Victoria Chase: are you there?
Max Caulfield: Hi Vic, Im at Joyce's. What's up?
Victoria Chase: are you free today? I need your help
Max Caulfield: my help?
Victoria Chase: yes, it's for a photo project
Max Caulfield: :o
Max Caulfield: lemme get this str8
Max Caulfield: You, Victoria Chase, are asking me for help with a photo?
Max Caulfield: I wanted 2 use ur middle name for extra dramatic effect, but I don't know it
Victoria Chase: ha :p
Victoria Chase: yes, I am, very humbly, asking you for help
Victoria Chase: do you want me to kiss your feet or something?
Max Caulfield: na, but you can tell me ur middle name, Im hella curious now
Victoria Chase: fuck no, you don't need to know that
Max Caulfield: cmon, what r u hiding?
Victoria Chase: okay, Caulfield, what's yours?
Max Caulfield: …
Max Caulfield: k, so about that pic, u want 2 meet me now?
Victoria Chase: yes, be there in 10
Max Caulfield: don't u want the address?
Victoria Chase: seriously, Max, I know the address!
Max Caulfield: oO
Ten minutes later…
Victoria Chase: where are you?
Max Caulfield: duh, at Joyce's, told you
Victoria Chase: no you're not!
Max Caulfield: WTF?
Max Caulfield: I know where I am!
Victoria Chase: I'm at Joyce's and you're nowhere in sight
Max Caulfield: cuz I'm inside
Victoria Chase: I AM inside!
Max Caulfield: this is getting hella weird. I'm in the living room doing homework, I'd have heard you open the door if you were inside!
Victoria Chase: living room? What living room?
Max Caulfield: uh, Vic? U know when I said Joyce's I meant her actual house, not 2 Whales, right?
Victoria Chase: …
Victoria Chase: merde…
Victoria Chase: be there in 10
Max Caulfield: do u want the address now?
Victoria Chase: yes, please
"You sure Joyce and David wouldn't mind?" Victoria asked. "The way Joyce asked the last time we went to Two Whales, it looks like they're really glad to have you over for the weekend."
"They are, but don't worry about that, Joyce finishes her shift at five, and David's stuck at Blackwell with paperwork, so I was on my own all afternoon anyway. As long as you bring me back in time for dinner, it's alright."
"I'll try to. So where are we going?"
"Turn left here, and it should be another couple miles ahead."
Victoria had come to meet Max at Joyce's, and after telling her of her problem, Max had agreed to help her and decided to take her to a 'secret place'. Victoria had insisted they use her car, and Max felt hella weird riding shotgun in the Audi. This was a whole different world from the Bane: real leather seat was incredibly comfy, the interior was squeaky clean, you could barely hear the engine at all, and damn was it high fucking tech, with this big plasma screen for the GPS and radio and the heads-up display, it felt like the cockpit of some spaceship!
"So, Max, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, sure, why do you ask?"
"I don't know, you've been, like, a thousand miles away this last couple of days, and you almost jumped out of your skin when I talked about Monsieur Lacroix earlier, so I'm wondering if there's something bothering you?"
"No, it's nothing, just… stress, I guess. Too much homework. But I'm okay, really."
Of course she wasn't. After a mostly sleepless Wednesday night spent watching movies and shows on her laptop to keep her mind off the seriously weird shit she'd seen in her teacher's house, she went through Thursday in a haze, hardly conscious of the world around her. She had to apologize to her friends for not being really here, and lie to her parents who'd texted her to know how she was doing, and of course I'm doing great, Mom and Dad, seriously, nothing major is going on! And to top it all, the last class of Thursday was Photography.
Monsieur Lacroix showed up and started his lecture as if absolutely nothing happened the night before. Max didn't listen to anything at all, instead staring at him all along, her mind racing:
Okay, so he tried to kiss your throat, which was seriously creepy, but then, was it kissing? Or… biting? Seriously, Max, you've seen so much weird shit over there, you know he's not normal. And not in the sense that he's deranged, no, more in the sense that he's not fucking human. There, I said it. What are you saying? Impossible? The stuff of fantasy books? Okay, smartass, can you give me a plausible explanation for what you saw? Think about it: the cold, the rats, the mist, the coffin in the cellar, the teleporting shit… he was about to go for your throat, he has pale skin and wears tinted glasses all day long, put two and two together, Max!
Right, okay, so let's consider this for a moment… let's say he is what I think he is, now what? What does he want from me? Does he want to hurt me? I'm not sure, now that I think about it. Of course he was seriously scary, but he let me go as soon as I tried to resist. Okay, Warren was waiting for me, but, then, he had no way to know that… now, if he means me no harm, could it mean he was sincere with his gift thing? Could that mean…
Shit, Max, are you seriously considering this? Like, for real?
So far, I think I just want to know the whole story. We're at school, by daytime, it should be safe enough to ask.
