Life Is Not Normal

Prologue

Max's wrist and ankles were straining on the tape, holding her fast to the uncomfortable wooden chair in the middle of the streets of Arcadia Bay; her urgency intensified, as she realised her hometown was being obliterated by an E6 tornado. She pulled and pulled and pulled, but couldn't untether herself. Her eyes were watering with tears of frustration, her waif frame somehow not being blown away in the storm. Suddenly, people she recognised were looking directly at her, right into her dark eyes. The first was the woman she'd known since she was 6: Joyce Madsen:

"Maxine Caulfield! After all the years I've known you, how can you let me die? In a diner of all places! Scared, frightened, in a diner – thanks for everything Maxine"

Right in her place a new figure appeared – her second husband, David Madsen, war vet and her saviour:

"You let my wife die?! You let everyone die except you and Chloe?! I save your life and you let me die too? I hope you really proud of yourself Maxine Caulfield"

She'd been squirming even harder the more times she'd heard these manifests say 'Maxine': it was NEVER Maxine. Then her friend, Warren Graham, the boy she'd friendzoned even when the end was nigh appeared, black-eyed and bruised knuckled looking painfully like the cage fighter he never was:

"I know you never wanted to go to the cinema with me, but why this? Why doom me? What have I done to deserve this? No wonder you never saw that special folder for you on my memory drive; you're selfish Max. No, worse…you're a bitch! If it was me and you, would you make same choice? No. Brooke? No. Stella? No. Just your girlfriend…I wish I'd never met you Max…"

Warren too dissolved. Frank Bowers, drug dealer aspiring for more, appeared:

"You made the wrong choice Max. When you see that all this was never worth it for Chloe, you come back to Arcadia Bay and apologise to me. And Pompidou too"

Max started to cry, and she knew she needed to speak up, but whenever she tried to answer, they disappeared. Then she saw a pixie cut and eternal bitch face appear infront of her, flanked by two other girls, too with bitch faces and sneering lips. Victoria Chase, even now, was haunting her:

"Fuck you Maxine. Fuck you and you and analog cameras, cheap clothed, waif hipster bullshit! Fuck you murdering us for some blue-haired steampunk whore. Go fuck your whore, and then go fuck your selfie!"

Then they disappeared in a cackling echo into the storm, followed by house tiles and car tyres. The Two Whale's Diner was then being ripped apart from the force of the storm. The visions were getting more intense. Then she saw Juliet Watson, her boyfriend Zach, Dana and also Trevor and Justin.

"Maxine! You made us both die single!" Juliet yelled at her.

"We had a future ahead of us. You just had to ruin it, like you ruin everything" Zach followed.

Dana had her hands rested over her stomach, as did Trevor. They looked right at her, with that look saying more than anything possible; they knew Max knew, and they knew Max knew what she'd done.

Then came another one; a red Leatherman jacket appearing in view coating a very scrawny boy, who was nevertheless violently unstable. Nathan Prescott, the boy who caused it all:

"Hey dyke!" He yelled, "Hey dyke!" He repeated, steadily growing in volume "Dyke! Virgin! Fishmonger! Rugmuncher! Above all though, you are a bitch – a poor, worthless, unloved bitch! Of all the people I should be sorry to, you are not one of them. See you in hell, Max Cock-field"

This nightmare was as real as anything because, even though these people couldn't possibly have ever said these things, but can easily have thought them, as they too stared right into the eye of the blazing storm that she caused, and then let it have its way with her hometown, with her friends, and with all the people who never deserved it. Max leaned over and sobbed in the chair, so immobile that even the house-eating storm wasn't moving her one inch. That hurt more – the entrapment of everything. And it then got worse, in the distance, she saw another apparition, but one that immediately triggered the fight/flight responses in her head.

"Hello Max." Mr Jefferson called from the middle of the Tornado, walking towards her. Max started hyperventilating, her heart running at 1,000 miles an hour as fear pulsated within every fibre of her being. He had his camera around his neck, and then he rose it to take a picture of her "Max. You are my best model, of everyone. I mean, Rachel Amber visually reflected the light in so many ways, but she could never get what you have: that innocence to corruption. You, Max, are many shades of grey"

"Put that camera down Mr Jefferson!"

