Chloe's truck tore through the backroads, back to Blackwell. She was shaking violently. She knew she had to hold it together. She was trying desperately. She couldn't lose them. Either of them. Never again. She didn't care how this was going to work, as long as everyone made it through this alive. She pushed horrible images away, out of her mind. She made it back to Blackwell quickly, she just hoped, prayed to whoever was still listening, that it was quick enough. She barely even stopped the truck before she was out and running towards the party site. The party was still going on, she could hear music coming from inside, but it had to be ending soon. She saw bloodstains on the ground, near a bench outside...and next to them was her switchblade. She picked it up and tucked it back into her jacket.

Something happened...but what...fuck…

People were starting to filter through the doors, out of the gym pool where the party was, she saw Warren, obviously drunk, stumbling through the throng of students.

We talked to him last time...did he stop them on the way in this time...please…

"WARREN", Chloe called.

He stopped, he looked at her, he didn't recognize her right away. He didn't know her, save seeing her around town a few times. He knew she was supposedly trouble, and that she had something to do with Rachel Amber's departure from Blackwell.

He stumbled over to her.

"Uh, hello?"

"WARREN, DID YOU SEE GAIL AND RACHEL? ARE THEY HERE?"

"Whoa...calm down...Chloe...right?"

"Warren, I don't I have time, did you see them?"

"Yeah...I saw Gail earlier. Rachel Amber was with her...they kinda blew me off and went inside, I didn't see them again after that."

"FUCK."

"Whoa...what happened?"

"Is Jefferson here?"

"Uh, he was, he made the announcement of who won some stupid contest, Victoria, of course…"

"IS HE HERE NOW?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since, I thought I saw him leave through a side door after the announcement…"

Shitshitshit...

She looked at the ground behind her again.

"I'm uh...just gonna...go…"

"Then go", Chloe said with seething venom, not towards him, but towards everything.

He turned and started back to the dorms, looking back at her once, stumbling, then continuing. He was too drunk to notice the blood all over the ground. Nobody else cared, or they were too messed up.

Something...anything...the knife doesn't tell me who...so much blood...but...different spots, it dripped there...Gail's nose?...but here...someone definitely hit the ground….fuck…

She crumpled to the ground. It was starting to be too much. Everything. She couldn't hold it together anymore. She was breaking down. She felt it. Then, she saw a reflection off something in the grass, from a light behind her.

What?

It was Rachel's phone, smashed. It had been thrown, by the looks of it.

...he wouldn't have left this shit here...unless he was in a hurry...but maybe she got him and ran...I don't…

She picked it up. She realized there was a piece of paper, folded and taped to the back of Rachel's phone.

Motherfucker….he fucking did this intentionally…

All the note said was;

"Come get them"

*bzzzt* *bzzzt*

Her own phone buzzed in her pocket, she tore it out, desperately hoping it was Gail. It wasn't.

Nathan: Chloe i'm so so sorry he was going to kill me he fucking put a gun against my head i just got my phone back please please stop him he threatened victoria he knows everything i'm sorry he was going to kill me he's after gail and rachel. He knows you know. I told the police the bathroom thing was my fault. I didnt tell them about jefferson because he'll kill me chloe. i'm sorry i'm so sorry. You were right. He used me.

Chloe just looked at her phone, in shock. She wasn't even angry at Nathan. She understood, at some level. She was angry at everything. She put the phone back in her pocket with a shaking hand. She stood up, unsteadily.

...he's going back there….that picture...he's going to use them to get me….he'll be waiting when I get there...his fucking ego...fuck it…

She had to go right back to the Dark Room, it was the only lead she had. Calling the police didn't even factor into her mind. All she felt was rage. And she fully intended to unleash it on Jefferson.


Gail semi-woke up, she wasn't fully awake. She couldn't move. She couldn't open her eyes. She heard jazz music, somewhere distant. And talking, someone was talking to her...or themselves. Her head was pounding worse than it ever had in her life. She forced her eyes open further, and found herself in a white room. Bright lights blaring in her face. And...Jefferson, with a camera.

"Ah, you're awake…we're just killing time, until the punk bitch shows up, and I can take care of this little...problem. We have time for a few shots though, surely a fellow photographer understands."

Gail tried to move, to flee, but her limbs were heavy. She eventually realized her arms were strapped down, to a chair, she tried to kick weakly, but her ankles were restrained too.

"...what...where is...Rachel...you sick...fuck..."

"I'm not sick, Gail. I'm a true artist. It's just, you have to understand, the slightly unconscious model is often the most open and honest. No vanity or posing, just...pure expression."

"Fuck...you."

"Fuck me, Gail? Your friend screwed up my plans, my vision."

