This is a story I've been thinking about for a long time now, probably since I first started playing this amazing game. It's kinda of a slow build, and it'll be on the longer side of things. Anyways, hope you like it.
"...and Max Caulfield. Don't you forget about me."
"Chloe!" Max shot up from her bed, beads of sweat racing down her forehead. Her blue eyes shot from side to side before she fully realized her surroundings. She huffed, flopping back down onto her bed and pulling the covers over her face. She knew she had class soon if it hadn't started already, but she couldn't bring herself to leave her room. Leaving meant facing reality, a shitty reality at that. One where Chloe died, feeling alone and abandoned on a cold bathroom floor, just thinking about it made her blood boil.
She didn't have the chance to think about it for long, as the beep from her alarm clock interrupted her train of thought. She turned onto her stomach, burrowing under one of her pillows in hopes of drowning out the annoying beeping. When that didn't work, she rolled over onto her side, wrapping the pillow around her head. Finally, she emerged from her cocoon of blankets with a groan, tossing the first thing she could get her hands on at the alarm clock. The small pillow hit the desk at the foot of her bed and knocked the alarm clock to the floor, taking a speaker and a cup of pencils with it in the process. She collapsed back down onto her bed as the beeping stopped, replaced by the obnoxious voice of a local radio host.
"Which brings me to my next segment, titled 'What the hell is going on in Arcadia Bay?'" Max shot up from her bed again, her anger rising. "I'm sure you're all aware of the situation, but if you've been living under a rock for the past week, allow me to sum it up for you. On Monday, we get this crazy snowfall. Now I know what you're thinking, 'Snow? So what? Even though it's October, it's global warming, whatever, no big deal.' Alright fine, you got me, maybe a little snow isn't that bizarre. But then, Tuesday night rolls around, and BAM! An eclipse happens, but nononono, not just any old eclipse. An unexpected one. Unplanned. Unanticipated. Even NASA was like, 'We don't know shit.' Okay maybe they didn't use those exact words, but they may as well have. But wait, there's more! If all this hasn't convinced you yet, yesterday we got reports of dead birds piling up all over the place. All over town, birds just... falling out of the sky. On top of that, tons of dead whales are beached down by the docks. So what's going on? Super Global Warming? Religious reckoning? The end of the world as we know it? And what's going to happen today? Call in now; I wanna hear what you guys are thinkin-"
Max pulled the power cord out of the socket as hard as she could. She couldn't handle the voice on the radio taunting her, reminding her that she failed. Not only did she lose her best friend all over again, but as far as she could tell, the tornado was still on track to flatten Arcadia Bay. She threw the cord back against her desk, then found a place to sit down on the floor next to her bed, being careful enough not to ruin the stack of polaroids in front of her.
There has to be a way to fix this, Max contemplated to herself as she spread the photos out in front of her. She'd gone through them a bunch of times already throughout the week, but could never find the right photo. Even if she did find a photo to jump through, she honestly wasn't sure if she should. Chloe seemed to believe that her destiny was to die and Max couldn't deny it made sense, in a morbid way. Bearing in mind the moment they shared at the lighthouse when Chloe asked her to save her mom and everyone else over her, it felt wrong to go against her wish. But that was before Max knew what she knows now, and if Chloe's death didn't stop the tornado, would she still make that same choice? Max had more questions than answers, and all these hypotheticals were quickly giving her a headache.
Max's phone vibrated against her nightstand, startling her out of her thoughts. She stretched out, grabbing it quickly and sitting back down. After seeing the caller ID, she let it go to her voicemail and returned to her photos.
"Ms. Caulfield, it has come to my attention that you have missed the past two days of class without notice to any of your teachers. I know it must have been terrible to witness what transpired on Monday, but I'm sure you know that life must go on. I don't have to tell you that education is crucial, especially for a young adult like yourself. Blackwell students are the embodiment of perseverance and courage; I have no doubt you will overcome this setback. If you need to talk my office is always open. I hope to hear about your return to class. Have a good rest of the day, Maxine."
"'Life must go on?' I watched my best friend die three days ago, and that's the best you got?" Max spat out in disgust, her hand clenching into a shaky fist and tears blurring her vision. "Fuck you!" She cried out, throwing her phone across the room and watching it shatter into a million pieces. Her eyes fixated on the pieces scattered on the floor until her ragged breathing calmed and her mind soothed. She wiped away the moisture from her eyes, regretting letting her anger get the better of her. She raised her hand and used her rewind power, her phone returning to her nightstand. It wasn't long before it rang again, and Max went to send Principal Wells to voicemail like she did the first time, but hesitated. His words echoed in her mind, causing her earlier regret to dissipate, replaced by something much stronger.
