Hey everyone. I'm back after a bit of a wait that did not seem that long I know. But the good news is that my family member is improving much and for that I'm relieved. She still has to go through tests and a couple more visits not to mention if it'll come back but I'm grateful that she is doing so much better, and I apologize for the cryptic message. Was really scary.
So here you guys go: Chapter 3 of this Life is Strange The Deer the Butterfly and the Wolf.
Chapter 3
Dot's POV
There's an old saying I saw in an old magazine saying something like: The adventure of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Well I took the liberty of getting like a dozen of those babies up to that tower overlooking the ocean. That girl I saw might be still up there, and she could be hurt! There has to be some trace of her being up at there! I know that the typhoon and that storm would be easily be called a dream. Shit, even I would say that. But given that I saw that big monster just closing in on the city, and that I reached the outside world, it's just not the case.
The tower has a medieval structure to it and despite it being outside world create, it looked surprisingly well intact. The majority of it was built by stone with a fresh coat of white paint. I can see that there was a platform at the top probably for people who want to get a view of the beauty from up above. The tip was the only spot of the tower completely covered in glass. Okay, this is confusing.
Why would there be a tall tower on a cliff looking out at sea? Was this a house and it was the only one left before the tides rose? I dunno...
After walking on the shores with those... tiny... thingys, I got on a trail with SO many trees with all sorts of colors. Small plants wildly dot the ground and some dared to settle on the trail I am on. The sounds of all sorts of animals filled the areas, and I can see two small furry brown creatures racing each other up a tree. Beautiful chirping made my heart flutter to the additional amazing things this place has to offer.
My big eyes thoroughly overlooked every inch of this place as my mouth turned into a gape smile. "Wow... So beautiful.." I struggled to find more words.
I've read so much cool stuff on the old world, and so far, it does not disappoint.
Wanting to experience more. I shuffled my feet slipping of my soaked shoes and settled my prosthetic feet onto the ground feeling warm and refreshed. I buried them into the soil wiggling them around a little bit breathing in deeply still taking in all of this. Looking down at them, they bursted from the dirt with a little dirt staining the Titanium on it. I examined every inch, detail, red and blue tube connected to my feet letting them relax again into the soil.
I almost feel bad my real feet and legs can't feel this. Well... almost.
I twisted my body to catch a quick glimpse of the yellow sun before I was forced to squint my eyes. I smiled at that fireball I hate with a burning passion. Ironic isn't it?
Back home, it was either hot and sunny or crazy storms. And when I say really hot, I mean REALLY HOT! Storm days were a blessing. But the setting sun filled my body with a warm and cozy feeling.
"Seems you're not a total dick after all." I said to the fireball in the sky.
After the entrancing feeling, I carried up the path leading up to the top of the cliff where the tower resides. The grass was tall and untamed and it tickled against my feet. Another soft breeze hit me making my smile spread out across my cheeks.
All of this... This is like a dream come true.
I pinched my arm hard and held it for five seconds until I released it. "Thank God I'm not dreaming!"
Looking at the surroundings of this area, I can tell that people were here not to long ago. I can see large stones encircling burned out wood. I can still smell the smoky essence and it had a pure feeling to it unlike the other firepits I've got a whiff out of.
Smells... natural. It doesn't have that horrible smell of burned out plastic and OniRubber. OniRubber... God I hate that stuff...
There was a bench facing out at see close to the cliff, and that looked like a nice place to relax and enjoy the view, but I right now, I need to find a way to get inside the tower. Maybe I can find some clues on who that girl is and where she went. I know it sounds highly unlikely when I say it like that, but it's better than nothing. Closing the distance I can see paper glued onto the tower. It showed a picture of a girl in black and white. She looks like one of those chicks who doesn't give a fuck about anything. From what the paper was telling me, it was revealing her name some information about this person.
MISSING
Name: Chloe Price
Date Missing: September 5th 2013
OTHER
Age: 19
Height 5'9 - Weight 112 lbs
Hair: Blue (Dyed) - Eyes: Blue
Additional Information: Rose column tattoo on her right arm, and a three bullet necklace.
Please call for any information to the Sheriffs Arcadia Bay (555) 388-6020
"Huh. Wonder if anyone found her." I wondered. "Shame that investigation was over 30 years ago... She looks like a bad chick." I gasped examining it further. I can't believe that didn't click immediately. "Oh fuck... Price?" I laughed at my slow thinking. "So that's what she looked like when she was younger. Never thought she had that look."
Getting back to the task at hand, My attention was now on the door of the tower. My hand attempted to turn the knob, but was met with firm resistance. I cursed under my breath.
One good kick equals open door.
I stepped back and with the full force of my leg breached the door causing it to fly open. Upon entering, there were no signs of people, just a spiral staircase, couple of worn out pieces of furniture, rotting counter, a stained mattress, and writing above it, which made my eyes roll.
Vortex Club Property
No Losers allowed
"Looks like it's my place now, guys." I walked over to the to see if there was anything left behind that can still be useful. Opening up drawers and cabinets, and all I found was empty glass bottles and rusty tin cans. I sighed shaking my head. "Shouldn't be surprised."
