Chapter 01

The howling wind and booming thunder forces Max into consciousness and she finds herself lying on the ground in an unfamiliar location. She huddles immediately into herself as she looks around confused as to how she got here.

The trunks of the trees crack dangerously and she feels herself lift slightly off the ground. Crawling to a nearby tree that seems more stable, she clutches onto it to keep herself from being blown away.

Fighting to see against the flying dirt and debris, she manages a peek in-between the trees and freezes in terror. There in front of her is massive tornado whirling violently pulling in animals, cars, and anything else unfortunate enough to fall into its grasp. Even the ocean it spins on top of is being sucked in creating a terrifying force to behold.

Dim light from a lighthouse – a familiar one from her childhood – catches her attention. Swallowing, Max makes a snap decision to head towards it seeing that it appears to be the only shelter. She trudges up the hill against the wind keeping as much of a lookout for flying debris as she could. Near the top, she sees the terrible tornado in its full fury and her vision is filled with the destruction around the area.

She quickens her pace towards the lighthouse and, reaching it, she tries to open the door only to find it locked. Slumping against the door in a wail, she tries to keep her eyes away from the tornado which will soon devour her.

That is when, in the darkness and flying destruction, a tiny but brilliant blue orb slowly heads her way.

Surprised, Max stares waiting for it to come closer. Nearer to her face, she sees that the orb is actually some kind of blue glowing butterfly. It somehow managed to fly against the tremendous force of the tornado and seemed as if it had sought her out.

The tiny thing lands against her arm. Max's eyes widen in horror when the butterfly suddenly melds into her skin and disappears inside. She quickly swipes and scratches at the area where it was, but futilely as she could no longer reach it.

She freezes feeling some sort of burning sensation in the area of her arm where the butterfly melded in. The burning sensation slowly moves from her arm to her shoulder then switches direction towards her chest.

Max shouts and cries as the pain becomes overwhelming. She pounds her fists at the areas where the burning sensation moves but it continues its path unfazed. When the sensation reaches her chest, it's as if her heart stopped and she chokes.

The sound of cracking and the falling of debris from above alert her to something else wrong. She looks up to see the lighthouse collapsing. The top of the building tips over and drops towards her. Max screams seeing that this is the end.

And that's when she wakes up.

She looks around rapidly as she tries to reorient herself. The familiar voice of her photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson, steadily filters in along with the familiar desks, chairs, camera equipment, and dusty smell of her photography class.

Clutching at her chest, she breathes an unsteady sigh of relief feeling everything is normal. The confusion slowly leaves her as she remembers where she is. The terrible scene she had witnessed had merely been a dream.

This knowledge does much to quell her panic, though its lingering effect can be seen in her still quivering hands. Reaching for her familiar Polaroid camera, Max grips it as though she is holding onto a spiritual charm.

Max eyes the various scenes in her cramped class room, though she couldn't find it within her capability to focus. Her vision remains blurry and her thoughts jumbled. As the tight feeling in her throat loosens, Max forcefully coughs to relieve the pressure build-up quicker.

"And I believe someone just volunteered to answer the question." Her eyes widen and lock onto those of her teacher who returns her stare pointedly. "Well, Max? Can you tell us the name of the first photograph?"

She knows the answer to this. Max racks her brain quickly trying to remember the answer, but it only comes in small, broken parts. The feeling of eyes, especially that of Mr. Jefferson's, on her made her face feel hot and her head ache from embarrassment.

"It…was, I think, The Window Over The Grass?"

A small snicker catches her attention and Max glances over to see Victoria Chase not too subtly hiding a sardonic grin behind her hands as she looks coldly back at Max.

"Nice try, Max." Mr. Jefferson nods sympathetically. "You came close. The actual title is 'View from the Window at Le Gras'. A photograph by a French artist named Nicéphore Niépce, it is widely accepted as the first or, at least, the oldest surviving photograph. I note that because reality is that there were many before him. In the 1700s-"

The moment passes and Max heaves a relieved sigh from within. She is greatly embarrassed, but in a way, the embarrassing moment helps to relieve the last of the effects from her dream.

Breathing more easily now, she hazards another glance at Victoria. The fashionable blonde has returned her attention to Mr. Jefferson and no longer pays any to Max to her vast relief.

She can hardly understand why exactly Victoria picks on her – something she had done since the first week Max had arrived at Blackwell. Nearly every day, Victoria is quick to make a passing remark, call her out publicly to point out whatever shameful quirk she is exposing that particularly day, or perhaps she merely sneers as she passes her in the hallway.

And for the life of her, Max can't understand why.

The blonde Vortex Club queen is as much a mystery as her math class and has proven equally hopeless to understand. So she puts it aside to move on while praying Victoria eventually finds something else to do.

