Chloe and David were a sight to see as they strode into the quonset hut that served as Town Hall, at least until a new, permanent structure could be built. They were practically mirror images of each other: their jaws fixed in grim determination, frowns lightly creasing their brows, hands stuffed into their pockets. It was clear to any who might have taken note of their entrance that they were a pair on a mission.
Tonight's event was being held as an open forum of the remaining citizens of Arcadia Bay. At present, the town operated in an open meeting modality of government, as the majority of the Aldermen that made up the town council were now dead. It was decided that the issue of disincorporation should be put up to a plebiscite in three weeks time; certainly, there was no point in trying to reconstitute the old government if there was no more Arcadia Bay for them to run.
A podium and PA system were set up. Any and all comers were allowed to step up and speak, although only registered voters would be allowed to have a say in the Bay's ultimate fate next month.
Chloe signed her name with a flourish on the sheet, and offered the pen to David. He smirked, and then shook his head once.
"Something tells me I don't want to try and follow your act, Chloe."
Her lips twitched, morphing slowly from a sour grimace of impatience to impish amusement. She rocked back and forth on her heels, closed her eyes, and waited for her turn to speak. Trying her best to keep her emotions in check as she heard the heartfelt appeals from both sides.
"Too much history in this town to..."
"We need to accept the reality of the situation...without the Prescotts..."
"How can we possibly think of staying here?"
"God has made it clear that we've lost his favor!"
"...been my home for fifty years. Don't want Lincoln County riding up and telling me how to live my life, damnit."
"Yes, it's a crisis, but we need to see the opportunity..."
"You can all stay if you want, but once I get my insurance money, I never want to see Arcadia Bay again!"
Chloe couldn't decide whether the fact that opinion was split nearly down the middle was a comfort or a curse. But it certainly felt like the situation was balanced on on the sharp, slim edge of a knife. A slight shift in the wind or ripple in the current, and it would be all over.
The single flap of a butterfly's wings. Huh. Yeah. No pressure there, it's all just on you, Chloe.
She paused, then shook her head angrily.
No. Fuck that noise. I won't put this all on my shoulders. I'm just gonna go up and say my peace, and then that's it. Fuckers gotta take responsibility for themselves. I'm just one woman, and hell..I'm not even all that liked or popular. I should probably tell people to tear the town down, because they'd all go in the other direction, just to fuck with me. Reverse psychology. Because who wants to take Chloe Price's advice, right? Whether this place goes to dirt, or manages to hang on...it's not my fault. Or my victory.
She was just one person.
But she could just imagine what Max would tell her, if she were here right now.
"I'm sure every little drop of rain refuses to take responsibility for the flood, Che..."
"Next up, is...ah...Chloe Price?" The moderator called her name out.
She slowly strode up to the podium, which was set in such a way that she'd be directly addressing the assembled crowd. For all intents and purposes, she was going to be speaking to the whole of Arcadia Bay's current government. She reached up, taking the time to remove her skater beanie and shove it in her hoodie pocket. Slowly moved her hands to grab the sides of the lectern, then leaned in.
"Chloe Price. The hole in the ground that was 44 Cedar Avenue." she began, playfully mocking the standard practice of a citizen announcing themselves by name and address. "So let me just start off by saying that some of you know me already..."
A few people clapped. One or two called out her name, mostly people from the diner, or the construction crew.
She groaned, gave a weak smile despite herself. "No, no guys. Shut up, really, you're going to ruin the point I'm about to make." Shook her head, and tried to recompose her face into a more aggressive facade. "My point being that for the last few years, we haven't been on what you'd call good terms. Me and Arcadia Bay that is."
She paused for effect, then continued "No, actually...let's be brutally honest, we kinda just fucking hated each other." She pointed down hard against the lectern with her middle and forefinger to emphasize her point. "Shit, I've actually enjoyed being the enfant terrible of Arcadia Bay up 'til now."
Chloe gauged the rather blank expressions on people's faces and groaned internally
Don't be so surprised I've read a fucking book, people. I was a straight-A student, once upon a time.
"I mean, damn, I see you over there, Officer Berry. Y-you probably arrested my ass more times than you can count. And...and Principal...Wells?"
She slowed for a moment, her voice almost cracking. She hadn't realized that Ray Wells managed to survive, though he leaned heavily on a cane, his leg still in a full cast.
She shook her head, gave a clipped laugh. "Probably broke out the really good shit and partied hard, the day you kicked me outta Black-hell. Am I right?" Wells shook his head softly, but was unable to suppress a small smile, all the same.
