October 14, 2013, 9:12 p.m.
"Max?"
Uggh! I feel sick! Why is the room spinning? Why can't I think straight! Did someone call my name? Is that my name?
"Max!"
Why is everything so dark and blurry? Where am I? What happened? Is that Rachel? What is she doing here?
"R-Rachel?" Max slurred. Why does my speech sound weird? She blinked her eyes a few times to focus her gaze. She seemed to be lying on a concrete floor. Rachel was lying a couple of feet away from her. The blonde's hands and feet appeared to be tied together with duct tape. Max tried to move her own hand, only to find that her hand and feet were tied together too.
"Max, you're awake!" the hazel-eyed girl exclaimed. Her eyes were red and swollen. She had been crying.
"W-where are we?" the hipster asked, trying to get a grasp of her surroundings. "I-, I remember going meeting you at that parking lot you instructed, and then…" She tried to remember but everything since that moment was blank, until now.
"This is Jefferson's studio, his dark room to be precise," Rachel explained, sniffling. "He drugged you and brought you here."
"He drugged me…?" Max repeated, her voice fading until she realized. "You set me up!" she said angrily.
"I'm so sorry!" Rachel said, her voice trembling. "He made me! I had no choice. He said he would kill me if I hadn't called you. I-, I never wanted you to…" She burst into tears.
"Killed you? Mr. Jefferson?" the brunette asked in disbelief. "What the fuck is going on? What does he want with us?"
"I-I'm not s-sure," the blonde managed say between sniffles. "He's been taking pictures of you when you've been out. He's been photographing me too. H-he didn't drug me like he did you, although I almost w-wish he had."
"P-pictures…?" Max thought out loud, trying to make sense of what she had just heard. "Oh my god!" she gasped when all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly clicked into place. "The dark room under the Prescott barn, the red binders. It was Mr. Jefferson all along!"
"W-what?" Rachel asked, not following the hipster's line of thought.
"Nathan wasn't the one who captured and took pictures of those girls from Blackwell. It was Mr. Jefferson!"
"I-it wasn't Nathan? B-but what about all the evidence? N-Nathan was found in the dark room."
"Mr. Jefferson must've set him up."
"Y-you mean he…"
"…killed Nathan? I think so, yeah."
"Bravo, Ms. Caulfield!" a voice said behind them, startling both girls. Max turned her head to see Mark Jefferson looming in the doorway, with an eerie smirk on his face. He had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and he was wearing vinyl gloves on his hands. "Brightly deducted!"
"Mr. Jefferson!" the brunette gasped. The man had snuck up on them while they had been talking. "How long…?"
"…have I been listening?" the photographer completed. "From the very moment you came to, my dear. Take a look over my shoulder." He turned his head towards the corner of the room, close to the ceiling. There was a surveillance camera pointed at them. "I can see and hear everything that happens in this room."
"You…"
"Nathan was a useful asset in many ways," Mark admitted. "The kid was so desperate for a father figure that he'd do anything for the tiniest amount of care and affection. He was like clay that I could mold to my liking. Through him, I had access to the Prescott fortune, which helped me to pursue my own goals. And in the end, he made a perfect scapegoat."
"Those girls…" Max said out loud upon realizing. "But, why?"
"Oh, Maxine… I hope you don't mind me calling you Maxine." A satisfied smirk rose on Mark's face as he saw Max's disapproving expression. "During my career, I've photographed hundreds of people, one model after another, only to draw one conclusion."
"What's that?"
"They're all fake!" the man snapped furiously. "They all pretend to be something that they're not! They have lost their innocence! It took me years to realize that."
"So you started pursuing young girls instead," the brunette remarked, her tone going huskier as the shock began to give room to contempt.
"Exactly! I wanted to capture that moment when innocence turns into corruption, to see how the desperation consumes their souls." He paused for a moment, as if doing assessment on his achievements. "Still, the perfect subject seemed to evade me."
