Friday
Being caught in such a major conspiracy really played with Max Caulfield's head. Her being captured by the true culprit behind Rachel Amber's murder and the ownership of the Dark Room turned out to be none other than her photography teacher, Mr Jefferson. When Max regained consciousness, she found herself seated uncomfortably in a chair she was bound to by layers of duct tape. It took her time to sober up from being drugged until she came to her senses.
Groggily, Max corrected her position and observed her surroundings where her mind completely registered the fact that she was the new victim of the Dark Room and its conspirator, Mark Jefferson. In front of Max was a camera on her right, active lighting equipment on her left and a trolley filled with chemicals, gloves, syringes, capsules, unmarked boxes, a red folder and a manila-coloured folder.
To Max's horror, Victoria Chase was unconscious beside her with tape around her ankles and wrists. Her throat was dry but she managed to let out a cry for help if by the highly impossible chance that somebody would come to her rescue. Her hands and feet fought against the tape, to no current avail, until her right foot managed to break free and pulled the trolley closer. Max noticed a photograph of herself unconscious on the floor similarly to Victoria.
By focusing on the photograph, Max's powers enabled her to take over her past subconsciousness. The first thing that came into her view was a body hunched down with a camera lens pointed at her face which had become relatively focused in her sight which began to regain focus from being drugged. There were camera shots taken while a haunting voice filled her ears as she slowly regained control of her body.
"... the angle highlights your purity, see? The slightly unconscious model is often the most open and honest. No vanity or posing, just... pure expression. Oh Christ. Look at that perfect face." Mr Jefferson spoke with an unsettling tone that sent a chill throughout Max's body.
She only just gained enough feeling in her body to feel Mr Jefferson pinch her left leg with his hand to reposition it. Rolling her head, Max caused her former teacher's temper before he lashed out at her verbally with a tone he never thought he would use against his favourite student.
"Hold that stare there! STAY! STILL!!" Mr Jefferson snapped.
His temper settled almost immediately when he resumed taking photographs of the eighteen year-old. She moved a second time when he was attempting to get a headshot of her.
"Oh, Max. You fucked up my shot!" Mr Jefferson barked when his tone shifted to a more gentle, creepier one. "But please don't worry. We have all the time in the world... for now. I knew you were special the second I saw your 'selfie'. Yes, I still hate that word. But I love the purity of your own image. Not like Rachel, who was always looking in the wrong places. Poor Rachel. Wait... Let me try this angle."
Mr Jefferson took various angled shots of Max while she was temporarily immobilised on the cold white floor.
"Oh, much better. Thanks Max. If only Nathan could see this setup. He tried so hard, but you can't just throw a few subjects around and expect a cohesive style or theme. But he had an eye for shadows. And an eye for a whole lot more, as his elite family will find out, along with Arcadia Bay. Nice... Good... Oh, those eyes. Stop. Moving!"
The more she came to infuriate Mr Jefferson, the more he struggled to hold it together - his rambling delayed his administering another dosage to render her unconscious.
"It's just too bad you're so goddamn nosy, Max. But this room is under twenty-four-seven surveillance. So all I had to do was text you from Nathan's phone and you fell right into my hands. Luckily I managed to lose my tail. But don't you worry your pretty little head, Max. I let them live... this once. You really should have focused on schoolwork, not private detecting with your little friend."
"Chloe..." Max groaned.
"Chloe, right. Yeah, I'm sorry that I killed her... that Nathan killed her - in self-defence. But she had a troubled history like most Arcadia Bay drop-outs. Nobody will be surprised, or care. Though I promise, people will care when you die soon, Max. I wasn't lying when I said you had a gift. Okay. Now this looks good. Maybe just a few more close-ups. Max, please do not move so much. I need you posed and framed my way! Maybe a new dosage will calm you down."
"No... no, no."
Mr Jefferson placed his expensive camera on a tray he pulled towards the end of Max's body whilst he prepared a dosage to inject her with. His carelessness in leaving the syringe capsule cost him greatly when Max used the strength in her leg to kick the trolley, thus resulting in the folder filled with completed photographs of Mr Jefferson's. As a result, Mr Jefferson injected her with the dosage which snapped Max out of that memory.
Upon returning to reality, Max at the same time to hear Victoria Chase waking up from her being drugged multiple times so that Mr Jefferson could secure photographs of the illustrious popular schoolgirl. With Victoria being conscious enough to converse with her, Max explained the danger they were in and how Mr Jefferson was the true threat, not Nathan. Using another photograph to capture her previous subconscious, Max entered that photographic reality.
While Max was rendered into slumber so that her subconsciousness could toy with reality, Mr Jefferson had been away for some time, only to walk in on Victoria crying for help. The short-haired blonde's heart raced when Mr Jefferson entered the room. His presence alone terrified her as his twisted thoughts only gave her more reason to panic that her life was about to end.
"I must admit... you're not exactly my type of girl, Victoria," said Mr Jefferson. "But I do admire your courage and your dedication to getting what you want. And now you have it."
"Why... Why are you doing this?" Victoria sobbed.
Mr Jefferson chuckled evilly. "Simply put, I'm obsessed with the idea of capturing that moment: innocence evolves into corruption. That shift from black to white to grey, and beyond. Most models are cynical. They lose that naiveté. However, some Blackwell students carry their hope and optimism with them like... an aura. And those lucky few become my models; my subjects."
