(A/N: Life is Strange is by far one of my favorite- if not the most favorite- game I've ever had the pleasure of playing. I recently replayed it, given the hype of Before the Storm coming out, and I fell even deeper in love with it than I already was. So, I was all like, 'Why not fall deeper down the fandom hole?' and decided to create this beauty. With a face only a mother could love. It's AmberPriceField so that should give y'all some inkling of what's going to happen. I tried to make it original but I really don't know if I did since their aren't that many LiS Fanfics around. Review in the comments or give me a star if you like it. It'd be nice to know that I do this for someone else too, not just me.)
Part One: Rachel Amber
Blood rushed down Max's lip from her nose as she stared and stared at the picture. Even though the Polaroid was ripped, she could still hear the voices and the sounds of that day in her head. Reverberating around in her skull like the slow bass of a band. The blue butterfly was mostly whole but the picture was torn down the middle.
The funeral had been painful for her. As if she was being stabbed over and over again in the heart. She had loved Chloe. More than a best friend. And she knew that Chloe loved her in the end. They had kissed before Max had sacrificed her for Arcadia. They had actually kissed...
She had torn the picture the moment she entered the bathroom, making sure that she could never go back to that moment. No matter how much she wanted to. Like now. Even taped, the Polaroid was beyond able to be focused. There was no way Max could go back and she was just torturing herself trying to. Both physically and mentally.
Her head was throbbing for trying for the last fifteen minutes and her soul and heart ached when she kept hearing the gun shot, her own sobbing, and Chloe's strangled last breaths as the blood in her body pooled out of her stomach and onto the floor.
It was hell to wake up in the middle of Chloe's funeral with all those different sets of memories. With the different memories of different time streams, including the one she was just in. She broke down the moment she was alone. She cried into her pillow, remembering everything that she went through and with the knowledge that everything she did to keep Chloe alive was for nothing.
Max didn't want it to end up that way. She didn't want the girl she loved dead while the town that was slowly decaying survived to die another day. It wasn't fair. And after a few beers alone in her room as a toast to Chloe, that's exactly what brought Max to stare at the torn picture while wishing she could go back.
The thing was, in her drunken haze, Max blamed Rachel Amber for everything that happened. If she hadn't disappeared, Chloe, for one reason or another, would have never been in that bathroom. Max would have never awakened her Rewind, and everything would be as it should be. Even if Jefferson and Prescott would still be alive and roaming around. At least then, Chloe would be safe.
Another beer bottle later and Max found herself staring at a picture of Chloe and Rachel. The one Chloe had used for Rachel's Missing Person posters. They looked so happy... So free. It was a photo Jefferson would have despised and that made Max smile. Then she flipped the picture, showing the date written on the back.
April 20th, 2013 was clearly written on the back in cursive. It was obviously Chloe's writing. But what got Max was that it was dated two days before Rachel's disappearance. It wasn't a Polaroid, so it could have been a day or two earlier than what was written but it didn't matter. Max knew in her heart what she had to do.
The photo was hard to focus on. Max had never traveled back through a photo she wasn't there to take, be in, or wasn't a Polaroid. The Dark Room, Chloe's Butterfly, William's Last Day, Warren's Drunken Haze; they all had Max in them in some way, whether she was the subject or the person taking the photo or Max's special brand of non-digital mark. This... This would be something new and potentially devastating. And Max couldn't find it in herself to care.
She could hear voices and sounds as more blood flowed from her nose. She could hear her... and Chloe. She could hear Chloe talking to someone. Laughter. Then she could hear her talking to someone. Her parents. She was talking to her parents when this photo was taken. Homework, maybe? No. It was about Blackwell. An opening in the roster and Jefferson as a teacher. Her dream to be taught by him. If only she knew then what that sick fuck was doing. What he was about to do to Kate and Rachel.
That's why she was doing this. To stop them from reliving something horrible. And to keep Chloe alive. To keep her from that bathroom, even if that sacrifices everything that they've built together. Even Chloe's love for her, if she ever even had it.
The sounds got clearer but Max's head got murkier. She knew she was straining herself. She could probably faint or die. Yet she wouldn't. She couldn't do any of that. Nothing would get in her way when she saves Rachel. Not when she saves Kate. She had to let David know where the bunker was. Just like last time.
