Hey guys, welcome back. This one will be… interesting, we'll say that. Rachel's plans are really going to start coming to the foreground here.
Chapter Fourteen: Rude Awakenings
Rachel's POV - Next Day - Late Morning
I woke up the same way I had almost every morning since getting closer to Max, arms wrapped around the brunette as she lightly snored. It was funny how quickly she had adjusted and made herself comfortable, exactly what I had been hoping for. I suspected that Victoria coupled with the shock of Chloe's disappearance had something to do with that unexpectedly quick turn around. Most of all now, she needed someone.
While Max was asleep, I decided to have a snoop through the file David gave her; the one I'd tried and failed to get a look at for months. Careful not to wake her, I grabbed the file and began sifting through the months worth of investigation. Predictably, it didn't paint me in the best light. In fact, I was one of the main suspects.
"Typical David…" I muttered to myself, eyes taking in the information.
He'd sure been busy, building up profiles of practically every 'suspicious' student – a lot of Vortex Club members making the list, like Nathan and Victoria – and teacher. Wells was right at the top there given his lackluster interest. Some non-Blackwell people had made the list too, like Frank – the local drug dealer. The problem with David, everyone was a suspect. He saw threats everywhere, a real conspiracy theorist. I half expected aliens or cult abduction to be listed just to complete the set, honestly.
Amongst the data he had collected were things like set timetables, other unofficial daily routines, license plates and coordinates, online aliases, pictures, general profiles, relations to other suspects and so on so forth. I had to hand it to him, he'd been thorough, too much some might argue. Despite all the information, he hadn't gotten far.
Not finding much of interest, I closed the file and returned it to the desk. Once that was done, I glanced back over at Max, who was still fast asleep. Maybe it was time to have just a little fun with her. Quietly, I approached the bed and, without another warning, I dive bombed on there.
A surprised yelp and a confused tangle of limbs later, Max's eyes opened to investigate. When she settled on me, I smirked. "About time you woke up."
"What…?" Still dazed from sleep, she blinked a few times, her words lost to a yawn.
"Sorry, I got bored," I apologized, not really meaning it.
"You could've chosen a less explosive way to wake me up," she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for me to pick up on.
"I had other options, but I had a feeling you might object to some of them. Or maybe not..." I added as an afterthought, grin widening.
Rolling her eyes, she managed to untangle her arms and stretch them above her. "I don't even want to know."
"Shame, maybe another time then. It can be a surprise," I mentioned with a wink, interested to see how she would react if I did what I wanted. Would she end up rewinding or…?
Letting out a half-laugh, half-exhalation, she shook her head. "I feel like everything is a surprise with you."
Shuffling a little closer, hazel eyes met blue. "Glad to hear I'm such a mystery to you. One you're curious to figure out, I hope."
"Maybe a little…" she admitted, looking away from me as if she was embarrassed to admit it.
Casually resting my arm on her waist, I lightly bumped her leg with my foot to get her attention. "There are plenty of ways to try and find out."
She bit her lip, swallowing as she gave me a sideways glance. I wondered what she was thinking now. If only I had her power, I might be able to find out without pushing her too hard.
Easing back just a fraction, I turned attention to yesterday. "So, have a good birthday?"
"I… yeah, I did," she replied, sounding a little uncertain. "Uh, thanks again for the bracelet and…" Instead of finishing her sentence, she let out a soft sigh.
"Thought of something good for your request?" I asked, not expecting her to have come up with anything yet.
She shook her head. "Not yet. I'll keep thinking."
"If you're really struggling, I might have a few ideas. I'll even give you free tasters so you can figure out what you'd prefer." I had plenty of things in mind.
"I'm kinda scared of anything you have to suggest, if I'm honest," she admitted with mumbled reluctance.
"Well, you should be." I chuckled at her mildly worried expression, absentmindedly tracing my fingers over the nape of her neck. "Nah, I'm kidding. I won't do anything bad, promise."
I felt her jump at first, not expecting the contact. Then, she relaxed and seemed to be enjoying it. Something to remember. My fingers wandered along her neck, lightly tangling in her hair on occasion. I began mapping out the freckles along her pale skin, noticing a few smaller ones I'd missed before.
"See? Nothing bad," I reassured in a hushed tone, watching her eyes flutter closed for a moment or two.
As tempting as it was to take the fullest advantage of the situation, I didn't want to scare her off completely. I needed to gain her trust first, learn exactly what made her tick as well as tapping into her daredevil side with her powers. If I managed to do that, everything would fall into place.
Every so often, I applied some light pressure to her neck and shoulders with my thumb, hearing her sigh or lean further into my touch. I made mental notes of particularly sensitive areas for later as I worked. With my index finger, I circled her pulse, gently tapping. Her eyes were still closed, leaving her completely open.