Nothing. Was worth a shot. And I gotta admit, I do like this place.
I abandoned my search and started to jog up the stairs finally reaching the top and opened the door sending me back outside. Strong winds caught me off guard giving me the chills. From up here the view was amazing! The waves were bashing against each other, gulls were circling and gawking cheerfully, the sky was a perfect cloudless blue. I leaned myself against the wall, and slid myself down to the floor just taking this all in, and letting my mind wander.
This must be a dream. The trees, land, animals, and old world structures? These are things I always thought were something out of a fairytale. Only they weren't. I mean aren't. We were told all of that died out when the tides rose. A lot of us knew that was bullshit. And me? I'm proof of that bullshit. Too bad I'm not home to give everyone the good news.
My left leg began twitching at a rapid uncontrollable speed. I couldn't make it stop even if I wanted to, so I gave my upper leg a firm smack of my fist and with one loud clank ceased all movements allowing me to regain total control.
"Stupid glitch."
I lift up my pants leg to make sure my shiny silver leg seemed to be in working order. It looked fine, but I gave it some movements just to be sure. My metal foot complied by twirling my toes followed by smooth crackling sounds.
"That's more like it."
Sonic told me that we won the war. He may be right. But... knowing the Defense Force and INoSense...
INoSense.. My whole body shivered at that nightmare.
I'm glad those fuckers are gone... too many people died thanks to them.
I looked back at the way of thinking smiling. With my mind now on another thought, my hand reached down inside my shirt and I pulled my good luck necklace. Although it looked old, the black and white swirls of the Yin Yang still had a shine to it. I frowned thinking of him...
It was her lucky charm. If she haven't given it to me, would she still be alive?
"I miss you..." I murmured clenching the charm tight in my balled up hand.
Don't think about that now, Dot. You have a whole life and adventure for you. You got your birthday wish. And the best part? You're not dreaming!
I squeezed my eyes shut, and pinched myself hard to the point I thought I was bleeding, then I opened them up again and released my painful grip happy that I was still here. "Still not a dream."
I hopped to my feet and leaned against the railings feeling the wind hitting me hard that time. I thought it was gonna land me on my ass. The strong breeze felt chilly but refreshing at the same time.
After that happy moment, I picked up something. From my dream, I not only came across that girl, and saw the typhoon again, but I saw Orchard District and... Connecting the dots, my head twisted to the left to see buildings far off in the distance close to the shoreline.
"Theres a settlement!" I blurted out elated that there are people still alive and living. "Well I think I know where my next stop is."
Knowing it was going to be a long walk, I slipped back on my shoes and raced down to the bottom floor of the tower. I always known there would be land, and probably some people, but I never thought they would be that advanced. Oh man! This is so fucking awesome!
I calmed myself down not trying to get too hyped up. I just get the feeling I can't go into the settlement all happy and excited. I could draw attention. And if I fuck up somehow, worst case scenario, I'll get stabbed to the back of the neck.
"Stay calm." I reminded myself. "Act normal. Don't draw attention..." I sighed deeply. "Seems easy enough. 'Kay. Here goes nothing."
But as of right now, I'm gonna go fucking crazy! Leaping over the railings, blasting myself to the ground where a loud bang on impact followed by a little shaking, which is kind of an understatement.
"Aww man this is gonna be SO much fun!"
I looked down over the edge examining to see if it was safe to dive into the ocean. Yep it looks safe. There was only one awesome thing left to do.
With one leap I grabbed curled my self into a ball feeling the full force of the wind letting out a loud, "WOOOOOOOOO!"
Max's POV
I stepped back into the main hall where the blazing alarm was louder than ever. I almost had the impulse to cover my ears, but found that my ears quickly adjusted to the loud wailing, so nothing to worry about. Dana, Trevor, Taylor, and Brooke were all jogging to the main entrance of Blackwell Academy. Who would've thought they took fire drills so seriously?
Taking a deep breath, I began to feel my legs again, and began to follow the path to outside trying to stay calm.
"Hey!" A hostile tone froze me dead in my tracks. I turned to see it was none other than Head of Security of Blackwell David Madsen marching over to me looking pissed as ever. "Do you not hear the alarm? That means all students should be OUTSIDE!"
Officer Madsen is tall with a fit build. Not to mention he has a serious mustache going. He wore the regular Blackwell security uniform which is just proper navy blue sleeve shirt and cap and some khaki pants. We never really had that much interaction with each other. Until now.
"I-I had to use the bathroom..." I stammered. This guy really freaks me out.
"Girls always use that excuse."
My brows furrowed slightly offended by that derogatory comment. "Excuse for what?" My tone was more firm that time.
"For whatever you're up to!" He's gotten a little louder probably because of me being more confident. "You're face is covered in guilt!"
"The alarm trip me out!"
He took a step forward making me step back. "Then trip on out of here, Missy! The way you're going on about this, you're probably hiding something is that it?"
Geez this guys is crazy! Then again... I am hiding something. Not like anyone would believe me.
"Thank you, Mr. Madsen." The calm but stern voice of Principal Wells was a huge relief. "The situation is under control, and there is no emergency. Leave Ms. Caulfield alone, and please turn off that alarm since that's your job."
