Chapter 1 Life is Temporary
She was standing at the edge of a cliff, blue eyes watching over her childhood hometown, Arcadia Bay. She closed them and enjoyed the soft breeze, the smell of the sea salt air invaded her senses. She could hear the soft crashing of waves from the shorelines. It was a peaceful day.
With a sigh she walked away from the cliff and sat down on the lone bench, leaning her back against it she continued to overlook the view.
"You look broody as ever." A voice said, the tone was light and carefree.
The girl was sitting next to her, a cigarette between smiling lips. She looked exactly the same. The beanie with the short, blue hair sticking out from underneath with messy bangs. The same ripped jeans and combat boots, she still wore her white tank-top with the black jacket over it. Not to mention her choice of accessories, the studded wristbands wrapped around her arm and the trio of bullets that hung around her neck as a necklace. Her typical punker girl look.
"It's nice seeing you again, Chloe…" She said to the girl, finally glancing to the side to take in the sight of her best friend.
"Today's your b-day, ain't it?" Chloe mentioned back with a puff of smoke, "You should be hyped, Max."
"I don't get excited about birthdays anymore." Max confessed, she snorted at the look of disbelief on Chloe's face.
"It's not just any birthday and you know it!" Chloe reprimanded, she huffed while putting out the cigarette butt into the dirt.
"Whatever." Max smirked in amusement before turning her gaze back towards the horizon, staring at the sunset that never sets.
"Aren't you gonna ask me what I got you?" Chloe inquired in a teasing tone, setting the bait for Max to bite.
Though Max knew better than to fall for it and feigned disinterest, "Nope, not really all that curious."
"...Hey, nerd." Chloe called out in a now serious voice, blue eyes staring straight at the girl intensely.
Max turned to face her, she noticed Chloe had scooched up closer to her on the bench. Before she could ask what was up, Chloe had leaned in and pressed her lips against Max's. Initiating a tender, chaste kiss. Max felt her heart jump in shock, not at all expecting that. Her pulse quickened when Chloe cupped her cheek with a hand, causing Max to sigh into the kiss. She felt herself melt as Chloe moved her lips against her own ones into a second slow kiss.
Chloe whispered as their lips parted from each other, "Happy birthday, Max."
...
September 21st, 2016
Seattle City
Max's Room, 8:00 AM
Beep… Beep… Beep.
With a breath of annoyance she reached over and shut off the blaring alarm clock that sat on the nightstand, she momentarily checked the hour. It was only eight in the morning, a bit early but she had deliberately set that time to get an early start on the day. Though after that dream with Chloe, she felt like staying in bed thinking about it. Max touched her own lips, she could almost taste the smoke from Chloe's cigarette in that kiss. With fingers still on her mouth, Max stared up at the ceiling as she laid there in bed and rewinded the memories of the dream in her head over again.
"Chloe…" Max said the name out loud. She knew it was only a dream, but it felt so real to her.
Glancing back towards the digital clock she realized she had stayed in bed for a whole hour, she needed to get up.
Mindlessly she slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror with hands holding on to the sink's sides. She took a long, hard look at herself. Her hair had grown out over time, the tips of its brown strands reached just above her shoulder blades. She noticed dark circles forming under her eyes, there have been plenty of nights where she had no sleep. Last night was a rare treat, only ever seems to be a restful night whenever Chloe decided to enter her dreams.
When she was done brushing her teeth, she went back into her room and dressed herself. A green t-shirt was put on, along with a pair of blue, ripped jeans. She tied the laces of her black Vans tightly, then stopped when something caught her eye. Glancing down at her right hand she smiled fondly at the two studded wrist bands. She allowed herself to cheer up, trying her best to be in a good mood before heading downstairs to the kitchen and was greeted by her parents' smiling faces.
Her father, Ryan, smiled warmly from the table he sat in, "Made your favorite, Belgian Waffles."
She smiled at him back, "Thanks, dad."
Her mother, Vanessa, could not contain herself, she grabbed Max into a bear-hug, "Happy 21st birthday, Maxine!"
Max hugged her mom back, chuckling slightly at her mother's clinging. The three of them sat at the table together and ate breakfast contently.
