- Part 1 -
Arrhythmia
When you go through the valley,
And the shadow comes down from the hill;
If morning never comes to be,
Be still, be still, be still.
Be still and know that I'm with you;
Be still and know I am.
-The Fray
Aubrey stands motionless, trying to process the sight in front of her, while Chloe whispers in Beca's ear. Just a few minutes ago, Dr. Mitchell had been smashing her phone against the wall, and she was completely certain he had something to do with everything going on – and now he's dead. Granted, she could never see him shooting up the wedding party, but it doesn't make any sense. She doesn't even understand why she is alive right now, when up until now, she has been the target of harassment. But she can't fit Tyler into the puzzle either. She needs more Emetrol. She needs to take Chloe and go home. But she can't move. She can only stand there, feeling as though she's separating from her own body, as she just stares at Dr. Mitchell.
Whatever Chloe is saying, it has an impact, because eventually, Beca nods and allows Chloe to hoist her to her feet. Chloe turns them around toward the door, and looks at Aubrey for direction.
They're supposed to be grabbing their things and meeting at the chapel. Aubrey doesn't even know where that is. She breathes slowly through her nose, her heart pounding in her chest. She looks away from Beca's dad and locks eyes with Chloe, barely able to cope with the terror in Chloe's eyes. She has seen Chloe scared before – of minor things, like nightmares and spiders in the bathroom. Never like this. She has never been this scared.
"Aubrey..." Chloe's voice is little more than a shaky breath, and it snaps Aubrey out of her daze. "Can we leave?" She swallows back a sob and gives Aubrey a pleading look.
Aubrey can barely convince her feet to move. She looks at Beca covering her face with her hand. Chloe staring at her in terror, practically clinging on to Beca. She has to convince herself to move. She manages a small nod and motions Chloe forward with her hand. She wants to say screw the chapel, and go straight to the ferry. But if they meet at the chapel, she can round up all of The Bellas and Sophia, and make sure they all get home safely.
Chloe looks at the ground and leads Beca toward the lobby, only glancing up as she walks by Aubrey to make sure she's following.
Aubrey takes one more look at Beca's dad, then at the Candlewick employee. She gets a good look at both of them for the first time. Unlike in the dining room, there is no blood. Anywhere. Instead, they have red marks around their necks. They weren't shot. They were strangled – like Tyler. There is something black in Dr. Mitchell's hand; she can just see the bottom of it. She takes a few steps forward, trying to see what it is.
Chloe turns her head and watches her. "Aubrey, let's go," she begs.
It's a tape recorder. Aubrey can see the buttons underneath Dr. Mitchell's fingers. The numbness consuming her leaves room for curiosity, and she slowly walks over to him and kneels down.
"Aubrey, stop!" Chloe raises her voice, "What is wrong with you?!"
Aubrey presses play, then slowly stands up.
The recorder is silent for a moment before Krzystof Penderecki's Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima begins to play through the tiny speaker. Aubrey recognizes it immediately due to its significance in all of the music history classes she took at Barden – and specifically from the Music lesson that Dr. Mitchell taught during his Advanced Comparative Literature class. It was composed in 1960, and scored for 52 string instruments –it's a chaotic masterpiece, really. It's composed of special effects and controlled recklessness. And she knows about Hiroshima not only from class, but also from her father. Her father talks a lot about bombs and casualties – and more than once, he has expressed his opinion on Hiroshima, informing Aubrey about how it was a Japanese city that was destroyed when America dropped the world's first atomic bomb during WWII. Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima was dedicated to the victims, even though it was written before it was named. It's used in films to convey danger, but in reality, it's about the casualties of war.
Aubrey walks backward until she accidentally bumps into Chloe.
Chloe grabs Aubrey's arm, disregarding how much it hurts, and all but drags her to the lobby, leading Beca out with them. She doesn't let go until they reach the lobby. People are running everywhere, dragging suitcases, trying to find each other. Chloe places her attention on Beca, who seems to have blocked them both out. "Hey," she whispers soothingly, placing her hands on Beca's cheeks, "Hey."
Aubrey can't be bothered by Chloe and Beca right now, she can't, not in the middle of all this. She breaks away from the two of them and walks over to the brochure wall. There are brochures of everything to do back in Seattle, but those aren't what she's looking for. She finds the maps of the island, and she grabs all of them – at least ten of them. She stuffs all but one of them in the front pocket of the hoodie she's wearing.
The front door of the inn opens, and Jesse rushes in in a panic. He looks around before he spots Beca, and starts walking swiftly toward her and Chloe.
