CHLOE

I take a long drag of a cigarette and rest my head against the cool brick of the pool building. This is a good spot, underneath some of my old graffiti. Out of sight of the main Blackwell entrance. Out of sight of that drunkard Wells.

"What a shitty day," I mumble to myself. 'I guess it's kinda ironic that time lasts fucking forever when Max isn't around.'

The ringing of the school bell echoes throughout the building in front of me, leaking through the few open windows. I stub out my death stick and keep my attention on the courtyard. After a moment a small crowd bursts through the front doors. I recognise some of them as they appear at the bottom of the stairs; either I used to have classes with them or I've seen them with Max before. It's hard to look out for Max, I know she's not the tallest but I'm confident I'd spot her in a crowd. I check my phone just in case but there's been no new messages since lunch time.

The gushing crowd thins out more and more until they become like steady drips from a tap; only a few and only occasionally. 'Shit, maybe I did miss her.' I start to walk towards the dorms when I finally see Max and Kate descending the stairs at a snail's pace. I instinctively hide behind a tree, ready to pounce when she least suspects it. My sneaky grin fades when I remember how well that went last time, and that was before the lifetime of trauma. 'She's probably had enough scares for a lifetime, idiot' I tell myself as I slowly appear from behind the tree and shout Max's true name.

"Hey Dork-breathe!" I run up to them and add, "hey Kate."

"Chloe!" The adorable girl shrieks. Kate greets me politely as I embrace Max. I all but squeeze the life out of her.

"How was your day?" I ask, refusing to let her go.

Max rests her head against my shoulder. "Hella tiring." After a minute or two of warmth, we hear a delicate cough near us. I think we both kinda forgot that Kate was here and we break the hug. "Coming to my room?" She asks me.

"Max! You're such a temptress, it's only our second date!" She giggles, while Kate turns a shade of red and starts walking ahead of us. I grab Max's hand and we walk side-by-side. I ignore the few looks we get along the way. A short walk was made much longer by occasional greetings from Max's friends. "I didn't know you were such a popular girl," I whisper to her but she just grunts and shrugs her shoulders in response.

"They think I'm someone else," I hear Max mumble as we walk past Well's live-in house. Before I ask her what she means, we hear Max's name shouted from behind us, from someone I think I recognise but can't quite remember. She walks quickly towards us, avoiding a jog in those high heels.

'Damn, she could be a model.' I take in the sight as she gets closer. 'Nothing on Rachel though.'

"Hey Dana," Max responds with a smile. Kate draws near to Max and half hides behind her.

"It's so good to see you," Dana draws Max into a short hug, who is forced to let go of my hand in order to reciprocate. "We have so much to catch up on! We were all so worried when you heard about your coma; how are you feeling?" She asks with genuine concern.

"I'm okay now, thanks to these two." She nods at the both of us, reminding Dana that we're here.

Dana turns to Kate to say hello, which she sheepishly returns. "I'm relieved to see you out of your room." The remark seems odd but I just add it to the list of things to ask about later. "So you're the infamous punk who's dating our Max?" Her attention is now on me.

"Dating? I think we're at about tenth base by now." I grab Max's hand again and hold it tight, as if to say 'hand's off!'.

"Tenth? All this time I thought there were only four. You'll have to tell me more..."

I've already decided that Dana is somebody I could tolerate. "Where to start..." I make a show of being in deep thought. I turn to Max and ask "shall I tell her about that thing you do with your-"

"Stop! Noooo," a blushing Max shrieks out in panic. Both Dana and I giggle at her embarrassment, while Kate looks horrified. "We're about to head to my room for some tea, wanna come and hang out?" Max asks her in an effort to change the conversation, and it's the first time I'm hearing about these plans. 'Why do you tease me Max? I so desperately want you. Alone.' I give her a look that she ignores.

"I'd love to!" Dana accepts the invitation and we start walking back towards the dorms. "I can't stay long though, Trevor is coming around..." Dana starts talking to Max about her plans for the evening while I sneakily let go of Max and slow down slightly to match Kate's lagging pace.

"Is everything okay?" I whisper to her.

Kate just gives me a somewhat confused look before answering, "I'm not sure..." I ask her to elaborate but she seems reluctant to talk about it in the present audience. Before we all step into Max's room, Kate announces, "Oh, I still have your tea in my room. Chloe, please could you give me a hand?"

