A/N: Another trigger warning for this chapter. This chapter includes mentions of rape and abuse.

The thing about guilt is that for Poppy is that she felt like it was slowly eating away at her from the inside out.

She woke up that morning feeling absolutely rotten to the core, barely able to get out from underneath her covers to get dressed. Ever since she moved into the Patterson household, she had trouble adjusting to their lifestyle. She had never lived in a house that big before and when she was in the foster system, Poppy had grown used to sharing a room.

Now she had a bedroom all to herself with a walk-in closet that resembled most of her bedrooms she had when she was living with her mother.

Poppy frowned a little. She never had to hide who she was before moving to Lakewood. In the foster system, people were aware of her situation. And when her mother was alive, she dealt with all the bad things without question. Now all she could do was lie in hopes of having a better life. But she couldn't ignore the fact she was being exploited by a serial killer.

There had to be something she could do. She couldn't live drowning in the guilt over what that killer made her do. She went through the clothes in her closet, looking for something that reminded her of a time where she wasn't in Murderville. Her eyes caught some paint stained jean shorts and it brought a smile on Poppy's face.

When she came out of her room for breakfast, Poppy sported some clothes that looked more like the version of herself before Lakewood. A loose t-shirt with some sneakers and an army jacket. She wore that gold elephant necklace that her mother bought her when she was five. Her aunt looked up and down while she drank her coffee, already disapproving of Poppy's attire.

"Good morning." Craig said as he walked into the kitchen, straightening his tie for work. It was his first day back since Nina's death. Tracy refused the possibility of going back to work for an entire month. "You going to be okay today?" Poppy asked as she moved to grab the orange juice from the fridge.

Craig nodded his head as he prepared himself a cup of coffee. "As ready as I'll ever be." He replied, knowing that he had no choice but to go back to work with his wife barely leaving the house all day except to drop off and pick up Poppy from school. Tracy looked up from her magazine over to the clock on the wall.

"We're going to be late if we don't leave now." Tracy said as she finished her cup of coffee and set it down in the sink. Poppy hadn't even finished pouring her orange juice yet when her aunt spoke up. "I haven't even eaten breakfast yet." Poppy pointed out, looking at the clock. "School doesn't start for another forty-five minutes." She argued.

Tracy rolled her eyes at her niece's arguing,"We want to beat traffic, don't we?" The woman simply shrugged her shoulders as she picked up the car keys. Poppy frowned,"It's a twenty minute drive." She said, but her aunt just shrugged her shoulders. "Then I guess you can just walk." Tracy commented before exiting the kitchen.

Her jaw dropped as she watched her aunt exit and Poppy looked to Craig in protest. "She can't be serious." Poppy whined but Craig waltzed up to her and handed her a bagel. "You know I'd offer to drive you but I have work to get to. Eat up and take a gulp of orange juice before she yells your name in approximately ten seconds." Craig instructed.

Poppy took him seriously enough to gulp down as much orange juice as she could. And like clockwork, the inevitable "POPPY!" came from the entrance of the house. Poppy put down her glass and looked back at Craig,"You're some sort of psychic." She chuckled, making him smile as she rushed out of the kitchen with a bagel in her hand.

"POPPY ISADORA BLAKE, I AM LEAVING WITHOUT YOU RIGHT NOW!" Tracy yelled as she was pulling out the driveway when Poppy opened the front door. "I'm here!" Poppy called as she raced down and got a hold of the handle on the passenger side before her aunt could take off.

She opened the door and slipped into the car without another word, only speaking again when her seatbelt was buckled. "You know, if you're weren't going to take me to school than what were you going to do? Drive around in circles?" Poppy asked as she turned to look at her aunt. Tracy shrugged her shoulders,"Maybe." The woman replied.

The teenager rolled her eyes at the cold response, looking at her backpack that sat between her legs. Neither of them said much, which made Poppy uncomfortable, especially considering she did want to say something. After all the silence, Poppy couldn't help it much longer from coming out.

"I think I want to tell people."

"Tell people what?" Tracy asked, vaguely looking over at Poppy while she drove towards her school. Poppy pursed her lips together before she decided she had to say this. If she kept letting this killer blackmail her, she could be arrested for being an accessory to murder. "Everything. The truth. About me and Nina." Poppy said.

