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Senior year was over, had been for a month or so, the Lakewood five at yet another party to try and pretend they were normal, try and pretend they weren’t all basically living at Brookes house and sharing the couch or beds most nights. All five of them somehow in contact with each other. And when someone woke up screaming, or crying, or gasping for air they’d all startle awake and take stock of who needed help the most. So they were at a party, no less than 20 ft from one another, Emma and Brooke almost on top of each other in a chair. Noah talking with Stavo about their next comic. Audrey had drifted a little farther away, talking with a guy a year or two older than them, his smile coy and his eyes a deep blue.
They were talking about some new movie, Audrey rambling on about film technique when someone bumped her from behind, she dropped her drink in surprise, wheeling around expecting someone she knew was dead. A freshman, clearly there because of a sibling, shaking and stumbling over her apologies. Audrey shrugged it off as the guy she’s talking to offers to grab her a replacement drink. She accepted and they paused their conversation, Audrey waited for him to get back. Looking to Brooke and Emma, who simply smiled at her, Brooke even winking. She rolled her eyes, attention back on the guy, who was now holding two solo cups. He handed one to her. She took a drink, bud light, so why’d he put it in a cup? I’m just being paranoid, there’s probably some stupid reason. She downed the rest of the drink, tossing the cup into a trash can nearby. The guy smiled at her, something predatory flashing in his eyes. They talked for a bit longer. Occasionally Audrey would break eye contact to look back at her friends.
We’re safe, she thought to herself, nothings gonna happen to- a wave of nausea over came her. Her knees buckled slightly and the guy caught her. She didn’t think she’d had that much, but the entire world was spinning now and she didn’t think she could keep any food down. The guy lead her to the trash can before she could empty her stomach onto the lawn. She could hear Emma beside her, when had she gotten there. She was talking to the guy. Her hand was on Audreys shoulder, thumb rubbing smooth circles onto her skin.
“She must’ve had a little too much, I’ll bring her inside to lay down and get some water.” His voice was calm. His arm was wrapped around her middle to keep her standing. She looked at Emma, struggling to fight another wave of nausea.
“I-I don’t...” the words slurred and caught in her throat, she knew this feeling, knew it better than she wanted to. It’s been only a couple months since it had happened. Doesn’t stop the nightmares, the ones where she can’t move, can’t talk, can’t fight back against the killer chaining her to a radiator, mocking her, using her as bait.
“I’ll take her, you just met, she’ll be more comfortable with me.” Emma was looking at Audrey with concern etched on her face, brow pinched and mouth slightly open. Brooke had joined her and started to grab Aubrey’s arm. The guy tightened his grip. She tried to struggle, tried to clue her friends into the real situation, she wasn’t drunk, she’d had two beers, Noah was the lightweight.
“I’ll take care of her,” his voice was threatening, his grip somehow tighter than before. Fear truly began to sink deep into Audreys bones. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might explode, thought weather from whatever drug he’d slipped her or the overwhelming anxiety of being unable to protect herself, she couldn’t tell.
“N-no, Em,” her legs have fully given out at this point, she could feel her brain getting foggier, knowing unconsciousness was soon to follow she used the last of her strength to get the words out “d-drugged... he-“ then she was being plunged into darkness.
——
Emma knew something was wrong, she saw Audrey get bumped, the guy she was talking to, his name might have been Jackson or Jason, handed her a drink. It had been 5 minutes and Audrey had collapsed. Emma knew something was wrong, Audrey could go toe to toe with Jake at most parties when he was alive. She’d only had a couple drinks. Brooke noticed too, they both got up, Brooke heading over to Stavo and Noah while Emma went to see what was going on. Emma tried to act casual, until Audrey was retching into the trash can. Emma was at her friends side in an instant, hand on her shoulder for comfort. Brooke came over while the guy was talking. She whispered to Emma that Stavo went to get the car, Noah was in the house getting their things. Brooke grabbed Audreys arm, her skin was hot even though the night had cooled off. Their usually bold and tough friend reduced to a limp and stuttering mess. The guy tried to pry Audrey away, saying he’ll take care of her.
