Lifeline

No sleep. That was a normal thing, nowadays. Something Audrey was used to. The only time she did sleep was when she felt safe. When she was with Emma. Now, don't misunderstand here. It wasn't like Audrey wasn't safe. She was, as far as she knew. There were no killers any more, with Kieran and Piper both gone. But the thing was, she didn't feel like she was safe. And that scared her. She was constantly paranoid. She always had to check and double check everything and everyone to make sure it was, indeed safe. Safe for her, safe for her father. Safe for her friends. She was always going over things in her head- scenarios where things could possibly go wrong, and how to escape in case they did. Her friends were something she /constantly/ worried about. She was always checking up on them and checking her messages and calls waiting for something from "unknown number". The no sleep thing was because she was afraid someone or something would sneak into her room and plant something again or come and attack her in her sleep. No sleep was... normal.

The night sky was dark- almost black. There were no stars in sight, but the moon shone dimly in the distance.

Audrey's lamp was also emitting a faint glow, sitting on her desk across the room. The lightbulb in it was about to go out, but Audrey didn't really mind. She'd go get a new one after it had burned out completely. The only thing she really cared about was it working for a small amount of time. To keep her company overnight until she did eventually fall asleep. If she did fall asleep, that is.

Silence was a nice accompanist as well... Most of the time. Sometimes it helped Audrey think too much. She thought about her mistakes, her failures. Bringing Piper to Lakewood, allowing Kieran to blackmail her afterwards. Not telling Emma about any of it on time. She still blamed herself for too much of what happened, but she couldn't help it. She felt responsible. She couldn't help but feel like if she hadn't brought Piper here, none of that would've happened. No matter how many times everyone insisted that she didn't kill her friends, that she didn't kill Rachel... She couldn't forgive herself. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to look in the mirror and not see a killer. That was the only thing she saw. Whenever she looked at Emma, she could remember the look of disappointment, of resentment, of hatred. She couldn't forget that. She couldn't forget how it felt to look into her eyes and see what she felt for herself. She couldn't forget Emma shoving her into the lockers and saying "I blame you" There wasn't a day where she didn't think about that. No matter how many times she called Emma crying, apologizing over and over... No matter how many times Emma shushed her, promising she forgave her, speaking calming words. Audrey could never forgive herself. And her mistakes tormented her endlessly. Hardly anything provided a relief. Emma did, always. But that didn't matter. Audrey was with Gina now. And Emma seemed content being by herself for now. And that's what mattered. Audrey did love Gina- she did. But she couldn't deny the tightness in her chest when Emma smiled, or when she spoke in that soft, calming voice whenever Audrey was panicking. Or when Audrey pulled Emma into her chest when the other girl was the one who needed help. When she was the one who was panicking. That closeness caused Audrey's heart to leap out of her chest. There was no denying it- no matter how hard she tried. She'd resorted to ignoring it and focusing instead on Gina and their relationship. She was trying her hardest to fix the problems that she'd caused and the walls that Gina told her she'd put up. She was trying her hardest to make it better. To make this relationship good enough for Gina. It was proving to be difficult, and she'd had to hang out with Emma less and less. But perhaps that was a good thing. Maybe it's what needed to happen. She could still call of course, and Audrey had explained that she needed to spend more time with her girlfriend, instead of with her friends. Emma understood. They still hung out sometimes, just not quite as often. To her father's dismay, however. He didn't particularly enjoy Gina. He'd expressed that, too, but left it as it was, allowing Audrey to make her own choices so long as she was safe and smart. Audrey was thankful for that.

Even though she was aware that her father didn't approve of her girlfriend, he was kind to her. And supportive of Audrey's choices. He had been happy before Gina and Audrey were dating, when Audrey came home and happily announced that she was going on a date with Emma, and upset when she had returned from the movies the next week extremely upset because it hadn't gone as planned. Emma had told her that she felt like they should just stay friends, at least for now. And as those words came out of her mouth, Audrey's heart had shattered. She had nodded, told her that she agreed (which was a lie), and driven Emma home. As soon as she saw that the blonde was inside her house, tears flooded her eyes and she quickly put her Volvo into reverse and backed out of the driveway. She had cried the whole way back home, and drove around a while to give time to compose herself before she went and saw her father. She knew he would want to hear all of what happened, that he'd want to know how it went. She needed time to process it first. She must have sat in the driveway of her house for half an hour, drying her tears and taking heaving breaths before opening the car door and getting out. Coping with her feelings after the fact was what was really difficult. She isolated herself for about a week, and then decided that was too much. She went back to normal, and blocked out the feelings for Emma. She allowed herself to fall for Gina, her manager at work. Audrey asked her out, and Gina had accepted. They got on well, and quickly afterward, Audrey asked her to be her girlfriend. Gina accepted again. They were happy together, and it got easier for Audrey to ignore the feelings for Emma constantly looming in the background. They never went away, though. They never left her alone.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her phone buzzing next to her. A quick glance at the screen told her that Emma was calling. The clock read 2:27 AM. What could she be calling about this late? What could she possibly need at this hour? Audrey's mind automatically went to every bad possibility, of course, and she picked up her phone, pressing the 'answer' button and holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" Audrey said quietly, trying to keep her volume somewhere between being able to be heard and being quiet enough to keep from waking her dad.

"Audrey," Emma's voice came out of the speaker next to Audrey's head. "You're okay."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." Audrey breathed, "What's going on?"

"Audrey, I want you to look outside your window right now and tell me what you see."

"What? Why? What's happening, Em?" Audrey got up out of her bed and walked slowly toward her window, though, waiting for a response from Emma.

"Just do it, Audrey, please."

She made it to the window, and looked out over the dark street. That was strange, she thought. There were no street lights on. It was still outside. There was no movement. Her breath fogged the glass when she leaned in to look closer, and it blurred her vision. She noticed a sudden white flash in the corner of her eye and her vision snapped toward it. What she saw made her gasp, and her heart leaped into her throat. What she saw made her blood run cold and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. What she saw, was the killer. Someone wearing the killer's mask- Brandon James' mask. Standing in Audrey's yard, staring up at her. "Oh, my god." Audrey whispered. "Emma what the hell is going on?" She didn't take her eyes off the figure standing in the grass below her for a second. "I don't know, Audrey. I just got a call and it woke me up... And I answered, and the person said 'There's something important here for you,' and hung up. And then a text from the same number, but it was just a gif.. of your front door, and so I freaked out, and I called you because I didn't know what was going on, and-" Emma stopped when Audrey interrupted her.

"Shhhh, Em, it's alright. I'm okay... Right now anyway." It was quiet for a bit, and Audrey watched as the person in her yard looked back at her, raised one hand, and waved.

"Audrey, the voice of the person who called... sounded exactly like Piper and Kieran. The same voice changer was being used I guess, I don't know, I just- I'm so scared." Emma said quietly.

"I know, it'll be alright," Audrey replied, more telling herself then Emma. The figure in her yard waved again, pointed at her doorstep, then turned and started down the street. Audrey's breath caught in her throat, and she stayed silent. She took a few minutes, watching the person walk down the street and out of sight. Then she walked slowly downstairs to her front door, and opened it cautiously. She was filled with dread and she pressed her phone to her ear harder. There, lying on the step in front of her, was a box. A deceptively innocent looking box at that; but Audrey knew better. She knew that whatever was in that box, it definitely wasn't innocent.