Max couldn't believe what she was hearing. The esteemed photographer that she had admired and looked up to was a deranged, obsessed psychopath. Sure, Mark Jefferson had been aloof and slightly egotistic by nature but Max could've never imagined that he was capable of kidnapping and murder.
"You were different, Rachel," Jefferson continued. "Although you were hardly innocent, I couldn't get a grasp of your true nature. I had planned to find it out at our agreed session last spring, but then that idiot, David Madsen, discovered my dark room. Luckily, the fool didn't realize I had the premises under surveillance. I had just enough time to put my exit strategy in motion. Too bad about Nathan, though. I had high hopes of him."
Surveillance! The only thing about Jefferson's rambling that had any significance to Max. Jefferson would have known that Chloe and I discovered the dark room!We would've walked straight into his hands!
"I am glad that I got a second chance with you," Mark said to Rachel, making the blonde shiver in disgust. "Our session revealed… interesting aspects about you."
"You sick bastard!" the hazel-eyed girl hissed back, but Max could see there was no fervor in her eyes to back her words. Jefferson had broken her spirit.
"Besides, you came with a bonus," the photographer continued and turned his attention back to Max. "You shall be my masterpiece, Maxine. You are the perfect subject I have been looking for. I saw it the moment you first walked into my studio." The look in his eyes was devoid of any sign of humanity. All that was left was desire bordering on absolute obsession.
"W-what will happen to us?" Max asked, even though she could imagine what Jefferson had in store for them.
"You're a smart girl, Maxine," the man said. "I guess you realize by now that I can't leave you alive. You know too much. Fortunately for me, Rachel told me about your little quarrel regarding her girlfriend. Something along the lines of murder-suicide might work just fine. Just need to get my hands into Rachel's girlfriend. Shouldn't be too hard to make it look like that you, Maxine, went back to Rachel and her girlfriend's apartment, murdered them, and then killed yourself. It's almost terrifying, how easy it is to get a firearm in LA." He paused for a sardonic grin. "You'll be famous, Maxine, although not in the way you might've imagined."
The brunette gasped in shock. Despair was beginning to take hold of her. Not only had she failed to save Rachel's life, but Chloe would die too. Without her powers, Max saw no way out of this. Chloe didn't know where to look for them. The only person who might have a clue of their whereabouts was probably half way back to Seattle right now.
"But look at me!" Mark suddenly exclaimed. "Here I am, talking, when we should get started with our session, Maxine. Let me go fill up a syringe, so that we can get you in the right mood-" He stopped, as his phone chirped. He took his phone and looked at it momentarily. "Looks like we have to push the beginning of our session just a little bit further, while I deal with a couple of surprise guests." He walked out of the dark room.
"It must be Chloe and Victoria!" Max whispered to Rachel, when the door had closed. "We have to warn them!"
"How?" the hazel-eyed girl asked. "We're both tied up and we have no idea what's going on."
Max concentrated again, trying to rewind time. Maybe she could distract Jefferson somehow. Try as she might, her powers stubbornly refused to work. Oh, for fuck's sake! Chloe and Victoria are walking right into a trap and I can't do anything about it!
-ooo-
Earlier…
"Thought I wouldn't find you?" Frank Bowers sounded triumphant as he sneered at Chloe, who just stared back at him, aghast. Victoria had crossed paths with the drug dealer on a few occasions when she'd still studied at Blackwell. The fact that Chloe might have a beef with Frank didn't exactly surprise the pixie-haired girl, but his unexpected appearance couldn't possibly be timed worse.
"Frank!" the punk gasped in shock. "How the hell did you find us?"
"You can thank miss fancy-pants here," the drug dealer cast a glance at Victoria. "She and her mousy friend weren't exactly subtle when they were looking for you in Arcadia Bay."
"Figures." Chloe cast a scowl at the other girl. "Look, Frank, as much I'd love to catch up, but miss fancy-pants and I are kinda in a middle of something here, so…" she stepped forward, but Frank got on her way, pulling his knife.
