Better Off Dead, from the song by Sleeping With Sirens
Leaping through the woods at who-knows-when, Max clung tightly to the dying girl in her arms as she damn-near flew through the woods outlying Arcadia Bay, her eyes violet as she crossed the dark of night. The blood coming from the multiple wounds that Max could see flooded her senses and Max had to push herself on a few times, the hunger coming from the sight of so much blood enticing her. If I just…no, snap out of it! She's dying! She's dying, and you could have done more to prevent this! Goddamnit!
Brushing past a tree, Max felt something wet hit her head and looked up just as it started to rain, her face getting smacked by the fat drops of water as they cascaded from above. Max broke into a sprint as she headed toward the hospital a short distance ahead, her eyes narrowed into slits to help keep her vision clear as well as to not pay attention to the blood soaking into her clothes. I'll have to burn these, otherwise I may end up sucking at them. I'm like an honest-to-Dog addict sometimes, I swear. Ugh. Max could feel the heartbeat of the person cradled in her arms flutter for a moment as she heard a rasping breath catch in the other person's throat.
"Please…"
"Don't speak. Conserve your strength, we're almost there," Max pleaded, not looking down at the strained face looking up at her.
"I'm sorry. I just-"
"I said hush, so fucking hush."
The other voice fell silent as the ragged breathing continued, Max slowing down as she made her way from the woods to the outer fringes of the hospital's parking lot. Taking in a few deep breaths, Max steeled herself as she began to shake from the exertion and the intensity of the blood's scent as it permeated everything around her.
"Help! Someone help!" Max screamed as she ran at a normal pace, seeing a paramedic parked near the front entrance. Hearing her call, the paramedic looked across the lot and began running towards her, signaling her partner to grab a stretcher from the back.
"What happened?! Jesus, did she get mauled or something?" the paramedic asked as she looked at the bloody mess in Max's arms, "How long ago was this?"
"A f-few minutes," Max said, letting the paramedic help the ragged form onto the stretcher as they began to run towards the hospital, "I…I found her like this, in the woods. W-whatever attacked her…it wasn't t-there!"
Letting the paramedics take control, Max followed them inside, ignoring the chirping sound of her phone going off for the umpteenth time. I don't have time right now! Just hold the fuck on! Max thought as she made her way into the waiting room, slumping onto a chair as the ER's night shift swarmed over the stretcher before taking it behind a set of double doors, Max hearing them speak some medical jargon before the doors cut off nearly all the noise coming from them. Max felt ragged herself, watching as a nurse from the front desk came over to her to ask if she wanted something clean to wear.
Dumbly following the nurse as the evening's events played out over and over in her mind, Max stripped in the sterile women's restroom into the plain shirt and scrub pants that she had been given, pulling her cell phone out of her torn and bloody jeans to check the screen. Cracked in multiple places, the phone wouldn't let her unlock the screen, but Max saw notification after notification pop up in fractured blurbs as she was bombarded with messages. Pocketing the phone in the scrub pants, Max looked at her face in the mirror. Scratched from the trees, with a nasty cut just behind her ear, Max's face was caked with blood and dirt as she shakily turned the cold water faucet on full. Splashing and rubbing at her face as she choked back a scream of rage, Max gripped at the sink and felt the metal begin to crumple ever so slightly from her grip. Letting go of the sink, she leaned her forehead against the mirror as she took a brief moment to cry before letting her heart go cold.
"Goddamn you, Victoria. You and your fucking snooping may have gotten you killed tonight," Max said with a low growl as she cracked the mirror into a spider-web pattern from a single punch. Max looked at the cracked, bloody glass and saw distorted copies of herself as her lips thinned into a single flat line. This night had been hell, and she prayed it wouldn't get any worse as her actions from an hour before caught up with her. Max felt the skin of her knuckles split open from small cuts as punched the mirror again, anger rising as a single thought permeated everything else in her mind.
The thing that was Rachel Amber is dead.
The Day Prior
Released from the hospital yesterday, Kate had returned immediately to Blackwell and spent most of today begging Mr. Jefferson and Principal Wells to let Max come back for the presentation of the Everyday Heroes contest award tomorrow. Max chuckled as she thought of Kate stalking two fully-grown men, figuratively biting their heads off until they had caved. Kate told her that Jefferson had taken little convincing, but Wells only caved after Dana and Juliet had joined in on her little campaign. Getting a call earlier today, Max had been surprised to see the caller ID for "Black-Hell" and snickered as she realized that Chloe had been playing with her phone again.
"Uh, hello?" Max had asked, confused as to why anyone from there would call her.
"…Ms. Caulfield, this is Principal Wells at Blackw-"
"I know who this is, Mr. Wells. Um, what do you want?" Max asked, not bothering to hide her irritation towards the man.
"I'm not calling to agitate you, Max. Please. You are aware that Ms. Marsh returned to class here at Blackwell today?"
"Yeah, she called me about it. I'm just glad that she's well enough to get out of the hospital," Max said as she leaned against the railing of the landing outside her and Chloe's apartment.
"Yes, well, she's been rather…insistent that you be present for tomorrow's photography class. She's to be presented with the award for winning the Everyday Heroes contest and she's been campaigning with a couple of other girls to have you allowed back for tomorrow's class."
"For cereal?" Max blurted out despite already knowing this from Kate's messages. It was still pretty funny to her, though. "Awww."
"…I am calling to let you know that if you wish to attend tomorrow's class you are welcome to do so. I understand that we did not part on the best of terms-"
"I'll be there. Bye," Max said as she hung up on Principal Wells after cutting him off. Wowsers, who knew that Kate could be such a little hellion?
Max looked out across the lot towards the coastline as the setting Sun played over the glistening water, snapping a numbers of photos with her work camera before going back inside. Having woken up only a few hours ago from a catnap, Max had been busy throughout the day from taking shots for a job with the Oregon Tourism Bureau, and had only just gotten back from filling an entire memory card with nature stills. Letting the door close behind her, Max slid off her worn Chuck Taylors and hung up her camera bag, sliding out an empty sports bottle with her free hand before moving over to the living room where her laptop sat on the coffee table. The now-familiar buzz of a tattoo gun emanating from the corner of the apartment next to the living space, Max looked over as Chloe focused on her latest customer. I still kinda can't believe that Dana wants a tattoo. I mean, if it were small then sure, but she wants a vine with blooming roses from her waistline all the way up to just below her armpit? Who knew she was a closet tattoo nerd?
Max snickered as she flopped down onto the couch and plugged her camera into her laptop, going over her latest project with focused interest. Max's occasional one-track mind kept her from noticing anything outside of what she was bent on, so when the tattoo gun stopped she didn't even hear. Max was caught off-guard by the kiss on her cheek and shot her head up so quick that she heard a small "Oww!" from Chloe as she accidentally butted the crown of her head into the taller girl's chin.
"Love hurts," Max heard Dana say, laughing, as she watched from the table she was lying on in Chloe's work area.
"You okay?" Max said, looking up and trying not to smile as Chloe rubbed gingerly at her chin.
"Your love needs a caution sign, Max Caulfield," Chloe said before putting a hand to Max's neck, pulling out the bullet necklace she had given Max as a token of her accepting Chloe's proposal, "Looks good on you."
