Life 58: Strange Tidings
Arcadia Bay had been ravaged.
The sun fell upon a town that had felt the worst of nature's wrath, a storm so fierce that mercy had seemed a foreign concept, and yet… the town had been saved from destruction by some grace of God, its people living to see another day as the bay itself lay empty and desolate, the ground itself torn asunder by the power of pure creation, the town's livelihood forever decimated.
And yet… Arcadia Bay's citizens couldn't care less.
Their lives were still there, their children still lived, and they had finally been given the chance to rebuild.
For this small, aged town to be given a new breath of life.
To change, and become better.
They would not waste this chance.
(October 14th, 2013)
"Following the destruction of Arcadia's Bay port, not everything seems so grim." A newscaster announced over the television, the patrons of the diner giving it no attention, for they already knew what had happened, the news barely worth hearing.
"Following the incapacitation of his father, Nathan Prescott (19) has returned to Arcadia Bay to continue his family's business. Prescott, formerly thought to have been killed or worse, had this to say." The anchor said promptly, the camera then cutting away.
Nathan Prescott, the once drug dealing bully of Blackwell Academy, now stood straight and tall. His hair was carefully cut short, a black suit on his frame as he stood still, his face in a look of sad contemplation.
"Hello, my fellow citizens of Arcadia Bay. Many of you know me, either from my actions or that of my family, but I am not the man I was, not even a month ago. Despite rumors, I was not kidnapped or killed, rather I was getting the help that I desperately needed. At the insistence of a dear friend, I took the time that I needed, and have emerged a better person…" The last Prescott said slowly, melancholy in his voice as he seemed to stare off into nothingness.
"Thank you Max..."
"I swear I'm fine Price!" An exhausted girl complained to her more-than Best friend, the two of them standing inside the living room of their new, slightly shitty apartment.
After being reunited, the two had taken next to no time to make up for what they had lost, and now had gone off together to make their old dream a reality.
Well, as much of a reality they could considering both of them were broke as could be, Los Angeles being traded for the lazy sunlit afternoons of Augustine Springs.
The town wasn't the best, but they were together.
"I lost you once, not going to happen again Rachel." Chloe Price said in a sing song voice as she pulled on her coat, the two arguing as Rachel had tried to convince her love that she was responsible enough to go to the store on her own, not needing an escort to go everywhere.
Rachel Amber just sighed, as she understood the concern for her safety, but it had been almost a week of her being completely fine, so she thought she was owed a little bit of alone time, no matter how much she loved being together.
They had been trying to move on with their lives, despite the sadness that still filled them, but least they had each other.
"You're a clingy fuck Chloe."
"I know."
"Unless the Defense has anything else to add, I propose this session go into recess to allow the Jury time to reach a verdict." The judge said strongly and firmly, letting the group rest as the jurymen filed out of the courtroom, the case frozen as the defense and prosecution merely stared at each other in a form of rivalry.
"You know you won't win this trial Albus, I've done my research far too well." A well dressed man said with ease and confidence, his defendant completely forgotten as the two lawyers stared at each other, the entire situation no more than a game to them.
They were above all of this of course, but their professions were a hobby at best.
A means to pass the time, and to move on.
"Oh, I would disagree with you there Tom." The older man, Albus Dumbledore, said with a chuckle, his eyes growing hot then, a grin on his face showing how much he was enjoying this. "This case is as clear as can be, how the Jury is taking this long to see your client is a piece of dragon dung is beyond me."
Tom chuckled then, much to the confusion of his client, who stared at the men as if in fear, his freedom on the line as the men argued like old rivals, an odd friendship clear to see.
"Oh I agree, but this face of mine is oh so easy to trust, I'm sure we're both aware." Tom Riddle said quickly, both of them laughing at the irony. It was more than true.
While the two bickered and argued, a somber thought kept coming to their minds, a silence coming over them at the same time, a cold growing over the room.
"You're going too, right?" Tom asked his old friend, a sadness filling their veins as the two thought about what so many people had tried not to, the pain still too fresh.
