Life is Strange: My Unusual Journey

Chapter 5 of my Life is Strange novelization, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or its characters.

Chrysalis – Five Years Gap

I was frozen, I could hardly believe this was real, here was my best friend from five years ago, now nineteen and so drastically different from the last time I ever saw her. I had seen her get shot by Nathan; I had saved her life in the bathroom after I learned I could rewind time.

Of course Chloe didn't know that. Yet she was still clearly the same as me, stunned, amazed at my appearance.

"No way, you again!" Nathan burst out, recovering from me scratching him.

I gasped, turning to see him starting to advance again. I then saw it and tried to call out, but was a second too late.

"Warren!"

But he had already tackled Nathan to the ground again, calling out. "Go, go I got this!"

But Nathan then began to beat on Warren and I quickly grew horrified, I wanted to intervene, to help Warren out, but I was scared. Scared of what Nathan would do, especially since I couldn't be sure if he was still carrying his gun or not.

"Get in Max!" Chloe yelled, I spotted she had open the passenger door to her truck.

I looked back to Warren, but then saw Nathan had stopped and was approaching rapidly. I felt awful about it, but my choice was made for me. I rushed into the truck as Nathan began yelling.

"Get your punk asses out of there now!" He bellowed, kicking the passenger door shut, nearly catching my foot. "Don't even try to run! Nobody messes with me! NOBODY!"

By this time Chloe had floored it and the truck pulled out of the parking lot as I looked out the back and saw David Madsen approaching the incident, I just hoped he would intervene and save Warren.

It was shortly after that I became aware the truck didn't have working seatbelts; I just prayed Chloe was a careful driver. We had driven some distance in silence; I was still looking out the back in shocked disbelief at what had just occurred and my current situation.

I was sitting in the car of my best friend from five years ago, finally reunited in such an abrupt fashion. The tension and awkwardness hung thick in the air as I turned around, sitting properly in the seat, my bag now dumped on the floor of the car.

"Man, Nathan Prescott is messed up, and dangerous." I commented in stunned disbelief. "This day never ends."

Chloe rolled her eyes and commented sarcastically. "Oh and thanks Chloe."

I bit my lip and she shook her head. "After five years you're still Max Caulfield."

I shifted awkwardly at that, already remembering how in five years I of course had never contacted Chloe. I felt horribly guilty.

Chloe then nudged me. "Don't give me the guilty face, at least pretend you're glad to see me."

"I am seriously glad to see you." I remarked at once. "Oh and thanks Chloe, it makes perfect sense I'd see you today."

If she only knew how true that was.

She sighed as she replied. "Yes, it's been…that kind of day."

There was slight pause as we thought for a moment.

Chloe was the one to break the silence.

"So, what did that freak want with you?" She asked, referring to Nathan.

I shook my head. "Hopefully nothing after today. So, how do you know Nathan?"

It was Chloe's turn to look uncomfortable. "He's just another Arcadia asshole…"

She paused before remarking. "Your friend really took a beat-down for you."

That reminded me of my guilt regarding Warren and what happened to him.

"Warren? Yeah…" I replied awkwardly. "I owe him big time."

"You're not the only one in debt and you're already causing trouble." Chloe remarked; shaking her head.

I sighed. "I thought it would be quiet here, feels so weird to be back."

"So I guess Seattle sucked hard?" Chloe asked; sounding eager.

I couldn't help but think about the last time I saw Chloe, on the very day her dad died. It was a day that still haunted me, constantly wishing there was something I could have done, anything.

Getting back on subject I shrugged. "It was nice but I never really could…gel with anything, guess I'm a small town girl at heart, that's why I came back here."

"Please girl, you came back for Blackwell Academy." Chloe pointed out.

I shook my head at that before replying. "Maybe for Mark Jefferson, his work is just amazing and…"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Of course your best friend."

I sighed, once again feeling guilty.

I turned to her; trying hard to stay calm and not let my anxiety get the better of me.

"Don't you think I'm happy to see you?"