"Come on Max! You know what you are – a woman who tries her best for everyone, but then, in the split second to tear a photo apart and abandon a town of thousands of people to almost certain death. To be soft but yet hard, to be compassionate but yet commit genocide on a huge scale. You are grey – and truly unique"

"I…I…No, I didn't leave them to die – I chose to save my best friend, who I love…"

"LOVE?!" He screamed "You did it because of fear, not love. Because Chloe Price is what makes you something; otherwise you're just a wasted, selfie-taking, meddling waste of Blackwell funds and resources. Am I wrong?"

"Yes – yes you are!" She defiantly stated "Everything you did makes everything you say meaningless to me!

"That's better, be more like that!" He leered in closer, showing her face in full view of the storm he helped create "Now that expression on your face – anger, not remorse – is perfect for this visual; of a storm that will rip through the town and kill everyone. Tells so much more than your glib words ever could" He zoomed in closer on her face, and she squinted "You called me a Psychopath. I doubt you could judge, because you've done makes what you say to me meaningless…right?" He mocked her. Her fear started to take hold again, and then he yelled "KEEP…YOUR…EXPRESSION! Don't look mournful, look angry. You wanted this – you made this happen!"

Max looked up at him, her nails hurting as she scratched like hell at the arms on the chair to get away. "Stay…away…from me Jefferson" She cried, "Stay…away from me!" Her eyes were bulging out as the tears continued to flow, and he got so close the camera was practically kissing her, until she couldn't do it anymore: "GET AWAY! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" Her limbs shooting out in all directions as she refused to be held in anymore, to be restrained and judged, to be violated…

Chloe held Max's arms behind her back, a common restraining technique that she'd experienced from being arrested multiple times, and she used all her strength to hold her down as Max scratched and thrashed around like a Thresher Shark, in utter terror, as she had been for the last half an hour as she slept. Still, the constant shrieking "GET AWAY!" reverberated underneath the tarpaulin cover on the back of Chloe's pick-up where they slept, and it was terrifying her.

"Max, stop it!" She finally snapped, and Max immediately opened her eyes. Silence filled the air for a second, and then came tears, snot and whole lot of crying. Chloe hugged her from behind; her hands nestled around Max's slim waist to hold her close and hold her tight. Her unseen facial expression was tired one. The tarpaulin cover – which they "borrowed" from someone as they left town – was going to save them hundreds of dollars on accommodation but they knew they were losing hours of sleep through this. What goes without saying is that she was holding up the one who was the supportive one of the two of them; even when her powers to rewind weren't necessary she always held everything together, and if there's one thing Chloe didn't know, it was how to bring up someone who was as low as you could get. She felt as bad as Max did, and Max was the one who caused the destruction of an entire town, and for her. The mix of gratitude and horror is one that has linked them forever; a blood bond forever. The crying stopped, and Max rolled over to face her, looking the blue haired punk chick in the eyes; Max's eyes were worn and watery, like a child whose favourite toy is broken, and Chloe's were more subdued, but were tinged with regret.

Max spoke first "Chloe…yes or no only"

"OK Max. What is it?"

"Am I a total fucking shitting bastard of a person?"

"No" Her response was immediate "Please stop thinking that; I like Super Max, not Max 'I'm in Emotional' Payne" The remark did earn a chuckle from her.

"You are the master of bringing the mood up Miss Price. I need it. It's just…I know you said 'whatever decision you make, I know you'll make the right one'. I know I made the right one, but I can't believe I made that choice."

"Well, I can't believe my days of complaining about David are now replaced by me sleeping in the back of my car with some hot brunette with, like, the BEST taste in pants"

"Chloe please…you know that most of the pants are Rachel's anyways. Good thing she left a load at your place. But…listen, I had this dream. Jefferson was there, so was Warren, and your parents, Victoria, Taylor, Courtney, Nathan, Zach, Juilet, Dana, and Trevor and Justin. Even Frank was there…the shit they said to me. Jefferson was the worst – it was like being back in that dark room all over again…!"

