[Disclaimer]

"Life is Strange" is the property of DONTNOD Entertainment and Square-Enix

This is a work of fan-fiction and 100% non-canon

One Last Mystery – Chapter 1

Perfection.

What is perfection?

I don't know if I can define it. But I think I found it.

One sunny October morning in Arcadia Bay, I listened to the hum and sputtering of Chloe's truck as it zoomed through the streets. Inside I sat looking out the window, gazing out at the shining sun. But nothing shone brighter than the expressions on Chloe's face and mine.

Chloe and I were quietly smiling, our faces beaming with joy and satisfaction. I turned my head to look at Chloe. At that same moment she glanced out of the corner of her eye at me. Our gazes met and I slid my hand across the seat towards her. She took one hand off the wheel and did the same. Our fingers touched and my hand slid into hers. I squeezed it gently and Chloe let out a small giggle. Chloe was so cute. It has been a long time since I heard Chloe giggle. Well, if you excluded last night anyway.

We had just shared our first night together. Not as friends, but as lovers. It was the culmination of what was perhaps the most bizarre love story ever told.

It all started a week ago when I saw Chloe Price, my childhood best friend, get shot and killed. At that moment I discovered I had the power to rewind time. What followed was a temporal odyssey that ended with a choice. My powers had the side effect of causing a massive storm that was about to wipe out Arcadia Bay, my hometown. The only way to stop it was to go back in time and let Chloe die. I had to choose to either do that or allow the town to be destroyed so that Chloe may live. No other choice existed…until I created one.

This adventure showed me how much I loved Chloe. I loved her so much that I almost tore time and reality apart to save her. My powers helped me again and again to save her and others, constantly evolving to new heights and giving me new abilities. But at that moment they appeared useless to save Chloe again. Until I forced my powers to a new level, granting me the ability to completely Rewrite time as I saw fit. And rewrote it I did.

In this new timeline so many miraculous things had happened. Rachel Amber never went to the Vortex Club party where she would have been kidnapped, sparing her life. Dana Ward caught Nathan Prescott while he was attempting to drug Kate Marsh, leading to his arrest and later Mark Jefferson's arrest. To my great relief, the storm never happened in this timeline. And to my greater surprise, Chloe and I had become an item. Chloe and I both retained our memories of everything that transpired in the old timeline. We could not remember the circumstances that led us to be together here but we decided to pursue it. And after our first night together, we were glad we did.

We came to a stop in front of Blackwell. We wanted to spend more time together today. But I still had classes. And Chloe had work to do too. We talked a great deal about our plans for the future. After we completely settled into this new timeline, how would we move forward together? I would of course continue my education at Blackwell. Chloe made it very clear she wanted me to keep reaching for my dream of being a photographer. She wasn't about to make me drop out! As for her, she has resolved to clean up her act. She announced plans to get a job so she wouldn't have to keep borrowing money off the likes of Frank and maybe find ways to continue her own education. It was doubtful Blackwell would ever accept her back but she could look into other options. She would still be the punk Chloe I fell in love with but she would stop living so dangerously, for both of our sakes. I don't have my powers anymore so I can't bail her out of dangerous situations again. Chloe was determined to start making the right decisions now. And after I graduated from Blackwell we planned to play it by ear.

The future is scary. But I was ready to face it with Chloe.

"Take it easy today, Max," she said to me as I put my hand on the door handle. I looked her in the eye. We were still holding hands. She squeezed my palm and took hold of my other hand. She smiled and gave me a 'come hither' look. It was my turn to giggle as I slowly leaned closer. She leaned as well and we kissed.

Nothing made me happier than kissing Chloe. It touched something deep inside me, stirring a warmth in my heart that only made me love Chloe more. No matter what would happen to me, I'd never forget the warmth and softness of her lips…

We separated and I wished Chloe good luck on her job hunt today. She grinned and shooed me out of the car, not wanting me to be late. I watched and waved as she drove off. Nearby I saw Justin and some of his friends watching me. Did they see me and Chloe kiss? I blushed for a moment, slightly embarrassed realizing that we had an audience, but I pushed those feelings aside. No need to be embarrassed! Chloe and I were an item and if they had a problem with that they could go to hell!

