bed, rounding on us. “Are you really any better?” she demanded, hands on her hips as she glared between the three of us. “If I can recall correctly, it wasn’t Max who pinned me down in the cemetery and poured blood wine down my throat.”
“Eve—” I started to say, but she wasn’t done.
“It also wasn’t Max who stuck his dick in my mouth, was it?” she shrieked, anger practically pulsating from her pores. “Just because the three of you didn’t necessarily force it on me doesn’t automatically make you saints. So seriously, fuck you.”
“I’d watch yourself, girl,” said Teague, fire burning in his eyes as he advanced on her. Beau and I scrambled up from the bed to keep things from getting out of hand, but both of us stopped dead when Eve whirled on him, slapping him across the face with a crack that vibrated through the room. Beau’s jaw dropped. So did mine. Even Teague stopped dead, eyes going wide as he stared at her, trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened.
“Tonight, Max tried to claim me,” she seethed, speaking angrily through her teeth. “And guess what, assholes? I’ve decided that I’m God-awful tired of people trying to claim me. So fuck you, and leave me the fuck alone.”
None of us could think of anything to say as she whirled around again and marched out the door, slamming it so hard behind her that a full bottle of liquor sitting on my dresser near the door rattled off the top and clattered to the floor, shattering all over the carpet. We stood staring after her a moment, all three of us rendered speechless.
“Holy shit,” Teague said finally, one hand moving to the red patch growing on his cheek. “She actually slapped me.”
“Well, yeah,” said Beau, kicking a shard of glass across the room. “It’s about time somebody did, isn’t it?”