Warren didn't attend his lesson that afternoon. Instead, he stood in front of the mirror in his room, staring at his face.
No bruise.
"Why does this keep happening? Why can't I control when and where I'm in- in that place? I.... I don't even know which one is my reality anymore." Warren mumbled to himself, dragging his feet back to his bed where he heavily sat on the mattress.
He sat there for a while, watching his alarm clock's hands move. The constant ticking seemed to echo in the silence.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
"Fuck." Warren slid his head in his hands. "I feel gross. I need a walk." He stood up and approached the door of his dorm, and he walked into the corridor. He heard a crash of thunder and rain start to patter along the windows.
"What a turn of weather." He muttered. "It'll be quite a grim walk. Maybe I should wait for the rain to calm down."
He stood at the open doorway of the dorm, watching the rain patter on the concrete in front of him. The odd rain drop followed the direction of the wind and splattered onto Warren's cheek. He wiped at the dampness of his face. The dorms were quiet. Too quiet. The courtyard was completely empty.
Warren goes to back away from the corner and carry on back into his room. As he closes the door, he is stopped by a shooting pain in his eye again.
A missing persons poster flies into his leg with the wind. Before he could look at it, however, there was a distraction of greater proportions.
Zachary walks around the corner and freezes in one spot, seemingly terrified. He runs in the opposite direction.
Warren runs around the corner into the spot where Zachary stood, where he saw it.
Kate Marsh.
Standing on the roof.
"Kate!" Warren screamed. "S-Stay there!"
"No!" She wailed back. "You don't care! Nobody does! I deserve this!"
"Warren? What's go- Oh my god! Kate!" A voice called out. Alyssa. She ran and stopped beside Warren, covering her face in shock. "How did it come to this? We need to help her!" She began to sob.
Warren put his arm around her, comforting her.
"We'll do something. I'll do something."
More people started appearing in the masses, their voices flooding the courtyard in an array of cries and wails.
"She's fucking tilted, man."
Warren began to feel sick.
"Is this for real?"
Really sick.
"What the fuck? I knew she was fucked up but I didn't know she'd go this far."
The anger filled his veins, and he closed his eyes.
"Bitch flipped out!"
He balled his fists.
"Didn't know she was that messed up."
'You guys deserve to fucking burn in hell. Kate did nothing wrong.' He thought. He felt resentment and anger.
How could someone do that to an innocent girl.
It was people like that who put her on that roof.
It was their fault.
His fault too.
Kate didn't deserve this.
Why?
Warren scrunched his eyes shut.
Why?!
He gritted his teeth.
WHY?!
"KATE! NO!" A voice screamed from behind Warren. Max's. He covered his face with his hands, expecting screams. Expecting a thud.
Nothing.
He opened his eyes.
Everything had frozen into place. It was as if time had stopped. He stepped forward and looked back. He saw Max moving forward, avoiding those frozen in front of her. She didn't seem to see him, even though he stood in front of her.
"Max?" He called out.
She ignored. It was as if she couldn't see or hear him.
He looked fully behind him to find himself, his eyes wide open in fear and gripping Alyssa, standing frozen in time with everyone else. The bruise on the frozen version of himself was there. Warren stumbled to look in the reflection of one of the windows. His own bruise was gone.
"I... don't understand. I got to get to Max!"
He began to run and catch up with Max, who was stumbling to the roof. Her nose began to bleed and her hand was held out in front of her.
"M...Must. Keep. Going." She exclaimed in front of her.
Warren soon realised what was going on.
She can control time.
He wasn't alone in this weird time-space phenomenon after all.
Warren followed behind her, and reached for her shoulder- which his hand went right through. "Shit." Warren realised his limitations for real. "I'm literally out of body here. I can't interact cause I shouldn't be here."
Warren followed behind her slowly climbing the stairs to the dorm. "I know you can't hear me, Max, but if you could I'd tell you this: I believe in you. I know you can help her. I know that you're the only one who can save Kate, and if you're struggling with this ability, then I hope the Warren in this universe can understand." He thought back to home, with the red-haired Chloe and the happier Kate. "I don't know if the Max in my universe has these powers too, but if she does..."
They made it on the roof by then and Max fumbles the roof door open. She drags herself outside, Warren following close behind.
Time suddenly begins flowing again. Max lifts her hand and winces in pain, groaning.
Kate turns around, only acknowledging Max.
"What are you doing here, Max?" She sobbed, her tear stained face confused by her friend's sudden appearance.
Max reached out again, her expression pained and almost grieving, as if she was struggling with something. Her nose continued to bleed. "Not now." She mouthed in complete desperation.
