"YOU'RE LATE," ROGER said, his tone slightly venomous. It was he, after all, that had to deal with the constant pestering from his older brother, Derek. Jack had it easy, especially with Christina home and all. He just didn't understand what it was like to try to hold back the urges that he had begun to feel since he landed that boulder on Piggy. Derek didn't understand, nobody understood. Not even Jack or Maurice, but they were as close as it got.

As expected, Jack snorted and pulled his DGK hoodie up over his head. "Piss off."

The boys were silent as they marched down the seemingly peaceful sidewalk of Jack's neighborhood, ignoring the little kids that played tag along the road's edge. A few stared as the older boys passed, and in response, Roger cackled and menacingly lunged forward, sending the children into a frightened frenzy. Both Jack and Roger got a good laugh out of that; scaring kids had always been a nice pleasure.

They rounded the corner and sauntered through Darlington Park, which was eerily empty as usual. This path had become part of the boys's daily routine, and now held no foreign features or new surprises. It was the same thing each time; a small concrete walkway curving around the various trees that swayed slowly in the summer breeze. It meandered around the playground and across the park benches, ending somewhere down towards the thick woods where no one dare lurked. There were bears and snakes and what not down there, and only two witty boys like Roger and Jack had the vast stupidity and courage to do such a brave thing as go down there.

But they had to. It was the only place they could relax in peace.

When they finally reached their destination, Jack slumped up against a tree and watched as Roger reached into his Vans bag and pulled out a shining kitchen knife. It was small, but big enough to cause some harm, which is what both boys intended to do. Things hadn't been the same since the plane crash, and a new darkness had set upon both Jack and Roger. Life and death had blurred together in one big glob of paints on the canvas, with no distinction between right or wrong.

"My sister got a new tattoo," Jack said rather casually as Roger peered around for an animal.

Roger raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Sweet. What kind?"

"A sun. On her ankle."

"I want a tattoo."

"Me too. A big ol' tat on my back."

Roger sniggered as he leaned down and smeared some mud upon his face. It made him feel more threatening with his savage mask back in place. Something rustled in the bushes, and Jack attentively arose from the tree.

"I think I heard something."

"Yeah, me too."

A small, grey bunny appeared, staring at the boys with curiosity. It was friendly enough, and just as it went to nudge itself against Jack, Roger brought the knife down it, killing the poor thing almost instantly. There was a small feeling of triumph, that same exhilarating thought that had possessed the boys the night they killed Simon. It was riveting, exalting, and so tremendously great they knew they would never grow used to it. But that was the fun in it; it was always pleasurable, unlike those boring video games that got old after three days. Every kill, whether it be a bunny or a small bobcat, peaked higher than the last, sending shivers of strangely beautiful sensations down their spines.

Roger glanced at his friend sideways, his dark eyes coated with a glaze of awe. Jack stared back happily as he reached down and smeared the blood as warpaint on his once civil face.

"I can feel it again, Rog, that feeling...the one from the island..."

"I know."

"I feel powerful again as well."

"Me too."

The boys paused and smiled almost dreamily into the distance, enjoying the sweet flashbacks of playing with life and death amongst the other boys on the island. How elating the dance had been, hilariously strange Piggy's death was, or even the peculiar humor of having Ralph scared out of it wits-

That brought another thought to Jack's head. Ralph. They had exterminated both Piggy and Simon, the ones who reigned with the most threats against Jack's little group, but Ralph had been lucky enough to live. And now back here in society, he knew of their dirty little secrets, and if he pleasured himself to, he could tell anybody he wanted that Simon's death truly hadn't been an accident and Piggy's death came as a relief to most of the boys. Ralph was the last the threat, the only one that stood between civilization and savagery, even here in this miserably civil community that Jack now loathed. He needed rid of Ralph for good, and Roger fervently agreed.

BRIDGET CARTERS WAITED ANXIOUSLY at the bus station with her brother, Maurice. They were due to visit the psychologist Maurice had been seeing since he had been rescued. Bridget had overheard her mother's conversations with Mrs. Merridew and the Moyers. They claimed that their sons had been acting...strange. Off, like something wasn't right. But Bridget hadn't really noticed any vivid changes in her big brother. He acted mostly the same and spent most of his time working on his academics and watching South Park or Family Guy, crazy shows that had practically barely any meaning or depth. Sometimes he would hang out with that Jack kid or Roger, and when he did, he usually kept to himself for a few days, like he was terribly embarrassed or ashamed of something. But then he'd snap out of it and go back to doing homework in front of Peter Griffin, silently laughing as they rattled off another pointless (and to Bridget, quite colorless) joke.

