Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Warren awoke, unaware of what had happened to him or where he was. He stood and looked around, a cold wind nearly sweeping him off of his feet. He couldn’t remember how he got there, but that hardly mattered as he stood and moved forward, deciding that the cold would kill him long before his curiosity did. He pulled at the sleeves of his shirt, attempting to gain some warmth in his arms as he jogged ahead. His foot slipped at one point, causing him to stumble back, another spray of ice-water being thrown into his face. When he wiped it away from his eyes and looked ahead, now at the top of the hill, he wasn’t able to look away. Standing before him was a twister the size of the city he called home. It was coming right for him. 

“How is this even possible?” he whispered in awe as he backed away. 

It should have ripping him apart from how far it was, how was he still standing? 

There was little time to think about it, a large crack ringing from above him. It was with shaking hands and shivering shoulders that he looked up just in time to see a boat stemming from the lighthouse crashing down towards him, coming in fast. As he flinched down, he felt himself falling backwards. Instead of landing in the soft mud below him, or even feeling the weight of the boat crushing him, all he felt was a sharp pain in the back of his head, hearing metal scrap against the floor just under the sound of multiple voices laughing around him. 

“Is something wrong, Mr. Graham?” Ms. Grant asked from the front of the room as he struggled to stand again, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Uh, yea. I mean- no, Ms. Grant. Everything’s good!” he said with a forced chuckle. He finally made it onto his feet and corrected his stool, sitting on it with little more than a wince as he sat down. 

Ms. Grant narrowed her eyes at him, erasing the work done so far on the board as she said, “Alright then, please solve the equation above. I’m sure you’ll find it quite easy. Well, so long as you’ve been keeping an eye on what we’ve been doing?” 

He stood again, trying not to limp as he made his way over to the board. It was a simple formula to balance, something he’d been doing since middle school, really. He was finished with it soon enough and threw a smile over his shoulder at Ms. Grant as he did so. 

“Very nice, Mr. Graham,” she said. 

He nodded and started to make his way back to his seat. 

“I’d still like to see you after class,” she chimed from behind, causing a few more sniggers to erupt throughout the class. 

He gave a half-smile before looking back down at his notes. Well, they were notes, but they’d somehow degraded into cruddy doodles of old scenes from sci-fi movies. From the Spock in the corner, wishing him to “Live long and prosper,” to the crudely drawn Marshmallow Man walking happily along the edge of the page, his notebook was just as nerdy and hopeless as he was. 

He flipped the book closed, resisting the urge to return the ta’al his favorite vulcan offered to him, even if it was a poor excuse for a hand. 

He didn’t really need them anyway, not like the other guys in this class. With this thought, he allowed his eyes to trace the room over to Logan and Zach. They weren’t really paying attention to Ms. Grant’s lecture either, but she didn’t really seem to be bugging them. Deep down, he knew that it was only because she still had hope for him. Still, it wasn’t like her to give up on students. Then he saw Logan smash Zach’s water bottle while he was trying to drink it and the shoving match that ensued. 

He looked back around the room, land his eyes on Brooke. Brooke was the only other person in the class that he really thought was smart. Well, maybe that wasn’t fair, but her marks were nothing to sneeze at, that was for sure. But that wasn’t without the constant determination that she showed, not even looking away from the board as she reached down to get a pencil that had fallen on the floor. He slumped and flicked his eyes over to the middle of the room just as Justin was nailed with a spit wad in the back of the neck. 

The bell rang too early to figure out who’d done it but, as he looked over to Logan and Zach again, it wasn’t hard to spare a guess. 

At that, he walked up to the front of the room and shuffled over to Ms. Grant’s desk. 

“You wanted to talk to me, Ms. Grant?” he asked, glad that everyone had emptied from the room. 

“Warren, you know I enjoy your company in my class,” she said, leaning her hip against the desk, “however, I enjoy it more when you’re actually awake.” 

He rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his gaze around the room. “Uh, yea, I’m sorry about that. I guess I just zoned out.” 

She lifted a brow. “Really now?” when all he did was give her an awkward smile, she sighed. “Warren, I enjoy your being in my class, I really do. You’re an intelligent boy, especially for your age. I know you’ve only skipped one year, but that is still quite an achievement. Don’t lose that wonderful advantage daydreaming. Okay?” 

He smiled again, weakly this time as he backed away. 

“I’ll try to remember that.” 

“You better,” she said playfully, finally dismissing him with a wave of her hand. “Now go on.” 

There was no more than a brief nod as he all but ran out of the science room. When he made it out into the hall, he managed to groom himself into order as he made his way to the bathroom. He bumped shoulders with a handful of kids on his way out, attempting to not make eye contact with Logan and his gang as they pressed Daniel back into a locker. 

Man, I’d really hate to be that kid, he thought, his grip tightening around his bag. 

He’d always aimed for invisibility, and it was times like these where he was glad he’d achieved it. Yet, there were also times when it was less to his advantage. He remembered this, huffing slightly as he thought of Max and opened the door to the boy’s bathroom. The room was pretty crappy, Blackwell being as prestigious as it was. This was a joke, of course. Heck, one of the stalls didn’t even have a door, and one of the urinals was shattered from the middle down, the plumbing twisted crudely on the other. 

He eyed this with disinterest, noting that he barely used the things anyway. As Warren neared the farthest sink, the only one that worked, he dropped his book bag onto the ground. He realized his mistake too late as the clamps of two buttons, as cheap as they were, slipped out and caused them to spill onto the floor and roll away. One of them rolled under a sink, but the other darted behind a divider and into an alcove at the far end of the bathroom. 

“Shit,” he whispered under his breath, picking up his book bag as he walked over to find just where they’d ended up. 

He picked it up from the ground, fingering the round edges with a smile. I can’t lose this, he thought to himself. Brooke made it, after all. She worked hard on it too. The picture inside was an adorable rabbit. He was about to refasten the button back onto his strap and leave the alcove when the bathroom door opened. At hearing this, he didn’t think much of it and kept walking. That is, until he saw just who had entered. They were tall with blue hair, but that didn’t really matter. What stuck out to him was that the person who’d entered this boy’s bathroom was very feminine. 

Not really understanding how to approach the situation, he resigned to hiding in the alcove all over again. What’s she doing here? Man, this has to be a mistake. She’ll probably just realize it and leave. No need to embarrass anyone! 

That was when he heard the door open again. Only when the girl started talking did he realize what was going on. 

“Hey, Prescott,” she said, heels of her boots clacking along the tile floor. “You look hella smoking. Or, should I say popping? That’s what you prefer, right?” 

“Don’t say that!” the second person, Prescott, growled. “You don’t know who’s around.” 

“Oh chill,” she said. “If there was anyone here, I’d get in trouble, not you. It isn’t like your dad is the one watching you like a hawk at this place. Oh, wait. Sorry, I forgot.” The laugh in her voice was unmistakable and it led Warren into looking out from behind the divider to see whatever he could. 

There he saw that the Prescott in question just so happened to be Nathan Prescott. He didn’t know him well enough, but he did know who he was. Everyone and their mother knew who the Prescott’s were, after all. And yet, that air of power and sophistication that was carried with his name fell when Warren saw the boy reflected in the mirrors above the sinks. 

He was shaking and moving around rapidly. 

“Look, I can’t get you your money today, alright, but I know that-” 

“Nathan- why do you do this to me?” the girl said with a roll of her shoulders. “You realize that I have a quota to fill right? I can’t do that if I’m not making sales.” 

Nathan scowled. “I’m half of your ‘sales.’” 

“Bullshit,” she said, pulling out a pistol and backing the skittish boy into a wall. 

“Where did you get that?” 

“It’s only a sale if you’re paying me for my service.” 

“Chloe- Chloe stop!” 

“I don’t get shit if you don’t pay up, and if I don’t get shit, then I get killed. So, the most I can hope for is for you to pay me off next time, got it?” 

Nathan flicked his eyes from her to the gun before attempting to jump away. He slammed his head into hers, knocking her back and causing the gun to go off in her hand, sending the bullet into his body. He cringed and fell automatically as Chloe jumped back, looking down to the gun in her hand with a silent scream pictured on her face. Warren reached out, as if he could stop the action and, when he did, he found himself back in science class, jittering on his stool, but catching himself just before he fell. No one seemed to be paying attention to him, as if he hadn’t just seen Nathan Prescott get gunned down in the boy’s bathroom.  

Oh my God, it was just a dream, he immediately thought, but it felt so real. 

He tried to shake it off, but couldn’t help looking around, noting that Logan had bashed Zach’s water bottle and gotten water everywhere. He had to admit that was weird. Out of curiosity, he looked over to Brooke, feeling a bit uneasy as she kneeled down in her seat, eyes locked on the board. He could feel the blood drain from his face. 

Okay Justin, he thought, it’s all on you. 

The spitball hit her in the neck and Warren shot back, knocking a tray of test tubes off of the desk. He hissed with annoyance. 

“Mr. Graham!” 

He shot her an apologetic glance as she sighed. “Alright, I’ll call Samuel in. Maybe you can help him in cleaning up this mess.” 

No no, he thought, if this is real and I have time powers, I need to use them to save that guy! 

Looking down at the broken glass, he held out his hand like he had before, holding it there as the glass seemed to fly back to the table, reforming into its rack properly and neatly. He smiled looking at the class again. Water, pencil, spit wad. This was real. 

The bell rang and he approached Ms. Grant’s desk. 

“Warren, you know I enjoy your company in my class,” she said, leaning her hip against the desk, “however, I enjoy it more when you’re actually awake.” 

“I know, Ms. Grant. I’m sorry. I know I have a real advantage at Blackwell. I don’t want to lose it daydreaming.” 

She looked surprised for a moment before relaxing and smiling. “Well, just don’t let it happen again. I’ll let it slide this time though. Now go on, get to your next class.” 

He nodded with a thankful smile. This time, when he got into the hall, he didn’t stop for anything, going straight to the bathroom. Once in, he didn’t really know what to do, running his fingers along the edge of his book bag strap, leading his hand to the button with the rabbit and the other button that had fallen before, a “221B” button. As he did so, both buttons fell off again and crashed to the ground. This time, however, the Sherlock button was the one that rolled away to the alcove, and the bunny had passed under the sink. It appeared that time travel didn’t account for position and physics.

He almost dove for the rabbit, but heard the door start to open. In his panic, he simply darted behind the divide again. He didn’t know who this Chloe was, but he knew that he wasn’t messing with a girl with a gun. Instead, he tried thinking of some other way to help, carefully stooping down to grab at his button first, truly the worst of his problems at the moment. 

The door opened again, signaling Nathan. 

“Hey, Prescott,” she said, heels of her boots clacking along the tile floor, just as they did before. “You look hella smoking today. Or, should I say popping? That’s what you prefer, right?” 

“Don’t say that!” Nathan growled. “You don’t know who’s around.” 

“Oh chill,” she said. “If there was anyone here, I’d get in trouble, not you. It isn’t like your dad is the one watching you like a hawk at this place. Oh, wait. Sorry, I forgot.”  

He imagined Nathan shaking as he spotted the fire alarm. 

“Look, I can’t get you your money today, alright, but I know that-” 

“Nathan- why do you do this to me?” the girl said with a roll of her shoulders. “You realize that I have a quota to fill right? I can’t do that if I’m not making sales.” 

Nathan scowled. “I’m half of your ‘sales.’” 

“Bullshit.” 

He had to act fast. 

“Where did you get that?” 

He picked up his book bag. 

“It’s only a sale if you’re paying me for my service.” 

He hesitated only for a moment. 

“Chloe- Chloe stop!” 

The book bag slammed into the glass, breaking it as he pressed the button inside, cutting his hand slightly on the shattered class in the process. 

He peaked out, Chloe having jumped back, gun pointed in the air as Nathan scrambled. He managed to knock her legs out from under her, resulting in her sliding back on the ground as the gun passed away, landing somewhere near his button under the sink. Nathan followed the sliding weapon with his eyes, only looking away when he’d gotten his hand around the door handle. Then he bolted straight out of the bathroom. 

“Fuck!” Chloe exclaimed, grabbing the gun and standing. “What a bullshit day,” she grumbled. 

Then she placed the gun into her coat and she was gone. 

Still, he waited and checked his book bag for glass before approaching the sink where his button still laid on the ground. Now that both of them had been replaced, he exited the bathroom. He looked to the left, opening the door to the right as he walked forward. His first instinct was to make sure that Chloe wasn’t still hanging around, but that lead him into walking straight into David Madsen. 

“Hey! Why are you inside?” he asked as Warren backed away. 

“Uh, I was using the bathroom,” he said. 

“When you hear that buzzer, you’re supposed to be outside- what part of that do you not understand?” 

He looked down, “I was just-” 

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” 

“That will be all, Mr. Madsen.” 

Warren had never been so happy to hear the principle say his name in his life. 

“Thank you, now please allow Mr. Graham to move on outside with the rest of his class, and shut off that alarm- seeing how that is your job and all.” 

Warren watched him leave with a weary glance before looking up the other immediate threat.  

“Thanks, Principle Wells,” he said, attempting to shuffle away. 

“Now not so fast there, Warren,” he said. 

Warren slumped back slowly and stood in silence. 

“I usually don’t have a problem with you. You’re the brightest mind Blackwell has to offer, and we’re proud to have you on campus. But that still doesn’t excuse the fact that there’s something off about you today. Wanna tell me what happened?” 

Warren searched his face for a while, disputing whether or not to tell him what had just happened. Would he even believe me? he wondered. 

He weighed the pros and cons, finally deciding to say “I pulled the fire alarm.” 

Wells nodded. “I figured as much. Well, this is pretty serious, Warren. You better have a good reason.” 

“There was a girl in the bathroom,” he said. 

He gave him a look, shifting back and crossing his arms. “Well you and I have very different responses to that situation.” 

Warren shook his head quickly and said, “No, it was different. She had blue hair and black clothes and… she had a gun.” 

“A gun? On school grounds?” he asked. Warren nodded, and he looked down, placing his hands on his hips. “Well then… I’ll get to the bottom of this. You said she had blue hair?” 

“Yes.” 

“Alright, now was there anyone else with her?” 

The question made him freeze. “Uh, there might have been a boy with her. I’m not sure though.” There’s no way I’m getting on the bad side of a Prescott. 

“A boy? Could you be more specific?” Wells asked. 

“No, it was just a dude, you know?” 

He didn’t look convinced, but nodded along anyway. “Well, go on then. I promise, I’ll get to the bottom of his. Have a nice day, Warren.” 

“You too, Principle Wells,” he said, scampering long and out of the building into the court yard. 

Oh my God, that was so fucking weird. That was the only thought that rang in his head as he looked around. I can’t believe I really have the power to go back in time. I feel so ‘Terminator’ right now! Okay, I need to take this slow. I can’t get too cocky. Gotta play it cool. 

As any other Spiderman fan-boy knows, “With great power comes great responsibility.” And Warren was not prepared to forget his responsibilities or let them get to him. 

That was the plan, anyway. 

Before he got too far, he felt his phone vibrate, signaling a text. Looking through his phone, he found a message from Max. 

‘Hey I have your flash. I finally finished all of those dumb nerd movies you forced me to watch.’ 

He let out a chuckle. And replied: ‘Oh yes, I obviously held you down and forced you to watch them. Well, as long as you have it, can I get it back? I kind of need it. (=’n’=)’ 

‘Ugh, if I must. Meet you in the parking lot.’ 

Warren rolled his eyes. ‘I am so sorry to impose on her majesty. See you then!’ 

He smiled, walking in the direction of the parking lot when something caught his eye. It was a small robot soaring over the courtyard, and its pilot just so happened to be the girl smiling down at her pink IPad. 

“Hey, Brooke, how’s it going?” he asked. 

“Oh, hey Warren,” she said, pushing her hair behind her glasses. “Freaky fire drill, right? I didn’t think they had one scheduled today. Then again, I wouldn’t put it past one of these assholes to pull the alarm.” 

He hissed internally, deciding to change the conversation topic. “So, you really like that drone. It looks different though.” 

“Yea, I made some major upgrades. Wanna take a crack at it?” she asked, offering it with a smile. 

“Uh, sure,” he said with a shy grin. The controls were something that he’d seen her operate before and, not thinking it too hard, he started to move the drone forward, not watching the screen and landing it into a tree as the blades proceeded to twist and break in the branches before falling into a smoking mess on the ground. He hissed, handing the controller back and sticking his hand out. Let’s not. 

“Wanna take a crack at it?” Brooke said, offering the controller again. 

“No thanks. As cool as they are, I don’t think I’m ready to get behind the controls of one yet.” 

She looked a bit disappointed, but smiled anyway as she pulled the controller back. “Okay, see you later then.” 

He waved her goodbye and proceeded through the courtyard, now focused on just getting to the parking lot without incident. 

Then saw Trevor trying to jump a flight of stairs on his board. He ended up attempting a move midair. It would have worked, had he not flipped his board too late, resulting in it landing upside down. When his feet finally hit the board, his face slammed into the asphalt with a hard thunk. 

Warren hissed, walking over and rewinding another time. 

This falls under great responsibility, right? 

As Trevor prepared to leap from the top of the stairs, he jogged over. 

“Hey, Trevor,” he said, coming up on his right. “I think some of your tricks might go better if you did the kick flip earlier in the jump.” 

Justin nodded. “You do come in a little late on those, dude.” 

Trevor looked at him before smiling. “Alright, I’ll trying just going for it.” 

With that, he launched himself down the stairs, flipping almost immediately. The board made a full spin in time for his feet to touch back down, landing perfectly perpendicular to the ground as he swerved around and held his hands up in victory. 

“Woo! Thanks for the tip dude!” he said, picking up his board and jogging back up the stairs. 

“No problem,” he said as he walked again towards the parking lot, only leaving a wave behind him. 

All in a day’s work for The War-Machine… I’ll figure something else out. 

While that was running through his head, he rounded the corner and almost bumped into a familiar face, quite literally. Stella stared up at him with wide eyes blinking curiously.  Warren’s smile slowly dimmed as he noticed how unusual she appeared today.

“Hey, Stella. What’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Thanks for asking, Warren. How about you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“It’s nothing,” he said, eyes flicking away for a moment.

When he looked back, he saw David Madsen walking by at that moment, brushing shoulders with him roughly as he walked by. Now Stella was someone he knew to be quite nice. However, she could be jaded at times. This was shown through moments such as this one where she glared openly at his back.

“That guy is such an asshole,” she said with a sigh.

“Why do you say that? I mean, he is, but did something happen?” he asked.

She looked down at the ground. “A few things have happened as far as he’s concerned. I’ll see you later Warren. Thanks for the talk, BTDubs.”

Warren waved his goodbyes, smiling as his eyebrows formed together in worry. Stella’s been a little out of it this week, he thought, More so than usual, that is. I hope she comes around soon.

He turned a head and stepped forward and looked through and round the maze of cars until he could clearly see Max standing at the end. When she spotted him, she waved ecstatically for him to come over. He grinned and scampered across the parking lot. 

When Warren finally reached her, he opened up his arms in greeting of a hug, pausing when Max held out his flash drive.

“Here you go!” she said.

He scratched his head to cover up the gesture, using his other hand as he took the flash drive from her. “Yea, thanks. So, I see you located my new wheels,” Warren said, motioning to the blue car behind her. It wasn’t much, but it was something to get him around from that junky school bus.

“Nice, very old school,” she said with a tone of enthusiasm.

“1978 to be exact. Now we can go to the drive-in! There’s one in Newberg, just 60 miles away.”

Max scoffed. “You’re in the wrong time Warren.”

He nodded solemnly, gripping the hood of the car as he said, “More than you’d think.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Maybe…” Warren said trying not to let his eyes stray to the ground.

“Something happen? You can tell me, you know that, right?”

“It’s nothing, really,” he said. “So, in other news, what’d you think of my Flash Drive?”

“Man, there’s some cool shit on there, really retro of you. I wasn’t expecting the Twilight Zone block, but it was greatly appreciated. Though, it seems fairly apropos today…”

“I consider myself a pop cultural pirate connoisseur,” Warren said.

Max laughed, much to his delight, only to be followed by, “Yea, that does sound better than, ‘thief.’”

 “Ha-ha,” he mocked, rolling his eyes. “Yea, yea, whatever. Look, just promise you’ll check out Cannibal Holocaust.”

“Pssh, that thing? I was more disturbed by all of those emo vampire movies you put on there.”

Shit I thought I took those off. “Can’t a sensitive high school boy love sensitive vampires too?”

Max crossed her arms and tilted her head. “So you’re ‘sensitive?’”

“Ouch,” he resisted the urge to grab his face, “that sounds awful, the way you say it!”

“No, I was impressed you had Faster pussycat. Kill! Kill!”

“Russ Meyer was a genius of black and white.” Deciding that sounded a bit cliché, he added, “Plus, babes with breasts.”

“Who would beat your sensitive ass down!”

“Tch, if I was lucky! Speaking of hip and fast, we should cruise out in my car to an actual movie this week.”

“Are you sure you’re up for that?” Max asked. “You seem a bit… I still think you seem a bit out of it today.”

Warren had to stop and think. I know a secret identity is a must for any super hero, he thought, There’s a reason for every rule. I mean, what if she gets hurt? No. That’s stupid. This isn’t a movie. This is… Max.

He resigned to logic. “Maybe there is something I need to talk about.”

“Okay, go on,” she said as she stepped closer. “Tell me everything.”

“Before I do, you need to know that I’m being completely serious,” Warren said, his tone low and full of warning.

“Warren, I won’t make fun of you. Just tell me what it is.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but was instead interrupted by a loud shout of, “Hey!”

Startled, Warren looked over to see the same girl from the bathroom, bright blue hair being the main give away. She marched towards him from seemingly nowhere, pressing him back to the car, and disregarding Max entirely.

“Listen here, you little punk, I don’t think you realize what you cost me today,” she said.

He tried to formulate an excuse of sorts, saying “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She slammed on the hood of the car next to him as she said, “Don’t play dumb with me you punk ass little-!”

“Chloe?”

Max’s voice made the girl jump and look over to her immediately, as if she was a dog hearing a soft whistle.

“Max?” she asked, squinting her eyes. “Is that you?”

“You’re one to talk. What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said, backing off slightly from Warren and crossing her arms. “So, you’re friends with this nerd, huh?” Chloe looked at him. “Then I won’t rough him up too much. We’ll just have to see what Frank says about him.”

“Who’s Frank?” Warren asked. “What did I do-”

“I said don’t play dumb! I know someone was in that bathroom, and you were the last one to leave the school. It had to be you! You were the one that lost me that sweet stack of cash Prescott was gonna pony up!”

“You did what? What were you doing in the bathroom?” Max asked.

“Stay out of this!” Chloe yelled as she whipped around.

“No, Chloe, I know we haven’t talked in a while, but this sounds serious,” she peaked around her and looked at Warren. “What happened in the bathroom?”

She blocked her view of Warren. “Seriously Max, you better back off.”

“Hey, leave her alone!” Warren said, putting a hand on Chloe’s shoulder to turn her around.

Chloe spun around and he felt her finger prod harshly on his chest.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten you, you little bitch. You told old Wells, didn’t you? Do you realize how much money I make at this school, huh? How many sales I’ll lose because of this? I was gonna go easy on you, since you’re Max’s friend and all but, now, you’re gonna pay!”

He went white, sticking out his hand to rewind, only to have it grabbed as Chloe was shoved off. He looked behind him as he followed who ever grabbed his hand, assuming it was Max. He only realized, in the heat of the moment, that Max was still behind him when he found himself being shoved into a car. Either way, he scooted over, seeing that Max was being completely ignored by the enraged and mysterious Chloe who only shouted and ran after them, making it a quarter of the way before a security guard caught her by the arm and hauled her away.

His blood was still pumping as his breath quickened.

“Oh my God,” he said, turning to the person next to him. “Thank you so-” He froze.

The reason for the pause was quite simple really: The driver of the car, and his savior, just so happened to be the person that put him in this situation in the first place, Nathan Prescott.

He didn’t seem to care really, shrugging and shifting his eyes over as he said, “Don’t mention it. Anything to get to that bitch at this point, am I right?”

Warren nodded slightly and tried not to really look at Nathan. Moments like these were less described as “real” as they were “surreal.” One does not simply walk into Nathan Prescott’s car, Warren thought. What does he want with me?

“So, why was she after you anyway?” Nathan asked. “You’re way too dorky to be a buyer.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Warren said, ignoring the glare that followed the banter. “I really don’t know. She just seemed angry about something.”

“Heh, you’re telling me. She’s coming for your ass. Don’t worry too much though, as long as you don’t owe money. As long as that’s settled, you’re still off of Frank’s list. She probably won’t pay too much attention to you.”

“I hope you’re right. Jeeze what is up with this school? If I’d known there would be drug dealers and gang wars-”

“Woah, don’t get so dramatic, nerd,” he said. “Frank’s only ‘gang’ is two bitches and that shitty RV he rides around in.”

There was a long pause. Nathan flexed his hands against the steering wheel, and Warren messed with the strap of his bag. Should I ask him to pull over? Or ask him where he’s going? There was plenty of time to ask these questions, but Warren’s hesitation left a pause and Nathan continued again.

“But yea, you’re right, this school does suck. I’m only going here because my shitty dad donated to the place and thinks it’s the best academy in the country,” he scoffed, “It’s all bullshit. I know he just did it to keep an eye on me.”

Oh, so goes the woeful ballad of Nathaniel Prescott, Warren thought, forcing himself not to roll his eyes.

“Yea, that does sound kind of lame,” he said.

“It is.”

Warren looked out the window at the scenery as the car drove on, locking and unlocking his flash drive shut, a soft click ringing through the car each time he did so. Does he want me to talk?

He continued staring out of the window, opening and closing his mouth two times before he turned to Nathan again and said, “I’m Warren, by the way.”

Nathan looked at him from the corner of his eyes, but he didn’t scowl or stare, just looked genuinely shocked as he said, “Yea, I’m Nathan. But I’m going to assume you already know that.”

Warren looked out of the window. “It’s possible.”

Nathan chuckled darkly, sending Warren some very mixed messages in and of itself.

“So, you’re the kid that skipped a grade, right?” Nathan asked.

“Uh, yea,” he said, “just this year.”

“I see. Just one?”

“Yep.”

“Damn it,” Nathan hissed. “That’s one thing I’ll never get to experience about high school: Freshman Lackeys. Oh well.” He looked over at Warren with a smile only to see that he was just staring out of the window with a concerned expression. He swatted him on the shoulder. “Come on! I was only joking. Nah, cronies are more Victoria’s thing. You know her, right?”

“Uh yea,” he said, “She’s in Max’s photography class.”

“Well, good to know she complains about her too. Seriously, Caulfield is all she ever talks about now. Well, her and Mark Jefferson of course.”

The way that he said Mark Jefferson made Warren chuckle. “Yea, what’s the deal with that guy? I feel like he has the female student body eating out of his hand!”

“Tell me about it,” Nathan said. He didn’t get the chance as they pulled up to and behind the boys’ dorms. “Well, here we are. Back to the hell away from home.”

The way that Nathan glared at Blackwell, when coupled with the tension in his shoulders and flexing of his arms, reminded Warren of who he was sitting next to. Newly uncomfortable, he shifted in his seat to move away.

“Thanks for saving my ass,” he reached down for his bag.

“Whatever,” Nathan said, turning off the car with a flick of the wrist.

As he pulled on the strap of his book bag, Warren pulled straight up, popping off a button in the process. This time, the pin dislodged completely, falling on the floor. He scrambled to grab that first. When he sat up straight, he loudly declared, “Found it! Sorry for the… trouble.”

He’d trailed off when he saw Nathan staring down at the rabbit button.

“That button. Where did you get it?” he asked with a growl just under his breath.

Warren flicked his eyes down to the button, slowly reaching for it. “My friend Brooke made it for me.”

Nathan snatched the button from the center consol. “That isn’t what I meant and you fucking know it! Now tell me the truth!”

Warren maintained his stair for some time before dropping his hand in defeat. “I lost it in the bathroom, but I picked it up… after you and Chloe left.”

“Oh my God.” Nathan dropped his arm into his lap. He didn’t look angry anymore, just staring blankly at Warren before turning to the steering wheel. He chuckled. “That’s why Chloe was pissed.” When he looked back at Warren, he met the stare. “I have one more question for you. Did you pull the fire alarm?”

Warren looked at him for a while with a small frown before nodding slightly. “Yea, that was me too.”

“I knew it was too convenient,” he grumbled, opening the car door and stepping out. Warren lingered, looking around before Nathan opened the door again. “Get out of the fucking car!”

Warren jumped and skittered out of the car, following Nathan inside of the boys’ dorm and up the stairs. When they got to their separate rooms, Warren tried opening the door to his own room, only to be grabbed by Nathan for the second time that day and dragged into his room instead. Only when the door was thrown closed did he look back at Nathan.

The anger radiating from Nathan died down almost instantly.

“Thanks. I guess I owe you,” he said, handing back the actual button portion of his button.

Warren flicked his eyes down to the button and back up to Nathan for only a moment before focusing on the stupid emoji and grabbing it tenuously. When his hand grasped it, Nathan’s grip tightened around him, acting like a fly trap in its own right.

“I still need to know what you heard.”

Warren’s eyes went wide as his hand was released, the button safely clasped inside. Nathan crossed his arms, towering forward as his presence filled the room. This wasn’t the same Nathan from the bathroom. This was the Nathan Prescott Blackwell Academy bowed to, and for a good reason.

Warren looked down. “I heard everything.”