Principal Wells was a short stocky man that always dresses professionally. He always has this stoic face he plays out every time I see him. I only talked to him only a couple of times, but none of it was never bad news.
Officer Madsen didn't lose his hostile expression, but he complied nonetheless and entered the girls bathroom. Principal Wells walked over to me looking inquisitive, but there is no trace of suspicion on his face. "Are you alright, Max? You look a little stressed out."
I relaxed a little. "Just... worried about my future.."
I had a good feeling he wouldn't buy that. "You're sweating pinballs. Are you sure that's all you're thinking about. Remember, you can always be upfront with me, Max." His tone got more stern. "Or have you done something wrong? Is that it. Tell me, Ms. Caulfield. Please."
Words flew out of my mouth without any hesitation. "Nathan Prescott has a gun!" I slowed my breath down wanting to be rational about this. "I was in the bathroom, and Nathan was in there waving a gun around in the girls bathroom."
"Nathan Prescott?" He repeated sounding like he doesn't. "You sure?"
"Yes! He just walked in just... talking to himself and had a pistol! I saw everything! Said some things of him blowing up the school cause he owns it!"
"Okay, Max, slow down and take a deep breath. You saw all this without him seeing you?"
"I was hiding behind the stall!" I was getting impatient by his skepticism. "I have the right to be there! It is the girl bathroom after all!"
"I know! I know! I just want to be completely clear on what happened." He sounded more annoyed now, but kept himself professional. "Mr. Prescott happens to be from one of the town's most distinguished family's, not to mention one of Blackwell's most honored students. So I find it difficult to believe that he would do something dangerous and foolish like brandishing a weapon around. What happened next."
I set the alarm off and sent him off running. Although that truth would get me in serious trouble.
"Then..." I could not think of any other alternative answer. "He left. I came out wondering what I should do. What's going to happen to him?"
"This is... a serious accusation, Max." He answered. "I'll investigate the matter personally. Thank you, Max for bringing this to my attention. Please head outside with the rest of the students."
Before I let another word out, Principal Wells turned away and walked back into his office closing the door.
I shouldn't be surprise this drone won't bust Nathan! His family owns the school for crying out loud! Then again... I think it's the better alternative than hiding it. Hate to have my education flushed down the toilet.
I shook my head and proceeded outside on the school grounds. For October, it was surprisingly warm this month, thank you Global Warming. Although it did not stop Autumn bringing in it's early beauty of the colors of red, brown and orange leaves on trees. The students were just hanging out everywhere. Brooke was messing around with the controller for her new drone that was zipping around campus up and down and sideways. She's trying her very best not to crash that cool little gizmo. Hayden and his Vortex friends camped out by some trees just relaxing and talking. They're living the dream alright. I can see Daniel by his own tree all be himself working on some of his sketches. I hope he's feeling better what happened at the lockers.
"Nathan Prescott, please report to the Principal's Office." Principal Wells's voice came over the school loudspeaker.
Least he's taking some action.
As I walked down the stairs, I noticed a few pieces of paper on the ground scattered but close together. Picking up one of them, I can see this is a flyer. I read the details.
MISSING
Name: Rachel Amber
Date Missing: April 22nd 2013
OTHER
Age: 19
Height: 5'5 - Weight: 110lbs
Hair: Blonde - Eyes: Hazel
Additional Information: Tattoo on calf of a dragon and a star on the inside of the left wrist
Rachel Amber? Wow... she looks so hopeful and pretty. I hope that she's okay.
Looking back at Daniel, I went over to him wondering what his latest masterpiece is on. Daniel is a lot like me in some ways. He's quite and keeps to himself. But he has some amazing sketches that would only rival Leonardo Da Vinci! I think he came from Puerto Rico. His black hair was short and well combed; Something that I need to work at. He wore a sweatshirt of a shirt, jeans and sneakers. Definitely has a cool style.
I smiled back. "Hey Daniel. What are you working on?"
Seems I startled him because of him jolting a little, but he looked up and grinned. "Oh, hi, Max." Daniel's quite Hispanic accent had a nice ring to it. "Just something to turn into next week." He showed me his masterpiece, which looked so somewhat graphic, but at the same time, totally freaking awesome. Although not colored in, Daniel created a vivid sketch of a black wolf attacking a pinned owl while a frightened deer is behind the wolf. The way the wolf presents itself, it looks like it's protecting the deer from the owl who looks more angry than terrified.
"Is the wolf the good guy?" I guessed.
He nodded eagerly. "Yes! The owl was attacking the deer, but it didn't know the deer had a fierce canine guardian."
"Poetic and awesome. I like it." I commended him. "You thinking of coloring it in?"
He shook his head. "Seeing pictures in black and white feels more... what's the word?" He pondered his head a bit. "Real I think."
I nodded in agreement. "Black and white can have that effect."
"Ummm..." He hesitated. "I-if it's alright with you, may I sketch you?" I-I do put my sketches on Facebook though." He quickly squeezed in more. "It's fine if you don't want to."
