It began with a vision. One completely ordinary Monday, in a timeline which seemed like a million years ago. The terror Max felt as she got out of bed that morning shook her to the core. She didn't even bother to hide it, Chloe and Rachel already knew. Max almost skipped school, but she didn't want anyone to worry. She begrudgingly made her way through the day, saying a few polite words to people. She dreaded going into her photography class. As she stood outside the classroom door, her heart was racing.
"This is it." She whispered aloud to herself. She checked her phone. No new messages. She pocketed it and then immediately took it back out. "2:50, Monday, October 7th." She read aloud. She exhaled deeply. She opened the door and walked into her classroom. Everyone was already in class, milling about, talking to people. Jefferson smiled and waved. Max ignored him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him scowl. She felt liquid drip down her back, and she realised she was sweating. "Ugh, ew!" She thought to herself. She could feel her pink doe t-shirt stick to her. She shivered. She walked over to her seat and sat down next to Kate. Kate looked troubled, but smiled at Max. Max didn't feel like pressing matters. Jefferson stood up and cleared his throat, and everyone gradually made their way to their seats. Max carefully pulled out her stuff and placed it on the table. Jefferson began his tirade, starting by asking everyone how their weekend was, with some murmurs as a class response.
"Once again, the energy of this class is palpable." Jefferson chuckled. "Nah, I get it. Days are getting shorter, you guys are working pretty hard this year. I can imagine you're spending your weekends doing nothing."
Max leaned forward and almost smacked her head on the table. She moaned.
"Thank you for reminding me, Max! It's important that you all get some good sleep. Especially if you happen to win a certain competition." He winked. Max moaned again.
"You okay, Max?" Kate whispered.
Max nodded. "Sorry, my head hurts. Had a big weekend."
Kate recoiled. "I thought you didn't like alcohol."
Max giggled. "Haha no! We had a movie marathon. Got Warren to thank for that. Stayed up all night Saturday."
Kate rolled her eyes but smiled. "Of course you did. You deserve it."
Max winced. "Ah!"
"You okay, Max?" Kate asked. "Do you need some tyl-"
Max's head was swimming. "Oh God… Kate.. no… this can't be happening… not now... " She clutched her head and moaned.
"Mr. Jefferson!" Kate cried.
Jefferson stopped and turned. "Max!" He cried, running over.
"No! Get away!" Max cried. "Not again! This can't be happening! This can't be ha-" Her cries were cut off as she blacked out.
BOOM! CRACK!
"Ugh…" Max moaned. She was face down in the dirt, wind and rain pelting her back. She slowly sat up. "How did I get here…? And where is here?" She stood up and looked around. "What? How? I was just in-" She stopped. She looked at the sign in front of her.
"The Lighthouse."
"No. No! NO!" Max screamed. "I can't be here! This isn't right!" She clutched her head, feeling the roots of her hair tug at her scalp. Lightning flashed, thunder cracked. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Max screamed, throwing her head back as she let out her cry. She could hear scuttles in the bushes behind her. Tree branches struck her, threatening to fall over. She pressed forward. "I gotta… get to the lighthouse…" She gradually made her way up the hill, shielding her face from the strong power of the elements. As she approached the top of the hill, her horrors were realised. "No! How can this still be happening? I thought I fixed everything!" She looked out towards the giant tornado approaching the shoreline of the Bay. "WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!?" She yelled. She fell to her knees on the edge of the cliff. She heard thunder clap over her head, and looked up to see the top of the lighthouse come tumbling towards her. "NO!"
"Woah!" Max thought as she was violently jerked back to reality. She felt her chair tip backwards slightly. Kate gave her an odd look. "I'm back in class…" Max thought, struggling to uncloud her thoughts. She shook her head.
"Alfred Hitchcock famously called films, 'Little pieces of time'. But he could have been talking about photography, as he likely was…" Jefferson explained.
"What the fuck…?" Max whispered. "This can't be happening again. " She looked to her left and saw Taylor scrunching up a paper ball. She threw it, and it hit Kate right in the face.
"Ow!" Kate winced quietly. Max flashed her eyes angrily at Taylor, whose eyes widened as she frantically mimed an apology. Victoria had her hand up and Jefferson called on her.
"Please don't let her phone ring please don't let her phone ring please don't let her phone ring-"
"Bzzt!" Victoria's phone vibrated on her table.
"Shit!" Max frowned.
