Obsessive ~ Noah Foster [1]

Chapter Twenty-Two// Secrets.

+++

"F.Y.I., your bestie's a total psychotic bitch."

--Haley Meyers

+++

"I don't know, Arielle! I don't! Something's changed with you!" My mother paced the living room. I sighed, and sat back on the couch.

She's been yelling for about ten minutes... "You're sneaking out, you're literally getting hurt every time you leave the fucking house! Every time you leave, I look at your outfit, so that I'll remember what you were wearing. So I have something to tell the police." My mother's voice softened. "Mom. I'm perfectly fine--"

"You're NOT fine, Arielle! Your friends are being murdered! Your cousin was murdered!" I sighed, and looked at my feet. "Mom, I realize!" I shouted. "You're lying to me. All the time!" My mom cried. "Like you're not?!" I raised my voice. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Excuse me?"

"Don't act like you've never lied to me. Like you haven't been lying to me my whole life?" I asked. "What do you mean, Arielle!" My mother huffed, pushing her hair back. "I mean... Nina!" I yelled. "What about Nina?!" My mother asked. "Tell me right now, mom. Honestly. Did Nina have a twin?" I blurted. My mother watched me like a hawk. "Arielle..."

"Did she have a twin?" I asked again. "I don't know where you're getting this kind of question from, but I can tell you that you need to stop." My mother pointed at me. "Stop?"

"Stop what you're doing. Digging around isn't gonna make you happy, I can promise you that, Ari." My mother gave me a death glare. "I don't think moving here was the best idea..."

I stood up almost immediately. "No!" I shouted. "We can't leave. We just can't. It's... It's--No." I told her. My mother glared at me. "I think it's time, Ari. I called your aunt."

"What, no." I shouted. "I told her I'd talk to you and Kat about going back to New York." My mother crossed her arms. "No, we can't leave." I told.

"Arielle, if it's you next, I--I don't know what I'll do." My mother watched me. "Please, Mom. I--" I paused, and slumped back down on the couch.

"Arielle, I love you, and I will not let you be the next body." With that, my mother left the room. I glared after her. If she thought I was leaving before I caught this dickhead, she was deranged.

"Sorry, I'm late. I got lectured by my mom." I apologized, as I walked over to Audrey, Noah, and Emma. I sat beside Audrey, and looked up at Emma, who sat across from us. "Okay." Emma turned her laptop around on the table, showing us a sonogram. I felt boxed in at that moment. "Oh, my God!" Noah exclaimed. "Branson? Is your...Oh, my God!"

"Okay, what?" I looked at my friends. "My mom... she had a baby with Brandon James." Emma leaned in and whispered to me. My eyes widened. "And that..." I pointed at the screen. "That's the baby."

"Where'd you get that?" I asked. "It's from the abandonned hospital we went to." Emma explained. "Oh, my God!"

"Okay, will you stop saying that and help me?" Emma snapped. "It's a lot to take in, Em, and...no offense, but you were just kind of seeing Will's ghost around school." Audrey piped up, awkwardly. Will... She was seeing Will's ghost? Okay, no one tells me anything.

"Okay, this is not a delusion." Emma told her friend. "Could we just go back to the part where your mom, who wears cardigans and drives an SUV... had a baby with Brandon James." Noah smiled slightly. He was getting excited. "We got it." Audrey touched his hand. "The thing that I could never figure out was why this killer was focusing on my family." Emma lowered her voice. "But... I mean, if Mr. Branson is my family, then all of this makes sense."

"Well, what happened when you sat across from him?" Noah asked, quite eager. "Wait, when was this?" I asked. "Emma went to speak to him at the police station." Noah told me. He looked back to Emma. "I want the fava-bean-by-fava-bean recap."

"Well, he played it pretty cool. That's why I need to know for sure." Emma told us. "Hey, guys." I gripped Audrey's leg. It was like a light bulb turned on in my head. "Brandon's son." I said. "Bran-son. He picked that name!" I nearly jumped up and down. "That redefines "hiding in plain sight"." Noah said. "There's still no connection between Rachel and Branson." Audrey said. "Maybe we just haven't found it yet." I suggested. "The news reports don't even mention her name when they talk about the victims. It's like they forgot that her suicide was staged." Audrey told me. "I know you want the truth, Audrey." Emma sympathized. "So... let's find it." I quipped. "Bi-Curious and the Virgin are on it!" Noah said, quite loudly. I snickered, and he looked at me, before his cheeks went red. "Oh, and Arielle." He smiled. I nodded, standing, as he did. "And the crime world trembled." Behind us, Piper Shaw walked in. "Piper, hey! Wow. Uh... we..."

"Were just leaving." Audrey cut him off, standing up too, grabbing my arm, and pulling me towards the door. "Right!" Noah said. "And... just for the record... totally not..." He tried explaining to Piper. "Stop talking. Stop talking." I hide my smile, as I grabbed his arm, and pulled him with us, "...a virgin." he finished. "Go get 'em." Piper laughed, as we left the coffee shop.

xxx

"Any luck?" Noah asked Audrey, as he walked over to her. She was on her laptop. And didn't have a clue what she was doing. "Maybe." Audrey answered. "Listening." Noah stood in front of the couch Audrey and I sat on. "Okay... so Rachel practically lived with her camera." Audrey began. "I mean, she documented everything."

"Sounds weird, coming from you." I snickered. Audrey rolled her eyes playfully. "When I was trying to make her memorial video, I'd went to access her video files, but they'd all been wiped from her computer." Audrey explained. "Interesting. Kinda like how Nna's spy-cam network just up and disappeared. You think Rachel might have caught Branson doing something on tape?"

I looked back to Audrey, waiting on her reply. "Well, I mean, it might explain why he made it look like a suicide. Wasn't part of the plan."

"Cleaning up loose ends." I said suddenly. "But, if all the footage was deleted..."

"Rachel backed everything up to the cloud." Audrey lifted the laptop, with a smirk. "And I have the password." Noah sighed. "Time for a raw footage film festival." He put his fists up. "Yay!" He said unenthusiastically. "Ugh!" I got comfortable on the couch. "You guys going to the Halloween dance tonight?" I asked suddenly. "Of course. I'm DJ-ing." Noah smiled. "You?"

"Music is my thing!" Noah did a lame dance move. "I thought serial killers were your thing?" I tested him. "Well... yeah." Noah scratched the back of his neck. "Anyways, what're you gonna be?" I asked. "What else? A vampire." He looked at me as if I should know that. "Audrey?" I looked over at her, as she plopped the laptop in front of us. "Flapper girl." She said. "That's a little girly." I scoffed. "Well, you'll see." Audrey smiled. "What are you gonna be, Arielle? Let me guess..." Noah put a finger to his chin. "The Little Mermaid." I glared at him. "No, actually. It's a surprise."