Unable to completely resist temptation, I replaced my finger with my lips, lightly blowing on her skin to test the waters. Her eyes opened, looking a little surprised but not against it. Taking the plunge, I began to press kisses along her neck. At first, I wondered if I'd gone too far, but her eyes closed once again, head back moving on instinct. Every now and then, I let my teeth graze, a gentle teasing nip here and there, the odd lick – all seeing what I could get away with for the future.
She seemed fairly receptive, eyes opening every so often to check what I was doing. I could tell she was still wary of me, but willing enough to give me a chance. So long as the opportunity was there, I would take it. Not wanting to push it too far for now, I finished by blowing on her ear and gently tugging her earlobe with my teeth. When I moved way, her eyes slowly opened, a flicker of disappointment visible. Best to keep her wanting more, imagining it for the time being.
Instead of continuing, I carefully untangled myself from her and stood, stretching my arms above my head. I was aware of her watching me but pretended not to notice. "I don't know about you, but I'm starved. I think a trip to the Two Whales is in order."
Max agreed, returning to her room to get changed. Getting dressed quickly, I sauntered across to her room. As tempting as it was to barge my way in, she'd probably just rewind it. One problem with her power, it would be a struggle to take her by surprise if she started using it on a daily basis. Equally, this factor could yield some very interesting and exciting results. I didn't mind surprises myself.
Growing impatient, I lightly pushed on the door, catching her pulling her top over her head. Figuring it was okay to burst in now, I stepped inside. "In your own time, Max."
She yanked the rest of the fabric over her stomach, blushing slightly. "There's a thing called knocking, you know."
"Never heard of it," I smirked, leaning against the doorframe as she grabbed her bag.
It took us about half an hour to get to the center of town, stomachs protesting by the time we reached the diner. Joyce was working today, coming over to take our order and chat once we slid into one of the booths.
"Now, here's a couple of faces I've been missing," the older woman greeted warmly.
"I've been meaning to stop by before now, Joyce. Things have been…" I passed a glance Max's way, "...pretty hectic, recently."
"Ha, it always is with you. I just wish you could come visit more often," she sounded a little sad at the lack of contact.
I exhaled sharply. "Well, David's made it clear that I'm not welcomed."
"He's just…" Joyce hesitated, trying to find the right words, "...hurting, a lot. I know it's not an excuse. You just happen to get the brunt of his frustration."
Shrugging, I lightly tapped my fingers against the table. "Hey, I get it. I miss Chloe, too."
"I know. And you're not the only one." Joyce turned to Max with a sad smile. "How are you holding up, hun?"
Shuffling uncomfortably as all eyes turned to her, the brunette rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm… honestly not sure, Joyce. So much has been going on. It's a lot to process."
"One way of putting it, yeah." If only Joyce really knew what she meant. "We've gotta keep our hopes up, though. Nothing's certain yet. Now, what can I get you to eat?"
We ordered a pot of black coffee and two plates of waffles – at Max's insistence and recommendation.
"So, had a chance to look through David's file?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.
Wrapping her hands around her own mug, Max nodded. "A little, yeah. Nothing has jumped out at me yet. There's… a lot there."
"David is meticulous, too much perhaps," I added thoughtfully, glancing out of the window.
"Better too much than too little, like Wells and the rest of Blackwell," Max replied through gritted teeth. Understandably, she was angry about the situation, at herself too.
"Fair point," I conceded as Joyce came back to the table, armed with breakfast. On the second time around, she faltered as her blue eyes settled on Max, smiling to herself. Thanking her, we dug into our food. I had to hand it to Joyce, she always made tasty meals.
"Rachel…" Max finally called out after taking a few bites, looking up from her plate. "Can you think of any reason why Chloe might suddenly take off without a word? Anything at all might help. Was she acting weird or…? I dunno."
I poked one of the waffles on my plate, casting my mind back. "Hmm… can't say I noticed anything odd, any more than usual."
"So, she wasn't like upset or angry?" Max pressed, biting her lip.
Letting out a short laugh, I took a small bite of my waffles before answering. "Max, Chloe was always upset or angry. Those were her two main emotions, jealous taking third place."
"Jealous?"
"I'm sure you already know this, but she could get pretty possessive," I answered casually. "Sometimes, that was hot. Other times, not so much."
"I guess there have been a couple times I can think of where she got jealous," the brunette added, searching her memory banks.
However bad Chloe had been when Max left, that was nothing compared to the jealous I knew. "And I can guarantee it only got worse since you left."
"What did she get jealous about?" Max asked, curious for specific details.
"Oh, when I was paying more attention to other people than her mostly. Or when someone was openly flirting with me, that was a real trigger." The biggest catalyst was when I flirted back, but I left that out of the conversation for the time being. "Speaking of jealousy, you're talking an awful lot about Chloe when I'm right here in front of you. I get why, but… I'd like some attention, too."
