Chapter 2: Night

CHLOE:

Chaos Theory Chaos Theory Chaos Theory...Theory...Theory...

Those words kept buzzing around in my head as I lay on my bed with heavy eyelids. Crickets and the faint barking of a dog could be heard through the slightly cracked window.

I tossed off my covers; my heart was in my throat and it made swallowing difficult.

'I know a lot of things about a lot of people, you especially,' my heart sped up slightly. 'If she actually is a psychic, does that mean that I really would've died?'

'Shit, maybe she really did save my life.'

'Don't be an idiot, Chloe. Psychics don't exist,' I didn't make myself feel any better.

I squinted at Max in the moonlit room, who lay beside me. Her chest rose and fell gently. I listened to her soft breaths, and they were oddly soothing.

She came to crash at my place after we left the junkyard, she didn't seem to have any problem sharing a bed with me and neither did I.

I felt a nagging urge to walk around, butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I got out of bed, being careful not to wake up Max as my hand grasped my new box of cigarettes; I walked out of the room and out of the house.

I knew Nicotine was a mild-stimulant, which should've kept me awake longer, but it sort of had this opposite effect on me: it knocked me the hell out. I would've smoked some pot, except I didn't want to waste it.

The warm, toxic smoke tickled my throat on the way down. It wasn't the most glamorous habit, but I kept at it, thinking I could just quit eventually. I exhaled slowly through my nose, the smoke's tendrils lashed out like fingers into the air. I glanced up towards the moon, which seemed much closer than usual. I checked the time on my phone:

3:26 A.M.

'Huh, Witching hour. Wait...Shit, have I been awake that long?'

I finished my cigarette and went back inside, feeling drowsier.

I gently lay back down, seeing that Max was still asleep, and drifted off not long after.

My cheek was pressed against a cold, wet surface. The clothes on my back stuck to me, completely drenched, as a torrential downpour seemed to come in from all directions. My body trembled, goosebumps ran all over it. I stumbled to my feet and the mud sloshed beneath them. The world spun around me like I drank too much, and it stopped after a moment. Inky darkness filled my surroundings and I could feel the hard, rapid thudding of my heart in my chest. Stinging rain pelted me, every drop feeling like tiny needles.

A deafening cacophony assaulted my ears; it sounded like a freight train was bearing down on me. My eyes adjusted to the dark, and I eyed a pair of wooden steps ahead of me. I recognized where I was: the lighthouse. A compulsion came over me; I needed to climb those steps. They were slick with mud and rain, and I almost lost my footing, catching myself on an overhead tree branch. My hair was plastered to my face, obscuring my vision slightly.

The bench near the lighthouse came into view. A figure sat upon it, looking into the eye of a very large storm; I was more focused on the figure. My blood froze over, the figure glowed an orange color, and it flickered like flame. I trudged closer, being whipped by powerful winds. The figure's glow didn't just behave like flame, it was flame. An urge to sit beside it overtook me, I did so with great caution as steam rose off of the figure with the impact of the torrential rain. It turned towards me and I cowered, adrenaline surging through my body.

I recognized that face anywhere.

Rachel.

I opened my mouth to speak, but was quickly blindsided by a terrific impact. An impossibly large wave crashed over the top of us, Rachel's flame was snuffed out, and I inhaled a lung-full of icy water. It burned like I had inhaled fire; I thrashed in panic, and everything went black.

I bolted upright, gasping for air. My body was wracked with tremors, and I felt a wet warmth on my face; I licked my lips.

It tasted like metal.

I pulled my knees to my chest and rocked, warm fluid dripped from my chin onto my bare legs.

Max bolted upright too, yelping in surprise as she tossed off the covers and jumped out of bed at a lightning pace.

She stammered, "Are- are you okay?"

The rapid pitter-patter of bare feet approached me, and she flicked on a lamp off to my side.

I winced as the room lit up, squeezing my eyes shut; my pulse pounded in my head.

I heard a sharp gasp, "Holy shit, Chloe...you're bleeding."

My eyes opened again and I wiped my mouth, my hand came away covered in an alarming amount of bright red blood. I pinched my nose and sat up straight, trying to staunch the flow.

"Don't move, I- I'll be right back," My eyes followed her as she darted out of the room.

She came back with a box of tampons.

I jammed some tampons up my nose, almost sneezing, and the bleeding stopped.

