Chapter Text
“Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they?”
“Get that gun away from me, psycho!”
The gun shot came immediately, and Max reacted instinctively.
“No!”
Nathan turned around, the gun still in his hand. His head turned between her and the blue haired girl, slumped down against the wall. “Shit!” and with that, he bolted through the bathroom door. Max could hear people shouting as the door closed. “He’s got a gun!” “Stop right there!” “Was that a shot?!”.
Max ran to the girl and bent down. “No, no, no.” She checked the girl’s heartbeat, it was slow but it was there. Then she looked at the wound the bullet had caused. It bled profusely and Max grabbed a handful of paper towels and pressed them on the wound, panicking. She’s dying, oh my god, she’s dying. “Help, someone, please!”, she screamed.
Immediately the door was thrown open again, revealing a group of students. “Shit, someone was shot!” “Someone call 911!”
“Let me through!”, came a ruff voice. Mr. Madsen, the school’s security guard, pushed through the group of students. He had his usual mean demeanor, but as soon as he saw the girl, an expression of shock was on his face. “Chloe!!”
* * *
Everything was a haze for Max. The police and paramedics arrived only minutes later. They checked on the girl and assured Mr. Madsen, that she was breathing, and her pulse was steady, but her condition was bad. They rushed out with her on a stretcher, closely followed by Mr. Madsen.
Max watched them go, still breathing hard, sweating, and shaking. Suddenly she felt a warm arm around her shoulders. “Max?”, a voice asked. She looked up to Mrs. Grants. She looked concerned but maintained a comfortable warmth in her face. “Come, let’s get you out of here. You’re clearly under shock.”
* * *
Mrs. Grant led her to her office. “Sit down.”, she pushed Max into a chair, and then bustled through a cabinet. She put a cup on her desk. “Here, you need to drink something.”
Max mustered up a “Thanks.” and grabbed the cup, holding it tight in both hands.
A soft knock came from the door. “Come in.”, Mrs. Grant said. Two policemen entered the office. “Excuse us, Ma’am, we would like to talk Miss…” “Caulfield.”, Mrs. Grant said. “Right, to Miss Caulfield?”, one of the policemen repeated and turned to Max, “Are you comfortable talking about what happened?” Max nodded, not looking up from her cup. “May I stay?”, asked Mrs. Grant. “That is up to Miss Caulfield.” Max looked up at Mrs. Grant. “You can stay.”
“So, Miss Caulfield, could you give us a recount of the recent events?”
Max took a deep breath. “I was in the bathroom to splash some water into my face, when Na-than came into the Bathroom.”
“Nathan Prescott?”
“Yes. I was behind a stall, so he couldn’t see me. He talked to himself, tried to calm himself. Then the girl came in.”
“Do you know the girl?”
Max shook her head. “No.”
“But I do. Chloe Price, she was a student at Blackwell.”, said Mrs. Grant.
Max suddenly looked up. “Chloe Price?”
“Yes. I have no clue what she was doing here, but that was definitely her.”
“Oh god.”
“What is it, Miss Caulfield?”
“I know her or knew her. She was my best friend five years ago. We lost contact when I moved.” Or rather, you never cared to get in contact with her.
“But you didn’t recognize her?”
“No.” How could I?
“Okay. So, Chloe and Nathan were in the bathroom together. What happened then?”
“They had an argument about money and drugs or something. I’m not sure. Chloe pressured him and then he pulled out a gun. He pushed her against the wall and threatened her. She pushed him and a shot went loose.”
“What happened then?”
“I stepped out from behind the stall. Nathan saw me and ran away.”
The policemen nodded. “Well, thank you very much, Miss Caulfield, this will help our investigation greatly. We will get in contact with you again, probably very soon.”
“What will happen next?”, Mrs. Grant asked.
“We will arrest Nathan Prescott. He will be charged; for what exactly cannot be determined yet because of the unsure situation of Ms. Price. Ms. Caulfield, you will most certainly testify in court as you are the only witness of this. More cannot be said as the investigations are just beginning.”
Max nodded.
* * *
Hours have passed since the incident. The sun had begun to set. Max found herself in her room, together with Dana and Kate, who’d decided to keep her company. They sat in silence; each occupy with something. Kate was staring out the window, Dana was scrolling on her phone and Max tried keep her mind quiet and fiddled with her guitar.
“What the fuck…”, came suddenly from Dana.
Kate and Max looked at her with a frown.
She got up and showed them something on her phone. It was a notice from the Arcadia Bay Police Department on their social media channel:
“Suspect sought in a case of murder, multiple kidnappings und assaults
The police department is looking for Mark Jefferson, currently teaching at Blackwell Academy. If you have any information of his whereabout, please immediately contact the nearest police station. Should you encounter the suspect in question, please refrain from any confrontation or contact.
For more details: …”
Max blinked at the screen, not believing what she just read.
