Chapter 5

The two girls stopped running as they neared the edge of the town. They hadn't run far but there was no sign that anyone was even giving chase and Chloe needed a breather in a big way. She was gasping for air and turning an odd colour as she sagged to the ground and Max only just managed to help her to the sidewalk. She kept an eye out while Chloe got her breath back and was satisfied that no one was after them before turning to her and daring to speak.

"You flaking out on me?" It was a rhetorical jab and they both knew it. Chloe choked out a harsh laugh.

"That does it! I'm fucking quitting!" She flopped back onto the concrete, the paving slabs feeling oddly comfy right at that moment. Unfortunately, her rest wasn't to be.

"Come on." Max said, holding out her hand. Chloe reluctantly took it and got to her feet as they continued walking. Their unofficial plan was to get to the service station they'd ended up in and call for a lift from there. But as they neared it, they quickly decided they needed a new plan. There was a thick wall of fog that blocked the entire road and stretched as far as they could see in each direction.

"What the fuck?" Chloe muttered as she reached out and tried to touch it. It retreated from her touch, but that didn't mean it grew any thinner. She still couldn't see anything on the other side. Glancing behind her to check that they still weren't being pursued, she turned to Max. "Wait right here. I'll be back." Before she could protest, the bluenette had run off into the fog. It was intense and claustrophobic but she kept on going. She could still see the road under her feet and that was all that mattered. Provided she just kept running straight, there would be no problem. But as she kept on moving, the fog refused to clear. She was running for over two minutes and there was no end in sight. Then just as suddenly as she'd entered it, the fog broke open. Max stood there in front of her, looking up at her expectantly.

"Well? What's on the other side?" she asked.

"You shouldn't be here." Chloe stated dumbly. That took Max by surprise and Chloe had to quickly correct herself. "No, I mean I ran straight! It's about the straightest thing I've ever done! Have... Have I ended up in a mirror image of the town? Kind of like an alternate reality but on the other side of the fog?" Okay, so that didn't exactly make her any clearer, but it was better than it was and that was the bare minimum of what she'd been going for.

"I doubt it." Max looked at her sceptically. "Still, I've been in alternate realities before. I have to be sure that you're still my Chloe. Give me your phone one sec." Chloe handed the phone over and Max brought up the note keeper app and typed a note out before minimising the app. "Run back in there and keep running straight again. When you come out, if you're not my Chloe then the other Max won't know what that note says. Only look at it to verify it once she's given you an answer, though." In that moment, Chloe's heart swelled with a rush of emotion. Whether this was her Max or not, it was so typically her and also incredibly clever.

"Okay. If you're my Max then I'll be back in a second." Chloe took off into the fog again and kept running in a straight line until she emerged and was once again facing Max. "Okay, so you just wrote a note on my phone. What does it say?"

"It says 'I love you'. Now check it." Max told her. Chloe pulled up her notes app. Sure enough, Max was correct and Chloe found herself letting out a sigh of relief.

"Well, it's good to know that I didn't run to some sort of mirror world." She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, now realising how stupid she'd probably sounded. "The question is, how could I run straight and end up back where I started? What was turning me around?"

"I don't know." Max admitted. "But something doesn't feel right here. This place- it's like it's changing more and more with each passing minute. The whole atmosphere seems to be getting darker somehow."

"I know." Chloe nodded as she looked around. It was almost pitch black around them and was becoming increasingly hard to see any significant distance. But as Chloe strained her eyes to see ahead of them, something seemed to be moving. "Max, I think something's creeping up on us!"

"I never had you pegged as someone who was afraid of the dark." Max said, looking at her curiously.

"That's because I'm fucking not!" she snapped. "They're creeping up on us! I can just about make it out!" Wasting no time, Max clicked on the flashlight on her own phone as Chloe did the same. They lifted the beams together only to jump a mile as a sea of black-cloaked figures recoiled with almost inhuman shrieks to get away from the light. The sight of them was bad enough, but it was made ten times worse by the fact that every single one of them was holding something sharp. Everything from knives to even a farming scythe. Everyone was holding something.

"Fuck!" Max screamed as she panned around. Seeing that these figures were phobic to the light suddenly made the phone feel like a weapon in her hands. She swung the beam around aggressively, trying to keep them back. "Where did they all come from?"

