Chapter 7 ~ Nathan

Just when Max finally found herself able to relax a little, thanks to this butterfly's company, the crudely formed mass of Jefferson waltzed back over to her, shoving Nathan aside, and squatting closely to her face, much too close.

He ran his tongue over his shark-like teeth like some cartoony animal as he leered her up and down. He then leaned closer until his lips were almost touching her ear. "You'll be my finest entry." He breathed.

Max clenched every fibre in her body to avoid cowering in front of him again. Enough was enough. She had to get out of there; she had managed to do it before, with her powers, in the real world.

Could she use her powers here in her mind?

She sucked in a breath and mustered enough courage to glare right back at her tormentor, her face tightening into a scowl.

"No." She spat.

"What?" Jefferson dropped his perverse grin. "Could you repeat that, please?"

Max charged up with another intake of air and bellowed this time. "No!"

Nathan flinched at her loud defiant reply.

"And why is that?" Jefferson inquired, an eyebrow raised in genuine curiosity. "Because of Rachel?"

Max sealed her lips to him and just kept her scowl fixed.

"Because you both share the same powers?" Jefferson laid a hand on one of her bare legs and drifted it up towards her thigh, but then relented when a theory popped into his head. "Speaking of which, you both look so much alike, in terms of size and appearance. If you two had met, one could have mistaken you for twins." Mark looked over to Nathan. "What do you think?"

Nathan's mouth was as shut as Max's.

"In fact..." Jefferson turned back to Max, now wide-eyed as his theory thickened. "What if it does run in the family? Have you ever thought of that?"

Max stiffened, and then shifted her gaze, new questions seeding in her head.

While pacing along the sidewalk impatiently, away from others, Victoria felt a buzz in her pocket and pulled out her phone to check out what was up.

She saw that she had received a video from one of her friends, along with a message that read, ' WTF? Is this 4 real?'

Unnerving fear slithering up her spine, Victoria swiped her screen to unlock it to find her buffering video displaying a blurry but recognizable image. She could recognize the faded color and outlines of the floor inside the diner, and a barrage of people down on there, wearing the significant colours of pink, blue, and a glow of amber that filled most of the thumbnail.

When the video finished loading and she pressed play, she found herself watching footage of Rachel boring into Max's head, taken by that same idiot who got kicked out by Frank just moments ago. He cut out the last part before posting it.

Wait! That meant...

Another message popped up right then, which caused the blonde's nerves to spike. It read, ' It's all over FB right now! Evryone's talking abt it 8O' .

"Shit." That was all she could say. She looked cautiously over to Kate and Chloe, wondering if it would be a good idea to show them this. Taking a second glance at the stressed punk, she decided against it, though she knew Max's best friend was going to find out eventually.

Chloe, still sitting with Kate leaning against her, was the first to hear sirens blaring in the distance. Calmly moving Kate's head off, she rose to listen better. It sounded like they were moving closer.

Kate followed suit as she too could hear the noise. "Could that be the ambulance?"

"I'm hoping to God they better be." Chloe answered without turning to her.

Suddenly, she spun around when she sensed Frank approaching the Two Whales again and stormed up to him. "Hey! Back off!"

Frank faced her and did just that, throwing his hands up as if expecting a punch. "The fuck is your problem?"

Kate caught up to the punk and stopped her before she could get too close to the drug dealer.

"You can relax." He proceeded to explain. "I'm not gonna do anything."

Chloe aimed a scowl at him, not really believing him.

"I was just gonna peek inside, that's all."

She still doesn't change her expression, but her body relaxes a little, allowing Kate to release her.

Something told Frank that this punk wanted an explanation, whether it was about Rachel or what would happen now between them.

"I'll give you kudos for throwing that one asshole out of the diner, comprende?" Chloe began. "But you have no right to be anywhere near Rachel after what's happened."

