A/N: Here it is. The first chapter of the first episode of The Dark Room. I want to point out the fact that this Episode and the next two WON'T take place during the events of the original game. This one will be after Max left, Episode 2: Any Moment Now will take place during Before the Storm, and Episode 3: Next Contestant will take place right before and after Rachel's death and explain how she died and why Nathan's working for Mr. Jefferson. But the last two episodes will, I promise.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange, The Darkness, Spider-Man 3, Theory of a Deadman, or G-Shock Watches.

Trigger warnings include child abuse and schizophrenia.

DECEMBER 24TH, 2009

CHRISTMAS EVE

ARCADIA BAY, OR

9:00 PM

Christmas Eve, a time of joy. A time where loving families come together. Or at least it should be. But not for 13 year old Nathan Prescott.

His father, James Prescott, brought him to the family barn, as is tradition for every child of 13 years.

"My son," he says. "Our family has made a legacy based on art. Some Prescotts have been painters, I happen to prefer sketches. But you got photography from your mother."

He handed young Nathan a Kodak and told him, "Take my picture, son."

Unfortunately, the voice in Nathan's head was a little bit restless on this fine Christmas Eve. Nathan took to calling it The Dark Voice. If you played The Darkness or it's sequel, that's what it most closely compares to, and it sought to make Nathan's life a living hell.

No matter what you do, kid, it will never be enough to please him.

Just leave me alone! He may not always show praise, but I know he loves me. He has to

No. He despises you. You're an embarrassment to him. He hits you and you're to much of a fucking retard to realize he FUCKING HATES YOU!!!

You're wrong!!!

Prove it! Ask for something more challenging than him to photograph! Prove yourself to be worthy of his love!

"Look, Dad. I can do so much more with a camera. Let me prove it to you. Give me something more challenging to--"

His sentence was cut short by a slap to the face. The Dark Voice may be unrelenting, but you can't deny it is right.

"You really think you got it in you, little bitch! That voice in your head is the only goddamn reason you thought about challenging yourself, you sissy!"

James Prescott knew his son had schizophrenia, but he kept it buried to spare his own name and labeled the otherwise good kid as the Black Sheep of the Prescott family. The kid was suffering, yet all that mattered was Daddy's legacy.

The odds were against Nathan, two-to-one. All his life, he was berated by his own father and a voice only he could hear. He had enough. That slap was the last straw. Nothing he could do about the Dark Voice, but there was a shovel right by his feet.

Next thing Nathan knew, he has the shovel in his hands and he swings at the senior Prescott's face. The abusive man went down. And Nathan felt good.

The only reason I can't reach you Dark Voice is because your in my head. But it no longer matters.

You wish.

"Nathan. Nathan!"

Swing. "Never..." Swing. "...again!" Swing. "Never..." Swing. "...again!" Swing. "NEVER..." Swing. "...AGAIN!" Final swing.

James was knocked out. Nathan dropped the shovel and went up to his room. He collected a backpack and put in some essentials. Clothes, toiletries, his PS3 slim, a DS and some music CDs. And his new Kodak.

Nathan's mother saw him coming down and asked him, "Nathan, what's with the bookbag? School doesn't start for another week."

Nathan tells her, "I'm not going to school, Mom. I'm leaving and I'm never coming back. Not as long as he's still here."

"Nathan, it's Christmas tomorrow morning, your father and I bought gifts!"

Nathan looks into her eyes as he steps out the door and says, "I hope you kept the receipt."

"Nathan, listen to me. I know it's hard, but you have nowhere to go.

"I don't care! Anywhere's better than here!"

And he left.

9:45 PM

Nathan stopped by the junkyard hoping to find a decent car he could fix up and drive, but something convinced him to pull out his CD player and put in Scars and Souvenirs by Theory of a Deadman. He put in his earbuds and pressed the skip button twice. And the song Got it Made started playing.

Next thing he knows, he's starting to dance like Peter Parker did in Spider-Man 3. It may not have been the best Spider-Man movie, but he liked it just the same.

There's no time for a suitcase,

Just grab a quick change of clothes.

You ask where we're going now honey,

well I'd tell ya but nobody knows.

So sneak out the back door

cuz you know they'll try to make you stay.

Make sure you got a seatbelt on

cuz we're headed for the interstate.

We're having the best time,

living the fast life,

thinking we're just too young to die.

Ain't waiting for next time

to see all the Bright Lights,

to see it all.

We'll drive in the fast lane

out on the freeway,

Tell us to slow down

starts a car chase.

As long as we got each other we got it made

We got it we got it made!

Suddenly a snowball Nathan in the shoulder. He looked to see this girl with short brown hair with a smirk that said 'bring it on motherfucker'. Nathan took it as a challenge, and with an equally mischievous grin, he picked up a snowball and threw it at the short haired girl.

And so the snowball fight continued, with Nathan and the girl throwing snowballs, jumping on top of rusted cars until the girl finally screamed "Stop! Stop! I surrender!"

"Ha Ha! Nice try...um..."

"Chloe."

"...Chloe!"

All of a sudden, Nathan figured out who this girl was. And that she was a year older than him. There was an incident involving her, his asshole brother, and this other girl he knew from class Max, back when him and Max were in kindergarten and Chloe and Jacob were in First Grade. Apparently the bully tried to steal Max's camera and then Chloe put him on his ass. Nathan wasn't there at the time because he was sick, but since his brother used to give him a hard time, he'd pay to see that.