“Shit!” Nathan raised a hand and ran it through his hair as he took in a deep breath. “Did you tell anyone?”

“I told Principle Wells- but I didn’t tell him you were involved! I just didn’t wanna get busted when they figured out I pulled the fire alarm…”

Nathan nodded as he placed his hands on his hips and began pacing. He looked back up at Warren with a glare as he continued pacing.

Warren clenched and unclenched his arms at his sides before he said, “I don’t get what your problem is. It’s not like I told anyone.”

Nathan spun around, pointing all of his fury at him as he said, “And you can’t! You can’t tell anyone what you heard- do you hear me? If you do, I’m going to make you pay!”

Warren allowed his surprise to show through for a while, before he stood up straight. “And how would you do that? Huh? I’m not so sure daddy would be so keen to help out his drugged up son!”

“Shut the fuck up! You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Nathan stepped back, turning to the side as he ran his hand through his hair. “I… I haven’t used in two weeks,” he grumbled.

He let his shoulders slump as he also took a step back.

“I’m sorry. I really won’t tell anyone.”

“You better not.”

Warren kept his brow pinched in anger, but it turned more so into a disgruntled look as he flicked his eyes around the room.

“So, if you haven’t been using for a while, why was Chloe so upset with you? I thought you owed money.”

Nathan’s shoulders rose into a defensive posture, about to tell him to mind his own business when he clamped his mouth shut. “It’s not a new debt. I’ve owed her and Frank for a while. I just… have a bit of trouble.”

“Getting the money?” Warren asked.

“Drug dealers don’t exactly take cards,” Nathan said with a scowl. “It wasn’t a problem before but, now that Rachel’s gone missing, those two have been on my ass for payment. Say they wanna get out and find her. Ugh, don’t they get that she probably left because of them?”

“Wait, Rachel Amber? Like, that girl half the school is talking about?” he asked.

“That’s really none of your God-Damned business,” he said. “Why are you still here, anyway?”

“You were the one that dragged me in here!”

“Yea and, now that I know you wouldn’t dare spill to anyone, you can go fuck off.”

Warren shot back but brushed past him, aiming for the door. He would have made it too, had a harsh, crippling pain not filled his skull, bringing him to his knees.

When he found himself able to stand, he looked up to see the same scenery as before.

“Not again! Damn it!” he said into the harsh wind.

The thing that caught his attention was a proud cat, sitting tall and unwavering in the storm’s icy bite. He was entranced by it, watching closely as it followed him with clear, dark eyes. Then, it began to bound away up the slope.

“Hey- get back here!” he said, compelled to follow the beast as he dodged a large boulder.

It took some time to get up the slope, having to shoot by some logs and rewind to get by a tree. He wasn’t as stealthy as the cat before him, but he made it up in time to see the same vortex that had plagued his last dream. As he stared up at it, he felt something brush his leg, seeing the same cat wander over to the fence surrounding the area of the light house. There, it pawed and sniffed at a scrap of paper clinging to one of the fence posts. Curious, he bent down, scaring the cat off.

It was a newspaper.

“This Friday?!” Warren looked back into the hurricane. “No way! This can’t be real!”

The paper was torn from his hands as he looked on.

It’s heading straight for the town!

His shoulders shook as he fell to his knees. When he did, he felt a hand come over his shoulder. Looking to see who it was, he saw a very worried Nathan inches from his face.

“Holy shit, I’m back!” he said. “Is this real?”

“Back? Oh my god, you’re high aren’t you?” Nathan asked, about to stand up.

“No, it’s different- oh my God, this is really going to happen,” he said, breathing heavily.

“What is?”

“Arcadia Bay is going to get demolished on Friday!” Warren said, not really thinking.

Nathan scoffed, “Yea, I’m totally sure you’re not high.”

“It’s true! I saw it! Just like this morning… in my vision.”

“Okay, now you’re really pissing me off. Start making sense or I’m gonna-”

“It’s snowing!”

A loud shout had interrupted him from the hall.

“Bitch, don’t play me like that.”

“Nah, man, it really is!”

Nathan squinted his eyes at the door. “What the hell?”

Warren stood and made his way over to the window carefully, looking out at the campus, which was indeed being covered in tiny snowflakes. He could feel Nathan come up from behind, seeing his confused face appear in the mirror next to him.

“Holy shit. It’s still like eighty-something. How is this happening.”

“It’s a sign. A storm is coming.”

He felt blood drip from his nose slowly, and raised a hand to stop it as he turned around to look Nathan in the eye. It was only at that moment that the other boy realized how serious he was.

Nathan nodded. “Alright, I’ll listen. So you better tell me everything.”

It was clear that this was meant to be threatening, but Warren only heard it as a loose command as they both rested on the couch. There, Warren began his story:

“I’m a time traveler.”

Chapter Text

The repetitive chime of the alarm clock was annoying at best as it screamed into the morning air. Warren sluggishly pulled his arm up, slamming the “Off” button to silence it. I should really look into strengthening my power some. Catching some more sleep doesn’t sound so bad, he thought, letting out a long groan as he stretched. Warren had never been a short boy, but it was still odd to feel the weight shed out of his long limbs. He grumbled as his phone buzzed, looking down to find a new text.

Upon picking it up, he saw it was from an unknown number.

‘hey its nathan’

‘How did you get my number?’ he typed back.

‘not important’ ‘meet me @ 2whales’ ‘we gotta talk about your time bs’

He sighed openly as he ran a hand over his face.

‘Fine, see you there.’

‘u better’

Warren just scowled at his phone. “At least type properly when you order me around, asshole.”

He threw the phone down to his side and stood up. He looked up and into the mirror and ran a hand through his hair. I don’t wanna feel gross today, he thought. Maybe I’ll check up on the situation before making a decision. He did just that, looking out of his dorm room and into the hall. There he saw that the hall was almost empty. Across the hall, he found the door open. Logan dodged out of the room with a football while Hayden, the room’s occupant, bolted after. He pitched the ball down the hall, nailing an unsuspecting Trevor in the side of the head as he came from the front of the dorms.

“Y’ouch,” Warren said, raising his hand and rewinding to just before the event.

When he saw the ball go into the air, he shouted down the hall, “Trevor, watch it!”

Trevor looked up just in time, dodging the ball by taking a step back. “Thanks Warren!” Trevor said, throwing a pair of peace signs his way as he walked to his room.

Warren nodded his way, dipping back into his room and closing the door.

Yea, I’m just gonna skip out on that shower. I’ll get one tonight, he promised himself, changing into a new shirt. I always say I’m gonna get new shirts but, hey, why dump the memes?

That said, once he was decked out in new, clean clothes, Warren made his way out into the hall. With his book bag at his side, he was ready to meet Nathan for this infamous “talk” about his powers. Or, “time BS,” as he had put it earlier. Either way, he had some other plans first.

He sauntered out of his room, careful not to trip over his book bag. Oops, yea, can’t forget that, he thought as he picked it off of the floor. AS he did so, he noticed the blank space on his strap just under the “221B” button and sighed.

I must have left it Nathan’s room on accident. Shit! After I told him all that shit to get it back? I hope Brooke doesn’t notice…

He huffed anyway, placing the strap over his shoulder and finally getting out the door. Once he was long across the boys’ dorms area, Warren began pacing straight for the girls’ dorms, only to stop when he saw Stella lingering along the fountain, staring intensely at her binder. He frowned, walking over.

“Hey, Stella,” he said. “You doing okay?”

“Uh, yea,” she said, setting her binder down as she closed it. “Just some homework.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

She looked up at him and resigned to look down with a sigh. “No. Oh God, Warren, nothing’s been going right the past few months.”

“Tell me about it,” he said, sinking down to sit next to her. “Things got jacked yesterday.”

“Tch- you don’t even know. I’ve been putting posters looking for Kate all over town, and no one’s seen anything! I even made three online articles and nothing’s come up! It’s like no one even cares. Oh- but one Rachel Amber poster goes up and everyone’s on that shit!” She shook her head and looked down. “I’m sorry, Warren. You don’t need this right now.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I heard about Kate when she went missing. But I didn’t know you were friends with her.”

“We weren’t super close,” Stella said, “but I still got worried when she didn’t show up for the first week, Alyssa too.”

“What do you think happened to her?” Warren asked.

“Nothing good,” she said as she made eye contact with him. “She wasn’t like Rachel. Everyone ignored Rachel when she disappeared and they just blew it off!” Her shoulders dropped in defeat. “At least they noticed, though.”

He shook his head and laid back slightly. “Aw man. Is there anything I can do to help you find her?”

“Not unless you can go back to before she disappeared and stop it from happening.”

He looked down with a mournful look.

“Maybe…” he turned up to look at her again as she spoke. “Maybe there is some way you could help.”

“I’ll do anything,” he said.

“Well, it’s not really helping. I just need some advice,” she said. “I’ve been doing fine on my own so far, but I haven’t really been able to do as much as I’d like. I’m starting to think that I might fight Kate faster if I had some… professional help.”

“What did you have in mind?” he asked.

“Warren,” Stella looked at him, “should I go to the police?”

His eyes flew open and he stared hard at her for some time. “Stella, I’m not exactly the smartest guy, but even I know what would happen if you went to the cops with this. You don’t even have a real crime.”

“I know, but I have to try something, Warren!” she said. “Oh what am I kidding? Officer Mad-shit said the same thing yesterday. But Warren, Kate is out there somewhere right now and I have no idea what to do.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll figure something out,” he said. “It’s not like it’s your fault, after all.”

She looked out at him through the corner of her eye, bowing her head as she leaned down to pick up her book bag and tablet.

“I have to go,” she said, shuffling off before either of them could make out a proper goodbye.

Warren frowned after her, standing as he thought, I wish I could help her but, I don’t think I can get back that far. Even if I could, what could I do? I just hope she’ll be okay… Kate too.

With one final look back, he walked further in the direction of the girls’ dorms. This time he made it without event, almost jumping when he saw his prime target.

“Hey, Max!” he said with a wave.

“Hey, Warren. How’s it going? Man, yesterday was weird, huh?” she said.

“Yea, definitely. So, care to tell me how you’re acquainted with one of the town’s leading drug dealers?”

“Only if you tell me how you know one of the town’s leading drug users. Don’t think I didn’t see you book it with Nathan Prescott.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side. “Yea, I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t really my idea.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “Of course, I didn’t exactly enjoy getting dragged off with Officer Pornstache.”

He chuckled. “Yea, that guy is pretty creepy. Don’t have to tell me twice on that.”

“He’s more than creepy! Ugh, he’s such a control freak. Did you know he’s planning to put up cameras all over school?”

“Are you kidding? It’s the only thing Ms. Grant’s been talking about all week,” he said. “You signed her petition, right?”

“There was a petition?” she asked, face twisting into a look of regret.

                He squinted and tried to keep smiling. “I doubt you’re the one signature we needed,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of signatures already!”

                “I hope so,” she said, “I really don’t want ‘Big Brother David’ watching over me.”

                “Speaking of popular dystopian societies,” he said, “how would you feel about going to the movies with me this weekend?” Max made a face, which made Warren slump forward. “Don’t tell me you have plans?”

                “Sorry,” Max said. “Look I know you and Chloe didn’t start off on the best foot, but she’s still an old friend, and she invited me out.”

                “Okay. I understand,” he sighed.

                “Alright, see you later Warren!” she said, walking away.

                He waved back, only letting his smile fall when she was well off. I can’t believe she’d rather hang with that psycho than me. Maybe if she knew who Chloe really was...

Looking back at Max, he got an idea, rewinding and bringing her before him again.

“...she invited me out.”

“You know, I’d be careful about her,” he said.

Max raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she asked, “Why would you say that?”

“Well, I’ve heard from a lot of people that the last girl who ran with them went missing,” Warren said. “They’re dangerous Max.”

“Frank is dangerous. Chloe isn’t. Jesus, Warren, this is my best friend you’re talking about!” she shouted. “You don’t know anything!”

As she stomped away, he looked after her. No, wait! he thought, already rewinding again.

“... she invited me out.”

He looked at her uneasily before saying, “I’m not going to tell you not to. Just promise you’ll be careful?”

This seemed to go over better with Max as she nodded and smiled. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. Later, Warren!”

Then she was gone and Warren was left with a dropping smile. Wow, so it’s unavoidable huh? Oh well. According to the comics, the girl never wants you until you’re saving the world. First thing’s first though: Nathan. As he thought of the name, Warren shuddered and began walking to the bus stop. What does he want with me anyway?

Regardless of his feeling of unease, Warren knew that it was unavoidable. If he avoided Nathan now, the other boy would probably just find some way to annoy him later.

The smell of exhaust filled the air as he stepped off of the bus. He would have taken his car, but gas was expensive and the bus wasn’t that bad. Either way, Warren was more than a bit surprised when Nathan had told him the destination, considering Two Whales wasn’t exactly the classiest destination in town. Of course, being that it was a cheap option, he wasn’t going to complain. As he made his way through the door, he looked around for Nathan, quickly writing up a text:

‘Where are you? (=’^’=)/’

‘ran l8’ ‘w8 their’ ‘booth 2nd from the wal w/ te jukebox’

He scowled at the message again, noting the improper formatting and grammar. Warren shook it off and rested into the booth specified, not seeing any reason to spite Nathan by choosing another. When he sat down, Warren found his hand drawn to the corner of the table. Absentmindedly, he began to run his hand over the surface, following the flow of the carvings along the edge.

“Admiring your handiwork?” a voice called, causing him to look up to the right. Standing there was Two Whales’ usual server, Joyce. “I almost pitched a fit when you first carved that in.”

He looked down to see the simple formula dug into the wood of the table.

“Oh, yea, I’m still sorry about that,” he said, giving her an apologetic smile.

“Eh, don’t worry none. I’ve seen far worse on these tables. It’s kind to have blessed one of them with a bit of intelligence,” she joked. “Now, what can I get you, young man?”

“Um, can I get waffles?”

“Alrighty then, waffles it is,” she held up her pot of coffee, “Coffee while you wait?”

“Yes please,” Warren said eagerly as she began setting down a mug and filling it.

“Kay, now I’ll be out with those waffles in a jiffy.” Joyce winked as she stalked off to the kitchen and Warren immediately felt a lot safer in the small booth.

He reached to the left on the table, dumping two creams into his coffee before he began sipping quietly. Only then was he surprised by another noise in the small diner. When Warren looked up, after hearing the door swing open, he could see Nathan stalking over to the table, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket as he threw himself into the booth across from Warren. The way Nathan seated himself was as if he was in his own home dining room as opposed to the diner left him a bit curious. Just the difference in posture and the relaxation Warren could see in Nathan’s shoulders was enough to leave him staring over his coffee.

Nathan, feeling a pair of eyes trained on him, looked up. “What?”

“Nothing,” Warren said. “I just thought there was a reason you wanted me here.”

“There is,” Nathan said. “Look, snow in eighty degree weather isn’t enough to convince me you rewound time. I need proof.”

“Oh, so you’re here too, huh?” Joyce said as she came over to the table, setting a mug down. “Well, I suppose the morning wouldn’t be complete without my favorite customer.”

“Uh, hi, Joyce,” Nathan said, his demeanor having changed immediately upon seeing her.

“And a good morning to you, Nathan,” she said with a smile. “So, the usual then?”

“Yea, that’d be great.”

His tone wasn’t one of humility, but it was certainly more humble than the one Warren had heard him use in the past. This time, however, he made sure that his shock wasn’t as prevalent as the two talked.

“I’ll be getting his, too,” Nathan said, gesturing over to Warren sloppily.

“Right. Well, it’s good to see you have a friend here today,” she said, touching his shoulder gently before she walked away.

Nathan caught himself as soon as she left, looking back to Warren like the moment hadn’t occurred, but was still unable to put up the same front of hostility he’d carried in his room the day before.

“Okay, now we need to get to business,” he said.

“Why should I prove anything to you?” Warren asked, “Why do you even care?”

“Look, normally I wouldn’t. I’d just move on and think it was some nerd bullshit,” he confessed, “but last night I couldn’t stop thinking about it. If you really have time powers and you really used them in the bathroom yesterday, I wanna know. You owe me that much.”

“I don’t owe you anything,” Warren said with a profound scowl etched into his face.

Nathan sneered and shot back, keeping his hands on the table. “It’s just,” he leaned forward and sighed, “things have been getting… strange lately. If you really have time powers, maybe you could help me figure some things out.”

“Like what?” he asked.

“Those missing girls! You were the one talking about Rachel Amber yesterday! Even bible girl!”

“Her name’s Kate!” Warren said.

“And that only proves you care about what happened to her,” Nathan said. “Look, I have my own source of information, but maybe working together could get us a whole new crack of shit. Together we could really make some headway.”

“And why do you want to help them?” His tone was flat and accusatory. “You’re Nathan Prescott, you only care about yourself.”

As soon as he said it, he regretted it, especially when Nathan looked fairly dejected.

“Rachel was different. I know she was hanging out with those druggies, but I really thought she was just doing it for the perks. I never thought she’d actually leave.” He folded his arms across the table and glared up at him. “And the worst thing about it is that I feel guilty about it for some reason- like she left because of me. I’ve been feeling that way about all of this for a month now, but now that bible-” Warren made a face, “Kate has gone missing too, I know that there’s something else going on. So now, I need you.”

He nodded and let out a huff as he thought. “How can I help?”

“It’s just like I said.” Nathan sat back in the booth and crossed his arms. “Prove you have time powers.”

There was a pause while Warren thought on this. How was he supposed to prove this to him? Then an idea came to him.

“Show me what’s in your pockets,” he said.

Nathan made a confused face but, when he saw the borderline-idiotic smile painted on Warren’s face, he decided to humor him by pulling out a few items he had on hand. One was, of course, his wallet. Then there were his keys, cell phone, and a pair of ear buds. He examined each of the objects carefully, being a bit more wary of Nathan when he started messing around with the wallet.

“Really, a whale?” Warren asked when he saw the lock screen on the phone.

“They’re smart,” he said, sounding ever so slightly defensive.

Warren put up his hands, not being one to judge as he put the phone down.

As soon as that was done, he started messing with the ear buds. Not seeing anything really special about them, he looked up and asked, “What can you tell me about these?”

“Well, the right one doesn’t work if that’s what you mean. I still don’t see how this is supposed to convince me you can rewind time.”

“Patience,” Warren said, setting the buds down. “All will be revealed.”

He rewound before anything else could be said.

“Prove you have time powers,” Nathan said again.

“Alright, then I’m going to tell you what you have in your pockets,” Warren said.

Nathan chuckled. “Yea, I’d like to see that. Go for it. What do I have on me?”

“Your wallet, obviously,” he said.

“So? How many cards do I have?”

“Two. Four if you’re counting your license and student ID.”

He nodded in a bit of respect. “Lucky guess.”

“Alright, how about your car keys?”

“Yea?” Nathan said with a cocky smirk, leaning forward as he asked, “How many keys do I have on my chain?”

“Four. Two for your car, one for your dorm and… another one. I don’t know what it’s for.”

“It doesn’t matter to you. Besides, you probably saw them in my car. Go for something harder,” he said, shifting back and crossing his arms.

“Your cell phone. Now I know I haven’t seen you on that before.”

“Yea, I never really use it,” Nathan confessed. “Still, what’s my lock screen?”

“A whale coming out of the water,” Warren said. “And you think they’re smart!”

“It’s called breaching and they are. Now, I know there’s something else, what is it?”

“A pair of ear buds,” he said with ease. “And I think it’s the right one that doesn’t work?”

Nathan straightened up slightly, a little wary where he sat. “Okay, that’s kind of freaky. How do you know that?”

“You told me, and then I rewound and told you,” Warren said, grin large and dopey.

Nathan continued giving him a look of unease until he relaxed and gave a huff. “Fine, I’ll give you that, but I still don’t really believe you.”

Warren slouched forward. “Aw, come on, what else do you want?”

“I don’t know, but you better think of something fast.”

He pouted slightly, but sat up and looked around. An idea came to mind, causing him to sit up straight.

“Nathan, I’m going to predict, the future!” he raised his hands as he spoke, giving jazz hands for effect.

Nathan only scoffed. “Sure you are.”

Warren smiled, looking back at the restaurant. He was worried nothing was going to happen after a while. Then Joyce came out of the kitchen with another pitcher of coffee, almost getting splashed as a trucker dropped his mug on the ground.

“No refill for you!” she ordered as she walked on.

Next, the cop’s walkie-talkie came on. Warren couldn’t hear it precisely, but from his next reaction, he assumed he got a call.

“Now I won’t get to finish my breakfast. Where is my partner?”

The police siren outside was the response, which made Warren chuckle.

“Are you gonna predict anything yet?” Nathan asked impatiently.

Warren shooshed him in time to hear Justin and Trevor getting into it at the front of the restaurant, only to have them cut off by Joyce. He nodded, thinking that was going to be all that happened today. Then he was proven wrong when he heard a loud noise come from the juke box, causing him to snap back. There he saw a cockroach crawling over the surface.

“Jesus that thing is old,” Nathan said as he turned back to look at him. “Still, I’ll miss it I guess. Well, so much for predicting the future.”

He started to stand, but Warren reached out and rewound before he got out of the booth. Let’s hope this is enough for you this time.

“… you better think of something fast.”

Warren gave a grin along the lines of being sly.

“You just ‘rewound,’ didn’t you?” Nathan asked. When Warren nodded in response, he groaned. “Alright then, what did you come up with?”

“I’m going to predict, the future,” Warren said, giving the same jazz hands as before.

“Okay. Predict the future. Impress me.” Nathan said as he shot back his own sly grin, which only egged Warren on.

He leaned forward and pointed to the kitchen door. “Joyce is gonna come out of there, and the trucker on the right is going to drop his mug. She tells him off.”

“As she should. Next?”

“Well, the officer gets called in, but his partner leaves without him.”

“Sucks to suck.”

“Trevor and Justin start fighting and Joyce breaks it up.”

Nathan chuckled, “She would. Kay, anything else?”

“The juke box turns to shit and a cockroach crawls over it.”

“It’s pretty old, I wouldn’t be surprised.” He gave a nod of appreciation as he added, “Really specific with the cockroach though.”

“I knew you’d like it,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen though,” Nathan said.

“Guess we’ll have to see,” Warren said, pointing over to the kitchen door as Joyce stepped out.

Nathan watched, one arm resting on the back of the booth as Joyce dodged the dropped mug.

“No refill for you!”

He gave an echo of a laugh at the order and continued watching as the police officer got a call.

“Now I won’t get to finish my breakfast. Where is my partner?”

The police siren outside, made Nathan turn around while Warren continued sitting forward. Nathan made brief eye contact with him, looking away as Warren closed his eyes in understanding. Then he looked over to Trevor and Justin.

“Don’t slap me bitch!”

“Hush up!” Joyce yelled.

“He started it!”

“And I’m finishing it!” then she stormed off.

Nathan smiled, turning around. “Wow, that was-”

“Uh, ah ah!” Warren said, not letting him continue as he pointed to the juke box.

The machine gave a screech, music stopping as a cockroach took the time to dance over the surface. He looked back across the booth, seeing him nod slowly.

“Alright, fair enough. I believe it,” Nathan said.

“I told you,” Warren said. About time you believed me. He didn’t know why it was so important that Nathan believed him, but he knew that it was. “I’m awesome!”

“Yea, hey ‘Awesome,’ you’ve got a little something there,” Nathan said, pointing to his upper lip.

Warren touched to his upper lip, feeling something warm and sticky. After pulling his hand away from his face and seeing that he was bleeding, he scrambled to get some napkins from the end of the table.

“Alright boys, breakfast is se-” Joyce paused, her smile dropping when she saw Warren’s bloody nose. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“Yea, I’m fine,” Warren said as he held his nose, causing his voice to sound nasally.

“Alright then,” she said, setting down the waffles and the eggs to their respective diners. “Take care of yourself, and enjoy!”

“Thanks,” Warren said, Nathan just waving her goodbye.

He wiped off his nose again, bundling another napkin around the ball he’d formed.

“I’m gonna head to the bathroom.”

“Yea, don’t wanna have to rewind any time soon.”

Warren squinted his eyes, gave a fake smile, and nodded, as if to say “Oh, yea, you’re so funny,” before moving on to the bathroom. Once there, he looked in the mirror and wiped his face. Of any remaining traces of blood, tossing the napkins in the trash can. When he looked in the mirror again, he felt a small pain in the back of his head. Thinking little of it, he went back out into the diner and crossed back to the booth.

“Have fun?” Nathan asked.

“Bucket loads,” Warren said, settling down again. As he began to eat, he said, “Now, no one can know about this!”

“Yea, sure, I’m going to spill to everyone,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I mean it!” Warren hissed.

“Fine, fine,” Nathan said. “So, does that mean you’re not gonna tell your girlfriend?”

“Who?” he asked, taking a bite of his waffles.

“You know, Caulfield. Aren’t you going to tell her about this whole time travel thing?”

“Oh, Max,” he said through a bite, swallowing. “She’s not my girlfriend-”

“So you’ve been friendzoned?”

“I have not!”

“Keep telling yourself that.” He ripped a bite off of a piece of bacon.

“Look, whatever, we’re just friends-”

“Friendzoned.”

“and I’m not telling her anything about this. I tried yesterday and, well, you saw how that went.”

“Not really. Wait a minute, you mean when Chloe came up and I saved your ass?”

“Yea. I took that as fate enough that she wouldn’t take it too well. Besides, she probably wouldn’t believe me,” Warren confessed.

“Oh,” Nathan said, “and you thought I would?”

“Yea, well, you didn’t really give me a choice,” he said as he pushed around his food on his plate.

“So what now?” Nathan asked.

Warren looked up to see his curious expression. “What do you mean?”

“What are you gonna do with this mixed up shit?” he clarified.

“Well, I always planned to use my powers for good,” he said, taking his own fork into his fist, “So, thanks to you, I’m going to start by finding those missing girls. So, where do we start?”

Nathan crossed his arms and leaned back. “Normally, I’d have most of the information dug up already.”

“So why don’t you?” Warren asked.

“I was getting to that!” Warren put his hands up and backed off with a smile. Nathan settled down again. “The only reason I haven’t is because I don’t exactly have access to my usual resources.”

“Okay, what kind of information would you need?”

“I was thinking we’d start with looking into other girls who have disappeared.”

“Okay, and what do you need me for?”

“Again, normally I wouldn’t ‘need’ you for anything,” he said, “but, without my resources, I need to get a bit more manual. You were the only one talking about it, and you don’t seem like a total dumbass, so I thought you’d be down to help. Then there’s this time thing that you can do on top of that, so I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“What are we doing?”

Nathan leaned forward with a Cheshire grin. “We’re breaking into Blackwell.”

“You can’t be serious,” he said calmly.

“Oh, I am!” Nathan said. “The principle has records on everyone in his office- including David Madsen, who I know is behind this!”

Warren grimaced, but managed to hold himself together as he asked, “What makes you think that?”

“I saw him weeks before Rachel disappeared. He was watching her like a hawk, taking pictures like the piece of shit he is,” Nathan growled. “No one just does that sort of thing. I don’t know what he did with her, but I know he did something.”

“I think you might be right about that,” he said with a nod. He looked up to make eye contact again. “He talked to Stella yesterday.”

Nathan scowled at that. “Stella? What does she have to do with any of this?”

“She’s sort of been compiling her own investigation,” Warren said. “He apparently tried to talk her out of investigating. At least, that’s what I got from it.”

“See! Now he has two things against him! That asshole is going down.”

The look on Nathan’s face brought Warren to a smile as he nodded encouragingly. “Alright. I’ll help.”

“Good, we’re going tonight.”

He stood and threw some money down on the table. Warren rolled his eyes as he shuffled some syrup around on his plate.

“What are you doing?” Nathan asked as he looked down at him. “We’re going.”

There was a moment where Warren did little more than stare up at him. Finally, he decided to stand up. Nathan almost jumped at that moment, smiling as he shuffled back out of the diner. The long strides he took were full of energy that he hadn’t really shown before, and it made Warren feel a little bit more at ease. This time, upon sliding into the red truck, he took the ease with him as he settled back against the seat.

When they started moving west, he got worried. “Nathan,” he said, “this doesn’t look like the way back to Blackwell.”

“Hell no,” he said with a laugh. “We’re going someplace much cooler. That is,” he looked over at Warren, “if you’re not gonna weenie out.”

“Who do you think I am? A twelve year old?” he asked. “Do you really think calling me a weenie will get me to do whatever you want?”

“Nope. Of course, it would be a shame if you didn’t see the info I had on Blackwell’s pet dog.”

He slid against the window. “How’d you get information on Colonel Mus-Turd?”

“Like I said, I have resources. Just none in Blackwell in the moment.”

“I’m not going to lie, this sounds like some series Lex Luthor bull shit,” Warren said.

“Ech, don’t nerd out on me, Gay-ram.”

“Don’t call me that, and you can’t deny it either. This is all pretty sketchy.”

“Whatever. Look, do you want to help or not?” He scoffed and grumbled, “It’s not like I wouldn’t be able to find someone else.”

Warren then had the pleasure of sharing a long glare with the side of Nathan’s head before leaning his entire body against the door. Nathan didn’t seem to care, simply driving onward. And drive he did. Warren didn’t know how long they had been driving but, hey, he was already late for first period, so it really didn’t matter. Still, he was quite surprised when the red truck pulled up a dirt path, curving up to an old barn.

“What’s this?” he asked.

The keys turned in the car ignition, switching the machine off as Nathan said, “It’s an old building. It’s not too far away from the actual town, but it’s still easy to get here and back. Rachel and I used to hang out here.” Before he dwindled on the topic for too long, he turned to Warren and said, “Perfect for losing it, am I right?”