Max and I exchange a quick look before I answer "sure thing Kate", and we both head into Kate's room. "Now, where do you want my hands?" I beam at her, before realising that was a probably a joke better suited for Max. Fortunately, she doesn't seem to be paying attention.

"I'll have to fill the kettle. I'll be back in a minute, don't go anywhere!" The quiet girl quickly spills out before leaving me alone in her dorm room.

"Awwwkward," I say to the empty room. I channel my inner Max and nosey around her room a little. It's an odd mix of effects, from crosses hanging on the walls to dark drawings on the floor. 'Damn these are hardcore...' I pick one up to examine closer, 'I think I preferred her cutesy drawings though, this is definitely not her style.' My stone heart melts when I see the little bunny sleeping in its cage. "Alice, eh? I think your Auntie Max mentioned you before... I'm glad you're okay."

Kate returns shortly afterwards with the full kettle and switches it on, before inviting me to sit on her settee. I feel a talk coming on.

"What's going on Chloe?" Kate asks me as we both sit down.

"Umm... nothing much, how about you?" I answer innocently enough.

"I mean, what's going on with Max?" Her tone is quite stern. I think she'd make a good teacher.

"What do you mean?" I try to deflect but I suspect this isn't going to be easy, whatever this is.

Her tone quickly changes to frustration, "does everyone think I am some naïve little girl just because of what I believe?"

"I... sorry Kate," I feel bad, "I know I've only known you for like, a week, but I honestly don't think you are naïve. I gotta say though that I wouldn't exactly call you worldly either.'

"I..." she starts, in frustration, but after a moment of reflection Kate relaxes her shoulders and continues, "I guess that's fair. So tell me then, what's going on with Max? She's been... different since her coma. She was always a bit quiet and nervous but lately it just seems like, an order of magnitude worse? She spaces out a lot more and I don't think I saw her eat anything all day. Maybe I'm not worldly but I'm fairly sure she almost had a panic attack before our last class. Then, to top it off, she had this weird moment at the end where she couldn't remember her classmates."

"That doesn't seem that bad, I wouldn't be able to tell you the names of people I shared classes with."

"This is different though; when I reminded her of who they all were she looked so defeated, like her world has just collapsed."

"Hmm," I don't really have an answer to that but I'm familiar with that expression on Max's face.

"I just don't know how to make sense of this Chloe. Has something happened to her? Something I should be aware of?'

"Kinda, yeah." I respond, slowly. 'More than you could possibly imagine, Kate. Fuck, I knew she shouldn't have gone back to school, what was she thinking?'

"Can you tell me what it is?" She pleads with me. "Does it have anything to do with Mr Jefferson?"

"It's not really my place to say," I reply but she must have noticed my anger at hearing that name. I hastily add to my comment before she asks anymore questions and reads the responses directly off my face. "It's good that you care Kate, and I'm sure she appreciates your support. But it's like you said last week, all we can do at the moment is be there for her and if she wants to tell us anything, we'll be there to listen, right?" Besides, I would have no idea how to even begin telling her the truth. 'Would it go against her beliefs? I'm not sure I even know all of it, I bet there's stuff she's keeping secret because she thinks it'll hurt me'.

Kate doesn't like my answer so much, but she understands it. "You're right, I'm sorry for trying to interrogate you. It's just... I care about her, a lot."

"I can see that Kate, and I'm sure she knows it too." The flick of the kettle switch echoes through the room.

"We should get this to Max and Dana." Kate starts to stand up, but I grab her wrist and gently pull her back down to her seat.

"Can I ask you something first Kate?" She responds positively before I try to ask her about something Dana said earlier, but I am unsure how to really ask. The signs are all throughout the room; the covered mirrors, the dark drawings, the... self-destruction. 'What would I have wanted to hear when I was in my darkest place?' I ask myself. 'Hey Chloe, I'm back' was the obvious one, everything else I just responded to anger, so I know I have to be delicate here. "Do you still think about ending things?" Unfortunately delicacy has never been a trait of mine.

Kate stares at me for a moment, then at the wall, before turning her attention down to her feet. The silence is deafening. The young girl scratches casually at her arm, possibly something she picked up from Max, and tries to speak. I can see the words form on her lips; she clearly wants to say something but can't bring herself to do so. I put my arm on her shoulder and pull her towards me.

