Uuuuggghh! Ch-chloe! Chloooeee! No!
My vision was blurry, my head hurt like hell and my stomach felt weak. Oh, I feel like I've just been to a party and gotten so smashed on alcohol. I tried to push myself up from the floor, one that feels like leather, but my arms felt like they were going to give out at any moment, like my heart was going to suddenly stop beating and I would be left a numb, still wreck! Oh God! What was happening to me?! What was happening?!
It gradually came back to me. Me and Chloe … we left the party … The junkyard! We found something there earlier that day and … Nathan! Victoria! No, no we stopped them! We dug up Rachael's grave and … and … someone was coming. Chloe got out her gun and … that pop. No! No! Chloe hit the ground! She was dead! No! No! NO! CHLOE!
It's then I feel a surge of cold shoot up my arm from whatever kind of floor I'm lying on. I look down and, in my blurry and out of focus vision, I see I'm on some kind of mat. It's then I notice a blinding light shining down on me from a light placed in front of me. Behind me was a white screen and next to that another light that shone on me from behind. I looked around and saw I was I some huge room, like a really big room. Bigger than my room or Chloe's front room put together. It was … wait!
Somebody was talking. Yeah … I could … I could hear him, it was man. Someone else replied to them! Now I knew it was two people. What were they saying? I looked in the direction their voices were coming from and I could make out two figures, one sitting on the edge of the sofa, the other standing in front of the first. From what I could deduce in my drugged state, the one sitting was a male and the other was a female. Were they here to rescue me? Oh God, I hope so. Please!
"I think you'd be perfect for my new photo series on retro-grunge."
Jefferson! Him! He was the one who attacked me and killed Chloe! Now it was all coming back to me, he was the one who was behind all this. Rachael's disappearance, the behaviour of Nathan, Kate Marsh nearly killing herself, Frank and Rachael being close and Chloe dyi-
I pause and run that through my head a second time, though it felt as if I had just remembered it. Chloe.
"Max is a fucking child, Mr Jefferson. Don't worry about her."
All of a sudden, my peripheral vision becomes clear and before me, one sitting on the sofa and the other standing in front of him, is something I literally cannot believe.
Mr Jefferson was sitting on the side of a white sofa about ten feet in front of me and in front of him doing all sorts of poses as if she were some pole dancer was … was … C-Chloe! For a moment, my heart leapt with joy. She was alive! Oh thank God, she's alive. Now I can get outta he- I froze.
Why is she doing that in front of him? I ask myself mentally as I watch her shift her hips from side to side, each time turning her head as if she were trying to focus on a different part of the room each time. When she looked in my direction, I caught sight of a smug look on her face as if she was saying Betcha didn't know I was so good too! And not in a playful teasing way but in a way that looked as if she was trying to act like Victoria. As if she was trying to act like she was better than me. I was so puzzled at her body language and facial expressions. Why was she doing this?
A loud click filled the air in the room, followed by Mr Jefferson's voice again. "Oh Christ, I know she is. And she ever shuts up does she?"
I shook my head at the scene, trying to deny that this was actually happening! No, it couldn't be! It can't! Not ever! Chloe wouldn't say those things about me, even after all we'd been through! No! She can't be working for that monster! She can't be swaying her hips and holding poses like a stripper for Mr Jefferson to take photos of her like she was some kind of expendable item, like a slab of meat on display.
I look back at her and she turns her head in my direction and gives a 'humph' as if to say: See, even your teacher crush thinks I'm better than you!
"I'm so over her hipster bullshit! Aren't you?" Chloe said to Mr Jefferson in a tone that sounded as if she knew I was in the room and she wanted to insult me as best she could.
Another click. "Oh I think everyone at Blackwell is, Chloe," he replied. "Let's prove it, shall we?"
Chloe glanced back at me one more time and gave a smirk of superiority. "Yeah, let's."
No! No! Chloe!
A blinding white flash filled the room and I instinctively shut my eyes to block it out. It worked. I opened them again about a second later … they were gone! Chloe and Mr Jefferson were gone. I felt a little relieved as I tried to begin to process what was going on. What was happening? Why was Chloe saying those things about me? I thought I was her best friend. How could she?
"Damn, Warren. Max is trying to play us both!"
Chloe. I look to my right and there she is, only this time she was in her black PJ shirt with … no trousers or shorts on! It looked like she had just gotten up from bed! Why was she wearing that all of a sudden instead of her normal attire? How did she get changed so quickly?
