Dreamcatcher

Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Dark Room

Trigger warning: kidnapping, death, drugging

Crickets chirped within the junkyard, the moon high up in the sky that only it created the dullest illumination. The atmosphere was all too unsettling, even more so for the fact that not only was there a possibly deranged and armed Nathan Prescott somewhere in the junkyard, but the additional paranoia from watching a few too many horror movies increased the intensity in the atmosphere.

Using her phone light, Max illuminated the path from behind Clark as he trekked cautiously, holding the revolver in his dominant hand.

"Stop stomping around, Clark!" Max reprimanded in a hush voice.

"Okay, okay. Just be ready for anything. Follow me..."

Together, they explored the junkyard on their way to the spot they last saw Chloe's body. Max could hear her friend grumble hate-filled promises of mutilation and violence onto Nathan, and it terrified her.

As they came up to Chloe's grave, Max kept a small distance from Clark as she watched him kneel down to observe his sister's burial place. Her phone hand became tired, so Max swapped it over to her non-dominant hand and stared closely at the hole exposing the head of Chloe's body. When the smell reached Max's nostrils, she took a couple slow steps back when she felt something pinch her neck.

"C-Clark... look out," Max cried weakly as the effects of the drug she was injected with caused her to feel a sudden overwhelming wave of numbness.

Clark's head turned to look over at Max when he realised the light was no longer on him and she was lying on her side, a weak struggle to stay away for as long as she could.

A tall, slim silhouette lurked beside Max. The right arm moved, extending towards Clark. The figure held a gun, startling Clark.

"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy! I-I'm dropping it. I surrender. Just take it easy, Nathan. I- oh you have got to be fucking kidding me..." Clark exclaimed, tossing the gun in his hand to the side.

BANG!!

As a helpless Max Caulfield watched things unfold, a loud bang went off. 

A gunshot.

She watched Clark's head get thrown back by an invisible force. His body followed in the direction of the bullet, pushing him backwards onto the ground over his sister's grave. When the body hit the ground, blood pooled out of the exit wound in Clark's skull.

"No... no..."

With what strength she had left, she tilted her phone to shine the light up at the triggerman's face, shedding light on his true identity.

Mark Jefferson. 

A/n: feel free to skip to Chapter Sixty-Two if these two chapters of the Dark Room make you uncomfortable or uneasy.

His cold emotionless stare met Max's blue orbs until her eyes became too heavy to keep open, to the point that she succumbed to the effects of the drugs he injected her with. By picking up Max's unconscious body, Jefferson carried her to his car hidden outside of the parking lot and drove off to the Dark Room to do with her as he wished.

With the night still young, Jefferson felt a sense of pride and accomplishment in kidnapping his favourite student.

The journey to the old Prescott-owned barn was a quick journey for Jefferson. He was both excited and desperate to snoop through Max's diary and see her personal photos before taking some of her to display once she'd come around.

There was little effort in carrying Max into the bunker. Jefferson was careless and lazy to not secure himself inside - he believed that his location was completely secure, therefore disregarding any safety. Gently, Jefferson laid Max in a chair centred in front of his equipment. His boots clapped against the floor as he walked around the neatly furbished room to grab some duct tape to keep Max bound to the chair.