I grinned at the idea I'd be a muse. "You're planning to draw me like one of your French girls, Jack?" I teased him snickering a little.
He let out a nervous laugh and he was getting red.
I chuckled. "Sure why not? I'd love to be a muse."
"Funny you should say that." He beamed. "I was thinking of my first muse: Rachel Amber. She told me the same joke you just said about French girls. I don't know what that means though."
I laughed. "Watch Titanic and you'll understand." I became more serious now that he brought up Rachel. "I just saw a flyer about her missing. Do you know her?"
Daniel shook his head. "No, but she asked me to sketch her once. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met." He quickly added, "You included, Max."
I smirked sitting down on the grass with him. "Nice save." I joked. "Sketch away Daniel. I'm sorry I'm a step down from Rachel though."
"No! No! You're a good... substitute muse." He stammered. "I-I mean, another cool muse!"
I laughed not minding at all still in a sitting position extending my legs out to my side while I let my hand support my balance.
"Nice." Daniel approved. "Good pose." I can hear his pencil softly scratching against the paper.
It took about ten minutes for Daniel to finally rest his hand at his side and revealed a perfect reflection portrait of myself. No detail has been missed.
"Wow!" I was blown away by his skills. "That's incredible Daniel! You are a modern Renaissance Artist.
A small smile curved. "Thank you, Max."
I got to my feet saying my farewells to Daniel as I walked around campus. One thing that I find pretty cools is Mr. Jefferson's works of art being displayed on galleries that dot the campus. I examined one of his works showing a girl in black and white looking down in a shameful way, and she dressed somewhat exposing.
It does speak to me, but feels kinda dark.
I internally shuddered picturing what that poor girl is going through. Frankly I don't really want to think about that anymore.
"Hey, I know you!"
I turned to see Stella who looked as if she came over to examine, Mr. Jefferson's work too. I don't really talk to her all that much, but she seems nice. She has that cool nerd look to her with the ponytail, glasses, and purple sweatshirt with a peace symbol on it.
"You're Max right? From Jefferson's class."
I nodded. "Yeah. Good to see you, too Stella." Not really surprised she said it like that. I do pretty much keep to myself after all.
"Oh man.. He's incredible when it comes to this kinds of shots." At least she was enjoying this picture more than I am.
I shrugged. "I guess. I mean, it does a good job painting the atmosphere. Even if it's all dark and gloomy."
"That's what so cool about his photography. It's not just good shots, it's all about taking in the feeling of what it's like. Like you're really there. Except you're really not."
I nodded. "Good point. He is pretty cool." I admit. "I feel honored that a famous photographer came over and teach us some cool tips and methods."
"Me too." Stella said. "I'm glad he came back from Urban New York to teach us Arcadia hicks a thing a two. Must piss off those East Coast Elites too." She sighed. "Plus he is pretty hot for an older guy."
Okay I'm not that kinda girl, Stella.
"I'd make a move, if Victoria wasn't slobbering all over him." She finished scowling.
Eugh... Definitely not my cup of tea...
"Well... He doesn't really think all that much on Victoria's flirting." I told her. "What I'm trying to say is, don't get your hopes up too. Aaannnd... that he has some good tastes."
Stella laughed. "Oh Max, you have a lot to learn at Blackwell. Rachel Amber? She totally had sex with him. Well, I got that from a good source."
When people say it's from good sources, that means it's bullshit.
"You know Rachel?" I asked.
"No not really. We talked a little, but I saw her hanging out with the kool kidz like Victoria, Hayden, ect. Not my style. She's really nice though."
"That's good to hear then." I decided to change the subject. "So, how's your photo submission going?"
"Nothing so far, Alyssa and I can't decide on what we should do." Stella explained frowning. "She's kinda obsessed with trying to get into the Vortex Club that she's bailed on me. I don't really see how the Vortex Club is that big of a deal. Just feels a lot less fun than they portray."
I grinned. "And here I thought I was the only one who thought that."
"Well I have to get going. Alotta studying to do. Hope to see you around." She said waving good bye as she jogged in the other direction where the dorms were located.
"See ya!" I called back. She gave me the courtesy of turning around and waving again before carrying on.
Man. Rachel does have a reputation here at Blackwell.
I decided to walk over to Brooke who perfectly stuck a gentle landing for her drone. She's pretty cool, but for some weird reason, she's not all that friendly. Like I did something wrong, but I don't know what. At least she wasn't hostile.
"Hi Brooke." I greeted. "Nice landing."
She looked up at me simply acknowledging my presence. "So I take you wanna fly my drone." She guessed.
Well... when you put it that way, how can I refuse?
"I'd love to!" I beamed. I never really thought of flying drones, but now that I think about it, flying it sounds totally awesome. "I mean I love balloons and planes and-"
"This is neither." She abruptly cut me off. "Do you know what a drone is?"
"A... weapon?" I mean the military loves using those little guys like all the time.
She looked at me like I was brain damaged. "Uhh... you read too many conspiracy sights. This might be too complicated for you."
I don't see how their conspiracies but okay.
She scoffed. "And I thought Warren said you were smart." She began to shoo me away by flicking her hand. "Please, step back. Like all the way."