Her aunt pulled the car to a screeching halt after those words. Tracy turned over to look at Poppy fully before giving her answer.

"No."

After that rejection, Tracy began driving again. Poppy frowned at that dismissal. It was so cold, just like her aunt always was, but the worst part of it that was her aunt didn't even ask for her say in the matter. "I can tell people if I want to tell them." Poppy decided to argue.

"You won't tell them." Tracy pointed out. Poppy couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her aunt. "So you know what I'm going to do now?" Poppy questioned. Tracy chuckled bitterly, nodding her head. "You're not going to tell anyone because if you do, they'll only see you as some sort of freak." Tracy argued.

Poppy scoffed a little and shook her head,"That's you talking. People treated me fine in the foster system and they knew about everything. The good and the bad." Poppy presented the facts, trying to find something that her aunt couldn't argue with. But despite that, Tracy still had her ways.

"Those children were freaks. Their parents were either drunk, drugged up, abusive, or dead. You only related to them because–" "Because my mom was drunk, drugged up, abusive, and she's dead?" Poppy snapped at her aunt, her jaw dropping when her aunt didn't say anything when she questioned it. Tracy just pursed her lips together and kept her eyes on the road. "My mom was not abusive. She had her problems... but..." Poppy argued but found herself trailing off at the end.

She wanted to defend her late mother but she wasn't like her aunt. She couldn't argue with the facts.

Her aunt scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Not abusive?" Tracy's voice became painfully bitter as she mocked Poppy's words. She pulled the car to a halt at the sight of a stop sight before turning over to face her niece. "How many times did she call me? Because she screwed up? All those times I had to drive you to the emergency room because she had hurt you when she was wasted? What about the time when you had a fever and she was too high to notice? What about the time–"

"Why did you leave me with her then?" Poppy finally asked, her eyes burning with tears. She had cut her aunt off, not being able to bear hearing her talk anymore. She turned her head slowly to face Tracy and a tear slipped down her cheek. "I called you. I called you so many times, begging you to take me in and raise me with Nina but you never took me away from her. And when she died– after the funeral... I called you again, and I told you that they were going to put me in foster care but you told me that you could never take me. It wasn't because of Nina, was it? She called me. She tried to convince me it was her because she was uncomfortable... but that was a lie. It was you. It was always you, wasn't it? You hate me. You blame me for something I had no control over. My mom was the one who made that mistake, not me. Stop blaming me for it." Poppy couldn't help the hurt that was rising up in her.

Tracy looked at her, almost apologetically.

The woman had spent a lot of years blaming the young girl for the mistake her sister made. Tracy did believe it was unfair of her but she couldn't find it in her to get past what Poppy's mother put her through. "Poppy, I–" Tracy began, but Poppy shook her head as a few more tears fell from her eyes.

"You don't get it. You could've done something... especially when she died. Instead, you let me go into foster care. I was alone and questioning my sexuality. No one supported me. Then I finally found a girl I loved but I was separated from her because it was inappropriate. And then... you just– let me get moved into a home where I was raped. And you know, I understood why the social worker didn't believe me. But I thought you would. Because I called you and I told you. But... I wasn't your problem. You had Nina to worry about. I want you to know that if you came for me then... I would've forgiven you. For all of it. But you never came. I almost killed a man. I could've gone to jail. Do you really believe I deserve that after everything? Despite everything you resent me for... you have to know that I don't deserve that, right?"

Poppy was suddenly left with silence after her words.

She didn't know what to expect. A simple 'right' back, would've been enough. But nothing ever came from the woman and the silence that was filling the car was far worse.

Poppy couldn't stay in that car. Not like this. She opened the door, grabbing her backpack and exited the car. "Poppy? Poppy, what do you think you're doing? Poppy! Poppy!" Tracy yelled after her niece. But the girl had slammed the door shut. Poppy started walking down the street in the direction of the high school.

When Poppy arrived at school, she received a surprisingly warm welcome.

