Hellions of Arcadia

Chapter 6: Dark Room

Max

"Thank you for the dinner, Melissa." Chloe says, as she sets her dishes carefully in the dishwasher. Every part of that almost makes me laugh because of how un-Chloe like it is. I'm glad that Chloe is trying to impress my parents, it shows a level of care I haven't seen in her since we reunited this week. Damn, has it only been a week since I discovered I had time powers? It feels longer...

So has this day. After the store Chloe and I kind of did nothing, Chloe shuffled through the channels on the TV. And I was the one who was in change of putting the shit we bought away. Then Chloe fell asleep on the chair, and I cleaned the house to keep my mind from wandering back to the storm.

I sit back in my chair and watch Chloe help my dad clean the kitchen. It's so unnatural and not like this Chloe. I keep seeing the old (or is it the young?) Chloe as she pours too much dish soap into the rapidly filling sink. When she was so full of light and happiness-and pirate filled escapades-her strawberry blonde hair ticking her shoulders, clean skin, no ink or calloused scars. That was before she was destroyed, killed by the Chloe that stands in her place. A ghost of a memory.

"She sure has changed, hasn't she?" Mom whispers to me, as we watch dad and Chloe try to tame the mountain of bubbles in the sink that Chloe created earlier. "Yeah... William's accident really did a number to her." I say distractedly, not taking my eyes on how Chloe's tattoo accommodates the flexing of her muscles.

Don't forget that you fucked me over, too. The Chloe voice mocks, sending a jolt of pain to my temples. Go away. I rebuttal, pressing a light finger to my temple. I can't. I'm apart of you, dumbass. She hisses back. Another ripple of pain in my skull has me struggling to muffle a sound of pain.

The voice fades as I say goodnight to my parents, watching them walk up the stairs. Chloe hags up a dish cloth on the handle of the kitchen stove and comes over to sit on top of the table. She wears a wide smirk and the typical 'let's do some more crazy shit,' which is her basic setting nowadays. "What's the word, Maximus?" I sigh and sit back in my chair. What is the word? I fucking destroyed an entire town full of people, killed them all, then fled to my second home in Seattle with the girl who I literally killed for, I feel lost. "I don't know anymore, Chloe."

Her eyes soften, the cocky look from her face fading into a sorrowful concern. "I didn't expect that answer." She slides off the table and takes a seat beside me. Her glace lands towards carefully towards the staircase-to ensure that my parents aren't here anymore, most likely-then she takes my hand in hers and gives an easy squeeze. "You did what you had to do. That doesn't make you a bad person." she sighs out.

Something swirls in my gut. "Then why do I feel poisonous?" I ask quietly. Chloe pulls me in close, her arms wrap around my neck, chin resting on my shoulder. And I let her. Because for a second it feels good. I shouldn't continue to let her. I don't deserve the love and friendship of anyone, especially not after I committed mass genocide. But it feels so good. "Max." Chloe finally says, I can feel the vibration of her windpipe against my clavicle. "You aren't poison. You are the purest person I know. Okay?" Her words are half muffled by the fabric of my clothes.

I am sick of Chloe being so accommodating to me. She should be mad, she should hate me for what I've done. How I fucking left her for Seattle. She's so clueless, doesn't she know what she's made me do? She made me kill. She was why Arcadia is destroyed. Chloe pulled me in, took me on adventures, called me her best friend, and she dared me to kiss her in her bedroom. Then I had to choose between her and others. And I stupidly chose her. Heat builds in my body, I have to prove that she doesn't care about me. She only cares about my power.

"What about Rachel?" I deflect. Watching Chloe sigh and pull away from my skin. She drags her palm against her face. "That's not fair." She groans. I stand sharply, I'll always be second to Rachel, I knew it. "Max." Chloe tries to jump up in surprise, but fails on her first try. "Come on, that's not fair." She follows me to the living room. I turn sharply, "what is, Chloe?" I feel the heat of anger slowly leak away as Chloe stares at me with eyes that look on the brink of tears.

"I fucked up Chloe." I admit. "I...I..." I feel like blubber, I can't talk. This has been bottled up too long... Chloe sighs. "You've been through a lot this past week, Max." She touches my shoulder again. But this time, I let her. "But fuck, you're still standing." Chloe flicks her tongue along her bottom lip, the movement mesmerizes me.

"You are so strong, Max. I mean... You discovered you could rewind time, you helped your friend from committing suicide, you watched me die over, and over. Then..." She pauses for a moment, "then you endured what that psychopath did to you." I flinch involuntarily. I never really did talk to Chloe about what happened in the Dark Room, did I? Probably for the best anyway...

"Shit, I'm sorry Max." Chloe sighs, pushing on the inside of her cheek with her tongue. A habit I've seen her getting into more recently. "I haven't really told anyone about it, except Warren." When I told him I would do the right thing, then murdered him. "I just didn't know how to tell anyone." I look at Chloe, who is laid back on the couch, she looks so effortless all the time, how the hell can she do it? "I guess I should tell someone about it, before the bottled up memories drive me insane, huh?" Chloe chuckles sourly, "only if you want to, Max."

"You deserve to know what happened to Rachel." I sigh heavily, that makes Chloe seal her lips. She's all ears now. I try to pull all of the memories I can from the drug induced haze of the Dark Room. "I don't remember what happened much after Jefferson... When he... Shot you in the junkyard." Chloe gulps visibly, that's when she died, for more than 20 seconds. She was dead for several hours. And she doesn't even remember what happened. She's the only human being on earth who actually blurred the line between life and death for more than an hour. (Technically, she also didn't die at the same time) I can't help but wonder what happened when she died. What life after death is like. The thought scares me as well as thrills me.

"Cameras, he always had cameras in my face." I close my eyes, "He bound my limbs with duct tape. I had regular doses of meds to keep me unconscious." I could suddenly feel it again, the tight bounds of duct tape as it stuck my wrists uselessly together, and the gross sloppy feeling of the drugs as they traveled through my blood. I resist the urge to jerk as the ghost of needle pierces my skin.

"He talked about why he did it. That unconscious models are the best ones and how his 'subjects' are innocent girls who he turns corrupt." I pause for a moment, not sure how to tell Chloe about Rachel. "Rachel died accidentally, Nathan-" Chloe shoots up, a rush of fury. "Prescott? That punkass killed Rachel?" She fumes. I start to scramble. "It... It was an accident. Jefferson was manipulating him, and he didn't know what he was doing." Chloe puts up a hand to stop me, her rage built up to the point where she was dead quiet. "Max, I know you always want to see the best of people, but stop. Nathan Prescott is a killer."

I try to talk, but nothing comes out. Chloe doesn't understand, she never understands. Suddenly Chloe's phone goes off, she leaps at it was the speed of a cheetah. Chloe stares silently at the caller ID, her face in shock. I lean in slowly and look at the caller ID.

Stepdouche.