“I don’t understand.”, Kate said quietly, “Kidnapping and assault? Murder?”
Max’ mind began to turn upside down again. Nothing of this makes any sense.
* * *
Max slept horribly that night. She closed her eyes but sleep wouldn’t come. She drifted off into a doze, waking every half hour. Somewhere between three and four in the morning she fell into a deeper sleep, causing her to dream about the day. She woke up two hours later, drenched in sweat, the image of Chloe still imprinted into her mind. She began to cry softly. Eventually she fell asleep again.
Max woke up next to knocking on her day. She squinted at her phone screen. It was 9 a.m.
“Yes.”, she said, sitting up in her bed.
Kate came in, with a worried expression.
“Hey, good morning. You look worried. Something wrong?” God, Max, what isn’t wrong at the moment?
Kate remained silent, just letting her gaze drift over Max’ room. She sighed.
“I got a call from the police.”
Max set up straighter. “What about?”
Kate swallowed. “Nathan.”
Why would they call Kate about Nathan?
“And about the video.”
Oh. Oh.
Max saw tears roll down Kate’s cheeks.
“Kate… come here.”, Max patted her bed. Kate slumped down next to her, and Max put her arm around her.
“I knew something was wrong that evening.”, Kate said shakingly.
Max wasn’t sure if she could handle the situation, given her lack of sleep and her own mental stability. But she had to, she couldn’t leave Kate hanging.
“Tell me. What happened?”
“I went to that vortex party, trying something new. I don’t remember much after I had my first drink. It was only wine. I only remember fragments.”, she hesitated, before continuing, “I remember, well, you saw the video...”
Oh, poor Kate.
“But then, everything went super blurry and I felt really weird. I remember Nathan saying something about bringing me out of there. I thought he was nice for a change. He took me to his car. We drove somewhere, I thought it was a hospital, because everything was so white and kind of clinical. Next thing what I remember is lying outside my room the next morning and this video was in the internet.”
“Oh, Kate.”, Max said, trying to suppress a sob, “That’s terrible. What does the police want from you?”
“Nathan confessed yesterday. They didn’t want to tell what, but it has to be something about that evening.”, Kate shook terribly after saying that, “They want me to come by and tell them what happened.”
Max was speechless. She just stared at Kate, who looked at her hands in her lap, tears falling on her jeans, making dark spots.
“I… I don’t want to go alone. I’m scared. Max, would you come with me?”
“Of course,”, Max said immediately, “of course I’ll come with you.”
“Oh, thank you.”
* * *
They both arrived later that day at the station. They registered at the entrance and after some minutes of waiting, an officer walked up to them.
“Ms. Marsh, we’re glad you came by. I hope we can sort this out fast.”, he gave her a warm smile and led them into the station.
They came to a hold in front of an interrogation room.
“Ms. Caulfield, you can wait here.”
“Please, I would prefer, if Max stayed with me.”, Kate said rather panicked.
“That is not possible. Protocol dictates. I’m sorry.”
“Kate, you just tell them, what you told me. It’s over before you know it. I’ll be here, okay?”
Kate nodded hesitantly. “Great. See you soon.”, Max said reassuringly and with the best smile she could muster.
* * *
“Thank you very much, Ms. Kate. That was very brave of you, we appreciate that.”
The officer accompanied Max and Kate back to the entrance.
Outside, Kate deflated with sigh. “Hey, do you care for a walk? The beach isn’t far.”, Max asked.
“Oh yes, that sounds good.” And they took off to the beach.
They walked along the waters for a while in silence. But Max had to ask.
“What did you talk about?”, she asked carefully.
Kate looked at her. Max regretted asking, the pain in Kate’s face was unbearable.
“They told me what Nathan told them.”, she began, turning to the water. The sun stood high, only specks of clouds were scattered over the sky, but the sea carried a cold and salty wind to the shore. Fall was coming, the bittersweetness of the creeping cold and the slowly dying summer’s sun. Shadows fell into Kate’s face, and a gust of wind blew, pulling their hair.
“You don’t have to…”, Max said, but was interrupted by Kate.
“No.”, she said firmly, “I want to.” And she told Max everything, the officers told her.
* * *
Max covered her mouth the whole time, feeling she might throw up. Tears streaked down her face, flying away with the soft gust of wind. When Kate finished, she sniffed and wiped away her tears. – The silence was weighing heavily between them, but Max didn’t know what she should, what she could say. It was all so horrible, so unbelievable, but so bitterly true, she knew.
They continued following the shoreline quietly.
“I feel strangely better now.”, Kate said suddenly.
Max raised her eyebrows at her.
“Just talking about it, be taken seriously, and knowing, it wasn’t my fault what happened at the party. It lifted something.”
Max let her talk.