Audrey pulled the girl into a hug as soon as she reached her. Poppy let out a little squeak mostly due to the fact Audrey was crushing her slightly. "You know, it hasn't been that long since you last saw me." The redhead breathed out once Audrey had moved away from the embrace. Audrey blushed slightly,"Sorry... I was just worried that when you left the coffee shop so suddenly that you were– mad at me or something." Audrey admitted.

Poppy looked at her gently,"No... never. I could never." She promised.

They were soon joined by Noah. "Hey." He said, looking at the two girls. "Come on, I got some new information." The boy filled them in, walking towards his first class. Audrey and Poppy followed him, eager to hear what he had to say. "I did some digging into 'Mr. Seth Branson'. You know what I found?" He asked.

"Dick pics?" Poppy suggested. "He doesn't exist?" Audrey guessed.

Noah made a weird face at Poppy before looking at Audrey,"No. Come on. It's 2015. I found four guys, none of whom are our Mr. Branson." He revealed. Audrey saw the catch but didn't see how that helped. "That's damning, how?" She asked.

He looked over, noticing Mr. Branson was talking to a couple of students not too far away from them. "This Mr. Branson didn't exist until he moved to Lakewood. You don't change your name unless you've got a secret." Noah said, looking back at them. "Like trolling teens through their webcams to find a victim." Audrey said.

"Exactly. Cops turn themselves inside out searching for logical suspects but we could just be looking at your garden-variety psychopath." He realized. Audrey narrowed her eyes,"Branson as Manson? I don't buy it." She shook her head because she couldn't imagine a teacher like Mr. Branson would be a serial killer.

Poppy studied Mr. Branson, wondering if he was the killer who had been calling her. She couldn't tell for sure but she was with Audrey. It didn't feel like he was the answer they were looking for. "Yeah well... neither did the victims of the BTK Killer 'til they were staring down the business end of a boning knife." Noah argued.

"I thought he was your favorite teacher." Audrey pointed out, crossing her arms. "He is." Noah admitted. "Which is why the possibility is so alarming." He added.

She shook her head, continuing their walking. "Maybe he was being manipulated by another psychopath. Nina" Audrey suggested and Poppy frowned as she followed. Noah thought over his friend's theory. "Nina discovered a secret and blackmailed him into planting the malware." Noah said, realizing it made sense. "Hmm. Then anyone she trolled could have motive." He looked around at his classmates.

"The guys she slept with. The guys she didn't. The girls who envied her... and the ones who despised her." Noah said, looking back at Audrey. "That's a long-ass list." Audrey realized. "So, pretty much everybody's a suspect." Poppy piped in. "Including us." Noah stated, studying both of his companions. "Wait, where are you on that list?" Audrey asked Noah.

"Duh, I'm making the list." Noah's face shifted into a creepy stare. He and Audrey started having a stare off of murderous looks which made Poppy furrow her brows at them. "There's something seriously wrong with you two." She chuckled, looking at the two. Audrey was the first to break after Poppy's words. "Nice resting creep face." She complimented her best friend. "Back at ya." Noah grinned.

Both of them giggled. "Oh, thank you." Audrey told him before the two of them went into their signature handshake. Poppy shook her head at them,"Dorks." She commented, earning a laugh from both Audrey and Noah. The redhead turned, heading towards class and the others followed her.

"Okay... so... a three-person scene." Noah said, looking at the script. "Wait– why am I a girl in this scene?" He realized, looking at Poppy and Audrey.

The two girls chuckled at him. "Sorry, Noah." Poppy apologized, looking at Audrey. "It was her idea." She pointed her finger. Audrey gasped dramatically in a mocking tone, lowering Poppy's hand. "It was her idea." She giggled at Poppy. Noah rolled his eyes at the two wondering when they were both going to give it up and become a couple already.

"Look, Noah, we're doing Heathers. Audrey's already J.D. I'm Veronica and you're... Heather Chandler." Poppy explained to him. He shook his head,"No... no way. Brooke is Heather Chandler. Nina is Heather Chandler. I'm– goddammit. I'm the fat girl, aren't I?" Noah said, looking at the two. Audrey chuckled as Poppy reached over to touch his shoulder. "Her name is Martha Dunnstock." She clarified.