"Not so fast," Frank said, pointing the blade at the punk. "You and I got a debt to settle. You think you could pull a fast one on me and get away with it? Well, think again!"
"Frank, I was going to pay you back as soon as we'd got settled and I had saved up the money," Chloe tried to plead. "Can we discuss this tomorrow, because we really need to get going."
"Yeah, sure," the man said sardonically. "You're not going anywhere!"
"How much does she owe you?" Victoria had followed the conversation quietly, but now she was beginning to get impatient.
"You stay out of this. It's none of your business." Frank turned his blade at the blonde, but Victoria stood her ground.
"Right now you're the one thing keeping me from finding the person that means everything to me, so I'm going to make it my business," Victoria said, staring the drug dealer sternly into his eyes. "How much?"
"Um, three grand plus interest," Frank answered, having lost some of his bravado.
Victoria dug out her wallet. "I have three hundred in cash, and I can write a check for the rest. You know I'm good for it," she said, handing the wad of cash towards the man. "What do you say?"
The drug dealer stared first at the blonde and then at the bills in her hand, contemplating a moment, before he took the money. "OK, write a check for three grand and we're cool."
Without hesitation, the blonde took out her checkbook and a pen, and wrote a check for the said amount. She carefully tore the check off the book and handed it to Frank, who took it, inspected the amount, and put it in his jacket pocket with the cash.
"I don't know what to say, Victoria," Chloe said bemusedly. "Thank you!"
"You can pay me back, Price," the pixie-haired girl said impatiently. "Now, can we please concentrate on finding Max and Rachel?"
"Wait a second!" Frank interrupted them. "Has Rachel gone missing?"
"What do you care?" Chloe asked, scowling.
"Of course I…" the man began, then his eyes grew wide as he realized. "Rachel hasn't told you, has she?"
"Told me what?" the punk asked, lifting her eyebrow.
"Rachel and I were together for a while before you two left Arcadia Bay."
"What?" Chloe blurted in disbelief. "You're lying!"
"Come on, you know me well enough that I wouldn't lie about this kind of thing," Frank remarked. "I thought you guys were through when Rachel started hanging out with me. You know I wouldn't have gotten between you two."
"Rachel said she needed some time and space to herself. She didn't tell me why, though," Chloe said, still in shock from the revelation. "Do you know?" she looked questioningly at the man.
"It's not my place to tell," Frank answered. "You'll have to ask Rachel."
"Come on!" Chloe said more sternly. "I need to understand!"
"Stop! You're not gonna backtalk that out of me." Frank crossed his arms." You'll need to hear it from Rachel herself."
"Did you know about all this?" The punk turned to look at Victoria in anger and frustration.
"What do you think?" the blonde answered scornfully. "Of course I knew."
"Well, that's just fan-fucking-tastic!" Chloe huffed. "Even my childhood friend that I've not seen in five years knows that my girlfriend has been cheating on me before I do!"
"What do you mean?" Victoria asked, flabbergasted.
"Are you saying you didn't let Max in on your gossip?" Chloe asked sardonically.
"No! Why the hell would I let Max in on something that might eventually lead to Max being with you instead of me?"
"Well, that I can believe," the punk sneered.
"I'm in love with Max! She is the only good thing in my life!" Victoria said in frustration. "You might think I don't deserve her, and you're maybe right, but Max really makes me to want to be a better person, and I'd do anything to be worthy of her."
"Wow, you really are in this for real," Chloe said, apparently convinced by Victoria's outburst. "But if you didn't tell Max that Rachel's been with Frank, then how did she know?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, but I really think we go got more pressing matters right now than speculating how Max knew about Rachel and Frank."
"You're right," the punk admitted. "Let's get going! You with us, Frank?"
"Hell yeah I'm with you!" the drug dealer said. "Just try to keep me away."
-ooo-
"We're here," Chloe said as she parked her Crown Vic next in front of the industrial building. The parking spaces were vacant, save for a shiny Rolls-Royce that didn't seem to fit in with its surroundings.
