Chapter 1: Life has Shifted
Arcadia Bay had always been a very quiet uneventful town. Not much happened in the small town. Derek sighed as he had finished unpacking into his new dorm late that night. He sat on his bed softly. He had just moved into Blackwell's dormitory today. It had been a sad day, his parents teary eyes as he left his house to start his new life never leaving his head. Laying back on his bed before deciding to sneak out for a breath of air. Silently he opened up his window and grabbed the ledge, flipping over to hang by the sill. He let himself drop from the short height landing with a quiet thud. A shout grabbed his attention before a small flash blinded him. He looked up to see a skinny brunette girl awkwardly fanning a picture from her Polaroid camera. She looked at him confused before speaking up. "Dang it, there goes a great shot."
Derek looked at her awkwardly. He scratched at his head quietly. "Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you, I was just trying to get out and get some air."
The brunette smiled kindly at him. "Its okay, I was just wanted to get a picture of the squirrels, I think you scared them away though," she said while she watched the furry critters scampering away.
Derek looked down sadly. "Sorry... I didn't think anyone was out here."
"Its okay man, don't sweat it, I have plenty of shots of them anyways. Why are you trying to get out? I don't think I have seen you around here before."
Looking up at her awkwardly he pointed up at the window he had jumped from. "I just moved in here yesterday, I just finished unpacking. My name is Derek by the way." He said offering a small smile.
"Really? That is so cool. It's great to see a new face around here. My name is Max. I was actually sneaking out to meet up with a friend. She is waiting for me in the parking lot, if you want you can tag along. I'm sure you haven't seen much of the town, it being your first day and all."
She is inviting me to hang out with her and a friend..? She doesn't even know me though, why would she be so friendly to me? Maybe i should just go back to my room, I dont want to intrude on her and her friend. "I... I don't know, I'm just a stranger, I wouldn't want to intrude on you and your friend."
The brunette smiled, freckled cheeks rising with the action and laughed softly. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure she wont care. Come on, before someone finds us sneaking out," she said, dragging him by his sleeve before he could protest any further.
Why is she being so friendly to me? I am just a weird new kid she just met, yet she is acting like she has already met me. "Where are we going?"
Max looked back at him with a smile. "We are going to meet my friend, I already told you that. Weren't you listening?" she said with a slight giggle.
I feel like she knows me already knows me. She looks strangely familiar too. He let himself get dragged to a old tan single cab truck. Graffiti and rust spots covered the . Smoke was slightly spilling out of a cracked window. The red glow of a cigarette hanging from it. Max opened the door, a blue haired girl sat behind the wheel, legs propped up on the dash. She had a slightly narrow face with high cheekbones.
She looked up from her phone, not noticing Derek as she looked at Max. "Finally your bony ass shows up, I was about to start spamming your pho-" She looked at Derek for a second. "You found him? Is that what took so long? Or did you rewind too far?"
Rewind too far? And she "Found me?" How does she know me? Derek stood there awkwardly under her inspecting stare.
Max hopped into the middle seat beside the girl. "Shut up Chloe! Derek, this is Chloe."
Derek, snapping himself out of his thoughts looked at them again. "Oh uh, hey."
Chloe laughed a little before sitting up in her seat. "Get in slowpoke! We cant stay here all night, and I'm hella starved!" She said as she started the truck up, the engine whirring in protest.
Derek shrugged, Hell with it. Tonight is already weird so why not? Derek climbed into the vehicle and pulled the door shut as Chloe threw her cigarette butt out the window. With a screech of the tires Chloe gunned the truck off into the night. "So uh, where are we going?"
Max looked up from her phone as she replied, "We are going to the Two Whales. Sorry I forgot you didn't know."
Frowning and confused, Derek looked back at Chloe as he caught her staring at him sadly. Why are they being so weird? A uncomfortable feeling started to grow in the pit of his stomach, leaving chills throughout his body.
