Chapter Text
Victoria Chase woke up on the cold metal floor. She squinted as her green eyes opened against the bright lights. Her stiff body ached from lying in the same position for some time. The halogen lights above hummed, ticked softly and flickered intermittently above her. Her nose picked up the smell of metal in the humidity in the air.
"Auuh," she moaned, slowly coming to her senses. She leaned up against a set of roughly welded rebar bars. Her red cape was wrapped around her body to keep warm. She blinked, not recognizing where she was. Her voice was dry and rough, "Where am I?" The response she received was her name being called.
"V, wake up," a voice called out.
She looked up and to her right. Nathan Prescott was standing next to her wearing his Royal Prince Halloween costume. They were separated by another set of bars.
She groggily said his name, "N-Nathan?" So dizzy.
Victoria took the red devil horns headband out of her hair by running her fingers through it. "I can’t… what…"
A louder voice called her name worriedly, "Vic! Wake up!"
Victoria looked in the direction of another voice, Rachel Amber was behind another set of bars in her vampire costume; black leather pants, a black corset that showed her powdered, pale arms and shoulders. A trickle of fake blood was painted from the corner of her ruby lips. Rachel looked down at Victoria, worried.
"Rachel?" Victoria said dazedly.
"Come on! Wake up!"
Victoria raised her head and looked up at Rachel, confused. She glanced around her area again, noticing the bars. "Am I in jail?" Victoria’s mind started to come to. "I’m in jail!"
Nathan leaned up against the set of bars next to Victoria’s cell, "Yeah, we are, but not for long." He yelled for a police officer.
Rachel leaned against her bars with her forehead resting on them and once again pleaded with Nathan, "Nate, stop, they didn't come the first ten times you yelled, they won’t come for you now."
Nathan continued to yell, "You fuckers don’t know who I am! My father will sue your fucking asses for having me in here!"
Victoria slowly stood up, fighting the dizziness. She leaned on the bars and looked across at Rachel. She blinked multiple times to ward off nausea and bring her fuzzy head back into focus. "What the hell happened?"
"We were arrested, though I can’t remember any of it," Rachel confessed as she rubbed her temples, trying to drive back the headache.
"What?" Victoria looked over at Rachel. "Why was I?" Victoria began to panic. "Why was I? I’m not a criminal. I’m not a delinquent." She looked over at Nathan, who saw that she was worried. He again called for a police officer and Victoria winced at the loud yelling.
"Nathan, give it a rest," Rachel tiredly protested again. Nathan stopped his yelling and put his fingers through his hair as he walked around the very small five-foot by five-foot cell, mumbling to himself.
Victoria rubbed her forehead and tried to understand what happened last night, "I don’t understand, did I pass out?" Victoria felt something around her neck. "What the fuck is this?" She tried to look at it but couldn't quite see; it was a tight collar with something hard and square at the back of it.
"I don’t know, we all have them," Rachel said rubbing her temples again and putting her finger through her hair.
Victoria looked at both Rachel and Nathan’s collars to see what they were.
"It’s maybe something to monitor our heartbeat," Nathan said. "Make sure we didn’t pass out and die on their watch."
Victoria tried to understand what happened. "Was there a police raid?" She looked at the two for answers.
Rachel shook her head, "I have no idea, the last thing I remember is Trevor jumping into the pool, then I woke up here." She looked over at another person next to her cell lying on the floor, passed out, then looked away.
Victoria followed Rachel’s eyes and saw for the first time the person in the other cell. "Is that your trailer trash friend?" she asked. Rachel didn’t answer but looked again, their leather coat and hoodie was half taken off and their pale face was turned towards Rachel. Victoria noticed small red dots and yellow bruising by the veins on their inner arm. Yeah, it's the fucking junkie.
Rachel sighed and looked away, rubbing her hands on her forehead, wondering how to explain this to her father. She could already hear him saying, Goddammit Rachel, I'm the D.A. You're ruining my reputation, this doesn't look good on me and my office to have you in trouble again. Do you know how this will effect me getting re-elected? What about how this will effect you getting into a reputable University?
The body on the floor twitched and grunted. Rachel watched as they slowly turned over to their side, and once their eyes opened they quickly shut again from the brightness of the lights overhead. The girl took the thin hood from her hoodie and hauled it down to cover her icy blue eyes.