Aubrey walks away from the wall, sparing no time for thought, and steps in front of him – placing herself between him and Beca and Chloe. She doesn't know who she is trying to protect, but the urge to not let him near them is overwhelming. She swallows hard and sizes him up, trying to determine whether or not she should let him through, knowing now how Beca feels about him.
"Aubrey, what are you doing?" Jesse steps to the side, and Aubrey steps in the same direction, continuing to block his way.
Jesse gives her an incredulous look and huffs as he quickly steps past her, bumping shoulder with her in a way that Aubrey can't determine is on purpose or by accident.
Aubrey spins around and watches him approach Beca.
Beca stops talking to Chloe and puts her hands up as Jesse approaches, backing away from both of them.
"Beca…" Jesse says her name, stunned and confused. He looks at some of the people rushing past him, his mouth open in shock.
"I cannot do this right now," Beca states, shaking her head, "I need to get away from you." It's unclear who the statement is directed to, but as she turns as and walks swiftly for the door, Jesse follows and Chloe remains where she is. She doesn't even turn to watch Beca go. She looks frozen.
Aubrey snaps herself into the present moment of where they are and where they need to be. She walks over to her and holds out one of the maps. "Put this in your pocket, and do not lose it," she says.
Chloe sniffles. "What is that?" She takes the map and looks it over.
"It's the entire island," Aubrey tells her. She doesn't bother to tell her that it's in case of emergencies: Chloe looks overwhelmed enough by the current emergency.
Chloe looks at it for a few more seconds then nods. She folds it up and places it in her back pocket, then reaches for Aubrey's hand. "We need to go get our stuff." Her voice is still trembling, and Aubrey realizes her hands are shaking too.
Aubrey squeezes her hand and looks around. People are starting to leave The Candlewick, and she doesn't want to be the last one here. She walks to the door with Chloe, then down the steps and around the side of the building. She doesn't feel safe, not even with everyone running around in plain sight, and she's relieved that Chloe thought of leaving their things by the door. She lets go of Chloe's hand and digs her key out of her pocket, jamming it in the lock. She doesn't even bother to pull out the key after she opens the door.
Their suitcases are right where they left them, and Aubrey pulls the strap of her carryon over her uninjured arm, then drags her checked back out into the sidewalk.
Chloe is slower at getting her things than Aubrey is. She drags them outside, looking at them as she asks Aubrey, "How could you do that?"
Aubrey looks up from the ground in confusion. "Do what?" she asks.
Chloe swallows hard and wipes at her eyes, then picks up her carryon by the strap. "How could you…" She has to stop to breathe, and she shakes her head. "How could you just be so willing to leave me under that table? You just, you just left me under there."
Aubrey frowns and shakes her head. "I was trying to get help to get you out of there," she defends herself.
"You could have been shot!" Chloe exclaims. She sobs and runs her hand through her hair. "You have no idea how scared I was when you crawled out from under that table. None! You did not once stop to think about how much that would terrify me before you made that choice."
"I'm sorry I was a little focused on your survival," Aubrey shoots back, unable to believe they're having this fight. She did what needed to be done.
"I need you to listen to me, Aubrey." Chloe puts her bag back down. "I need, this one time, for you to listen to me. Do you understand?"
Aubrey folds her arms, trying to create some sort of barrier between Chloe and her emotions that are slowly returning to her.
"Put your arms down," Chloe demands.
Aubrey lets out a slow, shaky breath and slowly does as she's told. She doesn't know what to do with her hands once her arms are down, so she nervously fiddles with her map and tries to stare Chloe down.
"You are not a cop, Aubrey," Chloe says, looking right at her, "You are not a detective. You don't even work for a law office that deals with the kind of situation that we are in right now. So do not sacrifice yourself, convincing yourself that you're trying to save me, because you don't know what you're doing!"
Aubrey drops her bag. "I -"
"No, it is my turn to talk for once," Chloe cuts her off, "I know exactly what you were thinking when you crawled out from under that table while people were shooting at us. I'm not stupid, Aubrey. I know you; I have known you for years. You were doing what you thought your dad would do in that situation. Well, your dad is a prick, and, fortunately, you are not him, and I don't know why you are trying so hard to be like him!" She can barely keep herself together. "You promised me a house in Queens. You promised me a cat. So, you need to promise me that you are going home with me to get them; that you are not sending me home without you! If you for once think, Aubrey, that getting yourself killed to get me out of here alive will work, you're wrong. Part of me would be dead, leaving here without you. Part of me would be dead. So, keep that in mind when you are out there trying to be some sort of hero for me." She sobs against and tries to catch her breath.
