This chapter contains references to a video game that is not Life is Strange nor The Division 2. You get a virtual cookie if you can find it and point it out. It's not hidden. If you know what game I'm referencing, it won't be too hard to find.

Specific Trigger Warning for this chapter: mentions of kidnapping/drugging, mentions of non-consensual photography

This chapter would contain pictures to enhance "visual" experience, if this site allowed it. But it doesn't. What gives?

TOP SECRET – SHD CLASSIFIED – ISAC required to open this document

Division incident report concerning Rachel Amber (Codename ROMEO ALPHA)

Arcadia Bay, 13th May 2013

Rachel Amber (reported missing as of April 22nd) was found unconscious and on the verge of dying yesterday late evening (May 12th) at the American Rust Salvage Yard. An unidentified male, presumably a young adult with light-brown hair, clad in a red jacket, immediately retreated from the scene upon arrival of Division Agents. An attempt by Agent Edison Sutton to scan this individual failed, meaning that their identity is unknown to ISAC and presumably had not yet been entered into the SHD database.

The reason for our visit to this location was target practice. The town's administration gave us permission to use these grounds as a training area for armed combat scenarios and testing of SHD tech prototypes.

Our medic, James Ryan, was able to keep Amber alive until paramedics from the local Arcadia Bay Hospital arrived. Under the pretence of "No Questions Asked" we ordered them to keep quiet about this case. No reports about this incident were made to anyone not directly involved in it.

Amber will stay in the Arcadia Bay Hospital, where she has been placed into a coma. As soon as she will awake from this coma, she will immediately be classified as a high-value-target and has to be protected from all harm at all costs. Additionally, she will be put into hiding in a secret Division hideout not far away from the closed lumber mill. The hideout consists of a highly modern demobilized RV that will be transformed into suiting her needs.

Rachel Amber will be given the choice to agree or decline this action, based on her psychological state and mental stability. The Blackwell Academy was already informed about this measure and will be ordered to put her scholarship on hold until the girl is ready to return to school.

The drug used in the crime was GHB, or gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, a known and commonly used drug for kidnappings and sexual crimes. However, a rape was excluded as a potential crime by the staff of the hospital. Everything leads us to assume that the overdose was an accident or an attempt to murder Rachel.

Agent Eddie Bradley will stay in contact with Amber for psychological evaluation and support as soon as she exits the state of comatose.

Additional section in the document, added on 28th September 2013

Rachel Amber has awakened from her state of comatose, since July. She stayed in the hospital for two weeks for medical supervision. She agreed of going into hiding for psychological evaluation of her mental health. Amber has the right to request an immediate release out of hiding, to continue her scholarship in Blackwell Academy at any time. She will, however, be disallowed to attend any form of event, especially the Vortex Club Parties or the Everyday Hero Contest, due to security and vulnerability risks. Exceptions may be made, but all five agents of the Division must be present with Rachel Amber at these events to ensure her protection.

Amber still cannot recall the events during her disappearance from April to May.

Following this uncertainty and lack of any successfully found information, two Division Agents will always be stationed at Blackwell Academy for security purposes for the foreseeable future. Collaboration with Blackwell Head of Security David Madsen has already been established, however concerns of paranoid or over-the-top behaviour by Madsen have been made by my colleagues. Madsen seems to have installed CCTV systems all over the campus, which many students complained against. Additionally, Madsen seems to have a questionable way of investigating. Multiple students complained that they felt bullied by the Head of Security. One major case is Kate Marsh, action may be required here.

Michelle Grant, teacher of mathematics and science, has additionally launched a petition to stop the usage of video cameras for security on campus.

If this petition gains enough support, the Division has to enforce this decision as by the people!

Chloe Price has been seen by my colleagues dispersing missing person posters all over the town on multiple occasions. This can cause new public interest in this case, caution is advised not to reveal any sensitive information. It is encouraged to remove these posters without harvesting her suspicion.

We have also been informed that the former best friend of Chloe Price, Max Caufield, has returned to Arcadia Bay after moving away to Seattle five years ago. It is encouraged to bring these two back together, to potentially distract Chloe from this case.

Utmost secrecy is significant! This case will now be moved to class A classification. Anyone who is not affiliated with the Division who reads this document is set to be eliminated immediately. The classification will be removed as soon as Rachel Amber leaves hiding and returns to Blackwell Academy.

Brandon, Special Agent for preservation of international law and human rights.

End of report.