"How could I not? We failed him Thomas, in ways only we can ever know, we own him that much." Albus said without any room to argue.
They would return to Arcadia Bay, and there wasn't a chance they'd miss it…
It was their duty to see this through to the end.
"Katie, you can't just stay in here all day…" Richard Marsh said in a mournful voice, stepping into the room of his eldest daughter, the room as dark as her mood likely was.
Kate had come home earlier that month for support after that sick bastard Jefferson had been arrested, her family supporting her in such a terrible time, and had stayed after what had happened not long after…
Kate Marsh just laid down in the dark, her bed molded around her body as she rested, a soft song playing in the background, a no doubt comfort in the dark.
Kate barely made any sign that she even noticed he was there, aside from her answer.
"I'm fine daddy…" She whispered out, her eyes glazed over as she barely moved, leaving him to sigh as he took a seat on her bed.
He just placed a hand on her back, the two resting there as the lull of the music washed over them.
"No you're not." He argued peacefully, not a single trace of anger in his voice or on his face.
He merely knew she was lying to herself.
She didn't bother arguing with him.
"When was the last time you left your room Katie?" He asked her, his darling daughter still as a statue, his concern growing in waves as he watched her dull eyes look at him.
"I don't need to…"
Richard just kept silent then, wondering over how best to help her… only to think of one thing that could help… no matter how painful it would be.
"Do you think Max would want you to be like this?" He asked her quickly and soundly, knowing the reaction he would get, but at least it would be one.
"You didn't know her, so how dare you!?" His normally so sweet daughter snarled at him, a venom in her voice he had never even dreamed of hearing bursting out, a rage he had never seen coming over her as it filled the room to a boiling point.
He just nodded.
"I know, but I also know she was your best friend, and that she would have never wanted to see you like this." He argued, knowing that the caring person Max Caulfield had been would never have wished such sadness on her closest friend.
"She was so much more…" Kate muttered softly, her anger dying as quickly as it had burned, her body falling back to the bed, as still as it had been once before.
Richard took a breathe then, and continued on as he knew that only he could get her through this.
"I know that too."
Kate looked at him then, perhaps in surprise, perhaps in fear.
He didn't know, but he just let a small smile drift onto his face.
"You know…?" She asked him, her voice so frail and weak that he wished he could hold her and tell her that everything would be alright, but he knew he couldn't just yet.
"I've known for a while Katie, and I'm happy she was there for you."
And that was all he had to say, the girl rising then, her arms flying around him as he just sat there, his heartbroken daughter crying her heart out in his arms.
He knew she needed support, in as harsh a time it was, and with the coming days even more…
And he would give her all she needed… as much as he could.
The two just sat there, sadness and regrets expressed as the sun began to rise outside the home, a beautiful pink shining in the skyline.
And throughout this all, a single envelope sat alone in Kate's bag, left unopened and unread.
She couldn't handle it, but perhaps she would eventually.
All that mattered, was that the world hadn't ended, no matter how much it felt like it to Kate Marsh.
The sun still rose.
A couple stood together, a student's doomroom around them.
Gentle colors melded together in the room, a mellow feeling breathing life into the room, no matter how empty it felt.
Most of the room was surprisingly barren, aside from the occasional item here or there, but the main focus lay on a wall of the room.
Painting filled this wall, all depicting places, people, or events that they didn't know all too much about.
One held an aged castle, a wall of it broken as figures and green lights poured into it, a likely assault ruining the age old structure, a striking moon hanging behind it all, its rays not daring to fall upon the fallen stronghold.
The next portrait hung there, begging for attention. A boy floating in an endless abyss, his eyes closed as wisps of light trailed past him, all reaching their little hands for him yet none of them reaching.
Their attention quickly moved then to the final painting, but their eyes quickly met each other in a sign of mutual grief.
"She really changed…" Ryan Caulfield sadly remarked to his wife, the two of them having come here to learn more about their daughter and her final days, having lost connection with her earlier that month… and for the last time.
They had been confused and heartbroken, and had tried so very hard to understand, eventually coming to the conclusion that they had to be there.