"No." Chloe replied shortly. "You were happy to wait five years without a call or even a text."

I bowed my head; feeling even shittier than ever, what hurt the most was I knew Chloe was right.

"I am sorry; I know things were tough for you when I left." I said sadly.

Chloe snapped. "How, you weren't even there?"

I turned, exasperated. "I didn't ask my parents to move to Seattle specifically to fuck you over Chloe."

Chloe shook her head. "You've been at Blackwell for almost a month without a word to me, nuff said."

"I just wanted to settle in first and not be such a shy cliché geek for once in my life." I explained. "I totally would have contacted you."

Chloe glared. "I bet you don't use these sad excuses on Mr. Jefferson, don't use them on me Max."

We lapsed back into silence as I bowed my head in guilt and sadness. I leaned back in my seat and Chloe continued to drive, the tension remained thick between us.

Trying to find something to distract myself, I instead leaned down and pulled my camera out of my bag and was shocked to see it had been damaged in the scuffle I groaned.

"Broken, oh man, are you cereal?"

Chloe let out a short laugh. "Wow, haven't heard that one in a while."

I shrugged. "Not everything changes, except my camera has officially taken a shit."

I couldn't believe this; that camera was key to work and now it was damaged, I could only imagine the cost it would take if I couldn't repair it myself.

Chloe seemed to brighten up however and spoke up.

"My step-douche has a boatload of tools; maybe you can fix it up at my place?" She offered.

I briefly registered that Chloe's words indicated her mother remarried.

I shook my head however and explained. "I need very specific tiny tools."

Chloe again gave a short laugh. "Whoa, nerd alert. My stepdad has a fully stocked garage…and he really is a tiny tool."

There was a pause before Chloe finally spoke up, her words actually calming me as it seemed to indicate things were calming down again.

"Welcome home Max."

I grinned and settled back into the seat as Chloe drove home.

Before long we reached the house and I stared in amazement as I stepped out, I looked up at the house.

"Wow, the house looks exactly the same." I said softly; noted that even the paint job at the front of the house had been left unfinished.

Chloe merely shrugged. "Yeah, home shit home."

She gestured for me to follow and we headed inside; I noted the house even smelled the same as I followed Chloe upstairs.

"My room is a bit different than the last time you saw it." She remarked.

That was an understatement if ever there was one. It was now chaotic and seemed to reflect Chloe's life changes in the last five years, and revealed a lot about her personality and mental state. The room was adorned with posters, graffiti, trash and old junk.

Chloe's written graffiti was all over the walls, there were lots of empty beer bottles and various amounts of junk on the floor. There are also a lot of mementos of around; I recognized some of them as being from her father William, or even me, some I didn't recognize however.

I carefully set my broken camera on the desk.

Chloe threw herself onto the bed and spoke.

"Alright, why don't you find some music to put on, while I medicate." She said while lighting up, of all things, a joint.

I fought to stay neutral as the smell of weed filled the room; and attempted to look around the room.

I could feel the past rushing back at everything I saw, the height chart we had used up until I moved away; Chloe had always been taller than me. Our super-secret closet lair and many pictures from the past in the drawers and such. I then saw the first thing I needed to find, the power-strip which I then turned on.

'Houston, we have power, now to find some music to play.' I thought to myself.

I searched Chloe's desk but couldn't find anything, finally my eyes fell on something else.

It was a small metal box, tucked under Chloe's bed. 'Okay Chloe, a box under the bed spells secret.'

Shaking my head, I checked it anyway, Chloe didn't seem to take notice as she continued to 'medicate'. Opening the box I spotted right away a CD, I picked it up, smiling and then noticed something.

My eyes widened slightly. 'What the…no way, is that…?'

I picked up what I saw and noted it was folded, I unfolded it. What I had seen was a picture, of Rachel Amber, the whole picture showed her along with Chloe, who was flipping off the photographer. I stared at the picture in amazement until Chloe reacted.

Just like before with Dana and her pregnancy test, I found the object I was looking at yanked out of my hands.

