(A/N: This chapter proved to be really challenging to write, for reasons unknown to me. My plan for the next several chapters is to highlight how Max and Chloe change over the span of a few months, before jumping forward in time a bit. This whole portion of the fanfic is basically just the beginning of the story, before the plot really comes in. Anyways, without further ado… here's the third chapter of Still life.)

P.S. Thank you for reading to this point!

Chapter 3: Head in the clouds.

MAX:

The sea was a harsh mistress. Slamming and crashing into the hull of the pirate ship: The Executioner. The boomin' thunder n lightning in the black sky above rattled one's bones. Hammering sheets of rain poured down upon us, as we kept our footin' on the violently swaying wooden deck. I made quick work of the hatches, battening 'em down. Our skeleton crew lay scattered in a pile of bones, bracing themselves as waves ripped and tore at our vessel. Surely, Davy Jones' locker was expecting us.

"Thar she blows!" Yelled the infamous Captain Bluebeard, standing at the helm and pointing a finger ahead. The scourge of Arcadia Bay had one booted foot firmly planted on the deck, and a wooden peg served as the other foot. A beautiful, fearsome young lass, and a bloody good captain. What more could I ask for, being her first mate? Our crew adjusted the sails, at my command.

Towards where she pointed a finger, swam a spectacular sight. A massive serpent… the massive serpent.

Leviathan.

At last, our hunt was drawing to an end. We wished to be known as the fiercest pirates of all the seven seas, the slayers of a legendary beast. And this Leviathan had something we wanted. The most powerful artifact known to man, so ancient… so dangerous, that it had to be cast to sea to prevent it from finding its way into evil hands. The amulet of Chronos, the god of time. Said to be the shape of an hourglass, and deadly. A mere ungloved touch would render mortals to a gelatinous mass of viscera and gore.

He or she who were fortunate and daring enough to get their hands on it, would be able to bend time to their will. But… the legend spoke of a terrible cost, those who were careless risked tearing the world apart, pebble by pebble, mountain by mountain. Yet, we were willing to take this risk. Bluebeard was determined to snatch it from the teeth of this slimy beast, and use the amulet's power for good.

This had taken me aback. A fearsome pirate? Use the powers of a deity for good? My bout of introspection was interrupted by a thrashing tail, sending a goliath of a wave in our direction from half a nautical mile away. I raised my gruff voice, as my bandana soaked through with frigid rain, "Cap'n Bluebeard! Rogue wave!" A boom and a blinding flash o' lightning struck the sea, sending a jolt of blue electricity fizzling through it. The torrent of rain kept up, pounding me like small stones.

"Aye! Brace yerselves!" She steered the bow of the ship to face it head on, and a massive impact surged through the wooden vessel, pitching backward and forward as it rode over the wave. The salty sea poured over the bones clustered on the deck, and re-formed into our undead crew, who immediately stood by for more orders. I fired a glance at Bluebeard, who gave me a nod. There needn't be words exchanged between the two of us, a mere gesture and the meaning was clear.

I yelled at the top of my lungs towards the algae-clad undead, "Rrrready the harpoons!" Our crew scattered and shuffled along the deck to their stations, pulling massive harpoons from a set of wooden boxes with impossible strength.

Another bellowing yell bubbled from within me as I drew my cutlass, pointing the tip towards the skeletons some distance away, "Load!" The walking piles of bones jammed the roped harpoons into a series of specialized cannons located at the-

"Miss Caulfield, are you with us?"

...bow. "Aim!" Boney hands grabbed the handles, pointing the sleek black barrels at the-

"Miss Caulfield."

I snapped out of it, sitting at a desk in history class. My mind was pretty much blank, "Er...uh..."

"I need you to be paying attention, okay?" Said Mr. Evans, my middle aged teacher. Clean shaven and partially balding, wearing your run-of-the-mill pair of prescription glasses. In shape though, looking good for a man his age.

"Yes... sir." A few snickers and chuckles from my peers, and my face went hot for the five billionth time that day. 'Ugh, I zoned out again.'

