Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So?” Nathan asked, his tone raised while his voice was at a normal volume. “What is it? Do you wanna go for round two, motherfucker? Ready to get your fucking nerdy ass handed to you for the second time?”

“No, uh, I just came here to talk. That’s all,” Warren said.

“Pfft, yea right. What do we have to talk about?” Nathan stepped out slightly and leaned against the door frame, both of his arms firmly crossed over his chest. “Let me guess, you want drugs? Well, heh, sorry. I’m a little tapped at the moment. Come back later.”

“I thought you’ve been clean for a few weeks,” Warren said.

That made the other flinch before a forced laugh escaped him. “What are you talking about? What the fuck do you even know about me?”

His mind raced for a while until he said, “I know you were friends with Rachel Amber.”

“And what do you know about Rachel?!” he said, glaring suddenly as his charade of a decent mood left him. “I swear to fucking God- have you been talking  to that blue-haired dyke?!”

“What, Chloe? Why would I talk to her?” Warren said. “Look, Nathan, we can talk this out, okay, just let me in.”

The glare that fixed itself into his face deepened, eyes forming daggers as they pointed at Warren. “Give me one good reason.”

He licked his lips. “Because I’m just as confused as you are, and I want to help.”

Nathan continued glaring, shoulders hunched as he drummed his finger on his arm. Finally, he gave in with a sigh and opened the door. “Come in, I guess. This better be worth my time. If it isn’t, I’ll make you eat shit.”

Warren gave him a small smile and stepped inside, the door closing immediately after, barely grazing the hair on the back of his head as it swept past him. The room was different, the atmosphere darker than he’d known it to be. He noticed for the first time the projector to the right, displaying The Shining soundlessly for the room. That had remained- along with the large display of movies and such, all cloaked in the same ominous lighting. Then there were the posters- posters he definitely hadn’t seen before.

They were depicting strange things he didn’t know Nathan took a liking to. Though, if the picture of carrion was any indication, this interest wasn’t new. It was just largely exorcised. He tried not to look at the other pictures on the walls, all of them women in some form of bondage. Well, at least he’s sure of himself, Warren thought with an internal laugh. Still, something about this is so fucking weird.

“So? What is it?” Nathan asked, sitting back on his bed and picking up his phone and simply tossing it around in his hands.

Warren watched him for a while, trying to grasp some question before finally saying, “Well, I just wanted to talk about what happened in the parking lot. You know,” he pointed to his eye, “this? I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

At least, half of that is true, he thought. It wasn’t as though he could remember anything that he and this alternate Nathan had done. Though, he suspected that there was very little they could have done if he’d pushed him away like this.

Either way, Nathan looked initially surprised by Warren’s genuine worry before huffing out a fake laugh. “You wanted to know if I was okay? Have you looked in a mirror lately?” he asked, pointing towards Warren’s right.

He looked over to that side, seeing a mirror that reflected this world in volumes. There was his black eye, purple and swollen on his face where he could clearly see it. He winced again at the sight, raising a hand. “It’s fine,” he said as he turned back to Nathan with a half smile.

He squirmed. “What’s fine? You think it’s fine that I beat the shit out of you?”

“My eye will get better,” Warren said. “I mean, it’s not like I’d want you to do it again, but I forgive you.”

“Oh really? Heh, I guess you really don’t have a clue. Okay Graham, I’ll ask again: What do you want?”

“I really do care if you’re okay!” he insisted.

“Hey, yea right, sure! Look, if you do care so much, then I’m going to ask, why? I mean, it’s not like we know each other. You’re just some punk ass nerd,” he said with a chuckle. “What could you want with me?”

“I think we could be friends,” Warren said, trying his best to smile. “If we tried hard enough.”

“Sure. And what would you get from that?” Nathan asked. “I know you’re a movie nerd, right? Let me guess, you’re here for these, right?” he said, gesturing to the wall of movies next to him.

“No,” he said, shaking his head dismissively. “I just-”

“Then what the fuck is it?” he said as he pulled himself from his bed and walking over to him, causing Warren to flinch. Still, he remained. Nathan’s eyes flicked over him, up and down, before a smile graced his lips. The smile wasn’t genuine, that much as true. It was too stiff for him, his eyes too wide. “Heh, of course,” he chuckled darkly, “you’re here to get information for your bitch snitch girlfriend who got me suspended, aren’t you?”

“Girlfriend? I don’t have a-” Then it hit him. “Max got you suspended?! How did that happen?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know!” he said, taking a step forward again and putting them inches apart.

Something about the finger digging into his chest felt familiar and terrifying to Warren, but it wasn’t Nathan. It was something else.

“I don’t know!” he said calmly, putting his hands up. “Look, just tell me what happened. I’ll listen. Whatever you don’t want to talk about is fine just… it’s like I said. I’m confused.” More than you’d ever know.

Nathan backed off, dropping his hand slowly to his side. “Why do you talk like that?”

He lowered his hands and, calmly, Warren asked, “Talk like what?”

“Like…” Nathan trailed off and shook his head. “There isn’t much to say other than what I already said: That hipster bitch got me expelled because she thinks I had something to do with that crazy… with Kate jumping off of the girl’s dorm.”

His eyes widened and his breath hitched. Kate… in this timeline… she… oh no.

Nathan growled. “I didn’t have anything to do with it!” he said, as if trying to prove a point. “I didn’t hurt Kate! So stop staring at me like that!”

“No! I didn’t think you did, I just… I’m just trying to wrap my head around this! Like, why would Max blame you?” he asked, more as a rhetorical question than anything.

Either way, Nathan proceeded to answer, “Tch- fuck if I know!” while stepping back and crossing his arms. “I guess she thinks I did something at that fucking party.”

Warren stood back, trying to read and gauge Nathan’s expression while keeping his own neutral. This was so different. It was almost like he wasn’t even talking to the same person. The posture was so off, and certainly didn’t belong to the proud man he knew. He took a deep breath, and reached his hand out, twisting and turning back time to when Nathan was still on the bed.

“You wanted to know if I was okay? Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“I have,” Warren said, stepping forward and putting his hands up. “And that’s part of why I’m here. Look, Max told me what she said about you. She also told me that you might be involved with what happened to Kate,” Nathan flinched, “but I don’t.”

That caught his attention, and Warren almost beamed as he sat up and looked at him with a genuine curiosity. This was the first true sign of emotion he’d exhibited that night, after all.

“What makes you think that?” he asked. “Why don’t you think I had anything to do with it?”

“Because I know you’re not like that,” Warren said. he brought his hand up to his eye again, gently ghosting his fingertips over the swollen flesh. “You could have done a lot worse to me out there- but you didn’t. People that hold back wouldn’t hurt people like Kate.”

His words only coaxed a cautious scowl from Nathan, who leaned back slowly, turning to the right slightly in thought and showing three scratches that had marred his face. Warren hoped that he wasn’t the cause, but he was also glad he wasn’t the only one who left with a few marks for his trouble. There was a tenseness that he couldn’t seem to rid himself of through his body, as if simply being in the same room as Nathan was triggering some instinct to fight or flight. Yet, he remained. This was bigger than him. Bigger than Nathan, even, and it appeared the latter could see that.

Throwing his phone down on the bed, Nathan stood and walked over to the door, brushing past Warren. With a sad glance at the ground, Warren raised his hand in preparation to rewind.

“Well?” Nathan’s voice stopped him, making Warren look into his eyes with a surprised stare. Nathan merely flicked his head towards the door. “Are you coming or what?”

Warren paused. “Where are we going?”

“I guess, if you really want to talk to me and make sure I’m okay, or whatever you queers wanna call it, then you’re just going to have to come with me. Aren’t you?”

He gave Nathan a smile as he walked over to the door and exited. A small part of him was scared that the door would close behind him, but this side was proven wrong as Nathan walked out as well and closed the door. From there, they made their way downstairs. Warren made a break for the parking lot, only to feel a hand lock around his wrist and pull him to the side.

“Don’t,” he said, looking around. “Someone could see us.”

While Warren wouldn’t describe them as an open and close friendship, he was more than a bit puzzled and offended at what Nathan had said. Regardless, he allowed Nathan to stealthily peak around and lead him over to the familiar red truck. They both packed inside, the truck giving a roar as it pulled away from the school. Nathan still peaked out of the window, a small sigh leaving him, just loud enough for Warren to hear. It was almost as if a weight had been lifted from both of their shoulders and, as the school faded away in the distance, a sense of being watched also dissipated. Warren hadn’t felt it before, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel safer once the school was long behind them.

It was almost the same as that first awkward car ride between them, only Warren was the one who wanted to talk this time. He didn’t seem to like this set up. After all, it’s always easier being urged to talk. That way, you know what the other person wants you to say.

As things were, the car ride remained silent, the two of them driving down and around Arcadia Bay. At first, Warren thought they were going to the barn, but that was passed over quickly and without hesitation on Nathan’s part. His jaw locked and his hands tightened on the wheel. They weren’t going to the barn. Instead, they turned down the road in the direction of the beach. The car slowed this time, allowing Warren to look out over the beach and spotting several whales that had stuck themselves onto the shore.

“I hate this fucking beach,” Nathan said.

Warren, not really knowing what else to say, said, “Yea. It’s a shame.” He paused. “They’re really smart animals.”

He turned around to see Nathan sneak a look at him. “Why do you say that?”

He shrugged and looked back out the window. “I don’t know. Someone just told me that once.”

Nathan scoffed. “Well, if they’re so smart, then why are they putting themselves on a beach? Seems pretty stupid to me.”

“Who said they’re putting themselves on a beach?” Warren said. “It could have been an accident.”

“Or suicide,” Nathan said, eyes trained on the road. “Heh, if that’s the case, maybe they are smart.”

At hearing that, Warren felt a bit queasy, but he tried to keep his expression neutral as he turned towards the window.

“So, how’s your school year been?”

“Shitty. Yours?”