"Hey, that's mine." Chloe snapped.

I leapt to my feet and quickly tried to explain. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be nosy, I just…"

Chloe however didn't berate me; she simply sat at the edge of the bed, looking at the photo, a faraway look in her eyes. Feeling unsure yet worried, I sat next to her, looking at the picture.

I spoke gently. "That's Rachel Amber, her missing persons posters are all over Blackwell."

"I know, I put them up." Chloe replied. "She was my angel, after my dad died and you left, I had nobody. Mom was all up in the clouds about Step-Douche…Rachel saved me."

I nodded slowly. "She looks beautiful, like a model."

Chloe got a wistful smile on her face. "That was her plan, our plan, get enough money together, get the hell outta bigfootville and go to L.A."

"What…What happened?" I asked hesitantly.

Chloe shrugged. "She just, disappeared one day, left Arcadia Bay, left…me."

I considered that, before then asking. "What about her parents?"

"They're in denial, I know she's missing Max…She told me, before she disappeared she'd met a guy, someone special and amazing who'd help her…Then she vanished."

We sat in silence after that before Chloe asked me to put the music on, clearly still down.

I went to do as she asked, all the while considering how, no matter how and what I tried, I always got awkward and fumbled during conversations, I wished just once that would change and that I could do something about that. I set up the music, turning on 'Santa Monica Dream' and Chloe lay back on the bed, taking another drag from her joint.

"Anyway, you'll find the tools you need to fix your camera in the garage." She remarked, making it clear she wanted no further conversation.

I slowly made my way out of the room, while I knew where I was going, I was eager to explore the house, to see if anything had changed since I was here last. I entered the bathroom first, switching the light on; while it looked more or less the same, looking around I spotted something.

'What the…anti-depressants, is Chloe taking these, or…Joyce?' I thought to myself.

I quickly put them back, things were clearly still difficult here; I switched the light off and left the bathroom, worried about my discovery. In Joyce's room, I didn't look around too much, not wanting to take my snooping too far, but I did manage to use my rewind power to save a life, the life of a blue jay which hit the window.

Feeling sorry for the poor thing I rewound and opened the window, causing it to fly into the house, I just hoped it wouldn't cause too much trouble as I left and headed downstairs again. There was a door next to me that led to the garage, but it was locked. So instead I looked around the rest of the ground floor.

The things I saw brought back waves of nostalgia; pictures of the Chloe I remembered, various flyers and magazines and such, I noted that Joyce still seemed to work at the Two Whales Diner.

I grinned at that. 'Best damn burgers in Arcadia, I better grab one soon.'

Some things were troubling however, such as the overdue bills; things were clearly not easy here. Still concerned I finally entered the garage and began looking around for tools; specific tools which ruled out many of the ones lying around.

It was searching the garage which revealed the identity of Chloe's step-dad to me, much to my horror. I searched a drawer and found a photograph and I gasped.

'Chloe's step-dad is head of security at Blackwell, oh shit…' I couldn't believe it. 'Chloe's step-dad is, David Madsen?'

It was so ironic I almost groaned. Continuing my search I began to find Madsen's paranoia was bigger than I thought. In one case, I opened a cupboard and spotted a TV monitor within it.

'What's this…?'

I pressed the button to turn it on and was shocked to see footage from security cameras, of the very house I was in.

I could scarcely believe it. 'No way, what kind of paranoid wacko sets up surveillance cameras in his own home…shit.'

I quickly turned the screen off and closed the door, praying I hadn't left any evidence.

Shaking my head, my eyes fell on something else, a collection of files on top of another nearby cupboard. Unable to help myself, overly curious about Madsen's paranoia, I decided to check them. Of course I had to forget one key thing, I was probably the biggest klutz ever, I ended up knocking the files off the shelf, onto a patch of oil.

'Urhg, butterfingers…But what the hell?' I thought to myself, examining the contents that weren't stained. 'Photos of Kate Marsh, what is he doing with these?'