"You look good on me," Max retorted, getting a grin from Chloe and a groan from Dana.
"Get a room!" Dana said as she laid her face flat on the table in exaggeration before lifting it back up to smirk.
"We have one," Chloe said, looking over at her customer as she walked back over, "You're laying down in the corner of it."
Hearing another groan as she returned her focus to the laptop, Max herself smirked at Dana playfully trolling them. Chloe was a sarcastic, punk bad-ass whenever anybody else was around, but Max knew how she was when it was just the two of them. Your sass melts before my awesome power, Chloe Price. Bow. Chloe had been acting with varying degrees of increased sweetness and kindness when it came to Max, though, whether it was in public or the privacy of their apartment.
Max wasn't complaining; in fact, she was ecstatic about it. This new side of Chloe, the vulnerable, genuine side, was just taking some getting used to. Never mind that we're secretly engaged and just hiding everything from the world, holy fuck, and it's been days and I still can't believe this is real. Every time either Max or Chloe brought of the sudden proposal, both girls became incredibly bashful only to start giggling, which in turn led to lots and lots of affection.
"Guess who's coming back to Black-Hell tomorrow?" Max said aloud as she flipped through her pictures on the laptop's screen, wincing from the shriek that came from Dana, "Geez, Dana, why don't you screech a little higher so that we can get a pet dog?"
"I knew that Principal Wells would back down!" Dana shouted over towards Max, Max practically hearing the smile on Dana's face, "Kate's surprisingly more bad-ass than people give her credit for."
"Y'know what would make her more bad-ass…?" Chloe started before Max looked up from her computer.
"She doesn't want a tattoo, Che," Max said, watching Chloe pout as she continued to work on Dana's tattoo, "Quit getting your hopes up!"
"But what if all I have is hope?" Chloe sarcastically replied back before breaking into a cheesy sing-song voice, "'These are what dreeeeams are made of'…and all that crap."
"That's just incredibly sad and more than a little horrifying, hearing that come from you," Max called out, returning her attention to her computer as she began playing with her editing software, touching up some of the pictures' contrast and sharpness before folding the laptop closed. Send these off later tonight, when I'm less distracted.
Hopping off of the couch, Max went over to the fridge and grinned a little when she saw a Styrofoam cup sitting on the top shelf, "For Max" scrawled across it with marker. Cautiously putting the straw to her lips, Max took a sip and sighed in relief at the cocktail flooding her system as she took drink after drink. D'aww, Chloe, you left me dinner. Then again, I think Dana might get a little curious if I pulled a milk jug full of blood out of our freezer, heh. Looking over as she closed the fridge door, Max saw Chloe glance at her and flash a quick smile before returning to work. Such cute, very punk, so hardcore. Wow. Max stifled a laugh as she walked over to where Chloe and Dana were and sat on the floor, leaning against the brick wall as she looked up at Dana on the massage table.
"God, this would be such a bitch if you two hadn't bought this table," Dana said, wincing slightly as Chloe started on the portion that ran up her ribcage, "Ugh, is it supposed to pinch like this?"
"Hush," Chloe said as she playfully tapped Dana on the top of her head, "I am so pro, you don't even know."
"She'll be here all night, ladies and gentlemen," Max said with a groan as she rolled her eyes at Chloe's intentional rhyming.
"You two bicker like a happily married old couple," Dana said with a faint snort as she tilted her head so that she was looking at Max, "How's work, Max? Haven't seen much of you since you quit Blackwell."
"Yeah, well, see how you feel about a place when they accuse you of dealing drugs because someone spread a fucking rumor," Max said, angrily sucking at her straw.
"You know that got cleared up, right? Like, Nathan admitted that it was just bullshit. It's how he got suspended."
"Doesn't change the fact that Principussy Wells just ate the hella pile of shit Nathan Asscott fed him," Chloe interjected, entering the conversation, "Besides, Max has her hands full with my goofy ass."
"This is true," Max said, nodding sagely as Chloe winked and stuck her tongue out in reply.
"Asshole."
"Stoner."
"Hippie."
"Hipster."
"Delinquent."
"No," Max said as she raised a finger in protest, "That would be you. Your mom insists that I'm a good influence and I happen to think she is a brilliant judge of character."
Chloe opened her mouth to rebut what Max had said, but clamped it shut almost just as quickly, her face turning red as she resumed tattooing Dana. Dana winced and tilted her head towards Chloe to mutter "Don't press so hard!" before looking back over at Max.
"So? Work?" Dana asked, leaning her head against her folded arms as she lay on the massage table.
"Oh, some more photoshoots, fashion stuff, and a job from the Tourism Bureau. Taking shots of the woods and coastline for pamphlets or magazines. Something like that," Max said, her mind wandering slightly at memories of sprinting through the woods, climbing up trees to take angled shots from forest canopies before leaping across trees until her feet were back on the forest floor.
"Fashion? Really? Like who?" Dana asked, "Hello, Earth to Max. Who else have you been shooting behind my back?"
"Oh!" Max said, snapping out of her momentary daydream, "Um, Taylor, mostly. She dragged Courtney over for one shoot-"
"Wait. Wait a minute. Victoria's girl squad actually came to you for photos?" Dana asked, Chloe smirking behind her.
"It took some convincing on their part, and a little bribing of Chloe to even get through the door, but yeah. Taylor actually came over twice yesterday, before and after school. I was kinda shocked, but whatever. Work's work," Max said, looking past Dana to Chloe, "Tell her what you wanted from them in return."
"Dude, they have to fucking bake me pot brownies if they want their pictures," Chloe said in triumph, "My gatekeeping skills are second to none."
"A gatekeeper isn't supposed to let anybody in, dork. At least, not because of a bribe," Max retorted, getting a feigned look of appalment from Chloe in return, "You're more like a bouncer. An occasionally shitty one, but definitely a bouncer."
"Either way I get food stuffs so therefore I win," Chloe chimed back in, shutting the tattoo gun off before she began to slather Dana's side gently with disinfectant and petroleum jelly, "Dude, do not freaking stretch too much if you don't want this to hella fucking sting. Also, I wouldn't advise letting shower water smack it. Use a damp cloth when you wash it, okay?"
Standing up, Max set her empty Styrofoam cup on the floor to help Dana into a seated position, grabbing the black top off of the back of the living room chair and handing it to Dana so she could get dressed. Admiring Chloe's handiwork as the shirt carefully fell over it, Max nodded at the detail that Chloe had put into it. Max had marveled at all the sketchbooks Chloe had shown her when they had come back home from the dinner with Joyce last week, her blue-haired wonder enthusiastically keeping Max in bed with illustration after illustration. Chloe had even re-sketched their old movie posters and the mural they had made on the board outside of Joyce's house, getting a few tears from Max in return. Skulls, faeries, flowers, and a few cliché tribal patterns. You've been keeping these skills a secret, haven't you, Chloe Price?
Gratefully taking the small stack of cash from Dana's proffered hand, Chloe dramatically bowed before looking up as both Dana and Max groaned in response. Tilting her head and smirking, Chloe waved the money in Max's face as a tease before excusing herself when she headed for the kitchen. Max walked Dana out the door, standing on the landing as Dana turned around to look back at her.