Warren sunk against his window at the short answer. “Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad. How about Victoria? I heard you and her throw some crazy parties.”

“Why?” he asked with a laugh. “You wanna join Vortex?”

“No, no, I just… I just thought you had to have some good times in there.”

Nathan gave a sharp bark of laughter at that, slamming his hand on the steering wheel. “That’s fucking rich! Try again, dumb ass! Vic is pretty cool, but the rest of the place ain’t shit. Just some bullshit team of kids getting high and ruining lives.”

“Do you really think that?” he asked.

Nathan’s eyes grew darker, and if Warren didn’t know better, he’d say that his entire expression seemed to flicker. For a split second, he appeared more tired.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” he said. “It never mattered.”

“I think you matter,” Warren mumbled.

“Then I guess whales aren’t the only dumb ones,” Nathan said, eyes shifting over to Warren as he said, “Do you really think anyone throws parties to have fun?”

Caught off guard with the question, he mumbled out a, “I- uh, maybe.”

“Well you’re wrong, okay? You’re fucking wrong. No one does anything for fun.”

You’re going to help me deal some damage with this thing!

“People go through life doing things because they want something out of it-”

Here. They look like shit on me, so they might look okay on you.

“- and then we die.”

We’re fucking immortal!

“It’s as simple as that.”

Warren shook his head. “You don’t really think that.”

“And what the fuck do you know about how I think, bitch?” he asked, snapping as he turned back to him.

Warren looked down at the car door. “I guess I don’t know anything.”

“Now you’re getting it!” Nathan said, raising his hand before slamming his hand back down on the steering wheel.

Then, just as the school had disappeared, so did the beach to the point where Warren saw the last whale vanish in the rearview mirror. He turned forward then.

“So, how’s your fucking year been?” Nathan asked. “You know, since you’re so eager to pry into my private life.”

“I have no idea,” Warren said. “I feel like it’s been two years already.”

“Tch, dramatic much?” he said. “What is it, too much nerd homework?”

“No,” he said, his eyes flicking back to Nathan before focusing intently on the air vent. “It’s just… it’s complicated.”

“Well jeeze, don’t pop a blood vessel over it,” Nathan said. “We’re here.”

The car slowed as they neared a slope, Warren noting the hill. Of course, what really caught his attention was the familiar lighthouse that seated itself at the top. It didn’t appear as though Nathan was as interested, simply stepping out and peaking through the open window.

“Hey, punk ass, you coming?” he said.

Warren nodded and stepped out himself onto the soft grass of the roadside.

“Can you park here?” he asked.

“Who cares?” Nathan said as he trudged up the slope.

He followed obediently without a retort, finding the path easier to navigate without the harsh storm or falling trees in his way. When he reached the top, he found Nathan looking out over the worn fence at the base of the lighthouse, down into the waters below.

“Why did you really want to talk to me?” Nathan asked, not even turning to see that Warren had joined him at the top.

“It’s like I said, I’m worried.” Warren stepped closer.

“And why would you be worried?”

“You’ve always seemed kind of…”

Nathan turned around to face him. “Fucking nuts?” he offered.

“No! You’re not crazy!” he said. “You’re just…”

“Oh my God! You really don’t know shit,” he calmly with a low, hollow chuckle bubbling in his throat. Slowly, Nathan pulled something out of his jacket pocket. A tiny orange bottle. “You don’t know anything…. do you?”

With that, he launched the bottle into the ocean.

Warren ran up and looked over the fence. The bottle didn’t fall into the waves, as much as it bounced down the rocky cliff edge before finally rebounding into the water. The cool blue churned and swirled, the bottle long lost below.

“Nathan, what was that?” he asked, his voice wavering as he backed from the cliff.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Nathan said, sitting back on the bench. “If it makes you feel any better, I already emptied it in the drain back at the dorm. Meds are bullshit anyway, even my dad thinks so.”

“Then why would he give you them?” Warren asked.

“He didn’t give me them. It was… Well, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Warren considered rewinding, looking back down at the ocean. If he already dumped the pills in the sink, why would it matter?

“Come on, sit,” Nathan said, pulling out a package of cigarettes. Warren turned around to look at him as he lit one and inhaled, offering the pack to Warren. Before the other could respond, he pulled the pack away and laughed out a puff of smoke. “What am I kidding? You don’t smoke,” he said, pocketing the cigarettes again.

“I  didn’t know you did,” Warren said.

Nathan inhaled and exhaled slowly, not looking away from him. “It relieves stress,” he said. “But, hey, I’m Nathan Prescott! What do I have to be stressed about?”

“A lot of things,” Warren said. “You look like you’re going through a lot.”

“Bitch, please! I’m the Prince of Blackwell. I have nothing to worry about. If I wanted to, I could blow that school right out of this shit town and everyone with it,” he asid. “You have no idea who the fuck I am, and you better get used to it.”

“If that’s true, then why did you bring me here?” Warren asked, finally letting his tone raise.

“Ah, so the robot does have a heart!” Nathan mocked, inhaling again. “So,” he exhaled, “What is it? Do you think I want to be friends?”

“I wish you did! Instead, you just want to sit there and laugh at everything I say,” he said, motioning to his seat. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “It’s almost like you think it’s funny that someone could be genuinely worried about you.”

“Maybe because it’s fucking hilarious?”

“No it isn’t!” Warren yelled. “I’m being serious!”

“Yea! So am I!” He flicked his ashes onto the ground and leaned back. “Why do you even fucking care? It’s not like we’re friends.”

“We could be! Don’t you believe that?” he asked, his face growing long as his jaw slacked. Then, his teeth clenched together in anger. “And if you don’t, then why did you bring me up here, huh?”

That seemed to get Nathan’s attention as he pulled the butt of the cigarette from his lips and looked up at him. “You know,” he said with a laugh in his tone. “I really have no fucking clue. I guess I just thought that you’d understand. I guess I was wrong.”

He stood and dropped the cigarette, not even a quarter taken off of its original length. The heel of his shoe smothered the cherry into the dirt.

“It’s been nice talking to you. Have fun walking back, nerd,” Nathan said as he walked off.

Warren considered rewinding, but he knew it wouldn’t  work. This Nathan was too far gone. Not to mention, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to stand the car ride back anyway. Either way, he couldn’t suppress the shudder that crept up his spine. This wasn’t Nathan in the first place. He was wrong to think it was. And it was at that moment that he knew what he had to do if he wanted him back. But first, there was something else on his mind.

This thing is what led him into town, wandering down the roads and paths past the beach and up the hill to the nearest bus stop. As he flopped down on the seat, he looked out the window to see the familiar city around him. A world so similar, but so strikingly different that it made him coil away in fear.

Can I do this? Heh… What am I saying… I already did.

Once the bus reached Warren’s chosen destination, he knew it wasn’t too far off now. Just a walk up the street. After all, it was the closest stop to the hospital.

“Excuse me, what room is Kate Marsh in?” he asked the receptionist. “I’m a friend from school.”

He nodded thanks as the number was relayed to him and he stepped into the room with a smile. That smile only brightened when the girl in the hospital bed turned to see him.

“Oh, hi Warren!” she said with a large grin. “How’s it going?”

“Heh, I’m alright Kate, but I should be asking you that,” he said. “Everything been okay?”

“Oh, yea. Everyone’s been really nice to me here. Look, even Victoria signed the card Stella and Allysa brought!” she said, nodding over to a card on the table at the foot of the bed.

“Oh, I guess I missed them, huh?” he said.

“Yea… I actually thought you were going to come with Max, and then Allyssa said you were supposed to come with them. When Max showed up without you... I thought you’d forgotten.”

“I’d never forget about you Kate.”

I wish I could ask her what happened to her… but I don’t want to upset her. And what if I should already know? No. This is enough. To just be here. It’s the least I could do.

Warren wasn’t stupid. This was suicide watch. Something had happened in this world- something similar to what happened to Stella. He couldn’t believe it, really. He couldn’t believe how much this world paralleled his own. So similar, but so different.

“I haven’t seen Max either,” Kate said. “She said she’ll come by tomorrow.”

“That’s good,” he said with a nod. “I’m sure she’s stoked to see you.”

“Yea. I can’t wait to thank her. I don’t know what I was thinking on that roof.” So similar. “It’s okay, though. We’re going to get Nathan Prescott what he deserves.” So different.

A weak smile. “Yea,” he said, “you’re really going to stick it to him.” Please don’t let him be part of this. He said he didn’t hurt you.

She flashed him a wide grin.

I have to believe that he didn’t.

Kate tilted her head. “So I guess Max filled you in huh?” She looked a little tired and turned down to the bed.

“I don’t have all of the details,” he said. “All I know is that Nathan is involved some how.”

Kate nodded. “Stella said he was suspended. It serves him right.” She didn’t sound entirely enthused. “I just don’t understand why he didn’t get in trouble when he hurt you.” She raised a hand and gently pressed her thumb into the less tender areas of his eye, her other fingers gingerly wrapping around his jawline. “That has to hurt.”

Why are you worried about me? You’re the one in the hospital.

“It’s nothing!” he said, pulling away with a playful laugh.

“Hmph, it’s not nothing. You should really take care of yourself Warren.” She let her concerned look fall, only to replace it with a smile and a chuckle. “Max told me what you did for her. You were really brave to stand up for her. I’m sure she appreciates it. What even happened out there?”

“To tell you the truth, I really don’t know. It was all  a blur mostly.”

She giggled before staring at the bed sadly, tracing patterns with her  fingers as she mumbled, “This whole week has been a blur.”

A knock on the doorway called their attention to the nurse that was standing there. “Hey, visiting hours are almost over. Wrap it up.”

“I will, thank you,” Warren said.

“You better,” the nurse joked, pulling away from the door and walking off.

“Well, I guess that’s it then,” Kate said. “You’ll visit again?”

“Maybe,” he said. “I hope I can see you at school though.”  In my timeline too.

“That would be nice,” she agreed with a nod. “Well, see you later, Warren.”