Her decision made, she waited patiently until the bell rang, then told Kate she had a few things to talk about with her teacher and she'd see her later. Everybody left. Max didn't even rise from her table. She was so nervous her legs refused to obey. Her heart beat like a war drum when she saw Monsieur Lacroix close the door and walk in her direction. To her greatest relief, he stopped and leaned against a table at a reasonable distance from her.
"Mademoiselle Caulfield? Anything you would like to talk about?"
She opened her mouth, but no word came out. She was trembling, and grabbed her table as hard as she could to calm herself down.
"You seem upset, Maxine… do you mind if I call you Maxine?"
"Max," she whispered, purely out of habit.
"Max, right. You seem upset, so perhaps I should begin with an apology for… what happened last night. Obviously I frightened you, and while it was not my original intent, it was a necessary evil I am afraid. There are… things I needed you to see to make sure you took me and my offer seriously. Without that, you would only think of me as some kind of lunatic. Now that this is out of the way, I hope we can have a more open conversation, no more spectacular tricks, just me answering any questions you may have, in complete honesty."
Max took a deep breath and asked: "You needed me to see Chloe in a coffin? Why?"
"I… beg your pardon?"
"When… when I opened the coffin, in your cellar… I-I-I s-saw… Chloe."
"You did?" he looked genuinely surprised. "I am sorry, Max, but this was not of my doing. I did a lot of things, but the coffin, it was empty. It is simply my bed."
"Your bed? So w-who… or what, are you?"
He smiled warmly at her: "I think you already have an idea."
"Yes," she said, and she thought she'd never in her whole life have to utter her next sentence: "I think… you're a vampire."
She expected him to laugh at her. She expected him to look at her confused. She expected anything but that simple, straight answer:
"I am."
"B-but… h-how?"
"My name is Pierre-Marie de Beaufort, I was born in Berziers in 1812. In 1829, wanting to pursue an artistic career, I met Louis Daguerre who made me his apprentice and later, his associate. When Monsieur Daguerre died in 1851, I took over his business. Then in 1853, I met Sir Nigel Moorcock, a British gentleman. We became lovers, but Nigel was a vampire. When I found out, he gave me a choice… and I said yes. We… parted ways, eventually, and of course I had to assume a number of fake identities to conceal my age, and here I am now, Sébastien Lacroix, photography teacher. I am sure you want to know how or why we exist, but this I cannot answer for I do not know. We exist, that is all I know."
"Okay… wowser, that's a lot to swallow… so vampires are real… sorry, Monsieur, but I still find it hard to believe."
"Was I not convincing enough last night?"
"That could be anything! Special effects, gas, something like that!"
"Fair enough. I cannot make another show of my abilities here, as the sun has not set yet. But there is still something I can show you. The most obvious one."
He smiled at her, his mouth slightly open, baring his upper teeth, and Max's skin crawled when she saw his two upper canines grow into sharp-looking fangs, before retracting back into normal teeth.
"They are like cat claws," he explained, "I can retract them to keep a normal appearance and extend them to feed. I know what you are thinking, this does not prove anything, these could be prosthetics. Another thing, then. Look down."
"What?"
"The floor. Look at the floor."
There was a bright beam of sunlight illuminating the room through the large windows, and Max and the furniture cast long shadows on the floor. She looked down, as instructed. At first, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking at, but then, suddenly, she saw it. Her eyes popped out with astonishment. It was very subtle, but once you saw it, you couldn't unsee it.
"Oh wow!" she gasped.
"One of the many side effects. Fortunately, people rarely notice if you do not point it out. Now you will easily guess why I am always the one behind the camera, and not in front of it. Do you believe me, now?"
"Y-y-yes, I guess so… but what about me? What do you want from me?"
"No harm, this I can swear, because I know it is your main concern. I know we have a certain… reputation, as cruel and merciless bloodsuckers. We do drink blood, this I cannot deny, but we do not need to kill the people we feed upon, and I have personally never done such a thing. Outside of our peculiar diet and our peculiar abilities, we are just like everybody else. Some are criminals, some are decent people. I fall in the latter category. Max… I will be completely frank with you, the life of a two-hundred-year-old gentleman is quite a lonely one. I have friends, I have lovers, but those are superficial relationships. I cannot, due to my condition, form any deep and meaningful relationship with a human, because sooner or later, people start to wonder: why I do not eat, why I do not seem to age, where is my family… I miss this. Having a family, someone close to me, someone like me. And I feel you could be this person, Max. I admire your talent, and I see that in you, in your soul, you have what it takes to become like me. To become my disciple. My protégée… my daughter."
"And your lover?" Max asked warily. "Sorry, but I've seen enough movies to know that it's quite likely to turn into some kind of twisted sex thing…"
The teacher laughed at that: "Seriously, Max, do you really think I would be interested in you that way?" Seeing her slightly vexed look, he added: "I said earlier, I met a gentleman, we became lovers?"
"Oh, right…" she blushed with embarrassment. "Sorry… so you want to make me a vampire, is that right? So I'll be, like, your vampire-daughter… and in exchange… yesterday you talked about making my wishes come true?"