“‘Losing it?’” Warren asked.

“Yea. You know?” When he saw that he wasn’t getting the point, he quickly pinched his forefinger to his thumb before his lips, pulling away with a puff of air in his direction.

Warren glared. “Oh, getting high.”

Nathan sniggered before taking on a sour expression himself. “Boy, aren’t you a bucket of laughs? Well, come on, hop out. We’ve got work to do.”

He opened the driver door and stepped out walking away casually across the field.

“What do you mean ‘work?’” Warren asked.

Upon his feet hitting the ground, he began to trot after Nathan, who turned around and smiled.

“What you did at the diner was pretty cool, I’m not gonna pussy-foot about that, but I am gonna say I’m not one hundred percent convinced,” he said.

“Come on, are you serious right now?”

Nathan shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a hard fucking sell.” He came to a slow stop just before a fence. “But, I do have my price.”

The hand Warren saw Nathan rummage around in his pocket hadn’t gathered much attention. That is, until he pulled out a gun.

“I thought you took out everything in your pockets!” Warren shouted.

“Now you get why I didn’t think you were that great.” At seeing that Warren wasn’t calming down any time soon, he sighed. “Come on, what do you think I’m going to do? Shoot you?”

“Maybe,” he said. “I’m just not sure about you having a gun. I did see you get shot, remember? It wasn’t exactly the highlight of my life.”

“Aw, thanks for the concern, Gay-ram.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

Nathan put his hands up at the defensive growl, backing away.

“Fine, come on then! You’re going to help me deal some damage with this thing!”

“On what?” Warren asked.

“Whatever we can find!” He flicked off the safety on the gun as he looked down at it with a smile. “Come on, it’s finally your chance to have some fun! So get the stick outta your ass, and live a little already!”

He raised an eyebrow, but shrugged as he pushed forward. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Hey, that’s the spirit! And if anything goes wrong, you can just rewind and tell me to fuck off! Of course, then I might have to break my promise and shoot you.”

“Then I might just stay in the future.”

“And get another ride home?” They both laughed that time as Nathan crossed over the crappy fence, taking long strides at the run down farmhouse on the other side. Finally, when they were both looking up at it, he said, “Alright, enough of this buddy shit. Where do I shoot?”

The gun trained on the house, pointing wildly around, waiting for some indication of where to shoot.

“How does this prove my time powers again?” he asked.

“Give me a target, I shoot,” Nathan said. “If it’s not cool, rewind and give me another target.”

Looking back up at the house, Warren found himself trained on the windows. “Why not try a window?” he offered.

Nathan nodded. “I’m aiming for the top right on the upstairs.”

He fired, snagging the wall next to the window. “Aw, shit.”

“Nice job, Prickscott,” he said with a laugh. Warren rewound just as Nathan turned around to express his less favorable thoughts on the name.

“... top right on the upstairs.”

“Go a bit to the left,” Warren said. Nathan turned back to him. “Trust me on this.”

He shrugged, moving his hands to the left as he fired. This time, the glass shattered in the pain, sprinkling on the patio’s overhead.

“Woah, shit!” Warren shouted.

“Okay, that was kind of cool,” Nathan admitted.

Warren snapped his head around, looking for a more probable target. “What about that gnome on the ground?” It was old and cracked anyway, half-way sticking out of where it lay embedded in the soil. “Could be fun.”

“Let’s try it!” Nathan said as he shot. This time, he hit it pretty on point, the bullet cracking the face of the gnome and disconnecting its red pointed hat. “Woah!” He laughed. “Alright, next?”

Warren looked at the patio. “How about the porch swing?”

“Got it!” The trigger was pulled and the bullet dumbly passed through the rotting wood of the bench, passing through with little event. “Well that was a fail.”

“I’m on it,” Warren said with a roll of his eyes as he stuck out his hand. He watched the events play in reverse, the bullet making the journey back to the gun.

“Alright, next?” Nathan asked, turning to him.

He looked around, taking a bit more time now. “You know,” he said, spotting a bird bath, “I never really liked birds.”

“Me neither!” He punctuated his sentence by shooting, blowing the bird bath apart, along with the water that had gathered inside. “Alright, pretty rad!”

Warren was already on the prowl for the next target, pleased when he spotted a rusty barrel. “Does that have anything inside of it?” he asked, pointing across the way at it.

“Nope,” Nathan said as he trained the gun onto his target.

The barrel never saw it coming, and it appeared Nathan was also in a state of shock as the bullet rebounded, flying back and embedding itself in his stomach. He retched dropping to the ground. “Shit! Mistake! Go back, go back!”

Warren nodded, his eyes attempting to look away as he rewound again to just before Nathan shot.

“Wait!” Warren said, walking over and standing behind him, “I have an idea.” He reached over Nathan, moving the gun slightly to the side and perching his head on his shoulder to line up the shot. “There, now shoot.”

With Warren still looking over his shoulder, Nathan fired, the bullet bouncing off of the barrel again, this time flying harmlessly over their heads and straight through the glass on the front door. He marveled at the handiwork.

“Well shit!” Nathan said, laughing and looking at Warren over his shoulder. They maintained eye contact for a while before Nathan finally said, “Uh, dude. Little close there.”

Warren looked down between them and stepped back. “Oh, sorry, no homo or anything!”

Nathan looked at him for a while. There was a strong silence before he started sputtering and laughing. “‘No homo?’ Are you thirteen?”

Warren scoffed, stepping backwards. He smiled awkwardly for some time as he raised his hand. He turned it once, before he began to feel slightly dizzy. The pain in his head had returned full force this time and he cringed.

“Hey, Warren?” Nathan said, stepping forward. “You don’t look so good.”

“Yea, I’m just feeling… bad,” he said, running his hand over his nose and seeing a bit of blood come off on it.

Darkness seemed to close in on his vision as Nathan dropped the gun and rushed forward to hold him up by the shoulders.

“Dude? Warren?!”

There was storm, fire and fury. Nothing but the whirlwinds surrounding Warren to keep him up. And then it was calm.

The ground was soft. The place around his body felt weightless, and he felt cool and calm… and itchy. Warren opened his eyes slowly, taking in the low light around him from the windows. He judged from the hay he was lying in that he was in the barn Nathan had taken him to. Looking around, he saw Nathan looking down at him from where he was sitting a few feet away.

“Awe shit- you’re awake!” he said happily. “Ugh, I thought you like, overdosed on time bullshit.”

“Overdosed?” he asked, sitting up slowly and leaning against the wall. “Did you really just say that?”

“Yes. Seriously, how many times did you rewind?” he asked.

“Twice at the diner,” he said. “And, I guess I got a few in before I left school.”

“How many times just now?”

Warren shrugged, splaying his legs out before him. “Three times, I guess? I don’t know. I feel a lot better now.”

“So, like, ten times?” Nathan asked, “Over one day? Man that is some really weak super power right there.”

“At least I have super powers.”                

Nathan scoffed, standing up. Warren almost stood himself, but then Nathan reached out a hand to help him up.

“You feeling alright?”

The hand seemed rather inviting to Warren, who looked between the offering and Nathan himself. He was worried that it was some kind of joke, but he nodded and took it anyway. “Yea I’m doing alright. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said as he pulled him to his feet. “Come on, I know what’ll make you feel better,” he said, pulling out the gun and placing it in Warren’s hand.

“Uh, no thanks, I’m really not-”

“Come on! You lined up all of those shots with me! You can shoot once on your own.” He looked around the barn before laying his eyes on an old clock. “Here, aim for that.”

Warren looked at the clock, aiming the automatic pistol at the center, the hands no longer circulating it has they once had. He was about to pull the trigger when the door at the far end of the barn opened up. A large man stood before him as Warren threw the gun behind his back.

“Well, well, what have we here?” the man said, coming forward into the barn. He looked at Warren and then to Nathan. “Found a friend here, Rott?” he asked.

“Maybe,” Nathan said. The shoulders of his red jacket rose with determination as he stared the man down. “What’s it to you, Frank?”

“Why, it’s nothing really, as long as you have my money, of course,” Frank said. “Chloe said she had a bit of trouble collecting it from you today. So, I decided to collect it myself.”

A firm hand pulled out of the right pocket of his jacket, turning itself palms-up. Nathan flicked his eyes down fearfully for a moment before he caught sight of something on his wrist.

“Is that Rachel’s bracelet!” he said. Frank shot back as Nathan reached out for his wrist. “Why the fuck do you have that? Give it to me!”

“It was a gift!”

“Bull shit!” He attempted to walk forward against Frank, but then his left hand came out, producing a small switchblade as he walked forward, holding it to Nathan’s throat.

It looked like he was going to say something more to him, but warren chose that moment to hold up the gun, drawing attention as he unlocked the safety and pointed it at Frank. At hearing the safety, Frank turned around immediately.

“Well then,” he said, getting tall as he stepped forward. “Looks like you found yourself a pit-bull this time.” He paced in front of Warren. “Or are you just a poodle?”

Warren shook where he stood, trying his hardest not to waver in the face of this guy. If this was the same Frank Nathan had told him about, then there would be hell to pay if he didn’t shoot him. But, at the same time…

I can’t kill anyone.

So it was with a reluctant sigh that he dropped his arms, lowering the gun.

“That’s what I thought,” Frank said, coming forward as he snatched the gun out of Warren’s hands. “Heh, more like a tea cup poodle, if you asked me.”  He turned to Nathan, shaking the gun as he said, “I’ll be taking this as interest.”

Heavy footsteps signaled his departure as he closed the door behind him.

“Thanks for doing something,” Nathan said as he rolled his eyes.

Warren looked over at him incredulously. “I couldn’t just shoot him. That would be wrong.”

“So now he has a gun and he can shoot me! So that’s okay?” Warren opened his mouth to respond, but didn’t get the chance. “Look, whatever. Let’s just go through these files.”

He walked over to a chest over by the wall of the room and pulled out a manila folder, dropping it onto the surface of the chest. “This is all I have on David. It includes his address and all of his usual locations.” Warren began shuffling through the papers as Nathan talked. “He was in the army somewhere, and got home recently, so there’s not much work history.”

“It’s scary that you have all of this,” Warren admitted, looking up to him.

Nathan shrugged. “What can I say? I’m thorough.”

“But you still need me to rummage around Blackwell with you?”

Nathan didn’t smile like he had the other times he commented on this, instead shutting the chest and sitting back on it.

“Yea. I have a lot of stuff on David, but almost nothing on Rachel. She always kept to herself, but I knew so much about her. At least,” he looked down, “I thought I did.”

Warren frowned at this, looking back at the papers absently. “We’re going to find her,” he vowed. “I know we will. Kate too.”

Nathan looked down at him and nodded with a small grin. “Yea we are. Between my brains and your time powers, we could do anything.”

“Are you sure you’re the brains?” Warren asked.

Nathan scoffed, marching over to the center of the room. “You know I am, Graham. And don’t you fucking forget it!”

A rusty crank filled the air, followed by another as Warren continued shuffling through the papers. Neither of them paid much attention to it until, the crank stopped with a loud crack. The crack was followed by a loud ringing as something metal hit the floor. Almost instantly, there was a sickening squelch. Terrified to even look, Warren simply rewound and turned around. The first crank sounded. Another.

“Move!” he said, jumping forward and immediately knocking Nathan out of the way.

Knocking his head back against the dirt ground of the barn, Nathan looked up at him with a small glare as he shoved him off. “What the hell was that-”

This time, the thick squelch was replaced with a loud thunk behind him. They both looked over to see a large copper engine, long turned a light, chalky teal.

Warren looked back at Nathan, who just stared at it in shock. “Holy shit!” His eyes flicked up to Warren. “Did you know that was going to fucking fall?”

“It may have killed you before,” he confessed.

Nathan scuttled back away from the machine, as if it had leapt from the platform above, as opposed to simply having been pulled down by the broken crank, which lay away in the corner.

The ride back to campus was short and fairly enjoyable, now that Warren had established some sort of truce with Nathan. As the pulled to a stop in the school parking lot, Nathan turned to him.

“You’re down for tonight, right?”

“Right,” he agreed. “Nothing’s stopping us now.”

They both shifted out of the car then, taking long steps in the direction of the school. They broke off quickly, too quickly for Warren to really notice until he saw Nathan long across the school and no longer at his side.

I should have known he’d ditch me, he thought as he continued walking. Soon, he was stopped as Brooke jumped out in front of him.

“Hey, Warren,” she said.

“Oh, hey,” he said. “How’s your day.”

“Eh, nothing more than the usual. What’s up with you? Alyssa told me she didn’t see you in English. I thought you wouldn’t make it to school today.”

“Things have been weird,” he said. “But I’m here now.”

“Good!” She said. “Because I kind of need your approval on something.”

He raised an eyebrow and smiled as she dug around in her book bag. She pulled out a photo, and he looked down, immediately intrigued. He could clearly see himself in what appeared to be Ms. Grant’s classroom, Zach and Logan situated behind him. Even Justin was in the shot, sitting in front of him.

“I took it around the end of class yesterday,” she said. “I still needed something to turn into Jefferson’s, so here it is! I could care less what those three bonehead’s think, but if you aren’t comfortable with me turning it in-”

“No way! This looks great,” Warren said, though he knew very little about framing in photography and couldn’t accurately judge one photo from another. Still, he didn’t have anything against the fact that Brooke wanted to use a picture that included him for her submission. “You should totally turn this in. Oh, here.” He held out the picture, waiting for her to take it back.

“Oh, that’s fine!” she said. “I’d like you to have it!”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yea, I have it on my computer. I’ll turn that one into Jefferson, and you can keep that one.”

A large smile overtook his face. “Wow, Brooke, thanks!” he said as he slid it into his binder. “I’ll take care of it. After all, I wouldn’t want to lose the greatest photo ever taken! It could be worth millions when you become famous some day.”

“I don’t think so,” Brooke said with a laugh. “I hope to become famous for my brain, not for my art. Well, see you in class, Warren!”

He waved her off as she walked down to science. He situated his binder into his book bag and began to make his way to class himself. On his way down the hall, however, he was stopped again. This time by an arm that cut out in front of him. He followed the navy-clad limb until he had traced it back to it’s owner.

“Hi, Mr. Madsen,” he said sheepishly.

“Don’t ‘hi, Mr. Madsen,’ me, boy,” he ordered. “I saw your little quarrel involving my daughter yesterday.”

“Daughter?” he asked.

“Chloe! Now I don’t know what that was about, but I don’t like anyone who tussles with anyone in my family,” he said, jabbing Warren in the chest. “So, you better watch yourself, boy.”

“Oh, just like you watched Rachel Amber and Kate Marsh?” he asked, almost immediately regretting it but, knowing that he couldn’t back down after saying something like that, didn’t flinch.

David rose back and glared down at Warren, daring him to say something else. “I haven’t had a real problem with you before yesterday,” he said. “Heh, one day with a Prescott and you’re suddenly top dog, huh? Well we’ll see about that. In the meantime, be careful of who you’re palling around with, and don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

The sound of his boots jingling as he stomped away left Warren feeling breathless. I cannot believe I just did that, he said, but I’m not going to rewind for it. He deserves to feel bad.

With a recharging breath, Warren walked down the hall in the direction of the photography room, planning to greet Max since saying hello to her that morning. He decided to hang back, however, when he saw Stella talking with Mr. Jefferson. The initial thought was that she was finally going to talk to someone about what was going on, aside from the police that could do very little to help, but then she started crying as she ran off, making Warren stare after her with a look of sympathy. He turned down the hall to Jefferson.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. Stella wanted to talk to me about some recent events, but she didn’t actually tell me anything,” he said. Jefferson locked his eyes on Warren. “Of course, that shouldn’t be any of your concern, Warren. I take it you’re here to say hello to Max?”

Slowly backing into the classroom, he said, “Uh, yea Mr. Jefferson, have a nice day.”

“Not so fast, Warren” he said, “I’m sure you were also planning to tell me all about your photo entry.”

“Yea, I may have some trouble getting… inspiration?” he said with a fake smile.

“I’ll work on getting you a tutor on how to use a camera,” Jefferson said. “Now go on.”

The fake smile remained as he turned around and walked into the room. There he saw Max on the opposite end talking to Victoria and Nathan, who had perched themselves on her desk. He rolled his eyes. How can I judge her friends when Nathan’s pulling this shit?

Not one to confront, especially after all of the shit that had happened thus far, he decided to look for another outlet in the room, settling on Alyssa, who was staring out the window.

“Hey, Alyssa,” Warren said.

“Go away, Warren, I’m contemplating shit,” she snapped.

“Come on. You don’t want to talk or something?”

“Not unless you can fix my friends right now, no. I don’t want to talk.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, resting back on the desk next to her. “It sounds like you have a lot on your mind.”

She looked down and out the window for another moment before turning away and walking to her seat.

Warren took a look of confusion, looking out the window himself. Stella was sprinting across campus. God damn it, Jefferson. What did you tell her? No, I guess it isn’t fair to blame him. She has a lot on her plate right now.

With a final look out the window, he looked to the back of the room where Victoria and Nathan had now removed themselves of Max’s desk. Seeing this, he moved forward to approach Max.

“Hey, Mad Max!” he said, taking his own seat on her desk. “How was your morning?”

“Different,” she said with a thoughtful look, “but it was still good. And yours?”

“Same,” he said.

“Really? I heard you weren’t in first period,” she said.

“I may have been busy.” Busy being threatened by your friend’s boss at gunpoint.

Unaware of his thoughts, she merely smiled. “Yea, well I never thought you the type to skip school either way.”

He leaned over on the desk and tilted his head up. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me Max,” he said, giving a fake grin.

She giggled, shoving his arm slightly. “Yea, obviously I’m completely oblivious to your double life. Science nerd by day, regular nerd by night!”

He was going to say something more when the bell rang.

“Okay, I know you all love me,” Mr. Jefferson said, “but, if you’re not in my class, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Warren rolled his eyes, begrudgingly sliding off of the desk and filing after the other students who paced out of the class.

The calm atmosphere of the hall was broken almost as soon as it started, Warren not having even made it into his class before Zachary tore down the hall.

“Hey, there’s some crazy shit going down at the girls’ dorms!” he yelled into Jefferson’s class.

Those students from Ms. Grant’s room were already spilling out and Warren hastily made his way with them, moving out of the school and down to the girls’ dorms. The air held a prickling sense of unease, along with a chill far different and much more unpleasant than that of the rain’s. Warren tried to shake it off, but couldn’t seem to will his feet to slow down as he picked up the pace, shoving past a few familiar faces on his way to the dorms. When he got there, his heart stopped.

Crowds were never a good sign, truthfully. If a crowd gathers for no conceivable reason in a public setting, it was generally an indication that something bad was happening. That proved true in this case, as Warren joined the flock of people staring up at the girl in a pink hoodie standing on the roof.

“Stella,” he said under his breath, frozen to the spot on the grass.

“What’s she doing up there?”

“What’s going on?”

Other cries ran out, most of them evolving into shrieks as the figure on the roof plummeted to the earth. He reached his hand out immediately, turning time back. before she could hit the ground. Before he could take a step, she was jumping again. And again. And again. Pain clawed from the inside of his skull, pounding and shrieking.

I can’t keep doing this. There has to be another way!

Suddenly, as he held his hand up, time stopped. Entirely. Every raindrop halted, screams were silenced, and most importantly, Stella was still on the roof.

He pushed through the pain, moving slowly towards the dorm. He’d almost run into David, making his way into the building. His feet wobbled as he trudged up the stairs, breathing growing shallow until he reached the roof. As soon as the door opened, time started up again. He reached out to stop it, grunting at the effort with a loud gasp.

Stella, at hearing the noise, turned around. “Warren? How did you get here?”

“Stella!” he tried again, hurting himself this time.

It’s not working! I’m powerless…

“Stay back, Warren! I’m going to do this! You can’t stop me!”

“Stella, why?” he asked.

“It’s my only option, Warren,” she said. “You wouldn’t understand. You don’t know what it’s like to have almost nothing and then lose the little thing you do have!”

“Maybe I don’t,” he said, “I’m not going to pretend I do, but you haven’t lost everything. Look down there! Alyssa’s down there, she cares about you! So do other people at this school!”

“That’s not true!” she said, grumbling, “Nobody cares about me.”

“Then why am I here?” he asked, taking a step forward.

She looked at him for a while, squinting as she asked, “Why are you here?”

“Because I care, Stella! Look, I know you didn’t have the best home life, but there are people who care about you here at Blackwell.”

“Tch,” she glared at him, “just like they cared about Kate? Just like you care about Kate?!”

“I do care about Kate!” he said. “I’m looking for evidence on what happened to her! I’ve been working on it all morning, ever since I talked to you!”

She looked taken back by that. “You… you are?”

“Yes! I figured out that David Madsen was stalking her, and Rachel Amber! That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

She looked at him, shaking her head, “No, I guess not. I knew that asshole was behind this. Well, I guess it makes me feel better knowing her investigation will continue… even after I’m gone.”

“Stella, no! I need your help!” he said. “You’re one of the smartest, most hardworking kids at Blackwell! So, come down here, and stand beside me!” He held out a hand for her, to which she flinched away from, still standing on the ledge. “Do it for yourself! Do it for Kate! Do you think she’d want you to do this?”

“Maybe she would!” she yelled, crying out into the rain. “You don’t know anything about me Warren! I’m the reason she was at that party!” She looked down at the concrete roof, a few of her tears joining the rain. “I brought her there. She just wanted to look out for me.”

“I do know you, Stella! And even if you think I don’t know you, I knew Kate. I knew that she would have forgiven you no matter what. She wouldn’t have blamed you for trying to have a good time!”

“I was buying drugs! I wasn’t just looking for a place to get away, I was buying drugs, Warren! I’m just like my mom now…” She let out a broken laugh. “I guess it’s true what they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Stella, you’re nothing like your parents!” he said. “You’re sweet and kind!”

“How do you know that?! How do you know I don’t only care about myself?!”

“Because people who only care about themselves don’t spend weeks looking for a missing friend,” Warren said, “Because people who only care about where they’re going to get their next fix don’t blame themselves when someone goes missing. You care about Kate, Stella.” He raised a hand to her, “And I care about you.”

Stella was almost shaking, the cold drops pelting them both while thunder roared in the distance. The cool wind did little to sooth, but it embraced them both as Stella reached out, grabbing his hand and shuddering as he pulled her onto the rooftop with him.

She was safe at last. Safe at last.

“Today has been a hard day Blackwell,” Principle Wells said, calmly easing out of his chair and looking through the blinds on the window. “It would have been a tragedy to have lost Ms. Hill today, but it’s just as much so to know that we could have done just that. Things like this should never occur in such a prestigious hall of wisdom and knowledge. Of course, you’re quite the hero for getting Stella to come down, Warren.”

“I… didn’t do much,” he said, unable to really focus.

“He’s being modest,” Mr. Jefferson said, coming over to lay his hand over Warren’s shoulder. “Like a true hero.”

“Yea, a true hero,” David chided from the corner with a click of his tongue.

“I take my job seriously,” Principle Wells continued, “and the well-being of every student even more so. Like I said, what happened today should never happen. Mr. Madsen, as our head of security here, those roof doors should always be locked. That’s just standard operating procedure. They were not and that is your responsibility.”

David nodded and looked down. It may have been Warren’s imagination, but he thought he saw a look of regret flicker over his face. But that couldn’t be true.

“Mr. Jefferson, I know you couldn’t possibly know what every one of your students are going through, but Ms. Hill is a prominent force in your class. In fact, it is to my knowledge that you offered her a job position on campus. As such, I think it isn’t too much to ask that you should have been more aware of her behaviors.”

Mr. Jefferson took his hand from Warren’s shoulder and stepped back. Finally, Warren turned to Nathan, sitting quietly beside him in the other chair.

“Mr. Prescott, since you are actually the host of the Vortex Club, the very place Mr. Jefferson offered Ms. Hill the job, I have also asked you to answer some more questions.” Now Wells settled back down into his chair, looking directly at Warren. “Mr. Graham, why exactly were you on the roof with Ms. Hill?”

He looked around the room, first locking his eyes on David and then over to Jefferson. Finally, he said, “She was upset because no one was listening to her. And, on top of all that… I saw Jefferson make her cry.”

He made brief eye contact with Nathan as Wells talked, but he didn’t say anything.

“Mark,” he said, “is this true?”

“Stella… Ms. Hill… was very withdrawn over the past week. I had no idea what was upsetting her and, when I tried to talk to her about it this morning, she left in a hurry. I suppose I’d gotten to her too late.”

“I know why she was upset!” Nathan said. “It’s because Sergeant Shithead over her-”

“Mr. Prescott, please allow Mr. Graham to speak for himself,” Principle Wells said sternly. Once Nathan was pacified, he looked up to Jefferson. “As for you, perhaps it would be best if you didn’t represent Blackwell at the Everyday Heroes Contest. We don’t need any bad publicity around that event.”

Jefferson looked stunned, but nodded obediently. “I understand. Some things are more important than me. The life of a young girl for one.”

Wells returned the nod and turned to Warren, sliding over a piece of paper and a pen as he said, “Now, Mr. Graham, please sign here to confirm what you’ve told us. Everything said here will be looked into.”

Warren looked over at Nathan for only a moment, noting the anger etched into his face. I know he wants me to blame David but… would Wells even believe me? And what could I say? Hopefully Stella says something. But what about Max? She’ll be heartbroken if I get Jefferson kicked off of the Everyday Heroes Contest.

He looked at the paper for some time, raising his hand as he wondered if a rewound would be worth it. His hand hung over the pen on the desk and, finally, he signed.

Some things are more important, Mr. Jefferson. Some things are a lot more important.

“Well now we know less than when we started,” Wells said as he slid the paper towards himself. “We’ll be assisting the police with further inquiries. I know today has been a stressful day, I wish I had the power to change it for the better, so thank you all for coming in.”

David was the first to leave the room, quickly passing back and out. Nathan was next, looking as though he was going to say something, before apparently thinking better of it and just storming out. Jefferson stayed behind, even as warren lazily stood and, finally, exited the room.

The rain had long passed over Blackwell, only leaving behind the rough smell of wet concrete. The students themselves were quieter after the day’s events, murmuring here and there throughout the school. Warren could barely hear them as he spoke to Max.

“I got chills,” he said. “I was just so worried that she was going to fall back. I could barely feel her when she grabbed my hand.

“That was amazing, Warren,” Max said. “Seriously. I’m really proud of what you did today. It means a lot to everyone here. I don’t know what I would have done up there. Or, even if I’d just seen her jump. But you? You did it. You really pulled it off today. Like a hero.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Don’t be modest, Warren.” She said, shoving him lightly and giving him a smile.

“Something’s going on Max,” he said. “Something bad. And, I think it might tie in with David Madsen somehow.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” she scoffed. “That guy is a real asshole, and a creep too.”

It wasn’t hard to see that Warren wasn’t being as energetic as usual and, with that in mind, Max reached out and touched his arm gently.

“Warren, what do you think is going on?”

He looked at the stairs before focusing on her hand. He thought about telling her everything that had occurred in the past forty-eight hours, when something caught his eye. The sun was disappearing quickly, fading behind the moon.

“Holy shit,” Warren said under his breath.

“That’s amazing,” Max said as she pulled out her camera. “I’m going to get a picture.”

“Max, I would have known if there was an eclipse today,” he said, “I would have known.”

After Max snapped her picture, she shook out the Polaroid to develop it, smiling proudly. As she turned to Warren, wanting to show him the shot, she frowned slightly. He was staring into the sun as if it was truly the end of the world. It was as if he was in a trance. He only left this trance when she leaned forward and wordlessly put her arms around him.

Max… what’s going on?

Chapter Text

The silence of the afternoon carried over long into Blackwell’s after dark, bathing the campus in a somewhat-surreal atmosphere as Warren slept against the wood of his desk, long having abandoned the chemistry work on his desk. He’d finish it during English the next day, of course. Hell, he was even sure the assignment would be dropped on account of the day’s events. Ms. Grant was just that kind of person. However, there were other reasons why Warren wasn’t focusing on his school work. There were larger forces at hand.

A storm. The storm. It was coming for them, Stella perched on the edge of the roof. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak. She turned around and gave him a smile, the world falling out of chaos around them as she fell back delicately.

“Stella!” he cried as his hand moved forward, crinkling his notebook, the pillow he’d attained for the night.

After realizing that he was in his room, and not on the roof of the girl’s dorm surrounded by the eye of a hurricane, he softened and deflated. It was a dream, he thought, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. As Warren was drifting back to sleep, the soft cries of an anime intro broke the silence. He stood, lazily making his way over to the bed to find the device making the noise as he picked up.

“Hello?” Warren asked.

“Hey, I’ve been texting you for the past ten minutes, where are you?”

Of course it was Nathan.

“I’m in my dorm. Where are you?” he asked.

“I’m in front of the school. Get your ass in gear!”

“Ugh, fine, I’m on my way,” Warren said.

“See you then.”

“Alright, so what are-?” He was cut off by a long beep. “Did you just hang up on me?” he asked the phone. It was futile, however, for the device simply continued making that long, continuous beep.

He growled slightly before throwing the phone into his bag and toting it with him as he walked through the building, set on leaving for the school.

