Kate hated James. Hated him. Ever since... Ever since the day he had ruined her life. Nothing had ever been the same. Twelve years had passed, but she wouldn't, couldn't, forget. Her hate was the only thing that kept her going, the only thing that kept her alive. It had consumed he in a way that terrified her to her core, the way she knew what she would do to him, with only the slightest chance. Every time she thought back, a chill ran through her spine. He had been so kind, until he suddenly wasn't. Well, he had always been a little odd, but that was to be expected, considering his situation, all he had been through, but to do what he did, to ruin everything.

Kate pictured the way her life could be, she could have gone to high school, collage, graduated, lead an average life. She could have been normal, she wouldn't have had to live on the streets, to eventually find people who would take her in and teach her how to survive. She wouldn't have had to run away from her entire life. She wouldn't have had to lied, cheated or stolen. Her 'job' wouldn't have been to chase after psychopaths. She could have a boyfriend, a girlfriend, just a friend. She would have had a family who loved her. It would have been okay. But it wasn't. She wasn't okay, her life wasn't okay. All because of James. Why? Why did he have to do that? Why did he? As Kate thought, she felt a single tear run down her face. She brushed it away in anger, wondering why she still felt sadness. There had been too much sadness, too much fear, too much anger. James, all because of James.

How could a twelve year old have done that? How could anyone have done that? Their family had been normal. Normal. That was all she wanted. Her parent's hadn't been able to have children, so they adopted two. A boy, and a girl. Kate and James. They had laughed together, played together, grown up together. But that day, something had changed. Everything had changed.

It had all been so normal... Just a normal day, full of laughing, playing and learning, then to get home from school and see him... Just standing there. She could see him there now, as clearly as if it was yesterday.

She had walked home, taken the long route with her friend Hanna to spend more time with her. They had talking about something important, or something that had seemed important at the time, a birthday, or a magazine, perhaps a boy she thought she liked. She had gotten home, pulling her new keys, that she was so proud to have the responsibility of having, from her pink bag and pulled them towards the lock. But the door was open. It had been confusing, but not scary, she assumed her Mum had forgotten to lock the door behind her, something like that.

She had pushed the door open, and gone to the kitchen. She drank a glass of water, realising it was strangely quiet in the usually bustling house.

'Mum? Dad?' she had called, walking up the stairs towards her own room, her glass still in hand. At the silence her heart beat a little faster, they hadn't told her they wouldn't be home. Where were they?

'We're in here' she heard a voice call. She turned, and walked towards the sound, wondering why she had been so worried. The voice came from her brother's room, it sounded like her brother, but...different, like he had changed somehow.

She had opened the door, and then her heart stopped.

Her brother stood in the room, facing the wall opposite the door, his hands behind his back. They were tinged red. On the floor lay their parents, barely recognisable through the blood that soaked the floor. Kate thought she would have screamed, but she was too terrified to. The glass dropped from her hand. She expected a smash, it would have been fitting, but it simply bounced away of the carpeted floor.

There was silence. Utter silence. The whole word stopped. She stared into her Mother's disfigured face, stared into her open, glassy eyes.

'James?' she said, her voice quivering.

'What?...' Kate tried to continue, but had no idea what to say. What was happening?

James turned around, and stared at Kate, his eyes as cloudy as their Mothers. Despite all that surrounded him, James was smiling distantly.

'What...happened?' Kate said, a bile rising in her throat as she stared at the bodies surrounding her.

James titled his head as he actually looked at his sister. His smile grew with glee.

Kate wanted to repeat her question, but she couldn't get another syllable out.

Kate shook the thought from her head. She couldn't think about it any more, she wouldn't. It happened. It was over. It was done. Or at least, it would be.