"Indeed. If you accept my offer, you will receive the strength and power to do anything you wish for. Anything."
"Even-"
"Yes. Even that."
"I didn't say it."
"You do not need to. It is not hard to figure out what your dearest wish is, Max."
Max's heart skipped a beat. Trembling, she took another deep breath and said:
"So please say it. I need to hear it to believe it."
"You can bring Chloe back."
He'd spent the next hour or so lecturing her on everything she needed to know to make an informed choice, all the pros and cons and consequences of her choice, and giving her ten days to give her final answer. This left her even more agitated and confused as before, both excited at the opportunities this could bring and terrified at the prospect of… well, of becoming a creature she had so far believed did not exist outside of fiction! She'd remained in that state all Thursday night and all Friday, hardly conscious of anything being said in class. Friday morning was real torture as it was her therapy session and she had to give her doctor an account of her first week back to Blackwell, being extra careful to give him the edited, vampire-free version, which was mentally exhausting.
At the end of the session, she'd asked him the question that was haunting her: if you had the chance to fix a major fuck-up in your life, but doing so would have huge consequences for yourself, what would you do? In typical therapist fashion, he had refused to answer, saying he knew what she was talking about, but she could not bring Chloe back, it was impossible, and fantasizing about ways to do it instead of focusing on her own wellbeing wasn't good for her mental health. Whatever. Back at Blackwell, she'd asked Kate the same question. Her answer was this: would fixing this 'major screw-up' involve an impossible thing like going back in time or resurrecting the dead? For if it did, and even if it was somehow possible, she wouldn't do it because that would be going against God's plan, and the consequences of such an act could be apocalyptic. At that point, Max almost snapped at her friend, yelling about how Chloe's murder could fit in God's plan, but she swallowed her wrath before it came out. She was mad at God, or fate, or whatever you called it, but it was no reason to lash out on her best friend. This conversation actually deeply disturbed the young photographer, for she never knew she was capable of feeling such a rage, and even though she kept it in check, it was still there, inside.
Then she'd asked Warren. That was a lot simpler with him for she could bring up the question more directly: first she'd asked him about vampire films, saying she'd looked at those Hammer films he was taking Brooke to and it had piqued her interest. Of course he had provided a rather lengthy list of what he considered to be the best flicks, and then she'd asked, just like that, imagine: if you're given the chance to fix a major fuck-up in your life, but you had to become a vampire to do it, would you? His answer: fuck yeah I would, and I wouldn't need a reason, I'd become a vampire any day of the week!
So that was a no from Kate, a yes from Warren, and a non-answer from her therapist. And here she was on Saturday, still as hesitant as before. Kate had gone home for her sister's birthday, Warren was having his date with Brooke tonight, Max was spending the weekend with Joyce and David, and now Victoria had kidnapped her for a photo mission.
"There," Max said, "you can park right there."
Victoria complied and parked on the side of the road close to the entrance of the American Rust junkyard. The forest grew all around the junkyard, and from where they were they could see the water tower overlooking Arcadia Bay, and the train tracks running all the way to the old mill and beyond. It was quite a nice spot if you forgot about the huge piles of trash.
"Nature shots?" Victoria asked as she got out of the car. "Not very original, but not a bad idea."
"Nope," Max said with a wry smile as she got out of the car herself. "We're going there."
Victoria gasped: "The junkyard? Are you fucking serious?"
"Hella serious. Come on, you'll see it's great."
After a couple minutes walking among the rusting carcasses of cars and trucks and fridges and washing machines, not to mention the charred remains of bonfires surrounded by empty bottles, indicating that some people took this place for a great party spot, Victoria was utterly unimpressed.
"Seriously, Max," she said, "I'm starting to believe you're trying to sabotage my career. What kind of picture can I take in a dump like this?"
"Are you kidding me? This place is great! I got tons of photo ideas already, and we haven't been here five minutes!"
Victoria paused and stared at her friend, dumbfounded. "No shit?"
"No shit! Look, you told me your problem is that you can't figure out that 'take pictures with your feelings' thing."
"Right, but I can hardly see how I'll take the perfect picture to impress Lacroix here."
Max shuddered internally at the mention of her teacher's name, but managed to get a hold of herself.
"Okay, so how do you take pictures, usually?"
"Well I think about a theme, or an idea, something I want to work with, then I scout for the places where I'll be most likely to take the perfect shot. I mean, the normal proceeding, how do you plan your pictures?"
Max giggled at that and answered: "You wanna know how I plan? Easy: I don't plan at all!"
Victoria's jaw dropped. "Not at all? But how… how can you even know what pics to take?"
Max shrugged: "Well, I don't. Okay, sometimes, like last Wednesday, I get an idea ahead of time, but most of the time, I just wander around, keep my eyes open, and when I see something inspiring, I take a pic."
"But your pic doesn't mean anything when you take it, then!"