"Fuck you...if you touch Chloe, I will fucking kill you."

"Gail...dear, there is no need for threats, don't get angry, you'll mess up my shots, and i'll have to knock you out again, we can do this until she shows up, imagine the pictures I could get...i'm obsessed with the idea of capturing that moment, that shift, from black, to white, to grey, and beyond. Don't go beyond, just yet."

"Eat shit and die", Gail said, more surely, she forced against the restraints, but had no hope, even in an un-weakened state, of breaking them.

"Listen to me, you stupid cunt-"

"No. Where the fuck is Rachel, what the fuck did you do?"

"Oh...Rachel", he said, lowering the camera, he stroked his goatee, "...she could have been my masterpiece, almost perfect, in every way, but she left school, thanks to that blue haired bitch, I never got the chance...I suppose I still could...but, well, her face is awfully bloody, and that horrible bruise. And now I have you. You're perfect. So innocent. So delicate. No memory. No past. A perfect blank slate for me to-"

"Jefferson….you're fucking going down. It doesn't fucking matter what you do to me. Chloe-"

"Found nothing, Gail. Nothing. There is nothing here. Nathan sold you out. I had time to remove my...personal effects, and leave something of a trail, though I hoped she'd stay here longer, I had to leave something behind, where I found you, just to be sure. I was hoping the lock would keep her out, but I needed...insurance. She made this easier for me, by getting in here, actually, leaving you two alone. I'm going to kill her when she gets here, Gail. I dealt with enough punk sluts like her in my Seattle days. I'm going to kill her in front of you. Then I will take care of Madsen and Nathan and then, I will be gone. There is nothing to tie me to this beautiful room."

"The fucking Prescotts will destroy you, Jefferson, if you touch their son…"

"And risk being tied into all of this? Sean Prescott couldn't care less about him, that's why I took the boy under my wing...I pitied him. He needed a-"

"You needed money and a fucking scapegoat, you lying bastard."

"Gail, I think it's time for another dose, before you strain yourself too hard…", Jefferson said, calmly.

Gail felt overwhelming defeat. She wished Jefferson would just kill her now, she saw no way out of this, had no way to warn Chloe, had no idea where Rachel even was. She couldn't take Chloe dying. It would break her completely. Chloe was the only home she had ever known. Even if their time together had been short. She didn't want to see Chloe get hurt, even if she was next. She didn't want Chloe to see her this way. She just wanted Jefferson to die, in the slowest, most painful way possible.


Rachel woke in a daze, her cheek throbbed where she'd been hit the second time, her mouth tasted like blood. The back of her head throbbed where she'd been hit first, and she could feel her hair matted against it. It was dark. So dark. She couldn't speak, there was tape over her mouth. She tried to move, but couldn't. She realized her hands were tied, with what felt like cable ties, behind her back. He legs too. She slowly realized she was in the back seat of a car, parked somewhere dark. Her thoughts were distant. She had no idea how she wasn't dead from the blows to the head. She tried to focus.

Alright...think...I have no idea how long I was out, but i'm still alive...he really just wanted Gail...he wouldn't have hit me in the fucking face, otherwise, so Gail must be alright, for now…Chloe...please be alright. Pleasepleaseplease….

She knew she had no way of knowing if Chloe was alright, but she couldn't think about it. Not after everything. She couldn't lose her. But she knew she had to try to get out of this, somehow, just in case…no, they're both alive and they're getting the fuck out of this.

She struggled against the cable ties but they were tight. She really did not want to be left alone with her thoughts, especially if she was about to die. She focused on trying to break free, but all she was doing was causing herself immense pain.

My pockets, I can reach the back ones...I lost the knife...I don't feel my phone…I have a lighter...I can feel it's still there...plastic cable ties...lighter….can I fucking reach it?

She strained hard, it hurt her head severely. And her wrists, where the ties were. She was able to get her fingers to her pocket.

Almost, come on...you can do this…

With a final strain that hurt immensely, she got the tip of the cheap disposable lighter in between her fingers, she slowly worked it out of her pocket.

Stupid motherfucker...you're either scared and rushed, or didn't think I would do what i'm about to…

This was going to hurt, a lot, if this even worked. The position her hands were in was not at all ideal for this, she was going to burn herself, badly. And she found herself no longer caring, much.

Here goes everything…

She flicked the lighter with one hand and strained to hold it to the plastic, burning her wrist, fingers and back, in the process, she fought through it. She strained against the restraints, she could feel a slight stretch.

Ouch...fucking hell...a little more…

One wrist broke free, she dropped the lighter and slammed herself back, into the seat of the car, to extinguish the back of her shirt, which she'd burned through. She knew she'd burned herself badly, but there were bigger problems right now. She was running purely on adrenaline.

