A nicely dressed man and woman pull up to a luxury house; they look very well dressed and talk about their days. They find the front door of their home a jar and cautiously walk in.

They see the carnage around them; everything was broken or askew. "Jesus.." the man says, glancing around at all the damage.

"What is it?" The woman asks, still not having seen the state of her house, "Where's Casey?" she asks, panic-stricken looking for her only child.

She runs to the kitchen and sees a popcorn packet on fire. "Casey? Casey?" She screams, but there was no answer; the home was empty other than themselves.

In a split second, they're both terrified, thinking about what could have happened and where their daughter had disappeared to, the man begins searching the house frantically.

The woman is hysterical. "Where is she?" she screams at her husband, who is pushing her in the direction of the phone.

"Call the police," he tells her sternly.

The woman moves to the phone in the foyer and picks it up. There is no dial tone; the man is still trying to find his daughter "Casey? Where are you, honey?" he sees his wife standing still with the phone in her hands. "Call the police, goddammit."

The woman puts the phone to her ear and hears the softest, faintest voice 'help me...' it was her daughter, Casey, her baby. "Oh my god. Casey? Baby?" The woman asks softly, not believing her ears.

Her husband returns to the foyer finding his wife clinging to the phone. "I can hear her. Oh, Mother of God, I can hear her," she screams hysterically, waving the phone.

The husband grabs hold of his wife. "Get in the car and drive down to the MacKenzie's," he says, swallowing hard.

His wife shakes her head. "No, not my baby," she cries softly in defeat.

The woman walks out of the door with the phone clutched to her chest until she looks up and screams wildly; the father rushes out the door to find his wife on her knees, bent over sobbing.

His eyes move beyond to a tree in the front yard; his stomach fails him as he sees the single, most horrifying sight he'll ever see.

The image of his only daughter as she hangs from their big oak tree, strung up dead with her stomach ripped open and her insides spilling to the floor.

🔪

I sighed, flicking through the channels on my TV, and looked at the phone next to me, debating whether or not to call Casey. We only talked to each other 20 minutes ago.

Sighing heavily, I picked up the phone and jumped when I heard a scream through the wall, it was Sidney. Grabbing my baseball bat, I pulled open the door that connects our rooms, "come on fucker let's go!" I call swinging my bat blindly.

"Hey! Hey! Kat, stop, it's just me," a smooth dark voice shouted at me. I paused in my tracks and looked at the 'assailant' to see it was one of my best friends Billy, who was also my sister's boyfriend.

"Billy?!" Sidney and I both say in unison as Billy nodded, looking at us as we stood side by side, we may be twins, but we are definitely different.

Sid has short black hair, and I have brown hair. Sidney wore light colors; I wore dark. She dresses for comfort; I dress for attitude and style.

I raise an eyebrow when I notice Billy was looking us both up and down, Sid was wearing one of her long flannel shirts, and I was wearing a silk camisole and silk shorts.. with the bat still in hand.

Billy was handsome, and all the girls at school had a crush on him except me. I like to think of me, him, and Stu as the three amigos we go everywhere together.

We met on the first day of high school, it's like it was planned from day 1. Now the three of us are inseparable. They've always looked out for me and make sure I'm safe even though I can take care of myself.

"Billy? What the..." Sidney gave Billy a bewildered look

"I'm sorry. Don't hate me! He said to her, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

Sidney shook her head like she still didn't understand. "What are you doing here?" she asked, folding her arms. I looked at her like she was stupid; what else would a teenage boy want with his girlfriend this time of night, a tea party?

Billy ignored her and scanned her again. "You sleep in THAT?" Sidney looked down at herself and then me, who Billy was once eyeing again, to which I glared at him.

Sid then recrossed her arms this time; it was from self-consciousness.

Billy made himself comfortable on Sidney's bed as Sidney looks at the door nervously. I rolled my eyes, knowing what was wrong with the daddy's girl.

"My dad's in the other room," she whispered at him just as the door burst open, making us all jump. I threw my bat to Billy and pushed him down the side of the bed.

The doorknob catches on the open closet door behind it jamming it and holding it in place. I could hear my dad struggling behind it. "What's going on in there?" he shouts through the door.

Sidney walks over when she sees Billy is hidden and opens the door. Dad rushes through and grabs Sidney "are you alright?" he asks her and sees me behind and gives me a look as if asking me the same question.

"Can you knock?" I asked and got a stern look from Sidney, but she just nodded and said we were fine as Dad looked at me.

"I thought I heard screaming."

I laughed, shaking my head. "No, you must be getting old" dad gave me a tired smirk.

"No? Oh, well... I'm hitting the sack. My flight leaves first thing in the morning. Now the expo runs all weekend, so I won't be back until Sunday. There's cash on the table, and I'll be staying at the Raleigh Hilton-" Dad mumbled on looking at both of us.

"..out at the airport..." Sidney butts in, knowing this conversation after hearing it over and over.

"-so call if you need me," he carried on, still looking at us like we were still five.

"Got it," I told him with a big grin. I could see him looking around the bedroom for any signs of a struggle.

"I coulda' swore I heard screaming" Sidney distracts him by giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Have a good trip" She smiles.

"Sleep tight, girls," he told us, giving each a kiss on the forehead. Sidney smiled, and I grimaced; I love my dad, I really do, but since my mom's death, I can't handle parental loving care anymore.

"Oh, and no more jail time Katherine," he gave me a stern look while closing the door.

I could hear Sidney trying not to laugh next to me. "Oh shut up, daddy's girl," she glared at me looking hurt.

As soon as the door was closed, Billy reappeared playing with one of Sid's many stuffed animals. "Close call," I laughed, but Sid just huffed at him.

Sometimes I don't know why he even bothers with her she's no fun anymore. "What are you doing here?" Sid demands as Billy leaps onto the bed with a grin.

"It just occurred to me that I've never snuck through your bedroom window," He told her with fake innocence that made me smirk. I knew what he wanted from a mile off by Sidney was still in the dark.

"Now that it's out of your system," she told him dryly and pointed to the window, but Billy didn't move; he carried on with his innocent act; however, I knew he was getting any from my sister.

"And I was home, bored, watching television, the exorcist was on, and it got me thinking of you."

I blanched. "Oh, god. I'm wasn't hanging around to see Casey and Steve fuck tonight, and I'm not staying here to see you two either I'm off" I frowned as I saw Billy looking nervous.

Walking to the joining door, I slammed the door loudly behind me, hoping to make Sid jump. I looked at my bed and decided to get some sleep for school tomorrow.

I knew I would have loads of gossip from Casey and loads of details from their night, so I turned off the TV and climbed into my bed.

Feeling under my pillow, I pulled out a picture of my mom, it's the first anniversary of her murder soon, and I was not looking forward to it.