She didn't want to stay home for too long, after breakfast Max had decided to visit the studio at her University to go over some of her work. Her parents protested, concerned for Max's lack of interest in celebrating her birthday. She assured them that she was not going to bury herself into her work, she had an appointment set up for her own personal birthday present later on. Before her parents would question her further about this supposed appointment, Max ran off and got into her car.
She was now at the studio, happy to see she had the place to herself and that there were no other students roaming about. Even now at this age, Max still found it difficult to make friends. Not because of her awkwardness, but her distrust in getting close to anyone ever. She barely spoke to Kristen and Fernando when she first returned. Even though she had left, students from Blackwell would message her on and off. More so Kate, she was so concerned for Max. She remembered how empty and hollowed out she was the first few days of living with the fact of Chloe's death. She had lost so much hope.
Until recently she started her studies a few months ago after taking her GED. She worked up the nerve to get back into photography, she didn't feel as anxious anymore entering an academic building. It had taken time for her to build up the confidence for it. Ever since the incident at Blackwell Academy back in Oregon, Arcadia Bay, she had not stepped into or even gotten near a school. She had immediately dropped out when Chloe died, she fell into depression and lost all motivation. She went back to Seattle with her parents the day after the funeral. Her parents, who did all they could to console her, were in distraught over the loss of Chloe Price. They were even further shocked to have found out that such a prestigious school was allowing a sadistic psychopath like Mark Jefferson work there, drugging students from under their noses. Far worse things he had done, Max knew that all too well. She could never forget the things she had experienced during those multiple timelines.
Letting out a breath, she shook her head. Attempting to keep her mind from wandering back into the horrific past she had left behind. She sat at a desk and plugged in her equipment. Another sign of her growth and change, she had actually started giving digital photography a chance. She saw a few advantages to it that she soon learned to appreciate. Despite this she still carried her analog camera. After a few hours of rummaging through her pictures, she stretched out in her seat and decided that it was time for her to head out. It was getting close to six PM, she needed to leave now if she wanted to make it to her appointment on time.
Driving further downtown in Seattle, Max parked up near a shop. The place was called Subculture, it's neon sign blinking 'open' invitingly for clients to enter. She breathed out, she had been doing that a lot today. Though this time it was due to nervousness, she wondered if this was even a good idea.
"No way, no backing out now. What would Chloe think? That you're chickenshit, that's what!" Max laughed to herself, she could almost hear the blue haired punk yelling at her and pulling her out of the car.
As if she had been actually pulled out, she suddenly found herself standing in front of the entrance door. With one last mental push she went inside.
The receptionist was sitting behind the counter, magazine in hand with a bored look in her eyes. Max had stood there for almost three minutes, she had even cleared her throat to announce her presence to the woman.
She had blonde hair flipped to the side, with the side of her head shaven. She wore a red sleeveless shirt with a low dip in the collar, showing off her collarbones and cleavage a bit. Though it was to display the lines and swirls of a tattoo that ran down the neck along her chest area. The tattoo spread down her shoulders and around her arms until they reached her wrists. The woman was a bit intimidating to Max, especially when she glanced up from the magazine to give her an annoyed look.
"We don't ink minors, get lost." She told off to Max, her voice was rough and deep.
"I'm not a minor, I have an appointment here." Max frowned back at her with arms crossed, "I had it set to 6:30 today in fact."
At this the woman put away the magazine, a slender eyebrow arched in intrigue. "Is that so? Hmm…" She went to the PC that was set up at the counter and clicked at the mouse. "What's your name, kid?"
Max narrowed her eyes at the word 'kid.' She held back any retort and answered politely, "Max Caulfield."
The receptionist's eyes widened slightly down at the screen, "You're… Lane's client?" She asked, a bit of surprise hidden in her tone.
"Uh, yeah? I came by here a few months ago. It was hard getting an appointment in, Lane's work is pretty famous around the area. Not surprised if no one here remembers me." Max commented, feeling a bit peeved at the woman's attitude.
"Kyra, lay off the girl, will ya?" Another woman stepped out from the back of the shop, moving the curtain of beads that obscured the interior of the parlor. Her hair was jet black and long, her demeanor much more cool and polite than the other. She was also tattoo'd, oddly enough in the face. Thin black lines ran down from under her eyes down half way of both the cheeks.
Ignoring Kyra's glare, she finally looked over to Max. Pushing up a pair of glasses up the bridge of her nose, she hooked an arm over the shorter girl's shoulder and guided her further inside the shop.