I scowled but complied stepping back. "If you like Warren just ask him, don't hate on me." I mumbled.
Looking down at the ground, my eyes caught the attention of the box of Brooke's drone with the label displayed.
hiFly B400 evo
What a fancy name for a simple drone. I gotta admit though, kinda sounds cool. Too bad I can't convince her... wait a minute.
A crafty grin curved across my lips and with bringing my hand up a little I can feel effects of my crazy power reversing everything back. Time rewinded 10 times the speed of normal time, and everything was caught in a bright but visible blur. Brooke was now speaking to me fast and in a language that sounded like gibberish. My body felt like it was going down a crazy roller coaster, and I wanted to scream, but my vocal cords couldn't produce sound. My hand was forced down with every fiber of my strength and just like that, time has been restored to it's normal course only back like forty seconds now.
I took in a silent deep breath letting my body recover from that reversed adrenaline rush in reverse. "Oh shit... Okay..." I panted softly pulling myself together. "Let's try this again."
"Hi Brooke." I repeated again.
"So I take it you wanna find my drone." Her expression and tone copied everything perfectly before the rewind.
I nodded. "Looks like a HiFly Drone." My head pondered the exact name of the name. "Model... B400 EVO? A nice pice of tech right there."
Her eye brows rise not expecting that revelation. "Wow... Impressive Max." She actually sounded impressed. "Why would you know that?"
"I love aerial photography. Drones are perfect for that especially at great ranges. It's the future of new images."
Brooke grinned. "Well Warren always said you were multi-faceted." She offered her pad to me. "You deserve a shot at flying my baby. Just... don't crash her, please. Ms. Grant would can me big time if she found my baby crashed and burning."
"No worries, Brooke." I can see the footage from her drone, and I'll admit I was sweating huge droplets hoping I wouldn't send Brooke's 'Baby' off to the junkyard. But after 45 seconds of flying 'Baby' around I was able to make it land gently very close to Brooke's shoe.
"Not bad, Max. A couple of close calls, but not a scratch."
I returned her controller to her. "Thanks for letting me have a try."
"Well you did impress me." Brooke scooped her drone into her arms and carefully stuffed it into her pink backpack. "I'm gonna hit Two Whales. Wanna come?"
The Two Whales! Oh my god, they have the best damn burgers in Arcadia Bay! No that's an insult. Best burgers ever! Oh man! I have to see if Joyce still works there and see if I can get Chloe to... Oh crap... Chloe...
Five years without any contact. I'm obviously gonna have to call her soon. The longer it is, the worst it will be. Jesus I'm a idiotic jerk...
"Hello? Earth to Maxine!" Brooke called out to me snapping me out of my thought process.
"Uh.. No. Not now. I need to chill for a bit. Have fun now."
"No problem." She wrapped the strap around her shoulder. "See you around, Max." And with that, Brooke walked away over to the bus stop to wait for her ride.
I think I need to sit down and relax before I go any further, so I walked over to the bronze statue and took a seat on the brick outline letting the streaming water be heard.
Wow... this day has been so freaking crazy. No insane! Beyond insane! First that nightmare, then that gun incident in the bathroom with Nathan Prescott and that girl, and just when I thought it wouldn't get any weirder, I suddenly have the power to reverse time! So much has happened to fast, and I can still feel my heart racing a little bit. But none of this makes any sense with my powers or that.. vision. I just get the feeling that I'm going to wake up one more time back in class. But... if this is a dream, then, as weird as it sounds, I'm not asleep. I guess I'm gonna need to find some answers then. And if I have powers, then that girl has to be real. But that's also the same thing for that tornado...
A quick beep and buzz coming from my pocket snapped me out of my deep thinking. I pulled out my phone and saw that my screen was being overloaded with texts from Warren.
Warren: Hi Mx, can you get my flashdrive? I need some info, and space
Warren: Hullo? Max you there?
I returned the favor not wanting my phone to blow up.
Max: Srry. Running late. Been a crazy day.
Warren: All good. I'll be in the parking lot looking cool! You'll see.
Max: I'll have the camera at the ready, see you soon.
Warren: I hope so.
I smirked at that last text. I hope so? It's not like the end of the world is happening, Warren. Well I guess Two Whales is gonna have to be put on hold. I hopped to my feet and made my way over to the dormitory building where my favorite cocoon is waiting.
Dot's POV
Oh man that water was so freaking awesome! Next time I come back to the tower, I'm definitely doing that again.
The town is farther out than I thought! I knew it would be a quick travel, but geeze! I must have walked a couple of kilometers now, and all I see is more of the road, trees, and the shoreline with that beautiful ocean. The gulls can still be heard too, and they haven't shit on me yet, so this adventure is a freaking breeze.
This road looked old fashioned as well with a little uneven pavement as it's coating, and there were lines dividing up the road, and it's pretty freaking huge! Four big vehicles can take the whole thing up across!
I was strolling on the left side of the road trying to see if I can whistle, but so far I have had no success. Ice always told me the key is to curl my tongue when I blow out, but it's not working out for me. At least I have the muscle capability to curve my tongue. Soon I just gave up and started humming my favorite song. It wasn't long until I was dancing along to the song I was humming, and I quickly switched to singing and dancing.