“Bye, Kate. Good night.”

She smiled and waved him goodbye as he left the room, giving his own wave and half smile for her troubles. As the door closed behind him, he took in a shaky breath and sighed deeply. He knew what he had to do, as much as he didn’t like it.

The second bus ride was worse than the first, part of Warren feeling so heavy. It was as though the weight on his shoulders would bring the entire bus down to the earth, though he knew he’d be fine. It wasn’t his life that was on the line, after all.

If things keep going like this in this world, it’s going to get worse. But Kate’s here in Arcadia Bay… whatever happened to her didn’t in this timeline. How could I do that to her? On the other hand, Nathan’s going nowhere good. He could hurt someone- or himself. Ugh! He couldn’t help but yell at himself internally a he threw his head against the window. What do I do?

By the time he got back to the school, darkness had well set in and Warren had made up his mind.

I can’t let this happen. I’ll find another way to save Kate.

He approached the school carefully and wandered up to the door. As he walked over to the door, he saw a familiar face poke out, turning to lock the door.

“Mr. Jefferson!” he called, walking over as swiftly as he could.

The teacher turned around, startled at first, but then just laughing calmly.

“Oh, heh, hello, Warren,” he said, lowering his keys and turning to face him. “You know, you should really be in your dorm this late.”

“I know,” he said, “I just-” a thought struck him, “I needed to get something! Something from the school.”

“Oh really? From your locker?” Jefferson asked.

“Uh, no. It’s in the back of your room, actually,” Warren said.

His face turned stern as he insisted, “Warren, you should really be in your dorm.”

“Please, Mr. Jefferson!” he said. “It’s really important.”

He gave a huff, and looked around the front of the school. “I shouldn’t be doing this, but if it’s that important to you, I’ll walk you inside,” Jefferson said, opening the door and motioning for Warren to enter.

Nodding in gratitude, Warren made his way past him and straight to his room, trying to keep his pace even as he entered the photography room, immediately darting to the back and looking at the picture from the first day of school. Lines became clearer, the subjects in the picture coming into view as it gained depth. He could hear the whispers and the laughs as they surrounded him.

“Hold still.”

The flash brightened the room and Warren didn’t jump this time. His smile fell as soon as the picture was taken, turning to see those around him beginning to disperse.

“Now, please go back to your seats. You’ll be pleased to find that this is the last I’ve planned for class. I don’t try to go too hard on the first day. So, you have a free period. Enjoy!”

Warren shuffled to his desk and set his stuff down. He sat up straight, hands palming at his bookbag. There was only one way to prevent that timeline from happening. He waited until Jefferson pinned up the photo, Nathan asking to use the bathroom. While they were talking, he moved over to the cork board and took the picture while both of them turned away. To ensure that no one saw him, he sat down and rewinded to just before he took the picture. The photo was still clasped in his hand.

His gaze didn’t leave the wall as the bell rang and he gripped the picture in front of him with both hands. He waited until everyone left. Finally, as Nathan came back into the room to grab his stuff, Warren twisted the photo until it tore in two, standing and throwing the shards into his book bag. That was it. It was over as the corners of his vision turned white and the room flickered into a bland ceiling that he recognized from some other time.

He sat up and looked around to find his room. It was messy and familiar. It had to be some time in the night, maybe after twelve, but that didn’t matter none to him as he stood and pulled on the first pair of pants he found on the ground. Then he stumbled out of the room, not locking the door behind him as he made his way out into the hall and knocked on Nathan’s door.

He was afraid of the response, almost shaking where he stood.

“Who is it?”

“I-It’s Warren. Can I come in?”

The sound of the door unlocking alerted his ears, making him stand up straighter as the knob turned and Nathan stepped out in boxers and a t-shirt.

“Damn it- I knew you’re the only one stupid enough to be up.”

He was cut off, Warren pushing past him and into the room.

“Hey! Hello? Nerd? It’s the middle of the night!” he said, closing the door either way.

The pictures were gone from the shelves, the couch was back, the posters were gone as well. Then he laid his eyes on the mirror- one of the remaining fixtures- and took hand to his face. His eye was back to normal as well.

“Care to tell me what’s going on?”

He looked back at Nathan, and Warren smiled, rushing forward with a yelp of joy as he encircled his arms around him.

“Nathan! Ha, I never thought I’d be this glad to see you!” he said.

The other froze where he stood, arching back before relaxing and patting Warren on the back. “Woah, there! Heh, you gonna kiss me again, too?” he asked with a laugh. He pulled away once Warren had enough and looked up at him. “Seriously, what the fuck happened to you?”

“I- I just… had another vision.”

He doesn’t need to know.

“Heh, what? Did the baby have a nightmare?” he mocked  with a loud chuckle, pulling out of the hug entirely.

“Oh, it felt like one. I can’t really explain it, but I’m just really glad you’re here.”

The look Nathan gave him was filled with such awe and innocence, Warren’s words seeming to have caught him off guard. The darkness under his eyes from the other world was still there, but definitely not as profound. His expression was lighter, lips slightly parted as he stared at Warren in the dark.

Once he finally realized he was staring, he chuckled again, “Sure, whatever. Heh, no homo your way out of that one, Graham,” as he shoved him away playfully. “One kiss and it’s all over the place with you, huh?”

Warren tensed at that, but watched Nathan cross the room with a sure grin on his face as he plopped into his desk chair.

“Have you been up?” he asked, noting the brightly lit screen.

“Uh, sort of,” he confessed, settling down into the chair and motioning to his computer. “I’ve been trying to put this stuff together all night. It’s been kind of a hassle.”

“Put what together?” he asked, stepping forward and looking over his shoulder at the computer screen.

“Well, let’s just say I may have gotten something useful,” he said, whipping out a book and tossing it up to Warren as he turned around in his chair.

Stepping back, Warren began flipping through the pages before him and reading out the names of dogs. Dogs.

“Is this Frank’s?” he asked, a bit startled.

“Yep, snagged it from his desk. Neat- huh?” he said, turning back to the computer. “I think I’ve got a time, but it’s hard to pin down who is who with all of the dog shit  he crammed in there.”

“I think it’s a code,” he said.

“Well, no shit Sherlock!” Nathan said. “Each dog is a person. We just have to figure out who’s who.”

Warren nodded and looked through the book, flipping through carefully this time. One name caught his eye, that name being rottweiler. “Didn’t Frank call you Rott?” he asked.

“Yea, he does that sometimes,” Nathan said, possibly oblivious to what Warren was looking for in the book. “Tch, what the fuck ever. It’s better than ‘Tea cup.’”

He didn’t say anything more, simply nodding as he scanned the pages. So many meetings, but there was some relief in seeing that most of the purchases were marijuana for whatever that was worth. But the pot changed into other things as the dates got more recent. Something called thiothixene and two others called desvenlafaxine and bupropion were the most frequent- and expensive- buys on his behalf. But, true to his word, the last purchase was over two weeks prior.

This in mind, he picked his head up and asked, “Hey, Nathan, do you smoke? Cigarettes I mean.”

“Pfft, used to,” he said before he turned around in his seat again. “Why do you ask?”

“Why’d you give it up?” Warren asked as he closed the book.

“Dunno. Didn’t have a reason to,” he said. “Used to do it for stress.”

“What about whales?”

Nathan’s immediate facial expression was rather hilarious, seeing him flinch his head back and throw a hand up as a questioning gesture. He asked, “What about them?”

“When did you get into them?” Warren asked. When Nathan’s expression remained uneasy, he settled onto the edge of his bed with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know, you just don’t seem like the guy to be super into animals. And why whales?”

Nathan’s look kept an undertone befitting of a skeptic, but he answered. “I guess they’ve always been pretty chill. Growing up near a beach sort of does that, you know? Heh, Rachel used to joke around. She and Victoria had a good time when they…” he trailed off and stared at his wall, shaking his head. “Eh, whatever. All you need to know is that  whales are fucking sick, even though they don’t really matter right now.”

Warren nodded and looked at the screen. “Okay, and what have you gotten so far?

“Well, I’ve been thinking about when Rachel went missing and when Kate went missing,” Nathan said.

“Yea, uh, I think I have something to tell you about that,” Warren said.

“I know, they both disappeared at Vortex parties,” he said, turning around in the chair to face him again. “I didn’t think it was anything major at first, but I think Frank may have known something we didn’t. Check out the dates!”

Warren looked at him before opening the book again, shocked when he recognized one of the dates. “The twenty first? That was the day Kate went missing.”

“And I say again- ‘No shit, Sherlock,’” he said, ripping the book out of Warren's hands and tossing it onto the desk. “Now, I don’t know who the fuck this is, but I know everyone who buys at this school, and no one buys during a Vortex party. So it really fucking pisses me off that this is happening! But, I’m kind of glad this dumb ass decided to do it at the school.”

“And why’s that?” Warren asked.

“Because, there’s no way they got by Major Hardass and his greasy mustache,” Nathan said. “So that means there must be some kind of papers or some shit that talks about someone coming to the school at night, right?”

“Yea but where would we find something like that?” Warren asked, crossing his arms.

Nathan gave a wide grin and said, “Well, sure, I mean, it’s not like he works here or anything. Or, you know, has a big building right next to our dorms that might hold all of that stuff we oh-so need.”

“Nathan- no! Okay? No! We are not breaking into the Security Office of David Madsen to steal from him. Nuh, uh- Absolutely not!”

“Come on, Warren! Think about it! We need to do this!” he said, leaping out of his chair. “What kind of things could that walking sleeze bag be hiding in there? Not even the higher up security officers are allowed in there- only the head does!” He leaned forward, Warren trying to avert his eyes as he grumbled and faced forward.

“This could get dangerous,” he said. “I’m sure that David’s still on high alert after last night.”

“Yep. But what are we gonna do?” he asked with a shrug.

Warren tried to ignore him, starting to shake his head, only to make brief eye contact with Nathan, forcing his eyes forward again. Finally, he broke with a sigh. “We’re going to break into the Head Security Office.”