Rachel walked closer to the bars between them and crouched down. "Keep yourself on your side. You're okay, just take a couple of deep breaths." The girl did so then slowly peeled her eyes open. It took a few seconds for her to focus on Rachel. She moaned and curled her body into a ball. "It’s okay," Rachel continued. "Just take your time coming out of it."
The girl moaned again, then groaned her name in pain, "Ra-chel." She always seemed to be in one pain or another. "Water."
"I can’t get that for you, you need to wake up, sweetie, we're in a bit of a situation."
"Fuckin’ junkie," Nathan commented, looking down at the girl on the ground across from his cell.
"Shut it," Rachel warned.
"What? She is."
"Not the fucking time!" Rachel retorted.
"Whatever," Nathan again started to pace around his small cell.
Rachel continued her attention to her friend on the floor. "Can you sit up? You have to wake up, please, we're in trouble."
The punk took a deep breath and slowly sat up, putting her arm back into her hoodie and leather jacket sleeve after a couple of attempts. As she hauled her hood further down to shield her eyes her blue hair trickled into view across her face. She crawled across the floor and leaned up against the bars holding her head in her hands. I just need another hit and sleep this off.
"Wake up, please," Rachel asked again.
The girl replied annoyed. "What?! Seriously, what the fuck do you want Rachel?" She adjusted herself on the floor. "Jesus Christ, I'm awake, okay?" She stared her soulless, bloodshot blue eyes at Rachel.
Rachel ignored her attitude. It was once a loving voice that use to talk to her, now... now that things had changed, she seemed to always have a hating attitude towards everyone. "We’re in jail or some kind of holding cell. Do you know how or when we got here?"
The girl grunted, "You’re in jail, princess? That was a long time coming." Couldn’t blow someone to get yourself out of trouble? She looked up at Nathan then Victoria, noticing then for the first time, and continued, "Heh, long time coming for all of you prissy-ass cunts."
"Oh, fuck you," Victoria replied tiredly. "I don’t belong here, unlike you."
Nathan agreed, "Yeah, we…" he pointed to himself, Victoria and Rachel, "don't belong here. You, on the other hand, probably have a personal revolving door here. And believe me,” Nathan's voice got louder, “when I get out of here my father will sue the department's ass for this kind of treatment!" He shouted. "DO YOU HEAR ME, I WILL SUE YOUR ASS!"
The blunette huffed and slowly blinked, "You’re nobody special, Prescock." She opened her tired eyes and glanced over at the two girls in their cells, "None of you are. You’re all in here, the same as me, bitches."
"Whatever, bitch," Nathan said. "Heads are gonna fuckin’ roll when-"
"Jesus, will you give it a rest Nate?" Rachel held her collar for the other girl to see. "Do you know what these collars are for? It is something new, do they record our heartbeat? Have you been in this holding cell before, there’s no bathroom."
The blunette looked at the collar around Rachel’s neck then felt at the one on hers. She tried to look but it was too tight around her neck. "Fucked if I know." She settled more against the bars. "And if it has four walls and bars, we're in jail."
"Nobody has come to check on us, even with Nate yelling, that’s fucked up, right?" Rachel asked.
"I don’t care," the blunette apathetically looked at Rachel. "Jesus, what are you so worried about? Your daddy will show up and pay your fuckin’ bail like these two pricks here and you will be out and on your back by nightfall." She glared at Rachel and the blonde looked away. The girl wrapped herself in her hoodie and leather jacket before turning away. "You have nothing to worry about. Now if you don’t mind, fuck off and leave me alone." The punk hauled more of her hood down and curled up against the wall to sleep off her body pain. Hope to fuck they’re outta here when I wake up.
"Forget her, Rach. She’s a lost cause," Victoria said. Rachel turned, angry, to tell the elite snob off. "What?” Victoria protested, pointing at the punk. “Look at her, for Christ's sake. Seriously, look at her." The girl was curled up, twitching every few seconds. Rachel looked back, feeling the guilt in the back of her mind.
"Let’s leave. For real."
"For real, huh?"
"You said you wanted to skip town and never look back. Like I said last night, let's do it!"
"I know. I’ve been thinking about that all day! But that was…"
"Don’t say it was just a crazy thought. You mean it, I can tell. You want this."
"Yeah, but… like, eventually!"
"Let’s go now. Didn’t we already agree onstage?"
"We can’t just…"
"Why not?"
"I know our parents have been shitty, but we can't just… leave them."
"That doesn't sound like you."
"And how far could we possibly get without a car?"
"I thought you were fixing that truck in the junkyard."
"I was just seeing if I could."