October 7th 2013

Chloe was glad that the Price household was empty. She wasn't desiring any lectures from step-douche at all this morning. While her plan to meet with Brandon still stood, she pondered of visiting her mother's diner "Two Whales" for breakfast. And so she did.

While she was on her way to the diner, she thought the whole way about whether her approach was the right one. Shouldn't she try to blackmail Nathan after all? But, the memory of what had happened last week strongly discouraged her. She wanted to avoid being drugged by that psycho again. Maybe this time it would turn out even worse. This guy was still unpredictable, with all the problems the boy had. She wasn't perfect either, but she couldn't stop her subconscious from just labelling him as a freak and trying to keep a few feet away from him at all times if possible.

The drive from her home to the diner was a stone's throw. In a few minutes, she had arrived at her destination. She got out of her car, locked it and entered the diner, coming into direct visual contact with her mother, who smiled at her.

"Hey, Chloe. How you're doing, darlin'?", her mother asked and motioned her to sit down in a booth which she always sat in, whenever she visited this place.

"I'm okay, mom," Chloe replied briefly.

"I guess you take the usual, right?" her mother asked, frowning a bit on her daughter's lack of interest to really talk to her. The young adult she was talking to merely nodded. Sighing, Joyce returned behind the counter. It wasn't easy with Chloe, but deep down, she couldn't really blame her. She lost so much in the last few years. Her dad, then Max and then even Rachel, who had been missing for six months now. Her disappearance was an utter mystery. Some claim that she left for Los Angeles, but Joyce herself shrugged it off as mere rumours. There must've been something else behind all of this.

While Joyce continued working and gave up the order for Chloe's breakfast, the latter fished her phone out of her jean's pockets. She began debating with herself if she should call Brandon or simply send them a text message. Since she didn't really like the idea of her mother knowing that something happened that is worth reporting to the fucking Division for the preservation of international law and human rights, she decided for just the text.

Chloe: Yo, Brandon. I need to meet u and tell you smth. Can we meet in 'bout an hour?

After staring at the screen of her phone with no reaction, she figured that Brandon might be busy. She put the device on standby and placed it down on the table, making sure the screen was facing down toward the wooden surface.

Wow, now I feel like a criminal, for wanting to report an actual crime, say what?

She was torn out of her thoughts by her mother, who finally placed her breakfast in front of her. A simple dish, Eggs and Bacon, dubbed "Eggs'a'Bakey" by herself and her mother, which she usually ate for breakfast since childhood. Immediately, Chloe's stomach started to rumble violently, as if being awakened by it. This earned her a hearty chuckle coming from her mother. "Seems like someone's starving."

A bit flustered, Chloe stared at the food and began eating. "I did sleep a lot today, maybe that's why I'm so hella hungry. I had this dream. It… felt so real and comfortable. I think I may be finally handling my insomnia better."

"Do you still have issues sleeping?" her mother asked, concern clearly visible on her face and audible in her voice.

"It's getting better, really. It was horrible when Rachel suddenly disappeared but… yeah. My sleeping situation is improving with time," Chloe replied.

"I'm glad, but please don't fret to talk to me if it gets any worse or anything, okay?" Joyce pleaded.

"I will. I promise, mom," Chloe said, looking up at her mom and trying to sound as sincerely as possible.

"I'm sorry, I have to attend to other costumers now, enjoy your meal, Chloe," her mother said, beginning to walk away.

"Thanks mom. You're the best,", Chloe smiled and continued to eat while more or less sinking back into the world of her mind.

In her eyes, Joyce, her mother, was just someone who deeply betrayed her. Regardless of whether she really believed this herself or her evil subconsciousness tries to make her believe it. She loved her mother with all her heart, but she couldn't fight the hurt she felt when Chloe got the feeling that her mother chose David over her own daughter. Of course, that was wrong. Joyce is trying her best to keep her family afloat and stable. Hoping that some day, David and Chloe will finally understand each other and stop treating each other as enemies.

The hostility mostly came from Chloe's side. The authority, David emitted, really despised her. In her eyes, David was an intruder in her family. Someone who didn't belong, but pretended the opposite. Additionally, he shamelessly dares to command Chloe around like a private in the military. These actions were asking for Chloe to blow up. Especially with all the mental health issues she secretly suffered.

If this shit show that's my life ever improves, I may consider giving him a chance. A real one.

"Bye mom, see you later," Chloe said after she finished her breakfast and left the diner. Her mother waved at her with a smile, busy tending to a group of older customers. Walking up to her car, Chloe pulled her phone out of her jean's pocket. As if on cue, Brandon gave her a call. Climbing into the cabin of the brown truck, Chloe accepted the call, lifting her phone up to her ear.

