Chapter 6 – "Shadows and Memories" – Blackwell Academy, Arcadia Bay, Oregon, United States of America – 5:12 PM Local Time, 7th October 2013

The Professor looked over his shoulder and smirked as he walked away from the top of the stairs at an ever-quickening pace. While he felt sorry to have left Kate behind with that ass-hat Madsen, this was his only opportunity to get back to his TARDIS relatively unnoticed.

The Academy's plaza had emptied significantly since his initial wanderings; with only the occasional trickle of students emerging from the various campus buildings as they completed after class activities. The Timelord slipped his hands into his pockets as he walked, glancing at the slightly reddening sky overhead as thoughts of Gallifrey sauntered through his mind once more.

These memories were peaceful and for the most part, simple yet powerful images. The Professor remembered standing close to the Citadel of the Timelords and watching the second Gallifreyan sun rising in the south, making the mountains shine a vibrant gold as the sun's rays caught on the silver leaves of the trees which covered the slopes of the mountains. He sighed: that memory was eons old now, before everything had changed.

Before the war.

He passed the fountain in the plaza again as he walked in the direction of the car park. He was making a small detour to ensure that he lost Madsen in the event that the man gave chase. Despite his focused approach, the Professor's mind was noticeably distant; lingering in the past when he once held a position of importance – but not for long.

The Professor's mind was snapped back to the present at the sound of a shout – Madsen's voice. Shaking his head quickly to clear his mind, the Timelord took off into a jog and headed in the direction of the swimming pool. The Timelord vaulted over a small rope fence around the fountain before taking off at full speed towards the double doors of the swimming pool. He inwardly laughed as he heard Madsen shout again.

Well come on then, Madsen. Do try to keep up…

The Professor reached the doors of the swimming pool fairly quickly; almost knocking a student who was in his way off their feet. He paused in front of the glass windowed main doors briefly, rubbing his shoes on the concrete quickly to clean a clingy patch of mud he'd picked up thanks to his quick jogging session. His right hand fumbled in his pocket for his laser screwdriver as he glanced back at Madsen, who was at the fountain by now, before pressing open the doors and running into the entrance corridor, closing another set of doors behind him as he expertly scanned over the corridor for an escape route.

The Timelord's eyes caught sight of the door to the lifeguard's office dead ahead of him; he crossed the distance in a matter of seconds only to find it locked. Time seemed to slow down for the Professor as he extended his screwdriver hand and set the device to passive mode, his left hand promptly altered the dial at the hilt of the screwdriver. With a swift hand motion, the Professor activated the screwdriver as he heard the first series of doors open with a slam behind him, the low pitched whir of the screwdriver almost instantly resulted in a satisfying click from the office door as it unlocked.

Running inside the room, the Timelord immediately locked the door behind him as he heard Madsen's footsteps abruptly end on the other side of the door. He mockingly looked at Madsen through the door's window as the security guard glared at him furiously.

"I thought this door was locked!" The Timelord heard Madsen's slightly muffled grumble as he pulled his keys out of his pockets.

"Oh, it was…but…I did find some spare keys lying around…" The Professor replied as he looked over his shoulder at the locked door behind him which led to the swimming pool proper, he shot Madsen – who was furious at this point – a smug grin before jogging over to the other door.

The Professor kept his screwdriver out of sight from Madsen as he unlocked the next door before running to the right; following the boundaries of the swimming pool as he eyed the exit by the corner of the large room. That was when he had a cunning plan.

The Professor glanced at the door which, if he guessed correctly, joined the male changing room to the swimming pool. A coy smiled dashed across the Timelord's face as he quickly walked over the door and unlocked it; the sound of Madsen's frustrated voice becoming increasingly louder as he had most likely unlocked the office door by now. The Timelord crouched just inside the changing room and turned to face the exit door as he heard Madsen open the second office door.

The Professor activated the screwdriver again, smiling as the brief activation was not only enough to open the door, but also leave it slightly ajar. The Professor then ducked into the shadows and quietly closed the door as Madsen ran past his hiding spot at full pelt and threw open the slightly ajar exit door.

The security officer stood in place for a moment, looking over the paths leading from the door like a bird of prey before his shoulders sagged and he walked off towards the campus slowly. Even from his hiding spot, the Professor could hear the muffled curses that Madsen was quietly spouting as he departed – locking the exit door behind him before he disappeared from view.

"Moron," was the Professor's only retort as he got to his feet and sighed as he looked over the empty changing room; he decided to wait here for about ten minutes to let things cool down outside.

Right…The Professor looked at his screwdriver again as he brought up the interference pattern and looked over it, What in the name of Gallifrey are you?

