Chloe grabbed the crowbar from behind the seat and the pair made their way through the woods to the gravel driveway. They moved up the adjoining path until they reached the fence: a dense line of tall black bars, all pointed at the top. The expected gate, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding fence, blocked the path.
Max and Chloe stepped cautiously up to the gate and peered through the bars at the Prescotts' house, a sprawling two-level home in the center of the grounds.
Chloe said, "I don't see any guards walking around. No flashlights or anything."
"Yeah, me neither," Max said.
She reached into her bag and pulled out the note sheet.
Alright, Max thought, eyeing the list of codes, let's try lazy Nathan first.
She typed 542 into the keypad; nothing happened.
"That's not a good sign," Chloe said.
After a few moments, flashlights snapped to life near the front of the property.
"Huh," Chloe said, "now we know where the guards hang out. Time to rewind?"
"Yep," Max said, reaching her hand out.
She stopped the rewind just before her past self had typed in the code.
"Tried one code...didn't work," she told Chloe, "The gate alarm is silent and guards started coming towards us from over there." She pointed to where they'd seen the flashlights.
"Ah, good to know," Chloe said.
Max next tried the code that Nathan had circled on his sheet: 9535. The gate clicked.
"Sweet! No gate's gonna stop these pirates!" Chloe said. She pulled the gate open and the pair stepped through.
They closed the gate carefully behind them and began crossing the grounds towards the house, hunched over slightly and sticking to the path, gravel crunching beneath their feet. Max eyed the few trees and bushes near the path: good cover if they needed to hide quick. The house loomed in front of them and the door they were aiming for was clearly visible in the moonlight.
When they reached the house, Chloe crouched beside the door, crowbar in hand, while Max approached the keypad. There were a total of six codes to try, including the two she'd just tried at the gate. Seven, actually, if you counted the possibility that Nathan had been trying to write a nine instead of a three in one of them.
Max figured it was unlikely that the door code would be the same as that of the gate or the Dark Room so she started with 0058.
Max jumped as deafening alarms blared around them.
"Fuck!" said Chloe, covering her ears, "that's really fucking loud!"
Max immediately rewound.
"One down, six to go," she said to Chloe.
"Great," Chloe said, "now watch, it'll be the last one you try," Chloe said.
"Well yeah, I'm not going to try any more after I get it," Max said.
"Oh...right," Chloe said, "...you know what I meant."
Max tried 4436 next. The alarm sounded again.
Max rewound and tried the last two new ones: 5431 and 3988. Then she tried 9988...then 9535 and 542. Alarms each time.
She rewound after the last code and turned to Chloe, saying, "I'm out, none of the codes on this sheet work."
"Plan B?" Chloe asked, a devious smile on her face.
"Plan B," Max said, moving out of the way.
Chloe stepped forward, rammed the end of the crowbar into the gap in the door, and pushed hard. A loud crack echoed over the quiet grounds and the screech of the alarms followed.
"Fuck!" Chloe shouted, covering her ears, "that's really fucking loud! Hurry up and get in there!"
Max leapt through the open door and rewound.
When she stopped, she could hear only the clicking sounds of distant clocks. A dark hallway stretched in front of her and Max shivered.
This is spooky, Max thought. She stepped back towards the door and heard Chloe's voice.
"Max? Hey Max?" Chloe said, her voice muffled behind the door, "you in there?"
"Yeah," Max said quietly at the door, "give me a second."
She examined the door and found a simple latch. She was about to turn it when she noticed a small box next to the door with a screen. There were buttons labelled "ARM", "DISARM", and "OPEN". A small display showed three lines of text: "ARMED", "LOCKED", and "NO ENTRY". She pressed the "OPEN" button and "NO ENTRY" changed to "ACCESS" and she heard a small click. She then turned the latch ("LOCKED" switched to "UNLOCKED") and opened the door. Chloe rushed inside and Max closed the door and locked it again. The display returned to its original state.
"I'm guessing the codes didn't work?" Chloe whispered.
"Nope," Max said, "and you're pretty handy with a crowbar."
"Damn right," Chloe said with a grin, "so now where? I only glanced at the floorplan briefly."
"I think we need to go down this hallway, take a right at the end, and go to a big hall in the center. The kitchen should be past that and the entrance to Nathan's place should be somewhere around there," Max said.