Joshua Carters was three years older than Maurice and five years older than Bridget. He, like his younger brother, was academic and played lots of sports. He was planning on getting a scholarship for either baseball or football (he wasn't sure yet, for he liked them both so much it was hard to decide). Unlike Bridget, however, Joshua had noticed slight changes in his brother's behavior, like the way his face would drain when their mother would cook bacon for breakfast, or how whenever their father insisted on going on a good ol' fashioned hunting trip in North Caroline, Maurice would sneer and stalk off.

"S'not real hunting," He would claim, rolling his light green eyes and marching himself up the stairs. Quite frankly, Joshua was a bit concerned for his brother, and for the first time, he had drug himself up out of bed and was attending Maurice's psychology session with his mother and Bridget. Bridget always went along, as did Mrs. Carters, but it was rare for Joshua to be out of bed before 1 PM on a Saturday, let alone out of the house. But here was now, standing patiently beside Maurice, who was texting, and Bridget, who had her nose stuck in another Harry Potter book. She had only read the series at least five times. Mrs. Carters stood on Maurice's other side, her gaze content at having all three of her children with her once again. She loved Maurice. She always liked him the best, and if something bad had changed him on that island, it'd break her. Quite honestly, it'd break all of them. Even Joshua.

DEREK CASUALLY SAUNTERED into the 7/11 seated on the corner of Bulla Avenue. He had just finished up work at the old garage and was treating himself to a Big Gulp. After all, he did have a football practice for three hours in only forty-five minutes, so he deserved a nice treat. Coke was his favorite, and he wasted no time filling the huge cup to the brim, slurping out some of the excess liquid. He had just finished clicking on the plastic lid when someone bumped into him. His car keys went flying across the floor, and the Coke nearly followed, but Derek lunged out and grabbed it, impressed with his own skills. Whoever had bumped into him had not been as fortunate; his Slurpee had spilled over his faded jeans and Abercrombie shirt, leaving him stained in Very Berry Cherry flavor.

"Woah," Derek, said, reaching for some napkins. "You should seriously watch where you're going."

"I know, I know. Sorry man."

"Don't say sorry to me. I'm not the one drenched in Slurpee." Derek handed the kid some napkins and watched as he pathetically tried to clean himself up. He was nice looking for the most part, and seemed to be about Derek's age. He had dark brown hair and piercing emerald eyes, nearly the color of the dark, green sea. The boy was tannish and had an athletic build, and if he wasn't covered in Slurpee, his fashion wasn't so bad either. He looked sort of familiar, like someone Derek may have vaguely met once. The thought pondered him.

"Have we met?" He asked, tilting his head at the guy.

The guy shrugged. "Dunno. What's your name?"

"Derek."

"Derek what?"

"Moyer. Derek Moyer."

The guy glanced up from his blue stained jeans and stared for a moment, then snapping his fingers in an enthusiastic reply. "Do you have a brother?"

Derek was a little confused and creeped out at the accuracy of his question.

"Yeah. Why?"

"What's his name?"

What was this guy's problem? Derek wasn't sure, but it wouldn't hurt to truly find out

who was... "Roger. He's a freshman at Thompson's."

"No way!" The guy asked, grinning. "Moyer! I knew that was familiar! Your brother

is friends with mine."

"Nuh uh! What's his name?"

"Maurice."

"And yours is..."

"Joshua," The guy replied, tossing the napkin in a trash can and reaching out to shake Derek's hand. "Joshua Carters. I think we've met briefly before."

At the name Joshua Carters, a faint memory crossed Derek's once blank mind. He was standing in the airport, both his parents at his side, and across the room, he spotted the first of the boys come out of the plane. His stomach tightened as he waited anxiously for his own brother to finally return home for good, but it was taking a while. All the families had been alerted that two boys had died, but nobody had said who, so Derek wasn't sure if Roger was even alive. Then a kid standing next to him glanced over and saw Derek's nervous stare. He nudged his head and smiled, obviously making a friendly gesture.