The school bell rings giving the signal for everyone to start packing. Mr. Jefferson, experienced with the process, begins giving reminders.

"Everyone, please remember the 'Everyday Heroes' contest. I'm still looking for entries from Stella, Alyssa, Max, and Taylor, so get it together, ladies. Remember the prize is a trip to San Francisco where you'll be gushed about by the art world. It would be a fantastic start to your potential career, so please get it together!"

Max flinches at the reminder of how late she is with her own entry, but she really is trying. San Francisco sounds so romantic and she really wants to go there – 'Everyday Heroes' contest or no.

She simply can't come up with a photograph she likes, though. She tried too, but nothing seems to come to mind. Shaking her head, she picks up her own things taking extra care as she tuck her camera into her bag. Afterwards, she walks over to Kate Marsh – one of the few friends she has at Blackwell.

"Hey Kate, how are you?"

"Hey Max." The girl responds lethargically. Her eyes lack focus and shows signs of fatigue. "I'm pretty good."

"Are you up for tea later?"

She averts her eyes. "Maybe. I'll see how I'm feeling later."

Nodding, though feeling as if it was a canned response, Max bids her good-bye. As she turns to leave the classroom, she catches Victoria gathering her own things and gazes longingly at some of the things she picks up.

A beautiful looking DSLR along with a designer case of lenses is unceremoniously shoved into Victoria's bag then her hands reach towards a stylish looking smartphone and tablet. A glint of light attracts Max's eyes onto Victoria's clothes.

Around her neck, a dazzling set of pearls lies against a sweater with a fashionable collar nestled by a stylish dark skirt. Victoria's blemish-free skin is complemented and accentuated by her clothes and the pearls helped the image though Max imagines it would have merely been tacky on most anyone else.

Max's eyes linger a bit more on the beautiful pearls before it suddenly occurs to her that Victoria has stopped moving. And her body is facing towards Max.

Her eyes shoot up and she pales as Victoria's cold eyes bore directly into hers. Max freezes not knowing if she should apologize or merely look away. As she fumbles trying to think of something, Victoria picks up her bag and walks away.

Deliberately waiting in spot for a minute or two hoping that she won't encounter Victoria outside of class, Max finally takes her own leave just barely dodging Mr. Jefferson as he busily fills out some kind of paperwork.

Outside the classroom, Max stares down the hallway noting the main faces she recognizes. Courtney, one of Victoria's friends, is chatting with Taylor. Alyssa is texting besides Evan. A number of bullies and their victims line along the lockers. She briefly thinks of looking another friend, Warren, to chat with, but Max quickly puts it away.

Too many things had happened. That terrible dream and Victoria. She just wants to go back to her dorm and take a nap.

Max walks down the hallway intending to leave the school, but as she hits the intersection leading to the exit, her eyes glance the bathroom and she decides to make a stop to wash her face. Inside the dimly lit and damp room, she gives her face a quick splash and thinks of the Everyday Heroes contest.

Mr. Jefferson has been putting real pressure on everyone to make an entry and he seemed especially keen on Max doing so. He frequently insists she is talented and often crows of her 'gift' much to her embarrassment, though why is among the many mysteries that she can't understand. To her eyes, many of her photos lack any real complexities and often seem simple and nondescript.

Reaching into her bag, she takes a photo out which she had recently shot of her standing in front of many selfies she has taken over time. Max, for a time, had thought it was her best photo and had intended to enter it as an entry, but there are times when she wonders if there is any real art in it. She stares at the photo blankly trying to come up with an emotion to describe how she feels and couldn't come up with a real answer. Typical.

That bathroom door opens prompting Max to look around. She freezes when Victoria steps in and looks straight at her. The blonde glares at Max for a moment.

"See something you like?" Max didn't know how to respond, so she didn't. "I asked if you see something you like? This is the second time you're staring at me. You have a problem, you little bitch?"

Victoria rapidly walks forward reaching out her hand. Max tries to back away, but the blonde grabs her jacket stopping her. She leans in until their faces were close enough to feel each others' breaths and stares coldly into Max's eyes.

"I don't like the way you keep looking at me. Stop it. Now."

"Victoria, I…I just…"

She is interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Both their attention turns towards the door and Max is surprised to see a boy, Nathan Prescott, step in. He pauses inside at the sight of them.

Victoria's eyes widen slightly at the sight of him, but soften afterwards. Max is reminded that the two are actually friends.

"Nate, you have the wrong bathroom. You might want to head out."

"I'm meeting someone." He twitches nervously and his eyes are dilated. He tries to smile at her though it looks forced. "You should get out of here, Victoria, cause things are going to go down. What the hell are you doing anyway? Beating someone up?"