"Hello, there," she pipped up, throwing a pack of cigarettes on the car's dashboard, which she kept in hear leather jacket's pockets.

"Aye, Chloe. Ye said ye got somethin' for me?" Brandon asked. Fidgeting one cigarette out of the pack with one hand was quite difficult, but Chloe eventually managed to pull one out.

"Yes, I do. I'm free now. Can we meet up?" she asked, placing the cigarette between her lips and lighting it.

"Sure thing, mate. How 'bout that scrapyard you and Rach' used to chill out at?", they counter questioned. Just the mentioning of her missing potential love interest made her shiver in dread.

I just want to know where she is and what the fuck happened to her. Stop it! It doesn't matter right now.

"Yeah, we can meet there. When will you be there?" Chloe agreed.

"I'm already there. Doin' some funnies with the drone. Just come over whenever. I'll be there," Brandon replied.

"Alright. I'm on my way. See you there," the punk said, pushing her car's key into the ignition.

"See you soon, lass. Drive carefully," the agent teased, causing her to smile.

"With respect agent, screw you," she said quietly, earning hearty laughter from the other.

"Duly noted, Chloe. Now get your arse up here, punk," they said, still chuckling, ending the phone call. The mentioned punk grinned playfully and shook her head. Turning on her car's engine, she navigated it out of the diner's car park back onto the main road. Then she began the short journey across town, to the American Rust Salvage Yard.

Just a few minutes later, Chloe arrived at the scrapyard. Upon arrival, she immediately saw Brandon in the distance, seemingly doing target practise. In their hands was a silvery gun, Chloe had never seen before. A loud bang suddenly sounded and smoke came out from the gun's front. The agent had taken a shot at a clay pigeon that was launched in the air by a strange device standing between some rubble in the corner.

Then the agent pulled on a cord attached to their left shoulder and a little quadcopter drone was released from their backpack which began buzzing silently over their head. Brandon raised their left fist, revealing their orange glowing wristwatch or ISAC as they called it. As soon as the agent pulled their fist down, the device in the distance launched another practice target. With a gesture, they ordered the drone to attack the flying object. The UAV immediately flew towards the target and opened fire.

With short bursts, the drone destroyed the clay pigeon, which broke into pieces with an audible pop. Satisfied with the work the drone did, Brandon ordered it to retreat to them.

Meanwhile, Chloe lit up another cigarette and began approaching the exercising agent. She was quite surprised that they were alone. Usually, the agents were always seen at least in a pair of twos.

"So, what you got for me?" Bradon asked when Chloe finally made it over to them. They still had their back turned towards her, startling the punk a bit. Grabbing the drone out of the air, which made its way back to its owner, they turned it off, folded it together and fastened it to an attachment point on the front of their backpack.

Brandon then turned towards the blue-haired young adult, revealing the gun they held in their hands. A KSG bull pup 12-gauge pump action shotgun. A strange sight, quite frankly. Brandon used shotguns exceptionally rarely.

"First off, I just wanna know what exactly is gonna happen when I report a crime to you?" Chloe carefully asked. She didn't really want these guys to immediately start a manhunt for Nathan, guns drawn and ready to kill. Thinking about it just made it actually clear to her how dumb that would be.

"Well, it depends on the severity of the case. If someone scratched your car for example, I would just send you to the ABPD, even though I don't agree with their work but whatever," the Division Agent replied, grinning. Chloe couldn't help but grin back. For being an internationally recognized agent, they sure do have humour and quite the amount of charm.

"Yeah, it's not that of a small thing. Listen. Do you have anything on Nathan Prescott?", she asked. Testing the waters a bit. If he's already known for whatever they may cause a real scene and for some reason she was really concerned about that possibility. She didn't feel wort it enough to cause a lot of trouble for her own stupidity of trusting the mentally instable Prescott heir.

"No, not really. Why are you asking?"

"Well, I may have become a victim of this fella. He drugged me and took pics of me in his creepy dorm room-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa,", Brandon interrupted her, reaching out with both of their hands making some sort of "slow down" gesture. "What where you're saying?"

"Okay, I'm gonna go into the details," Chloe said and took a deep breath. "So, a few days ago, I met Nathan in some bar and asked him for something. We went to his dorm and I remember I blacked out as soon we got in his room. When I woke up, I was laying there, and he was like crawling towards me with a fuckin' camera in his hand. I got really fucking scared and smashed his bedside lamp while I was trying to get away."