Then she had to deal with Nathan. Nathan was the real problem so far. He was the one who overdosed Rachel. Get him to leave the party or lose his faith in Jefferson. Tell him that she knows what was going on and that Jefferson would kill him if he doses Rachel. He would believe her. He'd seen the things that Jefferson could and would do.
Frank. Let Frank know what was going to happen and then he can't sell Nathan the GHB he would use to drug Rachel. That could be a solid back up plan in case everything else goes wrong. If Frank won't sell to Nathan, Nathan won't be able to drug Rachel and accidentally kill her. Then Jefferson won't go after Kate. Maybe. Hopefully Plan David can get to Jefferson and Nathan before Kate ever lands on the internet. The Vortex Club would definitely be shut down then, if Victoria doesn't have the power to save it.
But even that's not enough. Rachel would still go to that party. Max had to stop that first. She had to get to Rachel. Even if it sounded crazy, Max had a feeling that Rachel would believe her. Especially if she was bleeding from the nose and about to pass out. If she was texting David and told her enough to get her to not go to that party. Maybe she wouldn't go. Rachel Amber...
Everything turned white and a searing scream erupted from her mouth as her head felt like it was being split open with a tire iron and a crowbar. It was a couple long seconds later of screaming when she felt something coming together. Like a burned picture getting returned and unfurled to its former glory.
She was in her room in Seattle. There was no mom or pop to talk to her right then which relieved her greatly. If she suddenly woke up in the middle of the conversation... It wouldn't go well for her. Especially if her nose started bleeding.
The door was blocked by white. She'd never tried to leave the whites of a picture before. If it felt like anything that she felt a few seconds earlier, it would be one of the worst of her Hell. Because she knows Chloe is so close. And so is Rachel Amber.
It was like a wavy wall. It was solid but moving. Like a living and breathing thing. Max's head pounded like never before. The wall was pounding in time with her head, making more blood gush from her nose. She was getting light headed and she couldn't faint yet. There was so much to do and she couldn't pass out before she started.
First thing's first, get out of the room.
The white wasn't letting her. She pushed as hard as she could against the white but it wouldn't budge or soak her through like the paint it looked like. The more she tried, the more it resisted. She could hear the beyond though. She could hear her mom doing something...
Golden electricity sparked between her fingers. Was she having a power meltdown? Dog, it was about time. She would have thought her powers would have melted down the moment she first rewrote history with William's Last Day. Or when she rewrote everything back. How else can you change history if you don't rewrite it? Her powers were having a meltdown at the most inopportune moment.
But they didn't have a meltdown. Instead, the lightening sparked against the wall and the white backed away, leaving her doorway open and able to walk through. Her fingers were still sparking with the golden electricity but it didn't hurt. It felt... exhilarating. Even though her head pounded as if she was about to explode and she was internally freaking out about this new development in her powers, it felt good.
She had a mission though. She wasn't about to stop to contemplate the powers that the Universe or Destiny or whatever else bestowed upon her. She had enough of Chaos Theory or just theories in general. Fuck theories, Max preferred action now.
Max ignored her parents. They were watching a movie and didn't notice her leaving. She didn't have time to feel bad as she quickly used her Rewind to start rewinding at a slow pace, nearly capturing them in the moment they were currently at. It was hell, literally and figuratively. Her head slowed its pounding but it added to its intensity. And rewinding at such a slow pace made her almost trip from exhaustion. It was tiring and definitely not her favorite thing to do.
But it needed to be done. Arcadia Bay was hours away, even days on foot. She needed a car and no traffic if she wanted to get there in a few hours. And with the Slow Rewind, she could make it there in a minute or two- at least in everyone else's perspective.
Max's parent's car was in a garage under the apartment complex. Why they lived in an apartment when they had a perfectly good house in Arcadia Bay was one of the arguments she made to her parents when they told her that they were moving to Seattle. They replied the same every time: Arcadia was dying. She had no idea how right they were.