"I came in here to touch up my make-up." Victoria looks him over. "What is wrong with you? You're sweating like crazy."

Sweat isn't the only thing off about Nathan. His body twitches consistently, his fists clench and unclench repeatedly, and his skin is pale. He fingers his jacket as if hiding something in there. Victoria notices this and lets go of Max's jacket to face Nathan. Max backs away from the two confused as to what is happening.

"Don't worry about it." Nathan says. "Just get out while you can, Victoria. I'm telling you. It's for your own good. Bring that girl with you too."

"Nate, talk to me. What's going on?"

He hesitates slightly as if wondering if he should really tell her, but ultimately decides against it. "It's nothing. Just listen to me. Go. Please."

Victoria stays still ignoring his command. Seeing this, Nathan lets out a frustrated sigh running his hand through his hair. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something. Both Max and Victoria freezes realizing it's a handgun.

"There? You get it now? Again, go now, Victoria."

"Nathan, what the fuck?" Victoria's voice had taken on a tinge of panic. "Put that shit away right now. We're leaving – both of us. We'll go somewhere and talk about this, okay?"

"Christ, Victoria, I just showed you a gun and you're still ignoring me! What the fuck do I have to do? I'm telling you this for your own safety and you won't goddamn listen!"

Max lets out a terrified squeal as Nathan swings the gun around carelessly. He is behaving extremely erratically and his sweating is getting worse. Either something has him scared or he is high enough to be losing his composure. Perhaps even both.

Her head pounds and her body weaken. She is paralyzed with terror. She looks to Victoria hoping the blonde knows what to do only to deflate upon seeing that she appears equally terrified.

"Nate, stop it!" Victoria shouts. "You're going to shoot somebody! Stop it now!"

"I have things under control, okay? You're the one making everything hard! Just get out now!"

The panic in Victoria's voice and their escalating argument raises Max's fears. Out of her depth with things going far too fast for her to think properly, her first thought is to simply run. Grab Victoria then run as fast and as far as possible. Problem is that her way is blocked by Nathan.

She desperately wishes that somebody – anybody – would come in and save them from this.

"Nathan, calm down. Here, just let me have that." Victoria walks over and grabs the gun. "Give it to me. I promise it'll be better."

Nathan startles at her bold action and immediately tries to block her. Victoria fights back refusing to let go and keeps trying to persuade Nathan to release it. As they struggle, he forcefully twists Victoria around trying to push her towards the door to leave even as Victoria pushes back demanding he stop.

Max notices none of this. Her eyes are glued to the gun and she realizes just how often their fingers are brushing near the trigger. Nathan's hand had gone right over it several times. Worse of all, the gun is aimed point blank at Victoria's chest. If it goes off…if it goes off…

She feels herself hit the wall and only then realized she had been backing away. She looks around herself and her eyes land on a number of items. A bucket, a mop, the fire alarm. An idea suddenly comes to her. Gathering as much courage as she could, Max lifts up a yellow caution sign from behind a stall and notes its weight. If…if she manages to hit Nathan with this, both she and Victoria can make their escape.

Not bothering to worry about the details of that quick plan, Max picks up the sign and holds it tightly. She looks around the stall at the two still fighting. Feeling he is distracted, Max takes a deep breath and rushes out cocking the sign to swing at Nathan with all her might.

It might have worked. It might have. However, Victoria suddenly turns her eyes to Max in surprise and releases her grip on the gun. This, in turn, alerts Nathan that something is behind him. Just as Max closes in on him, he quickly swings the gun around and shoots blindly. The bullet hits directly in her chest.

Max felt a pain unlike any she ever felt in her life and sheer force of the impact sends her sprawling backwards. She crashes to the floor and chokes as blood rises in her throat obstructing her breathing. In her peripheral, she notices Victoria's horrified face and Nathan dropping the gun in shock.

Outside of the pain, which is slowly disappearing, Max notes with surprise how calm she is. The world is blurring heavily and the faces of the others seem to blend together in a bright mist that slowly takes over her vision. Confused, Max decides to shut her eyes against the brightness.

And that's when she wakes up.

Her head shoots up as she breathes rapidly trying to still her panic. Once again, she finds herself disoriented and confused, but the familiarity of the scene helps to quickly reoriented herself. Her eyes move back and forth rapidly before she realizes that she is in Mr. Jefferson's class.

Bile rises to her throat and she fights to hold herself from vomiting in front of the entire class. Her eyes burn and tear up as the horrid memories of what happened come back to her. The need to question her sanity is at the forefront of her mind.