Lightheadedness hit me all at once like a train as I tried to get off the bed. My legs wobbled, and I collapsed to the floor, thudding and rattling several objects in the room.

"Chloe!"

She was immediately by my side as I erupted into a fit of painful sobbing, my hand smearing blood on the wood floor. She buried her head into my neck and held me tightly, her warmth all-encompassing.

Whispering in a soft soothing voice, she comforted me, "It's okay...it's okay. I've got you."

Neither of us slept anymore.

MAX:

"...and then a wave crashed over Rachel and I. That was when I woke up," Chloe sipped a can of soda that I'd gotten for her downstairs.

"Rachel...Amber?" I inquired while I was seated on the bed next to Chloe.

Her nose had stopped bleeding, and she'd changed into different, non blood-stained clothes.

She almost spewed the soda everywhere, putting her hand under her chin and catching some of it as I flinched, expecting some to get on me.

"What? You know her?" She gulped.

"Uh, no...I know of her, I saw all the missing persons posters."

She wiped her wet hand on the bed, "Oh...right..."

Pondering for a moment, she chuckled, "Tampons, Max? My tampons?"

I turned my head sideways at her, grinning, "What? They're multi-use."

"I'm gonna start calling you Maxi-pad."

I scrunched up my nose, "Ew, don't call me that...Fisher Price."

She laughed, "The fuck did you just call me?"

Just like old times...

"Thanks, Max. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"No problem, Chloe."

A silence ensued, I looked around the dim, still lamp-lit room. Various posters covered much of the walls, Chloe had turned some quiet music on, a lot of it consisting of Bright Eyes.

Chloe twiddled her thumbs; I blurted, "You and Rachel were very close."

I guess that had stricken a nerve in Chloe, she shrunk back.

"I...don't really want to be reminded of her, Max. Also, again with this shit? What are you, omniscient?" she threw her hands out to her sides.

That hit me like a gut-punch, "Uh...no...I-"

"You're scaring me, dude," she stuttered.

I collected my thoughts like they had just rolled out of my head and dropped onto the floor.

"I mean, how the hell do you know this shit? I never even told you any of this."

I stammered, "Uh...I think we should go somewhere more private, I don't want to wake up Joyce or David."

"To hell with them," she glowered, "I need answers now."

I knew I'd lose any argument against her, in any timeline.

My gaze avoided hers, but I could feel her eyes tunneling into my skull.

"Chloe, I'm no psychic or anything, I...don't know everything."

She scoffed, "Hmm, but you do know a lot, don't you? Especially about me, right?"

I shrank and my mouth went dry.

Her voice shook, "You- you're trying to fuck with my head, aren't you?"

"What? No!" I glanced at her eyes, which didn't seem to reflect her outward behavior; she looked like she was about to burst into tears again.

"What else do you know, huh? What else, Max?"

My mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sounds escaped.

"Answer me!" she commanded

I stood up, clenching my teeth and balling my hands into fists.

I was breathing like an angry bull, she prodded, "What else?"

Silence.

She growled, "What the fuck, Max? You leave for five years and come back, acting weird as shit? Do you know much I needed you, when you abandoned me?"

She clasped her hands over her mouth with wide eyes; my face went beet red as my heart sank.

She jumped to her feet and reached a hand out to me, I put distance between her and I.

Her voice trembled, "Max...I-I didn't mean-"

"I know what happened to Rachel!" I snarled, warm tears streaming down my face.

Chloe recoiled; she was half shocked that I had raised my voice, half shocked at what I had just said.

It became quiet enough to hear her shallow, rapid breaths as her eyes went wider.

The bedroom door flew open, and there stood a groggy David Madsen in nothing but a flowy pair of boxers.

We froze like a couple of deer in headlights.

He bellowed, "What the hell is going on in here? It's five in the morning!"

Joyce was by his side now in a pink nightgown and bed-head, arms crossed.

Chloe reacted, "Uh...we were just..."

"Having a discussion," I mumbled, looking down at the ground with my vision blurring at the edges.

Joyce said in a stern tone, "Chloe, you've got some explaining to do; Maxine, it was great seeing you again, but I think it's time you left for now."

I sniffled and wiped my eyes, "Yes, ma'am."

I complied. Chloe and I made brief eye contact; a single tear rolled down her cheek as I grabbed my things. Joyce drove me back to Blackwell.

I snuck back into my dorm room some time later.