"Blow a kiss! Fire a gun!
We need someone to lean on!
Blow a kiss! Fire a gun!
All we need is somebody to lean on!
Blow a kiss! Fire a gun!
We need someone to lean on!
Blow a kiss! Fire a gun!
All we need is somebody to lean on!"
Everything in my body ceased to move as my mind assumed total control over me making me semi unconscious.
The restraints held me in down on the cold table as people in slim white hazard material suits started touching me everywhere. I couldn't move. My arms and legs could not defend me. My mouth was covered by tape not letting me speak. I was so scared. Please make them stop... Make them stop...
I can see him. He's in charge of all of this. The well combed gray hair, trimmed beard, and friendly eyes. It was all just a lie! He told me I'm his favorite, and I had a purpose ahead of me. I can see the needle in his hand. He was going to put me to sleep! His hand gently brushed across my face shushing me gently.
"Don't worry, my sweet." He whispered softly. "When you wake up, you will be reborn. The perfect specimen that will deliver us from... this horrible war." His mouth was so close to my ear. "You will be our hero."
He brought the needle up and I started screaming and I was trying get my arms and legs out of my restraints.
Before the needle could poke my neck, a loud boom went off and the people have blood all over them. His face was hurt, but he ran out of the room. I still couldn't move, and I was screaming louder than ever but I couldn't hear myself. I couldn't hear anything but this ring.
A loud low pitch honk allowed me to regain full control of my body and senses. My head twisted behind me seeing some huge vehicle getting closer and closer. Reacting immediately, I leaped to my left side just in time to see the vehicle carrying some huge box behind it drive on by. I rested there for a few seconds breathing in deeply.
"Inhale... exhale..." I repeated. "Inhale... exhale... Ohh fuck..."
I'm so glad those fuckers are dead. INoSense can rot in hell!
I laughed a little. "I'm not planning to get squashed on my first day. Think I'll stay on the side."
After a bit of walking, I can finally see the outskirts of the settlement, and a large ancient sign that looked decorative with giant words and a painting of the town on it.
WELCOME TO ARCADIA BAY
"Thanks. Cool name."
Passing the sign I get the feeling I was in the settlement now. Arcadia bay was kind enough to provide a walkway for me. An ancient walkway, but I'm not judging, merely observing. I saw a couple of vehicles passing by one going back the way I came, and two more going into town. They looked simple, but they were big! I mean, I bet it's roomy in those cars.
Do they really need to be that big though?
It didn't take long for me to get into the town proper. A road divided one line of buildings and the other column with the same thing. There were wooden poles sticking up from the concrete with black lining sprawling to the next pole down and so on. Ancient, simple, and pretty freaking cool! It feels more... natural! It's like there something so cool about it, but I can't really explain it. Yeah it's not Orchard District, but it looks so cool it doesn't have to be. In fact, I think I prefer Arcadia Bay over Orchard District. There weren't a lot of people, but there were enough to not make this place feel like a ghost town.
Looking both ways, I decided to sprint across the road when I saw it was empty with vehicles. I laughed that I made it across the other side like it was some miracle I didn't get run over. I was now standing in front of grey painted building with some sort of electric board at the top with some kinda big fat fish smiling. Underneath it was the name of the building I'm guessing.
Two Whales Diner
Open 24 hours
Damn. 24 hours? Hardcore! Wonder what kinda food they have. From the looks of it, I don't think they'll give the food out for free. To bad I don't have anything to trade with at the moment..
"That was pretty ballsy of you, kid!" A man's voice called out to me.
Kid? I'm gonna be eighteen in one day, pal. I'm not a kid.
I looked over to see there was indeed a man looking right at me. He was wearing a clean sleeve shirt with some kinda vest over him, and he was standing behind a table and a sign reading in big orange 'SAVE OUR CITY". His hair and beard had a reddish color to it. His face looked weary and wrinkled.
As I approached him, I can see there are pieces of paper on the table showing huge fish on the front as well as a similar message: 'Save our Bay. End the Man-Made draught in the Bay!' His name seemed to be displayed as well reading 'R.J. MacReady' There was all sorts of stuff on the table.
"Last time I checked there was more than enough water out in the bay." Was my greeting to him.
R.J. Scowled at me. "More than enough water, but no place for me to fish."
I decided to be more serious. "What do you mean?"
He sighed. "Arcadia Bay isn't the same fishin' town I grew up in. Hell I don't think it is a fishin' town anymore..."
"Is there something wrong with the water?" I asked curious of what he meant.
"No, no! Nothin' like that." He assured me. "The damn Prescott's grab ahold of all the harbor rights and they changed the rules so much that we ain't allowed to go catch any fish." His somberly shook his head. "It's a shame that not enough people care... Especially since fish are the main exports for this town."
Exports? There are other settlements?
I felt sorry for this guy. He was pretty much doing this his whole life and from the way he talks about it, it's like a passion to him. It's sad to see people being brought down to such a low level like that. And whoever the hell the Prescott's were, I'm guessing they're not the most popular around here. Just very powerful.
