Life is Strange

Carving a New Path

Chapter 1

To say the date hadn't gone well was an understatement. It had started off badly when a certain honey-haired lioness had stepped backwards at just the wrong moment and got crapped on by a pidgeon. Being the magnet for trouble that she was, Chloe Price had once again brought it down on herself by involuntarily bursting into laughter. That hadn't won her any girlfriend points. To make up for it, she volunteered to buy Rachel ice cream at this great ice cream shop she knew. She'd talked it up all the way there to calm her down only to find that the old guy who'd been running it had passed away and now it was in the process of being converted into a Chinese takeout.

After that, Rachel's mood had been unsalvageable and everything Chloe had tried had been met with flat rejection. Even heading back to her place and making out on the bed until morning because the moustache was in the house and Rachel had classes the next day. In the end, it had just resulted in a screaming match at the front of the Blackwell campus that was loud enough to bring the security staff out of whatever hole they lived in. Since Chloe was an expelled ex student and since Rachel had moved into the campus after Chloe herself had exposed what James Amber had been doing to Sera- Rachel's biological mother- the consequences of all those actions caused her to spectacularly fall upon her own sword as Security all rallied together to chase her off. By the time Chloe got home, she was emotionally strung out, physically exhausted and so full of mental static that it was long beyond the point of being funny.

The battered old truck pulled into the driveway and Chloe got out, trudging inside at long past midnight. She was two hours past curfew, but she didn't even care when David ambushed her at the door. He practically dragged her to the kitchen table and threw her into a seat before standing over her way too closely and hooking his thumbs in his belt loops like a cop carrying a gun. In that moment, Chloe was left wishing she had one. Fifty-fifty as to whether she shot David first and then herself or just cut out the middle man and ended her own suffering while she could. Unfortunately, this crappy night wasn't done yet.

"And where in the blue flying fuck have you been?" he demanded. "Curfew is two hours passed and the god damn wedding is tomorrow, Chloe! Do you remember what I asked of you? That if you could do one thing for me for as long as you lived- just one little thing- do you remember what that was?"

"Oh, I remember." Chloe said, careful to keep her tone neutral. "I also told you I don't intend to go. It's Mom's life and she's entitled to fuck it up in any way she likes. That doesn't mean that as her daughter I have to suffer the indignity of watching it." David's face blazed with fury. Good. Let him have a fatal coronary. If there was a god, let it send this divine act of retribution and save her mother from making her biggest mistake since the day she actually first got with this military jockstrap. Maybe Chloe would even shed a tear at his funeral as a courtesy if he just did this one thing for her and died on the spot. Promptly, too. Time was ticking.

"Chloe..." David let out a sigh that could almost be considered defeated as he sagged into a chair across from her. Chloe could see the stress she was putting on him. Good. With a bit of luck that heart attack was just on the horizon. She wasn't about to let up now. "Think about how Joyce is gonna feel if you're not there. It'll crush her. She loves you. She's up there right now thinking you and Rachel are about to sneak in through your bedroom window. Again. I happened to drive past earlier today and saw her looking thoroughly unhappy with bird shit on her so I figured you'd be coming in alone tonight. I didn't know whether it would be the front door but I'm usually down here anyway. I was hoping you'd try to come in this way because I wanted to have this chat with you privately."

"Good." The thought was in Chloe's head and out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"What?" David was clearly confused. "What do you mean 'Good'? Is that all you can say?" Well... As long as he was asking..."

"Good that it'll crush her." Chloe said, letting over a year of darkness pour from her lips in that instant. "Maybe in that moment she'll see how hollow the time she'll spend with you is if I'm not in it. She can't have us both, David."

"You think the time she'll spend with me will be hollow?" David challenged, looking at her. "What's the time she's spent with you so far? Even before I came along, you were making her life hell at every turn! I get that you lost your dad and I get that you lost your friend; but do you honestly think that acting out like that would bring them back? Buying pot, cussing out anyone who offers to help you- What do you think they would say if they could see you now?"

"My dad was gone for maybe three months before you came into the picture!" Chloe practically screamed. It surprised her. She thought she'd already shouted herself hoarse with Rachel. "Yes, I was having a hard time adjusting. I was angry. You do stupid shit when you're angry. I'll give you that for free. But Mom was desperate, David. And desperation makes you do things that are twice as stupid as anger. Things like bringing home a PTSD-addled vet who narrowly missed ending up in a wooden box and screwing him so she can have a few blissful seconds of forgetting about someone who actually did!" The air in the room instantly chilled. Chloe knew she'd said precisely the wrong thing. She could hear Joyce's feet on the stairs as she came down, but the more immediate concern was David directly in front of her. The raw fury had filled his gaze like liquid fire and Chloe knew his choler was up now.

"You... Little... Shit!" She had no time to react as he seized her by the throat and lifted her clean from the seat, slamming her into the kitchen table. On instinct, she swung a punch that connected solidly with his eye socket and staggered him slightly. It was enough to loosen his grip and she was able to bring her foot up to connect with the underside of his jaw. He reeled back as blood poured from between his lips, his teeth having come together with an incredibly loud crack. Not done, Chloe grabbed the vase of flowers from off the table and jack-knifed to her feet. Just as he started to make a recovery, she brained him as hard as she could. It wasn't hard enough to break the vase, but stunned as he already was the strike was devastating to him. Chloe raised her arms and brought the vase down again on his head. Again, it held out. She brought it down again and again, enjoying the feeling of the impact through the ceramic. And somehow the structure of it still held out.

