It's been three months since we found out who Piper's accomplice was. Three months since I had to watch the man I thought I loved turn into a complete monster, although I guess he had always been one. Things have gotten back to some shred of normal, I guess we've gotten use to falling back into routine after a couple of serial killers. If you look close enough though you can see the cracks in the masks we proudly hide behind, pretending all our wounds have healed.
Brooke spent three days in bed once it was all over, I think losing her father reopened the wound of losing Jake and for those few days she just couldn't get out of bed. She's better now or at least seems to be, her and Stavo spend so much time together it's only a matter of time before they make it official. She's been talking to her mom more, although I don't think she'll ever forgive her mom for buying Brooke her own condo instead of coming home to take care of her after her dad's death. When she smiles now most of the time it's genuine, but sometimes when we're all together, when she thinks no one is watching the way she looks at Audrey proves she hasn't truly let go of the past.
Noah threw himself into his podcast after the killings ended. I don't think he's actually dealt with Zoe's death yet, and im not really sure he ever will completely. He won't let us talk about her, I guess pretending she never existed is easier for him than admitting that he was in love with someone and he lost her. Most high school students break up with their first love but the way that Noah lost Zoe is something I don't think he will ever get over.
Audrey is complicated, we go out to the movies together every weekend. Every weekend we smile and laugh and pretend to be normal teenagers again. But when the movie ends and she leaves after walking me to the door I know where she goes. At first it seemed harmless, going to abandoned buildings to watch people beat the hell out of each other. When I first found out about it I thought it was a little weird but after everything we went through who was I to judge whatever made her feel better. Then one day we all met up to go out to dinner and Audrey showed up looking like she had been hit by a car. She told some lie about taking a self-defense class and forgetting to keep her face covered, I don't think any of us really believed it but once again, who were we to judge?
As the weeks went by Audrey still showed up with bruises on her face with the same excuse but eventually the bruises weren't as bad, everyone assumed she had ended whatever extracurricular activity she had been doing; but I had a feeling she had gotten better at giving out the hits so she didn't have to take as many. I began following her about three weeks ago, It wasn't too difficult I had Noah give me the gps on her phone.
The first time I arrived at "The arena" I immediately wanted to turn around and get the hell out of the there. I knew it was a fight club of some kind but actually being there and watching people beat the hell out of each other willingly made my skin crawl. It took about ten minutes for me to find Audrey through the hoard of people crowded around watching the show. She seemed strong. Watching her as she prepared for her fight of the night I saw no hint of weakness or anything that made her seem unsure. Out of all the chaos that had become our lives, it looked like in this moment Audrey didn't have a worry in the world, she was more sure of herself than I had ever seen.
After months of seeing Audrey pretend to be fine it felt like some of the weight had been lifted off of my shoulders watching her actually seem okay for once. I wanted her to feel safe and in control again, and in this moment that's exactly how she looked. I couldn't remember the last time I saw her look that calm, even on our weekly movie nights. Which is why I stayed in the crowed, I didn't approach her or try to stop her. I stood silently, and then I watched her break a grown man's jaw with two hits.
After that night I began following Audrey, in the beginning I told myself it was out of worry. Out of all the crazy things we all had done to try to forget about the past this might have been the most dangerous and there was no way I was going to let Audrey do anything to put herself in danger. But I quickly realized that Audrey was never in danger in the arena, she was the danger. After that realization I kept going, watching in the shadows, trying to understand why after all of the violence and danger we had been through she would want to become danger and violence herself.
Recently however I've began questioning why I am so drawn to it. At first I was fascinated but lately I had become fixated, not on the violence as I had once thought, not even on the control it seems to give the people who participate. I found myself in a dirty abandoned building every Sunday night because of Audrey. Out of all the madness and violence that happens down here, Audrey is what I come here to see; and after weeks of watching quietly in the shadows after winning another fight Audrey looked up and finally saw me.