“N-no, Em,” Audreys voice was barely audible, her words slurred together, “d-drugged... he,” her head lolled to the side before she could finish. Sweat slicked hair falling into her face. Emma and Brooke were still trying to get Audrey away from this guy.
“Let her go,” Stavo hissed into the guys ear, smooth metal pressed to the guys head. “Or I’ll blow your fucking brains out,” the guy immediately dropped Audrey, sprinting in the opposite direction, Stavo was about to chase him when Brooke grabbed his arm.
“We have to get her home, your the only one who can drive,” Stavo had been assigned designated driver that morning. The rest of them at least four beers deep. He nodded, taking Audreys limp form into his arms he carried her to the car, which he had pulled up to the end of a gravel drive. He placed her in the back seat while Emma and Brooke climbed in on either side. Noah joined them soon after, balancing jackets and bags and a bottle of tequila they had brought. He shoved it all in the back before scrambling into the shotgun seat, immediately turning around and grabbing Audreys hand. Brooke had her arm around Audreys waist to keep her propped up, Emma had a hold of her other hand. Stavo drove relatively safe but fast to Brookes house, what would usually be a 15 minute drive becoming a 10 minute race to get them to safety. Emma could feel the anxiety in the car, thick and suffocating. They were supposed to have fun, not end up leaving early because some asshole thinks he deserves...
“Oh god,” Emma couldn’t help the words escaping her mouth, “God, he tried to, he did, oh god” Brooke’s opposite arm reached over and she grabbed Emma’s hand, giving it a light squeeze as Stavo continued to ignore most traffic laws. Even though it only took them 10 minutes to get to Brookes it still felt like forever, the radio was silent, Noah had tears in his eyes. Emma was still trying to make sense of what happened, what could have happened. The air cleared when they pulled in, Noah and Stavo coming around the sides of the car to help get Audrey inside. Their belongings forgotten in the back until tomorrow morning, until they knew everything would be okay.
Noah fumbled with the keys for a second before finally forcing them into the lock, when the door was opened their alarm gave its 60 second warning and he went to disarm it. Audrey was carried to the living room. Stavo carried most of her weight, really it was a one person job. Audrey was tough, but she wasn’t heavy. Something they all forgot most of the time. Most of the time, except now, except when she was taken by Kieran, except when she was woken up by her nightmares. Weather to help or to reassure herself Emma had grabbed Audreys legs and helped guide her unconscious friend to the couch.
It went unspoken, the hospital was out of the question for now. Too many trips in too little time will do that to someone. Waking up in the house you “live” in with your friends is astronomically better than the cold white of a hospital. Plus there’d be invasive questions, too many people, news stories. She could see it “one of the Lakewood five drugged at party : when will these kids get a break” no, they’d stay here, wait for Audrey to wake up. Help her, and if she wanted to, they’d go to the hospital.
“How long does stuff like this last?” It was Brooke, her eyes were locked on Audreys face, the rise and fall of her chest offering little comfort to the group. Noah had joined them after setting the alarm again and locking the door, checking and rechecking to make sure it was truly locked. He had begun to skim through their security cameras, looking for anything suspicious. He paused at Brookes question, a quick google search later and he was relaying the information.
“Most drugs peak at 2 hours, but it could last for up to 12. If we knew what it was I could give a more concrete answer. Fuck!” he slams a fist onto the table. “How could this happen, we all had eyes on her, how could I let my guard down,” he rubbed at his eyes quickly before going back to skimming the camera footage.