“Yes! Come on, let’s go!” he said, walking over to the door and grabbing his jacket.

“Nathan, wait!” Warren said as he stood up and moved forward. “We’re not doing this for fun! This is seriously going to be the most dangerous thing we’ve done this week, and it’s only the beginning of it all.”

“Okay, so what do we need to do?” he asked, pausing and crossing his arms as he shifted his weight to his right hip.

“Well, David is a good start,” he said, “as much as I’d hate to admit it, but it won’t help us with Frank’s book.”

Nathan nodded. “Well. I guess we gotta break into his shitty RV again too.”

“No, Nathan, that isn’t what I meant, and you know it,” Warren said, causing the other to glare at him as he drummed his fingers over his arm. He took a few tentative steps forward until he was standing in front of him. “We need to talk to Frank.”

“Yea, because that went so smoothly the last time we talked,” he said. “Sorry but, unless you have some cash, we’re breaking into the RV again.”

Warren stared him down, hands rising to his hips as he did so. Nathan returned the stare with the same intensity, shaking his head slightly from side to side as he did so. Finally, he seemed to break.

“Fine, we break into David’s office, and then we do things your way with Frank. Deal?”

Warren smirked. “Deal.”

Nathan nodded and smiled, turning to open the door and motioning for Warren to step out. He did just that, walking down the hall with Nathan to his left as they trailed down the stairwell and outside. Regardless of the need to compromise, Nathan smiled the whole way through. That smile put Warren in a sense of ease. I don’t know what the fuck Jefferson did- or if it even was him and not some long fucked up chain of events- but he’s back to himself. That’s a relief. I just hope Kate can forgive me for what I did to save him… I can’t let him know what happened. If he thinks for a minute he had anything to do with Kate’s disappearance, or Rachel’s…. I don’t know what he’d do.

He shook the thought from his head, looking up as a cold wind blew into his face and brushed his hair back. The world was as silent as death itself, veiling the two of them in darkness as they made their way to the security building. The campus was built symmetrically, with the dorms on either side of the school and a building paired with both of them. To this day, Warren still couldn’t understand who decided on putting the principal’s house, now housing Principal Wells, next to the girls’ dorms. Either way, it worked in their favor for, if Principal Wells resided in the building next to the boys’ dorm, they would need to cross the entirety of the school to reach the security office.

“Alright, so how do we get inside?” Nathan asked.

Warren shrugged before thinking it through. “Well, the main security officers go home after school, don’t they? And the others mostly watch the actual school building. So we should be fine with the front door, right?”

Nathan huffed. “Sure, if you want to be boring about it.”

“This isn’t for fun, Nathan,” he said, turning to him. “If you screw around, we’ll go back right now.”

“Ugh, fine!”

“Nathan- no, I don’t think you get it,” he said, cutting in front of the door. “If I lose control of my powers, I could end up doing something I regret and I might not be able to fix it. I want you to know that we can’t always fix things with my power. I’m going to use it whenever I can to save our skins in the end, but sometimes I might not be able to. Okay?”

The other stumbled back a step, looking at Warren with unsure eyes as he nodded slowly. “Jeeze, dude, don’t get so fucking serious with me. I know we’ve gotta be careful, okay? I’m not a fucking idiot, so stop acting like you’re gonna have to save my ass all the time. Let’s do each other a favor, alright? You look out for me, and I’ll look out for you. Tch- heck, maybe I’ll pay you back one of these days and save your life along the way.” He took a step past Warren and clamped him on the shoulder as he walked over the door before them. “But, hey, who said we can’t dick around every now and again, right?”

Warren looked at him for a short time, but ultimately decided to trust Nathan to at least take some care in the future regarding his own safety. Taking that as a win, he moved forward and joined him as he tested the nob.

“Damn, it's locked,” he said. Then he turned to Warren. “Can you build another pipe bomb?”

“I don't know where we'd find any of the supplies,” he said.

“Then I'm going to have to kick the door in,” Nathan said, to which Warren sputtered.

“You’re not kicking the door in! We'll find another way in.”

“Come on! At least let me do it and rewind.”

Warren looked at him and paused before saying, “You just did. Now let's find another way in.”

He clapped him on the shoulder as he passed, noting the proud smirk on his face. The smirk fell as he turned around, giving him a skeptical glance before he shook it off and followed. The building was large and house-like in shape, though it held a maximum of two rooms and a bathroom on the second floor. The first floor was somewhat of a living area, which had long converted into a lobby-like space that broke off into an underused kitchen/dining room and finally the main office. All of this could be seen from that first lobby as Warren looked on through a window. The light was off, which was what gave him the courage to try something.

He stood at full height, leaning down only to see if his fingers could gain purchase on the lip of the window. Once he found a hold, he pulled and forced the window up an inch. Once that high up, he forced it up further.

“Okay,” he said, once it was all the way up. “Maybe you should go first.”

“Oh, so I can get stuck first?” he asked.

“Well, you’re smaller.” As soon as he said it, Warren regretted the words, Nathan glaring at him. “I’m just saying that if anyone gets stuck, it’s going to be me! I mean-”

“Oh save it,” he said, drawing out a long sigh as he shed the bulky jacket before he finally tossed it to Warren.

He then crept to the window and heaved himself over the sill, diving inward as his body slipped through the opening with ease, the back of his shirt just grazing the bottom of the window. After he’d finally crawled through, he turned and leaned down to poke his head through the opening and whispered.

“Heh, maybe your fat ass wouldn’t fit,” he joked with a grin. “I’ll go get the front door open.”

Warren nodded. “Meet you there. Be careful, we don’t know if anyone else is inside.”

“Alright, see you later, mom,” he said, popping his head back into the house.

This left Warren to huff as he crossed again to the front of the house. Once there, the door opened and Nathan simply motioned for him to come inside. No sooner had the door closed before he found the jacket being snatched from his hands.

“I’ll just take this back,” Nathan said as he fit it over his arms.

Warren put his hands up with a smirk before moving ahead. “Come on, his office is back here,” he said as he moved to the back of the lobby.

Nathan followed obediently, finding the door and filing in after him.

“Alright, now let’s find those files,” he said, moving directly for the desk. “Look for anything on Stella. And Kate and Rachel, too. Who knows what this creep had on them.”

“Ugh, seriously. What kind of guy doesn’t use a computer for all of this bullshit?” Nathan asked as he opened a large drawer.

“Someone with something to hide,” Warren said, closing and opening even more as he went. Finally, he found a handful of folders pressed into the bottom of a cabinet under a few rather large books. “Bingo!” he said, moving the books to the side.

“You got something?” Nathan asked as he moved from one side of the room to the other, peeking at the files.

“I think so. I mean, it’s not like this asshole actually reads anything, right?” With that, the top file was opened, revealing a rather suspicious photo of Stella and Allyssa talking, Stella’s back to the camera.

“Ugh, creepy,” Nathan said.

“Yea, she doesn’t look like she even knows he’s there.” Warren shuddered as he closed the file and moved on to the next, finding it even more disturbing.

“Is that Kate?” Nathan asked, pointing to the girl in the photo.

“Yea. It is,” Warren said sadly.

It wasn’t even a full view of her face. She was turned, facing away from whoever was taking the photo. She wasn’t turned entirely away, but it wasn’t a perfect profile either as her silhouette was shaped with a halo of light coming from behind her.

He closed that one as well, putting it in a stack with Stella’s folder.

There were only two left now.

The next was opened to reveal another familiar face, this one being the ever popular Rachel Amber, seen standing beside Frank’s RV, smiling at someone to the right and just out of the shot.

“That son of a bitch,” Nathan mumbled.

He then proceeded to tear it from Warren’s hands, leafing through the papers quickly as he trained his eyes on the pages. Warren, however, couldn’t help but look at the final folder, opening it to reveal its contents with a worried look. His eyes widened.

Nathan scoffed and put the folder down. He looked as though he was going to say something, when he saw Warren’s expression. “What is it? Who’s in that one?”

He simply leaned over, opening the folder so that he could see it better. Though, part of him wished that there was some way to prevent him from seeing it, if only so that he didn’t have to see the pained expression etched into his face when he saw the blonde walking down a sidewalk with model-like confidence, looking to the right as she was frozen mid-step.

“That bastard, ” he hissed in a low tone, taking the folder into his own hands as he looked through the pictures.

“This is all kinds of sick,” Warren said.

“You’ve got that right, and this ass has got another thing coming if he thinks he’s going to lay a hand on Victoria,” he said, picking up the files from the ground and walking towards the door.

“Right,” Warren said, picking himself off of the ground and closing the cabinet, “let’s go to the police.”

Nathan whirled around on him, leaning up as he asked, “Are you fucking kidding me? The police? The police won’t do shit. We’ve got to handle this ourselves.”

“Nathan, you can’t be serious! Look, this is more than enough evidence!”

“Evidence? Heh,this isn’t worth shit! What do we have? Some fucking pictures we got by breaking into this guys house? This doesn’t tell us anything! What if he knows where Rachel is? What about Kate, huh? We need to find them, but if he’s the only one that knows, then he won’t tell the police anything. We need to do this ourselves.”

Warren looked at him for some time, seeming to hold his breath before letting it out in one sigh. “I get where you’re coming from, but I still think we should go to the police.”

“I can’t do it, Warren. What if he didn’t tell anyone where he’s keeping them? Where they went? What if they’re dead? No one would ever find them! Or, if they are alive, then they could be sitting somewhere scared! How would you feel if Kate died because they couldn’t find her in time?!”

Warren jumped at that, a shiver running down his spine and he let his head drop. “I- I guess you’re right,” he finally admitted with a sigh. “How are we going to find them, though?”

“Simple,” Nathan said, a bit calmer now as he held up the files. “We get Frank’s book figured out, and then we find out where he’s been keeping them.”

“And how do we do that?”

Nathan huffed and leaned somewhat to the side, looking at the floor thoughtfully. “Well, the only thing I can think of is finding out where this motherfucker lives and poking around there.”