"No, not yet at least. I just take the pic because I find it interesting, I come up with a meaning later. Sometimes I don't, and the pic ends up in my scrap folder."
"So, this is how to take pictures with your feelings rather than your brain?"
"I don't know, I can't say I have the one and only answer, but I just wanted to share the way I work, and thought maybe you could try it. I took you to this place because I've been here a couple times and it inspires me, there's a lot of material for great photos here."
"Uh… okay… still not sure what's inspiring in this giant garbage bin, but I'm gonna try…"
Unsure, the blond girl readied her expensive camera and began to walk around the place, with Max following. Soon they arrive by an old fishing boat, standing still and proud and ready to sail once more, despite the rust and rotten wood. Victoria froze.
"This… this boat…" she said.
"So what about it?" Max asked.
"I don't know… I just know I want to take a shot. Don't know why…"
"Well take it, you'll figure it out later."
Victoria's technical fluency took over and soon, the girl was confidently taking snap after snap, changing position frequently to make sure she got the best angle available.
"You know what this boat inspires me?" Max said once she was finished. "When we were kids, with Chloe, we loved to play pirates. We weren't allowed to play here of course, it was too dangerous, but damn I would've loved to have a real ship like that to play in!" She sighed. "And I'm sure Chloe would've loved it too."
"I… yeah, I'm sure of it," Victoria answered, somewhat uneasy. She still wasn't used to that whole sharing feelings thing.
"Hey, you know what, Vic? Let's get on the deck and take a selfie together!"
"Are you high? You want me to get tetanus or something?"
"Oh, come on, where's your adventurous side?"
"Sorry, I'm not feeling adventurous when I'm wearing a Chanel coat and Jimmy Choos."
Max rolled her eyes: "Yeah, and you're already parading in a goddamn junkyard with your overpriced clothes, getting on that boat won't make a big difference! Come on, it'll be fun!"
The petite brunette then ran for the boat, not waiting for her. Victoria sighed and, reluctantly, wondering what in the world she was getting herself into, followed along. There was no way to get on the deck from the ground, but Max climbed on a pile of junk nearby and, with a plank, made a bridge. She was already on the deck when Victoria was just barely trying to stand straight on the plank, her arms stretched out on both sides for balance.
"Ay, ye shall walk the plank, ye lily-livered landlubber!" Max said with a horrendous Scottish accent before she burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!" Victoria complained. "Shit, why did I say yes to this? I'm gonna fall!"
"Just keep your balance! Jeez, have you never played that game as a kid?"
"Nope, and for your information, your center of gravity is lower than mine, so it's easier for you, hobbit!"
"Hey, I may be a hobbit, but at least I don't look ridiculous on a plank, string bean!"
"Oh, just shut up and help me already!"
"Alright, alright, here, grab my hand."
Max reached out, and Victoria managed to grab the offered hand right at the moment she lost balance and fell forward, straight into Max's arms. Max held her friend tight, and maybe a bit longer than necessary.
"Uh, Max? I'm on the deck now, not gonna fall anymore."
"Oh, uh, right, yeah."
The brunette released her and swiftly looked away, praying Victoria would not notice her blushing cheeks.
What the fuck was that? She thought. Just holding her and I'm feeling all warm and jittery inside!
Yeah, you're crushing on her.
I'm not! Just… not used to being hugged I guess.
You fucking hug all the time with Kate, Max! Does she also make you feel this way?
No, but it's diff… oh, shut up, Inner Max!
"Max? Are you zoning out again?"
"No! No, just… I'm okay! Really! So, nice boat isn't it?"
"I have to admit, the view from here is quite nice, yeah. So, wanna take that selfie?"
Max chose a spot at the tip of the bow.
"Wanna make a Titanic impression, is that it?" Victoria asked with a smirk.
Max blushed even more furiously at the memory of that scene and at the thought of herself and Victoria as Rose and Jack kissing.
"Why, you-you want to?" she asked.
"Hell no, I was joking, Max! Best way to fall and get hurt!"
She was looking at her weird, like an alien. Max struggled to get a hold of herself.
"Oh, yeah, sure. So, this way then?"
Max suggested they sit side by side with their backs turned to the prow, so the tip and the landscape would be visible behind them. Max held her camera as far as she could, and Victoria moved closer to her to make sure they were both in the picture, her thigh, chest and cheek touching Max's, to the latter girl's greatest pleasure/embarrassment. She took the pic then quickly sprang to her feet to break contact and fanned the photograph until the image appeared.
"Hey, that's a great one!" she declared, smiling. "Look!"
"Nice," Victoria commented after taking a look.
"Now," Max cried out in her terrible Scottish accent, "Quartermaster Chase, I herrrreby welcome you to the Sisterrrrhood of the Pirates of Arrrcadia Bay!"
This made the taller girl laugh. "Quartermaster? How come I don't get to be First Mate?"
"Cause I am First Mate, Long Max Silver."
"Then who's the captain?"