"Okay, who can tell me the name of the privateer that attacked Panama City in January, 1671?" He stood at the front of the class, raising his voice ever so slightly to be heard by all 28 students in the room.

A female voice from the back of the room said, "Max can't." A few 'oooo's' came from some of the other kids.

And now my face was on fire. I spun around to see who'd said that, but I couldn't tell who. So I faced forward, dejected.

He glared at whoever the voice came from, "Emma, since you're so intent on being rude to a classmate. How about you tell me the answer to my question?"

This 'Emma' blurted, "Captain Henry Morgan." I turned around again and saw her: a skinny, red-headed, green eyed girl, wearing a generic gray t-shirt and jeans. The class bully, apparently. She sneered at me when we made eye contact, and I faced forward, self-esteem falling down another notch.

"Correct. Now... just correct your attitude." Man, Mr. Evans wasn't taking any shit from her.

She countered with her high-pitched voice, "Well, maybe Maxi-pad over there should-"

"Leave Max alone," cut in another female voice, slightly deeper. I resisted the urge to turn back around, crossing my arms on the desk and burying my head in them, hair draping over.

Emma stuttered, "M-make me, bitch."

The other voice mocked her, "Muh-muh-make you? Oh, you forgot. I'm the one that kicked your ass, remember?"

"Girls, enough!" Mr. Evans bellowed, and their bickering ceased.

A scoff escaped from the other voice, "Are you really just going to let her treat Max like that?"

This was getting to be too much for me. Tears began to puddle on my desk.

Emma tried to retort, "Mr. Evans, I-"

"Shut up," but was silenced again by the other girl.

He let out an irritated sigh and piped up again, "Emma, see me after class. This is the third time in two weeks you've been like this, and quite frankly, I'm sick of it."

Emma huffed and kept her mouth shut. Good on her.

I sniffled and raised my head from the desk, revealing my teary-eyed face and the wetness on the desk. My voice shook despite my efforts for it not to, "Mr. Evans, can… can I go into the hallway?"

A regretful frown washed over his face, "Sure, Max."

I scooted out of the seat and stood up, walking towards the door.

My defender asked, "Can I go with her?"

"Uh, why?" He questioned, as I paused with my fingers wrapping themselves around the metallic handle.

She fumbled for a reason why, "Because..."

"It's fine… she can come," I uttered with a still shaky voice.

The sound of rustling clothing came nearer to me as I twisted the handle and stepped out. A now silent hallway was a welcome surprise as I wiped away my tears with my fingers and leaned against the wall. Mr. Evans' room door shut with a slight bang, and in the corner of my eye I could see a few different shades of red, which came to my side. A quick turn of the head and I was met with another surprise.

The brown eyed, brown haired girl who had bumped into me earlier in the day. The one who had profusely apologized to me. The one who had defended my sorry ass when I couldn't.

And… I didn't even know her name, yet she knew mine.

I failed to see how I didn't notice her in class, but then I remembered: I'd spent that entire class period daydreaming about an epic pirate adventure.

My back slowly slid down against the wall as I sat cross-legged, 'Wowser, when I daydream… I really get into it…'

This mysterious girl sat down with me, crossing her legs out in front of her and adjusting her red skirt. I avoided looking at her and just stared down at my jean-clad legs. We sat in silence as some other person passed by, footprints echoing through the hallway. She eventually spoke, obviously trying to be as gentle as possible, "I'm sorry that happened."

I listened to those words and tossed them around in my head for a moment, before asking in a mumble, "Why did you help me?" It probably came out sounding kinda ungrateful, not what I was going for.

When I glanced back up at her, she'd tilted her head, chest-length hair falling over her shoulder, "Why wouldn't I?"

I felt myself blush and once again, looking away from her, seeing the reflection of the fluorescent lighting on the white hallway floor, "I...unh. I don't know."

She popped a few of her fingers, "I just had to stand up to her again. It just isn't fun to be picked on," from my peripheral vision, I could see her scoot a tiny bit closer. "I was in your shoes, once. But one day I snapped and uh… fought Emma, and won. She really isn't as tough as she thinks she is."