"Diane Arbus!" Victoria answered, albeit nowhere near as enthusiastically as she did the last three times Max had seen her do it.
"There you go, Victoria!" Jefferson replied eagerly. "Why Arbus?"
"Because of her images of hopeless faces…" Victoria's face faded as Max began collecting her thoughts.
"I can't- no…" She felt tears forming in her eyes and sniffed. "Shit! Does this mean-" Her heart stopped. "Oh no…"
"Hello, Max." Jefferson suddenly said. Max jumped. "Welcome back to the real world. I really wish you would stop spacing out in class, you're a wonderful student when you pay attention. We'll talk more after class."
Victoria giggled, then shut up when Max glared at her.
"But, since I do have your attention now, can you please tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portrait?"
"Oh God…" Max thought. She cleared her throat. "The Daguerreian Process. Invented by a french painter named Louis Daguerre, around 1830."
"Nice work, Max! See? I told you you were a remarkable student when you listened. I promise you, I'm not that boring."
Max absent-mindedly nodded and looked down at the table.
"You okay, Max?" Kate asked.
Max shook her head. "I'll tell you later. You look like you've been through hell."
Kate chuckled. "I spent all weekend worrying about you. That's all. You got a photo for the Everyday Heroes Contest yet?"
Max blinked. She reached into her bag and pulled out the photo she took that weekend. The helicopter shone clear as day, illuminated by the lights of Arcadia Bay. "Yeah. I think so. I don't think it'll win, but it's worth handing in."
"That's the spirit, Max." Kate smiled. "Regardless, I'm confident that you'll win. You're a much better photographer than everyone else in this room combined."
"Don't sell yourself short, missy. I'm just some girl." Max said.
Before Kate could reply, the bell rang.
"And guys don't forget the deadline to submit a photo in the Everyday Heroes Contest. I'll fly out with the winner to San Francisco where you'll be feted by the art world. It's great exposure and it can kickstart a career in photography. So Stella and Alyssa, get it together. Taylor, don't hide. And yes Max, I see you pretending not to see me." Jefferson frowned at her and then walked over to his desk.
"Bastard." Max scowled. Kate stood up and waved at Max as she left, leaving her and Jefferson as the last two in class. She sighed and walked towards the classroom.
"I see you, Max Caulfield." Jefferson said. "Don't even think about leaving until we talk about your entry."
"This can't be happening…" Max thought. She turned around and walked over to him.
"I'd never let one of photography's future stars avoid handing in her picture." Jefferson smiled.
"Yeah. Sure. It's right here." Max said, handing him her photo.
"Oh. Well. That was easy."
"No. It wasn't easy at all." Max thought, this time keeping it to herself.
"Well, um-" Jefferson started, but Max was already walking out the door. "One second, Miss Caulfield." He said angrily. "Please don't be rude. I'm frankly rather sick of you not paying attention in class and walking out while I'm talking to you? Your parents will hear about this, young lady."
Max grinned. "Watch me give a shit." She closed the door.
"MAX!" Jefferson yelled.
Max grinned. She leaned up against the wall outside the classroom. She held out her right hand, giggling as she saw her classmates walk backwards. "That should do it." She waited to see if Jefferson would burst open the door angrily, demanding an audience. When he did not, Max felt satisfied. She walked down the school hall towards the main doors. As she walked past the bathroom, she heard voices.
Angry voices.
That she recognised.
"Chloe?" Max whispered to herself. "Nathan?" Her face turned white. "No. No no no. This can't be real. Not again."
"I know you've been pumping drugs and shit to kids around here. I bet your sister wouldn't be too happy to hear what her little brother has been doing for homework!" Chloe cried.
"Leave her out of this, bitch!"
"Word for fucking word…" Max thought. "Which could only mean-"
"And what about that girl Samantha? Huh? I saw her at the party, looking stressed and blazed out of her fucking mind. I know it was you who spiked Rachel's drink. What the fuck did you do to her?"
"You don't know who the fuck I am, or who you're messing around with!" Nathan screamed.
"Where'd you get that?" Chloe's voice lowered, scared.
"That's it!" Max cried as she barged her shoulder into the door, knocking Chloe into Nathan. Nathan fell on his back, the gun flying through the air.
"Fuck!" Nathan winced as his head smacked on the tile floor.
Chloe quickly grabbed his gun.
"Chloe! Come on!" Max cried.
"Come out, Rachel. You can drop the mop too."
Rachel peaked around the corner and saw Max. She dropped the mop and sheepishly walked over Nathan, who was slowly picking himself up.
