Chapter 9

For Lynn, the two days couldn't go by quick enough. It was as if she'd blinked. The disagreement with Rachel had exploded into full-blown hostility. She and Abby had taken to locking themselves in the room when they were in the dorm and class was their only escape from the knowledge that Rachel was on the warpath. That being said, they'd also heard her making plans to spend some time at Chloe's house to cool off. That was good. That would give them some time to relax. And Lynn was determined that come Halloween they were going to be at that movie night whether Rachel was there or not and no matter what mood she was in.

She walked out to the parking lot to see Jefferson there, leaning against his car as he double-checked a camera over. He looked up and noticed her coming as she approached, waving her over eagerly. She half-jogged the rest of the distance and joined him, unable to help herself from marvelling over the expensive car that- unlike hers- looked like it actually started more than ten percent of the time and the high-powered camera that would definitely get the images they needed.

"I'm so glad you accepted my invitation, Lynn." As he spoke, he set the camera into an equally expensive looking case that Lynn refused to believe just came as a freebie with it. "So, how do you want to do this? Are you going to follow me down or do you want to ride with me?" He looked up at her expectantly for an answer and she felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"Uh, my car isn't exactly... Well it's not really working at the moment. Again."

"Ah." Jefferson smiled gently as he walked around to open the passenger door for her. "Is it that little old Peugeot? Don't worry. It was only recently I had a car like that. There's no shame or disgrace in it." Lynn bit the inside of her cheek to stifle a laugh. There was no way that was anything but bullcrap. His car was top-of-the-range and the pinnacle of luxury. There was no way it just materialised out of thin air. He'd been a successful photographer since the 90s and with camera equipment like his there was no way he'd just been driving some old beat-up out of modesty. He was just trying to make her feel better. As much as she appreciated the gesture, she'd always thought of herself as more of a pragmatist than an optimist.

She climbed into the car and sat in the passenger seat. It was probably the second comfiest thing she'd ever felt. The only thing that topped it was when she'd lie on top of Abby and rest her head on her chest. She was comfier than even the mattress and Abby had always described her as being warmer than the duvet. It was one of the many things that she felt brought them so close together.

As she pondered that, Jefferson started the engine and they started heading towards the gates. He turned left and began to head down the road towards the edge of town. Lynn could see the lighthouse in the distance and knew from the schedule he'd texted to her that they would be heading there tomorrow. It was her favourite place in Arcadia bay and the place where she and Abby had shared their first kiss. Maybe if there was time, she'd be able to take some shots of her own. She'd always dreamed of getting right up to the cliff edge, lying down on her stomach and getting a shot of the entire town during the golden hour, the blades of grass just grazing the bottom of the shot as the setting sun painted the town in amazing colours.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked, turning to Jefferson who was fiddling with the car radio as he drove. It seemed to be the only part of his car that was anything less than perfect, only able to pick up Truss Limpbow and crapping out on every other station.

"Piece of shit." Jefferson muttered. In all the time Lynn had been studying with him, it was the closest she'd ever seen him to losing his cool. In that moment, he clearly realised the same thing and composed himself. "I'm sorry, Lynn. The radios in these cars can be a little buggy. I never usually listen to it anyway, but it's been sending out static when it's on standby. I need a new one. Anyway, what did you want to ask me?"

"How did you meet Abby's family?" she asked curiously. "Abby was saying you knew her dad for quite a while."

"Oh, I knew Norman back in school." Jefferson shrugged, grinning from apparent memories of glory days. "We would sit and dream for hours about the future. I wanted to dedicate my life to photography even then and he would fantasise about the restaurant business he wanted to open. In the end, we both achieved our dreams. A word of advice though: don't do that. We wasted most of our teenage years with dreams. The fact he met Daisy at all was nothing short of a miracle. Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. We wasted our teenage years and you're only young once." As he spoke, he pulled up at the edge of American Rust and cut the ignition. "We're here."

"The junkyard?" Lynn asked, perplexed. "I don't get it. This seems like the last place you'd want to model a clothing line."

"True, but the woodland around the edges is amazing and the train tracks are also a great shooting location that really add weight to the images." Jefferson explained as he unclipped his seatbelt and got out. Lynn followed him as he walked around to the back and opened the trunk to reveal a large box that she assumed contained the clothes.

"I'll carry that." She went to grab it but he stopped her and picked it up himself.

"Oh, no! I'm not having you peeking. Besides, you're going to be carrying the camera equipment. If you're able to carry the equipment and not break any of it, I can check you off for equipment handling which means you won't have to do the assessment later on." It seemed sound, so Lynn moved around and grabbed the camera bag that she'd seen him place on the back seat. Once she had it, she headed back to him and followed him as he took the lead in heading to their shooting location.

She was trailing behind him, the camera feeling heavy in her hands, as she kept pace as best she could. Suddenly, the shape of another figure caught her eye. Someone was sitting on the dilapidated old boat that had sat there for about thirty years. As she watched, they hopped down and headed over. That was when she realised who it was. She hadn't recognised them at first because of their clothes and much more confident stance, but it dawned on her that it was actually Nathan Prescott. He was looking a lot more comfortable in a hoodie and jeans, rather than the usual getup he wore. She had to say, she approved. He looked so much more himself rather than who he was being forced to be by his father.

"Nathan?" She couldn't hide her surprise as he approached. Jefferson hadn't mentioned there being other students joining them. In fact, he'd said quite the opposite. Had he not known Nathan would be there? "What are you doing here?"

"Well, thereby hangs a tale." Lynn spun to see that Jefferson's expression had hardened. His whole stance and tone of voice had changed. Not only that, but something about his whole persona had shifted drastically. It was like a completely different person now stood before her. "Mr Prescott will be joining us today. You see, the fashion project was super boring. So I turned it down. Together, we came up with something better. We'll need a model, though." Raw panic surged through Lynn. The pure adrenaline rush hit hard but was instantly dispelled as a sharp pricking sensation hit her in the side of the neck, causing her to stagger sharply. She instantly felt her whole body go numb as the fog invaded her brain in a cold haze. She collapsed to the ground, the camera bag bouncing out of her hands with a hard thud. Jefferson bent down, picking it up while setting the box he was carrying on the ground. Through the distortion that was overtaking all her senses, she was only just about able to make out what they were saying.

"Is it damaged?" Nathan asked.

"Don't be stupid, Nathan. Shockproof cases exist for a reason. Nice takedown, though. A bit textbook perhaps, but tried and true."

"No!" Lynn gasped out as the last of her strength left her while Nathan handed the hypodermic needle he'd stuck her with to Jefferson who slipped it into the camera case. He then opened the box and grabbed a roll of duct tape from it, rolling Lynn over with his foot before grabbing her arms and binding them behind her back. Try as she might, the sedatives were too strong. She couldn't retain consciousness as the darkness pulled her under.

Author's Note: Well, I found myself with some unexpected free time and so decided I'd post a chapter today. I'm going to aim to post my next one on Friday. I would say I hope you enjoyed this chapter but that would just be too evil.