"Captain Bluebeard is the Captain for eternity, through the tides of time and beyond the edge of the world!"
"Hello no, if I'm to be a pirate, it'll be Captain or nothing!"
On these words, the blond girl looked around on the deck and spotted a bunch of old fishing rods. She grabbed two of them and tossed one at her friend.
"En garde, Long Max Silver!" she called out.
"Mutiny? Very well, Chase, ye shall know why I'm called the sharrrrpest blade of the seven seas!"
Laughing, the girls crossed their pretend swords a couple times, but Victoria, no matter how competitive she was, quickly found herself overwhelmed by the petite girl's furious assaults, she was forced to step back until she was cornered and, with a swift turn of Max's wrist, promptly disarmed.
"Alright," she pleaded, "I surrender! Quartermaster will do!"
"Glad you were brought back to reason, Chase," Max declared as she dropped her weapon, "otherwise I'd have been forced to throw you out to the sharrrks!"
"Seriously Max, how did you do that? I didn't stand a chance!"
The girl shrugged humbly: "Told you, this was our favorite game. I've been in countless faux sword fights over the years."
They laughed a bit then went back to gazing at the landscape, taking pictures, until Victoria called out:
"Max, look, over there! Is it…"
The spot she was pointing at was a turn of the path where, among the usual junk, flowers and (now unlit) candles and pictures had been gathered as some kind of shrine.
"Yes," Max said, "that's the spot where they found this girl, Rachel Amber."
Nathan had given the location of her body to the cops when he was arrested. She was dug up and after investigation, given a proper grave at the cemetery, but still people had decided to mark the spot of her shallow grave with this shrine. Now the biggest mystery that was sure to make the trial long and tedious was who, of Nathan or Jefferson, had given her the lethal overdose? For obviously, they each accused the other one.
Victoria sighed and went to sit on one of the seats on the deck, looking dejected. Max looked at her, perplexed, and, after a pause, went to sit next to her.
"Something wrong?" she asked softly.
"I'm okay, just… thinking about Rachel."
"She was a friend of yours?"
"Yes… no… it's complicated."
"You wanna talk about it?"
Victoria shrugged. "Rachel, she was the Queen Bee when I arrived at Blackwell. She was such a natural, so incredibly kind… the rich kids, the drama kids, the nerds, the punk and skater kids, everybody, absolutely everybody liked her. Imagine, she was the most popular kid, daughter of the district attorney, and she was hanging out with Chloe!"
This startled Max. "She was friends with Chloe?"
"I think so. They seemed to be on friendly terms the day Chloe was expelled, and after that, they would often be seen hanging out together in town. I don't know any more than that, but that's Rachel, social chameleon. Once she was done hanging out with me and the other rich kids, she'd shed her expensive clothes, change to her torn jeans and check shirt, and go hang out with Chloe in town… I was jealous of her, of her ability to just not care. And she was gorgeous, and a great actress… next to her, I was nothing. So I hung out with her, hoping some of her popularity would rub off on me. I pretended to be her friend, but inside, I… I think I hated her. I was just waiting for my chance to usurp the throne, and become Queen Bee myself. When that finally happened, well, I made damn sure not to be overthrown."
"Is that why you were such a-"
"Bitch, yeah. I knew I'd never be as beloved as Rachel, so I tried another way… and you know the worst? When she went missing… I was glad."
She uttered that last word with an air of disgust at herself. Max instinctively put a comforting hand on her shoulders.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up, Tori. You're a different person now."
Victoria looked at her with an eyebrow raised: "Tori?"
Max blushed again. "Sorry, it just came out… you don't like it?"
Victoria shrugged: "Not used to it, but why not? Anyway, all that shit that happened to us, got me thinking. About myself, and Courtney."
"Courtney? What about her?"
"After Rachel's body was found, I realized Courtney was looking at me the same way I was looking at Rachel… waiting for a chance to usurp the throne. Then I wondered if she'd be sad if I died, or if she'd be glad."
"Come on, Tori, I'm sure she'd be sad! Aren't she and Taylor your friends?"
"Taylor is, I'm sure of it. We have that same thing for photography, got us something to talk about outside of the usual gossips and plotting, and little by little we started sharing and all. She's a real friend. You know, she's really sorry about what happened to Kate, and she's fully supportive of my friendship with her, and you. Courtney, on the other hand… she feels we've apologized enough already, we can stop being bitches to you, sure, but actually becoming friends is taking things too far. Exactly the things I would've said, before. She sees I'm getting weak and is about to overthrow me as the Queen Bee, I can feel it. But you know what? I couldn't care less now. I just feel sorry for her, because I know where my real friends are."
Saying this, she looked Max in the eyes, smiling faintly. The two girls maintained eye contact for a while, in silence, then Victoria lay a hand on Max's, who took it and squeezed. Then they both nodded to one another.
"Now," Victoria said as she stood up, "let's move on, shall we? Oh, do you mind if we stop by the shrine? I wanna say hi."
"Sure, no problem."