But Justin and the others seemed OK. They smiled and waved as I passed by and I waved back. Time to start my day!

Thankfully things so far in this new timeline were not too radically different. Of course I shouldn't have expected things to change TOO much. Arcadia Bay was still where it was supposed to be and so was the photography classroom, my first class of the day. Not that it was much of a class anymore.

Every chance I got this morning I poured through my journal to try and familiarize myself with as many details about this new timeline as I could. One thing I noted was how my photography class had become little more than a study hall since Jefferson's arrest. Until they could find a suitable replacement Principal Wells assigned another teacher, Mr. Smith, to oversee the class and make sure we were using this time to study if nothing else. Sounded dull but it would give me time to think.

Most of my classmates were already there. Alyssa, Haden and Taylor were already in their seats and texting away on their phones. Only Alyssa looked up briefly to acknowledge my arrival. Stella sat at her desk going through her notes, as usual, and Daniel was scribbling away in his notepad. The only one who paid any real attention to me was Kate. I saw her expression as I first walked in, looking a bit distant and sad. But she quickly perked up when she noticed me. She waved and I waved back. Class was about to start so we didn't have time to talk. I hurried to my seat and got my supplies out, more out of habit than anything. Not like I would be taking notes today.

As we waited for Mr. Smith to arrive, I suddenly noticed Victoria was missing. The arrests of Nathan and Jefferson really shocked Victoria. They changed her and apparently we were becoming friends in this timeline. Haven't had a chance to talk to her and test that for myself yet though. I wondered where she was and if she was still reeling from it all. For the first time ever, I actually hoped that she was alright.

The bell rang and Mr. Smith walked in. He reminded us all to be quiet and focus on our studies, adding that the search for a new photography teacher was still ongoing. He sat at Jefferson's old desk and went to work on his laptop. Taylor and the others reluctantly put their phones away and pulled out their school books. I took out my biology book, needing to brush up on this subject. The next 20 minutes passed in relative silence. Taylor tried to discretely text under the table, snorting every now and then as she held back her laughter at someone's joke. But she kept looking up at Victoria's chair and eyeing it worryingly. She wasn't the only one. Kate's eyes kept darting back and forth between Victoria's chair and the clock. Victoria was becoming friends with both Kate and I so it wasn't surprising that she was concerned. Kate is so sweet!

After a while there was a knock on the door and another teacher poked her head in, asking Mr. Smith for his help with something. He left but not before reminding us to keep studying and keep our phones off.

As if.

As soon as he was gone all phones came out. People started chatting and studying was the last thing on anyone's mind. Naturally I lost interest in studying as well. Instead I took an interest in Kate. She still seemed sad and distracted. She looked like she could use some cheering up. I got up and walked over to her, making sure to keep a smile on my face.

"Hi Kate," I said gently as I approached. The warm smile that I loved returned to her face and she greeted me back.

"How are you doing today?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Max. Thanks for asking," she replied simply. I gave her a concerned look.

"Are you sure? You seem kind of down. Everything alright?"

Kate shuffled in her seat for a few moments. Her eyes darted around as though looking for something. Eventually she said, "I'm just…a little worried about Victoria. She's supposed to be here by now."

So she was worried about Victoria. I had guessed right. I opened my mouth to say something comforting to her but my chest tightened with panic when I heard the door open. Mr. Smith was back! I hurried to my seat and everyone else quickly put their stuff away. But they all sighed and shook their heads when they saw that it was Victoria.

Victoria stepped inside and stood at the front of the class, looking around at everyone with a soft smile. Nobody said anything to her or even really acknowledge her. Her eyes met Kate's and her smile widened. She gave Kate a small nod which Kate returned. She then looked at me.

Something seemed…off…about Victoria. It took me a moment but I figured out what it was. It was her clothes. Victoria came from a wealthy family and her wardrobe always reflected it. Expensive cashmere sweaters, gold jewelry, everything about her attire reminded people of her wealth. But not today. She didn't have a single piece of jewelry on her. And rather than her usual clothes she was dressed more…common. She wore plain khaki pants, a yellow polo shirt and simple black shoes. Overall her outfit looked like something she picked up at a local thrift store, not the usual boutiques she likely shopped at normally.