Despite forcing herself to stay awake on the drive, she almost crashed. A lot. The frozen cars were going backwards slightly and it made it hard to not to crash on the pathway to Arcadia. But the thought of Chloe dying over and over again like she did in the Nightmare Realm was what kept her awake. What kept her awake was the thought of everything happening like it did in that Nightmare Realm. Of Chloe thinking less of her and of meeting another Max that she took over. Save Rachel. Save Chloe. Save Kate. Save Victoria. Save Arcadia. And kill Jefferson. Those thoughts raced through her pounding head like a NASCAR tournament.
It still kept her awake at night, what Jefferson did to her. Or had done to her. Or will do to her. Or will or has or had never done to her. Being posed like that. Drugged. She couldn't wish that on any person. Much less a photographer. Much less her, who goes through time with the pictures she has. It was torture. It was a nightmare. It was Hell.
The sweet little town of Arcadia was within reach when Max felt her powers slipping. The golden electricity stopped and the white wall seemed to appear out of nowhere, encircling the town in a dome. Like a snow globe. Max had to work quickly, she knew that. Now she was on an even smaller time crunch. Her Rewind was slipping and time was going forward.
Now that she was in Arcadia, she had to find Rachel. There were only a few possibilities. The Junkyard, with Frank, or at Blackwell. Jefferson was at Blackwell and was the last person Max ever wanted to see but Rachel could be there, as well as Nathan. Rachel could also be at the Junkyard with Chloe, or even the bluenette's house with David looming over them like an overprotective German Shepard. The RV was either at Two Whales Diner or the Beach like usual, sporting Frank and maybe Rachel.
Max would start there. Get Frank to stop selling to Nathan. If Rachel is there, great. Max could warn her too. But Frank is where Jefferson is getting his drugs, even if it's through Nathan. If Rachel wasn't there and she managed to convince Frank not to sell GHB to anyone at Blackwell for a few days, she could ask him where he thought Rachel was. He would probably tell her if he believed what she was saying.
Max went through traffic as if she wasn't in a rush to save the future as she knew it. She looked after Two Whales as she passed, noticing Frank's RV not in the parking lot. Max knew he must be at the beach then. It was one of the only two places he would be. And so she went there and lo and behold there it was.
She stopped at the entrance to Frank's territory, not wanting him to make a big deal out of it. The sun glared through the white dome and the beached whales were gone from the shore. It looked almost happy at the beach. Max was far from it. Agitated, hurting, and nervous were the words to describe her now.
Frank's RV was just as unclean on the outside as it had been two weeks ago. Or will be six months later. She could hear Pompidou padding around through the thin walls of the recreational vehicle. Her nose started to stream at the last second and she wiped it away hastily. Her time was running out faster than it had the other times she rewrote history.
Max knocked on the door hard. She wanted Frank to hear her and get mad. Mad enough to come out and listen. Max heard Frank grumble as if he had been sleeping. Good. It was the last bit of good sleep he would get in a while.
"Who the fuck are you?" Frank growled when he opened the door to see Max standing there.
"That doesn't matter," Max replied. Her words were clear but she couldn't help but feel slightly slurred. "I came to tell you that Rachel is in danger."
"What?" He growled.
"You need to stop selling... to Nathan," she gasped as fresh pain blossomed between her eyes. "He... He's going to overdose her with a drug you sell him at the party in a few days. GHB. You- You can't sell him that drug."
"How the hell do you know this?" He demanded.
"That... That doesn't matter either." Max turned to walk away before her nose started to bleed again or she passed out. But Frank caught her arm.
"What if I don't stop selling to Prescott?" He challenged. She could see it in her eyes that he partially believed her. That he was unsure of the what she had just said.
Max slammed her hand against the side of his RV, golden electricity sparking out of her hands and scarring the poor vehicle. "Then Rachel dies!" She yelled at him. He stared at her wide eyed as his orbs darted between her eyes and her hand. "Rachel dies, Kate Marsh dies, Chloe dies. I won't remember this conversation the next time you see me. Hell, you might never see me again if this doesn't turn out the way I hope it will. But you need to stop selling to Nathan and be the man that saved all those fighting dogs. Be the man that loves Rachel."
His grip loosened on her arm and she tore it away from him. "I need to find out where Rachel is. Where is she?"
"With Price at their 'secret' junkyard," Frank answered. "I assume you know where that is like how you know everything else." Max nodded. He looked around before sighing and whispering, "If I kill Prescott, what will happen?"