They were all photos of Kate, taken from a distance, some had notes on them, all of it was very freaky. I had to remember this, it served as a good example of how paranoid David Madsen was. I quickly used my rewind to prevent the files from being left with oil stains, avoiding any evidence being left behind.

Now I just had to find those tools, I had certainly seen enough of this garage. Finally I spotted something useful, precision screwdrivers, up on top of boxes on top of the washing machine. It certainly didn't look stable but I wondered if it could work to my advantage, I certainly couldn't reach the screwdrivers from the floor and there was no way to climb up onto nearby counters to reach it either.

If the washing machine was still the way I remembered it, then once I turned it on it would start shaking. Sure enough, when I turned it on, it started shaking, shaking the items on top of it too. I watched first elated but then in dismay as the box of screwdrivers fell down, sliding out of reach under the nearby counter.

'Way to go Max, now you can't get them.' I thought darkly before rewinding, noticing a strangely growing headache each time I did this.

I brushed it off, hopefully it was nothing, instead I looked around, for anything that could help me. I spotted an old sheet of cardboard on the ground, an idea occurred to me all of a sudden, it was an old trick, but it just might work.

I pushed the sheet of cardboard under the counter, leaving an end for me to pull out and then turned the washing machine on again.

I watched in delight as my plan worked, the screwdrivers fell again, this time onto the cardboard, I turned the washing machine off and pulled the cardboard out and sure enough, the screwdrivers were there, I hastily picked them up, pleased.

Now I had to get out of here and get back to Chloe's room. I hurried back and found Chloe, lying in the exact same position as last time I saw her. Not wanting to disturb her I made my way over to the desk and began working, trying to fix my camera, what followed was a long quiet yet frustrating time for me.

I tried without any success to fix the camera which left me even more dismayed.

"Well?" Chloe asked suddenly, startling me.

I jumped but then relaxed and shook my head. "I can't fix this."

I sighed, the feeling of dismay settling upon me, I had lost my camera, how was I supposed to continue my work now.

Chloe observed the camera and then the photos I had laid on the desk too. "These your new photos?"

I nodded. "Yeah I just took them today."

"Wait a minute, I recognize this!" She burst out suddenly.

I flinched as she grabbed the butterfly photo. "I um…"

She looked at me, eyes narrowed. "I saw this today, in bathroom, the fire alarm; that was you? Tell me the truth Max."

I nodded slowly. "I was there, I hit the alarm."

"It totally makes sense, you hella saved my life." Chloe gasped.

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, all I did was take a butterfly photo…"

Chloe laughed. "Yeah, and scared Nathan off…So, you must've heard our conversation?"

"Not really?"

"There is no way you didn't hear every single vowel." Chloe shot back.

I sighed, so much for that.

I explained as best I could.

"I heard something about money, drugs, but that's it and I didn't say a word to anyone."

She nodded and smiled. "Good, so…did you recognize me?"

I bit my lip, ashamed to admit it. "I…wasn't sure."

"I know I look hella different." Chloe remarked before moving towards one of her cabinets.

I stood up confused as I watched her curiously until she straightened up again.

"I…know it was your birthday last month." She said softly. "Here, this was my real dad's, I want you to have it."

She handed me, of all things, William's old instant camera, the one I'd fallen in love with the instant I saw it.

I shook my head. "That's so awesome you remembered my birthday, but I can't take this…"

Chloe however stopped me handing it back. "Take it, my dad would be pissed that I never used it and now I know it will be used awesomely…Take it and, I'll snag this picture as a symbol of our reunion, cool?"

She picked up the butterfly photo and I grinned.

"Of course it's cool, this camera is awesome." I replied with a wide grin.

Chloe grinned and started turned towards the CD player. "Now that all the mushy shit is out of the way, I feel like stage-diving."

She cranked up the volume and changed the track to 'Piano Fire' by Sparklehorse

I laughed. "You're crazy."