I gave a nervous chuckle, wiping the remnants of my dry tears and eye boogers away, "Yeah, I heard the part where you said you kicked her ass."

She let out a soft laugh, "Yep, I annihilated her."

I couldn't help but smile a bit, knowing that I might've just met a potential friend, "Thank you."

"Anytime, Max."

We both sat there for a while in silence, hearing the dull hum of activity in the classroom through the shut door.

I locked eyes with her, feeling a little more comfortable, "I… never did catch your name."

She smiled slightly, "My name's Kristen."

My lips formed into a sheepish grin, "I'm Max… but, you know that already."

Kristen rubbed the back of her neck, "Uh, I know I said sorry earlier, but I feel really bad about bumping into you."

I gave a slight shrug, "No worries, you've more than redeemed yourself."

After a pause, she asked, "Um. So, what's your next class?"

I fished the schedule sheet out of my jean pocket and read it, "Art… with Mrs. Wheeler."

Her eyes went wide with a mixture of surprise and joy, "Hey, me too!"

And just like that, my day at school took a turn for the better.

CHLOE:

Green.

So green.

The forest I stood in seemed like a place straight out of a fairy-tale. Lush, vibrant trees surrounded me in every direction, sheltering the songbirds that serenaded me, their calls creating the most breathtaking soundscape. My bare feet caused the vegetation to rustle and crunch with every step. A quick downward glanced revealed I was wearing a bright, flowy white dress. The incredible softness of its material brought an extraordinary comfort to me.

The cotton-like clouds in the blue sky above, which I could see through the branches of the trees, whisked overhead at an incredible speed... like a time-lapse.

Everything else seemed to move slower here, my every movement was as if I were submerged in water. In my serene trek through the forest, the trees opened up into a clearing. A very familiar wooden structure sent many sweet memories washing over me.

The treehouse… our treehouse.

Man, Max and I had spent so much time up there. If only she could see this the way I was seeing it. It drew nearer and nearer, as every little detail of it became more discernable.

Perched upon the only tree in this grassy green clearing, with its wooden ladder rungs and its corrugated tin roof, was the remnants of a magical childhood. This place meant so much to me, it was so frozen in time. It only felt like yesterday when Max and I saw it first, when Dad had revealed his work to us. I ran my fingertips along the tree's bark, feeling its life-force surge through them with a tingle. Vines had intertwined themselves among the rungs of the ladder, wrapping like hundreds of coiled springs.

A familiar, soft male voice came from behind me, "Chloe…"

My knee-length dress twirled and fanned out, as I spun around in this slowed down world.

There he was, wearing a white robe, looking at me with those blue eyes. That same strawberry blonde hair color was the one we shared, his entire body encased in a warm ethereal glow.

"Dad!" I ran into his outstretched arms, catching me as I clung to him, feeling his warmth and the pressure of his body against mine. I shut my eyes tight, my ear against his chest, hearing the beating of his heart. Tears streamed down my face, dripping from my chin onto the grass.

My voice shook, hardly containing the overwhelming mixture of sadness and happiness I felt, "I miss you so much."

His chest vibrated against my ear, "I miss you too, my little angel."

I sniffled, "Why did you have to go?"

"It was just my time."

Rage seethed within me, "But, it's not fair!"

He ran his hand through my hair, "I know, sweetheart. But, sometimes, life just isn't."

My teeth clenched, "Life can… life can eat a bag of dicks."

His tone lowered, "You know Joyce and I don't appreciate that kind of language."

I stifled a sob, "Why do you care? You're dead."

"I care because I'm your father, and even in death I'm with you."

My lower lip quivered, "How can you be with me if you're six feet under?"

He calmed me with a voice like velvet, "Just look inside yourself. The feelings in your heart, the memories… that's me, staying with you forever."

I pulled my head back to look up at him, face inches from his, with my arms still wrapped around his torso, "Forever?"