The Timelord sat down at a bench in the main changing area and stared at the screwdriver's display as a recording of the interference played on a loop. The Professor's eyes narrowed as he looked at the playback interference, he noted the irregular pattern which looped every five seconds and immediately began brainstorming.

"Oh…" The Professor muttered suddenly as he was struck by a thought, his eyes widened in surprise as he quickly stood upright, "Oh…" The Timelord looked at the playback again in disbelief, "No…It can't be…"

The Professor thought back to his brief scan of the temporal lock when he was back on the TARDIS; holding a mental image of the scan in his mind as he swapped between the one on his screwdriver and the one'd he'd conducted upon his arrival. He looked at the screwdriver, at the mental image of the TARDIS scan and then back at the screwdriver; feeling a sudden sense of ecstasy as he put two and two together.

"They're identical…" The Professor muttered, his voice still one of total disbelief, "The signatures of the space-time ruptures and the temporal lock…they're identical. Oh! Oh, that is brilliant!"

The Professor chuckled softly and smiled, "Which means…when I do this…"

The Professor made several minor adjustments to the screwdriver's subroutine as he paced around the bench excitedly; the screwdriver beeped after a few seconds and the Professor's smile grew noticeably wider. He turned on his heels and left the changing room, closing the door behind him as he stood in the large room which contained the swimming pool again.

"Then I can do…this…" The Professor muttered as he pointed the screwdriver at the corner of the room closest to him and activated it; he then returned the screwdriver to his side as he simply closed his eyes and listened.

The gentle breeze came first, a soft wafting breath that seemed to come forth from the corner; growing stronger with each passing moment. The breeze picked up in strength, blowing ripples across his suit and through the Timelord's hair as it grew stronger still.

"Oh. I'm good…" The Professor smiled as he heard a faint echo of a wheezing moan that grew louder as the seconds ticked by, "I'm really good…"

The Timelord took a step back and covered his eyes as the outline of a pair of lockers appeared; the main form of the lockers phasing in and out with each cycle of his TARDIS' engines.

Interesting choice for a disguise…It's good to see you again…

The Professor took a step forward as his TARDIS fully materialised in front of him, the Professor ran his hand through his hair to fix a few stray strands caused by the materialisation winds. He gently pushed open the doors with a wide grin and stepped inside; stopping to close the door behind him as the gentle humming and whirring of the control room welcomed him inside

"Sweetie! I'm home! Sorry for the rough ride over here…"

The Professor grinned as the control console beeped; he'd only solved a small piece of the puzzle by restoring his TARDIS' local transport ability, something was still keeping him confined within the temporal lock.

Now to find out what's actually causing the temporal lock…The Professor inwardly sighed as he threw his jacket over a guardrail which surrounded the control console platform, he looked over the readings again and shook his head, Why isn't this ever straight forward?

The Timelord paused mid-thought and shrugged; Well I guess it would be boring if it wasn't a challenge…

Blackwell Academy Car Park, Arcadia Bay – Around the Same Time

Max adjusted the strap on her bag slightly as she walked down the steps, she felt pretty good after stepping in to stop David Dickhead from harassing Kate – she couldn't stand to see people getting bullied; although something about the way that Richard had taken off and seemingly vanished into thin air still didn't sit right with her.

Come to think about it, most things that Richard had done since his out-of-nowhere-arrival didn't sit right with Max.

Strange day…

"I don't get it…how could Zach and Victoria do that to me?"

Max stopped in her tracks at the sound of Juliet's voice, she'd been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she'd almost walked right past her. Turning on the spot, Max slowly walked over to Juliet; concerned about how upset she was.

"Hi Juliet, how are you doing?" Max asked softly as she stopped just beside Juliet.

"Oh…" Juliet looked up and regained her composure when she heard Max's voice, "Hey, Max." Juliet's eyes looked distant as they gradually looked away from Max and wandered back the ground; she scratched her head slowly before continuing, "Sorry, I'm still screwed up."

Max nodded in acknowledgement; rubbing her arm as she thought over what to say next, "Sorry you had to find out about Zachary that way…" She said after a few moments, somewhat uncomfortable with the topic, "Or any way."

"Better sooner than later," Juliet sighed as she rubbed her forehead again, her tone becoming noticeably bitter, "Now that skank Victoria won't be laughing behind my back anymore."

Max took a small step back and glanced in the direction of the dorms, "Have you talked to Zach yet?"

Juliet scoffed, "Mr. Badass Football Hero is such a chickenshit. He said he sexted Victoria as a joke. Ha ha." She stopped abruptly and took a deep breath after looking over Max's shoulder, "I think Warren wants your attention…"

Max looked over her shoulder in Warren's direction, "He usually does…hang in there, Juliet."