He shook his head once again. "I can't do it. I can't play a mean girl." Noah sighed in defeat. "Come on, Noah. Just say 'corn nuts'." Audrey made fun of him but he was clearly not amused by it. "It's a good scene, Noah. Give it a try. Read the lines." Poppy suggested, hoping he would take the bait.

Noah reluctantly nodded,"Fine." He said, swallowing a lump in his throat. The boy opened up his mouth to start the scene just as the door of the classroom opened. Cops were led into the classroom by one of the school office's secretaries. "Mr. Branson?" A cop said, approaching the teacher. "Can I help you?" Mr. Branson asked him.

"Yes, sir, you can. We have some questions for one of your students. Audrey Jensen?" The cop said, looking around the room. "We're going to need you to come with us." He finished. Audrey looked at Noah, who seemed to be in shock. Students started murmuring as the girl collected her things.

Audrey took her bag and followed the cops out of the classroom. Poppy couldn't help but think this couldn't be happening.

Suddenly, it made sense. Poppy didn't understand it before but now she knew what she really did switching those files at the police station. Noah dragged her out of the classroom as soon as class ended. They two met up with Emma immediately. Emma suggested they go somewhere empty in the school and that's how the ended up in the music room in order to talk privately about what happened.

"What the hell could the cops want with Audrey?" Noah questioned, looking at both of the girls. Emma frowned,"Maybe they just wanted to ask her some questions about Rachel." She said, ignoring the thought of something worse. Poppy shook her head,"No, that's a phone call." She informed. "Yeah, that's not a perp walk out of class." Noah agreed, clearly panicking.

He sighed, realizing something. "Mr. Branson." Noah said. "What?" Emma asked, not caught up on this. "We found out the webcam malware came from his homework server and he's using a fake name." Noah explained. "Wait." Emma said, looking at the both of them,"Mr. Branson brings his soup to school in a Thermos." She pointed out how ridiculous they were being. "Villains have to eat, too. Kingpin eats. The Joker eats. Bane probably doesn't because of his mask but it's probably some sort of, like, nutrient milkshake–"

"Hey, Noah, could we focus for one second?" Emma requested. "Yes, sorry." Noah said, recognizing he went on a comic book tangent again. "Well, Mr. B. may have seen us on his laptop." The boy remembered, looking at Poppy. "You don't think that why–" Poppy stopped herself, knowing that wasn't why Audrey was in custody. "If he thought we could expose him, maybe he found a way to implicate Audrey as payback–" Noah continued, stopping when the door of the music room opened.

Mr. Branson looked at the three. "Mr. Branson, hey! Hi!" Noah rushed out his words nervously. "Hi." Emma added, a little bit calmer than Noah. "We were all... just talking scenes. Right?" Noah said. "Right." Poppy confirmed.

The teacher looked at all three of them before his eyes settled on Noah. "Well, that's actually what I wanted to discuss. And considering your propensity for speeches, I'm thinking monologue." Mr. Branson suggested. "Oh, I don't know. I'm kinda shy." Noah said nervously. "Let me show you some options." He said, putting his arm around Noah.

"Oh... uh... sure, okay." Noah said as he was being led out by the teacher. Emma and Poppy watched as Noah left with Mr. Branson. Once the door closed behind them, the two looked at each other. "Okay, what the hell just happened?" Emma asked, losing her calm.

Emma and Poppy waited outside of Mr. Branson's classroom, waiting for the boy to come out. Finally, Noah appeared and Emma was completely alert. "Noah, what happened?" She questioned. He looked at the two of them,"Henry V or Napoleon Dynamite. I gotta admit, Mr. Branson so gets my deep-seated hero conflict." Noah said casually. Poppy rolled her eyes,"And here we were ready to call 911." She said.

"Maybe Audrey was right about Branson being innocent. Maybe he's not a psychopath. If Tyler loaded the malware for Nina while he was the student aide... Mr. B could just be this innocent pawn." He guessed. Emma furrowed her brows,"But what about his fake name?" She asked. "Oh, yeah, well... I actually got that covered. I asked Mr. B to input his number into my phone, in case I wanted to rap about monologues. I programmed this app to record his fingerprints." Noah explained, bringing out his phone.

