Lifeline

Audrey inhaled sharply, and darted out onto the porch. Nothing jumped on her or attacked her, so she quickly reached out and grabbed ahold of the small box. It was dark, and her breathing was getting heavier, but she took a second to look around before rushing back inside and closing the door tightly behind her.

"Audrey?" Emma's voice asked from beside her ear. "Audrey, talk to me- what's happening?"

"I'm okay, I just-" Audrey rushed to the window looking out at the front lawn and peeked outside. There was nothing. Nothing that she saw, anyway. "Em, there's a box." She glanced down at the small package she had been clutching to her chest. It was close to the size of the box that her new camera had come in, but slightly bigger. She could hold it in one hand with no trouble, but it was heavy. The fact that it was heavy terrified her. Of course, it would terrify her if it weren't heavy, too.

"What?? Do you want me to come to your house? Don't open it, Audrey." Emma's voice came through the speaker again.

"No- no, do not leave your house. Stay inside. God only knows where that creep is." Audrey looked out the window again- still nothing. Maybe whoever it was did leave. "Don't worry about me, Em, my dad's home and I think they left."

"I'm going to worry, Audrey. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But don't leave your house. Stay inside- stay safe."

Another glance outside ensured Audrey that whoever it was that was doing this, they seemed to be gone. Seemed to be. The feeling in the pit of her stomach made her think otherwise, but she felt that way often at night. She practically ran upstairs, the box still in hand. She didn't bother to turn off any of the lamps she'd turned on- that would make her feel less safe than she already did. She knew whoever it was probably wasn't inside, because if they were she'd probably be more than aware of it. Plus, they wouldn't kill her if they'd left this box. . .

"Do not open that box, Audrey. You don't know what's in there." It was as if Emma had read her mind.

"Only one way to find out, Em."

"Wait till someone's with you-"

"No. Whoever this is, they wanted me to get this. Or you- or both of us. I'm opening it."

She grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk and managed to get the thick layers of tape off with them, and then took deep breaths to calm herself before she opened this. What was in it could end what little safety she'd found in the past month.

"If I scream and then don't make any other noise, call the police." Audrey said, only half joking.

"Audrey, don't even say that." Emma replied almost angrily. Audrey made a face in response and then pulled back the flaps of the box. There, wrapped in paper, was a small video camera.

"Shit..." Audrey whispered, "Em, its a camera." Silence on the other line, and then,

"So... What?"

"Hang on."

Audrey picked it up put of the box, surprised at it's weight even though it was slightly older. There was a small note shoved underneath it, with the writing, 'Gotcha!' She turned on the camera, and opened the only video saved on it. Taking a deep breath, she pressed play. At first, the screen was almost completely dark, and the sound was extremely quiet. Suddenly there was a flash of light, and then Audrey came into view. And Emma. It was them, on murder island. They were walking, talking, laughing. The video cut, and there in the frame was a jail cell. The person holding the camera also had keys in hand, and they unlocked the cell and pulled open the door. The camera angle snapped upward, and standing in the shot was Kieran. He was in an orange jumpsuit. He said,

"Alright, You kept your word. So, you're going to tell me who you are?" There was silence, and then the person holding the camera swung a knife at him, slicing his throat from ear to ear. Kieran dropped to the ground, and the screen went black. The audio was still playing, and Audrey could only hear Kieran gurgling through his own blood. It then showed Kieran slowly trying to reach for a gun on the floor. Whoever was holding the camera pinned him down, pulls out the knife they'd sliced his neck open with, and jams it into the back of Kieran's neck. All movement ceased. The killer admired their work for a moment, and the screen went black again. The shot came back up, and it was the killer holding the bloody knife used to slaughter Kieran, throwing it in a hole and tossing dirt over it. They backed up slowly, and Emma's house came into view. The angle moved and zoomed to show her in her room. Then it snapped around, showing someone in black clothing wearing Brandon James' mask. They waved at the camera, and the video ended. Audrey's blood ran cold. She knew that whatever this was would end her feeling of safety. She knew suddenly that she was in possession of more incriminating evidence. Fuck. She dropped the camera onto her bed, and ran to her window. There still was nothing there, but her heart was in her throat.

"Em, look out your window really quick," she said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"What? Why?? Audrey, what was on that camera?" Emma replied. She sounded as panicked as Audrey felt. Audrey didn't bother to answer Emma's question, and there was shuffling on the other line as Emma went to look out the window. It was eerily quiet, and Audrey's eyes darted around her yard. There wasn't anything there. There was nothing, nobody. No sign of anything strange happening at all. It was as if the town had no idea the things that were going on right now. As if nothing had changed, and everything was peaceful, as it had been almost two years ago.

"There's nothing here, Auds. What's happening?? Talk to me."

Audrey opened her lips to speak, but no sound came out. Her vocal chords were gripped by fear, muted. She couldn't say anything. The images she'd seen on that screen. . . They reminded her of her mistakes. They taunted her, made her insanely aware of the fact that she was not safe. She felt like the sense of ease she'd somehow found was all fake. That she never should've let her guard down. That she could never get away from the horrible things that had happened. In that moment, it hit her that she may never escape the horror that is Lakewood. Murderville. Her own personal hell had been created here, in the place where she'd grown up. And it struck her all at once. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to speak again. No words came out, but instead a sob escaped her lips. Her tears broke past the dam that her eyelids had formed and ran down her cheeks. This was the first time in a while that she'd cried. She hated crying, the ugly sounds and faces that came along with it. The feeling of her throat tightening up and the hot tears running down her face, making her cheeks wet and sticky. It was horrible.

"Em . . ." She choked out, trying desperately to keep her voice from cracking. "Em, we're not safe."

"Audrey, please talk to me. Please."

