Life is Strange
Enemy Within
Chapter 1
The fire had destroyed a great deal of the forest. As the girl looked out over the damage, her motorcycle parked by her side as she took off her helmet to get a clearer view her heart gave a strong pang of sadness the instant the stench of burned wood hit her nose. As she pocketed the bike keys, the car that she'd been travelling with cut its engine as the driver stepped out. He walked around and opened up the trunk as she moved over to stash her helmet, grabbing two backpacks from inside and throwing one to her. She tossed her helmet to him in response and he placed it inside before shouldering the backpack and closing the trunk.
"That fire last year practically killed this forest." His thoughts mirrored her own and she could only nod in response. "Are you going to be okay making this trek in your biking gear?"
"It's pretty sturdy." The girl nodded as she shouldered her own bag. "And yeah, we're lucky there's anything left to camp in at all. If I ever found out who did it, I'd actually kill them." She meant it too. Her dad had always been an animal lover and had raised her to appreciate them too. This camping trip they were on together was just the latest of many, although it was the first since the 2010 inferno that had been the scariest and most damaging wildfire in Arcadia Bay for over a hundred years. That had been a year ago now, and the damage hadn't shown any signs of beginning to heal.
They walked for about an hour, the girl keeping an effortless pace with her dad. Now that she was surrounded by the forest as she knew it, she could almost forget the large expanse of blackened matchsticks that used to be known as trees that sat on the landscape like a rotten blight. Eventually, she spotted someone up ahead who'd set up camp. He seemed tall yet wiry with glasses that reflected the light of the fire and left her unable to see his eyes, He had quite dark brown hair and a thin-cut beard coupled with a handsome face. He stood up as soon as he saw them, dusting himself off and making his way over.
"You know, I heard you coming even as you were parking up." He kept his tone neutral and almost cold as they approached him, the girl dropping back to let her dad take the lead. It was odd. If this was the friend he said they were meeting then her father had a terrible eye for description. He'd described the person they were meeting as being incredibly friendly and someone who could get along with almost anyone. If this man was that person, then while his initial appearance would make it hard to believe he wasn't married his initial mannerism would put any doubt to rest instantly. His gaze was cold and calculating as he studied them while her dad stepped up to him and they stared each other down in a passive-aggressive stance. But just as suddenly as the encounter started, the entire tone changed. Both men suddenly turned into the best of friends right in front of her, embracing warmly and talking like long-lost brothers.
"It's good to see you, Mark."
"Norman! How's it been?" They broke apart as the taller man turned to the girl. "And I take it this bright young lady must be Abby?" She could only nod in response, her words seeming to leave her about how the encounter had totally shifted and was not turning out at all like she was expecting it to.
"She's a bit reserved, but she'll talk when she's ready." Abby was grateful that her dad had moved in to cover for her. Dealing with new people had never been something she was good at. "You haven't seen her in years, but you remember her, right?"
"I remember her being a lot smaller." Mark nodded as they made their way over to the campfire. Mark and Norman both sat down by it and began catching up. Abby decided to leave them to it for a bit, heading over to an unoccupied spot and unpacking her tent and sleeping bag. There was obviously a reason that her dad was bringing her to meet Mark. She was sure she would find out what it was in time. They obviously hadn't seen each other for a while since she didn't even remember meeting him and her dad had mentioned something about him living out-of-state for years. It was best to let them catch up for now.
Eventually, once her tent was built and her sleeping bag was laid out, she backed out of it and realised she didn't have much left to do besides join them at the campfire. The sun was setting so she decided that it was best to head over and get warm before she tried to get some sleep. She sat down on her own log and stared into the dancing hypnotic glow of the flames for a few minutes before the rustle of a bag snapped her back to reality. She looked over to see Mark holding out a bag to her.
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
"It's dry-cured honey roasted pork." Abby took the bag cautiously as he spoke for fear of dropping some as she tried to take a piece. "It's really good. Every time I go camping I get addicted to this stuff all over again." She took a small piece, popping it into her mouth and waiting for the taste to hit her. It was amazing. The honey was the first thing to hit, closely followed by the pork. It brought a pleasant buzz that seemed to set her mouth on fire in the best way. She quickly grabbed a bigger piece before handing it back.
"Thank you." She nodded as she passed it over. Her dad and Mark had clearly wasted no time in catching up, but there was clearly something that they hadn't covered yet, as she found out when he started speaking.
"So, Abby, tell Mark about your college plans." Now she understood. Her dad hadn't been able to shut up since she got her acceptance letter. Obviously he'd called Mark here to brag to him and show off his daughter.
"Well, my girlfriend and I are going to Blackwell to study. I'll be doing Science and English while she's focusing on Photography." That one perked Mark up visibly.
"Ah, I see. And can I ask what your girlfriend's name is?" That confused Abby yet a glance at her dad showed he'd been expecting the question. Clearly this wasn't just about bragging about her.
"Lynn."
"Got it." Mark nodded. "Well that means Lynn will be in my class. I'm going to be the Photography lecturer there." Abby stopped cold. The pieces were finally coming together in her head.
"I brought you here to meet Mark because he's going to be working at Blackwell while you're both there." Norman summarised needlessly. "I wanted you to have a point of contact if you ever got into trouble. Mark has agreed to basically be that point of contact for you. I have my own experiences with Principle Wells. He's a bit of an academic drone. He tends to go exactly by-the-book and it takes forever to get a result. Mark can help grease the wheels if anything urgent comes up since I won't be there."
"Exactly." Mark nodded. "You two will have each other and I'll be there to offer support if need be, especially since Lynn is in my class. That means it's also my jurisdiction." Abby was left with mixed emotions. On one hand, she was annoyed. This was supposed to be an opportunity for her and Lynn to learn what life away from home was like and her dad's interference defeated the purpose. On the other, Mark was only there for if things got desperate. Provided things didn't get out of hand, she saw no reason why she and Lynn couldn't still be left to their own devices. He just wanted them to have a safety net. She didn't see anything wrong with that.
"Thanks, guys. This is definitely going to help." With that, she let out a sigh and looked up at the sky, deciding that it was getting late enough. "Well, I'm gonna head to bed and let you catch up. Thanks again, Mark. That's going to be helpful."
"No problem, Abby." Mark said as she got up to head to bed. "Oh, Abby?" Abby turned to face him, hanging on to a dim hope that he was going to offer her another piece of that honey roasted pork. Or at least the recipe. "Just to let you know, you won't be able to call me Mark there. When we're talking privately it's fine. When we're in the corridors, it's Mr Jefferson. Okay?"
"Got it. Thanks." With a nod, she walked over to her tent and pulled back the flap, ducking inside and bedding down eagerly. As she did, the comfort was almost painful after trekking through the woods. Still, she loved it. It was something she was definitely going to miss when she was away from home. It was only a few days until she started at Blackwell. She'd been looking forward to it since she got the acceptance letter and she had a good feeling about it. She'd never been more sure of anything else in her life: her time at Blackwell academy would change her life forever.
Author's Note: Okay, so it's taken me a little while to get this ready for upload. Those of you who've been following me on this site for a while will know that I started a new job recently. This one is full time meaning there could be some randomness to my update schedule. As though there wasn't with my last story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think.