Chloe was surprised she got that all out without shuddering or stuttering. The thoughts about that evening legitimately scared her. While explaining the events on that September night, she didn't realize the split second of pure shock in Brandon's face. They had an expression on it, like some sort of big mystery had been revealed. However, Chloe never realized it or didn't really pay any attention to it.

"Holy shite," Brandon breathed out, seemingly speechless. "First off, I can give Eddie a heads-up if you need any help with… uh… processing this," they said, stumbling over what words to use.

"Not needed but thank you, really. I manage not to think about it too much very well. No nightmares, nothing. It was just, super strange, dude," Chloe replied.

"Okay, that's good, but yeah, this is something that may fall in our concern. Especially with that one case… uh… never mind. Hold on a second,"

What case are they talking about?

"Edison, James. Do you read?" Brandon initiated a radio conversation between them and their colleagues.

"Yes, James here. Loud and clear, mate," James replied.

"Are you busy right now? I need to ask you for a little favour."

"Negative, we're free. What you need?"

"So, I got a very interesting report from Madame Chloe Price. She told me that a certain Nathan Prescott drugged her and then proceeded to take pictures of her. You should look out for that kid, pin him down and wait for us to arrive," Brandon said, making Chloe shake her head with a grin at the word "Madame".

"Roger that, not a problem. We gonna start looking for him right away. You feel some similarities there, Brand?" James asked.

"Yup, I sense them. Might try to pull him in an empty room and interrogate him about case Romeo Alpha. Anyway, pull 'em out and keep him from leaving. Oh, and I almost forgot, check out his room for starters. Chloe said that she broke his lamp while trying to escape. Securing clear evidence might be better to prioritize. Brandon out," Brandon replied.

James let out a confirming hum, clearly audible over the radio. "Roger that. See you soon. Over and out."

What are they talking about? Who or What is case Romeo Alpha!?

"So, how 'bout we travel to Blackwell Academy and try to get an explanation of this… very unsettling thing he pulled off?" Brandon asked.

"Sounds like a plan, I guess. Are we driving in my car?" Chloe countered.

"I would suppose. I came here on foot, so." Brandon grinned, not continuing the sentence.

"Well then, let's go," Chloe said and turned around. Followed by Brandon, she walked to her car, climbed in and began the next, short drive to Blackwell Academy.

At Blackwell Academy, two Division agents were very surprised when they received the radio message from their team coordinator. The similarities with a case opened a year ago were extremely disturbing. In that case, there had not been a single clue up to that point. So, immediately after receiving the radio message, they set out to find something that might be helpful in getting the infamous Prescott heir to concede his misdemeanour.

The agents' first thought was to search the dormitory for Nathan. He lived in the boy's dorm on the first floor of the Prescott Dormitory building. The chance of the agents finding the boy there was slim, as classes were currently in session. But, Nathan was known to often not attend or skip classes.

Before they were interrupted by the radio call, the two were patrolling the hallways of the main building. After settling on what to do, they left the main building, passed through the campus yard and steered towards the Prescott Dormitory. In a matter of one or two minutes, they were inside and stood in the hallway leading to the boy's rooms.

"What the actual fuck is this?" Edison scowled as he inspected the floor plan hanging on the wall not far away from him. It has horrendously vandalized, scattered with graffiti, homophobic slurs and insults, leaving the agents to find Nathan's room with no assistance from it. The only option they have left was to search the entire hallway for a room slate that could leave a hint.

"Teenage boys playing their role of being fucking stupid, that's what that is," James muttered in response, equally disgusted by the vandalized chart. Edison just shook his head and glanced through the hallway.

Finding Nathan's room turned out as pretty simple. Room 111 had a room slate which said, "The Prescotts rule this town!" An almost clear indication that this room belonged to Nathan. Of course, the door was locked, leaving the agents no chance to enter without forcing it open. An option that would only be acceptable in emergencies or in a case that evidence could unquestionably be found.

"I got an idea," James said, taking his backpack of his back and placing it on the ground. Before continuing, he glanced up towards his colleague. "I don't want any snitches here. Can you maybe go back into the staircase and check if the coast is clear?" he asked.

Edison nodded, understanding what James implied, "Sure thing mate. Just holler up if you need something."

"Will do," James said, opening up his backpack while his mate moved towards the door dividing the hallway with the staircase. He pulled out a strange black, stick-like object known as an "Optiwand". A tool usually used by SWAT units to look around corners and under doors without exposing themselves.