A low chuckle rippled through the audience; in days past, they might not have been so kind, but it was clear that over the past few months, Chloe managed to earned at least some small measure of currency with more than a few people, who now appreciated her frank opening.
Still, they were obviously starting to wonder where she was going with her speech.
"So why am I starting off with all this? Why am I reminding you how much you all hated my ass? So that when I say what I'm about to tell you next, you appreciate the ironic context. How deadly serious I'm being, and what it means to me."
Reaching out, she grabbed the microphone, sliding it out of the holder. Fortunately, it was wireless, allowing her full freedom of movement. Taking a deep breath, she licked her lips, and looked out at everyone in the audience.
Well Chloe, time to screw your courage to the sticking place...
"Are we all out of our FUCKING minds, here?!" she demanded to know. She emphasized the second to last word, tapping hard at the middle of her forehead with two fingers.
"No, really." she continued. "It's a serious medical question. Did we all go clinically insane?! 'Cause that what it seems like, when we're at the point where we're seriously thinking about tearing down the town, retreating into ourselves, becoming some little backwater that's so small and scared, it can't even run itself anymore.
Some in the audience were clearly shocked. There was a faint murmur rising, but no one tried to stop Chloe as she continued with her rant.
"I mean, God damn! Where do I even begin? I know we've all been damaged by this storm. Some of us lost family, some of us lost homes, a lot of us even lost our lives, but everyone in this town has something in common now: we got eff'ed in the A by that tornado. For once in history, everyone in Arcadia Bay is equal: equally dicked over."
She then snorted. "Except...except maybe Sean Prescott. You know, the guy whose family has run this town for decades? The guy who, by the way? Was bankrolling the activities of his twisted, rapist, murdering son, and the psychopath school teacher giving his son murder lessons."
She felt only a slight twinge when she noticed Wells turning his face away from her.
She held up a hand to still some of the groans and catcalls, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's got the gold, so he got to make the rules. Fuck that, now! He had the same responsibility we do now. But none of us got the opportunity to run off with sack-fulls of cash and rebuild elsewhere. If Arcadia Bay means so much to him and his family, why is he abandoning us? Huh? Why? And better yet, why did we ever think we needed him?!"
Chloe was animated now, stepping up in front of the podium, thrusting out with a fist or jabbing with a finger to emphasize her points. "This town got absolutely flattened, people! Turned into a fucking pancake! I saw it happen. Up on high. Tornado was like the size of all of downtown. But you know what? In all the terror and tragedy and death and hunger and fear...I finally saw something. Something...miraculous." She swallowed hard, trying to steady her hands. She barely could keep control, the words seeming to spill out of her mouth on their own accord.
"I saw a whole town of people I hated - hated because I thought they'd given up after all these years, just kept takings their beatings like good little doggies - I saw them rise up. Come together. Saw them remember that we're all a community, and that you can only push us so far until we rise up and shout 'ENOUGH!'."
The pacing helped. Helped to keep her focused, helped to burn off the nervous, frightened energy coursing through her veins. "On that day, right after the storm kicked us in the teeth, I saw everyone put aside stupid old grudges, and shitty, petty arguments, and stop caring about who said what, or who did this, or who has more, and who has less. We rose up, to be something better, something more than the sum of our parts! People shared what they had! People who could do, did. Didn't matter what, but everyone gave something! I see so many faces here, and I remember what a lot of you did. Are still doing."
She jabbed a finger out into the audience. "Jeff Stevens, I see you all the time at the construction site, and I hate you. Know why? Because you work so hard each and every day, I feel like I can't take off at the end of the shift until you do." She laughed nervously at this.
She then walked up, facing an older woman in her sixties. "Mrs. Dixon. You're like the only damn Mormon in town, so of course you kept five years worth of food in your basement or something, I don't know, some crazy amount. And everyone here, me included, has had at least some of it. Doesn't taste nearly as bad as you think...pretty damn good actually, when you're starving, but it's not as sweet as you've been, insisting everybody help themselves."
"And...and..." Chloe paused. She could keep going like this all night..maybe. And maybe they'd let her have more than the three minutes she was allotted. But she knew she had to wrap it up, before she started to ramble, started to lose the whole cohesive thread of her point.
Her voice rose up. "I've seen how amazing this town can be! I've seen what it can do when pushed to the absolute brink! Now...now yeah. Yeah, we're in a bad spot, still. I can't promise...I won't promise, that we'll win for sure. Because even if we try and we fight and we scrape, we might still fade away, and then end up having to dissolve the town in a few years anyhow. But I can promise you, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that if we just give up now...then we really are a fucking pack of losers! Giving up, that's the only way that tornado can win!"