"Awesome," Chloe whispered, "you have a hella good memory."
"Nah, I just had plenty of time to study it," Max whispered, "you took a really long shower."
"Dude," Chloe said quietly, "you always used to take long showers too!"
"Not judging," Max said, "I still take long showers...it's so relaxing to just forget about everything while you stand under the water. All of your concerns just melt away for a while."
"Ha, now I'm totally going to have to sneak up and scare you while you're in the shower," Chloe said.
Max shook her head with a quiet chuckle and pointed down the hall.
They started walking, passing doors, paintings, and numerous small nooks built into the walls. Everything seemed to be made from wood or stone...it was a Pacific Northwest-styled home that also seemed to be trying very hard to be a European manor.
The floor squeaked as they walked. Max glanced over and saw Chloe wincing with each step; Max also felt her heart rate spike with each small noise. It didn't help that the ticking of various clocks had grown louder around them...and that the house itself produced creaking noises from random directions.
"Dude," Chloe whispered, "this place is fucking creepy. I'm seriously freaked out right now."
They turned a corner and as they passed by a large grandfather clock, its chimes suddenly boomed. Max's heart seemed to leap into her throat and Chloe jumped beside her.
"What the serious fuck?" Chloe said over the chimes, "Max, I swear, this place is going to murder me...hey, you okay?"
"I'll let you know as soon as I get my wits back," Max said. She looked at the clock: it had struck 10pm and the chimes were still sounding.
"Gah," Chloe said, "fuck this. I'm going to walk around like a normal person. There's no one here."
"Maybe you have a point," Max said.
The chimes stopped.
"Let's keep going," Max said.
They soon reached the large hall in the center of the house and peered out into the wide open space. To the left, ornate doors led to the front of the house. Directly above and on the far side of the hall, staircases climbed to the second level. And through a door on the far side, Max could see cookware and kitchen cabinets.
Alright, Max thought, Nathan's apartment is over there somewhere.
She stepped out into the hall and froze; a door had just opened nearby. Chloe leaned out and they looked to their left: lights were shining behind the doors to the front.
"Fuck," Chloe said.
"Shit," Max said, "quick, go back."
They ducked backwards and waited. They heard the doors into the hall open and saw flashlight beams slowly pan across the walls and stairs.
"Okay, Rob," a bored-sounding voice said, "same as last time, I'll take the left, you take the right. And remember, don't open any exterior doors without pressing the button or we'll have ringing in our ears for days...again."
"Yeah yeah, I get it, Jim," Rob said, "do something wrong once and no one ever forgets it...say, why don't they just let us turn on the fucking lights in here?"
"I don't know," Jim said, his voice annoyed, "I just do what the boss says. Which reminds me, don't try going into any rooms with keypads again either."
Rob grumbled something that Max couldn't hear and started moving towards them.
Max and Chloe scrambled back into the hallway they entered from.
"Now what?" Chloe whispered.
"We need to find somewhere to hide," Max said, "maybe a closet or a bathroom or something."
"So start trying doors?" Chloe said.
Max nodded.
They walked down the hall quickly, opening doors as quietly as they could. Rob, around the corner, was also opening doors, taking several moments at each to check the rooms. His loud steps and quiet grumblings were getting closer. Max found a closet that was too small to hide in. She then found what looked like an office...but with nothing large enough to hide behind. On her third door, Max found stairs leading up.
Yes, Max thought.
"Hey, a bathroom," Chloe whispered behind her. Max turned but Chloe said, "shit, nothing to hide behind."
Suddenly, a blinding flashlight beam fell on them.
"Hey!" Rob said, "who the f…"
Max was already rewinding.
She stopped and Chloe, several paces away, jumped at Max's sudden appearance further down the hall. Max motioned for Chloe to come over.
"Damn, Max," Chloe whispered as she got close enough, "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. Did we get caught?"
"Yeah," Max whispered, "but I did find this." She opened the door to the stairs.
"Awesomesauce," Chloe said and they started up the stairs, closing the door quietly behind them.
At the top, they found themselves in a richly carpeted hallway.
"This place is a fucking maze," Chloe said.
They heard a door close loudly in the hall below and, after sharing a glance, they hurried to the nearest doors, resuming their search for a hiding place. The first room Max checked was another tiny closet. But the second one…
"Chloe," Max said, "over here."
