Life is Strange: My Unusual Journey

Chapter 24 of my Life is Strange story, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

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

Dark Room – Horrible Truth

Inside my ears were assaulted by the sounds of 'Breton – Got Well Soon', even behind the curtains that divided the entrance from the main pool, where people were queuing to get in, I could tell there was a mass of disco lights and such inside. All of it set to make quite a lively party atmosphere.

Albeit one that would make me uncomfortable; if I wasn't so numbed out by everything that happened. If I wasn't here on a mission. Moving forwards I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I turned and saw, by the desk where people checked in their jackets and such, was Stella.

"Hey Stella, I...I wasn't expecting to see you here?" I called back, trying to talk over the music.

Stella shrugged. "I didn't think I'd be here, but well, here I am, want to, check anything in?"

I shook my head. "No I'm fine Stella; oh, have you seen Nathan around?"

"Nope and I pray I don't...You're not the first to ask me that." She replied. "A blue haired girl with punk clothes came in earlier, also asking after him."

I nodded. "That's my friend Chloe, I'm trying to find her too."

"She's inside, somewhere."

I thanked Stella and finally slipped through the curtain into the main part of the pool. The whole pool building had been turned into a crazy disco like area, people dancing about, some in swimsuits, using the pool, sitting around drinking, it was crazy.

I did my best to stay focused however as I searched for any sign of Chloe or Nathan. I checked my phone, nothing from anyone, I prayed that Warren was now sitting somewhere safe and hopefully would later recover and maybe make it back to his dorm safely.

There was just too much going on for me to do more for him right now.

I began working my way through the crowd, I briefly spotted Courtney leaning against the bar that had been set up, drinking, I was surprised to see her alone. I also spotted Brooke by the bar too, but I still felt the need to avoid her, she clearly wasn't happy with me.

I turned around the edge of the pool and saw Alyssa ahead. Almost predictably she was struck by another misfortune. Two of the boys behind her were goofing around, hitting each other with the floats used to help teach swimming.

One of them threw his, his target ducked and Alyssa was struck in the back, falling in the pull. I sighed and rewound quickly. Once I gave myself a big enough window I stepped up to Alyssa.

"Alyssa, incoming!" I yelled.

She nodded, stepping aside as I did. "I'm on it!"

This time, the thrown float missed and landed in the pool. Alyssa laughed softly and thanked me, with some lyrical quote. Smiling I made my way onwards, there were still no sign of Nathan or Chloe.

'Dammit, I've gotta find them, I can't let Chloe just up and murder Nathan, we need to know his accomplice and, and...we need to get justice for Rachel properly.' I told myself. 'Sorry Chloe, but this isn't the way...'

I made my towards another curtained off area, noted as the 'VIP Area'. I almost rolled my eyes at that. Standing outside was a young man, acting like a bouncer, a girl was seated at the desk next to it, I didn't recognize her but she looked both fed up and haughty.

I began to approach the curtained off area when the girl there glared and cleared her throat.

I turned to her and gestured. "Excuse me, I'm going in."

She scoffed. "VIPs and guests only."

"I think you'll find I'm on the guest list." I explained as patiently as I could.

She didn't even look at the list, just snarked. "As if, Max Caulfield is never on a Vortex Club Party Guest List, now just leave. I have better things to do than fill in for Courtney, this is her job, not mine."

I sighed and turned away, I had to get past this girl, however, she gave me the perfect way to get past her. I crossed over to the bar at the far end of the room, heading straight for where Courtney was drinking.

"Hey Courtney!" I called out as I got close, struggling to make myself heard over the music.

She turned however and grinned. "Max, you made it! Even though you flaked on my offer to get you dressed up, I'll admit it's great to see you here at the party."

I smiled. "Thanks Courtney, as you've probably guessed by my outfit, I only made it here last minute."

"Well you're here and that's what matters, besides, being late is fashionable. I'm sure you'll enjoy the party. Along with the...obvious benefits." She remarked.

I nodded. "Well I would, except your minion over there denied me entry."

I pointed with my thumb and Courtney shook her head.

"Oh that little bitch just made her last mistake; honestly, she thinks she's the next Victoria." She remarked. "C'mon Max."

She began to saunter over to the table, I followed.

"Hey Sarah." Courtney greeted the girl in a faux nice tone. "Did you know that I personally added Max's name to the guest list."

At once the girl, Sarah, froze and began stammering. "I, but I just..."