"Well? Can you, or can't you?"
"Yeah. I can."
"Well?"
‘What about money?"
"I thought you were a high-rolling criminal now."
"I've got a little cash scrounged up, but it's not a lot."
"I've got more than enough to start us out. I always get birthday money from my dad. Or should I say… hush money?"
"Fine, then, drama queen. Where are we going?"
"You tell me. What uniquely twisted location does Chloe Price plus Rachel Amber equal?"
Rachel watched the twitching drug addict and remembered how it all fell apart. Chloe was just a means to an end to get what she selfishly wanted and when her punk didn’t produce fast enough she found someone who would, and even that was an eventual failure. Rachel sat on the floor and looked at the twitcher curled up on the ground and wished for the time back.
---
A small brunette called out again and banged on the smeared glass wall, yelling at the four people in their makeshift cells in front of her. She'd awoken, collared like the others, but in her sleepwear and a grey hoodie, not knowing how she got there. The cell she was in had one side of dark glass followed by a set of bars. She tried to call out again at the others, banging on the glass, trying to get their attention but no one could hear her. The short brunette began to panic and it brought on an anxiety attack. She didn't have her medication on her and she desperately tried to calm herself in other ways, but the situation overtook her and she passed out from hyperventilating.
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The addict woke up hearing Nathan's yelling and jerking his bars back and forth, "Get me the fuck out of here!"
"Nate, calm down," Victoria said, sitting on the floor.
Nathan yelled back, "Don't tell me to calm down, we’ve been here for hours and no one has checked on us, and we have these fucking things around our necks." His voice cracked. "What the fuck is going on?" He held his head. "I need to get out of here."
"For fuck's sake, can you shut the fuck up and stop your whining?" The punk got to her feet and stretched her body after her slumber. She kept the hood over her face to shield the glaring lights and leaned on her bars. "How long was I out for?"
Rachel answered. "About another hour."
She grunted.
"Are you awake? Like awake-awake?" Rachel asked, her friend seemed to be in better spirits.
"Unfortunately."
"Look at me," Rachel's voice pleaded.
The girl turned, hearing the worry in her voice. "What?"
Rachel showed her collar to the girl, "We all have these around our necks and the cops haven't come to check on us in hours. We haven’t even been told our rights or been charged with anything. This is not right. Something's not right."
Chloe touched her collar. "What the fuck?" She felt around the collar to the block at the back of it. "What the fuck is going on?" She tried to take it off with no result.
"Oh Jesus, really? You're asking that now?" Victoria scoffed. "Welcome to three hours ago, loser."
The punk ignored the pixie-haired devil sitting on the floor, "What the fuck happened?" She asked.
Rachel shook her head, "We don’t know. I remember being at the Vortex party like Nate and Vic and that’s it. I don’t remember leaving the party. I woke up here with all you guys."
"Yeah, right," Chloe didn’t believe her and tried to remove her collar again. This is just some fucking Halloween prank.
"Look at me," Rachel said with determination. The blunette met her eyes. "I’m not fucking around. This… this isn’t a joke."
The punk looked at Nathan and Victoria then around the room, noticing the mirrored wall in her cell. She sternly looked back at Rachel. "What the fuck is going on?"
"I don’t know, and I’m getting scared," Rachel said biting her lip to try and control her emotions. "I really don’t know what's going on, babe."
The punk immediately tried her cell bars, cursing and swearing when the door wouldn't open. She went through the stages the others had already gone through, not believing, this is not right, how can they, this is illegal, I didn’t do anything, I want out of here now… blaming someone else… she then slowly realized she was fucked and in a situation where she had absolutely no control, and it was terrifying. The girl let out a shaky breath and slumped down on the floor next to the common cell bars of Rachel’s cell. The two girls held each other's hands for comfort as the punk rocked back and forth. "This is a bad trip, just a bad trip, I gotta wait it out, just gotta wait it out."
Rachel pressed her face up to the cell bars to kiss her hooded friend's head and quietly spoke to her, "Baby I wish it was."
Chloe lightly shook her head. "No no no no no, it's just a bad trip."
-------------------
The brunette woke up shivering, lying on the cold metal floor covered in sweat. She hauled herself up and curled up close to the bars, wanting to be closer to the blue-haired stranger sitting across from her from the other side of her cell, rocking herself back and forth. She tried calling out again, finding her voice was hoarse from shouting and pleading. She was tired, drained, scared, and she felt so small. She pleaded again, quietly, "Pleeease help me… I don’t know why I’m here. My name is Max Caulfield," she sobbed, hugging herself. "Someone, please talk to me."