"Kate... you know how you care about Max?" The girl nods but doesn't lean in to my shoulder, she just remains motionless, staring at her lap. "Well Max and I care just as much, but about you, alright?" I keep my hand on the quiet girl's shoulders and think about how my life has changed so much over the past few weeks. "Can you make me a promise Kate?"

"What's that?" She asks, still motionless.

"Any time you have dark thoughts, can you message Max or me? Or both? You don't even have to tell us what's going on, if you don't want to talk about it, but please just reach out and say hello, okay?"

"I guess I can do that, but I..." I wait patiently for her as she struggles to form the rest of her sentence, "I don't want to be a burden to you guys."

"Kate," I move back a little and raise her head to face mine, only a few inches away, "if the roles were reversed, would you think Max was being a burden?"

Her lips quiver, "no," she says meekly.

"We're not any different, okay? You'll never be a burden to us." Kate buries her head back into my shoulder and starts to cry this time. "We both like you, okay?" There is no response but the tears. I hold her tighter and let her get it out of her system. My phone buzzes in my pocket but I ignore it. When things quiet down I ask her, "so is that a promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"And not just when you're feeling down, message us whenever you want, hang out with us and stuff. I can't promise I'll always be on my best behaviour though."

Kate gives a soft chuckle and lets go of me, "No worries Chloe, I can tell you're really putting in the effort to avoid cussing."

"That obvious?"

"It looks like you're about to pop!" She chuckles again and I respond in kind.

"Shall we go back, or do you want to stay here for a bit longer?" I ask her.

"No, no, we should get you back. I'll have to boil this again," she says as she flicks the switch of the kettle. "Can you take the cups and tea back? I need to quickly wash my face."

"Okay, laters Katers."

I pick up the stuff and, with a bit of a struggle, manage to open the door to Max's room. They are both sitting on her settee when I enter, and I hear the tail end of the conversation from Dana. "I'm sorry Max, I just can't recall anyone like that. I could ask Juliet if you like? She seems to know everyone on campus."

"Who's this?" I ask to the pair as I place the mugs and stuff down on the carpet, for a lack of anywhere else to share them. The two other girls slide off the settee and on to the floor to join me.

"It's uhh... not that important." I can tell from Max's tone and expression that that's a lie, but I figure it's power-related chat for private discussion, so I don't pursue it further. "No Kate?" Max asks with a bit of concern.

"Small errand, she'll be here in a minute. If she doesn't run into the Blackhell Bitch, that is."

Max glares while Dana laughs and asks, "who on Earth is the Black- Oooooh, Victoria, right?"

"Who else?" I ask in return.

"Well, you've obviously not met half of the cheerleading team." Dana responds.

"Probably not, we're hardly in the same social circle." I struggle to remember any cheerleaders.

"I think you'd be surprised," Dana smirks, "but you don't have to worry about Vicky anymore, she's gone."

The colour fades from Max's face, obviously she's thinking of the worst, and probably wondering how she caused it.

"Gone?" I ask Dana, as Kate walks through the door with a kettle of hot water.

Kate sits with us as Dana continues, "she went back to Seattle when, umm... , she had no more reason to be here."

"What reason is that?" The silent and awkward atmosphere makes me wish I hadn't asked, but I can piece the puzzle together. "Oh right," I add.

Fortunately Kate joins in and asks the pair which tea they'd prefer before pouring a cup for them. I pass on the offer while I take in the sight of Max's room for the first time. It is... not quite what I expected. There are no decorations on the wall and... I think I smell a hint of fresh paint. I totally expected hipster shit all over the place.

Max recognises my confusion before I even ask, "when security came to get Alice, they saw the paint from... that psycho and had to repaint the room. I just haven't had chance to redecorate."

"What paint?" Dana asks before Kate and I get the chance.

"I... I'd rather we talk about something that isn't Blackwell, if I'm honest." Dana and I share a glance.

"No worries Max," Kate replies.

There's a small awkward silence before Dana attempts a new topic. "Sooo, did you see the anti-rain the other day? Some say it's got something to do with that weirdo storm thing." Kate makes a small comment in reply, but Max stares through us and into the distance. 'Jesus Christ, does she have to be reminded every day of that damn storm?'

"Uhh... Dana, tell us about your date tonight." I prompt her.