They spoke to her teachers, and to her classmates, and had learned of the one person they most needed to speak to… had just closed herself up.
So they went to Max's room, trying to make sense of how everything had gone so wrong.
The fact that no one understood what happened to her made it all so much worse…
From what people could tell, when the damned store had struck the town, Max had just walked into it, her body being found by the devastated beach, broken and alone.
No one had known what to do, and so silence had fallen over the town for days, few even talking about her loss.
The pain was clear enough to see.
While she hadn't been very social, people still knew her, and after the mess with Jefferson, and her role in exposing him, people all across America knew her name.
And the country grieved for the loss of such a remarkable person.
"She did." Vanessa, his wife, said softly, the two looking over Max's paintings.
They had been surprised that she had traded photography for painting, but imagined that learning your photography teacher was a monster could turn anyway off the subject.
Her skill surprised them though, as pure emotion screamed out from her paintings, especially the final one.
Two girls floated together above the ground, a horrific storm raging behind them.
The first girl was obviously their daughter, her face morphed into an expression of almost depression, her face fallen in grief.
Behind her trailed a large shadow, the extent of it stretching off behind her, almost like a chain holding her bound.
They didn't understand, but then they looked to the other side.
The other girl was the one everyone had pointed them towards, Kate Marsh, Max's best friend.
The girl looked peaceful, almost as if asleep, as she floated there in the storm, angelic wings flying behind her back.
The two presented an odd balance in the midst of disaster, a fitting tranquility to tragedy.
They had no words for the beauty of the piece, nor for the sadness they felt from looking at it.
They had missed the heartache their daughter must have faced, and had ignored what must have been going on with her.
They had failed so very badly, and now they stood in the aftermath.
Nothing could be said.
Kate wore white.
She knew that black was meant to be wore while grieving the loss of a life, but she knew Max wouldn't have wanted her to grieve her.
She'd want her to remember her, and she did.
Her funeral, furloughed as it was, began in mere hours. Kate still couldn't believe she was gone, the last time she had seen her was when they confessed their love to each other… and now it was all gone.
She was gone.
Kate had dreamt of their future, of the life they could have had, together… and had woken up to a nightmare worse than any she could have imagined…
This hadn't been a dream… it was reality as she knew it, forced upon her like the worse pill she could ever swallow…
So she continued to dream of Max, to think of her, not of what they lost, but what they had for so short of a time.
Less than a week, that was how long they had held each other, but it had been the best time of her life, no matter the hardships they had faced together.
No matter the indecision and strife, Max had been there for her in ways no one ever had before, cradling her heart like it was the most delicate and precious gem.
A diamond in the darkness.
Dressed in a simple white dress, the one she had childishly considered wearing to her one day wedding, she sat in her room thinking of Max.
Her mind remembering the curves of her body, the gentleness of her face, and her eyes.
She missed her, no more could be said… until her eyes drifted then to her bag, a hidden treasure buried inside it…
A golden letter Max had left to her, her beautiful handwriting on the front of it, words that she didn't truly understand written on it… but she knew that Max had meant something from them…
"I Open at the Close"
What did she mean by that?
That was the question that had haunted Kate since that awful Friday, wondering over what she was meant to understand from those simple words… until she finally understood.
Close didn't just mean to close something… The close meant the end…
I open at the end.
"Max knew she was going to die… and left this for me…" Kate realized, having pulled the envelope free of her bags, the bag thrown and forgotten as she focused on the elegant letters scrawled on the beautiful gold, the emotion almost flowing from the paper.
Brushing aside her worries and grief, she took a breath, and broke the seal clean.
And pulled the letter free from it's bindings.
"Dear Kate."
The ceremony had begun at noon, the sun settling in the sky as they all gathered in the cemetery, not just those closest to Max either.
People had flown or driven into Arcadia Bay from all over, so many people coming from so far to see Maxine Caulfield off, the girl that had set so many worries and sore hearts to rest, the girl that had closed so many books in the minds of so many.
Kate stood at the front of the procession, Max's parents at her side, her own family right behind her.
