Author's Preface
Rachel's control over Max's psyche got even more out of control when the girl started thrashing again, except this time it didn't appear like another electrical torture device was being injected into her body, but rather, like she was trying to break free from some restraints.
She was also making pained gargles out of her throat, mixed with shallow gasps and terrified whimpers; it's like someone was trying to either suffocate, strangle, or drown her.
"This is getting out of hand!" David complained.
Eventually, Rachel couldn't keep her focus any longer and was forced back out of Max's head, the entity's face riddled with half the stress of everyone else.
Chloe eyed upward and spotted some frat runaway recording this incident on his phone, triggering her fury for about the twenty-fifth time today. "You get rid of that phone right now, you fucking frat-bag, or I'll HELLA fuck you up!" This day was stressful enough as it is without some insensitive fool deciding to exploit her friend's misery to get views.
The frat-boy apparently didn't listen or didn't hear her, and Chloe was about to blow her top.
Just before the punk could leave her beloved just to unleash her wrath on this guy, Frank Bowers of all people beat her to the punch. He simply marched up to the guy, ripped his phone away, and proceeded to shove him back through the crowd before chucking the device back.
"Fuck off outta here!" He grunted.
The frat boy miserably picked up his still functioning smartphone, stopped its recording, and then hurried out of there, cursing under his breath.
Through the desperation, Chloe couldn't help but be surprised to see a noble favour committed by the same drug dealer who had hassled her time and time before; a tiny peak of respect for him had surfaced, she had to admit, but she couldn't dwell on that now.
Shifting back to Max, she was shocked at how sticky her hand felt around the back of her head once she realized it; her hair was darkened and dampened around her scalp, her bangs stuck to her aggressively humid face. Her shirt as well was drooled in her sweat, sticking to her torso like a wet rag; Chloe and Joyce wanted to remove her jacket, but with her hand still unconsciously locked around Rachel's wrist, they decided not to chance it.
"For everyone else," Rachel began, her voice booming through the whole Diner, "clear out now!"
Everyone paused momentarily to process the echoed instruction before they all proceeded to shuffle their way out through the exit while murmuring. Kate was one of the last few to leave, alone with Victoria; she just looked back and nodded as her way of saying 'Good luck' before continuing out.
Once everyone was outside, they all just idled in the middle of the empty road in front of the Diner, keeping their distance well away; they were all still eager to see this through, especially Frank.
Victoria had her arm over Kate, who had her hands cupped around her cross hanging over her heart again. Victoria too wanted Max to make it through this just as much, because despite their differences, she knew the hipster didn't deserve to go through this.
Suddenly, another howl of thunder hovered down from the brooding sky, reminding them of the entity— Rachel's power, giving them a stray beam of hope.
Max found herself restrained to a stretcher that was being wheeled through a dark corridor. As she tried squirming her head, hands, and feet, out of their bondage to no avail, she also realized that she was nude from the passing air licking at her bare skin.
This isn't real... None of this...
When she looked up, with limited movement, she could make out the dark shape of someone pushing the stretcher; it looked more like another young boy rather than a grown up.
"Please..."
Right then, she recognized the wavy hair slanted to one side, as well as the shape of the face, and identified this figure to be Warren.
"Are you going to offer to go the movies with me now , Max?" The boy sneered; it was definitely his voice, but the personality didn't match, and it ran cold fuzzes down her body.
"You don't... have to d—do this!" Max's begging was subdued by her panic, just like the rest of her.
Warren snorted. "Of course we do. But don't think I'm doing this because you never gave a shit about me."
"That's not true!"
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that! Deep down, you want this!"
"What do you mean!?"
Suddenly, Warren stopped and tilted the entire stretcher upwards ninety degrees, which somehow freed Max from her restraints as she was thrust into a pitch-black pocket of nothingness.
The girl screamed as she felt herself falling through a hole before she landed headfirst onto solid ground, her body following suit with a splat.
She sobbed from the pain and terror of what was to come. She was somehow able to move her bones as she curled to her side into a little ball as an audience of laughter closed in from all directions.
"Rachel!" Max cried, shivering like a drenched mutt. "Help me!" The laughter only escalated, drowning out her pleas.