"Yeah?" Max snapped with as much attitude as she could muster.
"Ms. Caulfield, glad to see you're still alive and well." Principal Wells said, disregarding Max's tone. "I'm calling because-"
"I know why you're calling." Max quickly cut him off. "I've been skipping class. But it's only been two days. Give me a fucking break."
"Ms. Caulfield, I know what you are going through is tough but-"
"You do? So this has happened to you? You've seen someone you love take their last breath while you were helpless to do anything but watch?"
"Well no, when you put it that way...not exactly but I-"
"Then how the fuck could you know what I'm going through?"
"Listen I know you and that girl were friends but-"
"Her name was Chloe. You know that."
"Let me finish young lady. I know you cared for Ms. Price but be mindful of your choices now. Education is of the utmost importance and here at Blackwell-"
"I don't give a shit about Blackwell or anything else you have to say."
"Well you should. I know you've been through a traumatic experience Ms. Caulfield, but this is beyond that. We obviously need to talk about your future here; I'll be sending David over to escort you."
"Go fuck yourself."
Max hung up quickly, unsure of where that all came from. Maybe it was all the bullshit she's been through in the past week, maybe it was everything she had been bottling up since Monday, or perhaps it was Chloe rubbing off on her. It didn't matter, as satisfying as that was, getting expelled from Blackwell would just add on to her gigantic list of problems.
Max raised her hand once more, rewinding back to the point before Principal Wells called. She figured that since whatever higher being gave her this power, even after she let Chloe die, she might as well use it for her own benefit. She already tried the 'saving everyone' route, and that went less than ideal, to say the least.
Shit! She stopped in her tracks, her hands shooting up to the sides of her head. Take it easy, Max. No more abusing your rewind, even if that asshole deserved it. She gritted her teeth, trying to fight off a pounding headache as she rose to her feet. Using the bed to keep her balance, she slowly made her way to the desk on the other side of the room. She snatched her water bottle quickly, taking as big of drink as her body allowed, hoping it was enough to stop herself from passing out. The pounding sensation in her skull only seemed to worsen, echoing through the entire room. It took her a moment to realize it was actually someone at her door.
"Go away," Max ordered, not wanting to deal with whoever was on the other side of the door.
"Sorry to bother you Max, I just wanted to talk." Kate's soft voice answered in response, instantly making Max feel terrible for her previous comment.
"I'm sorry Kate, I wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?" Max asked through the door.
"Second period doesn't start for a few more minutes," Kate revealed, causing Max to realize how isolated she'd been since Chloe died. Her alarm went off in the morning, but that was about as much awareness of time she had. The heavy blinds on her window blocked out almost all natural sunlight, which ultimately didn't even matter when all she did was sleep and wallow in self-pity all day and night anyway. "But I wanted to talk. Mind if I come in?"
"Uhh," Max paused, not wanting Kate to see her like this. "Maybe after school, I'm kinda busy right now." As if she couldn't feel anymore shitty, now she was lying to Kate. It wasn't a good lie either; everyone knew she had been holed up in her dorm since Monday.
"Please, Max."
Max couldn't deny her friend, especially someone as sweet as Kate. She opened the door slowly, trying to gauge her friend's reaction. "Hey, Kate." Max greeted, almost in a whisper.
"Oh, Max…" Kate trailed off, noticing the dark circles under her friend's eyes. Kate knew Max was having a rough time, but it was worse than she imagined. "You can't live like this," she said as she stepped further inside, the blinds creating a grim tone that spread across the entire room. She had no idea how Max could stay holed up here at all, let alone for days. "C'mon we need to get you out of here," Kate said, reaching for Max's hand.
"I don't wanna go anywhere," Max replied stubbornly, withdrawing her hand.
"At least come get something to eat, you look like you haven't eaten in days."
Lunch on Monday? No. Granola bar on Wednesday night. Or was it Tuesday? Max couldn't remember the last time she ate. She didn't care; she wasn't hungry. The only thing she could think about was finding the right photo, and using it to fix everything.