She paused, letting the notion sink in. " And...and how the hell...?" her voice was raw, jagged, almost shrill with emotion. "If we call it quits, how can we look at everyone who's had something taken from them by the storm...the people with physical injuries, the people who carry all their scars inside, the people who...who've had to bury far too many of their family? What do we say to the the people who weren't fortunate...or maybe unfortunate enough...to survive to see this day? What do we say to them? Really, 'cause I wanna know. We tell them it was too hard? That we just gave up, and ran away? Oh sorry, we made it to the cusp, where maybe we could rebuild this place right, make it into something small, but great, but we just couldn't rise up to the challenge when shit got real?"
Chloe held onto the mike with both hands now, almost as if clasped in prayer. "Well...well fuck you all, if you walk away now! I've pounded too many nails into too many boards...driven rivets into way too many beams, and and...buried too many good people to even think about quitting now. Because...even...even if I gotta pick up a hammer and finish rebuilding the rest of the town myself, I will. You can all walk out in the end, but you'll have to drag Chloe Price out, kicking and screaming when you do!"
Her chest heaved, as she breathed hard through her nose. Appraised the audience with a face etched with both mocking glare and inspirational challenge.
"For the first time in our lives, we actually get a say. We get to write our chapter in this town's history. It's a choice between 'The End' and 'To Be Continued.' I know damn well what I fucking want it to be. And It should be glaringly obvious what we all do, when the time comes to vote next month."
On a sudden whim, she concluded with, "So...so peace out, yo." Then held out the mike, tilted her hand to the side, and dropped it to the ground, before spinning on one heel, and making her way towards the exit.
As she did, she caught David's hand held up, in the corner of her eye, and smacked it hard in a high caught her though, and pulled her into a tight hug. Despite her best efforts, a few sobs escaped her throat.
"Toldja, Little C. Toldja." he whispered to her, before letting her go.
The stunned silence slowly gave way, with every step that Chloe took, like ice melting inexorably in the heat of the springtime sun. It started with a few claps, peppered with some whoops and hollers. By the time she finally closed the door behind her, the noise was thunderous, deafening, echoing in her ears.
Chloe felt like throwing up...but at the same time, it was pretty fucking excellent, too
Oh...oh Jesus. Was that me? Swear, I feel like I snorted a rail of meth or something, fuck...look at me shaking still. Crazy...just fucking...
"...crazy bitch." Someone softly called, once Chloe made it ten steps out of the hut.
She stopped short, turned her head to the side and appraised the man calling out to her.
It was Frank.
Sitting on a on a stack of milk crates.
He looked like shit. Clearly lost weight while in the hospital. He was thin and gaunt, more than Chloe thought possible. His clothes hung loosely off his rack of a body, or rather, what was left of it. She hadn't seen him since he was airlifted, but Joyce and he were in physical therapy sessions together for a week or two before they were let out of the hospital. She'd told Chloe about how gangrene set into his hand and one of his legs, necessitating their removal. The new hand was a surprisingly functional-looking replacement, despite its creepy aesthetic; little more than boney metal fingers and cushioned joints. The prosthetic leg was one of the ball and shaft models that she'd seen in pictures of too many soldiers coming back from the Middle East.
She turned the rest of her body and walked towards him. "Hey Frank. Can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I'm actually kinda glad to see you. You know...you still suck, but you're a familiar face...and that counts enough for now."
He shook his head and grunted, reaching down to scrub Pompidou affectionately along the scruff of his neck. "Hmmmph. Didn't get a chance before, to thank you for helping to look after my dog. Making sure he ate, didn't turn into someone else's dinner. And yeah...hi."
There was a pregnant, uncomfortable pause, before Chloe spoke again. "Sorry. You know, about the - ah...cyborg shit. Not like we're really friends, but that still doesn't mean I wanted you to actually lose pieces of your body. So, yeah. Sorry."
He laughed bitterly. "I'm not. Yeah, I look like I'm only the six dollar man, but I'm still alive. And now I'm on disability...not that I want to spend my whole life sitting on my ass and collecting pay like I'm some helpless freak, but at least it gives me time to think about what to do with my life."
He raised the metal hand up, glancing over it with unfocused eyes as the fingers slowly jerked about, clearly still not fully coordinated with it. "And God knows I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I've been doing with my life up 'til now."
Chloe winced and bowed her head a couple inches. Pulled out a box of cigarettes, and handing one over. He waved it off. "Thanks. But I quit." He turned his full gaze over to her. "So I gotta hand it to you, you really gave those dickshits an ear full. And seems like they were grateful to have you spank their asses, too."