Juliet nodded in appreciation, "See you around, Max."

Max offered another sympathetic smile to Juliet before she turned around and walked towards Warren; who was standing beside what looked like an old second hand car. Max smiled at that, had Warren actually bought a used car?

Warren's shout caught Max's attention soon enough as he waved her over, "Yo Max! Check it out!"

Max crossed the distance between them relatively quickly; she looked into her bag and took out Warren's flash drive as she heard him speak again, "What up, Max? How are you?"

"Here's your flash," Max said as she offered Warren his flash drive back; the gesture making Warren take a step back as he quickly abandoned his attempt at a hug and merely scratched his head, "Thanks."

"No problem," Warren nodded as he recovered; he gestured at the car behind him as he pocketed his flash drive, "Check out my new wheels..."

"Cool," Max smiled as she crossed her arms and relaxed, "Very old school."

"1978 to be exact. Now we can go to the drive in," Warren went on as he sat on the front of the car again, "There's one in Newberg, just 60 miles away."

"You're in the wrong time, Warren," Max laughed softly as she fixed her hair, "But then, so am I…"

Warren looked at Max and frowned, "You okay?"

Max answered with a sigh, "It's been one strange fucking day…"

And the Understatement of the Year Award goes to…

"I bet," Warren chuckled, oblivious to the jarring full truth behind Max's answer, "I heard Victoria got a faceful of paint…I'd pay money to see a photo of that…"

"Really?" Max asked as she rubbed her arm, "I wish I would have known…"

Warren laughed at the thought of the picture, "You probably could have raised a Kickstarter fund just for that one image of her covered in paint."

"Had I known that…" Max added before she shrugged her shoulders, "Anyway, Victoria took down my photo. So that drama ended well."

Warren waited a moment before he changed the subject, "So did you get a chance to check out the movie booty on my flash drive?"

"Yeah, thanks," Max replied as she nodded affirmatively, "You had some cool shit on there, from 'Akira' to 'Twilight Zone'. Which seems apropos today…"

"I consider myself a pop…" Warren paused for a moment, smiling as he went on, "Cultural pirate connoisseur."

Max laughed before she went on, "That does sound better than 'thief'."

"Ha ha," Warren jokingly rolled his eyes at Max's retort, "Make sure you watch 'Cannibal Holocaust'."

"Seen it. I was more disturbed by all those emo-vampire movies in there." Max answered as she looked over her shoulder briefly; she had a sudden bad feeling about something.

Warren shrugged light heartedly as he smiled, "Can't a sensitive high school boy love sensitive vampires too?"

Max raised an eyebrow, "So you're sensitive…"

"Ouch…" Warren cringed as he laughed, "That sounds awful the way you say it."

"No I was impressed you had 'Faster pussycat. Kill! Kill!'" Max added as she fixed her hair again.

"Russ Meyer was a genius of black and white," Warren commented as he went on, he cocked his head nonchalantly, "Plus, babes with breasts."

"Who would beat your sensitive ass down," Max added with a half-smile.

"If I was lucky…" Warren chuckled before he continued, "Speaking of hip and fast, we should cruise out in my car to an actual movie this week…" He looked at Max and paused, "But you seem distracted."

Max thought for a moment, she felt like Warren could be trusted with this; opening her mouth to speak, she began, "I need to talk to somebody…just to get it out of my system…"

"Dr. Warren Graham is in da house," Warren said as he moved to one side of the car's hood to make room for Max, "I won't even prescribe you any meds…Tell me everything…"

"For reals Warren," Max went on as she joined Warren by the front of the car; her voice quiet and her tone serious, "This is between you and me, not social media."

"Don't insult me," Warren added softly, sounding concerned from the way Max was talking, "Max, go on."

Max let out a slow breath as she thought over what she was about to do, What if Warren thinks I'm crazy? Sighing, she rubbed her forehead and decided to go through with it – after all, she could always rewind if he didn't believe her, "I had this incredibly bizarro experience in Mr. Jefferson's class today…I mean, life changing." Max looked at Warren, her face serious, "Have you ever had a dream, so real it was like a movie?"

"Max Caulfield, right?" Called another voice from some way across the car park; Max froze in place – it was unmistakably Nathan's, "You're one of the Jefferson's photo groupies."

"I'm one of his students," Max replied cautiously as Nathan pushed Warren to one side.

Oh shit…This is bad.