"Seriously, though. You took really look, well, you look like a totally different couple than when you first got together," Dana said, observing Max's bashful facial expression, "Something is definitely up with you two."
"We're just…we're both just moving into the seriousness of our relationship. That's all," Max said, feeling Dana scrutinize her.
"Nice try, Max, but if you can't even look at me when you say that then I know there's more to it. I mean, you're wearing her clothes. Look at you, all done up in her flannel and t-shirt."
"Uh…" Max stammered, her eyes darting around to avoid the look on Dana's face.
"Well, whatever it is you've got going on, keep it up. You two look incredibly happy," Dana said, conceding defeat in her attempt to squirrel the truth out of Max as she waved and climbed down the stairs while favoring her newly-tattooed side.
Max watched Dana turn around the corner into the alleyway before walking back inside the apartment. Closing and locking the door, she smirked as Chloe came up behind her and wrapped her arms around Max's shoulders.
"I thought she'd never leave," Chloe softly spoke into Max's ear.
"She was your customer," Max said, turning her head to eye Chloe with a smirk.
"Well, yeah, but still…" Chloe replied as she turned Max around to give the smaller girl a long kiss, pressing her lips firmly against Max's. Letting go, Chloe walked Max down the small hallway with her arm still draped across Max's shoulder. "So. I'm hungry."
"Do we not have food? We eat out enough as it is, Chloe. Never mind that we actually have food in the kitchen," Max said, shaking her head at Chloe's attempt to garner sympathy.
"But pizza!" Chloe exclaimed, her voice a little too whiny and her face a little too pouty to get anything out of Max, "B-b-but-"
"Yeah, you're a butt," Max said, cutting Chloe off with a laugh, "There's leftover pizza in the fridge. From yesterday. If you want pizza, eat that."
Max sat on the couch as she watched Chloe grumble while heading over to the kitchen, returning with a plate that had three slices of pizza stacked on it.
"This is not enough to sustain me," Chloe said, clasping her hands together as she prostrated herself before a smirking Max, "I saved you a slice, but require more nourishment."
"Then eat a salad," Max implored, taking Chloe's clasped hands and biting down gently on Chloe's fingers, "Eat, or I'll eat you out of spite."
"Nooooo!" Chloe said as she quickly slid her hands out of Max's grip and towards the plate sitting on her lap. Chloe munched away at her cold pizza for a bit before pausing mid-slice. "When are you going out?"
"Meh, I'm gonna wait till you go to sleep," Max shrugged, leaning over to kiss Chloe's pizza sauce-covered lips, "Why?"
"Well, I need a timeframe if I'm to throw a hella thrashing party. Y'know, get some bowls and some beers. Invite random strangers and biker babes, the usual," Chloe teased.
"Oh, well in that case maybe I'll just hide out on the rooftop and pay each partygoer a visit," Max said, popping out her fangs as she smiled at Chloe.
Chloe laughed and returned Max's kiss with one of her own before resuming her supper of cold pizza and a beer. Max sat peacefully as she watched Chloe bite into her food, licking her fingers as she occasionally got sauce on them. I need to keep you safe, keep what we have safe. Max leaned up against Chloe as she thought of how amazing these quiet moments were, and wished that's all they ever had. Seeing Max's peaceful, far away stare, Chloe grinned and took a long swig of her beer as she playfully nudged Max's head with her own.
"What…?" Max said before realizing she had been lost in her thoughts, slightly embarrassed.
"You do that a lot, Maxaroni," Chloe said as she scooted back to the arm rest next to her and turned so that she was sitting against it, facing Max, "Where do you go when you dream?"
"It's a mixed bag," Max said, fiddling with her hands as she felt a moment of awkwardness, then letting out a long sigh, "Sometimes it's happy stuff, things with you or moments from before where I could actually take in some of the places I've been. Mostly…"
"Yeah?" Chloe asked, watching Max close her eyes for a moment before opening them with a sad, distant look on her face.
"I'm on the run, always running from something. Memories and nightmares mixed together as I'm always under attack. Blood on my hands, a growl in the back of my throat as I'm pressed into a corner by people who want to hurt me, cage me. Like they did the month I was g-g-," Max stuttered as she began to break into a sob, catching herself before it could stretch out into a full bout of tears.
"Damn, Max. Did you ever have a moment to yourself, a real moment?" Chloe asked, her curiosity and concern plain for Max to see.
"Not really. Kind of a rarity, to be honest. A lot of my shots from the portfolios I have are where I had an hour here or a few hours there. The only time I really got to decompress was when Maeve and Stephen hid me in Ireland," Max said with a faint weariness at the memory of her years running from pursuer after pursuer.
"Those the twins you told me about, the ones who fought with you in the woods outside of town? The Feral fight?" Chloe asked, getting only a nod from Max in reply. Chloe didn't push the topic further, knowing that Max's stress from all of her years away had left scars that would take a while to heal.
Max slid over to where Chloe was sitting and nestled herself against Chloe's chest, feeling the beat of her fiancé's heart as she closed her eyes for a moment of relief. Max twitched slightly at the memories of all her fighting and hiding, desperately clinging to what was left of herself as she had to defend her life over and over.
"I really want to just stay home tonight," Max said in a somber tone.
"Then stay," Chloe said, brushing her fingers through Max's head of hair, "Your hair always looks like it's coppery in the light. I don't remember that from when we were kids."
"A person's hair color does change over time, Che. I mean, you might have dyed yours but you're more blonde than I remember," Max sighed, "Besides, my mom and dad both had reddish hair when they were my age. Figures I'd grow into it, too."
Max and Chloe rattled on about random topics after that for a couple hours. Tattoos, photography, their friendship and relationship, everything was fair game. Max had a smile on her face nearly the entire time, just chatting away with Chloe as they relaxed further with each other. Before, Chloe had only wanted to talk about fun things or some crazy-ass scheme she had concocted. Now, she wanted to know how Max felt, the things she had seen and done, and wanted to share everything with Max in kind. Max felt a little admiration blooming from her unyielding love for Chloe, proud that she was opening up when it was still difficult at times, and expressed it with long glances and loving smiles that made Chloe blush.
They had retreated to the bedroom when Chloe stifled her first yawn, Max towing a pouting Chloe into bed. Sniggering, Max had brought her laptop and they spent a couple hours watching random shows and snippets of movies off of Netflix, curled up next to each other as they played with each other's feet, Chloe's blue-nailed toes poking at Max's pale feet. Max felt the warmth of Chloe's skin next to her own and wished that she could just lay there for the rest of the night, but that was not going to happen and both girls knew it.
"Heading out?" Chloe asked with a big yawn as she looked up at the clock above the bathroom door, "Aw, dude, it's only 11. C'mon back to bed."
"Can't," Max said as she pulled a pair of boots on and double-checking that her phone was fully charged, "You know how it is."
"Yeah, yeah. Max?" Max turned at Chloe's tone, worried and hesitant.
"Hmm?"
"Be careful. I mean, it's Arcadia Bay, but still. Be careful," Chloe said, the worry on her face easing a bit when Max leaned across the bed and kissed her on the forehead and ran her fingers through Chloe's hair before heading towards the door. Grabbing her leather jacket, Max zipped it up to her neck and slid on a pair of gloves as she headed out the door.
