Drugs, sex and a… baby.
Chapter 16
Max Caulfield x Mark Jefferson
AN: Warning, this will be a very long chapter. And I don't' want to split it up into smaller bits. For this chapter I did a little research. Mentions of drugs, you've been warned. The characters (aside my OC) belong to Don't Nod and Square Enix. "" means talking, '' means texting, italics means thinking
Later that Monday.
It was with a heavy heart that Ariana walked up to Blackwell academy together with her boss and former colleague, Officer Berry. She had texted Max that morning to let her know that she and her boss would come around together with an officer from the Arcadia Bay PD. She had asked Max to bring her friend Dana to the meeting as well. Having all the results from the tests in a folder, Ariana along with her boss and Officer Berry entered the school.
The moment they entered the main hall all students currently present immediately quiet down. Not knowing what was going on they all looked on with curious glances as Ariana, her boss and Officer Berry entered the principal office. Moments later the principals voice was heard on the speakers.
"Could miss Caulfield, miss Ward and Mr. Jefferson please come to the principal office." The principal said.
Dana, who had been standing in the main entrance hall suddenly had several curious eyes directed at her. Looking worried, Dana started to walk towards the office while she heard whispers among her classmates and other students wondering what it could be about.
In another part of the school, Mr. Jefferson was busy talking about different ways his students could arrange their portfolios. The moment he heard the principal on the speakers he stopped and looked at Max before he told the rest of the class to just continue working on their portfolios. He waited for Max to leave first before leaving, but not before reminding his class to behave while he was gone.
The walk alongside Mr. Jefferson to the principal office felt like it took forever for Max. And she couldn't help but hear some of the whispers of what other student's thought it was about. It was Mr. Jeffersons hand on her back that brought her back to reality and away from all the whispers.
"Don't mind them." Mr. Jefferson quietly said to Max as they entered the main hall. "Just focus on walking to the principal office, ok." He said again as he led her in the right direction. As Max and Mr. Jefferson rounded the corner, Warren came walking at the same time and collided with Mr. Jefferson and spilled his coffee on Max left hand.
"Ouch!" Max exclaimed as Mr. Jefferson stumbled back a few steps.
"Oh, shit! I'm so…" Warren started but was interrupted by Mr. Jefferson.
"Mr. Graham, that's enough." Mr. Jefferson said with a raised angry voice making several students open their mouths in chock since Mr. Jefferson was known for his laid-back attitude. "Go back to your classroom and stay there until the end of your class." Mr. Jefferson said before checking if Max is alright.
"I'll be alright, I think it's just a light burn, that's all." Max said showing Mr. Jefferson her hand.
Before Max could react, Mr. Jefferson took Max to a nearby water fountain and rinsed her hand in the cold water, hoping to reduce the damage some.
"There that would do it." Mr. Jefferson said as he once more directed Max towards the principal office. "Sorry about raising my voice just now, I guess I'm just worried of what is to come." Mr. Jefferson said to Max as he knocked on the door. When he heard the principal call for them to enter, he opened the door and let Max go into the office ahead of him.
As Max entered, she saw that her cousin was there, talking with someone on the phone, along with her boss and Officer Berry. The principal was sitting at his desk, and Dana was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk. When Max just stood there having all eyes on her, bar Dana, who looked to be very uncomfortable in the current setting. Max felt Mr. Jefferson put his hand on her lower back and helped her to start moving forward and then had her sit in the chair next to Dana. The first one to speak after Max sat down was the principal.
"Now, I just want to let all three of you know that none of you are in any trouble. These officers just want to clear something up that occurred during the festivities Friday evening." The principal said and when Max looked at Dana, she could see that she looked a lot more relaxed. "First thing first." The principal continued. "Miss Caufield, what do you remember of the evening of the party?" he asked.
Max looked at her cousin first, and when she saw her nod, Max took a deep breath before starting her side of the events.