"Who are these Prescott's you mention?"
R.J. looked at me like I had four eyes or something. "Yer not from around here are ya?"
I nodded. "Just got into town."
"You been on the road 'while, kid?"
"Okay, dude. Don't me 'kid' please." I scolded him.
"Sorry! Din't mean nothin' by it." He offered his condolences. "Just by the clothes you were is that you walked quite the distance."
I looked down at my clothes knowing what he meant. "Yeah." I lied. "I... travel from town to town."
He nodded approvingly. "I like yer spirit, young gal."
"Thanks."
"But in answer to yer question, the Prescott's are a family with so much money, and power that they can rename this town Prescott Bay." He grumbled.
I nodded sympathetically knowing familiar people like the Prescott's.
When he puts it like that, they would be fun to fuck around with.
"Can they really?"
"Nah!" R.J. gave me his assurances. "They're not as powerful as they like to think, but they got their hands in a lot of stuff, and if they don't like something, they'll get it out of the way. Those pricks even got some friends the police."
Well that's good to know...
I wanted to talk about something else now. Something I noticed back at the tower. "Do you know anything about a woman named Chloe Price?"
He looked at me seeing where I was going with this.
"I... saw a couple of... papers with her on them when I was coming into town."
That seemed to satisfy his curiosity. "Never knew personally, but I did see a lot of those missing person posters everywhere. She's also Joyce's daughter. She's the waitress of this fine establishment right 'ere right behind me."
Don't say anything that may sound weird... just smile and nod.
I smiled and nodded. "Well... I better get moving. Thanks for the pep talk." I bumped my fist on chest and gave him two fingers forward giving him my goodbyes.
"I gotta pack up soon. They're still some good places for me to fish, and I hear 'em calling for Bali Hai."
I was puzzled. "Bali what?"
"She's my fine vessel. The fished loved her so much once, they'll jump into her."
"Good old days, huh? See you around, pal."
I continued down the walkway passed the Two Whales Dinner. But before I could go any further continuing my adventure, I can see one downside of this town. Down an alley on close to the Two Whales Diner is woman who would like a fellow sister. She looked like a middle age woman with brown messy hair, and shares the same type a dirty clothing that I am wearing. She had very little things to call her own as I only saw a sleeping bag, a plastic cup with some black stuff in it, and long orange sticks on a white plate.
Poor woman... She must've been living like this before I was born...
I decided to go greet her. She noticed my presence and looked up with in inquisitive look in her eyes, like she was seeing into me. She gave me a small friendly smile as I stopped in front of her.
"Hello, ma'am." I greeted.
"Well lookit you." She examined me head to toe. "They'res an old sayin' that you can tell a lot by a person by the shoes they where. And yer shoes are tellin' me there is more to you than meet's the eye."
I chuckled. "Yes, ma'am. Something like that."
"Feel free to take a seat." She offered.
"Thank you." I accepted sitting down on the ground in front of her. "What do you mean 'theres more to me than meets the eye'?"
"It's just the shoes, or those scars that give it away. From what I can tell, you are a young woman who's seen a lot of horrors and hardships. The kind of horrors that are considered mythical pure evil to the people here. And the hardships that would break and kill even the strongest toughest man."
"Sucks to be men I guess." I joked chuckling.
She laughed at that. "Amen."
"We just met, and yet somehow, I think you know a lot about me." I'm interested to hear what she has to say next. She seems very wise and observant.
"From what I can from that sweater, you're from another time and place." She assumed. "I may not go shopping for clothes, but I don' think people would be makin' that kinda sweatshirt just because they love Scotland."
I know what she meant. "Scotland 2019." I said looking down at the label. "They won the world cup that year. Wait..." What did she mean by another time and place. "This is a stupid question but... what's the date?" I asked her hesitantly getting the feeling that she's going to look at me and think I'm not right in the head, but her observant look never left her face.
"October 7th, 2013. Pretty warm this time around."
My eyes widened and my mouth went agape. "2013..?" I mouthed. "Am I..? No, it can't be..."
That means this was before the tides rose... But... if it's 2013, why am I 30 years in the past?
"Am I dreaming?"
She shook her head. "Wide awake."
I sighed. "Okay... wha- where am exactly?"
"Arcadia Bay of course." She did not sound like I was crazy at all. "In the good ole state of Oregon. Been my home all my life."
State of Oregon?
"In America?" I gasped at such a realization before laughing. "I was expecting the Statue of Liberty, or Hollywood, or trying a burger."
Not the Himalaya's. But still pretty awesome.
She chuckled at me being in awe. "You're in the wron' state for those wonders, honey. And people would find it strange that a girl with the accent has never set foot on America."
"My family was from here before... Bad stuff happened to the world."
The Elderly woman was curious by what I meant. "Sounds serious. Bet where ever you came from you must've been safe from mother nature's wrath."
"You can say that." I said. "I'm sorry. This is just... wow! I'm sorry, you must think I'm totally crazy right now."
She chuckled and shook her head. "I'm too old to judge. Plus I know you're not crazy. Like I said, there's more to you than meets the eye."