Kate didn't know many of the people that had come, besides a few of their classmates.
She recognized two girls standing at the back of the crowd, the two dressed in gray and black, holding each other as one struggled not to cry.
Even if Kate hadn't seen them before, she knew who the blue hair belonged to.
Even though they couldn't see her, she gave them a soft nod as she looked back at the coffin, the one she knew held Max in a tomb of care.
She thought she had seen Nathan Prescott somewhere in the crowd, but even though he had changed, she still remembered his cruel words…
Kate had desperately not wanted to be here, not wanted to accept that any of this was real… but she knew she would always have regretted it if she hadn't been here.
So she had.
She, the one light in the darkness, not speaking, merely listening.
As the preacher began to speak, thanking them all for coming, and beginning a speech she had never wanted to hear.
She had never wanted to accept any of this, but she did.
And she began to cry, a letter crumpled up in her hand, as she let it all go.
But never Max, she wouldn't let her go, no matter how much it hurt her.
She wouldn't let her go, but she would let the sadness go, and always remember her as she had been.
As they had been.
After they had all gotten ready to leave, the ceremony long over and finished, Kate had still stood there, her eyes frozen… until a voice spoke from beside her, one she was unfamiliar with.
"She loved you, you know?"
Kate turned then, to see an elderly man, a man she honestly thought was the oldest man she had ever seen, yet he held a warm and welcoming look in his eyes as he walked up beside her.
"Who... who are you?" Kate asked in a whisper, wondering who this almost mythical man was, a man she had never seen before.
He stood before her now, his eyes sad yet calm, a faint twinkle present in them as he looked to Kate, a small smile on his face.
"Albus Dumbledore, I was an old friend of Max, she was once a student of mine." The man, Dumbledore, said with sorrow clear to see in his face, a hand coming to rest on Max's tombstone, the earth still fresh.
Kate nodded then, before the man's comment came back to her.
"How… how do you know that?" Kate asked him, confusion coming to her eyes as she looked at him, wondering why Max had never mentioned him. "Why have I never heard of you?"
He looked at her then before smiling that same, sad smile.
"For a long time, Max thought I was dead, long gone, until she found out I was still alive recently. I came to Arcadia Bay, and the two of us spoke about everything that had happened. She wanted my support." He answered quietly, a tear coming to his eye as he looked down at the grave, the words on it standing clear, the engravement one that Max had actually requested via writing, to the confusion of so many others.
Maxine Jennifer Caulfield
Sep 21, 1995-Oct 11, 2013
The Last Enemy to be Defeated is Death Itself
"She knew… didn't she?" Kate asked him, his presence oddly comforting as she walked closer, her eyes avoiding the stone at any cost.
"She did. She saved all of you, and yet so few people actually will know that." Dumbledore said tenderly, his blue eyes now looking out beyond the cemetery, his eyes looking out at the horizon, the sunset meeting his gaze head on.
Kate didn't know what he meant then, but she remembered the letter, and just nodded, her doubts still there, but brushed aside.
"But she did it for all of us, but for the most part, she did it for you Ms. Marsh." He said then, as sure as he could be, and looked to Kate then, that damningly sad smile once more gracing his face, as he held out something for her then.
She took it from him, only realizing what it was when she held it.
It was a silver pin, a hollow triangle, a single line running down the center of it.
Max's pin.
She held it tightly then, ignoring the point of it as she just held onto a part of Max, no matter how removed it was.
It was something.
"Thank you." She said to him, meaning it more than she had ever meant anything, aside from returning Max's confession.
That had meant everything to her.
"No my dear, thank you." He said to her, his smile changing then, a look of gratefulness rising in him, until the smile he gave her was happy and genuine.
With a nod and a smile, the strange man, Albus Dumbledore, turned around and began to walk out of the cemetery.
She watched him go, only to look back at the tombstone, memorizing the words of it to her memory, as she began to walk from the yard.
She knew her family was waiting for her.
She didn't keep them waiting.
Dear Kate
I never wanted to have to write a letter like this to you, but the time has come for me.
A storm has come for Arcadia Bay, and I'm not talking metaphorically.
