Life is Strange Before the Storm: Star Crossed Paths

Chapter 24 of my Before the Storm novelization, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

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

Hell is Empty – Psychosis

But once again, like last night, life threw a wrench in those plans. For as I was about to leave James' office, I encountered and unexpected obstacle.

"Chloe?"

That voice, I froze, it was Eliot, what the fuck was he doing here.

"Eliot…?"

He had entered the house and now saw me.

"Eliot, what are you doing here?" I asked, startled.

"What are you doing here?" He countered, again sounding strange. "This is Rachel's house, right?"

I couldn't believe it, had Eliot followed me here from the hospital. This was getting strange, and creepy very fast.

"Did you follow me from the hospital?" I snapped

"I did." He replied. "I'm worried about you."

Oh great, here we go. "I'm fine, you're the one acting crazy. You shouldn't be here."

It was then Eliot just happened to see all the evidence on the desk, the phone, the money.

"Chloe, what is…?" He began.

Shit I had to shut this down, fast. But no good, Eliot grabbed the money before I did.

'Fuck.' I had to reason with him now. "Eliot, put that down, you have no idea what you're dealing with."

But his response proved he wasn't moved. "And you do? Chloe, what have you gotten yourself into?"

I stepped back, a little taken aback by this abrupt change in the guy I'd known for years.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Give me a chance!" He snapped, slamming the money down on the desk. "What the hell are you doing?"

Seriously this wasn't the Eliot I knew. My mind flashed to the creepy poetry and a sudden bad feeling began to come over me.

I couldn't tell him the truth, he didn't have the right to that knowledge. But I still had to make it clear I wasn't messing around.

"I can't tell you." I insisted. "But obviously this is pretty serious shit. That's why I need to leave right now."

But Eliot just didn't get it. "You mean serious for Rachel right? But you're the one putting yourself in danger, again."

Oh he did not just say that, was he seriously that deranged.

"I'm so sick of you not seeing who Rachel really is. When will you realize what she's doing to you?" He snapped.

I tensed at that, furious. 'More like when will you see what a jealous prick you're being, let's face it, that's what this is all about.'

It was clear as day after all, that's why he was so worked up, jealousy, plain and simple. But I couldn't say any of this or just attack Eliot. I needed to stay focus, bluff my way out of this and get out of here, for Sera's sake.

"Eliot, just take a step back." I tried to reason with him.

Didn't work however. "No, you need to listen to me! What has your relationship with her gotten you?"

Shit was he always this way and I was only just seeing it.

"You don't know what you're talking about." I shot back.

But he shook his head, unconvinced.

He then spoke again, clearly deluded even further.

"First night you hang out, what happens? You end up in a fight."

Seriously, that was the best he could come up with. "I can see why you' think that, but it wasn't her fault."

Before I could tell him that the fight happened, independently of Rachel he cut me off.

"It's never her fault, that's the point." He then continued.

"Stop..." I stammered, absolutely taken aback by his attitude. "Stop suggesting that she's somehow bad for-"

But Eliot continued. "The next day she convinces you to skip school. Magically she barely gets in trouble. And you get expelled."

Did he even consider my track record, that I would've skipped anyway, again, independently of Rachel. He honestly sought to blame her for everything I had done, despite the fact anyone with eyes could see that I did them anyway and had done them even before meeting Rachel. Eliot had even heard or seen about those things, but apparently, no, those incidents never happened in his mind.

I kept playing at reasoning with him, I had to end this non-confrontationally, so I had nothing holding me back when I went to save Sera.

"I took the fall because I wanted to." I pointed out. "Rachel tried to protect me."

Eliot shook his head. "Yet somehow, it all worked out for her in the end. As usual."

"You don't understand, you weren't there!" I snapped, outraged at his blatant and pathetic behaviour.

"Was she protecting you when she made you take part in a play you didn't want to be in?"

Again, trying to hide his true motives by blaming someone else. His jealousy was so pathetically obvious.

"Look I'm sorry I ditched you for the play, but..." I tried to stay calm.

But again I was cut off. "This isn't about that!"

Yeah right, it was all about his jealously, he just couldn't admit it.

I growled. "Seriously man, you need to shut the fuck up before-"

"I've been quiet long enough!" He burst out. "Look, Rachel is an amazing actress, and I don't mean on stage. She's fake, you're real. I hate to see her manipulate you like this."

Okay, he was seriously asking for my fist in his throat for daring to say that about Rachel.

Still I forced myself to be calm.

"Eliot, I promise, no one is manipulating me."

"No?" He snapped exasperated. "Just look where you are now. A high school dropout hanging out with criminals, and breaking into houses. It's crazy."

No he was crazy and, didn't I already tell him, the only thing that got me where I was, was my own actions. Oh no wait, according to Eliot everything going 'wrong' with me is all Rachel's fault. Yeah, even the parts before I met her, like the hanging out with criminals part, I had known Frank for way longer than I'd know Rachel after all.

"It just as easily could've been you in that hospital today." Eliot was raving again. "If that ever happened..."

Oh not that sort of sickening talk; besides, I knew that, yet who was the one who set up that meeting, oh, that's right, me.

I'd had it with being nice. "Dude, you know you sound a little stalkerish right now?"

His response startled me, he slammed his fist into the desk. Okay I was blunt, but I was trying to help him see just how he was acting.

"Stalking is defined as repeated unwanted interactions." He snapped. "How long have my interactions been unwanted?"

I sighed, this was taking too long. "Eliot."

"I'm the one who cares about you Chloe, me, not Rachel." He raved. "It's time you saw the truth."

He began stalking towards the doorway.

"What does that mean?"