It's always so quiet here at night, Max thought as she dropped off the landing and onto the pavement below, landing in a crouching position next to the wall of the apartment building, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Like Chloe said, it is Arcadia Bay. Still, it's nice. Well, it's nice when I'm out here for fun and not to stalk something. Max had spent the past evenings out while Chloe slept, searching Arcadia Bay and the outlying woods for any signs of Rachel Amber. Turning up empty on the outskirts of town, Max had come to the conclusion that Rachel was hiding somewhere in town, moving its nest from place to place maybe. Max had come close a few times, coming into a recently abandoned nest or finding a small blood trail from a pet or other animal that had been fed on, but never actually seeing Rachel Amber. Is this how they actually are, when they're not fighting in packs? I should ask Maeve or Stephen for advice, but I don't want it getting out that there's a Feral in the same town as me and I can't find it. I don't need that kind of trouble.
Max climbed onto her Vespa and zipped out of the alleyway, heading towards Two Whales. Getting into the habit of starting her search there, Max would leave the scooter in the Two Whales parking lot and scale the wall of the small building behind the diner to avoid the visibility of the street lights as much as possible. After a couple of nights where she had broken the small light over the back door of the diner, Max had been thankful when the cook had decided to no longer replace the bulb. Pulling into Two Whales, Max looked out onto the street as the minor traffic of the evening buzzed by. A town car, couple trucks, and semi all cruised by Two Whales over the minutes Max spent scanning the street before feeling comfortable enough.
Walking to the other side of the parking lot, Max leapt up and vaulted the chain-link fence in a single jump, landing on the ground for only a moment before jumping onto the closed dumpster and hoisting herself over the roof's edge belonging to the hardware store next to Two Whales. Sprinting to the other side of the rooftop, Max checked to ensure there was no approaching traffic before she leaped again, this time crossing the street in mid-air and rolling onto the roof across from where she had been. Where will you go tonight, Max? Max sniffed at the air, cringing as she picked up on something rotten coming from a dumpster in the alleyway below her. Ew. It reeks so bad. Waving her hand across her face, Max jogged across the rooftops of the buildings around Two Whales, peering down towards the ground below as she checked for signs of anything unusual.
Hearing a loud rustling noise a couple hours in, Max dropped off the Arcadia Bay Savings and Loan to head towards an abandoned house near the side of town leading to the lighthouse. Quietly approaching the ramshackle building, Max pressed her ear against the boarded-up doorway and heard what sounded like something moving inside. Not wanting to spook what could possibly be Rachel Amber inside, Max climbed onto the porch railing and lifted herself onto the roof of the building. Finding a window that had been broken into on the second floor, Max looked through the open space first before entering. Not finding any glass or anything that may alert whatever was downstairs, Max gingerly stepped onto the floor and tip-toed out of the small room.
Following the hallway down to a staircase, Max leaned over the railing and peered down into what she could see of the first floor. It got really quiet, really fast. I don't think I made any noise. Leaning over a little more, pressing her stomach onto the railing, Max took the stairs one at a time as she made her way towards whatever had been making that noise. Growing increasingly nervous with each step she made, Max froze for a second when she heard a whump coming from somewhere down the hall from where she stood. Breaking into a run, Max proceeded to kick open every door and peek inside before moving onto the next room. Opening the second-to-last room in the hallway, Max splintered the door in half with a sharp kick and ran inside only to curse at herself in frustration.
A boarded-up window on the opposite side of the door, the actual board looked like something had burst through it. A small collection of dead animals lay at Max's feet as she cringed from the smell of early putrefaction, gagging at the sight and stench. Grabbing what appeared to be the remains of a blanket, Max covered the grotesque display only to smack herself in the forehead as she realized that she'd still smell it anyway. Walking around the room, Max examined the small collection of blankets, pillows, and length pieces of random fabric that had been placed in a corner of the room. The sunlight wouldn't hit it here. It could feed and rest relatively easy. I just don't understand – why hasn't it left yet? Is there some remnant of Rachel still present? Does it sense Kate or something? Oh crap, will it come after Chloe? Max scratched at her head before kicking the bundle of rags with her foot in frustration.
"Ugh!" Max growled in irritation, "Fuck!"
Climbing out of the hole made in the boarded-up window, Max took a seat on the porch railing and pulled out her phone. She needed more information, she needed something so that this search for Rachel doesn't feel completely pointless. Maybe I'm just imagining things. She could be gone, could be just animals or something. Yeah, animals. Ugh, who are you kidding, Max? Max's index finger hovered over the name "Stephen" on her message app for a second before she reluctantly started to type.
Max: hey. Is it always so damn hard 2 track something?
Stephen: lol it can b. depends on the 'thing'
Stephen: What u tracking? A hunt?
Max: yea. Being real fucking annoying, always close but never quite getting there.
Stephen: …is this about the Feral?
Max: wut no y would u ask that
Stephen: Max u can tell me the truth
Stephen: I won't say anything
Max: u back home?
Stephen: Seattle. Sis's bein a tourist, we've never been to America
Max: can u come back 2 Arcadia?
Max: I need halp
Stephen: sure. U want Sis 2?
Max: nah let her b a tourist
Stephen: b there 2morrow night
Max: thx bye
Max nearly threw her phone when she finished talking to Stephen, fear overcoming the moment of cheerfulness she got from making banter with an old friend. Stupid! Why did I do that? Clutching the phone in her hand, Max stared at it for a moment before switching it back on. Quickly going back to the app, Max grunted when she saw that Stephen had already gone offline. Fuck!
Max left the building and began to track the lingering scent of decay she had smelled from the pile of animals, hoping that Rachel had been around them long enough to leave something she could follow. Sniffing at the air, Max picked up on something foul and entered the alleyway across the street. Finding it empty, Max crossed the darkened area as she continued to track the smell of rot out to the other side of the alleyway. This continued for some time, Max halting as the scent seemingly disappeared only to pick up on it a block or two away as it headed in a new direction.
"Crap," Max said as she sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, "I think at this point that smell is all I'm picking up on." Pulling out a stick of cinnamon gum, Max chewed it for a bit before exhaling, groaning when she realized that she had been tracking a scent stuck in her nose for the better part of half an hour.
"Grrr, argh," Max said sarcastically as she started to walk back in the direction of Two Whales, frustrated and empty-handed again.
Max figured she was halfway to the diner when she noticed the town car from earlier cruise across the street she was facing. She didn't think anything of it, but it still caught her attention. Pulling her phone out, Max saw that it was way too late for just a passerby to be making their way through Arcadia Bay. Shrugging because by that point she no longer cared, Max crossed the street and kept on walking for a couple more blocks before deciding to expedite the situation. A half-jump, half-climb, Max ascended up the wall of a random building from an alleyway she was originally going to walk by and began to hop across the rooftops. Making sure that no one saw, Max peered down and raised an eyebrow as she saw the same town car from before slow down at the street entrance to the alleyway before unrolling its passenger side window.
Max couldn't make anything out from the angle she was watching the car from, but the car itself was nice. Relatively new, the dim street lighting reflected off of it save for the ridiculously tinted windows. Stereotype, thy name is 'Fancy-pants Car'. Seriously, how do you…wait, could a vampire be in there? Max felt herself stiffen as the thought crossed her mind. Could that be Antony? What if someone got ahold of Stephen's phone somehow?