“The past weeks were terrible. The constant harassment by Victoria and her clique. The pressure from my family after they’ve seen the video. The uncertainty what happened. Just everything. I lost all strength… I don’t know what could’ve happened if Nathan wasn’t caught and hadn’t confessed. I was losing trust in myself.”
“Kate…”
“But now, there is light. Small, but it’s there.”, Kate smiled weakly, “And, Max, thank you. You’ve been such a great friend those past weeks. You, Alyssa, and Dana always stayed with me. I’m so grateful for that, for you.”
Max bit her lip. “Me, too.” She couldn’t say more.
* * *
Max dreaded this moment. She stood in front of a white door, next to it a small sign, saying: Chloe Price. Max took a deep breath and opened the door.
It was a regular hospital room, white, sterile, and uncomfortable. Chloe was the only patient in the room, the other bed was empty. Someone sat next to Chloe, holding her hand, and looking up as Max came in.
It was a woman with blonde hair, bound into ponytail. She wore a blue dress with a apron, and over that a greenish brown jacket. Both hers and Max’ eyes grew bigger.
“Joyce?”
“Max?”
Joyce stood up, letting go off Chloe’s hand.
“My, you’ve grown since I last saw you.”
“And you look the same.”, Max said smiling.
Joyce gave her a warm smile that was gone as soon Max let her gaze fall upon Chloe.
She was lying still in the bed. Tubes coming out from her mouth, arm and under the blanket. She regained some color in her face, at least, but still, it was hard to see her like this. The blue hair was scattered on her pillow, it looked weirdly beautiful.
“She’s alright, considering the circumstances”, Joyce said, breaking the silence, “The doctors said, she was really lucky. The bullet only grazed her liver but hit her intestines. She lost a lot of blood. She was most lucky it didn’t hit her spine. A shot that short of a distance could’ve… oh, let’s not think about that. She had surgery, everything was successfully closed. We just have to wait until she wakes up from her coma.”
“Coma?”
“They said it shouldn’t last long. Her body set itself into a coma to keep her alive. Now that she’s fixed up, she should wake soon, I’m certain.”
Max watched Joyce, who was smiling at her daughter. “Would you contact me, if she wakes up?”
“Of course, honey. I know you where there. I’m sorry you had to witness this.”
Joyce’s face shifted again; anger took over.
“That Prescott brat. I hope he gets his punishment. Let’s hope his father doesn’t find a way to buy him out.”
“I’m sure he gets the sentence he deserves.”
Joyce smiled again. “Let’s talk about something else. Come, sit with me and tell me about yourself. What has it been, five years?”
“Yes…”, Max said sheepishly. She felt bad. She never got in contact, especially after William’s death. “I’m sorry I’ve never got in contact with you or Chloe.” Especially Chloe.
“Oh, don’t work yourself up about it. Sure, it would’ve been nice, but what’s there do about it now? You’re here now, for me that’s enough.”
Max sniffed. “Thanks.”
“And don’t let anything get to you what Chloe will say. That girl has a real attitude problem.”, Joyce shook her head. Max couldn’t help it and laughed. It felt like coming back to something she had long lost. She felt better.
* * *
Time flew and suddenly it was Friday. School had canceled all classes until the 17th. Max was very thankful for that, even though she was better, she still felt a heavy weight. She and Kate spent much time together, helping each other.
The last three days were quiet. She had got daily updates on Chloe by Joyce. The police hadn’t contacted her or Kate since Tuesday. Max enjoyed the quiet and could relax.
But in the afternoon, her relaxation was disturbed by Warren barging into her room.
“Have you ever heard of knocking?”, Max asked. Warren went red. “Sorry, I should have…”
“Doesn’t matter. What’s up?”
“Have you seen the news lately?”
“No, not really.” Max wasn’t keen on reading the news, she had enough on her plate as it was.
“Then look.” Warren took his laptop out of his bag and opened it. An article was on the display:
“Gruesome finding in the local junk yard
Thursday afternoon, the police found a body buried in the junk yard near Arcadia Bay. The police confirmed this morning, that the body was identified as Rachel Amber, who was reported missing a few months ago. The circumstances of her death are still unclear, but it can be said with certainty that Nathan Prescott, currently in custody for shooting a girl at Blackwell Academy, and the famous photographer Mark Jefferson, who fled the city on Monday, are involved. The police department refused to give further statements about the case. …”
“Rachel Amber?”
“You must’ve seen all those missing posters, they’re everywhere.”, Warren said.
Yes, of course. Someone was desperately looking for her.
“Did you know her?”, Max asked.
“Not really. I’ve seen her a couple of times. I had no business with her, her social ranking was way too high for me.”, Warren explained, “I wonder what happened…”
“Mhm. Do you know anything about Jefferson?”
“Only rumours. I heard as soon as Nathan was arrested, he left in a hurry. It’s really fishy. Do you really think, he was involved?”
“I don’t know what to think. As you say, it’s incredibly fishy.”