Life is Strange: Forces of Nature

Episode One: Tachypsychia (4)

Part Four: Nightmares

The flashing lights blinded her. Her arms felt heavy and so did her eyelids. She could feel the hard floor beneath her, cold and digging into her side. There was a breeze blowing passed her exposed skin, chilling her to the bone.

The flashing went on until it didn't. The end of the flashing made relief bloom in her eyes that soon exhaled to the rest of her body, making her less tense as she tried to turn over. To get up off the floor. It was a floor wasn't it?

But then her attention was on something moving. A tall someone that had garbled sounds coming out of their mouth. Her ears weren't ringing but only accepting words as garbled sludge. The someone was pacing, talking garbled words that she couldn't understand to himself or her and checking a something that the flashing was coming from.

And then she moved again, trying to ignore the heavy lead put into her limbs and stomach. She felt heavy.

"I said STAY STILL!" The someone's garbled words suddenly cleared as he yelled and stalked towards her. Glasses, short black hair, and a pristine white shirt invaded her vision. She... She knew that someone. The name was on the tip of her tongue.

"J-... Jeffer...son."

The word barely came out of her mouth before a pain blared in her side. It woke her up like an alarm, allowing her to feel the sluggish movements of her hands as she clutched her side. To see the camera that was blinding her earlier. To feel the slow pulse underneath her skin that seemed to match the slow heartbeat that pounded against her chest.

The man kicked her again in the stomach.

"I said STAY STILL!" He roared. "How many times do I have to tell you, Max!"

"F- Fuck you..." The response trailed off weakly, as if she didn't have the strength to keep talking. She felt like she didn't.

Pain echoed through her body as the man kicked her again. It made her curl into herself, showing her the white skin of her thighs and stomach. She was naked. She didn't remember taking off her clothes.

"You should consider yourself lucky, Max!" He yelled. "There's not many that capture my attention! You should be honored that I chose you as my subject!"

"Victim," she weakly protested. "...Victim..."

"I can see what you're saying, Max," he admitted. "I get that you'd see it that way considering that you're going to die after this. But think of the pictures!"

"Chloe..." Her voice was not ready for this. It cracked and it seemed to make the man even angrier than before.

"She's dead, Max!" He screamed. "Why can't you get that through your thick skull? She's dead because you two couldn't keep your fucking noses out of my fucking business! All of this is your fault, Max!"

"Chloe..." She whispered again. Pain erupted on her shoulder and she screamed her voice hoarse.

"It seems I'm going to have to teach you a lesson," he muttered. But she could hear it. And she could hear the belt he started to unbuckle.

She started to buck wildly, trying to get away, before her head snapped to the side and pain exploded in her eyes. Black dots wouldn't get blinked away no matter how much she tried. The pulsing beneath her skin beat faster, but its protests were unheard as the zipper of the man's pants was heard.

Red swam in her vision as she raised her hand and the pulsing bled into her ears. But nothing happened. She couldn't do anything while the man got undressed. Her vision was thrown into whack as it blurred and started to static like an old video tape before going back to normal. The pulsing underneath her skin disappeared, leaving her alone with the man that let his hands roam her body.