Max shook her head to get the paranoid ideas out of the forefront of her mind, opting to change into the pursuer rather than the pursued. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, Max waited on the roof directly above where she had parked her scooter. Waiting until she saw the town car slowly approach from a couple blocks away, Max felt her eyes shift as everything suddenly bloomed in vivid detail. Retracting her fangs as they involuntarily popped out, Max's felt her ire grow as she eyed the car for a moment longer before hopping over the roof edge to land next to her scooter. Grabbing her helmet, Max quickly snapped her goggles on to mask her glowing eyes with smoked lenses. I can see through these. Can you see through your redonkulously dark windshield? Max aggressively started up her little Vespa and shot out of the parking lot, cutting the town car off with a screech of its brakes.
Max eyed the town car through the lenses of her goggles as it stood only a few feet from her. Revving her scooter's engine, Max steered it in the opposite direction the town car was going and slowly pushed it past the town car before zipping down the street and taking a sharp turn towards where her apartment was. I should probably patrol more but my nose is stopped up with dead animal smell and that car is freaking stalking me. Screw you guys, I'm going home. Max rolled her eyes as she continued driving through the streets of Arcadia Bay, looking back through her rearview mirror to see that she was at least being left alone now.
Her scooter parked along the back wall of the building underneath their apartment's landing, Max opted to take the steps as she ascending towards home, feeling vaguely sluggish and a little angry from being stalked. Ironic, considering that I'm tracking Rachel. Well, trying and failing to track her. Unlocking the door, Max slid inside and quietly closed it as she heard Chloe sleeping from inside the apartment. Hanging up her jacket and slipping off her boots, Max walked in and smiled to herself at the sight of Chloe asleep on the couch. Aww, she tried to wait for me. You are to be commended, Che, an 'A for effort'.
Walking over to the fridge, Max opened it up and brought out the last slice of pizza and a small flask-sized bottle of Hot Damn 100-proof liquor. Lazily biting at the slice while taking small drinks of the cinnamon schnapps, Max watched Chloe sleep from her seat at the kitchen counter. Not wanting to move her, Max decided to let Chloe sleep as opposed to waking her up just to lay her back down to sleep before going to bed herself.
Waking up around ten in the morning, Max chuckled as she turned over to see that Chloe had crawled up next to her at some point during the early morning hours. How much do you sleep, Chloe? And where can I get some of that shut-eye you seem to have a monopoly on? Max thought with a yawn as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Letting her feet dangle for a moment as she lazily kicked her legs, Max shook the sleep out of her head and stood up, quietly walking to the bathroom to take a quick shower and get ready for her trip back to Blackwell.
Topping off her sports bottle after giving it a thorough rinsing, Max slid the bottle into her camera bag as she finished getting ready. Hearing a quiet "Oof" from the bedroom, Max looked around the corner of the hallway as she saw a zombie-looking Chloe stumble towards the kitchen, flashing Max a weary smile as she bumped into the counter in her dazed state.
"Ugh, fuck you counter!" Chloe said, smacking the countertop with a flat palm, "Where ya goin'?"
"Blackwell, remember?" Max replied, coming from around the corner as Chloe began to fix herself a bowl of cereal, "Kate's being officially awarded for Everyday Heroes."
"Mmm-hmm," Chloe verbalized, her mouth shut as she ate her cereal.
"I have to get going, Che, but I will text you if Kate or the other girls make any plans so you can come join us. Okay?" Max said, kissing Chloe on the cheek and looking at her for confirmation of Chloe understanding what Max had just said. Getting a sluggish nod in response, Max gave her fiancé one more kiss on the cheek before walking out the door.
"…and so, I am more than happy to present Kate Marsh, winner of Blackwell's entry in the Everyday Heroes contest for 2013," Mr. Jefferson said with a smile as he led the class into a round of applause. Max put her fingers between her lips and blew out a loud whistle, grinning as she saw Kate blush from everyone's recognition. Well, almost everyone, Max thought as she looked over at Victoria. What the hell have you been up to?
Victoria's eyes were drooping and her blouse looked a little wrinkled. Despite what looked like a case of what Max thought of as the 'I'm-Victoria-and-I-spend-my-nights-doing-stupid-shit" virus, Victoria still had enough energy to shoot both Max and Kate hateful glares before shifting her hostility to her phone as she practically smashed her finger on the screen. Max made a point of rolling her eyes in Victoria's direction before walking over to give her shy friend a congratulatory hug.
"Why hello, fellow Everyday Heroes winner!" Max said as she squeezed gently while hugging a giggling Kate, "You now join an elite posse of photography ninjas who cross the globe to see who can be the nerdiest photographer."
"Wow, I feel so honored," Kate said as she scrunched her nose with a huge grin. Be like this as much as you can, Kate. Let the world see you smile.
"So, plans?" Dana said as she came up to the two girls before giving Kate a warm hug, snickering as she pointed out Juliet watching and waving from the hallway, "Dinner?"
"Oh, is it cool if Chloe comes along?" Max asked, the idea of dinner and Chloe fusing together in obvious symmetry.
"Would Two Whales be okay?" Kate asked Max sheepishly, "I know you said that her mom works there…"
"Are you kidding? She'll eat half of the diner, of course it'll be fine with her," Max replied, trying to stifle a laugh at the thought of Chloe actually eating half the diner.
The celebration continued well after class was over, Max hanging out with Kate in her room as Juliet and Dana got ready. Max watched Kate play with her bunny in a moment of peaceful cheer before pulling out her phone to text her blue-haired wonder girl.
Max: Dinner 2 Whales. Be here in 10?
Chloe: Pizza?
Max: wtf Che
Chloe: Kidding, kidding
Chloe: b there soon
Chloe: ily my little mosquito
Max: ughhhhhh I'm not a mosquito ughhhhh
Max: ily2 :*
Chloe: NO EMOJI
Chloe had arrived almost exactly ten minutes later, stomping up the stairs as Max, Kate, Juliet, and Dana opened the stairway door to head downstairs. Pausing mid-step to give Kate a hug and mess up the girl's hair by patting her on the head in good fun, Chloe scooped up Max like a bride and carried her down the steps, getting a round of laughter from the other girls as they all headed downstairs and outside. Max wiggled as she playfully slapped at Chloe's chest, dramatically crying out "Put me down!", before feeling a moment of embarrassment as the boy who had hit on her that one time in the courtyard just stared at her and Chloe in what looked like dumbfounded shock.
"Uh, hi Wallace!" Max said, waving before realizing she had gotten his name wrong. Burying her face in Chloe's shirt, Max felt Chloe's body shake as she laughed from Max's bashfulness.
"Oh," Chloe gasped between laughs before finally putting Max down in the main courtyard, "Oh, Max, his jaw dropped and I think he mouthed something about that not being his name. That was fucking priceless, Jesus Christ."
Making it to the truck with Chloe still snickering from Max's bungling up the boy's name, Max let Kate slide in first before hopping inside the truck as Chloe started the vehicle up. Dana and Juliet following close behind as they all headed to Two Whales.