"You're a madman! Let me go! Where's Nathan?!"
"Sorry, Victoria. I may need you for a few more... Oh, oh... oh wait, no. Actually... I have something else planned for you."
Tears streamed down Victoria's face as she fought against the tape around her wrists and ankles when Mr Jefferson administered a large dosage into his syringe. His footsteps clapped against the tiles as he approached Victoria and injected said dosage into her neck. Kneeling down, Mr Jefferson placed his index and middle finger on her neck and focused on her pulse until there was none.
Once Mr Jefferson confirmed that there was no pulse, he grabbed Victoria by her legs and dragged her out of the room in order to dispose of the body while Max remained unconscious in the centre chair. Upon his return, he proceeded to burn all of Max's photos and her diary some time before she woke up. The scent of burning paper had dissipated from the air when she woke up and questioned her current predicament after believing she'd altered reality once again.
In shock of her repetitive situation, Max fought against her restraints and noticed that Mr Jefferson was standing in front of her, talking to somebody who had been zoned out until that moment. A strange feeling tickled her philtrum that he also noticed and took a moment of brief kindness to wipe her philtrum before he produced a glass of water and fed it to her before he added half a loaf of bread.
"Such an elegant creature you are, Max. It's such a shame you won't last much longer. There's a storm a-brewing, Max... Jesus. It's like you're back in my class - you're still spacing out. It might be cool if you took one of your patented selfies now. The transformation between the old Max and the new Max."
Her head craned around to where she last saw Victoria. To Max's disappointment, the schoolgirl was nowhere to be seen. Max's eyes carried disappoint when she found absence from a person whom she had almost found closure with.
"Oh, I had to let Victoria go." Mr Jefferson explained briefly.
"You let her...?"
"Don't be stupid, okay? She's exactly where she deserves to be."
"No..."
"Oh, as if you care."
From a saddened expression to that of a hardened one, Max looked up and stared crossly at him which he seemed to ignore her new desire to make him pay.
"You could have won the contest, but you destroyed your own beautiful photo," said Mr Jefferson. "What a waste. Sorry. I burned all your stuff. I got a little carried away. Especially since you've developed from nerd to hero within a week. There's something weird going on with you."
The lights flickered, briefly capturing their attention. Max was the only one between the two as to what was really going on. Others outside of the Dark Room were getting the full experience of the storm that had hit Arcadia Bay.
"Whoa! Did you see how crazy it is outside? Like I said... something weird. There's that fear. Oh Max... it's an honour working with you on these final sessions. I hope these images will truly be appreciated for what they truly capture. At least that's the last lecture you'll ever have to hear from me. And I promise you... no more nosebleeds."
"Mr Jefferson! You don't know what's happening!"
He shushed her as he approached his tray to acquire a final dose for Max Caulfield. "Quiet, Max. It'll all be over soon. I promise, the final dose won't hurt."
Max had all but accepted her fate when suddenly there was an intervention. Both she and Mr Jefferson were shocked to hear that somebody had managed to locate the Dark Room to save her. Quietly, Mr Jefferson dropped the loaded syringe on the tray and picked up a tripod and hid around a corner, waiting for the intruder to appear.
To Max's relief, David Madsen had walked around the corner - looking the wrong way - which resulted in him being jumped by Mr Jefferson. The former photography teacher exclaimed at the sight of the security guard of Blackwell Academy before he dropped the tripod carelessly and retrieved the syringe he was to inject Max with. Fortunately, she only just got her hand free to rewind time before Mr Jefferson was made aware of David's presence.
Multiple errors that resulted in David's death worried Max that her headaches would become too much to bear and that she would make the same mistake which would result in David's permanent demise. Eventually, Max was able to concentrate and focus on how she could give David the upper hand. By kicking the trolley towards Mr Jefferson, he was briefly distracted distracted received a few punches from David.
"Jefferson, it's over!"
"You are not going to stop me!" Mr Jefferson disagreed.
When Mr Jefferson booked it for the shelf on the opposite side of the room to retrieve a handgun, Max used her feet to tug on a wire connected to some lighting equipment and delayed her corrupt teacher so that David could knock him unconscious.
"Max, are you alright? Are you hurt?" David questioned anxiously.
"I'm... I'm fine. David, how did you find me? I thought I couldn't--" Max stammered.
"You've got (Y/n) Donohue to thank for that. He brought me straight here after the party a couple days ago. Said that he followed Jefferson from the junkyard carrying you into his car but he was a bit too wasted. Probably 'cause of that Vortex party if you ask me."
It came as quite the surprise to hear that (Y/n) was responsible for reaching out to David in order to free her from captivity. If she would get the chance, she'd be sure to thank him immensely for taking part n her rescue. Once she was freed, Max shared a quick conversation with David where she felt obligated to tell him the truth about Chloe's fate, as with him being her step-father.
It broke her heart to see him hurt, but the more time she wasted, the lives that were lost in the storm. While David grovelled and mourned the loss of his step-daughter, Max collected Mr Jefferson's car keys and rushed out of the Dark Room in order to reach Arcadia Bay in hopes of figuring out how she could prevent Chloe's death. Fortunately, it was through her friend Warren who held the key. With no time to lose, Max headed for the Two Whales Diner.