Jordan Kleizmick,

You've committed a crime. I'm impressed.

I suppose things aren't what they seem. Never trust the innocent ones right? You don't know what's beneath the surface.

Anyways, I would watch out. After all, secrets are dangerous. And unpredictable.

-Secret Keeper

"You cheated!" Julia complained as she gave Jordan a light shove.

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Tell me, Lia-"

"Don't call me Lia! We've been over this."

"Why not?"

"Because there's someone else called Lia."

"No there's not. There's only a Mia in my grade."

"There's a Lia in mine," Julia crossed her arms and wrinkled her nose. "I don't like her. She's the one that put blue paint in Lasiya's locker a month ago."

"Lasiya, as in the Indian girl?" Julia nodded. Jordan laughed, a couple things falling into place. "No wonder Jason enlisted Alyssa to take care of Lia."

"Well, Lasiya took care of Lia herself before Alyssa could do anything. All these L names are getting confusing," Julia furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait a minute! Why would Jason care about Lasiya having paint in her locker?"

"I think their friends," Jordan told her.

"Huh," Julia thought. "That's strange. The only time that I saw the two of them interacting, Lasiya slapped him across the face."

"She slapped him?!" Jordan laughed. "Why?"

"No idea. Jason wouldn't tell me. How did you know they were friends?"

"I saw them talking once a couple weeks ago."

"Huh. Jason must've become friends with her after that."

Jordan shook his head, "He's so weird."

Julia shrugged, "Sometimes, I guess."

"Why do you think he changed his last name?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me."

"Me neither," Jordan sighed.

"Yeah. But ever since then he's gotten so moody. Did you notice how many fights he gets into with dad these days?"

Jordan nodded, "It's like he wants a fight. I don't get it."

Julia sighed as she looked at the woods around her, "They used to have the best relationship ever."

"I know," Jordan agreed. "Remember when dad only took Jason to the football game no matter how much we begged?"

"First of all, I never begged. I didn't want to go in the first place. And secondly, you had just broken Tyler's arm. I think you deserved to stay locked in your room."

"Still. Dad never stopped Jason when he did something wrong."

"Jason barely did anything wrong."

"Jason did lots of stuff wrong," Jordan argued. "He climbed the wall, no matter how much we told him not to. He stole the Ferrari in the middle of the night and took it for a joy-ride when he was twelve. He nearly ran you over with that golf cart. He snuck out multiple times. He glued me to the toilet seat..."

"Because you broke Tyler's nose again! You deserved it."

Jordan continued, ignoring Julia. "He beat up those three guys behind the school and locked them in the dumpster..."

"Because they were being mean to me."

"He drove a motorcycle down the main staircase and crashed into the door..."

"That was Tyler."

"He dumped gallons of powder into the pool just to see what would happen. He even secretly built a plastic slide from the roof all the way around the house and into the sea when mom and dad were gone."

"With Alyssa and Tyler's help."

"They nearly drowned, Julia!"

"Ok, fine!" Julia conceded. "He did do a lot of things. But he was smart about it. He never got caught. You always did. That was the difference."

"I know, but..."

"Hey!" Julia interrupted. "You were just trying to distract me from the tree race, weren't you?"

"...No?"

"Asshole."

Jordan laughed again.

"You so cheated though."

"How does one cheat in a tree climbing race, Julia?"

"You started earlier than me!"

"By a split second. It doesn't change anything."

"It did to. You only won by a split second!"

"Julia, we have this conversation everyday."

"Because you do it everyday!"

"I-"

Jordan was cut off by a loud scream. He couldn't understand what it was saying. All he understood was that it was a girl's voice. Jordan and Julia looked at each other before dashing through the trees, following the shouts.

"What was that?" Julia asked as they neared the shouting.

"I'm not sure."

In the distance Lakeside Bridge came into view. The shouting stopped leaving Jordan to wonder who had screamed. Jordan had only caught the shadow of a person, a girl, along the bridge, but the light was angled so that he could only see a shadow, not the face. Jordan and Julia started to climb up a steep hill, one that would lead straight to the bottom of Lakeside Bridge on the other side.