"I guess she's not as innocent as she acts." A familiar male voice replied, only I knew it was not Mr Jefferson's.
In front of her was … Warren! My sci-fi obsessed friend, still in his normal shirt and jeans and trainers. His black eye was still visible. Damn, that looked like it hurt even after a few days! He was standing in front of Chloe, staring at her with a look of amazement in his eyes and his body swaying a little on his feet. Was he drunk? He didn't sound it when he spoke just now.
Wait … Oh no!
"Yeah, Max is nothing more than a sneaky little snake," Chloe said, making Warren chuckle. "Especially when she's trying to hook up with both of us. What a bitch!"
Warren gave a laugh, one of his laughs that I knew instantly because he would always give it when he found something to be funny. And he found … this?! He found this funny?!
How could you, Warren? I mentally cried at him. I would have done had I not been so drugged out of my head. How could you!
"You got that right. Look at what I took for her!" He pointed to his black eye. "And I got nothing, not even a hug from her! So unappreciative!" he paused for a moment and ran his eyes over Chloe's body, taking in her curves and face. She seemed to notice this because she raised her hip a little and put her hand on it as if to say to him: Like what you see?
"Now you on the other hand," he said to Chloe, taking a step closer to her and wrapping an arm around her. "You are so much better. I only wanna go ape with you, Chloe." He told her in a voice that was just above a whisper and able for me to hear it. He's probably doing it intentionally!
Chloe responded by leaning her head towards him and locking their lips together, putting a hand behind his head and pushing it towards her to deepen the kiss. Their tongues began to wrestle. Warren put his hand lower, lower to her ass and…
Ugh! I looked away, trying to block it all out of my mind. It's not real! I tell myself. Get a fucking grip, Max! It's not real!
Or was it?
"Goddamn, you are one sexy girl, Chloe. Why would you hang around with Max?"
"Boredom."
No! I don't want to. I really don't want to look! It can't be. Please.
I force myself to and I was so flabbergasted to see … Nathan sitting on the sofa in front of me! Chloe was next to him, back in her everyday attire. Both of them were looking in my direction, their faces fixed on me in mocking expressions. Chloe especially looked like she was enjoying this. When I looked up at them, she gave me a nasty smirk and spoke up again.
"Plus, Max is my personal puppet. She'll always feel sorry for when I snap at her, even when it's my fault. Little baby."
Nathan chuckled. "Nice. Hey, do you wanna party?" he suggested. "I got some more stuff in my room, if you know what I mean?" he added emphasis on the last part and Chloe smiled, giving him a look of interest.
"I certainly do, Prescott." She replied, then suddenly snapped her head back in my direction, the nasty smile once again evident on her face. "Oh look, Max is spying on us! We're busted," she said in a sarcastic tone.
Nathan turned to look at me and chuckled nastily. "What a girl, huh! Always snooping around, sticking her nose where it's not wanted."
"Damn right!" Chloe replied. "Hey Max, remember this?!" She stuck her middle finger up at me in an offensive way. "Take one of your little selfies! Low-life!"
Another flash of light suddenly blinded me, forcing me to look away. As I did though, my mind processing all of what had been said and what I had seen, I began to feel something rising within me. Something I couldn't control, but … I didn't want to.
"Hey Max!" came Chloe's voice again and I looked back to see her standing on the sofa now with nothing but her … underwear! Oh God, she really was turning out to be a stripper!
Somebody chuckling next to her made me turn my head to see-no! Victoria?! How … b-but … How! How was it possible?! She couldn't be! No! She was supposed to be lying on the floor next to me, or … dead. How could she be sitting there acting as if nothing was wrong?
"See this, Max?" Chloe's voice drew me back to her again, her hips swaying and her arms waving around her. "This is how you bust a move, Max. No mosh pit for you, shaka brah!"
Victoria giggled. "Oh, Chloe, you're so funny and I love your moves!" she awed.
Chloe smiled down at her and jumped back into the seat next to Victoria, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her close to her body in a seductive way. Victoria responded likewise, putting a leg over Chloe's and placing an arm around her on her back. She seemed impressed, even taken completely by surprise by this move.
"Damn, Victoria!" my blue haired friend said. "You're one woman, and I mean a real woman!"
Victoria smiled. "Thanks, Chloe. You're good looking too. I'm surprised no one took you already. Well, their loss. Now I have you all to myself!"