"I was there at the party, mainly to hear who had won the latest contest, but also because Dana had invited me as her guest into the VIP area." Max said as she looked at the principal and then at Officer Berry. "At first I hadn't planned on going, but after all that's happened that week, I felt that I could use a distraction." Max continued as she looked at Dana. "When I got there, I looked around for Dana and when I spotted her dancing with Trevor, I walked up to her to let her know that I had arrived. We talked for a little while before she offered me a drink, she said she hadn't tried it yet and that she could get another one later." Max said. "After that I had a run in with Nathan and Victoria, and I just didn't feel like staying around them for too long, so I downed the drink I had been given and left the VIP area." Max said not realising that a few tears had fallen down her cheeks. When she noticed that Dana had taken a tissue and wiped them off, she gave her friend a smile. "Then I remember hearing Mr. Jefferson announce the winner but shortly after that, it starts to get fuzzy. The next thing I fully remember is waking up in bed, naked with Mr. Jefferson." Max finished as she looked around between the principal, Officer Barry and Dana.
The principal sat silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Thank you miss Caufield for telling us your view of this incident." He said before turning to Mr. Jefferson. "Mr. Jefferson, could you give us your point of view of the events please." The principal said making Mr. Jefferson straighten up where he was standing.
"I was doing my rounds as usual and trying to get some of the students to calm down, but knowing them, they would just be back to it the moment I left, but I still tried." Mr. Jefferson said. "Walking around I remember bumping into someone and when I turned around to have a look at the person he was already gone among the students. And before anyone asked, no I did not get a good look at who he was." He continued. "Knowing that it was getting closer to the time for me to announce the winner of the contest, I decided to let it go and made my way to the backstage area. And when I got there it seemed that I interrupted an altercation between Max, Victoria and Nathan." He kept saying. "Before I went up on stage, Victoria gave me a drink and I felt that I couldn't say no due to the number of students around, so I accepted it. Then I went on stage and announced the winner. When I got off one of the footballers challenged me to down my drink and at this point, I had noticed that Max wasn't acting like her usual self. Knowing that I would likely regret it I still downed the drink before helping Max back to the dorms." Mr. Jefferson said as he took a deep breath. "As I opened the door to Max room, I remember starting to feel very hot and dizzy. And the next thing I remember is hearing Max scream before falling off her bed." Mr. Jefferson finished as he looked around between the principal, Officer Berry and at the end his eyes sought out Max.
Once Max and Mr. Jefferson had retold their views of what happened, Dana knew that she would likely be the next one to be questioned. She straightened up in her chair as much as she could and braced herself for what was to come.
"Miss Ward, is it?" Ariana said as she addressed Dana, to which Dana nodded. "Max mentioned that you gave her your drink. Did you put anything into it before you gave it to Max?" Ariana asked.
"No. It was given to me by someone, I don't remember his name, but as he gave it to me, Trevor, my boyfriend came back with drinks for us. Trevor was looking at the guy asking what he thought he was doing and what I can remember is that he just shrugged his shoulders and said something about just wanting to give me a drink." Dana said as she looked between the police officers. "I sensed that Trevor might have been a little jealous, so I put the drink down that I had been given on a table not far from us." Dana continued. "When Max arrived, I asked her if she wanted something to drink, and I looked over to the bar and noticed the number of students ordering. That's when I remembered the other drink and offered it to Max." Dana said as she looked at Max before looking back to the officers. "Had I known that something had been put into that drink I would never have given it to Max." Dana said.
"Do you think someone at the party could have put something into it when you weren't looking?" Mr. Milton, Arianas boss asked.
"It's kind of an unwritten rule within the Vortex Club. You don't mess around with other people's drinks. And being a member myself, and other members knowing that I absolutely hate it when you try to force drugs on others, they wouldn't dare to try and drug me unknowingly. Yes, I have tried weed a few times, but that's only in very small doses and very far in between. And at my own initiative." Dana said.
"You mentioned this guy." Ariana said as she decided to ignore the fact that miss Ward had just admitted to smoking weed from time to time. "Did someone invite him, and would you recognise him if you saw him again?" Ariana asked.
"I just thought that maybe someone from the football team had invited a former student. I think he was wearing an old football jersey with the school logo on the front." Dana said. "But it looked old and not like the logo looks these days." Dana added. "I don't think I would recognise him if I saw him again, it was pretty dark in the VIP area and a lot of flashing lights, but I would recognise the jersey." Dana said as she let out a big sigh.
"How so?" Ariana asked.
"After Mr. Jefferson had announced the winner of the contest, he came back and tried to drag me out as I was standing alone, waiting for Trevor to come back from the toilet, and that's when I noticed the outdated logo. When he realised that I was fighting him he let go of me and fled." Dana finished.