A loud slamming noise interrupted our conversation and I can hear distant shouting coming closer and closer to where I was at.
"I should have known that you were going to be trouble! This whole thing was a mistake!" A young girl's voice cried out distraught.
"Babe! C'mon! I love you! You know I wouldn't do anything to put you in danger!" An older man's voice was pleading. He sounded like he was in tears. "I don't even know-"
"Stay the hell away from me, Frank! I mean it!"
I turned around just to see a man marching past us and then vanished behind the building next door.
"That man's trouble." The woman told me. "You better be that girl's guardian angel."
"What girl?" I asked. "Who is she?"
"A rebellious gentle soul." She replied. "Go on. You can take that man no problem."
I nodded obviously not wanting to see her potentially suffer by someone's hands. I sprinted out of the alley shouting back to the woman, "It was nice talking to you!"
Looking over where the man was going, I saw nothing. But it didn't take like before I heard more shouting from both people and it sounded close. It sounded like it was coming behind the next alley over. I immediately raced over hearing what sounded like a very intense argument, and it sounded like it was getting nastier.
"Stop following me!"
"I know you love me, baby! Please I'll change! I'll even get rid of all that shit if it makes you happy!"
"You wanna make me happy?! Let me see her again, and stay the fuck away from both of us! That's when I'll be happy!"
"No! You're not leaving me!"
"Let me go, Frank! Now!"
I came across the expected alley to see a man violently grabbing ahold of a young girl. She looked angry and terrified at the same time. It didn't take long before he was forcing his mouth on her and starting taking her shirt off making her scream through her lips.
Everything went red and before I knew it, I charged at full speed grabbing ahold of his shoulders and squeezed them harshly yanking his asshole off of this girl and throwing him onto the ground face planting him hard with a loud thud. He got up with a look on his face saying, 'what the fuck just happened?'
If theres one this I can think about this fucker, is that he dresses tough and likes to take it out on other people. He wore a black jacket with some jeans and black shiny boots. His hair was cropped and blonde and had a scraggly beard, and some kinda tattoo on his neck. When I saw me, he looked like he was ready to rip me in half. Like he could try. I heard a quick click and he brought out a small knife pointing it at me.
"Last mistake you'll ever make, you little bitch." He growled viciously.
I scoffed. "You wanna say that up close, motherfucker?"
That seemed to pissed him off even more, and bolted at me shouting with his knife in the air.
"Frank! No!" The girl shrieked.
When he got close, I seized his arm with the knife twisting hit in rough 360 forcing him to scream and drop the knife. He lowered his head enough allowing me to knee him right in the nose sending him back on the ground covering his bleeding nose in one hand. I can hear him crying and muttering something.
"Anything else you wanna say, you sick fuck?!" I yelled just getting warmed up. "I wanna hear it!"
I can feel someone grabbing me by the my hand and I looked over to see it was the girl I just saved. Just looking at her calmed my anger. She was... just so breathtaking. Her skin was so smooth and perfect with amazing creme porcelain complexion. Her dark blonde hair, although somewhat raffled, looks so amazing. There was a blue feather on her right ear that looks pretty awesome on her. And her hazel eyes just sparkled. Her clothes of a shiny white jacket, jeans, and brown leather boots.
"Stop! Please Stop!" She pleaded.
The jackass started to get back up grunting in pain.
"Come on! Let's go!" She egged me on pulling on my hand as we both ran away from that crazy dude.
After running far enough, we stopped panting catching our breath. We ended up on a walkway on the other side of this settlement far away from that guy known as Frank.
"Are you okay?" I asked concerned for her.
"Yeah... yeah..." She said a little shaken obviously and I can by her red eyes, puffy cheeks, and wet streak lines down her face that she was crying, but smiled gingerly. "I wish it wouldn't had come to that. But, thank you. For saving me." Her voice was gentle and heavenly.
"All in a days work." I replied smiling offering out my hand. "I'm Dot."
She smiled taking my hand. "Rachel."
My first day in the outside world in the past, and so far, I had found a cool scenery, almost got ran over, found a settlement, talk to a fisherman, and elderly woman knows about me, and last and most importantly I saved Rachel's life from some crazy nutjob. Wonder what else is in store for me?
Whew! I got this chapter done at almost 3 AM in the morning! So PLEASE forgive me if it's kinda sketchy!
So Rachel Amber is alive! I decided to let Dot have another adventure in Arcadia Bay, but that doesn't mean she will not meet Max. In short, Max and Chloe and there Rachel and Dot. More later on with that :P
The scene with the homeless woman may have been too rushed, but she seems very wise and aware of a lot of things. She didn't think Max was crazy when she told her about the tornado, so I figured why would she think Dot it crazy?
Also Dot may know Chloe. Wonder how she knows her?
If you guys are wondering what Dot's feet look like, they look like 96's deviantart Foot Prosthetic Concept. They look pretty awesome!
Feel free for theories and predictions! It's one thing I love about Life is Strange.
Disclaimer: Major Lazor and DJ Snake ft MO/ All we need is somebody to lean on.
Thanks again guys! I'm gonna go to sleep! X) X) Zzzzz...
DeltaSandman out!