There are too many things I should have told you, explained to you, but I always knew I wouldn't have enough time, but I had hoped I would.
This storm Kate… it's worse than anything the world has seen before… and I'm the only one that can stop it.
I have to stop it, as it is my responsibility…
If I walk away from this, run away with you or something else that I so desperately desire, I wouldn't be who I am.
I would be betraying everything I have stood for, for years.
I can't do that, no matter how much I want to lay with you on some far off beach, the sun resting on us day after day.
But that's a dream I can't afford.
By the time you wake up Kate, it's already going to be over.
The storm will be gone, and so will I.
I know this is all going to hurt you Kate, maybe even destroy you, but I never wanted to do anything like that to you.
I love you Kate, more than you could ever understand, because you saved me from something far worse than a storm.
You saved me from myself, and I will always be grateful for that.
You are the angel I needed, the one that saved me from a demon worse than any hellfire could create.
I hope, I pray, that the death of an idiot like me doesn't hurt you too much, and instead gives you the chance I prayed it would.
I hope you find the peace to be yourself, free of others trying to stop you, and finally get to be the beautiful person I know you really are.
Be the girl I know you are inside, and nothing will ever stop you Kate.
I know with all my soul that you can do it.
Just as I do this for you, please do that for me.
I will always love you Katie.
-Max
The storm was gone and long forgotten, Arcadia Bay had moved on from the horror and strife that had afflicted it, but had grown in the darkness that had ravaged it, learning from the past and emerging brighter from the shadows.
The town became so much more than it had, and it's people so much greater than they ever dreamed.
And all… because of a storm.
How strange.
"Why am I still here?" The entity that once went by the name of Harry Potter asked of the darkness around it, the realm of Death always familiar.
He had been torn from his last life, fully accepting it as Death's grasp had taken ahold of him, cutting his strings free as he embraced the sensation he had felt every time he died, the cold splitting feeling of his soul being torn free and eventually being bathed into the hot light that came from the next life, the pain of being forced into another form.
And while the cold and pain had come, the splitting pain had ravaged and destroyed him so surely… but he hadn't felt the heat, the tenseness…
He floated in the darkness, still in the lanes between, another life still beyond him.
Death had kept him here.
"I thought I was done? Isn't this the point where you force me to take someone else's life? Start over again?" He asked of the emptiness, expecting Death's smug face to show itself and mock him for his emotions and reprimand him for not being a heartless pawn for Death's games.
But it didn't come, until he heard a piercing voice in his very soul.
REALIZATION
"Realization? What the hell are you talking about?" He asked him, his soul wandering the void, searching for an answer to whatever it was Death wanted of him, only to find himself drifting.
INCENTIVE
The word rung out in the dark, shaking him to his very core.
"Incentive? What did he even mean?" Harry thought to himself, wondering what game Death was playing now.
"What are you talking about? I did as you asked already, I gave up. I'll let you do what you want. I don't care anymore…" He muttered out, depression beginning to settle in the wisp of light that served as his very soul, wondering how much he could endure until his light went out…
SMALL COST
"What?" He asked of Death, only to feel that familiar feeling of the tether latching onto him, squeezing his soul as he felt the damn process begin.
He took a nonexistent breath, as he readied himself for what crap his next life would be…
Better to get it over with…
Life 59…
"Leonardo Da Vinci once said that where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. Does anyone have an idea what he was talking about?" A feminine voice asked aloud, waking me from my sleep. I found myself inside a classroom, students seated all around me, all making notes on some form or another.
I yawned as I sat up, looking around my new surroundings, trying to figure out as much as I could about my new life.
Painting and portraits lined the walls, the furniture simple and functional, my gaze slowly drifting to the teacher.
She seemed like a nice enough lady, I supposed.
I tried to shake myself clear of the grogginess, only to be shocked to my very core, when the teacher called on a student, one that I hadn't noticed before… but should have.
They stood then, and I just sat back and stared at her…
The teacher turned and addressed them, a polite smile on her face.
"Yes, Ms. Marsh, you had an answer?"