"You're all fucking dead!" He snarled.
Chloe grabbed Rachel's hand and they bolted out of the bathroom and out the main doors.
"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU GUYS THINKING!?" Max shouted.
"I didn't think he'd still have a gun." Chloe murmured. "You said Victoria took it, after all."
"WELL OF COURSE HE'S GONNA HAVE A FUCKING BACKUP!" Max snarled. "God. I can't believe you two. What were you trying to do?"
"Get information out of him." Rachel answered.
"You could have died. Both of you." Max sighed. "Sorry. I'm just- I've had a pretty shitty day."
"Let's sit down." Rachel suggested, walking over to the fountain. Chloe and Max followed, sitting down on the edge of the fountain.
"You guys know how stupid that was, right?" Max asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well- we didn't want you to worry. We thought we could have handled it." Chloe said.
"Okay, sure. Well done. Glad that totally worked." Max said sarcastically. "Anyway. I wanna go home. We'll talk later."
Chloe and Rachel looked at each other. "Are you?" Rachel asked. "I mean-"
"Yes. Let's go." Max growled. She stood up. Chloe and Rachel followed closely behind Max as she walked. Max felt her phone buzz and she took it out of her pocket. "Ah, Warren wants to see me."
"Of course he does." Chloe said.
"He wants his flash drive back."
"Oh. Well that makes sense."
"He's in the parking lot."
"Well, that works out." Rachel said.
They walked towards the parking lot, where Warren was leaning against an old blue car. He waved to them.
Max stopped and turned around. "Can you-" She cut herself off. "Can you guys wait in the truck? I just- I just wanna talk to Warren in private."
Rachel eyed Max suspiciously. Chloe grabbed her arm. "Come on, Rach. Don't be too long, Max!"
"I have all the time in the world." Max said to herself. She walked over to Warren.
"Hey Warren." She smiled and gave him a hug. "How are you?"
"I'm alright. How have you been?" Warren asked. He looked troubled, almost perfectly mirroring Kate's face at the beginning of photography class. Max eyed him.
"It's been one strange fucking day." Max smiled, handing Warren his flash drive.
"Tell me about it." Warren said. "Like, I mean, seriously. What happened?"
"Everything." Max muttered. "Literally that whole class played out nearly exactly the same as it did in the original timeline."
"How do you mean?"
"Kate had a paper ball thrown at her, Victoria's phone rang, she talked about Diane Arbus, Jefferson asked me a question about Daguerreotypes- literally everything. So many small details."
"And you think that's important, somehow?" Warren asked.
"It's not like you to reject evidence."
"It's not evidence, it's a theory, Max. What else happened."
"I had a vision. Of the tornado."
"Okay, woah." Warren stood up and backed away slightly. "That is evidence. Why didn't you just start with that?"
Max shrugged. "I haven't told Chloe and Rachel yet."
"How come? You guys were just together."
"I caught them in the girl's bathroom, interrogating Nathan Prescott, who had a gun."
"A gun!?" Warren cried, then looked around. "Like, another one?"
Max nodded. "And this is exactly what happened the last Monday, October 7th, 2013 I experienced. Except, minus Rachel, of course."
"Y-yeah." Warren stuttered. "So what do you think is going to happen?"
"I don't know!" Max cried. "If I have another tornado vision, that might be it! It might be a fixed point in time and all of this was for nothing!"
"Max, Max, calm down!" Warren gently grabbed Max's shoulders.
"I'm scared, Warren." Max sniffed.
"I know. I'm scared too. But we can still change the future, right?"
"You said going back in time is what caused the storm." Max sniffed again. "And like, the ball lightning from the party. What if it snows again today? What do I do, Warren?"
"That's enough, Max. We'll figure something out."
"Max Caulfield, right?" A voice called from behind her.
"Get the hell outta here, Prescott."
Nathan ignored him, shoving him aside. "So. You and your little girlfriends wanted to give me a lecture, huh? Well I don't take kindly to that sort of thing."
"What did you do at the party, Nathan?"
"I ASK THE QUESTIONS HERE!" Nathan growled.
"Awfully reminiscent." Max muttered to herself. "Alright, Prescott. Ask away."
"How much do you know, Caulfield?" Nathan asked.
"Enough to know Samantha Myers probably needs some serious therapy."
"She's not a part of this." Nathan grinned. "I think you're lying. You know way more. I've seen the way you look at the students around here. Little psychoanalyst Max Caulfield. You even turned Victoria against me."