Warren had never been outside at night, not really being one for sneaking out in the past, so he hardly knew what to expect. It wasn’t anything like this, however. The world was so serene and calm, fireflies dancing around the bushes while moths floated by the lamp posts. He grinned stupidly at them both, finding the small delights quite endearing after the day he’d had. Through the woods, he spotted a small cat perched among the roots of a tall oak. It looked to him, and he expected it to let out an eager mew any minute. But it didn’t. It sat, quietly staring at him. Its glossy eyes bore into his sole with a blankness he couldn’t find words to describe. The eyes were cold, and yet so alive and human.

He reached out a hand to graze its fur, but it leapt away, walking a little further down. He saw the white along the cat’s tail and stomach, suddenly realizing why this cat was so familiar to him. It looks just like the cat from my vision, he thought, scrambling for his phone. I need to get a picture for later.

With a smile, he dug out his phone, attempting to keep his eyes on the cat so that it didn’t escape him. The camera flashed and he looked at the picture with another grin. Only, Warren didn’t see the cat looking up at him as it had before the photo was taken. Only the roots of the tree remained. Determined to get a picture, he looked up for the cat again, finding the ground just as bare as the photo. He scowled, walking to the parking lot. He’d look for the cat later. At least the campus was quiet.

Warren would soon find that the campus wasn’t as peaceful as he’d once imagined, however. For, when he least suspected it, something emerged from the trees behind him, launching out and grabbing his shoulders with a shout.

He yelped and jumped back, effectively stumbling into a car, just barely keep himself up as he looked up to the face of Nathan Prescott.

“Oh my god, don’t scare me like that!” Warren yelled at him.

Nathan was too busy laughing to care. “Oh my god, you should have seen your face!” he said quietly, his voice growing high pitched due to his lessened intake of oxygen.

“Come on dude, are you five?” he asked.

Nathan’s laughing subsided as he looked down at Warren with a proud smile. “Come on, it was funny!”

“Not to me!” Warren said as he corrected himself on his feet. “I’m not sure if you care, but one of my friends just tried to kill herself today.”

Nathan’s smile fell and he begrudgingly looked away.

Warren waited two minutes for an apology. After not receiving one after that period of time, he simply scoffed. “Whatever. Let’s just get in the files we need and leave.”

Nathan followed begrudgingly as they stepped up to the building. Warren was somewhat surprised when he produced a ring of keys, easily sliding one into the slot and clicking the door open. He held it, motioning to Warren.

“After you,” he said.

Warren didn’t respond, stepping through just as easily. They walked down the hall easily and quietly, Warren gripping the strap of his bag.

“Where did you get the keys?” he finally asked.

Nathan looked at them proudly smiling as he held them up. “Yea, it took some convincing, but I finally got a guard to hand them over. Here!”

Nathan reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him as they stood before the main office.

“Are you sure what we need is in there?” Warren asked.

“Damn right. Wells has everything on everyone in this school. He keeps everything marked and together in his office. All we have to do is find Rachel’s file, and Kate’s file. Fuck, we might even find something on Sergeant Dipshit, if we’re lucky. Then we can take the bastard down once and for all,” as he spoke, Nathan had pulled out the key to the main office, unlocking it and moving through with ease. He then took some time, looking through the ring for the key to the principal’s

“Shit!” he said.

“What is it?” Warren asked.

“The dick didn’t have the principal’s key,” Nathan growled.

“Well there should be another way in, right?”

“No,” Nathan sighed. “I guess we’re going to have to find the fucking key.”

Warren thought on this for a while before he gave a devious smile. “I think I have a better idea.” He looked at Nathan. “I need a can and some duct tape. I’ll be in the science lab if you need me.”

Warren was walking away before Nathan could say anything. Hoping he would listen to him and just do as he asked, Warren got to work searching for sodium chlorate and a bag of sugar. The first, and only, place to check was the chemistry room. Upon walking inside, he flashed his phone around as a makeshift flashlight, catching sight of the bag of sugar on Ms. Grant’s desk. A greedy smile painted itself onto his face as he picked it up, walking to the back of the room and searching the cupboards for sodium chlorate.

“I have the can!” Nathan said, announcing himself as he came into the lab.

“Great. What about the duct tape?” Warren asked.

“I couldn’t find any,” he said, stepping farther into the room.

“Did you check?” he asked, finally turning around to look at him.

“Maybe,” Nathan said, not even looking at him. Instead, he was going over Ms. Grant’s desk, looking through papers and anything else he could find on the surface.

“I guess I’ll get it later,” he grumbled as he went back to the cabinet.

“Oh, trouble in paradise?” Nathan asked.

“What?” Warren asked, turning around yet again.

Nathan held up a paper. “Warren Graham getting a B- on his chemistry test? Now that’s fucking hilarious!” He laughed.

“Can you not go through her papers?” Warren said, standing up and walking to the desk. He made a grab for the paper, to which Nathan held it back. “Dude, she’s going to notice if you move stuff around!”

“Come on, dude, now’s your chance! Use this to your advantage!” Nathan said, setting the paper on the desk as he riffled through a desk drawer. Next to the paper, he set down a red marker.

“What are you doing?” Warren asked.

“I’m not going to do anything,” he said. “However, it would be quite interesting if something were to happen to this paper while no one was in the school. Something that might bump your grade up a few points.”

Warren looked down at the paper and the pen. Getting Nathan’s idea, he grinned. “Yea. That would be interesting.”

Nathan stood behind him, watching with a large grin as he took up the pen, making a single line on the paper.

“Awesome! From breaking in to forgery? Aren’t you a hardened criminal?”

“I guess we’ll see in a second,” Warren said. “If you get the duct tape, of course.”

Nathan shot him a look before moving from behind the desk and out of the room. “Where is it?”

“Try the photography room,” he said.

“Why would the photography room have duct tape?”

“Matting photos? I don’t know! Just check! I promise, this will be so worth it!”

With a slight scowl, Nathan signed and left the room entirely, walking down the hall to Mr. Jefferson’s class. Warren rolled his eyes and continued shuffling through the cabinets. Little did he know how close the destined chemical was. When he finally found it, retrieving it from the top of the shelf with aid of a chair, he retreated from the room and made his way back to Wells’ office. Once there, he found Nathan waiting with duct tape and soda in hand.

“So, remind me what you need these for?”

“Oh, I just needed the chemicals,” he joked, “Thanks for the soda though, I’m thirsty.”

“What about the duct tape?”

“I thought I could use it to get you to shut up,” he said with a grin.

“Ha ha, very funny. You better be joking, Graham. Now tell me what they’re really for.”

Warren paid him no mind, simply saying, “Patience you must have, my young padawan.”

Nathan scowled and turned around, grumbling under his breath while Warren pasted together exactly the structure he needed: A pipe bomb. With an excited grin, he strapped it to the door handle, igniting it with the flick of a wrist.

“You should probably come over here,” he said, pulling Nathan away as he gently grabbed Nathan’s wrist.

Nathan jumped slightly, mesmerized by what was happening in front of him. They hid behind the secretary’s desk, looking up just when the bomb went off. Fragments of the handle scattered about the room, a hole left behind where it once sat in the door’s wood.

“Fucking-A man, that was sick!”

Warren smiled, feeling welcome in his bout of praise. This did not last long, however, as the fire alarm sounded, footsteps heavy as they rounded into the building.

“Shit, now what?” Nathan asked.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Warren said as he dove into the principal’s office. He turned back and rewound just as the officers started into the building.

“Fucking piece of shit nerd. Makes me run around the school so he can just-”

He opened the door to cut Nathan off, waving one hand into the room. “Velcome, I have been expecting you!” he said as he pulled an arm over his face like a cowl.

Nathan looked around, confused for a while as he saw Warren was no longer standing behind him.

“Did I miss something?” he asked.

“Nope,” he said with a grin. “Come on, let’s find those files.”

“Fuck that shit! I don’t like not knowing things! How the fuck did you get in here? Why did you need the soda and duct tape for your mad science bullshit?”

Warren rolled his eyes. “Well, if you want to ruin the mystery, I suppose I can key you in on my diabolical scheme.” Nathan blank-faced him, which caused his eyes to go around yet again that night. “I built a pipe bomb and blew up the door.”

“Holy shit!” Nathan said with a laugh. “And you rewound that?”

“It may have set off a fire alarm,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you another pipe bomb some day.”

“Damn right!” he said, giving a breath of laughter as he scooted to the desk. “Now, let’s work on those files. I’ll see what he has on Führer Fuckface.”

There was a moment Warren took to look down at Nathan with a grin. “Okay, that one was good.”

“Yeah it was!”

Warren nodded, running over the expansive room. The cabinets were useless, of course, but one filing cabinet produced a file he recognized: His own. He checked it over, not seeing anything of vague importance. Of course, that didn’t stop him from rifling through the rest of the files, stumbling across Nathan’s and Max’s.

I just want to make sure Max isn’t a spy or someone in witness protection or… something like that, he thought, looking over her file with ease. Again, nothing of importance coming to mind. Nathan’s, however, was inexplicably clean to the point that left Warren shifting his eyes behind him at the boy on the computer.

He didn’t say anything though, putting the file back and moving on. He passed to the back of the room and rutted around the files there. This cabinet, he found, was specified for students that no longer went to Blackwell. This was assumed from, not only the smaller number of folders, but also the fact that he found both Amber, Rachel and Marsh, Kate on two manila folders.

It was difficult not to jump when he spotted Hill, Stella in the back. Another name that popped up, surprising him somewhat, was Price, Chloe. He picked it up and turned around, flashing it to Nathan and asked, “Chloe went to school here?”

The chair spun around as Nathan turned to see what he was holding. He gave a bark of laughter. “Yea, bitch got herself expelled. Pulled a bunch of crazy shit, it should all be in there.”

“What about Rachel?” Warren asked as he flipped Chloe’s file open.

“Nah. She was… good. Too good, really. She got mixed up with Frank and his bitches, but that was just to get to LA.”

“Really?”

“Yea,” he said, smiling slightly. It was as if he was recalling a fond memory, and it made Warren really watch him as he spoke. The smile he wore wavered ever so slightly, but his eyes kept the kindness they held tightly, never letting it go for a moment as he said, “She wanted to be a model. She even posed a few times for Frank. Heh, sick bastard. He carries a picture of her around. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chloe had one too. They’re both convinced that she was all over them.”

“What about you?” Warren asked. “Did you and her ever..?”

Nathan waved him off. “Nah, she wasn’t my type and I wasn’t hers.” He allowed himself to reminisce for some time more before sighing and turning away. “Don’t bring up that mushy shit again,” he said, “Jeeze, Rachel’s gonna lose it when she meets you.”

“You think so?” he asked.

“Yea, she was always trying to get me to talk about that feelings crap. Don’t you dare tell her I said any of that!”

Warren chuckled. “I won’t.”

“You better not,” he said. “She’d never let me hear the end of it. Now, get over here if you’re not going to find anything actually useful. I think I have something.”

Warren put the files back, walking over to the computer and leaning to look over Nathan’s shoulder. “What’d you find?”

“Apparently, Stella isn’t the only one Captain Cunt decided to fuck around with,” he said. “A lot of students dealt with his shit.”

“That’s a lot of complaint forms,” he said with a nod. “Did you find anything linking him to Kate? Or Rachel?”

“Nothing for Rachel, but apparently he caught her doing drugs.” Warren tensed. “Eh, don’t get all wound up about it,” Nathan said as he noticed the action. “He’s a crock of shit. I know everyone who buys at this school, and Marsh was clean. He only said that because she was at a Vortex Club Party. Heh, she only went to one.”

“Yea. And it was her last.” Warren didn’t bother pointing out that this report was made, obviously, before Kate went missing. If anything, I bet he had something on Stella and blamed her by association. He looked at Nathan. But he doesn’t need to know that about her.

“Hey, what about this?” the other boy said, pointing at the screen as he read carefully.

“About what?”

“The old Commander Crack-Head happens to know our favorite little drug-whore,” he said as he turned the monitor. “Look at her parents.”

He scanned over for a while before getting to what Nathan was pointing out.

“I thought her last name was Price!”

“Probably took her mom’s name. Step-dad, maybe? I don’t know. The point is that we can’t expect to hear about the gun that bitch pulled in the bathroom.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Warren said. “She’ll at least be more careful, right? She won’t want to come here again.”

“Yea, whatever,” he said, standing from the desk and moving over to the door. “I’m gonna run through the secretary’s desk.”

Warren looked after him as he left the room. Then he noticed something sticking out from behind the other files on the computer. Something with Nathan’s name on it. Giving the door one more look, he turned back to the computer and brought the window into full view.

There were reports on him. Something from what he presumed was a therapist when he read the words “psychiatric care.” Disruptive behaviors were also listed there. Swearing at teachers, theft, and others filled a list.

“... may be a danger to the well-being of student and peers.”

He flinched back from the screen when Nathan shouted into the room.

“Hey, you coming?”

“Uh, yea, just a second.”

He closed out the windows on the computer and stood from the desk, walking out of the room to see Nathan standing there with a smug grin.

“What is it?”

Nathan held up a key and proudly stated, “He may not have had the fucking principal’s key, but he did have the key to the pool.”

Warren chuckled questionably, titling his head as he asked, “So?”

“So, we’re going to go swimming.”

“What? Why?” Warren asked.

“Come on, dude. Two days into this week and we’ve been through hell. I’ve been threatened at knife and gunpoint, you had to talk your friend down from suicide, and I think we both deserve a break after a good night’s work is all! Right?”

“Don’t you think we’re at risk enough being here this late?” he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. “You want to add going to the pool on top of that?”

Nathan tilted his head and crossed his arms. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t think you- the guy who knows how to build a pipe bomb and uses them to blow up door handles- would be so sensitive!” Warren sighed and looked away to think about it. That was all the clue-in Nathan needed to proceed to lean forward. “Think about it. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one night to stick it to these assholes? Being able to do this under old Hitler’s nose? You think it wouldn’t be a bit satisfying to see that shit go down?”

Warren fought off the smile threatening his lips. “I guess it could be nice.”

“Alright then!” he said, clapping him on the shoulder and pulling him along. “Let’s go.”

The childish humor Nathan carried with him was accepted as something far better than the brooding anger he’d shown in the past. His steps were light as they carried him to the pool area, Warren following close behind. They stopped no sooner than they’d entered, Nathan producing the keys as they came upon the door.

He turned to Warren. “So, girls or guys room?”

Warren shrugged. “Girls. Whatever, right?”

Nathan chuckled. “Yea, whatever. Perv!” he said, giving a final shove to punctuate the sentence.

There was a moment where Warren looked after him, watching as his red jacket disappeared behind the girls’ bathroom door. He followed soon after, not wanting to allude that he was up to no good in the locker room. Though, in truth, he was more than a little curious, there was very little to be said in the way of differences. Well, aside from the absence of urinals.

The pool area, however, was very different. He knew that the only difference was the darkness, but there was still something mysterious and alien about the situation. He left his bag by the door of the locker room, toeing off his shoes.

“Nathan?” he called out into the darkness. “Nathan?”

He was answered when the lights in the pool flicked on. Looking around, he gave a chuckle.

“Okay, come on dude, where are you?” he asked. When he didn’t receive an answer he turned to the pool. “Oh, I get it, you wanna watch me undress first. You could have just said so.” he joked, pulling off his shirts in one fail swoop.

He reached down to start on his pants, when two hands firmly pressed into his back, sending him face first into the pool. Struggling, he reached the surface to hear Nathan laughing hysterically. Upon turning back to the ledge he’d been standing on. There  Nathan stood, long having discarded his pants and jacket, leaving him in his boxer-briefs and a plain t-shirt. Of course, Warren was more focused on the shit-eating grin he wore.

“Oh my God, you should have seen your face!” he said as he continued laughing.

Warren could have whined, he really could have, but instead, he reached up and wrapped a hand around Nathan’s leg, pulling him into the water as well. The laughing stopped as soon as contact was made, slipping forward and into the pool.

Rich laughter flooded from Warren’s mouth as Nathan’s head popped out of the water, a startled expression on his face as he whipped around in the water. He glared at Warren for a while, as he hadn’t stopped laughing, before splashing him.

“Hey, come on! At least you got your pants off!” he said, still unbuttoning his pants as he slipped them off in the water. He wrung them out, using the gutter as balance before laying them on the pool deck. “Aw man, these are definitely not going to dry before we leave.”

“You should have thought of that before coming into the pool without a swimsuit,” Nathan said.

“Oh, and you were so prepared?” Warren shot back with a laugh. “You look like a drowned cat!”

“I’d rather look like a cat than wet shit! Seriously, what is your hair?” To demonstrate, he ran his hand over Warren’s hair to brush it out of his face. “Personally, I think it’s a lost cause.”

Warren brushed his fingers through his hair and smiled as he paddled back. The water was cool and ran over his arms like a clear sheet as he passed through it. They bickered back and forth for some time before eventually coming back to lean against the gutter along the side of the pool. With his elbows propped upon the plastic, Warren kicked out gently with his legs.

“So, do you think we’ll actually find her?”

The question was startling to say the least, causing Warren to look over at Nathan with sad eyes.

“Rachel, I mean,” Nathan clarified as he stared out at the water.

After a while, Warren looked out with him and nodded. “Yea. We definitely will. Then we can pin this asshole for everything he’s done to her, right? And Kate.”

Nathan chuckled at that. “Yea. We’ll really stick it to him!” he said as he smacked the surface of the water lightly, causing a few droplets to fling into the air. “He’ll pay for what he’s done.”

“Yea he will!” Warren whooped as he pulled himself from the pool and onto the deck. “But first, let’s get back to the dorms. We can recon tomorrow.”

Nathan nodded and slid out himself. They began dressing soon enough, Warren shuddering as he pulled on the soaking wet jeans. No sooner had he slid his book bag onto his shoulder than when they heard the pool door rattling.

“Shit!” Warren said in a hushed yell while Nathan clamped his hand around his arm.

Nathan flexed his fingers once before turning Warren around and pulling him into the girl’s locker room to escape out the back. They darted out to the main area before the pool, startled by the lights that appeared in the glass. Warren jumped back, pulling Nathan will him as they went back into the locker room. They hid amongst the stalls, darting out only when the footsteps passed. With feet skittering along the wet floor, they broke out into the open air.

“What are we going to do?” Warren whispered.

“The school is closer to the dorms,” Nathan said, “We could go around or go through the school. Fuck- shit! Just pick one and move!”

Warren examined his options, making a break for the school when he saw two guards coming around the corner of the main building. Once they made it past the door, which was still unlocked from earlier, they looked around.

“Okay, now it should be a straight shot, let’s go!” Nathan said, making his way to the front entrance.

They were cut off as lights appeared in the glass, guards approaching the door to cut them off.

“Fuck! What now?”

Warren ignored Nathan, looking around for a possible hiding place. The classrooms offered no refuge, and the halls were even more open. This left one more option. He fussed with his locker, pulling it open. There was no time to take surprise in how he’d remembered the combination, considering he rarely used it. He just had to be glad it was so empty, dumping his bag in the top of the locker as he stepped inside.

“What are you doing?” Nathan asked. “We won’t fit in there!”

“I’ve been stuffed in enough of these to know that you can fit at least four people in here! Get in!” Warren whispered harshly, grabbing Nathan and pulling him in.

The locker door shut silently enough as the front door opened.

“The door was unlocked!” Madsen’s voice came down the hall. “Find the shitheads who did this! Now!”

Warren couldn’t breathe, a chill running up and down his back as the cold from Nathan’s wet shirt began to seep into his own. He knew his pants were probably doing the same, but he was really not trying to think about that at the moment.

“You know,” Nathan whispered as he brought his head forward slightly, “this isn’t very no homo of you.”

“Shut up!” Warren said, trying to look past him and through the slits in the locker door. “Do you really wanna get caught like this?”

He scoffed, trying to move back slightly in the confined locker. Their legs cramped together in the space, being that it wasn’t as tall as they were, but they fit. Eventually, through quiet contortionism, they’d managed to fit together seamlessly while Warren fussed with the papers at the bottom of the locker, as few in number as they were.

“What are you doing?” Nathan asked.

“Shh!” Warren said, seeing the light pass by the locker.

“Where do you think they went?”

“Check back at the pool! Steve’s holding them up there. We’ve got em’ now! Emmet, stay back and keep an eye on the back door in case they come up!”

“On it!”

The three guards dispersed, leaving the hall and locker dead silent. Warren took the shoelace in his hands, reaching behind Nathan and jimmying the mechanisms from inside the door. Finally, it popped open and Nathan stepped backwards with a sigh.

Warren grabbed his bag and slowly closed the locker, turning behind him as he said, “Come on!”

Now they moved through the school, dodging across the parking lot and through the trees until they reached the boys’ dorm. The ascension of the stairs was met with panting and heavy steps, both of them shambling to the hall. Just when they’d thought they were safe, parting ways at their respective rooms, Warren reached into his pockets.

“Shit!” he exclaimed.

“What is it?”

“I must have dropped my keys at the school!” he said. “Ugh, shit fuck! I’ve gotta go back for it!”

“Calm down!” Nathan hissed, grabbing him by the arm. “Security is probably on red alert for your ass right now. Do you have another one?”

“Yea, in my car,” he said.

Nathan’s eyes darted from the middle of the hall to his own room a few times, seemingly working out a solution before he sighed and opened his door. “Come on!”

Warren looked past him into the dark space. “Really?”

“Yes! Now get in before someone sees us!”

Warren scrambled inside, Nathan closing the door soon after him.

The next morning was one met with stiff joints and cold skin. There was very little motivation for Warren to move, regardless of the uncomfortable angle his neck was resting in. That was when  he realized why he was in such a position, resting back on Nathan’s couch. In Nathan’s room. They’d crashed soon after coming into the room, not before he’d shed his wet clothes into the corner. He was going to sleep then when Nathan insisted he put them on a towel first, his own clothes being discarded into a hamper. Now the sun was beginning to branch through the stiff blinds, pulling at Warren to emerge from the large blanket that cloaked his form. The couch wasn’t that bad of a bed, as long as he kept his neck off of the arm. Then he felt a vibration from his side and remembered his phone, long left to charge by his side. He rummaged in the covers for a while before producing his phone and looking at the screen.

Seeing that it was from Brooke, he opened it.

Hey Warren! Did some major upgrades to my drone! You should stop by before school.

“So that’s why you aren’t dating Caulfield.”

He looked up at the voice to see Nathan peering over his shoulder, staring down at his phone.

“Ech! Dude!” Warren said, clutching the screen to his chest.

Nathan chuckled and dismissed the behavior. “You didn’t tell me you were dating some chemistry nerd. Huh, a match made in heaven!”

Warren scoffed. “We’re not dating,” he said. “Brooke’s just a really close friend.”

“Ooh, friendzoned by two girls now? That’s low,” Nathan said. When Warren made a face, he laughed even harder. “I’m kidding! No girl who’s friendzoning a guy texts him before seven! That’s just batshit.”

“Heh, like you and Victoria?” Warren said.

He didn’t reach anything close to the desired effect, and this was only noticed when he saw the grin painted across Nathan’s face. “Nah, Victoria and I aren’t dating, but it’s not the friendzone either. We’re just friends, and we both want to keep it that way.”

Warren glared. “And why can’t I have that with Max? Or Brooke?”

“Do you want that with Max?” Nathan asked.

Warren jumped at the question, looking down at his phone for a while before shrugging. “I guess not. I mean, I’d like to be friends with her but-”

“And do you think Brooke wants that with you?”

The question made Warren look down, feeling a bit guilty. “I’ve been friendzoning her, huh?”

Nathan gave him an exaggerated shrug, coupled with a goofy grin for his troubles. “If it means anything, I think the friendzone is bullshit.”

“Then why have you been saying it nonstop?!”

“Because I knew you believe in it,” he said with a smile, “and I just wanted to fuck with you! Now, come on, you’re gonna be late for class.”

Nathan walked over to the closet, Warren staring after him with confusion written on his face. Just when he thought he had Nathan figured out too. After some time of sitting on the couch, he stood and made his way over to the clothes piled in the corner.

Taking a whiff, he said, “Ugh, these smell like a chlorinated asshole.”

“Then they won’t stick out on you,” Nathan said. When Warren didn’t look amused, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Hold on a second.” He dug around in his own clothes, moving things back and forth on the rack before finally passing him an outfit. “Here. They look like shit on me, so they might look okay on you.”

Warren looked down at the clothes. Dark teal stripes went off and on with black as they danced across the shirt, paired with dark jeans that looked as though they may have been half a size small.

“Thanks, but I don’t really think this would look good on me.”

“Not yet,” Nathan said, digging for something else in his closet. Finally, he produced a white button up. “There we go. Now get dressed.”

Eyes flicked down to the shirt and then up to Nathan, he just tried pushing the clothes back into his hands. “Is this really necessary?”

Only giving an audible sigh, Nathan threw the clothes down on the couch. “Look, Graham, I know girls. Okay? Believe it or not, there are guys in this school with more dating experience than getting rejected by one hipster bitch.”

“Don’t talk about Max like that!”

“Why not? It’s not like you’re going to do anything about it!”

“Maybe I will!”

“Do it then! Prove to me you’re not gonna be a little bitch and take things lying down!” Nathan shouted, getting in his face. “

“I’ll take you lying down!”

“Oh yea, I bet you can’t even kiss me!”

He stopped and took a step back. “Wait what?”

“Come on! You and your ‘no homo’ ass! Fuck that shit! You can’t even kiss a guy!”

“Are you… are you asking me to kiss you?”

“Yea! Do it! I know you won’t!” he dared.

Warren looked at him for some time. Finally, he made his decision. He leaned up quickly, landing his lips on Nathan’s in a moment that was over all fleeting and inexact. The feeling was uncertain, but it still didn’t fully register when Nathan pulled away.

He looked at him for some time and Warren held out his hand to rewind, surprised when a hand wrapped around his wrist.

“Don’t,” Nathan said. He dropped his hand and smiled, running his hand over his hair. The way that he shed off the unease was somewhat surprising to Warren, who simply watched. “Well, shit, dude! I didn’t think you had it in ya!” He stared at him for a while before chuckling. “What? No half-assed ‘no homo’ this time? Heh, jeeze.” Nathan motioned to the sofa. “Look, take the clothes or don’t. It’s none of my business! But, uh, have fun making it to the parking lot and back in time to get into your class!”

Warren stared down at the clothes while Nathan milled behind him. Deciding he was right, he began changing into the clothes provided. But there was one thing above all that he agreed on:

He wasn’t going to rewind.

Once he was dressed, he turned around, getting a feel for the clothes. The pants seemed new, definitely a bit tighter than he would have liked, but still manageable. The shirts fit nicely enough, not too tight or too large but still hugging his figure slightly in a way that made him feel a bit more exposed than his average attire would. Still, he couldn’t help but notice the cut on the shirts. It made him feel important. He turned to Nathan after some  time and saw him lounging on the bed.

“You can head out,” he said, “Just make sure no one sees you. Heh, I don’t want anyone to know I’ve been hanging out with you. ‘No homo’ my ass!”

Warren let him have his chuckle. “Said the dude that wanted me to kiss him!” he said as he left the room, bag slung over his shoulder.

He took one fleeting glance at his door and saw a picture pasted onto it. Most of it was crudely drawn over with pink marker, declaring “Beta Phag Alert” proudly to the hall. He gave it little more than a sigh, walking in the opposite direction and passing down the stairs. Once outside, he made his way to the school where he saw Brooke proudly flying her drone around. She spotted him as well, waving eagerly. He raised a hand to wave back, but found his arm pulled down by a foreign object. He looked down to find Taylor had come to his side, wrapping an arm around his with a wide grin.

“Hey Warren!” she said, as if they’d known each other for a long time.

“Uh, hi, Taylor? What are you doing here?” he asked.

His other arm was snatched, this time by Courtney coming from his left. “Come on Warren, you can’t fool us like that.”

“Yea, we talk, like, all the time!” Taylor said with a giggle.

“No we don’t-”

“Oh my God Warren, you’re so funny!” Courtney cut him off. “Come on, we need to show you something! Isn’t that right, Taylor?”

“Yea we do! Trust us, Warren, you’re going to think it’s so fucking fantastic!”

A force began pulling him forward, the girls further clamping their arms around his as they walked. He turned to look back at Brooke who lowered her hand with a fallen look and went back to flying her drone. A bit guilty at how down she looked, Warren did little more than follow the girls as they pulled him into the school. He didn’t question what they wanted with him until they turned the corner, quite literally throwing him into the girl’s bathroom.

There was a stumbling moment before he caught himself on the sink to the right, looking up and seeing Victoria Chase glaring down at him from the far sink.

“Well, well, looks like my sluts are good for something,” she said, taking slow steps toward him. “Now, start talking Graham.”

“Talking about what?” he asked, backing into the door. “Look, I really shouldn’t be in here so-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Victoria said. “I have two guards on watch. Don’t worry about anyone getting in, just worry about who’s already in here with you.”

He looked down and stuttered a bit before finally gathering the courage to ask, “What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with ‘Why the fuck are you wearing Nathan’s clothes?’ Oh, and don’t bother telling me they’re yours. His sister gave him that disaster for his birthday, and I got him those jeans myself. It’s a shame they didn’t fit. They’d probably look nicer than they do on your flat ass.”

The insults and demands ran through his head in quick succession, Warren himself trying to pin down an answer. In his haste, he began: “Okay, well, Nathan and I slept together- not like slept together together, but we stayed at his dorm last night because… because-”

“Why?!”

“Because I lost my key!”

This answer seemed to please her, as she stepped back and drummed her fingers along her arm. “Why would Nathan give a shit about what happens to you?” Before he could answer, she started, “Wait, don’t tell me. You’re the little shit!”

“Wait, what?” he asked.

“You’re the asshole that made him skip out on me yesterday, aren’t you?”

