Chapter One | Roland

            Roland heard a voice at the front door as the four of them tried to listen to who Jordan was talking to.

            They heard the door open and a small gasp from Jordan before a woman's voice spoke.

            "Hey, Jord. Time's up."

            Roland glanced over at Lindsey, who shrugged slightly. What girl would be coming to the Conrad's at midnight to do Nathan's bidding? As far as Roland knew, Nathan was the only one blackmailing them.

            Although it would make sense to have an accomplice of some sorts. It would probably make his life easier. Less crime on his part.

            Jordan stammered out a few words, clearly shocked, before footsteps echoed in the front hall and the front door slammed shut. The footsteps drew closer, clearly by someone who knew what they were there for, as Jordan's worried tracks rushed after her.

            Then, all of a sudden, Roland was face-to-face with what was simultaneously his biggest hope and biggest fear.

            Erin was standing in front of them, with Jordan just behind her. Erin Green was standing in the Conrad's living room...very much alive.

            "Hey guys!" Erin grinned from ear to ear, "Long time no see."

            Three out of the four of the teens sitting in the living room had their eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Michael Hadden had his arms crossed defensively and his head cocked to the side, as if saying "I told you so" to the rest of the group, who had tried to convince him that he was hallucinating when he said he saw Erin alive and well.

            Alive and well...and with Nathan.

            "Tough crowd." Erin grinned, enjoying herself far too much. She took Jordan's vacated seat next to Roland on the couch. Roland watched her sit down next to him as if he were in a trance—as if none of this were real and his sister had actually died in a car crash in early June. Because that's what he had believed for months. And that was what he had come to terms with.

            "Sit down, Jordan." Erin ordered. Jordan nodded mutely and took a seat next to Lindsey on the small ottoman in front of Mr. Conrad's favorite chair. Mary and Michael were perched on the loveseat across from Roland and Erin, Michael's expression stony and unmoving while Mary was still gaping at Erin with her mouth open and eyes fixated on the girl who, two minutes ago, they had all believed to be dead.

            "They convinced you that you were hallucinating, didn't they?" Erin directed her question at Michael, whose only response was to sullenly glare at the other four who hadn't believed him when he had sworn to seeing Erin Green alive and well, "It's crazy what can happen when you only reveal secrets to one person in a group."

            "I get that this is supposed to be some big turning point where we're all shocked to see you, but I don't think you understand what our family went through, thinking that they had lost you, their actual child—"

            "Oh, I understand." Erin interrupted her brother with a stern look that hid something truly awful behind her eyes, "Trust me, I understand."

            Roland was quiet again, scared to say anything else. Erin's expression commanded authority of the situation, but something beneath the surface showed that she wasn't exactly on par with Nathan's authority. She had gone through something to earn the role she currently had.

            Roland didn't think he wanted to know what that was.

            "But enough small talk." Erin continued, "I'm going to address the two people who had a deadline to fulfil, one of which has failed."

            Jordan gulped loudly, sinking back in her seat.

            "But first—" Erin turned, "—Lindsey. What is your decision?"

            The entire group turned in unison to look at Lindsey—none of them had realized that she had a deadline to reach with Nathan as well.

            "I don't know." Lindsey responded, "I can't decide. I can't put myself on the chopping block, but I also can't throw my brother under the bus."

            "The metaphors are adorable, but I still need a decision. Unless you want those papers submitted to the station within the next five minutes."

            Lindsey was quiet for a second, her face contorting to different expressions of anguish and confusion as she clearly wrestled with whatever Erin was holding over her. Roland hated this side of his sister—it was the same side of her that used to blackmail other socialites into giving overly charitable donations to Erin's causes, but this...this was on a completely new and terrifying level. This was life or death, and she didn't seem to have any problem with the outcome being death.

            "Ten seconds, Lindsey."

            Lindsey continued to stare in silence until Erin began counting down.

            "Five."

            "I don't think—"

            "Four."

            "—that it's really fair—"

            "Three."

            "—for me to have to pick—"

            "Two."

            "—between myself and—"

            "One."

            "—Kaden."

            Erin nodded.

            "Kaden. Your final choice is Kaden."

            Lindsey nodded slowly as the other four looked at her in bewilderment.

            "Yes. I suppose so."

            "Wonderful. That's all I needed to hear." Erin grinned as she turned to address the rest of the group, "Kaden Marcum will be taking the fall for the death of myself, Eddie, Neil and Victoria. Which gives Jordan here one more chance to redeem herself in Nathan's eyes."

            Jordan perked up at that. The girl had been sitting with a hunched back and her eyes cast downward throughout the entire conversation so far, refusing to look up—probably for fear of being killed for not going through with Michael's murder.

            "What do you mean?"

            "Take these." Erin took a file folder with a large "K" on the front out of the bag she had brought with her. "Bring them to Hayden Barlow at the station by tomorrow evening and everything will be forgiven."

            Jordan raised her eyebrows as she took the folder from Erin's hands, obviously resisting the urge to open it.

            "That's it? Instead of killing Michael I just have to...bring a folder to Barlow?"

            Erin nodded, cocking her head to the side.

            "Is there a problem?"

            "Not at all, I just...I expected it to be more than that, I guess."

            "Well, be grateful that it isn't." Erin replied, raising a single eyebrow and shrugging slightly. "Anyways, I'm leaving now. We'll be in touch if we need anything else."

            "Hold up." Roland shook his head, "You're leaving now? Not a hello to your brother—"

            "Half-brother." Mary interrupted subconsciously.

            "—half-brother." Roland glared at the queen bee, "You're not going to say anything to me about how you felt when you were gone or how maybe it was just slightly difficult to help someone torture me for the past few weeks or—"

            "I know you're upset, I do." Erin dropped her unbothered façade for a brief moment, "But I just...I'm just as much of a puppet here as you." She stood to leave, taking her bag with her as she went. "I'm sorry, Roland."

            The five watched as she left the living room and heard the front door open and close quietly as she exited the Conrad's home. They sat in silence, unsure of whether or not anyone had anything to say about what had just happened.

            Roland was pretty sure they had all expected to die when the clock struck midnight. And now that they were out of harm's way for the time being, there was almost...nothing to say to one another.

            "Well, I...I'm going to head out." Roland stood slowly, "I don't know what to say at this point. I know my sister's the only one who turned out to be alive, but somehow...I feel like this is worse than believing she were dead."

            The other four nodded in solemn silence as Roland left the room, walking slowly and cautiously, each step with a purpose. The purpose being to take him further and further from the room where he had seen a look in his sister's eyes that showed something far more sinister than what they had begun to imagine.

A/N: Welcome to the (highly-requested) sequel to Killer Instinct! I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Updates will only be once a week, on Fridays, since I'm currently working 40+ hours a week and that takes up most of my time. But I hope you're excited about the book! If you haven't yet, make sure to check out Theories of Insanity as well on my profile. And for any Dear Sydney readers, the book is verrrrrry close to 3M reads, and I'm considering doing a giveaway when that happens...thoughts?

-Katherine