“It’s not your fault Noah, it’s no ones fault,” Stavo was less damaged than the rest of them, he always knew how to talk them out of their heads. “It was a party, we’re supposed to have fun. What matters is nothing happened, and Audrey will be fine,” his voice wavered at the end. They’ve seen each other at their worst, Noah’s claustrophobia causing many meltdowns. Brooke hates being cold, usually wearing someone’s jacket on top of her own when they go out. The one time the blanket slipped off her and she woke them all crying and shivering. Emma never cooked, hated looking at knifes, she kept her phone off at most times, none of them used that ringtone.
Audrey hasn’t broken as much. Aside from two bad episodes she was nearly as stable as Stavo. Though most times they doubted it was true. One night there was a leak, a droplet of water fell from the ceiling. Splashed right onto Audreys face. It took them an hour to get her out of the bathroom. The shower had run cold by the time she stepped out, skin red and bleeding and the towel wrapped tightly around her. It took them even longer to get her to talk.
Now, Audrey’s eyes darted around behind her eyelids, her hair was damp with sweat and occasional whimpers would leave her mouth. They debated for a while weather to wake her, or try to at least. Noah’s insistence that eating some food and drinking some water could possibly help Audrey metabolize whatever drug was in her system.
——
It had been an hour since they left the party, Noah shook Audreys shoulder, she whimpered again. Curling into herself and shaking her head. Wrong move, the nausea hit violently, she scrambled away from her friends and retched onto the floor, the last of the food she’d eaten and more, she couldn’t stop though. Her empty stomach rolled again as she dry heaved, tears of pain rolling down her face. The only comfort was Noah’s hand on her back, much too warm but comforting still.
When Audrey finally got control of her stomach back, she fell backwards into the couch. She noticed she was shaking, and the world was still spinning. Her arms felt like jello and her legs felt like lead. She hadn’t noticed she’d closed her eyes until Emma was telling her to open them. She did, and almost immediately whined in pain.
“ ‘s too bright,” she tried moving her arm up to her face but only ended up smacking Noah. “ s- sorry,” he patted her knee and motioned for Stavo to turn the lights down. The room was darker now, only the lamp by the tv was on. The shadows played tricks on her brain, a white mask in the window, a knife glinting near Emma. “No, no, please no,” she struggled to stand, Noah and Brooke both rushing to push her back down. “No, no, he- he’s here... Em,” Emma just looked down at her friend.
“It’s okay, Audrey, it’s alright. We’re okay, you’re going to be okay,” she moved closer, the knife wavered behind her before disappearing. Emma stepped around the puddle of vomit on the floor and sat next to Audrey, her hand carded through her hair, comforting, grounding.
“Wh-what happen’d,” Audrey had closed her eyes again, leaning her head back into Emma’s touch. Noah and Brooke still holding her down, not restricting but protecting.
“This asshole at the party slipped you something,” it was Stavo, standing in the entry way with a glass of water and a bit of bread. Audrey startled at his entrance, eyes darting around the room to look for more hidden figures. Stavo moved around the couch, noting the vomit and making a mental note to clean it up when he gets the chance. He hands the water to Emma, who slowly coaxes Audrey to a sitting position, she moves to grab the glass and instead of hitting anyone they don’t move. She tried again. Nothing. Panic settled in her gut. Her breathing picked up as she shook her head, it seemed like the only movement she could manage.
“I- I can’t, I can’t move, wh-why can’t I move,” she was hyperventilating at this point, the world blurred together for a moment before it cleared. Except, this wasn’t Brookes house. There was something around her wrists, tight and cutting off blood flow to her already numb hands. The chain around her waist securing her limp body to the chair. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move. She could hear the knife, scrapping against metal before the hood was ripped off her head. The white mask still scared her, the voice changing app playing a sick and mocking message.
