The scene rewound. The back of Warren's head reformed itself and the small hole in his forehead disappeared. The bullet slid back into the barrel of the pistol. Jefferson walked in reverse and set the gun back on the table and picked up the camera. Then he walked in reverse back to Max and unsnapped one picture before the pain in Max's head became overwhelming and she couldn't rewind the moment any further. Time began moving forward again.
The camera clicked and Jefferson paused, just as before, "No, no, these aren't coming out, Max. We need something more."
"Listen to me, Jefferson! I am hopeless here! Just snap the pictures now!"
But he was single minded at that point, and the scene played out just as it had. "You can rest easy knowing Ms. Caulfield did everything she could for you." BANG!
The scene reversed again, and then the camera clicked, "No, no, these aren't coming out, Max. We need something more."
"Damn it Jefferson, talk to me!"
BANG! The scene reversed again.
"Please, Jefferson! You son of a bitch!" BANG!
It kept happening. Over and over Max witnessed Jefferson murder Warren, and over and over she kept undoing it. Blood began to stream from her nose and down her chin, mixing with the tears that she couldn't stop shedding. Seven times, eight times. She kept rewinding. She was not going to accept this.
Click. "No, no, these aren't coming out, Max. We need something more."
"Jefferson stop this! I'm not going to let it progress!"
This time he stopped and looked at her. Her face was beet red and blood was dripping from her chin. She looked dazed and dizzy.
"So you know what's coming then? And you still can't stop it, can you?" he asked as he walked to the table again and grabbed the pistol. "This is going to be a great session, then!"
"We're never going to leave this moment, Jefferson!" she screamed at him. "Do you want to do this forever!?"
"Only you're going to know, Max," he said.
BANG! She reversed again, but felt sharp stabbing pains in her head this time. She wasn't going to be able to keep this up. BANG! She reversed again. The blood coming from her nose intensified, as did the pain in her head. BANG! She reversed time again, but then felt herself beginning to lose consciousness. Her vision tunneled as the scene played out again and she reversed once more and then passed out.
Max sensed the sunlight on her face as the change in brightness woke her up. Her eyes fluttered open. Two names scribbled among measurements lined the wall vertically in front of her: Chloe, Max. She sat up. The sunlight peeked through the window on the other side of the room. The dust in the air mad it seem like she could reach out and grab the sunlight.
Max shook her head to try to clear the sleep from her mind. Her attention was drawn to the window the sunlight was pouring in through. Chloe sat at her desk tapping away at her keyboard. Her blue hair glistened in the sunlight.
"C-Chloe?"
The blue haired girl turned around and smiled. "Hey dude, looks like you're finally up! Now we can work on this problem!"
Max wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. Had she traveled through time after changing the past again?
"Chloe I'm not exactly sure what we're doing."
Chloe looked at her with a grin. "Have you been careening through time again, Time Warrior?"
"I don't know," Max shook her head again. Trying to free memories that seemed inaccessible.
Chloe stood up and walked over to where Max sat on the edge of her bed. Max saw a look of pity and sadness on her friend's face. Chloe sighed and sat down next to her. "Max, when we were younger you told me to be strong. You told me you'd always be there for me. I know we didn't see much of each other for a while there, but when we were reunited you made good on those promises."
Max looked at her and nodded slightly, still somewhat confused. Chloe wrapped her arms around Max's neck. "Just know that I'm going to repay the favor. I'm going to help you with our problem." She pushed her back and looked at her. "You have to wake up again, Max."
Max didn't understand. "What do you mean, Chloe? I am awake."
Chloe shook her head, her blue hair slightly bobbing back and forth. "Not yet you aren't Max, but I'll be there when you are."
She put her hands on Max's shoulders and suddenly shoved her off the edge of the bed. Max began to fall, and she kept falling even after she should have hit the floor. She pivoted in midair as she fell and could make out several figures on the quickly approaching ground. She could make out her own figure, strapped to a chair. She saw Warren near her in the same predicament. And she saw the other figure in mid stride with a pistol. Everything suddenly rushed back to her as she was engulfed into her figure on the ground.
Gasping, Max's head shot upright. The headache returned immediately, followed by the aches that shot through her whole body. The warehouse was eerily quiet as she tried to re-acclimate herself to her surroundings. Everything was still. Frozen at a moment in time. Jefferson was in mid stride immediately in front of her, a sick determined grin on his face and a pistol in his hand. She saw Warren, bound by a ton of duct tape, frozen as he was attempting to wriggle free.