"That was your fault, Prescott. You threatened her with a gun."
"I did not!" Prescott's voice cracked. Warren suppressed a giggle. "She walked in on me at a bad time, that's all."
"She saved your life."
"Don't analyse me! I pay people to do that."
"Where is Samantha, Prescott?"
"I told you, she's not a part of this. Now, if I were you, I'd stay the fuck outta other people's business."
"Step the fuck back, Prescott." Chloe snarled, Nathan's gun clicking in her fingers as she aimed it.
Nathan scowled at Chloe and walked away.
"Thanks, Chloe." Max said.
"Don't mention it." Chloe murmured. "Sorry about earlier. We shouldn't have scared you like that."
Max nodded. "It's cool. Thanks."
"You'll be alright?" Warren asked.
"Of course. I'll see you later." Max smiled and gave him another hug.
"Tell them." He whispered in her ear. They broke the hug, and Warren waved to Max as she walked back over to the truck.
"We need to find Samantha. And fast." Max said. "She might be Jefferson's next, or latest, victim."
"One thing's for sure, Nathan's already hit her." Chloe said through gritted teeth. "That I don't like. Anyway, we need to stop by my parents house for a bit. Is that cool?"
"Of course. Any reason why?"
"You're not gonna believe this, but pure nostalgia." Chloe smirked.
"You'd better not be hiding more shit from me." Max said.
"No, dead seriously." Chloe said. "Mom said she found some old stuff for me to go through. Mostly old old stuff. And Dad's stuff."
"Are they not the same thing?" Max asked.
"Shut up." Chloe giggled. She ruffled Max's hair and then climbed into the truck. Max followed suit and Chloe started it up. "After five years you're still Max Caulfield." She smiled.
"Yeah." Max said, turning away before Chloe could see her face drop.
"You good?" Rachel asked, placing her hand on Max's shoulder.
Max turned and smiled at Rachel. "Yeah. Rough day. That's all."
"Well. We'll be sure to make your evening as fun as possible." Rachel smiled.
Twenty minutes later, Max found herself in Chloe's former bedroom, her hands fidgeting as she stood rooted in the centre of the room, watching Chloe sort through various old boxes. Rachel was downstairs, making conversation with David and Joyce.
The room was completely bare, save for a few stray cobwebs. Sunlight shone through the open window, a breeze blowing dead leaves from the rooftop. Max was briefly reminded of the first timeline she abandoned, one she had created that fateful day, forever changing hers and Chloe's life.
"Instead of just standing there, do you wanna help me with this?" Chloe asked.
Max shook her head, signaling her return to reality. "Sorry. Spacing out."
"Don't wander too far off, Caulfield."
"Hey, that's a nice photo of you and Rachel." Max said, picking up a photo from a small metal box.
"Oh, thanks. Both of us were pissed off and ready to throw shit. Rachel had her gorgeous smile up, as always." Chloe looked sad briefly, taking the photo from Max and putting it inside her coat pocket. "Uh, keep searching for more stuff. See if we should keep it."
Max nodded and began hunting through the various boxes. Old clothes, outdated video-game consoles, and a lot of old photos. "Hi, William." She thought. It had been a long time since she'd seen a photo of William. Seeing him hug Chloe brought tears to her eyes. She sniffed. She put the photo back in the box before Chloe noticed.
"I'm coming up!" David growled from downstairs, his footsteps thumping up the stairs.
"David, wait!" Rachel cried. The sound of her footsteps indicated that she was desperately chasing after him.
"Chloe!" David growled.
Max panicked. She looked at the closet door briefly before looking at Chloe.
"David? What the hell, man?" Chloe muttered. She walked over and opened the door. "What's got your goat?"
"You don't think I don't know what goes on at Blackwell?" He growled. He sighed, letting Rachel in and then closing the door. "I love you, Chloe. But you can't just make a scene like you did this afternoon. Especially when you're not a student!"
"David, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't play games with me, young lady!" David growled. "I thought we were past this."
Chloe scowled. "Yeah. I thought so too. Why are you yelling at me?"
"Chloe-" David gritted his teeth. He looked back and forth between the three girls. "For God's sake, stay away from Nathan Prescott. You three don't know him like I do, okay?"
They all looked away. Max tried her best not to lose her cool.
"What the hell did you want with him anyway?"
"None of your business." Chloe said.