"How should I know?" Chloe asked as she mimicked Max's beam pattern to double how effectively they were able to keep the cloaked figures off them. "Rewind, quick!" Max didn't question it. She raised her right hand and focused on rewinding just as she always did. By this point she was an absolute ace at it having practised so much. So it was a monumental shock when this time nothing happened. "Well?" Chloe demanded, blasting another of the figures in the face with her flashlight.

"It's not working!" Max screamed, panic taking over as she tried again. The figures were advancing and boxing them in against the wall of fog. If it had been able to turn Chloe around and not even have her be aware of it, they didn't want to know what would happen if they tried to stay in there for a long time. Suddenly, Chloe felt herself move on autopilot. She wrapped her left arm around Max's shoulder and held up her right hand. The world around them instantly seemed to rush backwards as the figures retreated back the way they'd come while still appearing to be walking forwards. They vanished into the darkness and still time kept on reversing. Max didn't know how long it was happening for, but it did eventually stop. At first she didn't know what had happened until Chloe dropped to her knees and blood began to pour from her nose. This was no time to be immobile, though. Max grabbed her and began harshly dragging her with a strength she didn't even know she possessed. She managed to keep it up for a decent distance until the street lamps of the town came into view. It was completely deserted and she felt like they now had a window for a serious talk.

"What the fuck did you wish for, Chloe? Because it wasn't for a new truck, was it?"

"I-" Chloe tried to speak but had to take a second to find the words. "I wished for a power like yours." She could see the raw fury burning inside Max and knew that this was going to be ugly.

"You stole my power!"

"No!" Chloe protested. "I wanted a power like yours, not your actual power! I just-"

"Shut up!" Max practically screamed at her. Chloe had never heard her use that kind of tone in her life, especially not at her. And when she spoke again her voice had taken on a dangerously flat note "I am fucking shaking here. Think about what you're saying before you say it." And she really was. Chloe could see the tremors moving through the brunette's body. She'd often wondered if Max was even capable of being this livid. She knew now.

"I always idolised you when we were kids." Chloe said, making sure to keep her voice even. "Then you left and when you showed up again five years later you somehow managed to be infinitely more awesome. You were already stunning and beautiful but now you had this awesome power and then once it had served a purpose you started refusing to even use it. The thought that you could have this power and not want to use it because it might affect our lives too much made me feel a bit insignificant. I thought if I had a power like you did, we could be special together and maybe you didn't have to feel so unsure about your rewind. That doesn't mean I wanted your rewind power for myself though! This is not what I wished for!" Max went silent. She didn't say anything. She just stood there with her head hung and Chloe could see tears falling.

"Is that what you think?" she asked, her voice sounding hollow. "You think I see you as a lower level and want to stop using my power so we can be normal together? Chloe, I don't care about that! I don't care about normal! I don't care about being special! You've always been special to me and if you can't see that then all that hair dye has officially rotted your brain! The reason I stopped using it isn't because I want life to be normal! This is us! There's nothing normal about us and that's always been a good thing! It's because my power is based on time and I want to focus on enjoying that time and not spending so much time rewinding that I can't enjoy the here and now! I want to enjoy the present as it is and I want to enjoy every second of it with you, you fucking idiot!" Max fought to bring her breathing under control, each breath coming in ragged gasps from yelling so much. Chloe looked around cautiously to see if any more of those figures were anywhere around, but she couldn't see any. If she had to guess, it was probably due to the street lamps. They'd already shown they hated the light, whatever they were. The festival was many things and well-lit was definitely one of them. That was good to know. As creepy as an abandoned festival was, they now had a safe hub to retreat to. For that reason, Chloe felt safe enough to drop her guard and throw her arms around Max. She rested her head on top of Max's, breathing in her all too familiar scent. It calmed her down as always and she held on until Max stopped shaking. It was okay. They were safe in the light. They had all the time in the world.

"Max... I am so sorry." Chloe pulled her wife closer to her as Max's embrace tightened around her. "I know the town got my wish wrong, but I'm not entirely innocent. I fucked up and I swear to you I will find a way to fix this." Max looked up at her, the tears in her terrified eyes saying more than her voice ever could.

"I hope so, Chloe. Because that fog made it pretty clear: We're not getting out of here until you do."

Author's Note: Updates may be a little erratic over the course of the next few days while I sort some things out regarding work and life. In the meantime, please feel free to leave a review and let me know how you're enjoying it.