What in the world happened? Did she have some kind of monstrous dream followed by a second equally horrible dream? Both had been so awful and realistic, though. She can still recall the snapping of the wind as it tries to fling her around, the humiliation at Victoria's hands, the paralysis as Nathan loses it. How could it all have been fake?

Yet what other answer could there be?

Her throat feels tight and she struggles to breathe. She forcefully coughs and grasp at her throat trying to breathe easier.

"And I believe someone just volunteered to answer the question. Well, Max? Can you tell us the name of the first photograph?"

For a moment, Max stares disbelievingly at Mr. Jefferson as the question stirs up memories.

"It's…'View from the Window at Le Gras' by Nicéphore Niépce."

"Wonderful answer, Max! You've been doing your research!" Mr. Jefferson looks pleased. "This is what I like to see class and the gifted Max Caulfield doesn't disappoint! Now, class, while this is widely recognized as-"

A coincidence. It's just a coincidence that he asked the same question. It has to be. Max pinches herself and winces at the pain which gives her a bit of relief afterwards. She looks around the room and, upon seeing Victoria looking the same as usual, lets out a relieved sigh.

No, definitely just a dream.

The school bell rings and all the students begin packing. Mr. Jefferson backs up to the front of the class trying to squeeze in a reminder as everyone tries to leave quickly.

"All of you, don't forget about the 'Everyday Heroes' contest. I'm still looking for entries from Stella, Alyssa, Taylor, and, of course, Max. Don't disappointment me, ladies. As none of you should forget, the prize is a trip to San Francisco where your photo will be viewed and it can help kickstart a career. So please put some effort into it!"

Max, feeling her stomach doing flip flops and her head splitting open, quickly and haphazardly gathers her things. She lifts her bag and tries to make her way out.

"Hold on there, Max Caulfield! Don't think you can leave without us having a talk!"

Max freeze at the call and turns to look at Mr. Jefferson meekly. She trudges over to him and stands to attention, though refusing to meet his eyes.

"I think you know what this is about. The Everyday Heroes contest, of course. Have you made any progress on it?"

"I…I'm trying, Mr. Jefferson. I want to and I will, but it's just that things have been busy. I just need a bit more time to get the shot I want."

"Max, we've talked about this. You are a talented young woman and, today, I think I got yet another inkling of that talent trying to shine through. It's alright to want something good, something great, for an important contest, but, you know, life won't wait for anyone. If you're keep holding off, you might find you'll run out of time before you know it."

"I know. I know, Mr. Jefferson. I'll get a photo to you. I promise."

He nods in dismissal and she turns to walk away only to meet the condescending eyes of Victoria. Hesitating a moment before continuing past the blonde who looks as if she intends to converse with Mr. Jefferson, Max quickly walks down the hallway ignoring everything around her.

When she reaches the intersection, she pauses.

In her heart of hearts, she wanted to turn towards the exit and run to her dorm where she'll feel some sense of security from this madness she's experiencing. Her mind, though, halts her steps with an intense feeling of shame.

Since she's gotten to Blackwell, she had felt like an outcast and many things seem to work to enforce that view. How would it look – not just to others but even to herself – if she were to suddenly start avoiding the bathroom because she had some bad dreams? She's an adult now, not a child anymore.

So convincing herself that there is nothing to be afraid of, Max slowly step towards the bathroom. Inside, she finds a similarly dimly lit and damp area. Walking to the center and standing still, she wonders to herself what's next. Her mind seems to go blank and the question of her sanity comes back to her.

"See, Max?" She mutters to herself. "You're out of your mind. There's nothing to worry about."

On autopilot, she takes out her camera and takes a photo of her reflection in the mirror. When the photo comes out, she waits for it to develop then stare at the shot. A surprisingly good one wherein the shadows and background seem to reveal her inner turmoil. Her face is covered by a bright flash and the camera itself. She looks up at the mirror and at her reflection. Briefly, she feels lost.

The moment disappears when she hears the sound of footsteps. Not even knowing for sure if the person is coming into the bathroom or not, her feet nonetheless moves before she even consciously does so. Max quickly jumps behind the end stall and cowers behind the yellow caution sign feeling her heart quicken. The door opens and heavy footsteps come in.

There is a pause, then a voice says, "Alright, Nathan. No stress. It's cool, you're alright. Lets take this slow."

Max pales and her heart quicken even further. She recognizes the voice as that of Nathan Prescott. Her dream…her dream is coming true!

She perishes the thought instantly. No, her dream is not real. There have been a surprising amount of coincidences so far but all the differences proves that her dream is not…some kind of premonition. For starters, the fact that Victoria did not come into the bathroom proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Though she still can't answer as to why in the hell Nathan Prescott is in the girls' bathroom. He is muttering encouragement to himself as if he's trying to hype himself up for some kind of dare. Max huddles closer into herself and tries to ignore him.