Just then, lights came on from all directions at once, blinding her. When she squinted her eyes open again, the brightness that washed over quickly gave way to an audience of crumpled and distorted bodies all standing around her, waving their flashlight and hooting as though they're at some live show. Max forced her head up and around and shortly realized, to her despair, that she was back in the dark room again, now bathed in a hellish red glow.
As the girl tried moving the rest of her body, she found that her hands and feet were bound tightly together once more.
No... not here... not this again!
"Your little guardian won't be able to find us here, Max." Jefferson entered the fray with his camera, armed with that same venomous smile.
This Jefferson in her dream, however, looked far different compared to her real experience. All his defining features were stretched out and exaggerated. His shoulders were broader and sharper. His face was elongated, his chin edged like a knife. His eyes were peeled wide, the blacks inside narrowed to resemble a viper's. His Cheshire grin bared daggers for teeth; this wasn't human.
"Let's get to work ."
With that, this demonic apparition of Jefferson aimed his lens right at Max's terrified face hiding behind her bandaged hands, and snapped his first shot. His flash popped like gunfire through her eyes.
"Yes."
He followed up with a closer shot, and then swooped around her for an overhead shot.
"Good, Max. This is perfect!" He stood over the girl with both feet planted on both sides of her. "Now I'll need you to face up."
Hearing this caused Max to shrink further into herself and bury her face into the cold floor, which didn't please the photographer one bit.
"Max." Jefferson turned sour. "As my model, you must be compliant to my instructions! Now turn over!"
Max refused to move, quickly infuriating him.
"TURN OVER!" Mark actually kicked her waist, and then backed off regretfully. "I'm sorry, Max! I didn't mean to—you just don't listen!"
Max just sobbed through the pain, begging for this humiliation to end. Jefferson just sighed, frustrated, and then motioned to someone in the crowd to come over. "Mr. Prescott, would you mind being my wingman again?"
Hearing that name prompted Max to finally look up and see Jefferson's arm stretch out like an elastic band to pull out Nathan from the audience aggressively, almost tripping him over.
"Son, I'm going to need to turn her face-up and hold her there."
Nathan just stood next to his 'mentor' like a confused Igor. Unlike all the other apparitions, this Nathan didn't seem as conforming nor as thrilled over this situation; in fact, he looked just as terrified as Max.
"Please." Max begged to the boy. "You don't have to do this!"
" Nathan ." Jefferson edged up to his protégé warningly and motioned him down to Max to get to work .
Bitterly, Nathan knelt down and proceeded to turn Max onto her back, but she kept trying to thrash out of his hold.
"No! NO! GET OFF ME!"
She tried her best to wrestle Nathan, but he managed to roll her on her back and pin her hands above her head to expose her bare front. This made the onlookers cheer and whistle louder.
"That's good, Nathan."
Jefferson was full of glee as he snapped another picture of Max in this compromising position while Nathan had his face turned away, his obvious conscience trying to detach him.
Along with fear and violation, anger and betrayal consumed the victim's psyche as well. Max bit her lip to stop herself from screaming anymore.
"What's happening to Max!?" Chloe screamed to the entity.
"I'm—I'm trying to find her again!"
"You LOST her!?"
"Be quiet!" Rachel snapped back; honestly, the more Chloe kept egging her, the more she wanted the punk out of here as well.
This time, Chloe didn't feel as keen to remain quiet. The longer this dragged on, the more her trust in Rachel dwindled. Still, she decided to suck it up a little longer.
Chloe shortly removed her hands from Max's head to wipe her sweat off, only to find long strands of her hair sticking to her palms; there was quite a few of them, much more than she would find on her hairbrush. She looked below to find more pieces littered on her thighs and the floor around them. She was now starting to lose hair, like a cancer patient .
Just how far will this go?
Chloe unconsciously lifted a handful to show her mother, looking to her for answers she knows she won't get.
"Come on, Max!" Rachel cried, fighting to maintain composure.
Soon, Max's mouth started foaming. Chloe reacted by moving her face to one side to avoid her choking. The brunette's neck tensed as she let out another tortured cry.
"Please, Max!" Chloe begged from the depths of her heart. "Please don't do this!"
Rachel turned her attention to the family with grimness. "You have to get out of here too!"