"Even if you kill the dog, their owner is still out there," Max told him. "The Rottweiler is no different. I plan on getting both of them. If my plan works, Nathan won't contact you for drugs ever again."
"How?" Frank asked.
Max only shook her head. "That's not important right now. Not to you. What I need you to do is go off radar for the Vortex Club party. If my plan fails, Nathan's going to offer you a lot of cash to get that GHB." Frank nodded. "I'm going to handle everything else."
"Be careful kid," he told her. At that second, her nose started bleeding and she had to steady herself on the wall of the RV. "You okay?" Frank asked.
"Call it a side effect," Max chuckled softly. "Just don't be too surprised if I wind up dead in a ditch somewhere."
"You on somethin'?" He asked. Max shook her head.
"I wish," she told him. "That would make the pain bearable. No, I did this to myself. I just hope I don't die before I'm done doing what I need to do here."
"And that is?" Frank prompted. He seemed to want all the information he could get.
"To make sure Rachel Amber never goes missing," she answered. She saw his jaw drop and chuckled to herself. "I have to go. Remember, I won't remember any of this happened if you happen to see me again. So don't try to get me to remember. Seeing as I'm not dead in the next hour or so, I'll remember this eventually."
"Alright," he said. "Won't say I'm not as confused as I have ever fuckin' been but I believe you. I didn't get your name."
"Max but that may change to Maxine if something goes wrong," she said. "I have to go. Don't sell Nathan or anyone any drugs. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am," he said sarcastically. Max nodded and then peeled her back from the wall and started walking. She stumbled once but caught herself. The pain was barely keeping her awake as it was. The last thing she needed was drugs. Though it was tempting with this pain.
She found herself on the road faster than normal. The streets were practically clear. She was at an impasse though. She should text David. Max knew he wouldn't alert the cops right away until he gathered more proof or searched the Dark Room himself so it was a matter of texting him, calling him, or seeing him in person. She doubted she could handle his stare/glare, so texting was probably the thing to do.
She parked at Two Whales diner, on her way to the junkyard. She quickly typed out a text.
'There's a bunker underneath a desolate barn that Sean Prescott owns. Inside will be red binders linked to the molestation and murder of young women across the country. Mark Jefferson is the culprit. This text never happened. I will not stand up in court or to you. Don't contact me. You know what to do.'
Max deleted the text as soon as she sent it. She knew the police could track her phone if they tried but she hoped David would respect her and not try to track her down. He would get the praise and she would get the satisfaction of seeing Jefferson go to jail as soon as she woke up in the New Max. It was still freaky to think about all those Max's she was taking over. Like mind control or a parasite.
The time traveler was about to put the car in reverse when she saw Nathan Prescott enter Two Whales. It was a chance of luck but Max wasn't about to let it slip away from her grasp. She opened the car door and stepped out, jogging to get inside before Nathan ordered anything.
Max hoped Joyce wasn't working at the diner. As much as it would be good to see the mother of her best friend relatively happy, she couldn't risk being seen by the greatest cook in the world and wife of David Madsen. It wouldn't be good. Especially if she needed to talk to Nathan. She didn't want him to know that she knew Chloe and most likely Rachel.
When Max walked in, she didn't see the blond haired woman but she did see the pompous dick sitting in a familiar booth. She walked over and quickly checked if she was bleeding. She wasn't and knew how to play it off if she suddenly started to.
Max didn't gather any courage before she slid into the booth. She didn't have time to. She needed all the time she had to make this plan perfect. And able to work.
"And who the fuck do you think you are?" Nathan asked her with his usual hostility.
"Shut up and listen Nathan," she told him. He reared back, probably in shock at being talked to like that. "You are going to die if you continue like this. Jefferson will kill you."
"What the fuck do you know?" Nathan snarled. But Max wasn't deterred.
"Do you think you're the only one that's seen him work?" Max smirked, seeing his expression go into one of surprise. "Do you think you're the first protege that thinks they can be like him? Do you think you're going to be the first protege he's killed because you go on your own?"
"He- He wouldn't-" Nathan stammered but Max quickly interrupted him.