The sound of a door opening catches her attention again. Did Nathan leave?

"What do you want?"

"I hope you checked the perimeter as my step-ass would say. Now, lets talk bid'ness…"

It is a girl's voice. Max immediately thought Victoria, but quickly realizes it sounded nothing like her. The tone and even style of speech is completely different.

Peeking her head out from the bottom part of the stall, she glances a girl with blue hair and raggy clothes before cowering back again. That's definitely not Victoria. Instead, it looks like some kind of punk girl.

She tries to fight it, but her dream comes to her mind again. She remembers that Nathan said he was meeting someone when he told Victoria to leave. Is this who he was meeting?

"I got nothing for you."

"Wrong. You got hella cash."

"That's my family, not me."

"Oh boo hoo, poor little rich kid. I know you've been pumpin' drugs and shit to little kids around here. I bet your respectable family would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now."

Holy shit. Holy shit. This girl – whoever she is – is trying to blackmail Nathan. He has never been a very stable person to begin with, but this explains his extreme irrational behavior. He must be under a ton of pressure, especially if she's threatening to go to his family.

The girl has no idea what she's getting herself into. She has no idea that Nathan has a gun on him.

That thought sends a shock through Max as she remembers that he does have a gun. At least from her dream, but her dream has so far been uncomfortably prescient and she no longer feels as if she could ignore it. But what can she do?

Max glances at the caution sign she used to attack Nathan previously with disastrous results. From the periphery of her vision, though, she suddenly notices another object. A hammer.

She picks up the hammer feeling its weight in her hands. For a second, she wonders at the stupidity of this but that is pushed away as she also hears the argument between Nathan and the girl escalating. The word 'bitch' came in somewhere. It's time to go into action if she is to stop Nathan this time.

She gets to her feet and tries to steady herself, but fear overwhelms her. She freezes to the spot unable to force her own body to move. She isn't able to even breathe and her lungs make its needs known through a painful burning in her chest.

The yelling between Nathan and the girl gets louder and Max notices the fear in her voice. She's shouting for Nathan to get something away from her. Nathan has pulled his gun out. Through a tremendous force, Max makes her body work again and she takes a gasping breath as her lungs regain usage. She steps out from the stall and runs towards Nathan.

The girl is the first to see her, though the sound of her running also alerts Nathan who turns around. Before he could grasp what he was seeing, though, Max makes a wild swing with the hammer.

The splash of blood on her face and Nathan's agonized scream stops Max completely. Her heart thunders in her chest blocking out all other sounds. She stares wide eyed at the punk girl who stares back frozen in terror and shock too. Swallowing, Max notes the metallic, tangy taste of blood in her mouth and a feeling of light-headedness overcome her.

Her eyes floats down lethargically as she notes that Nathan is now glaring at her with eyes in-between intense pain, fear, and anger. His left eye socket is bleeding profusely from where Max had hit him. He grips his handgun and lifts it to aim at her. Max knows she should dodge or possibly swing the hammer again, but she finds herself paralyzed once more and the hammer even falls out of her hands. She stares at the barrel of Nathan's handgun helplessly. He fires and a burst of light fills her vision.

And that's when she wakes up.

This time lacks the disorientation of the prior two times Max had woken up, though a sense of queasiness and nausea remains. When she opens her eyes, she lifts her head to face Mr. Jefferson. She couldn't find it in herself to think or do much of anything. She merely stares blankly ahead without registering what her eyes see.

Mr. Jefferson continues his speech about the importance of contrast, its origins, and its modern applications unabated until the school bell rings. He gives another reminder on the 'Everyday Heroes' contest making a point of calling out her, Alyssa, Taylor, and Stella.

Max ignored him and everybody else. She mechanically packs her bag hardly even caring when she shoves her precious camera into her bag. Her body moves in a sort of slow motion wherein she sees everything with an extra clarity. Once finished, she examines the room around her and her eyes land once more on Victoria.

She makes note of the electronics she covets so much and the fashionable, expensive clothing without caring for them so much this time. Max's eyes pauses on the pearl necklace Victoria wears and she mentally notes that she must look stupid just staring at it blankly with no reaction. Vaguely, she became aware that Victoria is looking at her.

Looking up, Max's eyes meet the cold ones of Victoria's. The blonde glares at her a moment longer before she finishes packing and leaves. Max, feeling emotionally shot, immediately leaves the classroom ignoring Mr. Jefferson's calling for her.

In the hallway, as if being controlled by some external force, she makes her way towards the bathroom passing several people, including Victoria at her locker, on the way. As soon as she steps inside the bathroom, she heads for her hiding place in the back. There, she falls to the floor, grips the yellow caution sign, and crouches against the wall feeling a sort of helpless fear overtake her.