I must have frozen time and passed out, she thought. At least she had some time to try to think through the predicament. But what was that dream about: with Chloe? Was it even real?
Some movement among the otherwise frozen scene suddenly drew her attention to her right. A single blue butterfly began to flutter down from the rafters. The light from the photography lamps reflected off its bright silky wings as it fluttered toward her. Then she noticed another, and another. Suddenly there were hundred and thousands of blue butterflies swooping in from the rafters. Wind began to swirl up around Max as the many butterflies circled her. Through the veil of butterflies, Max could make out a single deer approaching from the far end of the warehouse.
The butterflies began to coalesce in front of her. Little by little they seemed to be congregating into a discernable figure. A human figure! The head formed, followed by the torso, the arms, and the legs. Max blinked and there stood her familiar blue-haired friend, smiling at her. Behind Chloe Max looked for the deer, but only saw a blonde-haired girl approaching. One whose face she'd seen on so many posters.
"Damn Max, you look hella terrible," Chloe said.
Max was too surprised to speak. She gawked at her friend. "Chloe. How?"
"I told you I'd be here for you, Max," Chloe responded.
"But, I saw them bury you," Max said, still not believing what she was seeing was real.
"Yeah, and we still are buried," Chloe said motioning to Rachel, who was now standing next to her, "at least our bodies are."
"So you're…ghosts?" Max asked, still skeptical. She noticed that both girls were somewhat translucent, as faint light from the lamps was still visible passing through their forms.
"Dude, you're sitting in the middle of a moment frozen in time. Is it so hard to believe that a couple of ghosts would visit you? Or maybe we're just a vision. A couple of hella awesome echoes held here by a thirst for revenge or some shit." Chloe laughed, "Does it really need an explanation? Have you ever gotten an explanation for any of the weird shit that's happened to us?"
That was one of the more reasonable things Max had heard in a while.
"Max, this jackass is right about one thing," Chloe said motioning to Jefferson, "you're hella powerful. You don't even know how powerful you are or what you can accomplish."
"Chloe, I can't even get out of this chair. My arm is shattered, and even if I did get free I'm not sure I can even walk at this point."
"That's part of the problem, dude. You're holding yourself back!"
"It feels like my awful headache is holding me back more than anything," Max responded, shaking her head.
Chloe knelt down next to her friend. "Look, Max, I know this sucks. And I think it's going to probably suck some more. But you CAN save yourself and Mr. White-Knight over there. Jefferson is nothing. He's only a blip on the radar in this thing. You can vaporize that SOB without a second thought. I'm not sure about that hurricane, though."
Max shook her head vigorously, "I don't have a photo to go back and change anything, Chloe. And even if I did I don't think I could. I can't keep losing people I love!"
Chloe looked at Max sadly, "You may not have to, Max. But they may have to lose you. All you have to do here is let yourself go. Release the rage and anger here and you can stop Jefferson easily. But to stop the hurricane you made, you may have to pour absolutely everything into it."
Max looked at her friend and nodded slowly as understanding sunk in. She then looked to Warren and a well of emotion rose in her chest, "But…Warren."
Chloe tried to put her hand on her friend's shoulder, but it passed through like it didn't exist. She just looked at her solemnly and said, "I know dude."
Chloe's form began to waver. Max noticed several butterflies began to shed from her blue hair. Rachel walked over and placed her hand on Chloe's shoulder and whispered in her ear. Chloe nodded and turned to Max once more.
"We have to go Max. We're all out of…well we're out of time," she said winking and smiling.
"I miss you Chloe. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you," she said, her eyes beginning to well up with tears again.
"You had to save everyone else, Max, just like I know you will again. Don't worry; we'll be with you, till the end." She then pointed to Jefferson, "Kill that son of a bitch for us, would you?"
Chloe and Rachel turned and walked toward the exit at the far end of the empty warehouse. Their forms began to flicker until all Max could make out were a few blue butterflies and a single deer. Then they disappeared. The room was quiet and still once more.
Max had a moment to compose herself and prepare for what she soon had to do. She wasn't completely sure what she was doing, but the multiple times she had seen Jefferson shoot her boyfriend had seriously pissed her off, and the conversation with Chloe had emboldened her. She felt something welling up inside of her. Something she didn't know if she could control.