"That's Jefferson's car," Victoria remarked. "No sign of Max's Mini, though."
"Well, I guess we might as well go and ask him," the punk said, turning the ignition off and opening the driver's door.
"Is there another way in?" Frank asked as he stepped out of the back seat.
"The loading dock around the corner," Victoria answered. "Why?"
"You girls take the front door. I'm gonna look around," the drug dealer said.
"Why? You think something's wrong?" Chloe asked.
"Nah, probably not," Frank reassured. "It's just that in my line of business, you make a habit of covering your bases. I'll see you back at the car," he said as he began walking towards the corner.
"I hope Rachel's here, or this Jefferson guy can at least tell us where she went," Chloe said to Victoria as they walked towards the front door.
"Max is not here, and she's still not answering her phone," Victoria said despondently, putting her phone away for the umpteenth time.
"Don't worry, we'll find her and sort things out," Chloe said reassuringly. "I owe her an apology. Rachel, on the other hand, I need to have a serious talk with."
"I owe Max an apology too," the pixie-haired girl said. "I was acting stupid, jealous and childish. I guess we need to have a serious discussion too."
"For what it's worth," Chloe said as they got to the main door, "I don't know how Max feels about me these days, but I can see that she cares for you deeply." She let out a sigh. "I had a crush on Max when we were younger, but life decided otherwise. I'm just glad she's back in my life."
"I'm glad she found you," Victoria admitted. "I don't know if you and I will ever get along but I'm going to make sure she never loses touch with you again."
"I'd appreciate that," the punk said as she pressed the button on the intercom.
"Yes?" a man's voice asked almost immediately.
"Mark, it's Victoria Chase," the blonde said into the microphone. "I'm with Rachel's girlfriend. Is Rachel there?"
"No, but she was here earlier," Mark answered. "Please, come inside, so we can talk."
Chloe pulled the door open as soon as it unlocked and the girls stepped inside. Victoria led the way as they walked into the corridor and to the door of Jefferson's studio. The door was ajar so they stepped right in. The room was dim, except for the whitewall that was illuminated by the spotlights. There was no sign of the man who had let them in, though.
"Hello!" Chloe called as she tried look around in the dimness. A thud from behind her made her turn and she saw Victoria lying on the floor limp and unconscious. A bearded man wearing glasses stood behind her with an empty syringe in one hand and a gun that was pointing towards Chloe in the other.
"Don't make any fast moves, my dear," the man said. "A bullet hole in your forehead wouldn't exactly be a decoration on your face."
"You're… Jefferson?" Chloe asked, dumbfounded.
"Correct, and you must be Chloe Price," Jefferson confirmed. "Rachel has told a great deal about you."
"What have you done to her?" the punk asked, her voice and expression going sterner as she drew the conclusion.
"Oh, we've had the most fruitful photo session together," the man said tauntingly. "Rachel's a natural before the camera, but you must already know that."
"You fucking-" Chloe took one furious step forward, but stopped as Jefferson pointed his gun at her head.
"Rachel's fine for the time being, but it depends completely on your behavior," Mark said. "Now, if you'll pick up Miss Chase here, I can take you to Rachel and your other friend."
"Other friend…? Max!" Chloe's emotions were in turmoil as she picked up the blonde's limp body on her arms. On one hand she was glad that they had located Max, on the other hand she felt desperation over the fact that the brunette was also in the hands of this psycho that was holding her at gunpoint.
"Also Miss Caulfield's well-being depends on your co-operation," Jefferson remarked as he pointed the punk towards the dark room.
Chloe's brain worked overtime as she tried to come up with a solution to get them out of this alive. I wonder where Frank is right now, she thought, although she didn't put much hope on the drug dealer. For all she knew, he might be on his way to Arcadia Bay. Frank had saved her ass once, but that had been a different Frank, not the indifferent drug dealer he'd become. Besides, this isn't just another thug at a burnt-down sawmill. This bastard must have a top notch surveillance system here.