"Chloe!" Chloe looked over, the aura of blind rage around her instantly shattering. Joyce was standing there shocked and horrified with rivers of tears pouring down her face. No! This wasn't right! David had attacked her! Now she was about to get the blame for something that wasn't her fault!

Chloe was done. She was completely and utterly done. Not just in the sense that she was about to get the blame for this, but also in the sense that she couldn't be asked to care any more. She threw the vase at David's head as she stood up, hitting him square in the mouth again. It didn't matter now. Joyce was doomed to hate her. Her last chance to stop her mother from marrying the future step-douche had come and gone.

"Get fucked, pornstache!" she muttered harshly as she headed for the stairs. Joyce descended the rest of the way and made to intercept her, but Chloe was so furious at David- and even partially at Joyce for bringing him into the house in the first place- that she effortlessly shrugged her off.

"Chloe Elizabeth Price!" Joyce bellowed after her in a way that Chloe had never heard before. It took all she had in her to ignore it. "You get back here right this second!" She wouldn't. She was not going to sit there and watch Joyce fawning over David's injuries while David put her, her dad and Max on blast when two of them weren't there to defend themselves and she herself wouldn't be allowed to. Instead, she retreated to her room. She would only be sent there anyway.

Slamming the door shut behind her, her eyes scanned the room for something to destroy. But she knew that wouldn't bring her any peace. Not this time. Arcadia Bay as a whole stood there like a bleeding cancer that needed to be cut from the world in her eyes. It had brought her nothing but grief and loss and she just didn't understand it. Why her? Why did Max get to swan off to Seattle and live the life of Riley? Why did her dad get to be dead and not have to see his wife of fifteen years flush whatever time she had left down the shitter with David Madsen? Why couldn't she hold on to anything that made her happy? Her relationship with Rachel was crumbling in front of her. Max was gone. Her dad was gone. Everything she touched turned to ash.

But did that have to be the end?

The thought crept into her head as she pulled her dressing table in front of her door just in case Joyce tried to get in. That, at least, might buy her some time to think. And now that this thought was stuck in her head, she couldn't get it out. And the longer she dwelled on it, the more promising it looked. As much as the thought galled her, David was right: Max had moved to Seattle and must be having a fucking great time if it was worth dropping her over. Maybe, just like Max, her future lay there too? The place was full of hipster artists and she liked to draw and graffiti stuff. Maybe she could learn a way to turn it into a business. She and Rachel had always talked of running away from Arcadia Bay. But Rachel didn't deserve to go with her. Not with the way she was acting. Her personality could flip on a dime at the best of times and the ongoing issues with her dad only seemed to make her that much more unstable. Besides, Chloe had already been chased away from Blackwell that night so couldn't go back there any time soon. And she certainly wasn't sticking around until the day of the wedding.

Flying into action, she took all the clothes that she could fit in her backpack. She had a spare toothbrush and tube of toothpaste in her emergency bag. She also had a travel bottle of shower gel, a bar of soap and enough hygiene products to see her at least most of the way there. Raiding her underwear drawer and grabbing every clean pair she could was an idea that was nothing short of essential. She also made sure to pack her real ID card and license, not the fake she also carried around. She could get a new fake ID if she needed it, but showing up in a new place with one wasn't the best way to make a good first impression.

While she found herself wishing she had a spare backpack to put more stuff in, she sadly didn't. That was okay. She had more than enough to get her set up there. With that done, she completed her preparations by raiding her money tin. Forty dollars. Most of that was from ill-gotten gains and dwindling fast. At the very least, she could top up on twelve dollars of gas and maybe get a super cheap room for the first night. What happened after that was anyone's guess. It was a blind leap but she was willing to make it.

Heading to her window, she pushed it open and jumped out into the tree outside. It was a simple jump and she'd made it countless times before in all weathers. From there, it was easy to make it as far as her truck. She knew Joyce and David heard the engine start since Joyce was out of the door in seconds. But that was too slow as Chloe started to pull away. She had no chance on foot and she prayed that at very least she'd concussed David enough that Joyce wouldn't let him drive.

Her luck seemed to hold. The face of her mother screaming desperately into the wind brought her pain, even when reflected in her mirror. But with this act, hopefully she would bring an end to the pain they were both in. Joyce could have her happy life and Chloe would find one somewhere else for herself. She and David were like oil and water and clearly this was the way it had to be. Checking her fuel gauge showed that she had more than half a tank. Easily enough to make most of the nearly three hour drive to Seattle. And with certainty in her heart and a fresh start in her eyes, she set her course for the edge of Oregon.

Author's Note: This is the first chapter of a new story. One that's been in the works for a few months now. Between the tech issues and the repeated life dramas, it hasn't been easy. But the story is now finished as of today. And the fact it's Thursday now means you don't have to wait for this chapter to be uploaded. Hope you all enjoyed it. Please feel free to review and let me know what you think. I'll see you all on Monday for Chapter 2.