It was a palatial bathroom with a large, high-walled tub in the corner. The pair rushed into the bathroom quietly as loud footsteps echoed from the stairs. They closed the door and felt their way in the dark, hand in hand, over to the tub, climbing in and flattening themselves against the bottom side-by-side, with Chloe's crowbar resting on top of them.
Max held her breath and grabbed Chloe's hand as the door to the bathroom opened. A flashlight illuminated the walls around them. Max prepared herself to rewind.
"Ugh," came Rob's voice, "wish I had a bathroom this nice. Just a guest bathroom and it's five times the size of mine..."
The flashlight beam disappeared and the door closed.
Max let out the breath she'd been holding and she felt Chloe relax beside her.
"That was fucking close," Chloe whispered.
"For reals," Max whispered back.
"Have to agree with Grumpy Rob," Chloe said, "I would love to have a bathroom like this. This tub is fuckin' huge."
"Next time we'll bring bubble bath," Max said.
Chloe snorted. The sound of Grumpy Rob's searching grew fainter.
"How long do you think we should stay here?" Max said.
"Well, as much as I'm enjoying dry bath time with Max Caulfield, we can't stick around too long," Chloe said. "these guys come through here every hour, right? And who knows how long it takes them to cover this place. We may need to sneak around them to get to Nathan's pad."
"Okay," Max said, "I don't hear Grumpy Rob anymore..."
"Let's go!" Chloe said, rising from the tub and pulling Max up, "back the way we came?"
"Yep," Max said, leading them back out of the bathroom and down the stairs. They couldn't see or hear the guards but proceeded back towards the main hall carefully, their pace painfully slow. They reached the main hall and started into it when they heard footsteps and saw flashlights approaching at the tops of both staircases above.
"Shit, not again," Chloe said.
"Over there," Max said, pointing to an open door at the back of the hall to their right.
They ducked in and scrambled behind a massive desk just as the flashlights began sweeping the hall outside. The guards descended and left the house; only the sound of the ticking clocks remained.
Max let out another breath and stood up, looking around. They were in some kind of study or office, a room ringed with bookshelves and cabinets with a massive painting of a buck on one wall. The desk they'd hid behind was solidly built and a pair of chairs sat against one wall. It also looked like there was another small room to the side with a window between them. It was the room's only window.
I bet this is Sean Prescott's study, Max thought.
"Alright, coast is clear," Chloe said, "let's go."
Max moved to follow but her glance fell to a paper on the desk and she stopped.
Chloe was all the way out in the main hall before she turned around and came back.
"Yo Max," she said, "what's up?"
Max was staring at a paper with a triangular pattern of symbols. She'd seen it before...on the shack beside the lighthouse. Like then, it somehow made her think of the wind.
What the hell? Why is there a copy of that here? There is so much mystery around Sean Prescott, Max thought, and I can't help but think he's somehow connected to all of this. The Prescotts know something...and now I'm in Sean Prescott's study. I have to take this opportunity to snoop.
"Chloe," Max said, "I think I need to look around a bit in here. I think this is Sean Prescott's study and I can't help but think that he's somehow involved in all of this."
Chloe stepped over and looked down at the paper, barely visible in the diffused moonlight from the main hall.
"This have something to do with it?" Chloe asked, gesturing to the paper.
"Yeah, I saw this same pattern on that shack by the lighthouse," Max said, "I don't know how to explain it but it feels like it means something...and if it's here, there might be other things here too."
"Do you need some help?" Chloe asked.
"No, you're right about needing to find Nathan's place before our new friends come back," Max said, "you should go look for the entrance and I'll stay here and look around."
"Okay," Chloe said, "I'll shout out if something goes wrong and we need a rewind. And here," Chloe handed over the crowbar, "in case you need it."
"Thanks," Max said, "I'll also take photos of anything that looks important. So if you come back and the door is closed, it's just to keep the guards from seeing the flash."
"No problem, Bat Max. See you soon," Chloe said.
Chloe left and Max began searching the room...unfortunately it didn't take long. All of the drawers and cabinets were locked and there was no sign of a key. Max, thinking about stereotypical mansions in stories, wondered briefly if the key might be hidden in a fake book somewhere in the room's densely packed bookshelves.
