Disclaimer: I do not own Life is Strange, it belongs to DontNod, etc etc.

Authors Note: Okay, so I don't know shit about religion. Apologies to anyone that is religious in anyway if I ever get anything wrong. That said, it's my intent to not get into religion too much, as I don't feel qualified to really talk about it in any way. However, religion is a big part of Kate's character, and I don't want to ignore it either. I'm going to try and keep it simple. Also, given that this is an AU fic, I might take a few liberties with characters at times, so they may seem a little OOC, but hopefully not too much. I try to keep the core of the character intact. Hope you all enjoy this next instalment.

Life is Strange

Salvation

Chapter Two

Kate Marsh was having a crisis of faith, or as close to one as she had ever before. For the last few months, since coming to Blackwell and meeting all these new people, she had been feeling things she hadn't felt before. Under the watchful eyes and strict regulations of her parents, her impulses were contained. Sure, she had thoughts - impure thoughts – but she was always too afraid to really embrace them. She never had the time to think too much about it, her days filled up with strict studying, church, family activities, and then 9 o'clock bedtime. Indeed it was only when she was lying in bed that those thoughts came to her, but she had always been able to resist indulging in them, as if the days firm regimen gave her the strength to defy her baser desires.

Now, however, she was alone at Blackwell, far from her family. Her routine was one of her own devising, and at first, she had tried to impose one, to follow her parent's guidance. It hadn't lasted. And the more she strayed, the more those thoughts and feelings intruded, at first just wiggling up to her in her down time. Before long, they began to pop into her head at the most inappropriate of times, during class, while she was trying to study, even during church.

It didn't help that the temptation was on such visible display. While she had attended an all girls school, the uniform had been very conservative. Here at Blackwell though, no uniform was enforced, and so the rest of her classmates showed up in varying styles of dress. Some of it was downright shocking to her naïve eyes.

Dana Ward in particular favoured a very revealing fashion sense, low cut tops, ripped jeans, and her cheerleading skirt was always scandalously short. Kate was pretty sure it wasn't regulation length, if that was even a thing, but no one called her on it. Not that she was against all of that, necessarily, and that was the problem.

Kate liked it.

And thus felt guilty about it. Her family would have a fit if they knew the obscene fantasies that plagued her daily. How her eyes feasted on the flesh of other girls, all of it displayed with a casualness that she was only now becoming to accept as commonplace.

It wasn't exactly a new revelation for her. Even when she had lived with her parents, she knew she liked girls. Ever since she was fourteen years old, and she sat behind Jennifer Sullivan, fascinated by the sheen of the raven-haired girls long flowing hair. It smelled of lilacs. Back then she had been able to ignore it, or pass it off as something else. It wasn't a crush. She was just envious of her beautiful hair. Yet, deep down, she always knew she was lying to herself. It was just easier that way.

At Blackwell though, those lies revealed themselves to be flimsy little things, blown away by the sight of Dana Ward's exceptionally long legs, dancing in her cheerleading outfit, and her full bosom bouncing enticingly. Imagines like those came to Kate all day long, as if they'd been seared into her memory, and made her feel strange.

Kate may have been naïve and sheltered, but she wasn't stupid. She definitely liked girls. And to make matters worse, she was pretty sure she didn't like boys the same way, so it wasn't like she could just ignore those feelings and focus on more acceptable ones. No, she liked girls. Exclusively. And that was a big problem.

Her church was very clear on it's position on homosexuality. Yet, Kate didn't feel like her desires were necessarily wrong. Sure, she had been taught that they were, but she was finding it harder and harder to understand why, hence her crisis of faith. It was altogether very conflicting. She didn't want to disappoint her family, but away from their regime, it all felt very silly. Her horizons had broadened since coming to Blackwell, and though she tried to stay faithful to her upbringing, she couldn't lie to herself anymore. She really, really liked it.

Which is why she found herself attending an actual party. And not a dinner party either. A full on dancing party, with flashing lights and alcohol and loud music. Okay, so she didn't actually like the alcohol part so much. At least she was wary of it. She'd heard horror stories of getting so drunk you couldn't stand, so drunk you vomited uncontrollably, and that didn't sound fun. But one drink wouldn't hurt, would it?

Of course, the real reason she was here was Dana. The hyper friendly cheerleader had been pestering her to come out and party with her for months, since she arrived in Blackwell, in fact, and Kate had finally succumbed. She figured Dana saw her as a little bird she had to nurture and to be honest, Kate didn't mind that. It was sweet. And Dana was so nice. She never made her feel stupid or boring, even though Kate often felt that way when talking to the much more sociable and interesting girl.

Dana promised to keep her company for the party, so she wouldn't feel lost and alone. So far so good. When they'd arrived, Dana had got both of them drinks. They stood around their table for a while, talking, drinking and watching the rest of the people dance, until finally Dana took her by the hand and pulled her out to join them. Kate was reluctant at first, embarrassed, but the feel of Dana's hand in her own, and the encouraging smile on her face, helped to ease some of that embarrassment. Before long, Kate was smiling and laughing and dancing along, having so much fun she forgot all about her awkwardness. It didn't matter if she looked silly. She was with Dana, and she was having fun.