Chloe lit up one of the cigarettes for herself, took a drag, and let the smoke bleed out past her lips, mixing with clouds of warm, condensed breath in the cold night air. "Ah geezus. You heard that shit?" she asked in dismay.
"Heard it? I think they fucking heard you out in Portland, way you were screaming out of that PA system." He chuckled, and patted her leg with surprising gentleness and respect. "Hell of a thing. And I'll deny ever saying it, but I'm glad you stood up for this town. Hate to leave...hate to see it just go down the fucking drain, way it looked like it was going to."
"Huh. I thought you hated this circle of hell more than I did."
He shrugged noncommittally. "It's home. I got along, in my own way. There's a lot of beauty here. I had a niche. A shitty, fucked up niche...but it was mine, damnit!" He stared up at the sky, groaning as he tried to lean back a bit. "Rachel...I'm man enough to admit it. She'd be...she'd be proud, Chloe. She'd be proud of you. I know it. I know she was sweet on you, in her own way, and you..." He paused, straining, as if trying to swallow down something hard. "I know how you felt about her. Believe me, I understand." He glanced out at his metal hand yet again, and whispered. "Karma. Fucking karma, Chloe. All of it."
She bowed her head fully, scratching her scalp through the beanie, and drawing another lungful of tobacco smoke. "Ah Frank, sorry, I'm not gonna sugarcoat this for you: you sold the gun. You didn't use it, didn't pull the trigger, but you sold that shit to Nathan and it...it got used for..."
Christ. Look at him. He really burned himself hard. And he knows it. Worse, he cares. He actually fucking cares, all too late, how he fucked up. What it cost him...cost us. Drug dealing, loan sharking scum sucker with a soul? Yeah, sure, why the fuck not. I should be dead five times over myself. World of wonders we live in.
She paused. Like a switch going off in her head, as she suddenly made a decision.
She shook her head. "But I'm not gonna hate you anymore for that. Not gonna demand kickass retribution. You did it mostly to yourself already. The storm took care of the rest. I see you, and I realize...that you realize it, yeah? So just go and do something that'll make her fucking proud of you."
I'll never know if she really loved you, or if she was just using you for drugs. I don't need to twist the knife in your gut on that point. Not anymore.
"Jesus. Fucking. H. Christ. What the hell happened to you, Price? I know you're still a bitch, I just heard it in there, but...but there's something different about you now." Frank shook his head with exaggerated slowness, moving to scratch his dog underneath the chin now. "You're...dunno. Focused. Like...you took all that anger and hate and fire and you boxed it up. Didn't hide it just...started making it work better for you. Owned it. That...that make any kind of sense?"
"Perfect. Yeah. Yeah I guess so. Woo hoo, you make it sound like a fortune cookie." She started to wiggle her hands in the air. "Master your rage, lest your rage master you!" She finished off most of the cigarette and then crushed it under her bootheel. "Besides, don't you know? I died. It didn't take though, but...death kinda has a way of mellowing you out."
It was true, in a manner of speaking. Chloe died, or rather, embraced death. Cleared her mind, prepared herself for it. Came within a hairsbreadth of departing the world...until the world interveined.
One Chloe dies in that moment. Another Chloe takes her place. Yeah, sure, why not? How different is that from all the other alternate realities and shit Max told me about? Why can't I just be a different version of myself since that night? Better than being like the alternate version of me that...begged Max to...
Frank said, "Hah. Yeah? That right? Kinda figured it was mostly 'cause you're getting fucked on the regular by your girlfriend these days." He lowered his voice, and added. "Don't tell her I said it like that, though. Don't give a damn about you, but I actually kinda care what she thinks about me. That and...people tell me she was the one who really stepped up to take care of my dog, most days."
Yeah. It was easier for her to deal with the animals than the people.
"Yeah...yeah well. She does like dogs. Arf arf."
Chloe glanced over her should, noted that the meeting was letting out. In a minute or two, she figured David would be looking for her, ready to give her a drive back to the trailer park.
Huh. A bit earlier than I thought it'd be.
She rose, sighed, then struggled for a moment to summon the words. "Okay. I gotta get going Frank. Work and shit tomorrow but...and I can't fucking believe I'm going to say this, so do me a favor and just blow me off...but stay in touch. Alright? If you're really gonna stick around Arcadia Bay, stay in touch."
He grunted, working painfully into a standing position as well. "Yeah. Huh. Maybe. Don't feel like I owe it to you or anything, but maybe if I see Max, I'll wave. If you're with her, I...guess I'll fucking wave to you too."