Warren was about to make a retort about the danger but, thinking better on it, decided that it was probably one of the safer options as he gave a low nod of his head.

“Yea, I guess that does make sense. Come on, let’s just get out of here already."

After a night of trying to put together places and names from the photos, they came up empty handed. The pictures were all taken in different places around town, the only familiar setting being the school. So, it was with heavy hearts that they set off that morning, even more so for Warren who looked longingly at the school.

“Don’t even think about it!” Nathan said as they walked to the parking lot.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t make you face Frank alone!” Warren joked. “I just wish all of this private eye work could be done while keeping my GPA up.”

“Eh, don’t sweat that shit too much!” Nathan said. “Besides, are you sure that’s what’s really got you bummed out?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, you’ve been trucking around with me all week. Not a lot of time to talk to your girlfriend.”

Warren stood rigid, jaw clamping tightly shut as he said, “She’s not my-”

“Yea, I get it, she’s not your girlfriend!” Nathan said with a laugh. “Doesn’t mean you don’t want her to be though.”

He looked at him again, taking a moment to sigh internally as they finished making their way to Nathan’s truck.

“Why don’t we ever take my car?” he asked.

“Because your car is shit?”

“Said the guy who owns an SUV.”

“No, no, okay? SUVs are the shit. Your car runs like shit,” he said.

“Heh, sure, if you’re looking out to overcompensate.”

They both chuckled again, coming to a relaxed stop as they pulled themselves into the truck. Then the drive began, and Warren looked around the truck further. He didn’t know why, but the car itself seemed lighter. Nathan was smiling down the road, and it was a welcomed change from the other universe. He smiled as well, looking out over Arcadia Bay as they drove.

“Hey,” Nathan said, causing him to look back up. “About yesterday…”

“Don’t sweat it, dude!” Warren said quickly.

“No, okay? I didn’t mean half of the shit I said. Just so you know,” he said, turning his gaze more so out the window. “And, thanks for making sure we didn’t wreck our shit driving back. I kind of respect that you didn’t get out and let me turn into road paste.”

Warren opened his mouth to respond, turning towards the window again to continue thinking it over before he said it. “You know,” he began, “that’s just what I meant yesterday. I really am on your side, Nathan. No matter what.”

“Heh,” he gave a dark chuckle at that. “Yea. Until the bitter end, huh? That’s funny.” After that statement silence persisted the car. “After this is all over,” he paused, “you know, when we find Rachel and Kate and lock up Ranger Dick,” Warren snorted, “we should do this again. Like, without the whole, ‘two girls might be dying or something.’ Heh, maybe even Rachel can come with. And Victoria.”

“Max?” he offered.

Nathan looked at him with an off look, and held it for some time.

“What?” Warren asked. “What’s wrong with Max?”

Nathan jumped at that, as if he just realized what he’d been doing as he looked back at the road with a smile. “You want to bring Max in a car with Victoria?”

Warren started laughing at that. “Ugh, maybe not,” he said, leaning against the car door, a large, lazy grin on his face. “I can only imagine the fights.”

“Heh, yea…”

Then the car ride resumed in a comfortable silence that the both of them found rather relaxing. That is, until Nathan pulled into an unknown neighborhood. Not knowing much about the town, Warren accepted this as they continued driving along. It was when they pulled up to a house that he got worried.

“Nathan, where are we?” he asked, turning toward him slowly.

He looked at him, and then back to the house. “Warren, maybe you should hang back for this one.”

“Where are we?” he asked again.

Nathan looked at him and then down to where his hands grasped the steering wheel. “Officer McShit’s house.”

“Nathan- no! Okay? No!”

“We need more info on Kate and Rachel. This is the best place to get it right? And who knows, we might not even need shit from Frank, right?”

“Did you forget that David’s daughter works for Frank? And lives here?!” he asked, Nathan bowing his head further. “You can’t seriously think that this is better than just going to Frank’s.”

“Damn it, it’s not just about Frank! Okay? Look, we know this guy’s behind it, which means the most we can get is from this guy’s house, okay?! That makes perfect sense!”

“Yea, and we can let the police handle that part!” Warren said.

“Yea, the police, who basically let this ass do whatever he wants just because he was in a  fucking war or something?! Do you really think they’d do jackshit without hard evidence?” Warren settled down and leaned against the door again to think this over. “Look, he’s at work, there aren’t any cars in front of the house, this is the perfect opportunity to get some shit on this guy!” He settled down against the seat again, looking down at the steering wheel and clenching his jaw. After the thick silence set in, he took a deep breath and let his jaw slacken. “Alright, I get it,” he said. “If you really don’t want to, then that’s fine.”

“I just…” Warren trailed off. “I just want to make sure that you are doing this for the right reasons. I don’t want you getting ahead of yourself. But… I guess it does make sense to check around David’s house.”

Nathan nodded quickly, looking back down at him. “And you’re coming with, right?”

Warren breathed out a rough chuckle. “Like I’d let you pull risky shit like this on your own.”

With that, both of them hopped out of the truck and moved towards the house. Nathan wordlessly lead him to the side where they quietly pulled themselves over the fence, Warren partially worried about the sturdiness of the splintering wood below him.

Finally, they cut around to the back.

“Great!” Nathan said, opening the sliding glass door, “it’s unlocked.”

As they stepped into the cozy livingroom, Warren began to feel a sense of being watched creep up his spine. “Nathan, I don’t know about this,” he said slowly.

“Come on, we can’t back out now!” he said.

He looked at him blankly before giving them a firm nod. “Yea, you’re right, let’s do this.”

After receiving a clap on the arm for his efforts from a smiling Nathan, he followed him down the hall.

“Where are we going?”

“Detective Douche-Canoe’s garage,” he said as a devious smile took over his face.

He reached for the door handle, Warren tensing behind him as the door was pulled open to reveal a small garage. I suppose these are the grounds for our investigation. Dear God, I’m so glad I didn’t say that out loud. Nathan wouldn’t have let me hear the end of it.

At that thought, he let out a tired sigh.

“What’s that for?” Nathan asked at hearing it.

“Eh? Oh, nothing. So, what are we looking for exactly? A secret lair?”

“Heh, sure, whatever. Look, just look for anything with Kate and Rachel.”

Well thanks for the specifics. Ugh, guess I better just get to looking around.

He moved around the room, moving boxes and the like to see around and underneath whatever he could, Nathan opening a few cabinets before moving to the second part of the garage. As he walked over to the cabinets to pick up where he’d left off, he noticed one cabinet door was ever so slightly open, allowing a bit of light to peek out from the edges. Curiously, he stepped forward and opened it fully, jaw dropping at what he saw.

“He can’t be serious,” he said slowly.

“What is it? Did you find something?” Nathan asked, coming to look over his shoulder.

His eyes widened as well when he spotted the security monitor. Depicting the hall they’d just come down. Slowly, the screen flickered to another image. It was a bedroom of some sort. Then the kitchen.

“He put security cameras in his own house?” Warren stated.

“Ugh, fucking creep!” Nathan said. “You know, he wants to do the same thing at Blackwell, right?”

“Yea, Ms. Grant has a petition to stop it.”

“Yep, and it flopped.”

Warren whirled around at that and gave him a gape-mouthed stare. “You’re kidding me! She had, like, over half of the students on there!”

“Yea, and it wasn’t enough. Tch, like Wells would have listened anyway, am I right?” He reached forward and rummaged his hand in the tapedeck. “It’s not recording,” he said as he pulled his hand out. “Now let’s get back to looking.”

Warren stared after him as he walked away before he turned back to the screen. “Yea,” was all he said as he closed the cabinet door again.

He went back to rummaging around the other shelves.

“Are you sure he wasn’t recording?”

Nathan looked at him. “Uh, no tape in the deck, no record, right?”

“I know, but he could have hooked it up to something else right? Just using the TV as a monitor?”

“Pfft, and you think Officer Fossil knows how to do anything like that?”

“Well, he knows how to install security cameras,” he said absently, coming into the second part of the garage. The topic was dropped when he spotted a group of lockers along the wall with a padlock holding a large wooden plank in place. “What’s that?”

Nathan turned around to see what he was talking about. “No clue. Let’s get in and find out.”

“But, we don’t know the code to the padlock.”

“Well, we could stand around and look for it, or we could just bust it open.” At the look Warren gave him, Nathan jumped back and raised his hands in defense. “Hey! I didn’t mean we should leave it like that. You could always rewind and fix it. That’s up to you!”

“Well, I guess that’s true,” Warren said. “Okay, let’s do it. What do we have?”

“There’s gotta be something in here we can use. I bet Bob the Bolder has something lying around.”

Warren scoffed and shook his head. “Dude, no. I’m sorry, but that one was terrible.”

Nathan shrugged. “What? Come on, Bob the Bolder? Like, Bob the Builder?”

“It wasn’t even a good pun, dude. Let it go.”

“Tch, what the fuck ever! Let’s see you come up with one, Mr… uh...”

As he trialed off, Warren simply clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Let’s just look for that hammer and forget this ever happened.”

“Tch, whatever…” Nathan said, partially glad that the conversation would be forgotten as they both got to work.

Warren immediately darted for the large tool bench, pulling up on the lips of the child-proofed drawers to open them with a loud, metallic squeak. It took three drawers to finally find a large sledge hammer, which he held over his shoulder as he walked back to the padlock.

“Think this’ll work?”

“Probably,” Nathan said. “If it doesn’t, I don’t know what will.”

Warren gave a determined nod and swung down with the large hammer, effectively knocking the padlock off, as well as the plate of metal holding it in place.

“Alright, now let’s see what he has in here,” he said as he leaned the hammer against the other lockers and pulled out a white shoe box, the only contents. “Think there’s anything in these?” He gestured to the other lockers as Nathan stepped forward.

“Probably not. Are you gonna rewind?”