The dinner had been fun, and Max had enjoyed getting to spend time with her friends and Chloe. Seeing the group of girls enter the diner together, Joyce had been thrilled at the visual of Chloe having friends, nearly hugging Kate to the point of asphyxiation. Leading the four of them to the booth usually occupied by just Max and Chloe, Kate squeezed in with the couple thanks to Max's small size while Juliet and Dana sat in the bench across the table. Returning with menus and waters, Joyce was about to take their drink orders when she spotted something Max was wearing.
"Well, isn't that interesting?" Joyce said as she pointed towards Max with her pencil, "How did you convince Chloe to let you wear her necklace? She hasn't taken that necklace off in four years."
Seeing all the attention shift to her, Max instinctively buried her face in Chloe's arm, her shyness not being alleviated as Chloe coughed on her water in response to the directness of Joyce's question. Max peeked her eyes around to see Dana and Joyce eyeing her with equal intent and quickly hid again.
"Max, you can sit there all you want but it's pretty damn obvious somethin' is going on between you two," Joyce said, Dana nodding in agreement as Kate and Juliet looked on in bemused curiosity.
"Nooooo," Max faintly uttered from within the sleeve of Chloe's jacket, "N-nothing is going on."
"Are you serious? You're hiding in Chloe's sleeve, in the middle of a restaurant," Dana said, steepling her fingers together, "What, did you guys elope or something?"
Max heard Joyce's pencil drop after a moment and looked up to see Chloe's beet-red face as she looked out the window, giving away what Chloe herself had wanted to keep between them.
"Chloe Elizabeth Price, did you and Max get-" Joyce said in a tone that was both stern and awestruck.
"We're engaged," Max replied in surrender, relinquishing her hiding spot to sag in the booth. Chloe spun her head to look over at Max with a look that screamed Traitor! before sighing and kissing Max on the top of her head, then looked up at her mom.
"Yeah, um, I asked Max to marry me and she hella said yes," Chloe said, trying to maintain her usual cool tone and failing as her voice cracked at the word "yes".
Dana and Juliet's jaws dropped, with Kate just looking at them with a beaming expression. Joyce looked at Max and Chloe as they leaned up against each other and spun around to head behind the counter. Chloe shot Max a worried look as the other girls began to chatter about this new revelation when Joyce returned with four slices of piping-hot cherry pie.
"I can't exactly give you all champagne or anything, it being illegal 'cause your minors and also this being a diner, not a fancy restaurant, but I can do something to congratulate you girls," Joyce said as she nodded at a blushing Chloe and a Max who had once again hid her face in Chloe's sleeve. "Oh come out of there, Max, you're not in trouble or anything. I'm just…it's just…" Joyce began to choke up as her eyes became watery. Sliding out of the booth, Kate stood to the side as Max and Chloe climbed out to give the teary-eyed Joyce a hug, Joyce sniffling as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"I-I knew that you two loved each other, that you have for years, but I never thought that…oh, Chloe, what are you going to do? What about a job?" Joyce asked, watching as Chloe gave Max a knowing look before giving her mom another hug that was just between them.
The rest of the evening was a mixture of giggles and congratulations; for Kate, in appreciation of her winning a contest that will help her get recognition for her work and a step in the door of professional photography, and for Chloe and Max's commitment to each other. Spending most of the evening in a daze of giddiness and bashful awkwardness, the hours spun by for Max as they went from Two Whales, the four of them ending up eating only the pie, to Max and Chloe's apartment. Snapping out of her fugue state, Max found herself seated on the stool in the kitchen as Chloe came around from the hallway to drop a stack of pizza boxes on the counter in front of Max.
"What the fuck?!" Max yelped as she snapped out of her euphoric trance, "Chloe…?"
"Out of autopilot, huh? Don't worry," Chloe said as she leaned down to give Max a soft, loving kiss that got an "Ooooh" from the other girls before grinning, "I went and got us dinner."
Max opened and closed her eyes in slow succession, acting like her vision was unfocused, before looking up at Chloe and then down at what was stacked in front of her.
"Really, Che? Pizza again? What are you, a fucking Ninja Turtle?" Max asked, trying to sound irritated but failing as she saw the wide smiles on everybody else's faces.
"Hella yes! Pizza for the win, pizza in mah belly!" Chloe said, raising her fist in a gesture of triumph before opening the first box. Max threw up her hands in mock surrender and went to one of the cabinets to get some plates, still somewhat in shock from the evening's turn of events. Wowsers, what the hell just happened?
Getting late, Max excused herself from the celebratory mood and went outside, grabbing her jacket and slipping it on as she made from the door. Hearing footsteps run up behind her, Max spun at the open door and nearly toppled down the steps as Chloe damn near mauled her, the combination of beer and pizza having a euphoric effect on Max's blue-haired fiancé.
"Dude, where're you going? We totally have to parrrr-tay!" Chloe said, taking Max's hands as she tried to get the small vampire girl to dance, "C'mon, shake that pale ass!"
"I cannot shake at the moment, Che," Max said with a faint pout as she pulled Chloe down by her tank top to give her a kiss, "Searching to do, places to go."
"Now?" Chloe said, sounding a little incredulous, "Are you cereal?! What about Kate? What about Dana and Juliet?"
"Tell them that something came up for me," Max said with a small grin and a shrug, "You'll come up with something."
"…Alright, but you totally owe me breakfast in bed tomorrow morning, like some hella deliciousness and shit."
"I know, Lovely, I know," Max said, biting her lip as she saw Chloe light up at her new nickname. Giving her one more quick kiss, Max reluctantly made her way down the steps.
Max hadn't even made it to her usual spot at Two Whales before she saw the town car from the night before begin to tail her after coming in from an adjacent street. Irritated and becoming a little more paranoid as it followed her block by block, Max gassed the Vespa's engine and shot ahead as fast as the little scooter would allow. Zipping down the street, Max pulled her scooter into a sharp turn onto the sidewalk and around a corner, waiting for the town car to come around and feeling a smile of satisfaction cross her lips as it sped past. Not having been noticed, Max watched from the shadows of the entranceway she had nestled herself and her scooter in as the town car started to slow down, flashing its brake lights. Pulling out of the darkened space, Max steered her scooter off the sidewalk and along the side of the car that had been following her since last night. Knocking on the driver's side window, Max began to grow irritated as she received no reply. Feeling the car about to lurch, Max grabbed ahold of the door's handle and pulled herself alongside the few feet the car moved forward before it came to a halt again.
Taking her hand off the handle, Max knocked at the driver's side window with a little more force.
"Open the fuck up! I'm sick of this shit!" Max yelled at the closed window, getting ready to pound on the window a third time before the window opened just enough for her to recognize the driver.
"Victoria?! What the hell?!" Max exclaimed, her surprise quickly outweighing her anger. Max peeled out a bit as she made a sharp turn so that she wasn't directly next to the car. Max followed the car as it pulled over to the curb and watched Victoria climb out of the driver's seat with a look of embarrassment and hostility on her face.
"What do you want, Max?" Victoria asked, crossing her arms but looking away from Max's expression of shock.
"What do I want?" Max asked, incredulous, "Why have you been following me? I recognize this car, Victoria. You were the one following me last night. Admit it."
"I don't know what you're-" Victoria started to say before Max cut her off.
"Stop. Stop lying," Max said, her angry tone causing Victoria to lift her head up so that the two girls were facing each other.