"Jason?!" Julia huffed.

Jordan looked up to find Jason standing a few feet away, looking around before his eyes landed on them, filled with surprise.

"Jason, what are you doing here?" Julia asked.

He took a deep breath and calmed down a little, the frantic look in his eyes fading, "I could ask you two the same."

Jordan narrowed his eyes at his brother's suddenly calm demeanor. "We were just hanging out."

Jason sighed, "How many times have I told you two that these woods are dangerous?"

"Once," Julia argued, "And that was only when you and some of the other seniors were trying to kick us out so that you could secretly throw a party in the clearing."

Jason blinked at Julia. "You've been hanging out too much with Alyssa. Her confrontational ways are rubbing off."

Julia rolled her eyes, which also reminded Jordan of Alyssa. "Anyways, we heard a scream and decided to come and check it out. Did you hear it too?"

Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "The scream? Yeah. I heard it."

"Do you know what happened?"

Jason hesitated. "No."

Jordan's eyes narrowed further. "Why were you here anyways?"

Jason looked up at the bridge once before looking back at them, "I was trying to take a quiet walk."

Jordan scoffed, "I can't believe this."

Jason looked at him, confused, "What?"

"You're seriously gonna stand there and lie to us like?"

"You think I'm lying?"

"Yeah," Jordan said as he took a step closer to Jason, "I do. Come on, Jason. I've known you ever since I was born. You're my brother. You think I can't tell when you're lying?"

"Jordan," Julia placed a hand on Jordan's arm. "What are you talking about?"

"He's lying. Right now. He's looking us in the eye and lying."

"I don't think he's lying."

"Oh, come on! You can see it on his face," Jordan turned back to Jason and took another step forward. "What are you really doing here?"

Jason looked at him, calmly not saying a word. Their faces were merely inches apart. His Kleizmick family green eyes now had bags under them, although the small mischievous glint in them never left. His blond hair with streaks of darker brown was all ruffled. Jordan remembered a time when he was jealous of Jason's hair color. It was a perfect mix of blond and brown. That phase had quickly ended when Alyssa informed him that there was a reason the phrase "Dark and Handsome" existed.

All in all, his appearance looked normal besides the small bruise that colored part of his collarbone. Jordan ignored it, categorizing it as something he must've gotten when he fell down the stairs after trying to ride down them on a unicycle.

Jordan gave him a light shove when Jason didn't respond, "Why are you lying? Why are you really here? What are you doing? What are you hiding?"

Jordan gave him a light shove with every question and Jason backed away, step-by-step.

"Why aren't you talking, Jason? Huh? Tell us the truth? Why can't you just tell us the truth?"

"Cause I can't."

"Bullshit," Jordan spat. His anger levels were starting to increase. "You can always tell someone the truth, you just don't want to."

Jason still stared at him blankly, his hands fidgeting, eyes almost calculating.

"You've been keeping secrets, Jason," Jordan continued. "Don't even try to deny it. Something changed. You've been different these past few weeks. Hell, you've changed your name. Who the fuck does that?"

"I felt like it," Jason said. "So I did it."

"Don't give me that shit. You changed everything about yourself. Why? What's your problem? Huh? Can't stand a loving father and a nice big house?" Jordan shoved him again.

"Jordan, stop," Julia commanded.

"No, Julia! He's hiding something. I want to know what," Jordan turned back to Jason. "What did you do Jason? What is so bad that you can't tell us? That you become a mother-fucking liar?"

"Jordan, stop! Let it go!"

"No, want to know!"

"Jordan, please."

"Tell me, Jason! What did you do?"

Jason looked around to his left, his eyes landing on something before turning back to Jordan, sadness and guilt filling his eyes, "I can't."

Jordan pushed him harder, "You son of a-"

That was his first mistake.

Jason tripped over a fallen tree branch and fell backwards. Jordan caught a look of consent, as if he expected this, before he rolled down the hill, out of view.

The two of them were rooted in place for a moment as if time paused. Then, things swirled into chaos.