“Huh? Oh, yea.” He held out his hand and turned back time to before the  padlock had been broken off.

“Hey, what’s that?” Nathan asked, gesturing to the box.

“Whatever was in there.”

“Well, don’t just stand there, let’s open it up.”

Before they could move to open it, however, the front door next to the garage swung open.

“Prescott! I know you’re here!”

“Chloe, come on, let’s just call the police!”

“Come on, Max! This time, this rich ass bastard has gone too far! You breaking into houses now? Huh? Is that it?”

Nathan grasped at Warren’s arm as his fingers dug into the fabric and he pulled him back. There was no time to move, Chloe’s head poking around the door frame.

“Gotch’ya!”

Warren immediately tried to defuse the situation. “Chloe, we can explain-!”

“Oh, you brought your little bitch too, huh? Hope you got my money too, or there might be a bit more hell to pay.” She picked her hand up, pulling her pistol out of her waistband.

“Chloe- stop!” Max said, coming into the room.

“You can’t be serious, Max!” she said. “These dipshits broke into my house, digging through my Step-Douche’s shit. You crossed the fucking line Prescott!”

“Chloe!” Max rushed forward, pushing her arm to the side and knocking the gun out of her hand.

Chloe looked down at the pistol and then back to Max, shoving her back by the shoulders.

“Max, what the fuck?! Why are you taking their side?”

“I’m nowhere near taking their side, but I can’t let you shoot them Chloe! I don’t care what they did!”

Warren looked at her and reached out a hand, “Max-”

“Don’t even Warren!” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re looking for Rachel!” Nathan said.

“Heh, you’re still on that?” Chloe said. “Why didn’t you just ask. I know where Rachel is!”

“You do?” Warren asked hesitantly.

“Yea,” Chloe said sarcastically, suddenly glaring as she snapped forward and said, “Far away from this psycho!”

“Don’t you dare say that! You and Frank were the ones she was using!”

“Heh, Rachel loved me! More than anyone could say for you!”

“She needed the money!”

“At least I never hit her!”

That made Nathan take a step back as he looked down, his fist curling even tighter into the fabric of Warren’s shirt. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… It was an accident… I was sleeping and…”

“‘I was sleeping and-’ Ha! It’s almost like you think I’d believe you or something!”

“Chloe, listen to us,” Warren said, taking the calm moment to say what needed to be said. “We think David might have something to do with Rachel disappearing, okay?”

She sighed and shifted the weight of her body to her other hip. “Really? And just why should I believe you?” she stooped down and picked up the gun from the floor.

“David has security cameras, in the house. You know that, right?”

That got her attention. “Cameras, huh? Now that is a story of the century. Might even be worthy of my time. Got any evidence, Sherlock?”

“Cabinet along the wall. There’s a TV,” he said, pointing to the side.

She continued to look at him, moving along to the cabinets and only turning to look at the door as she opened it. When she did, her demeanor was lost. Her grip on the door shifted as she turned and gave them the coldest look over her shoulder.

“What else do you have?” she asked. When they didn’t answer immediately, she turned and walked forward. “Come on! I know you have more! Tell me about Rachel! Tell me about Step Dick!”

“We can’t tell you everything!” Warren said. “There’s not enough time. But this,” he held up the shoe box, “this is what we came for.”

Her eyes shifted to it and back to him. Studying them both for a moment.

“You didn’t touch my room?” she asked.

“We came straight here,” he said. “Look, Chloe-”

“Save it!” she said, shoving the gun back into her waistband. “You were never here. I’ll tell my mom about David’s new-fangled  security system. We’ll see how she feels about that. And do me a favor, Nathan. Don’t let me see you ever again.”

She left then, Max lingering behind.

“Warren,” she said, “whatever you’ve gotten yourself into, you better be careful.”

“Thanks Max, I’ll try.”

She looked back at Nathan. “You too, okay?”

He nodded and let go of Warren before looking away.

Max smiled and left the room, trotting up the stairs after Chloe.

“I think that went well,” Nathan said, finally finding a voice as he began moving forward.

Warren let Nathan lead him out of the house, if one could call it leading. He was more like a wary satellite, as if he was worried he’d float away if Warren was too far away. When they were again in the car, Warren put the box between their seats and looked up at Nathan when he didn’t start the car.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Talk about what?”

“Nathan, don’t do that… if you don’t want to, that’s fine. But you can’t let her get to you. Just because she let us go doesn’t mean she isn’t a bitch.” He stayed silent. “She shouldn’t have talked to you like that.”

He laughed suddenly and looked up at him. “Warren, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not, Nathan! I know this whole thing has really be stressing you out, and she didn’t help. So please, just talk to me.”

Nathan scoffed and turned his head down, running a hand through his hair and messing up his slicked back bangs then he turned back with an almost painful grin. “I’m Nathan Prescott. What do I have to be stressed about?”

Those familiar words sent chills up Warren’s spine. He reached a hand out to grab his shoulder. “Don’t say that. You don’t have to say that to me. I don’t care who you are or what your name is, Nathan. You’re so much more than that.”

“Stop it-”

“No, you stop it.” he let go of his shoulder and turned entirely to face him in his seat. “You’re so great, I mean, I know I’ve only known you for a week- but you’re funny, you’re smart- hell, I’ve never seen someone go shooting for fun! Who the fuck does that? This week has been the craziest thing ever, and I don’t know how it’s going to end, but I’m going to remember it as the best week of my life, okay? Because you’re here.”

“Heh, you don’t even know what you’re saying!”

“I do!”

“You don’t know what you’re doing to me…” The next smile was genuine, and directed toward the steering wheel. Using one hand to rest on the top half of the steering wheel, he brought another up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Heh. Come on, you’re killing me, you ass.”

Warren gave him a smile as he chuckled and shrugged off everything he’d just said. He knew that it wouldn’t all stick, but at least the thought hadn’t escaped Nathan. That was the important part.

It turned out that the shoe box from David actually contained coordinates,  along with a few pictures of students at Blackwell and, after looking through those files for a moment, Nathan realized something.

“I don't know this car,” he said, holding up one of the pictures of a grey car.

“Heh, neither do I,” Warren said. “Do you think it means something?”

“Pfft, fuck if I know!” He let out a long groan, leaning back onto the floor of his room. “Maybe we did need those things from Frank.”

“Wait, hold on a second,” he said, grabbing for one of the papers of coordinates. “What’s the license plate?”

“Fuck, uh,” Nathan squinted at the paper to get a good read and finally said, ‘TPFTHLK.’”

“It looks like David tracked that number to a place a few times.

“What place?” Nathan asked as he sat up.

“Well, uh,” Warren pulled the laptop beside him over and proceeded to enter the coordinates on Google Maps. His eyes widened at what he saw. “You gotta be shitting me.”

“What is it?”

“It’s the address of the… junkyard? I think?,” Warren said, shifting the lap top so that Nathan could see the monitor.

“Well, what the fuck does that mean?”

“I dunno, but it’s the only car we don’t know and it has this sketchy location?” he said. “I think we should look into this.”

“Fine, what about Frank’s book?”

Warren picked up a few pages and sifted through them, having torn them out for easy access. “Ugh, there’s… There’s a few deals on the same dates.”

“No fucking way,” Nathan said, pulling himself closer to look at the pages with him.

“Yep, some guy named ‘doberman.’ Sound like something he’d call David?”

“Then, whatever the fuck this means, it’s gotta be something, right?”

“Yea, something. Think we should check it out?” he asked, turning to face him.

“Well, we don’t have anything else to do. Let’s go.”

Stepping out and into the lot of scrap metal was something entirely new to Warren. The air it held was a stale one of a lost world. One that used to be held in high regard, from the cars and the signs, and now it lay in ruin around them.

“This is kind of creepy,” he said, waiting for Nathan to come around to his side.

“Not really. Rachel, Chloe, and I used to hang here. Frank too sometimes,” he said, almost musingly as he looked around. “I haven’t come up here since Rachel went missing though.”

“Maybe it was Chloe’s car coming up here then?” he suggested.

“Nah, Chloe’s is a truck,” Nathan said, “and you know what Frank’s shitty trailer looks like.”

“Well, whoever it is, let’s just try and find what they might have up here,” Warren said as he took a step forward. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t buy drugs before coming to drop off my old scrap metal.”

Nathan nodded and they proceeded to step into different directions, circling the junkyard carefully for clues. They peered around corners and edges of cars and trucks, until something flickering in the side of Warren’s vision caught his eye. When he looked over, he found that it was the same cat from his dreams and, subsequently, Tobanga. He looked away as Nathan disappeared behind a mound. He turned back to the cat, which quickly began scampering away.

“Hey!” he whispered angrily, following it through the mounds of trash and up a small hill to the edge of a forest.

It continued moving, and Warren thought he was going to lose sight of it until it came to a stop, as if it was waiting for him to catch up. He sent a fleeting look back to the junkyard, wondering if he should tell Nathan to come with. That was when the cat started moving again, picking up the pace.

I feel like… I should follow it.

Not looking behind him again, he raced after the cat, dodging around the thin expanse of trees to finally get through the small wooded area and into an open field of dirt. Taking a few steps forward, he kept his eyes trained on the cat.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Nathan called out, making him look up at him for only a moment before looking back down to the ground. The cat was gone. “Hey!” he said, trotting over from the edge of the woods and turning him by the arm. “I saw you take off! What the hell dude? Just leaving me behind?”

“I, uh, saw some footprints. From the junkyard to the woods,” he lied, looking back down at the loose dirt around their feet. “Hey, doesn’t this place look strange to you? A little bit, at least?”

“Uh, kinda,” he said, looking with him.

“Like, what’s all of this dirt here for?” Warren asked, walking to the center of the dirt block

“Pfft, if that’s it, it’s nothing,” he said, waving his hand in dismissal. “This was going to be a community center. Then the city found out the most they had money for was a junkyard. End of story.”

“So what was this?” Warren asked.