Why did she come back here? Why doesn't she just go to her dorms instead of facing this nightmare again?

When she hears the door opens and Nathan's voice again, Max briefly wonders if she is in some sort of purgatory hell wherein her fate is to be shot by Nathan over and over again.

That punk girl enters again and the same argument starts up. Max shuts her eyes fighting back tears of helplessness. She doesn't want to die anymore. She doesn't want to die anymore.

"-I know you've been pumpin' drugs and shit to little kids around here. I bet your respectable family would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now."

"Leave them out of this, bitch!"

"I can tell everybody Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself!"

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!"

"Where'd you get that? What are you-"

A door opens and there is silence. "What the fuck is going on here?"

Max's eyes shoots open. She slowly gets up still grasping onto the caution sign.

"Victoria!" Nathan shouts in surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was going to use the bathroom to refresh. That's not important. Nate, what the hell are you doing? Why do you have a gun? And aiming it at her?"

Peeking around the stall, Max sees both Nathan and the punk girl with their backs to her facing an apprehensive Victoria. All three were focused on each other and haven't noticed Max.

The blue hair girl raises her hands to calm Victoria. "Nothing. We weren't doing nothing. I was just going to leave."

"You're not going anywhere!" Nathan shouts grabbing onto her jacket. He then turns to Victoria. "Victoria, get out of here! Pretend you saw nothing!"

Nathan is waving the gun wildly at Victoria who backs away fearfully but she refuses to leave. "Nate, put that gun down. Lets talk about this. Please."

Nathan seems to lose his cool more and more. "Shut up! Just get out of here! I can handle this, Victoria, but you're going to ruin everything. Just leave! Leave!"

"Nathan Prescott!" Victoria shouts.

Nathan's erratic behavior is getting out of hand. He is slamming the punk girl against the stall with each shout as she tries to fight back. Furthermore, he is now aiming the gun at Victoria who is afraid of what he is going to do. The sound of running footsteps stops them all.

A painful slam against the back of his neck is the last thing Nathan feels before he becomes unconscious. His gun slides away from him as he crashes to the floor in-between the two girls he had been threatening.

There is a moment of shock before Victoria's thoughts clear and her eyes takes in the figure of Max holding a caution sign. The annoying hipster from her class had just knocked out Nathan with a caution sign. The blue hair girl who Nathan had been clutching stares at Max, her eyes widen slightly, and then she rushes past Victoria to make her escape.

Victoria glances at Nathan again, then hastily picks up his gun to shove into her purse. No need to let him have that again. Then she walks up to Max and grabs her hand. She had been frozen still since she knocked out Nathan.

"We're going, Max. Come on."

She allows Victoria to drag her along. The two of them leaves the bathroom and then out of the academy. Through the thick haze that has overtaken her mind, snippets of their surroundings makes its way into Max's mind and she is somewhat aware that they're heading down a familiar path, though it isn't until they were already in a very familiar hallway that Max realized they were in the girls' dormitories.

Of course, she had assumed Victoria was leading Max to her own room but after they went through a door, she looks up in surprise to see an unfamiliar room.

"Where…is this?"

Victoria rolls her eyes. "My room. Duh."

She had said that as if it should be obvious, but it wasn't. Not to Max. The only kind of relationship that could be described between Victoria and Max is a bully and her victim. Possibly rivals if one think in the most generous of terms. So why did Victoria bring her back to her room?

Victoria unbuttons and shrugs off her sweater to reveal a champagne color, expensive Givenchy button up shirt. Not for the first time, Victoria makes Max self conscious about her own appearance, but the former takes no notice of that. She hangs her sweater up and falls tiredly onto her mini couch.

Max looks around again growing more impressed. Victoria's room is full of the expected products of obscene wealth, but it is also filled with items that could have easily belonged to her. It seems having money doesn't make one immune to the cheap and tacky as the room also has the kind of knick knacks one might buy with unthinking impulse.

A tickling sense inside of her makes Max takes out her camera. She looks through the viewfinder to ensure the frame catches all three aesthetic, then she takes a shot. As with all photos, she places the one she took of Victoria's room inside her bag with care. After all, this room will now be a part of her memory and precious to her.

The flash of the camera gets Victoria's attention and she looks up at Max as if noticing her for the first time. She rolls her eyes at the typical display of random photography. "Are you going to keep standing? Sit."

Victoria pats the spot beside her. Max hesitates, then puts her camera away and goes to sit beside the girl who had – just that morning – glared at her with a look of disdain. For that reason, Max sits on the same couch, but makes sure to keep her distance.

"I can't believe what just happened." Victoria sighs. "But I guess I owe you, Max."