And it wasn't just her clothes. It was her eyes. The look she gave me…was hard to describe. She was looking at me but her eyes almost seemed to look through me. Like she wasn't really seeing me at all. This wasn't like the old Victoria who would look through you because she thought you were beneath her. This was something very different.

She stood there with her books in her arms, looking like a dedicated student. She continued to smile at me as though waiting for a response. I smiled back and she seemed content with that. She moved to her chair and sat down, spreading out her books and opening them up to study. Taylor looked up at from her phone, briefly glancing at Victoria before doing a quick double-take. Her eyes widened when she saw Victoria's attire.

"Victoria?!" she said, astounded.

Victoria looked up innocently from her books. "Yes, Taylor? Something wrong?" she asked.

Taylor looked at her like that was a stupid question. Of course there was something wrong! No doubt the words "fashion emergency" were flashing across Taylor's mind.

"Why are you wearing something so…cheap?! Didn't you once tell me that you wouldn't be caught dead in polyester?"

Victoria was silent for a while. She turned her head so I couldn't see her expression that well. When she turned back to Taylor she was smiling again.

"I've decided I need a change in my life. The simple things are all I need now. Just the simple things…"

Her tone was very calm and polite, speaking in a clear and concise voice without a hint of condescension. I don't think I've ever heard Victoria talk like this before. Taylor opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the return of Mr. Smith. He noted Victoria's presence and told everyone to get back to studying.

The rest of the study hall was quiet. I did as much studying as I could but I kept getting distracted by Victoria. Not because she was noisy or anything but rather by how quiet and studious she was. She kept her nose in the books and never pulled her phone out once. Taylor noticed her odd behavior too and even shot me a confused look. I could only shrug.

As soon as the bell rang Victoria promptly packed up her books and walked out of the classroom without a word. Taylor grabbed her things and gave chase, no doubt determined to get to the bottom of things. I took my time gathering my stuff. It would be a couple more hours until my next class. I decided to go back to my dorm room for a while. I still needed to catch up on this timeline. Time to scrounge my room for clues! When I stepped out into the hall I immediately saw Taylor and Victoria. Taylor looked extremely frustrated while Victoria was surprisingly calm. I missed most of their conversation but I caught the tail end of it. Victoria invited Taylor up to her room later to talk more. She then said she needed to get to her next class and hurried off.

Taylor still looked stunned. She clearly wasn't satisfied with that and took off after her, determined to talk to her more. I watched them both go. Took me a few moments to realize Kate was standing right next to me, also watching them leave.

"Do you know how long Victoria has been…like that?" I asked her. Kate simply shrugged.

"Losing your best friend and hero the way she did can be traumatizing. I'd say she's using it to make some positive changes in her life. I'm rather proud of her."

Kate gave me a warm, encouraging smile and walked off. I suppose that made sense. Still creepy though.

I shrugged it off and left for my dorm room.

As autumn marched on the days got chillier and chillier. I quite liked it. I walked through campus grinning ear to ear, watching everyone going about their day to day lives. I was happy to see the smiling faces of my classmates, even the ones I didn't know. I was even happy to see the upset ones. For I knew that however bad they felt now, at least they were all alive.

And speaking of being alive…

Rachel Amber was sitting on the front steps of the dorm. Like when I saw her in Chloe's room, she was texting away on her phone. She looked up as I approached and smiled when she saw it was me.

"Max!" she greeted warmly. "It's about time! I was starting to think you had forgotten."

Uh oh.

What did I forget?

I panicked. I tried to think of something to say. But I guess I took too long because Rachel's expression turned sour.

"You did forget, didn't you?"

I hung my head in shame.

"Sorry…" I squeaked out.

But then Rachel laughed.

"Don't sweat it, Max! It's not a big deal. You're here now and we can get started."

She stood up and turned to enter the dorm. I asked her what exactly we were going to start. She turned to me and grinned.

"Why my photo shoot, of course!"

Prior to my "arrival" I had apparently made arrangements with Rachel to do a photo shoot with her. As an aspiring model she needed practice posing for the camera. And I needed practice taking pictures.