She picked the lighter up again, and held it to the tie at her ankles, this one was easier, she was free. She tore the tape off her mouth in one pull. She shoved the car door open and stepped unsteadily into…

Shit...the fucking barn...of course

She knew where the Dark Room was, she stumbled for the hatch.

Save her, save Gail. For Chloe. It's the least you can fucking do.


Chloe had been held up by campus security, apparently suddenly caring who was there and who wasn't. After what had escalated into a shouting match by the parking lot, she forced her way past two guards she recognized from her Blackwell days, and who recognized her, unfortunately. She ignored their threats of calling the police, Nathan already took the blame for what had happened, even if Blackwell's finest hadn't gotten the memo. She wasn't stronger than them, but she was faster than them.

No time for this shit

She ran back to the truck and tore out of the parking lot.

Even the shortest way back is going to take too long...fuck...fuck...fuck

Chloe realized she must have passed Jefferson, at some point, on the way back here and had simply been too scared and unfocused to notice. She cursed herself and put the pedal to the floor.


Rachel stumbled down the stairs, as quietly as possible. The door wasn't even closed all the way, she heard music, and Jefferson talking, though she couldn't make out what he was saying.

This is clearly a trap… but for who? Chloe...you must be alright...so why the fuck isn't he waiting at the door...his fucking ego...can't pass up the photo op...even if it's the worst possible time...so Gail is alive…thank fucking God…just have to buy some time...

She pulled the door open just enough to squeeze through. She made her way down the dimly lit hall and pressed herself up against the wall, at the corner into the room itself. She was right, he was preoccupied. She could use this.

"This angle highlights your purity, see?"

She shuddered.

You sick piece of shit. If he's still got that gun…shit, I can still buy Chloe some time…

She looked around for anything she could use. Shelves of emergency provisions and chemicals were no help, at all. She was going to have to do this with no help.

She started to step around the corner, a million thoughts battling each other in her head as she did.

And yea I walk through the valley of the shadow of...no...been there already. Are you ready to go back? Why did you come back here? Was it to help Chloe...or yourself? She did ask me...but I could have said no. I should have known it would cause a reaction...I spent so long warning Chloe about those...and didn't pay attention when...I just wanted some time with her...again...here….I know there's only one place in her heart, truly...and it will always be Max's….i'm the reason things are different...I couldn't be here...not at the same time as Max...that wasn't how it was written...but we changed the rules...again. I'm scared. What's going to be waiting for us on the other side now? How many times can we laugh in God's face and walk away unscathed? I hope it's nothing, absolutely nothing, for me, this time. But not for them. They deserve more. They deserve so much more. Had it, even. And Chloe…you gave it up...just to try to change it...so Max wouldn't have to go through the horrible things she did...and Gail...Gail is that. She is Max...she is...but she's also something else. Is she going to remember all the bad? Will she remember any of the good? The headaches...the nosebleeds...what she's said to me...and not even realized it...we're stuck somewhere between aren't we? There's gotta be a random variable..i'm sorry, Chloe...i'm so sorry.

Chloe didn't know the reason Rachel had wanted to talk to Frank alone was that she needed to tell him she needed...a break. To sort herself out. She realized she couldn't fight that she loved Chloe, and always had, anymore. She knew that last night had been a mistake, but she didn't regret it. Even if she regret a lot. There had never been an attraction to Jefferson, she had been young and stupid and saw a career opportunity. Frank was a result of too many drugs and too much partying, though she really did care for him. But not like Chloe.

Rachel thought it was truly amazing, how the girl who thought she had nothing, that nobody even cared about her, had so many people fighting for her, and never even knew. Or maybe she did at some level, and that's why she always had to step up and be the hero, since that day on the cliff, during the storm. Rachel realized that if this time was rectified, the storm would never have happened. This time could still shift. That's what Gail's nightmares, headaches, flashbacks she couldn't remember, nosebleeds...that's what it was. Gail was something half new and half familiar, and the universe didn't know what to make of her. Rachel wondered, briefly, if Gail died, if time would collapse on itself, if they'd finally pushed too far.

You can't retroactively rectify time...Max learned that the hard way...but you can change the present to change the future...and sometimes...it works backwards...things get by...the future can change the past. Is this fair to Max? Is it? ...yes. It is. It's what Chloe wanted. Max to have never gone through the terrible things she did. Jefferson was something she hadn't counted on. But if that's it...it can be it. I know how to close this timeline...seal it in place. I can't go back and change what should have happened now...but...the future can change the past. Chloe will remember...she'll always be the wildcard, ...but Gail will be free...

I can fix this, as much as it can be fixed.

With this thought, Rachel stepped around the corner.