Jefferson kept his gun and eyes strictly pointed at Chloe as he opened the dark room door for her. He stepped aside and let her enter the room first. Unlike the rest of the studio, the dark room was lit. Her spirits went up as she saw Rachel and Max lying on the floor, tied up.
"Rachel! Max!" the punk exclaimed. "Are you guys OK?"
"Chloe!" the brunette responded. "Yeah, we're OK, more or less."
Rachel didn't say anything. Instead, she just looked away, ashamed.
"What's with Victoria?" Max asked concernedly.
"I don't know. This douchebag here injected her with something."
"Just a small dose of sedative," Jefferson said as he pushed Chloe further inside. "Miss Chase will be with us soon enough. And Miss Price, I'd suggest you'd watch your language, if you want what's best for your friends."
"Don't listen to him, Chloe!" Max said sternly. "He's planning to kill us all."
"Why you-" Chloe turned to face Jefferson, only to find herself facing the barrel of his gun.
"I had planned to save your killing for later, in order to set it up properly, but I really only need Max alive at this point," Jefferson said, cocking the hammer. "Any last words?"
"Yeah, don't move," the punk said, grinning as she saw Frank sneaking up behind the photographer and sliding a stiletto blade up against his throat.
"Don't move?" Jefferson asked, dumbfounded, before realizing his situation.
"I'd heed the lady's advice," the drug dealer said as he pressed the blade firmer against the photographer's throat. "Now, hand the gun over, slowly!"
"How… How did you get past my surveillance system?" Jefferson asked, flabbergasted as he gave the gun to Frank.
"That junk you can buy from China?" Frank sneered as he stepped back and pointed the gun at the other man. "I've bypassed more complex security systems than that. Funny how a guy with a Rolls, and photography equipment that costs more than I make in a year, goes cheap on security. Well, I guess you have to save on something."
"I thought I'd never be saying this, but I'm glad to see you, Frank," Chloe said to the man as she lowered Victoria to the floor.
"Yeah, well, I'll just put it on your tab, Price," Frank grumbled. "Are you girls all right? Rachel?"
"F-Frank?" the hazel-eyed girl asked timidly. "W-what are you doing here?"
"It doesn't matter now," the drug dealer said. "You're safe, that's what matters."
"Let's get you out of those ties," Chloe said, opening the stiletto that Frank had tossed to her and crouched to cut first Max's ties and then Rachel's.
"We need to call the police and an ambulance!" Max said as she knelt down to check up on Victoria.
"Yeah, in a sec," Chloe said as she wrapped her arms around Rachel. "Are you all right, babe?"
"Y-you're not mad at me?" the smaller blonde asked, her eyes averting Chloe's.
"Hella mad," the punk said, cupping Rachel's cheeks and smiling to her. "But right now, I'm just happy to see you." She placed a kiss on the hazel-eyed girl's lips.
"Hey, Price!" Chloe heard Frank saying. "How about helping me to bag and tag this clown, so you can call the cops?"
"Sure thing!" Chloe stood up and reached for the duct tape on the desk. Just as she grabbed the roll, the floor under her feet and the walls around her began to shake violently, accompanied by a loud rumble.
"W-what is happening, Chloe?" Max asked frantically.
"I-it's an earthquake!" the punk answered.
Jefferson saw his opportunity and charged against Frank, tackling him down on the floor and trying to pry the gun from the drug dealer's hand. Chloe rushed to help Frank, but she had time to take only couple of steps before everything went dark.
A single gunshot rang out above the rumbling.
To be concluded...
A/N: Didn't let you off the hook just yet, did I? I had one cliffhanger left that was just too good to be left unused. On the bright side, you didn't have to wait five months for an update. The next chapter, however, will be the concluding chapter. All things will be wrapped up and we're gonna reach the end, whatever it will be.
Thank you again for the reviews! It is always a pleasure to read them.
Thanks also to Crowthorne for beta reading and to Lyta Halifax for bouncing some thoughts back and forth!
See you in the last chapter!