“I’m going to kill you, right in front of her, you’ll die and she won’t be able to do anything. Then I’ll kill her, and you won’t be able to do anything because your dead. Or should it be the other way around, you can’t do anything to fight back, I could slit her throat, watch her bleed out, you powerless to do anything,” he laughed, it’s distorted by the app, “choices, choices, but while we wait we can still have some fun,”
——
They expected Audrey to be a little freaked out, expected a panic attack, maybe some deflection. What they didn’t expect was a flashback, at first it wasn’t obvious, the peak of the drug hitting and locking her movement. Noah tried to talk her out of it, his voice cracking but repeating the same phrase, you’re okay, we’re at Brookes, he’s dead, you’re okay. Her gaze was unfocused, darting around the room but not seeing it. Her body twitched, like she was trying to move, but the orders wouldn’t go through. The part that was most worrying was that no matter what they did they couldn’t get her out of it. None of them could figure out a way to ground Audrey, she was clearly in pain, a few tears falling down her face, her brow knit together, grinding her teeth to stop from yelling out.
They could guess where her mind had taken her, that night was hard for all of them to forget. It was also hard to forget the moment they realized Audrey wasn’t really okay. A week after the events she had gotten really sick, couldn’t keep food down, constant fever, hallucinations, it was only after she had winced and grabbed her stomach that they figured it out. Emma had pulled her shirt up, Audrey weakly protesting. There were old bandages wrapped around her stomach, when they were removed Emma almost got sick. The wound itself was infected, badly so, hence Audrey’s state. It was only later at the hospital that they realized why she had hid it. Carved into the flesh of her abdomen was one word.
Killer
It healed, of course it did, the wound was superficial, barely deep enough to have killed her that night. But the scars were worse. There was nothing they could do, it was infected and they had to fix that, who cares what the scar said. Audrey barely talked the next few weeks. The ointment the doctors gave her helped a little, the scar no longer an angry red but now pinkish. You could still read it. They cancelled their beach trip, they covered the pool. Audrey wore an undershirt tucked into her pants, even when she slept. No one could see it. They didn’t push, she wouldn’t change in front of Brooke or Emma, she couldn’t, it would just hurt more. She told them she didn’t remember it happening. Too drugged or something, anything but the truth.
Now though, now they knew. It wasn’t uncommon for Emma to talk during flashbacks, even the few that Noah had he’d called out for Zoe, repeated their last conversation until he could fight back to the present.
“Please, please don’t. I didn’t know! I didn’t know it was her!” It was the loudest she had been since being drugged, a yell tore through her throat, “please, just kill me, just kill me!” Another yell, broken by a sob. Emma continued to stroke Audreys hair back, even scratching a bit at her neck, anything to get her focus on the present. Noah tucked his head into Audreys shoulder, still repeating the same three things. Brooke had moved so Emma could hold Audrey better, she had gone to grab an ice pack, Audreys skin was still too hot, and they figured maybe the cold would help to ground her. The ice pack was placed on Audreys neck, Stavo had started to clean the vomit off the floor.
“What if it lasts longer?” Emma looked at Noah, “what if she doesn’t come out of it for a while,” Noah shook his head
“I don’t know, we promised no hospitals without explicit consent unless there’s a real chance of death. We can’t just betray that. She’ll be okay, we just have to help her through this,”
“We don’t even know how much she got dosed with, we don’t even know what she got dosed with!” Emma looked to Brooke for help
“I’m sorry Em, I’m with Noah, she’ll freak out and shut us out again if we bring her there. Give it another hour, if she’s not better than we go,” Emma nodded. Turning her attention back to Audrey, who’s cries had turned to mumbles and sobs.
“Y- you sick, you sick fucking freak,” Audreys eyes focused for a second, Emma would have missed it if she hadn’t heard what she said next. “Em, how did you, what are you,” a pained cry “you’re here?” The pain written across Audreys face dissipated, instead confusion settled in her eyes as they focused more.
“Yea, yea I’m here, I’m not going anywhere,” she cupped Audreys cheek, turning her head to Noah, who gave Audrey a small smile. Audrey shifted, her numb arm pressing against the couch to angle herself better. She looked around the room. It still spun but not as much as before. Her eyes settled on Stavo, still wiping up the vomit.