Aubrey swallows thickly, trying to process her words.
"I don't want you to leave." Chloe squeezes her eyes shut and turns to face the wall, tapping her fingers on her lower lip. "You think you're the only one with that fear, but you're wrong, Aubrey. You have no idea how scared I am of losing you. None." She covers her face, bawling into her hands. "You have no god damn fucking idea, Aubrey."
Aubrey quickly shoves her map in her pocket and steps over to her, grabbing her shoulder and turns her around. She pries her hands away from her face. Chloe is terrified. Overwhelmed. Tired. Aubrey can see it in every aspect of her body language, but she doesn't know how to fix it when she is the exact same way. "We are leaving together," she assures her, "We are going home. We are taking your stupid cat off the streets. And we are buying a house. You and me. Okay? But we need to be smart about this, Chloe. We need to make decisions that are going to get us out of here. And we need to know what is going on."
"Then let me make the decisions with you! Let me know things!" Chloe wraps her arms around herself. "Stop shutting me out!" She bows her head, dissolving into more tears. "Stop shutting me out..."
Aubrey rubs her hands up and down Chloe's arms and looks around. People are starting to clear out – she can barely hear them anymore. They can't stay here alone. She looks at Chloe again and wraps her in a tight hug, trying to calm her down. Chloe grips the back of her shirt and tucks her face against Aubrey's shoulder. Aubrey puffs out her cheeks and rubs her hand up and down Chloe's back. "We need to go," she whispers, "It's not safe to stay here." For all they know, whoever is doing this might still be lurking around the inn. She pulls back and places her hands on Chloe's cheeks. "We're both going to get out of here, okay?"
Chloe lifts a hand to her forehead and nods.
"Look at me," Aubrey orders.
Chloe looks at her, her sobs turning into quiet hiccups.
"I'm serious, Chloe," Aubrey says, "We're both going home."
Chloe sniffles and crosses her arms, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "Okay." She nods again.
"Okay," Aubrey repeats. She puts the strap of her carryon over her shoulder again, then grabs the handle of her other bag. "Can you carry all your stuff?"
Chloe nods. She picks up her carryon and grabs her suitcase.
Aubrey grabs her map out of her pocket and looks at the way to the chapel. It should be an easy enough walk. She memorizes the path, then puts the map back in her pocket and starts walking. As soon as Chloe catches up beside her, Aubrey takes her hand and laces their fingers. In a few hours, they'll be in Seattle. She scratches the idea of using the rest of their vacation for shows and dinners, and she decides that they should both just sleep for days. They can buy groceries and watch Netflix. Chloe is silent beside her, and Aubrey frowns, not used to that. "Do you need some Xanax?" she asks, glancing at her. Normally, she wouldn't condone taking drugs that one has not had prescribed to them, but Chloe is still shaking like a leaf.
Chloe glances down and nods.
Aubrey stops walking and pulls her hand away. She rests her carryon on top of her suitcase and opens it up, going through it until she finds the bag containing her medication. She empties one of the Xanax pills into her hand then opens the bottle of Emetrol as well, remembering Chloe said earlier that she felt like throwing up. "Here, Baby," she says as she places the pills on Chloe's palm. She has never used a pet name on Chloe before, but it slips out, and she doesn't bother to over think it. She dumps out one more Emetrol and dry swallows it, then puts her thing away.
Chloe dry swallows the pills one at a time.
"Have you ever taken Xanax before?" Aubrey asks. She ties the strap of her carryon around the handle of her suitcase so she doesn't have to carry it.
Chloe shakes her head.
Aubrey takes Chloe's carryon from her and places the strap over her shoulder. "You might feel weird for awhile," she warns her, "It's normal." Once she has all of their things adjusts and Chloe only has her suitcase to roll, Aubrey wraps her arms around her shoulders and starts walking again. "It kicks in fast. Do you feel it?"
Chloe rubs her eyes and nods her head, slowly calming down significantly. She lulls her head against Aubrey's shoulder. "This is my fault," she mumbles.
Aubrey glances down at her, not following. "What?"
"I made us come here, Aubrey. If we would have just stayed home and gone about our normal, daily lives…" Chloe shrugs.
"This is no one's fault but the people doing it," Aubrey frowns, not liking where Chloe's thought process is going. It reminds her a lot of her own. If she had just told Chloe all of this earlier... "You can't blame yourself for what they're doing."