James pulled the camera stick apart to its full length and pointed the opposite end towards the bottom of the door. The screen immediately turned to life and revealed a dark and creepy room.

"Whoa, what the hell. This room's horrific," James muttered to himself. He spotted a black, presumably leather couch aligned with the wall to the left. At the centre of the right wall was Nathan's bed, occupying quite a lot of space. To the bed's right stood a bedside table and on it a lamp. Upon spotting that lamp, James stopped. It was visibly broken. That was what they needed to reason a forceful entry.

"Edison," James spoke into his radio, graveness clearly audible in his voice. The door to the staircase instantly opened and the agent's colleague came walking towards him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Take a gander at this, mate," James said and gestured towards the Optiwand's screen with his free hand. Edison's facial expression became stonily stern as soon as he understood what James was indicating.

"We need to get in there," Edison said, getting a nod from James as an agreeing response. The latter collapsed the Optiwand back into its compact state for transport and placed it inside his backpack. He closed the bag and heaved it up on his back. He then pulled out a multi-tool out of a little bag attached to the belt on the rear of his jeans. Clicking out the lock pick attachment of the tool, he knelt down on his right knee and grasped the doorknob with his left hand.

"Can you keep the coast clear again? This would look really strange from the outside," he said, grinning while glancing up to meet his colleague's eyes again.

"Everything we do looks strange from the outside, mate," Edison chuckled and returned to the staircase to keep a lookout.

As soon as he was out of the hallway and the door had closed behind him, James began his attempt to pick the door's lock in front of him. This took an unprecedented amount of time. While James was no novice in lock picking skills, this lock was particularly nasty and just wouldn't budge. Just as he was about to give up due to growing impatience and actively debated himself to just kick the door in, a loud click emitted. He'd done it. The lock gave up and clicked open.

"Fucking finally, Jesus," he breathed out and opened the door. "The door's open Ed," he reported to his mate, who came back into the hallway straight away and hurried over to Nathan's room.

Now they both stood in the probably most disturbing room of all on the entire campus. It was indeed very dark due to the closed blinds over the windows.

To the left of the two, near his bed, was a commode. The broken lamp James spotted via the Optiwand and what seemed like to be prescription drugs were situated on the bedside table.

To their right was a desk with expensive photo equipment: a brand new monochrome camera and a new lens.

On the wall beside this desk was a certificate, certifying that he was the "best son in the world."

What in the bloody fuckin' hell is that supposed to mean!?

On the right side of the desk was the couch. In front of this piece of furniture, Edison spotted something very interesting. "Hey, look at this," he said, pointing towards something on the ground.

"Scratch marks. Looks like fight happened here maybe?" James evaluated.

"I'm not sure, mate," Edison said thoughtfully.

The two continued to look around in the room, not really finding anything at first. James, took pictures of both the broken lamp and the scratch marks on the floor for eventual evidence. But then, after taking a picture of the aforementioned lamp, James found something that disturbed him to such a degree that he almost felt sick.

He and Chloe had formed some sort of special friendship over the years. His nickname "Jamster" was invented by the punk, which he humorously welcomed. While James knew that the punk didn't need nor wanted someone who would "look out for her" in a parental or overly protective way, James felt absolutely distraught when he found a picture of her on top of Nathan's drawer close to the bedside table.

"Oh my fucking god. Oh, god. This is fucking sick. Fuck!" he stammered, getting more and more angrier as he progressed.

"What's wrong?" Edison asked from the opposite side of the room, slightly confused but also with worry in his voice. James looked really upset. Like, someone who was really close to him got seriously hurt.

"Look at this. Fuck, I'm gonna get sick. Jesus," he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with his right thumb and pointer finger. Edison moved towards his colleague, not expecting nor prepared for what he was about to see.

The picture on the drawer pictured Chloe in a state that was so disturbing that anyone's first reaction would be of absolute dread. She was laying on the same blue carpeted floor Nathan's room had, with empty eyes and a stunned expression on her face. There was no doubt that she was drugged while this picture had been taken. She was clad in her usual jeans and brown jacket. Her signature beanie was not on her head but placed over her on the floor. Instead of her usual black boots, she wore red sneakers. Her hair was strongly dishevelled. The girl was curled up and had both her arms crossed in front of her chest, giving the idea she tried to shield herself.