Dana seems taken aback by the abrupt change of topic, but simultaneously delighted at the chance to speak about it. Max mouths a 'thank you' to me, unseen by the other two. The conversation thus continues between the four of us.

When we finish our tea, Dana looks at her phone and announces that she has to leave. "This was nice though, we should definitely do it more often. "

"You're welcome any time Dana." Max adds.

"Uhh... I should be going too." Kate announces, as all four of us stand up to say our goodbyes.

"Are you sure Kate?" Max asks her

"I've been around you all day Max, I think you need a break. I think someone is dying for your attention too." That gets a smile out of everyone.

Before they leave, Dana adds in a comment regarding the upcoming Halloween party. The silent response is a little awkward, I think maybe Dana doesn't fully realize why. "I uhh...", I speak on behalf of Max and Kate, "we'll think about it." but I'm pretty sure they've both had enough of Blackwell parties.

"Awesome. C'mon Kate, let's leave the two love birds for the evening." We each say goodbye and the two friendly girls disappear through the door.

The moment the door to Max's room closes, I pounce on the freckly girl and attempt to suck the life out of her. After a few minutes of inspecting each other's mouths, we separate our lips and look into each other's eyes. "I missed you so much," she is the first one to say what we're both thinking.

"Mm, hmm," I agree, before kissing her again.

A greasy pizza box lies on the carpet of Max's room, surrounded by papers full of squiggles and arrows. Some words like 'storm', 'powers' and 'Alyssa' are circled, with arrows pointing to other words and bullet points detailing Max's most recent premonition. Even laid out like this, we are unable to piece all of it together.

Instead we are both cuddling together on Max's settee, watching old episodes of X-Files on her laptop; a brief respite from googling possible tsunami targets. I have one arm around her and she has her head resting on my shoulder.

"I think I get it now," I say to her.

"Get what?" Max asks me while keeping her eyes on the screen.

"Why you insist on going to school, after all the shit that's happened..."

She leans up and looks at me before answering, "because I'm so close to a perfect GPA?"

I give her a look that screams 'who are you trying to kid?' She sighs and leans back on my shoulder. "You're a good person Max," I give her a little squeeze, "and I'm glad she has you looking out for her."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Max says sheepishly.

"Seriously though, I'm kinda worried about her."

This gets her attention; she fully pulls herself away from me and looks into my eyes. "What happened?" She asks with a serious expression.

"Nothing happened, as such, I'm just worried that something might happen again. I told her to talk to us more often."

The girl displays her cute smile and responds, "you're a good person Chloe."

"I'm not. I just care about her... and you..." I say, turning my attention back to the laptop screen.

"Mm-hmm," she says, still looking at me, "and the whole of Arcadia Bay." She leans in to plant a kiss on my cheek. "This is just another reason why I love you, you goof. You have this hella cool, sexy," another kiss, this time on the lips "and angry exterior but down on the inside you have so much love and compassion." God damn she is so cute and hot. "You're the exact opposite of me," she whispers.

It takes a moment for my brain to adjust from flirty Max, to self-deprecating Max. "What?" I ask, dumbfounded.

She is sat up, looking down and scratching at her wrist. I am reminded of Kate from earlier today. "When people look at me, they think I'm some kind of hero for saving Kate, but-"

"But nothing Max! You are a hero! You've saved my life so many times, you saved Kate's life, you found the serial killer and you stopped a fucking storm Max!"

"But I-"

"You what? Let the storm hit the town? Let people die? Max, they're not dead now! Why do you not get this?" I can see the tears forming in her eyes, "I know you've been in some really shitty situations Max, I'll never possibly understand what any of it was like... but the way I see it, you went through so much fucking agony so that you could save everyone's life and if that isn't the very definition of a hero then I don't know what is." The sight of her tears dripping down her cheeks breaks my heart, but I need to tell her how I see it. She needs to understand that she's not the villain. I put my arms around her and hold her tightly. "Maybe we'll never know why you have this kinda power... but I'm glad you're the one who has it."

"Why?" She asks quietly.

"You really are a dork, Max." I squeeze her tighter, "think about it for a minute. With your kind of power you could really fuck shit up, you could make people do whatever you want and make yourself Empress of the world or some shit. The fact that this never even occurred to you, is why I'm glad you're super-powered... and why I love you."