"Nervous?" He asked, his voice nearly quivering.

Derek had nodded. "A bit."

"Me too," The guy had said, then added, "I'm Joshua, by the way. Joshua Carters. My brother's Maurice."

"Derek. Derek Moyer. My brother's Roger."

The memory faded as quickly as it had appeared, and suddenly, Derek was staring back at Joshua and the dripping Slurpee cup in his hands. He had so many questions-was Maurice behaving as weirdly as Roger? Did he often disappear and return home with blood stained shirts and grimy fingers? Had he become as scary as Roger had? Derek had never actually had the chance to converse with any of the other boys's siblings, and the idea that he might be able to made him feel a little anticipated. What if Maurice was perfectly normal? What if this proved that Roger was crazy? All these thoughts drove Derek to pull out his phone and master the stupid wits to ask if Joshua wanted to hang out one day, and to his relief, Joshua agreed.

That was the beginning to a gloriously cold end.

THAT NIGHT, HAILEE DECIDED to her own research and snoop in on her brother. She knew that it was a terribly horrible invasion of privacy...She didn't know what fifteen-year-old boys hid in their rooms, but from what her boyfriend has said, it usually was porn or food. While Ralph was at swim practice (yes, he was a swimmer, and yes, he had been since he was three), Hailee mustered up the courage to scour through her teenage brother's room. The results were disappointing.

She glanced through his drawers in case he hid a journal or something containing the truth about what had happened on the island. His computer was bare of information, as was his bookshelf and closet. Hailee even made the effort to look in his bathroom, which smelt oddly of teenage boy and heavy Axe cologne. There was nothing to be seen anywhere that would reveal anything about his experiences on that damn island, the experiences that took away her Ralph and replaced him with this Ralph. She was ready to give up when she heard his phone buzz, and through mild curiosity, she picked it up and checked it. Hailee felt terribly wrong for doing so-now she really was invading his space. Oh, he'd kill her if he knew! But there had to be something somewhere-

She waited before she checked the message, instead skimming through his other texts. Most of them were girls and they all exchanged the same pettish flirts...You're cute...No, you're cute...Freshman shit. There were a few messages from his best friend Riley Onair, and even some from Maurice, one of the boys on the island, but the conversation was rather barren. It consisted of crudely speaking about one girl...Damn Malory was how they referenced to her...and others about Mr. Wise's funny voice and lame homework, for they attended the same school (Funnily enough, most the boys from the island all went to Thompsons Private School for Boys). But there was nothing about the island, not even a quick, 'Hey, remember when...'. Nothing.

With a heavy heart, she quickly checked the new message. It didn't have a contact name, instead only a number. That was strange, but what really grabbed Hailee's attention was the message it bestowed.

You're next.

JACK SAT SMUGLY AT HIS COMPUTER, staring down at his phone in content.

After thorough research and some insistent pestering towards Maurice, Jack had managed to swindle Ralph's number and text him. Like most predators, Jack wanted to play with his prey before he went in for the kill. Scare Ralph a little bit, make him worried so that he couldn't sleep at night, make him feel helpless again. That's how Jack wanted it. He was in control, not this stupid society. He made the rules, and for this particular situation, the rule called for Ralph to die, which it would, because he had to.

Jack's phone finally beeped as a message from Ralph came through.

Who is this?

Jack grinned and picked up the phone to reply. Little did he know that the receiver of his messages was the sixteen year old sister of his prey.

Salvete amicae! Lol I'm taking Latin so I thought I'd give it a go! I KNOW, I KNOW, it's moving slow, but I promise it'll get better! Watch out for romances (you can probably guess who...) and very DARK themes, as you can tell. Do not fret, my fellow readers, I'm planning for Piggy's family to make a cameo soon, so he WILL be in it...well, HE won't be, but his family will...whatever, YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN ( : ANYWAYSS, I love all those that are following and reviewing but it would really mean the world if I could get a little more! That encompasses my silent readers too! Leave criticism, praise, or your thoughts about what you want to see happen...I'll do my best to incorporate them! Welp, I better get going. Love you all! Thanks so much again!