David glared at her. "He's a Blackwell student, and the incident happened on school grounds. This is exactly my business. I'm trying to be cool here, Chloe. Don't make this any worse than it already is."
"We just needed information." Rachel said suddenly. "We think he's mixed himself up in some kind of trouble."
"You're a brilliant liar, Rachel." David said, turning to look at her. "But once you know someone's a liar, they don't become so good at it anymore."
"It's only half a lie." Max muttered.
"I heard that." David said. "Max, I take it you deescalated the incident. Thank you. That could have gotten hairy."
"I hardly think deescalated is the right word." Max frowned. "What are you gonna do about Nathan? He brought a gun to school."
"Unfortunately, he has special consideration considering his issues. However, his sister will be notified, and I imagine his bedroom at the estate will be sweeped for any other weaponry, and he will be suspended for a brief period of time and put back in psychiatrics."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"And what about his connections?" Chloe asked. "We know he has connections to dangerous people."
David walked close to her and leaned down. "No, you don't. You think you do based on your preconceptions." David walked towards the bedroom door.
"He tried to drug Rachel at the Vortex Club Party!" Chloe screamed.
David stopped. He turned around slowly. "Are you sure?"
Chloe said nothing, her heavy breathing becoming the only audible sound in the room.
"Chloe, do you have substantial evidence that he did?"
Chloe licked her lips. "No. But someone did."
"Nathan was staring at us as we left the party." Max shuddered. "He looked ready to kill someone."
"And you decided," David spoke slowly. "To try and confront him, in his paranoid state, to ask who he may be working for?"
"How do you know he's working for someone?" Chloe asked quickly.
David grimaced. "Just stay away from him, alright? For your own safety. I will look into the situation further." David walked back towards the door.
"Why you? We can handle this." Chloe replied.
David gripped the door handle tight. He spoke without turning around. "Because I'm expendable, Chloe. You three aren't." He opened the door and left the bedroom.
Rachel gulped. "You think he knows what's going on?"
"Yeah, what the hell did that mean?" Chloe asked. She shook her head violently.
"Breathe, Chloe." Max said soothingly.
"I'm fine, Max." Chloe said, gradually slowing her breaths. "That was just… weird."
"You're telling me…" Max muttered. She looked again at the closet door. "Why is everything happening the same as before?"
"We should get outta here." Chloe said. "I don't feel safe anymore. I wanna go chill somewhere."
"Where?" Rachel asked.
"I dunno. Just gonna hit the road and see where we turn up."
"What about the boxes?" Max asked.
"Ah." Chloe knelt down and quickly rummaged through the boxes again. "Nothing really here I wanna keep. I might just take these photographs and-" She stopped. "Holy shit I didn't know this was in here!" She whooped excitedly, grabbing something from the box and standing up.
"What is it?" Rachel asked. Max had a suspicion she knew what it was.
Chloe turned towards Max and smiled. "Happy belated birthday, Max." She handed Max the object. "This was my dad's camera. I want you to have it."
"Chloe, I…" Max took it and stared at it. "I can't accept this. I already have a perfectly good camera, anyway."
"That thing looks like it'll fall apart the next time you grab it." Chloe said. "Besides, Dad wouldn't want this camera collecting dust. He'll rest easier knowing a true artist is using his tools."
Max looked at the camera, turning it over in her hands. It was smaller and a lot easier to carry. It felt good in her hands. She looked back up. "Chloe, I-"
"Nope. Not taking no for an answer buddy." Chloe interrupted, pivoting on her heel and walking out of the bedroom. "Come on, let's go!"
Max put the camera in her bag and followed Rachel out the door, shaking her head.
"Oh." Chloe said as she stopped the truck. "I didn't plan on coming here. Here we are."
"Did your brain go on autopilot or something?" Rachel asked. "That's worrying."
"Well, I guess we're here now. This is one of the best spots to watch the sunset anyway, so go figure." Chloe smiled and made her way up the hill.
Max felt woozy. "I desperately need to go to sleep. Or get some water. Probably both. " She blindly followed Rachel and Chloe up the path, barely paying attention to her surroundings. It wasn't until she saw the sign that it dawned on her. "CHLOE!" She yelled.
Chloe quickly came running down. "Yeah? What is it?"
"Why the hell are we here?" Max growled, pointing at the sign.