"I've been…having this dream, like a memory. It feels so real that I sometimes think it is something that I forgot," Victoria relented, her expression one of confusion, "I'm at the lighthouse with Nathan when you and your idiot girlfriend show up and shit gets stupid real fast. Next thing I know, Nathan's pointing a gun at all of us and you're jumping in the path of one bullet to save your bestie only to push me aside from getting shot by another bullet."
"Uh, okay…" Max said as she tried to hide her anxiety. You shouldn't even remember that, even as a dream! Crap!
"I know it sounds fucking ridiculous, so don't give me that tone, you little shit," Victoria said with a faint sneer before her face grew pensive once more, "I saw you pick up Nathan like he was nothing and shake him until he cried, watched you hold him over the cliff's edge. I saw…I saw your eyes glow and your teeth grow longer like you were some kind of freak out of a horror movie. In my dream, I mean."
Max's eyes narrowed inside of her goggles, irritated and worried that Victoria remembered some of the major details from the day she and Nathan had broken into their building to find the then-captive Rachel Amber.
"You do realize how ridiculous you sound, right?" Max asked, trying to sound aloof.
Victoria huffed and stomped back into her car, peeling out as she sped away. Leaning back against the brick of the corner building, Max closed her eyes and took in some air before exhaling it as she calmed herself down. Max had not expected her pursuer to be Victoria Chase, of all people. Wondering if Nathan had actually said anything to her, Max shook her head at the idea. I put the fear of Dog into him at the lighthouse. If he said anything, I'll make him wish I had dropped him. Sitting back on her scooter, Max was about to start the engine when a specific scent caught her attention.
Snapping her head up, Max looked straight head and felt her fangs instinctively pop out. Rachel Amber was half-crouched in the middle of the street, a few blocks down from where Max was. Instinct taking over, Max started up her scooter and shot after Rachel, the feral vampire standing completely still for a moment before breaking off into a run as it began to retreat. Max sped along, chasing after the fleeing creature as it hopped a fence onto a patch of woods on the outskirts of Arcadia Bay. Leaning her scooter against the fence, Max tossed her helmet as she vaulted the fence in pursuit.
Sprinting through the woods without any concern as her prey of over a week had finally reared its head at her, Max blasted through the woods at top speed, dashing through underbrush and other small foliage without a care. Her energy building up, Max grinned as she saw Rachel leap another fence and sprint towards a dimly lit parking lot. I've got you now…oh, shit. Rachel ran across the parking lot and up the sidewalk, Max freezing for a split-second as she recognized where she was with a cold dread in the pit of her stomach. Max had followed Rachel Amber to Blackwell Academy. Cursing under her breath, Max made to sprint after Rachel when the very person she had been harassed by the past two nights pulled into the parking lot. Headlights flashing across her vision, Max covered her eyes and retracted her fangs as Victoria's car lurched to a halt. Not even bothering to turn the engine off, Victoria hurriedly got out of her car to stare at Max with irritation at first, followed by what Max thought might be wonder.
"How did…? How did you get here so fast? Your little scooter can't possibly go faster than my car?" Victoria said with a smirk as she put a hand to her hip, "What the fuck are you up to, Max Caulfield?"
I don't have time for this! Deigning to not reply to Victoria's nasty tone, Max turned to the stairs leading up to the courtyard and made a break for it. Hearing Victoria shout after her, Max grimaced as she looked ahead to see Rachel sniffing around near the entrance to the main building. No! Max ran up to the corner of the gym building, peeking around the corner when she heard Victoria catch up.
"You're going to answer my questions, you uppity shit!" Victoria said hotly, only to look at Max with an expression of shock as Max clamped her hand over Victoria's mouth. Ah, to Hell with it, Max thought to herself, I can just try and put her under trance again later. If I can actually do it this time. Popping her fangs back out, Max let her eyes shift into their glowing violet hue and looked back at Victoria as the other girl muffled under Max's hold for a moment longer before staring at Max with eyes opened wide. Max felt the vibration of Victoria shrieking behind her clasping hand as Max bared her fangs and pointedly blinked her bright eyes.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Victoria, but I swear if you say anything about this I will sit outside your dorm room window every night and scare the shit out of you until people think you're as insane as your shithead friend Nathan," Max hissed, slowly releasing her hold over Victoria's mouth. Max watched Victoria take a couple short breaths and look at Max in utter shock.
"You're a…a…"
"Vampire."
"Right. Right?"
"Honest-to-Dog, Victoria, yes I am a vampire. Now be quiet!" Max hissed again as she pointed at the main building of Blackwell Academy, "Crap, it's already gone inside! Come on!"
Max latched onto Victoria's wrist and began to hurriedly drag the befuddled girl with her across the courtyard as they made their way to the main building. The doors wrenched open, Max let out a quiet groan of frustration as she pushed Victoria in before entering the building herself.
"What the fuck are we doing?" Victoria whispered, her eyes narrowed at Max while keeping what she thought was a safe distance.
"It's 'we' already? Gee, I love you too, Victoria," Max replied with a sardonic look of mild revulsion, "I am hunting. You are following me because I don't fucking trust you to keep your damn mouth shut." Max saw Victoria's face sour, then turn into an expression of horror as she mouthed the word hunt.
"I really don't have time for this," Max said as she grabbed onto Victoria's other wrist and began to pull her along, Max stopping in the middle of the main walkway to sniff in the direction of each interconnected hallway.
Noting nothing from the direction leading to the gym, Max sniffed towards the hall she knew led to the photography lab and began to walk down it with Victoria in tow as she caught Rachel's scent. Max could hear Victoria's heartbeat thunder, hard to avoid with Max starting to get hungry from the expenditure of energy sprinting after Rachel, as she sniffed at the air to try and discern where Rachel had gone. Walking up to the double doors leading into the next section of the school, Max turned to see a quizzical expression on Victoria's face.
"Ugh, what?" Max asked, feeling a reluctant pang of regret at how Victoria flinched at her angry tone, "Sorry. What is it?"
"How do you do that?" Victoria asked, the hostility in her tone and body language replaced with an intense curiosity, "How did you get here so fast? Are you going to kill something? A-are you going to kill me?"
"I will feed on you if you don't stop with the questions," Max said as she opened one of the double doors, sniffing as she once more caught Rachel's scent.
"But-"
"Victoria," Max abruptly growled, taking a second to calm herself as she pulled the other girl alongside her down the hall, "Victoria, I will answer any and all the questions you obviously have, but right now I'm working so be a dear and shut the fuck up."
Max heard Victoria's jaw clamp shut and smirked as she looked straight ahead towards a set of cherry-red wooden doors. Glancing back at Victoria, Max nodded her head towards the doors with a questioning look on her face.
"Uh, the library? Have you never even set foot anywhere here except for Mark's classroom?" Victoria blurted out in a moment of her trademark snappishness before shutting up again when she saw the loathing in Max's glowing violet eyes. "Right. Shutting up now."
"Good idea."
The library was huge, shelves lining the walls in the giant two-storied room with tables and bookshelves scattered across the first floor. Max sniffed around a bit more and listened, shutting out the sounds Victoria was making. Hearing a rustling noise and a slurping, Max paused before looking back at Victoria.
"What are you doing?" Victoria asked as Max let go of her wrist, "You can't just leave me here!"