“Well, uh, maybe?”

“So what was it then?” Victoria asked, her tone decreasing in volume while keeping its sharp bite. “What were you two doing all day?”

“Uh, well, we were at this barn thing!”

She looked scared then, backing up. “The old Prescott barn?”

The conversation slowed, allowing Warren to catch his breath. “Uh, yea, I think so.”

A nod and a look at Warren was all the warning he got before she continued. “And you were there all day, huh?” she said, getting her venom back into her tone.

“Uh, no, we-”

“Then what else did you do?”

“We ate at Two Whales!” he shouted. He grabbed his heart and looked at the floor, Victoria backing away with carefully measured steps.

“Sorry, but the scared answers are the most honest ones,” she said, suddenly a bit more calm and precise as she walked over to the bathroom mirror. She pulled out a tube of lip-gloss, applying a decent amount and puckering slowly before turning to Warren. “Listen here, Warren Graham. There are a few rumors running around this school about Nathan and I, so I’m going to set the record straight with you: Nathan is like a brother to me. I watch out for him, he looks out for me and that’s that. So, I don’t think I need to tell you that what he means to me is invaluable. Do you get what I’m saying?”

He attempted to back up further as she stepped closer but, as he could not fuse through the door, this was impossible. “Well, uh, no. Not really.”

“Well, then I’ll spell it out for you.” Victoria slammed her hand by his head and stood no more than two inches from his face. “If you do anything to hurt Nathan, I will break you. I will ruin you. Do you think I’m talking about your school life? Nah-ah. That’s small talk. This is my warning to you: If you even think about hurting him, I will ruin. Your. Life. Got it?”

He nodded slowly. “Yea… sure. I won’t hurt Nathan.”

“Good,” she said, backing off and moving him to the side with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Oh, and tell Nathan I want to talk to him later. I think you’ll see him before I do.”

So Warren stood in the bathroom, alone. Only then did it occur to him that he had to maneuver out of  the bathroom without being seen. He opened the door tentatively, peeking around before emerging into the hall and walking straight into David Madsen.

Because this morning couldn’t get any worse.

“What were you doing in the girl’s room, boy?” he asked.

“I- uh- I-”

“I don’t wanna hear it! There will be disciplinary actions, but I’m not dealing with it this early in the morning! Fuckin’ rich kids and their-”

Warren cut him off, raising a hand and rewinding to the point where David was just turning the corner.

“Good morning, Mr. Madsen,” he said.

He received a glare, sharp and calculating as it bore down on his head. “There’s nothing good about this morning,” he said. “Especially when I have to run home so late, probably won’t even make breakfast thanks to these damn kids.”

Warren peaked an eyebrow, tilting his head as he asked, “What happened?”

There was something so genuine and his curiosity that made David continue. “Just some vandalism reports. We searched high and low for the perps, but couldn’t find neither hide nor tail of em’.” With realization painted on David’s face, he turned another glare to Warren. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“Eh, vandalism?” he tried, shrugging. “Do I look like the kind of kid that would run around with an aerosol can?”

“No, but you look like the type of little shit that would be messing with the chemistry room,” he hissed.

Warren shrunk down, sticking his arm out again and rewinding, again, to when David turned the corner. This time, he let him pass by, ignoring the tired look on his face. “Fuck that was close,” he said as
he stepped forward and walked down the hall. He didn’t get too far before his arm was grabbed again. Am I ever going to get a break this morning?

When he turned and saw the person grabbing his arm was Nathan, he resigned with an inner monologue of, Nope.

“I thought you said you were going to let me get to first period on time,” Warren said.

“No, I said you were going to be late. Then I came here to snag you for some back up.”

“Where are we going?” Warren asked, already following him out of the school.

“Two Whales. I may have gotten a text from Hayden that told me to go there.”

“Really?”

“Well his exact words were ‘Stay the fuck away,’ but I took some… artistic license with it.”

“Why would Hayden want you to stay away from Two Whales?” he asked, holding up a hand to exorcise his confusion. “And why are you going anyway?”

“Because he knows I’m in deep shit with Frank,” Nathan said. “The only reason he’d want to keep me away is if that shitlord was there.”

“And I ask again, why would you go anyway? Especially if Frank- the guy who almost stabbed you- is there?!”

“Aw, are you worried about me?” Nathan asked, turning around as they started to make their way to the parking lot. He stopped walking when Warren shot him a look.

“I don’t exactly want to save a guy two times only to have him get shanked in a shitty diner’s parking lot by a drug dealer.”

Nathan dismissed him with a wave. “Pfft, as if! With your time powers, there’s no way I’m staying dead! We’re fucking immortal!” He laughed into the wind as he began moving forward, looking about as alive as he’d ever been.

Still, Warren wasn’t convinced, grabbing his arm with a firm grip. “Damn it Nathan- listen to me! Stella almost died yesterday, and I couldn’t do a thing to save her if she did! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Nathan’s smile wavered but didn’t fall. “She didn’t though. That’s thanks to you, right?”

“Yea, but if she had, my power wasn’t working. She could have died yesterday,” he said.

The look upon Nathan’s face took one of wary curiosity as he pulled his arm away. “Okay, I get it, no fucking around, take my life seriously, bla bla bla. Look, this is getting a little heavy for me. If you wanna have a chick-flick moment, that’s fine, but I’ve gotta bounce over to Two Whales. Are you coming?”

He wasn’t quite pleased with Nathan’s attitude but, seeing that his words at least had an affect on him, Warren nodded and moved with him to pack into his truck.

“So, uh, have you talked to Victoria today?” Warren asked.

They began backing up and out of the parking space when Nathan said, “Eh, no, I booked the hell to Blackwell to find you and here we are. Why?”

“She may have told me that she wants to talk to you,” he said.

“Oh shit, heh, she’s gonna flip when I’m not in class,” he said with a laugh.

Warren looked at him for a while. So many thoughts ran through his head, and he was surprised when the first to come out was, “Why do you think it’s funny when people worry about you?”

Nathan simply shrugged comically without thinking about the question. “She won’t be worried, she doesn’t want me getting expelled,” a breath of a laugh, “like this school could get rid of me.”

Warren thought back to the files he’d read the night before, his eyes shifting to the steering wheel. This was Nathan, laughing into the wind. Even when he was talking about something serious, he couldn’t resist cracking a joke. This was Nathan.

“So, what exactly do you have on Frank that you want to know?” he asked.

“There was some shit going around town that he and Rachel were close. It’s all bullshit, but he did know her,” Nathan said. “Not to mention that little bitch-ass has her bracelet. If he has anything else, I wanna know.”

Taking that as a final answer, Warren nodded and looked ahead at the road. When they pulled into the parking lot of Two Whales, Warren was pleased to see that Frank wasn’t waiting, knife in hand, for them to step out. Instead, Nathan pointed over to a beat up trailer on the side of the diner.

“That’s his,” he said as they proceeded to step out of the truck and walk over to it. The door rattled, Nathan pulling harshly on the handle. “Shit. It’s locked.” Suddenly, his hand launched back from the door, a barrage of barks and snarls erupting from the inside as the door shook and quivered. A heavy sigh escaped Nathan’s lips. “Fucking peice of shit dog- fuck off!” he said, banging on the door. The dog stopped barking and Nathan turned to Warren. “Looks like we’re going to need Frank’s keys if we want to get inside.”

“Right,” Warren said with a nod. “So, how are we going to do that?”

“Well, he’s in Two Whales, right? So I was thinking that I would go in first and tell Frank I have his money, then he’d want to go back to the trailer, and you’d be here, and you’d be by the trailer, and you could take his keys, and then you’d be inside!”

“Then Frank wouldn’t have his keys when he got into the trailer,” Warren said. “Or, wait, did you want to be in the trailer already?”

Nathan thought on that for a while. “Yea, you’re in the trailer with us, then just rewind so Frank has his keys and you’re in.”

“Then Frank would find me in here!” Warren said. “I don’t want to get stabbed!” The dog inside the trailer gave a firm bark, so he added, “Or eaten!”

He looked up and crossed his arms. “Then do you have a better plan? Because- hey- I’m all fucking ears!”

“Look, I’ll get Frank’s keys and come back. Just stay here.”

“Ugh, fine,” Nathan said. “Guess I better make myself useful and find a fucking chew toy for his bitch.”

The dog proceeded to bark louder as Warren rolled his eyes and walked towards the diner. There he saw the place was a bit more dead than usual. Still, he tried not to jump when he spotted Frank sitting in the corner. The walk over was painful, even more so as those cold, fierce eyes looked up at him. He felt as though he was a piece of meat being eyed up at the supermarket rather than an approaching human being.

“Uh, hi,” he said once he reached Frank’s table.

“Well well, if it isn’t tea cup. Let me tell you what, kid, you’ve got pretty big balls for such a small breed, coming over to me like this,” he said.

Warren took a quick glance at the floor as he said, “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot yesterday. I just wanted to get a better first impression.”

“Well, you should have thought of that before you pulled a gun on me, because a first impression is just that: A first impression. Now get the fuck out of here and let me eat in peace.”

The way that he spoke made Warren feel like a scolded child as he backed up from the table. Taking the initiative, he rewound and brought himself back to before he and Frank had spoken. With a face of determination, he turned to the diner to figure out some other route of attack. That was when he spotted a mop of blue hair on the other side of the diner. He made his way over, surprised when Chloe turned around.

“Prick-scott!” she growled before her face shocked with realization and she looked down at her plate again. “Oh, it’s just you. You know, you should ditch those clothes. Someone might think you’re a little bitch. Anyway, how’s it going, snitch? Rat any other prominent business associates out for trying to collect their well-earned cash?”

“You pulled a gun on him!” Warren hissed. “I had to do something.”

“Yea, well boy, did you do something alright. Oh, and Max told me you got her MVP taken out. Way to go there, white night. You know, you’re pretty lucky you and her are friends.”

“Just like you and Rachel were friends?”

“Don’t you dare say her name!” Chloe said. “Pfft, talking with Prescott for a few days and you think you know everything, huh? Well Prescott doesn’t know shit about Rachel, and he sure as fuck doesn’t know shit about me! So how about you just make yourself useful and go fuck yourself.”

Seeing this conversation wouldn’t do much for him, he rewound again.

“You know, you’re pretty lucky you and her are friends.”

“Yea, and she’s your friend too,” he said. “So, maybe we could try a bit harder to be friends than we have been.”

“Oh, yea, that’s a laugh. Let’s all grab hands and chant kumbaya!” she said as she motioned with both hands to the ceiling. “You know what, War-nerd, you don’t know anything about me, do you?”

“I know you and Max knew each other when you were younger.”

“Emphasis on knew. Then she ditched me. But now, she’s back. She’s back and I’m not going to let anything happen to her. That’s why I’m keeping her away from Prescott. That kid is a time bomb, and you should stay away from him too.”

“What about Rachel? She liked him, didn’t she?”

“Ha! That’s the funniest crock of shit anyone’s ever spewed! Look, I’m going to do you a favor, and I’m going to tell you that Rachel gave zero shits about that prick. Just like she gave zero shits about Frank.”

He tilted his head in earnest. “I didn’t know Rachel used to hang out with Frank.”

“We all did,” Chloe said, a lot quieter this time as she looked out of the diner window. “Nathan, Rachel, even me… Then Rachel got this idea about going to California. She wanted to make it big as a model in LA. So she and I got together and came up with this idea to scam Frank. And now she ditched me too and… well, let’s just say Prescott isn't the only one that owes Frank money.”

“Is that why you’re helping him?” he asked, “To pay off your debt?”

She chuckled and turned around to flash him a fake smile. “And the last horse crosses the finish line!” Her smile fell, replaced with an expression of stone that was all too real. “Now you get the grand prize: Go fuck yourself. Oh, and if any of this makes it back to Frank, you’re officially on my shit list!”

He rewound again, watching Chloe turn back to the window with that now-familiar frown of reminiscence.

“And now she ditched me too and…”

“Would Rachel really do that?” he asked, causing her to turn around and look at him. “I mean, run off without you?”

She gave a dark chuckle, her pale hand curling around the coffee mug on her right as she brought her left arm onto the table and curled into herself. “You really didn’t know Rachel at all did you?” she said. “It’s okay though. Everyone abandons me eventually. But Max came back. She’s the only one though.” She rose the cup to her lips and took a long gulp, setting it down with a sigh. “I’m not going to fool myself into thinking that Rachel’s coming back. Heh, not like Frank.”

“Does he think she’s coming back?” Warren asked, “After leaving without a trace?”

“Hell yea! Oh my God, that guy is like devoted to her. He even took this weird blood oath for her.” He jolted up and looked at Warren with an accusatory glare. “Don’t you dare tell him I said that! Oh my God, he’d have my ass for sure!”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t tell me anything,” Warren said, rewinding long before their conversation and walking away towards Frank’s table just like he had before, his stance a bit more firm as Frank eyed him across the diner. “Good morning.”

“Well howdy do then,” he mocked, giving an animated wave for emphasis before lowering it to stuff another spoonful of beans into his mouth. “Let me tell you what, kid, you’ve got pretty big balls for such a small breed, coming over to me like this.”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something,” he said.

“Oh, please, let me just clear my busy schedule for his highness! Just spit it out, shit stain.”

“Well, I wanted to know if you knew Rachel,” he said.

That earned attention, it seemed, as Frank slammed down his spoon and leaned back in the booth. “What about her?”

Warren paused and stammered. “Well, she went missing a while ago, and so did my friend, Kate. I just wanted to know what happened to them.”

“And what makes you think I’d know where they went?” he asked.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d know,” Warren said. “I just, heard that you were a friend of Rachel and… I thought you might know something about her.”

“And where did you get that idea?”

“Well, I heard you had a picture of her.”

“Let me guess, your new buddy Nathan told you that, huh?” Frank asked, leaning onto the booth.

“No, it’s just… he told me one of Rachel’s favorite pictures was the one she did for you.”

It was so cheesey and Warren almost laughed after saying it, but it looked like it did the trick as Frank shot back. The look he gave him  was one of surprise as well as joy.

“Really?” He asked, seemingly mystified before clearing his throat as he added, “Yeah, I mean that’s what I thought. She was just a natural beauty, y’know. Wait- wait let me… lemme find it…” he said as he rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a few items and putting them on the table. The final item was a picture of Rachel, framed in such a way that Warren knew would make Max proud of the man. “There, judge for yourself.”

Only when Frank began eating again did Warren dare dart out a hand and scoop up the keys into his fist.

“Got it!” he exclaimed with a rather large grin before he looked down to see Frank.

The smile fell quickly, Frank standing up as he hollered, “You did not just do that! Give me back my keys, bitch!”

Warren flung back, rewinding hastily so that Frank was now sitting down again, picture of Rachel safe in his pocket and his keys deep in Warren’s. With that, he shuffled out of the diner.

He was about to make his way over to the RV again, but then he saw probably the saddest sight he’d ever come to see. There Trevor was, grinding along the sidewalk until he hit a puddle. Not having spotted it, the splash caused him to swerve and eat it on the concrete. With a hiss of sympathy, Warren rewound and rushed forward.

“Trevor! Watch for the puddle!”

He looked at Warren and then down at the ground, performing a kickflip that launched him over the puddle and onto the sidewalk.

“Thanks dude!” he yelled back, swivelling onward.

“No problem!” Warren said.

He then stalked off toward the RV. When he spotted Nathan, he strutted over confidently and produced the keys from his pocket with a triumphant, “Nailed it!”

Nathan let out a long whistle at the sight and stood a bit taller himself. “Way to go. I guess you’re not a total loser after all,” he said, reaching for the keys and plugging them into the door. “Oh, here.”

Warren reached his hand out, taking a large bone into his palm.

“Where’d you get this?”

The look Nathan shot him was definite. “Don’t ask,” he said. “Just get ready to ditch it when the mutt comes through the door, got it?”

Warren nodded and waited before the door was flung open and the snarling dog was released from the inside. It growled and snapped at his feet, causing Warren to whirl around and pitch the bone into the parking lot. The dog darted after it, munching greedily along the shaft of the treat while Nathan pulled him into the RV.

“Come on, we don’t have much time,” he said as he closed the door behind them.

“What are we looking for, anyway?” Warren asked, “Anything in particular?”

“Just any info Frank may have had on Rachel,” Nathan said, turning back to the RV. “Ugh, this place is fucking disgusting.”

Warren looked over the sty with a small chuckle. “Haven’t you been in here before?”

“Well yea, ugh, but it gets worse every time,” he said as he brought his sleeve to his mouth and began looking around. “Just look around so we can get out of this shit hole. Egh, I’m going to check the computer. I hope he doesn’t get off on this thing too much.”

“Dude, that’s gross,” Warren said, still giving him a half smile before moving back to the bedroom area of the RV.

He made his way over to the bed first. After rummaging around for some time, he didn’t find himself too keen on messing around in Frank’s sheets and ditched them in favor of searching in other areas in the room. There were several names drawn on the wall with a tally system nearby. He took a moment to run his hand over the marks, knowing they probably had something to do with Frank’s ‘business.’ He turned to the other side of the room, and that’s when he spotted the vent near the floor. He peered around and stooped down, running his fingers over the edges. With one tug, he found that the vent was quite loose. Unfortunately, his blunt fingers couldn’t gain enough leverage to pull the thing off. For this, he turned back to the rest of the RV.

“Hey,” he said, “is there, like, a screwdriver or something in here?”

“Eh, Frank isn’t really Bob the Builder so I doubt he’d have any of that shit lying around” Nathan said. He turned around and laid an arm over the back of the chair. “Why do you need a fucking screwdriver, anyway?”

“There’s a loose vent back here,” Warren said, “I think there might be something inside.”

Nathan shrugged and looked around the RV. “I’d tell you to use that knife, but who knows how long it’s been there,” he said as he motioned to the stove, drawing Warren’s attention to the stack of dirty dishes that laid there.

There was a beat before Warren reached forward and picked up the knife, trying not to think about the other time he’d associated one of these with Frank. He took it back to the vent, jabbing it into the crevice between the wall and the smooth metal. It popped off with minimal ease, the sound of the knife crisp and loud as it gave a metallic ring.

“Nice!” Nathan called back in response to the noise.

“Shut up!” Warren said in a sing-song voice before getting to work on what had been inside of the vent.

Finding a stack of notes, he pulled them out to properly shuffle through them. He felt a bit uneasy with the first picture, seeing a girl with her arms tenderly wrapped around the torso of a rather large dog.

I think that’s Rachel… she does look like the type to tame any foul beast.

He flipped to the next paper, getting about half way through it before flipping again. There was a slight feeling of violation by reading that note that Warren just couldn't get past. It was another picture of Rachel, this time driving Frank’s RV. Another in Frank’s arms, and another that Warren tried not to stare at for too long before finally what looked like another note. He deemed this one not as personal as the first, as it had been written on a blank receipt from a car garage. In some respects, he was right, but the note still carried a sense of stepping over some unseen boundary. Just as he was thinking of putting it back, he felt a hand come over his shoulder.

The feeling caused him to jump up slightly, whipping his head back to look at the owner of the hand.

“Hey,” Nathan said, peering over his shoulder. “Did you find something.”

Warren suddenly grew bashful, pulling the papers close as he said, “Yea, but I don’t think you should look at them.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked with a smile. That smile fell when he saw one of the pictures creeping out of the stack. “Holy shit, is that a picture of Rachel?”

Before Warren could do anything, Nathan was already grabbing at the photos and notes, pulling them close to read. Warren watched in heartbroken remorse as Nathan’s eyes flicked over the pages, taking in as much information as he could. He saw the pictures, and he saw the words. He saw everything before he pulled away. “Rachel… Rachel and Frank were actually together? Not just as a scheme or something? They were… together. How could she lie to me like this?”

“Come on, I’m sure she didn’t lie to you,” Warren said as she stood.

“She did!” he said, dropping the papers on the ground. “Fucking bitch! She said that she never slept with Frank! People don’t write notes like that to people they haven’t slept with!” He scowled at the floor as if it had personally offended him.

Warren glared at him and snapped, “Maybe she knew that, if she did tell you, you’d act like this.”

“Oh yea, you just back her up!” Nathan yelled. “You’re always on the wrong side!”

“What do you mean the wrong side? I’m on your side! I just don’t think that-”

“Bullshit!” he yelled, sweeping an arm out in front of him. “I didn’t say anything in the principal’s office, but if you were really on my side, you would have reported Madsen’s ass! Not Jeffer-shit’s!”

“I just… we didn’t have much to go on!” Warren pleaded.

“Oh, but getting Mr. Fuckable fired was such a better option?! I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Nathan yelled. “Then there’s when Frank pulled a knife on me! You didn’t do anything!”

“I pointed a gun at him! What did you want me to do? I’m not gonna shoot someone for you!”

“So you’d let me get stabbed?”

He stomped out with Warren following behind meekly. When they stepped out of the Rv, Warren was worried. He saw the way Nathan’s eyes flicked over to the diner. He can’t be that stupid, he thought, trying not to imagine the scenario where Nathan charged in and fought the man who lived in the RV they’d just broken into.

Luckily, Nathan turned away just as quickly, choosing instead to launch the keys in his hands onto the roof of the nearby building with an arm Warren would, under other circumstances, define as impressive. At the moment, however, he just found it terrifying.

Nathan’s hands clenched and unclenched, his jaw grinding as he turned back to Warren. He looked different, and Warren was so focussed on his red skin and shaking hands that the last thing to go noticed was the wetness appearing under his eyes.

“Shut up, let’s go,” Nathan said, marching off to his car.

Warren was surprised by the sudden change in attitude, but he followed him anyway, awkwardly sitting in the passenger’s seat as Nathan shoved the keys into the slot, trying a few times before his shaking hand started the car.

Fearing a bit for his safety as a passenger, Warren asked “Are you sure you don’t want me to-”

“I’m fine,” Nathan said, sounding defeated. “I’m beyond fine.”

He took the car out of park and started backing away, turning the wheel until they’d pulled out of the parking lot and began speeding down the road. Warren tried shrinking in his seat, feeling a totally different atmosphere than when they’d driven to the diner. He tried not to think about it though, just like he tried not to think about Nathan’s knuckles growing white as they gripped tightly around the steering wheel, about the rough sighs that would come out every now and again from the driver.

“Shut up,” Nathan snapped suddenly.

“I didn’t say anything,” Warren said.

“I know, it’s just- ugh!” Nathan said as he pounded a fist on the dash and grabbed his forehead. “I knew it!”

“Knew what?”

“You were right all along! Everyone does hate me! That’s why she left!”

“Nathan, what are you talking about?” The car was going faster. “I never said that. I would never say that!”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” Nathan yelled.

“Watch the road!”

Warren spun to look out the windshield, reaching over and grabbing the steering wheel as they swerved out of the way to avoid hitting a rather large truck. He pulled them off of the road, the screeching of brakes piercing the air. His heart pounded against his chest, hands still locked onto the steering wheel. Thick breaths filled the car, Warren panting as he tried to calm himself. Finally, he released the steering wheel and fell back against his own seat.

“Nathan,” he said, a  hand outstretched to touch his shoulder.

The other simply flinched away. “Save it. I know what you’re going to say,” he said, sounding more like himself.

Warren looked down. “I just wanted to know if you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Nathan said, getting out of the car and walking over to the passenger’s side.

Warren stepped out as well, both of them wordlessly exchanging seats. The slide into the driver’s seat was uneasy and he couldn’t help but shift his eyes over to Nathan, who was curling gently against the car door.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

With a hand resting on his forehead, Nathan turned and gave him a half-glare. Though, it appeared that his heart wasn’t really into it. He turned back to the window. “Just take us back to Blackhell.”

Warren grimaced, but started the car up again. They pulled onto the open road and he began the long drive, the car dead silent. The mood had fallen again from the energy of before, leaving them both exhausted.

“You know I don’t hate you, right?” Warren asked.

Nathan scoffed and curled tighter in the seat. “You’re the only one then.”

“Victoria doesn’t hate you,” he assured. “Neither does Max.”

“Victoria’s scared of me now-a-days,” he said. “Same goes for Caulfield. One day, you’ll get sick and tired of my bullshit too. Everyone does. Hell, even my dad.”

A few moments of silence occurred, only interrupted by the soft tick of a turn signal as they made their way right.

“I’ll never give up on you,” Warren said. “Even after we find Rachel and Kate.”

“Don’t you get it yet?” Nathan asked. “They’re dead.”

“We can’t think like that!” he said, looking over at him for a moment before turning back to the windshield. “We have to stay positive. They’re out there somewhere- alive. And you know it.”

“Then what happened to them?”

Another silence, another turn signal, another road.

“What am I saying?” Nathan said with a laugh. “If Rachel’s still alive, she left because she wanted to get out of Arcadia Bay. Who knows?” A rustle as he sunk into his seat. “Maybe I scared her away too.”

When they made it back to Blackwell, Warren pulled into the parking lot, finding the view to the school so foreign. Still, he turned off the car ignition. They both stepped out of the. He turned to Nathan and opened his mouth.

“Like I said- save it,” Nathan said, picking his head up to glare at him.

“I’m not going to tell you anything you don’t want to hear,” Warren said.

“Then you’re not going to tell me anything!” he said, ripping the keys out of Warren’s hand. “Sorry, gotta go. I have people to bitch out and a dad to disappoint.”

There wasn’t another word said as he disappeared towards the campus, leaving Warren behind. He sunk his shoulders back and, for the first time that day, he felt uncomfortable in Nathan’s clothes. With a heavy heart, he trudged over the campus. He didn’t want to look up at anyone, but was forced to when he heard a voice calling his name.

“Mr. Graham!” Ms. Grant said as she came over to him. “Don’t tell me you think you’re going home after my skipping my class a second day in a row.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Grant. It’s just… I have a lot on my plate. I should have been in class today. I’m sorry.”

She gave him a skeptical look, but her glare softened. “I understand,” she said. “It was hard as a teacher to see that poor girl on that roof yesterday. It’s a good thing you were there for her.”

He looked down and locked his jaw.

Ms. Grant smiled. “Tell you what, I’ll give you an opportunity to get some extra credit in my class.”

He looked up with a doubtful expression on his face. “Really?”

She nodded and handed him a folder of papers. “Just take these to Jefferson for me. We’ll be fine.”

There was some newfound tension in his back as he asked, “Oh, uh, great. Where is he?

“He’s just picking up some things in his room,” Ms. Grant said. “I tell you what, he feels awful about what he told Ms. Hill. Just awful. Well, good day, Warren. Get some sleep tonight.”

He was about to say more, but she just walked away before he could process speech. Well, he thought, I guess it’s time to face up to what I’ve done.

With that in mind, he walked into the school and down the long, empty halls to Jefferson’s room. His knuckles rapped gently against the door frame, bringing the attention of the man inside onto him.

“Uh, hey, Mr. Jefferson,” he said.

“Mr. Graham,” he said, standing up from a box he’d been working on. “Nice to see you. I hope you’re doing better today?”

He sounded tired, and it only added to the weight on Warren’s conscience as he stepped into the room.

“Yea. I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“No, it’s fine,” Mr. Jefferson said. “Please, don’t apologize. I know I’ve done something wrong. I feel like this might be good for me. A bit of a wake up call, even. So, thank you.”

Nodding grimly, Warren handed the papers over to Jefferson. “Ms. Grant wanted me to hand these to you.”

“Oh, thank you,” he said, taking them and looking over the file. “Um, Warren, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you run this to the back table?”

He nodded and reached out a hand for another file to be laid into his hand.

“It’s the lesson plan for the substitute,” he said. “

“Substitute?” he asked with a loud squeak in his tone.

“Yea, I thought I’d take a few days off. Give the school some time to recuperate. I finished it off today. I’d leave it on my desk but, I’m a bit of alpha personality.” He gestured to his desk and growled, “My space!” playfully before chuckling. “You know?”

Warren gave a breath of a laugh at that, walking back and putting it on the table, now moved beside the tripods. He looked up at the cork board then, spotting the photos from the first day of school pasted there. He’d never been one for photography, but he still thought the pictures looked pretty nice. Then he found his class’s photo. It was a bit nerve wracking, being moved around like that, but they made it work. His eyes trailed over the picture, spotting Nathan on the other side of the group. They’d both been wearing red that day, so they were put on opposite sides. He remembered something about balancing the palette of the picture and trying to not attract too much attention to one spot. He thought it looked nice either way, but his eyes lingered there.

“Something wrong, Warren?”

He turned around, remembering that Mr. Jefferson was still behind him.

“Nah, I’m just checking out this picture from the first day.”

“Oh, yea, that,” Jefferson said as he stood from the pile of papers. “Yes, I wanted something for all of my students to look at. I thought you kids did a nice job. Not too loose, not too stiff. Perfect models.”

“Heh, I don’t think I’d call it modeling,” he said as he turned around entirely.

“I would. Of course, maybe you wouldn’t work well as a professional,” he said with a shrug. “You have your own style, something raw and natural that only you can provide. I just wish you’d bring that through your photos.”

“Well, thanks, Mr. Jefferson. That means a lot.”

“You know, speaking of style, those clothes look a little bit different than your usual digs,” he said before chuckling a bit and adding, “Sorry, just an old man’s observation.”

“Oh, no, they’re not actually mine. They’re Nathan’s. I kind of borrowed them.” he said, bashfully reaching his hand up to scratch his neck.

“Ah, Nathan. He was another student with his own style. I always thought he just needed a push in the right direction, but he didn’t seem too open to any suggestions I could have made.”

“I think he would have liked that,” he said.