Courtney didn't stop however. "Now I find out you, like, stop her from entering, while I'm on my break...She gets in and oh, you're no longer part of the club."

With that she turned to me and spoke happily. "Welcome to the Vortex club."

With that she gestured for me to enter and walked off again, leaving Sarah to sit, a despondent look on her face. I shook my head and entered the VIP section myself.

Inside the air was thick with smoke, I fought the impulse to cover my mouth and nose and tried to stay focused.

'C'mon, Chloe, Nathan, one of them has to be here...' I thought desperately.

There was no sign of either of them; the first person I saw that I recognized was Hayden, then I saw Taylor, dancing on her own, I approached her.

"Hey Taylor!"

She smiled when she saw me. "Hi Max, wow, I can't believe you made it, welcome to the party!"

I grinned. "Thanks, say, have you seen Nathan around?"

"Uh, no, I haven't actually, it's strange, he's normally the life of these events." Taylor replied. "Why are you looking for him?"

I shook my head. "It's, it's nothing serious, if you see him though, can you let me know?"

She nodded. "Of course Max, no worries. Max, I wanted to say thank you, and I'm sorry I misjudged you. Oh, by the way, I've got news, my mom is doing much better now."

"That's great, Taylor. I gotta go, but, give my best to your mom, okay?"

She nodded and I continued to search the VIP area. I spotted a few others, Logan, who I avoided, Juliet and Zachary who seemed to make made up and were now making out. I then heard my name being called.

"Max, over here!"

I turned and grinned widely, approaching.

"Hi Dana!" I replied; fighting to not laugh.

Dana and Trevor were together, Trevor was trying, and failing, to dance, yet he didn't seem to care.

Dana did not hold back her laughter however. "C'mon, join us. Look at Trevor trying to bust a move, he cannot dance."

I nodded. "I'd love to Dana, but I'm looking for someone right now, a friend of mine. Oh and, by the way, have you seen Nathan around?"

"No, thank God, seriously, he's been starting to creep me out lately." Dana replied. "If you're looking for him Max, I'd be careful."

I nodded in agreement and, after a few more words with Dana I turned away.

I froze when I suddenly saw Victoria; I recalled that horrible bunker, the red binders, one with Victoria's name on it.

'Shit, Victoria, she's in danger...I, I have to warn her...But...' I cringed, worried she wouldn't believe me.

But that was no excuse; I made my way over to her.

"Max Caulfield." She remarked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing at a Vortex Club Party, in the VIP section no less?"

I replied quickly. "I'm on the guest list."

She shook her head. "I'm taking you off, honestly, think you're all special just because…"

I growled, getting frustrated. "Go fuck your selfie Victoria; you know full well that Kate tried to kill herself because of what happened."

"Don't you dare try to pin that on me."

"You're the one that took that video and uploaded it, you knew she had a church group, you didn't care her feelings at all!" I shot back.

Victoria suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Oh, we weren't even going to put the video up, but, then we got drunk on too much wine and got stupid, things just, got out of control."

"Yeah, exactly, but you keep doing it, honestly Victoria, I just, don't understand you."

I sighed and shook my head, I knew what she meant, but that still didn't excuse her behaviour, but I knew she wasn't all bad, I recalled a few other things I had found out about her after all.

After a pause Victoria turned her gaze back to me.

"Honestly, Max, I just, keep feeling I have to overcompensate, but that's the way things work in the art scene, we..."

I shook my head. "No Victoria, it's not, we don't have to play by 'their' rules."

She sighed. "Really, that's what I envy about you, you just...are free. Do you think it's more than mere coincidence we're not supposed to be friends?"
"Maybe, but we don't have to be enemies either; you have your own talent, why can't you just be satisfied with that." I replied.

"Perhaps I can, perhaps we don't, but then what do we do, who decides that?" She shot back.

"That would be us Victoria." I told her calmly.

I was getting distracted by all this, I had to warn Victoria.

"Victoria listen, I came to warn you, your life is in danger. Nathan he; he was responsible for what happened to Kate and, a friend of mine and I found out he plans to do the same to you."

"What, you, you expect me to believe that!?" She gasped, shocked.

I shook my head. "Please Victoria, I'm trying to help you, I wouldn't say this just to cause trouble. Nathan is dangerous, please, you have to stay with your friends tonight."

She looked uncertain but then replied. "I...Maybe, Nathan has been acting odd lately. You could've taken a photo or something when I was covered in paint but you didn't. Maybe I can trust you, I do have people I can go to for help. Thanks Max."