Maybe...but there's no fucking way that I'm going to spend hours of rewind time looking through books, Max thought, I'll be nosebleeding all over the place. And besides, Mr. Prescott probably has the key.
Max tried the door into the side room but it too was locked. She peered through the window but could only see an oddly-shaped table on one side and what looked like an overly complicated coat hanger on the wall nearest the door. Definitely nowhere to hide a key.
Max grabbed the crowbar and tried to pry open the drawers and cabinets...but the gaps on all of them were too small for the crowbar to fit. So instead, Max started bashing them with the crowbar. After making a tremendous amount of noise, Max found that she hadn't even made a dent...just a ton of scratches. She sighed and rewound, stopping just before she had started her crowbar assault on the room.
Fuck it, Max said, I guess this room is keeping its secrets tonight.
She walked over to the study's door and reached to close it, noticing a gap between the door and the inner wall. She examined it closer and found what appeared to be a metal sliding door partially hidden in the wall.
A double door?, she thought, that's so weird...ugh, I wish I could find out more...but I'd need a plasma torch or something to get into anything here.
She closed the study door...the normal one...and pulled out her camera and her phone. She went to turn on her phone's flashlight while holding the camera but her gloved hand slipped and she accidentally took a photo. The flash filled the room and a picture spilled out.
Shit, Max thought, I am such a klutz!
She grabbed the picture, shook it, rolled her eyes, and jammed it into her bag.
She put the camera down, propped her phone on the desk to illuminate the paper, and then took the shot. She shook that photo, placed it with her non-emergency photos, and put her camera back in the bag.
Well, Max thought, this was a bit of a bust. I wonder if Chloe's found Nathan's apartment yet.
She opened the study's door and saw no sign of Chloe. Max sighed; Chloe probably thought it would take Max a while to search the room.
Max walked back in, sank into the chair behind the desk, and stared at the buck painting on the wall. Her mind wandered and she began to zone out; the chair was insanely comfortable.
Exactly the kind Chloe would want to steal, Max thought.
Time passed and Max found herself mesmerized by the sound of ticking clocks. When she finally broke out of her reverie and glanced over at a clock, she realized that Chloe had been gone for more than 20 minutes. Max stood up, alarmed, but just as she rushed to the door to search for Chloe, the blue-haired girl bounded in and they nearly crashed into one another.
"Whoa! Yo Max, sorry I took so long...you wouldn't believe this place! I just had to go exploring," Chloe said, "A ton of the rooms upstairs are locked but I found a hella huge game room. And then there was an art room...for making art, you know. Paintings and shit. There's even a movie theater. A movie theater! Dude, we need to break in here more often."
"Slow down there, Chloe," Max said, "I'm not sure I want to be playing hide and seek with Jimbo and Grumpy Rob every time we want to watch a movie. And I definitely wouldn't want to be playing hide and seek with Sean Prescott."
"Who knows?" Chloe said, "maybe he's a fun guy. He does have a theater and a game room with pool and ping pong and stuff."
"Somehow I don't see it," Max said, remembering the letters she'd seen from Mr. Prescott to his son.
"Speaking of Pool Shark Sean," Chloe said, "what did you find in his lair here?" She glanced around the room as if she expected to see treasures pouring out of the cabinets.
"Nada," Max said, "everything's locked up tight...I couldn't even get the crowbar in."
"Did you try bashing this shit in?" Chloe said, lifting the crowbar up and swinging it slowly.
"Yep," Max said, "and not even a dent. I think his cabinets are made out of adamantium."
"But everything looks like wood," Chloe said. She tapped the nearest cabinet and it produced a distinctly metal thud.
"Another weird thing," Max said, pointing at the door, "there's a sliding metal door behind the main door there."
"Seriously?" Chloe said, checking it out, "what the hell is this room."
Chloe walked over and looked down at one of the chairs by the wall.
"Um...Max?" Chloe said, "these chairs over here have restraints on them."
"What?" Max said, feeling a chill.
She joined Chloe and looked down, seeing the straps coming out of the armrests of the chair. Her heart started beating faster and she felt her breath catching. Images burst into her mind: the metal door slamming shut and herself in the chair, the straps digging into her wrists. Max held her arms tightly to her abdomen, rubbing her wrists. She imagined a prick in her neck.