After paying their respects to Rachel, the two girls kept exploring the junkyard a bit and eventually started following the train tracks back to the car. The sun was setting and all around them was bathed in a gold and red light, with the brown of the earth and the tree trunks and the green of the leaves that would soon turn red and brown and fall. October country. Victoria was walking in the middle, her hands in her pockets, while Max was walking on a single trackline, keeping her arms up on both sides for balance. She had that look on her face of someone who was really enjoying herself, and it both amused and aggravated Victoria.
"Seriously," she said, "how old are you? Twelve?"
"And you, how old are you?" Max retorted. "Forty? Tori, you're too young to act like an adult all the time. Come on, be a child for once!"
"I've already played pirates with you on that boat!"
"And did you like it?"
Victoria didn't answer, for… yes, she actually enjoyed playing pirates with Max, just goofing around and not caring what she looked like. Max seemed to naturally know how to make her feel safe with being herself, and it was incredibly refreshing.
"Alright, alright, you win," she said, then, as she climbed on the other trackline, she mumbled: "Damn, those things you make me do."
She tried to keep up with Max, but her poor balance struck again and she almost fell. Max giggled and told her to hold her hand, and keep her other arm up, this way they would both be more stable. Victoria complied, and felt actually weird holding hands with Max, as if they were both ten-year-old schoolgirls. Weird, but somehow… nice.
"Alright," she admitted as they kept walking on this way, "it's actually fun."
"Glad you like it. We used to do that all the time, with Chloe. Of course our parents didn't know that."
"You know, you said you've been friends since childhood, but how did it come to be? The two of you are so different!"
"Yeah, well she wasn't that different from me, back then. She wasn't a punk, I mean. Just a normal, happy girl in a normal, happy home. She was already brash, though, and kind of a tomboy. We met during a schoolyard fight, Patty Myers was beating the crap out of me and suddenly, this girl pops out of nowhere to kick her ass and rescue me, like Supergirl… a bizarro Supergirl that curses a lot, I mean. She took me to the infirmary and refused to leave me alone, saying that now she'd saved me, it was her responsibility to look after me. We instantly got on like a house on fire. We had the same tastes, the same humor, we could spend hours in our own pirate fantasy world… being with her was like an epic adventure that never ends. And our personalities were a perfect match, she was the brave one who gave me strength and courage, I was the shy one who tried to keep her out of trouble. Our parents were happy we'd found each other, even though they quite often had to remind us that we couldn't live 24/7 in one another's home… so we told them that when we grew up and got married, we'd buy a huge-ass house for our two families to live in together. Then my mom said it would be hard to find husbands who would agree to that, to which Chloe replied: 'Fuck that, then, I'll just marry Max and we'll live together, husbands are useless'."
Victoria laughed at that: "That's awesome… I was never this close to someone else, I feel like I've missed something. Friends like that are keepers."
Max sighed: "She was a keeper… then I fucked up."
Victoria startled: "You what? How?"
"My dad got transferred, we had to move to Seattle. Five years ago. It was a tough thing for us to accept, but it got worse when… a few days before I left, Chloe's father, William, died in a car crash. My parents… they refused to change the date of the move, we left the day he was buried. I didn't even get to say goodbye to her one last time."
"Oh, God, that's horrible!"
"Yeah… but then, I could've called her, texted her, there's a million ways to keep in touch nowadays… but I did nothing of it. I just didn't know what to say to her, I was seriously depressed and thought, since she didn't call me either, she was mad at me for leaving her at such a bad time, she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. My parents kept saying I needed to grow up, move on, make new friends, but that wouldn't do it… these five years were the worst of my life. I started feeling happy again when I moved back here, for Blackwell, I thought I could see her again… but I was too chickenshit to take the first step. And then, it was too late…"
"Max, I'm so sorry… I didn't know you've been through that, and to think I was such a bitch to you…"
"No, it's okay, Tori, don't apologize. I can't cry all the time. It happened, now we move on. And everything might get even better after all…"
"What do you mean?"
Max stayed silent for a while, then asked with a very serious tone: "Tori, if you had a chance to fix a major fuck-up in your life-"
"Easy," Victoria replied without even thinking, "I'd go back to the last Vortex Club party and wouldn't take that video… better yet, I'd drive Kate to the ER myself. Or even better, I'd tell her not to drink the wine."
"You're still beating yourself up about this?"
"Not much, I'm processing now, but it still is the biggest fuck-up of my life."
"Okay… so, imagine you were given the chance to fix this, but there were consequences for yourself."
"Good or bad?"
"I don't know. Life-changing, for sure, but good or bad…"
"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific here, Max."
"So what if you had to… sell your soul?"
Victoria laughed: "A Faustian deal, is it what you're talking about? I don't know if I can answer, really, you know I don't buy in that metaphysical crap."
"Okay, bad example, then… how about… you get to fix your fuck-up, but in exchange you can never eat again."
Victoria raised an eyebrow: "Never eat? Like I'm gonna starve?"