Kate wasn't sure how long they danced for, but several songs later, they returned to their table and drinks. Dana downed hers in one go. Kate took a more modest sip.

"Come on party girl," Dana teased good-naturedly, "you can do better than that. Down the hatch."

Feeling euphoric from all the dancing, Kate shrugged and thought, why not? Chugging the beer was the last clear thing Kate remembered from that night, before she woke up in her dorm room in the early hours of the morning. She did remember small things, such as Dana arguing with someone, and then rough hands on her body, the stale smell of beer breath in her face, and a dizzying sickness. It all seemed to run together, with no clear picture, more like a set of abstract feelings, aromas and images. A small round black button sawn into dark blue fabric, whirling lights of varying colours, and the ridges inside of a plastic cup, up close and personal.

Then came the feeling of warm, soft arms around her, followed by a chill feeling on her skin. Something fuzzy and brown, like lying in a field of fur, but that couldn't be right, could it? She couldn't make the images make sense. The last thing she could recall was a sense of safety, the familiar smell of her room, mingled with another scent, one unfamiliar to her, almost like… strawberries?

When her mind returned to her, she was wrapped in the cocoon of her own bed sheets, still dressed in the clothes she had worn to the party, a simple cream coloured dress and jacket combo with black leggings. Her head ached phenomenally as she groaned and sat up. It took her a moment to register the person sitting in her desk chair, currently looking at her with a small smile.

"Victoria?" Kate asked, her voice raspy and barely audible. She felt terrible, which was probably why she wasn't freaking out at having Victoria Chase, the self-titled Queen of Blackwell, sitting in her room, and actually smiling at her, instead of her usual look of contempt.

"Hi," Victoria replied, her tone matching her smile, soft and gentle. Was this real? Was she hallucinating? "It's okay, you're okay."

"W-what?" Kate rubbed at her face, as if trying to wake it up. "What happened?"

Victoria looked momentarily panicked. Kate saw it and felt reality hit her. Wait, what had happened? She could barely remember anything. How did she get home? Last thing she remembered, she was dancing with Dana? No, they had finished dancing. She had downed the beer Dana had bought her. Why couldn't she remember anything clearly after that? Was this what it felt like being drunk? But she'd only had one drink, hadn't she?

"Katie," Victoria said, bringing attention back to her. "I'm so sorry. I think… I don't know how to say this nicely, so I'm just going to say it. I think someone drugged you."

Drugged?

"Drugged?" Kate repeated her thought aloud, as if saying it aloud would make it make any more sense. "Why? Why would someone… do that? I… no… how do you know? I don't understand…"

Victoria got up, moving to crouch next to the bed. She reached out and tentatively touched one of Kate's hands. Her touch was so uncertain; Kate could tell Victoria didn't really know what she was doing. When Kate didn't resist, Victoria took a deeper breath and firmed her hold slightly.

"I'm so sorry, Katie." Victoria met her eyes with compassion. "I just know. Can you just… trust that I know the different between a drunk girl and a drugged one?"

Kate closed her eyes. The feel of Victoria's hand in hers was so familiar. And could she… yes, she could… that strawberry fragrance she remembered, it was coming from her, from Victoria. Kate opened her eyes again and looked at the crouched blonde by her bed. Victoria was wearing a fuzzy brown sweater… the field of fur. It made sense now.

"You brought me home?"

Victoria nodded.

"And you sat by my bed this whole time? Why?"

The Victoria she thought she knew, the one who lauded over everyone at Blackwell, the one that strut around like she owned the school, would never have done anything like that. But then, now that she thought about it, Kate couldn't remember Victoria being like that for the past month. Had she? Nothing came to mind. If anything, Victoria had been unusually quiet and soft spoken. How had she not noticed that earlier?

"I couldn't just let you… you were in trouble. I wasn't about to turn a blind eye to that. And… and I didn't even really want to be there myself. So I helped you home, and then… I didn't want to leave you on your own. I thought maybe…"

Kate had never seen Victoria so unsure of herself, of what she was saying. Several times she had stopped herself from saying something else, re-wording things at the last minute.

"What did you think?" Kate prompted.

"It doesn't matter," Victoria said, trying to change the subject. "You don't seem upset… are you okay?"

Kate thought about it. It was true; she probably should have been upset if what Victoria said was true. Someone had drugged her and, what, intended to rape her? Yet she felt oddly detached from it all.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm… in shock? I don't know. I still feel kind of out of it." Kate suddenly felt her head pound and rubbed at it with her free hand, grimacing.

Victoria looked sympathetic. "I think you should get some more sleep. It's like, five in the morning or something. You can get a few more hours. We can talk in the morning, if you want."

Kate nodded absently. "You… you aren't going to leave, are you?"

Victoria paused, as if thinking about it. "Not if you don't want me to?"

Kate felt really sleep all of a sudden. She laid back down, closing her eyes, and whispered, "please, don't go."

"Okay," Victoria replied.

She was still holding Kate's hand.