Before long they pulled up to the Two Whales diner. Chloe turned off the truck and smiled over at Derek an Max. "I am hella hungry! Let's go nosh!" She opened her door as Derek slowly opened his, not paying attention to what was going on as he started to get a cold chill.
As Derek looked over at Max, a cold sweat started forming on his face as he had begun to loose the color in his face. Max looked up a him with a worried expression. "Derek? Hey, Derek are you okay?"
"Max... What's going on? I feel like I have seen all of this before. You and Chloe are acting like you already know me. This is all so... Weird." Every sound, feeling, and smell felt familiar to him. He looked across the street watching as two birds landed on a phone line. A woman walking her dog had started making her way down the road as everything seemed to slow down. Time felt like it was going to stop before Chloe popped up beside him shaking his shoulder.
"Hey, Derek come on, why don't we go sit down. Your looking hella pale." She took his arm as Max took his other one and they lead him inside. He look around the diner slowly, everything starting to move by quickly. His head started to swim as his vision started to blur before he found himself in a booth in the back, one of the girls on either side of him whispering to him trying to get his attention. "Derek? Hey whats wrong?"
Max placed a hand on his arm. "Hey Derek snap out of it, you okay?"
Everything came back to him in a rush. What is going on?! My head feels like it is being crushed. "I- I need some water." He looked around the diner as he started to notice people staring at him occasionally worried before a tall blonde haired lady walked up to the trio.
"Hey Max, Chloe. Who is your friend?" She said setting a menu down in front of him.
"Hey mom, can we get some waters for right now?" Chloe said still a little worried about Derek.
Her mom looked at him confused for a second as she noticed the beads of sweat on his pale face, the drops slowly sliding down into his black T-shirt. His legs sat below him motionless in a pair of dark blue jeans. "Sure honey, I'll be right back." She said quickly shuffling off in her blue apron covered dress. She came back quickly carrying three glasses of ice water. "Here you guys go, call me if y'all need anything."
Derek quickly downed half of the cold liquid, relishing as the cold fluid spread throughout his body. As his head started to come back to normal Chloe looked over at Max. "Hey Max we should tell him."
Max nodded softly before looking back at Derek. Tell me? Tell me what? And why are they staring at me like I'm a ghost? I know they said i was pale but damn, it must be pretty bad. Maybe they are secretly in love with me. Heh, I wish.
Max and Chloe each gently took one of his hands in each of theirs before Max started to speak up. "Derek, do we look familiar to you at all?"
Derek thought for a second before nodding softly. "You both look like I have met you already, why?"
Chloe cleared her throat a little. "This is going to sound crazy, but, you already know us."
"Well you've met us before." Max chimed in. "We met you at the light house, a week from now."
Derek looked at them both confused as he searched their faces to see if they were joking. "A week from now? How could you have met me if it hasn't happened yet? Wait, don't tell me. Your high. Right?"
Chloe sighed as she squeezed his hand. "No damn it, well maybe I am a little, but that's besides the point! Max has..." She paused trying to think of a way to say it.
"I have the ability to rewind time." Max said bluntly. "We met you at the light house... You seemed to be with someone. We couldn't tell who." Max said quietly.
Chloe let out another sigh before speaking up again. "We thought you were on a date or something. Would have continued to think so too if the moon hadn't caused the gun to gleam slightly."
"Next thing we know your anchors away, and off the plank you went. Straight into the depths of the cove..."
"We watched you drown, blood clouding up the water. You were doomed to die, before Max rewound time." Chloe said looking down. "We had talked to you the whole week before... We were the reason you were thrown off the cliff. Nathan Prescott was livid with you for saving us from him. You were like a fucking hero. You moved so hella fast. Hell I would've given you a kiss if I weren't so scared that Nathan was going to shoot us."
Derek sat there in shock. No way. This has to be bullshit. I bet that this was just some kind of dream. They must have though it was real. Shit I'd believe it were real too if I was half as baked as they had to have been. There is no way they could turn back time.