“Yea. I just wish there’d been someone there to push me in the right direction. Maybe I could have been a more nurturing teacher than I have been.”

Warren simply sighed in response. “If it means anything, Mr. Jefferson, I think you’re a very kind teacher. I should have ratted out Madsen instead.”

“Don’t worry about it Warren. It’s not like you can change the past.”

“No, I guess I can’t,” he mumbled as he turned back to the picture.

He stared at it a little longer, focusing on the group composed there.

“Hold still…”

At hearing Mr. Jefferson’s voice, he turned around. “Huh?”

The teacher looked up from his papers. “Did you say something, Warren?”

“Did you?” he asked.

Jefferson blinked and shook his head, looking back down at his papers.

Warren felt a quizzical expression come over his features, turning back to the picture. he stared at it with a deeper intensity now, noticing how the lines seemed to become clearer and more defined as he did so. It was as if the picture was getting deeper, and he leaned into it, ignoring the voices surrounding the room. Quiet laughs under a loud tone. A tone telling him to

“Hold still.”

He jumped a bit, a flash cutting him off guard. He heard a laugh behind him and turned to face Brooke.

“What’s wrong Warren? Can’t take a little flash?” she said, laughing as she stood up.

“Eh, we’ll fix that soon enough,” Jefferson said, making Warren turn to the front of the room. “Perhaps Mr. Graham just enjoys his time better on the other side of the camera.”

Holy shit, he thought, Is this the first day of school?

“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!”

Holy shit. This is it. Oh my God. How did I go back this far? Was it the picture?

His eyes traced around the room lazily, trying to process the scene around him. It was just like the first day. Trevor and Justin were joking around in the corner of the room, Brooke sitting quietly at her desk with a book in her lap, even Zachary shmoozing it up in the corner with Juliet.

Then he turned his eyes on the other corner, where a lone figure in red sat, staring at the table as if he was debating whether or not to light it on fire.

If this really is the past, he thought, then I need to do whatever I can to help. But what can I do? I can’t just tell Mr. Jefferson to talk to Nathan. There needs to be some other way. He looked over at the teacher, who was currently working on printing out the picture he’d just taken. Huh, I always thought he instant-printed photos. Or, wait, what’s it called? Analogging? I think that’s it, Warren thought with a nod. No time for that now, though.

“Uh, hey, Mr. Jefferson,” he said.

“Oh, well if it isn’t Mr. Graham,” he said, standing up entirely. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m not that big in photography,” he said, “but I have a friend who’s really into your work. Do you, by chance, have any programs like a… a…”

“A mentoring position?” Jefferson asked with a smile as he shook his head. “I don’t think so. At the time, this,” he motioned to the classroom, “is my mentoring position. Sorry. But, you can tell your ‘friend’ that I always have information on new art galleries and contests that are accepting if they’d ever want to stop by.”

“Oh, uh, okay, thanks anyway,” Warren said as he walked away.

Well that did absolute shit, he thought, already rewinding to before the conversation occurred and walking back in the room and spotting Nathan at his desk. He didn’t look nearly as lively as he had that day, staring with dead eyes at his own desk.

“Hey,” he said. “You doing alright?”

“Fuck off,” Nathan replied. “I don’t need some nerd hovering over me.”

“I’m not hovering,” he said with a laugh. “You just look a little out of it. My name’s Warren by the way.”

“Nathan Prescott. Now you better remember that as you fuck off and away from me.”

Warren hissed and walked back, noticing Jefferson as he walked away from the printer by his desk and over to the cork board at the back of the room. There, he pinned the photo in place. Warren noticed this and turned back to Nathan.

“You know,” he said, “Jefferson is a pretty famous photographer.”

“Yea, I know.”

“Are you into photography, or are you just in this class because you have to be?” he asked.

“Of course I’m here for photography.” He clicked his tongue, “That and my asshole dad.”

“Maybe, if you talked to Jefferson, he could teach you some things about it,” he said.

“Yea sure, whatever. Look, what do you want? You’re fucking creeping me out.”

“I just wanted to talk and see how you were doing,” he said.

“Well it’s like I said-” Nathan stood and raised a fist, “fuck off!”

“Mr. Prescott!” Jefferson said, attracting both of their attentions to the front of the room. “I’m afraid that’s going to be a pink slip.”

Oh no, Warren thought, I fucked up. He rewound then, seeing Nathan sit back down. He walked away then. Okay, so obviously confronting him directly isn’t going to work on either of them. I need a new plan. He settled down with his book bag and put it up on the table, keeping his eyes one the other two men in the room.

Jefferson stood and pinned the picture to the board, and Nathan stood up.

“I have to piss,” he said brashly.

“Tone, Mr. Prescott,” Jefferson said as he turned around. “You can find the bathroom pass on the board.”

“Whatever,” he said, rolling his eyes as he walked up and out of the room.

Warren saw his opportunity then, Jefferson walking back to his desk. He stood up and stealthily made his way over to Nathan’s book bag and shuffled around the contents. No one cared, but he still had to make sure Jefferson didn’t see. Finally, he found something useful: Photos. They were creepy, in truth, and he didn’t think they would work. I never thought Nathan would be the kind of person to take pictures of carrion. He flinched as the bell rang, and placed the pictures into the pocket along the side of the book bag, leaving it unzipped with the corners of the pictures just hanging out.

Then, he booked it back to his desk and rewound, Jefferson again, walking to the back of the room and Nathan sliding back into his seat.

“I have to piss.”

“Tone, Mr. Prescott. You can find the bathroom pass on the board.”

“Whatever,” Nathan said, getting up again and walking away again.

This time, Warren smiled slyly and looked over at his book bag, he clutched the edges. It wasn’t over yet. He had to see how this would play out. It was the first time in his life that he wished for a power that fast forwarded. Soon enough, the bell rang, and he lingered, feeling the universe start to fade away. There was an internal curse, but Warren stayed as Nathan came back. Finally, he started getting ready to leave as the other grabbed his book bag roughly and walked to the front of the room.

As he turned the corner to leave, he swung his bag backwards. No one saw, other than the three people who were in the room.

“Oh, here, let me help,” Jefferson said, stooping down.

“How did those get in there?!” Nathan said frantically, kneeling to clear up the black and white photos from the ground.

Jefferson took one delicately between his long fingers, gently brushing the corners with one hand. “This shooting is exquisite, Nathan,” he said. Finally, he chuckled and returned the photo. “You really have a gift.”

Nathan looked taken aback by the complement as the universe continued cracking, the corners of Warren’s vision growing white as he said,

“Thank you.”

When Warren came back, he was in front of Blackwell, seeing that it was somewhere in the morning. What startled him the most was a hand touching his arm from the right.

“Warren, jeeze! Heh, you’re so out of it today.”

He turned to see Stella sitting next to him, and if he wasn’t confused before, he certainly was now.

“Stella? What are you doing here?” he asked, eyes flicking around.

“What are you talking about?” Alyssa asked, causing him to look forward to where she did indeed sat in front of him.

“Uh, it’s nothing,” he said, slowly standing.

“Um, I have to go.”

“Oh, wait, hold on a second,” Stella said, digging around in her bag and producing a card. “Here. I know it isn’t much, but it’s a card. For Kate.”

“Kate?” he asked, trying not to squeak as he did so.

“Yea. Alyssa and I were going to visit her in the hospital. It’d be great if you signed the card,” she said. “And, maybe you could come with us.”

He licked his lips and resisted the urge to shake his head. “Yea, I’ll sign it.”

She smiled brightly, handing him the card and a pen. He signed it, trying to keep his hand from shaking as he gave it back.

“Are you going to be coming with us?” Stella asked, “You know, after school?”

“Eh, maybe. I’m going to have to see.”

“Okay. Oh! And be careful with your eye,” she added. “Remember what the nurse said.”

“My eye?” he mumbled, reaching up to his face. He ran the tips of his fingers under his eyelid, finding the skin there tender as he hissed and flinched away.

“Ugh, I’m going to kick Prescott’s ass if I see him again,” Alyssa said.

“Seriously, what happened?” Stella asked. “You told us he beat you up in the parking lot, but I can’t believe even Nathan would do something like this.”

“He’s an asshole, Stella. Don’t you know that?”

Nathan beat me up? What happened?

He grew worried, slowly backing up one step at a time before saying, “I really need to go, bye!”

“Bye!” Stella called after him as he raced back to the boys’ dorm.

Kate’s in Arcadia Bay, and in the hospital, Stella’s in school, and Nathan beat me up. This is wrong. What the hell did I do in Jefferson’s class? he asked himself, finally appearing outside of the dorm. He stared up at the tall structure before giving a huff of determination as he climbed the stairs and rounded the corner to Nathan’s room, knocking swiftly on the door.

“Nathan!” he said, “It’s me! Can I come in?”

He heard the door unlock from the inside, the door being pulled open. Nathan stood there, dark circles under his eyes as he asked, “What the fuck do you want?”

This is so wrong.

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.

Chapter Text

Warren opened his eyes slowly, trying his best to wake up. The place where he was felt uncomfortably familiar. He shook slightly, looking around the room to the best of his ability. He grasped at the arms of the chair he was propped up in. He was up, right? Sitting or standing? He couldn’t feel his legs much yet. His back ached  and his neck cricked, slowly pulling his head up as he tried to get a better look. When he finally got his bearings, he shook with purpose, testing his limbs. He looked down when they weren’t coming free, and found himself bound to the chair.

That’s when the memories flooded back. Nathan on the ground, blood around his head. Kate’s body only a few feet away. Passing out after seeing Jefferson Above him. Where was Jefferson now? Where had he taken him?

Upon looking around, he deduced he was in the same shelter as before- the pool. With this new found knowledge fueling his actions, he scrambled to escape. First, he tried standing with the chair. It didn’t work, his feet were bound too close to the wood to get a good stance. Next, he tried moving his hands while looking frantically around the room. Not an option. Finally, he pulled on both feet, shaking them in an attempts to escape. Luck happened upon him, it seemed, as the tape came loose and he was able to shake his foot free.

“Oh thank God,” he said before trying the left foot. No dice. “Aw, come on.”

What am I going to do with one foot?

He swept the room again, spotting a cart not too far to his right. Looking up and around again, he pulled the cart towards him in the hopes of finding something useful. He examined the cart from the bottom row first, spotting gloves and syringes with small bottles. Warren didn’t want to know what was inside. Then he reached the top shelf and his face went white.

Is that me? he asked himself as he looked down at the picture where he was bound tightly at the wrists, eyes just glazed over with his lips ever so slightly parted. The way his hands laid on top of one another looked as if he was praying. He may as well have been as he leaned forward, focusing intensely on the photo until he could hear the whispering. This time, however, the whispers weren’t coming from many speakers, just one directly in front of him. Suddenly, a clarity washed over him, and he found himself reflected in a camera lense.

“That’s right,” Jefferson said. “Oh, I wish I had the idea to capture you in a more colorful venue to really capture those rich, earthy tones. However, I feel as though these monochrome pictures are truly my calling. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He felt a hands on his legs and let out a small murmur as he rolled slightly, trying to sit up. It wouldn’t do, he couldn’t budge.

“Stop moving!” Jefferson ordered.

He leaned back to take his picture, to which Warren rolled his face into the ground fully.

He didn’t seem pleased as he barked, “Damn it, Warren! You fucked up my shot!” He played with his camera, Warren looking at him from the crook of his arm and through the strands of hair that fell into his eyes. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. Where’s the hopeful boy from the first day of school? So young, and impressionable. So innocent and down to earth. You really are the perfect model, Warren. Certainly the only male I’ve considered.”

He spoke as he circled him, more so murmuring to himself than to Warren.

“Let me try over here,” he said, coming to stand between Warren and the light directly above him.

Warren rolled to look at him this time, glaring as he mumbled out, “You’re sick.”

“Yea, well you need to hold fucking still!” he growled, reaching forward and taking a hold of Warren’s chin to turn him so that he faced away.

His jaw trembled as he looked at his hands once more.

Jefferson stepped back to in front of him. “Nathan would have loved this moment. Well, more or less. You know, I almost took him under me, as a mentor position. It’s a shame he was just so… unstable.” He glared again as Warren moved. Charging forward and kneeling down, he asked, “What part of stay still don’t you understand?” in a low hiss.

Warren pulled together whatever shred of coherence he had to say, “The part where you make me.”

Jefferson raised a hand and brought it down sharply on Warren’s side, causing him to hiss and curl in on himself. The camera flashed.

“I think that’s always been your problem, Warren. So ambitious, but very unwilling to hold up to those ambitions. Perhaps it’s your naivety. After all, that is what made it easy to get you here,” he said, standing up. “All it took was one text. Oh, it wasn’t a total lie by the way. I’d taken care of Chloe a little while before Nathan even showed up. To think, a half hour was all I needed to get those two out of my hair. Though, I wouldn’t worry too much about her, or Nathan for that matter. After tonight, they’ll be forgotten like an insignificant stain, finally wiped from the face of the Earth. As for you, Warren? You’ll be remembered after tonight. Not lost, like so many of my other subjects. Immortalized in everyone’s memories and now,” he snapped another picture, “in my photos.”

He got lower, stooping down to Warren’s level as the camera continued snapping. He was more coherent now, but every time the shutter snapped, he couldn’t help but wince in pain, growling as he ducked his head down from the lights and the sound. He tried twisting back time gain, to no avail. It wouldn’t do anything anyway, he reminded himself. Just a few minutes back in hell.

“For the last god damned time,” Jefferson spat as he stood up again. “Sit still! You have to wait and pose yourself as I want you, as I set you! Do you understand?” Warren could only continue to groan groggily. “Hmm, perhaps you just need another dose to help you into my way of thinking.”

“No… no…” he protested weakly.

“Oh come on now, don’t worry too much about it,” he said as he walked over to the cart by Warren’s feet. “I really should have used a stronger dose on you in the beginning. I just didn’t want to do too much damage, but you are a growing boy, after all, far sturdier than my usual cast of subjects. A second one shouldn’t hurt if you’re able to shake me off this quickly. I won’t have my star model being difficult.”

At that, Warren kicked out his legs as firmly as he could, hoping to get Jefferson’s shins. Instead, he hit the cart, knocking it back and spilling something on top.

Jefferson looked down at him with a poisonous glare, syringe in hand. “What the fuck are you doing?!” he yelled. “Did you not just hear what I said?”

Warren let out a groan as a foot was brought down on his side, sharp and quick. This caused him to roll onto his back, glaring up at the teacher as he hissed at the pain.

“I don’t want to bruise you,” Jefferson said. “Don’t you get that? Though, I suppose it can’t be helped if it’s covered anyway. Now, be a good boy, Warren. Take the shot.”

“No no no…” Warren whimpered as the needle was again jabbed into his neck.

He breathed heavily for a moment as he rolled away from the lights. The world faded out around him and he awoke back in the chair from before. Yet another groan escaped Warren’s lips eyes blinking in the light as he found a new, dull pain in his sides. Then, his eyes were drawn to the cart and the new photos on top.

Were those there before?

It hardly mattered, finding his face on the top one to be much more clear than the previous one. Licking his lips, Warren shook his shoulders to ready himself, staring down into the photo with a determined stare. That same stare soon fluttered when faced with a bright flash. Once, twice, three times in rapid succession. Once that light faded out, he was glad to see that it was dimmer this time. Clearer, even.

“Oh, yes. Keep doing that,” Jefferson said, manning the camera in front of him. “That gaze is perfect.”

“Fuck you,” Warren said.

“Oh, don’t do that. That fake look all models get when they’re trying to act daring. Stick with what you know, Warren.” He took the flash board off of the camera. “That, of course, being soft edges in a world of strict borders.”

He pulled his lips into a snarl as he asked, “Why are you doing this? How could you?”

“Aw, yes, the golden question: Why? Well, you see, Warren, I’m obsessed. There’s a certain naivety in all of us. I’m obsessed with seeing that broken down and dissected thoroughly. Black to white to gray… and beyond. Most models lose that early on, as if their hope just wasn’t strong enough, that their innocence was to be lost too early for their own good. There are a lucky few however, much like yourself, that I can find that spark of innocence floating about like an aura… a beacon of that good will. Those lucky few will become my models… my subjects.”

“You’re insane,” Warren said, staring him down with a hateful gaze.

“Au contraire, Warren. I’m so sane, that no one knows you’re here right now. Not even you and your little friend knew I was the one behind all of this,” he looked up in reminiscence. “Nathan had all of the potential to be where you are now. He was just so angry, so confused. Too much so for me to shape into anything worth being used as a dish rag.”

“You killed Nathan! You murdered him…”

“Oh Nathan, what a shame, really. Killing all of those girls and burying them in the woods? Then finally you found out and… oh, it was a tragedy.”

Warren sat up straight and looked at Jefferson as he paced around him. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Why the news. It will be front page soon. ‘Psychotic Student Commits Serial Killings on Campus.’ The story turns really tragic when his friend finds out about his latest killing, a young girl of the name Chloe Price.”

“That isn’t what happened and you know it! You killed them!” Warren yelled.

“Oh, Warren, you don’t need to worry about anything. I won’t tell anyone you killed Nathan,” Jefferson said, leaning down to eye level. “The police will figure that out soon enough. Well, that, and the fact that you fled the state soon after. Maybe even the country. It hardly matters though.” He raised a hand to cradle Warren’s jaw. “They’ll never find you either way.”

Warren ripped his face away from Jefferson’s hand as best he could in the chair. “Don’t touch me! Don’t ever touch me!”

“Oh? Don’t you want to revel in it? After all, I’m the last person you’ll ever touch… or see… or hear.” Warren breathed deeply at that. “Oh, such hateful eyes for a boy who’s crying.”

Warren squeezed his eyes shut at that, swooping his head down and away. The camera clicked triumphantly.

“You won’t get away with this!”

“Oh, but I already have. Didn’t I just explain it to you?”

“They’ll find out the truth!” he declared. “They’re going to get you for this!”

“Oh, that’s what my other subjects said, too,” Jefferson said.

“Kate Marsh wasn’t your subject!” Warren snapped. “Don’t talk about her like that!”

“Oh… Kate Marsh… She was the epitome of innocence. The embodiment of white light. She truly was an angel…” he paused. “Though, I suppose she’s even more so now.”

“You’re disgusting…”

“Oh, and you’re not? I see the way you look at Max. The same way I do.”

Warren leapt forward at that, getting the chair to give a little, scooching it forward ever so slightly. The simple jerk caused Jefferson to take a step back.

When he realized that Warren was still safely strapped to the chair, he chuckled. “Such a fire in you. Different from the inferno that others hold. Like Nathan…”

“And Chloe? What about her?” Warren asked.

“It’s like I said,” he began. “Nathan killed her.”

“No he didn’t!” He shook his head after that outburst and looked down, finding himself unable to look at Jafferson any longer. “After you took that picture with Rachel…” he began, “with Chloe laying down next to her... why did you let her go only to kill her now?”

“Ah, yes… Rachel and Chloe. Fire and ice, red and blue, light and dark… potential and waste. Their balance was something uncanny. Though, Rachel really would have worked with any model. I’ve always enjoyed balance in my photos. It’s a shame Chloe didn’t wake up for that session, but I couldn’t take any risks. We were on a school campus after all. It isn’t too pleasing to wake up next to your dead a friend.”

“She was dead in those pictures?” Warren asked, just barely keeping the crack out of his tone as he did so.

“I always get one shot of my subjects in their grey state. You see, if hope is white and despair is black… then death is grey. There is a lack of hope, a void even, much like despair. But it’s not without its own purity, its own hope. It’s in between. Something beautiful and enriching to see. I can’t wait to see how it suits you.” Warren glared at him as he walked away, pacing back to his computer as he turned up some music on an old portable stereo at his desk.

This asshole is really going full Hannibal on me… Well, I am a Graham, let’s do this…

He looked around the room for something, anything to help out. The cart was out of reach again, as he hadn’t yet detached his leg. He tried that again, twitching and pulling on his restraints. None of them worked.

Shit. He shook his head, looking up again to his left. This time, he spotted something.

“My bag….”

Jefferson picked up his head at that, looking back at him. “Hm? Oh, yes. Your bag. I went through it earlier, seeing if you’d picked anything up. What a surprise when I found this,” he pulled out a picture, the same picture Brooke had snapped of him in class that day. “This was Ms. Scott’s entry, wasn’t it? Did she give you a copy? Heh, what a foolish girl. Far too narcissistic. I think we can both agree on that.” He stomped over and threw the picture on the ground. “Just look at that shot. She thought this was worthy to turn in? Ha, so simple… Either way, I suppose that’s a fond memory for your final moments. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to go over these photos. A male model was a really bold choice for me. But I think you really paid off.”

Warren hunched over in the chair, glaring at him again before looking down at the photo and focusing. He felt some sense of relief as the dingy room faded from existence. Instead, he found himself back in Ms. Grant’s room on the first day of the week. He looked up to the front to find Ms Grant writing some problem on the board. The same problem he’d completed after having his vision. Seeing that he hadn’t quite had it yet, he simply looked around the class at the other students.

The last person I see or hear, huh? Well, we’ll see about that.

His eyes traced the room, flicking from person to person before he dipped his hand into his book bag and fished out his phone.

I could call the police. No, I don’t need Ms. Grant noticing me. Ugh, what should I do? That’s when he saw something else poking out of his book bag. A Blackwell academy pamphlet. With a large grin on his face, Warren thought, That’s it! Mr. Madsen will help out. Even if I don’t have too much to tell him, I know he’ll look into it if I throw the right names around.

After flipping through the small book, he was able to find the personal number of the man in question. And so, he began to type out a quick-paced text message.

‘Mr. Madsen- I know you’re looking into the disappearances of Kate Marsh and Rachel Amber. I know who did it and where you can find more  information. Mark Jefferson did it. You can find a bunker just past the junkyard that was going to be a rec center. I think you know where I’m talking about.’

He was just surprised when David typed back, ‘Who is this? How do you know about this?’

‘You’re not the only one who’s been looking for Kate Marsh,’ he texted back quickly. ‘My name is Warren Graham. Please, just make sure he gets what he deserves.’

There was a period of time before David responded again. ‘If you’re right about this, I’ll owe you quite a mouthful.’

‘I don’t need anything from you. Just take him down. I know you can do it.’

‘Alright, I’ll look into it. Thank you again.’

And so the world faded through white edges, blinding Warren before he awoke to a darker area. From looking around, he guessed that he was actually in Two Whales. Everything was calm, the low sound of rain pattering on the window to his left. He stared out of the window, raising a hand to part the blinds for a better look outside. Though the sound was gentle, the rain was coming down hard. He continued staring, wondering how it would feel for that rain to hit his skin after being trapped in that bunker for what felt like an eternity.

“Hey, Graham-cracker!” His head snapped forward at hearing the familiar voice, surprised to see Chloe sitting before him, Max at her side. “You okay?”

“Uh, yea,” he said. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Max asked. “You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

He let out a chuckle. “Yea. Hey, uh, this is gonna sound weird but…” he trailed off.

“What is it?”

He shook his head in dismissal. “Nothing. It was stupid. I’m just glad that we’re all here, as friends.”

“Eh, yea, whatever,” Chloe said with a strained tone.

He gave a wide grin at that, closing his eyes as he did so. A happy ending with Max and Chloe as his friends. Finally, a happy ending he could agree on. And if Chloe was there, then Nathan was alive too. Heh, probably at the Vortex Party. I kind of forgot he was hosting that thing. Either way, he let out a content sigh, leaning back in his booth, and let the relief flow through his limbs. That is, until he felt something start to drip down his chin.

“Uh, Warren?” Max said. “You’re bleeding.”

When he opened his eyes, the world was folding in on itself, white corners fading in as he looked around, unable to shake them off. He grabbed his nose with his hands, feeling the warm drops gather and pool there while he tried to make sense of what was going on.

Soon enough the world stopped breaking, instead forming again. This time, he was on the floor. Upon looking to the right, he deduced that he was still at Two Whales, this time behind the counter.

“Warren!” Max said, seemingly running out of nowhere to come to his side. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

“Am I… what happened?” he asked, trying to gain full consciousness.

“You passed out after your nose started bleeding,” Max said. “We tried calling the hospital, but the phone lines went down right after.”

“Yea, it’s the fucking apocalypse out there,” Chloe said. “Tornado and all.”

Warren jumped at that, standing quickly while holding onto the counter for balance so that he could look out the windows. A tornado was coming. Just like his vision.

That was when he felt a vibration in his pocket. He picked it up and looked at the ID. The caller wasn’t named, but there were only so many people he knew with an Oregon area code.

“Nathan?” he asked.

“Holy shit, I didn’t think you remembered my number. Thanks for that.”

The voice came through choppy as the storm raged in the background, Warren turning around and looking at Max and Chloe as Nathan continued.

“Hey, so, this might be the last time we talk, okay?”

“Nathan! Where are you? Let me help and-”

“Don’t you fucking try it!” Nathan barked, making him flinch. “I’m sorry, it’s just, I’m by the beach. I wanted to say I was sorry to you and Caulfi… Max. And Chloe. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean any of the bullshit I said a few days ago when they found Rachel.”

“What’s he talking about?” Chloe asked, pushing forward. “Come on, let’s go save his bitch ass.”

“Shh! Nathan, Nathan come on!” Beep beep beep beep- “Nathan!? Oh no.”

“What is it? Did he hang up?” Max asked.

Warren pulled the phone from his ear and hung up himself. “Yea… I think so.”

Four times he’d heard Nathan die this week. Four times and counting. He shook off that thought, instead turning to Max.

“Hey, where’d you guys put my bag?” he asked.

“It’s over on the table, why?”

“I have to do something,” Warren said, pushing past them and over to his bag. He pulled out the photo from the first day of the week.

“What’s that?” Chloe asked, interrupting his focus.

“It’s, uh, a picture Brooke took,” he said, starting to focus again.

“Why do you need it?” Max asked.

He turned to her, “I’ll explain later.”

He was able to focus a bit longer this time, only for Chloe to butt in and say, “Really? Because it looks like you’re just staring at a picture to me.”

Warren turned to her and put a hand up.

“Pfft, fine, Jesus! Come on Max,” Chloe said, walking back to the counter.

After focusing on the picture for sometime without interruption, Warren found himself again in Ms. Grant’s room, and again pulling out his phone to type in Madsen’s number. This time, when his hand came out of his book bag, the bag itself fell over, drawing attention to Warren himself.

“Mr. Graham!” Ms. Grant said, seemingly in disbelief.

“I can explain, this is really important,” he said.

“Is someone dying?” she asked.

He will. But there’s no way I can explain that to her. I just need to rewind.

When he didn’t answer, she walked to the back of the class. “Your phone, Mr. Graham.”

He reached out to rewind, wincing at the sharp pain in his skull. When he opened his eyes, she was still there. Obediently, he handed over his phone, inwardly cursing himself over and over again as she took it to the front of the room.

“We’ll talk about this after class, and I’ll be hanging onto this for the rest of the day.”

He shook his head slowly, chanting a mantra of No over and over again in his head as the world collapsed yet again. That same word rang out again and again as the pain in his sides returned, along with the sight of the dark room.

“Warren,” Jefferson snapped, asking for his attention. “Answer the question, Warren.”

Warren chuckled and looked up at him slowly. “Go fuck yourself,” he said with a bright grin and dead eyes.

Jefferson gave him a disappointed look, but started laughing either way. “Good answer.” His face took a look of intrigue as he raise an eyebrow and reached for Warren’s face again. “You’re nose is bleeding.”

He grunted and pulled his face away, only for both gloved hands to wrap around his head, as if the demented teacher was trying to cradle his face.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, finally letting go. “I must have overestimated the last time you needed a dosage.” He let out a sigh. “I was afraid this would happen. Oh well. Considering you’re about to die either way, I suppose a bloody nose is nothing to cry about. Hm?”

Warren looked past him at the ground, suddenly feeling a strength build in his head. He could do it one more time. One more major rewind. But, when he looked down, Brooke’s picture was gone.

“The picture…” he mumbled.

That simple statement caused Jefferson to quirk an eyebrow as he turned around to look at where he was staring. “What is it, Warren?” he asked, turning back to him. “What do you see?” His hand grabbed at Warren’s face for the third time, and he allowed the teacher to guide his gaze. “What do you see with those eyes? Those young, innocent eyes?”

Warren closed his eyelids, taking a breath before he opened them again to produce a sharp glare as he gave a low growl. “What did I say about touching me?”

Jefferson didn’t seem to like that, shoving his face to the side and walking back to the cart. “Well, I suppose that is a mystery that shall remain. The eyes of children are powerful things, you know. They have the ability to make fantastic things. Fairies, dragons,” he turned to meet Warren’s gaze again, “monsters.” He picked up a syringe from the cart and began taking up another dosage. This time, of a different drug. “Your eyes, however, couldn’t see who the true monsters were. Not only that, but they gave you the ability to make yourself out to be a hero.” He turned again, this time walking back with his needle in hand. “So, tell me Warren. How did that turn out? Being a hero I mean. You couldn’t even save your fucked up little frog prince.”

Warren winced as his face was grabbed for the last time, Jefferson forcing his head down with more force than necessary as the tip of the needle hovered over his skin. He thought that he was done for in that moment, but then the strangest noise rang out in the room. The noise was coming from above ground.

The hatch in the corner of the room opened, and the sound of feet hitting the rungs of the ladder sounded out. One. Jefferson grabbed a tripod. Two. He darted over to the bottom of the hatch. Three. He readied his weapon. Four. As the fourth ring of metal sounded, the figure dropped down entirely and turned around to be David Madsen himself. Of course, this entrance was ruined as the man whirled around, his gun being knocked out of his hands by the tripod, only to have the same object pulled back and knocked into the side of his face.