Chloe shook furiously. "NO! I'M NOT LEAVING HER!"
"Chloe, please!" Rachel hesitated with what to say to her next. "Max would want you to be safe!"
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE, SHE... NEEDS ME HERE!" Chloe was very close to losing her voice altogether.
Rachel snorted, frustrated by this punk's stubbornness whilst admiring her devotion.
Joyce shifted in to try and reason with her daughter as well. "Honey, you have to listen to your friend."
"NO!" Chloe smacked her mother's reaching hand away. "THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!" Chloe breathed out and softened her tone. "All this is happening because I was always too fucking stupid to watch my own back! I pushed her to do this because I'm so selfish!"
Unable to take more of this, David decided to step in. He stood up, picked Chloe up by the waist, and proceeded to carry her on his shoulder out of the diner as she thumped and kicked him.
Joyce proceeded to follow her family, but not before planting a heavy-hearted kiss on Max's forehead. She looked into Rachel's eyes one last time and nodded, then she too went.
Max was close to passing out from the sheer violation that all these ghouls, her own constructed demons, were inflicting upon her. She was too weak to move, or simply too terrified; she was limp as a ragdoll. She just gazed upwards to the ceiling in a blur. Even with her hands and legs now free, she dared not lift a single limb.
By this point, everyone had all gone, all except for Nathan and Jefferson. Whether they had all left voluntarily or just vanished into dust, she didn't know. She was just glad that at least that part was over.
Nathan was standing over, fidgeting with his fingers while hunched like a bent stalk.
Jefferson was probably back in front his computer, aweing over his 'artwork'.
All hope seemed lost. She was trapped alone in the worst hell of her mind. Her subconscious wanted it all to end.
"Chloe..." Max huffed.
She let her eyes shut for a moment, took in some deep breaths, and then reopened them.
In the faint distance of her blurred field of vision, she could spot a blue speck floating by and drifting closer, and as it did, that one spot became two, forming a pair of wings.
"Chloe." She repeated, this time with a tint of tranquillity.
The blue butterfly landed right on her nose and sat there. She could tell that it was facing her as it gently flapped its sails.
" Find your Ikigai. " She then heard Rachel's voice through the confines. " Your morning light, your reason to get up. "
Having finally found Max's conscious again, Rachel decided on a different approach and scooped Max up so she could cradle her head to her shoulder, and then proceeded to rock her gently.
Chloe was seated outside on the curb with her head in her knees; she felt so useless .
Kate approached her cautiously, but eventually mustered enough courage to sit down next to her.
"Don't lose hope, Chloe." She assured her, placing a careful hand on her back to rub her, thankful that she didn't flinch or shrug her off. "Max is very strong."
"For how much longer?" Chloe lifted her face but looked at the road emptily. She could cry no more tears.
"Have faith."
Chloe wanted to lash back, but stopped herself, understanding that this Kate just wanted to help her. "Do you think Max is being punished?" She asked, finally facing her.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you resent me?"
"Why would I? Because God somehow gave Max the gift to bend time and save you?"
"At the cost of many others? Yes." Chloe finished for her. "You should all fucking hate me!" Chloe buttoned her lips, realizing that she just swore in front of a devout Christian. "I'm sorry. I forgot that you're..."
"It's okay." Kate smiled and stroked her again.
"I just feel like she's getting the punishment I deserve."
"That's not true."
"It is!" Chloe shouted. "God tried to kill me three times!" She then took out the three bullets on her necklace to show to Kate. " Three! "
Kate went silent now. Clearly, this punk just needed to vent, so she decided to let her.
"Max pulled me out of death each time, and what do I do? I kept treating her like shit, treating her powers like some toy. She busted more than her ass for me!" Chloe realized that she cussed again, but didn't care anymore. She just buried her face shamefully. "How can I call myself her friend ?"
"You can pray."
"Pray?"
Kate nodded.
"I haven't done that in ages." Chloe looked back up at Kate softly. "Besides, I don't think the Big Guy up there would wanna hear prayers from me . I gave up after I lost my dad."
"I'm not trying to preach or anything, but I think it's worth a try."
With a sigh, Chloe nodded understandably and tried to compose herself.