"Max? Hello?" Kate snapped Max back to reality. "You zoned out. You feeling okay?"
"What? Yeah of course. I just gotta get back to-"
"Whoa, Max. Your nose!" Kate exclaimed before reaching for a tissue in her bag.
"Thanks," Max said as she took the tissue from her friend and plugged up her nosebleed. "I get them from time to time, no big deal."
"You sure? I could go get the nurse."
"You're going to be late to class, Kate, don't worry about me." Max dismissed, scratching the back of her neck nervously.
"I do worry about you Max," Kate responded, pulling Max into a hug. "I can tell you want to be left alone now, just know I am here if you want to talk."
"Thanks, Kate, you're the best," Max said as she reciprocated the hug, relaxing just a tiny bit.
If anything good came out of this timeline, Max thought as she watched her friend leave, it's definitely Kate getting justice for what happened to her without being pushed to the edge of a rooftop.
Okay, now think Max. The answer has to be here somewhere. There has to be a way to do everything. Save Chloe, get justice for Kate, lock up Jeffershit. Max's thoughts were again interrupted, this time by another knock on the door.
"Kate you're the sweetest but believe me, I'll be fine. Just get to class. I even promise that I'll eat something," she shouted at her door, her eyes not leaving the polaroids. Another knock on the door jolted her attention away from her photos, this time the knock was more aggressive and with purpose.
"Kate? Is that you?" Max asked with apprehension, still seated on the floor. She waited for an answer but didn't hear anything else. She got up slowly, the piercing light under the door told her whoever was knocking was gone. Still, she cautiously opened it, hoping her rewind power would work if she needed it. She poked her head out, peering from left to right, finding nothing but a quiet, empty hallway. She shook her head at how ridiculous she was acting, starting to close the door before noticing a white envelope taped to it, labeled with her name. She looked around again before carefully prying it from the wood before retreating back into her domain.
Max sat down on the edge of her bed, her curiosity rising with every second that passed. The envelope wasn't sealed, and as she turned it over a letter fell out, along with it a polaroid. She hastily picked it up, not wanting it to get ruined.
"What the hell?" Max couldn't help but utter out loud, studying the picture intensely. She double checked her own polaroids, making sure this was the one that fell out of the envelope. When there was no doubt left, she shot up from her bed. She rushed into the hallway, wanting to catch whoever left her this. She hurried to the end of the hallway and peeked through the window of the door that led downstairs, seeing no one. Everyone else was in class, so the empty halls meant no witnesses to help her.
Max made her way back to her room but stopped at her door, an idea forming in her brain. She could rewind back to when the stranger was knocking and catch them in the act. She touched the tissue paper still in her nose, reminding herself of her earlier abuse of her power. Her headache had lessened since she talked to Kate but it was still there. Regardless, she had to try. Max raised her hand, feeling time around her began to warp.
Not again! Max groaned as the pounding in her head returned, reaching an almost unbearable level in an instant. She fell to her knees, clutching her head. She took a few deep breaths, trying to regulate her breathing and prevent any further damage. After a moment, she opened her eyes tentatively, thankful for not falling unconscious in her deserted dorm hallway. She returned to her room once more, sitting down at her desk with the contents of the mysterious envelope.
"You shouldn't exist…" Max muttered, running a finger across the picture to make sure it was real and not a figment of her imagination. It was of her, Chloe and David on the Thursday that Max went back and convinced Chloe to stay indoors instead of searching for Nathan at the Vortex Club party. The only problem was that when Max went back in time and let Chloe die in the bathroom, it erased this from ever happening. How could she be holding a photo of something that never technically happened? She cursed herself for abusing her rewind earlier in the morning. She had so many questions, questions that only the person who left her this envelope could answer.
You can save everyone. FOLLOW THE LETTER. Follow the mustang. Max read off the back of the photo.
Why are the most important instructions always so cryptic? She thought, setting the photo down and unfolding the letter. It was disappointingly bare, except for a list of steps under the label 'Photo Jump'. Max found that odd, whoever left this obviously knew about her time power, so why would they leave her instructions? Especially instructions that were so thorough compared to the way she usually does it. It didn't matter; she finally had her photo, which meant she had a shot at making things right. If she was going to take on the storm, she wasn't going to do it alone. She took one last look around her overwhelmingly depressing room, which only further confirmed her decision.
"I'm coming, Chloe."