Warren, seeing the opportunity for what it was, rewound to when the hatch opened.

“Watch out, Mr. Madsen!”

“Madsen?” Jefferson growled, easily cut off guard as he turned down to Warren. “How could you know that?”

The four steps came down quicker, David turning around as soon as he reached the bottom.

“Stop right there, shit stain!”

Jefferson snapped to look up at him as he dove behind Warren, arm around his neck and the other hand poising the needle once again. He rewound again, finding that as a “better safe than sorry” situation.

“You couldn’t even save your fucked up little frog prince.”

“Wait!” Warren said. “Can I just… make a final request?”

Jefferson lowered the needle and gave him an off look.

“It depends. What can I do for you?”

“I…” his mind raced for something, anything to say in that moment. “Could you please play the music again? It reminds me of this song my dad used to play and… it would mean alot to me if I could think about him before I… you know.”

His eyebrows raised at that and Jefferson gave a soft grin. “Of course, Warren. That’s manageable. Such a sweet request.”

He walked to the back, setting the syringe on his desk as he leaned over and messed with his stereo. He switched it on and began flipping through songs. Just under that, Warren could hear the hiss of the hatch opening, as well as the first of the clinks along the rungs of the ladder.

Jefferson noticed when the first boot came into view on the ladder from the overground. He immediately picked up the closest object, that being a stand for one of the reflector boards.

“Madsen, watch out!” Warren said, a little too late as his gun was knocked out of his hand.

“Time for you to shut up!” Jefferson said. Though, it appeared as though it did some good, as Madsen got in one good punch. Jefferson chuckled as he brought himself back. “You think you can stop me? Think again!”

He reached back while David was going for his gun, grabbing something off of a shelf under his desk. Warren’s eyes went wide as a pistol of his own was produced. He aimed and shot, bringing David to the ground with a deafening thump. Warren cringed as he rewound, feeling a pulsing in the back of his head as he came to David coming down the ladder. When Jefferson noticed, Warren didn’t wait for him to grab the stand.

“Mr. Madsen, watch out! He has a light stand!”

Jefferson flinched, not even having picked the stand up yet. “How could you have-?”

He brushed it off, focussing on David as he dropped to the bottom of the ladder. Jefferson’s voice had given away his location.

“Give it up, you sick fuck,” he said, stepping forward with his gun locked on point, “it’s over.”

Jefferson swung his stand to the side and knocked the pistol out of David’s hands with a grunt of effort.

“Not yet!”

He almost swung up, but David got a hand around the stand and jabbed it up and into Jefferson’s face, effectively knocking him back as David held the stand at his side.

He almost reached for his gun off of the floor when Warren cried out, “Don’t worry about it! He has a gun under the desk!”

At hearing that, he looked up at the teacher on the ground, just one grab away from victory. Fortunately, that grab was never executed. Instead, Warren watched as his left boot swung and knocked Jefferson onto the floor with that one kick. He tried getting up again, to which David stooped low for one more punch. With that, Jefferson was out cold. David, still breathing heavily, picked up his gun and crossed the room as he tucked it into his waistband. Once he reached the other side, he kneeled down, starting to untie Warren’s left leg.

“Oh thank God I got here on time,” he said. “Can you move fine? Did he hurt you, boy?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you, Mr. Madsen. For everything. I’m so sorry about everything that happened and-”

“Now don’t you start!” he said, working on Warren’s hands now. “I think I’ve got something to apologize for too. I’ve been a little hard on you this week. Just because you’ve been hanging around with that Pres-” he paused, switching to the other hand, “I mean, Nathan. I’m sorry for that. After all, it is thanks to you boys that I came here in the first place.” The last of the duct tape came off of his hands. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have even found this sicko’s hide out. So thank you.”

Warren took the time to feel his raw wrists, giving David a smile and a nod as he stood and they walked over to Jefferson’s body.

“Is… is he..?”

“No,” David said with a shake of his head, grabbing a roll of duct tape from the desk and getting to work on Jefferson’s hands. “He’s just taking a little nap. Of course, I won’t hesitate if he gives me one God damned reason not to snap his pencil neck. Oh, and don’t worry much about these, Proffessor. This is just until you get your new silver bracelets. I’m sure you understand.”

Warren chuckled at that, causing David to look up at him with a small smile as he stood.

“So, I know that you probably wanna hightail it out of here as fast as you can,” David began slowly, “but I hope you don’t mind if I ask you know where Chloe is.”

Warren froze at that, trying to keep his expression calm, but failing as he looked at the ground.

“She… she’s dead,” he choked out.

David looked at him for some time before he took on a serious expression. “That isn’t fucking funny.”

Warren couldn’t look him in the eyes. “I wish it was a joke sir, but… Jefferson he… He killed her and used her to get to Nathan. Then he used Nathan to get to me and… he killed both of them. I’m so sorry.”

“Both of them,” he said. “He killed Chloe. Oh God...”

“Yes, sir. I’m so-”

“I promised Joyce that I would protect her and Chloe… How am I going to face her again?” he asked with a thick sob in his tone as he grabbed his face. Before Warren could say anything more, David whirled around and began shouting down at Jefferson’s unconscious body. “You killed Chloe! I can’t believe you- you asshole! That was the daughter of the woman I love! Now, you’re going to pay for that!” He pulled out his gun and shot Jefferson where he lay, blood pooling out around his head.

It almost made Warren sick, really. Not because of the blood, but more so because of the eerie resemblance it had to Nathan’s body. He took a step back, causing David to turn his head. When he did, Warren could see the tears in his eyes before he quickly looked back down.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said, now looking back at Jefferson. “Maybe… Maybe you should go. You’ve seen enough in this death room.”

Warren glanced back to Jefferson’s body. I can’t just leave David here. I mean, Jefferson really did deserve that, but I don’t think David could handle being the one to do it. And so, he rewound, turning back to when David said, “.... know where Chloe is.”

“She’s fine,” he said a little too quickly. “She and Nathan they… wanted to settle their differences after he found her. I left when Nathan’s room turned into a hotbox. That’s when Jefferson got me.”

David relaxed his posture and sighed with laughter. “Oh boy. I’m so glad she’s safe. Heh, first time I’ve been so happy to hear she's a pothead. Well, you should get out of here Warren. I’ll call the police and get this fucker situated where he belongs.”

Warren nodded uneasily. “I’ll do that, Mr. Madsen, and thank you again.”

With that, Warren walked to the other side of the room to get his bag. Once he reached it, he began digging around inside for his binder. Now it’s time to save Nathan, and don’t worry, David, I’ll save Chloe too. All I have to do is- huh? It wasn’t there. The picture was gone. Did he destroy it? Is that why it wasn’t on the floor? But why would he do that? He wanted me to look at it so… He blanked out for some time, unsure of what to do next. That was when he laid eyes on his phone.

“Max,” he mumbled. “I need Max.”

He shrugged on the strap of his bag, turning around and looking around the room. When he spotted Jefferson’s keys, a large smile overtook his face. Yes! Score one for Warren-Peace!

So, book bag on and keys in hand, Warren pulled himself up the rungs and through the hatch  so that he was once again top side. The rain was coming down full force now, wind whipping up around him as  he walked forward through the woods.

“Warren? Warren is this really you?” Max asked over the phone.

“Uh, yea, Max. It’s me,” he said. “Where are you?”

“I’m at Two Whales. Something is going down, Warren, something bad. Wait, where are you?”

He slid down the steep slope to the dump, looking up at his mud-ridden path. “That’s a long story.”

“Look, whatever, where’s Nathan? Have you seen Chloe?” she asked. “I couldn’t find her after the party, but David- er, Mr. Madsen- whatever! He came in and told me to come up here. The dorms aren’t safe and the entire class started coming up here. It’s chaos.”

“I bet, Max!” he said, trying not to yell too much to hear his own voice over the rain as it proceeded to come down even harder than before. “Hey, did you take that picture of you and I with you, too?”

“Uh, yea, it’s in my diary. Why?”

“I’ll explain when I get there,” he said as he made his way through the final stretch of the junk yard, spotting Jefferson’s car parked out front. “Just, stay at Two Whales, okay? If you move, tell me where.”

“I don’t think I will be,” Max said quietly. “Just, promise me you’ll be safe? It’s really bad out there Warren. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, “see you later, Max.”

With that, he hung up and unlocked Jefferson’s car. As soon as he opened the door, he tossed his bag into the seat next to him, getting in and driving steadily up the road.

He stopped when he saw the havoc ensuing in front of the diner up and down the road, as the car couldn’t drive through all of the vehicles and debris in the middle of it all. When he stepped out, taking his bag with him, he could hear the cries echoing around him.

“This is hell…” he mumbled slowly, slamming the door as he moved forward, looking around quietly at the people scrambling for their lives. I can’t just leave them like this, I need to help!

“Help me! Please!” The call wasn’t coming from too far, in fact, all Warren had to do was to look down at the man, pinned to a truck by a long strip of wood. The wood laid across his lap, with only one arm poking out of the side, rendering the others useless.

“Oh my God,” he said, immediately kneeling down and grabbing onto one end of the slippery wood. With a groan of effort, he shoved the piece of wood off and onto the ground, releasing the man who grabbed his wounded arm.

“Thank you,” he said, “thank you so much. I was driving through town when my truck got picked up in this apocalyptic weather. I could give you a drive out of here if you’d like.”

“No thank you, sir, I’ve still got something to do here,” he said. “Be careful though.”

“Alright, I can respect that. Good luck, young man,” the man said as he waved him off.

Warren turned around, eyes focusing on the most idiotic thing he’d seen that night. He almost couldn’t believe that Evan, his classmate who thought he knew everything, was the one twirling around in the storm, snapping pictures at every given moment.

“Evan what are you doing?” he asked.

“Can you believe this, Warren? Look at all of these great shots!” Evan said, continuing to take pictures of every given object.

“Evan! You have to get out of there!” he yelled. “This isn’t safe.”

“Ha, figures you’d say that! You have no eye for art.”

That appeared to be the last thing that Evan would say, as a large telephone pole came down, knocking him flat and limp on the road. When Warren rewound, he didn’t bother talking to him, only stepping forward.

“Ha, figures you’d say that!” Evan said again, “You have no talent for-ahh!”

He was cut off as Warren picked him up and spun him around  to narrowly avoid the falling telephone pole. He released him immediately, almost dropping him with a glare.

“See that, Evan? You almost died! Now get out of here!”

“Okay, okay! Jeez,” he said, slinking away like a chided toddler as he mumbled, “Like my fucking mom or something.”

Warren let out a sigh. At least he’d saved him.

“Warren! Warren is that you, dude?”

The familiar voice drew Warren’s attention around him, spinning in a circle.

“Dude, follow the sound of my voice!”

“Trevor?” he asked, walking forward. “Trevor, where are you?”

“Up here, man!”

He looked up at the boy standing in the hole of a building as he looked down with a nervous grin on his face.

“Hey, so, could you help me down, bro?”

“Trevor…” he mumbled before shaking his head and looking around. At spotting the shaking ramp, he wasted no time running up the side and holding out a hand to Trevor. “Come on! You need to jump!”

Trevor looked down at him with a squeamish glance. He took a step back, to which the building creaked. Once he heard that, he ran forward and took a leap of faith, hand grabbing for Warren’s. As soon as Warren felt his palm meet Trevor’s he pulled back and they ran down the ramp together, just before it crashed.

“Ugh, that was intense,” Trevor said at the bottom. “Thanks, man. I owe you big time.”

“It’s nothing,” Warren said with a grin.

“It’s not nothing, man!” he said, grabbing onto Warren’s shoulders. “You’ve been saving my bacon all week! You’re a hero man!”

“Yea, sure Trevor. Look, just go find some place to hide. I’ve got somewhere to be,” he said.

“Yes, sir! Whatever you say.”

And then Trevor was gone, leaving Warren to head in the direction of the diner. Of course, the road was blocked, leaving him to look for another way around while mumbling under his breath. He ducked through a whole along the side of a building to the side of the street. He found himself greeted by the roar of flames blocking off the middle of the building.

How the fuck am I going to make it through this? he asked himself, looking around. He did a double take when he noticed the fuse box along the wall, immediately running over and slamming down the handle. At hearing the sprinklers pouring behind him, he turned. Only then did he see the result of this small act. A man was lying there on the ground, after going unnoticed before in the moment it took him to pull the switch, he was gone. No fucking way. There’s gotta be a way to save that guy. But, how the fuck would I do that?

He grabbed his head in thought, wracking his brain until he saw the small compartment next to him, only separated by a thin wall of glass. He then laid eyes on the open door and went into the compartment, rewinding so that the water seemingly evaporated, and the flames rising to their full height once more. He stepped over to the man on the ground, offering a hand.

“Hey, come on, we need to get you out of here,” he said.

The man, most likely in shock, took his hand in gratitude as he spoke frantic, meaningless words under his breath. Once he was sharing the smaller room with Warren, distant from where the water could reach them, Warren reached through the hole in the glass and flipped the switch once more. He smiled as the fire dispersed and he could safely escort the man outside. Finally, his prize was in sight, the building just a small while away.

He started jogging off toward the diner, when he was about to step onto the parking lot, he spotted a trail of oil leading the building and the fire quickly climbing up it. And so, it was with horror that he saw the diner burst from the inside out, consumed by the flames and forcing him to take a step back from the heat.

“No,” he said, rewinding as he looked around for something, anything to prevent what he just saw. Joyce, Max- everyone who’d taken shelter there. He couldn’t fail them now.

His eyes flickered around the general area, desperate for something- anything- to save them. That was when he laid eyes on a strangely convenient bag of fire sand. With no time to spare, he quickly let go of the rewind, piling handful upon handful onto the trail of oil until the flame was effectively cut off from the precious safe heaven.

Yes! I can’t believe it worked! Now all I have to do is get inside.

He turned back to the front door, walking over and readying himself to try before he saw that it was immobile.

Blocked? Are you kidding me?

And so he turned around, trying to find his way to some other entrance. That’s when he saw the large whale crushing a building. The sight was ominous to say the least, but it was something that irreversible in any sense. I can’t save it now… why does this remind me of some eighties song? Easily shrugging off that intrusive thought, he ignored the disturbing whale and instead walked around the diner to the back, finding a blanket and some supplies on the ground. I hope whoever was here before is okay now... he thought, the idea making his stomach churn as he opened the back entrance.

When he finally got inside, he laid back against the cool surface of the door, taking a few deep breaths as he tried to contain his heart rate. You did it, he said, and now this is almost over. All of it, I just… I just have to get that picture. Then I can fix all of this. I can save Nathan, and maybe even Chloe. Then we’ll figure this whole mess out. I know we can.

He straightened himself out with another breath to gain his confidence, walking forward through the kitchen and out of the first door he saw. The diner was in disarray, people sitting against walls around and underneath the counter. This is like it was when I got Jefferson arrested, he thought. Hopefully, the next time I change time, Nathan can be here too. Then I can save him, Max, and Chloe. And then we can try to forget this fucking storm.

He rolled his shoulders before he heard someone call, “Warren!” and looked over to see Max standing by the counter and running over to him. “There you are,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled back and looked at him with a ghostly pale face. “Ugh, you’re soaked! Where were you?”

“I… I uh,” he mumbled. “It’s a long story. I just need that picture from earlier tonight. Then I’ll explain everything.”

Joyce came over from the side and gave him an odd look.

“Oh, are you Max’s friend?” she asked.

“Yea, this is Warren,” she said. Turning back to Warren she said, “You may not know but this is Chloe’s mom.

“Yes, but I think we’ve met before. Isn’t that right, Mr. Graphiti?” she said with a smile.

“Uh, yeah. It’s nice to see you made it through this,” he said.

“The same goes for you, young man,” she said, reaching up to grab his upper arm.

He did his best not to flinch away, smiling at her before turning to Max. “Hey, can we talk, Max?”

“Uh, sure,” she said. “You wanted the picture from earlier tonight, right? Let me get it.”

She left then, leaving him to turn to Joyce as she said, “Now, I hope not to be much of a bother to you. I know you’ve been through a lot. But I was hoping you might know where Chloe is?”

He stood there for another moment, thinking back to the lie heh’d told David. Didn’t this Joyce have the right to know? He decided not, instead shaking his head. “Uh, no. She and Nathan were up at the dorms when I saw them. I haven’t seen them since.”

Her face grew slightly more worried for only a moment before she squeezed his arm and let him go with a pained grin. “Alright. Well, you’re welcome to wait out the storm with us, if you’d like. I’m sure they’ll turn up sooner or later.”

“Yea, I’m sure they will,” he said with a smile and a nod as she walked away.

He looked after her and was about to move towards Max when he noticed the very familiar man sitting behind the counter.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t teacup,” Frank said with an off smile, causing Warren to reel back. “Eh, calm down, will ya? I won’t bite.”

His interest piqued, Warren moved behind the counter, staring down at him with his hands in his pockets. “So, you made it here too, huh?”

“Yep. Got Pompidou in the bathroom. He doesn’t take too kindly to storms. Of course, he doesn’t take kindly to break ins either.” When WArren flinched, he let out a sharp exhale of laughter. “What? You thought you could fool me? That I was some country bumpkin who didn’t know when something was missing? Heh. It’s alright though. I guess that just clears me when it comes to where Rachel went, huh?”

They maintained eye contact for some time, Frank’s warm smile catching him off guard, before Warren looked down and sighed. “So, Chloe told you, huh?”

“Of course she did. She’s in charge of Nathan’s debt and keeping tabs on him. Now that leaves to question, what did you find?”

He let out a scoff. “What makes you think I found anything?”

“Well, the fact that you say, ‘I’ now instead of ‘we’ leads me to believe something’s changed. So, care to tell me what that is? Let me guess, the little shit was the one that got her. You know he hurt her once right?”

“Couldn’t be worse than when you hurt her,” Warren said. “I read the notes she left you, you know. Nathan wasn’t the only one who made a mistake.”

“Heh, reading my mail, huh? Fine. I hurt her. It’s not something I’m proud of, but there’s that. Still, I didn’t kill her.”

“No, but your drugs did.”

That caught him. Frank gave him a cold look as he asked, “And what the fuck does that mean?”

“It means we found out where Rachel is,” he said, “and the guy who kidnapped her.”

His eyes widened, shaking his head. “And just how the hell does that come back to me?”

“Do you know a guy named Mark Jefferson?”

A small breath escaped him, Frank laying back against the counter behind him. “Doberman…” he whispered. “I can’t believe this.”

Warren suddenly felt uneasy telling all of this to Frank, who seemed to be taking the information rather poorly.

“I can believe this… not her! Not my Rachel.” His eyes snapped up to Warren. “Are you sure? Are you sure you found her? Isn’t he just keeping her somewhere?”

“I… I’m sure of it,” he said. “We found her body by the school.” I’m sorry.

He curled in on himself, hands clawing at the coat around him. Frank no longer seemed as intimidating. The sight was one that brought guilt into Warren’s eyes as he rewound. That was way too brutal. If I’m going to spare Joyce and David, then I need to get to do this right too.

“Still, I didn’t kill her.”

“Nathan didn’t either,” he said. “Look, I know Nathan’s made some mistakes, but you have too. Can’t you just get past that, already?”

Frank looked at him for a long time before turning back down to the ground. “Tch, you don’t know anything about him, you know.” Warren didn’t respond. “Whatever.”

Warren shrugged, walking towards Max.  As soon as he reached her,  she turned around with the all-important photo clutched in her palm.As soon as he reached her, she whirled around with the photo clutched in her hand. “Got it,” she said with a smile. She held it tightly, smiling at him before looking down to the photo. “So, are you finally going to tell me why you want this thing? At now of all times?”

He looked at her for a moment before looking down. “Max, do you remember that day in the parking lot? When you gave me back my flash and I told you… I told you-”

“That there was something you wanted to talk about?” she said. “Yea, I do.”

“Well, I guess I should start there. But, it’s going to sound completely insane. Even if it does, I need you to believe me. Okay?”

“After today? Heh, Warren, I’ll believe anything.”

“I hope you mean that,” he said, looking down at her as his eyebrows pinched in worried thought. “Where do I start. Okay, so, back on Monday I had a vision in Ms. Grant’s class. It was of a hurricane destroying the town, like obliterating it! I thought it was a dream but... But, after I got out of there and went to the bathroom, I was behind like this wall thing and I heard someone come in. I saw it was Chloe and I didn’t know who she was but I didn’t want to tell a girl she was in the wrong bathroom or something. So, I stayed there and waited until she left.”

“And this was all before she got pissed at you?” Max asked. “Like, what was that even about?”

“I’m getting to that,” he said. “So, I was waiting behind the wall and someone else walked in. That was Nathan. He and her were talking about some drug deal. It was getting pretty intense, and… and Chloe pulled a gun on him.”

With a sad look, Max turned to the ground. “I can’t say I don’t believe that, considering what happened back at her house.”

“Well… this time… she shot him,” Warren said. “He was dying and I rewound time and, I was back in Ms. Grant’s room.”

“You rewound time?” she asked. “And Chloe… Chloe shot Nathan?”

“Yea but, long story short, a lot of shit went down with my time travel powers. And Mr. Jefferson he… He killed Nathan and kidnapped me.”

Her eyes grew wide at that, looking Warren over. “Warren, that’s really serious. Is… is that why you told the principal… a few days back when Jefferson was fired…”

“No, that was different,” he said. “I can’t go back that far anyway I just… it was him or Nathan and I had nothing on David so… Ugh but I am so glad I did. That bastard really deserved it. You have no idea how it felt… how it felt in that room and the things that he said. He was going to blame it all on us and… he said they would never find me, Max.”

“Warren, oh my God, Warren…” Her hands rose slightly, coming up to his chest and reaching up to his arms, cupping his neck and face. He crooned into her touch, taking a few deep breaths. It was the first calm he’d felt in a while. “I believe you… I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head, Max lowering her hands as he did.

“He killed Nathan,” he said again. “So now I need the picture you took from last night. If I have that then… then I can go back and stop this.”

“You can?” she asked, lowering her head and turning her eyes to the photo. “I really do believe you, Warren. But… couldn’t that  be why this hurricane is here?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well… I’ve seen a lot of time travel movies and usually screwing around with that stuff… it does things- things like this!” she gestured to the window. “I just, I don’t know if this is the best thing for Arcadia Bay and… I want you to make the right choice.”

He waited, taking what she said to heart as she slid the picture onto the counter.

“I’m going to go help Joyce,” she said. “I know you’ll do the right thing. Whatever it is.”

“Thanks Max,” he said. “You really are the best.”

She smiled at him over her shoulder before turning away.

He turned back to the photo, focusing with all of his will on the picture before him. He could feel it now, Max’s hand over his shoulder. He could smell the alcohol in the air and hear the music surrounding him before the white light enveloped him and he could see the school again. His head snapped to the side, spotting both Max and Nathan before him.

“There, now I’m going inside,” he said, pulling away from Warren again.

He stepped forward and reached him in one bound, grabbing his arm and spinning him around to face him. Eyes darting over Nathan’s face, he brought another hand up to grab his side. Nathan looked startled more than anything as he surged forward and pulled him into a hug.

“Uh… bye, I guess.” Max said, coming away from them and walking away for the last time.

“Hey!” Nathan said, pushing him back to look him in the eye. “Dude, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nathan, you don’t understand, it’s been forever I’m just… I’m just so glad to see you again.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, eyes scanning Warren’s face before he said, “Wait, time travel right? Let me guess, I died again.”

“You did but… but it was different this time. I… I couldn’t save you.”

“Heh, come on, Warren. You and me? That fucking bitch isn’t going to get me with you here.”

“You’re right… she won’t…” Warren said before flicking his eyes up to Nathan as he let go of him to step back. “It was Jefferson who killed all of those girls.”

“What? Jefferson?” he asked with a small laugh. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard! Especially after we saw all of the shit from David.”

“That wasn’t David, okay?” he said. “It was Jefferson- It was all Jefferson! That’s why he had all of that stuff! He was tracking him.”

“Alright, then what the fuck was up with that picture in the pool?” Nathan asked. “If it wasn’t Chloe, then who was it?”

“It was Chloe,” he said. “Jefferson used her to- to balance out the picture or something sick like that.”

“And how would you know something like that, huh?”

“Because I was there! Jefferson told me!”

“And just why would he do that? Huh?” he asked, “Why would Mr. Cheekbones go around killing girls only to tell you?”

“It’s like I said, he told me! Right after he killed you and told me that he killed Chloe.”

“That asshole killed her too, huh?” he said, leaning back on his heels. “Heh, then he has a bigger surprise coming!”

He clapped Warren on the shoulder, turning around and taking off toward the school. Warren reached out, wishing for him to come back. When it was obvious that he wasn’t, he settled instead for turning back time.

“Why would Mr. Cheekbones go around killing girls only to tell you?”

“Because he’s crazy, okay?!” he said. “He was bragging about it up and down. He said so many awful things and I just… I couldn’t let that happen again, Nathan.”

“And it won’t,” Nathan said, already turning around. “Starting now.”

He jogged off again, leaving Warren to defy the screaming and clawing of his brain- the feeling of glass scraping against the sides of his skull. He rewound time again for the numberless time that night as he saw Nathan return.

“Why would-” he was cut off.

Warren had grabbed his arms again, head bowed as he stared at the ground in thought.

“Nathan…” he said, “please stop. Please stop doing this. I need you to stop.”

The muscles in his arms tensed, as Warren could feel under his fingers. Instead of feeling the other boy pull away next, he felt two hands come up to lift his head.

“Your nose is bleeding,” Nathan said. “How many times have you gone back?”

“I don’t know,” Warren said as he pulled hand back to wipe his nose on his arm. “I just know that, if you go in there, you’re going to die. And, if you do, I’m going to have to do this all over again, one more time because, Nathan, I am not going to let you die. I’ve done everything I can to help you. I just… I can’t even think about Kate and-”

“Kate? What does Kate have to do with this?”

He licked his lips and flicked his eyes toward the ground. “There was… I went through a photo. That’s how I got here. I did it before, a long time ago. I thought if you had someone to look out for you- someone besides your dad and Victoria- then you might… be happier. It was stupid…”

“What did you do?” Nathan asked, sounding genuinely concerned at this point.

“It doesn’t matter what I did. All that matters is that… I woke up in this alternate universe. Kate was alive, and Stella was happy but…”

“But what?”

“...But you weren’t,” he said. “It wasn’t just that you were unhappy. You gave me a black eye for some reason, and you… you weren’t you at all. I couldn’t stay there. It wasn’t my universe anyway, I just… I just couldn’t stay there.”

“That’s when you came into my room in the morning, right?” Nathan said. “Kate was alive and you let her go, for me? Why? Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s like I said! That wasn't my universe! That wasn’t my Stella, and that wasn’t you!” he said. “Now, I’ve gone through all of this bullshit trying to save you. Can’t you just listen to me for once and let me do this for you?!”

Nathan leaned back, looking at him as he said, “Don’t worry… I’m here just… what happened to you?”

“It’s like I’ve been saying,” Warren said. “We went into the party and I lost you. I got this text and I found you. You were dead, Nathan, and I couldn’t rewind… I’m… Jefferson drugged me before I could and- and I woke up in that bunker- pool thing and,” a shudder rippled through his body at the thought. “and he took pictures of me in there and I… I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t do anything to-”

“Hey, it’s okay, alright?” Nathan said, reaching up to his shoulders and seemingly standing up taller. “We’re going to get that asshole, okay? And make sure he doesn’t do that again.”

“And I’m telling you it won’t work, Nathan. I’ve done this before, okay, I know how it turns out and doing this,” he gestured to Blackwell, “this is what we need to avoid.”

Nathan nodded slowly. “Alright. Sounds good. Better than… Better than getting shanked by some gross teacher behind the school, right?”

Warren laughed at the ill-minded joke, just glad that Nathan finally seemed to be listening.

“Okay, good. Now, what we have to do is go find Mr. Madsen. He’s a good guy, he really is. Once we tell him what’s going on, he’ll get the police.”

The other looked uneasy at the idea, but he nodded either way. “Alright, and then what?”

“We stay in your room all night,” he said. “We don’t leave, we don’t open the door or anything until… well, you’ll know when we need to leave.”

“What if you don’t believe me?” he asked.

Warren tried his best not to chuckle at that. “Really? Dude, I saw a fucking eclipse this week, snow in eighty degree weather, and can rewind time. Not to mention, you’re one of my best friends, now. I’ll always believe you.”

This time when the world faded out of view, it wasn’t violent. It wasn’t the harsh shattering that came with it so many other times This time, it was purely the warmth and light that closed him in, hugging him from all sides. When he came back this time, it was to see the large storm pouring down on him from where he stood, feet nestling themselves into the sand of the beach as he gaped up at it.

“Well look who decided to come back,” Nathan said, bringing his attention to the boy standing next to him.

“Nathan! What, were are we?”

“On the beach. You said we should get to high ground. I said it was bullshit, but you kept pushing it.”

Warren nodded as he looked back out at the water. “Come on,” he said, “I think I know what we have to do.”

“Care to clue me in?” Nathan asked.

“We have to get to the lighthouse. That’s where I was in… in my…”

“Warren?” He sounded worried. He always sounded worried. “Warren?!” Why does he care?

You can’t see anymore. Could you really ever see, though? I think that’s a lie too. You’re always lying.

Lying.

Lying.

Lying.

Lying.