Chloe just laughed too. "Yup, yup, I'm fucking insane in the brain, c'mon, let's dance…what's the matter, shaky that bony white ass, or take my picture with your new camera."

Following that she leapt up onto the bed, still dancing while I laughed.

Taking her advice and wanting to preserve this memory, I took a photo before putting the camera and photo in my camera bag.

"C'mon, can't dance hippie, rawk out girl." Chloe called out.

I laughed again and awkwardly tried to join in before out fun was abruptly stopped by the front door slamming and a familiar voice shouting up the stairs.

"Chloe, is that you?!"

Chloe quickly gestured for me to turn off the music as she quickly dropped her joint in the ashtray on her desk and threw herself onto the bed while I did as she asked.

"How many times have I told you to stop blasting that punk shit in the house!?" David Madsen's voice sounded up the stairs.

Chloe replied belligerently. "Dude, the music's not even on!"

Brief pause and then Madsen spoke again. "I'm coming up, we need to talk!"

Chloe leapt to her feet. "Shit, my step-dad will kill me if he finds you here, you gotta hide."

With that she rushed to the door and tried to hold it shut, telling me to hide, using whatever excuse she could against David who was trying to enter. I quickly looked around. It was lame but the only hiding place I could see was the closet lair.

I tried to get in, but the door was stiff and ended up hitting the lamp which knocked the shelf down, blocking my access.

'Urgh, here we go again.' I thought desperately.

I quickly began to rewind until I was back to before I opened the closet. This time I moved the lamp and opened the closet without any incident. I hide inside and closed the door, Chloe muttered to herself before stepping away, allowing the door to open and David Madsen stepped into the room.

If anything he was even scarier here, outside of Blackwell, dressed in casual clothes rather than his uniform. Maybe it was because out here, he wasn't restrained by the rules and regulations of Blackwell.

"What's going on in here, Chloe?" He demanded sharply.

Chloe crossed her arms, acting belligerent. "I was trying on clothes okay, God, you're so fucking paranoid."

David shook his head. "Yeah, combat will do that to you."

He looked around briefly before then asking suddenly.

"One of my guns is missing, did you take it?"

Chloe scowled. "God, I didn't take your stupid gun, okay, I actually believe in gun control."

But then, by extreme misfortune, David spotted the joint.

"Wait, is that, is that grass?" He remarked before turning to Chloe and demanding sharply. "Have you been toking up in here again? Tell me the truth, that's an order!"

I was breathing heavily, surprised I hadn't been heard yet as I peered through the slats in the door. I was worried about Chloe, this was dangerous, but I couldn't move, I just froze, it was scary as hell seeing David Madsen like this. As a result, I remained hidden as Chloe rolled her eyes and snarked.

"God, you treat my mom and me like we're your goddamn family platoon."

He shook his head, replied angrily. "Hey, leave Joyce out of this."

Chloe stepped towards him, snapping. "I wish you'd leave Joyce, like right now!"

I tensed, almost gasping as suddenly, David slapped Chloe.

There was a stony silence before David spoke, his voice much quieter.

"Chloe, I'm sorry…I love your mother, but you just keep pushing me."

Chloe glowered. "Don't ever touch me again asshole, that's the last time, or I'll bring the cops in here so fast…"

"You're not that dumb." David replied shaking his head. "Chloe, someday you'll grow up."

With that he turned and left the room while Chloe sat on the edge of the bed. I slowly emerged from the closet, feeling terribly guilty.

"Hey…you okay?" I asked hesitantly.

She shook her head. "Welcome to the real step-douches of Arcadia Bay."

I bowed my head. "Sorry…"

"Ah forget it; he would have been a bigger jerk if he'd caught you here." Chloe replied.

"I somehow doubt that."

Chloe merely shrugged. "Anyway, let's get outta here, through the window; I know a place we can still go in this hickhole to explore."

Still feeling terrible, yet not thinking I could make any difference; that I'd still freeze up even if I did rewind, I made my way over to the window and opened it. Chloe stood up and together we left the house, heading for her truck.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.