“It was going to be the pool.” He continued speaking as Warren kicked up dirt and walked around the odd shape. “My dad showed me the plans for it a while back. I don’t know what those kooks were thinking. A community center this far out of town? Tch, pretty batshit plans.”

Warren jumped up and landed on the top of the dirt. Then, he jumped again, and landed on the grass.

“I think this thing is hollow,” he said.

“Hollow? Why the fuck would it be hollow?” Nathan asked.

“I don’t know, who wants to fill up an empty pool?” Warren asked, turning to him.

Nathan crossed his arm and looked him over. “Fine. If it’s empty, how do we get in?”

“Well, uh… we could start looking around. If we can get inside, there should be an entrance somewhere.”

“Ugh, then let’s start looking already.”

Warren got to work immediately, stooping down and running his hands through the dirt.

“Come on, dude,” Nathan said after a while. “Being out in the open like this is starting to get kind of freaky. Let’s just head back.”

“Got something!”

As soon as Warren said that, he began getting to work, unearthing what he’d just discovered. After pushing a few handfuls from the top and off to the side, he found a shabbily buried hatch.

Turning up to Nathan, he asked, “Still think it’s just a pool?” to which the other pulled a face. “Still, what do you think is down there?”

“Looks like we’re missing something if we wanna find out,” Nathan said, kneeling and pointing to the keypad on the surface of the hatch.

Warren examined the keypad, dirt having crept into and around the individual buttons. He gently blew over it, revealing it further. “I don’t think we are missing it,” he said. “Look at how faded these keys are compared to the others!”

Nathan did indeed look, but didn’t seem to get the full effect as he said, “So? What about em’?”

“I saw it on Tumblr once. Something about the oils on your hands wearing down the numbers on a keypad. If that’s true then… 2-5-4?”

He punched in the code, to no avail.

“Well, that looks like a bust.”

“Hold on! that was only one guess,” he said, prepping himself for another go. “5-4-2.”

The door hissed as it unlocked, Warren grinning and pumping a fist into the air. “Yes! Score one for nerds everywhere! Up top!”

Nathan simply scowled. “No.”

“Eh, we’ll work on it,” he said, pulling himself to a standing position and opening the hatch as he did so.

When he stood there and looked at Nathan, he received a fake laugh. “Yea, sure. I’m going down into the creepy hole first.”

“Hey, no need to be a baby about it,” Warren grumbled. “I’ll go into the hole.”

Nathan nodded as he kneeled down again and stepped onto the first rung of a ladder going down the dark tunnel. He pulled himself lower until his feet hit what felt like a smooth floor.

“Okay, I think I’m at the bottom, he said, His head almost brushing the ceiling as he felt along the walls for a light switch. “It isn’t as deep as it looks.”

“Alright. I’m coming down, then,” Nathan said, the metallic sound of shoes on the rungs following.

As soon as he was down there, Warren finally got his hands on the lightswitch. When the lights came on, he really wish he could just turn them back off.

The walls were decorated with large pictures depicting scenes of bound girls and, at the end of the square room, a small photography set up with rows of cabinets along the left side.

“What is this place?” he asked.

“I think it’s still the pool,” Nathan said, looking up at the low ceiling. “It looks like Admiral Asshole just put some planks and shit over it and covered it with dirt. Ugh, it’s fucking creepy, though. Like I’ve been here before or something like that.”

Warren nodded. “I don't really get that, but I know what you mean. Totally creepy.” He turned his attention towards the cabinets first. “Hey, what do you think is in there?”

Nathan shrugged. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

They nodded sternly before pacing over to the cabinets and cracking open the one furthest to the right. What was inside made Warren’s eyes darken. Binder after binder with countless names on them all. The three that stuck out, to the both of them that is, was the order of Rachel, Kate, and Victoria.

Nathan froze and held onto the edge of the cabinet while Warren leaned down and pulled them out. After setting them onto a table, they stood and waited.

Finally,Nathan stepped up and opened the one labeled “Victoria.”

“It's… empty?” Warren said hesitantly. “I don't get it.”

Nathan didn't respond, only moving the binder out of the way in favor of the one that said, “Kate” along the spine.

Once it was open, Warren wished he could slam it shut again. Kate was crying and just all around lost in a world of monochrome. Some left her crying out on the floor, hands bound behind her back. The most startling one, however, was the one where she wasn't crying. She stood by Tobanga, her hands strung up by a pair of wings on the statue. Her head hung low, and her legs stood lazy- tired as they balanced her against the totem pole.

“Holy shit,” Warren murmured.

“I can’t believe this,” Nathan said, his tone one of anxiety. “How could he do this?”

“Is this at the school? The bastard got away with this in broad daylight?!” His tone grew further out of fear and despair as it rose with a new purpose: Rage.

He dove for the last book flipping it open to find more pictures. These ones, of course, were of Rachel. Rachel, who faded into the background, glaring at the camera. She didn’t cry out like Kate, she simply sat. She sat and stared down her photographer, hands and feet bound in every other photo. And then there was another with a form posed at her side, bound in a equal manor. This one was captured at night, the two figures posed opposite of one another, as if they could be swirling together in one fluid motion, swimming in a circle of darkness. Only a thin light illuminated them, leading Warren’s gaze to the statue above Rachel’s head. Tobanga made another appearance.

However, it was the person at Rachel’s side that drew Warren’s attention.

“Is that-”

“Chloe,” Nathan said, effectively cutting him off with his cold tone. “So that’s it. She’s in on it with her fucking step-dad, huh? Well, we’ll just see about that. Come, on, let’s go rescue them!”

“Rescue?” Warren asked, causing Nathan to skid to a hault as he stomped towards the ladder.

“Yea rescue. If they’re not here, they have to be somewhere around the school, right?” he reasoned with a heavy-hearted smile. “He must be keeping them right there! That’s why he doesn’t want kids around that thing! He’s gotta be keeping them around there.”

Warren leaned down and flipped one page back and forth, looking down to the final picture in Kate’s book. She was laying on a tarp in a good sized whole, arms and legs splayed out around her as her head tilted backwards in a way Warren deemed unnatural. The girls dorm was just visible through the trees, and it appeared as if Kate herself was being pulled towards the sky.

“Warren! Come on! Let’s go!”

“Nathan, look!” he shouted, pointing to the picture. “That’s Kate, she’s getting put in the ground. I don’t think they’re-”

“I don’t care what you think!” Nathan said, coming back over to him. “They’re alive, now are you coming or not?”

Warren looked down at the pictures again before he nodded. “We’re digging around there first. I think we won’t have to look far for Rachel too.”

Nathan nodded before pawing at Warren’s shoulder and dragging him along to the ladder.

When they reached the school, it was well into the night, around six. They sprinted from the parking lot to the totem pole from the photos, Nathan whirling around desperately before getting his bearings and taking off into the woods, Warren just behind him with a somewhat distressed expression.

Finally, Nathan stopped a few yards into the woods.

“This is it, see?” he said, looking up to where the girl’s dorm was just barely visible, the same as it had appeared in the photo.

Suddenly, he dropped down to the ground, digging furiously at the somewhat-loose soil with his bare hands.

“Nathan-”

“Are you going to stand around or help?!” he said.

Warren jumped at that, and then started digging himself, both of them working to uncover whatever was below them. They stopped when they saw the blue tarp.

Nathan froze, sitting up on his knees. “No,” he said. “No no no no no….” he continued, grasping at the tarp as he continued to clear dirt off.

The smell of death filled the air and Warren shot back, looking over to him. Nathan seemed frantic, broken as he scrambled at the tarp.

“Nathan…”

He kept digging.

“Nathan!”

He still didn’t stop.

At that moment, Warren lunged forward and pulled him back, Nathan kicking in his arms.

“Warren, what are you doing?! Kate and Rachel are down there!”

“They’re dead, Nathan! They’re dead!” Warren sobbed.

“No! They can’t breathe, I need to save them! We need to help!”

He continued repeating things like that over and over again, the dark only growing more profound as time went on, Warren holding him with both arms wrapped around his torso. Finally, Nathan stopped moving, and his cries grew less desperate.

“They can’t breathe… they need my help... I can hear them,” he mumbled.

“No, you can’t Nathan,” Warren said, not bringing himself to look at the bodies. “No one can hear them now.”

Past the edge of the woods, a cat padded onto the threshold of Tobanga the totem pole, gently curling its tail around its paws. As it faded out of existence, there was a sudden peace that came in with it. One that, though Warren couldn’t feel at that moment, was still there. There was truth in the world. And the truth was something that could not have been forgotten.

It took some time to pull themselves together, the night working its way forward as the two of them finally stood from the grave and pulled apart. Nathan was filled  with despair. It was fair enough, as he now had enough for both Rachel and Kate.

“She’s going to pay,” Nathan growled as he stared down at the grave.

“I know she will, Nathan. Now let’s go call the police and-”

“No.” The tone he used startled Warren into snapping his head around quickly. “You saw the things that David and his little Step-bitch did. Those fucking bitches! I can’t fucking believe they’d do something like this! You saw how many binders there were! And they were planning on going after Victoria next! We need to do this ourselves.”

“Nathan, we have so much evidence now. We just need to go to the police.”

He turned around. “If you want to do that, that’s fine. I just… I need to fucking do this.”

Warren paused before nodding hesitantly. “Then I’m with you. Until the end. Like I promised.”

Nathan nodded. “Then let’s go. Something tells me I know where Chloe is.”

They walked back to the school, Nathan leading Warren in the way of the pool. He remembered when they first came here. When there was still hope. It was so tranquil back then, and Nathan was himself. Now, as they walked toward the doors, there was no peace. Loud music blared with every bass drop, screams and shouts of ecstasy filled the quiet of the night air. The night went on without knowledge of the exchange that had just taken  place in the woods. These were now two boys who were prepared to get revenge. This was war.

“Warren!” Max called, running up to them. “Hey Warren. I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

“Max, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“Chloe wanted to come. She said that she had something to do,” she said. “Maybe you two should get out of here. I don’t think she’d want to see you again.”