You wake up in Ms. Grant’s class- or are you still lying? I suppose it doesn’t matter. What’s that noise? It’s getting louder. You can’t hear her anymore. She’s talking, a low rumble. You can’t understand them, you can’t understand anyone. Laughing, Brooke’s pencil. Did you ever care about her? If you did, you wouldn’t have asked Max, would you?

That doesn’t matter.

You look out the window. There’s a dark shape coming towards you and the noise is getting louder. It’s some sort of moan with a chirp here and there over and over again in some deep pattern.

You’re an idiot.

Why are you trying?

The shape is coming into view.

Is that a whale? you think, because you’re some ignorant ass that doesn’t know that whales can fly. Whales could always fly, how could you not know that? Maybe it’s because the one coming at you isn’t flying, it’s falling. It’s falling and it’s all your fault.

When it hits the school, you can feel the impact, but open your eyes. You open your eyes and taste- no- you open your eyes and see the room around you. It’s the photography room. Your favorite person is the front of the room.

You take a moment to notice the pictures posted around the room, seeing that they’re all pictures of you. Pictures of you in your favorite place. You should go thank him for taking some of his time to frame you- to shape you into art.

I’m not doing that! You can’t make me do that.

Is that Stella’s pencil case? Do you remember Stella? She jumped for you Warren. She jumped.

She jumped.

You’re so stupid. Blind. Stupid. Blind. Stupid You move towards Jefferson one step at a time until you’re standing before him.

“Oh, good evening, Mr. Graham. I just wanted to know if… well, you’re innocence,” ignorance “inspires me so much. I was wondering if you wanted to spend the rest of your life in my dark room. We could be so happy together.”

You scratch your head like some school girl talking to her crush.

Falling for your captor? Succumbing to despair? How predictable. How pathetic.

“Of course, Mr. Jefferson,” you say.

No I don’t, you think, even though you just did.

“Mr. Jefferson, I’ve been waiting for this day since that first day of school,” you say stepping forward.

No, I don’t! Stop that! I’m not doing this!

“I love you, Mr. Jefferson.”

He reaches up and, as his hands hover only centimeters above your skin, he vanishes. You’re lost. You see the door, making a break for the hall. Instead, you find the hall of the dorms.

What do you mean instead?

You were always in the dorms. These are the girl’s dorms. You were always in the girls’ dorms.

You see a figure standing at the end of the hall. She’s crying. Is she? You go check.

She looks up and turns to talk to you as you come by.

Its Stella.

Stella.

You remember Stella.

Stella.

The one who FELL.

“It was your fault,” she says. “You knew why I was up there. Why didn’t you let me jump? Kate is dead now. You let her die. You did this for yourself. Nathan didn’t know what was missing. How could you do this to me?”

A thousand voices are shouting around you- or is it just one? Can’t you count?

She stops suddenly, you don’t know why. she’s shaking.

And then she says, “Goodbye Warren.”

And she turns, the door to her room opening. She walks through it. And she jumps.

Again.

And it’s your fault.

Again.

“Hello.”

You turn around and you can see Kate standing behind you.

“Thanks for killing me, Warren.”

She pushes you and you fall through Stella’s door and fall down. You try to scream-

but

they

can’t

hear

you

now.

You continue screaming until you stop falling. The room turned so what should be the wall is now the floor.

It was always the floor.

You’re walking through the school. Everyone’s talking in some strange language you can’t understand that well because you’ve forgotten how to speak. You walk around for some time, until you locate the familiar sight of the cat from the woods.

“Hey!” you say as you approach it.

It runs, of course it does.

No one wants to be near you. No one.

You follow it anyway, chasing it to the door of the boy’s bathroom. It enters, and you’re close behind. The place you enter is dark. Lockers line a maze around you and you can hear Mr. Jefferson calling out to you. You should let him find you.

Why would I do that?

Because he’s the only one who can love you anymore.

Hopelessly, you evade him and continue to dodge the figures lining the halls. Why do you do this? They’re only speaking the truth.

“You didn’t think I loved you, did you?” Max asks. “You’re like some sick puppy.”

You can hear David almost breathing down your neck. “You break into my house and think I’m the sick one? Is that how it works?”

“Oh, and his house wasn’t the only one, wasn’t it?” Frank adds. “Do you think you’re sparing us like this? Telling us you don’t know about Rachel and Chloe? Oh, but as long as your conscious is clean, it’s okay as long as Nathan makes it out of this. Is that it?”

“You’re the reason I drink, Warren,” Principal Wells says.

You continue moving along until they corner you against a group of lockers. You climb inside, feeling the walls start to press on you. You can’t get out, you can’t breathe, you want to scream. And then, the locker opens up under you and you’re falling once again.

And then you stop.

You don’t feel anything catch you, and you can’t see because you squeezed your eyes closed like the little bitch you are. You keep them squeezed shut until you try moving your arms. You can’t. You can’t move.

You open your eyes now and see that you’re in your boxers and some t-shirt. Does it matter anymore where you are? You’re going to hell anyway.

Either way, you do have a location, so I may as well tell you.

You’re in your favorite place.

No.

But of course you are! You can see the cabinets and the needles on the cart. You love those drugs. You love the deep sleep they give you.

No I don’t!

Then do you like this dream?

I hate this dream! I hate you!

“Oh, yes.”

A shutter flashes, causing you to look up at where the voice came from. Mr. Jefferson is taking pictures of him. He’s posing like the slut you know he is. Like the slut you know you are.

“These shots are exquisite,” Mr. Jefferson says. It looks like he doesn’t love you anymore.

But you don’t love you anymore either, so it’s not a total loss.

“Heh, I bet anything’s better than working with Warren,” he says. “That guy really had nothing going for him. I don’t know what you saw in him.”

“Yes,” Mark agrees. “I don’t know what anyone saw in Warren.”

They blink out with the flash of a camera and now he’s with someone else. She’s a girl. It’s Max, Max is standing in front of you.

“I can’t believe that nerd actually tried making a move on you,” she says.

“Yea, it was totally embarrassing! Like, I didn’t think he’d actually do it,” he says with a laugh. “What a fucking doormat.”

“Well at least he touched you. Ugh, he won’t even touch me.”

“Well, lucky for you, I’m not some dumb ass beta nerd,” he says, bringing her closer and kissing her. There’s tongue and you want to look away.

You don’t want to look away. You can’t look away. You’re enjoying it.

You are like Jefferson after all.

The light comes in again and now you’re looking at the couch. He’s sitting there with Victoria. They’re practically one person, bodies wrapped around one another and she’s running her fingers through his hair like she owns it.

“Psst, babe,” she says, looking at you, “I think your dog is watching.”

“Hey, why don’t we let him? Give him a show in how it’s done,” he says.

“Come on, baiting your queer friend with us having sex? Isn’t that a little beneath you?” Victoria asked.

“No, you are,” he says, laughing as he lays her back onto the couch, kissing along her neck.

You want to feel those lips on your neck. You need him. You need him.

You need him.

The light flashes. He’s on the table, sitting with a blunt to his lips. “I said I didn’t smoke cigarettes. Never said anything about weed. Wanna vape? Heh, oh wait. Sorry, don’t want to catch aids from your slobber, beta phag!” He laughs.

The lighting turns bright and softens all over again to reveal that he is now on the couch with Chloe sitting at his side. They’re just staring at you.

“Wow, can you believe he really thought you were his friend?”

“Yea, he really is an idiot. He even believed I owed you money.”

They’re both laughing. They’re laughing at you.

You deserve it.

You really were stupid.

Flash.

Chloe’s gone. He’s in front of you, examining a pill bottle with a cigarette between his teeth. His eyes are tired, and his hunch more prominent.

“So, you really thought saving me was worth it, huh? That’s funny. Why did you even think this would work? Why did you even get time powers?” he asks. “you don’t even know how to use them. Or, if you do, you sure aren’t using them right.”

The room flickers again, leaving the pill bottle out of his hands and the cigarette long lost. There was no cigarette.

You

are still

lying to me.

“I wish I’d never met you,” he says. “I wish you’d let me die in that bathroom.”

Now you wake up in a bathroom of your own. You need to stop falling asleep.

You need to wake up.

The walls are dingy and you walk over to the door, spotting a key pad. You see the keys and immediately look to see which ones are dingy, just like the bunker. You try 2536, only for the key pad to deny you.

Why did you get so cocky?

Why didn’t you check the walls first?

You look around now, trying to find out what you’re looking for here. There needs to be some clue in these walls of numbers. But which one, which one?

Maybe you’ll never find it. Maybe you’ll stay in there

for

e

ver.

That’s when you spy the mirror. One of them has you with a black eye, and the other one you have a clean face. In the mirror with the clean face, on the left, reflects the walls as clean too.

You must like this mirror.

It likes lying to me too.

There is only one number here. 0311. You go to try it.

It won’t work.

It won’t work.

Stop it.

Stop trying.

It unlocks.

Oh, look at that.

I guess I’m a liar too.

You see me sitting at the far end of the diner, but not before you move through the crowd of people you’ve let down. You can see

David

the one you suspected

Max

the one you let down

Chloe

the one you let die

And then there’s me…

You walk over to me.

“Who are you?” you ask.

“Warren Graham,” I say. “I’m the one you lied to. The one you told was a hero. The one you told could save everyone. Heh…. You were so wrong.”

“I… I wasn’t trying to be a hero. I was trying to be good.”

“Good, huh? That’s why you let Kate die? Why you let all of these people die? That’s why you were happy with letting all of those people you once saved die all over again?”

“I… I was just-”

“Oh, wait! I’m sorry, you’re right. You didn’t do it for nothing! You did it for Nathan.”

“We’re all worth our lives. With Nathan, I can- I can always work through this!”

“Ha, do you really think I believe that? Heh, no wonder they call us Gayram,” I say, leaning back in the booth. “Do you really think you mean anything to him?”

“Shut up, already! Nathan does care about me!”

“Nathan caring about you? Isn’t that hilarious. You think he cares about you? After what you saw in that alternate timeline? I mean, yea it was another version, but they’re both Nathan you know.”

The bell at the front of the diner rings and you look up to see who it is. I don’t, simply looking back down at the table in thought.

“Heh, well, if it isn’t the prince of hell itself,” I say.

Of course it’s him sliding into the booth and staring me down. I pull out the pin from the bag next to me. The one of that tiny rabbit that Brooke made us. Do you remember Brooke?

“Shut up and don’t you dare try to get into his head, okay? You have no idea what kind of shit we’ve been through this week!”

I look down at that pin and then to you. The pin falls to the floor and darkness falls.

“So, why was she after you anyway?” Nathan asked.

Nathan. His name was Nathan.

“You’re way too dorky to be a buyer.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” you said. “I really don’t know. She just seemed angry about something.”

“Heh, you’re telling me. She’s coming for your ass. Don’t worry too much though, as long as you don’t owe money. As long as that’s settled, you’re still off of Frank’s list. She probably won’t pay too much attention to you.”

“I hope you’re right. Jeeze what is up with this school? If I’d known there would be drug dealers and gang wars-”

“Woah, don’t get so dramatic, nerd,” he said. “Frank’s only ‘gang’ is two bitches and that shitty RV he rides around in.”

You…

We take a step forward.

We’re walking along, passing by memories.

“It’s a sign. A storm is coming.”

Nathan nodded,  “Alright, I’ll listen. So you better tell me everything.”

“I’m a time traveler.”

And Nathan listened to us. He didn’t think we were crazy he just… listened.

That was nice.

“Prove you have time powers.”

“Show me what’s in your pockets.” We paused as he pulled those things out. “Really, a whale?”

“They’re smart.”

They really are. He wasn't wrong about that.

“It’s an old building. It’s not too far away from the actual town, but it’s still easy to get here and back. Rachel and I used to hang out here. Perfect for losing it, am I right?”

“‘Losing it?’”

“Yea. You know?”

“Oh, getting high.”

Nathan sniggered. “Boy, aren’t you a bucket of laughs? Well, come on, hop out. We’ve got work to do.”

And then we went shooting. We were really upset when he got shot… I didn’t mean what I said… when we said he didn’t mean anything. We would miss him.

“Holy shit! Did you know that was going to fucking fall?”

“It may have killed you before.”

We missed him that time too.

“Come on, dude, now’s your chance! Use this to your advantage!”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m not going to do anything. However, it would be quite interesting if something were to happen to this paper while no one was in the school. Something that might bump your grade up a few points.”

“Yea. That would be interesting.”

“Awesome! From breaking in to forgery? Aren’t you a hardened criminal?”

“I guess we’ll see in a second. If you get the duct tape, of course.”

That was the craziest thing we’d ever done.

“Fucking piece of shit nerd. Makes me run around the school so he can just-”

“Velcome, I have been expecting you!”

“Did I miss something?”

“Nope. Come on, let’s find those files.”

We never did get to make that pipe bomb for him.

“Hey, come on! At least you got your pants off! Aw man, these are definitely not going to dry before we leave.”

“You should have thought of that before coming into the pool without a swimsuit.”

“Oh, and you were so prepared? You look like a drowned cat!”

“I’d rather look like a cat than wet shit! Seriously, what is your hair? Personally, I think it’s a lost cause.”

We snicker at the memory, moving onto the next.

“Ugh, these smell like a chlorinated asshole.”

“Then they won’t stick out on you. Hold on a second. Here. They look like shit on me, so they might look okay on you.”

“Thanks, but I don’t really think this would look good on me.”

“Not yet. There we go. Now get dressed.”

“Is this really necessary?”

It would have been so easy to just say, “Fine” and go along with what he was saying but, instead...

“I’ll take you lying down!”

“Oh yea, I bet you can’t even kiss me!”

“Wait what?”

“Come on! You and your ‘no homo’ ass! Fuck that shit! You can’t even kiss a guy!”

“Are you… are you asking me to kiss you?”

“Yea! Do it! I know you won’t!” There was a pause and then, “Don’t...Well, shit, dude! I didn’t think you had it in ya! What? No half-assed ‘no homo’ this time? Heh, jeeze. Look, take the clothes or don’t. It’s none of my business! But, uh, have fun making it to the parking lot and back in time to get into your class!”

Why didn’t he want us to rewind?

Why didn’t he want Warren to rewind…?

He shook off the feeling. He was back now, looking up the winding path of memories. He moved through Frank’s RV, the alternate Nathan, the bunker- and he didn’t falter when he reached Kate’s grave. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on the two figures at the top of the cliff.

“Nathan!” he shouted. “Nathan, hold on! I’m coming!”

And then there was sound. There was wind gushing into his face and freezing his cheeks with speckles of cold in the form of raindrops as he fell to the ground, Nathan trying to hold him up.

“Come on, Warren,” he said with a grunt of effort. “Just  a little more! We need to keep going.”

“Nathan?” he mumbled.

“Warren! Warren, are you awake? Oh thank God, are you okay?” he asked, his eyes large with worry. “Don’t you ever fucking do that to me again, you got it?”

“Yea, I… I’m sorry…” he said as they both stood to face the wind. “It’s just… that nightmare was so real.”

Now they were there at the top of the cliff, staring the storm straight in the face.

“I did this…” Warren said. “I caused this storm. Oh God, and now the town’s going to be destroyed and it’s all my fault!”

“Don’t you dare fucking say that!” Nathan said, suddenly turning him so that they could face each other. “Don’t you dare blame yourself! How did you cause this?”

“I changed everything so much. It’s like- It’s like every sci fi ever! I guess I just thought that since this wasn’t a movie… I guess I thought I wouldn’t have to follow any rules.”

Nathan shook his head at that. “No, okay? No! You were just trying to do the right thing! Fuck this being your fault! If anything… it’s mine…” He looked down. “Hey, do you remember on Tuesday? When I came into your dorm and told you to meet me at Two Whales?”

“Uh, no, I think… I think that might have been another me?” he said.

“I was just going to text you some lame ass message, but you didn’t have your fucking phone and… Well, it doesn’t matter I guess,” he said. “But, you gotta know about that picture Brooke gave you, right? The one she took of you in science?”

“Yea,” he asked, turning away and giving Nathan a curious look. “What about it.”

“Well, you were telling me about it and… I just thought how great it would be to know someone like that and… heh… I guess while you were looking through your closet, I was looking at it and… heh,” He let out a noise that was half sigh and half laugh as he pulled out the photo in question. “I guess… I really am the worst, huh?”

“You took it?” Warren asked.

“Yea. But now I’m giving it back, so you can fix this,” Nathan said, handing it over. “All you’d need to do is… To stay in Ms. Grant’s room for just a little while. Okay?”

Finally understanding what Nathan was getting at, Warren slowly shook his head. “No… No don’t do this! I’m not doing this!”

“Come on, man! It’s just me! Look at this town, do you really think I deserve to live more than any of the people down there?”

“Stop saying stuff like that! I’m not giving up on you! Do you hear me? I promised!”

“You’re not giving up on me!”

“I’m not letting you die!”

“You already did!” They both froze, looking at each other as Nathan stepped forward and grabbed his arms. “That day in the bathroom… I died. I died and became someone better… So, whatever you choose, Warren… whatever you do… That guy in the bathroom is already dead. And me, I’ll always be with you, okay?”

“Nathan! I can’t do this by myself!”

“I’m sorry but… I can’t help you with this. You have to do this on your own.”

He stared up at Nathan for a while before his eyes slowly traced down to the picture. “I… I understand. I just…”

“It’s okay,” Nathan said, pulling Warren into a hug.

Warren sobbed against him, burying his face into his neck. “I don’t want to do this. Please…”

Nathan pulled back. He was smiling, even as the tears pooled in his eyes. “I know you don’t. I wish I could have saved you the trouble.”

Warren shook his head, arms still wrapped around Nathan’s shoulders.

Nathan’s arms slowly stroked down his shoulders. He thought he was going to pull away.

Instead, he looked back up as Nathan said, “Fuck it,” and leaned forward, claiming his lips in one last kiss.

This one wasn’t like the other. His lips were tender and soft as they linked them together. Finally, they pulled away and Warren was really crying now.

Nathan chuckled. “You don’t know how fucking long I wanted to do that… Now… you have something to do, right?”

Warren nodded, forcing one smile before he turned back into the tornado. He held the photo up, staring at it as he wished and hoped of something different.

Ms. Grant stood at the front of the room, turned to the chalkboard, writing out a problem. She froze, however, when she heard something fall in the back of the room. Turning around, she found Warren on the ground, classmates sniggering at the tipped over stool.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Graham?” she asked.

“No,” he said, standing up and seeming to shoot her a forced smile as he set his stool upright. “Everything’s fine. I just… I just fell.”

Sensing something was off, she kept her eyes on him. “Could you stay after class? I’d like to talk with you.”

“Uh, sure… that’s fine.”

With a nod,  she turned back to her lesson.

Water was sprayed.

The pencil was dropped.

The spitball hit.

This was the end.

The bell rang and he stood from his desk, somberly walking over.

“Warren, you know- Warren?” she noticed the tears rolling down his cheeks. “Are you alright?”

“Yea,” he said, forcing another smile. “I’m fine, Ms. Grant. It’s just… there’s this friend who was supposed to come by today and… I’m not going to see him now.”

She looked at him again. “Well, that’s alright. Nothing to cry over! You’ll see him again.”

His jaw quivered at that and he bit his tongue, taking a deep breath. “You’re right,” he said, “I’ll always remember him.”

She smiled, patting him on the arm. “That’s right. No one ever leaves us, honey. Even when they’re miles apart.”

“Or life times,” he said, brushing the tears from his eyes.

“Do you want to stay here while you clean up? I have a prep period next.”

“I’d like that, Ms. Grant. I’d like that alot.”

The white light came in again and, just like before, it enveloped him in a warm cloud of serenity. He was at peace, as was the world.

The gunshot was heard by all of those students in the hall, some immediately running to get the security guard. Needless to say, the school was shaken when word got out that Nathan Prescott had been killed on campus. The once untouchable prince of Blackwell had fallen. Victoria was the most distraught, screaming at Chloe as her friends stood at the side and saw her being pulled down the hall.

She was taken into police custody and, after some time, she was able to bring some events to light. The shock had brought up past memories once lost. Memories of a girl and a totem pole. The last time anyone saw Rachel Amber before her killer disposed of the corpse. Unsurprisingly, after the shooting incident, Principal Wells was very accommodating to the officers who wanted to take their dogs by old Tobanga. They found Rachel and Kate, but Kate had the final piece on her. The corner of a photo crumped in her hand for all this time, as if it was destined to be shielded. There wasn’t a lot to go off of from what was left, but they could tell that the picture was of a junk yard.

The police determined that the girl had fought and, in some struggle, managed to get some shred of a photo from her kidnapper, who the police later found to be none other than Mr. Mark Jefferson, renowned photographer gone teacher. He was arrested Thursday morning, and that was that.

Warren awoke to read all about that same arrest around two on Friday morning.

“So that’s it, huh?” he asked. “So… Now what do I do?”

He stood finally, pulling on some jeans and peaking out into the empty hall, he walked over to Nathan’s door. The slate was empty. No farewells or words for the future. He turned to his own board, grabbing the marker and writing something down.

“I’ll miss you.”

And, of course, in his usual fashion, he scribbled in a poor drawing of a whale. He knew if Nathan could see him then, he’d have something to say. Something like, “I can’t believe you’re crying over a fucking whale. Heh, you really are a dork.”

He looked down with a snicker. That was when he noticed the door. It was open slightly, ever just a crack. He put his hand on the handle, pushing it open to see a form sitting up on the bed. That same form turned around, tears in her eyes. It was Victoria Chase.

Her hair was strewn about, messy, and blonde. She’d been crying and he could see those lingering specks of despair lingering in her eyes. Then she grew angry.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked.

He stiffened and his eyes shifted to the side. “I-I’m sorry. I just… I wanted to see his room one more time. You know?”

She gave him a curious look, dropping her arms and turning to him. “You knew Nathan?” she asked.

“Yea, we were friends. At least, I thought we were.”

She stood up then, walking over from the bed as he closed the door.

“You’re not here for money, are you?” she asked.

“I never was,” he said. “I just… I miss him and… I know I won’t be able to see him again so I came here instead. To say goodbye.”

She looked him up and down, lips parted in thought. She wasn’t calculating him like before. She was just staring in disbelief.

Finally, she said, “His funeral’s today, you know. You could have said goodbye there.”

He died yesterday, he thought before correcting himself. It was almost a week for Victoria and everyone else.

“I just didn’t think I was ready for that,” he said. “I can’t even believe he’s gone. Like, this is it.”

She relaxed and leaned back. “Yea,” she said. “Hey, um… I know this is weird but I kind of didn’t want to go to the funeral either. So, instead… I’m going to be having a memorial thing and I’m just. Ugh, this is so stupid. I just… I’m just worried no one will come so, just show up, alright?”

Warren nodded a quick yes. “Yea… that sounds great,” he said. “Sure.”

“Great… just… thanks… I guess I have to go now.”

“Yea, you don’t want Mr. Madsen finding you up here, right?”

She chuckled. “I don’t know if you know, but Nathan always came up with these funny nicknames for him. There were, like, the best.”

“Yea, I remember that too,” he said.

She stood there for one more moment, wiping her eyes again before she left. “See you tonight, I guess. In front of the boys’ dorm.”

“I won’t miss it.”

And he didn’t miss it. It wasn’t extravagant, and Victoria was right to be fearful of a dwindling crowd. The only ones that had showed up when he came out to help set up was Victoria, Courtney, and Taylor. No one else was in sight. It was around seven, the friday night coming to a quiet close as they set up the candles, one from each of them, around the picture leaning by the steps of the dorms.

That was when they heard footsteps.

Warren turned around to see a gaggle of students walking up to the memorial. Each one placed their own lit candle by the photo. He recognized two of them more than the rest, that being Stella and Max.

“Did you do this?” Victoria asked, turning to him.

“Uh, no, I didn’t tell anyone about it,” he said. “I mean, maybe one?”

“Warren texted me about it,” Max said, popping up from behind him. “Then I got this feeling that I should come too. I mean… I didn’t really know Nathan, but no one should be forgotten when they’re gone.”

“So you told everyone else then?” Victoria asked, still sounding surprised.

“No, everyone showed up on their own,” Max said. “It’s weird, but they just came.”

Victoria looked down, tears forming in her eyes as Taylor and Courtney rushed to her side.

Warren smiled, turning back to the photo other students were circling around. It looks like they know what you did for them, he thought, stepping forward and laying down another object by the picture: a small rabbit pin. Nathan… I wish you could see this.

Thank you.

And so the warmth that was held in the front of those dorms flooded the night air. Students of all kinds stood hand in hand that night, mourning a hero they didn’t know they had.

That night, there was peace at Blackwell.

Chapter Text

“Hey, do you remember on Tuesday?” Nathan asked, “When I came into your dorm and told you to meet me at Two Whales?”

“Uh, no, I think… I think that might have been another me?” he said.

“I was just going to text you some lame ass message, but you didn’t have your fucking phone and… Well, it doesn’t matter I guess,” he said. “But, you gotta know about that picture Brooke gave you, right? The one she took of you in science?”

“Yea,” he asked, turning away and giving Nathan a curious look. “What about it.”

“Well, you were telling me about it and… I just thought how great it would be to know someone like that and… heh… I guess while you were looking through your closet, I was looking at it and… heh,” He let out a noise that was half sigh and half laugh as he pulled out the photo in question. “I guess… I really am the worst, huh?”

“You took it?” Warren asked.

“Yea. But now I’m giving it back, so you can fix this,” Nathan said, handing it over. “All you’d need to do is… To stay in Ms. Grant’s room for just a little while. Okay?”

Finally understanding what Nathan was getting at, Warren slowly shook his head. “No… No don’t do this! I’m not doing this!”

“Come on, man! It’s just me! Look at this town, do you really think I deserve to live more than any of the people down there?”

“Stop saying stuff like that! I’m not giving up on you! Do you hear me? I promised!”

“You’re not giving up on me!”

“I’m not letting you die!”

“You already did!” They both froze, looking at each other as Nathan stepped forward and grabbed his arms. “That day in the bathroom… I died. I died and became someone better… So, whatever you choose, Warren… whatever you do… That guy in the bathroom is already dead. And me, I’ll always be with you, okay?”

“Nathan! I can’t do this by myself!”

“I’m sorry but… I can’t help you with this. You have to do this on your own.”

He stared up at Nathan for a while before his eyes slowly traced down to the picture. With a defiant shake of his head, Warren ripped the picture in two, tossing the pieces into the tornado.

“Are you… are you sure?” Nathan asked, looking after the pieces as they flew away, forever lost.

“Yes,” Warren said with a nod.

“Alright… Then I’ll stay with you,” Nathan said as he walked behind him.

Not too soon after, the town was sucked into the vortex like a hungry beast. The buildings were torn apart like dust on a shelf, flying up and off. He thought of the people in Two Whales. He thought of Max, Chloe, and the hospital. The hospital with Stella, who’d just rediscovered her will to live.

Trembling, he faced the wind until Nathan’s hand encased his. He flicked his eyes down to their entwined hands before they grabbed onto each others’ shoulders for support as they stared out over the Bay.

After the storm quieted down and the tornado had long past, leaving a path of destruction in its place, he felt Nathan pull on him.

“Come on,” he said, “we can’t stay here.”

Warren nodded, allowing Nathan to walk him down the mountain. He’d spent so much time trying to get up this steep cliff, but coming down seemed even harder. It was as if something was being left there. It would take him a while to realize that what he was leaving up there was the person that he once was. The person he always knew he could be, but wasn’t any longer.

They checked into a motel a few towns over after driving for almost five hours straight. Warren had pitched in for the last two hours, but Nathan let him stay silent in the passenger’s seat for the most part. The radio had been broken as a last sign of cruel fate. Though, considering everyone he’d seen for the past few months had just been wiped out in an instant thanks to him, he supposed it wasn’t the worst that could happen.

They were heading in the direction of Tulelake, California. This just so happened to be Warren’s home town and somewhere far away from the havoc of Arcadia Bay. He didn’t know what awaited them there, but it had to be better than there.

He left his phone charging by the stuffy motel bed, Nathan showering just a few yards away. He was safe now.

Finally, he picked it up as he bundled the red jacket of his companion around him as a security blanket. He punched in the number and waited for the other end to pick up.

“Warren? Warren please tell me this is you,” his father’s worried tone came over the line.

“Yea dad, it’s me,” he said.

“Oh thank God! Honey, it’s Warren! He’s on the phone! Oh my God, we’ve been so worried! Where have you been? We saw the news reports and they kept saying that it didn’t look like anyone had survived and-”

“Yea… Yea dad, I know. It’s just… when it happened, I was with a friend. He and I… I think we’re the only ones who made it out and,” he said, trying to keep the crack out of his tone.

“Honey, it’s okay. You’re okay,” his father said. “Where are you now?”

“I… I don’t know about five hours out of Arcadia?” he said. “I just… I wanted to go home.”

“And we’d really like you home,” he said. Do you want your papa or I to come pick you up? Can you make it on your own?”

“I’m not alone,” he said. “My friend’s with me and… he doesn’t really have a place to go.”

“Did… did his parents live in town when it happened?”

No, he thought. “Yea. Yea they were in town and… I was wondering if he could stay with us for a while.”

There was silence on the other end, one that was almost deafening. “Bring him down here,” he finally said. “We’ll see what we can do then. Until we do that, just stick together and be safe, alright?”

“Okay dad. I love you.”

“I love you too sweetie. Now get your rest, alright?”

“I will.”

“Okay, good night then.”

“Good night.”

Once he’d hung up, he threw the phone to the foot of the bed. This was it. This was the end of Arcadia Bay, and the start of something new. Something exciting. Something adventurous.

Something strange.