"Wait a second, aren't you that girl who kicked Jacob Prescott's ass in the first grade?"

She looked at Nathan and told beamed. "Kid got what was coming to him!"

"As his brother, I couldn't agree more!"

Chloe was confused. "Brother?" She looked art him top to bottom. "You look nothing like a Prescott."

"I get that a lot. I'm Nathan by the way."

"Wait a second, I remember you. You were in Max's class! The one Prescott anyone could tolerate. You were definitely more polite than the rest but kinda shy at the same time."

"Well you'd be shy as hell wearing that damn sailor suit. Also my family hates me. Like the only member of my family that gives a shit about me is my mothermother, and she's a junkie."

"Well my father died in a car crash a year ago and my best friend Max moved to Seattle. And now Mommy is married to this jackass named David and he's a prick! Putting up security cameras around the house, bossing me around. I feel like Mom married him for his money or something."

"Ha! That's probably the only reason my mom married my dad! He treats her like shit and hits me any time I do something out of his control. And apparently Christmas Eve is no exception."

She notices his black eye. "Wait, did he hit you?" She notices his bookbag. "Are you running away?"

"Yeah. He's an abusive, controlling asshole!"

"You know what, kid. I was planning something similar. Running away is always better with a friend. Mind if I tag along?"

"Why not. More the merrier, right? Wanna pick up the essentials at your place?"

Nathan then grabbed his belongings and "Wait, where's my CD player?" He notices it on the ground, broke and his Scars and Souvenirs disc is cracked down the side. "Aw man! Must've got knocked off in the snowball fight."

"Don't worry, kid. I got one at my place."

10:55 PM

Chloe came out of the house with a bookbag and Nathan followed her outside. He asked her "Where are your mom and Step-Jackass?"

"Step-Jackass? Can I use that? Don't answer, I was asking as a courtesy. Mom's working at the Two Whales Diner and Step-Jackass is helping her."

"Honestly he doesn't seem that bad. But maybe that's just 'cause I have my real dad to compare him to."

Nathan snags the wreath off the front door and Chloe tells him "I have to stop somewhere real quick if that's all right with you."

11:55 PM

The pair is in the cemetery, with Chloe looking over gravestones. Nathan notices a married couple's grave.

Tom Jefferson 1964-1996.

Madeline Taylor Jefferson 1965-1995.

Nothing special, but something about those names brought a pain in his throat. Like something was cutting it.

Chloe found the gravestone she was looking for.

William Price 1973-2008.

Her father.

"Hey, Dad. I just decided to stop by one last time. I'm leaving Arcadia Bay. Mom married this guy, David Madsen, she betrayed you, she betrayed me, Max is gone! There's nothing left for me here. I met a boy who has a similar problem, only it's worse than mine. You'd know him as the one Prescott anyone thought was any good." She whispers so Nathan doesn't hear her, "He might even be my soulmate." She speaks up. "Not a day goes by that I don't think of you. And leaving you is the one thing that makes me sad about leaving Arcadia Bay." She's crying now. "I love you, Daddy. I always will."

Nathan takes the wreath he took earlier and places it on William's grave. And then he takes Chloe into his arms as she cries on his shoulder. Nathan looks at his G-Shock watch and sees the time.

12:05 AM

DECEMBER 25TH, 2009

Christmas Day

"Chloe," he says. "It's Christmas. Merry Christmas, Chloe."

Chloe looks at him and his watch.

12:06 AM

"Merry Christmas, Nathan."

They look into each other's eyes and lean in closer to each other. They're lips meet. They recoil, their cheeks red, from the cold or embarrassment no one knows.

They look back at each other. And smile.

A/N: And that's a wrap! I wanted to compare Nathan's dancing to Star-Lord's dancing in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, but it wasn't out at the time, so I couldn't give Nathan's opinion of the movie. But while Spider-Man 3's dancing scenes pissed people off at the time (me included), today I look at it and Guardians of the Galaxy and see that Spider-Man 3 may have been ahead of its time. Topher Grace is still a bad choice for Eddie Brock though. Don't get me wrong, his acting was good in the movie, but Topher Grace himself looks like he competed with Tobey Maguire in real life for the role of Peter himself and Sam Rami gave him the role to make up for it. Since Eddie Brock is supposed to be the opposite of Peter Parker, worst...casting choice...ever.

As for why Nathan and Chloe know each other now, I liked the idea of them having known each other before Chloe even met Rachel or Eliot. Also I don't like Amberprice. It's not because they're both girls, I'm not a homophobe in any way, it's because Rachel cheated on Chloe. With Frank no less. Not that Amberprice won't possibly appear in the next two chapters. I know it's not conventional having them both run away, but this Episode will explain why they're the way they are in Before the Storm.

Also, I'm planning on using a flashback system from now on depending on what gets sacrificed, Chloe or Arcadia. If it's Chloe, Nathan will explain everything to Max on their way to finding a place to bury Chloe. Don't ask how I plan Nathan to convince her to help, just go with it. If Arcadia is sacrificed, Chloe will help Nathan explain everything, which could be interesting to read. Please leave in the comments what you prefer.

I may end up on the Naughty List for saying this next bit, but fuck it!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a go fuck yourself.

SavingCain