Chapter 8

The rain outside the lighthouse lashed down as the tornado thundered towards Arcadia Bay. Max clenched her teeth against the wet and the cold as it soaked her to the bone and bit into her skin. The wind pulled at her hair with so much force it was a wonder it didn't start to rip out. She'd never been the stocky type and barely weighed anything even when soaking wet so she couldn't help but wonder how she hadn't already been picked up and dragged into the tornado just like when she fought Jefferson on that very bluff. She'd had no chance of truly winning then, even with her rewind. But this time was going to be different. It was Chloe with her now, not Jefferson. Chloe, who was holding an all-too-familiar photo up to her. It was a picture of a bucket in the girls' bathroom at Blackwell Academy. There was a blue butterfly perched on the rim.

"You could use this photo to change everything right back to when you took that picture!" Chloe had to shout to be heard over the raging maelstrom. "Of course, all that would take is for me to..." She couldn't finish the sentence, but Max knew what she was getting at. The very insinuation stung like an insult. The very thought that Max would offer her up as a sacrifice...

"Fuck that!" Max snapped. "No way! You are my number one priority! You are all that matters to me!"

"I know." Chloe nodded, her voice oddly calm as she tore the photo in half, the pieces instantly being snatched from her grip and spinning away in the wind. "You've proven that time and again. And that's why you'll never free yourself from this." In an instant, Max could see the black fire that danced behind Chloe's stare. She knew what had happened. Jefferson had found her as she knew he would. With that, he drew the revolver from the waistband of Chloe's jeans and aimed it at her. But there was something he'd forgotten to account for, just as she'd banked on: He'd drawn the revolver at a time when she didn't have drugs in her system and didn't have something else adversely affecting her. She could use her rewind in this reality.

Just as Chloe pulled the trigger, Max extended her hand. The bullet slammed back into the gun barrel as she charged forward. Because of her newfound power to rewind individual objects, Jefferson could only watch in stunned fascination through Chloe's eyes as the bullet struck the edge of the barrel due to the imperfections in her arm's steadiness. The gun flew to the side and ripped itself from Chloe's grip as Max shoved her out of the way, switching her rewind to the revolver. It spun back into position as Max was there to catch it. With a heavy heart, she whirled to face Chloe.

"It's only for a second." She said it as much to convince herself she was doing the right thing as she did to make an unheard promise to Chloe. With that, she pulled the trigger. Chloe fell without a sound as a torrent of black fire erupted from her body with an inhuman howl. As it happened, Max used her rewind on Chloe. The bullet ejected itself from the older girl's chest as her body was dragged back to its feet like a puppet on a string. As Max watched, the light returned to her eyes. This time, Max knew it really was her. What she didn't know was how long she'd have before Jefferson managed to re-possess her. She knew she'd have to make this quick.

"Did you just shoot me?" Chloe's voice carried a dumbfounded note to it as she checked her chest over and noticed the revolver in Max's hands. Max dropped it immediately and threw her arms around Chloe, determined to make the most of what might be her last few seconds with her best friend.

"Chloe, listen! I can't explain it all! Not now! I'm going to use the photo to go back in time! This all has to end, but the only way that can happen is if it never started!" As Max said that, a look of horror crossed Chloe's face.

"Holy shit! I tore up the photo! What was I doing?"

"Don't worry!" Max gripped her furiously by the shoulders. "It wasn't the only copy. Head into the lighthouse and lock yourself in somehow! That should keep you safe from the storm and delay you long enough if you get possessed again." Chloe could only stare at Max and she could see the questions desperately burning in her friend's eyes. But she also knew Chloe trusted her enough to go along with it without the answers.

"Will I see you again?" Chloe asked. Now it was Max's turn to stare at her questioningly. "When you use the rewind and go back to that moment, everything's going to be different. You said you were going to stop this from ever starting. After you do that, will I see you again?" Max's mind spun. She wanted to dodge the question. She wanted to lie. She wanted to tell Chloe it was all going to be okay. But she couldn't. She couldn't tell her what she knew wasn't true.

"Probably not. No." The admission tore into her chest. She could feel it gripping her beating heart and crushing it in a way Jefferson never could. This was the only thing that could hurt her. It was also the only thing left that she had to do. In that instant, she was stunned when Chloe reached in and gently brought one hand to rest on her cheek, turning her head slightly to look directly into her eyes. It was still her. The amount of roiling emotion that was present wasn't something Max could ever mistake. It cut her to the core to see it.

"Then I'll never need to live this down." The next thing she knew, Chloe's lips were on hers. She returned the kiss hungrily, having waited so long for it and thoroughly hating herself for how brief she was going to have to make it. For a few seconds, she allowed herself to close her eyes and let her nerve endings light up all over her body as fireworks of sensation and emotion exploded inside her so deafeningly that it drowned out even the tornado for a few precious seconds.

All too soon, it was over. They parted and Chloe paused to wipe Max's cheek. She wasn't sure if the wetness she felt there was made of tears or rainwater. She also didn't care. In that moment it didn't matter. As promised, Chloe took off towards the lighthouse.

Knowing she was out of harm's way, Max trusted herself to sit down. She made sure she was facing away from the wind before opening her bag, grabbing her diary and beginning to write. It didn't take her long. It was just a few notes that explained everything. Turning to the very back cover, she then wrote a note to Chloe. Once she rewound, Chloe wouldn't remember anything. The least Max could do was say goodbye in a way she knew she'd have time to. Once that was done, she put the diary away and began to rummage. Eventually, she pulled out the butterfly photo. It was identical to the one Chloe tore up, but a copy from a totally different reality that had been returned to her in the burial caves after Chen and Ellie's funerals. Focusing on it was hard. The wind, rain and her own tears, which were flowing freely now, worked together to make it near-impossible. It was an almost insurmountable task, but she was determined. This was going to happen. She would make sure Chloe got the answers she deserved. What happened after that was out of her control. That rested entirely on Chloe's shoulders. With that in mind, she looked into the picture and felt herself transitioning from one reality to another as the image in front of her expanded and filled the world around her. As it did, she felt it become her whole world. This was it. This was the deciding moment. This was the moment that everything ended. This was the moment that it never started.