Chloe shrugged, shooting me another smug look. Even your enemy thinks I'm better than you!
"I do try. And you're not a little girl, like Max!" she said to the blonde haired girl in front of her.
Victoria chortled. "Damn right! Wow, I fucking love your tats, Chloe. You're so hot."
"Thanks. Y'know," Chloe nodded her head in my direction; Victoria looking over and smiling at me evilly. How typical! "We have an audience. Why not show her how close we really are."
Victoria seemed to like this because she leaned in closer to her. "I think I'd like that very much Chloe."
The two leaned in close and kissed, their tongues battling for dominance and legs intertwining, as were their fingers. Chloe pushed Victoria onto the sofa and sat on top of her, holding her close whilst never breaking free of the kiss.
This time, I just stared. Not because I was turned on, fuck no! It was … I just couldn't believe it! I tried not too! No … Chloe was … She couldn't be doing this to me!
I felt it once again, only this time it was much stronger. My hands began to clench and my heart began to rapidly beat. Not out of exhaustion but … it was …
Somebody else appeared in front of me. I looked up and literally gasped as I saw Chloe standing, no … sitting in front of me. This was alternate Chloe, where she had had her neck broken in a car accident and her dad had survived. Her long natural blonde hair hung down cascaded down her back and her eyes glared down at me with a look of absolute distaste. However, because she was stuck in her chair and paralysed from the waist down, that was all she could do.
"I can't believe you Max," she said to me irritably, looking away as if she could not even bring herself to look me in the face. "Why did you get rewind powers, you don't even know how to use them!"
A pause as I looked up at her pleadingly, as if I were a soul begging God for forgiveness. I tried to speak but she stopped me by looking at me and uttering in a disgusted tone.
"Some friend you are, Max. Rachel is dead and you're still alive." A sigh and a light shake of her head. "Life is strange, Max. Strange because it's so not fair."
Another flash and this time the real Chloe was back and standing over me, though this time she was holding a camera and taking pictures of me. Click! Click! Click!
"Feel familiar, Max?" She asked me rhetorically. "Oh yeah, Go fuck your selfie!" she mimicked me mockingly and took another picture and then looked at me with a big glare on her face. "Y'know, I wish you had never come back to Arcadia Bay. You, Max Caulfield, are the real storm!"
That did it for me. I tried to resist the words of Chloe and everyone else who had come before but each time they hammered away at an already weakening wall of resistance. Now … now it was broken. I looked down at the floor, tears stinging my eyes. Why, Chloe, why? Why are you doing this to me?! I thought we were best friends, it's not my fault I left Arcadia Bay! It's not my fault I let William die! It's not! IT'S NOT!
It was then I realised that the feeling inside of me had not gone away. I felt it coarse through my veins, touching every fibre of my body, releasing its power into my blood, my heart, my brain, my very feelings and emotions. It was … hatred. And I liked it.
"You hear me, Max?" Chloe snapped at me. "You are the storm!" she snarled at me.
I looked up at her, my hatred finally giving me my voice back as if it were some kind of liberating touch.
"The storm, Chloe?" I repeated, my tone dark sounding and full of rage. It must have had an effect because a look of pure fear suddenly stretched across her face and she took a step back. "I'm the storm, you say? Well then, let me tell you this: I'll let you be blown away and torn to smithereens by the tornado out there."
Chloe's face became more agitated, even panic-stricken as I spoke, as if I were the devil himself speaking. To be honest, I kinda expected my voice to be real deep and demonic-like.
"I wanna see Arcadia Bay turned to glass, you say!" This time I mimicked her voice in a mocking tone. "Well, you got your wish!"
Chloe shook her head at me in disbelief. I actually found myself smiling a little. Now she knew how I felt by her words.
By now I could feel the hatred and rage flowing through me freely, under no will but its own, and I was under no will but its own too. And, as horrible as it sounded, right now I wanted to feel this way. After everything I've done and the cold shoulder I got from Chloe from the moment I got here; the abuse from David; Victoria and her friends being such bastards; Warren being a pain in the ass; Nathan being a prick and nobody at the school believing me when I tried to stop a murder … who wouldn't feel this way?
I guess that old Chinese proverb I remember hearing once at a restaurant in Seattle years ago: "A spark can start a fire that burns the entire prairie," was coming true with me now.
Another white flash surrounded me, and I could only wonder who it would face me with next.