“Oh, I’m dying to see her,” Nathan growled out slowly.

“Nathan, come on,” Max said. “I know you and Chloe are rivals or something, but that doesn’t mean you have to instigate something.”

“Tch, whatever. I’m going inside. It is my party, in case you forgot.”

“Hey, hey wait!” she said, pulling out her camera. “Come here.”

“What?” he asked, snapping his eyes down to the camera.

“Let me get a picture of you! You too,” she said as she scooched over and beside Warren. “I take pictures of all my friends.”

After some time, Nathan stomped over and stood at her side.

“There we go,” she said as she lined up her shot. “Just one… for abundance.”

As soon as the camera flashed, Nathan let out a sigh.

“There, now I’m going inside,” he said, pulling himself away and walking towards the door.

Warren looked after him, but then directed his attention towards Max.

“I’m sorry, it’s just-”

“It’s no problem,” she said with a grin. “He looks like he has a lot on his mind. Well, I’ll leave you guys alone then. And hey, tell him I’m sorry I was so hard on him. I realized after you guys left that, If I think I can change Chloe back to the person she was, then you can change Nathan too.” Max took his hand into her own, looking up at him with a wide grin. “Okay?”

“Okay,” he said, smiling slightly as he gave a brief nod. “Oh, and Max, can you tell us if you see Chloe? Nathan’s a little… out of it tonight. I don’t want them meeting again right now.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’ll keep an eye out for her. Bye, Warren.”

And then she was walking away, right in and out of Warren’s life. As always. He took no time to focus on that, however, as he turned around and headed straight for the pool doors. Once inside, he saw Trevor, balancing a skateboard on top of a stack of pool mats.

“This one’s for you Dana!” he cheered, dipping the nose of his board forward and down the mat. Unfortunately, one of the wheels got caught in the fabric, resulting in him flipping forward and into the pool.

I know I’m on a mission but… holy shit this is… this is just not okay.

And so, Warren rewound to just before he lept off, rushing forward to Trevor’s side.

“Trevor, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m gonna go down this ramp,” he gestured to the floppy mat, “dip into the gutter of the pool, grind on the edge and win Dana’s heart. Duh.”

“That is insane and you are drunk!” Warren said. “Get down from there!”

“Tch, fine… I guess I am a little wasted,” he said, getting off of his board and settling on the edge of the pool mats. “Eh, maybe I should just head back to the dorms. This place is mega torture.”

“You do that,” Warren said, patting him on the shoulder and walking away.

Now if I were Nathan… Where would I go…

He looked at the party that, while packed, was still visible enough to see everyone in the room. He stepped forward and looked around, finally spotting Brooke.

“Brooke!” he said, rushing over. “Oh, thank god, have you seen Nathan anywhere?”

“That’s how you say hello to me?”

“What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Really? You’re going to ask that?” she said. “Here, let me show you how it’s done: Hi Warren! How are you? Oh, me, I’m fine. Especially after I heard that you asked Max out to the drive in even after you said you were going with me.”

He shot back. “Drive in? Oh! Oh, no, Brooke, I wasn’t asking her out! I thought she could come with! Like we could all go as friends.”

“Friends? Ha! Wow, sure. Yea, you think of Max as a friend? Well I sure hope you don’t think of me as a friend after this.”

She then proceeded to pour her drink on his head and stomp away.

Wow Warren, that was totally uncool of you. Maybe Nathan was right. She does get just as hurt as I do. Ugh, how did he know and I didn’t? Oh well, I need to make this right.

He rewound, Brooke’s drink ending up back in her hand with his clothes once again dry and free of the smell and stickiness of soda.

“Hey Brooke,” he said. “Listen, I think we need to talk, okay?”

“What is it, Warren?” Brooke asked, seeming more ready to listen.

“Okay, you remember how I said I’d go to the drive in with you this week end?”

“Yea, what about it?” she asked, her grip on her cup tightening slightly. “Well, I think I may have made you think it was something that it wasn’t.”

She looked taken aback, but definitely more surprised than her anger from before.

“Look, Brooke, you’re a really nice girl, I just don’t think you and I would work out.”

“It’s Max, isn’t it?” she asked, looking to the side.

“No, it’s not Max either! Believe me, Max has no interest in me,” he said. “All I’m saying is… Well, I’ve been through alot this week. And It’s made me realize that I’m just not ready for a relationship right now. Do you get what I’m  saying?

“Not really, but I think I get the gist of it,” she said.

“Good. And, hey, if you want to take the tickets, go ahead. You know, I heard Hayden doesn’t have any plans this weekend.”

She nodded. “Good call. Thanks Warren.”

“No problem. And no hard feelings, right?”

“No, we’re good,” she said in agreement.

“Alright. Hey, have you seen Nathan tonight?”

“Uh, yea. I think he went back to the vortex club. You know how they are back there.”

“Thanks Brooke, I’ll see you around.”

“Bye, Warren.”

With a feeling that he’d finally done something right, Warren confidently walked over to the entrance of the Vortex club. That confidence diminished when he saw the large boy standing by the tarp.

Just realizing that the club did indeed have a bouncer, he turned toward the girl at the table.

“Hey, uh-”

“Don’t even say it, nerd,” the girl at the booth said. “This is the Vortex Lounge, for members only.”

“I-I really need to get in there. Nathan wanted to see me.”

“Heh, yea, sure. Whatever,” she said, raising a hand and waving him off. “Now why don’t you beat it, already?”

“Is that anyway to talk to a friend of the president of the Vortex Club?”

The voice startled Warren into turning around. When he did, he was greeted with the sight of Taylor and Courtney.

“Eh, Courtney!” the girl exclaimed, seeming rather skittish at this point. “Uh, come on, this guy is totally lying right? We’ve seen him around campus.”

“Yea, we have,” Taylor said.

The two stepped forward and leaned over on the table.

“Have you?” Courtney asked. “Because, if you have been, you’d know that Warren and Nathan have been very close this week.”

“Very close,” Taylor added. “So close, that Victoria herself added him to the list. So, are you going to go against Victoria’s addition?”

“Uh, sorry, I didn’t see-”

“You didn’t see his name on the list?” Courtney asked. “Or did you not know Warren’s name?”

“Not knowing the name of a fellow member? Not very Vortex of you.”

“Not very Vortex at all. Consider yourself out of the club.”

The girl at the booth gave one final look of shock before slumping to the table in defeat. That was when Warren’s two saviors turned around, bright smiles on their faces.

“Welcome to the Vortex Club, Warren!” Taylor said, moving past him with a tap on the shoulder.

Courtney did the same with a final remark of, “Tell Nathan we said hi!”

He stared after them before moving past the bouncer, a final nod in his direction before he emerged into the actual Vortex Lounge. This was it, the last place Nathan could be. Okay, this is it, he said to himself. Now… Where do I start?

He look around for a while, simply blinded by the dazzling lights. If the colored beams outside were an issue, this certainly was. It wreaked of cigarette smoke and alcohol. He spotted a few shapes on the couch, but focused on looking for Nathan. What he found was the next best thing.

“Victoria!” he said, causing her to turn around.

“Well, if it isn’t Warren. Courtney said you had some trouble getting in.”

“Yea, I didn’t know I was on the list. Thanks for that.”

“Don’t thank me,” she said. “Your name wasn’t on the list. Laura just had to go anyway. Two birds with one stone. I guess you can hang back here though. Just try not to nerd everyone up.”

Wow, very generous of you, your majesty.

“Have you seen Nathan?” he asked.

“Yea, he went through there,” she said, gesturing to the door.

“Thanks,” he said, almost darting past her when she stuck an arm out to stop him.

“Not so fast, Warren Graham,” she said, causing him to stay right where he was as they again made eye contact. “Look, I know that I came down pretty hard on you the other day, and that was wrong. But, I think you should know why I did it.”

“Victoria, I get it, okay? You and Nathan are extremely close, and he really likes you. Believe me, I’m not going to come between you guys okay?”

She laughed in his face. “You think Nathan and I like each other? Oh don’t get me wrong, he’s great but… Oh well, you’ll figure it out soon enough. Nathan and I are like twins. After all of the bullshit we’ve been through… I don’t think I could live without him. So, just make sure you take care of him no matter what. Okay?”

It was the first really sincere thing Victoria said. Not only that, but it was more so a request than a demand, as if she was a warmer person now. This is what gave Warren the courage to nod in confirmation.

“I’ll do everything I can,” he said.

“Alright. Oh, and I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen to you if you don’t?”

“I think you already did,” he said with a chuckle as he moved past her. “See you later, Victoria.”

She waved him off as he went through the exit door, emerging on the outside of the school. Once out, he felt something vibrate in his pocket. Pulling out his phone, he was surprised to find a text from Nathan.

‘I have Chloe. Come up to the burial spot. You know where.’

The text was ominous at best, but he was sure that Nathan wouldn’t do anything he’d regret. But he still wanted to be there to make sure things didn’t get too out of hand. He had a promise to keep- two now. For Nathan. That’s why he jogged up from the pool to the girl’s dorm. That’s why he moved from the courtyard of the girls dorm to Tobanga. That’s why he crossed from Tobanga to the woods.

That’s why he didn’t run when the lights he hadn’t spotted when he first came there flicked on, illuminating the clearing.

And that’s why he wanted to cry when he saw the body laying sloppily on the ground.

“N-Nathan…”

His eyes were wide open, arms in front of him as if he was curling into himself, even in death. For he was dead. That is, if Warren was to believe the red halo forming around his head.

He was about to rewind, to stop this, when a needle pricked his neck. He found his world growing cloudier, white edges closing in on his vision. He fought it off, trying to rewind with a few grunts of effort. He fell to the ground with a heavy thump, hitting Kate’s grave with a sinking feeling that he would be joining her soon. He wasn’t expecting this, and he wasn’t expecting the face of Mr. Jefferson standing over him to be the last thing he saw before he completely blacked out.