"Goodness gracious. This guy is sick!" Edison breathed out in utter shock. Both agents didn't do anything for at least five more seconds. They did take Chloe's accusation seriously from the beginning. But regardless on how "prepared for anything" they praised themselves to be, what they just had seen, felt like a violent punch in the stomach.

A soft chime pulled them out of their stunned state. "This is principal Wells speaking. Would Nathan Prescott, please report to my office immediately."

"Looks like Brandon worked their diplomatic magic with the principal," Edison stated, making James smirk slightly even though the shock he was still in.

"I'm impressed you used they this time," he chuckled. He grabbed the photo and folded it up once to prevent him from accidentally watching at in again.

"Screw you," Edison grinned, but quickly returned to his serious manners. "We should go back to the main building. Brandon will most likely have Nathan pegged by now."

"You're right. I got this fucking disgusting picture and made some evidence photos of the broken lamp and those scratches. I think we got everything. Let's go," James replied, taking a quick last glance around the room. With nothing more to collect, both agents left the room, closed the door, checked that it still worked and finally left the Prescott Dormitory building.

"Prescott, stay right there," Brandon ordered sternly as he saw Nathan about to enter Wells' office.

"What the fuck you want. Wells' wants to talk to me, so stop wasting my time," the boy snarled but returned to a more sombre expression on his face when he spotted Chloe standing slightly behind the Division Agent.

Are you fucking serious, you bitch!? First you try to extort me for money, then snitch my payback to the fucking Division?

"It's not the principle who wants to speak to you, it's me. But I can tell that Wells is just as interested in this upcoming conversation," Brandon retorted, glancing a little to Nathan's left. When Nathan turned back towards the door, he jumped. In front of him stood the man they were talking about, principle Raymond Wells, with a very stern expression on his face. The boy took a few steps back and glanced towards Brandon, who gestured to come closer. Very reluctantly, Nathan did so.

"I was told by Chloe Price here, that you have drugged her in your room a few days ago and then proceeded to take pictures of her while she was in an unconscious drugged state. How do you want to explain yourself?" Brandon began piercing the boy opposite of him with a very austere stare. This immediately showed its effect. Nathan's skin became a little paler, and his muscles clenched. He was already "guilty" for Brandon, but that wasn't their job to point that out. Elimination would be unfathomable for them in this case, but that didn't mean that the Division had their hands tied. There were other things they could do to ensure the safety of the other students.

"Fuck off. My dad's gonna make sure you'll never be called Division Agents again, you self-centred prick. That bitch tried to extort money outta me," Nathan countered, resorting to his usual emergency brake out of an overbearing situation: anger.

"Watch your bloody mouth, boy. I don't care who your dad is, he's a nobody to us. And I don't care what Chloe did, this is about what you did to her," Brandon responded a lot calmer compared to Nathan, with emphasis on the last "you" and "her" in the sentence.

The confrontation was interrupted by the bell, which signalled the end of the current classes. As expected, the halls immediately flocked with students and wild chattering, but that wasn't anything to bring Brandon out of concept. Contrary to the police or FBI who would interrogate someone behind closes doors, the Division Agents literally didn't care where they would interrogate or even eliminate their targets. They already had enough things to be worried about.

Some passing students didn't see or deliberately overlooked the four standing close to the main entrance, some looked in their direction confused or curious about what was going on. Around this time, a second Division Agent entered the hallway: Eddie Bradley, who immediately began to bring order into the growing chaos.

"Remain to whatever you were doing. This is nothing of your concern. If you want, you can listen if you have nothing better to do and not a glimpse of shame, but I dare you, if I see one phone or video camera recording this, I will shoot it out of your hand!" he called out, causing the hallway to turn into a deathly silence. "Well then, please continue," he said, grinning and turned towards Brandon, who nodded his head towards his colleagues as a way of saying "Thank you."

Blackwell Academy, Head of Security, David Madsen also arrived at the scene and positioned himself right next to principal Wells, who informed him about what was going on in a whisper. David's glance switched from Nathan to Chloe multiple times, his facial expression changing from confused, to angered, to worried. This confused Chloe quite a bit.

What is that look on his face? Don't tell me he tries to look like he gives a shit about me.

The entire situation became increasingly stressful for Nathan. Nearly the entire fucking school was watching this confrontation. Some students were whispering something, probably gossiping about him. David Madsen was staring holes into the right side of his head, followed by principle Wells. In front of him, Brandon turned his attention back to the young adult.