The brunette looks up. "Huh?"

"With Nathan, of course. I had just wanted to go into the bathroom to touch my make-up a bit and what do I find? Nathan looking like he was about to gun down that bitch Price. Then he starts waving a gun around in my direction."

"If…" Victoria continues, but more quiet. "If you hadn't knocked him out, I'm not sure I would have made it out alive."

Made it…made it out alive. A shock goes through Max. She actually made it out alive. She passed the place where she had died over and over again. She didn't wake up again in Mr. Jefferson's class.

She doesn't know if this means she's no longer stuck in some sort of endless hell, but she doesn't care. Feeling wetness on her face, she lifts a hand to wipe it away realizing she is crying. She no longer has to go through getting shot over and over again

Victoria notices this but mistakes it thinking Max is crying from fear. "Jesus, don't cry, it's pathetic. I know it was scary. I…was a little scared too." She said that last part quieter than the rest. "But it's over now. Besides, I took Nate's gun."

Max nods. "That's good." She wipes at her face once more. "But it's not really over, though. Nathan is still around."

Sitting back huffing a breath of frustration, Victoria nods, "Yeah, I…I'll have to talk to him. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but there has to be a reason. He wouldn't do this otherwise. Listen, Max, stay quiet about this, alright? It'll be safer for you anyway."

"But shouldn't we report this?"

"Who would believe you? I'm his friend and I didn't even know he owned a gun. The idea of him pulling one on people in the women's bathroom would have been unbelievable to me if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. No one else will believe you." Victoria sighs again. "Just let me talk to him, okay? I'll work it out."

The blonde runs a hand through her hair looking exhausted. "It was really just pure luck things happened as it did. Everything could have gone so wrong."

Max didn't say anything knowing personally it was far more than just luck. After all, she died twice before finally taking down Nathan. If her dreams hadn't given her a head's up…can they be called dreams anymore? What are they? Premonitions? Or does she have some kind of future telling ability? Regardless, why did it suddenly come to her?

And why did things keep changing each time? Why did only Victoria show up the first time, only the punk girl the second time, and both of them the third time? Max is tempted to call it merely timing, but that doesn't seem right.

In the first one, Victoria and Nathan argued longer than it took for the punk girl to show up in the other dreams…premonitions…futures or whatever they are. She should have shown up as they were fighting or whatever, but she didn't at all. In the other…'visions', the girl shows up as normal.

Max recalls, though, that in each of the ones she shows up, she immediately searches the stalls for other people as she wanted to keep the blackmail silent. Is it possible she heard Victoria and Nathan arguing and decided to leave? Or maybe she had been waiting outside the bathroom. She only shows up normally when Victoria doesn't appear first.

But then why did Victoria not appear during the second vision? In the first, she was the first to appear, but, in the third, she was the last. Why?

Racking her memories, the only real difference Max can recall is that in the two visions where Victoria appears, Max had been staring at her and had been caught doing so. As she notes that, more realizations come to her. In the second vision, Max did not stare at Victoria and she also ends up getting pulled back by Mr. Jefferson as she tried to leave. Upon leaving, she meets Victoria herself who then gets into a conversation with their teacher.

Is that really the whole reason? Not staring at Victoria and getting lectured by Mr. Jefferson? Or maybe just one of them was enough to do it? But then why did it take Victoria so long to get to the bathroom in the third vision?

She feels her head spinning with all the questions which she can only guess the answer to. At the same time, though, a relief comes to her that it no longer matters. She doesn't have to do it anymore, so she doesn't have to wonder anymore.

The vibration of Max's cell phone breaks the silence that has taken the room as Max and Victoria both contemplate the various issues on their mind. Max takes out her device and reads the text. It is a message from Warren asking for his flash drive back.

She sighs not really wanting to see anyone today, but is also simultaneously happy she can leave Victoria's room. Perhaps things can go back to something resembling normal.

"Uh, hey, Victoria. I just got a message from Warren. I have to go now, alright?" Max gets up from the couch and Victoria follows suit. "Thanks for letting me in your room."

"Let me walk you out the dorms." Surprise must have been on Max's face because Victoria suddenly adds in irritation. "It's just a bit of assurance for me. I want to be sure things are good right now, so I can rest easy."

That only increases the surprise. Victoria is worried about her? The girl that has been bullying her almost non-stop since her arrival at Blackwell? This feels more like an actual dream than the visions Max went through.

For the sake of expediency, Max nods in assent. Victoria puts her sweater back on and the two walks out of her room and across to that of Max's. Inside, the feeling of self-consciousness that is always present whenever Victoria is around increases as this is the first time Max had the blonde in her room. It never even occurred to her that Victoria going into her room would be a possibility.