“What happened?” She held her head as a wave of pain washed over her.
“Some guy slipped something into your drink,” Stavo again, “We got you out, got home, you were out for a while. Noah said you could metabolize the drugs quicker if you had food,” he stopped, mulling over what to say next.
“You had a flashback,” Emma this time, her voice thick with tears. Hand still idly playing with Audreys hair, not sure who it was grounding now. Audrey brings her own hand to her mouth, nervously biting at her thumbnail. She could kinda remember what happened, blue eyes, the feeling of his arm around her, a knife cutting her stomach, not being able to move.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Brooke had shifted to look Audrey in the eyes, the ice pack still pressed to her neck. Audrey ducked her head down, choosing to focus on the floor rather than her friends.
“It didn’t matter, it happened, who cares if I was conscious or not. I couldn’t do anything,” she continued chewing her thumb. She wished she could escape right now, flee the scene, avoid her friends pitying looks and teary eyes.
“It matters to us, Audrey we could have helped, talked about it. You don’t have to be strong all the time,” Brooke flipped the ice pack as she spoke, the colder side now back on Audreys neck. She leaned into the cold, her clothes and hair were still slightly damp with sweat, though she wasn’t as hot to touch anymore.
“You all have your own stuff, and I’m responsible for making all that happen,” immediate noises of protest were made “and in some sick way I thought I deserved it,” Emma’s hand stopped in her hair.
“No one deserves what happened to us,” Emma’s voice was soft, barely a whisper but somehow it seemed louder than anything else that night.
“I’m tired,” Audreys voice was weak, defeated, “my bodies still numb, worlds still spinning, I want to sleep it off,” she huffed out a laugh, trying to make light of something.
“Okay, just drink some water and eat some bread then we can all go to bed,” Stavo moved forwards, grabbing the glass that was left on the coffee table. Audreys hands shook as she took the glass, Noah moved to help steady her, his own hand moving to hold the bottom of the glass. The water was gone in barely 10 seconds Audrey panting like a dog, she asks, softly, if Stavo could get some more. He nods once, and disappears into the kitchen. The bread is eaten slower, she barely gets two bites down before she can feel her stomach doing flips again, it’s a miracle she’s able to keep it down. The second glass arrives, Audrey doesn’t chug this one as quick, instead looking into the water for a while before taking a sip.
“I’m sorry I ruined the party,”
“It was just some stupid party, they’ll be plenty more when your up to it,” small smiles were shared around the group, Audrey finished the glass of water and set it on the table. She moved to stand, legs shaking before she stumbled, Noah caught her, looping her arm around his neck before shuffling towards the stairs. The other two girls followed close behind, Stavo made a lock motion before doing a round around the house to check the doors. To make sure they were safe.
The four of them got into their shared bedroom, a king sized bed in the center and a chair pointed towards the door. The window was boarded up, thick wood hammered on the inside. Noah led Audrey to the bed, fluffing a pillow and placing it behind her head.
“I don’t think I’ve felt this tired in a while,”
“Some small blessing, you haven’t been sleeping much lately anyways,”
“Mmm, maybe, maybe I could ask him what he used, sleep aid and all that,” Audrey chuckled a little, hollow and pained.
"If I ever see that fucker again he won't get so much mercy," Stavo said as he entered and locked the final door on the rounds. He sat in the chair leaning to grab his drawing tablet from off the side table.
"Should we make a waitlist for who gets a go at him? If so I call second!" Brooke joked, brightening the mood as usual.
"We can plan out our beat down in the morning, right now I just want to sleep," Emma said suppressing a yawn.
In the silence following the group slowly started drifting off to sleep, except for Stavo, who kept watch as he absentmindedly doodled.
They were all in one piece and safe together. At the end of the day that's all any of them cared about.