Audrey explained the things that were on the camera whilst checking out her window and over shoulder. Most of her words were forced out, and she couldn't keep herself from sobbing at more than one point. When she was finished describing the horrid things that she had seen on that screen, there was a prolonged silence.

"Oh my God." Emma said quietly. "That explains all the calls on the island, all the writing on the walls. There was someone there with us."

"Emma, we never escaped this. We've been being watched this whole damn time." It was quiet again. The situation sunk in for a minute, and Audrey bolted back to her bed as soon as she was at least partially sure that there was nobody outside. She supposed there was no way to really be sure, and she insisted that Emma get back in bed since there wasn't anyone in her yard either. Audrey pulled her blankets up to her chin and kept her phone plastered to her ear. She felt like a child, hiding from the monsters in her closet again, but now they were real. And they were more terrifying than she remembered. She stayed like this, curled in a ball talking to Emma quietly until the sun started to come up. But it didn't bring the sense of safety it did when she was small. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As soon as she could the next morning, Audrey scooped up her keys from the end table downstairs and rushed out the door. She left a note, and had the camera from the previous night stashed in her bag. She had to bring it to Emma. The other girl had to see it. There was no way whatsoever that Audrey was going to keep anything from Emma this time. Not after what happened last year. No way.

She drove straight to Emma's house, trying to make sure that she wasn't being followed. Although, she probably wouldn't be able to tell if she was. The thought of being watched still send chills down her spine. She hated the fact that this was still going on. As she pulled into the driveway of the Duval's home, she took deep breaths. No panicking. Not now. No. Getting out of her Volvo, she stalked up to the door and knocked sharply three times. Maggie came to the door, and she looked surprised that Audrey was standing there in the threshold. Audrey smiled as nicely as she could with how nervous she felt.

"Hey, Mrs. Duval. How're you?" she said, still holding the smile on her face. Maggie smiled back, still seeming shocked that Audrey was there. Maybe it had been too long since she'd visited.

"I'm good, Audrey. How're you? Are you here to see Emma?" Maggie asked. Audrey nodded in reply.

"I'm okay. And yeah, I'm here for Em. I figured she'd told you I was coming."

"No, she didn't. I don't think she's quite out of bed yet. Come inside, she'll be in her room."

Audrey thanked Emma's mother, and walked upstairs to Emma's bedroom door. She knocked softly three times. There was shuffling, and then the door opened to reveal a tired looking Emma Duval, still in her pajamas and her hair in a mess. The sight of her brought a slight sense of relief, and Audrey grinned at the blonde girl standing in front of her. Emma smiled back sleepily.

"I fell asleep and forgot to tell my mom you were on your way . . . sorry." she said quietly. Audrey smiled again.

"It's okay, Em. Don't worry about it, you needed some sleep." She stated, and Emma stepped aside to let the shorter girl into her room. The door closed behind Audrey, and she immediately took the camera out of her bag and pulled up the video. As Emma watched, the look on her face grew more and more horrified. Audrey knew exactly how she felt. Like the small bit of safety that was left had been stripped away. As soon as the video ended, Emma looked at Audrey. She didn't say anything, but Audrey understood exactly what was going through her mind. The shorter girl outstretched her arms, and Emma accepted the hug gratefully.

"We'll be okay, Em. We have to be." Audrey said quietly, and Emma nodded. She still didn't say a word. They stood this way for around five minutes, holding each other close, trying desperately to feel safe despite what they'd just watched. They were never safe, it had just been revealed. They had never escaped this hell. They had never really escaped Piper's insanity. And that was horrifying. How many more people had to die? How many more of their friends had to be murdered before this was finally over? The way this was looking, the few that remained of the Lakewood Six weren't going to make it.

Emma decided to run through the bathroom and get ready for the day, and Audrey waited for her. The only noise was Emma rustling around in the bathroom, putting on clothes and makeup and whatever else she did in the mornings. Audrey didn't know any more. Once she came out, they decided to go and find the knife that had been buried in the yard. They made their way out to Emma's back yard, walking to the spot that the camera had shown. The grass there had sure enough been torn up and there was a bare spot, with loose dirt. There was definitely something buried there. They looked at each other again, the tension in the air becoming evident. They were both terrified. Audrey went to the small playground they'd played on as children and found the little toy shovel underneath it. Their child selves had no idea that this thing would be used to dig up a killer's knife buried just feet away from the place where they played. After about a minute of digging, the knife surfaced. The blood was still there, caked on with mud and dried up. They didn't dare touch it with their bare hands, so Emma went inside and grabbed a kitchen towel.

"What the hell are we supposed to do with this?" Audrey asked, and Emma stared at the knife held in her hand.

"I . . . don't know." She said. Her voice was close to a whisper. That made two of them. Audrey took the towel-wrapped weapon and shoved it in her bag.

"We're taking it somewhere else. Hopefully it won't turn back up." She said.

They got in Audrey's car after saying goodbye to Emma's mother, and they drove for what must've been miles. After Audrey decided that they were far enough out of town, she stopped and pulled the knife out of her bag. She got out of the car and Emma followed, and the two of them walked into the trees by the side of the road. In a tiny clearing, Audrey dug a hole and placed the knife in it, covering it with the soft earth that she had dug up and pressing it down firmly.

"There." Was the only thing she said.

"Audrey, I don't like this. I don't like any of it, trust me. Who the hell is doing this now?" Emma asked, her voice getting louder with every word she spoke. Audrey's mind went blank, and she pulled Emma into another hug.

"I don't know Em, but we're gonna be okay," she said. Audrey decided in this moment that she wasn't going to let anything happen to Emma Duval. That if anything happened to any of them, it wouldn't be her. Emma was going to get out of this safely. Even if that meant that Audrey had to give herself up.