"Well… you did ask if I'd looked through David's files," she pointed out hesitantly.
"Yes, I did," I conceded, "and then we got side tracked. It's too early to be thinking about something so heavy. Besides, Detective Caulfield, we all need a break from it every now and then. Like… earlier this morning, for instance," I finished with a smile, watching her cheeks redden by the second. "We could use more 'breaks' like that, don't you think?"
Instead of replying, Max grabbed a menu and pretended to look through it even though we had already ordered our food. She was clearly trying to hide her embarrassment. I rested my head on my hands, finding it kinda cute how hard she was trying, and how obvious she was.
"Still hungry?" I teased, lightly kicking her leg under the table. When she didn't reply, I stabbed a part of cut up waffle from my plate, holding it out for her. It was just too fun playing with her. "Here." Eyeing it up nervously, she sighed and accepted the offering to hide her cover up attempts. "For such a small girl, you sure eat a lot."
Using her chewing as an excuse not to talk, she averted her gaze. One day, she'd be giving back as good as she got, that much I was certain of. Had to take advantage of this while I could. My eyes wandered down to her neck, smirking to myself.
"Oh, Max, I think you've got something on your neck. Left side," I added, trying to stifle my grin.
She frowned, rubbing her skin, looking very confused when she pulled her hand away to find it clean. "Still there?"
Rummaging around in my small shoulder bag, I pulled out my compact mirror and handed it to her. This would be fun. Taking it, she angled the mirror, frowning deeper when she saw the small red mark about halfway down.
"What the…?" she began, fingertips running over it.
"Guess I got a little carried away this morning, huh?" I grinned, letting it slowly dawn on her.
Her blue eyes widened, blush intensifying. "Shit, Joyce probably saw that… ugh, so embarrassing… no wonder she looked so damn smug when she left us to it…"
When she put her hand up to cover it, I grabbed hold of her wrist. "Ah-ah, no, bad Max. Don't go hiding it now."
"But…" Her protests gave way under my momentarily stern look.
"Own it, Max. Nobody really gives a shit about what you get up to in your free time, so chill out. If people at Blackwell knew who it'd come from, you'd get mad respect. Like, you'd become an honorary jock bro." I couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image.
"Oh yes, because I often lay awake at night, wondering about that dream of mine. It always seemed so impossible, but I guess I don't have to worry now," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Happy to have helped," I teased, nudging her leg again. "Besides, that's nothing. Next time I'll do it properly."
"N-next time?" Max repeated cautiously.
"I'm an optimist. And while you might be queen of the past with your rewind, the future's still unknown." Reaching over, I brushed my fingertips against the faint mark, almost wishing I'd made it a little more obvious. "I, for one, can't wait to see what it holds."
Rachel's Room - Late Afternoon
Once again, Max had gone to Kate's room for one of their little tea dates. It was obvious that she had a soft spot for the shy blonde and honestly, I could totally see why. They were quite similar in a lot of aspects, particularly personality-wise. Both quiet, slowly coming out of their shells.
I hadn't spoken much to Kate personally, although Max talked about her enough. I wondered if she talked about me as much as she did Kate. Around Blackwell, I was a pretty common enough topic, especially thanks to Victoria trying to start shit. Which reminded me…
Not expecting Max back for a while yet – she'd only been gone half an hour – I left my room and headed over to 221, Victoria Chase's dorm. I could hear voices, probably Taylor and Courtney, so she must be in. Confidently, I knocked on the door. Now was time to start making the self-proclaimed queen bee wish she'd been nicer to me all of last year.
Eventually, the door opened revealing Victoria, who scowled when she saw me. "What the fuck do you want?"
"Hey now, that's not very nice, is it? I just came over for a friendly chat… alone. So, you might want to ditch the minions." I motioned to Taylor and Courtney, who were sitting on Victoria's bed.
"What's she doing here?" Courtney asked, giving me a disapproving frown.
Taylor crossed her arms, adamant that she wasn't moving an inch. "If you need to talk to Victoria, you can say it in front of us."
"I'm fine with that, if Victoria is," I mentioned with a smirk, quite happy to do just that.
A flicker of panic entered her eyes then, turning to them with a demand. "Leave."
Understandably, Courtney was confused by the order. "Wait… what?"
"What are you...?" Taylor began, equally as puzzled.
"I said… LEAVE!" Victoria repeated, throwing her weight behind the last word.
Taylor and Courtney exchanged confused glances, shrugging as they stood up to leave. On the way out, they made sure to bump into me and mutter a few insults. I'd heard it all before, so just shrugged it off. Reluctantly, she stepped aside and let me in, shutting the door.