"Why? Because you gave him access to the Prescott fortune?" She asked. "Because you gave him access to the drugs he needed to get the girls he wanted duped up? Because you used your dick of a father's money to build the Dark Room for him?"
"How do you know about that!" He yelled.
"Do you think you're the first?" Her nose started bleeding as she ignored his question. "'Cause you aren't. You aren't the first person to think of Jefferson as a father. Only to have him stab you in the back when you mess up his plans."
"That's where you and me are different," Nathan told her, his voice nearly a whisper. "I'm not going to mess up."
"And how much GHB are you going to give Rachel Amber?" The question left his mouth wide open.
"How..."
"Who ever said I was his protege?"
Pausing time was a one time thing. When she saved Kate, she had exhausted her powers so much that the only thing she could do was hold time there, like a picture. Now, she needed that power. She needed to make Nathan scared.
She slowed time down to a halt. It was the perfect picture. 3-D, frozen completely in a single moment, and Nathan poised in his chair as if he was a realistic mannequin. As much as her body and head protested, she moved from her spot across from him to get between him and the wall. She tucked in her legs and faced him, putting her feet on the seat.
Time played again and he jerked from her, too scared to say anything.
"You're wrong, Nathan," she told him. "I'm not one of his proteges. I'm one of his future subjects." She saw him about to interrupt and continued on. "A lot of things happen when you drug Rachel Amber. You dupe her up on too much GHB and she dies. Chloe Price goes looking and then I come to Blackwell. Me and Chloe together find out what happened and Jefferson kills you before taking me and killing Chloe. I'm his last subject, Nathan. Just before he kills me and leaves Arcadia."
"You're a ghost," Nathan whispered.
"You could call me that," Max told him. "I prefer the term 'Future Apparition'." Max forced herself to look Nathan in the eye without snarling in disdain. It was hard for her. "You die, Nathan. Do this, and you subject yourself. Kate Marsh gets bullied so much, she kills herself. You do this, and Victoria Chase dies."
"Victoria?" Nathan squeaked. She was getting to him, Max could feel it.
"Before I was taken, I had warned Victoria that you would drug her. She believed me." Max felt tears prick her eyes as she though about what happened to that Victoria, even though she was a total bitch. "I didn't know Jefferson was behind it. Or that you were already dead. She went to Jefferson for protection.
"A storm comes that night. One that rips this town apart and so Jefferson decides to hide out with only one of us." She gulps at the thought. "He kills Victoria and dumps her body somewhere. I was asleep; I didn't even know it happened until he told me and Victoria was missing."
Nathan starts moving and time stops in its tracks. He was going to hug her. She moves so she's standing outside of the booth looking in. She takes a deep breath, letting her anger take over for the next part. She'd been around people long enough to know what to say and how to say it, even if she is awkward when the words come from her own mouth. Now, it's coming from at least two or three Max's that were in Jefferson's hands.
Memories in different time streams were fickle things. They each come with their own Maxes and personalities, stored in Max's mind. She'd gotten better at accessing memories from different time lines, but it was hard and a strain. Her emotions helped open doors and she could feel other Maxes from her time messing with photos in Jefferson's Dark Room joining in on her anger, making her powers more erratic and potent than usual.
Time starts again and Max slams her hands down on the table, loud enough to attract a few people's attention. Only for them to go back to what they were doing when they noticed Nathan Prescott.
"This starts with you, Nathan," Max hissed quietly. She didn't want anyone to remember her face when she leaves. "I tracked everything down to you. Rachel Amber cannotdie. Do you understand?"
He nods weakly, not saying everything. "The moment you contact Frank Bowers about GHB or any drug close to a Vortex Party, I will come back to this moment and kill you instead." He nods again. "Good. See you, Nathan. If you happen to see me at Blackwell, I won't be who I am now. I won't remember any of this, so don't expect me to have some secret agreement with you. Get it?"
"R-Right," he replied.
"Jefferson is going to jail soon. If not, I'll kill him myself. I expect you to sever all ties with him if you don't want your dad to be under FBI investigation." Nathan shuddered at the thought. "You never knew what Jefferson was doing with the Dark Room. You wanted to help him because he made you feel worth it. That's what you tell the cops. Prescott with daddy issues takes solace in teacher; teacher abuses teen to kill young girls. That's what the press will say Nathan. Daddy won't be upset if you were never apart of it." Nathan nods again. "Remember Nathan, this never happened."