"I still haven't heard a peep from you, instead of meaningless and dumb insults. You better explain yourself before I get really unpleasant. I want a clear yes or no answer. Did you drug Chloe Price in your fucking room a few days ago and then proceeded to abuse her defenceless state to take pictures of her?" Brandon asked, taking a step closer to the light-haired boy with every end of a sentence. Their voice was slightly raised in volume and solid. Nathan now suddenly became an entirely different person. His glance turned towards the ground and his hands grasped the wall behind his back. His skin became even more pale.

The students who stayed to listen to the confrontation were consumed by a chorus of shocked gasps. Numerous eyes had turned towards Nathan quickly after Brandon spoke out the accusation. Once girl in particular took a few steps forwards to them and let out a surprised "Chloe!?" staring at the blue-haired punk. The latter spun her head to her left upon hearing the familiar voice, and when she finally saw her, her breath hitched.

"Excuse me, Miss. You need to take a few steps back," the agent with a green cap on top of his head ordered softly and came towards her, blocking her path with his left arm. His protective vest had a name tag on it which stated that he was Agent Eddie Bradley.

"Please, Mr. Bradley, tell me what is going on. I know her. She… she is my best friend," the brunette pleaded.

"State your name, Miss," Eddie demanded.

"Maxine Caufield."

What? No! Are you serious? After five years of complete radio silence, you decided to just show up outta fucking nothing, when I'm about to lose my chill in front of the entire fucking school?

"Max!?" Chloe breathed out behind them, what made Eddie turn towards the punk, while still blocking Max from moving closer. Chloe threw Eddie an almost pleading glance, which the agent immediately understood. With one final glance at Max, he stepped out of her way and returned to his former position, watching over the crowd of students.

Max moved over to her radically changed now blue-haired best friend, who immediately pulled her into a tight hug. This moment was too stressful to confront her former best friend for ditching her and ignoring her for five years. The punk was just glad she had someone to hold on to.

All this shit is getting to me more than I'm telling myself. Shit. Maybe I should really talk to Eddie about this afterwards.

Before anything else could've happened, the main entrance doors were pulled open in a very rushed way and a very, very distraught James Ryan followed by a stern-looking Edison Sutton stepped into the hallway.

"You better give me a good reason not to blast you to the moon right fucking now. You bloody freak," James growled and walked towards Nathan with firm steps.

"Hey, James. Calm it. It's useless," Brandon intervened and took a folded up picture out of their colleague's hand that James practically shoved in front of their face. "What is this?" they asked, not unfolding the picture yet.

"Proof. Clear as daylight fucking proof. I hope your stomach can take a flippin' beating," James replied, trying his best to calm himself down. He wasn't concerned about the students watching the entire thing unfold right in front of their eyes, no. He had to calm himself down to prevent himself from pulling his pistol out of its holster and giving Nathan a point-blank ranged shot to the head.

Brandon said nothing and glanced down onto their hands in which the picture laid, still folded up. "Well then. We can finally stop wasting time talking about bullshit and come straight to the fucking p…"

Brandon had unfolded the picture right as they were about to say "point" but just couldn't. They just could not continue speaking. The picture disturbed them. So much that they had to stop looking at it the very same second they did. "Our lord and saviour Jesus Christ, please protect us from all evil," they muttered into their left fist, which had rushed in front of their mouth and nose in shock.

After a few seconds, Brandon eventually turned around and looked Chloe right into her eyes. A look of sorrow, hurt, pity but also empathy was on their face. The punk's heart rate soared.

No! No, no, no, no! They found a picture of me in his fucking room, didn't they? What the fuck… please, don't let it be that!

Unfortunately, Chloes fear turned out to be true. Agonisingly slowly, Brandon finally brought themselves to show her the picture in their hand.

"Do you have any recollection of this picture being taken of you?" they asked, sounding very stern. Chloe, utterly disturbed by the sight of herself in that drugged state, violently shook her head. Breathing became increasingly harder for her. Her hands held on to Max for dear life. Chloe battled with a thousand emotions at once. Horror, shock, rage, uneasiness, fear and a tingling feel of disgust tore her psyche to shreds. It was a miracle that she didn't break down in tears or collapsed into an outright panic attack. No, instead of that, she squeezed all the pressure in her muscles into the body right next to her.

That body right next to her, Max, also saw the picture. Brandon tried to prevent this, but unfortunately, it didn't work. She had seen it, even just a glance of it, and was hit with an earth-shattering wave of the same horror, shock and fear her best friend was feeling. Her left hand travelled to her face in just a split second, balled up into a fist and blocked her mouth from letting out a horrified squeal. Her eyes became wet at the sight of the hollow, empty, horrifying expression Chloe had on her face on that cursed picture.