"…Come here Max" Chloe just pulled her close and kissed her strong and passionately, the way she always does "He really did a number on you, and he did the same to others. He's likely gone anyway though, and at least he'll be in hella trouble for it wherever he goes. Prick"

"He hurt me. I have no scars, but it feels dirty on my skin"

"Then let me clean you off" Chloe said, flirtatiously

"You? Clean me up? You're way too dirty for that" Max teased back, and kissed her hard. The kiss escalated into a Tongue twisting, pulse-racing thrill for both of the girls that managed to numb everything, and they just made the passionate motions towards one another, like being on autopilot. When it stopped, both of their feelings came back, so Chloe looked up and responded "See, you may as well write 'Dirty, please clean' on my butt" And they returned to the way they were; asleep in others arm. Just before she went off, Max mumbled "If I could still reverse time…I'd let this replay forever"…

Morning broke; it was 9:00am, and Max was up and walking around the truck. The truck had been parked out on the roadside all night. It was just on a mound of grass just off the road where no one would hit them, supposedly, and so no-one might sneak up on them as they slept. Max looked back the way they'd been driving all day the day before, where Arcadia Bay was – was as in 'was there but now isn't'. Max was all cried up, and she couldn't even do that. She reattached the tarpaulin cover on the back of the truck where Chloe still slept. Suddenly, over the hill, she saw a small rabbit jump up over the hill, and in a moment that could only be described as habit, she reached for her camera – William Price's camera – to realise that she no longer had it. Her sadness however was immediately overpowered by the cuteness of this little bunny. She walked in closer, her hand outstretched ahead of her – exactly the way she'd been when looking after Alice. She walked closer and closer, the rabbit looked right at her…and then it was gone.

"No! Come back, please" Max begged. She held out her hand, trying to use what remained of her time powers. She held out her hand, straining hard, but accomplishing nothing "Maybe it's for the best I don't that power anymore…AHHHHH!" She suddenly cried out in pain:

From further down the road, a truck came speeding down the bend…the load it was carrying arching in a painful swerve right towards where they were resting in the pick-up truck as Chloe and her slept. The cargo swerved around, flying up the mound and sideswiping the pick-up, rolling it violently, resulting in almost certain death was simply being washing-machined in the back of the truck, as they slept.

Back in reality, Max looked up the road to see an eighteen wheeler swerving violently, and heading right towards them down the road. Max, her head in a panic, ripped away the tarpaulin and exposing her eyes to the sun.

"Max, what are you doing?!" She yelled, as Max grabbed the car keys from right next to her, and quick as a whip, she jumped into the front seat, activated the ignition and not even giving a shit about the seat belt slammed into reverse.

The truck up the road swerved the way she saw in her premonition, but the cargo missed them, as she didn't see. Max only saw red, she jumped out the pick-up. The driver however also had the same idea. Out jumped a 6' 2'' bearded fat man with a receding hairline. He maundered is way towards them, clearly drunk as a skunk. He raised a finger towards Max.

"You…" He slurred "You shouldn't have been there. You…you are endangering other road users!"

"What?" Max scoffed "You nearly killed us! And we have every right to park there – it's a piece of land with no deeds or owners"

"You…you lie! You young homeless people these days…"

"Are you drunk?" Max fought back "What's the law on driving drunk in the US?"

"Shut…up! You made me lose my cargo, you cost me my wages…BITCH!" He was no longer maundering now; now he was full blown crazy angry. Suddenly he stopped, looking up at the blue-haired tattooed punk standing on top of the pick-up, holding a gun. "And who are you?"

"Oh, y'know, just people minding their own business. People who've nearly died hella bunch o'times over the last week. And I personally am sick of it. So take your truck, and fuck off" Chloe swagged as she pointed the gun at him.

They looked up to see him angrily walk back to the lorry. On the side of it, they could see the word 'Construction' written on it, as he went and drove back the way he came. The possible guess was that these were supplies intended for the Pans Estate project over in Arcadia Bay – because really needs the Prescott's getting richer whilst everyone lives out of their cars (if they weren't already destroyed).