"Do you know if there is any way for us to find any videos of photos from the party?" Ariana asked.
"I could ask Juliet, she's the head of the schools newspaper club, and she's also a Vortex Club member and she was there taking photographs of everyone partying." Dana said. "Do you think this guy got caught on a photo?" Dana asked as she looked between the officers as they seemed to be talking silently through looks.
"Could you try and get those photographs for us to have a look at?" Ariana asked.
"I'll ask Juliette, and I'll tell Max to contact you when I have them." Dana said.
"Thank you miss Ward." Mr. Milton said. "I think we have everything we need from you for now." He continued before asking Officer Berry to escort Dana back to class.
"I have a feeling that we are about to find the missing link between the missing girls." Ariana whispered to her boss making her boss nod in agreement. "Think you can get me an official decree that states that I can keep looking and researching for clues regarding them?" Ariana kept whispering to her boss.
"I'll see what I can do." He whispered back just as Officer Berry returned.
"Well, I think that concludes everything." The principal said as he stood up.
"Not quite yet." Ariana said. "I managed to get the samples I collected from Max and Mr. Jefferson analysed over the weekend and I have those results with me." Ariana said as she took out an envelope. "I believe they deserve to know what they got into their systems." Ariana said as she opened the envelope. "I'll start with Mr. Jefferson." Ariana said as she took out his results. "The analysed samples we took from Mr. Jefferson showed the presence of GHB mixed with epimedium, which is like Viagra, but a much smaller dose is needed to reach the same level of sexual arousal. And it's cheaper to buy." Ariana said as she saw that Mr. Jefferson had sat down in the chair next to Max, probably to digest the news of what he had been drugged with.
"Mr. Jefferson." Ariana said as she addressed him. "Have there been an increased interest in your person from students or other staff members recently?" Ariana asked having a suspicion of one person who could be behind him getting drugged.
"Miss Chase have been taking up almost all the time I have after class, this has happened in an increasing rate since the trip to San Fransisco last year." Mr. Jefferson said making the principal look at him in question. "I never said anything since I hoped that she would take the hint when I repeatedly refused her advances." He continued stopping the principal from saying anything. "Recently she started to give me cups of coffee, but since I've always had my own cup with me for class, I never accepted hers." He continued.
"When was the last time she tried this?" Ariana asked, knowing the answer already.
"Saturday, I was just about to leave for home when she came up to me. She said that she had seen me through the window when she came back from a shopping trip. She mentioned that she had tried a new flavour of coffee and wanted me to have a try of it as well." Mr. Jefferson said as he pinched his nose. "Feeling like shit and in need of a shower, I just ran off." He finished.
"I know, Max and I was just coming back when we saw you run away from someone." Ariana said making Mr. Jefferson look at her in chock. "It cost me a brand-new shirt, but it seems to have been worth it." She continued.
"How so?" Officer Berry piped in for the first time.
"I had my shirt tested that got soaked by that girl's coffee, and that sample contained the exact same mix of drugs that you had been drugged with the day before." Ariana said turning back to Mr. Jefferson. "Next time she offers you a drink." Ariana continued to say to Mr. Jefferson. "Accept it, but don't drink it, take it straight to be tested. And if it contains the same concoction, I think it's time that a proper search of the premises for drugs to be made." Ariana said. "Could that be arranged?" Ariana asked turning to Officer Berry.
"I can try and get a warrant for that kind of search if there is enough proof to warrant it." Officer Berry said.
"Good." Ariana said. "Now to Max results." She continued. "Her samples showed the presence of MXD or methoxetamine, which is a drug that can cause the user to become heavily disconnected to the real world." Ariana said with a heaviness in her voice making Max look at her worriedly. "My friend I contacted who works in a crime lab said that the results matched another body they had of a young woman. At the time, they didn't know who she was, but before Max and Mr. Jefferson entered the room, I got a phone call from her." She continued.
"And?" the principal and officer Berry said at the same time.
"Thanks to dental records we now know that Jane Doe is one of the missing girls." Ariana said as she looked at Officer Berry. "Which makes me think that the drug that Max accidentally got into her system was meant for someone else. Someone who just left this room." Ariana said making everyone feel as if someone had just dumped a load of ice on top of them.