"Ah. Didn't think of that." Chloe said. "Are you gonna be okay? We can go back to the truck if you want-"
"No." Max sighed. "It's fine. You two seem like you're having fun. It is nice out here." She smiled. "Go back on ahead. I might just take a couple of photos with my new camera." She took the camera out of her bag and wiggled it. "Thanks, by the way."
"Don't mention it." Chloe giggled. "Don't be too slow. You could get a great picture of the sunset."
Max thought for a moment. "Yeah. Sounds good." Max watched as her oldest best friend walked back up towards the cliff. Max looked around. A small bird flew onto a rock next to Max. "How serendipitous." Max thought. She lined up her camera and took the shot. She shook the polaroid photo and smiled. She looked up the hill. Chloe and Rachel were out of sight. Max sighed and made her way up the hill. She could birds chirp and crickets squeak in the bushes.
BOOM!
Max shook her head. She walked past the stack of logs, around the abandoned campfire, until she came to…
"The Lighthouse." She whispered aloud.
The Lighthouse stood in all its glory, untouched by the elements. The glass top reflected the rays of sun that hit it from the coast, briefly blinding Max. Max turned her head towards the cliff. Chloe was sitting down on the bench, smoking a cigarette. Rachel was standing on the edge of the cliff, her arms outstretched. Max smiled. She placed one knee on the ground and took a photo. She walked to the bench and sat next to Chloe.
"You guys are in a good mood." Max said, shielding her eyes from the sun.
Rachel turned around and sat down on the bench between Max and Chloe. "I haven't been up here since I was a kid."
"Me neither." Chloe said. "Remember our pirate fort?"
"How could I forget? It's still on the map." Max said.
"Is it?" Chloe's eyes perked up as her jaw dropped. "I'mma go check." Chloe quickly ran towards the map and ran back. "Holy shit it is! After so long…"
"It's like a part of history now."
"History… yeah." Chloe looked out towards the coast. "It doesn't seem like that long ago. For you it must feel like a century." She chuckled.
"More than that. A thousand years."
"Wow, Caulfield. Was I really that boring?" Chloe laughed.
Max laughed. She sighed. "What did you want with Nathan?"
"I told you. Answers."
"What could he possibly have for you?" Max asked. "For us?"
"He spiked Rachel's drink."
"Okay, both of you. Shut up." Rachel said. "We think he spiked my drink. We don't know. There are a lot of nasty guys at Blackwell. It could have been any of them. And besides, we have a lot more pressing matters right now."
"Right. Have you heard from Frank?" Chloe asked.
Rachel pulled out her phone. "Still nothing. Fucker probably jumped ship once he learned about Merrick. Or they're working together."
"He wouldn't do that." Max retorted. "He cares about you."
Rachel shook her head. "Forget it. Let's appreciate the sunset." She stared out to the horizon, Chloe and Max following her gaze. A blue butterfly flew close in front of Max's face and rested on Chloe's knee. Rachel and Chloe didn't even notice.
"Hmm…" Max thought. "Ah!" She clutched her head with both hands as it started to pound. "Fuck!" She cried. She got off the bench and collapsed onto the ground, struggling to breathe.
"Max!" Chloe cried. She and Rachel quickly knelt down beside her. "Max are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"Argh, oh god my head-"
"MAX!"
BOOM!
Max came to her senses. "Come on! Why am I back here?" She cried. "There must be something else I can do!" She slowly made her way up the path, dodging the various obstacles thrown at her with ease. She had seen it all before anyway. The wind beat at her as she walked, the rain soaking her skin. She got to the top and found the flyer stuck to the same post it had been last time. She grabbed it.
"October 11th…" She breathed out loud. "Same as last time…"
Slowly, she felt the storm's power ebb away slightly…
"MAX!" Chloe cried. Max found herself awake on the cliffside, the sun shining, exactly where she was before. Rachel stood stock still, unsure of what to do. "Max, what happened?" Chloe asked.
"Oh my God… I-I-I don't know-" Max stammered as she fell backwards onto her butt on the ground.
"You had the vision again, didn't you?" Rachel asked, squatting down to her level. "Of the tornado."
Max nodded. She felt her face flush as the tears came pouring out. "I had it again in class too. Everything that's happened today happened exactly like it did the previous time! Nothing changed! I did nothing! I don't want it to happen again I don't want-" Her cries were interrupted by a sudden wetness on the top of her head. She looked up. "No. No way."
Rachel and Chloe stood up, looking at the sky in amazement.
"It's like- 80 degrees. How?" Chloe said, looking at Rachel and then Max.
"It's snowing."