Chloe jumped out and went to speak to Max, gun in the back of her jeans inside a holster. She took the small and slender brunette in her arms "Max…what just happened – you couldn't possibly have known the way that cargo could've gone, unless you'd seen it. You said you couldn't rewind…"

"I can't" Max confirmed "When I was in the toilet, I saw a butterfly and could rewind mistakes that were made in the world…I saw that rabbit and I could see the future…" Max kneeled over "Not again!" She started, not sad but certainly frustrated "This really cannot be…being…cereal!" She shouted on the side of the road "More time/space continuum fucked up, more people gone. This is not fair…"

"Max…" Chloe held her from behind "It's OK. I'm here for you. And that's how we're going to get through this. I am always here for you" As Chloe hugged tighter, her voice tailed off slightly "Is that the rabbit you just saw?"

Max raised her head, to see the same rabbit as before, to realise it was more of a hare – it was bigger, and its eyes and jaw were more pointed. "Yes that's it, hello buddie" Max started "You look like a buddie…come here" And this time the hare did indeed come closer "You remind of my friend's old rabbit, however s…AHHHHH!" She screamed out again, the effects of this power being seemingly more agonising than her previous ones. Chloe held her as she saw another vision, but this one was seemingly more optimistic…

The van takes a left, then a right, then another right, pulling up to a white house in the middle of a suburban, crisp white neighbourhood. The Postbox out the front of the house read 'The Marsh Residents'. Looking at it, Chloe gives it a good "rat-ta-tat-tat", tinging with emptiness. "Good she says – means they're in. Go on, let's be chums and not chumps Time Girl". Her and Max run to the door, the hare under Chloe's arm, and give the door a good "rat-ta-tat-tat". What seems like a minute but is actually a lot less, and the door opens: there, dressed in white pyjamas with pretty duck patterns across the front, and diamond like bottoms that keep the white, prettified Christian theme running through stood Max's second favourite person ever, Kate Marsh. The look on the young girl's face was at once jubilant and pleasant. Eyes that shone brighter than the two Moons everyone had witnessed the night of the aptly named 'The End of the World' party, and a smile that exceeded warmth and compassion. The only word out her mouth before she gave Max a vice like hug was "Yes"

"…AHHHH!" Max finished screaming "How far are we from Portland?" She asked.

"Really?" Chloe inquired "You scream on the floor like you taken something big up your ass, and your first question is about Portland?"

"I saw Kate! I saw Kate Marsh, alive and well, back at her house in Portland; she made it. SOMEONE that we both know and love made it out alive!" Max was super happy with this revelation "God was for you Kate. I told you"

"Max – that's great news and everything, but what are we going to achieve when we get there. At Seattle we can be with your parents – have a roof, have food…"

"What we'll achieve, I don't know but…Chloe it's another 4 hours to Seattle, we can be in Portland in a day…"

"Fine" Chloe sounded abrupt with Max for a good reason; the plan was set, the options were minimal and it was the best choice for them. Additionally, she could see what was going through Max's head, and even as her best lover/friend, she could smell the survivors guilt on her. She smelt it on David, and now she smells it on her "Well, let's go see my second favourite superhero; Bible Girl"

"Well, yes. Everyone knows Batman is the best superhero ever" Max laughed. She pulled herself up, and picked up the hare gently by the middle and scooped him up "Come along Buddy – we're going on a road trip"

"What, Bunny Boy here your spirit animal now or something?"

"Kate likes rabbits, so let's give her something she'll like"

Chloe opened up the door to the truck and leapt in, the same you'd see her jump a fence or a bench when she was at her best, and Max followed with hare in tow. "You remember the address?"

"Yeah, I saw it on a Postbox" Despite her below average GPA score, Max did have an exceptional memory for a lot of things that could easily not be considered or acknowledged.

"At least here we can't go wrong. And by the way, you're wrong – Super Max is my favourite superhero. Batman's third" Chloe smiled "I mean, you are the only hero I know who can lose powers, and then get completely new ones – I mean that's hot"

Max sat as Chloe aggressively swung the car around to drive back the way they'd just gone.

Max suddenly spoke "Two question…" she asked before looking right at Chloe "Firstly, didn't you watch Misfits? From England – they all got new powers at a certain point" She watched as Chloe shook her head "And secondly…" Max slightly snickered "…how do you know what it sounds like to have something big up your ass?"

Chloe only took her eyes off the road for a second – she gave a big cheeky wink to her very own superhero.