"Forever."

He wiped my tears with both his thumbs as I choked out, "Will I ever see you again?"

"Of course you will, I'm as much a part of you as those beautiful eyes of yours."

We just held each other for a while, feeling each other's breaths. A question burned inside of me, "Is being dead… painful?"

His hands wrapped around my forearms, taking a slight step back, "No. It's peaceful, and calm. There's no more pain, or anger, or fear. Just pure bliss."

I took in a deep breath, "That sounds kinda nice..."

One of his hands released me, and he held it palm to the sky in the space between us. A gorgeous blue butterfly sat upon it, fluttering its wings, "You know, Chloe. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that death is only the beginning."

His eyes blazed fiery red like coals, voice deepening into a sick guttural gurgle as he snapped his hand shut, crushing the butterfly, "As you'll soon find out."

I awoke with a groan, my cheek had sunken into my tear-soaked pillow, matting my hair against my face. As I rolled from my side to my back, staring up at the ceiling with my un-blanketed body in the sunlit room, all I could think was, 'The fuck kind of dream was that?'

I'd taken a nap after listening to that album. Sprinting those several blocks definitely tired me out. I glanced over at the alarm clock to my left, seeing that it was 3:47 P.M.

It had turned out to be a pretty long nap.

The doorbell rang downstairs, startling me to a seated position. I could hear faint murmuring between my mom and a male voice. My mind still swam with a cluster of strange feelings over this dream I'd just had. I mean, what the fuck happened? It was so nice and then, boom! Dad went all 'Satan' on me...

But, it wasn't really my dad, was it? I sure as hell hoped it wasn't. He was so real, everything about that dream was. It was like I'd actually contacted him. But, it didn't make any sense, what did he mean by, 'As you'll soon find out?' I couldn't help but be kind of afraid, what he said was just so dark and foreboding. My brain decided to detour and start thinking about my mom, wondering if she'd had dreams like this recently. 'Should… should I tell her about it? Or, is it just too fucked up to share?'

After a few more moments of thinking on it, I came to no real conclusion. 'If it keeps happening, then I'll tell her. Maybe.'

I heard their voices go silent for a moment, before my mom's voice boomed from downstairs, "Chloe Elizabeth Price, get down here! Now!"

It completely caught me off guard, 'Whoa, mom does not sound happy.'

While still sitting there, I turned around to look out of the window above my bed.

There, parked in the driveway... was a fucking cop car.

I let out the sharpest of gasps as my stomach tied and untied itself into knots. 'Shit! Fuck no! I know what this is about!'

"Chloe!"

'Fuck, this is about the goddamn cd! Not even five hours later and I've been made!'

I stammered, trying to yell back a response to my mom, "Fu…uh. Okay, I'm coming!"

I bolted out of bed and kneeled, fishing out the cd from underneath it, 'Shit shit shit, I have to hide this!'

Not being able to think of a good hiding spot, I threw it under my bed again. After pacing around in my room for a few panic filled moments, I decided to suck it up and go out there.

My heart was in my mouth as I opened my bedroom door, body tensing up like I was bracing for a sucker-punch to the gut. I became much more aware of my heartbeat, as my hands went clammy and shook like a motherfucker at my sides.

Mom was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps, crossing her arms and glaring at me with the same fierceness that Dad had given me in my dream, er… nightmare?

I froze at the top of the stairs. My voice shook in a futile attempt to lighten the mood, as I gave an awkward wave and smile, 'H-hi, mom!"

She glowered, sunlight filtering in through the small windows by the door, "Get down here." It almost looked like she had that same glow dad did, as a trick of the light.

Standing behind her was Officer Berry, holding what appeared to be my missing shoes in his hands.

The same Officer Berry that gave us our bad news...

Even when Dad was still alive, Mom had always been the disciplinarian, and groundings were her favorite weapon. So, I was probably about to get the world's biggest grounding. A grounding so large, that it'll be in one of those world record books.

I walked down a few steps, not taking my eyes off of my mom the entire time. I'm pretty sure I felt my teeth chattering.

