Chapter 2: Cataclysm

Max walked slowly towards campus, now clad in her generic pink doe shirt and Walmart jeans, a faint smell of jasmine clinging to her clothes. Although laboured, her breathing quickened as her anxiety intensified. As much as she wanted to start a fresh, the thought of being around the same people that didn't give two shits about her weeks ago didn't excite her.

As she walked she could see the jocks, all sweaty and smelly from their morning run, making their way into campus. Others as well, all back to their normal routines.

I remember how Kate told me how school was so quiet when they learned about the police finding Rachel's body and about Chloe's death.

I guess they've moved on.

Max tousled her hair backwards as she approached the entrance of campus. At the moment, she froze. She breathed in and exhaled forcefully, the distinct conversation of her schoolmates penetrating the doors separating them.

As Max stepped into the halls, silence immediately ensued. All eyes turned towards the small figure standing in front of the door. Max paused, looking at them, her anxiety heightening.

It's OK, Max. Just head to your locker, you'll be fine.

In an attempt to break the tension, Max hurriedly walked towards her locker. The distant murmurs of students, Max didn't care. In their defence, they did have a reason for staring at Max. Who wouldn't be curious when they saw a crying girl being escorted out of the same bathroom where a girl had just been shot? Max fiddled furiously with the lock on her locker, when a hand touched her shoulder.

"AH!" A shrill scream erupted from her mouth.

"Whoa, Max. It's me!" It was Warren, his face momentarily stunned with Max's reaction.

Max clutched her chest.

"Warren, don't scare me like that!" she said, as she turned towards her locker.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. How are you doing?" asked Warren, innocently.

"I'm fine, Warren. Better, I mean."

"Where have you been? I didn't see you in school for the past few days," Warren asked.

"A little sick, I guess. After all that's happened."

Max continue rummaging through her locker, looking for her AP English textbook, as Warren occasionally filled and unfilled his pockets with his fists.

"So uh I heard… rumours about you. That you were in that bathroom."

Max didn't stop, as Warren's eyes burned into her back.

"What did they say?" she asked, her eyes closed. As if trying to suppress emotions that were threatening overflow her emotional barrage.

"Well, um… Alyssa said that you were trying to help uh… what's her name?"

"Chloe."

"Yeah, right. So… Taylor said that Nathan just flipped out on Chloe cause Nathan had some dirt on her. And uh… Victoria said that Chloe sorta provoked him into acting that way so it's not his fault. Oh, and Zach mentioned that Chloe-"

I can't believe this.

"And you believe THEM?" sneered Max, as she stuck her finger out toward the open hall.

"N-no, I didn't say that! I just hea-"

"You believe the word of people who weren't even IN there? How gullible can you be, Warren?" Max retorted, her voice rising, gaining the attention of the other students around them. Max refocused her attention on her books, as Warren stood awkwardly beside her.

"You must have really liked her."

Max froze. Her hands, clutching her pencil-case, tensed up mid-air. Her eyes, staring into the nothingness. Her body, shuddering lightly.

"And she must have meant a lot to you."

Max turned towards Warren, still standing there, radiating sympathy.

"My whole world," Max said, her voice cracking.

A momentary, tangible silence hung between them. Without warning, Max shut her locker and began walking away from Warren.

"Max, wait!" called Warren, as she tried to catch her. But Max took off running, like a lost doe. Warren sighed, and didn't pursue.

As Max ran, her barrage of emotions began to overflow. Her sweater grazed against her face, as the first streaks of tears flooded down her cheeks.

Max felt her cheeks burn, as she splashed cold water onto her face.

Fuck this. Fuck this.

As she turned off the faucet, she gazed into the mirror. And her eyes widened as she realized where she was.

The bathroom. No, no, fuck! How did I get here? This is the last place I want to be.

Max looked around anxiously, as if the walls were going to close in on her. She began to pace around anxiously, hugging her body. When she saw it. The bloodstain on the floor. She cupped the mouth with her hand.

God, no.

Her eyes narrowed on the spot, when it hit her.

A familiar feeling.

"Argh!"

A searing headache ripped right through her head, as worse as she could imagine. She crouched into a ball, trying to fight the immense pain trying to break her skull. She wiped her hand on her nose.

Blood.

What's going on? My rewind is gone, why am I still feeling this?

As the walls around her began to turn an ominous orange, a flash of light blinded her. Max clutched her head tightly, hoping to alleviate the pain searing through her.

Silence.

Max's eyes slowly opened as the bathroom was now fully enveloped in orange. Sweat dripped down her neck.

"So what do you want?"

The recognizable sound of Nathan's voice echoed of the walls, amplifying the fear within Max.