Inside, Max goes to her drawers and desk looking for the flash drive while Victoria stares around. The blonde picks up Max's teddy bear and stares at it while Max rummages around. It is only when Max looks near her laptop, which she now wonders why she didn't do so to begin with, that she notices a note from her friend, Dana, saying she has her flash drive.

"Damn." Max mutters getting Victoria's attention. "Dana has the drive. We'll have to go get it from her."

Victoria nods and the two leaves the room. Before they even reach Dana's room, though, the sounds of an argument reaches them and they see Juliet standing against the door. Dana is pounding against the door demanding to be let out.

Juliet looks over at them and her eyes seem to linger on Victoria. Max purses her lips not really wanting to do this, but knows she needs the flash drive.

"Hey Juliet, is everything cool?"

She looks at Max in irritation. "No, Max. Everything is not cool. That is why I locked Dana in her room. Because they aren't cool."

The sarcasm makes Max flinches. "What did she do to you?"

"She's been sexting my boyfriend." Here, Juliet glances at Victoria before turning her attention back to Max. "I know this for a fact."

She was about to ask Juliet how she knows it 'for a fact' when Victoria lets out a disgusted sigh and steps forward.

"I was lying, you idiot. Now let us into the room, so we can get Max's stuff."

It took a few minutes for Max to process what she just heard and organize the information in her head to form the story of how they got to this point. Juliet, meanwhile, goes through a variety of emotions.

The first, obviously, being surprise at the revelation. The second being self-loathing possibly for her rash action of locking in her friend or for being deceived so easily. The third is hate directed at Victoria.

"Why did you do it?" Juliet asks.

Victoria 'tsk' and looks away. "That article you wrote for the stupid school paper pissed me off. You called the Vortex Club a cult and you even put in about how I tried to stop you. I made up that story in order to get back at you."

Juliet digests this information, then silently turns to open the door. She looks apologetically at Dana who stares back in expectation. The two girls quietly trade words and it ends when Juliet walks away heading into her room across from that of Dana's. She does not leave without throwing Victoria a vicious glare, however, and she throws Max a look too, though Max is unable to decipher its meaning.

They walk into the room and Dana stands to the side looking at the two of them. She had listened in on the conversation just outside her door and knows what happened. She glares at Victoria and looks confusedly at Max.

"Uh, hey, Dana." Max greets. "I found your note saying you have the flash drive I need to give back to Warren?"

She nods and walks to her desk to pick up the flash drive. She hands it to Max and stands back again without saying anything. Max gets the sense that Dana wanted to say something but either didn't know what or didn't want to say it in front of Victoria.

Max mutters a 'thank you' and they leave. After a moment of walking, she stops and turns to look at Victoria.

"Why did you do that?"

Victoria raises an eyebrow. "You mean lie to Juliet? I said so. She wrote an article I didn't like."

"And for that, you nearly broke up two best friends?"

"Why am I to blame for that? She shouldn't have been so gullible. Or better, perhaps she shouldn't write bullshit articles about things she knows nothing about."

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Max turns and continues walking. When they get to the end of the hallway, she turns to Victoria again intending to say farewell. The blonde looks at the door then back to Max.

"Do you have my number?"

She startles. "Uh, no."

Victoria takes out her phone and sends a text. A moment later, Max's phone vibrates making her jump a bit. Did Victoria just send her a text to give her number? But how does she know Max's number?

"That's mine. We're splitting here, but…but if you should need help or just want to talk or whatever, call me. I'm always available." Here, Victoria pauses. "Or…maybe you want me to walk you all the way? If you're not taking too long, I guess I have some time."

Once again, Max feels surprise at Victoria's atypical kindness, especially in light of what she just saw with Juliet. For a moment, she thought of accepting because she genuinely is frightened of encountering Nathan again, but realizes that she can't depend on having an escort to walk her everywhere.

Besides, having Victoria walk her wouldn't really help anyway. The blonde is tough, but Nathan is just completely off his rocker. If he does appear, it'll just endanger them both.

All the same, for that moment, Max feels a sense of happiness and warmth spread through her for the offer.

"Victoria, you're…you're really nice today." The blonde merely raises an eyebrow at Max's words. "Well, maybe not to everyone, but at least to me. I appreciate it, but I'll be fine on my own. Maybe…maybe we can get together sometime later and have tea, though?"

Max's question is met with a pause. "I'll think about it."

Then Victoria turns and leaves. When she disappears into her room, Max makes her way out. Outside, she stares at the students playing but doesn't really register them. She'll be meeting Warren soon, but for the moment, all she could think of is Victoria.

It's hard for her to put it into words, but at that moment, it seems the world changed a little.