"If we can trace the past..." Emma realized. "We can find out if our beloved Mr. White is actually Heisenberg." Noah finished her sentence. Suddenly Emma's phone rang and she brought it out, realizing it was an unknown number. "Don't answer." Poppy cut in but Emma gave her a look. "That has proven not to be an option." She said.

She answered the call, lifting the phone to her ear. "Hello?" Emma asked. As the person on the other phone responded, Emma frowned. "Audrey, are you okay?" She questioned, clearly worried. "Of course, what?" Emma replied. Before Emma knew it, Audrey hung up on her. "What? What did she say?" Noah asked. Emma turned to look at them. "She wants me to destroy an SD card from the night Nina was murdered." Emma explained.

They all could tell how damning that sounded but none of them wanted to go there. "What do you think is on that card?" Emma asked them. Noah shook his head,"I don't know." He admitted. "I don't care. But we should just go get it." Poppy said, knowing this was all her fault. She wouldn't believe that Audrey was guilty. Especially when she was guilty herself. "Poppy, what it it's–" "Emma, hey... Audrey did not kill Nina." Noah interrupted, looking at the girl.

Emma nodded,"Right. Right. Okay... let's go." She said, letting Poppy lead the way.

The three of them arrived at Audrey's house, heading for the back when Emma said she knew a way in. Emma moved onto the back porch, lifting one of the potted plants to realize there was no key underneath it. "Damn." She said, looking back at Noah and Poppy. "They used to hide their key there." Emma explained.

Noah nodded,"Yeah, we used to leave our back door unlocked. And then a serial killer happened." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Alright, on to Plan B." Poppy suggested, looking at Emma. Noah noticed the look between both girls,"Love me some Plan B. What is it?" He asked them. Emma grabbed a small bird statue and Noah realized what she was doing.

"I hope there's no alarm." He said.

She broke the glass without another thought. Emma looked at her handiwork,"Okay." She said. Noah nodded his head,"Subtle." He told Emma. Poppy unlocked the back door as Emma put down the bird statue. She opened the door and the three of them made their way into Audrey's house.

Emma was the first one to reach Audrey's bedroom. "Where does she keep her SD cards?" She asked Noah. He blinked,"What do I look like, her personal assistant?" Noah asked. Emma shrugged,"You look like someone who might know where she would keep her SD cards." She pointed out.

Poppy blinked, remembering the last time she was in Audrey's room. "I know." She said, stopping them from searching further. She moved over to the drawer, realizing it was locked. "Dammit." Poppy said. Emma joined her, grabbing a small dagger on Audrey's dresser. "Hey, wait! Hold on... uh, that's Elvish." Noah tried explaining. Emma sent him a look. "Great." She said, using it to jam open the locked drawer.

"Here they are." Emma said, opening the drawer. She looked at all of the SD cards and their labels before finding the right one. "Got it." She told them. Noah heard something and looked out the window. "Oh... frak. We got the policia. We gotta get out of here." Noah said, heading for the door. "Now, guys." He looked back at Emma and Poppy.

Noah opened the door, taking one step out to see the detective coming up the stairs. "Back." He whispered as he pushed the girls back into the room. "Window." Poppy pointed and the other two didn't question her, knowing they had to get out of there fast.

"I can't. You do it." Emma lowered the hammer before passing it over to Noah. They were at his work and Noah made sure to close up the shop so they would be alone. He looked at the hammer before taking it but he only set it down.

He shook his head looking at the SD card. "No can do. I feel like Frodo with the ring at Mount Doom." Noah said, looking at Poppy. She blinked, her eyes shifting to the hammer. "I mean, what do you think's on there?" He asked. "I don't know." Emma answered, looking at the redhead also. "I don't think we need to know." Poppy told them. "I... I don't want to break Audrey's trust, but whatever is on there must make her look really guilty." Emma pointed out.

"Of what? Murdering four people, including her girlfriend?" Noah asked. And of blackmailing Poppy, but the redhead didn't say anything. "Do you have any idea how Japanese-gameshow crazy that sounds?" Noah pointed out. Emma frowned,"There's one thing I can't shake." She confessed.