Step… step… step… step… step… step… step, and I was standing directly in front of her, with her death stare fixated on me. Most of the time, my mom was a very gentle person, but woe to the unfortunate soul that upset her.

Woe is me, I guess… 'cause I upset the fuck out of her.

She widened her stance and asked me, arms still crossed, "Would you mind explaining why you thought it was okay to steal?"

"Uh…"

"Where is it? Where is the cd?"

I lied through my teeth, "I… don't know what you're talking about."

She lowered her eyebrows, "Chloe, don't you dare lie to me. Where did you put it?"

I shook my head, "I don't know."

Officer Berry commanded, one hand still carrying my shoes by his side, "Listen to your mother and go get it."

Anxiety shot through me as I asked with a trembling voice, darting my eyes between the both of them, "I'm not… going to juvie, am I?"

He assured, "No, I'm just asking that you return the cd."

'Phew.'

I let out a sigh, part relief, part exasperation, "Fine."

I ran back up the stairs to my room, grabbing the cd from under my bed and double-timing back to Mom and Officer Berry, who kept quiet the rest of the time. My hand placed the cd in her hand.

She turned it over a few times, reading it with a crinkled nose, "Slayer: Hell Awaits? What is this, Chloe?"

"It's nothing."

Her gaze locked onto mine again, holding the cd at her chest level, "Well, it's obviously something. What kind of music is this?"

I shrugged, "I dunno… heavy metal?"

She frowned, obviously disappointed, "Chloe…"

"What?"

Her cd holding arm dropped to her side, "I'm very disappointed in you."

Called it.

"You know better than to steal. And this music, I don't even have to listen to it to tell that it's hateful."

She raised up her arm to eye level and turned the case over, reading the song names on the back, "I mean, Kill Again? Necrophiliac? Nuh-uh, my daughter will not be listening to this."

I threw up my arms, "Mom, it's just mu-"

"What would your father think of you stealing, Chloe?"

Taking a step back, I growled, "Do not bring Dad into this."

She continued, "I'm sure he'd be just as disappointed as I am." Her words hit me like a freight train full of negative emotions; I didn't want to hear how disappointed my dead dad would be in me.

Because I fucking knew… I knew how disappointed he'd be. I didn't need mom to tell me that.

My hands balled into fists at my sides, "Mom!"

"You can't just do things like that."

I erupted into tears, "Stop, please!"

She sharply sucked in a gasp, and stepped forward in an apologetic attempt to comfort me, "C-Chloe I'm-"

I shoved her away, wetness building up on my face as I struggled to breathe through suffocating sobs.

"I'm sorry..."

I exploded in between my sobbing and anger, "I fucking hate you!"

Her jaw fell open and her eyes went wide, in what was probably the most horrific expression of shock I'd ever seen. Officer Berry seemed to be shocked too, but quickly returned to his stone-faced look.

I frantically yelled, "Mom! I-I didn't mean that!"

She shook her head and handed me the cd, speaking in a low voice and scowling, "Chloe, first of all: you will not speak to me like that again, do you understand?"

I clutched it in my shaky hands, furrowing my brows at her in confusion, "Y-yes, ma'am."

"Second of all: Officer Berry will take you to that record store, you will return that cd, and you will apologize to the owner."

A bewildered me retorted, "What? No!"

"This is not up for debate, you will do as I say."

"That's bullshit!"

She stabbed a finger at me, "And watch your mouth, young lady."

Officer Berry handed her my shoes, and she tossed them in front of me, hitting the floor with a slap.

She gestured to them with a nod of the head, "Put those on."

I groaned and reluctantly slipped them onto my feet.

I fucked up, and I take back what I said about Slayer being worth it… because it fucking wasn't.

Wow, that sucked.

Officer Berry opened the back door of his police cruiser, and I stepped out onto my driveway, sans the cd and sans my dignity.

Thinking back to when I walked back inside of that record store, I did happen to find a camera right above the door. The only place I didn't check. So, that was probably how I got tracked down.