Max squeezed his hand this time. "You told us how you were on a mission to stop the Prescott's. That the Prescott's were the reason behind all the problems here."
Derek's chest tightened. That is true. I was sent here by my family to help the people of the bay. The Prescott's were trying to destroy this town and rebuild it as their own. There is no way they could know that I was sent here to solely stop the Prescott's.Feeling the sweat come back to the side of his face, he looked for a way to escape. He was caged in on either side by Chloe and Max. They sat this way on purpose like they knew I would try to run for it. How are they so well prepared?
Max grabbed his arm sofly. "Calm down Derek. We aren't the enemy here. I know that you are freaking out but you have to trust us."
Derek looked at the girl on his left. The girl that was in his way keeping him from escaping this situation.Maybe I can call the waitress over and hint that I'm being forced to stay here. Maybe she could help me get away from them... No I know that wont work. "Why are you both trapping me in here? And how the hell did you find all this out?" Derek said, taking in the surroundings to make sure no one overheard their conversation, keeping note on just how close the two girls were to him. He could feel their warm breath on his shoulders as they both looked at him expectantly.
Max scooted over slightly giving him some room to breath. "The last time we tried to have this talk you left before we could stop you. We never saw you again. You just up and vanished. We assume that Nathan found you that time." Max said with a sadness in her voice he had never heard before.
Chloe looked out the window. "We didn't learn for sure if that is what happened. But what we do know is that in your absence Nathan lost it and pulled a gun on anyone he thought was a threat. It got hella crazy. He killed people Derek, innocent fucking people." She said instinctively reaching behind her.
Derek took in all of this in. He was slowly processing every word they said. He had his gaze fixated on the two girls that kept him in this booth. "Why do you think I can help you? Why does it matter what will happen to me? If you can rewind time, just find a way to kill Nathan without getting caught. That's what i planned to do. It's not like I'm aloud to go home until that prick is dead anyways," he said quietly. As long as I stop the kidnappings and deaths, then I am content with my fate. My only mission is to save people like these two from monsters like the Prescott's. They are just going to keep doing what they do. Everyday their actions like a cancer. They will only get more deadly as time goes on until they own all of Arcadia Bay.
Max smiled at him softly. "You don't know what all we've done in the week to come. You have grown close to me and Chloe. We know what happened to you. We know why you are so hellbent on killing Nathan." Max looked down and softly spoke. "You told us all about your family."
Chloe gave a quiet giggle. "And how your dad threatened to strip you naked and banish you if you couldn't even kill a, how did you say it? A 'Woman killing prick?' I think you said." With that she started to laugh.
Derek's hands clenched into tight fists, his scarred knuckles white with the pressure his hands were putting on them. Nathan Prescott has been like a plague to this town, along with all the other Prescott's. He drugs people at parties, kills them, takes photos of their limp bodies, and when he is done he kills them. "I have no choice but to trust you. If you know about my quest, when no one else knows about it, then you cant be lying." Derek said through gritted teeth as the thoughts of Nathan and his sick smile tormented his thoughts.
Chloe and max both looked at him with worry, each grabbing one of his hands for the umpteenth time that night. "We are going to stop the Prescott's Derek. We are going to put a stop to those rich shit bags once and for all." Chloe said in a quiet voice. "I promise." Her and Max said in unison.
Derek looked at them both. They have the same fiery look of determination that my father would get when he set his mind to something. No wonder I trusted them both so easily. "Alright. Where do we start?"
The ring of the bell as the door opened caught the attention of all three. As Chloe's hand squeezed tighter she couldn't stop look of hate plaster itself onto her face. The cool outside air did nothing to make shiver so much as the boy that stood in the doorway. There stood a tall and lanky teenager with blonde hair and a psychotic look in his eyes. He wore a Blackwell letter man jacket. He walked with a air of confidence that reeked of wealth and death. Chloe narrowed her eyes as the boy looked up at them with a upturned lip. "Nathan Prescott."