"Why did you come here?" she asked angrily, tone accusing as she moved to the middle of the room, crossing her arms.
Smiling to myself, I began slowly circling her, not-so-subtly checking her out as I did. "I've been thinking…"
"First time for everything," she sneered, eyes never leaving me as she watched me pace around her.
"Cute. It's that kind of backtalk that got me wondering, actually." I stopped in front of her, still smiling. "I don't mind a little love-hate banter here and there, but too much… that shit gets old quick. And, I want to make sure that you don't really mean it, that I can take them as playful quips, all meant in jest."
"Fuck off, Amber. I mean every damn word," she snarled.
"My, my, guess it's more serious than I thought…" I knew she would put up a fight, and that was half the fun.
She gritted her teeth, glaring. "I don't know how the fuck you got that photo, bitch, but I'm not letting you do this. Not to a Chase. I know that freak Caulfield's involved in this somehow. Only a hipster like her would take a picture like that. I'm going to make the rest of your time here a living nightmare, and after."
I sighed melodramatically, shaking my head. "Such big words. I can see why you might see it like that. Nobody here's got the backbone to overthrow such a ruthless tyrant, no matter how many people she steps on to get what she wants." I took a step closer to her, voice lowering. "Well, luckily for them, I'm more than happy to lead an overthrow of monarchy. And I'm capable enough to do it, too."
Rolling her eyes, she almost seemed amused. "Tch, fat chance. Between Nathan and me, we own Blackwell."
"Guess they haven't gotten around to changing the name yet. Which reminds me, I don't recall seeing a Chase dorm. Prescott, yes, but Chase… So, when's that happening, hmm? I mean, if you really own Blackwell, that would be a good indication." Before she could interrupt, I continued. "Now, back to my original point. I've devised a way to ensure I have your loyalty."
"What the fuck are you talking about? Loyalty? That's never going to happen," she stated outright, not even giving me the chance to stipulate the terms.
I took a step back from her. "I was afraid you'd say that. Guess I'll just go pay Juliet a visit, make her day with a juicy new story…"
"Wait…" she called out, body tensing. "Hurry up, I don't have all day."
Offering a charming smile, I got closer again. "Glad to see you've come around. Since you've been treating Blackwell as your own personal playground, your Kingdom, or maybe Queendom is the right word to use here… either way, I've got an apt insurance of fealty. Some good old fashioned genuflection."
She frowned at me. "Uh, what?"
Having expected her not to understand, I explained. "Simply put, kneeling to show the deepest respect for superiors."
Her eyes went wide at the suggestion, eventually clouding with determined anger. "I am not doing that. No way."
"Really? Shame… I was hoping we could come to an amicable agreement… at least you'll be in the spotlight for a time." Victoria's lips pursed tighter than I had ever seen, almost disappearing. If looks could kill, I'd be dead a million times over. Smiling, I took a seat at her desk, turning around to face her. "Not quite a throne, but it'll do, don't you think? I bet you've destroyed a lot of lives from this very chair, so many nefarious schemes..."
She stood there for some time, debating her options. I could almost hear the cogs working, weighing up the pros and cons of defying me. Either way, I'd have fun. Obviously, more if she decided to entertain me. Seconds ticked by, a stalemate. After what seemed like forever, she exhaled deeply and came to stand in front of me.
Her eyes met mine, full of hatred as she hesitantly knelt. In all honesty, I hadn't expected this. There had been a good sixty percent chance of her declining and facing the consequences. I guessed that, deep down, she understood how precarious her position was in Blackwell's hierarchy. Given half the chance, most would cast her aside.
Seeing how far I could push, I held out my hand. She looked at it, confused. "Just imagine there's a ring there or something. It's all symbolic, anyway."
When she realized what I wanted her to do, she looked like she might get up and walk away. Instead, she took hold of my hand and pressed her lips to my ring finger. If this was a dream, I sure didn't want to wake up. This was insane.
"You can stand now," I added with a pleased grin, watching her slowly get to her feet.
I could tell she wanted to scream and hit me so much, anything to voice her disapproval, but she held her tongue.
Figuring I'd teased her enough for the day, I too stood. "See, that wasn't so hard. Now, I might call on you for various… tasks, and I expect you to do them without question. Understand?" When she didn't reply, I took hold of her chin and made her look at me. "All you have to say is 'yes'."
Having already gone this far, she managed a mumbled 'yes' through gritted teeth.
I let go of her chin, taking my leave. "I'll be in touch."
When I left Victoria's room, I let the broadest grin loose, practically skipping back to my room. I would have to seriously reward Max later for her part in this. Without her, none of this would be possible.
Bye-bye Victoria Chase, and hello to a new era at Blackwell.
What does she have planned next for Victoria? How will Max react knowing what Rachel has done? And how will that affect their growing relationship? Find out next time.