"No, you won't starve, just… okay, you can still feed, but you can never enjoy your favorite foods ever again."
"Like, I lose my sense of taste?"
"Yeah, let's say that."
"Well… pretty random, if you ask me, but… there's more to life than food, I mean, if I had to choose between living in peace but not enjoying food anymore and enjoying food but being forever haunted by guilt and regret… yeah, I'd give up on taste."
"So you would do it?"
"Yeah, I would."
Max felt like a warm light in the pit of her stomach upon hearing these words. Two yes and a no. Could her decision be the right one, then? Victoria questioned her about why she'd asked, and Max remained vague about it, and they went on until Max shivered and Victoria suggested they went home as it was almost dinnertime.
She drove Max back to Joyce's and came in with her, just wanting to say hi, but Joyce invited her to stay for dinner. Victoria declined, feeling a bit embarrassed and saying she didn't want to be a bother, to which Joyce called her silly and insisted it was a pleasure to have Max's friends over. Plus, she was making her famous salmon surprise tonight, and Victoria could not not try it. So she stayed, and a couple hours later, Max was walking her back to her car, their bellies full of exquisite salmon and chocolate cake for dessert.
"God," Victoria said, "I'm stuffed! I think I never ate salmon that was so incredibly good before! You know, if I had to give up on taste like we talked about earlier, I think I'd really miss Joyce's cooking!"
Max giggled: "Yeah, me too. Joyce has always had this thing, she's not a cook, she's a food magician! Just be careful or she'll make you fat in no time!"
"I guess, this dinner has ruined my diet for the rest of the month!"
"So, didn't feel weird having dinner with the Blackwell chief of security?"
"A bit. I'm so used to seeing him in his uniform I tend to forget there's a regular family man behind it. They look like they really enjoy having you around."
"They do, yeah, and so do I. I won't replace Chloe, but I think I help them make her absence more bearable… and they help me too…"
"So what are your plans for tomorrow? Family Sunday?"
"Yup, cooking, board games… finishing my goddamn homework… and you?"
"I'm driving Tay to Portland."
"Oh? Shopping trip?"
"I wish," she said somberly. "No, we're gonna visit her mom at OHSU."
Max startled: "The hospital? She sick? It's not too bad I hope?"
Victoria closed her eyes and shook her head briefly. "Brain cancer," she blurted out. "She's just out of surgery, they removed a big tumor but they're running some more tests, looking for metastasis."
"Shit, I'm so sorry… is there anything I can do?"
"No… unless you can cure cancer, that is. But don't worry too much about it, you have a lot on your plate already. Shit happens and we have to face it, right? I'm already glad I could talk to you about it. Thank you."
"Anytime."
"No, seriously, thank you. I had fun with you today, lot of fun. Felt like a child again, and it was awesome. And this dinner… I grew up in a three-story mansion in Seattle with parents who were too fucking busy all the time, I was practically raised by the cook and the maid. I've never had a simple, warm family dinner like this and… it was really nice. So thank you."
And then she did the unexpected: she pulled Max into a very tight hug. Max froze for a while, astonished, struggling to control her hormones going on overdrive, but eventually she calmed down and returned the warm embrace. When they broke it, Victoria opened the door of her car and, before she got in, she turned and said:
"Maribeth."
"What?"
"My middle name. It's Maribeth."
"Oh. It's cool."
"You think so? I always thought it was a bit old."
"No, really, I like it."
Victoria smiled warmly. "And, what's yours?"
"I don't have a middle name."
"Yeah, right. Everyone has a middle name."
"Yeah, well, not me, I'm special."
Victoria shrugged, and the disappointed look on her face stung Max's heart, so on an impulse she stopped her friend from entering the car and said:
"Okay, okay… but I need to make sure I can trust you, this is my best-kept secret. Only my parents and Chloe know, well, outside of the official papers, I mean."
"Kay. I trusted you with my middle name, so you can trust me."
She told her. Victoria raised an eyebrow: "Is that it? So what's so special about it that you have to keep it secret?"
"I… I don't like it, that's all. It's my great-grandmother's first name, but… I don't know, I think it's weird."
"Well, I think it's cool. You should use it more often."
Max blushed and smiled. "Thanks."
It was hella cold and dark. Well, it usually is cold and dark when you're wandering in a cemetery at midnight on a Sunday night in October. Max shivered, snuggled more in her hoodie for heat, and used her phone to illuminate her way to the grave she was looking for. She found it. The stone read:
CHLOE ELIZABETH PRICE
March 11, 1994 – October 7, 2013
Beloved daughter and friend
"Hi, Chloe," Max said to it. "You must be wondering why I've come to visit you in the middle of the night? Well, I'm here because I'm about to do something really, like really insane and I hope I'll be able to tell you about it soon. Yeah, I've made my decision, and it's final. It hit me like a train, last night, as I was in your bed, trying to sleep. The conversation with Victoria, yesterday, and reminiscing about you… fuck, I miss you too much to let you rest in peace. So I'm gonna do it. I was on my way there, just wanted to stop by and let you know." She smiled at the stone, her eyes wet with joy at the thought of what was going to happen in the next few days. "I'll see you soon, partner."