"I hope you checked the perimeter as my step-ass would say, now let's talk bidness…"

wHy DiDnT yOu SaVe Me MaX?

Chloe's voice resonated off the walls brought shudders to Max's body. Fresh tears fell freely from her eyes.

wHy dId yOu LEt mE DIe MaX¿

"No, no! I didn't let you die! I can't bear to do that!"

Silence immediately submerged the orange bathroom. Max crawled slowly and peered behind the safety of the stall. Nathan and Chloe, frozen. Mid-confrontation. Eyes hard onto each other. Max's breathing reverberated off the walls, but hitched upon what she saw.

Chloe's eyes slid to the left, gazing at her. Max watched as Chloe's head tilted to the side, and their eyes met. Her mouth slowly opened, and she uttered a call to Max. A call to her lover.

Then save me.

Another shockwave of pain ripped through her head, as the confrontation continued. Gripping tightly onto the stall door, Max raised herself steadily and staggered. Anger and desperation pulsated through her veins as her eyes seared into Nathan's back. An unknown source of courage had just found its channel.

"Nathan, stop!"

As she etched closer to Nathan, he spun around searching for the source of the noise. Chloe looked on incredulously.

"Who's there?

It was as if he couldn't see her.

"Don't. Touch. Chloe. Again."

Nathan continued looking around frantically, pointing the gun in multiple directions.

As if on cue, it seemed Chloe snapped back into reality. She hurled her knee into Nathan's stomach and pushed him to the ground. The gun fell and clanked noisily on the floor. She quickly snatched the gun from the floor and aimed at Nathan threateningly.

"Don't ever touch me again, freak! Get out!"

Nathan glared nervously at her, before running out the door. More specifically, running through it.

Like it wasn't real.

Silence ensued as the two girls stood looking at each other, panting rapidly. Max approached Chloe slowly, wanting to embrace her.

When another beam of light blinded her.

As soon as her eyes opened, Max found herself lying on the floor, still in the bathroom. The orange filter was now gone. The normal dull, grey coloured walls littered with graffiti greeted her instead. Max sat up, her head spinning. As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she noticed a figure lying down in front of the bathroom door. The girl with the blue hair.

"Chloe!"

Max quickly ran towards her best friend, hugging her tightly.

"Oh my god, Chloe, you're here!"

Chloe's eyes fluttered open, dazed.

"M-max? Is that you?" Chloe asked.

"Chloe, I'm so glad you're alive!" said Max, as she hugged her best friend tighter.

"But I'm not."

Max gazed at Chloe, slightly taken aback by her response.

"But I saved you?"

Chloe shook her head, weakly, a sweet smile plastered in her face.

"Max dear, if you… want to save me… find us. You...have the… power."

Max shook her head quickly, as if in denial.

"Wh-why? I don't have my powers anymore. And why do I need to do that, I saved you!"

Chloe's head tilted to the side, before uttering:

"tHeN wHy dID YOu sHoOt mE mAx?"

A gunshot rang out as Max screamed in terror, watching a bullet-sized hole form in Chloe's body. Blood sprayed all over Max's clothes as Chloe's lifeless body slumped to the ground.

Max stumbled backward falling on her rear, hearing a clunking noise coming from her right hand.

It was Nathan's gun.

Max screamed in horror and shock, as she clutched her ears, attempting to protect herself. She watched in disgust, as Chloe's lifeless body morphed into something horrible. An indescribable entity.

"No! NO!"

"Max!"

Max shook out her daze when she saw Kate shaking her body, Ms Grant standing beside her. Max let out a shriek of distress, as she burst into tears.

"Max, it's just me, Kate! Shh, don't cry. I'm here."

Tears rolled freely down Max's cheeks.

"Max, what happened? Your nose is bleeding," asked Kate, her tone soft and compassionate.

"Chloe, Chloe, Chloe, I shot her, I shot her!" cried Max hysterically, pointing her finger madly at the door. For a moment, Kate and Ms Grant turned to look at each other, before looking at what she was pointing.

"Max, there's nothing there."

Max shot up from her seated position and pushed aggressively past Kate and Ms. Grant, only to find nothing.

Not even the bloodstain.

"She was just there! Didn't you all see it?"

Ms. Grant and Kate stood there cautiously because Max was like a sleeping lion; they weren't sure if Max was going to pounce on them if they approached. Max looked at the floor when she spotted an envelope. The same colour, the same size as the one on her doorstep. She quickly tore it open, unveiling a new message.

Find us. To find me.

Author's note : Hi all! Thank you so much for reading up till this point! The series continues... soon.

Till then.

-Z.