"Look, I get it, okay?" Frank sighed, knowing where this was going. "I sold Nathan the drugs that killed her!" His voice rose, trembling with growing vulnerability. "I'd do anything to bring her back!"

Chloe flinched and looked down, realizing the irony of that last statement.

"Apparently, they can!" He added, pointing inside the diner. "Do you want me to say I'm sorry ?" He started towards the punk, putting the bluenette back on edge like he always did in all their previous encounters, except instead of pulling a knife on her or twisting her arm, he was threatening to fall apart, his eyes welling up.

Frank stopped himself before he could get within arm's reach and slumped his shoulders. He shut his eyes painfully, shaking his head in defeat, and froze for what felt like a minute. He wiped his face and sniffled to try and contain himself.

Chloe remained silent too, simply to listen now to whatever he had to say next.

"This day has been a real mind-fuck."

The punk cleared her throat and pointed idly to Kate next to her, reminding him that he was in front of a devout Christian.

"I don't mind anymore." Kate waved her off.

"As for you and me?" Frank continued, side-glancing Chloe sternly. "Just know that I'll be staying clear of you all. Arcadia Bay's become a shithole! I want nothing to do with this town, with you, with your nerd friend... or Rachel , anymore." Saying the last name faltered his demeanor a little. "It's best that she and I go our separate ways, but I'm hoping I'll get the chance to tell her that I'm sorry first."

Jefferson was back at it again, circling her like a predator to take more of his 'precious' shots.

This time, Max didn't bother to move or show any form of resistance or discomfort, as much as she could.

Nathan was off banging his head into a corner, muttering some nonsense to try and wash his own demons away; Max concluded that even this version of Nathan didn't like what he was doing.

Maybe she could get him to help her somehow...

Max waited until Jefferson finished his round and left the room to reach out to the tormented boy. "Nathan!"

As predicted, he turned to her with fearful eyes and came over to her while anxiously checking the curtains to make sure he didn't come back. He picked up a blanket that was draped over the couch to tuck over her shivering form.

"Thank you." Max looked up at Nathan and did her best to smile gratefully.

Nathan just stood over her mutely, fiddling with his hands; he looked like a lost child in the dark, jerking back and forth over where to go next.

"Is he gone?"

Nathan checked over his shoulder at the exit again and nodded.

Max moistened her lips before finally requesting. "Can you help me get out here, please?"

At this, Nathan hastily turned from her. "I—I can't..."

" Please. " She begged. "Nathan, I know you're a good person!"

"Bullshit!" He spun back to her, fists clenched in fury. "Don't start saying nice things to me now that you're all tied up and under my mercy!"

"I'm not under your mercy!" Max raised her head, along with her voice too. " We're under his!"

"I'm not a good person!" Nathan clutched his shirt beneath his jacket where his heart was. "I drugged Kate and killed Rachel!"

"But you also tried to warn me about Jefferson in the end!"

"Everyone... used me..." Nathan's voice was cracking as tears broke out, remembering all he went through. "I tried to do right too late! Besides, I'm not even real ! Just a projection of your psyche, like all of this!" He flailed his hands all around the room.

"You still have that chance, Nathan!" Max lowered her voice and tried to sound more assuring. "Do you still want Jefferson to use you?"

Nathan doesn't respond with any form of a yes or no answer, but he does return her a somewhat knowing glance like he wanted to believe her.

"Do this for Rachel Amber." Max concluded. "Be brave for once."

At that moment, the same blue butterfly flew in between them, circling Nathan before landing by his feet in front of Max.

"And I don't know you, but this butterfly right here looks like it's trying to tell us something."

Suddenly, a hand reached over onto Nathan's shoulder and ripped him away from the girl; Jefferson had returned, looking even more grotesque than before. His skin had paled to ghostly white, eyes inked black with glowing red rings for irises.

With no more words to smear on her, Jefferson tore her blanket away, flipped her on her back, and then climbed on top to straddle her, pinning her hands above her face. He parted his teeth to let slip a forked tongue that sizzled her nerves as it rattled through the air.