More blood spurted from her nose as she paused time again. She was overusing her power and time now. She could feel her grip on this moment in time slipping. But there was still so much to do. So much that needed to be done before she could go back to her present time. Or die. Either way, she needed to use the time she had to talk to Rachel. Several other Maxes in her mind grabbed her moment in time like a vice, unwilling to let them go for the sake of Chloe.
That was the last step. Talk to Rachel. Tell her not to trust Jefferson. If it was one thing that Max knew, it was that Rachel's relationship with Jefferson had to go. Though it would make Jefferson act quicker than he would have, she knew that if Rachel was with Chloe, they would be okay. Not like when she was with Chloe. Max relies too heavily on her power over time to fix things. Take that away and she was virtually useless unless someone needed a snoop.
Rachel was different. Jefferson called her the human chameleon. Everything points to Rachel being invincible when in groups of people. She could blend in with everyone. That's what Chloe had said. It didn't need to be permanent. Just long enough for Jefferson to go to jail.
The drive to the junkyard was painful for Max. It was where Rachel was buried. Where Chloe almost died twice and was actually murdered. It was where Max was drugged and kidnapped by Jefferson. It held a lot of history. Some of it bad but the rest could have been good. But Max was only there for the bad. Seemed like a shame if she didn't think of what a hellhole that place was.
Max quickly made her way to the hideout. She ignored everything else. She could see the world through the lens of the camera and now she was ignoring it. Max had to be the worst photographer in the world. Though Jefferson was a sick fuck, he was a good photographer. As much as she hated herself for admitting it. 'Always take the shot' was a good motto, despite who it came from. It worked for her. And here she was, too afraid to take the shot she'd taken in her mind so many times.
She could hear someone smoking in the hideout. She caught a glimpse of blond hair through the cracks of the rundown building and knew that Rachel was alone. Where Chloe went was bothering Max but she had a mission to do and wouldn't let her get distracted by the girl she loved. No matter how much she wanted to run up and kiss her.
"Rachel Amber?" Max called through the door. "I have to talk to you; it's important. You're in danger."
Rachel walked through the doorway and Max had to hold in a gasp for fear of making her head spike in pain. She was beautiful. Blond hair and hazel nut eyes. Creamy skin and a single peacock feather as an earring in her left ear.
"Who are you?"
"That's not important," Max told her, using the same line from when she talked with Frank. "What is, is that you don't go to the Vortex Club party. And you stay away from Jefferson."
"What?"
"Jefferson is going to drug you and take you somewhere where he can kill you in peace." Rachel wasn't buying it. Why was it so much easier to talk to Frank and even Nathan than it is this woman?
"Right. And I should believe you 'cause..."
"Because Frank believes me," she told the blond.
"Why would you tell me that?" Rachel demanded.
"Because I know that you and Frank are together and that you straight up lied to Chloe's face!" Max yelled. Her hands started sparking again and they made Rachel wide eyed. "You are going to die at that party Rachel Amber. And your death will be the beginning. I already stopped it on two fronts but if you want to live, you'll stay away from Mark Jefferson."
"I don't understand-"
"I don't give a damn!" Max snarled. She stepped up to Rachel, who was a good few inches taller than her. "Chloe is my best friend. In this reality or any of the others, that doesn't change. But she can't seem to live when your not in the picture, so get it through your fucking skull that me saving you isn't for your benefit. Chloe will die without you. As many times as I've saved her, I can't keep her alive and it all starts with you."
For the sake of it, Max stopped time and walked behind the actress, intent on getting it through the blond's thick skull. When time started again, Rachel looked around wildly only for her to spot Max behind her.
"If you die, she dies," Max warned her. She could start to see the belief in Rachel's eyes. "I love Chloe, and I won't let her die. Not again. Understand?"
"How many times has she died?" Rachel asked. Max didn't answer. "How many?!"
"Seven!" Max yelled. "She's died seven times! And I was there to stop five of them!" Rachel stared at her.
"What happened?" Rachel demanded. "What happened the seventh and sixth times?"