He rounded on me. "It means you're going to stop thinking about Rachel and pay attention to me now, for once!"

Truly gone off the deep end, he gets all worked up about me calling him out, then just proves I was right.

I didn't have time for this, I needed to get to Sera. But as I tried to walk past him, trying to explain, he shoved me back into the desk.

"Why did you make me do that!?" He snapped, clearly deluded, he did it himself, asshole. "Can't you just listen to me!"

It was then an idea formed, but I needed long enough to put it in action. I needed Eliot's back turned to me. Then, I could try and call the police and have them overhear his ravings, while finding some way to clue them in to what was going on. I just needed a distraction.

"Who was there for you?" Eliot snapped. "When Max left, when your dad died? No one else gave a shit about you except for me. We have a lot to talk about and I don't care how long it takes. We're not leaving until you see I'm right."

Okay, so clingy, possessive, jealous and deluded, great combination. But in carrying out his next act, I realized he'd just helped me with the trap I'd set for him. He closed and locked the study door, activating the alarm system. It also gave me the window I needed to call the police, I hid the phone behind my back as I leaned against the desk.

Now I just had to keep him talking.

"Alright Eliot, you want to talk so bad, let's talk?" I told him, feeling calmer now.

With the trap all set, despite what Eliot thought, I had regained control. Just had to play along, while subtly providing enough clues for the police.

"What's really going on here, you can tell me."

I replied carefully, I wouldn't get a second chance with Eliot in this state. "You mean here specifically, like, the Amber house?"

"I'm talking about your situation." Eliot snapped, clinging to his delusions. "Rachel is dangerous, you need to realize that."

I again carefully tailored my response. "You're right Eliot, I didn't want to admit it before, but it's true. My life is danger."

Eliot hadn't noticed how, at the important parts, the address, the mentioning of danger, I was raising my voice slightly, so the phone would pick up on it specifically. I just prayed it would work, that they'd realize I was trying to talk to them, giving them coded hints, while not freaking Eliot out.

"Thank you, Chloe." He said at last, still sounding crazy however. "All I want is to help you, I'm glad you can finally see that."

"You're right. I do need help." Another carefully tailored response, hopefully another step closer. "I need help immediately."

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going anywhere."

Wanna bet, I again had to be careful with my reply. "I feel trapped, boxed in. I desperately want to leave this situation."

Eliot smiled and I prayed I had won.

Nodding he spoke.

"It takes a lot of guts to tell me all this." He said. "And...I want you to know, that I will always be there for you. No matter what."

Then the Psycho fucking hugged me. But I kept my cool, had to stay on task. My relief came when finally the approaching sirens could be heard. Eliot jumped back, startled as he approached the window, saw them in front of the house.

"Okay, don't panic." He said oblivious. "I'm sure they...They'll just want to ask us why we're here."

Yeah right, this was my chance, I needed to take it.

"What do we do?"

Eliot replied quickly. "I'll talk to them, uh, there's nothing to be concerned about."

He was right, there wasn't, for me. Using the time it took Eliot to reach the door to grab the money I grabbed my chance when he froze at the sound of the alarm upon opening the door. I pushed past him and darted out the back, quickly working my way back to my truck and driving off.

Driving furiously to reach the Old Mill, I prayed I wasn't too late, all the same my mind was full, full of what I'd just learned about James, his dealings with Damon, fear of what awaited me when I arrived. I thought about Rachel, about how she didn't know any of this.

I also thought about Eliot, for him to just blow up like that, and to show me what he was really like, and to think, I once trusted him. Well, he was in the police's hands now and if he said anything about me, well, considering all the raving he had been doing, I could just deny things. At least I hoped.

"Shit!" I cried as I swerved.

I had been so lost in thought I hadn't realized I drifted to the wrong side of the road and nearly collided with a semi-truck. The swerve took me off the road before I could stop. But once I recovered I got out of the car, staring in shock. I was just now seeing the full extent of the fire damage as before me, the forest was burned, nothing but ash and dead remains of the trees.

As I stood there, stunned by what I saw, I found myself muttering

"So much destruction, all because Rachel got angry at her dad. Who's been lying to her, all her life. And he's still lying."

Then I heard his voice. "Hey, being a dad's tough."

I sighed, it was dad. "That doesn't justify what he's done."

"I'm just saying...I'd probably do anything to keep you safe" Dad replied.

I felt awful suddenly, but I couldn't help myself, I asked. "Hey, dad? Did, you ever lie to me? I don't mean telling me that ashtray I made for mom wasn't a piece of crap. I mean like, really lied about...Something that might hurt me to know."

"What do you think?"

He was putting me on the spot but still. "I think you didn't...you didn't have to. You didn't, right?"

"Would you love me less?" He queried.

"Of course not."

"You sound pretty sure, sweetheart." Dad replied. "You were pretty sure mom would never fall in love with someone like David too."

There was a pause and I began to noticed something concerning, yet also strange.

Finally, dad spoke again.

"Are you really ready to hear the answer to your question?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I replied, curious, but not about the question.

But Dad's response. "Problem is, I'm dead, so how am I supposed to tell you anything?"

I turned sharply, sure enough, he wasn't there. Now I wondered, was I just hallucinating, since I certainly wasn't dreaming this time. Or had all those dreams and this talk been something else. My conscience given voice. I shook my head, I was way to mentally and emotionally exhausted to work this all out. So instead I returned to the truck and drove off again.

"I guess it's better this way, not knowing." I muttered.

With that in mind, I was able to maintain my focus, all the way to the Old Mill. I arrived, parked and got out. It was time. Time for me to save Sera and face Damon Merrick once again.

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

Well, approaching the finale now, just two chapters to go.