"Max, seriously, don't come near me." Kate warned her with urgency. "I will jump."
"Ok, ok. I'm right here. Kate, please."
'I wish I could help her.' Warren thought, as his body began to quake in fear. "You got this, Max. Do the right thing."
"Oh Max." Kate continued, her voice softening. "I know you want to help me. I love that you stepped up to David but it doesn't matter now. Nothing matters."
"You matter!" Max protested. "And not just to me-"
"I do want to believe that..."
"Kate! Your life is still yours, and we can get through this together. Let me help... like I helped by erasing all that crap on your room slate."
Warren felt his heart sink. There was a huge chunk of this he didn't know, and he felt guilty about not being able to help her earlier. If he had known, Kate might not have been on the roof in the first place. He could've intervened.
"I'm sorry, Kate." He whispered. "Max is your only hope now."
He watched on as Kate's expression turned from remorse into slight surprise. "I'm glad to hear you worry about me... that makes me feel better."
Max stepped an inch closer. "Of course I worry!" She exclaimed. "You're my friend, Kate."
"I did feel better talking to you on the phone." Kate admitted. "I always feel like you really listen."
"Kate, please trust me. Come stand by me, okay? I can help you now... I know I can! This morning I erased the weblink to the video- it was written on the shower room mirror."
"Are you serious?" Kate almost choked on tears. "Thank you so much. The fact you don't care about the video and would come out here to stop me means a lot."
Max nodded, she held her head up high and looked into Kate's eyes. "I care about you cause I believe you were drugged. We will find out who did this and make them pay." She announced with confidence, blinking away the rain that poured in her face.
Kate's slight hopeful expression faded and was replaced with a sadder and emptier expression, which made Warren feel sick to the stomach. "You sound so persuasive, Max..." She began. "If only..."
Max took a few steps forward. "Kate, I believe you. Will you believe me?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, and trying to hide the fear that she felt. "Please! You don't have to do this." She begged, her voice shaking.
Warren approached them, getting a little closer. He still wasn't acknowledged.
Kate pulled a hauntingly morbid expression. "Max, I'm in a nightmare and I can't wake up." She cried. "U-unless I put myself to sleep. Then everyone at Blackwell can post pics of my body. I'm already on the internet forever. No wonder they call it a 'web'. Nothing can ever get out- like my video." She muttered, bitterly and almost resentful, tears flooding her cheeks and intertwining with the raindrops. "I wish I c-could go back in time and erase everything."
"Kate!" Max exclaimed. "This is our chance to beat the bullies. That's the only way we can win against them."
"Can we really, Max? I don't believe in miracles anymore either."
Despite Kate's disagreements, Max stayed resilient much to Warren's amazement. Max kept on trying.
"Now I do! You're part of the reason why. If you come down with me, I can tell you more."
Kate gently smiled. "You're such a good person, Max. Even if you're full of crap. But I'll come with you... You're my friend."
Max reached out her hand. "Forever. Now can we hug on it?"
Kate's smile faded and she furrowed her brows in horror instead. "No! Nobody cares about me. Nobody."
"You told me about your sisters, especially the youngest one. What's her name?" Max wasn't giving up without a fight.
Kate thought for a moment. "That's Lynn. She's only ten. She does have the best smile ever. I-I would hate to see her sad."
Warren felt himself relax, the muscles in his legs growing heavy as he hit the floor knee first, as he watched Kate step off the roof into Max, sobbing on the roof next to her.
"I'm sorry... sorry."
The voices grew unnoticeable for Warren as he looked at the people below on the roof. His eyes met with another pair. His own. It was as if the other Warren could see him and no one else could. He felt a warm trickle leave his nostrils. He wiped his nose, seeing a crimson smear on his hand. Suddenly, a loud noise filled Warren's head, like white noise. It got louder and louder until silence.
Everything went black.
A murmur of a voice could be heard. He couldn't hear it clearly. It was like he had cotton wool stuck in his ears.
"W....en"
Huh? It was a male voice.
"H..y... war...." Things were starting to clear up a bit. Warren opened his eyes, wincing at the rain and the sudden bright sunlight. He could see a red jacket and a blurred face.
"Hey fuck-face. Wake up." The voice snapped bitterly and alertly.
Warren grunted. "Nath..."
"Yeah that's my name, don't fucking wear it out." Nathan told him. "Shit man, I thought you died." He whined.
Warren's mind was foggy. "What happened to me?"
"You just collapsed and you were completely out for a good ten minutes. Before that you were being a creep and you were stood in the courtyard like some weirdo. And you were super pale and shit, shaking like Frank Bowers on a heavy hit of coke, then you just fell."