"I don't want any of that stuff," her tears are now drying, "I just want this. I just want you."

"Well," I start to say before breaking the embrace and looking into her eyes, "you've got this Max. You've got me." I kiss her passionately, ignoring her wet cheeks.

"Wowzers," she softly exclaims after we break the kiss.

I chuckle, "never change Max, never change." We start to kiss again as I lift her up and carry her over to the bed.

JAY

I pull up at the side of the quiet road just outside of town, out of sight of any houses or other buildings. The sun set an hour ago so the road is particularly deserted of all vehicles, except for the one parked directly in front of me. I grab my briefcase from the passenger footwell and step outside into the chilly Monday evening. The briefcase is a relic from my Father; it feels heavy in my hands, as if weighed down by his disappointment in what I am about to do.

After a dozen steps, I get into the other car, closing the door behind me. The briefcase sits heavy on my lap.

"I hope this is quiet enough for you," says the gentleman in the driver's seat. I avoid looking in his direction, and instead keep my eyes focused on the mirrors.

"We should keep this short..." I begin unclicking the latches to the case, and pull out the papers within. "Obviously you didn't get any of this from me."

"Right," the driver confirms as he takes the papers from me and starts to flick through them. "Let's see... Heather Fields, Daniel Smith, Maxine Caulfield, Geoff Baker... is that all?"

"That's all I could personally remember. I didn't want to raise suspicion by asking around. This is enough for now."

"Ok," he starts to say, but I have already slammed the suitcase shut and have my hand on the door.

As I leave, I lean back into the car and say, "you know how to contact me." He just nods in my direction before I close the door to his car and head back to my own, ready to begin another shift.

MICHAEL

'It's not fair, what is so bad about me? Am I really that detestable?' I examine myself in the mirror, 'why can't they see that I'm a nice guy? I treat all women with the respect and dignity that they deserve.'

I sigh and lean back in my chair. I open up a new tab and go to Facebook. It's only been five minutes since I last checked but there might be new photos, or better yet, maybe they split up and she needs a rebound. I find her page easily enough and visit. 'Damn, nothing new. I wonder what she's doing right now?'

"Who the fuck is Chloe Price anyway?" I grumble to myself. 'It's not fair, Max and I were supposed to be together. Why couldn't she see that we're perfect for each other; that it's supposed to be fate? How fucking dare she treat me like this, the dumb bitch.' I stare at her portrait photo as I imagine Max and I living life together, and fucking all the time. 'That would be so amazing. I would treat her like a princess.'

I slap the desk in front of me, 'how can I split them up?' I ask myself. 'How do I make her understand that I'm the one she's supposed to be with? That I'm the only one who can treat her right? I've gotta be better than this Chloe trash, surely.'

'Maybe she'll just realize in time and when her phase is over, I'll be there for her.' I sigh and put my head on the desk. After a few minutes I lift up my head and look through the profiles of other girls I share classes with. I find old faithful in one of Taylor's beach photos from the past summer.

Some time later, after I have relieved a bit of tension, I find myself writing in my journal. I think it's a dumb and girly thing to do, but I saw a post on b that claimed it will help with the upcoming No-Nut November. I guess I was supposed to use it as tension relief, but looking back it's now just become full of sordid fantasies and complaints. I write a little bit about Taylor before heading to bed.

MAX

The nightly terrors jolt me awake and I find myself resting on Chloe's naked chest; the perfect pillow. I delicately lean over to check the time on my phone, disappointed to see it's not even two in the morning, and rest my head back on her chest. I close my eyes and listen to her heartbeat and rhythmic breathing; it's a soothing melody to my fragile state but it's not enough to help me get back to sleep. 'I wish I could sleep without the dreaming bits,' I muse, 'I wish I could forget everything that's happened.' I feel some envy for Chloe, Kate and the others at Blackwell; they've lived, or died, through a lot of the same stuff I have... but they get to forget it when I change things. 'At least they're alive. At least Chloe is here, alive, breathing underneath me right now. Her heartbeat is so comforting.' I am so thankful for this moment. I move my right hand up to her chest, attempting to get a more comfortable position.