"Chloe," Max said quietly, her voice strained, "I need to leave...I need to get out."
"Shit, Max, I'm so sorry," Chloe said, wrapping an arm around Max's shoulders and leading her quickly out of the room.
As soon as they passed through the door, Max felt her breath become unstuck. She fell to the floor and gulped in deep breaths. Chloe dropped to the ground next to her and put an arm around her waist.
"Max, you're okay," Chloe said, "you're okay; there's no one around, it's just us. We're out of the room and we can bust out any window or door here if we need to get out. You're okay."
Chloe gently rocked Max back and forth and Max felt a wave of calm wash over her. She melted into Chloe's embrace and listened to the sounds of the clocks around them. The ticking, steady and regular...a little heartbeat of time that reminded Max of what she had control of. Her breathing steadied and she placed a hand on Chloe's knee.
"I'm fine now, Chloe, I'm fine," she said.
"Are you sure?" Chloe said, letting go of Max, "we can stay here for as long as you need. If the guard dudes come back, we can just go hide somewhere again."
"No, I'm okay," Max said, standing up, "I just got caught off-guard. It's just...it's just me being stupid."
"It's not that, Max," Chloe said, standing up beside Max, "don't you ever say that. You went through hella shit. This kind of thing is going to happen sometimes. It fucking sucks and it'll hit you like a train for a while but you'll learn to manage it. You'll get through it. It'll end up more like an itch than a gut punch. I know because I got there. It takes time, Max. But I'll be here to help you. We'll get through it together."
"I...thanks, Chloe," Max said, "you're amazing."
"I'll remember you said that," Chloe said.
Max looked back over at the study and said, "my bag is still in there."
"Stay here," Chloe said.
She walked back in and came out a few moments later with Max's bag and the crowbar.
"Anything else of ours in there?" Max said, taking the bag and turning away from the study.
"Nope," Chloe said, "checked everywhere and even made sure that wacky paper was still in the same spot."
"Great," Max said, "oh, and...um...did you find the door to Nathan's place?"
"You mean: was I doing what I was supposed to be doing?" Chloe said, "instead of checking out game rooms and movie theaters?"
"Didn't want to put it that way," Max said with a small smile.
"You're adorable," Chloe said, "and yes, I found it. Right where Vicky C. said it would be."
"Oh, please don't call her that to her face," Max said, following Chloe towards the kitchen, "I think I actually have a chance of making a friend out of her."
"Wait, you want to be friends? With her?" Chloe said.
"Yeah...I think. It turns out that her and I have a lot in common," Max said, "and most of her queen bitchiness comes from insecurity. I think she's actually kind of nice if you can get past her epic wall of snark. She's also secretly a total geek, as you noticed."
"True," Chloe said, leading Max around a corner.
"And she accidentally let slip that she likes my work," Max said.
"Huh, I guess that means she knows great stuff when she sees it. Or...maybe she's trying to get into your pants," Chloe said with a wink, "she wants dat ass."
"I'm pretty sure that Victoria does not want dis ass," Max said.
"Well, she's not good enough for you anyways," Chloe said.
"Oh, and who is?" Max said.
"Why, me of course," Chloe said.
"Why's that?" Max said with a smile.
"Because I find secret douchebag-doors for you!" Chloe said with a flourish, gesturing to the door they'd just arrived at.
"Wow, that was good timing," Max said, "I'm beginning to suspect that you have time travel powers too."
"Nope, just highly opportunistic," Chloe said.
"I see," Max replied.
Chloe opened the door, revealing a steep set of stairs leading to a dimly lit door below. Max hesitated and Chloe glanced over.
"You don't have to go down there, Max," Chloe said, "you can tell me exactly what we need to find and I can go."
"No," Max said, taking a deep breath, "partners in crime, remember. I'm coming."
"Okay," Chloe said, "but if you need to get out, you tell me right away and I'll get you out."
"Thanks," Max said with a smile. She started down the stairs. Chloe followed, closing the top door behind her.
Max reached the keypad and entered 9535. A click sounded. Max took another deep breath and pulled the door open, stepping inside. The space was dark; dim light from scattered nightlights showed only the silhouettes of furniture. Max pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight as Chloe stepped in and closed the door behind her. Max found a light switch and flipped it on.