"Max, it's impossible for me to forget any of my clients. Especially you, your design caught my attention after all. To be honest, I'm very excited to get it started on you."
"R-Really?" Max asked in confusion, suddenly feeling bashful she scratched the back of her head. "I mean, it was just an old doodle I showed you. I didn't think it was that good."
"Nonsense!" Lane got Max to sit down on the black leather recliner chairs, "You've got an eye for art, guess being a photographer helps with that." She mentioned casually as she began to line up the colored inks she was to use on Max. She as well armed her tattoo machine and made sure everything was sanitized and removed some of the clean needles from their packages.
Max stared at Lane for a moment, "You know I'm a photographer?"
Lane looked over to Max with a smile, "Of course! You mentioned it the first time you came in with your design ideas. Don't remember?"
"Oh, I guess I must have." Max looked over at the set up, she hated needles. Especially syringes. Reminds her of how Jefferson would stab her in the neck multiple times to drug her, she felt a shiver of disgust roll down her back. She shouldn't think about him and the Dark Room. She was here for her own pleasure, she should be excited and happy instead.
"I hope I got your color ideas down, take a look and let me know if I got anything wrong or if you'd like to change anything. Now is the time, since… Ya know, it's all permanent and stuff." Lane joked as she gestured to the small ink containers lined up on a table near Max's seat.
"No, it's all perfect. Just like I thought it to be." Max praised Lane's close attention to detail on her specific requests.
"Good! Let's get to it then, you wanted it on your left forearm, yeah?" She confirmed before wiping Max's forearm down with an alcohol wipe. She then grabbed the tattoo that was ready to be traced on against Max's skin, carefully peeling off the paper, Lane made sure every detail showed good and wrapped around all of Max's forearm perfectly.
It had only been an hour and some minutes in, and Max was starting to feel anxious. The stinging of the needle penetrating her skin didn't hurt too bad, but it can certainly drive her insane. Especially that buzzing sound.
"I know this is uncomfortable, this is your first tattoo after all." Lane mentioned as she kept her sights on Max's forearm, still hard at work on the tattoo. The line work had been done and she had started to apply the colors on it. "You haven't moved an inch though, so you're doing awesome. Hey, Kyra?" She called out loud enough for the blonde to hear her, "Can you get some water for us? I'm sure Maxie here is dying of thirst from all this blood loss." She teased with a grin, which grew wider when Max looked at her with panic.
"You said no one ever bled out doing this!"
Chuckling Lane sat back and eyed the completed tattoo, she cleaned up the ink excess and blood. She then applied a bit of ointment to help with the healing process.
"I'm not going to lie, but this is one of my favorite pieces yet." Lane checked her work over on the forearm sleeve.
Max's forearm was entirely covered by green vines and leaves. Blue and lilac colored flowers grew out of the vines, in between them a black ribbon swirled along the arm. There were some detailed blue butterflies fluttering around her skin, some lone ones reached up close to the inside of her elbow. The highlights on the wings were so perfect, they almost looked like they were glowing. Within the tattoo the skull of a deer laid in the bed of flowers, just like how Max wanted it based on her design.
Kyra walked in with two bottled waters, she noticed the tattoo on Max's arm. She was even impressed by it, "Wow…"
"Go check yourself out in the mirror over there, Max." Lane encouraged her with a warm smile as Max stood up from the chair.
The more she looked at it in the mirror, the more Max felt a tightness in her chest. Those blue butterflies reminded her so much of Chloe's tattoo, a lone tear ran down her cheek. She wondered how much Chloe would have liked her tattoo.
Lane walked up to her, a hand laid on Max's shoulder. "This tattoo means a lot to you, doesn't it?"
"It means that life is…so temporary." Max choked on a sob, she reeled her emotions back in and looked away from the mirror while wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.
Lane hummed in thought at that, "That's very true, Max. Though that tattoo there is not at all temporary. I hope you like it enough."
"I-I love it, thank you so much for this. Really…"
The tattoo artist pushed her glasses up her nose, a shy smile on her lips. "Any time, let's get you set up with a kit to keep your tattoo clean while it heals. Shall we?"
Max nodded, she trailed close behind Lane out to the front counter. Not noticing the look in Kyra's face.
"...This will be a difficult one." She said under her breath as she followed them out.