"Whatthefuckever," Nathan continued as he stared directly at her, Max could see the same explosive fury that had killed that poor girl in the bathrooms hiding just beneath the surface of his features and so kept eye contact to a minimum; Nathan unnerved her and she didn't want to push him over the edge – for all she knew he still had that gun on him, "I know you like to take pictures, especially when you're hiding out in the bathrooms. You best tell me what you told the Principal," Nathan loomed over her and Max was now borderline pinned against Warren's car by his glare, "Now."

Max had difficulty finding words to reply with in her terrified state; it was only when it looked like Nathan was about to snap did she blurt out a hasty reply, "What are you talking about?"

"I know you're new here," Nathan hissed through an annoyed smirk, quickly growing impatient, "But don't even play stupid with me."

"I'm not new," Max said as she crossed her arms, becoming slightly more confident in her ability to speak, "I've lived here for years," Max paused as a thought crossed her mind, "And I thought that Detective Lester was looking into this?"

"Bah! That nobody? Give me a break," Nathan scoffed with a smirk, "The Prescotts own this shithole, who cares what some detective wants to do?"

"If your family is that powerful then you don't have to worry about me…" Max tried to reason as Nathan tensed, "Worry about yourself-"

"Do not analyse me!" Nathan shouted across her as he balled his fists, "I pay people for that. Worry about yourself, Max Caulfield," He took a breath before he went on, "I won't ask again. Tell me!"

Max's breathing wavered as she started to feel a sense of panic set in; she had to get out of here, "Take a step back, Nathan Prescott."

Nathan froze, letting out a low laugh before he took another step forward, "Oh man, you're telling me what to do?"

Warren tried to get in the way of Nathan to let Max get away, "Get away from her, dude!"

Nathan didn't even bat an eyelid at Warren's interruption; instead he merely turned to face Warren before flooring him with a direct and forceful head-butt. Max stepped back in shock as Warren hit the floor and quickly moved to pull Nathan away from him.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Max yelled as she tried to pull Nathan back only to gasp as he spun on the spot and grabbed her neck.

"Nobody tells me what to do," Nathan seethed as he pulled Max up the cap park by the neck like an accessory, "Not my parents, not the Principal, or that whore in the bathroom."

"Stop that!" Max cried out as she struggled to get free, "Right now!"

Max almost tripped over her own feet as Nathan continued to shout and pull her; in a last ditch attempt to get free of his grasp, Max tried to claw at Nathan's face with her nails before the man truly lost control. Nathan cried out in pain and clutched his face with one hand as he threw Max to the ground with the other.

Shaking her head as she landed with a crack, Max tried to get up again – only to freeze at the sound of screeching tires. She looked over her shoulder and almost threw herself back as the front grill of a pickup truck came to a rest mere inches from her face. Stunned and full of adrenaline from the whole situation, Max use the grill of the truck to pull herself upright; only to freeze when she saw the person in the driver seat,

"Max?" Called a voice Max knew all too well; Max took a step back, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"C-Chloe!?" Max asked in disbelief as her heart skipped a beat, she blinked once before a shout from over her shoulder pulled her back into reality.

Max turned around to see Nathan, who was clutching his bleeding cheek, advance towards the truck, "No way. You again!?"

Max took a step back as Warren got back on his feet and threw himself into Nathan, flooring him as he shouted for Max to run. She took another step back and cast a worried glance at Warren as Nathan started throwing punches at his head.

"Get in, Max!" Chloe shouted as she opened the passenger door to her truck and waved Max inside as Nathan got to his feet.

Max didn't even think twice as she threw herself inside the truck, barely getting her legs inside the door before a heavy kick from Nathan slammed it shut.

"Get your punk asses out of there now!" Nathan shouted furiously as he hit his hands against the door; in response Chloe stepped on the gas pedal, leaving Nathan shouting in the car park as the truck sped onto the main road, "Don't even try to run! Nobody messes with me! NOBODY!"

As Nathan's shouts grew quieter, Max cast a glance at the person beside her; she still couldn't believe how much Chloe had changed in the five years since they'd last seen each other. She looked almost unrecognisable with her blue hair and sleeve of colourful tattoos running up her arm; in fact she seemed like an entirely different person now.

Max looked back out the rear view window as she thought of something to say to her long lost best friend, something to make up for the five years that she hadn't been there for her. But with each passing second, her ability to speak was being taken away by both her crushing social anxiety and the sea of emotions and adrenaline swirling around her head.

Max inwardly kicked herself for her continued silence as she watched Blackwell Academy vanish into the trees behind them.

I guess today still has enough crazy up its sleeve to last me a lifetime…

Author's Sidenotes: So there's chapter 6 folks! We're almost through Act 1 already (how time flies eh?) and I hope to upload chapter 7 on Monday. As always, leave a review with feedback or just general thoughts on the story so far and favourite and/or follow if you're looking forward to seeing more.