She gave the smallest smirk, despite herself. "Yeah. I guess that'll work. See ya round, Frank."
"Keep wearing those ovaries on the outside, bitch." he chuckled.
"Really think you got through to them. There was only one or two other people who tried to speak out against keeping the town together...but the way they were talking? Just don't think their heart was in it." David said, as they pulled up to the trailer. "You were...you were great, Chloe. Kinda amazing, really. Just wish your Mom could have seen, but hey? Maybe someone was taking a video and it shows up on that Youtube thing tomorrow."
Chloe snorted, opening the truck door and hopping out once it came to a stop. "Riiiight. Hashtag: Arcadia Bay Fuck Yeah." She rubbed her arms hard, trying to chase the chill from them, before admitting. "Still. It was nice to use my powers of bitchcraft for something more than trying to get my own way. I mean, don't get me wrong, this is kinda about me getting my way, but..." She paused, then groaned. "Fuck, David. I never thought I'd say it, but I really wish I'd registered to vote. Won't get a chance to weigh on in this shit next month."
As they made their way into the trailer, lowering their voices so as not to disturb anyone, he said, "Something tells me we won't need your vote. Mean that in the good way. I really think you turned this thing around, Chloe. I ah..." He tried to keep from smiling too wide. "Think you might have saved the town." He then mock-glowered. "Don't let it get to your fucking head, though."
She tightened her lips, holding back the laughter. Mock-saluted and murmured. "Aye aye, Captain. See ya in the morning."
Pushing past the curtain, she found Max in the twin bed they shared. The sleeping arrangements were cramped, but since it meant they had to spoon together to fit, it suited Chloe just fine.
Max was still awake, still taking refuge in her fantasy realms. Cartoons now. Archer, from the look of it.
Yes!
"Lana. Lana. Laaaanaaa!" Chloe stage-whispered to Max, poking her playfully on the sides.
"Oh God! What, Archer?!" Max replied, her smile wide and happy.
"Daaaaaayyynnngah Zoooone!" Chloe called back, before leaning in to steal a kiss.
Chloe laid back, allowing Max to encircle her with her arms.
"S-so. You went, right?" Max asked. "You just look, or you, um, you know? Did you say anything? Did it sound like people...like they're gonna stay? Or go?" She tried to keep from seeming too eager, too desperate to hear what happened.
Chloe shrugged. "Oh. Yeah. I actually did get up and say something."
Max nestled her head against the crook of Chloe's arm. "R-really? Neat." she breathed out. "I'm...I'm happy. Thank you, Chloe. Really meant a lot. I bet it helped. I bet you helped. I know you hate talking in public like that, you always sucked during speech day at school..."
"Hey!" Chloe called out, pretending to be insulted.
Max leaned up, kissed her on the tip of her nose. "What did you say to them?"
"Say? Oh. Just a few things. Probably the same shit you would have, you know? I believe I made a cogent, logical argument, bolstered by succinct, well researched points." She leaned in, nibbling at Max's hair. "I was a perfect knight champion for my lady."
"Hee. There you go." Max said. "You're doing it again."
"Doin' what?" Chloe asked.
"Sounding like your Dad. There's...there's so much of William in you. I mean, I knew it, always saw it. But...it's really shining through these days."
Chloe leaned in, whispering against Max's ear. "It's cause you bring out the best in me. Though if you'll excuse me sweetie, I really gotta just crash out. Need to get up ass early tomorrow."
Max nodded, before giving her a goodnight kiss. She then quickly curled up tight against her side. Chloe half expected her to go back to her tablet watching after a few minutes of snuggling, but was pleasantly surprised to discover...
...hey. Oh my fucking God, she fell asleep. Oh christ. Thank you!
"Well...back to the grind tomorrow." Chloe whispered to herself, before stretching out in full, and dropping off to sleep herself.
The vote was held on the first of April.
The final decision wasn't even close.
Arcadia Bay would continue to struggle on in the days ahead. But it would do so as its own entity.
A/N: Hey Swanketteers! It's time for another Black Swan Sat...
*Pauses. Blinks. Looks over her index cards*
Oh damn, sorry! Got confused there. Wrong series! But Black Swan IS coming back in just a week!
I can't believe I'm managing to bang out a chapter a day of THIS series. I'm not sure I can keep that pace up much longer. Like all my projects, it's taking longer than I expected. This is not exactly a bad thing, I suppose *laugh* The next chapter might be rather short, but it'll be pretty critical, too.
Anyhow, have a great weekend! Thanks to everyone for your awesome faves, follows and reviews so far!