"I know. I just…" Chloe swallows thickly. "You didn't want to come, and I should have listened. Even my mom told me not to come. I didn't listen to either of you, and you were both right."
"But this isn't why we told you not to come," Aubrey replies, "This is not your fault."
Chloe rubs her face and leans she further into Aubrey. "I feel like I'm getting drunk. But, like, the tired kind." She yawns. "In an okay way. Does it make you feel this way?"
"Um…" Aubrey shrugs. It mostly just makes her feel spaced out and detached from herself – not in an 'okay' way. "Well, no, but what you're feeling is normal." She has a feeling that some of the tired feeling has to do with Chloe staying up all night with her, making sure she was okay. She rubs her hand up and down Chloe's arm, keeping an eye out as they walk. There are other people going in the same direction ahead of them, but it doesn't make her feel any safer.
The path they're walking on begins to look familiar. Not like she's walked on this particular path before, but like she has walked in this direction. There is a building in the distance, and as they get closer to it, she realizes that she's looking at the back of The Cannery. Fortunately, there are too many trees to see past it – to see whether or not the deer is still there. She slows down, looking at the dark windows, and thinks.
Nikki isn't just going to let a gun lying around in the middle of the road. And Nikki should be on her way to the chapel. The sheriff ordered a mandatory evacuation for everyone on the island.
Aubrey stops. She can't shake the bad feeling that is taking over her entire body.
Chloe stops too. "What are you thinking, Bree?"
Aubrey isn't sure. She has spent so many years trying to think like her father, that it's hard to take herself out of the equation and figure out what exactly Aubrey Posen is thinking, as opposed to what James Posen might think. "I think we should go inside," she says, hesitating. Whether or not she is her father's daughter, striving to be like him, she and Chloe need to be smart right now.
"You want a drink?" Chloe asks, squinting her eyes at Aubrey, "Right now? It's not even open."
Aubrey shakes her head. She wants that gun. And the music box. "Chloe." She drops their bags and grabs Chloe's hands. As much as she needs to believe, needs Chloe to believe, they're going home, there is also the part of her that needs to be realistic. "What if we can't leave? We need to protect ourselves." Chloe just looks at her, and Aubrey can tell she isn't following. It scares Aubrey how calm she feels. She tries to look as convincing as possible. "I think we need to go in there and get the gun from last night."
Chloe looks at the windows and immediately shakes her head. "We're going to be questioned by the sheriff. We can't be carrying a weapon, a weapon that isn't even ours. And that's breaking and entering. We could get arrested. This is robbery, Aubrey."
Aubrey knows the legal implications. She takes several deep breaths, trying to think this through. The problem is, she's having a hard time forming thoughts. Her brain isn't thinking about reason for once, it's thinking about all those people dead in the dining room. It's thinking about if something happens in the chapel. She can't break herself out of survival mode. "Your mom told me you got arrested once for stealing."
Chloe narrows her eyes. "Yeah, some lip gloss when I was fourteen. All they did was call my parents." She shakes her head. "God, why does she tell you these things?"
Aubrey shrugs.
"You know what? Okay. Fine." Chloe changes her mind without anymore prompting. "How do we get in?"
The door will be locked; this is a business, not someone's home. But there are several windows in the back, and they might have a chance one of them is open. If worse comes to worst, Aubrey breaks the glass. "Try the windows."
"What if there is a security alarm?" Chloe asks. "Are you even connected to your brain right now? I think you need to turn it on and off again, or something."
Aubrey pauses. There is no chance of it calling the police, not when there is only a sheriff on the island. But, it might be loud, which would pose a problem with the potential for people to still be walking down this path. They need to keep an eye out for people too. "Then we're screwed," she answers.
"This is a really fucking stupid idea, Aubrey," Chloe whispers. "I'm supposed to be the one who does stupid shit, while you try to talk me out of it."
Aubrey is telling herself that exact same thing. "Start trying the windows." She grabs her luggage and pulls it behind a bush in an effort to hide it from view. "And keep an eye out for people walking by."
Chloe shakes her head and pulls her suitcase over beside Aubrey's, muttering under her breath.
Aubrey walks over to the first window and tries to push it open. She is going to need a really fucking good lawyer when they get home. It's a good thing she knows people. The window doesn't budge. She moves on to the one beside it. This is no doubt the worst thing she has ever done in her entire life, no matter how she tries to justify it. Her father would kill her.
"Aubrey," Chloe gets her attention.
Aubrey looks over as the first window Chloe tries slides open with ease.