-------------------
Another half hour passed. The cellmates were on their feet talking with one another, trying to piece together what happened the previous night. Nathan remembered being at the Vortex party, like Victoria and Rachel. He remembered taking a masked girl back to his dorm and then… nothing… and waking up here.
Victoria remembered being at the party and getting sick, but she couldn't remember leaving the party.
Rachel's memory was Trevor jumping into the pool and someone hauling her close to them dancing, she was spun around... then waking up in the cell.
Chloe said she was at the beach in her truck. She didn't tell them she was getting her next hit. She had a flash memory of last night or a memory of her drugged-out trip, a pig was staring at her from outside her truck. She shook her head at the memory and rubbed her face, getting the image out of her head. It was always a hit or miss if she was going to have a good trip or not. Either way, each day, she was going on one whether she liked it or not. She sighed, recalling no memory of the police picking her up last night.
Victoria asked, "I don’t understand, is it because we were the ones that ran the Vortex club? Is that why we were arrested?"
Rachel spoke up, "They might’ve arrested a lot of people if we're in this type of cell. I mean look at this." She pointed to the rusted rebar and the metal container they were in, this was not ‘official’ by any means. Rachel had no idea what they were in, she just spoke, trying to convince herself that they were okay, even though she knew that they were not read their Miranda rights and no charges had been laid. They didn’t have a bathroom facility and no food or water had been given to them. She looked up and all around her, she spotted a large tv on the wall and a camera high in the corner of the room. She pointed at it, "They've been watching since we arrived, so why haven't they dealt with us?" The three other teens looked at the camera she was pointing at.
"What the fuck?" Victoria said.
"I want my phone call," Nathan yelled at the camera.
"They know we've been here for a few hours," Victoria said, "so why haven't they come in an-"
"They don’t need to get up off their lazy ass if they can watch us," Nathan replied.
The tv on the wall suddenly turned on but no one seemed to notice until they heard the sound coming from it. Rachel turned and looked up at the tv. "TV's on." Each person walked to the edge of their cells to get the best view of the screen. It showed a high angle from a security camera; a girl wearing a long white sleeping gown standing in the bathroom. She leaned over, turned on the tap, and filled the bathtub.
"Ou, we're gonna see a private show," Nathan said with a sleazy smile.
"What is this?" Rachel asked to no one in general.
Victoria looked back at Nathan. "What the hell, Nate?"
Nathan looked at Victoria, annoyed, "What?" He looked back at the tv. "Not my fault that we can watch some chick strip and take a bath." He smiled and looked over at Chloe, "I guess you like this too, huh?" Chloe didn’t bother to answer or even acknowledge him, and that annoyed the teen more. "Pff, whatever dyke, I know you like this." He turned back to the tv and muttered to himself under his breath, "Yeah, I know… I know… but we showed her I am."
Rachel, confused, furrowed her brow at her friend. She looked across to Victoria who was also watching Nathan and listening to him ramble. She glanced at Rachel and retorted with attitude, "What?"
"What the fuck is Nate on?" Rachel whispered.
"I don’t know, I’m not his mother," Victoria quickly snapped.
Chloe squinted at the tv, "Anyone know who this is?"
The two girl’s attention went back to the tv. With the position of the security camera and the distance of the tv from their cells, they couldn't see the girl's face. She sat on the edge of the tub and leaned over to feel the temperature of the water. Once the water was at the correct level she turned it off and walked to the vanity almost out of the camera's view. She opened the mirrored wall cabinet, took out an item, walked back to the tub edge and placed it down.
"What’s that?" Nathan asked. "I can’t see shit from here."
Rachel leaned closer to the cell bars. "I don’t know, can’t really see, it's dark in colour and a rectangle… maybe a little bar of soap, like the ones you get in hotels?"
The girl on the tv took her long blonde hair and gathered it in the back, putting it up in a bun. She walked back to the vanity, took a hair clip and put it in her hair.
"Ooh yeah, baby, time to take it off," Nathan said, licking his lips.
"Shut up," Victoria said, looking at him disgusted. You're never like this, stop acting like a douche.
Chloe sneered at the bro bullshit coming out of Nathan’s mouth. "Dude, keep it in your pants, it's just some chick taking a bath."
"But why though?" Rachel asked the group. "Why are they showing us this? Who is she?"