It happened in my room. Almost as soon as we got inside Rachel jumped onto my bed and struck a pose. She sat sitting up, one leg stretched out and the other bent. She leaned back on one hand and rested the other on her raised knee. Her smile was absolutely beautiful. Her face almost seemed to glow because of it, so vibrant and full of life. I finally understood why Chloe felt drawn to her. I dropped my bag and took out my camera. I took careful aim and snapped my first picture. This was one for my journal!

The next two hours went surprisingly fast. Rachel struck pose after pose, looking like a real model. I tried my best to capture her beauty with each picture. Quite the challenge it was. I remember Evan took some really good pictures of Rachel before. I'll have to ask him for some tips! I took so many pictures that I ran out of film. All my spares were in the photography classroom so we called it quits.

But Rachel didn't leave right away. She stayed and we talked and laughed. Rachel talked all about her big plans of one day moving to Los Angeles. She has a cousin who works for a talent agency down there. She'd use this connection to get her first jobs. She knew the road would be rough but she was prepared to weather it. There was a fierce determination in her eyes when she spoke. Deep down I wondered if I had that same look when I did the Rewrite. I had trouble getting a word in but I didn't mind. I smiled the entire time I listened to her. Rachel really was special.

Rachel eventually grew tired of talking and laid down on my couch. I turned on some soft music and we both relaxed. I laid on my bed and kept staring at Rachel. In a way, I was kind of grateful for that nightmare Chloe and I endured. Without it, I questioned if I would ever have wooed her away from Rachel. I'm amazed my alt-self managed to do it at all! But thinking about the past of this timeline, one small question started to bug me. It would seem like an odd question but I had to investigate it.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

She looked over at me, calm and smiling. I smiled back. Hard not to.

"There was a…Vortex Club party on campus a number of weeks ago. Do you remember it?"

She cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Could you be more specific? The club threw a lot of parties here. Not anymore though…"

Her expression turned a little sour, clearly remember the events that brought the Vortex Club crashing down.

"You've been to a lot of them, right? This was actually one you didn't go to. Do you remember it?"

I was referring to the party where Rachel was originally kidnapped in the old timeline. I knew it didn't really matter but I was still curious how she managed to avoid it. Why didn't she go to the party in this timeline? Rachel had to think about this for a moment but then it dawned on her.

"Oh yeah. I do remember one party I didn't go to around that time. Why?"

"I'm just…curious. Curious as to why you didn't go. You always went to them didn't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

Rachel shrugged.

"That night…I just didn't want to. Thinking back…I'm not sure why. I thought about going to the party but then I decided…I wanted to hang with Chloe. I went to her place, we lit up and I really don't remember what all we did after that."

She laughed at the memory. I grinned softly. Whatever the reason was, I was glad it happened. Rachel and everyone else was alive.

Perfection.

Pure perfection…

I eventually had to shoo Rachel from my room. It was almost time for my next class. She bid me farewell and left, saying that she was going to meet up with Chloe later. I was of course invited to hang with them, as always. I told her that it would depend on how much homework I had and pushed her from the room. We both laughed and she walked down the hall to her room. I grabbed my things and followed soon after.

As I exited my room, Victoria's door opened. Taylor stepped out and closed the door behind her. She looked at me. She looked at me very…strangely. There was a look in her eye that felt oddly familiar. But I couldn't quite place it. She saw me and smiled softly.

"Hello, Max," she greeted in a clear and polite tone. I actually felt a shiver run down my spine.

"Um…hi, Taylor," I greeted back.

"How are you this fine day?" she asked, still in that same tone. I was starting to get confused. We saw each other only a couple hours ago. Why was she asking this?

"I'm…fine, Taylor. Are you feeling alright?"

Her smile widened.

"Of course, Max. I couldn't be happier. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go change. I need to wear something…simpler…"

She walked off and I watched her disappear into my room. That chill lingered long after she had gone. Why was Taylor acting so strangely all of a sudden?

Moments later Victoria emerged from her room, her arms filled with books. She quickly strolled past but took a moment to remind me that our next class was about to begin. I panicked. I completely forgot about that! I gripped by book bag and ran out of the dorm.

To be continued…