The hippie dude still sat behind his counter, and at first he was kinda pissed about the cd. But, he let up on me quite a bit. I guess he'd taken his toke break or something, because this didn't seem like the same angry hippie from earlier.

Angry hippie.

Angry...

Hippie...

Something about that sounds really weird.

Anyways, after I'd given him back the cd and apologized until my mouth practically fell off, I walked out of the store where Officer Berry was waiting.

I got in the back of that police cruiser, thinking to myself, 'This… probably won't be the last time I end up in the back of one of these.'

So, there I stood on my driveway. Officer Berry was behind me as we walked to the front door. My mom stood on the outside of it, smoking a cigarette.

Shit, I'd really driven her there. I thought she had quit smoking. But, there she was, doing it.

I quickly looked at the half-painted blue exterior of the house, and tried to shut away any negative thoughts that might've come bubbling up.

But one of them made it through.

'Dad'll never get to finish painting that.' Thankfully, my thoughts were interrupted as we now stood before her.

Mom stubbed out the cigarette with a stomp of her shoe, and addressed Officer Berry, "Thank you, sir."

He nodded, hands on his police duty belt, "Yes, ma'am."

After a brief exchange of glances between him and I, he got in his cruiser and left, leaving me alone with my disappointed mother.

Officer Berry wasn't the most talkative guy, that's for sure.

Mom sighed and opened the door, stepping inside the house, "Come inside, Chloe. We need to talk."

I followed her, closing the door behind me, "Did we not have a talk earlier?"

"Not one I'm happy with," she turned to face me.

I crossed my arms, "Fine. Talk then."

She snorted in frustration, "You've never done anything like this."

I bared teeth, "Yeah, well… that was before."

Mom lamented, "Before… your father?"

"Yes, Mom. Before Dad died."

She shook her head, "Chloe, I understand why you're acting this way."

I snapped, "Really now, do you?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Please, drop the attitude. Please."

My arms fell and swung at my sides, "Mom, I just miss him."

Her arm fell too, "Me too. You're not the only one hurting."

"I know."

I looked down and away from her, "I have something I need to tell you."

She stood silently.

"I uh… I had a dream about him, when I was taking a nap earlier."

I continued, "Well, it was a nightmare, more than anything."

"Oh, Chloe… that's awful."

My eyes shut, "Yeah…"

"So, you're having dreams about him too…"

I looked back up at her, "Wait, you dream about him too?"

She gave a wistful frown, "Yeah, every night."

"Do… do you mind telling me what they're like? The dreams?"

She looked away in contemplation, "Uh, they're mostly about us as a family. You're in the dreams too, and you're just so happy to see him. And… so am I."

'I feel nauseous.'

My knees wobbled, "We should… go sit down, or something."

I numbly made my way over to our couch in the living room, and Mom followed me, sitting to my left as I sunk into it.

Leaning forward with my elbows on my knees, I croaked, "In my nightmare, I was at the treehouse."

My head hung low, "Dad was there, and it was all so real. Like… I was actually there with him. He, uh… We talked to each other and I… He just..." I buried my face in my hands.

I couldn't do it... I couldn't talk about it. The sudden wetness on my hands made me realize I was crying again.

She placed a hand between my shoulders, which shook during my crying fit.

My hands muffled my voice, "Mom, I am so sorry. I didn't... mean... what I said earlier."

"It's okay. Sometimes when we're upset, we say things we don't mean. And, I'm sorry too, for bringing your father into it."

After my sobbing died down, I wiped my hands on my pants, "That hurt me, Mom. But, I forgive you."

I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for stealing, also."

She wiped my eyes with her other hand, turning my head her way, "I know you are. Just… promise me something, Chloe."

"Yeah?"

"Never do that again."

"I promise... I'll never do that again."

At that second, the house phone rang.

(A/N: Man, that got really angsty for a bit. I felt like I needed to end it on a higher note. The next chapter or two might be pretty angsty as well, but I promise this fanfic will get fluffy before long.)