"The only person I know that puts her hair up like that is Church Girl… or should I say ‘put-out girl," Victoria smirked. After two months at school, she still hadn't bothered to learn the girl's name living next door to her.
"Kate?!" Rachel said, looking at Victoria then back at the tv. "No... why? That can’t be her, isn’t she’s still in hospital?" She again looked at the pixie blonde.
Everyone in the room knew about Kate March's suicide attempt. At a September Vortex party, she'd ended up getting drunk. Nathan took advantage and ended up making out in the V.I.P section before he took her back to his room. Their makeout session had been recorded by someone at the party and uploaded to social media in minutes. Kate denied it was her at first, then blamed the alcohol, including how she never meant it to happen. She later said she couldn’t remember any of it. Nathan was more than happy to tell anyone that Kate and him hooked up that night. The constant harassment from other students calling her a whore and bullying her eventually led Kate to cut her wrists one afternoon in the girl's dormitory shower stall. It was just after her parents had discovered what she had done at the party. She was found by a fellow student in time and was rushed to the hospital where she was staying for evaluation and observation.
Nathan glared at the TV. "Ohh yeah, that’s right, she put out for me. Took that V-card." Nathan chuckled, holding on to his cell bars.
"Nate, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Victoria angrily said.
Rachel clarified, "She got drunk and put out."
Nathan talked with himself, "Ha Ha, yeah we did… didn’t we?"
Chloe spoke up. "Dude, who the fuck are you talking to?"
Nathan yelled back. "Shut the fuck up, bitch!"
"Go fuck yourself, Prescock."
"You don’t know who you're talking to, I can-"
"I know who the fuck you are, you keep reminding people whenever they get your panties in a bunch. You're the big boy the Presscock’s shit out one day and if something doesn’t go your way you threaten what your daddy will do to them." Chloe made a wanking motion with her hand. "You don’t scare me, bitch."
"FUCK YOU!" Nathan shouted. He stepped back then lurched forward, spitting in Chloe's’ direction. Chloe moved back in time to get out of the way.
"Dude! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Chloe yelled, holding her hands upwards and looking at the spit on the floor.
"Nathan!" Victoria said, shocked by what he'd done.
Rachel angrily said, "Jesus Christ, Nathan, what is wrong with you? Whatever you took, it's making you act like a complete fucking asshole!" Rachel turned to Chloe. "Did he get you?"
Chloe kicked the bars, mad. "When I get out of this fucking cell I’m gonna kick your bitch ass!" she yelled. Nathan looked at Chloe and laughed, giving her the middle finger.
He arrogantly teased, "Go ahead, I’ll have you in jail so fast, cunt, you’ll be someone's bitch by supper time."
Their attention was drawn back to the tv when they heard Kate stepping into the water with her white nightgown on. Victoria spoke, "Jesus, she’s that serious about no one seeing her body she doesn't even take off her clothes to bathe."
Nathan bragged, "She had no problem taking them off for me." Victoria shook her head, there was no point talking with him now.
Kate laid down in the tub and began to recite the Lord's Prayer. Once finished she took the object that was on the side of the tub and looked at it for a moment. "I am a disgrace to my family and my friends. Lord, please forgive me for what I did and what I will do."
"No," Chloe stepped forward, leaning on the bars. "No, No, No." Rachel looked back at Chloe, seeing her worried face. The group watched the tv as the object was placed over Kate’s wrist and she forcefully drew it down. Rachel and Victoria gasped, putting a hand over their mouths. Chloe watched helplessly and Nathan leaned up against his bars with interest and a small smile.
"Oh God. Kate, no," Rachel started to cry as Kate cut her other wrist. The clear bathwater was quickly changing in colour.
The mirrored wall that was behind Chloe drew her attention as she looked away from the tv... she thought she heard the faint trace of someone banging and screaming.
Victoria stood still with her hand over her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. She slid down in her cell as she looked on in horror. The group became silent as they all watched Kate Marsh, Blackwell's quiet shy girl, commit suicide. Her body lay still in the water and the tv turned off.
Chloe’s attention went back to the mirrored wall. She walked over and looked at her hooded pale face and dark-eyed reflection. She squinted, trying to see past her reflection and see if there was any movement from beyond. She put her ear towards the bars, listening, she thought she could hear crying… crying that wasn’t Rachel’s or Victoria’s.
Just a few feet away from her, Chloe stood over Max. She was curled up in the corner of her cell, holding herself, rocking back and forth, alone and crying Kate’s name.
"Kate, I failed you."