Right at this moment, her phone rung. It was Victoria.
"Hi Tori, is everything alright?"
"Hi, Max. Sorry to call so late, I didn't wake you up?"
Victoria's voice sounded extremely tired and down.
"No, I wasn't sleeping. How… how did it go at the hospital?"
"Not too good. We got back a couple hours ago, and Tay's finally asleep. Max, they… they found metastasis. Said her mom only has a few weeks left, months if she's lucky…"
"Oh, no, Tori I'm so, so sorry… do you…" she stopped. She had plans for tonight, important plans. But her friend needed her. Could wait another night. "Do you want me to come?"
"Nah, it's okay, don't want to bother you in the middle of the night."
"Sure?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be okay, just… just wanted to hear your voice, that's all."
"Okay. But don't hesitate, if there is anything I can do, or if you want to talk…"
"I will. Thank you, Max. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you. And take care."
"You too."
Then she hung up, leaving Max dejected. Poor Taylor, that was so unfair! But Victoria didn't need her tonight, so she had to stay focus on her primary objective. She started browsing her contact list for Lacroix's number when a faint squeal made her jump. She turned to face a rat, sitting on a tombstone, looking at her.
"You again, little guy? Are you stalking me?"
As an answer, the rat jumped down on the grass and started running away. When it was a few feet from the girl, it stopped and turned to her again.
"What, you want me to come with you? I take it I won't need to call your boss, then?"
She started following the rodent, growing more excited and anxious with each step.
He's here, this is it! This is the moment!
What the fuck am I doing?
You're doing it for Chlo. For Chlo, Max!
You're right. Anything for my Captain.
As she walked on toward the other end of the cemetery, following the rat that kept running and stopping every few feet to wait for her, more rats seemed to appear from the shadows all around her, until there was soon a real swarm of about a hundred rats leading her.
Monsieur Lacroix, we'll really have to talk about your rat habit. You just have too many of them, it freaks me out!
Soon, she could make out their destination in the moonlight: the old chapel. Back when Max was a kid, it was still a full, running chapel, but like a lot of things around, it must have burnt in that huge forest fire she'd heard about, three years ago, for the roof had collapsed and there remained of the building only crumbling stone walls and an arched entrance. As she approached it, she shivered, the air seemed to grow colder, and vapors of pale, luminescent mist started to appear around her ankles as if trying to grab them. The mist grew thicker and thicker as she approached, until she reached the arched threshold and she was almost knee-deep in a pool of opaque fog, bathed in the same ghastly blue light she had seen in her teacher's cellar. She felt as though someone was running ice cubes down her spine. He was here, inside, waiting for her. Gathering all her courage and determination, she stepped in.
The inside of the chapel was an empty shell, bare stone walls and floor, completely devoid of crosses, benches and ornaments. Everything had gone up in smoke but the walls, and the fragments of roofing tiles she could hear crack beneath her feet. Monsieur Lacroix was standing straight in front of her, standing over the mist on a stone platform where the altar used to be.
"I knew I would find you here," he said, smiling warmly at her. "Welcome."
"You guessed? Or you had your spy rodents tell you?"
He chuckled: "Wonderful little critters, are they not? And incredibly useful."
She stood there, not replying, and realized she was shaking violently, her legs threatening to give up on her any second.
"I take it you have made your decision?" the vampire asked.
She nodded.
"And what is it?"
"I… I wanna do it."
His lips curled again in a satisfied smile, and Max had to struggle to stand still at the sight of his fangs.
Don't, Max, don't get weak on me now! We have to do this! For Chlo!
He stepped down from the platform and slowly walked toward her. The girl felt incredibly grateful he didn't use that weird teleporting shit, in her state of anxiety, she wasn't sure she would've survived this.
"So," she asked. "How… how do we…"
He answered with a deep, soothing tone: "First, I shall drink your blood. Not much, only a sip. Then, you shall drink mine, in the same amount, just a sip. This way I will have your blood in my veins and you will have my blood in yours. We will be bonded. Father and daughter. You will feel dizzy and weak, I advise you to go to bed rapidly after we are done. Tomorrow you will experience the first changes I told you about, but you will still be human. You will have to drink my blood two more times to be completely turned, but beware, after your second feed tomorrow night you will be more vampire than human, and there will be no more turning back. Are you ready to begin?"
She took a deep breath and prepared for the craziest thing she'd ever do in her whole life.
"Yes," she said with determination. Then she added, slightly worried: "Are you going to bite me? Will it hurt?"
"A little. Some people find it easier when they close their eyes."
So she did. She closed her eyes, tilted her head to the side to expose her carotid. She closed her fists tight, and winced just a little when she felt his cold breath on her throat, followed by the sting of his teeth piercing her skin.