- Chapter One -
Thunder cracked in the sky and the wind howled around Max. She slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the cold ground beneath her. As everything slowly came into focus, it dawned on her that she was drenched in rain.
'Wha- where am I? How did I get here? …and where the fuck is "here"?'
The storm continued to pummel her with rain and debris.
'I'm trapped in a storm?'
She found her bearings and looked around her. She was in a large field surrounded by a tall chain-link fence. There was barbed wire lining the top of the entire enclosure. In the distance she saw a light. She brought her hand up to wipe the rain out of her eyes and squinted to try to focus through the blinding rain.
It was the revolving beacon of a lighthouse in the distance. It wasn't too far and anything was better than being a human lightning rod in the middle of an empty field.
'I'll be safe if I can make it there… I hope.'
She looked at the fence, searching for any way past it when she came upon a loose section. She pulled at the fence with all her might and it finally lifted just enough for her to squeeze her small frame through.
She ran towards the lighthouse as fast as her waterlogged clothing would let her, glancing back over her shoulder to see the yard she just escaped light up with a flash of lightning. She ran until her lungs screamed and her legs burned… and then she ran some more.
Racing up a hill, she got to the top where the lighthouse sat on a cliff by the ocean. Finally, she could relax… but instead, her breath hitched in her throat as she became transfixed on the scene in front of her.
'Holy shit!'
It was like something out of a nightmare. A massive swirling vortex was displayed before her in all its petrifying glory. It was heading straight for… Arcadia Bay?
'I'm back in Arcadia Bay. Oh God! I wanted to leave Arcadia, not see it get destroyed! This can't be happening!'
Suddenly, the monstrous vortex flung a large piece of debris out of the ocean and towards the lighthouse where she stood frozen in fear. It hit the top of the lighthouse with enough force that the top came crumbling towards her. She let out a final scream then her world faded to black.
~oOo~
Max shot up in bed, covered in a cold sweat.
'What was that?! It felt so real…'
The covers shifted slightly as someone rolled over in bed beside her. A lamp turned on. Laying beside her was Warren Graham.
"Max, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
A couple years after dropping out of high school to move back in with her parents, Warren had found Max on social media. Originally she had tried to ignore him but damn if he wasn't persistent. She knew he had feeling for her back in high school but they were never reciprocated. He was predictable... boring even. Nothing like Chloe.
After casually talking the last couple years, he asked her out. As tempted as she was to flat out say no, maybe predictable and boring was what she needed in her life. They had now been dating for the past six months or so and things were… nice?
'You're happy, you don't need drama anymore', she reminded herself.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bad dream."
She lied. Was she lying? It certainly didn't feel like a dream, but what was another explanation? She sighed and shook her head in defeat.
Warren noticed her unease and continued his prodding.
"Are you worried about tomorrow? You got nothing to worry about, babe."
'Babe? Did he just call me fucking babe… sorry Warren. I'm not your "babe".' She said internally
About a week ago, she had gotten a subpoena in the mail requesting that she appear at the Arcadia Bay courthouse for a felony charge she had long since forgotten about. How did they even know she was involved? She wasn't that person anymore. She'd tried damn hard in the past four years to prove that.
Pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, "I've got plenty to worry about Warren! In case you've forgotten, I wasn't always this innocent. Especially if Chloe had a say."
"Chloe!" he practically yelled, startling me.
"Do you think that bitch had anything to do with this?" He spat.
"Why would she? Why now? We haven't spoken in years. Not since, you know…"
~oOo~
Years earlier, when she moved back to Arcadia bay to attend high school, she didn't know what to expect. She had ditched her best friend for five years to move to Seattle RIGHT after her father had died. To make matters worse, she hadn't said a single word to her supposed best friend during those five years. Chloe would understandably be pissed.
As she had assumed, Chloe was definitely pissed but forgave her quickly. She mostly just missed her best friend. What Max didn't assume was how much she had missed Chloe as well.
It was like a void she wasn't even aware she had was suddenly filled. There was nothing like it and she craved more.
While Max was away, Chloe had hit all of the stages of teenage rebellion; drugs, sex, tattoos, blue hair… she had it all. She was a beautiful disaster. To crank it up a notch, she had Rachel Amber; a girl equally as beautiful and equally as fucked up. They we're the perfect disastrous duo.
Max thought that she could be a good influence on Chloe. After all, that's what she had promised Joyce when she came back.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
She was so drawn in by Chloe's charm and charisma. Rachel was just as charming. There was never a dull moment. The more time she'd spent with them, the more she started to itch for trouble. She also started to notice just how beautiful Chloe had grown up to be. She was captivating.
It started slowly… they started smoking together. Next, she was getting her nose pierced and dying her hair pink. Before she knew it, they were planning their heist on the Prescott Mansion. If there was a surefire way to get out of Arcadia Bay and into LA, it was with "Press-cock" 's money. That was the dream. She never imagined they would get caught until it was too late.
When the alarm sounded, Chloe and Rachel took off one way and Max took off the other. Chloe and Rachel were both caught by Sean Prescott's security while Max waited by Chloe's truck she had parked about a block away.
When Chloe and Rachel never made it to the truck, Max knew something had gone horrible wrong. Chloe and Rachel were both charged with armed robbery; Chloe with David's gun and Rachel with Frank's switchblade. Max, afraid that Prescott would come after her eventually, packed her backs and headed back to Seattle.
~oOo~
Max looked forward with tears in her eyes.
She couldn't believe that she had just ditched her again. What else could she have done? Had she stayed, she'd surely be in the same boat.
"I just can't believe that after all this time, this is coming back up. Maybe it's time…" ,she sighed. "I can't run from it forever."
'Or her forever…' she thought
Warren just sat there in silence. He then leaned over and turned off the lamp beside him.
Whatever would happen tomorrow could wait until tomorrow. For now sleep was more important.
As Max drifted back to sleep, a single name floated through her mind: Chloe…
