Max - 11:30pm
What the hell am I doing?
My hands hold the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip. I guess there's no turning back now, I've already entered the state of Oregon. The sun has already been down for hours, there is nothing but blackness beyond the small cone of light created by the headlights. This car smells like Chloe, because she is the only one who drives it alone, and it makes my eyes water.
What have I done?
Chloe must be worried sick about me. I had no idea what I was even doing until I saw Chloe's spare key, and I heard the car engine turn over. I can't even remember the impulse that led me to steal the car, that led me to drive away from everything I have. But it's too late to turn back now. The damage is done.
The constant feeling of something flowing beneath my skin, the constant connection and synchronization to time is blissfully quiet now. It doesn't buzz in my fingertips, it doesn't whisper in my ears. For the first time in years, I feel empty, I feel light. I feel free. Except for one thing. I bailed on Chloe.
She hasn't tried to contact me though, my phone lays silent on the seat beside me. Maybe she forgot about me. Maybe she never really cared, a voice hisses at me. But not the voice, that one is still MIA. She must care, there's no way she put up with my problems for this long just to forget about me.
She barely put up with your problems. The nasty part of my brain says, this was just the breaking point.
I shake the thought out of my head. Literally, and I swerve on the road a little bit. I'm getting too tired to keep this up for much longer. I can't tell what time it is, because the clock in Chloe's car is busted, the numbers fading. If I don't reach the town soon, I have to find somewhere to stay.
I have some money, whatever was in my pocket before I bolted. It should hold up for one motel visit. I really wanted to wait to use it once I'm in the town, but it will work for a pit stop, I guess. I've already stopped too much, I should have reached the Bay before sundown, but between stops at diners, and taking time to relax and stop my hands from shaking, it's been hours longer.
There are plenty of people I could house with in Arcadia, but I don't want to. I just need to be alone in a place I understand, in the place I grew up in. Even if it isn't the same as it used to be.
Ten minutes. If I don't reach the town limits in 10 minutes, I'll check for a pit stop. But how will I know when ten minutes has passed? It's not like I have a working clock, and the time inside of me is achingly quiet.
1... 2... 3...
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Chloe - 5:30am
After a quick stop at Warren's apartment, and the closest 7-11; Chloe, Nathan, and Warren hit the highway. Chloe wanted to drive, but it was Warren's truck. He won the argument. So there she was, stuck in the back seat; watching the world go by.
It was actually a nice morning, sunlight hadn't quite broken yet but there was enough light in the sky to see the silhouettes of the trees, their branches were bare; ready to bear the weight of winter's snow. If Chloe hadn't been under so much stress and worry, she would have been charmed.
Her phone was almost dead, but she still checked it periodically to see if Max had finally sent her something. Even if it was something as small as I'm okay, or don't worry about me.
Or I love you.
But she was always greeted to a blank lock screen. It was a photo of Max, one Chloe had taken with the photographer's instant camera, and Max wanted it digitized. Chloe was never one for taking pictures, she never understood the joy of it, but seeing Max's proud eyes settle upon that photo was one of the best moments of her ever so small photography career.
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Hellions of Arcadia
Fanfiction"If you died, would anyone care? Would they really care? Maybe, they'd cry for a day. But let's be honest, no one would give a shit, they wouldn't. That's who you are. That's what you are. You're nothing to no one." A continuation of the Sacrifice A...