After another ten minutes of pretending to sleep, I feel something between my fingers. With experience from previous encounters I keep my eyes closed and feel out the string-like object. It seems to connect to the centre of Chloe's chest, and leads towards the middle of my room. I let go and feel at my own chest with the same hand. I feel concerned for Chloe when I find nothing there. 'What does it mean if she has one?' I wonder. I move my hand back to find the string leading from her chest and with great delicacy, I peel myself away from her and out of bed.

As I trace the string along my room I think I hear sounds, just at the edge of hearing; faint echoes of voices, possibly of Chloe, possibly of me, though it could be anybody really. Halfway there I bump into another string, this time it blocks my path, seeming to move between the window and the door.

'If they are all around me, then I must walk through them all day without knowing. Surely I can pass through this one?' I attempt to push against the second string but there is too much resistance, so instead I duck underneath it. After another step I feel a knot in the string emanating away from Chloe. The knot is where it's tied to another string, but it seems to be like a focal point, changing the path of both of them. I gently caress each of the three other paths until I hear similar echoes to the previous and, keeping my eyes closed, follow it out of my dorm room, being careful not to bump into the door.

Confident that nobody else will be awake, I follow the string through the corridor. However, it crosses many other strings along the way, which I have to step over or duck underneath. After such a slow pace, being extremely careful not to trip or bump into anything, I finally find myself outside in the cold air. At least, I know rationally that it is cold but I do not feel it. I continue to follow the string, down the few steps and further into the courtyard. With each additional step the number of strings becomes greater and greater until I have to stop, no longer able to continue without contorting my body.

'What now?' I ask myself.

While I stand there in the courtyard, wondering what to do next, a light appears beside me. My eyes remain fully shut yet I can see the string I am holding, the same string that originated from Chloe's chest. The light that I see is the string itself; it has the feel of string but looks like a laser beam you see in old heist movies, though this one glows with a bright blue-tinted light all across its length. It stretches from behind me and carries on all the way to infinity but not in a straight line; it randomly changes positions all the time and loops around itself. From above it must look like a child's squiggles.

Gradually each of the other strings in front of me appear, as though they were controlled by a dimmer switch. Each string has their own unique colour and each follows a seemingly random squiggly path, some of them form knots with others and some others just abruptly end.

"Whoa," I feel like I am at a laser show yet my eyes still remain shut.

With each moment I spend like this I see more and more strings becoming visible, shining their lights around me. With significant reluctance I decide I should stop and go back inside. I open my eyes but nothing changes; I still see nothing but the erratic beams of light illuminating the surrounding void.

I attempt to rub my eyes but I am unable to find my face, my invisible hands just pass through empty space. I scream but I hear nothing. I turn around and attempt to walk back towards the dorm, but I am unable to move from this spot. I finally realize that I no longer feel weight on my feet... I no longer feel the ground below. I become conscious that I am no longer breathing, nor do I hear a heartbeat in this absolutely silent void. I have flashbacks to a similar experience, 'but they were just coma dreams, surely?' At least I am still capable of thought.

I remain there for an uncountable amount of time, until I notice another light source; a new one illuminating the immediate surrounding beams with an intense orange glow. I am still able to change the direction of my vision and so I look downwards. Instead of the body that I am used to, I instead see bright flames dancing around, as if blown around by a storm.

'Is that me? What the heck am I?'

DANA

"Thanks again for tonight," Trevor beams in delight.

"You say it like you're the only one who had fun," I tease the skater. "It was a good gig, a lot of good vibes. I should be thanking you for driving." I give his hand a squeeze.

"Shhh, we'll wake Wells... or whoever's sleeping in there now," he nods at the house. We try to walk on our tip toes but make an awful attempt at suppressing our giggles.

When we turn around the corner into the courtyard, we both stand still, shocked by the sight of snowfall in front of us. It's not the first time it's snowed recently but this is extra unusual, as it's only falling on one little spot, about the same diameter as the height of a man. Trevor gasps and sprints towards the centre. At first I think he's aiming to play and so I run to catch up, as best as I am able to in these shoes. However, when I get closer it becomes clear why Trevor was so desperate to get here.

In the middle of the snowfall I see a silhouette of a person lying on the ground.

"Max!" I shout, not caring if anyone hears. "Max!" Her skin is freezing and wet. "We have to get her inside right now." Trevor has already taken off his jacket and put it on the poor girl. He picks her up in his arms and carries her inside, while I open the doors along the way.

'How the hell did she get like this?' I wonder, as I dial 911.