I nodded, relieved, I doubted Victoria and I could be friends, but at least we wouldn't have to be enemies anymore.

It was then I finally saw Chloe as she emerged from a door marked private, she looked pissed off and I guessed she still hadn't found Nathan, a part of me was relieved. I approached her and she straightened up.

"Can't find Nathan anywhere, he must be hiding somewhere else. Let's get outta here." She said.

I nodded. "Good idea, c'mon."

I followed Chloe as we began to try and leave the pool, but then, on the way.

"Max!"

We both stopped; startled and I bit my lip. "Oh, hi Mr. Jefferson."

He smiled warmly. "It's good to see you both here. You two okay, you look rather, serious?"

"We're looking for Nathan!" I called back over the music.

"Nathan, didn't think you were all friends." Mr. Jefferson replied. "Well, I've not seen him here, listen, I gotta go, I've got to announce the winner of the contest, excuse me."

With that he began making his way to the sage set up for the DJ. Chloe shook her head and began to leave, I was following but we both stopped as Mr. Jefferson began to make the announcement.

After getting everybody's attention he called for the envelope and opened it.

"Well, well, what a surprise." He muttered before announcing. "The winner is, Victoria Chase!"

There were a mix of cheers and boos, I just shook my head, Chloe was, of course, not interested.

"Thank you, thank you Mr. Jefferson." Victoria said after taking the microphone. "I want to thank everyone for their support and also, to dedicate this victory, to Kate Marsh. She is the real 'Everyday Hero' of Blackwell. I hope she gets well soon and we can have her back, to welcome her back with open arms."

I rolled my eyes and followed Chloe outside. Finally away from the party we were no longer distracted by it. I was still worried about Warren, but I couldn't seen him anywhere.

I hoped he was safe, back in his dorm maybe. I thought about texting him, but then came the possibility we'd find out when Chloe suggested going to the dorms to see if Nathan was hiding there. Just then however her phone went and she checked it.

"Oh God, Max, look, it's Nathan." She said quickly, showing me the text. "He says there won't be anything left of Rachel by the time he's done."

I could see that was the case, the text made it clear he intended to dispose of Rachel's body, permanently. We immediately hurried to Chloe's truck, desperate to reach the junkyard before it was too late.

We arrived and immediately Chloe had the gun out and was stomping through the junkyard, heading for where Rachel was buried. I struggled to follow her, using the light on my phone as the only light source.

"Chloe, would you stop that, please." I whispered.

Chloe just snarled. "Just stay focused Max, need to make sure Nathan doesn't get the jump on us, be ready with your rewind."

I shook my head at Chloe's one track mind, but followed her as we finally reached Rachel's shallow grave. Chloe rushed over and let out a breath of relief.

"She's still here, but then, where's Nathan..." She muttered.

She stood up and looked around. I slowly backed off, something about this did not sit right with me, I felt like I was missing something. That was when it happened, I suddenly remembered Kate's words on Tuesday, when I felt a sharp sting in my neck and immediately my body fell limp. I collapsed, dropping my phone.

"No..." I choke out, my voice barely above a whisper.

My vision blurred and focused repeatedly; I could just make out a shadowy figure approaching Chloe, I began to panic.

"Chloe...look out..."

Chloe spun around, eyes wide. "Huh, what the fu-!"

She never finished for at that moment, as she raised her right hand, holding the gun, there was a loud bang, but not from Chloe's gun. I watched in shock and dismay as Chloe fell back, blood sprouting from the gunshot between her eyes.

She hit the ground, dead, the blood pooled.

'No, no Chloe, no, this can't, this wasn't...' I thought in a blind panic.

Throughout all this I had been trying to rewind, but my drugged state made my rewind power impossible to use. As I looked in shock at Chloe's body the figure turned to me and approached. I feared whatever was going to happen; but then I saw the figure's face as he stood over me.

'No, that's, impossible, it, it can't be...'

My thoughts raced when I saw the face; the shock combined with the drugs injected into me took effect and I blacked out.

But what I saw was forever burned into my mind. For I now realized who it was, it was unquestionably the mastermind behind that Dark Room, the one Nathan was working with, the one behind all of it, what happened to Kate, what happened to Rachel.

But who it was, that was the biggest blow to me. It wasn't Nathan, it wasn't even Sean Prescott.

It was Mark Jefferson.

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

Well, that's the end of Episode 4, we're nearing the end now, things are heading towards the conclusion, Episode 5 will be up next, that one was a real bitch to write, one part in particular let me just say.