Max, nor Nathan, could recognize the former art teacher anymore; a demonic creature had taken his place, wearing his hide as if he wasn't monstrous enough before.

But what he did next would haunt her forever. He lowered that tongue closer and closer to her, ready to taste her all over.

"No... No! NO! PLEASE! DON'T!"

Nathan, beyond mortified, turned away from the sight, away from Max's shrieks, as his 'mentor' proceeded to have his way with her.

"Oh God..." Rachel felt Max whirring out of control against her own body as her powers began spiking like a livewire again. "No... No, No! Not now! Max!"

Too late...

Max threw her spine back as another surge of her energy blasted from her body and distorted the whole diner in time. Rachel herself got thrust up to the ceiling so forcefully that it cracked from her impact; she was now stuck up there like a piece of scrap metal against a lifting magnet, watching helplessly as Max was splayed on the floor once more, jolting crazily.

Her seizure had come back.

Outside, the light-feathered snow became needles of hail that showered upon everyone caught outside.

The people, like the cops who attempted to apprehend the entity earlier, were all completely immobilized, yet completely conscious as well.

Chloe was standing with Kate and Victoria, making way for the paramedics who had just arrived and were about to rush through the door where Joyce pointed them to; now they were all reduced to painted statues with animated eyes.

No matter how hard she tried, Chloe couldn't move her neck; it felt like thick cables or wires that were inserted through every route of her bloodstream, and her nervous system thickened into metal and vibrated like a tuning fork.

For the cops, it was far worse than the first time it happened to them. Before, it felt like they were simply restrained by arcs of unreal energy. This was basically that, except needles were added to the mix forcing their way through their craniums and into their brains.

Everyone was experiencing this same pain, even Pompidou , who couldn't even whine through his pain.

Chloe tried to move her neck but gave up and instead tried to look with her eyes are far as she could into the diner, which also proved futile since she was faced the opposite way.

The only thing that Chloe could feel, other than the surging pain in her head, was the sinking realization that Max was having another seizure, the one that could vaporize her mentally , according to Rachel.

Things took an even more bizarre turn inside Max's world. Just when Nathan mustered enough courage to tackle Jefferson off of Max before he could 'deflower' her, the whole place started shaking as though an earthquake had hit them. All the furniture and stands rocked back and forth, threatening to topple or slide from one end to another violently.

Nathan had Jefferson in a neck hold as they wrestled on the floor, right next to Max. "Go, Max!" Nathan shouted. "Get out of here!"

"You're not being very obedient, Prescott!" Jefferson grunted. "No wonder you're such an embarrassment to your father!"

"Fuck you!" Nathan seethed. "I will not be your bitch anymore!"

Taking her opportunity, Max was able to struggle to her feet, thanks to Jefferson cutting her ties so he could spread her legs. The ceiling that held the bunker began to come apart as well. Wasting no more time, she strained her wrists until they too tore free from their restraints.

Max triumphed at her success for a split second before turning back to the two people still twisting and turning on the floor.

"What the fuck are you waiting for!?"

With that prompt, she took the blanket that Nathan gave to her and wrapped it over her shoulders; it was small enough to let her legs move freely.

"Tell... Rachel... when you see her... that I'm..." Jefferson's elbow connected with Nathan's nose, yet he refused to let go. He bit down the pain as he finished his sentence. "Tell her I'm sorry... please!"

Max nodded to him sadly, and then darted out of the bunker as fast as she could, managing to narrowly avoid every obstacle that was thrown her way.

"I'm sorry, Nathan." Was all she whispered as she fled the barn.

As she sprinted through the plain, free at last, she looked back one last time to see the walls around the barn come undone as it literally turned to glass and leveled by its roof.

From her distance, all there was left was a landfill of shards.

"I'm so sorry." She repeated.