"The last time she died, she sacrificed herself for the good of Arcadia Bay," Max told her. "There was a storm and I messed with time so much that the Universe decided that it was the town or Chloe. Chloe told me to save the town; the fifth time, she asked me to kill her."
"What?" Rachel cried. "No, she doesn't think like that anymore! She wouldn't ask that!"
"No, that Chloe wouldn't," Max agreed. "But one that was paralyzed, in a wheelchair with a failing respiratory system and medical bills costing a million dollars would."
"What do you-" Max started to fuzz out when Rachel started talking. It felt like the edges of her vision were being burned with chemicals. Like she was a photo.
"Enough," she told her. "I can't explain it all now. I won't remember this conversation the next time you see me so don't come to me for answers. I won't have them, yet. Stay away from Jefferson and keep close to Chloe, Frank, and David."
"Step-Douche? Why?" Rachel asked.
"I got him on his way to Jefferson's Dark Room," Max said. "With my help, he'll find the place and Jefferson will be arrested soon if not by the end of this summer... FUCK!"
Her nose started spilling again. And it didn't stop easily. They white wall that surrounded the town seemed to be suffocating her. Her vision reddened and blackened. She yelled as if her life depended on it. Because it felt like it did. Her mind was screaming at her, cursing her out for staying that long in one moment... It was tearing her apart.
"Shit," she mumbled when she stopped screaming as she wiped blood off on her hand.
Rachel suddenly came up to Max, holding her chin as she wiped more blood off with her thumb. "Are you okay?"
"I will be," she answered. "But you need to stay away from Jefferson until he's arrested. Or dead."
"I didn't get your name," Rachel hinted.
"It's Max," she told Rachel.
"As in Max Caulfield?" Rachel asked. Max chuckled a bit before standing straight.
"I take it Chloe has been bitching about me to you?" Max asked. "It's good she had a friend like you when I couldn't be there. Or won't be there... I can't tell you how much I owe you for being with her. She told me you were her angel and it kills her when we find you."
"You... You found my body?" Rachel stuttered. Max solemnly nodded. "Where was it?"
"You don't need to know that." Max took a deep breath, trying to calm the pounding in her head. "She loves you, you know." Max saw Rachel look down. "And I have a feeling you feel the same, even if you love Frank too."
"What do you want me to do?" Rachel asked. Max didn't want to spend this time giving Rachel Amber advice, but if it kept Chloe happy and safe...
"It's not my decision to make," Max answered. "You have options. And I won't fault you for choices. I'd be a hypocrite to judge you. I caused the destruction of Arcadia Bay and Chloe's death. But whatever decision you make, you need to be there for Chloe. And let Frank know that he'll have his money when Max remembers."
"You know about Chloe's debt?" Rachel questioned again.
"I helped her get rid of it," Max snorted. Then she turned to Rachel. "Frank knows it won't last. Either getting away from Arcadia or something else, he knows he's going to lose you one day. I just guess it's my retribution he doesn't have to lose you in the worst way possible."
Before Rachel could ask another question, Max started bleeding again. "I can't stay here. See you in a few months, if everything works out." Max turned to leave but looked over her shoulder. "It was nice to finally meet you, Rachel... And thank you for being there."
She paused time before Rachel could say anything and went back to her car. She was woozy and in pain. She wasn't sure if she would make it to Seattle but she had to try. Painkillers would have bettered her entire situation but after everything with Jefferson, she wasn't going anywhere near drugs ever again. Not unless she had to.
The drive back to Seattle in paused time almost killed her. Besides the white wall seeming to suck all the air out of the car, her head was pounding at her to stop holding time. She Max couldn't stop yet. It was in the middle of the freeway and she couldn't just stop.
She parked the car in the same spot in the same garage her parents had. Like nothing had ever happened in the hour she was gone (to them). Her parents were still sitting on the couch, watching a movie and most likely didn't know she was gone. Good. She could explain her absence from the living room by falling asleep on the bed. Sleep was always a good alibi.
Even though she was positively exhausted, she couldn't help but wonder if she had actually changed anything. If Rachel would take her warning seriously. If Frank would. If Nathan would. If David would. Max sighed and pulled out her phone. No message from David. Good.
And then she collapsed. The edges of her vision turning white and blinding her as she shut her eyes.