Life is Strange: The Dark Side of a Passion

Chapter 10 of my Life is Strange story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks; well, we can only wait and see.
kaikoox: Thanks, glad you liked him, ah no, it's definitely all Victoria, the drugs picture is that one you find in Episode 1 in Chloe's room of Chloe doing drugs, photo-shopped to have Max in Chloe's place (The one where Max comments 'She looks super stoned').
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks and yeah, it is :)
Wolfgirl2013: Yeah.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or its characters.

Chapter 10

Max sat listlessly, staring vacantly at the table-top in front of her. It had been a day after that unfortunate incident of the third set of photos, the second doctored set, being released. Everything was in tatters and getting worse, she couldn't see any way out, her only hope being the people who stood by and supported her, no matter what.

That was partly why she was with Warren and Chloe, at the Two Whales diner, although, for once in her life, not even the irresistible smell of bacon eased her churning stomach. She couldn't eat, she didn't feel like it; if anything she felt worse than ever.

Chloe shook her head at that. "C'mon Max, I know you don't feel that great, but you need to eat."

Warren nodded. "Chloe is right; Max, you haven't eaten in...I don't know how long, please..."

"Ugh, fine, I...I guess you're right." Max replied.

Despite how miserable she felt, she knew they were right; she had practically been starving herself, she couldn't do that. With perfect timing, Joyce came over at that moment.

"Hey mom." Chloe greeted her.

Seeing Chloe's pensive expression, hearing her tone, was enough for to tell Joyce that Max's distress had deepened since David first told her about it.

Doing her best to remain calm however, she spoke normally. "Chloe, Max, Warren, good to see you again, you ready to order?"

Max looked up and nodded, her voice shook slightly. "Y-yeah."

Joyce watched Max carefully as she took down their orders.

The poor girl was paler than usual, with dark shadows under her eyes and had clearly lost weight, she looked ill, this was definitely affecting her deeply.

Finally, after taking their orders down, Joyce spoke seriously. "Max, I promise, you've got my help, you need someone to talk to, I'll be there."

Max managed a small smile. "Thanks Joyce."

Nodding Joyce went back to the counter, placed their order and then, once sure nothing else required her attention, she stepped out back and made a phone call.

"Joyce?" The woman on the other end replied, sounding surprised.

She replied at once. "Vanessa, I...I heard that you've...seen those, pictures of Max."

There was a shuddering gasp from Vanessa Caulfield before finally she replied.

"Yes Joyce, I saw them, we both did...It's unreal." She said; taking a moment to compose herself before continuing. "We're on our way up to Arcadia Bay right now. Ryan is beside himself with rage."

Joyce frowned upon hearing that. "He's not angry at her is he? Those photos are complete fakes or taken against her will after all."

"Yes, we know that, Ryan is angry that, in his words, anyone would dare do this to his little girl." Vanessa explained.

Joyce smiled lightly at that, it was impossible to miss the papa wolf/mama bear instincts coming from both of Max's parents at this point.

"Listen, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Max and she's not alone." Joyce explained then. "She has people to help her through this."

Vanessa let out a soft sigh. "Good, we're still coming up though, we need to see her."

"I understand."

The call ended and Joyce sighed, this was still going to be difficult to deal with, hopefully it would be resolved soon, for Max's sake.

Meanwhile, back at Blackwell, Courtney smirked to herself as, after checking to make sure nobody could see her, she easily slipped the lock and entered Max Caulfield's room. Her grin faded however as she took the room in and her eyes widened.

Whoa, okay…?' She thought hesitantly. 'Victoria sent me here to get more stuff to mess with Max, but, this...this isn't what I expected?'

She was horrified by what she saw, the room was clearly a mess, in some places, dust was thick. It certainly said something about Max's character that the only thing in the room that seemed alive was a plant in the corner, apparently named Lisa.

Courtney bit her lip as she took in her surroundings. 'Did, we go too far? I mean, the room's neglected and...come to think of it, Max has looked pretty, neglected herself lately.'

She recalled seeing the girl this morning when she left. It was then she saw another dust covered object on the table and she gasped.

'Holy shit, that's her camera there, she never goes anywhere without that…?'

It was a truly horrifying conclusion Courtney was reaching. She slowly backed out of the room, suddenly worried and feeling very guilty.

Meanwhile, Taylor smiled lightly to herself as she made her way through the hospital corridor. The latest reports were that her mother, Valerie, was vastly improving. After a lot of uncertainty and stress, things were looking up. She entered her mother's room and smiled.

"Hey mom."

Valerie looked up at her daughter and replied. "Taylor."

Taylor paused, noticing her mother's expression. 'That's odd, mom seems angry about something?'

She sat down. "You okay?"
"I am." Valerie replied. "Although, I've been hear some terrible things."

Taylor bit her lip, suddenly worried. "Such as?"

Valerie sighed. "I heard from my work colleague, Joyce…About things happening at your school. A disgusting bullying campaign against one of the students."

Taylor froze, knowing right away that she meant Max. She felt the heat rising to her face and fought not to panic.

Before she could reply her mother continued. "I honestly expected better from a place like Blackwell, for such a thing to happen, does anyone stop to think how that poor student must feel, being so...oppressed like this?"

Taylor felt herself beginning to tremble. "Mom, please..."

"What, are, are you involved in this?" Valerie asked, suddenly suspicious.

Taylor quickly shook her head. "Mom, of course not..."

All the same, her thoughts raced. 'God, she's right...Max has looked so...destroyed these past few days, ever since, ever since we started this. God, what have we done?'

Guilt gnawed at her, holding her in its cruel mocking grasp.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.