Noah narrowed his eyes at her,"What?" He asked. "That guy who's been calling me? He should be rubbing this in my face right now but since Audrey was taken in, I haven't heard one thing." Emma said. Poppy had to admit, she was right. She should've expected a call too but had received none. "That's what he wants you to think." Poppy argued, refusing to believe the worst of Audrey.

She then received a call and furrowed her brows, answering the phone. "Mom?" Emma asked. "What? No. Of course not." She responded. "Okay." Emma said quietly. "Okay." She repeated before hanging up.

Emma looked at the two of them. "Detective Brock wants to see me at the Sheriff's station." She explained.

When Emma came back from the police station, she was set on watching whatever was on the SD card.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Noah asked her, mostly because he was not sure he wanted to see what was on it. She looked over at the boy,"I'd rather know than wonder." Emma decided. "I gotta be honest, I still have some moral ambivalence." Noah admitted. Poppy looked at him,"Well, no one's making you watch it." She pointed out. "Shut up." He told her. Noah looked at the two of them,"Well, besides... I wouldn't want you two to carry that burden all by yourselves." He said.

Emma frowned at his behavior,"Look, Noah. I just want the truth." She said. Noah nodded,"Okay." He breathed out, nodding his head once again in order to fully assure himself. "Truth." Noah said, looking at the screen. "In glorious HD." He added. "Here we go." He almost wanted to close his eyes as soon as Audrey's face appeared on the screen.

They watched as Audrey exploded on camera. There were tears in the girl's eyes as Rachel had tried to talk her down. Audrey grew angrier and angrier before yelling at her girlfriend to turn the camera off. All three of them sat in silence as the video stopped and they realized that was all of it.

Poppy stared at the screen, knowing that it was Nina who Audrey was so angry at.

"Nina's my cousin." Poppy didn't expect herself to reveal that information but she couldn't stop herself. Noah and Emma looked at her in surprise. "What... what just happened?" Noah asked more himself than anybody else in the room. Emma blinked, looking back to the screen. "Audrey... what did you do?" She wondered out loud before looking at Poppy. "Why'd you make me watch? I can't unsee that now. I can't. I can't unhear what Poppy just said." Noah started panicking.

She frowned at him,"Noah–" Poppy began but he shook his head at her. Emma looked at the two,"Come on... guys... it can't be how it looks. Poppy– Nina... I'm sorry." Emma said, not really knowing what to say to the redhead after what she revealed. She only knew it couldn't be easy seeing someone say that about someone who was family.

"You mean how it looks like premeditated murder?" Noah asked before shaking his head again. "I mean it. I need, like, a Men in Black brain wipe." He sighed. Noah looked down,"She was so angry." He realized. "Noah, we all know Audrey." Poppy started, looking at the two of them. "Yeah, we do." Noah said, stopping her before she could say more. Poppy frowned at him.

"I always believed Audrey was capable of murder, but, like, in an 'isn't my best friend badass, I'll never lose a bar fight' way. But this..." "Noah, you're wrong." Poppy cut him off and looked at Emma. The other girl nodded in agreement. "Okay?" Emma tried talking to him but Noah only frowned at her. "Just take it and go, Emma. Please." He told her.

Noah looked down,"I gotta think, and I don't want it here." He explained. Emma was quick to take the SD card and leave. Poppy got off of the couch but Noah pursed his lips together and shook his head. "You're not going anywhere." He said and Poppy looked at him.

She studied his facial expression,"Noah... I know you're mad." She said. He shook his head,"I'm not mad." He tried telling her as he looked at his hands. "I just don't understand... why didn't you tell me? Or Audrey?" He asked. "Because you guys– you hate Nina. And I get it... Nina was a bitch. And everyone– when I got here... they already compared me to her. Because we look the same. I guess I was just hoping no one would realize we were related. I just... I didn't want you guys to think I was like her... not to mention... Nina– she's not my cousin. I mean... she isn't only my cousin." She confessed.

He furrowed his brows, looking up at her. "What do you mean?" He asked her. Poppy knew she would be admitting something she hadn't told anyone in a long time.

"She's my sister and my cousin." Poppy told him.