"Jason!" Julia shouted and ran down the hill.

Jordan followed, stopping half-way down the hill as his eyes landed on Jason. His thoughts, his emotions, went silent. He was lying on the ground right under the bridge, on his stomach and completely still.

Julia surged forward and collapsed at his side. Jordan vaguely remembered her flipping him over and seeing the blood matted across his forehead. She held up a bloody rock, one that had been right under his head. He fell down the hill and hit his head against the rock.

The rock slipped from Julia's fingers and rolled away.

Jordan was suddenly sprung into action, running down the hill after Julia.

"Is he okay?" Jordan asked her.

Tears were spilling down her cheeks. "I don't know. I don't think so."

"But he's still alive right?"

"I-I don't know."

"Come on, Julia. Please. You're the one trying to be a doctor."

"I- I can't," Julia ran her hands up and down Jason's wrist before giving a feral cry, "I can't find his pulse."

Jordan leaned back away, arms shaking as the realization hit him.

"Jordan, I can't find his pulse," Julia repeated. "I can't tell. I can't find anything."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Jordan thought he heard the last part echo around the bridge, almost like a whisper. He wasn't sure. He didn't care.

"He's not...," Julia stuttered, unable to find the words. "He can't be-"

"Jason!" another voice called. The two siblings looked up. It was the female voice from earlier, the one that seemed so familiar.

Jordan couldn't move as Julia stumbled to her feet and pulled at his arm. "Jordan, we need to leave."

"No, he's... we can't just..."

"Jordan, please, come on. We need to leave."

"No, we need to take care of Jason!"

"The other person will take care of him. We need to leave."

Tears started to erupt in her eyes again, "Jordan, please. Let's leave."

She tugged harder at his arm, lifting him up and he weekly got to his feet. She guided him away from Jason's body, back up the hill they had come from, and Jordan let her.

That was his second mistake.

Jordan looked back once. In the clearing a girl approached Jason, the same girl that had screamed, the familiar girl that ran across the bridge. A twang of guilt and pain twisted through his heart as he looked at the crying girl.

Vera.

They ran through the trees, distantly hearing the police sirens searing through the woods, echoing off the trees.

What should've been an hour felt like mere moments and they were standing in the foyer of their house. The two of them staggered up the stairs to Jordan's room. They shut the door, locking it in place, the two of them collapsing in each other's arms as they fell to the floor, a mess of tears and anger.

Both of them silently agreed that they couldn't tell anyone what they had done.

That was his third mistake.

It wasn't long before they heard their mother's words mumbling around the house, frantically calling their names. The siblings wiped their tears and stood. They opened the door, now mere shells of a human soul.

Their shapes cascaded down the stairs, much like their fall from the heavens. The angels who had left the house that morning now left as demons of the night. They killed the greatest angel of all. They had committed the greatest sin against the dimensions of heaven and hell.

The two barely listened to their parents' words as they climbed into the car and headed for the hospital. They climbed back out again, pushing through the masses of people and cameras screaming questions at them. Doctors guided them through the hospital, their father running, their mother right behind him.

They reached a private suite at the corner of the hospital, a stark contrast to the commotion outside. It was quiet, too quiet. The siblings collapsed into the chairs, outside the room. They stared through the window and into the room where Jason's body was flat-lining.

They could hear their parents cries from inside the room through the open door. More people filed in. 

Jordan barely registered that Alyssa was hugging Julia or the fact that Tyler had collapsed to the floor or how Vera leaned against the glass window, expressionless. He didn't even stop to think why she wasn't here earlier when she was the one that called it in. The only thing he was aware of were the memories flashing through his mind. The one of pushing Jason to his death.

The beeps filled the hallways, echoing in his ears. Finally, a doctor turned off the monitor. A voice rose above the silence. "Time of death, 9:04 pm."

Many thoughts flooded Jordan, but only one was comprehensible. Only one was significant.

I killed Jason Hargrove.

Author: Hey guys! Welcome to Part 2 of 3. It's good to be back. Happy reading! And don't forget to vote!

PS: Don't worry. This is only the beginning ;)