Max mouthed I'm not back at Victoria and put a finger to her lips. Grabbing a metal post near the door that had a "Quiet, please" sign on it, Max slid the post through the handles of the door so that it was somewhat secure. Gesturing for Victoria to follow her, Max and Victoria crouched as they moved along the bookshelves facing the doors out of the library. Peeking around the corner of them, Max saw a shape moving around across the library. While it was probably near-impossible for Victoria to see, Max's violet eyes made night as clear as day and she watched as Rachel Amber slurped down blood from a couple rats it had found. Remember, Max. Rachel is dead, this thing is not her. It wears her face, but doesn't have any of her left. Chloe will understand, she already knows what has to be done. It's just…what if this changes things between us…? Narrowing her eyes, Max pulled Victoria back around the corner so that they were on the side of the bookshelf opposite Rachel's line of sight.
"What?" Victoria mouthed, seeing Max's signal to keep quiet.
"I need you to stay here."
"What?!"
Max was about to repeat her instructions when Victoria slapped at her shoulders and made an exaggerated gesture with her arms wide open. Ohhh, she means it like 'What the fuck are you thinking?!' Gotcha. Max gave Victoria a stern look and mouthed Stay here before adding Unless you feel like being food tonight. Seeing Victoria stiffen and back herself into the bookshelf, Max nodded and moved to come around the shelf so that she could see Rachel. Not having been detected, Max began to slowly make her way towards Rachel, hiding behind a couple tables as she approached the feral creature in a zig-zag pattern. Taking a few short breaths to try and ease her nerves, Max spun around when she heard some books fall out of the shelf Victoria was hiding behind. Oh, no. Ohhh, nononono.
Max spun back around and saw Rachel dart after the source of the noise. Max felt herself freeze for a second as Rachel flew close by her, the hair swept from its face so that for a moment Max saw the girl in Chloe's photos. Snapping out of it, Max ran after her as she heard a blood-curdling scream emanate from where Victoria had been hiding. Hearing the sound of cloth and skin being torn open, Max came around the corner and slammed a boot into the side of Rachel's skull, feeling a cracking sensation through her feet as the feral creature's flopped over and began to hobble around in a daze. Glancing down, Max saw a bloodied Victoria lying on the floor with a look of absolute fear on her face. A feeble, shaking hand raised up towards Max, Victoria coughed up blood as she mouthed Please help me as Max looked down at her for a second more before slamming her fist into the face of what had once been Rachel Amber, her fiancé's former best friend. Max felt no sense of relish as she continued putting pressure into her single strike, feeling the already fractured skull crack further from the impact. Rachel flew a couple feet back and began to twitch on the floor, brackish fluid pooling under her head as Max walked up to the twitching form.
"You should have stayed dead," Max said before lifting a leg up and slamming the heel of a boot down into Rachel's destroyed face, feeling her foot touch the floor behind the skull with a wet smack. Taking a moment to breathe, to inhale and exhale air that she didn't need but wanted, Max turned around and ran to where Victoria was now leaning against the bookshelf, an arm wrapped around her bleeding abdomen.
"Is it…is it always like this?" Victoria asked weakly, wincing as she looked up at Max with what Max swore looked like respect, "Do you have shit like this every day?"
Victoria let out a short cry of pain as Max lifted her up and scooped up the bleeding Victoria in her arms with an apologetic look on her face. Kicking at the doors until the swung open and onto the floor, Max sprinted down the hallway and turned in the main thoroughfare only to burst through the broken front doors, a dying Victoria Chase cradled in her arms.
"Victoria, stay awake!" Max yelled as she sped through the trees next to Blackwell. If I just trace the treeline, I can avoid Arcadia Bay altogether and make it to the hospital with no one seeing us! You can do this, Max! Move! Max was running so fast that she felt as though she weren't touching the ground, dividing her gaze between looking straight ahead and glances down at Victoria. Max drew the weakened Victoria's attention when she cursed as they approached a chain-link fence that ran perpendicular to the direction they were going. Max tightened her hold on Victoria as she sped up.
"Hold on!" Max said to Victoria as she leapt up at a nearby tree and drove her heel into it, feeling the small tree begin to fall under the power of her kick. Max watched from the corner of her eye as Victoria looked at her with eyes wide open while Max ran across the length of the tree and bounced off of it to land on the top of the fence before sprinting off of it.
Barely landing on the ground, Max broke into as fast a sprint as she could manage, feeling her stomach churn as the energy she was burning up begin to be replaced with an increasing hunger. Max looked down at Victoria and nearly stopped in shock as the dying girl looked up at her with a faint smile. She must be delirious or something. It's so weird to see Victoria smile, like inhumanly weird. Ew…?
Max felt her phone vibrate and the surprise nearly caused her to topple over mid-step before she caught her balance and tightened her hold on a wincing Victoria. Probably Chloe. Oh, fuck, how am I going to explain this? Ughhhhhh. Dashing towards the source of illumination up ahead, Max leapt onto another tree and bounced off in an adjacent direction as she saw that it was a street light for a road leading towards the hospital. Now having something to go in in terms of direction, Max pushed herself one more time and felt blood trickle out of her nose as her efforts began to push her to the limit. I hope I don't get a migraine in the middle of this.
Now
Max exited the restroom, her knuckles bleeding as a nurse went in to see what the source of the noise had been. Clutching at a garbage bag filled with her dirty clothes, Max felt numb as she walked over to the front desk and asked to use the phone. Watching the cordless touch-tone phone lift up from its place under the counter to rest right in front of Max, Max didn't register the nurse that had set the phone down. Hearing another nurse come up from behind her to ask if she was okay, Max yanked back her slightly-injured hand from the nurse's grip with a low growl as she picked up the cordless phone and walked over to a space along a wall that had no clutter. Sliding against the wall into a sitting positon, Max dialed in the number for Chloe's phone and heard it ring only two times before the receiver on the other end clicked open.
"Hello?" Chloe asked, Max noticing that she sounded a little nervous.
"Hey," Max weakly said, looking up at the ceiling as her mind raced too fast for her to catch up.
"Max?! Ohmygod, where are you? I've been trying to fucking get you on the phone for hours!" Chloe shrieked through the phone, making Max wince.
"Che, calm down. I'm okay. Tired, a little beat up, but okay," Max said, as she heard her fiancé sob on the other line.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I…my phone is busted, I think. It won't let me open up calls or anything. Sorry."
"Max…the caller ID for your number is reading as the hospital. What happened?" Chloe asked, her voice trembling.
"Are you sober enough to come over here?"
"Yes."
"Then get over here. It's…it's a long story…," Max said, switching off the phone as she dropped it on the floor and slumped her shoulders in fatigue. We are fucked.
Author's Note –
So, how about that time there's blood and broken doors at Blackwell, huh? Good times, good times.
On a personal note, I would like to bring up the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1 (800) 273-8255. My family is going through some pretty intense stuff right now, and I just want to repeat my statement from the chapter with Kate nearly committing suicide.
If you're hurting, you're not alone. Don't let your feelings, the pain, decide for you when you're done. The number listed above is there for a reason, and the people will listen.
Read, Review, and I'll see you in Chapter 15.
Stay hella – Dog knows I'm fucking trying.