Brandon turned around again towards Nathan this time. "Actually, I really do not need any explanations from you. This tells us all enough," he growled threateningly and revealing the photo to the boy, the perpetrator, the one behind all this. "You think it is morally acceptable to drug some girl who you could just have told to fuck off regardless of what she wanted from you? I get the very, very disturbing feeling that this was deliberate. That you used her feeling of victory for having "scared" you into submitting into her attempt to blackmail you or whateverthefuck. And when you arrived at your dorm room with her in tow, you thought it was a brilliant opportunity to fucking drug her and feed your demonic desires, ain't it?"

Nathan didn't respond. He couldn't. His voice had left his body. His mind refused to work. He felt a very threatening glance piercing him from his right. Not from Brandon or David nor Wells, but from someone completely else. Someone in the distance, who would probably never be suspected, ever. The puppeteer. The mastermind. The all-seeing-eye. Oh, how bad he just wanted to blurt everything out. Everything. But he couldn't. He would've paid with his life if he did.

"I'm here, not over there," Brandon's voice said, tearing him out of his inner conflict. They followed Nathan's glance but couldn't find anything of interest. Nothing special or extraordinary enough to stare at continuously. "You will be watched. The Division will watch your every fucking step you will take on this campus in the future. Just to let you know, I'm authorized to kill you on the spot. But because I believe you're hiding something from me, I will refrain from doing so."

Brandon finally stopped staring at Nathan. The picture had been seen by Wells and David too, who were just as disturbed, especially David. Getting tired and way too angry at the entire situation, Brandon decided to end it here. They weren't responsible to "arrest" Nathan or whatever. It was not their job. The police could interfere if Wells, David, or Chloe herself decided to involve them. But the Division had nothing to do with any of that.

Brandon now turned their attention towards the crowd. "The number of actively patrolling Division Agents will be raised from two to three at all times." they stated. "James Ryan and Eddie Bradley still remain as your persons of contact in case of any physical or mental health problems respectively, especially regarding this case. If something similar to this happened to you, please talk to Eddie as soon as you feel comfortable enough. Your well-being is crucial to us and this school's faculty."

Then they turned towards principle Wells. "It is not in our business what consequences you will pull. Just keep in mind that in the future, Nathan Prescott will be watched with heightened priority while on campus. Oh, and I almost forgot, I have something else that I really need to talk to you about in private today. It is about the return of one of your students."

Principle Wells nodded in response. "I will make sure to give you a call whenever I am available. Now please excuse me, I will now decide what to do with Mr. Prescott."

The principle demanded both David and Nathan to follow him inside his office, and all three disappeared shortly after.

Now it was Eddie's time to step in. Chloe and Max still stood and their original position, still clutching each other like their life depended on it. "Chloe, I'm truly sorry what happened to you, and I am certain that the principle will punish Nathan and report this to the police. I'm sorry that we can't do more, but if you need any help from a psychological stance, I'm always happy to assist."

Chloe nodded thankfully, slowly calming down again. She managed to loosen her tight grip on Max and took a deep breath of air. "You did enough already. Without your help, I would probably have done something stupid or people just wouldn't have believed me."

"You made the right choice, Chloe. This was a huge stepping stone for something bigger." Eddie replied and gave the punk a sincere pat on her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Max questioned.

"Well, I'm not allowed to talk about it - yet. Patience is key here," the agent replied, not really giving a clear answer. "Anyway. I think it's best if you lot just remain off campus for the rest of the day. You," he said and pointed at Max, "make sure that your best friend is alright, okay?"

"I will," Max replied, "I'm not going to leave her side. I did it once, and I regretted it every single day."

"Always remember. Doesn't matter how fucked up the past may be, the here and now is what counts," Eddie said with a smile and ultimately said goodbye to the two girls. He joined his colleagues who were about to leave the building. But not before James approached Chloe and made sure that she was okay. Out of instinct, she gave the young man a "big-bear hug" who laughed heartily. "You can always count on us, Chloe. We are always behind your back," he said.

Chloe simply nodded and for the first time since she admitted what happened to her, the girl smiled. There was still a tint of sadness and shock in that smile, but overall, it was sincere.

And that's that mattered, wasn't it?

The punk may be standing in the shadows at this moment. But she doesn't know that behind her a door had appeared. That door will lead her to paradise. And the key, slowly, began to materialize in her hands.