Warren suddenly remembered everything that happened on the roof. Max. Kate. The blood. "She nearly died- no! Ah." Warren started to panic, flailing about, when Nathan grabbed his wrists.
"Okay you're really creeping me out. Can you stand?" Nathan grabbed Warren and propped him up. Warren attempted to stand, making it halfway before collapsing to the ground, vomiting on the pavement in front of him.
"I guess not." Nathan sighed. "Okay. I'm gonna carry you to your room. I'm not being seen as responsible for your shit freak-out. I know some people are quick to blame me." He hooked Warren's arms over his shoulders, who feebly held on with as much strength as he could muster.
He stood him up, before picking him up on his back, grabbing onto his legs. "You're not as heavy as I thought you would be."
"Is that a compliment?" Warren asked weakly.
"Don't get your cock hard over it, Graham." Nathan retorted. "If anything it benefits me."
"Sure thing." Warren murmured, focusing on his discomfort more. He kept going in and out of consciousness. His head felt extremely heavy as he rested it on Nathan's shoulder for a brief moment.
Nathan tensed up. "Shit.. are you actually okay there, man?"
No answer.
"Warren?"
"Ugh... I can't stay awake."
They reached halfway down the hall, when Hayden left his room and spotted the two.
Hayden looked at the pair in concern. "Dude, what's happened? Shit, Warren, is he okay?"
"He's sick." Nathan explained. "Found him collapsed in the courtyard just outside. He woke up and threw up outside."
"Of all the people to help him, I didn't expect you-"
"Shut up." Nathan snarled. "I'm not doing it to gain anything. It's just what anyone else would've done."
"I see." Hayden replied. "Still though, it's a good thing you found the guy. Shouldn't you take him to the nurse though?"
"I'll... be fine." Warren murmured. "If I feel any worse I'll go there myself. Maybe I just need some rest. Thanks for the concern though, Hayden."
"It's okay. Just tell us if you need anything, okay? I'll let the other guys know so you can get some help. You look like you're on the brink of death."
"Thanks." He groaned.
He observed as Nathan opened the door to Warren's own room. He set him on the bed. Nathan watched as Warren pathetically tried to remove his shoes, his thumbs fumbling on his laces clumsily.
Nathan sighed and pulled the shoes off his feet,before setting them on the ground. "Lie down." He ordered. Warren nodded and lay down in bed, his head sinking into his pillow. Nathan threw his duvet on top of him, then fixed it neatly, making sure everything but his head was covered up.
"Is that okay?" Nathan asked, turning his back on him.
"Yeah. Thank you so much."
"Are you sure that you're okay? Everyone thinks something has happened to you..."
Warren shook his head. "It's n-nothing really.."
"You're lying, Warren. Something is fucking you up." Nathan paced the room. "Fuck, man. Everyone's worried about you. Max, Kate, the punk bitch, the other punk bitch-"
"Rachel?"
"Who cares about her name! The guys are freaking out too. Fuck, as much as I hate to admit this shit, even I am worried as fuck about this. Something is going on with you..." Nathan argued. He glanced at the notice board in front of the bed, full of the investigations towards Warren's mother. Nathan's face softened.
He sighed. "Do you miss your mom?" He asked, gently.
"All the time. I don't think I'll ever rest until I find out who killed her." Warren admitted, his voice quiet.
"I understand, buddy. Grief is a fucking awful thing. I mean I never lost anyone to dying, but I guess I kinda feel grief. My older sister moved away from home a few years ago and I haven't seen her in a long time. We talk by email and on Facebook, but it's never the same. It's like I lost that best friend- the one person who liked me for who I am." Nathan admitted, his voice calm and steady. "I miss Kristine so much. I guess it's kinda similar... or maybe not. I resent most of my other family so much, that it made us closer as family. I don't blame her for moving away from a shit hole town like Arcadia Bay. Although she's more level headed than me and she has the heart to love a guy like my dad, even she couldn't stand living with him."
"Yeah. Grief is kinda like that. Your sister sounds kind."
"She is. Kris is the role model I need in my life. I wish I could live up to her standards."
Warren smiled weakly. "You can. You just need to believe in yourself more."
Nathan nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, I need to go. I gotta message Kris now." He walked to the door. "Don't be a little bitch and rest up, okay?"
"Sure."
With that, Nathan closed the door as he left. Warren lay there alone.
Despite his illness and discomfort, he couldn't help but think about the other universe.
"I wonder how Max and Kate are doing, in that world?" He murmured. He felt himself feel tired and he slowly fell asleep.
He felt better knowing that Kate was still alive.
However, he didn't know that in the other world, someone else wasn't.